Path To Glory - ETC All Games Up!

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Curu Olannon
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Re: Path To Glory - Olannon tries UB!

#1411 Post by Curu Olannon »

Russ Veal with Malekith in the first draw. Game on :)
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SpellArcher
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Re: Path To Glory - Olannon tries UB!

#1412 Post by SpellArcher »

Best player in the country IMHO.

Which isn't to say I think you'll lose Curu...

:)
sparkytrypod
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Re: Path To Glory - Olannon tries UB!

#1413 Post by sparkytrypod »

SpellArcher wrote:Best player in the country IMHO.

Which isn't to say I think you'll lose Curu...

:)
ha ha covering all bases nicely there SA!

what do you think of your chances curu?
death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain

do an rpg personality test, im from Ireland and I get...

[CENTER][url=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][img]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/24.jpg[/img][/url][/CENTER
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Curu Olannon
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Re: Path To Glory - Olannon tries UB!

#1414 Post by Curu Olannon »

@SpellArcher - It's always best to meet the strongest ones first ;)

@sparkytrypod - Let's look at this realistically: I've played my ET list twice. I know roughly how it works, but it's not super hard and I do not have experience vs other ET lists. Russ has played lots of these games for sure due to the UK Master's following the same rules, so he has an edge there. Furthermore it's Imrik vs Malekith, which isn't even close. I don't know if anyone else is taking Imrik (I haven't checked the lists) at all. Lastly, he has the ranged advantage. 30 Darkshards moving 20" with the ethereal rule every turn is a pain to say the least.

What I do have going for me is a certain pressure on Malekith and (probably) getting first turn. Searing Doom is a disaster for him and the poisoned Archers hurt him. If I can zone the Darkshards sufficiently and keep Malekith at bay, preferably with a cast or two of Searing Doom, I could have a chance. It's an uphill battle without a doubt and if Russ has the experience I believe he does (let's say 30+ games with this rulepack) and the skill SpellArcher says he does he should cap me.

It's all good though, if I win it's a great start. If I lose I drop down a lot and can play catch up with the other guys who didn't optimize their lists to win.
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1415 Post by SpellArcher »

Mark Wildman is bringing Imrik, with whom he had much success at the UK Masters. Russ Veal also did well there, with Malekith but that was on the back of four max scores and getting tabled twice (small field). I've seen him squeeze great results out of mediocre armies but that doesn't necessarily translate into being able to steamroll top players every game. He will suspect you're good Curu but he may not realise just how good with Dragon lists.
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Curu Olannon
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1416 Post by Curu Olannon »

Interesting list. Fairly close to mine, actually, but he has more shooting and flexibility whereas I have the bus. Metal is also easily better vs Malekith.

Maybe it'll be an interesting game after all ;)
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RE.Lee
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1417 Post by RE.Lee »

So... how did it go? ;)
cheers, Lee

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Curu Olannon
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1418 Post by Curu Olannon »

Game 1 is on Saturday I believe :)
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1419 Post by Curu Olannon »

If anyone has some last minute suggestions, the list I´m facing tomorrow morning is this:
Host of the Eternity King
Malekith the Eternity King (K) 1000
Noble (HE): Battle standard Bearer; Banner of the World Dragon; Heavy
Armour, Shield 151
Mage (HE): Level 2 (High Magic); Ring of Fury; Dispel Scroll 170
Master (DE): Dark Pegasus; Cloak of Twilight; Sea Dragon Cloak; Shield; Lance;
Heavy Armour 188
29 Dark shards (DE): Shields; Scarecrow Banner; Full Command 412
12 Witch Elves (DE): Standard Bearer, Banner of Eternal Flame 152
5 Doomfire Warlocks (DE) 125
2,198 points
So basically run up, fire at will and counter-zone with Malekith + Master. The flyers can also push, if needed.
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Andros123
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1420 Post by Andros123 »

