08 Oct 2014
Date: October 4th and 5th, 2014
Venue: Holiday Inn Express, Huntsville Alabama
Participants: 52
Rounds: 5
Comp: No units over 500 points or 60 models
No special characters
Scenarios
The scenarios and the points they awarded are a little strange so Ill give a summary of how points are scored. Each scenario gave 20 points, distributed between 4 different objectives. 4 out of 5 scenarios gave 5 or so points for winning by 500 victory points. Just 20% of the total battle points scored were for actually winning the game as defined by the BRB.
Terrain
Before each game, players alternate the deployment of terrain. This method often had unfavorable terrain placed in corners or resulted in strange clumps of terrain. There was no direction given. Overall, this wasnt a big deal and didnt add much to the game. It just took up time.
List entry
If a player submitted their list by the designated time, they received 5 points toward their overall score. The deadline was September 26th. I met the deadline but 5 players did not.
My list: http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=29131.0
First round pairing was done alphabetically.
Round 1: Ben Mitchell
Army: High Elves
Club: Risky Business
The first scenario is called I am the one who knocks. Deployment is Meeting Engagement. The objectives are control more table quarters, win by 500 points, kill enemys nominated character, and kill the most characters. Special; a nominated character gains Terror, Hatred, and ItP. We both pick our BSBs.
His list has 2 level 4 wizards on shadow and life with a BSB all in a small spearmen bunker that sported a BotWD. Thats a lot of points. 2 eagles, 3 BTs, 2 packs of 5 Reavers, 6 Dragon Princes, and a mid-sized unit of White Lions, Pheonix Guard, and archers.
In turn 3 I plain forget to reposition my Mournfang, leaving a flank open to his White Lions. The game changes here and I know Im not going to win. Mournfang go down, White Lions get into the back field and take out the Gnoblars holding my quarter. In the last turn of the game, I have a plan to take out a few more spearmen with Leadbelchers, giving me the quarter. Then I cannon his BSB with no more Look-out-Sir! 4 Leadbelchers fail to kill any spearmen and the cannon blows itself up. The other cannon blew up the turn before. Points are a draw and neither of us kill the character but he has more table quarters and managed to kill my Butcher. 0-10 loss.
Round 2: Bruce Chirrey
Army: Dark Elves
Club: Rolling Bones
The second scenario is called Nooope. Deployment is Blood and Glory. The objectives are win by 500 points, end the game with a scoring unit in the enemys deployment zone, nominated unit survives, and break the opponent. Special; a nominated core unit gains a random effect. I pick my Ironguts and gain a 6+ ward save. He picks his Executioners but I forget what he gets.
His list has a level 4 on dark in a small Corsair bunker, horde of Witch Elves with a Cauldron of Blood and Death Hag BSB, 3 BTs, 2 packs of 5 Dark Riders, 2 packs of 5 Warlocks, and a Dreadlord in a med-sized unit of Executioners.
He doesnt vanguard, so that helps. Instead he just moves up and into charge range of the Mournfang who oblige the offer and take off some Warlocks then turn to face his flanks. Cannons take off the Cauldron and BSB as expected. Mournfang take off the Witch Elves with a flank charge and the Ironguts take off the Executioners. He concedes on round 3 and theres not much else to say. He wasnt visually upset but I think he dinged me on sportsmanship. 20-5 win.
Round 3: Don McInturff
Army: Empire
Club: The Stirland Raiders
The third scenario is called I see a mad Saban arisin, I see trouble on the way. Deployment is Battleline up to 15. The objectives are to kill the most units (characters included), kill 1,000 points, have the lowest point unit survive, and attempt an underdog challenge. Special; a thing with champions that we never use.
His list has a Level 3 on Shadow who runs solo A General of the Empire in a horde of spearmen 6 ranks deep with Warrior Priest in tow. A BSB in a mid-sized unit of swordsmen. A level 2 fire mage in a mid-sized unit of hand gunners. 1 cannon, 1 helblaster, 1 engineer, a small unit of huntsmen, and a mid-sized unit of scouting huntsmen. Oh and 6 Demigryphs all in one unit, 3x2.
