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.

Cancon 2025 Aftermath - Part 6

This is the final part of my Cancon report. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Game 6 - Command & Control
Callum Borthwick - Ogre Kingdoms

• Tyrant on Thundertusk with Deathcheater, Ironfist, Light Armour, Tenderiser, Talisman Of Protection
• Slaughtermaster (Level 4, Battle Magic) with Deathcheater, Grut’s Sickle
• Bruiser with Battle Standard (Bull Standard), Deathcheater, Light Armour
• 20 Gnoblar Fighters
• 6 Ironguts with Great Weapons, Heavy Armour, Full Command, Veteran, The Blazing Banner
• 6 Ogre Bulls with Ironfists, Light Armour, Full Command, Cannibal Totem
• Ironblaster 
• 4 Maneaters with Light Armour, Full Command, Immune to Psychology, Poisoned Attacks
• 4 Mournfang Cavalry with Light Armour, Ironfists, Full Command
• 3 Yhetees with Greyback, Scouts

These Titan Forge Ogres are very nice. That is a Tyrant on a Thundertusk. Naturally it scuttles sideways (he's facing the camera)

Axemaster 2023 Aftermath - Part 3

This is the final part of my report of a recent tournament. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

With one game to go, I was now sitting on a win and a loss. Coming away with more wins than losses would feel like a solid success for the event, so now I just had to win my final game.

Game 3 - Pitched Battle
Jonathan Harry - Vampire Counts

• Blood Dragon Vampire Lord on Barded Nightmare with Full Plate Armour, Shield, Great Weapon, Ring of the Night, Black Periapt, Red Fury, Heart Piercing
• Necromancer (Level 2) with Book of Arkhan, Dispel Scroll
• Necromancer (Level 2) with Spell Familiar, Dispel Scroll
• 20 Skeleton Warriors with Light Armour, Shields, Full Command
• 20 Zombies with Standard Bearer, Musician
• 9 Ghouls
• 5 Dire Wolves
• 5 Dire Wolves
• 25 Grave Guard with Heavy Armour, Shields, Full Command, War Banner
• 9 Black Knights with Heavy Armour, Shields, Barding, Full Command, Banner of the Barrows
• 4 Fell Bats
• 3 Spirit Hosts

A Blood Dragon Vampire and enough magic to pretty easily force some spells past my defences... This game could be a struggle. This time the scenario was a normal battle, so I didn't have to worry about controlling something in particular. I could focus on... Not dying.

Deployment was interesting. I decided to anchor my flank with the forest, and put the Republican Guard closest to it in the hope that it would keep any fighting to their front. I found Jono's placement of his Vampire lord unusual. Putting cavalry out on the flank is nothing really new, but when it's taking the main combat threat in your force and the ability to march within his leadership range over there, and there's a forest blocking you from the enemy's flank. In his defence, he hasn't played as much 6th edition as he has 8th edition Warhammer... He might have forgotten what a barrier that forest would likely be.

All lined up and ready to go.

Axemaster 2023 Aftermath - Part 2

This is the second part of my report of a recent tournament. You can find the first part here.

My first game had not gone particularly well, but there was still plenty of time to salvage some respectability for the mercenary Ogres.

Game 2 - Take and Hold
Orest Mikulin - Orcs and Goblins

• Orc Warboss on Wyvern with Light Armour, Fumpa's Club of Fumpin (+2 Strength), Ironskin Shield
• Orc Big Boss on Boar with Battle Standard, Drog's Dead Ard Armour (1+ save), Sword of Might
• Night Goblin Shaman (Level 2) with Mad Cap Mushrooms
• Night Goblin Shaman (Level 2) with Nibbla's Itty Ring
• 20 Night Goblins with Full Command, Spears, Shields, 3 Netters, 3 Fanatics
• 20 Night Goblins with Full Command, Spears, Shields, 2 Netters, 3 Fanatics
• 5 Wolf Riders with Musician, Spears, Short Bows, Shields
• 5 Wolf Riders with Musician, Spears, Short Bows, Shields
• 20 Black Orcs with Full Command, Great Weapons, War Banner
• Goblin Rock Lobber
• Goblin Spear Chukka
• Goblin Spear Chukka
• 6 Trolls
• Giant

Orest was running a very classic style of Orc and Goblin army. Wyvern, Giant, Trolls... All the "good" stuff (by which I mean, all the stuff you want, but which might not actually end up being any good). This felt like a list that lined up better with mine in terms of power level. The scenario offered 500 victory points at the end of the battle if you controlled the centre point of the table (that pile of sandbags in the picture below). 500 is a lot of points, so this was something you couldn't really afford to ignore entirely. I won the roll-off for table edge and actually bothered changing sides (I don't normally, because I'm very lazy). 2 hills seemed a little too convenient when he had 3 war machines...

