HE MSU at CanCon 2014 - Summary

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Greetings!

Game 7 - Jason - Dwarves - Battle for the Pass

Another game of CanCon, this time Battle for the Pass and ... another Dwarven army to fight against This time I had a great pleasure to play against Jason and his great looking army.


Dwarves in their full glory - courtesy of ThaneG from wargamerau


Kong of the Hill! - courtesy of ThaneG from wargamerau

Playing against a defensive force in the battle for the pass is always a challenge. First, the distance usually is greater than in the normal Battle line scenario. Second, such armies tend to sport some good shooting units and that means that whatever makes to the other side of the pass might not be of any significant combat value. And third, narrower frontage meant it was way harder for me to outflank the enemy.

Technically, one could play defensively too and simply stay put. Some of the shooting elements do not have that long range and these that do may not be sufficient to kill enough of your forces to get many victory points on their own. Of course there are exceptions. But that would have made for a dull and boring game.

As you could have already noticed from the picture above, Jason's army was not gunline type that gave me some hope.

Dwarves - Army List

King, Shieldbearers, Rune of Challenge
Runesmith, 3 x Rune of Spellbreaking
Thane, BSB

40 Longbeards, Great Weapons, Full Command
30 Hammerers, Full Command
16 Thunderers
20 Slayers
Gyrocopter
Grudge Thrower
Cannon
Organ Gun

King

Unfortunately, I don't have the copy of Jason's list so I cannot tell you what else did he have but we can assume he was hard to kill. His presence made tough unit of Hammerers even tougher. I don't have tools in my army that can open that Dwarven can quickly and with Hammerers as bodyguards I had slim chances to survive such encounter in one-on-one combats. But that is never an option.

Basically, very good leader, very well protected too.

Runesmith

Last time I played against 3 runes of spellbreaking! It was always very annoying that Dwarves could use the whole library of scrolls. Well, it was never going to be easy to get some spells through, so I was not complaining!

BSB

Again, apologies for lack of details. I believe he simply had some protective gear. BSB is a must in many armies and Dwarves need one too. Ld9-10 is great but re-rolls make it excellent!

Longbeards

I need to check if Swedish comp FAQ allows Dwarves to field them without warriors or maybe I simply messed up something. But I di believe these were Lonbeards. Even if they were regular Dwarves with great weapons, a horde of them would not go down easily. It is true I could fit in many more units against such a broad frontage and if I could close in early enough maybe I would have risked that. But that block can definitely take damage and hit back hard.

Hammerers

Second combat block in the army. These guys had to be killed to a Dwarf more often than not. I have tools to defeat them but if I were I need to ignore and divert the other units. Even then it would take several turns and cost me dearly. In the battle for the pass it would mean very difficult task to accomplish due to larger distance and less space to set up flank charges.

Slayers

Quite unusual to see them in such numbers in a single unit. Definitely a good target for bows, as usually Dwarves are way to tough to harm with S3 chop sticks. They would go nowhere no matter what and that means they have a chance to significantly slow down the advance. Even better in the battle for the pass.

Thunderers

Very good shooters, especially for the defensive force when they don't have to chase the enemy, as the enemy comes to them. Relarively well protected against low S missiles. Might harm fast troops as eagles or reavers do not have many wounds to keep them safe from the shooting.

Artillery

One of each of the deadly war machines. Organ Gun is always target number one for me but its short range allowed for some manoeuvres while being safe. But it had to be dealt with quickly if I wanted to have time to attack other units.

Cannon is less of a problem against my army but poor eagles have to use cover for sure. Grudge Thrower is much more dangerous as the template can easily cover whole units and with good rolls, can exterminate them entirely.

Gyrocopter

Very annoying flier. Tough and well armoured, can expose itself to shooting and still emerge intact. Its steam cannon can be quite dangerous to my small units as well so I had to try and eliminate it quickly in order to be able to manoeuvre freely.

I expected Jason to deploy tight in one corner with war machines nicely protected from the shooting and from the direct attacks. The good things was that his army had significantly lower comp (I think we had 3 points difference) so I simply had to be careful not to do something stupid, keep up the pressure and look for openings to get some of his weaker regiments.

First, I wanted to deal with gyrocopter then with organ gun. With these two threats I could move freely and try to set up some charges, hopefully with enough time to do so.

Deployment


You shall not pass?


Deployment of the armies after vanguard moves

I was surprised to see the Dwarven army spread a little and war machines exposed. I wanted to use that to my advantage. Archers would start shooting the organ gun as soon as possible. Some target saturation would also be in order. Hills, although low, would provide some hard cover from the Thunderers. Lone grudge thrower was also good news as I could get there with my cavalry. Last but not least, the gyrocopter also was too far ahead of the main forces and I could form double line to catch it. Cavalry would move fast forward while infantry would move behind them. That would deny safe landing zones behind the cavalry and if it wanted to fly back towards its own likes I could send some cavalry after it.

Would that plan work?

