Bugmans Bash 2009

@ Chicago Battle Bunker 12/5

Bugmans Bash is a 1999 Warhammer RTT, it was also a "Toys for Tots" charity drive and you can see all the great stuff we brought in over at Dean who hosted the events blog here. I had brought what I thought was solid list overall but in the character department I knew it was a crap shoot. 1999 means, No Lord level characters and only 3 Heroes, most armies being only on leadership 8. This day the Empire fielded:

3 Warrior Priests
24 Swordsman/ FC X 2
9 Free Company Detachment X 2
10 Handgunners, Champion w/ HLR
10 Huntsmen
20 Flagellants
5 Pistoliers Champion w/ Repeater
6 Inner Circle Knights /FC
1 Great Cannon
1 Steam Tank

I thought a solid Empire list for a No Comp environment @1999, Each game had unique scenarios, honestly the scenarios weren't doing much for me this time the second on particularly was just too out of the norm and made a hard game harder. As usual I'll add my personal scoring on the event based on Fun, my opponents sportsmanship, and if they brought a list that appropriate for the event.

Game 1 VS Skaven ( Marty)


(whole lotta rats)

Marty brought a horde of new rats with the center piece being 41 Plague Monks and the Plague Furnace, lots of Poison gas going on all around. First time playing the new Skaven, there was alot of rules explaining going on, Marty's having none of exploitive rules nonsense that GW let get by with slopping editing in the new book, he's playing it 100% RAI (Rules as Interpreted) based on his 20+ years playing the game and for that I was thankful. Game started out ok...I rammed the tank out and made him deal with it, It made some rats run off, then it got charged by the Censer Bearers, Ate them up and them the Frenzy Plague furnace had to charge on the flank exposing its Flank and Rear to my Command Block and Flagellants, that was all good. The bad was we both misfired like crazy, I roll one first thing, meaning no cannon until turn 3, he has 3 or 4 misfires with his weapons teams. I lose a full block of Swordsmen and Warrior Priest charging a bunch of Clan Rats..(he had the new Skaven Battle Standard that does 2d6 X attacks) that caught me off guard..while I won the straight up combat (I'd of better!) good dice on the extra attacks pushed the combat his way, and I break... (Battle Standard where are you?) outside of that things pretty much went my way...except I was stupidly allowing the Stank to take wounds from failed toughness tests (Stank passes all characteristic tests, expect initiative) it was already nerfed by some other wounds at that point and was just holding the combat anyway.. Turn time limit was 2 hours and with all that was going on, we just ran out of time...we only finished 4 turns and being the game deciding combat was locked up..the game was a DRAW, the difference was only around 60 points, As the bulk of his points were in that unit, he only had 1 unit of Clan Rats and 1 unit of Slaves and a few other lose/broken units left...I am 90% confident I had this if the game played out in full..we'll find out as we are going to play it again for fun sometime soon.
All in all great game..my favorite of the day. I did also get the bonus points for this round.

(Steam Tank charges)

Fun 5, Sports 5, Comp 5

0-0-1

Game 2 Vs High Elves (Bryan)

This was I believe the 4th time I have come up against Bryan in a tournament, he is an excellent player most always in the top 5 of any event he's in and playing High Elves!. Unfortunately for me I cant seem to catch a break playing him, He's beat me to paste to about every game we've played and this one was no exception. Compounding the issue was scenario, we setting up and playing lengthwise with 24" deep Deployment zones and 24" inched in the middle as the no mans land. It was supposed to be rocky valley with the no mans land being a deep ravine, so if you were had a unit that was within 6 inches of a long table edge you had to roll a die for that unit on a 4+ you take 2D6 Strength 4 hits from falling rocks..an added and unnecessary complication given the bonus objective was to get your units into you opponents back field which on this layout was an extra foot away!. I got first turn, my Cannon shoots on his 2 bolt throwers with a 50 inch guess I about 8 inches away..I roll a "10" nailing it. I then of course roll a "1" to wound.
That was the harbinger of the game, the next turn that same bolt thrower shoots the Steam Tank and puts THREE wounds on it. His Bolt Throwers absolutely shredded me, ripping up the Stank, and all my Cav, I couldn't hit the broad side of barn with any shooting. It was all down hill from there, every single thing that could have went wrong for me did (exception I held alot of losing combats sticking on 6's and 7's) in the end all my stuff broke, Bryan got full points.

