Call to Arms Wellington Recap
Entry posted by AIdenNicol444
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Last weekend I played in New Zealand's AOS tournament Call to Arms, one of the biggest of its kind since the AOS Scene began. I had a great time, and the TO Fraser B did a fantastic job keeping things on time and running smoothly. Would happily attend another event if he was the TO. That being said, let’s do it.
The List
Allegiance: Chaos
Mortal Realm: Ulgu
Leaders
Screaming Bell (200)
- General
- Trait: Malicious Conqueror
- Artefact: Crown of Conquest
Lord Skreech Verminking (300)
Plague Furnace (180)
Verminlord Corruptor (220)
- Artefact: Sword of Judgement
Battleline
20 x Clanrats (120)
- Rusty Spear
20 x Clanrats (120)
- Rusty Spear
20 x Clanrats (120)
- Rusty Spear
Units
5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
30 x Plague Monks (210)
- Foetid Blades
30 x Plague Monks (210)
- Foetid Blades
Battalions
Plaguesmog Congregation (140)
Endless Spells
Chronomantic Cogs (60)
Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 1
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 178
For the people that read my blogs, you'll notice this ISN'T the list I said I planned to use. After the FAQ dropped the TO allowed people to submit different lists, and I took this opportunity to take an army that uses magic with the nerf to Lens of Refraction. The list also was designed to perform strongly against Death and Nurgle, the two most popular lists in the meta. While almost half of players at the tournament ran Death or Nurgle, this didn't play in my favour. I didn't match a single one.
Game 1: Disciples of Tzeentch
Scenario: Duality of Death
Outcome: Major Loss
This was the closest game of the tournament by far. The scores were close all game and the game came down to a single victory point of difference. My opponent is a highly skilled player who played Tzeentch all through their changes and does consistently well, so I went into the game expecting some seriously tactical plays. I was not disappointed, Matt consistently pre-empted my moves and was rarely caught by surprise. He sacrificed control of half the table once he had gained a majority of points and focused on heavily protecting the initial victory point from me. His Lord of Change was running the -2 to melee against it which prevented the corruptor assassinating him off the point, as well as Verminking being unable to reach him past a line of Horrors. The game continued to turn 5, with me unable to remove the Lord of Change. Solid, close game was had.
Game 2: Ironjawz
Scenario: Better Part of Valour
Outcome: Major Win
Already a difficult matchup for the Ironjawz due to my high numbers and mortal wound output, my already disadvantaged opponent was not able to both hold a line and break my own simultaneously to win. My tide of rats shattered through the Ard Boyz and Brutes easily, shaving wounds off the Maw Krusha and easily tangling up the Gore Gruntas. Verminlord Corruptor ran in and kill-stealed both the Maw Krusha and the Fungoid Shaman with ease. My board domination forced him to burn his points early or lose them to me, meaning all I had to do was keep pushing and burn my own a turn later. Game resulted in both a win and full kill points to me.
Game 3: Stormcast Eternals
Scenario: Focal Points
Outcome: Major Loss
Wow, heavily underestimated the new Sacrosanct Chamber. I deployed along the line, expecting the usual Stormcast tactic of spreading onto objectives and trying to hold them for as long as possible before eventually dying off to numbers and mortal wounds. Shaun promptly told me to go ****** myself, charged across the table as hard and fast as possible on turn 1 and destroyed a third of my army. I constantly got smacked with an Everblaze Comet and any attempts at spellcasting were laughingly deflected by a Knight Incantor. I went for kill points as hard as possible after realizing defeat was inevitable and ended up taking maybe a third of his force. Easy win for Shaun.
Game 4: Legion of Azgorh
Scenario: Gift from the Heavens
Outcome: Major Win
Always a hard game against an army that very few people play. I out deployed my opponent opted to play first, using my clanrats to screen off charges from the Taur'uk and his Bull Centaurs, as well as sending 30 Plague Monks around the side to flank Shar'tor the Executioner and block line of sight from the artillery. The Magma Cannons opened fire on the Screaming Bell, which survived with a single wound. My opponent proceeded to double turn me, easily taking out around half of my army. What remained however were Plague Monks, both the Verminlords, a Plague Furnace and my Censer Bearers. I proceeded to match my opponent's punch with a heavy counterpunch that shattered the Ironsworn's defensive line around the war machines and reached the squishy interior. I then rolled well in priority, receiving a double turn of my own and proceeded to completely table my opponent with the momentum gained in the previous turn. Mess with the Ratto, you get the stabbo.
Game 5: Daughters of Khaine
Scenario: Relocation Orb
Outcome: Major Loss
A much-desired match for my opponent Shaun T, a good friend of mine who I was able to beat in one of the critical games at the NZ Masters. Shaun has wanted a rematch since, and he took the opportunity and RAN with it. Easily zeroing Verminking off the tale with Morathi and a Knight Venator in turn 1, the momentum continued smoothly with him simply creating walls to prevent me taking the objectives before he could reach them, ensuring that even with me slowly marching forward and killing his troops I wasn't able to score points. Shaun knew my strengths and made sure I wasn't able to use them against him and secured himself a very clean victory.
Verdict
Should have kept my army as it was before changes. I knew the list well but opted to try a counter-list instead and paid the price for it. I made a few critical misplays, namely not walling against Sacrosanct Chamber and playing too defensively initially against Daughters of Khaine.
Positives
- Censer Bearers severely overperformed in every game, either holding objectives or following up the Plague Furnace to deliver solid, consistent damage.
- Screaming Bell did well, the bravery immunity from Crown of Conquest enabled Plague Monks to remain in the fight for far longer than usual and Clanrats to hold the enemy off.
- The Chaos Grand Alliance ability went off WAY more than you would expect.
- Sword of Judgement is utter filth on the Verminlord Corruptor and effectively ensured the enemy had to deal with him or lose their characters.
- Plague Furnace was a super effective line breaker and the Plaguesmog Congregation battalion kept it safe from shooting allowing it to reach the front line of enemy armies with ease.
Cons
- Clanrats could easily have been replaced with Plague Monks and had the same outcome, units of 20 died too quickly to benefit from their mobility.
- Skreech Verminking either died too early to be useful or simply didn't kill enough to warrant his cost, paling severely next to the Verminlord Corruptor.
- Chronomantic Cogs either were too risky to use for fear of causing the enemy to come back from defeat or allowed the enemy to out-position me and prevent valuable charges from the Plague Monks and characters.
Changes for Next Time
- Revert to Pestilens allegiance, Great Plagues and Strength in Numbers are far more useful than the +1 to hit, as useful as it was on the occasion it happened.
- Instead of allying Clanrats, ally in Gutter Runners to force a fight on two fronts.
- Swap out Cogs for more bodies.
- Take Congregation of Filth for the 6+ ward save and the reroll charges as I found several times that I wished I had them to fall back on like normal.
In summary, the Great Corruptor punished me for my treason against Him and I throw myself upon his mercy. Great tournament, had a great time with my friends, and was stoked to see a good friend of mine with his new Nighthaunt army he hadn't even had a chance to test podium with 2nd. Hopefully some of his skill rubs off on me when we play alongside one another at the coming Doubles Tournament in September.
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