Nico

Thank you @Stevewren. It is interesting that both Tzeentch and KO have a cornucopia of options in theory and yet on encountering a Tzeentch or KO player you almost know what they have after one or two questions: Changehost? Kairos or Skyfires? Occasionally you might get Tzaangor instead. This is inevitable to an extent as Tzeentch and KO are glass cannon armies with key heroes that are potentially very vulnerable. If you bring a couple of 5 Wound heroes in a mixed bag 6+ Drop Tzeentch list, you can expect them to be dead turn one in several games and half your combos with them. This isn’t a bad thing, the game is built on buffs and combos and movement tricks and the stronger ones usually reside on the squishier heroes. This is one reason why the Rustfang isn’t available to the Great Unclean One and why the best Tzeentch Lore Spells are the mortal Lore of Fate ones which squishy heroes have access to. If you cannot pick apart the combos, then they will be unstoppable or just who has the better combo (and usually stacked defence beats stacked attack), For my part, I’ve tried to play Tzeentch differently - first with Fatesworn in April 2016 (pre-battletome), then briefly with the Eternal Conflagration (unmitigated disaster). Then back to various Fatesworn Lists eventually with Archaon. A video of Split or a Worked example would be a great idea. Your list must confound some people! A list you know well is always a strong list.

I’m excited by the new frequent FAQ schedule published at LVO and the rapid Errata after each Battletome. The Nurgle Battletome is very good incidentally (and not a lot needs clarifying there). It's worth emphasising that the previous FAQs accompanying the GHB 2017 were excellent, with plenty of welcome changes and responsiveness to the Community. Frequent FAQs will help refresh the meta fresh and can sometimes breathe life into long forgotten Warscrolls or even whole armies. Here are my hopes for the FAQ. Much of this is informed by recent tournament results, playing a lot of different armies at recent events and the experience and theory hammering of the South London Legion (and perhaps the occasional WhatsApp message in a mere handful of chatrooms). Sylvaneth Previous nerfs have hit them hard (3 Kurnoth Hunters or 14 wounds of Pusgoyles or 3 Skyfires and 20 points....); and every new faction since they emerged has been either a direct hammer blow (DoT mortal woundage) or has stolen their thunder (KO and Raptors outshooting Kurnoth Hunters with -2 rend and better buffs and now Nurgle...). Hopefully they will get a new genetic hero or new unit at some point in the next year or so, but some buffs via the FAQ could revive the trees in the interim. Their near disappearance from the tournament scene and meta is worrying. Alarielle’s Amphorae is ambiguous as to when it functions (both players’ hero phases or just one). The summoning option would actually be useable if it works in both phases. She’s not efficient at present for her cost. Ultimately the way to beat Alarielle is to focus fire and kill her in one turn or chaff her up - extra healing would not affect this principle in a negative way. Drycha would benefit from an FAQ allowing her to choose her weapon in the first Hero Phase irrevocably (I’ve just realised that Battlemages cannot choose spells on setup as the wording is the same as Chaos Marks - thanks Tom!). Bonesplitterz Amend the buff providing for extra shots if the unit is 20+ models. This is the heart of the problem with “Ork Sniperz” - my pet hate as the most implausible, fun destroying* and most overpowered unit in the game (Skyfires plus Shaman having been nerfed sufficiently). This is a 50% Damage buff which would be on the high side for a melee unit, let alone a ranged unit. The list is still overperforming at tournaments (e.g. at Heat One). *At least when KO Table you in 40 mins, the Kharadron Code stipulates taking you to the bar for consolation. I’ve had to aggressively help my opponent roll dice (e.g. coming round to their side of the table and rolling their dice for saves when I’m entitled to make them count and use my dice) to get 5 turns done vs 90 Arrers (my opponent was great even if his army was boredom personified filth). KO They are still the best army in the game (even though they are the very limited in the number of viable strategies - it's really down to preference as to more or fewer Riggers vs Skywardens). They make most Tzeentch lists into 90%-10% losses for the Tzeentch player for a start. They are frequently responsible for 40 minute tablings against a variety of armies. It's worth emphaising that the nerf to Thunderers is essentially irrelevant balance wise - the army may even have become stronger as a result as the 2 drop list is in such a sweet spot (and the 1 drop option is still there) - especially since Tzeentch armies are classically 3 drops - Changehost, Gaunt Summoner, Kairos/Skyfires for example. It will be interesting to see whether KO are nerfed. They are a glass cannon balanced on a slender reed - even a small tweak to how Zilfin works could have big unintended consequences. Buffing other Sky Fleets (except Urbaz) would be welcome, but would not compensate for the problem that a surrounded ship turn one is usually game over (especially if the ship cannot even retreat out of the ring of death) and generally opponent going first is pretty terrible for KO in terms of zoning off or killing squishy 5+ save models with Bravery 6. Fleetmaster might get nerfed or replaced as its main purpose seems to be to deceive and frustrate (or even troll) your opponent. I cannot see this kind of activity winning KO players many friends or garnering any sympathy. Tzeentch The Tzeentch army has a bit of an image problem. It's still the most complicated army, with the most complicated rules and the most movement tricks. However, Tzeentch is emphatically not the best army any more: It's very predictable in terms of the lists. The armies are generally glass cannons with some critical points of failure like the Gaunt Summoner or the Lord of Change of the Changehost. The army is generally reliant on going first, but is generally at a 3 drop minimum without making some sacrifices. As good as the Gaunt Summoner is - he barely scratches 30 Arrerboyz or 30 Tzaangor. Sometimes units of 20 are preferable as this mitigates the Battleshock aspect (e.g. 20 Ardboyz may be less badly hurt than 30 - similar for 20 Dryads). He is dead turn one against many one drop opponents and obviously easy to kill in general. Points increases have removed flexibility while not doing anything to make things like Flamers or Arcanite Battalions or Acolytes viable in tournaments. KO Wisely the rules limit their allies (e.g. to prevent the Changeling casting Nurgle spells), but this doesn't bode well for their ability to respond to changes in the meta (this also hurts Sylvaneth). This has meant that many people who don't play Tzeentch themselves haven't fully digested the page of FAQs and errata specific to Tzeentch in the previous FAQ. The nerfs are numerous and some of them are very substantial. With hindsight allowing DD to be used for D6 mortal wounds (which didn't last very long) was a mistake and made people hate Tzeentch a lot. KO Clown Car is a 90%-10% hard counter. The Changehost is a lot weaker than it was (you cannot cast a spell with the Changeling before he swaps or cast a spell onto the Lord of Change before he swaps, as both swaps happen in the start of the hero phase subphase), You can no longer summon a Balewind with one wizard, cast a spell with it and then swap another wizard onto it and have it cast another spell within a single turn. Furthermore, the distance to where you can swap is now limited to 9" away from the first swapped model, so that prevents 30 Brimstones from immediately getting in the way. As predicted about a month after the DoT book came out (when people were realising that the melee damage of Skyfires was off the charts), Skyfires have poisoned peoples minds towards Tzeentch (oh look the Magic based army has the game's best melee unit by far and it moves 16" and is deceptively durable). DD are also a mechanic that can inflame hatred as sometimes you roll a load of sixes. However, sometimes you lose the game on the DD roll, [spoilers] like I did against Craig Namvar at Heat One (not having a single 5 is devastating, in that game I would have won without a shadow of a doubt if I'd had a single 6): Some Tzeentch players did themselves no favours in the long run by ignoring the obvious purpose of the first amendment to the Balewind (to stop monsters getting on top of the Balewind), by taking advantage of the unfortunately narrow way in which this prohibition had been drafted (that monsters didn't know the spell summon the Balewind rather than being unable to be be set up on one in any way (the new position after the last FAQ)). This also allowed Nagash and Arkhan to ride the Balewind, which clearly wasn't the intention behind the change. Split Split is the lifeblood of Tzeentch, it is the best rule in the army by far. It has already been nerfed significantly (and this nerf is very poorly understood). Several other posters on TGA were unaware of the nerfs. It appears to be the case that if you wipe the unit of 10 Pinks out within a single hero, shooting or combat phase (note that it doesn't work at all in the charge phase), then the Tzeentch player has to either split immediately or not at all (whereas if you lost 4 models, you could wait until the end of said phase and then decide whether to split and create up to 8 Blues). This is a significant nerf as it means that you can clear out Horrors much more quickly as one unit can wipe the Pinks, then a second unit can wipe the Blues and another can wipe the Brimstones all within a single phase (particularly in the shooting phase for obvious reasons). This gives the Tzeentch player an interesting and challenging decision to make as to whether it's even worth splitting. People usually lose badly to split (when they shoot a unit of Pinks that they were planning to charge and then find that they cannot charge it). They usually only make this mistake once or twice. I played against a 90 Tzaangor player at Heat One who hadn't realised the implications of Split - he did some throwaway Brimstone shooting into my Pinks (which he didn't have to do) and this should have cost him the game. He ultimately recovered and I lose two initiative rolls in a row. Any additional nerf to Split would be be actively bad for balance. It is an iconic ability and the rule accurately represents the lore of what is happening. Not allowing splitting within 3" of the enemy is the worst balance suggestion I've heard in a year. The top up to 10 models only FAQ was sensible and very much appreciated. Skyfires I've hated this unit since day one (the models are ace). I'm converting mine to Enlightened having never used them in an AoS game. The ludicrous melee damage (think Neo in the Matrix) is both poisonous to balance and jarring from a narrative perspective. Making them better at shooting but vastly weaker in melee would be one option. On reflection and having seen how they underperformed in recent events, the combined nerf to the Skyfire cost and the Shaman may mean that they are reasonably balanced. On the other hand, if something in Tzeentch has to be nerfed, then make it Skyfires. The Balewind Vortex It has already been nerfed several times. One of the worst possible changes would be a points increase, as this would reduce list flexibility even more and would mean that other armies like Nurgle (and even Ironjawz) would not have the option of trying their luck in using a Balewind. The Balewind would become the exclusive preserve of Tzeentch. Removing the push away mechanic removes a tactical option (what was called Nudging the Beetle in the days when Sylvaneth were more prevalent) and has been used to good effect by Byron and others; and creates issues as to what to do with the models. I would have no problem with units (or just flying units) being able to charge the Wizard on top of the Balewind if people are determined to nerf it. This would still preserve its offensive abilities, but would make the Wizard even more of a sitting duck. Fundamentally spells have bad ranges in AoS compared to shooting (very few extend above 18" (= 2 x 9" for Lore reasons presumably) and many below this), which sits strangely given that in 40K you can move (very fast if you have a Jump Pack or wings) and then cast spells! This is most painful for debuff spells, which are fighting an uphill battle against buff spells and automatic buffs (Warchanter, command abilities, Lord Castellant). Debuffs should reward a player for taking them and act as a guard against Deathstars and stacked up mega heroes. The Balewind goes some way to redress the balance. Lobbing D6 mortal wound spells can result in a string of derpy 1s and 2s of damage just as Raptors occasionally roll 1s to hit. I remain convinced that shooting is the bigger danger to balance (although I'm not keen on changes to the core mechanics there - rather vigilance about new shooting units - "how about a Battleline unit