WFB 8th Ed- getting back in the ring.

I decided to get my feet wet again with some Warhammer 8th Edition this last week. After a long period off and only a couple casual games under my belt since October..I got back in with two big games this week, a 4000 point monster versus Rich and a 2200 Adepticon test versus Aaron. Both games were with my Empire against one of 8th Editions toughest armies and the one that's winning all the big local and regional tournaments around here. Warriors of Chaos.

The reason for 4000 pointer has a small story behind it. first..I had some long forgotten units I wanted to try out in 8th edition. Secondly we had been talking about getting away from the current scoring system for fun and trying WAB's army break point system with WFB and finally I been in involved in some discussion of the last few months about 8th and its ups and downs. Lamenting GW's ball dropping on fixing the magic system. (as in the fixed the mechanic wonderfully, however they then made the spells so OOT, they might as well stuck with 7th's magic phase) Discussion seemed to center around, 'well if magics getting you down, try a 3000-4000 point game it's ends up way less dominating" true enough and good point..so we did.



Empire Right Flank

Rich's list was what I expected for a big 4K game.
Daemon Prince, Sorceror Lord, Chaos Sorcero,r 2 Exhalted Heroes ( 1 BSB), Throgg the Troll King, 48 Marauders w/ GW's, 10 Marauders, 15 Warriors MoK , halberds X2, 7 Trolls, 2 Chariots ,Shaggoth, Giant.

4K Empire is alot of models My Empire was

General on a Griffon, Wizard Lord- Level 4, Lore of Shadow, Battle Wizard Level 2, Lore of Life Mounted BSB 2 Warrior Priests (one mounted, one on foot, both w/ GW's) Master Engineer w/ Hochland. 30 Swordsmen X 2, 30 Free Company, 10 Handgunners x 2, 30 Flagellants, 5 Knights with GW's 10 Huntsmen, 10 Inner Circle Knights, 5 Pistoliers, 20 Greatswords, 2 Cannons, 1 Mortar Rocket Battery, Steam Tank



The Left Flank

Table was pretty even set up, rich got the first turn which wasnt particularly bad on me other than the irresistible casting of "Pandemonium". Being rusty as I am, I over looked the "all doubles are miscasts thing"..even thou Rich told me it plain as can be, at the bottom of Turn 1, I got ahead of myself and idiotically cast a spell instead of just dispelling Pandemonium, Miscast!!!! Rich uses the Infernal Puppet to drop it to "calamitous detonation" taking my level 2 wizard and 20 his 30 swordsmen with him, running the remaining 10 toward the table edge. what a way to start the game. Thankfully It was pretty back and forth after that. Some other events of note from my side of the table


Old School

I took down the Shaggoth with shooting, then finished him up with the General on the Griffon, a pretty good monster killer. I wouldnt put it on the table against other cannons or bolt throwers
but in a fun game like this great.

Inner Circle Knights can take out Chaos Knights if backed up with a Warrior Priest.

Lore of Shadow is hands down the way to go against WoC as far as magic goes. (no secret here)

The Trolls (proxied by minotaurs here...Rich's army is 5th/6th ed and he has tons of great old models) where super tough...the Steam Tank got barely threw a couple of them when the best tank destroyer in the game..the Chaos Giant who shugged off two cannon ball hits to come on in and fold the tank into a pretzel.



One thing you never want to see across from your Steam Tank


Interesting scrap between the Marauders and Flagellants where I did 25 wounds to his 48 guys and he does 25 wounds to me.pulling all those models for one round of combat was comical in the wargaming grognard sense..we were both like.."time for the 10 wide single bases."

Magic played out exactly as discussed, it pretty much inconsequential while lowering the toughness of chaos warriors got me some mileage early, Rich being able to manipulate miscasts and neither rolling high than 9 power dice over the 8 phases (we probably averaged 6's)
magic didn't have too big of an effect (other than my bomb turn 1)

In the end it came down to same old story with Empire in either edition when it comes to playing chaos..if you can't convert opportunities when you get them..you lose. Shooting dice for artillery were epic bad...Rich got alot of milage out of Ward Saves...in a straight fight 15 Warriors MoK are going to obliterate any S3, T3 unit, immediately (my Greatswords) being all spread out on 4 x 8 there where alot of units on the flanks that couldnt get into the bigger battles.

The army break idea seems cool, (we were both at around 25 breaking on 7's) but since we only finished 4 turns in our 3 hour time limit we had to default to VP, and in those he had me by a cool 1000's. These games between Rich and I always become theoretically wargaming discussions in the beer and pretzels vein over the standard competitive game I usually play which is why I love them and win or lose its always a pleasure.