We rolled off for the first turn and there were no surprises here as Jason won that easily.

Dwarves - Turn 1


Dwarven point of view


No need to rush, they will come!

Dwarves had a very nice position and there was no need to hurry as they knew Elves would come anyway. Some of the Longbears opened flasks with something that aided their already grumpy mood, others smoked some pipes, while others simply did what Longbeards do the best - grumbled.

The artillery crews had plenty to choose from in terms of targets but could not hit much yet.

Outcasts - Turn 1


Elves move at a double!


Who can reach the Dwarven lines first?

With Dwarven army standing still at the end of the pass, Elves had no other option but to move forward at a double. However, the fastest regiments still stayed out of range of the deadly organ gun. The faster cavalry moved so that they threatened gyrocopter hiding behind the forest while following infantry denied good landing zones for it.

Dwarves - Turn 2


Elves are getting closer


But the Dwarves didn't quite care

Dwarven army was immovable as a mountain in their chosen formation. Only gyrocopter moved a little and tried to steam some dragon princes to death but failed. On the other hand, the crew of the grudge thrower managed to reduce elven Eagle Claw bolt thrower to a nice pile of splinters.

Outcasts - Turn 2


Cavalry is really close now


Infantry still stayed behind

Elves continued their advance. This time gyrocopter had nowhere to hide and was shot down mercilessly. Larry managed to sneak in an Iceshard Blizzard on the Organ Gun crew. Would it be enough to stop infernal machine?

Dwarves - Turn 3


Fast elven troops get punished


Thunderers in action

With some more threatening approach by elven cavalry, Dwarves finally started to treat them more seriously. The first to drop was great eagle though. Then thunderers aimed at the reavers and only a single rider remained alive after the salvo. His companions from the second unit were also hit but were in much better shape.

Only Organ Gun was strangely silent. Finally Slayers moved towards elven knights, shouting insults and daring them to charge.

Outcasts - Turn 3


Charge!


And the result of the attack


Dwarven war machines are eliminated (almost)

Elven cavalry charges! Dragon Princes attack the isolated grudge thrower and made a short work of the crew. Reavers attack Organ Gun and surprisingly, the crew breaks. Two war machines destroyed!

Then Larry the Loremaster, always happy to play with fireworks, casts a nice fireball at a cannon, frying two of the crew members. And a few white lions with a spectacular magical feedback.

Dwarves - Turn 4


Dwarves attempt to counter attack


But are unable to catch swift elven cavalry

After unexpected victory over organ gun, reavers where now in the open and nearby Longbeards charged to punish the elves for such a barbarous act. Elven light cavalry swiftly reformed and feigned flight. Slayers too attempted to catch them but also failed.

Outcasts - Turn 4


Heavy cavalry vs Slayers


Slayers suffer casualties but don't care - this is their time to seek glorious death!

Dragon Princes charge the Slayers from two directions and kill quite a few but their companions don't move an inch. Brutal war of attrition starts.

The rest of the elven army approaches carefully, not to get too close to Dwarven main blocks. The cannon is finally destroyed but also Thunderers take the brunt of the various missile attacks.

Dwarves - Turn 5


Slayers alone hold the flank


Longbears reform into even deeper formation

Dwarven main regiments didn't move forward knowing all too well that exposing flanks and abandoning defensive positions means trouble. Slayers fought bravely but were no match for elven heavy cavalry. A few still remained though.

Outcasts - Turn 5


Slayers are still fighting!


Elves slow down and shoot

Elven regiments, not seeing any opening in the tight Dwarven battle line, slow down and let the missiles speak. Thunderers suffer again and Runesmith is escorted towards Hammerers block where his safety could be ensured.

There were still few Slayers standing, their smaller number being an advantage when not all of the elven knights could land a blow.

Dwarves - Turn 6


Just an adjustment of formation really

Dwarves keep unmovable. Longbeards charge the eagle and simply reform to the previous position. With almost no shooting left that was all the Dwarves could do apart from waiting for the Elves and letting them decide, to fight or not to fight.

Outcasts - Turn 6


The passage is clear


Lions accept the challenge!

The path through the Pass was wide enough for the Outcasts to move through so there was no need for any more blood shed. Elves made sure only that no shooters remained in the Dwarven army so that they could move freely unmolested. Only regiment of Lions accepted the challenge of the Hammerers and kept them busy for long enough for the rest of the elven force to move safely towards their destination.

The objective was achieved, mission accomplished and yet another chapter was added to Dwarven records.

After-battle thoughts

I was obviously very happy with the victory as fighting against Dwarves is never easy, even more so in the Battle for the Pass. It was even sweeter to do so with very little casualties! On top of that I received a bonus due to Swedish composition difference and we ended up with 17-3 victory for High Elves!

I must admit that Jason made some mistakes that allowed for my victory or made it a bigger one. First of all his war machines were too exposed. Organ Gun was too close and Grudge Thrower was too isolated to survive long. The fact the Iceshard Blizzard made the Organ Gun silent for one turn only emphasised that.