Lining up my troops, looking at my units, wondering who is really disposable enough to "draw out" the Fanatics... Not really something I factored into my list building. Nobody wanted to volunteer, especially when one unit had Mad Cap Mushrooms (which doubles the Fanatic impact on the turn they're released).

Axemaster 2023 Aftermath - Part 1

Well, I have survived another 6th edition Warhammer Fantasy tournament. We decided to resurrect our local tournament Axemaster after maybe a 7 year gap, running it using 6th edition because that seems to be where most of the enthusiasm is at present. I've posted my slightly dubious list previously, but here it is again for reference:

• Tyrant with Heavy Armour, Luck Gnoblar, Tenderiser, Wyrdstone Necklace
• Bruiser with Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Luck Gnoblar, Sword of Might, Talisman of Protection
• Butcher with 2 Dispel Scrolls
• 6 Ogre Bulls with Light Armour, Iron Fists, Standard Bearer, Crusher
• 3 Ironguts with Standard Bearer, Look-Out Gnoblar, Great Weapons, Heavy Armour
• 3 Ironguts with Great Weapons, Heavy Armour
• 2 Leadbelchers with Light Armour
• 20 Ricco's Republican Guard (Regiment of Renown)
• 10 Braganza's Besiegers (Regiment of Renown)
• 6 Voland's Venators (Regiment of Renown)
• 1 Bull Rhinox Rider with Heavy Armour, Iron Fist

I was focusing on it more as an opportunity to use stuff like Dogs of War, and trying not to think too hard about how my games would likely go... Well, now we can find out how big a mistake that was.

Mercenary Ogre Tyrant

Axemaster is in less than a week, and I've been making reasonable progress on my preparations.

I now have a new Ogre Tyrant model, made to try to tie in with the armoured aesthetic of Ricco's Republican Guard and Voland's Venators. This is important, because they will all be in my list, and it's important to focus on capturing the vibe when winning most of my games is probably off the table...

One heavily armoured Ogre with a very large hammer. I struggled to decide on colours for him, and in the end the hammer grip was kind of me not making a decision at all - there was room for both colours!

Painting Heavy Pike Ogres

Well in my last post My Republican Guard Ogres were assembled. Now they are painted! Hooray for progress! 

3 very heavily armoured Ogres, ready to go poke something with their long, pointy sticks.

As is always the case for things that I've sculpted myself, these guys didn't take long to paint. There is a certain lack of detail that helps speed things up. If they all had hourglasses and fish and dead cats hanging from their belts, it would take a lot longer (even if they might look fancier at the end). Simple is good. Simple is fast.

This guy was the first I constructed, and probably still my favourite.

Moonstruck Aftermath - Part 5

This is part 5 of my account of the recent tournament, Moonstruck. You can find the previous part here.

Game 5 - Battleline
Matt Sellick, Ogre Kingdoms

• Slaughtermaster - lvl 4 Great maw. Sword of anti heros, d/scroll & tali of pres
• Slaughtermaster Gen- lvl 4 heavens. Great wep, Hell heart, Armour of destiny
• Hunter on Stonehorn - Sword of striking, dragonhelm, giantbreaker, harpoon launcher, ironfist,
• Bruiser BSB: Death cheater, Rune Maw, heavy armour,great wep.
• 11 ogres. F/C iron fists
• 8 ogres. F/C iron fists
• 1 sabretusk
• 1 sabretusk
• 4 maneaters: standard, Dragonhide banner (scout/swiftstride)
• Ironblaster

Comp Score: 4

Ogres again! What was it with Ogres? After losing my previous game, I kind of assumed that I would be pushed properly off the top tables and fade safely into anonymity in the middle of the room. Turns out that wasn't quite right. There were a lot of people who had won 3 games at this point, but I seemed to be on top of them, presumably thanks to losing no points due to comp and taking the odd table quarter. So I plummeted all the way from Table 1, back down to Table 4.