with a 24" range weapon which has -2 rend - I know let's give it a buff against heroes and monsters too". Small buffs to Tzeentch? One nice change would be to adjust the Hosts Duplicitous requirements to keyword LORD OF CHANGE (so that Kairos can be the second Lord of Change in that Battalion) - this would provide another option. Removing the requirement that it include 3 Horror Heroes would also help. I doubt whether the Changehost itself would ever broaden out to keyword LORD OF CHANGE, but you never know. Keyword LORD OF CHANGE would also be good for the underused Exalted Conflagration (along with removal of the huge minimum requirement of 6 Exalted Flamers (720 points) and a clarification that the rules work on the FLAMER keyword). Another positive change would be if the Ogroid could go into the Arcanite Cabal Battalion. He is a cool model, I've only ever seen my own one in lists/events. All of the minimum size unit requirements for the Arcanite Battalions would need to disappear. At the moment, these are narrative Battalions essentially, which is a shame - again the Acolytes are brilliant models, but rarely seen. Ironjawz Bringing the Warchanter and the Command Ability of the Cabbage/Megaboss in line with other buffs that last until your next hero phase would be a small buff. Ironsunz working on a 2+ instead of a 3+ would be great and might help push them up to the bottom end of Tier One. Strength from Victory is discussed below. No-one objected at Heat One (which I discussed with opponents) to playing it as suggested. Pig impact damage could be buffed of course. Strength from Victory and Triple Headed Monstrosity This relates to these two abilities which trigger if a particular weapon slays one or more models. This wording sits uneasily with how melee attacks work in the game. While dice for different weapons of the same hero (e.g. the Mighty Fists, Smasha and Kunnin’ or the Heads, Slayer of Kings and Tails) are rolled sequentially, for all purposes they take place simultaneously (e.g. you measure all ranges and allocate all attacks before rolling any dice and casualties are removed only after all attacks have been resolved - so sensibly casualty removal from weapon one doesn’t pull a second weapon out of range and if the target reacts when damaged or slain, then this doesn’t happen until all the attacks have been done). Furthermore the defending player does damage allocation after the total damage has been added up. Hence, if multiple weapons caused damage to a target model and that model died, it’s difficult to say that a particular weapon slew the model; and so it’s hard to say whether the buff is triggered. Having discussed this on the TGA forum and at our club, it doesn’t seem reasonable for the defending player to misallocate wounds to the target model so that (say) the Fists caused the final wound - this is artificial and would make these abilities significantly weaker. Nor is it sensible for the Gordrakk/Megaboss/Archaon player to roll one attack at a time (as it is entitled to do) to ensure that the last wound comes off from a particular weapon - this is an time sink. The practical solution we came up with is to say that if the relevant weapon (Smasha, Kunnin’ or Three Heads) contributed at least one point of damage to the model during the overall attack; and the model is slain during that overall attack, then the buff is triggered. People on TGA acknowledged the issue and seemed happy with this solution. For Gordrakk a further point would be that only one of Smasha or Kunnin’ would get the buff (from a given slain model - not both weapons!), so if both of them contributed at least one point of damage, then roll a dice to determine which one gets the buff randomly. For completeness, the same point arises for other Warscrolls. Specific FAQs suggested by the South London Legion (1) Q: Is a unit set up using Wandering Wend does it have to deploy more than 9” from any models? A: ? Commentary. The Wandering Wend rule modifies another rule (Realm Wanderers) so it may inherit the 9” restriction from that rule or it may be intended to be self-contained. I suspect that the more aggressive interpretations of this rule are going to be curbed in the FAQ based on recent tournament rulings. (2) Q: If a rule sets up a unit and says that this is its move for the movement phase or counts for its move for the movement phase is it both a setup and a move and so subject to the 3” rule? A: No. Any set up rule is a set up and never also a move and never subject to the 3”. Commentary. The initial FAQ (which defines set ups and moves) drew a bright line between set ups and moves, which was great as it simplified the rules for new players and was so clear. A recent FAQ that clarified that a setup is not a retreat (unless it specifies otherwise i.e. it says this counts as a retreat) was another step in the right direction. However, in between there has been a lot of argument over whether certain rules (which are obviously set up rules in nature - i.e. models appear on the table for the first time or are taken off and set up in a completely new position) are or are not moves as well. Much of this was motivated by trying to tone down the Warrior Brotherhood (which was understandable). However to explain to these distinctions to a someone and particularly a new player is rarely practical and could provoke more argument/discussion as the distinctions look arbitrary - there are distinctions between Lightning Chariot (not a move), Astral Compass (could be a move), Vexillor (not a move) and all Summoning spells (not a move) for example. Given that Warrior Brotherhood has been nerfed, there is a small impact on balance from making such a change. For example - Hammerstrike Force (even when given the benefit of the doubt - treated not a move) is not overpowered. As you'll appreciate, this isn’t an issue for the Vanguard Wing - as the wording is a pure set up. I’ve previously suggested a modest nerf to this combo - just bring the unit cap back down to 20 Liberators (still a formidable 40 wounds, but fewer Grand Hammers). This is strongly preferable to rewriting the scroll or changing the mechanics of setting up models. Alternatively, just increase the cost of the Battalion by (say) 60 points. Some combination of nerfs is on the cards for Vanguard Wing. Personally I would try to maintain the pure setup rule for this Battalion, but nerf the other aspects of it. Vanguard Wing should remain an option but not the only option! (3) Q: Drycha has a choice between Squirmlings and Flitterfuries. This isn’t specified as a weapon choice in Scrollbuilder, so you cannot select in on your list. Can she select this when you set her up rather than before the Battle on the list? A: Yes See above. Commentary: Drycha is a named character - from a Lore perspective she could decide to fill herself with the respective Squirmlings or Flitterfuries with an eye to the next battle. From a balance perspective Drycha is on the weak side without this flexibility - she is a good horde killer with Squirmlings but that ability is very weak against non-hordes - Stormcast that aren't using Vanguard Wing, most Tzeentch armies (lots of units of 10 models - maybe the odd unit of 20 Blues), KO, many Ironjawz lists, Beastclaw etc.. The buff to Flitterfuries was welcome (not affecting herself/friendly models), but it is worth nothing if Drycha can only be taken with Squirmlings for an entire tournament (which is what you would be forced to do if you took her in a list and had to pick). Her cost of 280 is on the high side without this flexibility - bearing in mind that she is potentially costing you an artefact (as her non-named "equivalents" the TLA or Spirit of Durthu could take an artefact, Sylvaneth have spectacular artefacts that go very well on those two heroes; and Sylvaneth rarely have the points to take 3 heroes and Drycha following earlier point increases). Errata (4) Disciples of Tzeentch Page 81 Arcane Suggestion - Drop Your Weapons and Turn Around Change to: ‘Until your next hero phase, subtract 1 from hit and wound rolls for that unit.’ ‘Until your next hero phase, subtract 1 from save rolls for the unit.’ Commentary: I suspect this one isn’t getting changed and will remain useless (or to be generous - an incredibly situational gamble). It was a costly waste at Heat One for me - the worst thing in my list - I took it as a partial answer to Vanguard Wing. Rightly - I’ve never seen other Tzeentch players take it for competitive lists. Nurgle have a near copy of this spell, which lasts until the start of the next hero phase as normal. In general, debuffs are at a significant disadvantage to buffs as buffs can or will be in range turn one, whereas debuffs are not. For this reason debuffs need to be stronger than buffs to make them viable. For example Festus’s -1 to armour debuff is for the rest of the game or the Daemonsmith’s debuff is a -2 to hit (so double the typical buff) and has extra range. All other equivalent debuffs and most buffs (except the Warchanter) last until your next hero phase. A debuff to enemy hit and wound rolls for your turn only is of limited value as it is only relevant to melee attacks (in general) and you could just not charge into that unit instead or retreat out of combat. It cannot debuff shooting which is the often the key thing you need to debuff (Skyfires, Arrer Boyz, Kharadron Overlords). Furthermore the casting value of 7 is high for a debuff (Hand of Glory is on a 5 and featured in Byron Orde’s list which has just won the GT Finals and other recent events). Finally the spell has a random effect and so cannot be relied upon. As a result, this spell is scarcely seen in lists even though Tzeentch are a popular choice. Tzeentch’s other debuff - Scintillating Simulacra - is very strong but extremely expensive requiring you to take a somewhat redundant second Lord of Change and an expensive second Battalion. It barely fits in 2,000 Points. The proposed changes would bring this spell back into line with other debuff spells and it should find some use on the table. (5) Measure to unit Change the following rules so that they affect units within the specified distance rather than models within the specified distance. Cauldron of Blood - Blood Shield Chaos Warshrine - Protection of the Dark Gods Gaunt Summoner and Chaos Familiars - Slop Aether Khemist - Atmospheric Isolation Grots - Netters In addition Blood Shield no longer stacks with itself. Change to “any DAUGHTERS OF KHAINE units from your army within the range from any Cauldrons of Blood are granted protection....” The Harbinger's 5++ ward save bubble should not stack with itself either to fend off the most boring Nurgle list possible. Commentary: The overwhelming majority of rules in AoS target units rather than models (both by default and for good reason) - only a handful of rules truly need to be measure to model (the likes of Hand of Dust, Cavernous Jaws, Stuff in Bag). Many of the rules listed above create a problem insofar as saves/Ward saves are rolled on a unit not model-by-model basis and damage is allocated by the owning player after all attacks were made. For example if only some of the models in a unit have a ward save, then it is not clear whether you can roll at all nor is it clear whether you have to remove models that were within range. People have had to use house rules or use hand waving to resolve this. While sone of these would be buffs to the abilities, these are not unreasonable. People don't take the Khemist for Atmospheric Isolation - it's an ancillary debuff; and the Bloodshield buff is coupled to a nerf to stop it stacking (the triple 5++ Ward Save is one of the most boring lists since the invincible Settra, 4 Tomb Heralds and Heinrich Kemmler - which was (rightly) nerfed severely). Other rules simply create a time sink in the flow of the game as players have to micromanage the positioning of models and then count models and roll hit rolls or saves separately. They also create an issue as to whether to remind a player as to the distance of the buff in question at the time or capitalise on forgetfulness/sloppiness. For example I’ve measured 3” from a model to keep mine out of range of a debuff (explaining that I was doing so) only for my opponent to tell me afterwards that it’s a 6” debuff when I started rolling hit rolls. That was not against a club mate I’m pleased to say. Noting some recent new Warscrolls, it’s worth saying that “if all models are within X” rules are probably better than “only models within” auras. Archaon and the Lord Celestant on Stardrake Few people would be upset if an errata tweaked these Warscrolls to give them -2 rend on Dorghar's claws (not the Slayer of Kings) and the Stardrake's melee attack. Archaon does seem steep at 700. The LCoSD will be significantly less useful for his cost if the Vanguard Wing is nerfed. Their melee attacks (even taking into account their special rules) are pretty underwhelming for such awesome models. We know Nagash isn't getting a better melee profile, which is also a shame. Gordrakk remains the one demigod who actually lives up to his reputation in terms of melee damage. Alarielle on a good day can do good work.

