Nico
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Game 5 vs Ricky Mee and Nagash - Battle for the Pass
Game 5 was my first against Ricky (who was a gent and a strong player) and against Nagash.
Nagash himself wasn’t too worrying as in a battle between the Slayer of Kings and Hand of Dust, the former was at a big advantage due to the latter’s short range and the Everchosen 4+ vs spells.
However Ricky won the roll off for sides and picked the side with Damned Terrain on it. His 12 Spirit Hosts were the main threat with Vanhels.
Deployment
Ricky deployed 20 Dire Wolves across the entire width of the table. One unit of 6 Spirit Hosts deployed by the Damned, while the other went into the grave.
I deployed Archaon opposite Nagash (obviously....).
Battleround 1
My DD were good this time. I picked up Sinister on Archaon for a net +3 to Battleshock tests. I nudged him forward with the Balewind Vortex.
I cast Infernal Flames hitting about 18 Dogs, but the great tide of 6s from Ricky began. I did little damage. I summoned on a Keeper on the left and 10 Pinks on the right. At this point I realised that I had used all the good wizards to cast spells already and so the Keeper had to cast Mystic Shield, which he duly failed. Disaster! Eye of Ed Sheeran was also poor. Not looking good. The Keeper pumped up Archaon with double pile in.
The Pinks failed their shooting and their charge.
Archaon went in on full derp, killing a few dogs. The Dogs chipped two wounds off ominously. Archaon attacked again and this time there were fewer 6s. I spanked a DD on the Damage from the Claw. In the event, this was key. The Battleshock roll was Crucial, with 13 dead and plus 3 to the roll, 7 were guaranteed to flee. Had they clung on, Nagash could have brought most of them back.
I scored 5 points.
Ricky was very complimentary about my first turn.
Ricky unleashed a barrage of spells and Debuffs into Archaon - taking off about 6 Wounds and debuffing him. Thankfully I unbound the reduce attacks spell.
At the end of the movement phase, Ricky reloaded by bringing on the other 6 Hosts where the first 6 had started.
Ricky forgot to take the Damned buff until some way into the movement phase. I let him take it back so he got his 5+ mortals up.
He charged in both the Spirits and Nagash. Arguably overkill (but with bad rolls he might lose the Spirits and then have me win the initiative and pop Nagash too.
He attacked with Nagash first as he might get lucky and kill Archaon. He didn’t manage it and Archaon managed to roll the one 5+ I needed to slay the Great Necbromancer. I also killed a Spirit Host. In response, the Hosts annihilated Archaon in a flurry of sixes.
Nothing but dust
Battleround 2
The double kill kept me in a strong position. I was able to win the initiative and use the Keeper and Infernal Flames to take out the 10 Skeletons on the far right, while the Pinks went into the Spirit Hosts to chaff them up. While I lacked the models to Steal the 4 points, the Blues were able to tie up both units. Ricky made clear at this point that after witnessing my turn one he had been impressed and didn’t have the mental energy to try to win it back.
Nevertheless, Ricky didn’t concede and proceeded to double turn me, clearing out the Horrors and then making it into the Marauders on the left middle and the Keeper on the right. He took out much of my army and for a while it looked like he might steal my home objective for the win, but it wasn’t to be. Major win to Archaon!
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Great seeing @Thanatos Ares on the livestream! Sounds like he got robbed by Mystical Terrain trolling his general. The game looked cinematic and great to see Slaanesh out in force.
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Game 4 vs Rob’s Sylvaneth - Duality of Derp
Unlike Heat One, when Duality wasn’t played, this time my best Battleplan came up. It combined with Sylvaneth - the classic good match up for Tzeentch.
I lost the initial roll, so I knew Rob would be going first. The downside was that my Gaunt Summoners were at risk from the Kurnoth bows.
I deployed conservatively, but lacked any line of sight blocking terrain. Destiny Dice were junk again!
Battleround 1
Rob did indeed go first and swamped the middle. His pew pew took out 1 Gaunt and nearly dropped the second. The Tree Revenants pummelled some Marauders. The Scythe Hunters failed their charge.
The TLA and Branchwraith were on the objective but couldn’t move to score.
In response, I summoned on the LoC and a Herald and 10 Pinks (walking off the Kurnoths). They proceeded to zap off the TLA (I rolled well). Archaon got his buffs off and flapped onto the left objective.
