Friday, October 28, 2016

West Coast GT 2016: Tournament Review (Part 2)

Alright, time to wrap up my West Coast GT tournament review. Last time I went through Day 1 and what were effectively some of my first Kings of War games. To recap, I lucked into some solid points by not going to Turn 7 in Game 3, and rolled pretty well the other two games. In all, I ended Day 1 with 47 battle points and sitting in Second Place. How did my games go for Day 2? And how did I finish overall? Let's check it out.

Round #4: Kraig Beaver - Ogres
For my first game of Day 2, I knew I was going to be playing Kraig Beaver, the gentleman who was currently sitting in First Place with a solid 52 battle points out of 60! Kraig was staying at the same house I was staying at for the tournament so we were able to get a lot of smack-talk out of the way at Saturday night bowling and down time.

Kraig was playing a very hard hitting Ogre list that included all of the net-list goodies, although it was toned down slightly from some of the nasty things that pop up on the forums and internet builds. His list included:

Berserker Braves Regiment (150 pts)
Berserker Braves Regiment (155 pts) (Blade of Slashing)
Berserker Braves Horde (255 pts) (Blessing of the Gods)
Berserker Braves Horde (250 pts) (Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar)
Shooters Horde (275 pts)(Brew of Keen-eyeness)
Boomers Regiment (150 pts)
Boomers Regiment (150 pts)
Warlock (125 pts)(Scarletmaw's Fenulian Amulet, Lightning Bolt (3))
Warlock (130 pts) (Healing Charm, Lightning Bolt (3))
Warlock (100 pts) (Lightning Bolt (3))
Boomer Sergeant (120 pts) (Diadem of Dragon-kind)
Grokagamok (260 pts)
Red Goblin Blaster (65 pts)
Red Goblin Blaster (65 pts)

Deployment:
Round #4 was the "Walk of Shame" scenario which was a modified invasion scenario. In this scenario, victory points would only be awarded for units on the opponent's half of the board. And, unfortunately for me, all individuals, war engines, and monsters were only worth half points instead of their full point value. Additionally, the was a special token that went with a unit that was worth bonus points if the unit made it into the opponent's deployment zone, and even more points if the unit made it off the board.

This time, the deployment item I brought actually proved useful as Kraig was forced to deploy four units before I had to deploy a single one. This put Kraig on an unsure footing as he didn't know where all of my shooting units were going to go. So instead, he opted for a very strong refused flank formation with almost the entirety of his army deployed on the left flank. The shooters held down the extreme edge of the flank with the berserker units protecting the characters and then the boomers in the center trees to hold his limited right flank. On the far edge, after I had deployed a few units, Kraig deployed both exploding goblin blasters and the boomer sergeant with diadem to take aim at my artillery and weapon teams.

Seeing that Kraig was setting up hard on the left flank, and knowing that I needed to get units into his side of the table, I set up with a strong center with shooting flanks. In the center I deployed all three horde units along with the characters and both death engines on each flank. On the actual flanks I deployed the various weapon teams, artillery, and long range shooters, along with both warrior units. In truth, my deployment was pretty sub-standard still as I had not learned my army or the invasion scenario well, but I was hoping that my luck from the first day would carry through during my shooting phases.
Deployment
Turn #1:
Kraig had won the first turn and proceeded to shift his army slowly towards the left flank and center of the board. Not wanting to deprive himself of the eventual bonuses to his lightning bolt from the Berserker units, Kraig swung them all towards the left flank. On the right flank, the goblin bombs raced forward hoping to explode near my fragile weapon teams. In his shooting phase, Kraig's awesome ogre shooters managed to pepper the clawshots on the back of the board and rout the unit in a single turn. I had never faced Orge shooters before, and now I was seeing what all the hype was about.

With the loss of one of my better high damage shooting units right off the bat, I needed to moved quickly into position against Kraig while also not exposing my units to his shooters in return. On the left, I moved the warrior unit up to counteract Kraig's units knowing that I would be losing the unit eventually. In hindsight, it would have been better to use the protection of the building for another turn or two to limit the damage he could put on the unit before it had a chance to get into combat. In the center, all units moved up slowly, positioning themselves against the Boomer units. The right flank held still, outside of the range of the goblin bombs. A few rats managed to hit one bomb and put through a few wounds, but not enough to cause the bomb to explode.
Turn 1 and the rats are already down a unit.
Turn #2:
With first blood to the Ogres, Kraig really wanted to maintain his momentum and push his units into my half of the table. Thanks to the building on the left flank, however, Kraig was forced to split his forces and he chose to move most of them, including three of the Berserker units and the wizard characters to the left of the building. Around the right side of the building advanced a Berserker horde and the special character, both protected by the woods. On the right flank both goblin bombs continued forward but were still outside of explosion range from my lines. Shooting and magical lightning bolts from the Ogres was both the warrior unit and the weapon team trying to hold down the left flank were destroyed outright.

Having lost my left flank in two turns (even though it wasn't the strongest flank, and moving up the units was totally my fault), I needed to focus on taking the right flank completely so I could swing towards the center supported by my shooting units while Kraig was forced to come around the building. I pivoted most units towards the center to go after the Boomers which I thought I could take fairly easily with my hordes. The right flank then unloaded on the two goblin bombers, explosions showering the rats with goblin pits and dirt. The rat wizards also managed to put a few wounds on the boomer sergeant to keep it from charging the flanks of my units.
Turn 2 and the flanks are almost clear on both sides.
Turn #3:
Kraig continued his push getting almost all his units (and thus a ton of points into my half of the table). Looking back at the game right now, if Kraig had simply hid most of his units behind the building at this point, he probably would have absolutely smashed me and taken a full point win in this game. In the center, he moved several units forward to try and engage the rat lines. With shooting, the Ogre shooters and boomers took aim at the hordes in the center of the board, but thankfully, only a few wounds were put on each unit.

In return, I rushed my center forward hard, hoping to close the lines. The blight horde with pathfinder charged through the trees into the Berserker horde while the other hordes made it into combat range of the Boomers and outside of the special character's line of sight. Shooting saw the Boomer sergeant die to the weapon teams. In combat, the blight horde managed to put several wounds on the Berserker horde, but not enough to even possibly rout the unit.
Combat, though limited, is finally engaged.
Turn #4:
Combat had been engaged, and there was only one thing left to do: counter charge. In the trees, the Berserker horde counter charged the blight horde and both Boomer units stayed put to shoot at the hordes directly in front of them. On the left flank, Kraig's units began moving around the building with one wizard making it around far enough to be able to see the Death Engine. Grokagamok raced forward towards the hill in an attempt to catch some characters an break the shooting units apart. Magic saw the Death Engine on the left flank take a few wounds, but the fearless contraption continued to stand. In the center, a few more wounds were put on each horde, but both units were still standing and ready for combat. In the combat in the trees, Kraig rolled well and killed a score of rats, but the unit, benefiting from the presence of other rat units stayed on the battlefield.

For my Turn 4, I pushed forward, hoping to get several of my units (an the most of my points) over the table line so that I could grab some victory points. All three horde units charged or counter charged the units in front of them. On the right flank, the weapon teams and artillery units pushed forward to get away from Grokagamok and towards Kraig's deployment zone. My characters and other Death Engine turned around the giant Ogre and caused several wounds, but not enough to cause the special character any concern. On the left flank, the wounded Death Engine killed several Orges from the horde unit, but their fearless nature kept them firmly in the battle. In combat, all three horde units decimated their foes, burying the Orges in waves and rats and routing all three units in a single phase.
Combat really heats up and the rats take control of the center of the board.
Turn #5:
Well that was a decent turn for the rats. The center of the board was under rat control and over 700 victory points were gained while depriving Kraig of over 250 points. Unfortunately for me, and great for Kraig, was his extremely strong left flank that continued to push around the building. All three wizards were brought into range and line of sight of many of my units. Taking aim at the Death Engine, the enforcer, and the closest blight horde, the Ogre wizards called forth lightning routing the Death Engine and Blight horde and wounding the enforcer. The Ogre shooters saw the edge of the other blight horde in the trees and still managed to cause a few wounds even needing "6s" to hit. The slightly wounded Grokagamok, upset that there were now holes in his trousers, picked up his gigantic axes and slammed into the clawshots on the hill, killing them in a flurry of blows.

