I recently had the good fortune of competing in a local tournament/hobby weekend and brought out my High Elves for their last event of the summer.
This particular tournament had 50 players, and each had 2 lists, an "attacker" and "defender" list. This turned out to be a bit of a misnomer, as the defender was often tasked with the more aggressive or offensive objectives.
Each of the tables had a different scenario, and each player would be the attacker once, the defender once, and then play a mix of objective and VP scenarios to round out the 5 games. The defender list was only ever used once. My defender scenario was actually Game 1 of the tournament.
I posted my lists earlier in the Army Lists forums (my previous posts are now under "Lost User 1").
For reference, my defender list:
Loremaster of Hoeth, General, Book of Hoeth, Sword of Might, Shield of the Merwyrm
Noble, BSB, Banner of the World Dragon, Dragon Armour, shield, longbow
10 Archers
20 Lothern Sea Guard, shields, FC
18 Spearmen, FC, Banner of Discipline
Skycutter Chariot
25 Phoenix Guard, FC, Razor Standard
14 Swordmasters, FC, Banner of Eternal Flame
3 Eagle Claw Bolt Throwers
5 Sisters of Avelorn
5 Sisters of Avelorn
2246/2250 points
My attacker list, which was used in every game after game 1 was as follows:
Alarielle, general, lore of life
Caradryan, on Ashtari
Noble, BSB, Dragon Armour, Great Weapon, Banner of Avelorn
Mage, lvl 1, high magic, dispel scroll
15 Archers, FC
2 x 5 Ellyrian Reavers, Bow Only
10 Silverhelms, FC, shields
6 Silverhelms, FC, shields
Skycutter Chariot
26 Phoenix Guard, FC, Razor Standard
25 White Lions, FC, Banner of the World Dragon
Frostheart Phoenix
2992/2996 points
Of the two, I was far more interested in seeing how the defender list would do, seeing as it was so full of "bad" choices, both in unit types and sizes.
The attacker list was much more standard as far as I was concerned. Not the helm bus that won the last tournament for me, but still solid in both magic phases, strong combat character with two frost phoenixes, solid combat blocks, and mobile as I need to be.
HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Moderators: The Heralds, The Loremasters
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Game 1
Jungles of Lustria
Objective: Have the highest pt value of troops within 3" of the temple pyramid by the end of the game. Degree of victory determined by difference in points value between players.
Special Rules: Some special terrain, but mainly the pyramid itself, a large "hill" that granted a unit on top a 5++ ward, or +1 to an existing ward to a maximum of a 3++.
Deployment: As per battline, exception being that the "defender" identifies 3 units or characters that do not start the game as normal, but enter using the reinforcements rule on turn 3 from any board edge. Attacker gets first turn unless the defender can roll a 6 after deployment.
Opponent: High Elves
This one was setting out to be a very tough game. For one, it was two high elf armies, so we both know exactly what the other is capable of and have the same set of tools. Secondly, as the defender, I had 750pts less than him to start with, AND units not on the board at the start of the game, AND he was all but guaranteed first turn. This scenario was very tough on defenders, as the only benefit you had was that the temple started in your deployment zone, and gave a small defensive buff to a fraction of your army.
Game 2
Arcane Valley
Objective: Control more arcane fulcrums than your opponent. Margin of victory determined by difference in number of fulcrums controlled (4 on the table).
Special Rules: The fulcrums had a bound spell, nothing terribly fancy. Also 2 monsters start on the board, and every turn (not player turn) they could change control between the players. They weren't particularly fearsome monsters, but could do some damage if left unchecked. Fulcrums could only be controlled by a unit in base contact and a) not engaged in combat b) not having marched, charged, or fled in the most recent movement phase.
Opponent: Skaven
An interesting one, that seemed to be either set towards a draw, or a massacre one way or the other. This is actually my first match against a skaven player at a tournament. I know of a lot of their dirty tricks, but was about to get an education on some more of them.
Game 3
Mushroom Caverns
Objective: Victory points.
Special Rules: This fight takes place underground, and has an effective fog of war rule. Basically all your units carry torches, that can be extinguished or ignited at the start of either player turn (even your opponent's). Having ignited torches means you play as normal. If you extinguish them, you face dangerous terrain tests for moving, and limit the opponent's ability to see you. Units with lit torches that are within 8" of a another unit, automatically illuminate that unit as well.
Additionally, if a unit comes within 2" of the mushrooms scattered around the map, they immediately test to see what the effect is. Could be stupidity, poison, etc.
Opponent: Empire
This is actually the same player I played at the last tournament, that unceremoniously sunk his steam tank into a swamp. Figuring I'd be playing a similar list as last time, I liked my chances (since the fog of war effect was going to put a serious damper on his cannons and possibly spell casting).
Game 4
Khorne's Glory
Objective: Defender needs to kill as many VPs worth of attacking units as possible. Victory is determined entirely upon how many points the defender gets, the attacker kills only matter for getting the defender below 1/3 of his original strength (otherwise auto massacre win for the defender).
Special Rules: Defender sets up his entire army first, anywhere on the board but not within 8" of any edge. Attacker then deploys his entire army per ambush rules on a 4+, BUT, they enter the board randomly as determined by a scatter die. Also, any unit that hasn't appeared by turn 3, automatically comes on the board (still scatter). Any unit from the attacker army that gets destroyed, can be "recycled" back into the fight on a roll of a 4+ (they don't autoenter the board on turn 3 if they were destroyed prior to that). They keep surrendering victory points for every time they are destroyed. Attacker automatically gets first turn. 8 turns total.
Also, couple terrain pieces that could grant hatred, frenzy, etc.
Opponent: Empire
I actually play tested this scenario before the tournament, so I knew how hard it could be as the attacker. For one, if the right units don't show up early enough in the game, you're screwed. When I play tested, I didn't have a single mage show up until turn 3. That hurts. Also, depending on the random deployment of your units, you could have your best troops nowhere near the fight (this happened with my PG in the play test, took 7 turns to reach the battle). This was also very unforgiving of chaff. Since they are relatively easy points, and HAVE to keep coming back.
I'd never played this opponent before, but was prepared for the usual mix of empire troops.
Game 5
Nurgle's Garden
Objective: Each army nominates a character in their army to be the chosen of nurgle. That character gains +1S, +1T and +1W. However they also confer a -1 LD to all units within 6". In the centre of the map is the garden of nurgle, each player has the objective to have their chosen within the garden at the end of the game.
Special Rules: The chosen can be resurrected on a dice roll >= to the turn number if it dies. But each time it dies, it loses a wizard level and a spell (if a caster) and a point of toughness. Terrain around the board does various effects, nothing of real note.
Opponent: Daemons of Chaos
Another match that seemed to be destined to either be a massacre one way or the other or a draw. I was facing a tough list. Beasts of nurgle, daemon prince lvl 4 death, two skull cannons, a storm of magic dragon, a horde of 50 or so blood letters, etc.
Jungles of Lustria
Objective: Have the highest pt value of troops within 3" of the temple pyramid by the end of the game. Degree of victory determined by difference in points value between players.
Special Rules: Some special terrain, but mainly the pyramid itself, a large "hill" that granted a unit on top a 5++ ward, or +1 to an existing ward to a maximum of a 3++.
Deployment: As per battline, exception being that the "defender" identifies 3 units or characters that do not start the game as normal, but enter using the reinforcements rule on turn 3 from any board edge. Attacker gets first turn unless the defender can roll a 6 after deployment.
Opponent: High Elves
This one was setting out to be a very tough game. For one, it was two high elf armies, so we both know exactly what the other is capable of and have the same set of tools. Secondly, as the defender, I had 750pts less than him to start with, AND units not on the board at the start of the game, AND he was all but guaranteed first turn. This scenario was very tough on defenders, as the only benefit you had was that the temple started in your deployment zone, and gave a small defensive buff to a fraction of your army.
Game 2
Arcane Valley
Objective: Control more arcane fulcrums than your opponent. Margin of victory determined by difference in number of fulcrums controlled (4 on the table).
Special Rules: The fulcrums had a bound spell, nothing terribly fancy. Also 2 monsters start on the board, and every turn (not player turn) they could change control between the players. They weren't particularly fearsome monsters, but could do some damage if left unchecked. Fulcrums could only be controlled by a unit in base contact and a) not engaged in combat b) not having marched, charged, or fled in the most recent movement phase.
Opponent: Skaven
An interesting one, that seemed to be either set towards a draw, or a massacre one way or the other. This is actually my first match against a skaven player at a tournament. I know of a lot of their dirty tricks, but was about to get an education on some more of them.
Game 3
Mushroom Caverns
Objective: Victory points.
Special Rules: This fight takes place underground, and has an effective fog of war rule. Basically all your units carry torches, that can be extinguished or ignited at the start of either player turn (even your opponent's). Having ignited torches means you play as normal. If you extinguish them, you face dangerous terrain tests for moving, and limit the opponent's ability to see you. Units with lit torches that are within 8" of a another unit, automatically illuminate that unit as well.
Additionally, if a unit comes within 2" of the mushrooms scattered around the map, they immediately test to see what the effect is. Could be stupidity, poison, etc.
Opponent: Empire
This is actually the same player I played at the last tournament, that unceremoniously sunk his steam tank into a swamp. Figuring I'd be playing a similar list as last time, I liked my chances (since the fog of war effect was going to put a serious damper on his cannons and possibly spell casting).
Game 4
Khorne's Glory
Objective: Defender needs to kill as many VPs worth of attacking units as possible. Victory is determined entirely upon how many points the defender gets, the attacker kills only matter for getting the defender below 1/3 of his original strength (otherwise auto massacre win for the defender).
Special Rules: Defender sets up his entire army first, anywhere on the board but not within 8" of any edge. Attacker then deploys his entire army per ambush rules on a 4+, BUT, they enter the board randomly as determined by a scatter die. Also, any unit that hasn't appeared by turn 3, automatically comes on the board (still scatter). Any unit from the attacker army that gets destroyed, can be "recycled" back into the fight on a roll of a 4+ (they don't autoenter the board on turn 3 if they were destroyed prior to that). They keep surrendering victory points for every time they are destroyed. Attacker automatically gets first turn. 8 turns total.
Also, couple terrain pieces that could grant hatred, frenzy, etc.
Opponent: Empire
I actually play tested this scenario before the tournament, so I knew how hard it could be as the attacker. For one, if the right units don't show up early enough in the game, you're screwed. When I play tested, I didn't have a single mage show up until turn 3. That hurts. Also, depending on the random deployment of your units, you could have your best troops nowhere near the fight (this happened with my PG in the play test, took 7 turns to reach the battle). This was also very unforgiving of chaff. Since they are relatively easy points, and HAVE to keep coming back.
I'd never played this opponent before, but was prepared for the usual mix of empire troops.
Game 5
Nurgle's Garden
Objective: Each army nominates a character in their army to be the chosen of nurgle. That character gains +1S, +1T and +1W. However they also confer a -1 LD to all units within 6". In the centre of the map is the garden of nurgle, each player has the objective to have their chosen within the garden at the end of the game.