Good luck man :) .
I'll look forward to hear how it goes, even though all this end times really isn't my cop of tea.
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Curu Olannon
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1421 Post by Curu Olannon »

16-4 to me vs Russ, game 1 :)
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1422 Post by SpellArcher »

Respect!
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Galharen
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1423 Post by Galharen »

Wow, good job, I can't wait to see your report, write some short info if you have time between battles :)
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RE.Lee
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1424 Post by RE.Lee »

Impressive! Looking forward to seeing the details ;)
cheers, Lee

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Curu Olannon
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1425 Post by Curu Olannon »

Day 1 over, the last 2 games ended 12 and 11. Both were extremely hard matchups for my list and by no means standard "end times uber meta", but I got lucky and managed to capitalize on some key mistakes. Very lucky at some points.

Reports will be up in due time. Thus far I've faced malekith, mannfred and double TG + light council and alarielle + shadow infantry elves, the latter in the buildings scenario.

In other news the beer has been on since 12 and I know tomorrow will be a long day. Will keep you all posted as best as I can :)
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50% Hero/Lord FAQ: How to Capitalize

#1426 Post by SpellArcher »

It's a strong field (Matt Watkinson is a good player, who did you play round 3 Curu?).

Close enough to podium I believe!

:)
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1427 Post by Curu Olannon »

Still only half way, SA. My opponent for game 3 was a guy from Newcastle, Dave Pyle.

Tomorrow I will face OnG for my first game, should be interesting :)
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1428 Post by John Rainbow »

Great results so far! Nice work and good luck!
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1429 Post by SpellArcher »

Without being rude, I wouldn't put your next opponent at ETC level Curu. But he's no mug and very experienced with O&G (and is obviously going well here). Expect one or two unusual picks.
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1430 Post by Curu Olannon »

Won 14 vs OnG and then 20 (capped to 16) vs Malekith. Awaiting game 6 after final draws. Pairing is up in about 30 minutes :)
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1431 Post by Galharen »

Really nice run so far, you are for sure somewhere on top, aren't you?;)
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1432 Post by SpellArcher »

As scoring is capped at 16, Curu must be on 69/80?

Big win could see him home!

:)
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1433 Post by Curu Olannon »

14-6 vs luke morton game 6, awaiting results now. Hopefully top 3 but very unlikely 1st or 2nd.
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1434 Post by SpellArcher »

That'll be the Luke Morton who is top of the UK rankings then.

Tremendous effort Curu.

=D>
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1435 Post by Curu Olannon »

83 points, 4th place, 1 point behind Russ Veal who went on a 5* 16 killing spree after I capped him game 1.
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alenui
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1436 Post by alenui »

Congrats mate, it was good to see you. Sadly I wasn't around at the Evenings would have been good to have a proper chat.

Side note played three of your Norwegian party over the weekend all absolute Gents I though you added a very positive element to the event.
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1437 Post by SpellArcher »

Solid result from you too Mr Brown, well played.
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1438 Post by Curu Olannon »

Thanks to everyone for encouraging words and input throughout the weekend. It's been a very tight schedule from the day we arrived til I got home just a few hours ago.

Next up now is a short preview of my games. I'll get to work on the reports as well!
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Re: Path To Glory - Sheffield Slaughter Preparation

#1439 Post by Curu Olannon »

:: Sheffield Slaughter 2015 - Preview ::

I signed up for Sheffield months ago together with about 20 other Norwegians. This has traditionally been one of the most popular events for us to attend and Chris Legg was kind enough to reserve a number of tickets for us. I decided to join in and got right down to it, building lists and discussing the meta with my club mates.

Then the End Times books came out. The rules pack took a turn for the more insane and my interest immediately dropped a couple of notches. I decided to make a list with Imrik and have a couple of test games, but unfortunately they turned me off: These games are inevitably crazy in the sense that a few crucial dice rolls can completely make or break the game.