Matt's army was a bit different from the previous two Ogre armies. There was not an Irongut in sight, and there was an actual Hunter on a Stonehorn! Truly ruly! I mean, I know you can put a Hunter on a Stonehorn, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually do it. This match-up looked pretty good for me, really. Apart from the Stonehorn, the army lacked a real number of high-strength attacks. And the magic lores were not those that were likely to lash out and kill my stuff. I wasn't sure I could crack the gutstar (bullstar? Ogrestar? How about Ogstar?), but in this win-loss-draw system, I probably wouldn't need to.

Back on Table 4 again.

Moonstruck Aftermath - Part 4

This is part 4 of my account of the recent tournament, Moonstruck. You can find the previous part here.

Game 4 - Meeting Engagement deployment
Adam Camilleri/Admiral Calamari, Ogre Kingdoms

• Skragg the Slaughterer
• Bruiser, BSB, Rune Maw, Great Weapon
• Firebelly, Level 2, Additional Hand Weapon, Ruby Ring of Ruin, Dispel Scroll
• 9 Ironguts, Full Command, Look out Gnoblar, Banner of Swiftness
• 3 Ogres, Additional Hand Weapon, Bellower/Standard
• 10 Gnoblars, Standard
• 10 Gnoblars, Standard
• 10 Gnoblars, Standard
• 8 Maneaters, 4 Additional Hand Weapon, Banner/Musician, Gleaming Pennant, Scout/Poison
• 4 Leadbelchers
• Gorger
• Gorger
• Gorger
• Sabretusk
• Sabretusk
• Sabretusk
• Ironblaster

Comp Score: 4

Well after winning too many games on day 1, I guess it was inevitable that I would eventually find my way onto Table 1, where Adam had been making himself at home for the last couple of rounds. He had even dealt with the unstoppable silliness of Tim's army using my 4 Wyverns. 

Looking at Skragg's rules, I decided that the only way to kill him would be to do it before he got into combat with my infantry. Once he started wading through single wound models, he'd quickly become too tough to handle. So my basic plan was to murder him with Durthu. I also noted all the Gnoblar units with standards - clearly Adam had paid attention to the player pack when he'd made his list. 

If I am honest, I made a few mistakes in this game. Again we were using the Meeting Engagement deployment rules. Adam won the roll to choose sides, and had to deploy his whole army before me (except the Maneaters and Gorgers. So half his army, I guess). I then deployed knowing that he would probably have the first turn, and I kind of got ahead of myself. Without having to worry about elements starting in reserve, Adam had deployed the bulk of his forces fairly centrally on the front of his deployment zone. I spent too much of my attention trying to ensure my main elements were within Alarielle's circle of influence, and failed to remember that his gutstar had the Banner of swiftness. I put my key unit far too close to the gutstar, basically. He only needed something like a 7 on the dice to charge me in the first turn. I had put Durthu a bit further back, for some reason convinced that he was in greater danger. My other mistake was what I did with my Dragon Princes, Dryads and Unicorn Mage. I put them all a fair distance from my main forces, intending to guarantee that I could seize the two table quarters to my right, and sweep on around the enemy flank/rear. Something about those 35 point table-quarter-stealing units of Gnoblars offended me. Maybe the fact that I had completely forgotten a similar unit in game 2 as it lurked outside of the game proper. Anyway, I had allocated several units and the ability to raise more, all for a couple of table quarters when really I should have kept them in a position to assist the rest of my army.

I forgot to take photos of deployment. Here we are in the middle of Adam's first turn. Having failed to charge Alarielle's unit, he set about blocking it up with Sabretusks. I hate those things.

Moonstruck Aftermath - Part 2

This is part 2 of my report of the recent tournament Moonstruck. You can find part 1 here.

Game 2 - Meeting Engagement deployment
Damien Stallard, Ogre Kingdoms

• Golgfag Maneater
• Firebelly (Level 2, Lore of Fire) with Dispel Scroll, Potion of Speed, Additional Hand Weapon
• Bruiser with Battle Standard, Talisman of Preservation, Enchanted Shield, Heavy Armour, Additional Hand weapon
• 6 Ogres with Standard, Iron fists
• 10 Gnoblars with Standard
• 6 Ironguts with Standard, Standard of Discipline
• 6 Ironguts with Standard
• 6 Leadbelchers
• 6 Maneaters (Stubborn/Swiftstride), 3 with Additional Hand Weapons, Standard, Champion
• Gorger
• Sabretusk
• Sabretusk
• Sabretusk
• 3 Mournfangs with Standard, Heavy Armour, Ironfists, Dragonhide Banner
• Ironblaster

Comp Score: 4

A pretty good score from the first round meant I moved up to Table 4 for the second game (The Dwellers decided to keep the tables ranked, presumably so that they could keep an eye on the naughty people on the top tables). It also turned out I had gone from playing the "best painted" army of the event, to playing the "second-best painted" army. All the eye candy for me!