Saturday afternoon Aaron stops by with his awesomely converted WoC army..the sculpts in this army are just insanely awesome, if he can manage to paint them anywhere near the standard of his sculpting this is going to be "the" WoC army people talk about in these parts. check out his stuff at Little Green Monsters.

2200 is good size format in 8th its bring out lower model count armies because of peoples tendencies (and the games) to break out bigger monsters.


Aaron Warriors with Halberds

Aarons List

Tzeentch Daemon Prince, Chaos Sorceror (level 2), Exhalted BSB, 18 Warriors Halberds MoT, 18 Warriors Halberds MoK, 2 Chariots, 10 Chosen HW& S MoT, Hellcannon.

Empire List

General (on foot), Wizard Lord level 4, Life, Mounted BSB ,Warrior Priest Master Engineer, 28 Swordsmen, 30 Free Company, 20 Flagellants, 10 Handgunners, 6 Inner Circle Knights, Cannon, Rocket Battery, Steam Tank


Two Chariots and his Daemon Prince which is 100% scratch built except for the plastic head in the belly

Pretty straight up back .and forth tournament game, I got a lucky break from the Flagellants who made a long charge that ended up trapping and taking out both chariots before they could do anything. the Hellcannon wreaked havoc on me..basically putting my main unit out of the game..The Chosen drinking from the Wyrding well on the table, got stupid and missed there chance to get the knights who found the hell cannon early..tying it up for the rest of the game both units of warriors broke under my shooting, the Steam Tank's grinding and Free Company beefed up to toughness 5. magic had a decent impact, but nothing critical I was all buffs...Aaron got off one good Gateway (strength 9) , but I shut about everything else down. The Daemon Prince came out about a turn late..finished off my Flaggies. got into my BSB and free company when the clock ran out after one non eventful combat round. We had the big melee in Aarons backfield with the Hellcannon, my Stank, My Knights and the remnants of rallied unit of warriors. At the bottom of 6, I had the the Hellcannon with one wound left and 4 Warriors..after my 3 remaining Knights wiffed on killing the Hellcannon, I had a choice go for the moral victory and have the Steam Tank take out the hellcannon or go after the points for the warriors..I took the warriors and was up by about 1000 points in the end. Great game.

His Hellcannon and Chosen

Pretty good list for me, probably what I will run at Adepticon, with some minor adjustments. The big decision is Life or Shadow...Life worked out here, but Shadow is the best for Chaos and we will see alot of WoC armies this year. a second level 1 wizard is awfully tempting but a what cost...I'd be running 6 characters..ouch. 2 Hellcannons is going to be the soup du jour for this year..no way around it. Not sure what I will against two of those things- brutal...but that's ok...my Lizard army is going to 3 maybe 4 Stegadons, just to fall in line and play my part in the 8th edition Fantasy monster dome. double Hydra, double abomb, double hellcannon, double giant spider, double Sphinx (the new TK thing), double Steam Tank (not me, but others) . Any takers until "No duplicate rares" comes up as the first tourney composition requirement??


The Chosen getting some paint...you better hurry my man 40 days!

Core Competency, Practice.

9/18@ Plastic Legions HQ



Core Competency is my favorite local Warhammer Fantasy Battles tournament. Now in its 4th year its expanded to a 5 game, two day event. If the past has anything to do with it and with increase in the local player base I expect to see an easy 30 tables filled at this event, quite possibly more. This year is bumped up from the traditional 2250 army list to more the 8th ed friendly 2400 points, the old stipulation of a 900 points "core requirement" still remains, hence "Core Competency". This last saturday I got together with a group of local veterans for some Practice. I don't have full bat reps just some commentary on the games and 8th ed overall and how the changes are sitting with all of us.

Four armies met Saturday for two games each, Empire (moi), Lizardmen, (Steve), High Elves (Brian) and Orcs and Goblins (Chris), the games were Empire vs Orcs, Lizardmen vs High Elves
Lizardmen vs Orcs, Empire vs High Elves.

My first game Empire vs Orcs was my first time playing Orcs in 8th Editon and my first time playing Orcs period, since the Adepticon last spring. My list was pretty much what you've seen me running in 8th ed so far:

General
Wizard Lord (level 4, Lore of Life)
Warrior Priest
BSB

Big block of Swordsmen, a 30 Horde of Free Company, 20 Flaggies, 20 Handgunners, Pistoliers
9 Core Knights (with the WP), Cannon, Mortar, Steam Tank.

