Books #6

Another few weeks have passed, and another few books have been read. This is what I have finished in the last while. (Note, I have been on a lot of planes lately and have had much more time to read than I normally do)

Side Jobs
Jim Butcher
Side Jobs is a collection of short stories written in the Dresden Files universe and throughout the whole timeline of the novels. The stories were written for various other collections and provide small snapshots of the more regular type of work Dresden deals with when he is not trying to save the world. There are also stories written from other characters' perspectives - something we don't get to see in the normal novels - which provide great background to the characters. My favorite stories from this collection involve Thomas, Dresden's vampire half-brother, and his own activities when he is not confronting evil with Dresden. They are also some of the more hilarious stories I have read in the Dresden Files universe. This is a great collection of short stories, although some of them are written with less flare and ingenuity than others. As a final note, don't mess with Mac's beer. Ever!

Cold Days
Jim Butcher
The latest Dresden novel made its appearance around Christmas of 2012, but I waited to pick it up until it was in softcover on my last trip to Portland. In this action packed adventure, Dresden has one day - Halloween to be exact - to save Chicago and the surrounding United States from the magical equivalent of an atomic bomb while dealing with both the Winter and Summer Fae. This was a great story that added a lot of plot development to Dresden's personal "island paradise" Demonreach and its purpose. I also liked how it constantly kept the action and tension moving forward without getting slogged down as certain chapters have in the last couple books. Unfortunately, I have to wait until July 2014 until the next novel is release in softcover. That is such a long time in the future, Games Workshop may have even released a Wood Elf army book by then.

Cursor's Fury
Jim Butcher
The third novel in Butcher's Codex Alera series. (I know, I know, I have been on a Jim Butcher kick lately but I find his novels interesting, fun, and quick to read) This installment sees our stalwart hero Tavi sent off to a newly created legion as an officer in order to gain some military experience. But, as Tavi's luck would have it, he is quickly thrown into control of the new legion against an army of Canim and their mysterious magical powers. Old and new characters join Tavi on his adventure. This novel was the first in the series where I felt that the focus was appropriately placed on Tavi and his portion of the story. It was nice for the rest of the outlying story lines to take a back seat to Tavi's real coming of age as it made him a much more central figure and future hero of the series.

Captain's Fury
Jim Butcher

The fourth novel in the Codex Alera series finds Tavi as Captain of the First Aleran Legion and still facing the Canim. This time, however, the political machinations of others have come to remove the "meddlesome" captain from his position and his allies. Although this book was not as action oriented as Cursor's Fury, it was still a fine addition to the story line. It read more like an adventure mystery in which Tavi was trying to understand who his really is while also trying to figure out who all of his enemies are. The novel ended on a great set-up for the next book and I am anxiously awaiting the conclusion of this six-novel series.



Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels
Antonio Santosuosso

This is a non-fiction book (crazy, I know) about medieval warfare. It covers the time period after the fall of Rome through the middle ages. This was a really interesting read that focused on the shape of warfare and how changes to warfare influenced the rise of various powers. It covers the fall of Constantinople, the establishment of Normandy by the Vikings, the rise and fall of several French and English kings, and lots of other civilizations. I especially liked learning about the use of horses (and camels) in combat and the rise of the mounted knights. I recommend this book for anyone looking to gain a decent insight into this period of history and learning why some armies defeated others many times their size and experience.


Gotrek & Felix: Lost Tales
Author Anthology

I love the Gotrek and Felix novels. I love the world that Black Library has built around these heroic characters and I enjoy reading them in all of their adventures. That said, I found this particular anthology a little middling. There were two stories at the beginning that I thought were absolutely fantastic. They exemplified the spirit of the novels wonderfully and kept both characters within their defined character arcs. The other stories, however, failed to maintain these basis identities. In one story in particular, Felix (alone and prior to his introduction to Gotrek) engaged in a series of sword duels and mystical confrontations that he would he hard pressed to match in his current character equipped with a magical elven blade and with 30 years of fighting under his belt. This was a hard story to swallow.

WaaaghPaca: Update #2

Army Lists are due on the 31st of December. Being slightly more prepared than last year, I submitted my list this morning. This is the lovely Dark Elf filth that I will be taking to WaaghPaca this year:

High Beastmaster (430 pts)

• General, Manticore with Blind Rage and Iron Hard Skin, Sword of Might, Charmed Shield, Talisman of Preservation, and the Other Trickster's Shard

Master (209 pts)

• Battle Standard Bearer, Dark Pegasus, Cloak of Twilight, Lance, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak

Dark Riders (140 pts) (6 models, Musician, Standard Bearer, Shields, Repeater Crossbows)

Dark Riders (120 pts) (5 models, Musician, Standard Bearer, Shields, Repeater Crossbows)

Dark Riders (120 pts) (5 models, Musician, Standard Bearer, Shields, Repeater Crossbows)

Dark Riders (120 pts) (5 models, Musician, Standard Bearer, Shields, Repeater Crossbows)

War Hydra (180 pts) (Fiery Breath)

War Hydra (180 pts) (Fiery Breath)

Kharibdyss (160 pts)

Bloodwrack Medusa (90 pts)

Doomfire Warlocks (125 pts) (5 models)

Doomfire Warlocks (125 pts) (5 models)

This army comes in at a sleek 1999 points and hits both a perfect 500 points in core and a mighty 500 points in rare. I have no actual mages, no Dispel Scroll, only one magical weapon, lots of things that can be killed by a single cannon, and no ranks at all in the entire army. Let's see how this craziness will do. 

Alamo GT 2031: Round #4 - High Elves

For the start of Day 2, I would be facing off against Shayne Wharton and his High Elf army. Shayne's army was a pretty standard High Elf list - not fully optimized, but also not weak. His list included:

• Loremaster of Hoeth (330 pts) (General, Armor of Caledor, Dawnstone, Dispel Scroll, great weapon, heavy armor)
• Archmage (295 pts) (Level 4, Lore of High Magic, Book of Hoeth, Gem of Sunfire)
• Noble (346 pts) (Battle Standard Bearer, Ring of Fury, Golden Crown of Atrazar, Enchanted Shield, lance, dragon armor, Griffon)
• Spearmen (341 pts) (34 models, full command, Gleaming Pennant)
• Silver Helms (146 pts) (6 models, musician and standard bearer)
• Silver Helms (146 pts) (6 models, musician and standard bearer)
• White Lions of Chrace (336 pts) (22 models, full command, Banner of the World Dragon)
• Frostheart Phoenix (240 pts)
• Frostheart Phoenix (240 pts)
• Great Eagle (50 pts)

WaaaghPaca: Update#1

Waaghpaca is almost upon us again. This year I am playing Dark Elves! But the list I am going for is going to be a little different from most of the lists you will see at other tournaments. Especially as this list is only 2000 points. Here are a couple of inside peek shots on what I will be working on for the next few weeks.

Alamo GT 2013: Round #2 & Round #3

I have already made mention that I wouldn't be doing full battle reports for these two rounds. One reason, is that the pictures from Round 2 and the notes/everything from Round 3 are fuzzy and didn't provide enough for me to do full re-caps. Second, the games themselves were very boring from a playing/generalship sense which means that the games don't lend themselves to full write-ups. Thus, I feel these shorter re-caps do a little bit better job of setting out the games and what happened.

