Bendigo Besieged 2026 - Part 5

This is the final part of my report of the recent 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy tournament, Bendigo Besieged. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 5 - Battle Line
Alex James - Orcs and Goblins (well, just Orcs really)

• Orc Warboss on War Boar with Great Weapon, Shield. Armour of Destiny, Dawnstone, The Other Trickster's Shard
• Savage Orc Great Shaman (Level 4, Lore of da Big Waaagh!) on War Boar with Lucky Shrunken Head, Ironcurse Icon, Sword of Striking, Talisman of Endurance (this array of items baffles me, but anyway...)
• Orc Big Boss (BSB) on War Boar with Great Weapon, Shield, Armour of Fortune, Talisman of Protection (again... 2 ward saves?)
• 46 Savage Orc Big'Uns with Additional Hand Weapons, Big Stabba, Full Command
• 40 Black Orcs with Shields, Full Command, War Banner
• 6 Trolls
• Giant with Warpaint
• Snotling Pumpwagon with Flappas

I deployed the Loremaster and his Swordmasters over on the right flank to deal with the Giant. Dragon Princes over on the other flank, to either go through the gap or around the tower, depending on what the Orcs did.

Bendigo Besieged 2026 - Part 4

This is the fourth part of my report of the recent 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy tournament, Bendigo Besieged. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 4 - Blood and Glory
Chad James - Empire

• Arch Lector with Great Weapon, Van Horstmann's Speculum, Armour of Destiny
• Battle Wizard Lord (Level 4, Lore of Life)
• Captain of the Empire (BSB) with Full Plate Armour, Enchanted Shield, Ironcurse Icon, Sword of Battle
• Luthor Huss, Prophet of Sigmar
• Battle Wizard (Level 1, Lore of Beasts) on Warhorse with Dispel Scroll
• Master Engineer with Ruby Ring of Ruin
• 38 Halberdiers with Full Command
• Detachment of 5 Archers
• 8 Inner Circle Knights with Lances and Shields, Full Command, Steel Standard
• 10 Archers
• 3 Demigryph Knights with Lances, Standard Bearer, Musician, Gleaming Pennant
• Great Cannon
• 5 Pistoliers
• Celestial Hurricanum
• Helblaster Volley Gun
• Steam Tank

Chad had a mixed arms Empire army with relatively defensive magic in the Lore of Life (especially when he didn't choose The Dwellers Below as one of his spells). My feeling was I probably had the muscle to win the fight provided the artillery didn't cruel me too badly on the way in, and the Steam Tank didn't find a way to ruin my day. I did have 2 copies of Searing Doom, and here it was looking like a very useful spell indeed.

Bendigo Besieged 2026 - Part 3

This is the third part of my report of the recent 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy tournament, Bendigo Besieged. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 3 - Watchtower
Peter Spiller - Vampire Counts

• Vampire Lord (Level 4, Lore of Vampires) with Heavy Armour, Quickblood, Red Fury, Shield, Ogre Blade, Talisman of Preservation, The Other Trickster's Shard
• Necromancer (Level 2, Lore of Vampires) with the Book of Arkhan
• Vampire (BSB, Level 2, Lore of Beasts) with Additional Hand Weapon, Shield, Armour of Destiny
• 40 Crypt Ghouls with Champion
• 42 Skeleton Warriors with Full Command
• 40 Zombies with Standard Bearer, Musician
• 2 Bat Swarms
• Corpse Cart with Balefire, Spear
• 40 Grave Guard with Great Weapons, Full Command, Banner of the Barrows

Pete is one of my regular opponents - in fact I've probably played more games of Warhammer against him than anyone else in the last 25 years. Of course, it had been many years since we'd actually played 8th edition together. Time to resume that particular rivalry...

I "won" the roll-off to control the Watchtower, however given I didn't have an eligible unit in my army to actually deploy in there, and I would be ceding the first turn... I really lost the roll-off for it. I put the Swordmasters right in front given they seemed best qualified to fight in the building.

Bendigo Besieged 2026 - Part 2

This is the second part of my report of the recent 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy tournament, Bendigo Besieged. You can find the previous part here.

Game 2 - Dawn Attack
Karl Bonwick - Warriors of Chaos

• Daemon Prince (Level 4, Lore of Metal) of Tzeentch with Chaos Armour, Daemonic Flight, Flaming Breath, Scaled Skin, Soul Feeder, Charmed Shield
• Exalted Hero (BSB) of Tzeentch on Daemonic Mount with Great Weapon, Shield, Burning Body, Third Eye of Tzeentch, Barding, Talisman of Preservation
• 25 Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch with Shields, Full Command, Standard of Discipline
• Chaos Chariot of Tzeentch
• 5 Chaos Warhounds
• 10 Chaos Knights of Tzeentch with Ensorcelled Weapons, Full Command, Banner of Swiftness
• Chimera with Flaming Breath, Regenerating Flesh
• Hellcannon

This was more like the sort of list I was worried about running into, with characters I was going to struggle to deal with. But the Daemon Prince wasn't immune to flaming attacks, so really there was just one plan there - Searing Doom...

