WaaaghPaca 2014: Round #1 (The Grudge Match)

For Round #1 of this year's WaaaghPaca, I grudged Ryan Nicol (@lordbaerion on twitter). I had met him briefly last year and he looked like a fun opponent. And, as many of the other West Coast players were also grudging opponents, I thought I would join in as it would make the whole weekend experience get off to a great start. There is nothing better for a tournament than starting off with a great game against a great opponent even if (spoiler alert!) you don't win.

Now with fancy facial hair!

Ryan, this guy on the left, was playing a very special High Elf list. This meant that we would be playing a true grudge with the heart of Ulthuan in the balance (okay, maybe just a small island).










Ryan's list for the tournament included:

• Eltharion on Stormwing (this dude is broke!);
• Dragonmage on Dragon (also broke!);
• 2 units of 12 archers with musician and standard bearer;
• 1 large unit (28 I think) of Lothern Seaguard;
• 3 bolt throwers;
• an eagle;
• and a Frostheart Phoenix.

If you picked anything out from the above list, it should be that all of Ryan's core can shoot, and all his back-up units also shoot or cast spells. That makes for one nasty little list to have to go through to get to the points of the army, if you can.

Alamo GT 2031: Round #4 - High Elves

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

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

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.

SAWS 2013: Post Tournament Wrap-up

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

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

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

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

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

Round #1: Jason Franks - Wood Elves

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

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

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

Left: Jason





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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Left: Dave





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

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

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

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

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

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

Round 3: High Elves

Round 3 was against my friend, and multiple-time former roommate, Kris. He is a great guy and is just now getting into Warhammer. Something about painting little figures detracted him from the hobby during his twenties. 

This was his second tournament, and eighth game total. His last tournament was three rounds at 1250 points, before which we had two practice games to get the basic rules down. This tournament he jumped up to 1750 points and managed to pull off an amazing win against his Round 2 Ogre opponent. I watched the end of that game and noticed that there was not a single Ogre left on the board at the end. Way to go Kris!

This is Kris. Yes, he really is that ugly.

And this was Kris' list:

Archmage

• General, Level 4, Lore of Fire, Book of Hoeth!!!

Korhil (yes, the awesome High Elf special character)
Mage

• Level 2, Lore of Shadow, Annulian Crystal

Archers (35 of them, full command)

White Lions (10, full command, Banner of Sorcery, champion was given the Sword of Battle)

Sword Masters of Hoeth (20 full command, champion was given Enchanted Shield)

Pretty straightforward list. The White Lions and Sword Masters do the heavy combat lifting while the BIG ASS archer unit is shoots and kills whatever gets close enough to threaten the level 4 mage that is always bunkered in the unit. Oh, and there is the Book of Hoeth to deal with. Overall, its a tough, but manageable High Elf list. My priorities for this round were:

1. Kill the Sword Masters.
2. Get into combat with the archers and kill the Level 4 (even if it cost several units).
3. Kill the Shadow Mage.
4. Kill the archers.
5. Stay away from, or kill the White Lions. (As they have a 3+ save to shooting I wasn't expecting to kill that many of these guys outside of magic)

For this round, Kris and I would be playing Clash of Heroes. Clash of Heroes is the standard scenario with 12" deployment zones. The winner is determined solely by victory points with the difference in victory points determining the type of victory: 0-99 points is a draw, 100+ is a minor victory, 300+ is a solid victory, and 600+ is a massacre.

Bonus points are awarded as follows:

• +1 for killing more enemy characters and champions
• +1 for having more units in your opponent's deployment zone
• +1 for destroying your opponent's most expensive unit, excluding characters

I rolled for spells and got Wyssan's Wildform, Flock of Doom, Amber Spear, and Curse of Anraheir. Kris rolled and got a bunch of different spells; the most important being Flame Cage and Fireball.

Deployment for this scenario was rather straightforward.

Kris deployed in the center of the board with his archer unit (and Level 4) sitting on the back edge of the table, partially obscured by a forest. His Sword Masters were placed to the left of the archers while the White Lions, with the Shadow mage, were deployed in front of the archers.

I deployed in a long line. My faster units, an eagle and the Glade Riders, were deployed on my right flank. My center was held by the large archer unit. Next to them I placed all three Dryad units who were to move towards the opposing archer unit at top speed. Behind the Dryads I placed the two ten-man archer units. Finally, I deployed the Waywatchers behind the obstacle in the center of the board to tempt the White Lions.  My last eagle hung back behind my lines to go where needed.

The High Elves won the roll off to go first and both the Sword Masters and White Lions marched 10" toward the Wood Elf lines. In the magic phase, the Level 4 successfully cast a Flame Cage on one of the Glade Rider units, but managed to kill only a single elf. As the archer unit had not moved, they were out of range of everything but the Waywatchers. They took aim, but failed to hit as they needed 8's: -1 for long range, -2 for shooting through the White Lions, -1 for skirmishers, and -1 for Waywatchers.

