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.