Alamo GT 2013: Round #1 - Chaos Dwarves

How do you properly start a tournament? By playing Chaos Dwarves of course! For my Round 1 opponent I played Michael McGuire. I snuck a picture of him when he was too busy looking at his army for deployment.








I don't have a copy of his army list, but from what I remember (and what the pictures tell me) he had the following models/units:

•  K'dai Destroyer
• 2 Units of Chaos Dwarves with Fireglaives
• Large horde of Chaos Dwarves
• Level 4 Spellcaster
• Battle Standard Bearer
• Magma Cannon
• Death Rocket
• Hell Cannon
• Iron Daemon

Now that is a lot of firepower to bring to bear on a poor hapless Dark Elf army like mine. How did the game go, let's dive in and see how it progressed.

Alamo GT 2013: Results

Alamo GT results are up and be check out here if you so desire. With this post, I want to breakdown my score for this year, as well as compare it to my performance last year.

This year, I placed 18th, a surge of about 30 spots from last year's more middling finish.

I ended up with a total score of 203, broken down as follows: 64 battle points (out of 100), 61 points in sportsmanship (out of a possible 80, but highest sportsmanship this year was 72), 68 in paint (out of a possible 80, but highest paint score this year was 76), 10 "seguin" points for turning in my army list on time and making it to all of my games on time, and no fluffy votes. I want to take a closer look at each category and see how I ended up with each score.

Quick Update

The Alamo GT has passed once again. Although results are not up on the website yet, and although I have yet to upload all of the pictures I took from this weekend, I did not want to wait a week before I got my individual results post up.

I did not win any awards this year, but improved my overall score significantly and ended up in the top twenty. I think that had a few things gone differently I would have been in the top ten (I missed a lot of objective points), but there is nothing to be done about that now.

I took a lot of notes and lots of pictures and will be doing full write-ups of games 1, 4 and 5. I am going to do short write-ups of games 2 and 3 for a few reasons: (1) I didn't take as many notes and pictures as I did for the other games; (2) these games involved lots of drinking; (3) none of these games made it passed turn 4 (a big issue that I will explain in another post); and (4) they were just not as interesting to me tactically, or as pleasurable of games, that I want to spend significant time on write-ups.

I plan to have a full tournament breakdown done as soon as the results are online, including showing where I progressed from last year. I also plan to have a full write-up for Round 1 finished and posted by the end of next week with the other two write-ups the following weeks.

It is also the time for WaaaghPaca practice so I will be updating my army list design progress as well as my painting and modelling progress for the tournament over the next several weeks. Expect several updates per week until that time.

Alamo GT 2013: Army List

Here is my official army list for the 2013 Alamo GT taking place in San Antonio, Texas. After finding out that I get to use the old Dark Elf army book for one last time, I decided to play something disgusting and ridiculous. I expect to play all the worst army lists at the tournament, including I am sure, several ugly Daemon armies and Empire all cavalry builds. I expect to lose gloriously, drink profusely, mock the attendees indiscriminately, and above all, have a great time. When I get back, don't be expecting any posts about me winning any awards. It's just not going to happen this year with how much of a rock-paper-scissors this list is, and how low I expect to be comped for the first couple rounds. This is the list I devised and turned in to tournament personnel, it is similar to the list I took to Quake this year, but with the changes I wanted to make after losing two games:

Books #5

As I am at the Alamo GT right now, enjoy a pre-uploaded blog.

So as usually happens to me, I get busy at work and life and don't have that much time to paint and game. But I gain lots of random time (about 20 minute spurts) to read. This allows me to read much more than I normally do. As such, I have already finished a ton of other books since the last time I updated the reading portion of this blog. Here are the most recent finished books:

Alamo GT 2013: Scenario Review

The Alamo GT is almost upon us (Yay!). Today, I will be going over the Alamo GT scenarios and explain my plan to get the bonus points from each scenario. Let's dive in.

Standard rules for all scenarios: Normal 12" deployment with 100 victory points to win. A win net's 16 battle points for the scenario, a draw nets 8, and a loss 4. Each scenario has a bonus objective worth 4 battle points. So, if a person wins all their games and gets all the bonus points they will recieve 100 battle points. Looking at the scenarios, I don't expect this to happen. Actually, I don't expect anyone to even get all of the bonus objective points. They are just that difficult to get.

West Coast Warhammer: State of the Union 2013

Well, it has been a little over a year since I started this blog. In that time, I have managed to write a little over 100 posts (about 2 a week), have gained over a dozen active followers (awesome, and thank you), and had over 20,000+ hits of traffic (sweet). Looking back, I can see large gaps where I wasn't writing anything for a while and can really see the lag between large tournaments and the battle reports. That is something that I plan on fixing in the coming year.

I started this blog last year before the Alamo GT to give me a place to put some thoughts down and to write some decent (hopefully) battle reports. I started to move away from the "whys" of the reports - why I was focusing on something, why I was moving or cast a specific spell, etc. -  and more towards just what happened in the game. Although these are fun to read, I am going to go back to focusing more on why I made certain play decisions in my games (along with far more pictures) as I document my Alamo games so that I both get better as a player by recognizing what I am doing and so that you can comment on whether or not my actions seemed worth it.

I also want to start focusing more on other aspects of the hobby, including interviewing other top players after their games and taking pictures of people's armies. I may even get around to uploading some video of certain events. I still want to focus on the tournament play of the hobby, but I just haven't been getting in the practice games I need to stay as competitive as the new books drop. This is also something I hope to remedy in the coming year.

As we approach and pass the Alamo GT, I hope to institute these changes to increase both readership and content. I will slowly be working on making the site look better, getting involved with some of the gaming blog networks (as I have sufficient content and time on the web) and building a better on-line presence with Warhammer players throughout the United States and the world, and not just my own little corner of the hobby-sphere.

Let's get it on!

Alamo GT Update

So with lists due only a few days away, I received an e-mail that the old Dark Elf army book would be used at the tournament to give the Dark Elves a final going away party. With that, I need to start working on an army list from the prior book and wipe my mind of all the awesome new rules the Dark Elves got. I hope to have a first run army list up and ready for review tomorrow.

I know that it will be similar to the army I took to QCR 2013 (as it is already painted, but will have some minor item changes on things I found to be less useful, and include some unit changes to make the army fit more of a specific play-style rather than the mishmash I had at QCR with a combination of fight, shoot, and flight.

Dark Elf Thoughts #2

A couple more days with the book, a couple more thoughts on the Dark Elves. This time, I take a more in-depth look at the character choices, including the new magic items.