Dwarven formation does not have to be so static either. Both Thunderers and Hammerers could move forward more decisively as their flank was nicely protected. The advantage of the narrower frontage of the battle for the pass.

On the other hand Slayers blocked the flank for long enough to stop my units from outflanking the army. Combined with slower than required approach of the infantry and I was in no position to even think about any attack.

I am sure I could have played better as it is possible to reach Dwarven lines in 3 turns but I simply didn't move coherently enough to make it happen. Narrower deployment didn't help and played a role in that but while it explains a lot it is not an excuse! Still need to work on the way I should approach defensively playing opponent.

Last but not least I wanted to mention that Larry had a few miscasts this game (3 or 4) that allowed me to get some spells through. Apart from occasional fireworks and eventual loss of the magic levels, he did well as he helped destroying the cannon and thunderers and in the end survived the battle!

I hope you enjoyed the game that featured my last encounter with Dwarves of old!

Thanks for reading!

[Jimmy]

You tease.

Looking forward to this one.

[Velmates]

Yeah, another teaser! I love this system of yours. Makes me check your thread twice a day... Looking forward to this one! Cheers.

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Hi guys!

I have just updated the report! I am glad you like the teasers as it makes writing the reports easier. I can spend a little time to talk about the army I faced and prepare the diagrams and write the rest another day without rushing it. Otherwise it takes quite a long time to do so in one go.

Cheers!

[Stormie]

Oh no not Dwarfs again! Good pair of wins- the latter quite surprising, not because you won, but because the Dwarfs in game 1 got a comp score boost but against the Dwarfs in game 2 you got the boost. But to me, the second Dwarf army seems much weaker. I expect the many dispel runes in the first game account for a lot of the difference. Do you know the comp score of the second Dwarf army?

[Nicene]

Did you activate your Earthing Rod in this battle?

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Hi guys,

Thanks for comments!

@ Stormie

Well, with 13 (I think) Dwarven armies it was not that difficult to face one or two along the way.

The second Dwarven army had full 3 points lower than me, i.e. 12.3. Jason told me that Swedish does not like big units so I guess he was heavily comped for these two block of hammerers and longbeards. Of course 3 runes of spellbreaking probably contributed to that too.

@ Nicene

No. I didn't because I either rolled acceptable result such as wounding the caster or nearby models or decided not to re-roll the one when I was about to lose levels even if the odds to roll 1-2 are not that great. As I have explained in Ferny's topic, for me Earthing Rod is there only yo re-roll Cascade and save 400+ VP even at a cost of losing the ability to cast spells or harm nearby troops.

Cheers!

[Malossar]

So do we get to know how you placed?

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Hi Mal,

I planned to do that in the Summary after the last game (working on it!) but if you want know earlier just send me a PM. Also, if there are any additional questions about any aspect of that tournament you are interested, don't hesitate to ask and I will do my best to provide the best answer!

Cheers!

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Greetings!

Game 8 - Michael - High Elves - Battle Line

Last game of CanCon! With High Elves being the most numerous of the armies it was difficult to avoid a civil war. I evaded them whole tournament but finally had to face them. However, the great thing was I was about to play against Michael, our own Darth Sabre! It is always great fun to meet another forum member in real life and what is more, we had a score to settle too! I had a pleasure to play against Michael 2 years ago at my first CanCon. Back then I was just beginning my journey with MSU and was lucky enough to win. I was sure Michael was very eager to even the score!

Any time I play against another HE army it is very special encounter. In games like that we counter our strengths in a unique way only so called mirror matches can. However, every time I played against HE it was never the force that fought in similar fashion to mine. That is always a great thing as it feels more like playing against a force with its own army book!

It was indeed the case this time as well. Michael commanded the following army (thanks for the army list details, Michael!):

High Elves - Army List

Prince, Barded Steed, Dragon Armour, Giant Blade, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone

Loremaster of Hoeth, Charmed Shield, Staff of Sorcery, Talisman of Preservation

BSB, Barded Steed, Dragon Armour, Shield, Star Lance, Dragon Helm, Luckstone

Mage, Level 2, Elven Steed, Dispel Scroll, Golden Crown of Atrazar - Lore of the Beasts

15Archers, Standard, Musican
5 Ellyrian Reavers, Musican
5 Ellyrian Reavers, Musican
10 Silver Helms, Shields, Full Command

8 Dragon Princes, Full Command
18 White Lions, Banner of Eternal Flame

12 Sisters of Avelon
Great Eagle
Bolt Thrower
Bolt Thrower

Prince - 1+ armour with re-rolls as a good defensive kit and mighty Giant Blade for S7 attacks. This guy surely inflicts damage and can turn the combat into his favour. As he is going with a unit of knights as bodyguards it would be difficult to single him out as all my high S units are infantry and would strike after him and his regiment. So there is a chance that even if attacked they would wipe out the unit entirely. But at the same time he is sensitive to no save attacks and he will not travel alone so he can be harmed with magic and diverted from more juicy targets.

