Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 5

This is the fifth part of my report of the recent Old World tournament at Arcfest. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 5: Encirclement (Strategic Locations (4))
David Hauser - Orcs and Goblins

• Black Orc Warboss (General) on Wyvern with Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour, Trollhide Trousers, Grisly Trophy Rack, Talisman Of Protection
• Orc Weirdnob (Level 3, Battle Magic) on War Boar with Spelleater Axe, Lore Familiar
• Orc Bigboss (Battle Standard Bearer) on War Boar with Cavalry Spear, Heavy Armour, Shield, The Big Red Raggedy Flag
• Night Goblin Oddgit (Level 1, Illusion)
• 16 Black Orcs with Full Command, Full Plate Armour, Great Weapons, (13 with Shields) Stubborn, Monster Hunter's Tapestry
• 35 Night Goblins with Shields, Full Command, Banner Of Swirling Wind, 3 Fanatics
• 9 Night Goblin Squig Hopper Mobs with Boss
• 11 Orc Boar Boys with Cavalry Spears, Heavy Armour, Shields, Big Un's, Full Command, Da Thinkin’ Orc’s ’At, Da Banner of Butchery
• Doom Diver Catapult
• Doom Diver Catapult
• Goblin Rock Lobber

I'm not gonna lie, I was so excited to play David. His army was so beautiful and retro. I did with the best army vote at the end of the event, which was not really surprising.

His army is so small! I mean, so is mine, but he didn't exactly need the whole deployment zone, did he?

Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 4

This is the fourth part of my report of the recent Old World tournament at Arcfest. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 4: King of the Hill (Baggage Trains, Break Point)
Jacob D'Arcy - Nehekharan Royal Hosts

• Tomb King (General, Hierophant, Level 1 Necromancy) on Skeleton Chariot with Heavy armour, Death Mask of Kharnutt, The Conqueror's Blade
• Tomb King on Necrolith Bone Dragon with Heavy armour, Blade of Antarhak, Talisman of Protection, Shield of Ptra
• Royal Herald (Battle Standard Bearer) on Skeleton Chariot with Shield, Armour of Destiny, Icon of Rakaph
• Skeleton Infantry Cohort (25 Royal Host Warriors, 18 Royal Host Archers) with Light armour, Thrusting spears and Shields (Warriors), Warbows (Archers), Nehekharan Phalanx, Master of Arms [Amulet of the Serpent], Standard bearer
• 3 Skeleton Chariots with Cavalry spears, Warbows
• 4 Tomb Guard Chariots with Halberds, Shields, Tomb Captain [Icon of Rulership], Standard bearer [Icon of the Sacred Eye]
• Tomb Scorpion
• Screaming Skull Catapult with Skulls of the Foe
• Screaming Skull Catapult with Skulls of the Foe

The scenario was King of the Hill, so the Sea Guard went near the centre to try to grab control of it. The 2 Screaming Skull Catapults seemed a bit ominous for my Dragons. I needed to get to those.

Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 3

This is the third part of my report of the recent Old World tournament at Arcfest. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 3: Close quarters (Strategic Locations (2), Domination)
Lachie Mulcahy - High Elves 

• Prince (General) on Star Dragon with Full plate armour, Sword of Might, Dragon Helm, Opal Amulet, Seed of Rebirth, Pure of Heart
• Archmage (Level 4, Elementalism) with Sea Guard, Ruby Ring of Ruin, Silvery Wand
• 27 Lothern Sea Guard with Thrusting spears, Warbows, Light armour, Shields, Full Command, Razor Standard
• 5 Silver Helms with Lances, Heavy armour, Barding, Shields, High Helm (champion)
• 20 White Lions of Chrace with Chracian great blades, Heavy armour, Guardian [The Loremaster's Cloak], Standard bearer
• 6 Dragon Princes with Lances, Full plate armour, Shields, Barding, Drakemaster, Standard bearer
• 10 Sisters of Avelorn with Bows of Avelorn, Light armour, High Sister [Bow of the Seafarer]

I had expressed my concern going into the event that I had no way to kill a Star Dragon, and knowing that Lachie would have one. Well, here we were, and Lachie was fielding a list that was pretty similar to the one he had last time we met. Hopefully this game would go a little better. At least my list was very different...

The armies lined up, objective on either side.

Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 2

This is the second part of my report of the recent Old World tournament at Arcfest. You can find the previous part here.

Game 2: A Chance Encounter (Special Features, Domination)
Ben Hallett - Jade Fleet

• Shugengan Lord (General, Level 4, Illusion, Lore of Yang) on Great Spirit Longma with The Monkey King's Wisdom, Scrolls of Wei-jin
• Shugengan General (Level 1, High Magic, Lore of Yang) on Great Spirit Longma with Celestial blade
• Gate Keeper (Battle Standard Bearer) with Celestial blade, Heavy armour, Shield, Banner of Swirling Wind, Sigil of Smoke & Powder
• 25 Jade Warriors with Shields, Heavy armour, Drilled, Stubborn, Jade Officer [Spirit Lantern], Standard bearer [The Jade Banner], Musician
• 8 Jade Lancers with Cathayan lances, Shields, Heavy armour, Barding, Ambushers, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer [Ring of Jet + Charmed Shield], Standard bearer, Musician
• Cathayan Grand Cannon with Ogre Loader [Gunpowder bombs]
• Cathayan Grand Cannon with Ogre Loader [Gunpowder bombs]
• Cathayan Sentinel with Granite Sentinel
• Sky Lantern with Sky Lantern Crane Guns

This was only going to be my second game against Cathay, but I can't say as I was feeling very optimistic with 2 Grand Cannons that could double fire once, a Shugengan Lord that could easily kill a Dragon in a turn (maybe even without casting Spectral Doppelganger), and a Sentinel that could hit me with Monster Slayer... After a big win in the first round, this felt like it was likely to be a correction.