Making a major mistake, I turned the shock troop horde around hoping that I could engage the Orge lines instead of running the unit further into Kraig's deployment zone. Meanwhile, my right flank turned and shot at Grokagamok again causing a few wounds, but not killing the character. On the extreme right flank, the artillery continued to advance hoping to gain at least a few victory points by being on the opposite side of the table. Finally. the remaining blight horde ran through the forest hoping to make it off the board in the next turn with the scenario token.
The rat's center collapses under the Ogre's magical assault.
Turn #6:
Seizing a chance to gain a ton of victory points, Kraig rushed the wounded Berserker horde (who survived the last turn thanks to a horrible nerve roll of "3") off the board, taking his scenario token (and my chance at a bonus point) with them. The rest of his army pivoted to face my units, hoping to blast several more of them off this turn. The Ogre shooters took aim at the blight horde pushing even more wounds on the heavily wounded unit, but a poor nerve roll of "5" saw the unit stay on the board (a "6" would have seem them off the board, along with the token). The wizards killed the enforcer as that was the only target in range and line of sight. On the right flank, Grokagamok charged the warriors, causing a ton of wounds but Kraig promptly rolled double "1s" keeping the unit in the fight for the battle.

Ouch, things were not looking good down on my side of the board. Hoping that Turn 6 would be the end of the game, I pulled everything I could across the table half. The blight horde with the token ran off the board bringing me equal to Kraig in this regard. The artillery and weapon team too far away from the Ogres ran across the board along with one of the wizards. The rat wizard then called down the lightning and put five wounds on the Berserker unit in my deployment zone. A well thrown nerve roll of "10" saw the unit routed and put me above Kraig in victory points. Then, the combined shooting and magic on the right flank killed Grokagamok and swung me into a solid victory, assuming the game ended on this turn.
Two last minute kills swing the game into the rat's favor.
Turn #7:
However, the dice had deserted me after Round 3's lucky Turn 7 roll, and Kraig and I were headed into Turn 7 and my forces out in the open facing off against several Ogre wizards and a unit of shooters. Kraig continued his push around the forest to take aim at the Death Engine and shock horde. Magic saw the Death Engine destroyed and the shock horde severely wounded and easy pickings for the Ogre shooters who mopped the unit up. Kraig's single run in Turn 7 turned my solid win to a minor loss as I lost over 500 points in that single turn.

With little to do, I moved what I could into Kraig's table half and turned my wizards and weapon teams to face the Ogre wizards, managing to kill one of them with some combined lightning bolts from the rat wizards. And with that, the game ended.
Turn 7 and my solid win collapses around me to a straight draw.

Counting up the points, the game ended in a straight draw as despite having more units on the other side of the board, several of the units were only worth half points. I had managed to gain two of the four available bonus points (+1 for getting my token off the board and +1 for only having one unit in my deployment zone) giving me a total of 12 points for the round. Kraig also got 12 battle points so with our game I had failed to gain on his battle point total. Round 4 ended with Kraig still sitting in First Place and six battle points ahead of me.

Round Battle Points: 12
Running Total Battle Points: 57

EPIC FAIL MOMENT:
For me, the epic fail moment came when I turned the shock horde around rather than push forward into the trees. This would have put that unit further away from the wizards and given the shooters a -1 penalty. Instead, I turned them around where they did nothing but get themselves killed.

For Kraig, I think his biggest fail came on Turn 2 when he continued to push most of his army around the building. If he had swung over to the right side then he could have supported his smaller units with the lightning bolts and another horde unit and really crushed my center without losing the units that he did.


Round #5: Rashad - Undead
For Round #5, the last game of the tournament, I was playing Rashad and his Undead army. Rashad had been doing well during the tournament, but was in the middle of the pack. We ended up playing because as I was in 2nd place, I had already played everyone around me in 1st (Kraig), 3rd (Mike), and 4th (Scott) place.

Rashad was a great player and he was polite enough to walk me through the rules of the Undead army before we set up to play, which really allowed me to focus on his units better and took a lot of the surprise factor out his army, though I was still surprised, and almost overwhelmed, by his army's sheer speed with his flanking units. His undead army included:

Ghouls Troop (65 pts)
Ghouls Troop (65 pts)
Ghouls Troop (180 pts) (Brew of Strength)
Revenants Horde (245 pts) (Crushing Strength (1), Brew of Sharpness)
Wraiths Regiment (200 pts)
Werewolves Horde (270 pts) (Blessing of the Gods)
Wights Horde (235 pts)
Soul Reaver Cavalry Regiment (320 pts) (Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar)
Vampire Lord (240 pts) (Mounted on Undead horse, Blade of Slashing)
Necromancer (135 pts) (Bane-chant (2), mounted on Undead horse, Inspiring Talisman)
Necromancer (115 pts) (Bane-chant (2), mounted on Undead horse)
Lykanis (180 pts) (Ensorcelled Armour)

Having now played against the Undead, I think that they are a great army in Kings of War and will probably be my second army after I finish that rats as I have probably 3000 points worth of various Undead units sitting in my closet.

Deployment:
For the last round of the tournament Rashad and I were playing the Center Stage scenario. For this scenario, victory points were only awarded to units that were on the Center Stage at the end of the game. Also, being on center stage granted bonus effects like Headstrong, Fury, Elite or Vicious.

Rashad deployed with a very strong center with all of his units in the center forming a protective ring around the Necromancers. The only units not in the center were the fastest Undead units, the Werewolves and Lykanis, which were headed down the right flank of the board, protected by a building.

For this round, I actually deployed my army properly, or as properly as tactics dictate as I maximized my units in the center, surrounding my best units with both several Rallying bonuses as well as re-rolls from inspiring. I don't know why it took me 5 rounds to finally get this down, but now the rats were a combat force protected by dangerous units on the side and a solid wall of rats with very high nerve values on the front line. I felt rather proud of myself for figuring this out even though everyone had been telling me to play this way all tournament.
Deployment of two solid center-focused battle lines.
Turn #1:
Rashad won the first turn and pushed his army forward as fast as possible for having so many units with shambling. On the right flank, both fast units surged forward getting into range of several rat units for the next turn. Magic saw a few units shamble forward a little bit more, but the main Undead battleline had only moved forward a few inches out of Rashad's deployment zone.

My Turn 1 saw the rat box (what I call a properly deployed army) move forward, still out of charge range from any of the Undead units except for the werewolves. Shooting and magic targeted the soul reaver cav causing several wounds and the wight horde. The clawshots on the hit tried to hit the werewolves, but failed miserably.
Turn 1 and the armies are still staring at each other.
Turn #2:
For Turn 2, Rashad's Undead horde continued to advance with the Werewolves charging the clawshots on the hill in the flank. Lykanis moved around the building looking to hit the rat flanks in the coming turn. The vampire lord hid himself in the trees looking to take out the rat artillery lines. The rest of the undead moved forward, with several units entering center stage and gaining a significant victory point advantage. In combat, the werewolves easily killed the clawshots and prepared to run behind the rat lines.

Seeing the Undead encroaching from the flanks, the rats decided to slow down and pick apart the Undead in the center not wanting to be engaged on three sides. Over on the right flank, the warriors who had turned to face last turn charged the werewolves, causing two wounds, but were otherwise ineffective. With shooting, the rats continued to pummel the wight horde almost causing the unit to break. The shooters on the right along with the rat wizards' lightning bolts then destroyed soul reaver cavalary thereby opening up a spot on Rashad's flank. Then, with the remaining clawshot unit, I took aim at the necromancer in the center and wavered the character, limiting the number of surges that Rashad could cast in the next turn.
Turn 2 and the Undead attempt to flank the rats.
Turn #3:
Having weathered the rats' shooting for two turns, the Undead finally decided it was time to make combat. The two ghoul troops combo-charged the left-most blight horde while the ghoul horde charged straight forward into the other blight horde. The vampire lord on the left flank charged my artillery and the werewolves counter-charged the warriors directly in front of them, supported by a flank charge by Lykanis. In combat, the werewolves and Lykanis easily dispatched the warriors while all of the ghouls basically bounced off their respective targets with the blight hordes' -1 to hit. In the bottom left, the vampire lord smashed aside the rat artillery.

