30 Apr 2015
My Roamin' Ogres
Hey all! Thought I'd give you a run down of my games in a recent tournament. It was loads of fun, and then I lucked-out and snagged best general in a fair-sized tournament; quite the surprise! First, about the tournament.
BSB was using Swedish Comp 15.2, and a range of 6-14 and including the active comp rules; the difference between your comp scores is multiplied by 100 and added to the player with the higher score (remember, higher is softer, lower is harder
) They also had some interesting scenarios and battle point requirements. Finally, ever player was given 5 cards (a royal flush), each of which had a particular effect, one of which would be used in a game, and each usable only once. The cards were:Ace: you automatically get to go first (if both players play this, it's a straight dice roll)
King: you automatically pass a leadership test, considering to roll double 1s
Queen: automatically dispels one spell, including something cast with IF
Jack: cancels the other player's card
10: one unit may vanguard
Comp was important, with fortitude matterng in one scenario, and another making use of unit champions. So, my list:
Lords
Slaughtermaster: lvl4 Maw, Fencer's Blades, Glitering Scales, Greedy Fist
Heroes
Bruiser: BSB, Great Weapon, Standard of Discipline
Butcher: lvl2 Beasts, Sword of Striking, Dispel Scroll
Core
9x Ogre Bulls: FC, Ironfists
9x Ogre Bulls: FC, Ironfists
10x Gnoblars: Champion, Standard
10x Gnoblars: Champion, Standard
10x Gnoblars: Champion, Standard
Special
Sabertusk
Sabertusk
6x Leadbelchers: Musician, Champion
6x Leadbelchers: Musician, Champion
Rare
Ironblaster
Stonehorn: harpoon launcher
Comp score: 13.5
Da Senaturr
Game One
This scenario had a really weird deployment: table is divided into 6 2x3 foot sections. Each player would place one unit in a section, claiming it (so, max one unit per section). The sections didn't have to be contiguous, which lead to some interesting things; one empire player claiming both of the middle sections, trying to divide his opponent. After that, you could place only one character. You received the +1 to first turn by having the most fortitude on the table. Everything else came on from reserves, but had to roll to determine which section it arrived from. Alot of games devolved into mixed-up melees.
I knew my opponent from playing 40k. Turns out he had recently jumped ship to Fantasy, built and painted (mostly) his army, and I was his first game ever. He had a firm grasp of rules and tactics, and his High Elf list was decent for a 13.1 comp. He deployed some reavers, a bolt thrower, and a sky cutter, which I answered with three units of gnoblars, and took first turn. I was confident in my list, and threw out the 10 to his Queen.
Unfortunately for him, his cavalry got jammed in his center section, and had to sweep around some blocking terrain. His left flank wound up with his lighter distraction units (a WL chariot, 10 sword masters, and a sky cutter), but they had to face the only two units of mine that had come in on my right flank: my lead belchers, who did a good job of cleaning house.
My left flank was more interesting, with my ogres advancing through cover towards a huge unit of Seaguard led by Alith Anar (Mr Mobile-Bolt-Thrower himself). Center was a game of chicken between my stone horn and his silver helms and chariot. He had a griffon-mounted prince holding back (still alive because my IB cracked it's cannon on the first shot), positioned to flank charge my ogres once I charged his seaguard, but I managed to get lucky and put both Ogre units into the seaguard in a combo-charge, killing Anar, his BSB, and a lvl2 mage in first round of combat. The counter-charge wasn't enough at that point, and I managed to win the game with full battle-points.
Game Two
Warriors of Chaos. Fun
However, he was rocking a 13.4 comp, so the match wasn't all that unreasonable 
. This was a dawn attack game, and I won the roll to go first. Guessing my opponent would play his Ace, I played my Jack to cancel it (I guessed wrong, he played his 10, but I still got to go first.). Forsaken, Dragon Ogres, only 3 blood crushers, chaos knights (rare over here); it was a variation on the usual Nascar-WOC list, backed up by a Slannesh daemon prince and metal mounted lvl2 with the skull of Kadan (who in 4 turns NEVER channelled a power dice, and lowered his leadership to 1). The stone horn baited his chariot, taking a charge on the chin before chasing it off. The IB continued to fail, misfiring the first two shots, missing the third, finally killing one chaos knight, and then bouncing off them in a charge. The leadbelchers picked up the slack though, obliterating both units of dogs first turn, then weakening the ogres and forsaken, then going on to kill the ogres in combat, and holding up the daemon prince. My command unit took the forsaken in the flank, then got into a grind fest with the Crushers. Game was mine when the leabelchers fled from their combats, rallied, then ran up to kill the fleeing remnants of the Forsaken while my command unit held the line. Full battle points.