Last tournament, this deployment absolutely wrecked me. I had nowhere near enough room, my army was ill suited to it, and I had no idea how to approach it. This was a little better, although I realised after deploying the Dragon Princes that my opponent had cannons, and I might not get the first turn...

Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 1

It seems there's an Old World tournament every month at the moment, and on the weekend it was a 2 day, 6 game event as part of the Arcfest convention. There were hundreds of people playing 40K downstairs, but in the end we only had something like 14 registrations for Old World. In the end this turned out to be fine - the whole thing had a real small community vibe, which was fun.

After the debacle that was my last tournament outing with a dubious High Elf list, this time I decided to make use of the relatively relaxed restrictions (just the Grand Melee and Combined Arms rules from the Matched Play guide), and fielded a silly Caledor themed army:

Yes, that's the whole army. It's tiny.

• Blood of Caledor Noble (General) on Sun Dragon with Full plate armour, Shield, Lance, Seed of Rebirth
• Blood of Caledor Archmage (Level 3, Illusion) on Sun Dragon with Full plate armour, Dragon Helm, Burning Blade, Seed of Rebirth
• Blood of Caledor Noble (Battle Standard Bearer) on Sun Dragon with Full plate armour, Shield, Lance, Seed of Rebirth
• 25 Lothern Sea Guard with Thrusting spears, Warbows, Light armour, Shields, Full Command, Razor Standard
• 6 Silver Helms with Heavy armour, Shields, Barding, Lances, Standard bearer [War Banner], High Helm (champion) [Charmed Shield]
• 6 Dragon Princes with Full plate armour, Shields, Barding, Lances, Drakemaster, Standard bearer
• Merwyrm

Gaming Arena March 2026 Aftermath - Part 3

This is the third and final part of my account of the recent one day tournament at Gaming Arena. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 3 - A Chance Encounter
Nicolas Hellstern - Bretonnian Errantry Crusade

Duke on Barded Pegasus with Heavy armour, Shield, Crusader's Lance

Lady Élisse Duchaard (Level 3, Elementalism) with Chalice of Brionne, The Staff of the Elements

Paladin Battle Standard Bearer on Bretonnian Warhorse with Heavy armour, Shield, War Banner, Crusader's Clarion

12 Knights Errant with Lances, Shields, Heavy armour, Barding, Full Command, Banner of Châlons
12 Knights Errant with Lances, Shields, Heavy armour, Barding, Full Command
12 Squires with Longbows, Scouts
12 Squires with Longbows, Scouts
5 Pegasus Knights with Lances, Shields, Heavy armour, Barding, Full Command, Errantry Banner

6 Grail Knights with Lances, Shields, Heavy armour, Barding, Full Command, Crusader's Tapestry

There must have been another item or two in there, as that's not quite the right points total. But it's close enough.

I had enormous difficulty with the deployment in this scenario. The strange, narrow shape of what is effectively the "front" of the zone and the impassable terrain everywhere (including the special feature in the middle) left me feeling like I couldn't deploy anything where I wanted it. I compensated for this by deploying very badly, with units overlapping and blocking each other, and generally not thinking well enough ahead. Didn't help that I wasn't sure how I was going to face an army that could get through the gaps, charge further than me, and mess my units up... Nicolas placed a scouting unit behind me, near the baggage train.

Gaming Arena March 2026 Aftermath - Part 2

This is the second part of my account of the recent one day tournament at Gaming Arena. You can find the previous part here.

Game 2 - King of the Hill
Lachie Mulcahy - High Elves

• Prince on Star Dragon with Full plate armour, Shield, Sword of Might, Seed of Rebirth (maybe...)
• Archmage (Level 4, Elementalism)
• 30 Lothern Sea Guard with Thrusting spears, Warbows, Light armour, Shields, Full Command, Razor Standard
• 5 Silver Helms with Lances, Heavy armour, Barding, Shields, High Helm
• 6 Dragon Princes with Lances, Full plate armour, Shields, Barding, Full Command
• 21 White Lions of Chrace with Chracian great blades, Heavy armour, Full Command, The Loremaster's Cloak
• 10 Sisters of Avelorn with Bows of Avelorn, Light armour, High Sister (Bow of the Seafarer)

That's not exactly right, but it's pretty close. This was the second one day event I've attended at Gaming Arena, both of them organised by Lachie. And for the second time, I had run into him (and his Star Dragon) in the second round. An unfortunate pattern...

Behold our illegal deployment! Turns out you can't go within 8" of the short edges during deployment in this scenario. Serves me right for losing my Matched Play Guide and trusting the TO...