Damien's army was a far cry from your normal Ogre list. It had nothing really resembling a "gutstar", and was led by a hero-level character in Golgfag Maneater. Golgfag gets to select 2D6x10 points' worth of magic items before each game, which is pretty funny. Unfortunately he had rolled snake eyes in the first round, so he was clearly due something better. Apparently not, as Damien picked up the dice and once again rolled double ones! Of course, he then confessed that he was hanging out for a 10+ so that he could choose the Wizarding Hat, so I'm more than half convinced the dice were just trying to save him from himself. He ended up with the Sword of Striking and Charmed Shield - a far more practical selection than the Hat would have been (I heard that he did indeed get to choose the Wizarding Hat in a later game, so eventually he got to live the dream. I don't know how that worked out for him game-wise though)...

Damien had a beautiful army, but I don't seem to have a lot of good photos of it. Sorry! We ignored the water on the end of the field, as all it would have done was shorten the table.

Axemaster 2014 – Part 3

This post is a continuation of my account of the recent tournament, Axemaster 2014. You can find the previous part of the report here.

Game 3

Steve Tuck, Ogre Kingdoms

• Tyrant with Armour of Protection, Great Weapon
• Slaughtermaster (Level 4, Lore of the Great Maw) with Talisman of Preservation, Dispel Scroll
• Bruiser BSB with Armour of Silvered Steel, Great Weapon
• Butcher (Level 1, Lore of Beasts) with Hellheart
• 8 Ironguts with Full Command
• 9 Ogres with Full Command, Light Armour, Ironfists
• 10 Leadbelchers with Musician, Champion
• 10 Gnoblars
• 10 Gnoblars
• 1 Sabretusk
• 1 Sabretusk
• Ironblaster
• Ironblaster

Comp Score: 2

From an Ogre army with no Ironblasters to one with a pair of them, Steve's list represented much of what my Griffons had been hoping (admittedly optimistically) to avoid. This game was particularly notable as I think it contained the only roll-off I lost for the tournament (Steve won the roll-off to choose the deployment rules despite my +2 modifier, and went for Battle for the Pass).

So I'm completely done deploying, and he's put down what? Anything..?

Axemaster 2014 – Part 2

This post is a continuation of my account of the recent tournament, Axemaster 2014. You can find the previous part of the report here.

Game 2

Josh Tucker, Ogre Kingdoms

• Slaughtermaster (Level 4, Lore of the Great Maw) with Talisman of Preservation, Great Weapon
• Bruiser BSB with Armour of Destiny, Great Weapon
• Firebelly (Level 2, Lore of Fire) with 2 Hand Weapons, Dispel Scroll?
• 9 Ironguts with Full Command, Standard of Discipline
• 8 Ogres with Full Command, Light Armour, Ironfists
• 6 Leadbelchers
• 4 Mournfangs with Ironfists, Standard, Musician, Dragonhide Banner
• 1 Sabretusk
• 1 Sabretusk
• Stonehorn
• Stonehorn

Comp Score: 5

Yup, 2 Stonehorns. Now that is classy.

Rumble in the Bronx 2014 - Part 6

This post is a continuation of my account of the recent tournament, Rumble in the Bronx. You can find the previous game here.

Game 6: Battleline

Nathan Goodchild, Daemons of Chaos

My Boast: Hold Out (keep enemy units out of my deployment zone)

• Demon Prince of Nurgle (Level 3, Lore of Nurgle) with Flight, Chaos Armour, Exalted Gift (chose something that lets him re-roll Winds of Magic)
• Herald of Tzeentch (Level 2, Lore of Tzeentch)
• Herald of Nurgle BSB (Level 1, Lore of Nurgle) with Greater Locus of Fecundity, Greater Gift (chose Fencer's Blades)
• 10 Horrors with Standard
• 25 Plaguebearers with Full Command, Banner of Swiftness
• 3 Screamers of Tzeentch
• 3 Screamers of Tzeentch
• 1 Beast of Nurgle
• 1 Beast of Nurgle
• Soulgrinder of Nurgle with Daemonbone Claw, Harvester Cannon