(Bryans HE's march on to kick some Empire arse)

Fun 3, (utter frustration), Sports 5, Comp 5

0-1-1

Game 3 VS Lizardmen (James)

(James' General, counts as Skink Chief on a Terradon)

I finally get to play James Wappel, and his awesome Lizardmen. All thoughts of me winning any Best Appearance awards went out the window as soon as James started playing out early this year. Every single unit in his Lizardman Army is a Golden Daemon runner up, I must mention that most of this army is also scratch built or converted on top of the exceptional paint!.
As expected, James won Best Appearance this day with myself of Mr Hodge being a distant second (there were six players getting full appearance scores (there was a 4 point swing for conversions versus painting) So it was still highest battle points + highest appearance score getting the award..So James had to win some games to get it and he did, So deservedly so.
This Scenario had a wacky deployment scheme that made you roll to see in what portion of your deployment zone you got stuck in, again it just made the game more difficult which was I guess the point.



(Terradons, Engine # 1)
Our game was fun one but again, "luck" I was having no part of. First turn I hit Stegadon/ Engine #1 with a Cannonball, a 1-4 hitting the Stegadon and potentially doing up to 6 wounds, I roll a '5" (worst outcome as "6" hits the priest) I do wound but it being on the crew, I only kill one guy. James quickly got both Stegadons behing Trees, until he could get one of his two units of Terradons on my Cannon, I managed to kill one but the other got it...considering I had one more chance to shoot the cannon and I misfired...I was lost any Chance to kill the Stegs. The Steam Tank and my Command Block ate one of his 3 units of 14 Skinks /2 Krox but chasing brought me in Range of Steg 1 and "Burning Alignment" on both my Inner Circle Knights on the left and the Stank on the right..KILLED me...he put 9 wounds on the Stank, 8 were from "Burning Alignment" where he needed "6's" to wound. My Inner Circle knights just popped first time they got hit with it. In the end James was up on me by around +460, at 1999 that's a Solid Victory he also got the bonus points..(highest value unit, Inner Circle Knights, his was one of the Steg/Engines. Good Game.


(Skinks/ Krox, Engine # 2)

Fun 5, Sports 5, Comp 5

0-2-1

Overall a fun, but disappointing day...I end up with 67.6 points overall ( max sports, max appearance) the fractional scoring coming from Favorite Opponent votes..(meaning I got a 1st, and 2nd' FO's) and finishing 17th out of 22, The worst I have done in the overall since I first started playing. I continue to be frustrated by lack of The Empire's being competitive in No Comp events unless I be a complete D-bag and run a Gunline + Stank and War Altar. which I refuse to do. Although in this specific case it was a crap shoot being at 1999 the lack of a 4th support character was critical..if I played this format again..I'd drop the 3rd priest for a BSB certainly maybe even going BSB/Priest/Wizard. This was for a great cause so no complaints
I am signed up for another tourney next weekend..I am scheduled to bring my Daemons for the 1st time in a 2250 in public yet..we'll see how it goes.

Mighty Empires VI- Round 1

Players and Scores after Round 1

5- Orcs and Goblins- Anthony
3- Wood Elves- Chris
2- Warriors of Chaos- Rich
2-Dwarfs- Billy
2- Vampire Counts- Bill
2- Warriors of Chaos- Aaron
2- Empire- John
1- Lizardmen- Nate


Events

Orcs and Goblins- All or Nothing
Wood Elves- Survey the Battlefield
Warriors of Chaos- Praise be to the Oracle
Dwarfs- War Tax
Vampire Counts- No Guts, No Glory
Lizardmen- Scouts
Warriors of Chaos- Land Grab
Empire- Heroic Battlefield

Challenges

Orcs and Goblins VS Lizardmen
Massacre- Orcs and Goblins 7EP (+2 All or Nothing)

Warriors of Chaos (Black) VS Wood Elves
Draw 2 Ep each

Dwarfs VS Vampire Counts
Draw 2 Ep each

Empire VS Warriors of Chaos (brown)
Draw 2 Ep each


Great first night of the new campaign, my opponent got delayed do to work and we had to schedule for next week...you can see on the map what been updated so far, round 1 will be complete soon!. Round 2 is Tuesday 12/15!

Khemri Rumors

This is backed up by a couple things:
1) 8th ed changes alluded in rules,
2) fits with the White Dwarf blurb last issue
3) Its the only thing making noise as the another fantasy release before 8th ed.
4) Orcs vs Empire all but confirmed for 8th ed starter set (No TK)
Orc book fall, Empire book January, matching 7th ed releases schedule.
I usually don't bother recycling this stuff, but I know a couple people this TK news
will make happy!

Tomb Kings May 2010.

Courtesy of user, Hennesy on Warseer

Undead rule:
- Will stay the same in principle but you may take a stand&shoot reaction now.
That one was expected since the banshee may stand&shoot as well.

Magic:
- Will also stay the same with some minor changes:
-- Incantation of summoning reanimates D6 / 2D6 wounds
-- Tomb princes have 6” range like tomb kings
-- Tomb kings and princes have the option to generate dispel dice and energy dice (dispel spells in play only)
Pft... the adjustment in effectiveness of the incantations is ok, it should be level with the vampire one this way. Princes range is good. Dispell dice for Kings and Princes? Great, I only hope it won't be overpriced.