Loremaster - I know this character very well although his equipment is different. The shield cannot be used in combat and I know from experience that 4++ ward as main protection tends to fail if forced to be used often enough. Even S3 attacks have a chance then.

BSB - together with the Prince they make the knights they join a very powerful hammer of a unit. He is not as well protected, although part of the protection is being with the Prince and his unit. Of course there is an option to divide the characters among both knightly regiments but I thought they would go together.

Mage - his presence was to make the cavalry hammer even more formidable with Wyssans Wildform and if lucky with Savage Beasts of Horrors spells. With full command and 2 characters in the unit he would enjoy protection of second rank.

Archers - very good long range support. Very dangerous to my small and fragile infantry and light support troops.

Reavers - one of my priorities to eliminate and I noticed these guys are without bows that put my own light cavalry at slight advantage.

Silver Helms - at such strength they would be a threat to my elite infantry. With 10 re-rollable S5 attacks they are capable of inflicting significant damage. It is risky for them too but they can either support other regiments or go for exchange if the situation demands it.

White Lions - the fact they are with flaming attacks makes them perfect target for Dragon Princes. Swordmasters too can go head on and win against them due to higher WS and more attacks. But that would work only if I could isolate them.

Sisters - single unit and more all together. Very good support but I planned to use their shorter range against them and use my own Archers, if possible, to win the shooting match. Another priority as their S4 and BS 5 means trouble for units such as reavers or Swordmasters.

Bolt throwers - always a problem and something I would need to deal with quickly. Otherwise their presence makes it more difficult for cavalry to manoeuvre and in the case of reavers - survive.

Great Eagle - another fast regiment that needs to be dealt with quickly simply because I need to have clear path for attack and manoeuvre.

Michael's army had much better tools for direct charge, no single unit in my army would survive that attack. Despite 2 bolt throwers I felt I had better shooting abilities but I also needed to focus them on different targets.

My plan was then as follows. Use eagles to divert the cavalry hammer and slow it down for as long as possible. In the meantime, use shooting to eliminate reavers, eagle and sisters (depending on how these units are deployed and how easy it is to get to them). Move my own combat troops on the opposite side to the hammer to get to other enemy regiments. If possible, use Dragon Princes against Lions in particular.

Duel of Loremasters would be very interesting for sure!

Deployment


Mandatory blurry picture!


Armies after vanguards

Michael deployed with refused flank and that was a smart move against MSU. It was clear he wanted to use his cavalry hammer both as attacking force on the flank but also to block any attempt to move against his bolt thrower and Archers on the hill. Very good because he can move aggressively while shooting without blocking his own line of sight.

Silver Helms were deployed as a unit to guard the flank and Lions were the element that joined two knightly regiments, being able to help both if needed and occupying very good, central position of the army formation.

It was hard to breach that formation or at least it looked like it to me and I decided to go for a full swing on my left in order to bring more units against Silver Helms while taking away bolt thrower, reavers and sisters on the way. If that worked I would be in a good position to surround lions and maybe get to second bolt thrower while keeping cavalry hammer away.

Before we started level 2 wizard got the following spells: Wildform, Curse

Michael aka Darth Sabre won the roll off and his cavalry spurred their steeds to charge the Outcasts as soon as possible!

High Elves - Turn 1


The cavalry gallop shook the ground - hence another blurry picture


Cavalry Prince leads by example

The cavalry prince ordered his knightly bodyguard to advance at a double and let the foot sloggers to worry about catching up all by themselves. Lions picked up the pace but Silver Helms stayed to guard the flank.

Sisters and Bolt Throwers picked their targets but only a few of the Avelorn maids from the ranks of the Outcasts fell.

Outcasts - Turn 1


Slightly better focus, I think ...


Rapid movement on both flanks

Outcasts moved in a hurry in order to steal the initiative. Fast support blocked impetuous prince while the units on the other flank advanced quickly. The mental duel between the Loremasters resulted in Miasma cast on the bolt thrower to decrease its efficiency but other than that no spells managed to go through yet.

Almost all missile troops focused on the enemy Sisters and only 3 of them survived that type of attention. Only on the left flank reavers aimed at their bowless counterparts and unhorsed one rider.

High Elves - Turn 2


Attack on the right flank


Seizing the opportunity to get rod of the enemy fast cavalry!

Cavalry prince spotted the opportunity and expertly pivoted past the eagle (Edit: Apologies for inaccurate diagram in the previous turn, I made a mistake and the unit could wheel past the eagle ). The charge was precise and even swift reavers were not fast enough to avoid it and were destroyed while trying to flee. That also opened the path for the fast cavalry that attacked the eagle. But noble bird of prey stood its ground and despite being wounded, took one of the attackers down too.

On the other flank another regiment of fast cavalry charged their adversaries but accurate bow fire made them change their mind and they swiftly turned and attempted to avoid the confrontation.