Conclusion Fantastic event overall. The best food of any tournament I've been to! Amazing. Very considerate and thoughful TOs - thank you so much. Thanks to all of my opponents: Joe, Matt, Michael, Jack and Joe - you were all gents! Fyreslayers are fun to play although they are extremely predictable for your opponent. I do think a lot of their perceived strength is down to lack of experience playing them as essentially a new army having been revitalised in the GHB 2017 (in contrast to Vanguard Wing, which literally requires you to take specific hard counters to deal with it). Fyreslayers are middle of the Tier One armies - they can give Tzeentch a hard time and are very good against Seraphon. They absolutely wreck Bonesplitterz as they have a huge volume of low rend attacks which is the recipe you need to deal with them. I do think that the much hated Kinband Battalion, which people are contorting the rules to nerf, is weak and frankly overkill as people shouldn't be putting anything valuable in the 16" range of the throwing axes anyway (assuming they know what the army does) and/or you're killing models so as to make your charge roll even harder. I'm not sure how to adjust the army going forward - others have suggested using Skywardens, but I'm not a fan - they are even squishier than Raptors. I walked away with 5th place, a first ever painting nomination, a first top table last game and a shiny certificate commemorating how I beat some dude who is better at Warhammer than I am - apparently he's pretty famous. Jack's a lovely guy and a worthy Master now! A decent haul. The club did well at Angelcore - especially Ben Murphy in second place with Vanguard Wing (the one I didn't play); Simon and Declan recovered from awful matchups on day 1; and Leo took a Kroaknado to the face with Tzeentch (what was it 60 mortal wounds turn one?) in Game 5. At Honour & Glory, the South London Legion also performed well. Ben Savva in particular did well and helped get him to the Masters in January!