Orcs were
Lord Warboss
Level 4 Shaman
BSB

I panicked those wolf riders early, but they rallied and I couldn't quite finish them off
leaving 2 alive and full points on the table...sigh.

a 25 packs of Black Orcs, 2 units of Boyz, 2 Units of Night Goblins, Some wolf riders, 2 Doom Divers, 2 Stone Throwers, and a couple Chariots.
I started out hitting Chris pretty hard with Shooting taking out a Doom Diver turn 1 and shooting up and panicking his Wolf Riders. by turn 2 I had the Black Orcs running from a crushing charge from Steam Tank and good cast of Dwellers Below, took out his BSB.
However Chris came back hard...using the much talked about "broken item" the Power Scroll
to force an Irresistible Force on the Orc's magic big gun- "the Waaagh" I was all ready to use my Seal of Destruction on his his Waagh but I forgot about the Power Scroll, if I has remember I would left more distance between us. The Waagh totally crushed and a unit of Boyz aided by the Waagh and unit of Night Goblins with fantatics hit my Knights and with some bad dice I got crushed and poor fleeing roll left me rundown and they and my Warrior Priest were gone, My Free Company suffered the same fate I wasnt able to get a nasty buff on them, and there base stats even in horde formation the Orcs crushed them. Unable to flank then with the overruns the Orc were no behind me and Stank was across the table running the Black Orcs off the board.
my Flaggies were on the right flank and out of position, and I couldn't get them back in the game until a couple turns later. The Waagh screwed me up pretty bad, I couldnt recover. while I turned my Swordsmen around..the second unit of Night Goblins gets off a huge charge of 15 inches..running into my wizard who flees and gets caught and hits my Swordsmen in the rear with the overrun..things just went from bad to worse. It was downhill from there for me, I tried to turn the Stank around and get it back in the game but gambled on the Steam Points and lost..in the end a huge turnaround for Orcs..wining by 1200 points or so, ouch.


This pic sums up my demise well, stank chasing the Black Orcs off the board..my wizard caught on a long charge by that unit of Night Goblins, who are easy to ignore until the nets come out and you wish you'd killed them.

Couple notes on this game- The Power Scroll, ouch!- brutal when used at the right time as Chris did here, on top of that until we see the new Orc Book, Orc Magic has its own Miscast Chart from 7th ed, that is incredibly forgiving in 8th edition, there is little to fear with most Orc Miscasts so if you playing Orcs look out..that can make the tough 8th ed Magic Phase even scarier. being on the receiving end of 3 killing blows on my General in a General on General challenge, its tough too swallow even with a 4+ ward. Again, not being able to score points on any unit that isnt totally eliminated is killing me in 8th edition. I can only field so many shooters and still field a viable infantry, lack of mobile shooters (my pistoliers who got killed early,) is hurting..I need to start hiding my pistoliers until turn 4, no doubt.


The Orc General, killed both my BSB and General, he was dropping Killing Blows left and right.

In other game, Lizardmen vs High Elves, apparently this tough match up for High Elves in 8th
with the Slann going toe to toe in the magic department, Saurus and Kroxigors eat Elven Infantry for lunch..Lizardmen won it big, setting my second game versus High Elves.


The armies stare each other down.....


Game 2 vs High Elves, Brian was running
Archmage Metal
Mage- Fire
Noble-BSB
Prince- General

1 big unit of Sea Guard, 2 Units of Spears, 20 archers, 2 units of Reavers, 2 Eagles, 5 Dragon Princes.

Battle of the toughness "3"'s, again first time playing High Elves in 8th edition, brian won 1st turn and start off with a bang literally, casting Searing Doom on the Stank, he rolls a miscast and his Archmage is now a level 2, and searing doom is gone. but the Stank took 5 wounds and was basically ineffective all game..while I used lifebloom to a get a couple wounds back, I was forced to gamble on steam points in few key situations that could have turn the game my way heavily but just didnt get the dice. It was back and forth all game, I held off his flank rush pretty well and fought off the Dragon Princes..but my Knights who held up the Elven General for a couple turns, eventually broke when i couldn't get the support in. While I did manage to kill one of the Mages...I could kill enough of his pricey characters, even after getting my BSB in solo on the flank vs two dragon prices with a flank and 6 attacks (mounted, with Sword of Strife) I could not kill or break them. I just left too many points on the board..we had big combat going turn 6 that drew if we went another turn "maybe" I could have flipped it. In end I think Brian was up by 600 with the extra banners he picked up..a good game..definitely some stuff I would do differently next time.


Brians High Elf army is one of the best looking around, period.