Turn 1 I bowl for the mage and take 2 Demigryphs with him. The other cannon takes off his cannon. He scouts in front of my Mournfang in a wood but the Mournfang slaughter them to the man and overrun into his swordsmen. He surrounds the Mournfang but forgets that they are, in fact, Mournfang who sit there and eat half of his army. Demigrpyhs get eaten by the Ironguts. I leave his nominated unit alive but kill everything else. 20-3 win.
Round 4: Paul Loester
Army: Warriors of Chaos
Club: Risky Business
The fourth scenario is called A lot of cats have that name. Deployment is Watchtower (instead of an actual tower, its just an objective). The objectives are kill the enemy general, enter the enemys deployment zone with a scoring unit, control the objective, and win by 500 points.
His list has a tooled up Level 4 Deamon Prince of Slaanesh, a BSB and 2 level 2 wizards of Tzeench who bunker in a mid-sized pack of Tzeentch warriors with the Blasted Standard. 2 Nurgle Gorebeast chariots, 2 Slaanesh chariots, 2 packs of 5 hounds, a pack of 6 marauders, and 4 Skullcrushers. Filthy.
Turn 1 he walks up and casts Gateway on my Leadblechers, gets a 21 to cast, Ive got 6 dice, only needing 17. Dice roll 16. He rolls 11 for strength which means 3d6 strength 10 hits. Leadbelchers panic off the board and I lose the flank. Thatll teach me to stop deploying them away from the bubble. I make a mistake of advancing my Mournfang who get charged by Skullcrushers. Turn 2 cannons take off the Prince. Skullcrushers kill the Mournfang and most of the Ironguts and Slaughtermaster. At this point, Im just going for objectives so I get a unit in his deployment zone. 10-20 loss.
Round 5: Chip King
Army: Vampire Counts
Club: Laughing Corpse Gaming Club
The fifth scenario is called Brawndo the Thirst Mutilator. Deployment is Battleline. The objectives are to control the most objectives, reduce to half or the enemys most expensive unit fleeing, win by 500 points, and capture the most standards. Special; place 3 objectives along the center line, 1 in the middle and the others 18 to either side.
This is the first player I know before playing the game since hes with the Tennessee crew. His list has a level 4 blender lord on vamps and Nightshroud king in a small bus of Black Knights. 3 spirit hosts, a pack of hounds, 2 Terrorghiests, a Level 2 baby vampire on vamps in a small zombie bunker, 2 40+ zombie buses and a 40+ skeleton bus. The skeleton bus was most expensive by 1 point.
Lucky me to fight a horde army on an objectives mission! I know which 2 objectives he is going for and I should have gone for the other two and shot him all the way. Nah, lets just play into his hand. My cannons fail to kill either Terrorghiest. I flank charge some Hexwraiths with my gut bus to res them out which works and I hope my overrun will take me out of the blenders los. I need 6 inches but roll 4. Blender flank charges, blends, Im stubborn and reform to face. I bring in Mournfang on his flank. That ought to do it! I fail to res him out by 2 wounds. Zombies charge my Mournfangs rear and I sit there for the rest of the game trying desperately to kill the blender. Doesnt happen; all my dudes get blended. My Ironblasters, being still alive but useless have a chance to double charge the skeleton bus which was weakened by Leadbelcher fire. Need 6 or 7 to charge, roll 4 or 5 on swiftstride. Nope. 0-20 loss.
Personal results:
I score :
50 /100 Battle Points
22 / 30 Painting
30 / 40 Sports
5 / 5 List Entry
That puts me at 107 out of 175 and 32nd out of 52.
My strength of schedule (cumulative battle points of my opponents) was 275 and 3 of my opponents made top 10. Average strength of schedule was 249.
Conclusion:
I had an amazing time and I'll go again next year. I don't like the way battle points were done with so little emphasis placed on actually winning the game. 20 points out of 175? That's my only gripe. Now, changing that scoring would actually hurt me since I wouldn't have picked up as many points. I blame no one but myself and little misfortune.