Based on these games I decided to simply focus on ETC training instead and just show up to try and have a good time. Some Norwegians dropped out but luckily the ET: Magic rules were dropped and we were still over a dozen making the trip.

Arriving at Sheffield late on Friday I was pleasantly surprised to see all my models surviving the trip seeing as the packaging was dodgy at best. We went down to the tournament facilities (Dave's Sporting Club) to unpack and have a practice game, along with a couple of beers. I met a lot of people, forgot over half the names (but seeing as no English speakers can remember, let alone pronounce, "Jarle"", I was never embarrassed) and had a good time. As I was playing a club mate's Chaos Legions, Luke Morton (a friend of my club mate) came around to watch. He had a few questions here and there and seeing as it was a friendly game it just added to the atmosphere. Luke had a near-identical list to my friend's, basically Kairos with Bray Shamans near a Herdstone with super-hard Warrior Lords. We discussed various lists and the meta as a whole in various comp systems and Chris Legg also joined in. A great start to a great weekend but as we were kind of tired from the trip we called it a night when the bar closed to catch a few hours of sleep before day 1 would begin.

So game 1 was on and I was facing Russ Veal. I had no idea what to expect apart from the list, but Russ was a very nice opponent which I had 0 issues with the entire game. Both of us did our best to win, don't get me wrong, but we always asked and agreed about edge cases ("you can't see me now, agreed?") which is in my opinion a very important thing to have for a game to be good.

Malekith and shooting vs Imrik with Metal backup is very dodgy for both parties. At any point in the game a single magic phase can completely ruin your opponent's chances: a big Searing Doom can take out a wounded Malekith outright and a big Withering can see the Darkshards obliterate Imrik's bus.

Image
Malekith on 3 wounds has set me up with 3 huge options... What are they, which should I choose and why?

The second game saw me face a fairly unique list: Mannfred the Mortarch, double Terrorgheist, 4x L1 Light Wizards and lots of support. The scenario for game 2 was Meeting Engagement, a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, the extreme distances might buy me time to keep Imrik safe, on the other hand the deep deployment available to my opponent means it would be impossible for me to push hard. My opponent this time around was Matt Watkinson and Matt also proved to be a very nice guy to play against.

Image
Mannfred and his flying circus are moving to flank me. With the Light Coven constantly threatening me from the corner of his deployment hidden behind tons of Zombies, can Imrik find a solution?

The third game of the day and the last game of day 1 saw me face Dave Pyle with Alarielle, Incarnate of Life, supported by an L4 Shadow Mage and tons of infantry. At first glance an infantry list like this might look like an easy matchup, but bearing in mind this scenario was the Two Towers (place two buildings on the table, the player controlling the most gets +1000VPs) and the fact that his army basically had regeneration on everything with Shadow backup, this is far from trivial. Dave however had the worst luck in the world, I have honestly never seen anyone roll as poorly as he did in a tournament game. Dave took this all very well though, a big kudos to him for keeping the mood up despite nearly every single dice roll going against him.

Image
The bus is lined up with the Cloakpeg moving around his flank and the Dragon setting up from behind, but where can I strike and do damage without facing too much in retaliation?

<Insert Saturday night shenanigans>

Day 2 saw me start off against a fairly vanilla OnG army - the main difference was that he had 0 trolls and a ton of characters, all probably stacked in a folding fortress. Dave Sweeting commanded the beautifully painted army (he was nominated for best painted) and he was a very seasoned general. He was also very polite and I thoroughly enjoyed our game.

Image
Orcs and Goblins hurt Elf busses a lot, doubly so when they manage to grab first turn! How can Imrik cause enough havoc to get back from this?

Game 2 of the second day and I knew I had climbed slowly but surely. Meeting one of the typical ET lists was inevitable and for my 5th game I faced no other than a club member I know very well - Norway's ETC captain for 2015 - Øystein Berg. He'd brought Malekith with a huge unit of Witchelves, supported by Sisters of Twilight (which I think it's shocking that so few others took) and Warlocks. Without the ranged firepower of the Darkshards that Russ had, I was fairly confident in my chances for this game.