In the other match up Chris and Steve had knock down drag out that was as close to a draw and it could be without being a draw, with Slann with 3 wounds on it...keeping Steve full point instead
the 7th edition half we are used too.



With two losses on the day, not exactly the confidence builder I was looking for with my list going into this tournament however both games were kind of "Shit happens" games not exactly the tactical face offs I am used too playing as seasoned players as I was, however as we are all finding out "Shit happens" is kind of what 8th Edition is all about so you just got to roll with it and enjoy the games. I probably get 3 more practice games in before Core Comp so hopefully I will fair a bit better.

WFB 8th Ed Analysis- Beating Yourself Up.

Nothing is quite as interesting or annoying (depending on your POV) then facing off against your own army in Warhammer Fantasy Battles, continuing in the flavor of my posts this month, I’m finding playing against myself, in this case.Empire vs Empire (two games now) To give both a new perspective on the game and my army.

During 7^th edition, while I certainly didn’t mind the occasional “one-off” I certainly loathed facing another Empire army in a tournament- something that happened more regularly than I would like. The meta game had it standards and even if it was a softer event certain iconic units we mandatory as well as even the basic army setup and play style.

Now with 8^th edition, once again all that’s out the window. While I still play my Empire Army In the spirit of what I think an Empire army in WFB is supposed to look like and with the bell and whistles you’ll need in a tournament. My friend Jeff has no such limitations and looked a 8^th as an opportunity to push the envelope of 8^th edition with Empire.

Last Tuesday we got together for the same narrative type games we’ve been running. pre set terrain-.a large village encompassing the full 4 x 6 with the exception of the deployment zones. Since I had a watchtower, we used “The Watchtower” scenario from the rule book and made three of the forests on the table mysterious.

The Lists

Empire, Talabecland (Me)

General, Armor of Meteoric Iron, The White Cloak, Crown of Command, Pistol , GW

Wizard Lord, Shadows. Seal of Destruction, Talisman of Preservation (4+ ward)

Captain, BSB, Full Plate, Mounted, Sword of Strife

Warrior Priest, Holy Relic, Mounted, GW

CORE

30 Swordsmen , FC War Banner

30 Free Company FC

30 Flagellants

10 Handgunners x 2

5 Knights with Musician, Lances

5 Knights with Musician, Lances

SPECIALS

Cannon

Mortar

RARE

Steam Tank

Empire, Altdorf (Jeff)

General, Biting Blade, Full Plate, Shield

Wizard Lord, Level 4, Lore of Life, Dispel Scroll

Battle Wizard Level 1 Lore of Beasts

Captain BSB, Razor Standard

Master Engineer, HLR.

CORE

60 Spearman FC

Detachment 30 Swordsmen

Detachment 30 Swordsmen

Handgunners 10, Marksman HLR

SPECIAL

30 Greatswords FC,

Detachment 15 Halberdiers

Detachment 15 Halberdiers

5 Pistoliers, Champ Repeater

Cannon

Mortar

RARE

Helblaster Volley Gun

Radically different lists, I spent roughly 200 more points on Characters with one less character than Jeff. His list topped out at over 200 models mine was around 130…that's a lot of extra kills I needed to do, Jeff’s huge blocks could a take a lot of punishment In both the magic and shooting phases and still have plenty of fighting power. I made the mistake of trying out the Lore of Shadows attempting to nerf his troops, big mistake

Mainly because my magic dice were horrible only generating above 5 dice once in 6 turns things like Pit of Shades are only mildly effective against this many troops..I never did manage to pull off getting a “Miasa” off lower and units Initiative then hitting it with The big template “Pit of Shades” much harder to do than it sounds.

The game played out like so, I started with 10 Handgunners in the watchtower. Jeff pushed on both flanks, I won the my left flank, he ended up winning the right. Some bad luck had my Flaggies in a “Venom Thicket” T1, causing me to lose 5 right away. Great luck with Mortar gave jeff 4 bullseyes’ out of 6 with mortar which hurt me terribly reinforcing that Mortars are best 75 points in the game. While I had great luck with my Cannon eliminating Jeff’s Cannon and Helblaster by T3, I couldn’t hit the mortar and it punished me all game. My Stank got hit by his Greatswords ASAP..but low D3 rolls on the grinding..forced me to put my Free Company into the melee. My swordsman unit failed to block a detachments counter charge with a bad charge roll allow the detachment to join the fray, unsupported by magic, (no help from Shadow) they did some kills but I took too many casualties and routed, the Stank holding the Greatswords in place.Inevitably the Stank, and Greatswords tied each other up all game. A detachment of Swordsmen, inevitably stormed the tower, securing Jeff the Victory..while almost 100 Empire infantry filled my right flank. Late game I managed a comeback, killing his Wizard Lord and Great Swords..and thinning out the infantry considerably but I had nothing that could dislodge the Swordsmen in the watchtower. On points I only lost by 138…so it was a pretty close game.