Special Rules: The chosen can be resurrected on a dice roll >= to the turn number if it dies. But each time it dies, it loses a wizard level and a spell (if a caster) and a point of toughness. Terrain around the board does various effects, nothing of real note.
Opponent: Daemons of Chaos
Another match that seemed to be destined to either be a massacre one way or the other or a draw. I was facing a tough list. Beasts of nurgle, daemon prince lvl 4 death, two skull cannons, a storm of magic dragon, a horde of 50 or so blood letters, etc.
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Game 1
Opponent:
High Elves (from memory, so not exactly accurate I'm sure)
Tyrion
Prince, Giant Blade, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone
Noble, BSB, BotWD, shield and lance
Mage, lvl 2 beasts, dispel scroll
30 Lothern Sea Guard, full command
16 Silverhelms
12 Dragon Princes
2 Bolt Throwers
2 Frost Phoenixes
A VERY combat oriented high elf list, with still significant shooting. Considering the point advantage he had on me, and my lack of units and options to combat his phoenixes, I was prepared for a nasty fight.
Deployment
Somewhat surprised that he puts all his eggs into the Silverhelm basket. But, he faced it off against my most significant offensive and defensive threat in the PG.
I should have the magical advantage against his lvl 2, and we both position our mages centrally. Shooting, I definitely have the advantage, but not as much as I'd like. Because the scenario requires 3 of my units start off the board and not come on until turn 3, I've had to leave off my Skycutter, my shadow warriors, and my 10 archers.
His Frost Phoenixes are going to be trouble. Bolt Throwers really aren't that effective at countering them, nor is my bow fire. Spirit leach might do some damage, and if I can buff them, the Swordmasters might be able to take one down.
My only hope against that helm bus of doom is magic support, me getting the charge, or pure luck.
Not surprisingly, I failed to roll the 6 to steal first turn, and my opponent gets to go first.
Tyrion Elves, Turn 1
Not surprisingly, he comes right at me. Shooting doesn't accomplish anything, as his LSG were mostly out of range, and he target my bolt thrower with his.
Magic, he gets Wyssan's on his bus.
My Elves, Turn 1
Knowing the position I'm in, I go all out on the charges. PG charge, but fail to reach the silver helms (was a long one, at least a 9, but I believe even a 10...) Swordmasters hit the Frost Phoenix, but the LSG fail to get in to help with their static res. This was a big problem, as it exposed their flank to the dragon princes, which I couldn't block with the spears.
Magic, I get Wyssan's on the Swordmasters, and a fireball into his LSG taking down about 4.
Shooting, I manage to take 1 wound off the Frost Phoenix on the flank.
Combat, my swordmasters do crazy work, putting 4 wounds into the Frosty. He rolls low on his Thunderstomp, and only manages to kill 3 swordmasters in total. He breaks, but I fail to catch him. Go Go Swordmasters!!!
Tyrion Elves, Turn 2
He charges my sisters with his frosty, his DP into my LSG, and his helms into the PG. Rallies the central frosty.
Magic, he irresistably casts wyssan's on his helms, blowing up about 10 LSG, and getting sucked into the warp!
Shooting, he plinks a couple SMs off.
Combat, my PG deal the second wound to the BSB (who had lost one earlier to dangerous terrain), and kill a couple more helms. The back rank and then some die from my PG, and I'm not steadfast. I pass my LD6 test though, and breathe a sigh of relief.
The frosty beats my sisters, but doesn't kill them all, and they run, and he fails to catch!
My LSG almost flee right off the table.
My Elves, Turn 2
Instead of charging into the frosty again, I decide I'm either going to shoot it down, or magic it. And just position my troops to hit his badly depleted LSG. Sisters rally
My LSG also rally and turn to face the DP.
Magic, I spirit leach the Frost Phoenix, doing more than enough wounds to kill it. I also Wyssan's my PG, and Curse his helms (-1 to hit and -1 leadership).
Shooting, I launch a single bolt through the flank of his DPs, killing 4. Additionally shooting does nothing.
Combat, we actually tie in the helm combat, thanks to Tyrion dealing 0 wounds with his breath weapon, but next turn he'll lose his Wyssan's, and things won't go his way.
Tyrion Elves, Turn 3
He charges the surviving sisters with his frosty, and the DP back into the LSG.
Shooting, his bolt thrower manages to kill mine, and he plinks 2 more swordmasters off.
Combat, his frosty kills my sisters. DP beat my LSG, who fail their stubborn roll, and run off the board.
In the helm combat, I soundly beat him, and with the -1 LD from the curse, he breaks and runs. He manages to flee 1" further than my pursuit.
My Elves, Turn 3
I charge the helms with the PG, who flee 8 inches, giving me a 9 inch charge to catch them (only need 4 on the dice), and I make it, destroying them. I also send my SM and Spears into his LSG, and we call the game there.
At this point, I was about to have my reinforcements arrive. His LSG were as good as dead, his 6 remaining dragon princes weren't going to do enough, and his one frosty was bogged down chasing chaff.
20-1 victory to me.
After the battle, I recommended that my opponent should split Tyrion off into the DPs, and leave the BSB and Prince with the helms. That way he would have 2 hammers, both about equally powerful and durable. Speaking to him throughout the tournament, that build served him far better in his future battles.
The loremaster did quite well, and his selection of spells was phenomenal. I can't really vouch for any unit in this battle other than the PG (who never, ever fail me, and remain steadfastly rooted as the best unit we have), and the swordmasters, who really bit into that frost phoenix.
Opponent:
High Elves (from memory, so not exactly accurate I'm sure)
Tyrion
Prince, Giant Blade, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone
Noble, BSB, BotWD, shield and lance
Mage, lvl 2 beasts, dispel scroll
30 Lothern Sea Guard, full command
16 Silverhelms
12 Dragon Princes
2 Bolt Throwers
2 Frost Phoenixes
A VERY combat oriented high elf list, with still significant shooting. Considering the point advantage he had on me, and my lack of units and options to combat his phoenixes, I was prepared for a nasty fight.
Deployment
Somewhat surprised that he puts all his eggs into the Silverhelm basket. But, he faced it off against my most significant offensive and defensive threat in the PG.
I should have the magical advantage against his lvl 2, and we both position our mages centrally. Shooting, I definitely have the advantage, but not as much as I'd like. Because the scenario requires 3 of my units start off the board and not come on until turn 3, I've had to leave off my Skycutter, my shadow warriors, and my 10 archers.
His Frost Phoenixes are going to be trouble. Bolt Throwers really aren't that effective at countering them, nor is my bow fire. Spirit leach might do some damage, and if I can buff them, the Swordmasters might be able to take one down.
My only hope against that helm bus of doom is magic support, me getting the charge, or pure luck.
Not surprisingly, I failed to roll the 6 to steal first turn, and my opponent gets to go first.
Tyrion Elves, Turn 1
Not surprisingly, he comes right at me. Shooting doesn't accomplish anything, as his LSG were mostly out of range, and he target my bolt thrower with his.
Magic, he gets Wyssan's on his bus.
My Elves, Turn 1
Knowing the position I'm in, I go all out on the charges. PG charge, but fail to reach the silver helms (was a long one, at least a 9, but I believe even a 10...) Swordmasters hit the Frost Phoenix, but the LSG fail to get in to help with their static res. This was a big problem, as it exposed their flank to the dragon princes, which I couldn't block with the spears.
Magic, I get Wyssan's on the Swordmasters, and a fireball into his LSG taking down about 4.
Shooting, I manage to take 1 wound off the Frost Phoenix on the flank.
Combat, my swordmasters do crazy work, putting 4 wounds into the Frosty. He rolls low on his Thunderstomp, and only manages to kill 3 swordmasters in total. He breaks, but I fail to catch him. Go Go Swordmasters!!!
Tyrion Elves, Turn 2
He charges my sisters with his frosty, his DP into my LSG, and his helms into the PG. Rallies the central frosty.
Magic, he irresistably casts wyssan's on his helms, blowing up about 10 LSG, and getting sucked into the warp!
Shooting, he plinks a couple SMs off.
Combat, my PG deal the second wound to the BSB (who had lost one earlier to dangerous terrain), and kill a couple more helms. The back rank and then some die from my PG, and I'm not steadfast. I pass my LD6 test though, and breathe a sigh of relief.
The frosty beats my sisters, but doesn't kill them all, and they run, and he fails to catch!
My LSG almost flee right off the table.
My Elves, Turn 2
Instead of charging into the frosty again, I decide I'm either going to shoot it down, or magic it. And just position my troops to hit his badly depleted LSG. Sisters rally
My LSG also rally and turn to face the DP.Magic, I spirit leach the Frost Phoenix, doing more than enough wounds to kill it. I also Wyssan's my PG, and Curse his helms (-1 to hit and -1 leadership).
Shooting, I launch a single bolt through the flank of his DPs, killing 4. Additionally shooting does nothing.
Combat, we actually tie in the helm combat, thanks to Tyrion dealing 0 wounds with his breath weapon, but next turn he'll lose his Wyssan's, and things won't go his way.
Tyrion Elves, Turn 3
He charges the surviving sisters with his frosty, and the DP back into the LSG.
Shooting, his bolt thrower manages to kill mine, and he plinks 2 more swordmasters off.
Combat, his frosty kills my sisters. DP beat my LSG, who fail their stubborn roll, and run off the board.
In the helm combat, I soundly beat him, and with the -1 LD from the curse, he breaks and runs. He manages to flee 1" further than my pursuit.
My Elves, Turn 3
I charge the helms with the PG, who flee 8 inches, giving me a 9 inch charge to catch them (only need 4 on the dice), and I make it, destroying them. I also send my SM and Spears into his LSG, and we call the game there.
At this point, I was about to have my reinforcements arrive. His LSG were as good as dead, his 6 remaining dragon princes weren't going to do enough, and his one frosty was bogged down chasing chaff.
20-1 victory to me.
After the battle, I recommended that my opponent should split Tyrion off into the DPs, and leave the BSB and Prince with the helms. That way he would have 2 hammers, both about equally powerful and durable. Speaking to him throughout the tournament, that build served him far better in his future battles.
The loremaster did quite well, and his selection of spells was phenomenal. I can't really vouch for any unit in this battle other than the PG (who never, ever fail me, and remain steadfastly rooted as the best unit we have), and the swordmasters, who really bit into that frost phoenix.
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Game 2
Skaven Army
Lvl 4 on the Screaming Bell
Lvl 2
Assassin
BSB
50 Plague Monks w/ Plague Furnace
40 Clan Rats
50 Clan Rats
50 Clan Rats
Doom Wheel
Doom Wheel
Abomination
Lightning Cannon
2 x 6 gutter runners
As mentioned before, this was my first fight against Skaven at a tournament. I was prepared to face a tonne of models, and I wasn't disappointed. Luckily, I had dwellers, and could maybe thin some of those big blocks down. But he also had the dreaded 13th...
Deployment
Nothing too extravagant, we're both projecting across the entire board, although he has more heavily weighted his western flank, while I've put more interest into the east.
He gets first turn.