Dark Elf Army List (Update #2)

Here is the most recent army list that I am beginning to tinker with:

Lords: (601/625 points)
Dreadlord (291 points)

• Lance, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Charmed Shield, Cloak of Twilight, Dawnstone, Dark Pegasus

Supreme Sorceress (310 points)

• Level 4, Lore of Death, Dark Steed, Talisman of Preservation, Dispel Scroll

Heroes: (560/625 points)
Death Hag (290 points)

• Cry of War, Cauldron of Blood

Master (157 points)

• Battle Standard Bearer, Ring of Hotek, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield

Master (113 points)

• Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield, Lance, Dragon Bane Gem, Potion of Foolhardiness, Repeater Crossbow

Core: (745/625 points)
Witch Elves (375 points) (30 models with full command, Banner of Swiftness (+1 movement))
Dark Riders (110 points) (5 models with musician, shields and repeater crossbows)
Dark Riders (110 points) (5 models with musician, shields and repeater crossbows)
Darkshards (150 points) (10 models with musician, standard with Banner of Eternal Flame)

Special: (1244/1250 points)
Executioners (336 points) (28 models with full command)
Shades (108 points) (6 models with great weapons)
Cold One Chariot (115 points)
Cold One Chariot (115 points)
Reaper Bolt Thrower (70 points)
Reaper Bolt Thrower (70 points)
Reaper Bolt Thrower (70 points)
War Hydra (180 points) (Fiery Breath)
War Hydra (180 points) (Fiery Breath)

Rare: (375/625 points)
Bloodwrack Medusa (90 points)
Doomfire Warlocks (125 points)
Kharibdyss (160 points)

Right now with my beginning first list of models that I like, I am well over points (but at least with appropriate ranges). Putting everything I want puts me at over 3500 points so I still need to cull about 1000 points from the list. I don't want to drop the two combat blocks, and because I am taking witches I want to take the Cauldron. I really like the Doomfire Warlocks (and they let me get away with not having a Level 2 mage). I am looking at dropping the core to exactly 625 points and the two chariots which frees up some points. The medusa is good against some armies, broken against others, and useless against others. But it is only 90 points, so who knows? I could easily make up the points by dropping the Dreadlord, but then the Leadership monsters also have to go as none of them are Immune to Psychology and I really like them.

I could switch to a heavy shooting build that drops the witches, but then the executioners will get all the focus. I just need to sit down and test lists to see what works and what doesn't.

BAO 2013: Round #3 - Wood Elves

For Round 3 of BAO, I played Troy Perez and his Wood Elf army.


Troy (this guy on the left) was playing a very different Wood Elf build from mine. He was playing the Eternal Guard and Treekin-bus army which is a good army against heavy troop lists (especially Skaven), but was going to have a tough time handling my cavalry and small unit list.

Having played many Wood Elf versus Wood Elf games, I have found that the player with more shooting comes out on top, and this game was no different.

Dark Elf Army List (Update #1)

With this progression of posts I will show what I am currently adding to my army list for the Alamo GT at the start of November. Each update will include new units, changes, and reasons why I felt the need to add or drop items, units, etc.

Here are the units that I am currently planning on bringing to the Alamo GT:

Dark Elf Thoughts #1

Well, the new Dark Elf book is out now, and although there has already been lots of discussion on various forums and podcasts, I wanted to take a look at what I thought were the major changes in the book, as well as my though process as I begin to design my army list for the Alamo GT. Here we go!

Painting Contest Progress #3

Another few days have passed, and a little bit more time was spent on the paint competition miniature. Here is my progress:

New Stuff: Dark Elf Army Book

On Saturday morning (tomorrow), I go to pick up the new Dark Elf Army Book. I will be playing Dark Elves at this year's Alamo GT and army lists are due October 24th. This gives me about three weeks to really go over the book and get an army designed (with what I have and can paint in such a short time). I will update this blog on the army design choices and everything else going on as I prepare for the Alamo. Let's get going!

Painting Contest Progress #2

A little more than a week has passed since I worked on either paint contest model. The models are due Saturday and I don't think I am going to be able to finish them both. So, I made an executive decision to finish one of the models (even if it is not perfect) so that I have accomplished something. With that being said, here is the progress I have made in the last two nights.

Painting Contest Progress #1

So as I posted a little while ago, I have been working on two models for an upcoming paint contest. I generally don't enter paint contests with delusions of winning, but I find that each time my painting gets a little bit better. As such, I enter the contests to see if I can't place a little higher or try out a new painting technique. These pictures are about a week old, and much more progress has occurred, but I have been busy. And without further ado, here is my progress so far:

Upcoming Projects

It has been a while since I last posted what I have been working on. Well, as I finally finished putting my office and game room into some sort of semblance, I got around to taking some pictures of my current projects.

Project #1: Night Goblin Army
I am currently working on an all Night Goblin army to play for fun at tournaments when I want a much more relaxed weekend. As part of this project I have purchased several Forgeworld models. Including this one, which I am in the process of putting together:

I managed to pick up two of these awesome models and they are going to represent Doom Divers in my army.

Project #2: Paint Contest Miniatures
I have also recently entered a paint contest at my FLGS, Heroes Games, and have decided to enter two miniatures in the contest. The contest is for single, man-sized model (from any manufacturer) and I have chosen the Lizardmen Saurus hero and the Chaos 40k champion to work on some blending, line highlighting, and non-metallic metal techniques. I will see how it goes as I have until October 5, 2013 to turn the models in. As of right now, the models have been put together.

BAO 2013: Round #2 - Lizardmen

For Round 2 of the BAO I was playing Sean Smaker from Sacramento, California.

Sean (left) is a smart and fun player who plays a list with similar style to my all fast cavalry army, except his army is based around skirmished units of skinks.










I was surprised to see Sean as my opponent for Round 2 as I knew he was great player and usually ends a tournament with a winning record. It turned out that Sean had won his game, so instead of playing someone with a similar losing record, I got to play Sean. And not only had Sean won his game, but he did so with a full 150 points. So even with pulling me up from the losers bracket (at a mighty 75 points) I should never have played him. This was the third major fault of the tournament and the day wasn't even half over.

Sean's army for this tournament was a heavy skink list with lots of skirmishers and poisoned attacks. It is a very difficult army to get points off of, and he plays it extremely well. It is also beautifully painted and themed (as the pictures from our Round and at the bottom of the post will show). His army for the tournament was as follows:

Books #4

Another few months have passed, and I have managed to read quite a collection of books since the last time I posted my last mini-reviews. Here is what I have finished lately:

Army Profile #1: Dave Bendarek - Wood Elves

These are some pictures I took at WaaaghPaca 2013 that had disappeared on my desktop. I found them recently and decided it was time to put them up. This Wood Elf army belongs to Dave Bendarek and involves lots of conversions as well as a very nice Winter theme.

Quake City Rumble: Final Wrap-up

Well, the Quake is over and done with. The results are up and my games are logged. All that is left to do is show off some of the amazing armies and models that were at this year's Quake. So without further ado, here you go:

Quake City Rumble 2013: Games Review

Quake is over (sob!) and now I have to wait another year to get my shot at the Title. Oh, well. That is how Warhammer goes. Here is my Round by Round breakdown of the tournament (much like my prior SAWS post).

Round #1: Ryan Morris - Ogre Kingdoms

Ryan was playing a very cool Ogre Kingdoms army with a lot of tricks. We both comped fairly low (3.5) and so we got to start the tournament out against each other. His list included:

• Slaughtermaster (388 pts) (General, Level 4, Lore of the Great Maw, Warrior Bane, Hellheart, Talisman of Preservation)
• Firebelly (205 pts) (Level 2, Sword of Might, Dispel Scroll, Potion of Speed)
• Bruiser (188 pts) (Battle Standard Bearer, Tormentor Sword, Dragonhelm, Crown of Command, Ironfist, Heavy Armor)
• Ironguts (523 pts) (11 models, full command, Standard of Discipline)
• Ogres (291 pts) (8 models, full command)
• Mournfang Cavalry (230 pts) (3 models, musician and champion)
• Maneaters (436 pts) (6 models, full command, Poisoned Attacks and Scout, Banner of Eternal Flame)
• Ironblaster (170 pts)
• Sabretusks (21 pts) (1 model)
• Sabretusks (21 pts) (1 model)
• Sabretusks (21 pts) (1 model)

Ryan and played Scenario 1 "Staking Your Claim" and messed up our deployment. Ryan and I played the deployment zones correctly, but took turns deploying units (rather than deploying an entire army at once) which meant that I was able to out deploy Ryan. I did manage to roll the 6 to "steal" the initiative and go first, but because we took alternate turns deploying I had a huge advantage in this game that I shouldn't have. 

