Saturday 27 July 2013

Frostie the Phoenix - Hobby update

Hi All,

So hobby update.  My High Elf army has not been getting much table top time...in fact I've only run them out once since the new book. 1/2 the reason has been a lack of non-event gaming, and the other 1/2 has been a distinct lack of Phoenix's to rock on the table...until now.

I present Frostie the Phoenix (Borg designation 1 of 2):

Frostie 2 of 2 is on the painting table awaiting completion...because as great as 1 frost phoenix is, 2 is even better!

 1 of 2 uses the flame wings and tail with the frost head (just to mix it up). I've also used some of the basing ruins from the skycutter.

Other news:
In other news I've started work on a 2nd unit of "lionhelms" so I can rock some heavy calv MSU core and assembled a mounted mage JUST IN CASE I want to run a calv-star list. On the Empire front I'm going to be start painting up another 10 or so Great Swords so I can rock a proper sized tank/anvil unit.


Tuesday 23 July 2013

Post Panzer list thoughts

So...

Having fought the battles, having seen how the list performed here are my thoughts:


  1. Lore of Metal is not for me. I dont get how some people can go through tournaments and get characters every other turn with Final Transmutation. 6 games and not a single character...some games it struggled to remove 10 models...+ I dont like the high casting values of the spells.
  2. ICKS need to find a role in my lists. In a lot of games they do nothing except sink points (not a bad thing) and give me table control (the real reason I take them)...though for -20 in Swedish comp = could be better spent else where. 
  3. Captasus useful - not necessary. Saved my bacon vs the DoC by distracting the Keeper...but overall just flew around looking pretty. 
  4. Witch hunters are great for the fluff....not for the game. Nothing gets you more excited by dice rolling that poor odds with amazing outcomes. However I was disappointed that they didnt influence movement as much as I was hoping they would. Most people tended to ignore them...maybe if I paired them with Hockland longrifle spam...
  5. 1 cannon is not enough. Knew that already - nice to do as well as I did with only 1...but it did cost me points. 
  6. 28 GreatSwords is about 10 to few. They are there to grind...and 28 bodies with t3 is not much staying power.
  7. The difference between a 12 and a 13 in comp score is not much...but is A LOT in terms of power the Empire can bring.
With that in mind (and not wanting to go down the double demi/light council route - save that for serious games) I've rigged up the following:

Arch Lector "Otto": HA, GW, Dhelm, Talisman of Preservation (-10)
Lvl4: Lore of Heavens, scroll (-7-18-8)
Engineer (1WMP)
2x Warrior Priest: HA, 2HW (-5-5)
BSB: Fullplate, Ench shield, warriorbane (-3-10)
2x39 Halberds: FC (-9-9)
5 Archer detach (-1-1)
10 Archers (-2)
40 GreatSwords: FC (-23)
4 Demigryphs: M (-25)
2x cannon (-13-13 5 WMP 5 WMP)
Helblaster (-6 2 WMP 3 WMP)
2398
Comp Score = 11.8 rounds to 12.

So infantry are king here with some monster killing power. I'll be trying it out for the next Stone Falls game.

Anywho back to painting the 2 Frosties and prepping for Call to Arms in 2 weeks time. 


Monday 22 July 2013

Panzerschrek Battle write up

Hi all,

So this weekend Panzerschrek was held in my hometown Palmy using the Swedish Comp. Rule was to get between 13 and 9 on the comp system. I missed the clarification in the email chains, but apparently you could go as low as 0.5 below a score and round up. No realising this I wrote my list to be a 13.2 to guarantee the 13 comp score.

My list:

ArchLector: HA, GW, Ratslayer's Helm, Talisman of Preservation
Lvl4: Scroll, Lore of Metal
BSB: Fullplate, Enchanted Shield, Warriorbane
WarriorPriest: HA, Fencer's Blades
Witch Hunter: Brace of Pistols
Witch Hunter: Brace of Pistols
Captain: Pegasus - Ironhard hooves, Fullplate, shield, dragonhelm, dawnstone, lance
40 Halberds: Full Command
5 Archer detach
10 Archers
10 Inner Circle Knights: Musician, Standard
28 Great Swords: Full Command
4 Demigryphs: Musician
Cannon
Helblaster Volley Gun.