Skaven Turn 1
He gets control of the Western monster, I have control of the Eastern one. Shooting accomplishes nothing on my troops, but the doomwheel takes the monster down to 2 wounds remaining. He attempts the dreaded 13th, but fails to cast (a theme for this game, he'll attempt it every turn, and fail the casting value every time, I actually finish the game with my dispel scroll still intact)
High Elves Turn 1
I charge the archers in, figuring they can handle his scouts. I also charge the monster into the doomwheel, wondering what it can do in combat, and learn that doom wheels do impact hits, even when they're charged. I maneuver forward cautiously, and try to protect my western reavers with a possible flee past the monster (should it revert to my control) and go full bore with my eastern reavers to hunt down the lightning cannon.
Magic sees him scroll my dweller's attempt.
Nothing to say about shooting, but the archers do kill the scouts down to the last man. The doomwheel finishes off the monster.
Skaven Turn 2
The other monster is now under my control.
He charges my reavers, who flee, and redirects into the monster with the Abom. Everything else maneuvers.
Shooting, the lightning cannon misfires, the doomwheel kills my fleeing reavers, and the other doomwheel fries a couple archers.
Combat, the monster loses, but sticks around against the Abomination.
High Elf Turn 2
A series of failed combo charges begin on his plague monks. I declare my 10 helms and the frost phoenix in, only the helms make it. The sky cutter goes into the scouts. The PG go into the clan rats.
Magic, I dweller's his bell unit, killing him down to 15 plus the bell and general. Shooting, I do nothing.
Combat, the PG easily beat the clan rats, killing nearly 20 of them, but the clan rats stick around. The skycutter kills nearly all the scouts on impact, and the crew finishes the other before they get to swing. The silver helms win, but unbreakable rats don't care.
The abom kills the monster.
Skaven Turn 3
Doomwheel into the archers, Abomination into the Skycutter.
Nothing to note from shooting, magic he fails to cast. In combat the abomination splinters the skycutter easily, the doomwheel beats the archers but they stick. The silverhelms lose and flee, but don't get caught. The PG take the skaven down to a couple ranks, but they still remain.
High Elf Turn 3
Caradryan goes into the Abomination, and the other helms and frost phoenix go into the plague monks. Helms rally.
Magic, I dwellers the western clan rats, killing the lvl 2 and the BSB and about half of them.
Combat, Caradryan wipes out the Abom before it gets to swing. Frosty and helms beat the monks, but they still remain (around 12 left).
Skaven Turn 4
He charges the doomwheel into the flank of the PG.
Magic, fails to cast again.
Combat, the frost phoenix and helms lose, helms killed off to a man, frosty sticks it out. The PG finish dismantling the clan rats, and the doom wheel escapes with 1 wound left.
High Elf Turn 4
Caradryan goes into the monks to help out. PG reform to face the bell unit, but stay in contact and controlling their fulcrum.
Combat, the frostys win against the monks, and have only the furnace left to kill.
Skaven Turn 5
Plague furnace dies, but takes one frost phoenix with it.
High Elves Turn 5
I move to keep the bell out of the game with the helms. Dwellers on the clan rats kill another half of them.
Skaven Turn 6
He charges Caradryan, which I find curious until he pops the Assassin and drinks the strength potion, but no worries, the lightning cannon hits and kills Caradryan and Ashtari before they even get to fight.
Magic, he gets frenzy on the clan rats (which would have mattered, if the lightning hadn't happened...) and fails the 13th again.
At this point, the game is pretty much guaranteed to draw. He holds 2 fulcrums and so do I. The only option I have is in my magic phase, if I can panic his clan rats in the west.
High Elves Turn 6
I go for the dwellers, kill enough to force a panic, but since they're frenzied, they don't care.
Game ends in a draw, 10-10.
In the end, he had 2 damaged doomwheels left, about 10 clan rats holding one fulcrum, and 14 with his bell, and his lightning cannon. I had my PG at full strength, my WLs at full strength and that was it.
I'm not sure what to say about the game. Would have been very hard to force an outright win, MAYBE the lions into the plague monks could have beaten that combat earlier, but they would have had to give up their fulcrum to do it. If the lightning cannon hadn't killed Caradryan in the final turn, he would have had a pretty good shot at killing the Assassin before he got to swing (my opponent did tell me he had a 4++, but with d3 wounds, it was at least a 50/50 he'd die before he swung, and if not, Ashtari would have finished him). He may not have killed all of the clan rats, but just holding them in combat would have prevented them from controlling the fulcrum, and given me the minor victory (2 fulcrums to 1).
Fun game though!
Skaven Army
Lvl 4 on the Screaming Bell
Lvl 2
Assassin
BSB
50 Plague Monks w/ Plague Furnace
40 Clan Rats
50 Clan Rats
50 Clan Rats
Doom Wheel
Doom Wheel
Abomination
Lightning Cannon
2 x 6 gutter runners
As mentioned before, this was my first fight against Skaven at a tournament. I was prepared to face a tonne of models, and I wasn't disappointed. Luckily, I had dwellers, and could maybe thin some of those big blocks down. But he also had the dreaded 13th...
Deployment
Nothing too extravagant, we're both projecting across the entire board, although he has more heavily weighted his western flank, while I've put more interest into the east.
He gets first turn.
Skaven Turn 1
He gets control of the Western monster, I have control of the Eastern one. Shooting accomplishes nothing on my troops, but the doomwheel takes the monster down to 2 wounds remaining. He attempts the dreaded 13th, but fails to cast (a theme for this game, he'll attempt it every turn, and fail the casting value every time, I actually finish the game with my dispel scroll still intact)
High Elves Turn 1
I charge the archers in, figuring they can handle his scouts. I also charge the monster into the doomwheel, wondering what it can do in combat, and learn that doom wheels do impact hits, even when they're charged. I maneuver forward cautiously, and try to protect my western reavers with a possible flee past the monster (should it revert to my control) and go full bore with my eastern reavers to hunt down the lightning cannon.
Magic sees him scroll my dweller's attempt.
Nothing to say about shooting, but the archers do kill the scouts down to the last man. The doomwheel finishes off the monster.
Skaven Turn 2
The other monster is now under my control.
He charges my reavers, who flee, and redirects into the monster with the Abom. Everything else maneuvers.
Shooting, the lightning cannon misfires, the doomwheel kills my fleeing reavers, and the other doomwheel fries a couple archers.
Combat, the monster loses, but sticks around against the Abomination.
High Elf Turn 2
A series of failed combo charges begin on his plague monks. I declare my 10 helms and the frost phoenix in, only the helms make it. The sky cutter goes into the scouts. The PG go into the clan rats.
Magic, I dweller's his bell unit, killing him down to 15 plus the bell and general. Shooting, I do nothing.
Combat, the PG easily beat the clan rats, killing nearly 20 of them, but the clan rats stick around. The skycutter kills nearly all the scouts on impact, and the crew finishes the other before they get to swing. The silver helms win, but unbreakable rats don't care.
The abom kills the monster.
Skaven Turn 3
Doomwheel into the archers, Abomination into the Skycutter.
Nothing to note from shooting, magic he fails to cast. In combat the abomination splinters the skycutter easily, the doomwheel beats the archers but they stick. The silverhelms lose and flee, but don't get caught. The PG take the skaven down to a couple ranks, but they still remain.
High Elf Turn 3
Caradryan goes into the Abomination, and the other helms and frost phoenix go into the plague monks. Helms rally.
Magic, I dwellers the western clan rats, killing the lvl 2 and the BSB and about half of them.
Combat, Caradryan wipes out the Abom before it gets to swing. Frosty and helms beat the monks, but they still remain (around 12 left).
Skaven Turn 4
He charges the doomwheel into the flank of the PG.
Magic, fails to cast again.
Combat, the frost phoenix and helms lose, helms killed off to a man, frosty sticks it out. The PG finish dismantling the clan rats, and the doom wheel escapes with 1 wound left.
High Elf Turn 4
Caradryan goes into the monks to help out. PG reform to face the bell unit, but stay in contact and controlling their fulcrum.
Combat, the frostys win against the monks, and have only the furnace left to kill.
Skaven Turn 5
Plague furnace dies, but takes one frost phoenix with it.
High Elves Turn 5
I move to keep the bell out of the game with the helms. Dwellers on the clan rats kill another half of them.
Skaven Turn 6
He charges Caradryan, which I find curious until he pops the Assassin and drinks the strength potion, but no worries, the lightning cannon hits and kills Caradryan and Ashtari before they even get to fight.
Magic, he gets frenzy on the clan rats (which would have mattered, if the lightning hadn't happened...) and fails the 13th again.
At this point, the game is pretty much guaranteed to draw. He holds 2 fulcrums and so do I. The only option I have is in my magic phase, if I can panic his clan rats in the west.
High Elves Turn 6
I go for the dwellers, kill enough to force a panic, but since they're frenzied, they don't care.
Game ends in a draw, 10-10.
In the end, he had 2 damaged doomwheels left, about 10 clan rats holding one fulcrum, and 14 with his bell, and his lightning cannon. I had my PG at full strength, my WLs at full strength and that was it.
I'm not sure what to say about the game. Would have been very hard to force an outright win, MAYBE the lions into the plague monks could have beaten that combat earlier, but they would have had to give up their fulcrum to do it. If the lightning cannon hadn't killed Caradryan in the final turn, he would have had a pretty good shot at killing the Assassin before he got to swing (my opponent did tell me he had a 4++, but with d3 wounds, it was at least a 50/50 he'd die before he swung, and if not, Ashtari would have finished him). He may not have killed all of the clan rats, but just holding them in combat would have prevented them from controlling the fulcrum, and given me the minor victory (2 fulcrums to 1).
Fun game though!
-
mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Game 3
Opponent's Empire Army List
Balthasar Gelt
Lvl 1 Fire with Dispel Scroll
BSB
Lord on foot (no idea on equipment) with the Great Swords
Master Engineer
Warrior Priest mounted with Inner Circle Knights
30 halberds
18 crossbowmen
2 x 5 archer detachments
Cannon
Steam Tank
Volley Gun
3 Demigryph Knights
10 Inner Circle Knights
6 Outriders
40 Great Swords
Almost the exact same list from the same player I played at the last tournament. The only notable difference I can see are the Demis, although his unit sizes are slightly different as well.
Keep in mind in the report that all the terrain on the map are the "mushroom" patches, and they're impassable and blocked line of sight. The benefits that the mushrooms gave really didn't come into play at all, a bunch of both of our units got poison, or stupidity, but it never affected anything at all.
After deployment, I got first turn and proceeded to advance cautiously through the dark.
Deployment
He has massively stacked his Eastern flank. And I've deployed likewise. I have an obvious movement advantage on the Western flank, and some targets in his ranged troops. Once again, he's relying on the steam tank to anchor the flank and positions it right up front.
High Elves Turn 1
Cautious advance with the core troops, but fast cav moves agressively up the flanks. Shooting takes out 2 outriders, who fail their panic and flee off the board after bouncing through the knights. Shooting on the Western flank eliminates a potentially bothersome detachment of archers.
