Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 6

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 6: Scour
Matt Sellick, Elves

Brimming with confidence after actually winning a game, I now ran into Matt, who was also using Elves. Matt was my only opponent whom I had actually played against previously, although I suspect that was all before the switch to Kings of War.

This game was the first time my opponent also had units with Vanguard, and it really threw me. Not only did he have Vanguard, but he had more units with it than me. Unlike in Warhammer, there are no protections in KoW preventing units with Vanguard from getting really close to each other. So I was left trying to work out what to do when we could advance units right up into each others' faces without knowing who was going to get the first turn.

This was the most confusing decision I ran into during the event. Probably the smart thing to do would have been to stay out of charge range even though it would have meant wasting my Vanguard. But I couldn't decide what to do and was acutely aware of the fact that I was starting to waste time with my indecision, so I pushed things forward in a cavalier and foolish action, choosing to hope I would get the first turn. Naturally I did not.

So many things with Vanguard. What am I to do with this?

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 5

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 5: Eliminate
Kate Price, Basileans

Game 4 was a bit of a low point for me. I had been absolutely smashed at the end of a long day. I arrived on the second day hoping that things would improve. Maybe I could avoid any game-losingly bad decisions. That would be a start.

Game 5 was against Kate's Basileans, featuring a Dragon, 2 units of Elohi and a horde of Knights. What could go wrong?

Well it seems like the first thing that went wrong was that I missed taking photos at the start of the game. Could be worse. I had remembered to Vanguard, but once again I failed to get the first turn. By now I was kind of expecting that, so I had positioned things to receive a charge. Which is exactly what the Wild Guard did.

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 3

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 3: Occupy
Bridget McGarry, Elves

2 games, 2 losses. I was beginning to detect a pattern. I was the common factor. Maybe it was me (gasp)?!?

I was starting to realise that my army didn't have a very large number of deployments. Bridget was able to hold onto her Dragon until after I was committed. I admit I was a little unhappy to see it arrive hard on my flank. Oh well, if I got the first turn it wouldn't be able to see anything...

I was a little undecided about how I wanted to Vanguard. If I didn't get the first turn, I was certainly going to be charged, and would have preferred not to get charged by both the Stormwind Cavalry and Dragon on the same target. I couldn't easily avoid it though, so was left simply hoping they would be greedy and spread out.

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 4

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 4: Push
Ed Hamacek, League of Rhordia

I still hadn't won a game, but I guess at least I had no longer lost all of them either. I had points on the board. Surely the only way was up now.

Ed's list made me nervous. A wall of Knights and Honour Guard, and 3 Volley Guns to boot. I knew how tough this list would be - I had used a slightly less focused version of it at a previous Cancon. After the horrors of the War Trombones in the first game, I was really worried about letting the Volley Guns rule the field. And with 24" range, they really could control a large area. I decided once again that the key might be to rush them. 

Ed had stacked most of his stuff in the centre or over on the other flank, so that pair of Volley Guns was relatively exposed. I Vanguarded as far as I could with the Forest Shamblers. Honestly, it was dumb. I should have hung back in the trees and then advanced into the field to hop from cover to cover. I don't know what I thought I was going to do. Surge? What if I didn't get the first turn?

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 2

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 2: Invade
Nick Prosser, Brotherhood

Well, my first game was a bit of a struggle. But now I had practice and I was heading down the tables to play other people who also got schooled in their first game, so things were looking up. Next up with Nick with his Brotherhood army.

Nick had arranged a screen of Villein light cavalry for his main units, and had lots of flying Forsaken guys on his flanks.

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 1

Cancon is done and dusted for another year, and I survived once again. Honestly survival was one of my key motivators this year - the conditions were pretty oppressive at times in terms of heat and humidity, and despite spending the first day of the convention just wandering around and talking to people, I was exhausted. So I was really worried about how I'd hold up over the next 2 days when I'd also be playing 7 games of Kings of War. Suffice to say I decided I'd be happy with being able to walk out the door at the finish, so I was determined not to exhaust myself over-thinking my games.

As I mentioned previously, I decided to take Elves to the tournament. I had basically never used them before (I did once when the 2nd edition rules were still in beta), and I hadn't played any other games of KoW in a year either. So I was going to be a bit rusty, even if I did want to be competitive. This also contributed to my "take it easy" philosophy. I was there to blow off the cobwebs, play a few games, meet some people, and generally make up the numbers...

This was my army list:

• The Green Lady with 1 Sabre-Toothed Pussycat
• Tree Herder
• Drakon Rider Lord
• Elven Mage with Fireball, Bane Chant
• Horde of Therennian Sea Guard with Chant of Hate
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Regiment of Stormwind Cavalry with Potion of the Caterpillar
• Green Lady's Wild Guard (Regiment of fancy Hunters of the Wild)
• Horde of Forest Shamblers
• Bolt Thrower
• Bolt Thrower

I had intended to try to paint up a new regiment of Stormwind Cavalry for the event, but ended up being extremely busy in the lead-up and it soon became apparent it wasn't going to happen. I didn't even really finish the Green Lady, but she was usable enough.

Anyway, this is how things went on the day...

Game 1: Scavenge

Tony Winmill, Goblins

Tony was very nice and helpful, happy to explain how the scenario worked and also what this "Blood boil" spell was that he was carrying on his 3 wizards. It was quickly becoming apparent to me that my lack of practice would be exacerbated by my lack of familiarity with the Clash of Kings rules. Oh well, what was the worst that could happen?

The first game was always going to be rough. I had never deployed this army before, and had to try to remember rules and other inconvenient things...

New year, new challenges

Happy new year, everyone! I hope the holiday season was good to you, and Santa showered you with an unseemly amount of hobby goodness.

Naturally I spent the holiday break doing things other than updating the blog, which has become a bit of a theme. But I have been up to a few hobby-related things, so it's clearly time for an update.

First up, I am in the midst of preparing for the annual pilgrimage that is Cancon. For the third time I will be playing Kings of War at the event, and this time I have decided to take Elves. I think I have only used Elves once, in my first ever game of KoW. And naturally I will not be playing any practice games. In fact I don't think I've actually played a game of KoW since last Cancon. So yeah, what could go wrong?

Of course, it wouldn't be tournament preparation without trying to use the event as motivation for getting something painted. This time I have decided to paint up the Green Lady, a sabre-toothed pussy cat for her, and a regiment of Stormwind cavalry. In Warhammer terms this is Ariel, Queen of the Wood Elves, and a regiment of Silver Helms. 

Every time I go to paint Elves, I am reminded how much hard work I find it. They have far too many fiddly details that you either spend ages painting properly, or feel like you cheaped out by trying to ignore and hide it. This is probably why I've been avoiding painting these Silver Helms for about 15 years... It's time. I'll just try to ignore the stares of the 30 or so unpainted ones that were sitting behind this batch.

As for Ariel, I've had the model for about 20 years when I got her as part of the prize for the first tournament I ever entered. She has sat partly assembled for most of that time. Better than her husband, I guess. I got Orion at the same time and he's never even seen glue...

OK, so she's meant to be on a 40mm base. She balances remarkably well on a 20mm though, which is what she'll need to do when she is being the Green Lady. After all, she's just an Elf. A really, really tall Elf.