Game 5 - Joe McGough - Vanguard Wing Top table for the final round was a new experience for me. Joe was a very capable player and confident. The game was pleasant throughout. Joe informed me that as he didn't need a major to win the event (having bested Clubmate Ben Murphy's Vanguard Wing earlier), he wouldn't be playing for one. Jack had given him the shrewd advice - "win the event don't win the game" - this was a shame for me as he could afford to play very defensively and negatively. His list was a solid Vanguard Wing without the Stardrake, but with Primetime. We didn't play Scorched Earth, which was probably bad news for me (Vanguard Wing Liberators can only burn one objective per turn and Liberators are on 40mm bases not 32mm). I have to say that complaints about how unfair it is as Murderhost can get easy wins on the battleplan look rather quaint now. The meta has moved on incredibly fast which is great to see. Deployment The Battleplan was instead Total Conquest, i.e. Zig Zag. I put my big block of Vulkites on my right surrounding the Battlesmith and Runefather, who took cover in a building. We discussed the building and agreed that he wouldn't land folks on top of it, so I didn't have to run a line of models over the top, which was kind of him. Joe deployed centrally. with from memory 2 units of Prosecutors in the Celestial Realms. I put my Raptors and Aetherwings on my left (in the narrow 3" area). I think this put them in range of his Judicators (but not vice versa, as I have an extra 1" effective range). The idea was to put some downside on him giving me turn one. Battleround 1 Joe went first and spent what felt like a good half an hour finessing the positioning of his Liberators and Prosecutors so as to lock down my Vulkites but also limit how many models I could get into combat as well as simultaneously zoning off almost the entirety of the rest of the table. We both appreciated that I could tunnel up the Magmadroth, but not the 30 Aurics in his half of the table. Joe was able to get his Liberators into my Raptors (of course, they don't need to charge so Aetherwings were essentially useless). Liberators after teleporting - the three sticks point to the small gap in the zoning off of my tunnellers Joe grabbed an early lead. In response I tunnelled up the Magmadroth and the other 30 Vulkites, while leaving the Aurics underground as planned. The plan was for the Magmadroth to shoot and then charge the Judicators in the middle - wiping them out. Then if I won the double, I could bring down the Aurics, kill the Castellant and then the Liberators would really start to melt. Meanwhile the Vulkites would slam into the whole line of Liberators and hopefully do some damage between impact hits and a huge volume of -1 rend attacks. I failed the 9" charge for the Vulkites despite the reroll. The Magmadroth killed 1 Judicator with shooting and then failed its charge. The only charge I made was of the Runesmiter against the 3 Prosecutors. His melee attack is weaker than that of a Grot with no arms, so he did nothing. Attentive readers may detect a pattern across my games in relation to charges.... Joe won the initiative to compound the pain Battleround 2 It didn't help matters when Joe still somehow had the trivial 4 quarters secondary objective (i.e. win the initiative and you get the secondary). Presumably this was preparation rather than luck. I shot myself in the foot by not appreciating how hard it would be for my troops on the ground to reach the opposite corner (not the opposite side - I forgot this mid-game) - so again secondaries foiled me. I should perhaps have kept the other unit of Vulkites on the table. Joe would have pinned both units while only allowing a few models to engage but on balance it still would have been preferable. I could have retreated out of combat and hoped for a double to get an effective charge in, while firing the extra rend rune. Joe again made hardly any effort to kill my Vulkites with his Liberators, instead, he tagged exactly one model of the new 30 Vulkite unit with his Liberators. Prime Time came down and hit my heroes and both units of Vulkites with the comet. I removed the one Vulkite who was in range of the Liberators as a casualty. Joe activated his Liberators but didn't move them in this area. This gave me a chance. In response, I fired the rend rune and got both units of Vulkites into the Liberators. The Magmadroth cleared out the Judicators. I passed several Mystical tests. I rolled badly for the hit rolls and relatively few Liberators died. From memory I did win this initiative roll. Battleround 3 The Aurics came down and somehow failed to kill the Castellant despite reroll wounds from the Runesmiter on Magmadroth. The Liberators were really melting now. Getting towards 10 models left. I planned out another 9" charge from the Aurics (who aren't bad in melee if they get to go first if there is a hero near their target). This would have recaptured my left objective (which scores two points on this Battleplan which was a big deal) and killed more of the Prosecutors (leaving few or possibly none of them to redeploy the Liberators with). Naturally I failed the 9" charge and so it was looking bad. Joe appreciated that the Aurics were a squishy target and redeployed the Grand Hammers to deal with them. However, he made two significant errors. He charged the general into the Vulkites, turning off Staunch Defender for him and pulling the Liberators out of the Staunch Defender bubble. This could have been suicidal and was an unforced error. Primetime grabbed my objective. The bigger mistake was activating the general first, which wouldn't have affected how many Vulkites hit back and meant that my Aurics could smack his relatively poorly armoured Liberators with the buff for a nearby hero. To my disgust I rolled a horrendous set of hit rolls and Joe saved absurdly well and he got out of trouble. The Grand Hammers then made a mess out of the Aurics. The General took damage but survived. Ultimately Joe's strategy was sound and he executed it very well; he was able to delay me enough to stop me grabbing back objectives. I had hoped that the dice gods would frustrate such a negative strategy (playing for a draw overall or better), but it was not to be. Had I actually won the Major on the Primary (going down to a Minor as he won on secondaries), then from memory club mate Ben Murphy would have won the event narrowly (as he got a Major in his last game). I take vindication from the fact that it would not have taken much to have changed the result - not failing any one of 4 key charges or winning the first initiative roll. The deployment of the Raptors was a big error on my part and including the Raptors in the list at all was the biggest mistake I made all tournament. They contributed virtually nothing in any of the games. The theoretical advantage of blocking charges never made a difference (although this is a function of matchups, it's great against Murderhost).

