Recently we attended a slightly different Warhammer: The Old World tournament. This was an event with teams of 3 players, where each round the team would be matched against another team. A matching system similar to that used by the ETC was them employed to determine which armies would face each other on the tables, and the results were then tallied together at the end. A rather gentle "capping" system was in play, meaning that despite each game being determined by a 20-0 system, the overall team results would never be more than 20 apart. So the team would always get at least 20 points, and could never get more than 40. This essentially means the teams move around on the leaderboard exactly the same as solo players would with the normal 20-0 scoring system. It was a 5 round event over 2 days, and there were 14 teams in attendance (so 42 players).
There were some interesting rules in place for army selection. Every player in the team had to take a different race, and they couldn't duplicate magic items across their lists (so only 1 Ogre Blade between the 3 players). You could also only field a combined total of 8 levels of magic, and characters were capped at 600 points despite the armies being 2000 points. There were also some rules around spamming duplicate choices, but it all added up to mean that army selection was interesting. How would you spread the magic levels across the armies, which ones would work best with only 600 points of characters to work with, and did you need to look at armies like Dwarfs or Daemons, who don't need to fight over the magic items?
We ended taking a combination of Empire, Orcs and Goblins and Warriors of Chaos. Across the event there was a pretty wide range of armies in play, with only Wood Elves, Ogre Kingdoms and maybe Dark Elves not represented at all. Amusingly there was an identical over-equipped Chaos Lord on Dragon that managed to make its way into 4 lists (including ours).
Tim grabbed some quick photos of our armies when they were arrayed for the army parade. I failed to do so, because I'm a useless blogger. This was my Orc and Goblin army
Pete's Empire army, which was slightly less White Wolf than it really looked.
Tim's Warriors of Chaos army.
This was my list. Honestly not the most carefully designed thing in the world, but I managed to play a couple of practice games with it, and I didn't do too badly in those games. I also liked actually having some infantry... Unlike my teammates.
- Black Orc Warboss (350pts)
- General
- Wyvern
- Da Choppiest Choppa
- Enchanted Shield
- Trollhide Trousers
- Goblin Oddnob (175pts)
- Wizard Level 4
- Waaagh! Magic
- Giant Wolf
- Night Goblin Bigboss (65pts)
- Giant Cave Squig
- Cavalry Spear
- Light Armour
- Charmed Shield
- 15 Black Orc Mobs (246pts)
- Full Command
- 12x Shields
- 3x Great Weapons
- Stubborn
- Veteran
- 5 Goblin Wolf Rider Mobs (60pts)
- Musician
- Cavalry Spear
- Shield
- Light Armour
- 25 Night Goblin Mobs (162pts)
- Full Command
- Shield
- Netters
- 2x Fanatics
- 11 Night Goblin Squig Herds (89pts)
- 3x Squig Herder
- 8x Cave Squig
- 8 Night Goblin Squig Hopper Mobs (96pts)
- 12 Orc Boar Boy Mobs (260pts)
- Full Command
- Cavalry Spear
- Heavy Armour
- Shield
- Big Un's
- Giant (200)
- Giant (200)
- Mangler Squig (95)
Tim had almost as much trouble deciding on an army as I did, but eventually got excited by the prospect of the Chaos Dragon, and then largely accidentally ended up with exactly the same one that everyone else had. Originally he was going to have an extra arm so he could swing even more Ogre Blade attacks, but he was persuaded to change it. And then immediately regretted it when he realised he was fielding the same thing as everyone else.
- Chaos Lord (597pts)
- General
- Chaos Dragon
- Shield
- Mark of Nurgle
- Ogre Blade
- Favour of the Gods
- Enchanting Aura
- 9 Chaos Knights (297)
- Full command
- Lances
- Mark of Khorne
- 5 Marauder Horsemen (77)
- Horsemaster
- Musician
- Flails
- 5 Marauder Horsemen (77)
- Horsemaster
- Musician
- Flails
- 5 Chaos Warhounds (35)
- Vanguard
- 5 Chaos Warhounds (35)
- Vanguard
- 4 Dragon Ogres (259)
- Shartak
- Heavy Armour
- Great Weapons
- 3 Dragon Ogres (196)
- Shartak
- Heavy Armour
- Great Weapons
- Dragon Ogre Shaggoth (254)
- The Blackened Plate
- Great weapon
- Gigantic Spawn of Chaos (170)
- Mark of Nurgle
Pete had decided his usual Vampire Counts were not going to be a lot of fun with the character restrictions, so instead borrowed some of my Empire. His Wizard Lord generated a bit of excitement when the Dwellers guys were reviewing all the lists, but eventually they realised that the Chaos Dragons all having Enchanting Aura would surely spell the end of any hilarious monster-slaying shenanigans in that particular match up.