Image
Malekith and Imrik facing off. Who will seize the initiative, who will make their magic matter the most?

For the very last game of the tournament chances would have it I'd face off Luke Morton, who had been longing to face me for several games (we were fairly tight in terms of points) seeing as his list is, on paper, very strong vs mine. He gave me a hug when I shook my head at the pairing - there were so many juicy lists around us that I'd love to face - but I jokingly told him he'd be the one needing a hug when we were done. Our game took a long time and went back and forth multiple times with many rules queries and discussions. Despite all the hiccups we always had a friendly tone and resolved everything without getting angry or losing the good mood and atmosphere. Luke got my "best sports" vote, this was a very tough call as I had 6 really good games and no bad moments throughout the entire weekend, but our multitude of hiccups and him keeping up the good mood despite the dice being quite horrible against him at crucial times made it an obvious choice when I sat down to analyze the games.

Image
The reform shenanigans have only just begun in the center with my bus adopting a "lance formation" while I'm setting up an expensive trap on the Eastern flank. I'm playing from behind but am intending to give Luke a real game, he'll have to fight for my points if he wants them!

When all the games were done I exchanged contact information with a couple of people. The room was cleared out and the awards were done, lots of worthy winners (including our very own Paul Brown aka "alenui" who took best in race: High Elves with a solid 12th place!) and the top 4 armies all being "Hosts of the Eternity King": Ben Curry won the event fielding Malekith and ending up with 89BPs, Mike Wildman took 2nd with Imrik (!) and 85BPs, Russ Veal managed to reach the podium with an impressive streak of 5x 16-4 games after our game 1, thus getting 84BPs and I finished 4th with 83BPs.

The weekend was a blast and I'm glad I took the trip (I was considering ditching the event because of the rules up until Thursday, actually). I met a lot of great people, including alenui and sparkytrypod who I'd love to spend more time with, and will definitely be going back to the UK later on for tournaments. I'm not sure when I'll be able to return, but rest assured I will be way better prepared than I was this time around.

Reports will be coming up as soon as possible, I'll start on the game vs Russ right away!
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:: Path to Glory - High Elves Army Blog ::
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Curu Olannon
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Re: Path To Glory - Invasion 2014 Game 2/5 up!

#1440 Post by Curu Olannon »

Sheffield Slaughter, my biggest event with a triple-digit amount of players. For a Norwegian, that's rare. The only event I've been to that's been as big was the Swedish Championship last year (Norwegian Championship comes close-ish as well).


.::. Battle Report - Sheffield Slaughter #1 vs Host of the Eternity King (Russ Veal) .::.
Points Before the Game: 0/0

Lists:
Imrik, Crown Prince of Caledor: 810
Archmage on Elven Steed: Level 4, Lore of Metal, Dispel Scroll, 265
Noble on Barded Elven Steed: Battle Standard Bearer, Banner of the World Dragon, Spear, Shield, Heavy Armour, 168
Noble on Barded Elven Steed: Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Spear, Crown of Command, 131
Master on Dark Pegasus: Cloak of Twilight, Lance, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, 188

16 Silver Helms: Full Command Group, Shields, 398
10 Glade Guards: Hagbane Tips, Musician, 160

5 Deepwood Scouts: Hagbane Tips, 80

Army Total: 2200
Malekith the Eternity King (K) 1000
Noble (HE): Battle standard Bearer; Banner of the World Dragon; Heavy Armour, Shield 151
Mage (HE): Level 2 (High Magic); Ring of Fury; Dispel Scroll 170
Master (DE): Dark Pegasus; Cloak of Twilight; Sea Dragon Cloak; Shield; Lance; Heavy Armour 188

29 Dark shards (DE): Shields; Scarecrow Banner; Full Command 412
12 Witch Elves (DE): Standard Bearer, Banner of Eternal Flame 152

5 Doomfire Warlocks (DE) 125

2,198 points
Pre-battle thoughts and deployment:

Taking an L4 metal was largely due to cases like this: Malekith. In this meta, armour is the name of the game and few counters it as well as Metal. Furthermore Final Trans is a "ok let's just try" counter if I am completely out of options or get a ton of power dice.