Wood Elf Turn 1 saw all three Dryad units surge forward 10". The archers all wheeled to face the Sword Masters while the Waywatchers moved away from the obstacle making sure to keep the White Lions in short range. With one unit on the right flank stalled by the Flame Cage, the entire flank decided to take the turn off and stand around.

My Level 4 cursed the White Lions with irresistible force which, in turn, wounded the mage and killed five archers from the large unit. But, at least the mage didn't get sucked into the void!

In the shooting phase, two White Lions dropped with arrows through their eyes due to the Waywatcher's Lethal Shot. In the center of the field the combined archer shooting killed 5 Sword Masters.

High Elf Turn 2 began with the cursed White Lions charging the closest unit of Dryads while the Sword Masters continued moving towards the archers. The White Lions successfully made contact with the Dryads, but three of their number died to dangerous terrain.

In the High Elf magic phase, the Level 4 irresistibly cast (thanks to the book) a maximum level Fireball at the Waywatchers vaporizing the whole unit.

In the White Lion/Dryad combat, the Dryads are killed outright by the White Lion's superhuman speed. Six Dryads died to the combined attacks of Korhil and the unit champion who both had magical attacks. The remaining two Dryads could not withstand the salvo of High Elf axes and died. The White Lions, in their zeal, then decided to overrun and ran into the flank of one of the ten-man archer units that had previously wheeled to face the Sword Masters. However, the overran cost the White Lions another 2 models as well as wounding the Shadow mage.

Wood Elf Turn 2 was all about shooting. The two remaining Dryad units and the Glade Rider units on the right flank continued their advance towards the High Elf archers. The unengaged archers moved towards the Sword Masters and away from the White Lions that were now in my deployment zone. The second eagle flew over to protect my rear in case the White Lions wiped out the archers.

In the shooting phase, the Wood Elf archers killed 13 more Sword Masters leaving only 2 left in the unit.

The combat phase saw the White Lions decimate the archer unit, causing them to break. The archers were then rundown by the White Lions who pursued the archers deeper into the Wood Elf lines.

High Elf Turn 3 saw the last two Sword Masters killed by a stand-and-shoot reaction from the large archer unit as they foolishly charged the larger unit. The White Lions reformed to face the rear of the nearest archer unit. And the bunker unit of archers stared ahead as the Dryad units finally came into range.

The High Elf mage again showed why the High Elves are the masters of magic as he again cast the large Fireball with irresistible force. This time it was directed at one of the Dryad units in front of the archers leaving only a single Dryad left to stare down the archer unit. The archers, in turn, fired at the other Dryad unit killing 4 of them.

My Turn 3 saw the Wood Elves take complete control of the battle. The lone Dryad declared a charge at the High Elf archer unit to draw out the stand-and-shoot reaction. But after all the archer shooting, the Dryad emerged unscathed and made it into direct base contact with the Level 4. The full strength Glade Rider unit charged the archers in the flank and also made it into base contact with the Level 4. The eagle I had moved the previous turn towards the White Lions charged the unit in the flank where the wounded Shadow mage was looking very forlorn. Finally, the rest of the army moved away from the White Lions in case the eagle failed to hold the unit in place. Wood Elf magic and shooting phases were skipped to get to the important combats.

In the main archer combat, the High Elves struck first and failed to cause a single wound. In return, the might of the lone Dryad and Glade Riders managed to kill the Level 4. The High Elves lost the combat, but held their ground for another turn as they were steadfast.





In the White Lion combat, the Shadow mage struck first and failed to wound the eagle. The eagle then killed the mage, but the White Lions held. Korhil then took the mage's place, eyes fuming at the eagle's treacherous act.

For High Elf Turn 4, we moved straight to combat. Korhil easily killed the eagle. In the archer combat, the High Elves failed to cause a single wound and suffered 5 in return. The archers then failed their steadfast leadership test and were run down by the lone Dryad. Go go amazing Dryad!

As Wood Elf Turn 4 began with only a single High Elf unit on the board, I moved all units with shooting attacks toward the White Lions. The combined force of Wood Elf magic and shooting killed the remaining White Lions, thereby wiping every last dirty High Elf from the battlefield, including the illustrious Korhil. Slaughter to the Wood Elves.

At the end of Turn 4 I had managed to wipe out the High Elf force for a full 1850 points and managed to only lose 440 victory points in return (one ten-man archer unit, a Dryad unit, an eagle, and the Waywatchers). That gave me a massacre and 17 battle points, plus all 3 bonus points for (1) killing more characters as I lost none, (2) ending the game with two units in his deployment zone, and (3) destroying the enemy's most expensive unit (the High Elf archers). Perfect game!

At the end of the tournament I had finished with 53 out of a possible 60 battle points and won Best Overall. A good three games and a good tournament. Next month we will be up to 2000 points so I will be practicing with the list I expect to bring to WaaghPaca! in January.