Conclusions are apparent, Lore of Life is about mandatory for Empire if you are only running one wizard, be wary of too many toys in your army I spent lots of points on toys That inevitably didn’t matter or never came into play..Jeff took barely any toys in favor of mass infantry, and beat what should have been a superior and more flexible force. Bodies matter, model count is important don’t think the days of running low model count armies is not at all realistic in 8^th edition, maybe High Elves can pull it off…but that’s about it. And finally the magic phase, ye who controls the magic phase controls the game It was the same in 7^th and while the mechanic is different is 8^th, the adage is the same. Since I am preparing for our local Core Competency tournament coming up here in about 4 weeks and then the North Star about 1 month after that, I was glad to play this game as it gave me a new perspective on running my own army. Definitely some things I hadn’t considered before came to light and its is only because I played against my own army. So don’t be so hesitant those mirror match ups, you never know how it might change your own perspective in 8^th edition.

I’ll be moving away from these WFB commentary posts the next few weeks in favor of some other games, and some new models I’ve been working on. Keep an eye out for a full on 8^th edition Battle Report, I am primed to do one I just need the right game and two painted armies- its in the que.

In scoop/rumor news I can report that the next WFB army book Is Orcs and Goblins and not Tomb Kings or Ogres as we hoped, O&G looks like its getting a big boost in putting bodies on the field cheap and big bump in magic With a retool of “Waaagh” magic and access to at least some of the standard lores.

A Couple of Slugfests.

Club Night 8/3 -Plastic Legions HQ





I played two great games of the new Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th Edition last night, both games were 2400 points and I played the exact same Empire List posted below on 7/21. My friend Chris ran his Tomb Kings (again list posted below) while Aaron ran a new version of his Warriors of Chaos list. Going along with new flavor of the rules we set up the table as a scene, and we did use mysterious terrain for several items on the table both Watchtowers had different effects, the was a charnel pit as well as one Wildwood.


Game 1 Empire vs Tomb Kings



A knock down drag out bloodbath...Chris misjudging the power of the Flagellant horde plowed a wall of chariots into my Flaggies but with Initative 2, the Flagellants destroyed the entire unit except for the king before he could strike back. Tomb Kings magic raised some hell with me...I was unable to keep any bounds spells going..and while I had "The dwellers below" it was turn 6 before I got it off. I hard time with the Catapults my cannon rolling poorly on wounds and misfiring it. my Fire Wizard didn't do much either. my Mortar racked some big kills against the TK's T3 troops and I had some problems with one big block of 30 skeletons with a Tomb Prince that broke and killed my Free Company and Wizard..overunning into my BSB and his knights where a bad set of rolls, had me losing combat, breaking, even with the re roll and getting caught. on the upside my General and his Swordsmen smashed in to the tomb guard who held for a round..but I gambled and ran my Inner Circle Knights thru the Wildwood and into the Tomb Guards Flank. While I only lost two models in the woods it was more than enough to obliterate the Tomb Guard..and send my Knight overrunning across his rear lines. Late game
I managed to finish the Skeletons, get my captured banners back while my expensive units crushed the Tomb King backfield..in the End a great game, The Empire slew the Tomb Kings to a man and I still had around 800 points on the table.





Game 2 Empire vs Warriors of Chaos


At this point I was undefeated with Empire in 8th edition but Aaron had my number with this list

Daemon Prince, Level 3, Lore of Heavens
Exhalted- BSB
Exhalted- Uber fighty guy

30 Warriors FC
30 Warriors FC

2 Chariots

5 Chaos Knights FC



only 70 models to my 150, I thought I could do ok, but I must tell you whatever genius was out there claiming the Empire was the best 8th Edition Army, obviously forgot Chaos Warriors. It doesnt surprise me because in competitive gaming Chaos Warriors were all but forgotten or token filler in 7th Ed Warrior of Chaos Armies.

I couldn't do anything to those units of Warriors...I tried dual charge on one block of warriors in Horde Formation with my Knights and Flagellants..the Flaggies where short on the charge with a bad charge roll...The Knights in alone won the first round but Aarons horde was steadfast and didnt break..my Knights got slaughtered on the bottom of turn...next turn I got my Flaggies in there..buffed to T5 from Flesh to Stone...I killed plenty of Warriors, but with extra hand weapons in horde he had 22-28 attacks per round they ate me my Flagellants quick. I had my Lore of Life Wizard with Renewal and "Flesh to Stone" nearby and was using "Regrowth" but in that situation it wasnt replacing enough models to make a difference.