The Chicken failed its charge (as I lacked the DD). This left it at some risk from the Kurnoths.
Battleround 2
Rob won the initiative and moved his Branchwraith onto the right objective. Shooting took some wounds off the LoC. The Kurnoths moved up and rolled an 11” Charge. Rob could probably have been more aggressive and near killed the Chicken. Instead - he blended the Pinks and the Herald. The Chicken rolled poorly for its attacks in return.
Back to me and I zapped off the Branchwraith and charged into the Bow Hunters with the LoC. That was pretty much that. Rob conceded. I have him some generous kill points as he would have blended my Chicken and chaff over 5 turns.
3 Majors and a Loss. Another win and I might podium. What would game 5 bring?
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Game 3 vs Chris Lewis: Slaanesh
Game 3 is always tough at the end of the day and Knife the Heart was particularly badly timed.
My opponent (a third Chris in a row - what are the odds?) was playing Slaanesh - an interesting option. He was pushing MSU to the max with seemingly endless units of Cavalry as well as two 30 Blocks of Daemonettes and a unit of Fiends. He had a regular Keeper of Secrets.
Deployment
Noting the total lack of shooting against me, I deployed so as to give Chris turn one. I screened Archaon with 10 Maras, thinking he could dent any unit fast enough to hit my line between its first and second pile in.
Archaocam
Battleround 1
Chris sent one of his 30 Blocks Of Daemonettes along the right board edge. He didn’t advance significantly otherwise.
In response, noting it was Knife - I reckoned I had to YOLO it to an extent. I buffed up Archaon and lobbed him into the 3 relatively insignificant units in front of him. I keep most of my summoning pool back other than putting a Gaunt onto the Balewind and a screen of 10 Pinks on my left to protect the other Gaunt Summoner and chaff. The Gaunt proceeded to melt all but 8 of the 30 Daemonettes.
Archaon rolled well and smashed up Chris’s front line - I was reliant on his 2+, rerolling one’s and twos against the 30 Block of Daemonettes in a possible Chris double turn.
Chris responded by double piling in the Keeper and lobbing in the 30 Daemonettes. Knowing the damage output of the Keeper from using my own one, I was pleased when the Keeper attacked first and did mediocre damage to Archaon. In response Archaon blended 20 Daemonettes. The Keeper went in again, but Archaon shrugged off most of the damage.
Elsewhere, the Fiends outflanked the Pinks wisely and smashed into the Marauder Screen around my second Gaunt. My counterpunch was pitiful against the -1 to hit debuff of the Fiends.
Battleround 2
Chris won the initiative, his Fiends continued to blend my left flank. Meanwhile his 10 Seekers managed to roll a 12” Run on top of movement 14” and charged into 10 of the Maras guarding the Balewind.
The Keeper dented Archaon again before being torn asunder.
In response, I summoned the Chicken who started zapping the models on the home objective. I rigged his charge, but his damage was feeble against -1 to hit.
The Pinks advanced on Chris’s home objective. I retreated most of my remaining right flank from the Fiends and spread out.
Archaon moved down towards the Fiends hoping for an 8” Charge. Lacking the DD, I failed the charge.
Chris proceeded to dance his forces about making it hard for me to win the Major. It took a full five turns before the Chicken finally cleaned out the objective and Split Blues supplied the necessary 5 models.
2 Majors where quite a few players would have only gotten a Major and a Minor put me in good shape for day 2.
The evening was spent at the quiz in Bugman’s. We weren’t able to continue the run of 2nd and 3rd Place results, but had a sweet time!
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Game 2 v Chris Mills: Stormcast
Game Two was against another Chris - this time of Battleline Gaming Podcast fame and a seriously good painter, who had won best army previously.
He had the Les Martin TM build (with some Hunters for appearance sake - the army looked fantastic) of Stormcast, which suited my list. The Battleplan was Scorched Earth.
I made sure Chris knew what Archaon could do with his sword....
Answer: very little with these junk Destiny Dice:
4 sodding twos!
Before rolling these Chris plonked down the Drake on one flank on the 12” line.
I responded by putting Archaon opposite. The other flank held the 2 Fulminators and the bulk of Chris’s army.
Battleround 1
I chose to go first - I summoned on a Herald who fluffed his 3D6 cast of a 9 to leave my left flank vulnerable. I held back with just Spawn lobbed forward.
I summoned Pinks into the middle and curved them into the Judicators. They failed their charge.