The main problem here are the Darkshards. If he manages to establish a position where he can just keep spamming soulblight and withering and then let loose with shards, I'm kind of in a tough spot. I need to keep the game dynamic, create openings and zone his Darkshards while keeping the pressure up on Malekith. Easier said than done.

For spells I roll two doubles, blades and hounds. I want them both and end up taking Searing Doom + Glittering Robes. Skipping Final Trans might have been a mistake as it'll make a big dent in the Darkshards early on, but my thinking was that in a big phase I'd rather cast robes on Helms (doubling their survivability vs Darkshards in effect), Hounds + big Doom.

Deployment saw me get off square against Malekith. With my very low drop count I had +1 and managed to take T1.

Image

:: Turn 1 ::

I move up to 22" from Malekith (mage 24" away in rank 2). I move the cloak away from the central building to block the most obvious path of his Darkshards: If he wants the central building I can keep out a lot easier because in that case he can't boost them 20" with Malekith.

I follow up with the Archers getting in range and the scouts moving up. Magic sees me put 6W on Malekith with IF Searing Doom, another 1W from Hagbane Tips brings him down to 3W. Game on!

In return his Darkshards take the central position I anticipated him to grab should he not go for the tower. His magic does nothing I believe, though I can't remember how that happened. He reveals a mistake I've made as his cloak peg manages to escape my cloak peg's Line of Sight just barely. Sloppy on my part. Shooting kills a couple of Helms.

Image

Image

:: Turn 2 ::

I reform the bus, back up, get Malekith within my sights again at a fair distance and move Imrik to the flank to threaten his Darkshards moving in too close. His Cloak peg will be a pain, but fleeing/zoning with my own will (hopefully) keep him in check. I'm trying to move the Archers to threaten Malekith if he wants to keep his "stone cover" in my T3 and the Scouts move up.

Magic is miserable, I roll up 5PD and know the odds very well: 70% to cast Searing Doom. While an IF would be nice as I'll likely kill him, it's just a bonus and even just drawing the scroll is good. I fail to cast however. Shooting sees 1 Scout poison him but he saves hit on the armour.

He responds by giving me a plethora of choices: Malekith moves close to the rock so that my bus is 18" away, Darkshards position 18" from imrik and the Cloak Peg goes far away to keep threatening my scouts + archers. This time he unforges my BOTWD and I have to think for a long while: It's a huge cast so I need to scroll it if I want to deal with it. Without the Banner Malekith will chew through the bus, but I have a few options here. I decide against it and let him have it. The banner goes away. His Darkshards kill 5 Glade Guards, I pass panic.

Image

Image

:: Turn 3 ::

3 choices: Charge Imrik into Darkshards. He has positioned Malekith to counter-charge, but has forgotten one very important thing - if I combat reform to give him my flank he can't see me. If he flees, I can take the Witchelves. Number 2: Send the bus into Malekith. It's a 50-50 charge and if I reach him, I can pin him down for Imrik. I can't tell 100% what distance Imrik will have to him, but it looks like 18" or 19". I'm fairly sure it isn't 20. Number 3, bide my time for one more turn and try to kill him with magic.

Number 1 is bad because if Imrik fails his charge, I have no way to zone him properly. With the Cloak Peg breathing down my neck, I can find myself getting swarmed too fast for my own good: Darkshards zoom past Imrik's arc and Malekith moves up, no good. Number 2 is good because if I fail, he can charge me, which I don't care too much about as he'll be stuck and Imrik can counter, but I can also keep throwing magic at him and shoot him. Number 3 is probably a good choice as well, but with the banner gone and his scroll intact it feels more risky.