I shot up his knights pretty badly killing two before he charged my Generals block..there was a weird situation where I screwed up and his Unit champ challenged and I stupidly had my champion except. My champ gets killed, the Knights due around 10 wounds total to me...my strike backs kill both other knights but I General still hasnt gone and cant strike the remaining knight because he's in the challenge and I lose on combat res and break. I do rally and come back and kill the one knight but it threw of chance to engage the other block of warriors on 2 sides. Oh why didnt I accept that challenge with my General? , it was unlikely he kill me and I probably could of gotten the 1 wound I needed to kill him and wipe the unit...STUPID. Anyway I killed both Chariots, the Knights. captured there standard and did two wounds to the Daemon Prince..(who hid a cast spells all game that I shut down pretty hard..he was a non issue, although I tried hard to kill him at 500 point Aaron just got lucky on the 5+ saves. at 500 points I should have tried harder to kill him.) I had killed around 15 Warriors in one Horde and maybe 10 in the other. Mortar wasnt doing much S3 vs T4 even with lots of bullseyes was doing avg 3-5 kills...Cannon was useless guessing 6" away I was short x2 , short /stuck in mud, misfire /dud, misfire/ Kaboom...bad rolls. My dice were less than stellar across the board in the end he had 1269 in Kills to my 500 something.. A tough tough game!, two blocks of 30 Chaos Warrior are two giant movable brick walls not sure how I handle WoC with that kind of build, potentially the Steam Tank, more offensive magic ...I'm scratching my head on this one
great game Aaron!.

WFB 8th Edition Intro event!

Warhammer and Grillin!, Nuff Said.

I hosted a small intro event for Warhammer 8th Edition last evening. A club night event we kicked it off early after the work day with Beers and Dogs before hitting the tables at 7pm for 2 games a piece. For at least half of the eight players in attendance it was there 1st chance to play 8th edition, all of us of had time to read over the rules. But massive rulebooks at hand pages turning we dove into 8 games of Warhammer last night.


Lots of new unpainted armies being fielded, with only 3 of painted this was only game between 2 painted armies so all these in game shots are Tomb Kings Vs Dwarfs., and it was a Draw!


The Lists @ 2400 points.

Joe F- Dark Elves

LORDS
Sorceress level 4 ,cold one, pendant, Darkstar cloak Lore of Death
HEROES
Lokir Fellheart
Master BSB Standard of Slaughter
Sorceress Level 2, Ring of Hotek, Sacrificial Dagger

CORE
60 Spears FC, Shields, Combat Banner
20 Corsairs, FC Serpentine Banner

SPECIAL
15 Executioner FC
15 Witch Elves FC
15 Blackguard FC Banner of Murder

RARE
Repeater Bolt Thrower

Results Round 1- Aaron’s WoC - Draw Round 2- Chris’s Tomb Kings- Win
--------------------------------------------------------------

Chris- Tomb Kings

LORDS

Tomb King, Chariot, +2S Swrd, broach of the great desert, dispel scroll

HEROES
Lich , Steed
Lich, Cloak of Dune
Lich
Tomb Prince, great weapon

CORE

39 Skeletons, FC , Summoning Banner
4 Chariots, Standard Musician
6 Light Horse, Musician
11 Skeletons, Bows, Musician
11 Skeletons, Bow, Musician

SPECIAL

24 Tomb Guard, FC
2 Tomb Scorpions

RARE
2 Screaming Skull Catapults

Results Round 1- Billy’s Dwarfs- Draw Round 2 – Joe’s Dark Elves- Loss
------------------------------------------------------------

Aaron’s Warriors of Chaos

LORDS
Lord , Manticore, MoS, Crown of Conquest, Diabolic Splendor, Charmed Shield, Biting Blade

HEROES
Sorcerer, Level 2, Mark of Tzeentch, Disc, Homunculus, Power Familiar, Dispel Scroll
Exhalted Hero, Demonic Steed, Shield, MoS, BSB, Warbanner

CORE

18 Warriors, FC, MoS, Extra HW. Shields X 2
12 Marauders, MoS, Shields, Standard, Musician
5 Marauder Horse, Flails, MoS
6 Hounds X 2