Undead construct rule:
- Will stay the same

“It came from below…” rule:
- Will stay the same

The curse:
- Will stay the same

Casket of souls
- Will have three different incantations to choose:
-- One incantation healing D3 wounds of all friendly units and characters on the field
-- One incantation similar to the current one
-- One incantation moving D3 units
- Will grant a ward save to it’s crew and attached priests
That sounds great!

Tomb prince:
- Magic changes, see above
- Strength 5
- If a tomb prince is the general you may take one unit of chariots as a core unit
- May be given the battle standard
Looking at the Scar Veteran S and T5 for heros was to be expected. Battle standard for the prince is great.

Battle standard bearer:
- New name (unknown to me)
- May be given the battle standard but may be used without as well
- May ride on a skeleton horse or in a chariot
- No magic
- Killing blow
- WS5, S4, T4, A3
A simple fighting hero without magic and an avarage profile. Ok, especially for friendly games with limited magic but I think the Prince will stay the better choice.

Skeleton warriors:
- Wear light armour without further costs
Decrease of one point would have been better but better than nothing.

Skeleton light horsemen:
- May be given light armour
- May be given Spears and Shields
That shoud give us some interesting taktical options.

Skeleton heavy horsemen:
- Are out!
I won't bemoan the loss of them.

Tomb Guard:
- 9(!) points/model
All right, Grave Guard cost 10 (?) points/model. And they have heavy armour and can make march movements... 9 points is ok I think.

Ushabti:
- 4+ armour save (including undead construct)
- 5+ ward save
- M6
- 55 points/model
That should make Ushabti usable. Not more but usable.

Carrions:
- S4
- Cheaper
Stronger and cheaper? Great!

Tomb scorpion:
- more expensive (about 100 points)
- 5 wounds (!)
Wow, the most extrem change I think. Scorpions with unit size 5 will be nasty!

Bone Giant:
- equipment options (similar to Warhammer chronicles)
The options have been a baublery in the past, they will stay a baublery in the future.

Screaming Skull Catapult:
- Every model touched is hit, not only on 4+.
The way it is in the Skaven book. Maybe a hint of what to come in the 8th edition rule book?

The problem with Ard Boyz'

I've talked myself down from rant status to just general commentary, no need to hide the kids here. I hope those of you that love Warhammer as hobby as I do seriously consider what I say here. After being witness to the Warhammer Fantasy Battles Ard Boyz finals this Saturday I found myself driving home pretty depressed. I have always had a distaste for the event in general because of the lack of painting requirement and ridiculous prize support provided by GW for such a non traditional event. (strike 1). The regional semi final here in the Mid West was also so plagued by such stunning inappropriate behavior and mismanagement by the proprietor of the hosting store, that it's clear that leaving such high reward events to independents stores with out direct oversight of GW is just the beginings of a long ugly trainwreck. (Strike 2). Finally when actually I got around to witnessing what was really going on the tables at Ard Boyz, I about threw up. (Strike 3).

Ard Boyz is an antithetical-hobby event meaning, it exists as a gateway marketing tool for Games Workshop one that exists outside of its own core principles. Those core principles being this is a hobby for painting and building toy soldiers and we (GW) also make rules so you can play with them. GW has spent plenty of time and effort writing The fiction behind the two games systems and as a result the company has a 25 year legacy on its own fiction that's become equally as iconic as Dungeons and Dragons. Games Workshop has always stated it wrote the rules for its Armies to be in line with fiction and they are n0t designed for competitive play. Grand Tournaments were 1st and foremost Hobby events. celebrating the hobby as equally as those whose army could win the most games. Times change as the fan base grows and the perception of the hobby changes and it needs to compete with other rival systems. over time competitive play has become another staple of hobby, however for me as a veteran hobbyist "Ard Boyz" crosses the line.

Ard Boyz takes none of the above into consideration. Of the 54 of 71 qualifiers who showed up Saturday, maybe 5 percent were fully/mostly painted on top that many of the models I saw where not even fully modeled, many half built or hastily slapped together. Many of the armies I saw looked they pulled directly off the junk shelves of the bunker storage room and just thrown on the table. Every list I saw, while fitting into the allowed Army Organization chart was an abortion of what each Army books fiction intends it to be. Ridiculous OTT armies of such extent, that if you play at 2250 competitively as I do the jump to this format with only 750 more points will make you laugh hysterically, until you realize its dead serious because and it dawns on you that "Ard boyz" is all about one thing. Money.