So I go with number 2. This also sets up Imrik to flame the Darkshards. I hit everyone barring 1 and kill 10 after his 6+/6++, significantly reducing his ranged power. The bus into Malekith and I lose the champ.

In his turn the Darkshards back up 10" and shoots Imrik for 3 (!!) wounds. I was intending to scroll Arcane on Imrik seeing as I cannot deal with losing the star lance, but he IFs. Luckily, he destroys the Dragonhorn (!!!). Malekith eats the Stubborn Noble and I hold.

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Imrik is positioned 180 degrees in the wrong direction because of hill + balance issues

:: Turn 3 ::

Yes. I fail the charge. I'm hoping the bus can hold out for long enough, but at this point in time I know I need some luck to get back into the game. Magic - can't even remember but I do believe his scroll is out at this point. I set up the cloak peg to zone his warlocks should he want to counter-charge me. Archers and Scouts move to set up as well, in case Malekith kills me in 2 rounds of combat.

Malekith eats another character (BSB I believe, wanted the scroll for his T3 and would rather risk LD10 steadfast than not having a scroll).

In his turn, Darkshards charge Imrik to pin me down until Malekith can arrive. He makes the charge. Magic sees my scroll come out, can't remember what but the L4 would die anyway. Cloak Peg and Warlocks charge the Helms and they just evaporate.

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:: Turn 4 ::

My Cloak Peg charges his cloak peg and he flees. He flees short, but I still fail to catch him. Shooting is HUGE however as my 10 hagbane shots score 4W on Malekith. He saves the first and fails the 2 next. To make matters particularly exciting the last die ends up beneath a movement tray and my opponent says "Please, please don't tell me that is what I fear it is!". Carefully removing the movement tray, I see the most beautiful '2' I've seen in a long while. Malekith is down, the tables are most definitely turned.

Bearing in mind what just happened, Imrik is basically just chewing up 1000+ VP slowly but surely.

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I brainfart a little as my cloakpeg doesn't charge his: I forget I'm immune to HKB so I run a very low risk of losing this. The Hagbanes bring the Warlocks down to 1 model, 50% points. The cloak + Witchelves survive and Imrik clears out the Darkshards.

Counting up points I'm ahead a little over 900 points, a 16-4 win to Imrik and thus I capped my points for game 1!

Evaluation

What a game. Crazy rolls, as expected, but the big MVPs were the humble shooters. True, Searing Doom bore the brunt of the charge with my T1 IF 6W pretty much defining the entire game but the Archers were the ones doing the decisive damage when I desperately needed it.

My T1 cloak-zone mistake was bad, really bad. The harasser in my flank made it hard to move the shooters around like I wanted them to, but in the end I got away cheap for said mistake. My own Cloak Peg managed to find some interesting positions and put pressure on his flank, but I was too afraid of the Darkshards (perhaps paranoid due to the sheer amount of 60 shots) to bring him to where he'd really make a difference.

The T2 options I were given were huge. Perhaps I should've gone with the passive approach, but the problem is the scroll + ranged power he has. Besides, locking down Malekith and flanking him with Imrik was my best shot at a big win - doubly so with Glittering Robes (essentially reducing Malekith's damage ouput significantly). 19" might've been a little too risky, but I'm not sure other options would've been better.

In the end though, I had a good start, got an opening (albeit a risky one), went for it, failed miserably and then lucked myself back to a victory. I think this matchup can go both ways and it's hard to evaluate who has the upper hand. Suffice is to say, it'll always be explosive.

Opponent`s Final Placing: 3/102
My Points: 16/16
Retired from Warhammer. Playing Warmachine & Hordes (Cygnar).

Follow me on Courage of Caspia, my blog.

Warhammer blogs from 2011-2015:

:: Path to Glory - High Elves Army Blog ::
:: Curu Olannon's Vindicators - 2500 points Army Blog (Old book, outdated) ::
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