Gaming Arena March 2026 Aftermath - Part 1

Another one day Old World tournament has been and gone, and I'm here with a bit of a report of how it went. In keeping with the pattern of never taking the same army to an event twice, this time I dug out my High Elves. Truth be told, I expect that pattern will end - not because I've run out of armies, but rather because I'd like to give my old High Elves some love and attention, and using them in more tournaments will probably help with that. Anyway...

The list I decided to take was pretty bad, and basically thrown together from the stuff that I had that was mostly presentable (I told you, they need some love and attention). I did paint up a Caledor archmage for the occasion, which just goes to show you how silly I am. The tournament was 2000 points, however characters were capped at 33%. This wasn't great (I realised very late), but I persisted with my rough plan and just trimmed important things off my characters. What could go wrong, right?

• Prince with Warden of Saphery, Sword of Hoeth, Armour of Caledor
• Archmage (Level 4, Illusion) on Barded Elven Steed with Blood of Caledor, Full plate armour, Meteor Hammer, Dragon Helm
• Noble on Griffon with Great weapon, Full plate armour, Shield
• 20 Elven Spearmen with Full Command, Monster Hunter's Tapestry
• 10 Elven Archers (Detachment)
• 16 Lothern Sea Guard with Standard bearer, Musician (no shields)
• 5 Silver Helms with Champion (no shields, see below)
• 6 Dragon Princes with Full Command
• 16 Swordmasters of Hoeth with Drilled, Full Command
• 1 Tiranoc Chariot
• 5 Sisters of Avelorn with High Sister (Bow of the Seafarer)

Note that neither the Sea Guard, nor the Silver Helms have shields. This is because I was using Maiden Guard as my Sea Guard, and they don't have shields. And it's because I stuffed up with the Silver Helms. I think I flicked them in and out of the list so many times that I ended up missing the checkbox. I played them as though they had shields, so I cheated by 5 points. It didn't matter; they never did anything...

Game 1 - Encirclement
Max Piccione - Dwarfen Mountain Holds

• Burlok Damminson
• Runelord with Great weapon, Full plate armour, Master Rune of Balance
• Thane with Handgun, Full plate armour, Shield, Rune of Accuracy, Rune of Rapid Fire, Master Rune of Bursting Flame
• Thane Battle Standard Bearer with Full plate armour, Shield, Master Rune of Grungni, Rune of Confusion
• 25 Dwarf Warriors with Heavy armour, Great weapons, Shields, Full Command, Rune of Battle
• 18 Quarrellers with Crossbows, Heavy armour, Shields, Full Command
• 16 Hammerers with Great hammers, Heavy armour, Shields, Drilled, Full Command, Master Rune of Hesitation
• Grudge Thrower with Rune of Reloading
• Organ Gun
• 14 Irondrakes with Drakeguns, Full plate armour, Drilled, Champion (Cinderblast bombs)
• Dwarf Cart, Bugman's Cart

The battlefield had 4 objectives as well as baggage trains. Note that I managed to lower the vibe significantly by forgetting to bring anything to represent these, so I was just using sad pieces of paper until Nick showed up to at least give me something to sit on top of them. I deployed my Chariot and Sisters over to the left, put the Sea Guard next to the hill with the Archers on it, then had the Prince leading the Spearmen (which was the general plan for the army), the Swordmasters in a silly squeezed formation due to space (but at least they had Drilled), the Silver Helms and finally the  Dragon Princes.

Nuln Army and the Slow Grow

It's been a while since my last Slow Grow update, but that doesn't mean it is over. The push for Cancon derailed me a bit, but eventually I regained a little focus. What should have been easily completed in February managed to bleed over into March, but eventually it got done.

First up, I have added 2 Volley Guns. I figured it wouldn't be a Nuln army without some, and somehow this still only brings my overall Empire army up to 3 or 4 in total.

Big Old Grudges Aftermath - Part 6

This is the sixth and final part of my account of the recent Big Old Grudges tournament. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Round 6: Upon the Field of Glory (Strategic Locations 3; Domination)
Matt Hinton - Chaos Dwarfs