Ard Boys isnt Warhammer, lets call it "Cash Hammer", but drop the "C" and the "H" and add a second "S" when appropriate. The "win at all costs" mentality of a certain cross section of players is certainly the initial lure of wanting to participate in such "Smash face" events, but in the end it's huge prize giveaways, this year at the Semi-Final level (last year in the finals as well) that are the biggest draw. Of the 71 Qualifiers 23 got top semi- final spots meaning GW gave away at least 23 , 3000 point armies, and I know for a fact (due independent store shenanigans GW gave away more than that.) We are talking well over $10,000 of retail product as prizes. The money or product involved here is so big and yet asks the player who want to participate to go ahead a forget those core principles of the hobby- Take the painting , the modeling, the fiction behind the Army books and flush it down the toilet in favor of min/maxing the rules with a bunch of plastic widgets on the table.

From what I saw on Saturday, there was no point in even putting armies on the table..the whole thing is merely a dice contest just like one you could have in any low level Vegas Hotel or even just in the alley behind the store throwing dice against the wall for cash. Getting into the headbutting that occurs on the Sportsmanship level when you take a bunch of aggro competitives and ask them to play for money is a whole other conversation, Let just say there are always issues and Sportsmanship, while demanded at this event, still takes a back seat to reality of the situation. Once again not exactly in the spirit of "The Hobby."

Having just played in the same room with almost the same amount of players the previous weekend for Core Competency 2009, was a stunning, maddening contrast. It was the complete opposite of Ard Boyz. A complete celebration of the hobby on every level in the spirit of the old Grand Tournament, with $1000 of prizes paid for strictly from the entry fees of the players and donations. The thing is Core Comp promotes the very core principles that GW spent years instilling in its hobbyists, While Ard Boyz focuses its attention not on the very hobbyists GW has spent years developing but instead on seeking out former players of competitive "Magic: The Gathering". Ard Boyz is not aimed at the GW hobbyist but at people whose general interest in the game seems to be nothing other than the thrill of dice rolling for prizes. The paradox between these two events is overwhelming.

It's pretty clear I think Ard Boyz is extremely bad for this hobby, not only due to its absolute disregard of the hobby's core principles, but because of the change of direction it shows from Games Workshop. Promoting cash driven events that have no basis on the hobby in the end is bad for business. Its the kind of crap Hasbro has done to several of its satellite brands, smashing communities against the rocks by offering large cash prizes at conventions for various games in order to attract more fans, but all they do is attract the uber-competitive and burn the system out. The game itself doesn't matter is just gaming for dollars..you're better of on the Poker machine at the local bar, at least your not pissing all over years of someone hard developed
Hobby.

As Games Workshop diversifies, licensing there IP for other forms of entertainment. The slippery slope becomes inevitable and with such we the players need to stand fast for what we want from the company. Right now GW seems to think the we, the players, the fans, want these Ard Boyz type events. When the bottom dropped during GW's 2008 last two quarters, A ton of cost cutting measure got put into action particularly when it comes to community events. Somehow, someone, somewhere decided a wild west style/ Indy tournament circuit was a good cut cost cutting idea. If you think this is a big steaming load like I do, and want a return to "old school" company run events that support the Hobby-then you need to say so. Vocally support the Indy "GT" style events and talk your friends out of attending things like Ard Boyz and general "smash face" circuit events, hell, publicly boycott them. The bar can only go so low and right now Ard Boyz is the muddy bottom, but if this like this continues the next step is pre painted (clix-style) space marines and vehicles playing for uber cash prizes at Gen Con, That's the door Ard Boyz really opens.


(disclaimer here, I am not informed on the contrast between the 40K and WFB versions of Ard Boyz' perhaps because for the points differences overall and more thorough balance of the 40k Army books, 40K Ard Boyz...may be just another Gladiator..even if so, take a stand on the weight of GW's prize support against the lack of hobby requirements for these events.)

Mighty Empires VI Map

Here's my map for our upcoming Mighty Empires VI, starting in December. House rules are in play but its alot simple this time than some of the previous incarnations. After 5 Campaigns, its clear that smaller maps are the most fun. This one is 36 hexes and we have Eight Players. I added the coastline in order to add flexibility to the challenges, that way you can reach any part of the map pretty easily. This is going to be a fun one.

Armies

Empire
Wood Elves
Vampire Counts
Dwarfs
Lizardmen
Warriors of Chaos
Warriors of Chaos
Orcs and Goblins

The first turn is Tuesday, December 1st!.

LotR- 2010 Adepticon Primer.

11/21 @ Chicago Battle Bunker

Back to back weekends at the bunker, this time it was for the Lord the Rings Adepticon 2010 primer. I don't get to play much LotR given my groups focus on WFB but since I'm bringing My Grey Company to the championships this year, here was a good chance to play in the actual environment. Unfortunately instead of having the 8 signed up over at AWC, we ended up at only four so it wasnt much of a tournament. So tucked away we were in the back room with 4 awesome tables throwing down some Lord of Rings.