Game Three
Warriors again. Ugh... A more net-standard list, against a nurgle-themed 9.1 comp list. Basically an OK-player's nightmare. However, this game featured fortitude, with first to break the other's getting +500 VP. This would be rough. I deployed conservatively, and hid my gnoblars as best I could. Plus, as the first time I was facing Death magic, I played my Queen (who was then Jack'ed. ugh). Fortunately, I went first.
Game started with the Stonehorn killing some marauders and running off the table, only to be charged by the Hellcannon (failed test) when it came back on for some epic monster on monster action that lasted the majority of the game, till the hellcannon won, and turn around and killed the IB in one shot (by which time the IB has misfired again, missed again, caused 1 wound to a chariot and 2 wounds to a blood crusher). I did a great job (if I do say so myself) of kiting the Crushers around, the whole time firing into them, but my opponent's saves where on fire, and only two were dead before the remaining two finally crashed into some leadies on turn 5. My command unit tood a charge from a group of trolls, who then received my other Bull-unit into their flank. I failed to run the trolls down (though I chased them out of bsb and general range, so they never rallied), and the Bull-unit hits his Nurgle warriors on the overrun, who promptly slaughter them (wall of 1+ characters
).Here I promptly sit on my shoulders and hand my opponent the game. Rather than bail my characters out of my command unit and use the Bulls as a roadblock, I keep them in and turn to face. I then have all of my buffing spells cancelled and scrolled (forgetting he hadn't use his scroll yet). The unit is of course charged and slaughtered by Nurgle warriors and characters. Minimum battle points. (This was the guy who went on to win the tournament best overall)
Game Four
34 Players, six of them playering WoC. So of course I draw another WoC player for round 4.
This was not a fun game, so I'll keep this short and the opinions to a minimum. He was running a 7.8 list, complete with 1+ daemon prince, 1+ sorceror on a dragon, slannesh and shadow magic, multiple chariots; the whole nine yards. He complained about the comp system. He complained about how broken the Greedy Fist was and how he never would have accepted a charge if he'd know about it (this was open list, with all items explained on it, and we went over the list in detail pregame). He had a habit of declaring and immediately resolving his charges, after the third attempt (he wanted to see if his hellcannon caught my leadbelchers before declaring a charge into them with his sorceror) I snapped, called him on it, and we had an arguement. I won thanks to the comp difference, full points, and he zero-ed me for sportsmanship.
Game Five
Ah, high elves again. My best friend in the tournament played five different armies, but me? lol
A 9.2 list, big unit of silverhelms, bigger unit of white lions, and frost heart. I had used my Ace the previous game, but still wound up going first. My opponent was plagued with leadership issues right from the start; the stone horn's terror checks chasing off a unit of reavers, sisters of avelorn, and bowmen, while never actually getting into combat.I was able to bait the silverhelms into charging my buffed command unit while staying away from the white lions, who I managed to keep chaffed up till I had ground the silverhelms out. By the end of the game, my leadies and IB were dead (the IB having killed a pair of bolt throwers and a WL unit champ), but my stone horn and both ogre units were still alive (as were all of the gnoblars, if you can believe it). I knew that I was up in points from the comp alone, AND had a guaranteed leadership pass. By his turn 6, he only had a 11 inch charge into my command unit and we called it. 19 of 20 points.
The Ogre Lunch Truck
(my stone horn)
(my stone horn)
Aside from one grumpy incident and feeling a bit sheepish about throwing away game 3, I had a blast. Most folks got to play a nice variety of armies, and there were some awesome conversions. Best overall went to my opponent from game 3, and second place (best general is third in battle score) went to a deceptively brutal Wood Elf army (that didn't contain a single elf; all treemen, treekin, and dryad with a comp of 18+).