• Sorcerer-Prophet (General, Level 4, Elementalism) with Tome Of Spellcraft, Mantle of Stone
• Black Orc Warboss with Great Weapon, Levitating Shield, Trollhide Trousers, Effigy Of Mork
• Infernal Seneschal Battle Standard Bearer with Great Weapon, Heavy Armour, The Lammasu's Beard, Charmed Shield, Arch-Lightning Rod
• Bull Centaur Taur’ruk with Great Weapon, Charmed Shield, 2x Mantle of Stone
• 19 Black Orcs with mix of Great Weapons, Shields, Boss, Standard Bearer, Monster Hunter's Tapestry
• 18 Hobgoblin Cutthroats with Shields, Boss
• 10 Infernal Guard with Hailshot Blunderbusses, Shield, Drilled, Deathmask, Standard Bearer, Overseer's Sigil
• 5 Bull Centaur Renders with Great Weapon, Bull Centaur Ba’hal, Standard Bearer, Rampaging Banner
• Iron Daemon with Steam Cannonade
• Iron Daemon with Steam Cannonade, Hellbound

Going into this game, I was aware that I had crept up the tables and was now in 5th place. This meant I was probably within reach of the podium if I somehow ended up with a good win. Obviously this was a very bad position for me to be in...

Yes, this is after we had both finished deploying. I was definitely out-deployed. Matt was able to buy a little time before committing by placing the Hobgoblin units, and I had to place important stuff early because I had no throw-away deployments. By the time it was apparent that he was going to stack things on my right flank, my deployment was pretty much done.

Big Old Grudges Aftermath - Part 5

This is the fifth part of my account of the recent Big Old Grudges tournament. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Round 5: Encirclement (Strategic Locations 4; Baggage Train)
Tim Stewart - Skaven

• Grey Seer (General; Level 4, Elementalism) on Screaming Bell with Warp Condenser
• Plague Priest (Level 1, Battle Magic) on Plague Furnace with Plague Censer, Warpstone Amulet
• Skaven Warlord with Halberd, Heavy Armour, Shield, Skavenbrew
• Skaven Chieftain Battle Standard Bearer with Halberd, Heavy Armour, Shield, Banner of Verminous Scurrying
• Warlock Engineer (Level 1, Elementalism) with Warplock Musket
• 23 Stormvermin with Halberds, Heavy Armour, Shields, Full Command, Grand Banner of Superiority
• Weapon Team (Ratling Gun)
• 24 Clanrats with Light Armour, Shields, Full Command
• Weapon Team (Ratling Gun)
• 24 Clanrats with Light Armour, Shields, Full Command
• Weapon Team (Ratling Gun)
• 10 Giant Rats
• 10 Giant Rats
• 6 Warplock Jezzails
• Doomwheel
• Hell Pit Abomination
• Warp Lightning Cannon

Tim and I had travelled up from Melbourne together, and both of us had looked at some of the lists the night before the tournament and realised that we might have brought spoons to a gun fight. So it seemed inevitable that we would meet sooner or later. As it turned out, it was not on the bottom table as we might have suspected. Tim was on his way down the tables after a strong start, whereas I was working my way up after I struggled early. Happily I hadn't really run into any of those nastier lists on my way here, so things were going OK.

Mine was a pretty basic deployment. Cavalry on the flanks, infantry in the centre, huge lumbering monster aimed to squeeze through the gap next to the tower before the Bulls closed it off. You can't quite see it here, but the Hunter and his Sabretusks were out on my right flank, near the centre of the table.

Big Old Grudges Aftermath - Part 4

This is the fourth part of my account of the recent Big Old Grudges tournament. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Round 4: A Chance Encounter (Baggage Train; Domination)
Geoff Googe – Warriors of Chaos

• Chaos Lord (General) on Gorebeast Chariot with Mark of Nurgle, Great Weapon, Favour of the Gods, Talisman of the Carrion Crow, Potion of Foolhardiness
• Sorcerer Lord (Level 3, Daemonology) with Mark of Nurgle, Spell Familiar, Tome of Spellcraft, Brazen Collar, Favour of the Gods, Enchanting Aura
• Exalted Champion on Chaos Steed with Mark of Nurgle, Great Weapon, Diabolic Splendour, Brazen Collar, Favour of the Gods
• Aspiring Champion Battle Standard Bearer with Mark of Nurgle, Shield, Favour of the Gods, Enhanced Reflexes
• 30 Warriors of Chaos with Mark of Nurgle, Shields, Full Command, War Banner, Enhanced Reflexes
• 9 Marauder Horsemen with Flails, Horsemaster, Unnatural Fortitude, Mark of Chaos Undivided
• 5 Warhounds with Vanguard
• 5 Warhounds with Vanguard
• 7 Chosen Chaos Knights with Mark of Nurgle, Drilled, Full Plate Armour, Lances, Full Command, Totem of Wrath, Dark Hearts
• Spawn of Nurgle (Gerald)
• Spawn of Nurgle (Helga)
• Gigantic Spawn of Chaos (Gunther) – Nurgle

This scenario asked for weird deployment zones in diagonally opposite table corners, with a dead space in the centre. There's meant to be a special feature in the middle, but it was an oversight in the player pack. This picture was after the Warhound units used vanguard. The slightly dark blob in the centre is the Marauder Horsemen on a hill, with the Chaos Knights in front of them.