Sisters of Averlorn one more time were the target of the missile fire but a few of them still remained.

Outcasts - Turn 2


Outcasts press forward


Left flank secured, centre under control too

The regiments on the left moved forward at a double. Only reavers chased away enemy fast cavalry so that it is not a problem later on.

Few remaining enemy Sisters were finished but other than that shooting was not impressive. It was partially due to the fact that Sea Guard and Archers moved too.

Brave eagle was finally defeated but again it took a reaver with it.

High Elves - Turn 3


Right flank is lost though


Charges!

Cavalry Prince and his knights easily removed a single figure that stood in their way and reformed to face new enemy. White Lions and Reavers challenged Sea Guard but they didn't feel that combat is at good odds for them and withdrew.

Both bolt throwers opened fire. Left one aimed at Swordmasters and killed a few while the one on the hill used the opportunity and shot at the exposed flank of the reckless enemy cavalry, unhorsing three of the knights. Survivors held with grim determination though.

The Loremasters could not quite gain a significant advantage over each other and this time Iceshard blizzard (Edit: I think!)
was cast on Archers

Outcasts - Turn 3


Battle for the Pass?


One bolt thrower down, one to go!

Dragon Princes wasted no time and destroyed bolt thrower crew. One war machine down, one to go. Lions and Swordmasters tried to position themselves so that Silver Helms could not possible charge past any of them but at the same time wanted to keep the pressure on.

Other regiments also moved and reformed so that both armies started to face each other as if fighting in the mountain pass.

High Elves - Turn 4


Walking forests again!


Nobody wants to fight against the Prince!

Yet another attempt to charge any enemy failed. Archers and Sea Guard didn't fancy facing cavalry charge in the open and retreated. Frustrated Prince had to try again later.

In the meantime, Loremaster fooled Larry with some mental distraction and cast a spell on his own unit of White Lions. That made nearby trees nervous and they simply walked away towards the formation of Outcasts.

That allowed him to cast a powerful Fireball against enemy Swordmasters protecting enemy BSB and many of them perished. The survivors held their ground and continued their duty.

Outcasts - Turn 4


Getting closer!


Oops! Forgot to change the arrow colour, DP were not charging! Sorry!

Outcasts kept pressing forward and fast units in particular positioned themselves so that they could attempt an attack on the fire base of the enemy army.

Swordmasters and BSB destroyed annoying eagle and overrun to safety. A few remaining Sisters provided yet another distraction so that enemy cavalry still has no juicy target to attack.

Finally, eagle claw crew aimed carefully at exposed flank of the Silver Helms who made a similar mistake as Dragon Princes before. Four knights lied dead, skewered by the enormous bolt and the rest decided to move away from such a powerful war machine and its well trained crew!

High Elves - Turn 5


Switching the sides


Last charge

It was clear that the battle reached the stage where not much could have been achieved any more. Cavalry charged the Sisters but it was hardly an achievement for proud knights. Loremaster this time could not help either and even bolt thrower and archers could not finish the eagle.

Silver Helms rallied though and blocked the path for the reavers.

Outcasts - Turn 5


Last attacks

Dragon Princes noticed that enemy Silver Helms exposed their flank again and charge in, breaking young knights and chasing them off the battle field. Great Eagle had a chance for revenge but its wounds were too deep and it was not fast enough to reach the bolt thrower.

Finally, Larry the Loremaster broke the magical defences of his counter part and focused his mind on the Prince. He aimed to destroy his spirit and almost succeeded. Seeing their leader swaying in the saddle and barely alive, the bodyguards disengaged and the enemy army withdrew.

The battle was not properly resolved but Outcasts walked away with the most minor of the victories.

After-battle thoughts

Last game of the tournament was definitely interesting. A pity we didn't have enough time to play 6th round as a few interesting things might have had happened. It was great to meet Michael/Darth again and try to match the speed of his cavalry hammer! It was very close game and I was lucky to win 11-9.

First things first though: Michael, it was great to play against you again, I am sure next time you will get me! It is always a pleasure to chat with you and the games are always interesting! Cheers!

Civil wars are always interesting because you can easily look at both sides and start wondering about the possible outcomes from the point of view of both forces. After all you play the same army!

I really liked how Michael reinforced his flank and had fragile shooters behind the main line. I think he would have done even better if he pressed harder with all 3 combat units at the same time and maybe even deploy his both bolt throwers on the hill. He nicely spotted the opening I created by mistake and instead of being delayed he killed my reavers. I think, however, that he might have forgotten about possibility of reforming after catching the fleeing regiment. That would have put his cavalry hammer in more threatening position. His reavers on my left were also a little bit wasted and I liked that example also because it shows that it pays off to give reavers bows as it matters in the war between support units.

Michael also nicely delayed my advance with single Silver Helms unit and I think I simply should have been more aggressive. If not for unlucky panic then we would have a draw.