Game 4 - Jack Armstrong - Kroaknado The draw was made on the Saturday night and I was concerned to be playing Jack Armstrong in the morning. His reputation and Kroaknado list had preceded him. I’d put some thought into Jack’s list and concluded that it was a favourable match up for my list with numbers and Ward saves in my favour. Kroak was far better at dealing with MSU or Daemons. I also had the autounbind available. Jack seemed to appreciate that he was in a difficult position too, but had formulated a plan. Throughout the game, I sensed we both knew where things stood throughout. He had a great sense for what really mattered in the game - even asking me to roll his dice for Saves to speed things along. Deployment The Battleplan was Battle for the Pass. After discussing the ranges of my various attacks, Jack cornered his army with Kroak and the Slaan safe. He put minimal troops on the table - just a line of 5 Saurus Cavalry as the screen as he could bring on reinforcements at will via his 1 drop Battalion. Jack likely wanted me to overcommit. I deployed the Raptors and Aetherwings on my home objective, the expendable Runemaster on my left and the Magmadroth on the right. As predicted Jack opted to give me first turn. Battleround One I made the correct decision in choosing to strike the Battleshock Immunity Rune first - particularly since my Battleshock Immunity bubble general would not last long and would be too distant. I didn’t over commit - only throwing in 30 Vulkites and the Runesmiter. The Magmadroth waddled forward and blasted a Saurus Knight. I made the 9” charge and deleted the front line. More importantly I seized an early 9 point lead. The first 30 Vulkites came down, wiped Jack's shield and squatted on his home objective. Jack responded by teleporting Kroak and the Slaan out of the corner and bringing on the Astrolith his big unit of Saurus Cav and his Carnosaur. He gave them the reroll hits buff. Kroak unleashed hell - it felt like every D3 was 3 Damage. The Aetherwings, Raptors and Battlesmith were nuked. The Carnosaur may have failed its charge but the Cavalry made it in. The losses were on both sides, but I rolled pretty well for Ward saves. The Battleshock immunity left me in control of Jack’s home objective. The Vulkites shout "hold the line" Battleround 2 Jack won the double and killed the Magmadroth and dented my remaining heroes - he also secured his secondary (the trivial 4 quarters mission). I had saved this one for this tough game only to find with horror that despite having 80+ models alive, I didn’t have 4 scoring units - as a 5 Wound hero with one wound taken didn’t count. My Vulkites dregs cling on and stopped Jack retaking his home. A summoned Razordon eventually scored my home objective. My response was to bring on 60 Dudes and use the Farsight Rune. I ignored Kroak and focussed on pressurising Jack’s objective. The pew pew did ok, but the Vulkites failed another 9” Charge with a reroll of one dice. I think I still scored his home objective with a retreat. Revenge of the Sea of Orange Battleround 3 I won the initiative, probably fatal otherwise. I put full buffs on and proceeded to devastate the dented Carnosaur and Knights. I started recapturing the other objectives too. The Aurics headed back home to reclaim my objective. Jack’s response was vicious - 3D3 Mortal Wounds killed 9 Aurics (no Wards). Pew pew from the Razordons added to the carnage. The monstrously expensive unit eventually popped. However, the damage was done, my lock on Jack’s home objective proving too much of a lead to claw back. The dice were firmly in Jack’s favour, but the Battleplan helped me. Jack was a true gent throughout. A minor victory overall as Jack got his secondary. I got a shiny signed certificate for my efforts! This was a major scalp for the Legion. Jack would become a worthy Master only a few months later (last week) with his souped up Vanguard Wing.

If it’s a Skullcast Model, but in the Order Grand Alliance.

Battle Report for Game 3 vs Michael Wills and Vanguard Wing now up (above).

Awesome! Great to see.

They are sold out, but well worth posting on TGA or on Twitter as almost inevitably people do drop out and wish to resell their tickets. It’s possible that there is a waiting list, but I don’t know.

Cheers George. Yeah it was great meeting you! That warm up game did us both good. You going to any of the Heats?