With the battle lines engaged, it was now my turn to being to smash the Undead center. The blight hordes counter-charged into the ghoul horde and one of the ghoul troops. The rest of the rat army pivoted around to face the undead supporting units. In shooting, the rats opened up on the wight horde and the wraiths, routing the wraiths completely, but a poor nerve roll kept the wight horde in the game (though blocked by one of the ghoul troops). In combat, the one ghoul troops was easily dispatched. The ghoul horde was equally mangled, but the sheer number of ghoul bodies kept the unit around.
A massive combat begins to brew in the center of the board with none of the rats on center stage.
Turn #4:
Seeing that the rats' flanks had been turned, Rashad utilized the vampire lord and werewolves' fast movements to hit my army in spots I wasn't expecting (but will not let happen in future games). The vampire lord charged a Death engine behind the shock troops. Meanwhile, the werewolves charged the remaining warrior unit in the rear. Lykanis then charged the last rat artillery. In the center, the ghouls charged their respective targets again. In combat, the werewolves and Lykanis routed both of the units they were engaged with. Once again neither Ghoul unit managed to cause too many wounds to the blight rats. In the bottom, the vampire lord wounded, but failed to rout the Death Engine (though it could not shoot this turn).

The rats' battle line was beginning to be crushed from the flanks and rear and so I needed to really push through the center and get onto center stage. With that in mind, the blight hordes counter-charged hoping to finally push through the ghouls holding up the rat lines. The right-most Death Engine charged the werewolves in the flank and the other engine counter-charged the vampire lord. Shooting was focused on one of the necromancers (killing the Undead leader) and the revenant horde, causing over 10 wounds in a single turn. In combat, the ghoul troop was dispatched but the ghoul horde was able to continue to fight despite severe wounds due to a really poor nerve roll of a "3". Both Death Engines rolled poorly and only managed a few wounds on the vampire lord and werewolves, respectfully.
The rats cause severe damage, but fail to break into the center of the board.
Turn #5:
The Undead continued to pick apart the rat flanks, looking to trap the formidable rat units while they were off center stage. The werewolves counter charged the death engine who failed to rout them last turn. Lykanis charged the flank of the last clawshot unit and the vampire lord again charged the other death engine down in my deployment zone. In the center, a necromancer charged a weapon team hoping to eliminate even more of my shooting. Finally, both of Rashad's hordes charged into the blight units right in front of them.

In combat, Rashad's Undead began to clear away the small rat units. The vampire lord destroyed the death engine. The werewolves killed the other death engine. Lykanis destroyed the clawshots. Both hordes causes serious damage but failed to rout either blight unit. And the poor necromancer failed to wound the weapon team.

Seeing my backfield destroyed completely, I knew I had to push through Rashad's center this turn if I was going to get on center stage. Both Blight hordes counter charged the undead units in front of them. The rest of my units simply moved to maximize shooting on the units not in combat. With my combined magic and shooting, I finally managed to kill the vampire lord that had been running around my backfield and the necromancer that had charged my weapon team, but failed to wound either Lykanis or the werewolves (lots of threes to wound this time). In combat, the ghoul horde finally died to the blight horde that it had been in combat with for three turns. Unfortunately, the revenant horde was not destroyed.
Turn 5 and both players start losing units left and right.
Turn #6:
With potentially only one more turn left, Rashad had to work to make up some serious points now that I had an open line to center stage. I think at this point Rashad was really hoping for a Turn 7 as he played for the long game here by charging the shock troop horde that was behind the blight horde with both the werewolves and Lykanis. The revenant horde also hoped to hold up the blight horde. Once Rashad made these moves, I knew that I was set to win if the game only went to Turn 6 as he had no points on center stage. In combat, the shock troop horde was destroyed, but the blight horde stayed thanks to a poor nerve roll.

Hoping the game would end on Turn 6, I moved everything I could onto the center stage while the blight horde counter charged the revenant horde. Just in case the game went another turn, I poured everything I could into the werewolves, but despite putting on 10 wounds, the creatures were too stubborn to run away. Thankfully, we rolled and did not get a Turn 7 meaning that I had managed to take over center stage and win the game.
The rats take control over the center of the board.

Counting up the points, the game ended  with a solid victory in my favor as I was the only one on center stage. I also managed to grab all 4 bonus points to five me total of 16 points for the round.

Round Battle Points: 16
Running Total Battle Points: 73

EPIC FAIL MOMENT:
For Rashad, I was thinking that he didn't really have a bad play until his Turn 6 moves. He was setting up for a devastating Turn 7, but in doing so, he completely deprived himself of any victory points at the end of Turn 6. Instead, he could have at least made the werewolbves onto the stage and maybe even Lykanis.

For me, the biggest epic fail moment came, I believe, when I failed to turn the shock horde around at any time in the game. I think having another unit that could take on the vampire or push towards the werewolves would have protected a lot more of my backfield.


At the end of the tournament I was sitting at 73 battle points and finished in FIRST PLACE for Best General by 1 point! Go me! I was nowhere close to Best Overall because of a combination of paint points and sportsmanship which included over 15 points for army composition (which I only got a few points as one of the hardest lists in the tournament). At the end of the weekend, I had learned a lot about my list, the rat army in general, and how to play the game and I am really looking forward to finishing up my army and playing in more tournaments next year. See you guys at a tournament real soon.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Adventures in D&D: Part 1

I have been a fan of Dungeons and Dragons since I first started playing 3rd edition in middle school. After 4th edition came out, I had a small group going for about a year and a half until life got in the way. When 5th edition came around, I purchased the basic books along with the starter set in hopes of getting a game going again, but it never materialized. Until two weeks ago. A small group of friends has finally found time to sit around in my basement and throw dice around like we used to. This series of posts is my way of tracking our ongoing adventures while also providing me an opportunity to expand on my rather poor fictional writing skills. Warning; there will be spoilers about the starter set in these posts as we are following it until Level 5 when our DM will then take us through a homebrew adventure. With that said, however, that set has been out for more than a year so if you are interested in D&D at all, you probably either played through the adventure or, at the very least, read through it.

For this adventure, our party would be built around three regular players (along with the DM) and a few drop-in players who will not be able to make every play session. The characters for this adventure were self-created rather than using the pre-set characters so that we could add a little bit more flair to the adventure. The characters, despite being level 1, are surprisingly well thought out and I am hopeful for some really good roleplaying throughout the sessions as each player becomes better acquainted with their character and the group in general. 

Our first plucky hero (and he is definitely the one with the most hopes and dreams) is Theren Wanakin, a first-level Elf Druid from one of the myriad forest-elf cities in Faerun. Theren is a combat druid who directly engages opponents with either his quarterstaff or scimitar while assisting the party with his healing spells (both Cure Wounds and Goodberry). He packs a decent combat punch having a solid attack bonus for a first-level character and the amazing first-level spell Thunderwave (which will hopefully keep the group in control of the combats during the first few games).

Next, is Bentar Smakserbotom, a first-level human noble fighter. Bentar’s family is a minor noble household from the city of Waterdeep. As a fourth-born son he has set out to make his own way in the world as his family will only provide him a limited inheritance and the family name to support him. Trained from birth by the family’s head guard, Bentar has learned the ways of fighting with various two-handed weapons including halbreds and glaives. As such, he is a great weapon and polearm master that will be able to continuously add extra damage in combat. He also wears a decent set of chain mail giving him the highest AC in the group at 16.

Last, but definitely not least, is Lord Easton Greymane (me), a first-level human noble wizard. Lord Easton is the second-born son from the Greymane family, another minor noble house in Waterdeep. Lord Easton is the youngest member of the Greymane family by nearly twenty years. His birth was quite a surprise for everyone involved, apparently. He is also the youngest member of the party at 19 years old. Lord Easton learned early on in life about his innate magical abilities and has finally been given leave by the family to pursue his own personal interests (whatever they are and wherever they may lead) so long as he does not injure the family’s reputation. Lord Easton is the weakest close-combat member of the party and the one with the lowest AC (10), lowest HP (8), and lowest damage potential. However, Lord Easton makes up for these deficiencies with his magical talents which include several interesting rituals and some very long range magical attacks (Identify, Light, Comprehend Languages, and Chill Touch for example). He also has an interesting though limited past with Bentar, an old family acquaintance. Although Bentar is better acquainted with several of the older Greymane sisters (Lord Easton has seven) than he is with the young lord, more than a decade his junior.