On my own I must say I didn't use my assets well. I simply assumed I cannot defeat Michaels Dargon Princes with 3 characters in it. So I avoided the unit. It only makes sense if I use the fast troops to delay such regiment and use the time they buy to destroy the rest of the army. I didn't and that meant I didn't get many points.

I didn't deploy well as Sisters blocked the advance a little. Having BSB with Swordmasters yet again slowed them down as I wanted to move and shoot instead of advancing rapidly. In this game I had tools to confront the enemy units head on. For example, I could send a unit of Swordmasters against White Lions and cripple them. Even at a cost of Swordmaster unit it was worthy as I had more regiments and could reinforce them or avenge them later. In fact, I was in position to threaten Lions with Swordmasters and Dragon Princes as well as Sea Guard but I moved too fast forward (trying to avoid the cavalry bus). If I kept second eagle nearby instead of using it to hunt bolt thrower (which was threatened by enough regiments already) I would have had a chance to do so.

I tried to move Lions and Swordmasters so that they helped each other if any of the regiments were attacked by Silver Helms. I think I didn't do it well. Again, they were slowed down and probably positioned too far away. This game also showed that I may lack speed if I position the regiments too far away and when the enemy does not want to fight.

I am happy with the shooting phase as it allowed me to eliminate dangerous Sisters and win the war of support units. I got both reaver units with shooting too.

The magic duel between Loremasters was great. But it also meant many spells were not going through. I cannot recall now if it was because the winds of magic were not strong. Michael had even more spells to choose from and I could see how much he needed power dice. I think I had one Searing Doom through on Silver Helms but of course I had to roll something like 1 for number of hits. I was happy I managed to get Spirit Leach turn 5. I needed a very good roll and Michael had to roll poor to get the Prince in one go but it was not to be and I got "only" 2 wounds. So close!

That would be the last report from CanCon 2014! Summary will follow!

Thanks for reading!

[siovim]

Please don't keep us waiting for to long. I'm really excited to see how this will end, as civil wars always are the most interesting match ups

i won't comment on the outcome, but his force looks rather intimidating. Best of luck

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Hi siovim,

I have just finished preparing all the diagrams but I am afraid I need to ask you for a little more patience. I hope I will be able to post the report tomorrow in the evening but today it is too late.

Civil wars are indeed very interesting encounters. And yes, I felt intimidated by his super fast and hard hitting cavalry hammer regiment

Cheers!

[Gandalf_82]

Looking forward to reading the report vs the HE.

Well done on the win vs the Dwarves. I hate battle for the pass against then. I think you've pointed out his main errors which helped though. The Gyrocopter would have been a lot more effective staying closer to his lines early in the game to keep it safe and give him a bit more flexibility in responding to your advance and leaving the two warmachines exposed like he did was foolish. Good work stopping the Organ Gun firing, that could've been painful otherwise!

[solith]

Loremaster vs Loremaster, I can't wait to see how this one turns out!

I rarely seem to comment on these battle reports, but seeing the Outcasts in action is always a treat. Thank you for the excellent reports.

[Nicene]

Magic missile spam might be dangerous against your small units!

[Cold Phoenix]

I'll guess that winning the chaff war will be crucial in this game. You need to be able to redirect his two big cavalry units until magic and shooting or a combo-charge can get rid of them. Darth Sabre is going to need board control if he's to get good matchups for his cavalry. His Cav bus is easily the most powerful combat unit on the board, but needs to be able to choose its target carefully if it isn't to get redirected all game.

The interesting thing here is that both of you have multiple options for board control and seem to be rather balanced there. Darth Sabre has better magic defense, a second RBT and 2 strong and fast combat units. The Outcasts have more redirectors, lots of expendable units and more bows.

I'll be very interested to see how things turn out.

[RE.Lee]

A very tactical game, as always - hardly anything seems to have died

[Nicene]

Multi-shot deals more wounds, on average, to dragon princes than a flank shot single bolt. Seems your enemy's eagle claw crew need to spend less time drinking wine and more time with their graphing calculators!

Thanks for taking the time to post such excellent reports! Your writing style is inspirational as always.

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Hi guys!

Thanks for comments! Just letting you know I have added the "after-battle thoughts" and I will try to reply to your feedback soon!

Cheers!

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Hi guys!

Thanks again for your feedback!

@Gandalf_82

Thanks! Dwarves are not an easy army to fight against mainly because they don't really react to my movement. They just sit tight, shoot at you and finish the rest. It might change with the new book but I haven't had a chance to play against the new ones yet.

Jason told me he exposed Organ Gun as he wanted it to be in action as soon as possible. However, I have found out that it does not need to be in the front line. Now, when it uses BS to score hits it may be slightly different but before it was ridiculous how efficient that war machine could have been. I don't quite understand why he deployed Grudge Thrower in the corner and unsupported though.

@ solith

Thank you for your kind words! It is always a great pleasure to know the reports are good read! Good motivation to keep going too!