Comp score: 5

After the debacle of the game against Chris, I figured I would drop back into the pack a bit. Apparently this wasn't really the case as there were a group of us milling about on very similar scores, with just Chris running off with things courtesy of the springboard I had provided. My final opponent was to be Nathan Goodchild, who had travelled all the way down from Queensland for the event. I had never played him before, so was looking forward to it. I could only lament how much tougher my draw had gotten in the latter stages of the event, however. My final 4 opponents had all either been ranked no 1 in the country or won the Masters in relatively recent memory. No wailing upon inexperienced tournament players for me, it seemed.

Nathan was running a borrowed Daemon army for the event, as his Skaven had been unable to make the trip with him. The borrowed army was not really holding him back, however. If his dice had been a little better in the previous game, he would have been well ahead of me instead of barely in front.

I confess I was slightly concerned about the match-up. The big block of Plaguebearers looked nigh-on impregnable for my army, and the Soulgrinder was not exactly a push-over. I was at a big disadvantage in the magic phase, and then there was the Nurgle Daemon Prince. Oh well, at least he wasn't the 1+ armour save, unbreakable, self-healing Warriors of Chaos version. Still, I would need a good contribution from my Ironblaster to help soften the big stuff.

During the Ogres' first turn, because once again I got distracted and missed the deployment photos. That big rock thing adds +1 to any attempts to wound things within 6". Same thing as was on the table in game 3.

Rumble in the Bronx 2014 - Part 5

This post is a continuation of my account of the recent tournament, Rumble in the Bronx. You can find the previous game here.

Game 5: Watchtower

Chris Cousens, Lizardmen

My Boast: Contain Power (kill the most expensive non-character unit, in this case the Saurus block)

• Oldblood on Arabyan Carpet with Armour of Destiny, Great Weapon, Shield
• Oldblood on Cold One with Dragonhelm, Talisman of Preservation, Great Weapon
• Tetto-Ekko
• Scar Veteran BSB on Cold One with Charmed Shield, Dawnstone, Sword of Might, Light Armour
• 10 Skink Skirmishers
• 10 Skink Skirmishers
• 10 Skinks with Musician
• 10 Skinks with Musician
• 23 Saurus with Full Command
• 5 Cold One Riders with Musician, Spears
• 5 Chameleon Skinks
• Salamander
• Ancient Stegadon with Engine of the Gods

Comp score: 5

I had emerged from my game with Dave with my score more or less intact, and now I found myself playing the old Egg himself, Chris Cousens. This was the man responsible for my Tyrant flying about on a magic carpet, having issued a challenge to all and sundry before the event to include a model on a flying rug (only a couple of us were silly enough to accept). He was also leading the tournament. Apparently I really was at the pointy end of things.

Watchtower deployment, after Chris has moved his Vanguard forces up between the building and the magical rock that lets things within 6" re-roll failed charges.

Rumble in the Bronx 2014 - Part 4

This post is a continuation of my account of the recent tournament, Rumble in the Bronx. You can find the previous game here.

Game 4: Battle for the Pass

Dave Duriesmith, Ogre Kingdoms

My Boast: Reconnoitre (control the most table quarters at game's end)

• Tyrant with Great Weapon, Crown of Command, Dragonbane Gem, Armour of Destiny
• Bruiser BSB with Great Weapon, Luckstone, Armour of Silvered Steel
• Firebelly (Level 2, Lore of Fire) with Talisman of Preservation, Great Weapon
• 11 Ironguts with Full Command
• 6 Leadbelchers with Musician, Champion
• 1 Sabretusk
• 1 Sabretusk
• 1 Sabretusk
• Gorger
• Gorger
• Gorger
• Ironblaster

Comp score: 3

I had been hoping to avoid Dave's list, because the stubborn Gutstar was something I simply would not be able to crack. Never mind, I'd just have to make the best of it. At least I was guaranteed at least 4 points because of our comp scores...

To his credit, Dave didn't deploy all his characters in the Irongut unit. The BSB went in there, but the Firebelly and Tyrant decided it would be cooler to hang with the Leadbelchers. Or maybe it wasn't really to his credit because he realised he didn't need all that stuff in one place in order to take on my units...

You'd think by now I would remember to take photos before the game kicked off. Hey, it was first thing in the morning. This was during my first turn.