On my first turn I charged Ryan's Mournfang with my Dread Lord that was deployed to see their flank. Ryan held and the Dread Lord broke the unit after killing the champion. This single charge allowed the Dread Lord to run around in Ryan's backfield he was able to eventually accounted for Ryan's Mournfang, the Ironblaster, and the BSB Bruiser (plus catching the fleeing Irongut unit on the turn he charged the unit's flank with a Hydra). 

The other big moment of this game came on my Turn 2 when I had an 11 Power Dice phase and Ryan rolled his Hellheart. I was about 12" away with my mages and he needed to roll a "3". Luckily for me, Ryan rolled a 2 which allowed me to cast Chill Wind on the Maneaters, Word of Pain on the Ironguts, and Plague of Rust on the Ironguts, as well as putting a few wounds on the unit with magic missiles. Giving the unit a -1 armor save made it so that every wound I did with the Reapter Crossbows went through his armor and allowed me to wipe a whole rank off before they charged. Then, on his Turn 2, they were Weapon Skill 1 in the combat against the Black Guard and managed to only kill five models. 

This game ended in a full 20 point win as I was able to get all of the bonus objective points.

Round #2: Don Gillaland - Orcs and Goblins
For Round 2, I played Don and his brutal O&G army. Don has won several Best General awards including Best General at the recent US ETC-style team tournament. His (also) low comping list was:

• Savage Orc Great Shaman (235 pts) (General, Level 4, Dispel Scroll, Ironcurse Icon)
• Night Goblin Big Boss (70 pts) (Battle Standard Bearer, Standard of Discipline)
• Black Orc Big Boss (142 pts) (Warrior Bane, Obsidian Lodestone)
• Savage Orc Big'uns (428 pts) (38 models, standard bearer)
• Night Goblin Mob (125 pts) (35 models, musician and standard bearer)
• Goblin Wolf Riders (60 pts) (5 models, musician)
• Goblin Wolf Riders (60 pts) (5 models, musician)
• Troll (35 pts) (1 model)
• Troll (35 pts) (1 model)
• Troll (35 pts) (1 model)
• Night Goblin Squig Herd (300 pts) (30 Squigs and 20 Night Goblins)
• Night Goblin Squig Herd (300 pts) (30 Squigs and 20 Night Goblins)
• Goblin Doom Diver Catapult (80 pts)
• Goblin Doom Diver Catapult (80 pts)
• Goblin Rock Lobber (85 pts)
• Goblin Rock Lobber (85 pts)
• Snotling Pump Wagon (85 pts) (Spiky Roller)
• Snotling Pump Wagon (70 pts)
• Mangler Squig (65 pts)
• Mangler Squig (65 pts)

This game came apart in Turn 4. On Turn 3, my Dread Lord failed a charge and got stuck in the open (this would happen a lot this tournament). He was hit with a Doom Diver and, of course, I promptly rolled four "6s" on the Pendant, killing the Dread Lord outright. Also on Turn 4, I rolled double "1s" on my first spell ending my magic phase when I was in some key combats. Further, on the same turn, my BSB was charged by wolf riders and failed to wound, and then failed to make any wards saves and was promptly killed!!! I lost the game, but was able to gain 2 objective points as my keg unit was still alive and in Don's deployment zone; 10 point loss.

Important things I learned during and after this game: (1) sometimes the dice just want to screw with you; (2) Hydras have seven attacks each, not five (I had two in combat and with several units and lost the combat by two points because I did not attack another four times); (3) crazy things with only a .00001% chance will happen just to increase the dramatic effect of the game (like the loss of both my Dread Lord and poor BSB); and (4) I still hate Doom Divers.

Round #3: Jack Kelley - High Elves
Jack was playing a really tough list and had beaten my friend Fred Whitney from the Hammertime Podcast earlier in the day. His list included tons of the new nasty for the High Elves and I saw many builds similar to this one throughout the weekend on the tables. I expect it to become quite common. His list for Quake was:

• Archmage (347 pts) (General, Level 4, Lore of Shadow, Book of Hoeth, Talisman of Preservation, Elven Steed)
• Noble (170 pts) (Battle Standard Bearer, Elven Steed, Sword of Might, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone)
• Mage (135 pts) (Level 1, High Magic, Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring of Ruin)
• Silver Helms (398 pts) (16 models, full command)
• Ellyrian Reavers (115 pts) (5 models, musician and standard bearer)
• Ellyrian Reavers (115 pts) (5 models, musician and standard bearer)
• Phoenix Guard (375 pts) (20 models, full command, Razor Standard)
• White Lions of Chrace (353 pts) (21 models, full command, Banner of the World Dragon)
• Frostheart Phoenix (240 pts)
• Sisters of Avelorn (140 pts) (10 models)
• Great Eagle (50 pts)
• Great Eagle (50 pts)

This game really came down to two errors on Jack's part. The first error was when I charged my Dread Lord into the Frostheart Phoenix. I kept failing to wound over a few rounds of combat and I was locked into combat with the monster. Rather than keep me locked up all game, Jack decided to charge his Silver Helm unit (with the BSB and Archmage) into the combat as well. I then challenged the BSB who withdrew to the rear leaving only a single Silver Helm in combat (who failed to wound me). I was then able to hit rank and file, and killed four of them, winning the combat on Jack's charge. The next round of combat I killed the BSB and the unit and the Frostheart Phoenix broke and I was able to run down the Silver Helms and Archmage, and then on my next turn, chase the phoenix off the board. Giving the Dread Lord an additional unit to attack made it so I could eventually win the combat and gave me roughly 1400 points!

The second error was just an unlucky one. Jack charged my Black Guard with both the Phoenix Guard and the White Lions, but only the Phoenix Guard made it into combat, and then failed to push through any wounds. I then killed several, won the combat, caught the unit and turned to face the White Lions so I could charge them on my turn where I would get re-rolls and Jack wouldn't, was able to give them the 5+ ward save from the Cauldron, and make the unit Weapon Skill 1.

This game ended in a full 20 point victory to me as I was able to get all four bonus points.

Round #4: Ryan Dickson - Lizardmen
Ryan was playing your standard Slann-style Lizardmen army. His list included:

• Slann Mage-Priest (495 pts) (General, Battle Standard Bearer, Lore of Shadow, Soul of Stone, The Focused Rumination, The Becalming Cogitation, Focus of Mystery, Dispel Scroll, Ironcurse Icon, Standard of Discipline)
• Saurus Scar-Veteran (161 pts) (Cold One, Dragonhelm, Dawnstone, Venom of the Firefly Frog)
• Saurus Warriors (450 pts) (35 models, full command)
• Skink Skirmishers (70 pts) (10 models, blowpipes)
• Skink Skirmishers (70 pts) (10 models, blowpipes)
• Skink Skirmishers (70 pts) (10 models, blowpipes)
• Temple Guard (380 pts) (20 models, full command, Sword of the Hornet)
• Chameleon Skinks (72 pts) (6 models)
• Chameleon Skinks (72 pts) (6 models)
• Terradon Riders (90 pts) (3 models)
• Cold One Cavalry (175 pts) (5 models)
• Salamander (80 pts) (extra handler)
• Salamander (80 pts) (extra handler)
• Stegadon (235 pts)

Going into this game, I thought I was going to have a really hard time getting to the Slann and taking out the Temple Guard to make Ryan hit his Fortitude Breaking Point. Luckily for me, the Slann miscast on his first attempt to kill a hydra with a pendulum. Ryan re-rolled his initial "10" on the miscast chart and ended up re-rolling the result that does hits to all models in contact with the wizard. The resulting explosion killed eleven of the temple guard and brought the unit to only nine models! Seeing an opportunity, I charged the Dread Lord into combat and over three rounds of combat was able to kill of the entire Temple Guard unit and the Slann. This netted me all of the bonus points for the scenario, plus an additional 300 victory points - meaning that from one combat I gained 1400 victory points. I won this game with the full 20 points. 