Thanks for reading!
Alex
Venue: Holiday Inn Express, Huntsville Alabama
Participants: 52
Rounds: 5
Comp: No units over 500 points or 60 models
No special characters
Scenarios
The scenarios and the points they awarded are a little strange so Ill give a summary of how points are scored. Each scenario gave 20 points, distributed between 4 different objectives. 4 out of 5 scenarios gave 5 or so points for winning by 500 victory points. Just 20% of the total battle points scored were for actually winning the game as defined by the BRB.
Terrain
Before each game, players alternate the deployment of terrain. This method often had unfavorable terrain placed in corners or resulted in strange clumps of terrain. There was no direction given. Overall, this wasnt a big deal and didnt add much to the game. It just took up time.
List entry
If a player submitted their list by the designated time, they received 5 points toward their overall score. The deadline was September 26th. I met the deadline but 5 players did not.
My list: http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=29131.0
First round pairing was done alphabetically.
Round 1: Ben Mitchell
Army: High Elves
Club: Risky Business
The first scenario is called I am the one who knocks. Deployment is Meeting Engagement. The objectives are control more table quarters, win by 500 points, kill enemys nominated character, and kill the most characters. Special; a nominated character gains Terror, Hatred, and ItP. We both pick our BSBs.
His list has 2 level 4 wizards on shadow and life with a BSB all in a small spearmen bunker that sported a BotWD. Thats a lot of points. 2 eagles, 3 BTs, 2 packs of 5 Reavers, 6 Dragon Princes, and a mid-sized unit of White Lions, Pheonix Guard, and archers.
In turn 3 I plain forget to reposition my Mournfang, leaving a flank open to his White Lions. The game changes here and I know Im not going to win. Mournfang go down, White Lions get into the back field and take out the Gnoblars holding my quarter. In the last turn of the game, I have a plan to take out a few more spearmen with Leadbelchers, giving me the quarter. Then I cannon his BSB with no more Look-out-Sir! 4 Leadbelchers fail to kill any spearmen and the cannon blows itself up. The other cannon blew up the turn before. Points are a draw and neither of us kill the character but he has more table quarters and managed to kill my Butcher. 0-10 loss.
Round 2: Bruce Chirrey
Army: Dark Elves
Club: Rolling Bones
The second scenario is called Nooope. Deployment is Blood and Glory. The objectives are win by 500 points, end the game with a scoring unit in the enemys deployment zone, nominated unit survives, and break the opponent. Special; a nominated core unit gains a random effect. I pick my Ironguts and gain a 6+ ward save. He picks his Executioners but I forget what he gets.
His list has a level 4 on dark in a small Corsair bunker, horde of Witch Elves with a Cauldron of Blood and Death Hag BSB, 3 BTs, 2 packs of 5 Dark Riders, 2 packs of 5 Warlocks, and a Dreadlord in a med-sized unit of Executioners.
He doesnt vanguard, so that helps. Instead he just moves up and into charge range of the Mournfang who oblige the offer and take off some Warlocks then turn to face his flanks. Cannons take off the Cauldron and BSB as expected. Mournfang take off the Witch Elves with a flank charge and the Ironguts take off the Executioners. He concedes on round 3 and theres not much else to say. He wasnt visually upset but I think he dinged me on sportsmanship. 20-5 win.
Round 3: Don McInturff
Army: Empire
Club: The Stirland Raiders
The third scenario is called I see a mad Saban arisin, I see trouble on the way. Deployment is Battleline up to 15. The objectives are to kill the most units (characters included), kill 1,000 points, have the lowest point unit survive, and attempt an underdog challenge. Special; a thing with champions that we never use.
His list has a Level 3 on Shadow who runs solo A General of the Empire in a horde of spearmen 6 ranks deep with Warrior Priest in tow. A BSB in a mid-sized unit of swordsmen. A level 2 fire mage in a mid-sized unit of hand gunners. 1 cannon, 1 helblaster, 1 engineer, a small unit of huntsmen, and a mid-sized unit of scouting huntsmen. Oh and 6 Demigryphs all in one unit, 3x2.