- Grand Master (299pts)
- General
- Shield
- Full Plate Armour
- Sword of Justice
- The White Cloak
- Wolf Hammer
- Order of the White Wolf
- Demigryph
- Wizard Lord (290pts)
- Wizard Level 4 - Illusion
- Dragon Slaying Sword
- Lore Familiar
- Ring of Fortune
- Pegasus
- 12 Empire Knights (355pts)
- Full Command
- Wolf Hammers
- Shields
- Drilled
- Order of the White Wolf
- War Banner
- 6 Empire Knights (150pts)
- Full Command
- Lances
- Shields
- 4 Demigryph Knights (273pts)
- Full Command
- Lances
- Full Plate Armour
- 4 Demigryph Knights (273pts)
- Full Command
- Lances
- Full Plate Armour
- 5 Empire Road Wardens (95pts)
- Brace of Pistols
- Empire Steam Tank (265pts)
So those were our 3 armies. Tim had no magic, but was giving it up for something pretty horrifying in that Chaos Dragon. We were all sick in the lead-up to the event, so any plans we might have had of actually analysing opposition lists in advance and working out a plan pretty much went out the window. We seriously considered pulling out, but in the end we were all more or less on the mend, and figured we should suck it up and support the event.
Round 1: Horus, His Bestie & The Doctor
Mick Ferraro (C) - (Horus)
Empire
- General of the Empire [326 pts]
- General
- Lance
- Shield
- Imperial Griffon
- The White Cloak
- The Silver Horn
- Twice-Blessed Armour
- Empire Engineer [45 pts]
- Wizard Lord [165 pts]
- Level 4 Wizard
- Earthing Rod
- Battle Magic
- 5 Empire Knights [138 pts]
- Preceptor [Charmed Shield]
- Standard bearer
- Musician
- Lances
- Shields
- Drilled
- 5 Empire Knights [133 pts]
- Full Command
- Lances
- Shields
- Drilled
- 5 Empire Knights [128 pts]
- Full Command
- Lances
- Shields
- 15 State Troops [105 pts]
- Full Command
- Halberds
- 5 Outriders [101 pts]
- Sharpshooter [Repeater handgun]
- Great Cannon [125 pts]
- 4 Demigryph Knights [273 pts]
- Full Command
- Lances
- Shields
- Full plate armour
- 4 Empire Road Wardens [76 pts]
- Brace of pistols
- Vanguard
- Steam Tank [265 pts]
- Helblaster Volley Gun [120 pts]
Andrew Jurksaitis (His best friend)
Warriors of Chaos
- Chaos Lord [597 pts]
- Shield
- Mark of Nurgle
- General
- Chaos Dragon
- Favour of the Gods
- Ogre Blade
- Enchanting Aura
- 5 Marauder Horsemen [87 pts]
- Flails
- Light armour
- Shields
- Mark of Khorne
- Marauder Horsemaster
- 5 Marauder Horsemen [87 pts]
- Flails
- Light armour
- Shields
- Mark of Khorne
- Marauder Horsemaster
- 5 Marauder Horsemen [87 pts]
- Flails
- Light armour
- Shields
- Mark of Khorne
- Marauder Horsemaster
- 5 Marauder Horsemen [87 pts]
- Flails
- Light armour
- Shields
- Mark of Khorne
- Marauder Horsemaster
- 5 Marauder Horsemen [82 pts]
- Flails
- Light armour
- Mark of Khorne
- Marauder Horsemaster
- 5 Marauder Horsemen [75 pts]
- Flails
- Light armour
- Mark of Khorne
- 1 Dragon Ogres [63 pts]
- Great weapons
- Heavy armour
- 1 Dragon Ogres [70 pts]
- Great weapons
- Heavy armour
- Shartak
- Chimera [195 pts]
- Regeneration (5+)
- Chimera [195 pts]
- Regeneration (5+)
- Warpfire Dragon [375 pts]
Alex Treble (The Doctor)
Tomb Kings
- Tomb Prince (144 pts)
- General
- Great Weapon
- Armour of the Ages
- Royal Herald (177 pts)
- Shield
- Battle Standard Bearer
- Banner of the Desert Winds
- Ruby Ring of Ruin
- Amulet of the Serpent
- High Priest (250 pts)
- Level 4 Wizard - Elementalism
- Lore Familiar
- Cloak of the Dunes
- 50 Skeleton Archers (255 pts)
- Champion
- 25 Tomb Guard (268 pts)
- Full Command
- 3 Ushabti (147 pts)
- Greatbows
- 3 Ushabti (147 pts)
- Greatbows