It was very interesting to see what spells both of us tried to cast. magic missiles seemed to be the most popular. For Darth it was obvious as my small units are vulnerable. I tried Miasma and Iceshard on Bolt Throwers more often as I perceived them as bigger threat and Searing Doom was also good against Silver Helms. My elites don't like the fact they could charge them and have re-rolls to hit and S5 before they had a chance to swing. I wonder what would have happened if Darth decided to charge any one of my elite units.

@ Nicene

Cheers! I am happy to know you like my reports and even find them inspirational!

Well, 2 magic missiles is not quite spam but indeed, they were dangerous as you could have seen when one fireball almost decimated a unit of Swordmasters!

I think it was just too tempting not to try that single shot and this time it actually did hurt! Fortunately for me I could have paid back in kind

@ RE. Lee

Yes, we danced around each other a little too much I think and we both kind of suffered from not being more aggressive. Darth could not bring his hammer to strike a death blow, something hard to achieve against MSU as his regiments seems to be designed to do so against some bigger and more juicy target.

I was not pushing hard enough and didn't press the units towards the enemy where I clearly had tools to do the job! Lessons learned, I hope!

Thanks again for your comments!

Cheers!

[Jimmy]

Incredible sense of timing and patience SM. You just bide your time so well and pick your fights and it seems you've always got 'disposable' units always at the right place and time to prevent his main battle units from getting any major points from you. Sensational and a very tactical battle from two great characters I have no doubt.

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Thanks a lot, Jimmy!

I must say I like the games where both players do not commit their units too early (unless there is a good opportunity) and they often end in a very close result. This game was no different. We both had our strong and weak points and we both tried to get the advantage over the opponent. I am glad it also resulted in an interesting report to read about. And I do hope Darth will show up with his own conclusions and observations from that game!

Cheers!

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

CanCon 2014 - Summary

In short another CanCon was a blast. Even more so due to the fact we had 122 participants, which is huge difference if you take into account the fact that last year there were 90+ players and two years ago only 70+ were present. There were a lot of interstate players and that definitely added to the uniqueness of the event. But what about the details?

Venue

CanCon traditionally is taking place in the EPIC centre in Canberra and that means space is not an issue. I really liked the fact that tables were arranged in pairs that helped enormously with Battle for the Pass as one edge was freely accessible. WFB tournament was only one of the many other tournaments and activities that took place during that gaming event but spectators never were a problem and in fact players were very happy to chat to strangers and explain what they are actually doing.

Tables/Terrain

It is very important to highlight that terrain was provided by the whole community, be it individuals or clubs, who responded fantastically to the call for help by TO's. Initially they had space for 80 players but due to popular demand they managed to secure more space and tables. But it turned out that they were short of terrain pieces. Fortunately, many players were simply top blokes and brought whatever they could. Thanks to that tables looked very good and terrain was varied.

Some players were of an opinion that the quality of the terrain was not good and that it was not well distributed on the tables, creating some problems during the games. If that was the case then I was lucky not to experience such problems and I liked all the tables I played on. The terrain provided very good options for both players and games were definitely more interesting because of that.

Things always can be better but in my opinion it was great anyway!

Organization/Player's Pack

Dave and Tom did a great job as organizers. It also shows that community is great as 2 referees were more than enough for solving problems for 122 players! It was an enormous effort to make that tournament happen and I cannot say how much I am grateful for what they did to run it very well. Fantastic organization guys! Well done!

This year the players pack used Swedish Comp to modify the games results instead of adding fixed points to the overall score. It meant that Dave and Tom had to spent hours to check the army lists so that all was in order. It is definitely a huge responsibility for the organizers. However, I think it also created a situation where people started bringing things that are not usually seen on the tournaments. I believe many discovered that what they thought might be a liability was in fact a very good choice. If the goal was to achieve variety among the lists then it was there for sure!

My performance

I will not deny that I had high hopes when entering completion this year. After being 4th last year and making to the Masters I think I got used to good results. I had two goals in terms of competitive performance. Win more games than I won last year (5 out of and get more points than last year, possibly getting more than 100 out of 8 games (last year I earned 94 points).

I accomplished first goal winning 6 out of 8 games which I was very happy with. Unfortunately, I earned only 85 points and that was way too low. I ended up on 49th place that was, to be honest, huge disappointment for me The conclusion from that result is simple, in order to place well one has to win but has to win big. In fact, it is better to lose and then win big instead of keeping the clean victory record with small wins only.

The winner of the tournament collected 121 battle points giving the average of 15+ per game. With the brackets used at CanCon it means one has to win by 1201+ points at least. It is not a small victory.

I think I made a mistake when I assumed in many of my games that I simply cannot touch the most powerful enemy unit/character and chased the smaller regiments that were easier to kill but were not nearly as expensive. I rarely got enemy characters either. My games were more passive than usual and I tried to hunt down support troops of the enemy as main goal, not to clean the paths for the assault troops. As a result I was winning only small victories. One massacre threw me back by a lot too.