Game 1 Vs Dol Guldur (Dragi)
(Orc Shaman, 6 Spiders, Orc Banners, 26 Orcs)

This scenario was based on capturing four objectives one in each quarter, Dragi had 6 nasty Dol Guldur spiders who were my main concern, fortunately we were on the marsh board and there wasnt much terrain, plus Dol Guldur didnt have any shooters. This was a turkey shoot, he broke after about 6 turns and the Orcs started to flee, unfortunately before I could run my guys over to get all four objectives, The game ended so i only got a minor victory but I didn't lose a model.


Game 2 Vs Tower of Ecthelion (Josh)
(10 Citadel Guard, 10 Warriors, 10 Archers, Captain)

I don't like playing good vs good, but in the Championships this is allowed so I got to roll with it.
Josh has basically a shieldwall with Ranged support, not ideal for the Grey Company, I like shooting Orcs. Josh gets first turn and his archers touch up for Volley Fire on mine, I do the same but pre empt his shooting 1st turn with a heroic volley from my Rangers hoping to thin out the shots back, I get three hit but he passes two of them off to nearby warriors, I kill one the others miss. We have an objective in our Dzone that must be destroyed. His shieldwall is marching right across the table while his archers harrass on my left flank. despite his uber strong defense I am on hills and killing his guys. when he gets about 6 inches away, I win Priority and Gandalf comes down on the flank shooting a Sorcerous Blast along his 10 model line of Citadel Guard..unfortunately I only roll '2' for the push and it only gets three guy..missing the Captain by one, I was hoping to knock have them down then charge in my Rangers and get the two strikes per model attacking guys knocked to the ground. I only kill one tower guard so hold back the charge, deciding to shoot instead, the shitty dice roll on the blast screwed the whole plan, Next turn I win priority again, but Josh's Captain calls a heroic move, so do I to counter..we dice off- he wins..damn Gandalf gets swarmed and my Rangers are too far away to help ( my mistake) I survive the combat but lose Priority next 2 rounds and that hurts Gandalf takes a couple wounds I burn all my Fate , but forget I can reroll Fate!, (thanks to Narya , his ring)
which would have bought him on more round. After Gandalf goes down things go south from there, I still manage to kill 10 or 11 models over all but I get broken, my object destroyed, etc,
Josh gets a major, I get no bonus points. lesson learned here, I was overconfident and exposed myself to much too soon going for the big hit, so it goes..I'll know better next time. Great Game to Josh.

Game 3 Vs Dol Guldur (Dragi)

Due to losing game 2, and the other guys drawing round 1, I play Dragi again, this time its a Reconnoiter-esque scenario where one guy is attacker the other defender..The Attacker has to get his models off my table edge and I have to stop him. I win the first Priority role and choose to defend, figuring I can shoot him up and stop him. The table is wooded valley with alot of rocks and tons of trees so there is a ton of cover. I set up in 3 groups..getting so crossfire from the flanks, while the middle group moves down the hill to gully and center of the table to meet Dragi's Spiders. Again I am shooting him up good...he charges Gandalf with all the Spiders but I had already cast "terrifying aura" and only 3 spider pass the terror checks..I get a few Rangers in to support and quickly kill the Spiders after a few turns and a few Sorcerous Blasts...I have 5 guys holding the right flank no problem, on the left flank (where Dragi's Shaman is) I cant hit anything, too many "in the ways" or just bad dice, The Shaman has also cast "Fury" so the guys in his group are getting a 6+ save too. He approaching my table edge and I can't stop him...I've killed everything else and his force is broken, but "Fury" is keeping the remaining 6 guys from making courage checks..I win a couple of priorities..Kill two more Orcs, I have Gandalf in range for a blast, but the push could easily taken the Shaman off the table and the mission would be accomplished since I can't do two wounds..I figure My Rangers can kill him...Two orcs manage to flee the table losing me the Major Victory all I have to do is kill the Shaman- I get him in combat twice more with three rangers but he survives with only 1 wound, finally I lose priority and he escapes...giving Dragi the Minor Victory! So many chances..I couldn't roll a five.
I've now realized after fact that "Fury" would have been gone after the Shaman lost his first combat (not to mention all his will was gone) about 3-4 combats earlier, so its more than probable that all his Orcs and Shaman would have run away (courage 2 and 3) We were having fun and I didn't bother to read all the spell details- to my own loss. Its a primer with 4 players, I lose the game but get all the bonus point having only lost 5 models...a REALLY fun game regardless.

So I learned/ relearned a bunch of stuff I had forgotten not playing since BBB I'll want to get at least a half dozen games in before Adepticon for sure..So I had a fun day regardless of the outcomes and picked up 5 Warg Riders from the Bunker Junk bin just for showing up..sweet!