- Tomb Scorpion (70 pts)
- Tomb Scorpion (75 pts)
- Ambushers
- Tomb Scorpion (75 pts)
- Ambushers
- Necrosphinx (195 pts)
- Necrosphinx (195 pts)
So these guys had brought along another one of the Chaos Dragon clones, and I was the only one who had literally no defence against it. As a result, we led with my army to ensure we could choose to avoid the Chaos Warriors. I ended up facing the Empire as a result. Tim found himself in a Chaos Dragon face-off, and Pete's Empire took on the Tomb Kings.
Mick's Empire deployed deep, intent on shooting me as I came across the field.
Unfortunately I didn't really take close-ups of Mick's army, as it won the players' choice award for best painted.
I got the +1 for the first turn, but lost the roll-off anyway. I have no idea why there's a big hammer in my deployment zone. I didn't put it there...
Unfortunately basically the first act of the game was for the Giant on my left flank to get hit by both the Cannon and Steam Tank, and die immediately.
A Pillar of Fire appeared in the middle of the field. Bear in mind this event was before the major FAQ that arrived in late June, so Mick could still steer it wherever he wanted.
It was all a bit awkward working out what to do about engaging the lines. Things like the Demigryphs could out-fight pretty much everything I had, things were doing weird stuff with drilled and skirmish, and there was some unpleasant shooting going around. I put the Wyvern up hard, trying to trap the Knights in the corner and get him around behind the lines.
We advanced on the right as well, but I had no idea how I could do anything about the Steam Tank, without the help of the Giant.
The Knights triple marched to get out of the arc of the Giant and Wyvern, but their flank was within the charge range of my Squig Herd. The Outriders were also hiding, but finding their guns couldn't hurt the Wyvern.
The Knights on the other flank were very worried about my Mangler, and I was a bit worried about them as well. Shooting was about to start pouring into the Boar Boyz. I had moved the Squig Hoppers into the middle of the forest, but the Wizard smashed them with a Fireball. My Shaman had a shocking game in terms of dispelling. Mick could pretty much cast whatever he wanted.
Half the Boar Boyz were gone, but so were the Road Wardens. I honestly don't remember if they got caught by a charge from the Boar Boyz, or somehow got off the table.
There was a new Pillar of Fire in town, making a nuisance of itself near the Black Orcs. Also dangerously close to the Shaman, but he avoided it.
On the left flank, the Wyvern charged the Knights and I think they might have failed their terror test and fled the field. It left the Wyvern facing the wrong way, wasting a turn. My Squig Herd had rolled terribly to get to the Knights, even with a reroll for Warband. In fact they would keep doing this, each time they had a chance to charge. They never caught them. The Big Boss on his Squig headed over to the flank to try to help with the Outriders.
Look at this heroic marching. I tried to block their advance with a pile of books, but they found a way past.
In the end the Mangler Squig got to the Knights and tore them up. He then sailed off the field after failing to restrain.
The next volley saw the Boar Boyz wiped out. The Black Orcs continued to advance, being harried constantly by the Pillar of Fire that the Shaman refused to stop. The Night Goblins were getting closer, though.
The continued vain efforts of the Squig Herd to pin down the Knights.