Game 3 - Vanguard Wing Game 3 was against Michael Wills and his Vanguard Wing plus Stardrake. He was a cool guy and fun to play against despite. The Battleplan was Knife to the Heart between two tanky lists - not ideal. Deployment With some reluctance I deployed 30 Vulkites on my objective wrapping around the Battlesmith and the Runemaster. The Raptors deployed so as to be in range of his Judicators (30”) but out of their 29” effective range. This meant the Magmadroth could tunnel up instead with its reroll wounds once per game bubble safely protected. Michael deployed defensively on the opposite corner - 2 sets of Prosecutors in the Celestial Realm. Michael picked killing the relic holder. Battleround One We talked through what the Fyreslayers did - Michael opted for caution rather than aggression. This was probably sensible but getting a Major would be tough on this Battleplan (although it has now occurred to me that he may have been aiming for a Minor on Kill points plus the secondary). He could have slammed his Vanguard Wing into the Vulkites but I had Battleshock Immunity aura unless his Prosecutors came down on a 3+ and got lucky. On the other hand this was the only chance to get them before I fired off Inspiring Presence and the Reroll Saves fire and forget AOE buff. Instead he pushed forward his Stardrake and wrapped it on the back side with Liberators - perhaps this was bait. It was all too far away for the 30 Vulkites on the table do charge in my turn. He had a long tail and buildings to shield his Judicators and Castellant. This meant that his Liberators were immune to Battleshock and on a 2+ rerollable Save. I had a pretty big ponder at this point - looking for any options other than brute force. There weren’t any options I could see other than a Mexican stand off - and hence no chance of a major on this Battleplan. That just left YOLO. From memory I used the Battleshock Immunity Rune as my Vulkites weren’t near the general to mitigate the situation if I lost initiative. Also the axe range Rune was irrelevant vs 2+ rerolling one’s targets! I plonked down 30 Vulkites and the Magmadroth 9” away from his forces and in particular the Stardrake - take that out and the Liberators became far more manageable. Between mortal wounds, Bleed Damage and the rend on the axes I figured I had a fair chance of a quick kill. The Magmadroth Magma bathes a Liberator. The Raptors fluffed their dice. Naturally I failed another 9” charge with a reroll of one dice and also failed the Magmadroth charge. Thankfully I won the initiative. Battleround 2 I fired off the rend Rune but didn’t get the 6 for Rend -3 in melee (it doesn’t work on pew pew). The Magmadroth walked closer so that it would automatically inflict D6 mortal wounds rather than D3 to the Liberators. It is solid at horde clearance. I kept the Aurics underground. This time I made both charges and did some impact hit mortal wounds to the Stardrake. The Vulkites fluffed their hit rolls and didn’t do much. The Stardrake and Liberators hurt the Magmadroth and it proceeded to bleed on them and tail swipe the Liberators. This was a mistake on Michael’s part - he could have ignored the Magmadroth. I was disappointed not to have killed or even crippled the Stardrake. The combat continued in Michael’s turn after be repositioned his Grandhammers to put them all in combat. The Magmadroth died but at the end of the phase the bleeding took the final wound off. This again raises the issue of whether the Ability still works even if the model has died. Purposively and logically killing it will still involve Magma bleeding everywhere, it would be absurd otherwise. We’ll see if they FAQ it. The rule should be in line with Jibber Jabbers. The loss of Staunch Defender was a relief (Michael could have retreated the Stardrake), but the Vulkites were dropping and the Liberators still had Battleshock Immunity. Battleround 3 I believe Michael got a double turn at this point and proceeded to whittle down heroes and my Vulkites. In response I brought in the Aurics and blasted away with their guns at the Liberators. They were down to a 3+ rerolling ones, so between shooting and combat (with a Triumph buff) they took out a lot of Liberators. Scenting victory the home Vulkites advanced too. Unfortunately Michael eventually managed to bash the head in of my Runesmiter with the (useless here) Ash Plume Sigil to score the secondary. I had no way of making mine. Michael did well to surround him to prevent a retreat and also keeping his Castellant in range. The Liberators hit back at the Aurics and the unit was rapidly depleted without Battleshock immunity. Eventually I wiped the Liberators and The Orange sea advanced on Michael’s forces with the Speed Rune. Even the Aetherwings made it into combat. However it wasn’t to be as the Castellant shrugged off Damage and the 5th Battleround passed. I won the Primary as a minor (1,740 to 760 on Kill Points!) but lost on secondaries for a draw. I might have benefited from killing the Prosecutors faster to prevent repositioning of the Liberators on the fly. Battleplan suits Fyreslayers very well. Michael could perhaps have put everything in the Sky except the Liberators, Castellant and Drake then dropped shooting and Rain of Stars to kill my general and Battlesmith (if dice went his way). However a few failed 3+ rolls and this could backfire horribly. Overall I reckoned that I was still in with a shot of winning if things went my way on day 2. There was great entertainment at the venue in the evening. The food was absolutely amazing for a gaming venue! The Legionaries chilled in the bar-shop (with lots of discounted Necromunda shinies to tempt us). Quite a lot of people played Overwatch. Plans for Bloodbowl did not pan out sadly. Ben Murphy and Leo were in good shape, while Declan, James and Simon hadn’t had much luck and had some tough match ups. Everyone was enjoying themselves. I was hoping that a draw would let me avoid Jack’s Kroaknado list the next day.

Day 1 Game 2 vs Matt’s FEC Game 2 was against the delightful Matt who deservedly won the best sports trophy. He had taken FEC, so getting less than 2000 kill points had spared me from Jack’s list and the Vanguard Wings. Death are in a bad state now absent the 5++ Ward which was their best thing. To give one example - both Nighthaunt and the common build for Soulblight have armies entirely composed of fliers - aka bait for Kharadron Overlords armies! I have a FEC Force so I’m aware of how painful their lack of reach is. Sadly Crypt Horrors aren’t amazing and now cost as much as the superior Flayers. I did like one thing in Matt’s List - the King’s Ghoul Battalion - solely for the Battleshock immunity it gives you from the start of the game. Death have plenty of defence that has to be switched on in your first hero phase, which can make all the difference vs DoT or KO alpha strikes. Losing 20 Ghouls turn one rather than 35 could make all the difference - especially when they can bring back models. Deployment It was Duality of Death, so heroes and behemoths to score. Matt deployed 2 Flappies on my right to grab that objective and then the horde on my left - with Horrors in front of Ghouls. I deployed on the left as a bunker although I knew he was out of range turn one. I believe Matt decided to go first (which made sense in some ways as it meant he could get his 5++ Ward Save up and Mystic Shield. Battleround 1 Matt went first and put the 5++ Ward on his GKoTG and possibly Mystic Shield. I explained to him that Vanhel’s Danse Macabre only works in your own turn - so only one extra pile in. He lobbed forward the GKoTG to score the right objective. On the left his blob waddled forward - but he rolled badly for the run on one of the heroes and didn’t make it onto the objective. In response I fired the Farsight Rune and then I deployed 30 Vulkites across from the Blob, 30 on the right 9” Away from both Flappies and the Ghouls and 30 Aurics on my right flank - guns poised at the GKoTG. The Rubesmiter on Magmadroth fires off his once per game buff at the end of the movement phase - hitting all of my units with tails. The Battlesmith activated but only affected the heroes on the table. The shooting was brutal - the Aurics annihilated the GKoTG with axes and Magmapikes. The Vulkites took some wounds off the regular Terrorgheist and dented the Horrors (I acknowledged that this was barely worth doing if he got the turn next due to the Courtiers. I failed the 9” charge onto the TG with the right Vulkites despite a reroll. Same story on the left. The Magmadroth made it in and would score a point. He clung on and did some pretty irrelevant bleed damage. #BleedMeta Score 1:1 Battleround 2 Matt won the initiative. He sent the damaged TG onto the right objective. From memory the Crypt Ghast Horror went on the objective (we discussed this and it made sense as I would inevitably kill that hero next turn). The Ghouls and Varghulf and Horror Courtier went into the Vulkites. With zero rend on most of this it was a resounding bounce even without rerolls on the 4+ (not charged this turn) armour saves. I lost two models. Significantly I deliberately removed two models in the chain in order to leave a Runemaster shaped hole - so I could get to the objective next turn. I ground back a fair number of models. Then it was my turn. I fired the rend Rune and may have hit the 6 (although it makes little difference against the weak Saves of FEC). I got the heroes through the gap on the left and charged onto the objective after shooting the Ghast off it (so I score it even though the Horror Courtier was there as I moved onto it). On the right side I deliberately held off from shooting the final wound on the Terrorgheist so that the Runesmiter could charge it, then the Vulkites would charge it, the 10 Ghouls and the Necrbromancer. By doing so I could lob 30 Shields at the Terrorgheist to kill it - or activate the Vulkites first if need be, then the Runesmiter could pile onto the objective to score it with a move over the corpse (even after taking D3 mortal wounds to the face). Everything went to plan and I inflicted massive casualties and grabbed both objectives. The Major was in the bag on the primary. To his credit Matt scored his secondary - which forced me to get mine for the full 20 Points. I had Treasure Hunter so I made sure not to kill the Varghulf too early. Major victory 20-0 I killed 1980 to Matt’s 200 - the Runesmiter on Bleed Dragon. Matt didn’t play badly and knew his army pretty well. He was a true gent and went on to win best sports! Reflecting on the game over lunch and thinking about it again now, Matt should have put the defensive buffs on the unridden Terrorgheist. That way even after I killed it, the ridden one could still have cast its spell. Going first probably wasn’t a mistake (as otherwise I would have flooded the objectives), but Matt needed some chaff in front of his heroes to keep me from deleting his Flappy. Maybe the distances made that impossible. Some 60 Point Dire Wolves could have saved him. The 15” range of the Magmapike means that you can screen from them (unlike Arkanauts who can deploy 9” away and still hit a hero on the backline turn one) - the real source of their power. Death need reinforcements in the form of a completely new faction desperately. It occurred to me that another reason why Soulblight and Nighthaunt underperform is that (with the typical choice of the all fly Battle Trait), they hand Kharadron Overlords rerolls of 1 to hit and wound vs the whole army.