Empire Turn 1
Balthasar moves up to attempt a final transmutation on the PG. Steam tank moves into a blocking position (he really has a LOT of faith in that infernal contraption). Demigryphs move to threaten my forces in the West.
Magic, I scroll final transmutation, nothing else matters.
Shooting, thanks to lack of line of sight, only manages to pick off a reaver or two in the west.
High Elves Turn 2
Not anxious for combat JUST yet. I circle the Eastern flank and Western flank, and project trouble for him on both fronts (and the middle doesn't look much better). His only hope is that steam tank holding me up so he can get a favourable charge with his greatswords. Unfortunately for him, greatswords are a poor match up against either of the Elven special infantry, even in greater numbers.
Magic, he scrolls dwellers on the great swords.
Shooting, I kill the other detachment of 5 archers, but fail to put any wounds elsewhere.
Empire Turn 2
Beginning of the end.
Fails to charge into the PG with the Steam Tank. Charges my silverhelms on the West with his demigryphs. Its a long charge, and I hold. First, he had his torches extinguished, which meant he needed a 4+ to even be able to see me, and second, with the torch extinguished, he would take dangerous terrain on the way in. Well, he did roll high enough to see me, bummer. Luckily, not high enough to make the charge. But then, he manages to fail all 3 dangerous terrain tests, and actually lose one of his demigryph knights! AND THEN! He fails his panic check! But WAIT! They have the glittering pendant and get to reroll their first failed leadership check. Phew. BUT WAIT! They fail again! Unreal bad luck for him (although in the end, it wouldn't have mattered much, even if he had made the charge, they were far away from the important parts of the battle).
He flies Balthasar away from the action, afraid of getting hit with magic missiles. Attempts final trans again, but fails to cast.
Shooting, his volleygun takes out my skycutter
High Elves Turn 3
Charge the demigryphs with my archers, causing them to flee all the way to the end of the board (not quite off the board though).
Charge Caradryan and the Eastern helms at his ICK, who fail their terror, and run right off the board.
PG and WL into the steam tank, with the lions having the flank. Unfortunately I roll snake eyes on the lions charge and only the PG make it in. Frost phoenix moves up to prevent a cheeky counter charge from the great swords (hard to see in the picture, but it was possible) into the PG.
Reavers circle the flanks to hit the war machines next turn.
Magic and shooting are not worth mentioning, but combat goes very much my way with the PG inflicting 3 wounds onto the steam tank. Make anyone roll enough dice, and they'll fail a 3+ eventually
Empire Turn 3
Balthasar bails out. Great swords prepare for a charge. Halberds wheel to protect the flank. Demis rally.
Magic, I dispel final trans on the lions.
Shooting, he kills my western reavers with the volleygun.
Combat, a couple more wounds plink off the steam tank and the fight continues. At this point, my opponent is pretty downtrodden, he knows exactly how this is going to end.
High Elves Turn 4 and Empire Turn 4
I've mashed these two together, since we were pretty much just wrapping up the game at this point.
I charge the Lions into the stank, and its destroyed. I reform both my units to face the greatswords.
Just for the kick of it, totally not necessary, I charge Caradryan into the great swords and annihilate his champion in a challenge. My reavers charge and kill his cannon.
In his turn he has nothing to do but keep Balthasar away from the death whirlwind on the eastern flank.
High Elves Turn 5
We call it after the movement phase. And you can see why.
After totally victory points, it was almost guaranteed I was going to nearly table him, and he had only managed to kill one unit of reavers and a sky cutter. And he had very slim chances of taking even a single point more off the board.
In the end, 20-1 victory for me.
A few notes on the battle.
My opponent is a great guy, and very gracious. He knew from the start that my list was going to be trouble for him, even more so with the scenario rules making it harder for him to cannon my monsters.
Knowing that though, I don't think castling was his best option. He could have been far more aggressive with the greatswords (if you recall the last time we fought, that unit never saw combat either), and far, far less reliant on that steam tank holding the entire flank.
He had some bad luck with the demigryph knights, but even if they hadn't panicked, they weren't going to affect the outcome of the battle. Two other failed leadership tests in the east, with the ICK and outriders simply hastened what was inevitable on that flank anyway given the mismatch in forces. Caradryan alone could have cleared that flank, and the presence of the reavers and helms over there really tipped the balance in my favour.
This was the last game of the first day, and I'd managed 50/60 battle points.
Going into day 2, and the final 2 games, I was poised to continue playing top tables with tough opponents!
Opponent's Empire Army List
Balthasar Gelt
Lvl 1 Fire with Dispel Scroll
BSB
Lord on foot (no idea on equipment) with the Great Swords
Master Engineer
Warrior Priest mounted with Inner Circle Knights
30 halberds
18 crossbowmen
2 x 5 archer detachments
Cannon
Steam Tank
Volley Gun
3 Demigryph Knights
10 Inner Circle Knights
6 Outriders
40 Great Swords
Almost the exact same list from the same player I played at the last tournament. The only notable difference I can see are the Demis, although his unit sizes are slightly different as well.
Keep in mind in the report that all the terrain on the map are the "mushroom" patches, and they're impassable and blocked line of sight. The benefits that the mushrooms gave really didn't come into play at all, a bunch of both of our units got poison, or stupidity, but it never affected anything at all.
After deployment, I got first turn and proceeded to advance cautiously through the dark.
Deployment
He has massively stacked his Eastern flank. And I've deployed likewise. I have an obvious movement advantage on the Western flank, and some targets in his ranged troops. Once again, he's relying on the steam tank to anchor the flank and positions it right up front.
High Elves Turn 1
Cautious advance with the core troops, but fast cav moves agressively up the flanks. Shooting takes out 2 outriders, who fail their panic and flee off the board after bouncing through the knights. Shooting on the Western flank eliminates a potentially bothersome detachment of archers.
Empire Turn 1
Balthasar moves up to attempt a final transmutation on the PG. Steam tank moves into a blocking position (he really has a LOT of faith in that infernal contraption). Demigryphs move to threaten my forces in the West.
Magic, I scroll final transmutation, nothing else matters.
Shooting, thanks to lack of line of sight, only manages to pick off a reaver or two in the west.
High Elves Turn 2
Not anxious for combat JUST yet. I circle the Eastern flank and Western flank, and project trouble for him on both fronts (and the middle doesn't look much better). His only hope is that steam tank holding me up so he can get a favourable charge with his greatswords. Unfortunately for him, greatswords are a poor match up against either of the Elven special infantry, even in greater numbers.
Magic, he scrolls dwellers on the great swords.
Shooting, I kill the other detachment of 5 archers, but fail to put any wounds elsewhere.
Empire Turn 2
Beginning of the end.
Fails to charge into the PG with the Steam Tank. Charges my silverhelms on the West with his demigryphs. Its a long charge, and I hold. First, he had his torches extinguished, which meant he needed a 4+ to even be able to see me, and second, with the torch extinguished, he would take dangerous terrain on the way in. Well, he did roll high enough to see me, bummer. Luckily, not high enough to make the charge. But then, he manages to fail all 3 dangerous terrain tests, and actually lose one of his demigryph knights! AND THEN! He fails his panic check! But WAIT! They have the glittering pendant and get to reroll their first failed leadership check. Phew. BUT WAIT! They fail again! Unreal bad luck for him (although in the end, it wouldn't have mattered much, even if he had made the charge, they were far away from the important parts of the battle).
He flies Balthasar away from the action, afraid of getting hit with magic missiles. Attempts final trans again, but fails to cast.
Shooting, his volleygun takes out my skycutter
High Elves Turn 3
Charge the demigryphs with my archers, causing them to flee all the way to the end of the board (not quite off the board though).
Charge Caradryan and the Eastern helms at his ICK, who fail their terror, and run right off the board.
PG and WL into the steam tank, with the lions having the flank. Unfortunately I roll snake eyes on the lions charge and only the PG make it in. Frost phoenix moves up to prevent a cheeky counter charge from the great swords (hard to see in the picture, but it was possible) into the PG.
Reavers circle the flanks to hit the war machines next turn.
Magic and shooting are not worth mentioning, but combat goes very much my way with the PG inflicting 3 wounds onto the steam tank. Make anyone roll enough dice, and they'll fail a 3+ eventually
Empire Turn 3
Balthasar bails out. Great swords prepare for a charge. Halberds wheel to protect the flank. Demis rally.
Magic, I dispel final trans on the lions.
Shooting, he kills my western reavers with the volleygun.
Combat, a couple more wounds plink off the steam tank and the fight continues. At this point, my opponent is pretty downtrodden, he knows exactly how this is going to end.
High Elves Turn 4 and Empire Turn 4
I've mashed these two together, since we were pretty much just wrapping up the game at this point.
I charge the Lions into the stank, and its destroyed. I reform both my units to face the greatswords.
Just for the kick of it, totally not necessary, I charge Caradryan into the great swords and annihilate his champion in a challenge. My reavers charge and kill his cannon.
In his turn he has nothing to do but keep Balthasar away from the death whirlwind on the eastern flank.
High Elves Turn 5
We call it after the movement phase. And you can see why.
After totally victory points, it was almost guaranteed I was going to nearly table him, and he had only managed to kill one unit of reavers and a sky cutter. And he had very slim chances of taking even a single point more off the board.
In the end, 20-1 victory for me.
A few notes on the battle.
My opponent is a great guy, and very gracious. He knew from the start that my list was going to be trouble for him, even more so with the scenario rules making it harder for him to cannon my monsters.
Knowing that though, I don't think castling was his best option. He could have been far more aggressive with the greatswords (if you recall the last time we fought, that unit never saw combat either), and far, far less reliant on that steam tank holding the entire flank.
He had some bad luck with the demigryph knights, but even if they hadn't panicked, they weren't going to affect the outcome of the battle. Two other failed leadership tests in the east, with the ICK and outriders simply hastened what was inevitable on that flank anyway given the mismatch in forces. Caradryan alone could have cleared that flank, and the presence of the reavers and helms over there really tipped the balance in my favour.
This was the last game of the first day, and I'd managed 50/60 battle points.
Going into day 2, and the final 2 games, I was poised to continue playing top tables with tough opponents!
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Hey,
Thanks for going through all of the hassle of putting together these reports. The BC diagrams really make it a pleasure to read. This forum seems to attract top quality reports! Wow, the extra rules for this tournament look bizarre – I am all for spicing it up but these seem to have the potential to mess with people’s lists. I don't have much to add but for what it's worth:
Game 1 vs HE
ECKSBAWKS HUEG bus of DOOM! I agree that he should have split the characters but it looks like it wouldn't have mattered in this case. The DP broke the LSG on the charge twice without any issues. I guess if he had wiped them out, he could have reformed to threaten S1 or PG. Take it the extra ward was useful here. He probably should have done this anyway given that the PG were not going anywhere. All told it looked much more one sided once you passed the LD6 break test. Were you in BSB range? Extra impressive given you didn’t even need the reinforcements.