Our adventure begins, as many do, around a table covered in empty cups, assorted coins, scattered dice, and the occasional spilt liquid. A tall man, dark of hair that falls across his broad shoulders stares at the triad of recently thrown dice, a scowl on his face. Bentar Smakserbottom is well dressed, a black velvet doublet covering a well-muscled chest. Visible on the back of the doublet is a sewn symbol, the family crest of the Smakserbotoms: an outstretched hand, slightly cupped, with thumb bent and resting above four fingers. Across the table sits Lord Easton Greymane, now twenty-four, and a well-seasoned adventurer and founder/owner of the adventuring company Greymane, Smakserbotom & Elf. A broad smile leaps upon his face as he scoops a pile of coins to his ever growing pile. He is also impressively dressed in a well-fitting robe edged in silver and fine fur. At his side is an elf, dressed in practical attire for someone who spends the majority of his time outside in the wild. His clothes are well-worn, though of decent make, and give him an appearance of an avid outdoorsman. The elf is characteristically silent watching the two nobles gamble their money away to each other occasionally.

The table has devolved into small talk about upcoming adventures, when another round of drinks is dropped on the table. A lovely girl with bright red hair and high cheeks above a slim mouth stares in awe at the band of adventurers. It is rare for travelers to pass through this small northern town, let alone adventurers. She is curious as to what brings the group this far north where the only adventure that can be had is at the annual harvest festival later in the year. Lord Easton begins to discuss the importance of a particular trade route planned through a nearby area when Bentar Smakserbotom interrupts. “Ah, lass, present talk of adventures is not fit for such an evening of revelry, especially when lord talks-to-much will put you to sleep discussing the political effects of ore trading on the sea port of Neverwinter. I have a much better story to tell. How would you like to know how such a handsome man as I deigned to work with these slovenly fools? It started five years ago in a tavern in Neverwinter. I had been personally hired by a . . .” Bentar is startled out of his story as his drink flies across the table and splashes across his chest and lap. “Ha,” cried Lord Easton, his fingers in a concealed hand sign “mayhaps you should clean yourself up before you spread false claims to the lady. Let me tell it,” he said. With a quick hand pulled the barmaid down to an empty seat on his left. “It all started in a tavern, much like this one, with the Elf and I sitting at a table playing at dice . . .”

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

West Coast GT 2016: Tournament Review (Part 1)

The West Coast GT 2016 is over and done with. This was the first time that the tournament game was Kings of War rather than Warhammer Fantasy and it is clear that the transition year had a large impact on attending players (along with a change of time from Spring to Fall). Last year, the tournament had roughly 70 players for 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy with a lot of travelling players from Northern California, Texas, and other major gaming areas. This year, however, saw only 16 players at the tournament with only four players travelling from outside of Southern California. I know that there is a really large Kings of War crowd in Southern California split between San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County, but for some reason that whole are is really fractured with few players willing to travel the hour or two to play with the other groups. I hope that the game slowly builds a better community down there so that next year's tournament is at least 30 or so players.

Though the overall turnout was disappointing for a full two day GT that required travel, this is a tournament I will always travel too even if there were only 10 players because of the all the surrounding fun and entertainment outside of the tournament. The tournament is at an Elks Lodge in Mission Viejo which has an attached bar (with very cheap drinks) and fantastic food service for Saturday lunch and an amazing Sunday brunch that helps the hangover go away. Even more impressive is the standard Friday night Karaoke hosted by one of the members of the Elk lodge, but that runs until the early morning. Fred, the tournament organizer and host of the West Coast Kings podcast (formerly West Coast Hammertime), also puts together a bowling night on Saturday at a place within walking distance of the Elk lodge. With all these additional events going on, this tournament is one fun filled weekend!

Now let's take a look at how the actual games went.

Round #1: Scott Holcomb - Abyssal Dwarves
Scott, my first opponent for the tournament, is one of the better players in Southern California as is the co-host with Fred on the West Coast Kings podcast. I also understand that he has been one of the initial ambassadors and earliest converts to Kings of War, even before the end of Warhammer Fantasy. I heard our match-up on the podcast a few days before the tournament and I was really looking forward to the game as I figured I would learn a lot of the tips and tricks of the game from Scott. But I was very surprised to hear that we were paired because I had one of the toughest lists (if not the toughest list) at the tournament and I only had three games of Kings of War under my belt, and none with this army list.

In contrast, Scott probably had 30 games, at least, with his particular list and army, and I would guess close to a hundred games of Kings of War in total, maybe even more. Hist list shows a lot of thought went into army building as it contains a lot (as I would find out) of heavy hitters, a decent number of inspiring sources (something I was clearly lacking), and strong units of high defense and decent speed. It was a list built to put a lot of pressure on an opponent quickly, hit hard in a coordinated offensive, and then grab scenario points and objectives on the last few rounds once an opponent's big units were already destroyed. His list was:

Decimators Horde (285 pts) (Heart-seeking Chant)
Slave Orc Horde (180 pts) (Brew of Strength)
Gargoyle Troop (80 pts)
Gargoyle Troop (80 pts)
Lesser Obsidian Golems Horde (210 pts)
Lesser Obsidian Golems Horde (210 pts)
Abyssal Grotesques Horde (265 pts) (Brew of Haste (giving them speed 8!)
Dragon Fire-team (50 pts)
Overmaster on Great Abyssal Dragon (315 pts) (Medallion of Life)
Abyssal Halfbreed Champion (165 pts) (Blade of Slashing)
Iron-caster (130 pts) (Fireball (6), Heal (3), Surge (8), Myrddin's Amulet of the Fire-heart)
Iron-caster (120 pts) (Fireball (6), Heal (3), Surge (8))
Greater Obsidian Golem (160 pts)

Deployment:
Round #1 was the Mickey scenario. This scenario places a Mikey figure in the middle of the board that is moved during each players turn and can either attack another unit in combat or cast a Fireball at a unit within range. Scott deployed with a strong center and placed his fastest moving units (the Dragon, the Grotesques, and the cavalry hero) on the flanks. As this was a kill scenario it was obvious from Scott's deployment that he intended to push forward hard into the center of the board and using his faster flanking forces to swing around and break my units from the sides or rear.

I deployed my army (poorly) with a divided flank (though I should have gone with a refused flank on the right side during the game looking back at how the army actually plays) with two heavy shooting sides backed up by a combat unit with a very flimsy center held up only by the shock troop horde. For some reason I thought that I would be getting the charges off with that unit and so it could hold its own for a turn or two before getting wiped. Like I said, I didn't have any prior practice with this army before going to the tournament.
Deployment! or how not to split up your forces.
Turn #1:
I won the roll for Turn 1, and started by swinging Mickey towards the right side at an angle so that he could target Scott's fire-team with his Fireball. My right flank advanced and pivoted to face the center of the board while the units with "reload" stood still so they could fire. The Blight horde and shock troop horde shifted towards the right as well giving me a slightly stronger presence in the center. Shooting was pretty eventful. I put 8 wounds on Mickey, routed the fire-team taking it off the board before it could fire (50 points for me!), and pushed through a couple of wounds on the Dragon, the greater obsidian golem, and the center-most unit of lesser golems.

In response, Scott pivoted Mickey away from his lines, aimed it towards my shooting flank, and promptly rolled box-cars ("double sixes") to slam Mickey into a warrior regiment preventing Mickey from being able to Fireball any of my units. This was awesome and protected my poor weapon team and characters that awfully close to being lit on fire. In combat, Mikey caused several wounds on the warriors, but not enough to waver them. Mickey then backed off, awaiting my orders.
Turn #1: Slowly moving into position
Turn #2:
Turn 2 saw the armies collapse towards each other, vying for the most favorable charges. On the left flank, I moved the shooters up slightly to pick out the cavalry character (though I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get out of the character's line of sight not recognizing or really understanding at this point what it meant for that guy to be an individual. This would cost me significantly later in the game). I held my ground in the middle making sure that I couldn't be charged by anything on Scott's turn except where I rushed my damaged warrior unit right in front of the slave orcs. Mickey ran back towards Scott's side to be able to see the gargoyles. And the right flank advanced slowly within range of the grotesques or hid behind some trees to prevent a charge.

Shooting this turn proved exceptionally strong. I put a bunch of wounds on the grotesques from combined magic and shooting on the right flank, and managed to roll a "10" to waver them for the turn. This was key as it prevented Scott from charging the other warrior unit and getting closer to my back field. Mickey also wavered one of the units of gargoyles behind the slave orces preventing that unit from moving towards my characters. A few more wounds were put on the center-most lesser golem horde seeing the unit off completely (within a solid "10" rout roll). All in all, it was a fantastic turn of shooting for the rats (with a good number of "5s" rolled to damage the high defense units).