So I was honoured and absolutely delighted to get my first ever painting nomination! I think the army has a strong overall impact as a sea of orange and some of the models were painted more recently (the Raptors, Aetherwings and the third Runesmiter in particular) to a higher standard. I learned a lot over the course of painting this army, so there's definitely an observable progression from the old Vulkites to the newer painted ones. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Adam Cunis and Ming was a good feeling - although I was sure that the trophies would not be winging my way. Thanks to the TOs.

Here’s the show. Enjoy! Thanks again guys!

Just a quick note to say I’m excited to be appearing on AusHammer later today at 10:00 UK in the morning for a List Off against the formidable Clint Mallet (that’s a great name too) I’ll be discussing my Fatesworn Warband from the GT Finals, booties and several major digressions. You can find AusHammer on YouTube.

Overall it was 3 Major Wins and 3 Major Losses. I actually volunteered to swap to the Bonesplitterz table for game 6 to avoid repeat games vs club mate Ben Savva/Dan Mitchell from the Friday - which I wouldn’t have done if I was concerned about positioning. I came 46th overall - not bad given the #CraigRolls and the YOLO last game. The structure of the list works soundly and the flexibility of the big summoning pool gives it options vs any opponent. Being a 2 drop is critical vs KO and the Classic Changehost, Gaunt Summoner and Kairos/Skyfires combo. Nevertheless the lights are on late at night in Nico’s Hobby Lab and something horrific is nearly ready to emerge*. *I don’t mean the Fyreslayers. #HairSaves #Fluffy #SeaOfOrange

Game 6 Somehow my opponent managed to make playing against Kunning Rukk 90 Arrer Boyz with Damned Terrain on Knife to the Heart vaguely enjoyable. I YOLOed Ted into the Arrers with Damned and all buffs on - I’ve never seen so many 6+ Saves against 3 Damage attacks. This was a daft strategy borne of the fact that I wouldn’t get a Major if I did the usual line of Pinks and Infernal Flames approach. It just wouldn’t get me anywhere near his objective in time. A minor win was not materially better than a loss at this stage. My Saves were little better and as we know Hand of Broken has an infinite range (true) and never fails to cast (also true). Ted popped - eventually the Gaunt Summoner went down. Major Loss.

Game 5 vs Paul Buckler Apologies to Paul for not doing our game justice. He’s an awesome chap all round! He likes to take unusual lists (something we have in common). He took the Lightning Echelon (Fulminators and Tempestors) which I previously took to Honour and Glory (it didn’t go very well). I do think Tempestors are stealth filth with the auto -1 to hit debuff at range. I do wonder if Fulminators are a bit redundant now that Staunch Defender makes any Dracoth Knight immune to Arrer Boyz and resistant to almost all shooting other than KO. Also nothing is less reliable than 3+, 3+, -1 when doing 3 Damage on the charge - the Dracoths end up doing more damage in melee. Paul is very experienced and knew it was a bad match up for him. Scorched Earth suits DoT very well as Pinks can be lobbed in suicidally only for the Blues to burn the objective. That was the plan here - I stopped myself from YOLOing the chicken (which would have been fatal due to the mortal wound pew pew Dracoths). I slowed down the Dracoths and scored early with Horrors and the Chicken zapped away. From memory it wasn’t spectacular and dice continued to disappoint. Paul’s counter attack was pretty spectacular - using the double charge mechanic to penetrate deep into my central objective. However my early lead proved decisive. Really good game and I look forward to seeing Paul again.

Does anyone else think they will introduce upgrades that require two (or more) Glory tokens to apply to a fighter? Seems like an obvious route they could explore.

So you would now use Time Trap after a Move action to do an attack action (instead of just charging), with the view to doing yet another attack with the same fighter later in that phase (because you've not charged) for example. Alternatively, you could attack with a fighter and then use Time Trap to do a charge - that might be the best way to use it now. Thoughts?