The Squig hero failed to roll enough speed to get to the Outriders, so moved instead to help threaten the centre. The Wyvern got into a better position for the following turn.
Why were the Night Goblins here? I think they panicked, or maybe failed a terror test from the Steam Tank. And they took the Wolf Riders with them. They left the Shaman dangerously exposed, except that the Tank had conveniently parked right in front of the artillery. At this point the only Black Orc remaining was the unit champion. I think the Volley Gun had turned on his unit after finishing off the Boar Boyz. The Squig Hoppers were also gone, courtesy of another Fireball.
The left flank was suddenly looking rather empty. The Outriders managed to gun down the Squig-riding Big Boss, the Demigryphs wheeled around and left, and there was a lot of empty space.
Before they fled, the Night Goblins had released their Fanatics toward the Halberdiers protecting the Wizard, as well as the Griffon. Nothing came of it - everyone was fine. But now there was one flailing around right next to where my Wyvern decided to land.
The Mangler Squig had re-entered the battlefield, and was gnashing his way around the terrain in the corner.
My new plan was to ambush the sneaky Knights with the ghosts of dead Orcs. Nothing much came of that either.
I believe the Demigryphs declared a charge on the Night Goblins, they elected to flee, rolled terribly, and were only saved by the forest and Mick also rolling poorly.
A bit of a mess erupted in the next turn, and I don't really have a good picture of it happening. The Wyvern charged the Cannon. The Mangler Squig got to the Volley Gun. The Giant charged the Wizard Lord's Halberdiers, who failed their terror test, fled a long distance, and ended up popping through the Cannon and off the field. The Black Orc champion was getting really close to things, so another Pillar of Fire removed him. The Night Goblins rallied, and were promptly charged by the Demigryphs in the front, and those sneaky drilled Knights in the flank. They fought bravely. Actually, they fought terribly, including netting themselves. But then they rolled double 1s for the break test, so all was forgiven!
I think this might be how the game finished. The Demigryphs had declined to come and help finish the Night Goblins, worried about being flanked by the Wyvern. Consequently the Night Goblins ended up surviving the attentions of the Knights alone.
It had not been a great game for me. I didn't feel like I had handled the challenge especially well. I had lost the Boar Boyz, Black Orcs, a Giant, the Squig Hoppers, the Big Boss on his Squig. All of them had been either shot or magicked off the field. For my part, I had killed 2 of the Knight units, the Halberdiers and Wizard Lord, the Road Wardens and the Cannon and Volley Gun. It was a draw. That honestly felt pretty lucky.
Result: 10-10 Draw
In the other games:
From Tim: The game was dominated by the fact that both players had the omnipresent chaos lords on dragons, which unfortunately resolved itself by turn 3 when his lord inflicted a nice 8 wounds in one round of combat and finished mine up on the follow up; let's say one player's rolls on the Eye of the Gods was significantly better.
Seems a fitting table for 2 Chaos armies to meet.
The fateful combat between the Chaos Lords on Dragons.
The second half of the game was dominated by a game of tag where my units were avoiding his lord, and his warpfire dragon was trying (unfortunately successfully) to avoid being charged by either the spawn or the 4 dragon ogres.
One fun highlight was the spawn failing to roll a 10 on three dice to rear charge the warpfire dragon, resulting it being rear charged by two Horsemen units, and leaving that combat with more wounds than it started with.
The Spawn fails to charge the Warpfire Dragon in order to lure fresh meat into its rear...
In the end, I got his horsemen and a few Dragon ogres, he got my dragon, the unit of 3 Dragon ogres and all my core for a 15-5 loss.
Result: 5-15 Loss
Pete found that he had no answer for a unit of 50 poisoned archers teleporting all over the place with Travel Mystical Pathways (before the FAQ changes). He got shot to hell all over the board, and his Demigryphs got a bit traffic jammed. The Wizard on his Pegasus did manage to catch up with (and remove) a Necrosphinx, but that was the highlight of the game.
Result: 1-19 Loss
Total Match Result: 20-40 Loss
Unfortunately we hadn't fared especially well overall. We had lost 16-44, however the system meant we were "capped" at 20-40. Ah well. Still 4 more rounds to go.
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