With the Sorcerer Lord and BSB in there, this unit was worth something close to 1000 points before bonuses. It was also likely to be a hard nut to crack.

Big Old Grudges Aftermath - Part 3

This is the third part of my account of the recent Big Old Grudges tournament. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

We were 2 games into the event, and thus far things were not going especially well. But that was OK, it was a 6 game tournament. Plenty of time to turn things around... right?

Round 3: Close Quarters (Strategic Locations 2; Domination)
Adam Gooley - Beastmen Brayherds, Wild Herd

• Beastlord (General) with Shield, The Black Maul, Slug-skin
• Warhoof with Cavalry Spear, Shield, Ambushers, Full Plate Chaos Armour, Gnarled Hide
• Great Bray-Shaman (Level 4, Daemonology) with Hagtree Fetish
• Bray-Shaman (Level 2, Daemonology) 
• Bray-Shaman (Level 2, Daemonology) with Chalice of Dark Rain
• Bray-Shaman (Level 2, Primal Magic) with Lore Familiar, Scourge of the Burdened
• Primal Warherd (20x Gor with Additional Hand Weapons, 30x Ungor with Thrusting Spears,Shields) with Foe-render (Great weapon), Standard bearer (Totem of Rust) , Musician
• 25 Ungor Herd with Shortbows, Half-horn
• 5 Gor Herd with Additional hand weapons, Ambushers, True-horn (Great weapon)
• 5 Gor Herd with Additional hand weapons, Ambushers, True-horn (Great weapon)
• 12 Gor Herd with Additional hand weapons, Ambushers, True-horn (Great weapon), Standard bearer
• 5 Centigor Herd with Great weapons, Ambushers, Gorehoof, Standard bearer (The Soiled Tapestry)
• Herdstone
• Preyton with Ambushers, Frenzy
• Preyton with Ambushers, Frenzy
• Cygor

Adam's was a weird army. 4 Shamans who would want to stay near the Herdstone, a massive mixed unit of Gor and Ungor, and nearly everything else in the army was deploying in Ambush. This plan was not at all helped by the scenario, which prevented non-flying ambushers from entering from the short board edges. Well, we did realise that before deployment, but he stuck with his plan of keeping things in waiting. It made for a quick deployment.

The Ungor and Primal Warherd deployed on either side of the Herdstone. The Beastlord and BSB went into the big unit, and the Shamans all piled into the Ungor.

Big Old Grudges Aftermath - Part 2

This is the second part of my account of the recent Big Old Grudges tournament. You can find the first part here.

Round 2: Drawn Battlelines (Strategic Locations 3; Baggage Train)
Michael Solari - Kingdom of Bretonnia

• Lady Élisse Duchaard
• Baron on Royal Pegasus, Lance, Shield, The Knight's Vow, Virtue of Heroism
• Duke on Hippogryph, Shield, Virtue of Knightly Temper, General, Barding, Ogre Blade
• Paladin on Barded Pegasus, Lance, Shield, The Knight's Vow, Banner of Chalons, Obsidian Lodestone
• 22 Knights of the Realm on Foot, Shield, Great Weapon, The Knight's Vow, First Knight, Obsidian Lodestone, Standard Bearer, War Banner, Musician
• 12 Mounted Knights of the Realm, The Knight's Vow, First Knight, Obsidian Lodestone, Standard Bearer, Monster Hunter's Tapestry
• 15 Peasant Bowmen, Defensive Stakes
• 15 Peasant Bowmen
• 3 Pegasus Knights, The Knight's Vow, First Knight
• 9 Grail Knights, Grail Guardian, Obsidian Lodestone, Standard Bearer, Banner Of Swirling Wind

This list worried me a bit. There were a couple of characters who could really threaten my Stonehorn, and they flew...

We each lost a unit into reserve. I lost the smaller Mournfang unit, and Michael lost some Peasant Bowmen. Hardly seemed a fair trade... Anyway, I set up fairly warily in terms of the Stonehorn, trying to make sure that he wouldn't just get swept off the table cheaply. I possibly didn't give enough thought to control of the objectives, but I was more concerned about things that might just remove my units.