Turn 1 I bowl for the mage and take 2 Demigryphs with him. The other cannon takes off his cannon. He scouts in front of my Mournfang in a wood but the Mournfang slaughter them to the man and overrun into his swordsmen. He surrounds the Mournfang but forgets that they are, in fact, Mournfang who sit there and eat half of his army. Demigrpyhs get eaten by the Ironguts. I leave his nominated unit alive but kill everything else. 20-3 win.
Round 4: Paul Loester
Army: Warriors of Chaos
Club: Risky Business
The fourth scenario is called A lot of cats have that name. Deployment is Watchtower (instead of an actual tower, its just an objective). The objectives are kill the enemy general, enter the enemys deployment zone with a scoring unit, control the objective, and win by 500 points.
His list has a tooled up Level 4 Deamon Prince of Slaanesh, a BSB and 2 level 2 wizards of Tzeench who bunker in a mid-sized pack of Tzeentch warriors with the Blasted Standard. 2 Nurgle Gorebeast chariots, 2 Slaanesh chariots, 2 packs of 5 hounds, a pack of 6 marauders, and 4 Skullcrushers. Filthy.
Turn 1 he walks up and casts Gateway on my Leadblechers, gets a 21 to cast, Ive got 6 dice, only needing 17. Dice roll 16. He rolls 11 for strength which means 3d6 strength 10 hits. Leadbelchers panic off the board and I lose the flank. Thatll teach me to stop deploying them away from the bubble. I make a mistake of advancing my Mournfang who get charged by Skullcrushers. Turn 2 cannons take off the Prince. Skullcrushers kill the Mournfang and most of the Ironguts and Slaughtermaster. At this point, Im just going for objectives so I get a unit in his deployment zone. 10-20 loss.
Round 5: Chip King
Army: Vampire Counts
Club: Laughing Corpse Gaming Club
The fifth scenario is called Brawndo the Thirst Mutilator. Deployment is Battleline. The objectives are to control the most objectives, reduce to half or the enemys most expensive unit fleeing, win by 500 points, and capture the most standards. Special; place 3 objectives along the center line, 1 in the middle and the others 18 to either side.
This is the first player I know before playing the game since hes with the Tennessee crew. His list has a level 4 blender lord on vamps and Nightshroud king in a small bus of Black Knights. 3 spirit hosts, a pack of hounds, 2 Terrorghiests, a Level 2 baby vampire on vamps in a small zombie bunker, 2 40+ zombie buses and a 40+ skeleton bus. The skeleton bus was most expensive by 1 point.
Lucky me to fight a horde army on an objectives mission! I know which 2 objectives he is going for and I should have gone for the other two and shot him all the way. Nah, lets just play into his hand. My cannons fail to kill either Terrorghiest. I flank charge some Hexwraiths with my gut bus to res them out which works and I hope my overrun will take me out of the blenders los. I need 6 inches but roll 4. Blender flank charges, blends, Im stubborn and reform to face. I bring in Mournfang on his flank. That ought to do it! I fail to res him out by 2 wounds. Zombies charge my Mournfangs rear and I sit there for the rest of the game trying desperately to kill the blender. Doesnt happen; all my dudes get blended. My Ironblasters, being still alive but useless have a chance to double charge the skeleton bus which was weakened by Leadbelcher fire. Need 6 or 7 to charge, roll 4 or 5 on swiftstride. Nope. 0-20 loss.
Personal results:
I score :
50 /100 Battle Points
22 / 30 Painting
30 / 40 Sports
5 / 5 List Entry
That puts me at 107 out of 175 and 32nd out of 52.
My strength of schedule (cumulative battle points of my opponents) was 275 and 3 of my opponents made top 10. Average strength of schedule was 249.
Conclusion:
I had an amazing time and I'll go again next year. I don't like the way battle points were done with so little emphasis placed on actually winning the game. 20 points out of 175? That's my only gripe. Now, changing that scoring would actually hurt me since I wouldn't have picked up as many points. I blame no one but myself and little misfortune.
Thanks for reading!
Alex