Round #5: Mike Scaletti - Warriors of Chaos

Mike was playing an awesome warriors army that he has been using to clean up at tournaments lately. His list was the following:

• Daemon Prince of Slaanesh (550 pts) (General, Level 4, Lore of Slaanesh, Sword of Striking, Charmed Shield, Dragonbane Gem, Chaos Familiar, Flaming Breath, Scaled Skin, Soul Feeder)
• Chaos Sorcerer of Slaanesh (161 pts) (Level 1, Lore of Shadow, Dispel Scroll, Enchanted Shield, Chaos Steed)
• Exalted Hero of Tzeentch (249 pts) (Battle Standard Bearer, Disc of Tzeentch, Talisman of Preservation, Burning Body, Third Eye of Tzeentch)
• Chaos Chariot of Slaanesh (115 pts)
• Chaos Chariot of Slaanesh (115 pts)
• Chaos Chariot of Slaanesh (115 pts)
• Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh (95 pts) (5 models, musician, flails)
• Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh (95 pts) (5 models, musician, flails)
• Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh (95 pts) (5 models, musician, flails)
• Chaos Warhounds (40 pts)
• Chaos Warhounds (40 pts)
• Gorebeast Chariot of Nurgle (140 pts)
• Chaos Knights (235 pts) (5 models, musician and standard bearer)
• Chimera (245 pts)
• Chaos Dwarf Hellcannon (210 pts)

This was a very tough match-up for me because Mike had so many deployments that he was able to out deploy his Daemon Prince and Chimera nearly a table length away from my Dread Lord (who had a really good chance of taking them both down). Instead, my Dread Lord got caught up in the other corner of the board and then failed three decent charges (needing a "7," an "8," and another "7" to hit Mike's chariots and his Daemon Prince). This kept my heavy hitters out of the game while Mike was free to send both the Chimera and the Daemon Prince straight at my lines. In the end, I killed all of the chariots except for the Gorebeast Chariot and cleaned up all of the chaff units. But it was the expense of my crossbowmen, Black Guard, and wizards. The game was a decisive victory for Mike by over 500 points. 

My one shining moment of hope was when the Daemon Prince cascaded on Turn 2 to make the Black Guard strike last against the Chimera, but he managed to not only fail to take a wound, but to also survive the cascade. Drat! In the end, we only made it four turns and I would have liked to have seen what my two Hydras and Dread Lord could have done against the remaining Gorebeast Chariot, wounded Chimera, Hellcannon, Daemon Prince, and Chaos Knights. Though without my magic I recognize that I would most likely end up losing all three units before I got a chance to kill much more. This was a great game to end the tournament and I look forward to the next time Mike and I play.

Hinge Hammer

This is just a quick post to plug my friend Michael Hengl's new Warhammer blog. I know that everyone loves to read as many blogs as possible, so you should add Hengl's to your list. Hengl is a member of the Leadership 2 Warhammer Club and the Tournament Organizer for the Quake City Rumble. He is a great Warhammer General and an all around good guy. That being said, check out his new blog:

http://hingehammer.blogspot.com/

Quake City Rumble 2013: Results

And with a final throw of dice, QCR 2013 ended. I had a great time at the tournament seeing lots people I don't see to often, like John Bailey who runs the Alamo GT, and the guys who run the Rage Quit Gaming podcast. I also got to play five games of Warhammer, which is a pretty good way to spend the weekend.

The results are up and the winners were:

Best Overall: Mike "Colonel" Sanders (1st); Rex Olivera (2nd); and Dave Inman (3rd)
Best General: Josh Stuart (1st); Joseph Urban (2nd); and Taylor Shiells (3rd)
Best Army: Ryan Smith (1st); Quentin Bohn (2nd); and Larry DeTomosi (3rd)
Best Sports: Steve Castro (1st); Austin Morgan (2nd); and Mark Cox (3rd)
Best Painted: Chris Watson (1st); Tom Van Dyke (2nd); and Tony Pacheco (3rd)
Snake Eyes: Sean Shannon

I place 41st in all out of over 100 players. I ended up going 3 and 2, with decent battle points, but lost a lot of places because of army composition. I think I could have changed a few things without giving up my wins and walked away with 10 more points overall, which would have brought me into the top 15. Or, I could have won another game and placed in the top ten. My scores for the tournament were:

Judge Comp: 3.5 (out of 15) (And yes, I brought a hard as nails and cheap trick Dark Elf army)
Player Comp: 5 (out of 15) (which meant I got an average of 1 from each of my opponents)
Battle Points: 79 (out of 100) (this was my highest battle point score at QCR yet)
Sportsmanship: 30 (out of 30) with one favorite opponent vote for a final score of 32
Paint: 22 (out of 33) (go display board of doom!)

Looking at my scores, I am fairly happy with how they turned out. I brought a very tough list - which made me play also hard lists - but did fairly well with it. I managed to grab a few bonus objective points even with my losses. I got a perfect base Sportsmanship score which is always nice to see and I got the highest paint score I have ever received. Now, I just have a lot more work to do for next year.

Quake City Rumble 2013: My Army List

For this year's Quake City Rumble I am taking Dark Elves! That's right, I said Dark Elves. My list for the tournament is a combination between my desire to out-shoot my opponent and Ben Curry's killing list which I think is a good list against the two armies I expect to see the most: Warriors of Chaos and the new High Elves. My list includes:

Characters:
Dreadlord (287 points)

• General, Dark Pegasus, Ogre Blade, Charmed Shield, Pendant of Khaeleth, Potion of Foolhardiness, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak.

Supreme Sorceress (330 points)

• Level 4, Dark Magic, Lifetaker, Sacrificial Dagger, Opal Amulet

Hag Queen (225 points)

• Battle Standard Bearer, Cauldron of Blood

Sorceress (160 points)

• Level 2, Lore of Metal, Dispel Scroll

The purpose behind my characters are pretty straightforward. The Dreadlord kills monsters and Daemon Princes with his four Strength 6 attacks and takes little damage in return. He can also take down knights and Skullcrushers in the flank. The Supreme Sorceress with Dark Magic kills High Elves, period! Dark Magic is amazing: Chill Wind stops the archer hordes; Word of Pain makes them Weapon Skill 1; and Black Horror kills swathes of Core troops (and is not flaming). The Cauldron of Blood is just plain awesome. Finally, the Level 2 of Metal helps kill warriors and knights. 