Game 2 vs Skaven
Tough looking list to me. Look at all the units the plague monks munched – beat SH1, ate SH2, ate FP… all on the charge. Don’t really know the furnace rules undoubtedly something awful. If I have any feedback I guess I would have kept focusing dwellers on the screaming bell unit. You were lucky the dreaded 13th never went off IR. Although you may not have had LOS on turn 3. What happened to SH1?
Game 3 vs Empire
Night fighting made it tough for his cannons to get the phoenixes. Very unlucky on the DK charge, double failed panic and losing a whole model to DT while charging through the open. Eek. I think sending the ST out on its own was doomed from the start. I agree that he could have marched the GS forward, and maybe tried the charge ICK on SH in 2. Would be dead if they didn’t break them but an overrun could have put them out of harm’s way. Ideally the cannons could have taken out Caradryan’s bird. Still looked doomed from the get go.
Hope you can get the rest up!
Thanks for going through all of the hassle of putting together these reports. The BC diagrams really make it a pleasure to read. This forum seems to attract top quality reports! Wow, the extra rules for this tournament look bizarre – I am all for spicing it up but these seem to have the potential to mess with people’s lists. I don't have much to add but for what it's worth:
Game 1 vs HE
ECKSBAWKS HUEG bus of DOOM! I agree that he should have split the characters but it looks like it wouldn't have mattered in this case. The DP broke the LSG on the charge twice without any issues. I guess if he had wiped them out, he could have reformed to threaten S1 or PG. Take it the extra ward was useful here. He probably should have done this anyway given that the PG were not going anywhere. All told it looked much more one sided once you passed the LD6 break test. Were you in BSB range? Extra impressive given you didn’t even need the reinforcements.
Game 2 vs Skaven
Tough looking list to me. Look at all the units the plague monks munched – beat SH1, ate SH2, ate FP… all on the charge. Don’t really know the furnace rules undoubtedly something awful. If I have any feedback I guess I would have kept focusing dwellers on the screaming bell unit. You were lucky the dreaded 13th never went off IR. Although you may not have had LOS on turn 3. What happened to SH1?
Game 3 vs Empire
Night fighting made it tough for his cannons to get the phoenixes. Very unlucky on the DK charge, double failed panic and losing a whole model to DT while charging through the open. Eek. I think sending the ST out on its own was doomed from the start. I agree that he could have marched the GS forward, and maybe tried the charge ICK on SH in 2. Would be dead if they didn’t break them but an overrun could have put them out of harm’s way. Ideally the cannons could have taken out Caradryan’s bird. Still looked doomed from the get go.
Hope you can get the rest up!
-
mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Game 4
Empire List
LVL 4 Life (dwellers, regen, toughness, and throne)
LVL 1 Beasts (Wyssan's)
BSB
Warrior Priest
Master Engineer
Steam Tank
40 Halberds
25 Swordsmen
10 Handguns
10 Inner Circle Knights
3 Demigryph Knights
2 cannons
1 Hellblaster Volleygun
Luminark
Quite the list. Considering it was a defender list, I was pretty amazed that I was facing 3 cannons and a volley gun. In this case, the random aspect of my deployment may actually work to my favour as I could end up behind line of fire blocking terrain, or even through his own units.
Remember, he sets up his entire army first, and then I have my units show up on a 4+ and in a scattered direction.
Deployment
I wasn't a fan of his deployment. I felt it was far too spread out, and all of his blocks were on one side of the map.
Luckily for me, about half of my army showed up on the first turn (depicted in the deployment picture). Most importantly, my mages showed up. The white lions were in a favourable position, facing the knights, and possibly the steam tank. Caradryan was enormously exposed to cannons, as was the other frost phoenix. The skycutter really isn't a threat to anything, but it was exposed as well.
I had basically no shooting on the board (my archers and half my reavers didn't show up), but I might be able to do something with magic. Since I come on the board as reinforcements, there would be no charging from me on turn 1.
High Elves Turn 1
I try to hide Caradryan (successfully) and move the other phoenix behind the fences, which could stop a bouncing cannonball (it didn't )
I move up the white lions, since I don't really care if he gets the charge on me, there won't be many knights left by the time the swing for me to worry about the +2 strength. I also put them against the fence, so he'd have dangerous terrain and -1 to hit me on the first turn.
Magic, I manage dwellers, BARELY, on his halberds, and draw the scroll already. Nothing else to note.
Empire Turn 1
He doesn't charge anywhere, as the only real charge he had was into the lions. He could have attempted a long charge with the swordsmen into the 6 helms in front of them, but he chooses to hold the line.
Interestingly, he keeps his demigryphs on the flank. I do still have a significant portion of my army off the table (the PG, my most effective block, archers, reavers, and the 10 man helm unit) and other than the north end of the table, I don't have any units really threatening him (or so he thought).
Only artillery that manages anything is one cannon hits, and one shots my frosty. Ouch.
Magic, he also gets dwellers on my lions, which I scroll. I plan on having them in combat next turn anyway, and maybe even have his caster tied up too, so no need to save the scroll and risk a failed dispel attempt.
High Elves Turn 2
My frost phoenix comes back on the board, as do my archers and another unit of reavers. I'm still missing my PG and 10 man helm unit.
Figuring I've got enough units and board control, I start the attack.
Caradryan goes into the halberds. Reavers hit the flank of the swordsmen and silverhelms hit the front. Lions go into the knights, and the skycutter goes into a cannon.
Magic, I toughen my lions, and that's it.
No shooting.
Combat. He feeds Caradryan his lvl 1, since he already used the scroll. Caradryan wipes him out, and thanks to D3 wounds, gets maximum overkill. Thanks to the charge in the rear, I easily win the combat, but he's stubborn and holds. He also reforms to face me. This is great, since now he has nothing to cast dwellers at, even if my lions kill off the knights, he's now facing the wrong way.
The skycutter kills the cannon on impact (yay parrot cart!).
The lions kill the knights down to 3 models, but they do stay for now.
The reavers and helms kill a handful of swordsmen for no wounds in return. Swordsmen stay.
Things are already looking REALLY bad for my opponent.
Empire Turn 2
Attempts to charge the steam tank in, but it doesn't make it. He also decides its time for the demis to get involved, regardless of what might show up on the rest of the board, he needs to deal with Caradryan.
Magic, he gets regen on his halberds. (He doesn't realize that Caradryan has flaming attacks). I dispel toughness.
Shooting, his cannon puts 2 wounds on the skycutter, and the cannon doesn't hit anything.
Combat, he feeds Caradryan his lvl 4. Still not sure of the thought process there. Considering the pile of attacks I had, even if he had the 5++ regen, he would have got smoked. I win, but he sticks around.
More swordsmen die, but they still stay.
Knights are killed to a man.
High Elves Turn 3
The rest of my units come on this turn, but to avoid confusion, I show them in the next picture.
Frost Phoenix and Skycutter charge the Luminark. Lions charge a cannon.
Magic, I cast a couple non essential spells to regen the wounds on my sky cutter.
Combat, the swordsmen finally die out. Caradryan feasts on halberds, but they stay stubborn. Lions easily kill the cannon. Skycutter and Frosty combine to take the Luminark down to 1 wound.
It breaks, and flees straight through the volleygun, engineer, and handguns. They all panic as well and start a mass exodus to the eastern board edge.
Empire Turn 3
This is his last chance to take points off the board. He attempts to send the demis into Caradryan, but fails. His steam tank does make it into the lions.
He rallies the handguns, but the engineer and Luminark keep running.
Combat, Caradryan keeps killing halberds with impunity. They stick, but they're down to about 25 guys.
The steam tank kills 5 lions, but I also put 4 wounds on the tank.
High Elf Turn 4
Frost Phoenix and skycutter charge the volleygun (realizing that only one can actually enter combat with it, but I'm hoping for overruns into his fleeing units). Reavers and helms go to help out Caradryan, but they can't contribute many attacks due to how thin the halberds are getting.
Shooting, my archers kill a few handgunners.
The impact hits from the chariot kill the volley gun and it overruns with the phoenix.
I put another 2 wounds on the steam tank. Caradryan decides to kill the BSB now that more units can contribute wounds and I don't have to worry about losing to static res. We win easily, but the halberds still stick around.
Empire Turn 4
Final turn.
He manages to get the demis into Caradryan finally.
His steam tank explodes, killing a few white lions.
The demis fail their fear test against Caradryan and fail to do a single wound. I on the other hand kill all of the remaining halberds, and turn and kill 1 demi for fun as well. They break from combat and get run down.
We call it there.
Totaling up the points, he had managed to kill 240pts from the frost phoenix he cannoned in turn 1, and half points for the white lions that had just dropped below half strength thanks to the exploding steam tank. In total, right around 500pts. Nowhere near the 1k he would need for a draw.
20-1 victory for the high elves.
Afterwards, he and I talked about his deployment, and he agreed that it wasn't ideal. I would more strongly question the sacrifice of the lvl 4 however, when there was still a bsb that could have gone down. At that point in the game, I think I would value the lvl 4 more than the bsb that was only really giving rerolls to that one unit anyway.
I was feeling pretty good about my white lions this tournament. They'd killed two steam tanks thus far and a few knights. Usually they let me down. This fight, the PG didn't contribute (arrived too late to the game), but would have easily won against any of the blocks he had down. Elven cavalry continues to excel over WS3 infantry, and the frost phoenixes can't be faulted in their performance. Caradryan has been a monster, and he's about to show just how deadly he can be in my final game, game 5, against Daemons.
Empire List
LVL 4 Life (dwellers, regen, toughness, and throne)
LVL 1 Beasts (Wyssan's)
BSB
Warrior Priest
Master Engineer
Steam Tank
40 Halberds
25 Swordsmen
10 Handguns
10 Inner Circle Knights
3 Demigryph Knights
2 cannons
1 Hellblaster Volleygun
Luminark
Quite the list. Considering it was a defender list, I was pretty amazed that I was facing 3 cannons and a volley gun. In this case, the random aspect of my deployment may actually work to my favour as I could end up behind line of fire blocking terrain, or even through his own units.
Remember, he sets up his entire army first, and then I have my units show up on a 4+ and in a scattered direction.
Deployment
I wasn't a fan of his deployment. I felt it was far too spread out, and all of his blocks were on one side of the map.
Luckily for me, about half of my army showed up on the first turn (depicted in the deployment picture). Most importantly, my mages showed up. The white lions were in a favourable position, facing the knights, and possibly the steam tank. Caradryan was enormously exposed to cannons, as was the other frost phoenix. The skycutter really isn't a threat to anything, but it was exposed as well.
I had basically no shooting on the board (my archers and half my reavers didn't show up), but I might be able to do something with magic. Since I come on the board as reinforcements, there would be no charging from me on turn 1.
High Elves Turn 1
I try to hide Caradryan (successfully) and move the other phoenix behind the fences, which could stop a bouncing cannonball (it didn't
)I move up the white lions, since I don't really care if he gets the charge on me, there won't be many knights left by the time the swing for me to worry about the +2 strength. I also put them against the fence, so he'd have dangerous terrain and -1 to hit me on the first turn.
Magic, I manage dwellers, BARELY, on his halberds, and draw the scroll already. Nothing else to note.