Scott continued moving forward with what he could, but because of the two wavers he held most of his line back except for the Slave Orcs who charged the warriors. On the left flank, the cavalry characters (who was an individual) pivoted to face the weapon team and promptly charged it. The other lesser golem unit moved within range of the blight horde and the greater golem moved closer to the shock horde. However, because we were using timers for this game (in order to get a special bonus point for the tournament) Scott forgot to move his dragon from behind the building further keeping his line back for one more turn. Huzzah! This was clearly a mistake on Scott's part but it did prevent him from getting any units in my back field at this point in the game. Mickey also moved to try and flank charge the warriors, but Scott rolled poorly and Mickey did not make it into combat.

With no shooting (because Mickey had no available targets the way he was faced), we went right to combat. Scott's cavalry character destroyed the weapon team and ran past and out of sight of the Death Engine. The slave orc horde, who was supposed to destroy the warriors rolled extremely poorly putting only two more wounds on the warriors and then a poor nerve roll saw the warriors bounce the horde who moved back and awaited the inevitable counter charge (because at this point the warriors might as well continue to sacrifice themselves for the greater good). At this point, Scott was up 80 vps to my 50, but things were looking okay for the rats, especially if I could keep the decimators out of range for another turn by holding up the slave orcs.
Turn 2: Wounds mount in the center, but the rat's left flank looks shaky.
Turn #3:
At this point, time was beginning to run out on my timer. My first two turns, with all of the shooting and not knowing exactly what to do, cost be 25 minutes (including deployment) so with only 35 minutes left for four (or maybe five turns) I pushed faster and started moving things with less thought. The left-most Death Engine moved towards the lesser golems which were charged by the Blight horde. The warriors and Mickey double charged the Slave Orcs. The center shooters and mages moved towards the large golem while the shooters on the right flank moved towards the wavered grotesques.

Shooting saw the previously wavered gargoyles killed off with one more single hit from the clawshots on the hill. On the left flank, combined shooting put more wounds on the greater golem and the right flank completely destroyed the grotesques, routing the unit on a "4". Combat saw the blights put a few wounds on the other lesser golem unit, but the blight fell back an inch after failing to rout the golems. In the center, Mickey and the warriors punished the slave orcs for 8 wounds.

In response, Scott pushed his army forward in the hopes of cracking my shooting back field. The remaining gargoyle unit charged the weapon team on the right flank that was in the woods. The slave orcs countercharged the warriors with Mickey's help. The lesser golems counter charged the Blight horde and the cavalry character pivoted and charged the clawshot unit in the flank. Scott's remaining moves were to pivot the greater golem to face the shock troop flank and the Dragon (who didn't move last turn) flew over my units to land facing my center shooting block (and squishy looking characters). The lesser golems also managed to heal a few wounds thanks to double heals by the Iron-casters.

Combat saw off the clawshots (easily) and the warriors (also easily). In the center, the lesser golems whiffed thanks to the Scott's inability to roll average numbers and the blight's -1 to hit in combat. On the right flank, even though the gargoyles were hindered, they still routed the weapon team in the woods with their triple attacks (for being a warmachine). So even though I had managed to drop the grotesques and one unit of gargoyles, Scott had pushed back significantly and routed three units (including two of my better shooters) and put himself in better board position for the coming turns.
Turn #3: Combat begins in earnest and units start dropping fast.
Turn #4:
Turn 4 and I was still feeling rushed for time (who knew rolling dice for lots of shooters and combats could take up so much time, plus there was lots of discussion on what was going on so I understood all the crazy shenanigans). On the left flank, I gave up to let the cavalry character have his way so I could focus more on the larger units hanging around. The Blight horde counter-charged the golems and the shock horde turned to face the large golem so it wasn't flanked charged in response (I was a half inch off from a double charge on the lesser golems because they pulled back an inch after charging the blight horde last turn - some bad movement planning on my part). Mickey charged the slave orcs and the right flank collapsed towards the center to take on the Dragon with shooting and magic.

Shooting saw off the Greater Golem after being hit by a Death Engine, a weapon team, both artillery pieces (who both managed to hit), and a lightning bolt! Pretty much everything I had that was in range. The Warriors with the Diadem used their breath weapon on the Gargoyles, routing them in the process. The remaining shooting and magic went into the Dragon, but only a few more wounds were caused (not enough to scare anyone).

In combat, super Mickey routed the Slave Orcs after causing six wounds and rolling a spectacular "10" on the Nerve roll. Over on the left flank, the blight horde causes several more wounds to the lesser golems, but it was not enough to see them off the board.

Scott retaliated by continuing to crush my left flank. The lesser golems counter-charged the Blight horde and the cavalry character charged the artillery piece on my board edge. Mickey stayed put so that the Decimators could finally shoot something and the Dragon charged the enforcer in order to grab a bonus point for killing something with inspiring.

The Decimators easily killed off Mickey after putting on 8 more wounds bringing the total to 20. In combat, the lesser golems routed the blight horde after better rolling by Scott and the cavalry dude easily destroyed the ratkin artillery. On the hill, the Dragon rider whiffed and only caused 2 wounds on the enforcer who survived the attack without even being wavered! The lesser golems also managed to heal a few wounds thanks to the Iron-casters (will these stupid golems ever die?) then over-ran outside of the Death Engine's sight (depriving me of a flank charge with this hard hitting unit).
Turn 4 and things are really bloody now.
Turn #5:
Turn 5 and things were beginning to really open up. I had solidified the right flank and cleared it of enemies, but a single model of Scott's had done the same on the left flank. In the center, I was holding fairly well, but there was one large unit of Decimators staring me down and a Dragon sitting in my back field on a hill, glaring at the enforcer he failed to kill.

Having lost a flank charge on the lesser golems, I moved the Death Engine to face the Iron-casters hoping to kill them over the next few turns. The Shock Horde turned around to face the golems. The Blight horde raced towards the Decimators hoping that the -1 for being stealthy would allow the unit to make it into combat. Shooting saw a few wounds on the Decimators, but only one on the Iron-caster hit by the Death Engine (who rolled lots of "2s" and "3s" to hit rather than the "5s" needed). All the center shooting and warlock lightning bolts hit the Dragon with supreme force and all that remained of the creature was a smoking ruin (I rolled an "11" on the Nerve test to rout the creature, though I only needed a "7" thanks to some decent hits by the clawshots).

Scott, moved the lesser golems to face the Death Engine (as I had moved out of their charge last turn). Scott then healed the golems of all their wounds. The Decimators stayed put and shot at the Blight unit, damaging it, but not causing enough wounds for even a possible rout. The cavalry character charged the flanks of the clawshots and routed them in a single combat.
Turn 5, units dropping left and right (mostly left)
Turn 6 and 7:
With the game wrapping up, I tried to secure as many points as possible. The blight unit charged the decimators destroying them over two rounds of combat (as the Decimators could only counter-charge after being disrupted by the initial charge). The lesser golems were charged in the rear by the shock horde who whiffed their attacks, allowing the lesser golems to then charge the Death Engine that decided to try and shoot at the Iron-casters (causing a few wounds, but not enough for a rout). The Death Engine was destroyed and the golems were able to move out of a second charge by the shock troops. Eventually, the cavalry character was killed with combined shooting and magic, but not before he caught himself the warlock with bane chant. And with that, the game ended.

Scott only had one unit of lesser golems (who repeatedly refused to die) and both Iron-casters left on the board giving me 1790 victory points. In return, I had lost only 805, giving me a solid victory of 985 points and a 13-7 before bonus points. Checking out the bonus objectives, I managed to gain 3 more points (1 for sustaining wounds when Mickey was killed (on a poor weapon team), 1 for inflicting the most wounds on Mickey before he was killed, and 1 for routing an enemy with inspire. As I did not rout Mickey, I lost out on the final point.). This gave me a solid 16 points for Round 1 and a decent start to the tournament.

Round Battle Points: 16
Running Total Battle Points: 16


EPIC FAIL MOMENT:
For me, the epic fail moment came straight from deployment where my left flank really didn't have the tools necessary to deal with something like a mounted individual, plus I played against this character very poorly throughout the game. But I did learn a lot of tips and tricks for playing these guys and I will definitely be adding at least one mounted character to my lists in the coming future (when I can find some rat-like thing to mount a character on).