Day One - Game One After a practice game vs the delightful George’s Beastclaw Army on the Friday we rocked up early for Game One against Joe Carr’s Hammerstrike Force. Significantly the FAQ for the event made this a true setup rule so they could setup directly into combat (I believe this is correct as no rule should be both a move and a setup). This made my Aetherwings pretty redundant as they could not block this. I did wonder whether they could fly over on the enemy’s charge phase and touch the back of the Retributors to hinder their pile ins (as each model must pile in towards the nearest model). Deployment I bunkered with the 30 Vulkites and tunnelled the Magmadroth instead (as he can pop up and then use his “Once per game” ability as it’s not limited to my hero phase. I was near Mystical but didn’t have much of an effect in the game - it’s pretty useless for Fyreslayers as they have ample reroll wounds anyway. Joe deployed opposite me in a bubble. Throughout the game his zoning off of territory was great - I was never able to get good spots to drop in my 30 blocks. Joe picked the 4 Quarters Battleplan (the easiest one), while I went for killing 3 Battleline). Battleround One Joe chose to go first from memory. He went for it. Smashing in 15 Paladins. I saved the shot from the Venator (or maybe he just did the Regular shots). The Paladins rolled badly and bounced - only killing a handful of Vulkites (and I had my Battleshock immunity aura) even before I could trigger Reroll Saves from the Battlesmith. Unfortunately for Joe I remembered a Triumph roll and got Saves, which I could immediately use. In the combat phase. I would say that Joe was too defensive with his general. He needed Staunch Defender on his Paladins, even if this would require tailing back. He could have dropped him in behind with Liberators as a Shield behind (but I guess this would require a 3+ Roll and would cost him Battleshock immunity). I started the grind, killing a few Paladins in response. In my turn, I picked the extra 8” throwing axe range and may even have rolled a 6 for the extra buff. I got the Reroll Saves Up . The Runemaster tried his Volcano ability on the Heraldor (fighting fire with fire - the two scenery attack heroes). Spoiler - the Runemaster is garbage except for having 6 Wounds. I tunnelled up 30 Vulkites and the Magmadroth but left the Aurics off the table. I popped the reroll wounds bubble just catching both units of Vulkites. The axes weren’t very effective against Liberators (with Staunch and Lantern). In the charge phase I managed to roll a (1, 2) charge so the reroll couldn’t help. This was the start of a pattern for 9” charges. The Paladins were melting away while the Vulkites stood firm. The Raptors did solid damage against the Retributors. Battleround 2 The comet came down on the far right. I won the initiative and tightened the net. I hit the rend Rune, so the Vulkites would have -2 rend. The Magmadroth went off right to grab it, but fell short. The Vulkites in Joe’s deployment area made their charge and swamped the Castellant and the Lord Celestant on Dracoth. I dumped 30 shields into him, dropping 4 wounds. Unfortunately the LCoD survived with a wound left. I rolled badly for the home Vulkites (4+, 4+ rerollable is still pretty swingy), so the Paladins clung on. My champions sucked all weekend. Damned terrain would be mental on Vulkites. In response, Joe brought down 10 Liberators to my left (where I couldn’t get the Aurics to them easily) and 5 Liberators on the right objective. He used Lightning Chariot on his Relictor to lob itself to the right corner of the table on my side to score the 4 quarters secondary mission. While I was feeling confident on the primary mission (Starstrike) with 30 Aurics in the back pocket, I really didn’t need to be dragged down to a minor win by not getting my secondary too. The Paladins were down to just the Maces and the Vulkites just kept coming. The LCoD died as did the Castellant. Battle Round 3 The comets landed in the far right (vaguely near The Magmadroth) and right next to the Relictor - thankfully not near the 10 Liberators. I won the initiative and moved 3 Heroes onto the middle nearby objective (outnumbering the Relictor). The Magmadroth grabbed the far right objective and vommed Magma over the 5 Liberators - killing 3. The focus quickly switched to the secondary objective as Joe sensibly conceded the Primary. I still could t get the Aurics into place, but the remaining Vulkites managed to kill off the Liberators by the end of Battleround 5. Final result: 20-0 I got 1920 kill points to boot, which was a good haul but would keep me off the top table. A lot of the chat before the event was about avoiding/defeating Jack Armstrong with his Kroaknado list. It was a bad match up for Joe - he killed plenty of Vulkites, but got zero kill points somehow. He went on to win some of his games and said he really enjoyed the event so all good.

My feedback on #AngelCore can he found here:

Six Legionaries are hitting AngelCore today (Declan, Leo, James, Ben Murphy, Simon and me) and another four (John if he defeats his hangover, Ben Savva, Nick and Hugh) for Honour & Glory (both effectively local events). I enjoyed H&G last year, even if Fulminators derped. I’ve been a tad quiet on the blog. Real life has been eventful and I’ve not been to an event since The Finals. Hobby wise I settled on a Fyreslayer list for Angelcore and painted the few models I needed. The List I opted to avoid taking a Battalion (although the controversial Kinband Battalion is very cheap in conjunction with the extra 8” range Rune). Runemaster (Battleshock Immunity bubble.) General 3 Runesmiters (1 with auto unbind artefact) Runesmiter on Magmadroth Battlesmith 30 Vulkites 30 Vulkites 30 Aurics Longstrike Raptors Aetherwings I also took the Runemaster as general - he is pretty throwaway - does very little unless you’re opponent puts a load of Dryads in a Wyldwood and he makes it erupt. He does have 6 wounds and most importantly he unlocks Aurics as Battleline. He can put a quasi Deadly rule on terrain, which could be fun vs Stonehorns. He gives your opponent a buff to one of their units of reroll wounds of one (their choice), but if he gets close to that unit he can give all your army +1 attacks against it for the rest of the game including pew pew! Unfortunately it is often used on Cannons and other long range stuff. I took the Runesmiter on Magmadroth as he has the invaluable reroll wounds buff bubble, which plugs the gap when you tunnel up your forces (as the tunnel happens in the movement phase after the 3 normal Runesmiters would apply their buff). It’s particularly good as the timing is the same as Kairos: “Once per battle” so you can fire it off in the enemy turn or when he is about to die, rather than just in your own hero phase. He is very cheap for the cost, but super squishy and has an abysmal melee attack. Other than that, the Battleline of the army is 2 x 30 Vulkites with Picks and Shields, plus 30 Aurics. All of these have an accompanying Runesmiter which allows them to pop up 9” away. The picks provide -1 rend, which goes to -2 or even -3 if you get lucky with the rend Rune. The Aurics are costly, but are a really good hammer or counterpunch unit. If the target is within 5” of a hero, then you can really melt it. As for Allies, I needed to take some ranged threat to threaten 5 Wound heroes or artillery. Longstrike Raptors seemed perfect and could also use Aetherwings to block charges in the enemy charge phase - invaluable vs Murderhost on Scorched Earth or Ironjawz. Hobby Much of the army was painted over a year ago for Blood & Glory’s Friday night events. Due to my worst ever bout of #CraigRolls I lost every game (even a Fyreslayer off). Back then, the army cost a fortune, so I converted a few metal slayers into Fyreslayers. They are still very characterful models. Overall the plastic models are a joy to paint. The hair looks pretty good with a thin coat of Vallejo Dwarf Skin, then Orange Fire, then wash Carroburg, then Drybrush Basic Skin, wash Seraphim Sepia, Drybrush Ivory, wash Reikland Flesh, Shade the roots Carroburg. The gun barrels use Badger Minitaire Ghost Tints wet blended. I’ve improved my skin painting as the army went along. Lots of thin glazed highlights alternating with washes. Raptors and Aetherwings are excellent kits and I was able to practise a painting scheme that I might use if I ever get round to my Raptors (coincidence) 40K army.