Core:

Repeater Crossbowmen (213 points) (18 models, Musician, Standard Bearer, Shields)

Repeater Crossbowmen (202 points) (17 models, Musician, Standard Bearer, Shields)

Dark Riders (131 points) (5 models, Repeater Crossbows, Musician, Standard Bearer)

Dark Riders (131 points) (5 models, Repeater Crossbows, Musician, Standard Bearer)

Harpies (66 points) (6 models)

All of my core, except for the Harpies, shoots! That is how core should work. It should kill things from a distance and put up a few wounds on large creatures before other things can deal with them. The Harpies are there to go after war machines and act as a chaff screen. 

Special:

Black Guard (294 points) (18 models, full command, Banner of Murder)

Witch Elves (55 points) (5 models, Musician)

Witch Elves (55 points) (5 models, Musician)

The Witch Elves act as additional - possibly Stubborn - chaff units that can put out a ton of attacks and can easily whittle through large units of Skavenslaves and other cheap troops. I will use these as re-directors in most of my games and keep them within 12" of the Cauldron so that they will be Stubborn.

Rare:

War Hydra (175 points)

War Hydra (175 points)

I have two Hydras. These models are self explanatory. There is my army. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Now I just have to see how it will work this weekend.

Quake City Rumble 2013: Scenarios

As promised, here are the scenarios for this years Quake City Rumble.

Scenario #1: Staking Your Claim

During his circumnavigation of the globe, the great explorer-pirate, Sir Francis Drakenholf stopped at the "Great Bay." His description of the bay and its nearby land has always drawn those seeking to find a place to live away from the "Old World." Recently, news has returned that gold has been found in the nearby hills, igniting a Gold Rush of adventurers from far and wide. After an arduous journey, fending off Dark Elf slavers, reptilian sea monsters, and undead pirates, you have landed at the boom town, San Francisco. Now it a race to "stake a claim" where you hope to make your fortune.

Special Rules: The person who traveled the farthest places the first piece of terrain. The first piece of terrain must be a hill and must be placed in the center of the table. Further, the player who traveled farthest gets a +1 to the die roll to go first.

Deployment: As per Meeting Engagement.

Scenario Objectives: 

1. Have more models on the center hill than your opponent at the end of the game (2 points)
2. Destroy your opponent's largest unit by model count (1 point)
3. Have your highest point core unit be still alive and not fleeing at the end of the game (1 point) 

Scenario #2: The Beer Wench Arrives

Your claim quickly proves to be worth the long journey and your band’s mining efforts quickly yield nuggets of gold. The one problem is that whenever the Schooner “The Beer Wench” sails into port, all mining activity ends -for the Beer Wench carries kegs of the famous dwarven beer, Miner’s XXX Stout! Your fellow miners will not work unless fortified by this delicious brew. Yesterday, the Beer Wench arrived back in port. You took a trusted band of followers down to San Francisco to procure as much as you could. Unfortunately only one keg was available. Disheartened, you start off the next morning to return to the mines. In the early morning light, you see a band of rival miner’s carrying a keg of this brew as well and you determine this is the perfect opportunity to double the amount of beer you can bring back.

Special Rules: Prior to deployment, nominate one non-flying core unit with either a standard or champion to be given the keg. The unit gains the following rules: Stupidity; Immune to Psychology; Stubborn; and may not use a character's leadership for break tests. No character may join (or deploy in) a unit with the keg. If the unit is broken or destroyed in combat (or if destroyed
by other means), it drops the keg. The unit may not voluntarily drop the keg.

The winner of a combat causing the keg to be dropped may choose to pick up the keg if they do not overrun or pursue. After any overrun or pursuit, place the keg as close as possible to the spot where the center of the front rank of the unit was before it was broken or destroyed, but at least an inch away from any unit. A unit may pick up a keg by moving into contact during the remaining moves phase. This ends the unit’s movement immediately (they stop to sample the goods). The keg may only be picked up by a non-flying and non character unit (it does not need a standard or champion). This can be a unit with a character already in it, but once a unit possesses a keg, a character cannot join the unit.

Deployment: As per Dawn Attack. The unit with the keg is treated as rolling a 3-5.

Scenario Objectives:

1. Hold your opponent's keg at the end of the game (2 points)
2. Hold onto your own key (1 point)
3. Have a friendly unit holding a keg in your opponent's half of the board (1 point)

Scenario #3: Tectonic Flux

To find more gold, you have begun to employ wizards to aid in your search. Unfortuantly, the gold in these hills is laced with an unidentified material that screws with users of magic. The most powerful spells fizzle, while the most simple cantrip can blow the head off the wizard (along with anyone close by). This can not be allowed to stop you, so you will just have to stand far away from the wizard prospectors. However, your spies tell you that a nearby mining crew has also started using wizards to aid in their prospecting. You have decided to approach the rival wizards and make an “offer they can’t refuse”.

Special Rules: During each Magic phase, the player whose turn it is rolls a single D6. For the remainder of the magic phase, all Power or Dispel dice results that match the die rolled at the beginning of the phase are disregarded. Also, the player with the fewest magic levels decides who deploys the first unit; roll off if tied.

Additionally, each army has a Divining Rod. This magical doodad has proven to be very useful and  you begin to wonder what it would do if you used it on an enemy. Prior to deployment, nominate one character to carry the divining rod. Bound spell with casting value of 8 (One use only). Nominate 1 model in LoS and within 18”. If successfully cast, destroy one random magic item on the model. If an Irresistible Force is rolled while using the rod, the user takes a ST 10 hit. The  divining rod counts as a magic item.

Deployment: As per Battleline.

Scenario Objectives:

1. Kill an opposing model that generates and/or channels either Power Dice or Dispel Dice. If your opponent does not have such a model, kill the opposing general (2 points).
2. Destroy your opponent's most expensive magic item, demonic item, or runic item. An item is destroyed if the bearer is killed, or if the Divining Rod destroyed it, or some other spell and/or effect destroyed it. If your opponent has two or more items that are equal in value, nominate one as your target prior to deployment (1 point).
3. Have more casting levels than your opponent at the end of the game. If a player starts with zero casting levels, they count as having 1 casting level while the General is alive (1 point).

Scenario #4: Greed is Good

Your claim is staring to play out. However all is not lost, as you have amassed a small fortune. But while a small fortune is good, a large fortune would be better. It is time to send your army of miner’s to stake out more claims, whether by claiming the spot or taking it by force. Just plant your damn flag on it.

Special Rules: The person with the most Fortitude gets a +1 to determine who deploys first. Also, breaking an opponent's Fortitude does not end that game. Rather, it grants that player an additional 300 bonus victory points.

Deployment: As per Blood and Glory

Scenario Objectives:

1. Control a table quarter (1 point).
2. Break your opponent's Fortitude (1 point).
3. Control more table quarters than your opponent (1 point).
4. Control a table quarter on your opponent's half of the board (1 point).

Scenario #5: I Want it All

You have traveled half way around the world, braved dangers while prospecting, dealt with ornery miners and self destructing wizards and amassed a fortune. There is only one thing keeping you from being the most powerful being in the “Great Bay”, and he is standing across from you. Destroy him and his followers.

Special Rules: Your General hates your opponent's General.

Deployment: As per Battleline.

Scenario Objectives:

1. Your opponent's General is dead (1 point).
2. You have more "Character Fortitude" at the end of the game than your opponent. Lord level characters are worth 3, hero level characters are worth 2, and champions are worth 1 "Character Fortitude" (1 point). 
3. Win the game by more than 500 victory points (1 point).
4. Have a non-fleeing unit in the enemy's deployment zone at the end of the game (1 point).