I used what little DD I had to rig the charge in for Archaon and zap dead a Longstrike Raptor. Archaon largely bounced, the Drake chipped off a few wounds. Battleshock claimed another Raptor. I scored 3.
Chris elected not to retreat the Stardrake bizarrely. He healed the Drake back a few wounds. His Hunters came in and smashed a Spawn. The Herald died to Judicators.
Archaon continued to shed wounds.
Chris scored 3 and won the initiative. His Liberators made lengthy charges and smashed up my Marauders on my left. The Fulminators also surged forward menacingly. My left was faltering. The Pinks stood up well thanks to 1s for Battleshock.
In response I used the Glimpse spell to get a DD back and it was a 5. Archaon got rebuffed.
I summoned another Herald who made up for his brother’s ineptitude by zapping the Fulminstors stone cold dead.
The Pinks swarmed the Judicators and began a truly drawn out and inconclusive grind for the middle objective.
The moment of truth arose - at the fourth attempt Archaon got his two 5+ to wound (one rigged and one rolled). Chris had his two main threats destroyed in one turn.
Battleround 3
Chris won the initiative And kept going - his Liberators burnt my central and left objectives. Conversely his middle objective fell to the Horrors (so I could take it next turn).
In response, Archaon munched the two heroes on the far right objective - a close run thing - killed the second one with Vomit. This sealed the major victory for me.
Not a classic game truth be told and I get the feeling that Chris hates Tzeentch. We seemed to get on across the table.
So 1 Major and 1 Loss after two games.
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Great stuff all round!
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Here's some more commentary from me on Aetherwings:
QuoteIt's not a charge move, it occurs outside the movement phase; I'd say they can.
Agreed tentatively. I commented on this in my response to the FAQ (which were excellent overall).
This FAQ may just be reinforcing the fact that you don't have to end within 0.5 inches (or be within 12" of the enemy to do it), i.e. you don't have to satisfy the preconditions of a charge. It's a unique rule with bespoke wording and I've always understood it as not being a "normal move" - with reference to the table cited above.
It has raised some doubt in my mind however.
only charge moves and pile in's can take you within 3" of an enemy unit. I would say no.
I don't agree. These are only two ways in an open list of ways in which you can move within 3" of an enemy unit (as a wholly separate point, you can also setup within 3" of a unit, which has thankfully been clarified separately so as to reinforce the idea that setup rules are not moves). If it helps, I find that the AoS rule set works best if you start from the Warscoll, then back to the core rule set/FAQs for clarification where necessary - rather than the other way around (Shadespire is even more express about this - telling the player in terms that cards are designed to overrule the core rules by allowing you to do things that you normally can do - which is obvious really). I'd avoid starting with the core ruleset and trying to stuff the Warscroll's special rule into that box. The very nature of special rules is that they add to/flatly contradict or go outside the core ruleset. You could call perhaps this permissive or open or something else. The alternative would be to have a closed list of things you can do in the core rules and then Warscrolls only do those things in the closed list - I don't recognise AoS as being that type of game.
The Aetherwing rule is hopefully a good example of this - it's an entirely bespoke rule, which doesn't comply with any of the norms as to timing of the move or any of the other restrictions for a 2D6 move in the charge phase.
Balance wise, I find it hard to believe that they are trying to nerf Aetherwings by preventing them blocking charges. They are ok, but hardly spectacular. They are not as good as Fanatics in the key respect that they can be shot off the board before doing anything.
Edited just now by Nico -
Quote
P..s Still owe me a beer
Yep - next time we cross paths!
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Firstly - a massive thumbs up for the FAQ on Monday. The light touch approach was the best aspect of it. Sooner than I'd expected. Some great clarifications. It seems that going forward points adjustments will be the primary tool for balance changes. There was a nerf to Tzeentch (Changeling) but it wasn't excessive. The Balewind was untouched. Vanguard Wing was nerfed perhaps a tad more than necessary, but it's still an option with the 3" charge. Fyreslayers were nerfed, but not too so as to make them unuseable.
Exalted Greater Daemons are viable - great news for Slaanesh in particular - this was a make or break point for them.
Overall balance looks great, with predicted Tier One being:
- KO,
- Boneplitterz,
- Tzeentch,
- Stormcast,
- Nurgle,
- Fyreslayers,
- Khorne (inc. Cunning Deceiver Murderhost).