Outside of that the WFB Ard Boyz Final was going on in the big room today, I knew a handful fo guys (masochists) playing in it and Ard Boyz ( or "cancer of WFB's colon" as I call it), is the subject of my next RANT..coming real soon.

Core Comp 2009 Report.

November 14 & 15 @ Chicago Battle Bunker

Another Comp Competency has come and gone, props to Mr Alex Gonzalez for turning his fun idea of a tournament with fluffy/fun armies into a major Mid West Indy GT in just 3 years. Final turnout out was either 48 or 50 (not sure) and we players coming from the East Coast. I'll just say if you dig classic Warhammer this is the event for you. No cookie cutter lists pulled off of Warseer here.You will truly see some nontraditional stuff here that only a 900 point Core requirement, unique scenarios and $1000 worth of prizes going to categories like "the fluffiest bunny"can provide. I personally had blast all my games were great and even when the chips where down, its was still a great time! Here is the a brief recap of my games.

Friday
Game 1, Vs Dark Elves ( John W)




This was my 3rd or 4th time playing John W., he's one of my favorite local guys to play, like myself he's laid back looking to have a good time. We're into the fluff and geeking out our armies..so when we meet up it's classic warhammer. John's theme a slave raiding party coming ashore in the Empire looking for captives. His army had numerous place holder models of Empire Slaves in tow..with a nice display that had his blue Dark Elves overrunning some Empire buildings with the villagers on the run. Of course it was up to the Empire ( that'd be me!_ to put a stop to this nonsense and the battle was on!.

John's list.

Dreadlord/ Cold One
Master BSB / Cold One , Pendant
Master
19 Corsairs- FC Assassin- Manbane, RoK
18 Corsairs- FC- Banner of Murder
5 Dark Riders, Musician X 2
5 Dark Riders, FC , Shields
12 Crossbowmen, musician, champion
10 Cold One Knights FC , Ring of Hotek
7 Shades, Champion.

I'm thinking no Hydra, No Cauldron, No elite infantry, No Magic, No problem?, Deceivingly difficult army that illustrates the power and flexibility of the Dark Elf book..my setup was pretty standard...Infantry in a line with Flagellants protecting one flank and the Stank on the other, with Knights, Pistoliers stacked my opponents soft flank. my huntsmen bunkered up in some woods try to get his crossbows. First couple turns went to John, where I failed miserably to take out his fast support troops...bad dice plagued me hard, Cannon misfires...shooting in general couldnt hit anything , My Pistoliers got trapped in and killed by the Shades after a big wiff. Once we got into combat ..I thought it looked good for me but then we went four rounds of numerous drawn combats as I just couldn't break him..his master BSB prove un-killable and despite limited numbers the DE survivability is way better than the Empires. At one point I had 25 strong swordsmen in his BSB's front with 20 Flagellants on the Side and I couldn't break him unbelievable!

That pretty much summed up the game, neck and neck until he whittled me away and broke my blocks at the top of six. Stank was a non factor in this game it ended up out of position. I tried a risky bid to generate some extra Steam points and came up short losing a turn. Scenario was based on capturing the enemies standard, plus we had to capture each others objective markers

Result LOSS
5 battle, 3 bonus

FUN 5, SPORTS 5, COMP 5

Game 2, Vs Beasts of Chaos (Scott T.)




I knew of Scott from our the local IWFB.org boards but have never met or played him, great guy, nice Beasts of Chaos army themed around Graktar, a Beastlord, who once usurped by Khazrak, has now returned to Drakenwald to march again.