For Scott, his epic fail moment is when he failed to move his Dragon character on Turn 2 towards my artillery and character line to put additional pressure on the hill and to threaten the rear of my blight horde and shock horde. This fail allowed me to focus fire on the largest threats coming towards me without forcing me to split my shots or worry about my backfield for an additional turn. Definitely an EPIC FAIL Scott!

Round #2: Tyler Hamil - League of Rhordia
For Round 2, I was playing Tyler and his League of Rhordia list. Tyler's list was a very shooting heavy list like mine (but not as devastating as mine) coupled with several hard hitting and fast cavalry units supported by massive blocks of infantry. It was during this game, and watching Tyler's use of Rallying that I really began to see its use when deploying and moving units on the board (though I would not really pick up proper use of Rallying until Round 5 or so). Tyler's list was:

House Guard Regiment (135 pts)
House Guard Regiment (135 pts)
House Guard Regiment (135 pts)
City Spear Militia Horde (200 pts)
City Spear Militia Horde (200 pts)
City Spear Militia Horde (200 pts)
City Militia (195 pts) (Brew of Strength)
Halfling Knights (160 pts) (Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar)
Halfling Knights (170 pts) (Diadem of Dragon-kind)
Halfling Volley Gun (85 pts)
Halfling Volley Gun (85 pts)
Halfling Volley Gun (85 pts)
Halfling Volley Gun (85 pts)
Halfling Volley Gun (85 pts)
Battle Shrine (130 pts)
Baron on Horse (95 pts) (Dwarven Ale)
Halfling Master Engineer (70 pts)

 I don't have enough experience with the game, or with the armies to discuss Tyler's unit choices or tactics, but I did notice all FIVE volley guns and spent most of my time trying to understand what they do (range, attacks, etc.). Looking back at this game, I should not have been nearly as frightened of these guns as I was. 15 attacks is a lot (or 75 attacks at a unit, really). But, generally needing "5s" to hit and having units that are stealthy (an additional -1 to hit) meant that I probably could have rushed Tyler's shooting base with both Blight hordes and focused my longer range shooting on other units during the game giving me better control of the board. Needing "6s" to hit, if all 5 volley guns shot at a Blight Horde, the horde would statistically have at least 2 turns of shooting (and maybe 3 with bad rolls) before the unit was routed. And I would have made it into contact with at least one horde, and maybe some other regiments hidden behind the initial horde. Or maybe this whole plan would have been bad, who knows as that's not how the game played out.

Round #2 was the "Real Housewives of OC" scenario and was based on the Pillage scenario with five set objectives (one in the center of the board and 2 on each player's side outside of the deployment areas). All points in the game were based on objectives, so I knew that I needed to at least take and hold three of the objectives, if not more. With that in mind, I, once again, poorly deployed my army for the scenario, but not as bad as last game (Look ma, I'm learning!).

Deployment:
For this round, the scrying gem only managed to give me a single extra deployment by Tyler which didn't help me determine what his plan was as it was clear that several of the volley guns were going to hold the flank where they would be offered cover. So two games in and this item has not really made its points worth it to me.

Tyler deployed his army on a split flank approach with a strong melee left flank that would operate as his hammer force and then a strong shooting right flank that would operate as the anvil upon which my army would hopefully break. The left flank was led by both knight units, one of which had the diadem of dragon-kind, one of the spear hordes to take charges, and all the heavy hitting house guard regiments backed up by the baron on horse and the battle shrine with its Rallying (2) ability giving all those units an additional +2 to their nerve values. One single volley gun was placed near those units to prevent a flanking force from hitting the side of the spear militia. Tyler's left flank was held down by FOUR volley guns hidden in the trees surrounded by the remaining spear militia hordes and the city militia horde protecting them from any fast forces that I may have (which of course I don't because I didn't know what I was doing when I built my army).

I deployed my army in a long line with a pretty equal distribution of shooting and combat units. Starting from the left flank, I deployed a death engine along with edge of the board and then the warriors with the diadem and a weapon team. To protect these units I deployed both warlocks, a blight horde, and another weapon team with the intent to destroy the knights. In the center I deployed the other blight horde, warriors regiment, and death engine backed up by a unit of clawshots (who could see most of Tyler's height 2 or greater units). The artillery units were deployed against the edge of the board (of course with unimpeded lines of sight to Tyler's artillery. My right flank was held down by the other unit of clawshots, the shock troop horde, and my last weapon team.
One day I will learn to box my units, but today was not that day.
Turn #1:
Tyler won the roll for first turn and surprised me by racing his whole left flank forward. I thought he was going to play a waiting game with me where we moved around each other for several turns while letting our shooting push some wounds through, but Tyler was having none of it. The whole left flank raced forward with the knight unit with the diadem moving within range to use its breath weapon on the closet weapon team. Luckily, the knights rolled poorly, being knights and not dragons, and so only caused two wounds with not even a waver from the resulting Nerve test. On the right flank the two militia units moved to better positions for later turns.

For my first turn, I pivoted my left flank to focus fire on the closest knights with the diadem and moved forward in the center slightly, making sure to stay outside of 24" from the volley guns. There was no point in rushing forward when I knew I could take at least three objectives on the last turn unless Tyler pushed through my line. Shooting on the left flank routed the knight unit in a single turn as several breath weapons and lightning bolts from the sky slew knights and horses with impunity. The combined shooting of the clawshot and artillery units also managed to rout one of the volley guns in the woods (with both artillery pieces hitting and causing two wounds each) putting a small damper on Tyler's shooting. On the very right flank the weapon team moved behind the building to get into position against the militia.
The rats' impressive shooting begins to take a toll on the opposing forces.
Turn #2:
Seeing off one unit of knights was great for me, but it didn't slow down Tyler's assault in any capacity. On the left flank, the other knight unit charged over the stone wall (becoming hindered in the process) and into my warrior unit with the diadem. The rest of the left flank continued to move forward in a solid formation, turning towards the center to face my incoming units. The center spear unit moved to take the center objective and the spear unit on the right flank began the slow process of pivoting and moving around the tower. The lightning bolt from the battle shrine hit one of my weapon teams, but once again only caused two wounds which the weapon team shrugged off. In combat, the knights (who were hindered and were thus hitting on "5s" and lost their thunderous charge) managed to only cause a few wounds against the warriors.

My turn saw the first real run of combats across the board. On the left flank, the wounded warriors counter-charged the knights with the help of the death engine. The left-most blight horde charged the spear horde in the trees (as that unit has the caterpillar potion I would not be hindered) while the other blight horde and warrior unit charged into the spear horde sitting on the center objective. The weapon teams and other units moved around to see some better targets and the shock horde on the right flank pivoted to face the spear horde moving around the tower.

The rats had another big turn during the shooting and magic phase. The weapon team on the right flank caused several wounds on the spear horde (though not enough to even pretend of wavering them). The artillery split their shots and managed to put a wound on two of the volley guns. The rest of the shooting that was within range and all of the lightning bolts managed to rip through and destroy the battle shrine in a single turn! This rout was clutch, as it was giving the spear horde that was in combat +2 Nerve. The warlock with bane chant also used his item to allow him to bane chant the blight horde for the forthcoming combat.

In combat, the combined might of the warriors and death engine crushed the knights outright, killing the entire unit. In the combat with the bane-chanted blight horde and spear militia, the blight horde managed an impressive 11 wounds thanks to the benefit of crushing strength. I then routed the spears with an impressive "11" nerve test. Had the battle shrine still been around, the spear horde would have survived even with that great roll and the blight would have been subjected to a multi-charge, including taking a unit in the flank. In the center, the blight horde and warriors managed fifteen wounds on the spear horde and an average Nerve test saw the entire unit routed.

This turn of combats opened up the entire center of the board for the rats. I had managed to take out 4 units, including some of the tar-pits that Tyler was hoping would hold my army up. It also left me in position to work around the flanks of Tyler's unit and devote more attention to his volley guns.
The rats take the offensive.
Turn #3:
Having lost some of his largest tar-pits, Tyler then unleashed his second wave of combat units across the whole board. On the left flank, a unit of house guard charged over the stone wall to hit the wounded warriors while the baron on horse charged a weapon team that managed to not quite get out of its charge range. Another unit charged the blight horde that had routed the spear militia. Finally, the other unit charged the other blight horde that had turned to face that flank. On the right flank, the spear militia charged the weapon team that had shot at them last turn, looking to destroy the foul war machine before it could do anymore damage.