So a little bit different to my usual list. Notably the addition of 2 witch hunter, greatswords, and the lack of artillery...

Game 1: vs Fern Orcs and Goblins. Battleline

Fern was rocking a big goblinblock, 3 lvl2's-one on a carpet, 20 blackorcs and chaff. We deployed:
I shuffled up and cannon the mangler. Into the tower goes warboss, BSB and 60 nightgoblins. Black Orcs march on up.
I decide to give the Black Orcs some Helblaster love...
Yup...never done that before and it was awesome! However, the blackorcs charge on in, Peg flees 20 gobbos, spiderriders try to flank and front the halberds...flanker misses. Chariots go into Demis
Bye bye black orcs and all the casters, bye bye chariots (1 killed by a scattering lobba) bye bye spider riders and my army starts to close on in on the tower with the Halberds trying the get to the Squigs and handlers.
The halberds catch the squigs in the rear (failed stupidity from Final Trans or something), and I continue to hopelessly Final Transmutate the Tower fruitlessly failing to catch any characters...in fact my efforts suck my own lvl4 down the hole :(.

End result: Win 17 - 3. My Witch hunters failed to get their target...but they did kill a lvl2 shaman!

 Game 2: vs Neil Warriors of Chaos - Blood and Glory

Possibly the only time in the history of WHFB that someone has declined a TO invitation to cheese up their list some more. Neil's list came in at 16.3!

We deploy:
The classic "refused centre". Rocking Valkia meant Neil could afford to split his army and with the help of the 2 buildings completely out deploy me. All I could really do is shuffle up while my single cannon fails to wound the shaggoth
Eventually I got myself into a position where the Greatswords could go pick on the forsaken and the skullcrushers with the ICKS in tow
While the halberds and Peg pick on the other side of the table
Demis push the warshrine off the table with a flee, but have to flee themselves from a shaggoth  charge in the flank. Valkia soloed out into the ICKS to escape the Great Swords (pushed the ICKS a little too far forward).
The BSB went for the Halberds while the Peg went for the knights.
In both cases I was unlucky - the Knights held a solid losing combat, reformed to face and killed the peg, while the Halberds failed a steadfast test and were ran down :(. In more exciting news the GreatSwords got into the Forsaken while the Valkie vs ICKS became a stalemate with Valkie having to pass very nervous ldship tests to stick around...
After the Forsaken, Great Swords get into the Skullcrushers and we run out of time.

Result: lost 9 - 11. No one was broken and the battle could still have swung either way. Oh well

Game 3: vs Stu Warriors of Chaos - Battleline

Righty - 2 blocks of GW nurgle warriors, lvl4 death, disc dude, chariot, 5 doggies, and knights.

We deploy:
Basically Stu's plan here was to cramp my playstyle and hopefully walk all over me. I did a little bit of fake deployment with the Halberds and knights  to bring my line to the centre while the Demis checked the flying guy.
The Chariot was the first to come through. My artillery wasnt very hot - cannon did 2 wounds to chariot, then overshot while the hellblaster wasnt rolling the shots required to make any impact.
The Chariot finds itself in a very, very compromising position (dies) while the Knights get searing doomed and Hellblastered off the table.
The battle is now set - ineffectual magic from both of us really just delayed the proper punch up.
SO in came 1 unit with the lvl4 who found himself opposite a Witch hunter...
2 hits, 2 Killingblows....and warded boo hiss :( That would have been game to me right there- especially as the flying guy failed a charge and got caught and chased off the table by the demis. Meanwhile the grind continues - I keep pumping shots and magic into the 2nd unit, but not enough (ie 2d6 searing doom kills 2 from 3 hits...). Peg goes into the side to get some kills...but his armour fails him and is too easily and cheaply thrown away.
I pop the halberds out to divert the 2nd block away from my lines, then promply hop back in the tower haha. The grind continues...
I set up to blow the 2 unit of the board...but Helblaster misfires, magic fails to cast etc etc. I did get the lvl2 with the cannon though. I didnt want to put the Halberds in because hitting on 5's vs all that s6 was never a winning proposition for me. On the LAST turn the greatswords fall over and I give away far too many points.

