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.