Empire Turn 1
He doesn't charge anywhere, as the only real charge he had was into the lions. He could have attempted a long charge with the swordsmen into the 6 helms in front of them, but he chooses to hold the line.
Interestingly, he keeps his demigryphs on the flank. I do still have a significant portion of my army off the table (the PG, my most effective block, archers, reavers, and the 10 man helm unit) and other than the north end of the table, I don't have any units really threatening him (or so he thought).
Only artillery that manages anything is one cannon hits, and one shots my frosty. Ouch.
Magic, he also gets dwellers on my lions, which I scroll. I plan on having them in combat next turn anyway, and maybe even have his caster tied up too, so no need to save the scroll and risk a failed dispel attempt.
High Elves Turn 2
My frost phoenix comes back on the board, as do my archers and another unit of reavers. I'm still missing my PG and 10 man helm unit.
Figuring I've got enough units and board control, I start the attack.
Caradryan goes into the halberds. Reavers hit the flank of the swordsmen and silverhelms hit the front. Lions go into the knights, and the skycutter goes into a cannon.
Magic, I toughen my lions, and that's it.
No shooting.
Combat. He feeds Caradryan his lvl 1, since he already used the scroll. Caradryan wipes him out, and thanks to D3 wounds, gets maximum overkill. Thanks to the charge in the rear, I easily win the combat, but he's stubborn and holds. He also reforms to face me. This is great, since now he has nothing to cast dwellers at, even if my lions kill off the knights, he's now facing the wrong way.
The skycutter kills the cannon on impact (yay parrot cart!).
The lions kill the knights down to 3 models, but they do stay for now.
The reavers and helms kill a handful of swordsmen for no wounds in return. Swordsmen stay.
Things are already looking REALLY bad for my opponent.
Empire Turn 2
Attempts to charge the steam tank in, but it doesn't make it. He also decides its time for the demis to get involved, regardless of what might show up on the rest of the board, he needs to deal with Caradryan.
Magic, he gets regen on his halberds. (He doesn't realize that Caradryan has flaming attacks). I dispel toughness.
Shooting, his cannon puts 2 wounds on the skycutter, and the cannon doesn't hit anything.
Combat, he feeds Caradryan his lvl 4. Still not sure of the thought process there. Considering the pile of attacks I had, even if he had the 5++ regen, he would have got smoked. I win, but he sticks around.
More swordsmen die, but they still stay.
Knights are killed to a man.
High Elves Turn 3
The rest of my units come on this turn, but to avoid confusion, I show them in the next picture.
Frost Phoenix and Skycutter charge the Luminark. Lions charge a cannon.
Magic, I cast a couple non essential spells to regen the wounds on my sky cutter.
Combat, the swordsmen finally die out. Caradryan feasts on halberds, but they stay stubborn. Lions easily kill the cannon. Skycutter and Frosty combine to take the Luminark down to 1 wound.
It breaks, and flees straight through the volleygun, engineer, and handguns. They all panic as well and start a mass exodus to the eastern board edge.
Empire Turn 3
This is his last chance to take points off the board. He attempts to send the demis into Caradryan, but fails. His steam tank does make it into the lions.
He rallies the handguns, but the engineer and Luminark keep running.
Combat, Caradryan keeps killing halberds with impunity. They stick, but they're down to about 25 guys.
The steam tank kills 5 lions, but I also put 4 wounds on the tank.
High Elf Turn 4
Frost Phoenix and skycutter charge the volleygun (realizing that only one can actually enter combat with it, but I'm hoping for overruns into his fleeing units). Reavers and helms go to help out Caradryan, but they can't contribute many attacks due to how thin the halberds are getting.
Shooting, my archers kill a few handgunners.
The impact hits from the chariot kill the volley gun and it overruns with the phoenix.
I put another 2 wounds on the steam tank. Caradryan decides to kill the BSB now that more units can contribute wounds and I don't have to worry about losing to static res. We win easily, but the halberds still stick around.
Empire Turn 4
Final turn.
He manages to get the demis into Caradryan finally.
His steam tank explodes, killing a few white lions.
The demis fail their fear test against Caradryan and fail to do a single wound. I on the other hand kill all of the remaining halberds, and turn and kill 1 demi for fun as well. They break from combat and get run down.
We call it there.
Totaling up the points, he had managed to kill 240pts from the frost phoenix he cannoned in turn 1, and half points for the white lions that had just dropped below half strength thanks to the exploding steam tank. In total, right around 500pts. Nowhere near the 1k he would need for a draw.
20-1 victory for the high elves.
Afterwards, he and I talked about his deployment, and he agreed that it wasn't ideal. I would more strongly question the sacrifice of the lvl 4 however, when there was still a bsb that could have gone down. At that point in the game, I think I would value the lvl 4 more than the bsb that was only really giving rerolls to that one unit anyway.
I was feeling pretty good about my white lions this tournament. They'd killed two steam tanks thus far and a few knights. Usually they let me down. This fight, the PG didn't contribute (arrived too late to the game), but would have easily won against any of the blocks he had down. Elven cavalry continues to excel over WS3 infantry, and the frost phoenixes can't be faulted in their performance. Caradryan has been a monster, and he's about to show just how deadly he can be in my final game, game 5, against Daemons.
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Game 5
Final game of the tournament.
Daemons of Chaos
Daemon Prince - LVL 4 death, -1 to be hit, 5++, 2+ armour, not sure what else
Special Character chaos hound, thingie, not sure its name, but it had a 5++ with MR 2
Storm of Magic Dragon
Frost Phoenix
2 Skull Cannons
10 Harpies
2 x 6 war hounds
50 blood letters
6 beasts of nurgle
He chose the special character as the herald of nurgle, gaining the stat bonuses (the DP couldn't be selected, since monsters weren't allowed to be the herald). I chose my BSB.
Right from the start, this looked to be shaping up to be a draw, but he did have an enormously tough list, with all the toys, and additional toys thanks to the tournament rules allowing him to have a dragon and frost phoenix in his list as well.
He rolled first turn.
Deployment (and vanguards)
My opponent had clumped heavily to the West, but had the ability to move out of the centre to protect the east as well. I deployed centrally, with the ability to project onto either flank if need be.
I was worried about his list. For one, that horde of blood letters was going to be tough to slog through without devoting a significant amount of firepower. Secondly, he had a bunch of fast moving heavy hitters as well, that at best I could hope to tie up for a few turns.
Daemons Turn 1
Not off to a good start.
He advances, although not too agressively. Magic phase, he rolls 8, and I'm forced to roll for each of my units not in combat. On the roll of a 6, they have to take a leadership test on 3d6. For every point they exceed their leadership by, they take a wound with no armour saves allowed.
So, I roll a 6 for my frost phoenix, my skycutter, and my 10 helms. The helms pass their leadership test, the Phoenix rolls a spectacular 16 on the 3d6, taking 7 wounds, and only saving 2 on the ward, so he's dead. The skycutter rolls an almost equally impressive 14, and also dies.
Before the game has even started, I'm down over 300 pts, and two fast hard hitters.
GREAT!
High Elf Turn 1
I advance equally cautiously, and send the reavers to tie up some skull cannons.
Daemons Turn 2
Advancing again. He splits his character out of the bloodletters, knowing that I don't have the ranged firepower to take him out (and although I didn't know it, an impressive 3++ against magic missiles.
No casualties from magic this time.
High Elves Turn 2
Determined to take the initiative from my opponent, I start charging. Silverhelms into harpies, 6 helms into the frost phoenix, and Caradryan into the beasts of nurgle.
The helms take out half the harpies, but they stick around.
Against the frost phoenix, the helms lose, but stick. Gladly, that will keep it out of the fight for at least a turn or 2.
Caradryan wipes out a beast of nurgle easily (who have to challenge, so he is likely to never face an attack back, since both he and ashtari strike before the beasts, and easily kill them).
Things are looking a bit better..... for now...
Daemons Turn 3
Interesting decisions.
He charges the daemon prince into Cardryan, hoping to save the beasts from the inevitable demise. He also sends the hounds into the archers and positions his bloodletters to tie up my PG.
Now, he knows that the WL unit has a 2++ against the attacks of the majority of his army, the only thing that doesn't is the dragon. But, its just a normal dragon, going into a unit of WLs supported by Alarielle.... I recommend he doesn't do it, and he considers it for a few minutes, then goes in. He also chooses not to make contact with the BSB, but with Alarielle instead, hoping to kill her off.
He shoots one unit of reavers to panic, and they flee the board, the other unit takes casualties, but stays.
Silverhelms die against the phoenix, but they did their job.
Magic, he gets the bubble -1 S and -1T off.
Combat, Caradryan pushes a wound through the DP, and takes none in return. I lose the combat by the charge, but stick around.
The dogs beat the archers, but I'm steadfast and stick around, and have whittled him down to 3 dogs left.
In the WL combat, he directs all of his attacks on Alarielle. He didn't believe me, but, only hitting on 4s, he only gets 3 hits. Of which, 2 wound, and she saves one on her ward. In return, the Lions and the BSB (who made way) put 3 wounds on the dragon, and he's down to 3 left. His stomp kills a couple lions, but we win, and he sticks around.
High Elves Turn 3
PG charge the bloodletters. Magic, I put regen a knight in the central combat with the harpies, and Alarielle is back to full wounds (she automatically gains 1 at the end of her magic phase, since no other character was missing any wounds).
Alarielle's special rule comes into play, and manages to kill 2 blood letters, 1 wound on the DP, and 1 dead war hound from the unengaged group. My opponent was now forced to consider this aspect of the game, knowing that anything that got within 12" of Alarielle was going to take some hits.
Combat, the PG draw with the blood letters (I was still at -1 S and -1 T) The silverhelms with the harpies continue their pillow fight. Caradryan puts another wound on the DP for none in return. (I was rolling amazing ward saves, but at the same time was rolling like crap on the D3 wounds and kept only doing 1).
The WLs put another 2 wounds on the Dragon, who killed 2 more WLs with his stomp and failed to even hurt Alarielle.
Daemons Turn 4
He moves his frost phoenix over to try and help the DP on his next turn. He again gets the -1S and -1T off in the bubble (he kept rolling ridiculously high casting values, without miscasting)
Skull cannon shoots my reavers off the board.
Combat, the archers finish the dogs off. Caradryan and the DP whiff at each other and stay in combat.
The WLs finish off the dragon before it gets to swing.
The PG lose by a couple, and run, evading the bloodletters pursuit.
High Elves Turn 4
PG Rally, and the archers move to block the blood letters should he take another run at them.
WLs move up to try to get a magic missile off on the lone character.
Magic, I get a weak magic missile off, and find out about the ward save, and do no damage.
Alarielle's attribute does nothing this round.
Combat, everybody pulls out their pillows and gives each other a couple love taps (no casualties anywhere).
Daemons Turn 5
Finally some movement...
Nothing worth noting until combat. He sends his Frosty in to help his DP, but it doesn't matter.
Caradryan smites the prince down, all without taking a single wound.
The helms finally finish off the harpies (that was a truly sad showing of elven cavalry).