Quake City Rumble 2013: Preview

This weekend is the annual Quake City Rumble in San Francisco, CA. This is one of the largest, if not the largest Warhammer Fantasy tournament in the United States with over 110 registered players. I always look forward to this tournament as it is a blast to play and brings out some fantastic armies and great generalship from the players.

The tournament is a five (5) round tournament played over two (2) days. All armies are 2,500 points using the standard army building rules except no special characters are allowed. All 8th Edition rules are used with the following exceptions: (1) hills block LOS for non-large models (this is do to the use of 7th Edition GW hill terrain); (2) only 30 models, or 15 Monstrous Infantry, may enter a building; (3) terrain is not fixed (my most favorite rule ever!); and (4) all forests are mysterious, but not other terrain has any special effects.

Awards for the tournament are broken down as follows:

• Best Overall: Highest combination of all scores.
• Best General: Highest combination of Battle and Composition scores.
• Best Army: Highest combination of Composition and Paint.
• Best Painted: Highest Paint score.
• Best Sportsman: Highest Sportsmanship score.
• Player's Choice: Most votes for Player's Choice.
• Snake-eyes: Lowest Battle score with the highest Sportsmanship score.

Points for the different score categories are as follows:

Battle Scores: The Battle score is worth a possible 100 total points. After each battle, the player's will count up the difference in victory points. You get 16 Battle points for a win over 100+ victory points, 12 Battle Points for a draw within 99 victory points, and 8 Battle Points for a loss over 100+ victory points. Further, each scenario will have a possible 4 bonus Battle points.

Composition Score: The composition score is worth a possible 30 total points. The Composition score is the combination of both player and judge input. The judge score is a maximum of 15 points, and the player score is also a maximum of 15 points. Each list is marked by each of the six composition judges (lowest judge's score is removed) on a three-point scale which delineates that army as fluffy, normal, hard, or over the top. Then, at the tournament, your army list is also marked by each opponent on the same three-point scale to determine your total Composition score.

*Having participated in the tournament for many years, I can say that the judge's Composition scores are always much harder than the player judged scores and that the average player with an average army will have a score between 12 and 20.

Paint Scores: The Paint score is worth a possible 33 total points (three of which are bonus points for a display board). Two painting judges will score each army on a 15 point scale and the two scores added together equals your total Paint score. The Paint Score is broken down as follows:

• Not Painted (0 pts)
• Partially Painted (3 pts) 
• Standard Quality (3 pts)
• Tournament Quality (3 pts)
• Fine Detail Quality (3 pts)
• Master Class Quality (3 pts)
• Display Base (1-3 pts) (only added once)

Sportsmanship Scores: The Sportsmanship score is worth a possible 40 total points. For each game you will rate your opponent based on the following checklist and each question is worth 1 point:

• Did my opponent make accurate and fair use of measuring?
• Did my opponent make it to the table on time?
• Did my opponent play in a time conscious fashion?
• Did my opponent play by the rules and abide by any rulings?
• Did I have fun playing this game of Warhammer?
• Would I play this opponent again in a non-tournament setting?

In addition to the points above, each player will select one of their opponents as their favorite opponent. Each Best Game vote is worth an additional 2 points.

Tomorrow, I will go over each of the QCR scenarios as well as my new army list (which I have yet to play a game with).

SAWS 2013: Post Tournament Wrap-up

So a few weeks ago I attended the SAWS 2013 Warhammer Fantasy Grand Tournament. It was a good sized event with over 50 players. The tournament results are up and the winners of the event were:

Best Overall: Mike Hengl from Leadership 2
Best General: Mike Scaletti from Leadership 2
Best Sportsman: Mikko Carranza
Best Paint: Tony Pacheco from Leaderhip 2 and the Rage Quit Gaming podcast.
Best Comp: Me
Player's Choice: Tony Pacheco

This was an interesting tournament as there were a lot of really good players who were playing very different list builds, in part do to the tournament Comp system. The tournament ran on time, they provided food, and most people seemed to have a great time. I also got to play five games of Warhammer, although I didn't do nearly as well as I hoped to in the battle score (though I did end up tenth overall). My final breakdown was 158 total points (1st had 181) with 73 points in battle, 25 points in Sportsmanship, 42 points in army comp (winner!), and 18 points in presentation (because I need to finish painting everything).

Rather than do a Round by Round breakdown with full battle reports as usual, I am doing a much simpler write up on this tournament for several reasons. First, I'm far to busy to write full battle reports right now and I am still several battle reports behind from tournaments this year as I just moved into a new house that is taking up much of my time. Second, I spent a good amount of time hanging out with guys I don't get to see too often so my head was a little hazy all weekend. Finally, I just didn't bring the supplies I usually bring to the tournament to record everything. Though don't fret, I did get some great pictures from the event. 

Instead, I am going to just a give a quick overview of the rounds as well as the army lists that my opponent's were playing. 

Round #1: Jason Franks - Wood Elves

Jason didn't have an extra copy of his list so I don't have a full rundown, but his list did include the following:

• Treeman Ancient
• Treeman
• Level 4 Lifeweaver
• Large block of Treekin
• Dryads
• Several archer units

This battle came down to a few factors. First, I had about 30 more shots per turn than Jason did and so I was able to do lots more wounds to his units before they got into combat. Second, I was running Lore of Beasts and was able to use the Boosted version of Amber Spear to kill off both the Treeman and the Treeman Ancient. Finally, Jason cast the Dweller's Below on a unit of archers that had my general, level 4 mage, and battle standard bearer in the unit with irresistible force! Unfortunately for Jason, I passed all three strength tests with my characters and his Lifeweaver was sucked into the warp (on Turn 3). I ended up with a full 20 battle points for a maximum win with my objective of killing his spell casters.

Left: Jason





Round #2: Jeff Seuss - High Elves (Old Book)
Jeff was playing the old book High Elves which meant the White Lions got to re-roll all their missed "to hits" in combat. It also meant that I was facing really nasty magic. This was Jeff's list for the tournament:

• Archmage General, Level 4 of Shadow, Silver Wand, Loremaster's Cloak, Folariath's Robe
• Mage Level 2, High Magic, The Seerstaff of Saphery, Ironcurse Icon
• Noble BSB, Great Weapon, Armour of Caldeor, Guardian Phoenix
• Archers 15 models, Banner of Eternal Flame
• Archers 10 models, musician
• Archers 10 models, musician
• Archers 10 models, musician
• Spearmen 24 models, musician and standard bearer
• White Lions 24 models, full command, Amulet of Light, Banner of Sorcery
• White Lions 24 models, full command, The Other Trickster's Shard
• Sword Masters (5 models)
• Great Eagle
• Great Eagle

This list was brutal for my army. One unit of White Lions had magical attacks that could decimate my Dryads, and the other unit forced re-rolls on successful ward saves. Combined with the +2 armor save against shooting and I ended up losing almost every unit in my army. Plus, the Treeman died to a failed initiative test on turn 2. I knew looking at the list that there was nothing I was going to be able to do against this army. Loss by over 1000 points!