Dawn Attack requires you to roll for each unit do determine whether things would start on the left, right, or centre. My deployment looks remarkably normal by my standards - I have some history with this scenario doing terrible things to me.

Bendigo Besieged 2026 - Part 1

Bendigo Besieged has finished, and I have finished my first 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy tournament in a few years. Really it's been my first games of 8th edition at all since Old World, except for a couple of practice games beforehand to serve as a bit of a refresher...

I've talked about my list before, but here it is again for reference:

• Prince on Ithilmar Barded Elven Steed with Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Giant Blade, Talisman of Endurance 
• Loremaster of Hoeth with Armour of Caledor, Great Weapon
• Mage (Level 2, Lore of Metal) with Opal Amulet
• Noble (Battle Standard Bearer) on Ithilmar Barded Elven Steed with Shield, Lance, Armour of Fortune
• 13 Silver Helms with Shields, Full Command
• 30 Spearman with Full Command
• 5 Dragon Princes of Caledor with Full Command
• 15 Phoenix Guard with Full Command, War Banner
• 15 Sword Masters of Hoeth with Full Command
• Frostheart Phoenix

Highlander Comp Score: +5

I didn't have huge expectations for how my games were likely to go. The list was not carefully tuned, my 8th edition skills were rusty, and I had basically not used High Elves in this edition. But I had played against them plenty of times, and hundreds of games of 8th ed over the years have to count for something. I figured I should have enough to make a game of it.

Snake Eyes 2026 - Part 5

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

Game 5 - Aus Team
Travis Cramb - Grand Cathay
Upon the Field of Glory

• Shugengan Lord (General, Level 4 Illusion) with  Lore of Yang, Heavy Armour, The Monkey King's Wisdom, Learned Feng Shi Bo, Potion of Speed
• Supreme Astromancer (Level 3, Elementalism) with Lore of Yin, Cloak of Po Mei, Ruby Ring of Ruin
• 20 Jade Warriors with Shields, Stubborn, Jade Officer, Standard Bearer, The Jade Banner
• 20 Jade Warriors with Shields, Stubborn, Jade Officer, Standard Bearer, War Banner
• 12 Peasant Levy with Warbows, Skirmishers, Ambushers
• 12 Peasant Levy with Warbows, Skirmishers, Ambushers
• Cathayan Grand Cannon with Ogre Loader
• Cathayan Grand Cannon with Ogre Loader
• 4 Crane Gunner Team with Ambushers, Reserve Move
• 5 Iron Hail Gunners
• 6 Jade Lancer with Ambushers, Stubborn, Jade Lancer Officer, Ring of Jet
• Sky Lantern with Iron Hail Guns and Dragon Fire Bombs

So we had made it to the final round, and found ourselves against a team of guys who are part of the team representing Australia at the ETC this year.

I missed taking a photo of my deployment, so you'll just have to imagine how brilliant it was. I did shield the Treeman behind cover so the Grand Cannons couldn't just pick him off before I moved, but then I got the first turn and I decided that I couldn't hide forever if I wanted to reach the enemy (because Wood Elves are a bloodthirsty race who love close combat more than anything), so I took the other approach of simply exposing myself to everyone and hoping for the best.

Snake Eyes 2026 - Part 4

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

The Saturday night saw a pizza dinner (with one of the largest piles of pizzas I've ever seen arriving on the tables), and Warhammer trivia. As per the previous year, there were some pretty silly questions, and it was fun. Unlike last year, we didn't win the trivia. Very sad. Oh well, next time.

Game 4 - Age of Sigmar Died For This? II
Ryan Kirby - Minotaur Blood Herd
Upon the Field of Glory

• Doombull (General) with Great weapon, Heavy armour, Shield, Bedazzling Helm, Talisman of Protection, Slug-skin
• Gorebull (BSB) with Full Plate Chaos Armour, Gnarled Hide, Shield, Enchanting Aura, The Soiled Tapestry
• 7 Minotaur Herd with Light armour, 3 Great weapons, 4 Shields, Full Command, Scimitar of Skultar, Manbane Standard
• 4 Minotaur Herd with Light armour, 3 Additional hand weapons, 1 Shield, Standard Bearer, Musician
• 10 Ungor Herd with Shortbows, Musician
• 1 Razorgor
• 1 Razorgor
• 1 Razorgor
• 4 Dragon Ogres with Great weapons, Heavy armour
• Dragon Ogre Shaggoth with Great weapon, Heavy armour, Chalice of Dark Rain

Ryan throws up the Minotaur horns as we complete deployment.