Another reason is that my opponents often knew already what not to do against MSU. That meant I needed to come up with new tricks and with passive play it was not going to happen. Does it mean that the army list is not good enough? Not at all! But I decided to make changes in order to help me get back to the more aggressive and combat orientated play style. I will talk about options I am considering in the army list topic soon.

Acknowledgements

First of all, great thank you to the TO's, Dave and Tom once again! Then to all my opponents who gave me the opportunity to play 8 fantastic games. Thanks, guys!

Special thanks go to Il Meastro for his brilliant stories. I wish he had time for all reports but I am sure all readers appreciate what he has written so far a lot!

And to all the forum members who took their time to comment on the games, it was great chatting with you and I am glad you enjoyed the reports enough to leave your very valuable feedback!

Thanks for reading!

[Nicene]

I think 6-2 is pretty awesome. Anxious to heate what these changes might be!

My predictions: book of hoeth

[Iluvatar]

My predictions: book of hoeth

Want to bet? Swordmaster won't use any of the "go-to" options of our book: Book, Banner, Frosty. That would breach his philosophy!

Swordmaster, thanks a lot for all those reports. Once again you provide us with great distraction!
Don't be disappointed with your final result - sure it's further from the top than you'd had wished, but it's still 6 victories for 2 defeats. Seems you would've done better in a W/L/D system!
I think your assessment is quite right, in that you playing more passively that you used to. In fact, you used to be a bit reckless - now it's the opposite. You just have to find the middle ground! And it's not so much about the army list as the mindset, I believe.

Cheers from across the world!

[Ferny]

If that's the case and based on your comments elsewhere here's my prediction: core helms (probably replacing one of the shooty units).

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Thanks for feedback and kind words, guys! Very much appreciated!

@ Nicene

In terms of win/lose ratio I am definitely happy. It is still better than last year (5/3) and way better than 2 years ago when I started using MSU (3/5). So the direction is good but I need to earn more VP's!

Hm, I would love to hear why do you think I would go for the Book?

@ Iluvatar

Well, I simply think I don't necessary need these three to win games and while I like Phoenix model and would love to pain one or two (both versions!) I also think variety is a spice of life so why not use less popular choices too!

Indeed, W/L/D would be more beneficial for the armies that can win but not by large margin! It also is important to know that tournaments in Australia often use non-linear brackets meaning that to get solid victory you really need a significant point difference. This was the VP table used at CanCon

Code: Select all

0 - 200 10 10 
201 - 400 11 9 
401 - 600 12 8 
601 - 800 13 7 
801 - 1000 14 6 
1001 - 1200 15 5 
1201 - 1400 16 4 
1401 - 1600 17 3 
1601 - 1800 18 2 
1801 - 2100 19 1 
2101 20 0 

It is quite interesting to step back and notice that in fact I was reckless and now I am quite opposite. One needs to find a balance in the force

While I agree it is not the fault of the army list I also know myself to predict that I need certain incentive to play more aggressively and more in the movement phase than in other phases.

Thanks so much for kind words! After good performance last year I really hoped I could represent HE well again. It was the most numerous army of the tournament and another MSU force placed 14. So I guess that list still has a potential!

Another interesting fact is that last year score would place me 30th position only! It means that huge increase of player number resulted in placement shift dramatically and it often took fractions of points to decide who ended where. For comparison, the winner earned 121 points out of 160 which probably shows that it was not easy ride even for Bretonnians!

@ Ferny

This prediction is indeed correct but it is not the only change I plan to implement so I encourage you to provide more educated guesses

Cheers!

[Ferny]

@ Ferny
This prediction is indeed correct but it is not the only change I plan to implement so I encourage you to provide more educated guesses

Beyond that I'm not sure. We've seen you experiment with chariots but reject them as not your style/needs more practice. I know Nicene does well with them but personally I'm not that tempted against our other options.

I'm with Nicene that the book is better than the rod but I don't think we're convincing you on that so I reckon that'll stay as is.

I'd love to see smaller (though not necessarily fewer) swordmasters but from your comments you seemed happy with their performance and role so again I doubt we'll see this. Likewise I'd like to see a minimal unit of PG but I don't predict that. Maybe a return to archie - he is afterall less vulnerable to miscasts...but again I don't see it. So I'm stumped.

To be fair, I think switching a missile unit for helms will have a big difference on how the list plays (which seems odd - you'd think with MSU there'd be more redundancy, but actually I think this will be big) so I'd almost rather play a few games with that shift first and make subsequent changes stepwise.

[Ferny]

Actually, I think maybe shadow warriors might sneak into the list. Not sure what they would replace though...

[vladamex]

A second RBT would seem very useful IMO - adding another anti-armor and anti-monster threat, and also improving the volume of shooting in general. There's plenty of units to defend them from the enemy chaff, so that's looking good too.

The downside is that if enemy has cannons, RBTs would be an easy target (unless terrain/placement can help). However, I think the Pro's outweigh the Con's in this case.

My 2c