Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 4

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 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...

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.

Big Old Grudges Aftermath - Part 1

Another tournament has been run and won, and as usual I'm here to provide my rundown of how things went for me. No, you can't stop me. And no, you don't have to read it...

Big Old Grudges took the place of what would usually have been the Old World tournament at Cancon. The organisers decided to run it away from the larger convention, at Jolt Games (a nearby game store with the capacity to host the tournament). As someone who travelled up in a group of 10 people to "attend Cancon", only for 2 of us to split off and spend the weekend somewhere... Well, I am opposed to tournament splitting off and running elsewhere. It's been done with other games before (Kings of War has been running offsite for a number of years now, and seems to be doing OK), but realistically those of us who travel to Canberra are often looking to be part of the convention, rather than only being able to drop in for brief appearances.

Having said all that, the venue was large and comfortable, the prize support was significant (one of the benefits of not having to fit under Cancon's umbrella, I think), and everything ran very smoothly. It was surely cooler at Jolt than it was in the big sheds at Cancon, with the weather maxing out at nearly 40 degrees Celsius on the second day.

The tournament was for 2500pt armies, with 6 games over 3 days. It allowed the Renegade rules for Legacy armies, and that (combined with the fact that I'd been meaning to give them some love for a long time) resulted in me deciding to take an Ogre Kingdoms army. Did I give great thought to what I wanted to use in the list? Well no, not really... But this is what I ended up with:

• Tyrant on Stonehorn with Tenderiser, Talisman of Protection
• Slaughtermaster (Level 4, Illusion) with Butcher's Cauldron, Skullplucker, Spangleshard
• Bruiser Battle Standard Bearer with Armour of Meteoric Iron, Great Weapon
• Hunter with Sword of Might, Longstrider, Scout
• 8 Ironguts with Heavy Armour, Great Weapons, Full Command, Look-out Gnoblar
• 8 Ogre Bulls with Light Armour, Ironfists, Full Command, Cannibal Totem
• 4 Sabretusk Pack with Scouts
• 4 Mournfang Cavalry with Heavy Armour, Ironfists, Full Command, Totem of Wrath
• 3 Mournfang Cavalry with Heavy Armour, Ironfists, Full Command

It was not a lot of units, but at least having a couple of large Core units gave me a chance of contesting objectives. I had high hopes for the Tyrant with his Tenderiser catching up to something horrible at some point in the tournament, and also had the potential giggles of the Slaughtermaster always striking first with killing blow, possibly enhanced by Spectral Doppleganger...

Also full disclosure here, when I made the list I had failed to realise that Scouts can't charge in the first turn. I knew that they couldn't do it if they got the first turn in 8th edition, but they took that rule off Vanguard in The Old World (though apparently they added a similar rule back later). I think I just got confused. Consequently I did charge a couple of times in the first turn before someone queried it at dinner that night, and I realised I had been cheating. I can't say massive things came of it, but I apologise to my opponents anyway. Funny that my failure to apply the rules wasn't spotted by anyone until I was discussing my games with someone who wasn't even playing... We're all so clever. Anyway, I definitely won't be making that particular mistake again. I can find a new one. Gotta keep it fresh, you know?

Round 1: King of the Hill (Baggage Train)
Dylan Martin - Dwarf Expeditionary Force

• Burlok Damminson (General)
• Thane on Shieldbearers with Great weapon, Full plate armour, Shield, Master Rune of Smiting
• Thane with Battle Standard (Master Rune of Grungni, Rune of Battle), Great weapon, Full plate armour, Shield, Rune of Fortitude, Rune of Passage
• Runesmith with Great weapon, Full plate armour, Shield, Master Rune of Calm, Rune of Passage
• Runesmith with Great weapon, Full plate armour, Shield
• 16 Rangers with Crossbows, Throwing axes, Heavy armour, Great weapons, Shields, Champion, Standard bearer (Rune of Battle)
• 18 Thunderers with Handguns, Heavy armour, Shields, Expeditionary Marksmen, Champion, Standard bearer
• 18 Dwarf Warriors with Heavy armour, Great weapons, Shields, Drilled, Champion, Standard bearer (Master Rune of Hesitation), Musician
• 16 Rangers with Crossbows, Throwing axes, Heavy armour, Great weapons, Shields, Champion, Standard bearer
• Dwarf Cart (Bugman's Cart)
• Bolt Thrower 
• Bolt Thrower
• 1 Gyrocopters (Steam gun)
• 1 Gyrocopters (Steam gun)
• 16 Miners with Great weapons, Heavy armour, Champion, Standard bearer
• 12 Miners with Great weapons, Heavy armour, Champion, Standard bearer
• Doomseeker with Master Rune of Alaric the Mad, Rune of Wrath

This was one of those weird armies where Dylan only setup a fraction of his models before Scouts were placed, and all the Miners were hanging back until later in the game.

Empire Ogre Hobby Update

It's a new year, and very nearly not even the first month in the new year at this point. As usual, time is getting away from me. But that's OK, because I have hobby progress to show you! The annual pilgrimage to Cancon happened on the weekend just past, and whilst I am yet to put together my usual report of the tournament, I can show you the stuff I was rather frantically painting right up to the day before the event. I had decided I wanted to use the tournament as motivation to make some progress on my Ogres, and that's what I have to show now.

First up, I now have a Tyrant on Stonehorn! To my mind, this was an option I very much wanted if I was going to take Ogres to a tournament. He's big and scary. I don't know about competent, but you can't have everything, right?

Having decided that the things I was working on would be in the style of my Empire Ogres (rather than the similar sized force of more traditional Ogres I also have lying around), I needed a suitable rider. The Ogre is a mix of 3D printed bits from Infernal Miniatures (though the shield and pauldrons I sourced from some Bretonnians somewhere, and adjusted them to fit). The hammer is one of my old putty creations.