The volley guns took aim and began peppering the death engine in the center of the board, destroying the contraption with their combined might (and some decent rolls to hit from Tyler). In combat, the spear militia on the right flank easily routed the weapon team. On the left flank, both house guard units that were fighting the blight hordes caused damage, but not enough to see the units routed before them. Though the were softened up significantly for later turns (crushing strength does a number on units with a defense of 3). The baron easily dispatched the weapon team before it with a flurry of attacks and even the house guard killed the wounded warriors, paying back the rats for the loss of the knight units. Ouch, that was one effective counter punch.

For my Turn 3, I pressed on, hoping to break Tyler's army from running through to the objectives outside my deployment zone. On the right flank, having lost the warriors and a weapon team, I decided that the best course of action was to shoot at the house guard and moved the death engine and characters around to be able to see the unit. Both blight hordes counter-charged the house guard units right in front of them. The warrior unit in the center charged the closest volley gun, even though it would be hindered. On the right flank, the shock horde charged the spear militia that had destroyed the weapon team. With the combined might of shooting and magic, the left-most house guard unit was destroyed. And with the remaining shooting of the clawshots and artillery, several wounds were placed on another volley gun, but a poor Nerve roll saw the gun ready to fire next turn.

In combat, one blight horde failed to cause more than a single wound on the house guard it was in combat with. However, the other horde managed to rout the other house guard unit, clearing the center of the board of everything but a volley gun. The combat between the warriors and volley gun was over quickly, even with being hindered and the warrior unit pivoted to face the other guns. On the right flank, the shock horde destroyed the wounded spear militia running forward a few inches to hide behind the tower.
Death and destruction on both sides, with both players losing several units.
Turn #4:
Tyler had managed to kill several of my units, but I gave as good as I got last turn, and with more units to lose, I had managed some serious board control, perfect for taking several of the objectives. But Tyler was not out of tricks yet, as was fighting for a minor loss, and perhaps even a draw if he could kill enough units. On the left flank, the house guard counter-charged the blight horde and the baron (whom I kept forgetting could do all kinds of crazy stuff as an individual) charged the flank of the clawshots in the center of the board. The rest of the army stayed put, hoping to blast my units away.

In the shooting phase, the various volley guns took aim, and the two in the forest destroyed the warrior unit in front of them while the volley gun in the center killed a few blight rats, but the horde was still there pressing forward. In combat, the house guard piled more wounds on the blight horde, but thanks to inspiring from the enforcer behind the unit, the unit was unscathed. The baron, even with the flank attack bonus, rolled extremely poorly and the clawshots were alive, though wavered.

I counter-charged the house guard with the blight horde in the woods, pressed forward towards the volley gun with the other blight horde, and pressed around the tower with the shock horde. Shooting was extremely ineffective without a single wound caused on any unit. In combat, however, the blight horde finally managed to rout the house guard clearing the right flank of all enemies.
Turn 4 and things don't change too much.
Turn #5:
With only a few units left, Tyler surged to try and position himself to take at least two of the objectives on the next turn. The baron charged the clawshots again, hoping to destroy them, press forward, and then get in range of two of the objectives on the next turn. The militia unit moved forward, but stayed behind the volley guns giving them an opportunity to shoot at some of my units. Tyler's then moved to shooting the volley guns. Two targeted the farthest and most damaged blight horde and managed to destroy the whole unit. The other shot at the other blight horde, but failed to cause even a single wound thanks to stealthy. In combat, the baron easily killed off the wounded clawshots.

For my Turn 5, I just re-positioned several units to take objectives on Turn 6. The shock horde moved closer to the volley guns, the remaining blight horde turned around, and the warlocks turned around to face the baron. Even the clawshots on the hill ran forward to take an objective and put some distance from the baron. Shooting this turn was as potent as Turn 2. The last death engine and weapon team killed the lone volley gun in the center of the board. Both artillery pieces chose a different volley gun in the trees and both hit, causing two and three wounds, respectively, and destroyed both machines. Lightning bolts from the warlock struck the baron and the poor man fell of his horse, never to lift his head again. This left Tyler with only a militia horde and an engineer hanging out in the trees.
The rats take a commanding lead before the last turn.
Turn #6:
Tyler's last turn saw him push the militia horde forward towards the objective, but making it just short. In response, the shock horde charged the militia, causing serious damage and bounced back onto the objective itself. My remaining units moved to the other objectives.
And the game ends with the rats firmly in control.
With all five objectives in my control, the game ended with a Crushing Win for the rats and a 16-4 before bonus points. I also managed to grab 3 bonus points for the scenario (+1 for having the shock troop horde rout an enemy unit (as it was the housewife unit), +1 for routing Tyler's housewife unit (which was the spear militia on the right flank), and +1 for controlling an objective on Tyler's half of the board), giving me a solid 19 for Round 2.

Round Battle Points: 19
Running Total Battle Points: 35

EPIC FAIL MOMENT:
For me, the epic fail moment was failing to target the baron with a few extra lightning bolts or breath weapons when I had the chance. I was more focused on bringing Nerve tests to lower levels below needing a 6 or 7 than I was with that unit, and I paid the price dearly, losing several units to that guy.

For Tyler, his epic fail moment was moving the knight unit with the diadem within range on turn 1. I think that if Tyler had moved everything forward, but kept it out of my range forcing me to move on the first turn, he would have had a lot more Turn 2 charges as I would have had to be within 12" of the knight unit to be able to shoot. By moving so far forward solely in the hopes of killing one weapon team, Tyler pulled his army out of formation and I was able to focus fire on that unit giving him only a single Turn 2 charge which I was then able to counter effectively.


Round #3: Mike Riley - Dwarfs
For Round #3, I was playing Mike Riley and his hard-hitting and tough as nails Dwarf army. At this point, Mike and I were sitting pretty close in points, and I think we were sitting at third and fourth after the first two rounds. Mike seems to have been a fairly well known individual in the Southern California Kings of War scene, but I don't remember him from any of my prior Warhammer Fantasy tournaments down in that area. So I suspect he was an initial Kings player that has been helping develop the scene down there. His list was full of nasty hitters and units with ridiculously high defense.

Bulwarkers (255 pts) (Fire-Oil)
Ironwatch Rifles (300 pts) (Brew of Keen-eyeness)
Rangers (135 pts)
Earth Elementals (215 pts) (Brew of Haste)
Berserker Brock Riders (230 pts) (Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar)
Berserker Brock Riders (240 pts) (Brew of Strength)
Flame Belcher (85 pts)
Flame Belcher (85 pts)
Stone Priest (120 pts) (Surge (8), Bane Chant)
King on Large Beast (175 pts) (Blade of Slashing)
Greater Earth Elemental (160 pts)
Steel Behemoth (250 pts)

Now, after having played this army, I can say that it is an absolute BEAST of an army. When players complain of armies that contain too much shooting, it is because of armies like these, that such armies like mine exist. Almost everything in the army is fearless, has high Nerve values, and defenses of 5 or 6 (with all of the heavy hitters having defense 6). Fighting this army relies on amazing dice rolls, especially when you have limited experience with the game. And unfortunately, Mike was no slouch at this game and played this army to the absolute best it could be played, holding up massive amounts of my army or destroying portions outright with just a few units.

Round #3 was the Beach Blanket scenario. The purpose of this scenario was to end the game with a leader point on the blanket. One blanket was "the chosen" blanket and would be worth additional points while the other blankets would be worth less victory points. No additional victory points could be earned in this game. Prior to deployment, both Mike and I chose our special blankets, with Mike choosing the one on the left flank while I chose the one in the direct center of the board.

Deployment:
Having secretly chosen our special blankets, we proceeded to deployment. On Mike's side, he deployed with a fast flanking force on the left flank with a strong melee center and a shooting right flank. Both Brock Rider units and the lord guy on beast deployed heavy left. The center was the earth elementals, greater elemental, behemoth, flame belchers, character, and bulwakers. The right flank was held down by the small dwarf unit and the larger shooting unit.