At this point, we know the game is a draw. He's just going to keep bouncing is character around out of charge arcs, and my magic missiles aren't going to do squat.
We decide to finish off the game anyway.
High Elves Turn 5
Everything shuffles around.
Not enough dice to attempt to dwellers the character.
FP flees from the combat after Caradryan kills another beast.
Daemons Turn 6
We pretty much end it here.
He has nothing to do, and we skip to my turn.
I only have one thing to do, and cast dwellers on his character hoping for a 6. He rolls a 5, and survives.
And that's the game, draw, 10-10.
Final game of the tournament.
Daemons of Chaos
Daemon Prince - LVL 4 death, -1 to be hit, 5++, 2+ armour, not sure what else
Special Character chaos hound, thingie, not sure its name, but it had a 5++ with MR 2
Storm of Magic Dragon
Frost Phoenix
2 Skull Cannons
10 Harpies
2 x 6 war hounds
50 blood letters
6 beasts of nurgle
He chose the special character as the herald of nurgle, gaining the stat bonuses (the DP couldn't be selected, since monsters weren't allowed to be the herald). I chose my BSB.
Right from the start, this looked to be shaping up to be a draw, but he did have an enormously tough list, with all the toys, and additional toys thanks to the tournament rules allowing him to have a dragon and frost phoenix in his list as well.
He rolled first turn.
Deployment (and vanguards)
My opponent had clumped heavily to the West, but had the ability to move out of the centre to protect the east as well. I deployed centrally, with the ability to project onto either flank if need be.
I was worried about his list. For one, that horde of blood letters was going to be tough to slog through without devoting a significant amount of firepower. Secondly, he had a bunch of fast moving heavy hitters as well, that at best I could hope to tie up for a few turns.
Daemons Turn 1
Not off to a good start.
He advances, although not too agressively. Magic phase, he rolls 8, and I'm forced to roll for each of my units not in combat. On the roll of a 6, they have to take a leadership test on 3d6. For every point they exceed their leadership by, they take a wound with no armour saves allowed.
So, I roll a 6 for my frost phoenix, my skycutter, and my 10 helms. The helms pass their leadership test, the Phoenix rolls a spectacular 16 on the 3d6, taking 7 wounds, and only saving 2 on the ward, so he's dead. The skycutter rolls an almost equally impressive 14, and also dies.
Before the game has even started, I'm down over 300 pts, and two fast hard hitters.
GREAT!
High Elf Turn 1
I advance equally cautiously, and send the reavers to tie up some skull cannons.
Daemons Turn 2
Advancing again. He splits his character out of the bloodletters, knowing that I don't have the ranged firepower to take him out (and although I didn't know it, an impressive 3++ against magic missiles.
No casualties from magic this time.
High Elves Turn 2
Determined to take the initiative from my opponent, I start charging. Silverhelms into harpies, 6 helms into the frost phoenix, and Caradryan into the beasts of nurgle.
The helms take out half the harpies, but they stick around.
Against the frost phoenix, the helms lose, but stick. Gladly, that will keep it out of the fight for at least a turn or 2.
Caradryan wipes out a beast of nurgle easily (who have to challenge, so he is likely to never face an attack back, since both he and ashtari strike before the beasts, and easily kill them).
Things are looking a bit better..... for now...
Daemons Turn 3
Interesting decisions.
He charges the daemon prince into Cardryan, hoping to save the beasts from the inevitable demise. He also sends the hounds into the archers and positions his bloodletters to tie up my PG.
Now, he knows that the WL unit has a 2++ against the attacks of the majority of his army, the only thing that doesn't is the dragon. But, its just a normal dragon, going into a unit of WLs supported by Alarielle.... I recommend he doesn't do it, and he considers it for a few minutes, then goes in. He also chooses not to make contact with the BSB, but with Alarielle instead, hoping to kill her off.
He shoots one unit of reavers to panic, and they flee the board, the other unit takes casualties, but stays.
Silverhelms die against the phoenix, but they did their job.
Magic, he gets the bubble -1 S and -1T off.
Combat, Caradryan pushes a wound through the DP, and takes none in return. I lose the combat by the charge, but stick around.
The dogs beat the archers, but I'm steadfast and stick around, and have whittled him down to 3 dogs left.
In the WL combat, he directs all of his attacks on Alarielle. He didn't believe me, but, only hitting on 4s, he only gets 3 hits. Of which, 2 wound, and she saves one on her ward. In return, the Lions and the BSB (who made way) put 3 wounds on the dragon, and he's down to 3 left. His stomp kills a couple lions, but we win, and he sticks around.
High Elves Turn 3
PG charge the bloodletters. Magic, I put regen a knight in the central combat with the harpies, and Alarielle is back to full wounds (she automatically gains 1 at the end of her magic phase, since no other character was missing any wounds).
Alarielle's special rule comes into play, and manages to kill 2 blood letters, 1 wound on the DP, and 1 dead war hound from the unengaged group. My opponent was now forced to consider this aspect of the game, knowing that anything that got within 12" of Alarielle was going to take some hits.
Combat, the PG draw with the blood letters (I was still at -1 S and -1 T) The silverhelms with the harpies continue their pillow fight. Caradryan puts another wound on the DP for none in return. (I was rolling amazing ward saves, but at the same time was rolling like crap on the D3 wounds and kept only doing 1).
The WLs put another 2 wounds on the Dragon, who killed 2 more WLs with his stomp and failed to even hurt Alarielle.
Daemons Turn 4
He moves his frost phoenix over to try and help the DP on his next turn. He again gets the -1S and -1T off in the bubble (he kept rolling ridiculously high casting values, without miscasting)
Skull cannon shoots my reavers off the board.
Combat, the archers finish the dogs off. Caradryan and the DP whiff at each other and stay in combat.
The WLs finish off the dragon before it gets to swing.
The PG lose by a couple, and run, evading the bloodletters pursuit.
High Elves Turn 4
PG Rally, and the archers move to block the blood letters should he take another run at them.
WLs move up to try to get a magic missile off on the lone character.
Magic, I get a weak magic missile off, and find out about the ward save, and do no damage.
Alarielle's attribute does nothing this round.
Combat, everybody pulls out their pillows and gives each other a couple love taps (no casualties anywhere).
Daemons Turn 5
Finally some movement...
Nothing worth noting until combat. He sends his Frosty in to help his DP, but it doesn't matter.
Caradryan smites the prince down, all without taking a single wound.
The helms finally finish off the harpies (that was a truly sad showing of elven cavalry).
At this point, we know the game is a draw. He's just going to keep bouncing is character around out of charge arcs, and my magic missiles aren't going to do squat.
We decide to finish off the game anyway.
High Elves Turn 5
Everything shuffles around.
Not enough dice to attempt to dwellers the character.
FP flees from the combat after Caradryan kills another beast.
Daemons Turn 6
We pretty much end it here.
He has nothing to do, and we skip to my turn.
I only have one thing to do, and cast dwellers on his character hoping for a 6. He rolls a 5, and survives.
And that's the game, draw, 10-10.
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
At the end of the tournament, I had 3 Massacre Wins, and 2 draws. Landing me 80 of a possible 100 battle points, which was good enough for 4th place in results, and 5th overall (I didn't participate in a mini-tournament of Regiment of Reknown, which was worth points to your overall score).
Not bad!
Hard to find much to fault in my games. Against the Skaven, a lucky cannon hit got him the draw, and victory points were massively in my favour. Against the Daemons, I again had the massive advantage in victory points (the DP and Dragon alone were worth around 1000 pts and I had taken the harpies and a unit of hounds, and he had only managed to kill my reavers, one frost phoenix, 6 helms, and a skycutter, somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 pts) but due to the objective victory conditions neither I or my opponent had much of a shot at claiming victory.
The army played well, and having two very reliable combat blocks made strategies fairly easy.
As to the individual units, the PG were amazing again. The WLs did equally well this tournament.
Caradryan and the other frost phoenix performed admirably, Caradryan claiming a significant amount of glory in this tournament, having killed a DP (who fortunately did not have a 2++ vs flaming) 5 or 6 empire characters, a hellpit abomination, a plague furnace, and numerous infantry.
Alarielle is always aces, especially for her points. If you're running character or monster heavy, its hard to beat her for keeping everything alive.
The cavalry was only mediocre this time, without character support, they really aren't impressive.
The skycutter... What's to say... It performed as you'd expect a chariot to perform. When it got to hit something, it hit hard. When anything so much as looked at it, it fell apart. I'm happy I didn't invest the extra 25 points in the bolt thrower option, simply wouldn't have been worth it at any juncture.
Not bad!
Hard to find much to fault in my games. Against the Skaven, a lucky cannon hit got him the draw, and victory points were massively in my favour. Against the Daemons, I again had the massive advantage in victory points (the DP and Dragon alone were worth around 1000 pts and I had taken the harpies and a unit of hounds, and he had only managed to kill my reavers, one frost phoenix, 6 helms, and a skycutter, somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 pts) but due to the objective victory conditions neither I or my opponent had much of a shot at claiming victory.
The army played well, and having two very reliable combat blocks made strategies fairly easy.
As to the individual units, the PG were amazing again. The WLs did equally well this tournament.
Caradryan and the other frost phoenix performed admirably, Caradryan claiming a significant amount of glory in this tournament, having killed a DP (who fortunately did not have a 2++ vs flaming) 5 or 6 empire characters, a hellpit abomination, a plague furnace, and numerous infantry.
Alarielle is always aces, especially for her points. If you're running character or monster heavy, its hard to beat her for keeping everything alive.
The cavalry was only mediocre this time, without character support, they really aren't impressive.
The skycutter... What's to say... It performed as you'd expect a chariot to perform. When it got to hit something, it hit hard. When anything so much as looked at it, it fell apart. I'm happy I didn't invest the extra 25 points in the bolt thrower option, simply wouldn't have been worth it at any juncture.
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Sorry, I have had a busy week - to carry on where I left off...
Game 4 vs Empire
Nothing in the list with much hope of beating your combat elements as you concluded. Another example where it seems you only need half your army. Sucks to lose phoenix to a single cannon but it hardly seems to matter as it was the only impact his shooting has all game. I think he needed to reform DK to cover the flank of the Halberds – if he had done this, the charge with Caradryan would have been iffy. Also, his poor swordsmen are left hung out to dry with no hope of reinforcement. He probably should have reformed to deny the flank anyway. The fence pretty much was the end of knights as they could not really charge. Was he relying on you failing to reach him with WL? Also, the steamtank was just as out of position as the DK. Solid victory although it never looked close!
Game 5 vs Daemons
Wait how was he allowed a phoenix? This seems more like 40K with mixing and matching detachments. Anyway! Luckily the DP couldn’t get the herald buffs, imagine that. That first turn was pretty awful – losing a phoenix for no return has got to hurt. Dragon against the WL is risky, does it count as forces of destruction for her HKB? That would be awesome. Can’t believe how long the silver helms took to deal with harpies, wow. This is another case where I feel the scenario rules were overcomplicated and unnecessary. Hats off the Caradryan though, you must have been very lucky with the saves.