SPECIAL

2 Chariots, MoS

Results

Round 1- Joe’s Dark Elves- Draw Round 2- Billy’s Dwarfs- Loss

--------------------------------------------------------------

Joe D’s- Skaven
LORDS

Vermin Lord, Level 4, Doom Glaive
Warlord- General halberd, heavy Armor, enchanted shield

HEROES

Chieftain- BSB, Banner of the Horned Rat
Plague Priest- Foul Pendant
Warlock Engineer- Skaven Brew, Warplock pistol
CORE
61 Stormvermin, FC, Stormbanner, Warpfire team
30 Clan Rats, FC, Ratling Gun Team
30 Clan Rats, FC, Warpfire Team
RARE

2 Doomwheels.

Results Round 1, Rich’s Chaos- Win Round 2 John’s Empire- Loss
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rich’s Warriors of Chaos

LORDS
Sorceror Level 4 , golden eye, Disc, Mark of Tzeentch, Homunculus, Power Familiar

HEROES
Exhalted hero, General, Armor of Damnation, MoS, Steed of Slannesh, Sheild
Exhalted hero, BSB, Talisman of Preservation, Shield

CORE

50 Marauders, GW, MoS
15 Warriors, Tzeentch, shields, musician, banner of disciple
15 Warriors, Khorne, Halberds, Musician X 2
10 Marauders, Slannesh, Flails, Musicians
5 Marauder Horse, Slannesh, Shield, Throwing Axes SPECIAL
Chariot, Khorne
Chariot, Slannesh

RARE

Chaos Spawn

Results. Round 1- Joe’s Skaven- Loss Round 2- Jeff’s Empire- Win
------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff’s Empire

LORDS
Kurt Helborg
Empire General, Armor of Meteoric Iron, GW
HEROES
Captain BSB
Wizard, Level 2
Warrior Priest, GW

CORE
60 Spearmen, FC
Detachement - 15 Swordsmen x 2
SPECIAL
30 Greatswords
Detachments- 15 Halberdiers x 2 (core)
9 Inner Circle Knights, FC
5 Pistoliers, FC, Repeater Pistol
Mortar.

Results Round 1- John’s Empire- Loss Round 2 – Rich’s WoC- Loss

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Billy’s Dwarfs

LORDS
Dwarf Lord

HEROES
Runesmith
Master Engineer
Thane BSB

CORE
20 Warriors (HW/Shield, full command)
20 Longbeards (GW/HW/Shield, full command)
10 Thunderers (musician)
10 Thunderers (musician)

SPECIAL
15 Ironbreakers(full command)
12 Slayers (Giant Slayer/Musician, Standard)
Cannon
Cannon
Bolt Thrower
Grudge Thrower

RARE

Organ Gun

Results Round 1- Chris Tomb Kings’ Draw Round 2 Aarons WoC – Win

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John’s Empire

LORDS
General of Empire- Armor of Silvered Steel, Holy Relic, Great Weapon, Pistol

HEROES
Captain, BSB, Mounted, Sword of Sigismund
Battle Wizard, Level 2 Lore of Fire, Seal of Destruction
Battle Wizard, Level 2, Lore of Life, Dispel Scroll
Warrior Priest, Armor of Metoric Iron, Great Weapon

CORE
30 Swordsmen, FC , War Banner
Detachment 10 Handgunners

30 Free Company FC

30 Flagellants , Horde

10 Crossbows, Musician
10 Handgunners

SPECIAL
10 Inner Circle Knights, FC, Steel Standard
Great Cannon
Mortar
5 Pistoliers, Musician, Champ w/ Repeater Pistol

Results- Round 1- Jeff’s Empire- Win Round 2 – Joes Skaven- Win


My Empire on the table during- deployment round 1


More TK vs Dwarfs..note Chris' custom catapult in the rear.


Terrain was preset, with 7-8 pieces per table…mysterious terrain was limited
Specific buildings with used, Temple of Skulls, Arcane Ruins, etc..roughly 1
Per table..all woods were normal.


Again my overall opinions previous posted haven’t changes. At 4-0 with the new edition…Empire is looking like a very solid army, its just seems I have a lot more tools now and with the augment spells from the Lore of Life, some my average troops become down right scary. My Game 1 of Empire vs Empire..Started with me trying out the new grapeshot rules and shredding Jeff’s Pistoliers to ribbons. Leaving only the champ who continues to be a pain in my butt..jeff’s massive formations and detachments seemed daunting..but using my Knights to lure Kurt Helborg and Jeffs knights out of the game..The Lore of Life,’s the Dwellers Below’s and bullseye Mortar blast..evaporated the majority of the Greatswords…I had enough shooting that thinned out detachments were no match for 30 Free Company and my 30 Flaggies buffed to Toughness 5, thanks to Flesh to Stone more than held up those Spearmen until I could flank it on 3 sides…a crushing victory.