My deployment was completely haphazard and didn't really put a strong emphasis on any blanket which was clearly poor deployment on my part (In fact, after the game Mike walked me through better deployment for my list and it was after this that I finally began to see the real promise in the Ratkin army). On the left flank to combat the Brock Riders, who looked like the most dangerous thing in Mike's army, I deployed both death engines and two weapon teams. In the center was both blight hordes blocking all the characters, another weapon team, both artillery pieces, two clawshoot troops and a warrior unit. On the left flank I deployed the shock horde and the warriors with the diadem to go after and rout Mike's shooting flank.
Deployment of the rats. Also known as the thin green line.
Turn #1:
Mike went first and pushed his whole army forward, but together, so that no one unit got too far ahead from any supporting units. The Brock riders moved the furthest, but the center units pulled in and moved closer to the blankets. On the right flank the dwarf shooting units moved forward and shot at the warriors with the diadem. Thanks to some amazing rolling on Mike's part, particularly with the small troop of shooters, Mike routed the entire warrior unit.

On my first turn, I moved up tentatively, not really jumping up more than a few inches with each unit except for the shock horde on the right flank. The death engines took aim at the right-most brock riders and managed a few wounds, but nothing serious. The clawshots took aim and put a wound on the behemoth while combined lightning bolts put a few wounds on the greater elemental.
Turn 1 and the rats are already down a unit and a breath weapon.
Turn #2:
Mike continued his hard advance beginning to put pressure on the rats. The brock riders came within charge range of the death engines and weapon teams supported by the lord on beast. The center units pivoted to head towards the center blanket and towards the center copse of trees while the right flank stayed put to begin targeting the shock horde which took several wounds, but was still in fighting shape.

For my Turn 2, I began pulling back most of my forces to be outside of Mike's possible charge ranges for another turn (hoping that I can kill some of the center units with shooting, or at least put some wounds on them) except on the right flank where the shock horde rushed forward to take the blanket, hopefully securing it for the game. However, over on the left flank I raced one of the weapon teams forward before the brock riders hoping to use it as a road block for a turn. With the combined shooting of the death engines and weapon teams I was able to rout the right-most Brock Riders thereby giving me a chance to swing around the left flank. Shooting form the center units and the lightning bolts were able to put a few more wounds on the greater elemental, behemoth, and bulwarker unit. Unfortunately, thanks to their high defense and fearless characteristics, I was a long, long way from being able to rout the units. I was going to realistically need another 10 or more wounds before there was a decent chance to rout even one of these units.
Turn 2 and the Dwarf's high toughness keeps the Dwarf battle line intact.
Turn #3:
At the start of the turn, Mike took the easy charge with the remaining Brock Rider unit into the weapon team (destroying it under thunderous hooves) to clear a breath weapon off the table while the lord on beast moved towards the other weapon team, but out of distance or line of sight from the death engines. In the center of the board all of the units moved forward into the trees with the steel behemoth lining up its breath weapon on the third weapon team, destroying it in one fiery explosion. On the right flank, the two units of Dwarf shooters took aim and pummeled the shock troops on the blanket, routing the unit (Mike rolled amazing damage and an even more amazing rout check of a "10" to see the unit off before it could charge the closet Dwarf unit).

After Mike's complete destruction of my right flank, I was ready to try and crush the left flank so that I could begin swinging over to help the center. With that in mind, both death engines charged the brock riders. The remaining weapon team moved back to shoot at the lord on beast. In the center, all units pulled back again to try and minimize the number of charges Mike could make. With my remaining shooting and magic I pushed through a few more wounds on the earth elementals, greater elemental, and lord on beast, but not enough to rout any of the units. In combat, I rolled low for both Death Engine attacks and only put on 8 wounds which was not enough to see the unit routed. Bad news all around for the rats.
Mike's Dwarfs continue their push toward the rat lines.
Turn #4:
Turn 3 ended badly for the rats. The dwarfs were close to the rat lines and all of the blankets were within range by the dwarf units. Mike responded to the poor showing by the rats last turn by pressing his advantage. On the left flank the brock riders counter-charged one of the death engines and the lord on beast moved towards the weapon team hoping to silence it next turn. In the center, the greater elemental charged the left-most blight unit while the earth elementals and behemoth moved forward slightly (but not out of the terrain). The Bulwarkers moved onto the center blanket to take control of it and the shooters on the right flank pivoted to face the center and began moving forward slightly.

Mike's shooting, which had been far more accurate and deadly than my shooting so far this game, continued its domination as the clawshots on the hill were routed. In combat, the Brock Riders easily destroyed the death engine that was counter-charged and the greater elemental killed a few blight rats, but not enough to worry the unit.

At the top of my Turn 4, things were starting to look really bleak for the rats and I really needed to put pressure on the Dwarfs (something I had failed to do for the first few turns as I wasn't sure what to do, as evidenced by my constant moving forward and back). The last death engine charged the wounded Brock Riders and was finally able to rout them in the ensuing combat. The last weapon team moved back and fired at the lord, but failed to do a single wound. In the center, the blight horde shouldered off its few wounds and counter-charged the greater elemental causing even more wounds on the creature but a low Nerve roll kept the greater elemental alive. The other Blight horde charged the earth elementals in the woods and with the help of Bane Chant from one of the warlocks routed the elementals in a single round (though they were heavily wounded before the combat).
Turn 4 and the rats' counter attack begins, but it might be too little too late.
Turn #5:
Though I had managed to kill a few units, Mike was in prime position for board control. Over on the left flank, the lord on beast charged the weapon team and crushed it beneath the beast. In the center, the greater elemental counter-charged the blight horde while the flame belchers moved into range. The behemoth turned to face a warlock and and a as flame fell on the poor creature (with help from a flame belcher) it burned and screamed as it melted into oblivion. The right flank of the dwarfs, which had just been kicking my ass, continued to dominate and routed the other warrior unit under a barrage of bolts. In combat, the greater elemental killed a few more rats but the horde stayed strong.

For my Turn 5, my best chance was to collapse on center and take the blanket from the Bulwarkers. On the left flank, the Death Engine moved towards a flame belcher hoping to destroy it, but a poor attack roll and the weapon team was still standing. The blight horde counter-charged the greater elemental, finally crushing it beneath the might of so many rats (and some much-needed "6s"). The other blight horde charged the bulwarkers hoping to push them off the blanket, but only managed to push through a few wounds during the first round of combat.
Turn 5 and the rats still don't have a blanket.
Turn #6:
Turn 6 rolled around and Mike continued his onslaught against the rats. On the left flank, the lord on beast (who had turned around after destroying the weapon team) charged the death engine and routed the unit in the combat. The flame belchers moved towards and fired at the left-most blight horde routing that unit as well with the breath weapon attacks. The Bulwarkers counter-charged the center blight horde looking to push them off the Blanket while the devastating right flank routed the other clawshot unit.

Going into my Turn 6 my only option at this point was to charge the Bulwakers and stay on the blanket. Although I failed to rout the unit, the blight horde was still on the blanket at the end of the game. And with that sole combat, the game ended as I rolled a "1" in an epic dice roll to make sure that there was no Turn 7.
Turn 6 and the blankets are contested.
Counting up points, the game ended as a Draw. I got 400 points for contesting my chosen blanket and Mike got 600 points (200 points for contesting a blanket and 400 points for controlling a blanket). Had this game gone one more turn, Mike would have completely crushed me and guaranteed a full Win. The lord on beast would have taken his favored blanket and all the shooting should have seen off the blight horde giving him control of all the blankets and 1600 victory points. However, it was not to be and the game ended in a 10-10 draw before bonus points. After adding in bonus points, I ended the game with 12 points for Round 3 (+1 for contesting favorite blanket and +1 for Mike not controlling his favorite blanket).

Round Battle Points: 12
Running Total Battle Points: 47
End of Day Placing: 2nd

EPIC FAIL MOMENT:
For me, the epic fail moment was my entire deployment and early turn moves. Mike discussed my army with me after the game and helped me see how my deployment in a line really hampered my ability to do much this game and how I should have engaged with the dwarfs earlier so that I was closer to the blankets much earlier in the game.

For Mike, his epic fail moment was his Turn 6 play with the Lord. Mike didn't realize that it was Turn 6 until after he had finished his turn. Had he simply moved the lord on beast (who was not an individual) onto his favored blanket rather than charge the death engine, he would have gained 800 more victory points giving him a 14 point win plus some of the bonus points. Because of this mistake I was able to take the game to a Draw on Turn 6.

. . . continued in Part 2.
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