Well done on the results and thanks for getting the rest of the reports up, they make a good read!
Game 4 vs Empire
Nothing in the list with much hope of beating your combat elements as you concluded. Another example where it seems you only need half your army. Sucks to lose phoenix to a single cannon but it hardly seems to matter as it was the only impact his shooting has all game. I think he needed to reform DK to cover the flank of the Halberds – if he had done this, the charge with Caradryan would have been iffy. Also, his poor swordsmen are left hung out to dry with no hope of reinforcement. He probably should have reformed to deny the flank anyway. The fence pretty much was the end of knights as they could not really charge. Was he relying on you failing to reach him with WL? Also, the steamtank was just as out of position as the DK. Solid victory although it never looked close!
Game 5 vs Daemons
Wait how was he allowed a phoenix? This seems more like 40K with mixing and matching detachments. Anyway! Luckily the DP couldn’t get the herald buffs, imagine that. That first turn was pretty awful – losing a phoenix for no return has got to hurt. Dragon against the WL is risky, does it count as forces of destruction for her HKB? That would be awesome. Can’t believe how long the silver helms took to deal with harpies, wow. This is another case where I feel the scenario rules were overcomplicated and unnecessary. Hats off the Caradryan though, you must have been very lucky with the saves.
Well done on the results and thanks for getting the rest of the reports up, they make a good read!
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
The tournament is really unique in the way it presents it's scenarios. The scenarios are largely available for viewing before the tournament (although you can't guarantee which ones you'll actually play, as there's around 30 scenarios that you'll only play 5 of). It encourages players to take more varied lists, to try and be successful in as many different scenarios as possible. Some scenarios will be a cake walk for certain lists, while severely punishing either. Its a very popular event, usually sold out within the first 3 days, as everyone loves the change of pace from the usual "net lists".JP_za wrote:Hey,
Thanks for going through all of the hassle of putting together these reports. The BC diagrams really make it a pleasure to read. This forum seems to attract top quality reports! Wow, the extra rules for this tournament look bizarre – I am all for spicing it up but these seem to have the potential to mess with people’s lists. I don't have much to add but for what it's worth:
Game 1 vs HE
ECKSBAWKS HUEG bus of DOOM! I agree that he should have split the characters but it looks like it wouldn't have mattered in this case. The DP broke the LSG on the charge twice without any issues. I guess if he had wiped them out, he could have reformed to threaten S1 or PG. Take it the extra ward was useful here. He probably should have done this anyway given that the PG were not going anywhere. All told it looked much more one sided once you passed the LD6 break test. Were you in BSB range? Extra impressive given you didn’t even need the reinforcements.
Game 2 vs Skaven
Tough looking list to me. Look at all the units the plague monks munched – beat SH1, ate SH2, ate FP… all on the charge. Don’t really know the furnace rules undoubtedly something awful. If I have any feedback I guess I would have kept focusing dwellers on the screaming bell unit. You were lucky the dreaded 13th never went off IR. Although you may not have had LOS on turn 3. What happened to SH1?
Game 3 vs Empire
Night fighting made it tough for his cannons to get the phoenixes. Very unlucky on the DK charge, double failed panic and losing a whole model to DT while charging through the open. Eek. I think sending the ST out on its own was doomed from the start. I agree that he could have marched the GS forward, and maybe tried the charge ICK on SH in 2. Would be dead if they didn’t break them but an overrun could have put them out of harm’s way. Ideally the cannons could have taken out Caradryan’s bird. Still looked doomed from the get go.
Hope you can get the rest up!
Thats not to say that net lists don't show up, but they're far less common.
For game 1, the PG were actually not in range of the BSB. I actually overestimated how many wounds I would do back to him (probably thanks to Wyssan's on his knights) and was anticipating a much closer combat than me losing by 3. That somewhat lucky pass of a LD 6 test (slightly below average chance of passing) was balanced by the failed (twice) LD 8 tests of the Seaguard. And you're right, the 5++ did help them, but there was no way they were going to win a combat against those DP, I was just hoping to hold them up for awhile until either the PG or Swordmasters could come back to help. My real shock was the swordmasters (boosted with Wyssan's) tearing apart that frost phoenix. Pleasant surprise!
For game 2, having never faced skaven before (they are NOT a popular army in my meta) I was a bit intimidated by the number of models out there. My opponent did let me know that the plague monks were unbreakable thanks to the furnace, and the rats with the bell were also unbreakable. And of course the other units were going to be at the minimum steadfast (may have even been stubborn, can't remember). Dwellers was really my only weapon (other than the PG) to deal with the blocks. And I was fortunate to get it through 3 times in the game. Unfortunately frenzy protected him from a likely failed panic check (he only had 1 rank at that point, so would have been testing very low leadership), and a lucky cannon shot took his unit out of combat. The silverhelms at the end died to lightning from one of the doomwheels.
Game 3, the scenario didn't help him at all, and he was far too cautious with his troops. I'd played him before, and knew he tended to over-rely on cannons and the steam tank, and was prepared to take advantage of that. In the end, it did not work out well for him at all.
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mcmulligan
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Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Game 4, he certainly could have positioned better, even without knowing where my units were going to be. I think ultimately his army just didn't match up well against mine, and he would have had a hard time even forcing a draw. Life was probably the wrong choice for his mage, as he actually needed to pump out damage. Dwellers is great and all, especially against elves, but other spell schools like Death, Shadow, even Fire, probably would have served him better in just pumping out spells that take models off the table.JP_za wrote:Sorry, I have had a busy week - to carry on where I left off...
Game 4 vs Empire
Nothing in the list with much hope of beating your combat elements as you concluded. Another example where it seems you only need half your army. Sucks to lose phoenix to a single cannon but it hardly seems to matter as it was the only impact his shooting has all game. I think he needed to reform DK to cover the flank of the Halberds – if he had done this, the charge with Caradryan would have been iffy. Also, his poor swordsmen are left hung out to dry with no hope of reinforcement. He probably should have reformed to deny the flank anyway. The fence pretty much was the end of knights as they could not really charge. Was he relying on you failing to reach him with WL? Also, the steamtank was just as out of position as the DK. Solid victory although it never looked close!
Game 5 vs Daemons
Wait how was he allowed a phoenix? This seems more like 40K with mixing and matching detachments. Anyway! Luckily the DP couldn’t get the herald buffs, imagine that. That first turn was pretty awful – losing a phoenix for no return has got to hurt. Dragon against the WL is risky, does it count as forces of destruction for her HKB? That would be awesome. Can’t believe how long the silver helms took to deal with harpies, wow. This is another case where I feel the scenario rules were overcomplicated and unnecessary. Hats off the Caradryan though, you must have been very lucky with the saves.
Well done on the results and thanks for getting the rest of the reports up, they make a good read!
Game 5, so there was a rule that armies could take storm of magic monsters, as well as any monster from any other army (I think, although there might have been restrictions). By and large, that meant nearly every player had frost phoenixes on the table. I actually found that really funny, since I find the power of the frost phoenix is in its synergy with the high elves (and certainly dark elves would get the same benefit) that doesn't actually exist with the majority of the other armies in the game. Add to it the unfamiliarity of how to properly use the phoenix, since it isn't quite a point and shoot monster given its limited offensive ability, and I think a lot of people weren't really taking advantage of it.
This was a good example in my game, where I tied up his frost phoenix with 6 knights for the better part of 2 turns, knowing that without his stomp, I had a good chance of sticking around for awhile.
We actually did agree that the dragon counted as a force of destruction, since it doesn't naturally have a type being a solo monster choice, and was in an army of forces of destruction. Similar to the old hatred rules, like hatred high elves, still counted on units in the army that weren't actually elves. Sadly, she didn't roll a 6
And yes, Caradryan made an amazing amount of saves. He MAY have taken a wound in there somewhere that I missed, but it would have been immediately healed by Alarielle anyway (especially after she finished dealing with the dragon). Personally, I would have just let Caradryan kill his way through the beasts of nurgle and instead used the DP to at least TRY to get the objective, as unlikely as it was.
This is a scenario that I wasn't too crazy about. Unless you had cannons, and/or the person chose a really vulnerable character to be the herald, there was almost no way of achieving the scenario. Would be interesting to know how many people that played the scenario actually managed an outright win/loss.
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John Rainbow
- Posts: 3550
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Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Just got through this. Thanks for taking the time to post it up and congratulations on the good result.
I'm interested in where this event took place. Those scenarios are really wacky and I think, skew the game significantly towards one side or the other based on whether you get stuck in the middle of the board, having to use reserves, etc. What were your thoughts on this? It seems like it could be fun but doesn't seem to be focused to fairness in terms of what happens to each player - doubly well done for negotiating all of this!
I'm interested in where this event took place. Those scenarios are really wacky and I think, skew the game significantly towards one side or the other based on whether you get stuck in the middle of the board, having to use reserves, etc. What were your thoughts on this? It seems like it could be fun but doesn't seem to be focused to fairness in terms of what happens to each player - doubly well done for negotiating all of this!
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
Just seen this - will read it properly at leasure when I have a bit more time. The reports look good at a glance though
The 9th Age: Alumni
Former Roles: Advisory Board, HR, Moderator and Highborn Elves Army Support
Former Roles: Advisory Board, HR, Moderator and Highborn Elves Army Support
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mcmulligan
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:21 pm
Re: HE at Warhammer'd WHFB 5 game tournament
This is in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.John Rainbow wrote:Just got through this. Thanks for taking the time to post it up and congratulations on the good result.
I'm interested in where this event took place. Those scenarios are really wacky and I think, skew the game significantly towards one side or the other based on whether you get stuck in the middle of the board, having to use reserves, etc. What were your thoughts on this? It seems like it could be fun but doesn't seem to be focused to fairness in terms of what happens to each player - doubly well done for negotiating all of this!
It REALLY is a wacky tournament, and completely just for fun (although it's still nice to win). It is called Warhammer'd for a reason, and the drinks definitely flow rather freely. It's one of the more expensive tournaments, at $100 entry, but that goes towards very very respectable tables with amazing terrain (I really should have taken some pictures, but the tournament does have its own website). Also, a few drink tickets included
Although considering I was massively hung over on the first day (actually had to heave in the bathroom twice in my first game), I traded my drink tickets in for a hamburger and a hot dog at lunch (barbecued at the venue's patio).Like I mentioned, it always sells out very quickly. I think next year the participant list is expanding up to 65, all fantasy.
The scenarios are really all over the map, and could be deceiving. You could be the "defender" or using your "defender" list, but being the aggressor. In my defender scenario, there really wasn't any benefit to being the defender at all, other than starting with models in the vicinity of the objective.
Each year the scenarios get changed a bit based on player feedback, and new scenarios get brought in. It really is a test of generalship and list variability to try to compete in as many as possible. There are some people who bemoaned "auto-losses", but really, either extremely bad luck occurred, or they brought a list that was simply not built to consider other scenarios (like if you don't bring enough banners in blood and glory, or a unit that can actually garrison the watchtower, you don't really have anyone to blame but yourself).