Scott's list

Beastlord
Bray Shaman x 2

16 Beast Herd FC x 4

Tuskgor Chariots X 3

6 Centigors FC x 2

4 Minotaurs

3 Dragon Ogres
Ambushers
13 Beast Herd X 2
5 Warhounds x 2

I have played a few games against Beast of Chaos lately mainly against my pal Rich who I've only beaten maybe half the time with them, its confusing army to strategize against because of the ambush. Despite the old book and being a 3rd tier army, I was taking nothing for granted. Standard deployment for me with the expection my knights and pistoliers in opposite corners diagonally at the back of my deployment zone waiting for the Ambush. Thankfully Scott split his Dragon Ogres and Minotaurs and different flanks , So the Stank only had to deal with one thing that could easily destroy it. The game started out with my Huntsmen popping taking some shots and getting chased by his general and herd into the woods...this led to General overrunning thru and getting caught on three sides by block of swordsmen and Flagellants with other support (flaggies at the point who killed one the Centigor units) and his general and herd eventually got killed. The ambush came in turn 2 and thou the killed my Cannon it was that bad..my knights sitting in wait got one unit of dogs...and Pistoliers shot up the other (although the herd rallied and came back and killed them. One of Shaman was in one of ambush herds and rear charged my Arch Lector, BSB and block of Swordsmen. Scott's dice were light and my static res broke him and they ran off, never recovering. The biggest problem for Scott was the Stank during my turn two, I gamble on 5 Stream points made it and did a 15 inch charge at herd near his back field..he had set up the Centigors as bait and the Dragon Ogres were looming however when I charged the Herd..he fled and it caused a bunch panic checks and the Terror from the Stank the following turn caused those Centigors to run away and then that herd failed to rally..so with all that running away...I did get into the Ogres and chew them up...one broke and got away..but was eventually killed. Chariots also failed some panics which lead to a couple disorganized frontal charges against my blocks that didnt pay off, even when the minotaurs got into things late they had been hit by a fleeing chariot and beat up. In the end the Beasts fell hard. Scott is clearly a good general who knew what he was doing, everything that could have went wrong for him did, psychology being numero uno, I also had a few painful hot dice streaks and when Empire Swordsmen are taking down Minotaurs on their flank, things are clearly going poorly for the Beastmen. This scenario was also my favorite of the day, you received a secret mission in an envelope before the game and dont reveal it until the end to your opponent, mine was kill the enemy general which I did, I ended up with 19 for the round..not all the bonus's point I could have, about half.

Result WIN
15 Battle
4 Bonus

FUN 5, SPORTS 5, COMP 5

Game 3 Vs Dark Elves (Robert E)



I played Robert and his Chaos Dwarfs at last years Core Comp and he was back with all new Dark Elves. Well themed as a Lustrian raiding party he had nice Lustria backdrop as a display with all his models with lots of lizard bits as Trophies. Again another non traditional DE list as follows-

Robert's List

Dreadlord, Heartseeker, Armor of Eternal Servitude, Pearl
Master, BSB
Sorcerer

24 DE Warriors FC, Spears, HW&S x 2
20 Corsairs FC
10 Crossbowmen w Champion
10 Crossbowmen
5 Dark Riders
5 Cold One Knights - Banner of Cold Blood
5 Cold One Knights
18 Black Guard FC, Banner of Murder
Repeater Bolt Thrower.

The Scenario here was a real game changer, at the start of everyturn every unit you have has to test on a D6 for either stupidity (1) or Frenzy (6) this caused some real hassles for me mainly due having mixed infantry and cavalry in large blocks and getting frenzy at the worst possible time which caused my Arch Lector and BSB to solo charge the Corsairs 13 inches away...I thought that was game right there, but thankfully there was no Assassin. I stuck a turn and my knights in as support and busted the Corsairs who ran.. this game went back a forth like game 1, Rob puts 2 wounds on the Stank turn 1 with the RBT, I started folding on one flank but came back on the other, I thought I had Rob on the ropes turn 6 when my Captain (dismounted, pegasus dead) Is fighting alone againt a unit of crossbowmen from the flank...I wiff on three attacks with the Sword of Striking .. lose and get run down moving the unit away from getting hit by my Arch Lector and BSB coming back on the board. I broke his general's unit it rallied ( on a 11!, more on that in moment) then got the Stank in on his General, who had to make a "3" on the break test or run again and I had chasers in the combat...but he rolls the damn "3"!!. He held on to his big units and the game broke his way by 312 points initially then driven up by table quarters and a Banner..so I clearly lost...a hard, hard loss...Damn Ye, Dark Elves my new nemesis. I made alot of mental errors this game due to the stupidity/frenzy thing I am just not used to dealing with, added with some shit bad luck (2 key cannon shots stick in the mud), The rally on 11! thing was Robs error- his General had leadership 10 and with a musician we he said the 11 was good, after playing all day it being close to 8pm...I forgot that 10 is total maximum even with a musician, (someone watching pointed it out after the match) No telling how that failed rally could have changed the game considering his closeness to the board edge. Cest La Vie, regardless a well played match.

Result LOSS
5 battle,
3 bonus
FUN 3 (the scenario was annoying, the blown rally thing made it more so) SPORTS 5, COMP 5

SATURDAY

Game 4 - Vs Kislev (Oleg V.)



Oleg's been around along time playing Warhammer and his name is always in the top ten of every local event I see him in. Even though I am up against 2000 points of core Kislev troops, with two hero level character and no magic items and I am redundantly protected against psychology from his panic causing Cavalry and he has little to know answer for the Stank, I figured he had something up his sleeve other than experience. He had some nice fluff about his Kislev Garrison with plenty of Russian Vodka to supplement things.