Round #3: Josh Fricke - Ogre Kingdoms
Normally, I don't have a problem playing against Ogres as I can easily kill an entire unit of Ironguts in a turn or two of close range shooting. This time, however, Josh got to play with some different toys that are allowed only at SAWS - Rhinox Riders! His list for the tournament was:

• Slaughtermaster General, Level 4, Gut Magic, Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales, Crown of Command, Dragonbane Gem
• Bruiser Battle Standard Bearer, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Preservation
• Butcher Level 2 of Heavens, Dispel Scroll
• Ironguts 10 models, full command, Standard of Discipline
• Gnoblars 30 models, musician
• Ogres 8 modles, full command
• Ogres 4 models, musician
• Sabretusk
• Sabretusk
• Rhinox Riders full command, Dragonhide Banner
• Ironblaster

I ended up killing all of the Ogres in the army except for the characters with my shooting. However, I couldn't get a boosted Amber Spear off all game, and lost half my army to the Rhinox Riders alone who also managed to nab my general (and the game) on the last turn because I failed a rear charge the turn before. I did manage to get my objective which was to kill more than half of the total number of enemy models (I pretty much accomplished this with the gnoblars alone). So a loss with objective points ended my Day 1.

Round #4: David Inman - Skaven
For the start of Day 2, I played Dave and his MSU-style Skaven list. The list is really fun to play against as it doesn't rely on all the normal toys like unbreakable units, but is designed to wear an army out over several turns of protracted combat with units with lots of attacks. His army for the tournament was as follows:

• Grey Seer General, Foul Pendant, Power Scroll, 1 Level Ruin, 3 Levels Pestilens
• Grey Seer 4 Levels of Pestilens, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Endurance
• Chieftan Battle Standard Bearer, Storm Banner, Shield
• Chieftan Shield, Ironcurse Icon
• Chieftan Halberd, Dragonbane Gem
• Warlock Engineer Doom Rocket
• Warlock Engineer
• Warlock Engineer
• Warlock Engineer
• Warlock Engineer
• Stormvermin 36 models, full command, Banner of the Under Empire
• Clanrats 26 models, full command, Shields
• Clanrats 26 models, full command, Shields
• Clanrat Slaves 21 models, champion and musician
• Clanrat Slaves 21 models, champion and musician
• Clanrat Slaves 21 models, champion and musician
• Giant Rats 25 giant rats, 5 pack masters
• Giant Rat Pack 5 giant rats, 1 pack master
• Giant Rat Pack 5 giant rats, 1 pack master
• Giant Rat Pack 5 giant rats, 1 pack master
• Giant Rat Pack 5 giant rats, 1 pack master
• Gutter Runners Poisoned Attacks, Slings
• Gutter Runners Poisoned Attacks, Slings
• Hell Pit Abomination Warpstone Spikes
• Warp-Lightning Cannon

This game really came down to two key factors: (1) my proper use of dispelling the correct spells each turn, and (2) Dave failing two charges in the same turn! In turn 3, Dave needed a "3" and a "4" on his unit of Stormvermin and Clanrat unit (with the BSB and one of the Grey Seers) to hit and disrupt my battleline. Dave failed both charges with "double 1s" and a "3," respectively. This left these two units within short range of 60 plus bowmen who made short work of both units in the next two shooting phases. Had Dave made either charge, or both, the game would have had a much different outcome. As it was, I walked away with a win with objective points.


Left: Dave





Round #5: Quentin "Q" Bohn - Wood Elves
Round 5 and the end of the tournament I played Q. He was also playing Wood Elves (so for those paying attention I played 2 of the other 3 Wood Elf players at a tournament of more than 50 players). His list was more combat oriented and included the following:

• Highborn General, Great Eagle, Spirit Sword, Dragonhelm, Stone of Crystal Mere, Potion of Foolhardiness
• Noble Battle Standard Bearer, Great Eagle, Armour of Silvered Steel, Dragonbane Gem
• Dryads 14 models with Champion
• Glade Guard 20 models with full command and Banner of Eternal Flame
• Glade Riders 6 models with full command
• Eternal Guard 20 models with full command
• Wild Riders 6 models with Musician and Standard Bearer, Gleaming Pennant
• Tree Kin 8 models
• Treeman
• Waywatchers 5 models

As is usual between Wood Elf armies, the one with the most shots usually wins. And as I "out gunned" Q four-to-one, this game was really in my favor. With a combination of magic (which Q didn't have) and magical and flaming shooting, I was able to destroy the Treeman and Tree Kin before they got into combat. My Treeman made it into combat with the Eternal Guard and slowly killed them over several turns. Finally, I was able to kill off all the characters with several turns of shooting. The game ended with a win with objective points.

So, at the end of the tournament I ended on a 3-2 record. Not bad, but not as great as I was hoping for. This tournament also signaled the last Hurrah of the Wood Elves as I begin working on my all Night Goblin army to get them ready for the Alamo GT 2013 in November.

To finish this post off, here are some pictures from the tournament. Dave's display board and army:

And here are some shots of Casey Clement's Empire army:

Books #3

As I prepare some other blog posts and recover from several weeks of trial and moving, I thought I would provide a short update of the books that I have been reading lately. I have had a lot of time to read as I was flying out to several places and I didn't manage to set up the entertainment center until last weekend. Without further ado, this is what I have finished recently:

Gotrek and Felix: Road of Skulls, Josh Reynolds
This is the most recent entry in the Gotrek and Felix series. This series may be my favorite series from Black Library as Gotrek is probably the most bad-ass character in the Warhammer world! That being said, however, I thought this book started off a little to slow and that the characterizations did not meet my normal expectations. I found Felix in particular to be particularly poorly written in the first few chapters. He came off more as a whiny child who couldn't hold his own in a fight rather than a master swordsman carrying an Elven blade who has been fighting for several decades. By the end of the book he seemed to be back in true form, but his initial combat reluctance and failures was difficult reading.


Neferata: The Blood of Nagash, Josh Reynolds
This is the first novel of the vampire counts trilogy by Black Library. It explains how the vampires survived and came to be a power in the Warhammer world. I like the progression of Neferata as she keeps trying to build a power base in the world but is thwarted time and time again by those she either betrayed, or took for granted. I'm looking forward to the other two books in the series to see how they further explain the bloodlines besides the Lahmians.





Fool Moon, Jim Butcher
This is the second novel in the Dresden Files. I am just loving this series and I can't get enough of these books. I have purchased the entire series an am quickly moving my way to through them. Butcher's writing is progressing in his second novel and he added Werewolves (of several different kinds). What more could a person want?






Grave Peril, Jim Butcher
The third book of the Dresden Files and the introduction of the character Michael Carpenter. This book was great as it continued to expand and explain the Nevernever. Like I said above, I just can't get enough of these books!








Summer Knight, Jim Butcher
The fourth book of the Dresden Files. An much more thorough explanation of the Fey and the Summer and Winter houses. Lots of running plot lines and themes. I like how the ongoing small plot points keep building on themselves.








Death Masks, Jim Butcher
The fifth book in the Dresden Files. Some serious sh!t goes down in this book and really rocks Dresden's world. Events of biblical proportions are beginning and ancient foes with unspeakable power are at the heart of this book. By this point in the series I was getting to really appreciate Butcher's writing itself, more than the plot and world of the books. He writes great snark! I can't wait to plow ahead with the rest of the series.





The Inexplicables, Cherie Priest
The latest book in Priest's post-civilwar Steampunk world. This book takes place back in Seattle and focuses on how people are surviving in the harsh landscape created by the gas. Not as thought provoking or action oriented as her prior books, but still a good read for its further development of Seattle.