Game 2 Skaven, 2 nasty Lords a massive horde and 2 Doomwheels is nothing to take lightly, but again I got Flesh to Stone and those Toughness 5 Flaggies Won me the day, crushing the Vermin Lord and then his massive Block of Storm Vermin The Doom Wheel’s wreaked some havoc but I got my Knights into one of them destroying it, the other went out of control and saved me turn before it started chewing up my flank. Joe had some other problems thinning out his own ranks like the Skaven Brew backfiring and some miscasts..I had more then enough magic defense and took the always menacing “Plague” out the game turn 1 with the Seal of Destruction.. With one of my Wizards bunkered in the Arcane Ruins on the table I also had enough magic offense to make joe really struggle . The doomwheels and the Warpfire teams and the Storm Banner caused me some pain early A great game closer than it seemed The turnkey was underestimating the first turn power of 30 Flaggies. In Horde formation, especially when buffed to T5 he turned down chance to try to dispel over other things.




Here’s some of the thoughts and background on 8th edition from the guys playing tonight.

Aaron- grew up on 3rd edition and then didnt play for years returning as new player in 7th ed for the last 6 months or so before 8th’s arrival.” check out Aarons Blog http://xenite.wordpress.com/ for his awesome custom sculpted Warriors of Chaos army.

”In my first game, I tangled with the Dark Elves, and the way that the new rules affect things was kind of surprising. Units like the 20 corsairs were a fantastic way to anchor a flank for the DE. My warriors were predictably awesome, I'll have to make more of them! Some of the nuances of reforming, and maneuvering I still need to get my head around. Billy's dwarfs kind of rocked my world. They are much more viable now I think. The new arty rules are tight, and make it slightly more effective. In general, I am very pleased with 8th. I didn't have a lot to gripe about with 7th, but I think this is definitely a step in the right direction. The major change is that much of the mechanics are linked to dice rolls, and tests. Charge distance, march blocking, moving after reforming for example.“

Rich- has been playing Warhammer on and off for numerous editions since its very early days and has a 20 year + Chaos Collection. You can read more of Rich’s thoughts on last night on his great blog http://chicagoterrainfactory.wordpress.com/

“Holy buckets of dice Batman! Over all I find the new edition is smooth, big and fast moving, but I question its long term play value.”

Billy- got seriously into the game in 5th and Played solidly for the whole run of 6th and 7th, Bretonnia in 6th, mostly Dwarfs in 7th, with dalliances into High Elves, Skaven, and Chaos Warriors." Check out Billy's Blog http://castellanpaint.blogspot.com/

“8th has taken me from being ready to quit WHFB altogether to actually being excited about it again. (Seriously, I've painted about 600 points worth of models in the last 10 days, after not touching my Dwarfs for months) I think the increased amount of terrain is going to force the "shove models forward and make with the stabbin'" armies to actually maneuver, and premeasuring makes the game more about managing the risk inherent in variable charge distances than having the ability to judge abstract distances on a tabletop. The changes to special rules do a lovely job of tweaking some of the more abusive armies in a way that I was skeptical a core ruleset could do. It really takes a system that was obviously showing its age and flaws in an incredibly unflattering way, streamlines and polishes it, and turns it into a ruleset that they should actually be proud of selling in a market that competes with 40K 5th edition, Warmachine, and War of the Ring.”

Chris- Chris is seasoned player playing 6th and 7th ed heavily he done quite a few of major tourneys over since I've known him including winning Best Sportsman at the 2008 Chicago GT.

"Overall, I like it alot. Playing, I had a clear vision of massive armies in battle with heroic leaders inspiring nearby troops and powerful sorcerers casting game deciding spells (sometimes to their own demise). "

Joe D- Joe's a regular at our local GW shop and has played Ogres, Lizards, Skaven, Empire and Daemons of Chaos during 7th Edition.

"when I first heard all of the rumors for 8th before the book came out I thought I would possible flat out quitting or just playing 7th edition at peoples houses. I said I would give it a shot and I have come around to find that 8th isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I mean yes I have to readjust my lists but that isn't a bad thing necessarily. I am now looking at working on armies that were mostly neglected in the last edition because the rules were just not in their favor. The 2400 points we played last night felt like a 2k game in 7th but speed up a hair. It was a good tempo. "

I'll add more quotes from the guys as they come in.......