Oleg's List

Kislev Boyar- General
Kislev Boyar-BSB
24 Kossars FC,Bows, GW x2
10 Winged Lancers FC x 4
10 Horse Archers FC X 2

Kislev didn't stand much of chance against the Stank or my dice this game which were very good, his shooting dice were horrible so those horse archers didn't do to much with lots of chances...he did have a big unit of archers with his BSB behind an obstacle that slowed me down and allowed his Generals block of Cavalry to flank charge my Command Unit breaking me, a big loss but that was the only thing I lost. The Stank returned the favor killing the whole unit running his general off the board, while his BSB got run down by a flank charge by my other block. In the end I had lost only my Command Block which was a base 600 points plus the bonus 2 banners and my General, but I had 4 table quarters, both Objectives, a couple of his standards and his general to offset it..all he had on the table at the end was a dozen archers, I had almost my whole army- a big win for the Empire. I have to commend Oleg on bringing such a fluffy, all core list to this event, I know he won or drew at least 2 games with it, plus he was giving away bottles of Vodka (minis) to all his opponents I voted for him for the esteemed "Fluffy Bunny" award for the event and for the booze I am much obliged.

Result- WIN
15 Battle
9 Bonus
FUN 5, SPORTS 5, COMP 5


Game 5 vs Warrior of Chaos (Dennis G)



Haven't run into Dennis before, nice guy, great looking traditional Slanneshi army with Tzeentch casters and some really nice modeling, I heard a couple of complaints about his list it being Core Comp and all, it read like a Championship list...but Alex (tourney organizer) gave it a pass...and it in the end it wasn't that bad. Not much in the way of theme other than being Slanneshi, and a couple paragraphs about marching to war..not too much of a stretch..but no big deal.

Dennis' list

Sorceror Lord Lv 4- Tzeentch
Sorceror Lv 2- Tzeentch
Exalted Champ BSB
5 Marauders / Flails x 2
20 Marauders FC x 2
16 Warriors FC, warbanner
10 Warriors, GW
5 Knights w/ lance, shield
3 Dragon Ogres.

9 power dice, plus the spell familar meant maxing out the lore of Tzeentch big time..I was facing 5 die Eternal Gateways at my the whole game 5 turns at my command block, and one at my knights (none at the stank which was odd) had five dispel dice and saved them all every turn
to block the Gateway, allowing Flickering Fire and Pandemonium to go off at will. I stopped 4 Eternal Gateways die fo die never coming up with double ones, I blocked 4, he came up short on one..the other that went off irresistible turned into about 6 kills. Dennis miscast twice once on each, losing a level on the Sorceror on the disk, making him not so useful and he was quickly killed. The Stank played cat and mouse with the Dragon Ogres all game which allowed my pistoliers to shoot them up...I think my play style with Stank the Captain on the Pegasus and a general unfamiliarity with Empire (not to mention the wacky scenario) made Dennis more cautious then he should have been, misjudged the rank breaking, static res of my Swordsmen and free company had some bad dice and lost 20 Marauders and his BSB, I killed all his support, my Cannon blew itself up (1st time all tournament a new record) things generally went pretty good for me, I gave away the win turn 6 by not being smart and playing point denial, My Pistoliers could have stayed hidden and protected leaving the points on the table, but I stupidly brought them out to try shoot his general in the 10 man unit of Warriors, 3 kills would cause a panic check...but its wasnt worth it and next turn he flickering fired them and they died. The game end with a 274 point difference..so that 114 points I gave up cost me the win.

This was also the crazy "revenge of fluffy bunny scenario" where a Monty Python style killer bunny sits dead center and attacks anyone within 6" sticks with then until another unit comes into range.. you got bonus BP for being attacked by the bunny...the scenario had dramatic outcome on how the game was played..its tough to tell what would have happened in a standard pitched battle

Result DRAW
10 Battle
1 Bonus

FUN 5, SPORTS 5, COMP 4

2-2-1 , Total Battle points for event = 70

Final and full scores and placing weren't available as I write this, but considering how my soft scores usually go I am hoping I make the top 3rd...last year I placed 5th and won the Best Appearance..this was a whole new ball game as the event double in size, and went from a single day event to a 2 day. James Wappel was the clear Best Appearance winner this year with his mostly scratch built Lustrian Army that has to be seen to be believed most every unit is Golden Daemon material. I stupidly don't have photos of it because I wanted to wait to take photo's of until I set up the tripod during a lull..and missed the chance, shouldn't be too hard to find photos thou I think alot of the Army is over at CMoN. Second up was a guy named Brian McMillen who shows up out of nowhere with most gorgeous Bret Army I have seen to date, he well deserved the players choice award he won. This year they ranked at the awards 1,2,3 even though only the top slot got a prize. I was pretty shocked given the overall level of paint that I was in the number 3 spot!!, behind both those guys..I am honored. I'll leave talking about Core Comp 2009 with some shots of Mr McMillen's Brets..just awesome.










Looking forward to next fall!!