Snake Eyes 2026 - Part 3

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

Game 3 - Optimised Jank
Ben Hannan - Beastmen Brayherds
Upon the Field of Glory

• Great Bray-Shaman (General, Level 3, Elementalism) with Braystaff
• Great Bray-Shaman (Level 3, Elementalism) with Braystaff, Hagtree Fetish
• Bray-Shaman (Level 1, Dark Magic) with Braystaff
• Bray-Shaman (Level 1, Dark Magic) with Braystaff
• Bray-Shaman (Level 1, Dark Magic) with Braystaff
• Wargor (BSB) with Great weapon, Heavy armour, Shield, Slug-skin
• 33 Gor Herd with Hand weapons, Shields, True-horn (Great weapon), Standard bearer (Banner of Swirling Wind), Musician
• Tuskgor Chariot
• Tuskgor Chariot
• 13 Ungor Herd with Hand weapons, Shields, Half-horn, Musician
• 3 Dragon Ogres with Great weapons, Heavy armour
• Herdstone
• 5 Harpies
• Gigantic Spawn of Nurgle
• Dragon Ogre Shaggoth with Great weapon, Heavy armour, Chalice of Dark Rain

We had played Optimised Jank at last year's Snake Eyes, and they had made the trek down from NSW again. I had also ended up playing Ben's Beastmen last time, but the addition of the Herdstone and the loss of magic restrictions seemed to have taken over his mind and that of his list. 5 copies of Viletide, hey? Well... What could go wrong?

I deployed wide, including the unusual (foolish?) move of putting my Glade Guard over on the flank with a wall of terrain cutting them off from the rest of the field. I might have done this after the Dragon Ogres were deployed. I know the big Gor Herd unit went down afterward. I think I had decided I wasn't going to get clear shots on that key unit, so would concentrate on controlling a flank instead. I probably made life hard for myself by putting my forest where I did - just gave Ben more places to hide things.

Snake Eyes 2026 - Part 2

This is the second part of my report of the recent Old World tournament, Snake Eyes. You can find the previous part here.

Game 2 - Hungry Hungry Host
David Hauser - Orc & Goblin Tribes
Drawn Battlelines (3 Strategic locations, Baggage train)

• Black Orc Warboss (General) on Wyvern with Additional Hand Weapon, Trollhide Trousers, Talisman Of Protection
• Night Goblin Oddgit (Level 1, Illusion)
• Night Goblin Oddgit (Level 1, Illusion)
• Orc Bigboss (BSB) on War Boar with Heavy Armour, Shield, Da Banner of Butchery, Spelleater Axe, 'Eadbuttin'At
• 18 Black Orcs with Stubborn, Veteran, Full Command, War Banner, Great Weapons, 14 Shields
• 35 Night Goblins with Shields, Full Command, 3 Fanatics
• 35 Night Goblins with Shields, Full Command, 3 Fanatics
• 8 Night Goblin Squig Hoppers with Boss
• 13 Orc Boar Boys with Cavalry Spear, Heavy Armour, Shield, Big Un's, Full Command, Da Thinkin’ Orc’s ’At, The Big Red Raggedy Flag
• Doom Diver Catapult
• Goblin Rock Lobber

Ah, Mr Hauser. We meet again! It had been barely a month since our last meeting, and David's list was quite similar to the previous time. Of course my list was very different, so it was unlikely to be the same game.

I started my deployment, and only after I'd placed my bonus forest did I really process where the deep points of my angled zone were. Oh well. Good thing I'm a professional... 

Snake Eyes 2026 - Part 1

Another tournament is done and dusted. This time it's the second running of Snake Eyes, a team event with 4 players per team. Last year it was 3. Goodness knows what it will look like next year.

Army selection was a bit different from normal. The previous year there had been a cap on magic levels across the whole team. That was gone this time, but in addition to using the Grand Melee and Combined Arms limits, the following rules applied:

• Each player must use a different race
• All magic items (including extremely common) are unique and may not be taken
• more than once across the entire team
• Characters capped at 33%
• Flying and Ethereal units combined capped at 33%
• Undead cannot take Battle Standard Bearers
• No more than 2 of the same war machine from Special, and no duplicates from Rare
• No duplicate Behemoths (not counting mounts)

This all added up to make the army and list selection slightly headache-inducing, but eventually I decided I could field a semi-capable Wood Elf army with a couple of levers to pull, depending on what I found myself facing. 