Some of these are reasonably hard counters to others in the top tier, but not so good vs other armies.
I suspect Legions of Nagash and Daughters of Khaine will swiftly join them and the whole Tier will need to be revisited when the dust settles.
Tier two would include:
- Freeguild,
- Ironjawz 1 drop/2 drop,
- Slaanesh
- Sylvaneth,
- Wanderers,
- Mixed Order Cities lists,
- Mixed Chaos,
- Legion of Azgorth
Tier 3 would include Dispossessed, FEC, Mixed Destruction,
Obviously some of the nice to haves from above haven't been implemented, but some of them were suggested on the assumption (very happy to be wrong) that Tzeentch would be nerfed excessively.
The only curious FAQ that stood out on a first read was in relation to Aetherwings (doesn't count as a charge move), but this raises some doubt over whether they can move within 3" with this move in the charge phase (when read in conjunction with the Table in the FAQ about different types of move). I think on balance they probably can do (in a similar way to Fanatics). I doubt that they intended to nerf these rarely seen and properly costed units. Thoughts welcome. They were hopeless for me at Angelcore incidentally (although they would now hard counter Vanguard Wing post nerf).
QuoteI personally feel the split rule is very difficult to word, I feel putting a model within 3'' inches when they split and locking things in is a huge advantage and unique in the game. Its not to be underestimated as a strategy. With a unit of 10 pinks, you can tar pit something with a 3 x 10 wound 3 combat round blocker. Nothing else has that.
It's the defining ability of Tzeentch. It has already been nerfed twice. Fanatics are equally amazing for Moonclan. It can be mitigated more easily than before by MSU shooting or lots of separate units shooting.
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Great work!
Sorry to hear about your Pneumonia! Get well soon.
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KO have 6 prebuilt sets of Allegiance abilities plus the mix and match option. None of those are used except Zilfin and very rarely Urbaz.
I totally agree that tournament list KO are boring to play and play against and the entire army is a glass Hammer.
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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.
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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!
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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).
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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.DeploymentThe 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 OneI 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 2Jack 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 OrangeBattleround 3I 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.-
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Battle Report for Game 3 vs Michael Wills and Vanguard Wing now up (above).
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1 hour ago, Salarath said:
Sadly I haven't got a ticket, I assume they've all sold out?
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.
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Cheers George. Yeah it was great meeting you! That warm up game did us both good.
You going to any of the Heats?
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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.DeploymentWith 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 OneWe 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.
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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.DeploymentIt 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 1Matt 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. #BleedMetaScore 1:1
Battleround 2Matt 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 20-0I 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.-
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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.
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Here’s the show. Enjoy! Thanks again guys!
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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
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I cast Infernal Flames hitting about 18 Dogs, but the great tide of 6s from Ricky began. I did little damage. I summoned on a Keeper on the left and 10 Pinks on the right. At this point I realised that I had used all the good wizards to cast spells already and so the Keeper had to cast Mystic Shield, which he duly failed. Disaster! Eye of Ed Sheeran was also poor. Not looking good. The Keeper pumped up Archaon with double pile in.
Archaon does a submarine at Heat 2
in NicoLab
A blog by Nico in General
Posted · Edited by Nico
Conclusion
With 4 Majors and hopefully some decent soft scores, the question was whether I could sneak third place. Gary had 4 Majors and a Minor, so it wasn’t to be. I came 4th in the end. My best result at a large event and coming swift on the heels of the 1st place at Winter Waagh with a similar list.
I was chuffed when Ben Johnson made a point of congratulating me on my soft scores, which was a nice touch! Cheers!
Congrats to @Leonardas and @Thanatos Ares who finished with big wins to make the top 20.
Nurgle look very dominant now with Martin winning with a soft variant of Dronestrike and more recently Darren Watson doing very well at SCGT and London GT. No doubt AoS 2 will shuffle the pack. The change to Mystic Shield (assuming Castellant is likewise) May mean that Nurgke’s anti-armour is actually less valuable than before. However command ability Spam will likely help Nurgle a great deal. I hope you cannot use the Harbinger buff twice in one turn.
The biggest problem I had with it was the need for Rerolls on Archaon from the Chaos Sorceror Lord, but him also costing too much.
Archaon is getting a rewrite - hopefully picking up rend -2 on his Claws and a buff/clarification to his heads. The Mystic Shield Change is bad news for him. The summoning changes kill my list, but it was fun while it lasted.