Wood Elf Grand Army (2000 points)
Glade Lord (General) on Great Stag with Light armour, Shield, Orion's Favour, Dragon Slaying Sword, Sword of Might, An Annoyance of Netlings, Wild Rider Kindred
Spellweaver (Level 4, Lore of the Wilds) on Unicorn with Heartwood Pendant, Oaken Stave, Potion of Foolhardiness, Glamour Weave Kindred
23 Glade Guard with Fire & Flee, Swiftshiver Shards, Full Command, Razor Standard
12 Dryads with Nymph
10 Deepwood Scouts with Arcane Bodkins
5 Sisters of the Thorn with Handmaiden of the Thorn, Standard bearer
5 Wild Riders with Hunting spears, Light armour, Shields, Full Command
4 Warhawk Riders with Trueflight Arrows
Treeman with A Befuddlement of Mischiefs

No doubt this is far from the perfect Wood Elf army I could have chosen, but it included a few elements that amused me. Firstly, I liked the look of the Spellweaver. The Oaken Stave gave me some serious anti-magic ability, but her main party trick was going to be getting Dhurthu's Wrath and wailing on unsuspecting units that tried to get past her forest. That was the plan, anyway. Maybe not a perfect plan...

My general was also a bit of a question mark. I decided I needed the ability to kill something hard like a dragon, and he was my only hope. Of course, he was frenzied with 360 degree vision, so trying to steer him in the right direction could be a problem. I'd deal with that when it came up.

The heart of the army was the Glade Guard with multiple shots and the Razor Standard. They'd be rolling a ton of dice, and could potentially put a lot of hurt on something. That was exciting. The Scouts offered a little backup in terms of firepower, but it was going to be mainly about the Glade Guard.

Overall, I was a bit concerned that this army might end up needing a bit of finesse to use properly, and I really didn't have much in the way of practice with it. This was not a great combination, but it was the situation I had put myself in.

Each round, our team of 4 would be lined up against one of the other teams of 4. Then an some sort of intricate mating dance would take place in order to determine which army was facing which. Only 2 of the 4 tables had a scenario and objectives in play - the others were just playing Upon the Field of Glory. 

Game 1 - The Order of Questionable Chivalry
Matthew Soltys-Klein - High Elves
Upon the Field of Glory
Prince (General) on Star Dragon with Full plate armour, Shield, Opal Amulet, Seed of Rebirth, Sword of Might, Blood of Caledor
Archmage (Level 3 Battle Magic) with Silvery Wand, Sea Guard
6 Silver Helms with Lances, Heavy armour, Barding, Shields, Full Command, Ring of Fury
6 Elven Archers with Longbows
21 Lothern Sea Guard with Thrusting spears, Warbows, Light armour, Shields, Full Command
8 Dragon Princes with Lances, Full plate armour, Shields, Barding, Full Command, The Loremaster's Cloak
9 Sisters of Avelorn with Bows of Avelorn, Light armour, High Sister, Ruby Ring of Ruin
10 Sisters of Avelorn with Bows of Avelorn, Light armour, High Sister, Bow of the Seafarer
Lothern Skycutter with Cavalry spears, Shortbows
Too much of my attention during deployment was spent on trying to work out how to address the threat of the Sisters of Avelorn. I had to finish deployment before my opponent, and made the mistake of putting my Glade Lord pretty hard on the right flank. Naturally Matthew then placed his Star Dragon far, far away. I would get the first turn, but my ability to threaten the Star Dragon would be very limited. 

Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 6

This is the sixth and final 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 6: Drawn Battlelines (Strategic Locations (3))
Daniel Griffin - Lizardmen (Renegades)

• Slann Mage-Priest (Level 4, High Magic, General, Battle Standard Bearer) with Cupped Hands of the Old Ones, Ruby Ring of Ruin, Becalming Cogitation
• Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur with Heavy armour, Shield, Blade of Revered Tzunki, Talisman of Protection
• 20 Temple Guard with Halberds, Shields, Heavy armour, Full Command, Sun Standard of Chotec
• 12 Skink Skirmishers with Javelins, Shields, Light armour, Scouts
• 12 Skink Skirmishers with Javelins, Shields, Light armour, Scouts
• 12 Skink Skirmishers with Javelins, Shields, Light armour,
• 12 Skink Skirmishers with Javelins, Shields, Light armour
• Ancient Stegadon with Giant Bow
• Ancient Stegadon with Giant Blowpipes

In a small field, it was nice to see someone actually giving Lizardmen a run. I know they're not the greatest, but the Renegade pack does help quite a lot with a small number of changes.

Yeah, that Carnosaur... I couldn't fight that. Not with anything in my army. The blade ignores armour and ward saves, and frankly that's just not OK. And that's before the dinosaur starts tearing huge chunks off my relatively squishy dragons... No thank you. To be avoided. The Skinks scouted to try to bait my units toward the not-OK Carnosaur...

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...

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.

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.