Result: 9 -11 loss. That last combat phase cost me the game. I knew going in that 28 Greatswords was not going to be enough for a grind...and unfortunately I got a game where grind was exactly what I was going to have to do. Great game otherwise. I felt I was always in control of what was happening and managed the flow of the battle nicely.

Game 4: vs Papa Sam's Demons of Chaos - Dawn Attack

Great Game for a Sunday Morning. When you're too tired to think, having the deployment provided by the dice is a nice thing to have! The first turn was defined by me pulling out the scroll and the cannon failing to hit the Keeper, while his Skillcannon destroys my cannon and kills a demigryph.. Sam sets up some bait...

Which results in this:

...WHich results in this:
...which results in THIS:
ie Peg dead, and Keeper finds him or herself out of combat, takes 1 wound from 26 halblaster shots....time to waltz around to wail on the halberds then (who failed a supporting charge)
In go the Halberds and the Greatswords:
And then we get to this:
ie the hellhounds failed to kill the engineer = another 26 shots at Keeper = dead keeper and my foot sloggers show whose boss. Of course the Demons try to rectify the situation
And do a pretty good job at it (the plaguebearers kept failing longrange charges). The hellhounds find themselves unable to make contact due to the impassible terrain, so get a rear charge...but my Halberds come in to smash up the skullcannon.
FINALLY ON THE LAST TURN the plaguebearers make it in. Witchhunter on nurgle herald is a total fluff fest...but a very exciting challenge to have.

Result: 14 - 6 win. I was lucky the Plaguebearers failed to get to combat sooner...once again 28 Greatswords is an uncomfortable number to have!

Game 5: vs Peter W High Elves - Battleline.

So Peter took a 3 monster list in a comp pack that heavily comps the counters to monsters...smart man, and it was paying off. At this stage he was guaranteed 1st place...

We deploy and I move up a bit to try catch some points
My plan was to kill the General (Special character dude on super griffon) and see what happens. Long story short...3 Final Transmutations, and 2 cannon shots did not do a single wound. The rest can be explained with pics - enjoy the monster mash:
Halberds were caught in the forest from failed charge to safety. ICKS failed a swift reform turn 6 that would have got them to safety. All I killed was 1 RBT and 1 unit of Reavors to avoid the nude run.

Result: 0 - 20 loss....and I drop from 3rd to somewhere down the table. If I had killed the general then I think things would have been a little different as the target choice etc would have to be more considered - especially if I had demis running around. But good to see a chaff and smash High Elf list in action...gives me plenty of ideas and hope...

Game 6 vs Nick's Skaven - Meeting Engagement

Last game and Otto gets his fluff match up. The Rathelm he wears is there as a sign of his no-nonsense approach to tackling the ratty filth...especially when it is rocking a Verminlord! I set up second and Otto, the warriorpriest, helblaster, Halberds, and ICKS are all late for the battle...
We shuffle up...I place my Helbaster to counter the Hellpit and verminlord (hiding behind the building). Cannon explodes turn 1 as I completely forget about engineer re-roll...The Verminlord and some slaves  charge into the Demis hoo-rah!
Kill one, fail to run down and run straight into the awaiting Otto and his brave Halberds!

...with some ICKs in the flank for static Combat res, and a Warriorpriest throwing himself under the bus (fencer's blades to reduce overkill) the slaves pop, and the verminlord runs to safety :( Meanwhile the Greatswords + 2 witchhunters and BSB + peg take out the 2nd slave unit POP! and overrun into the General warlord's unit
Verminlord rallies and prepares himself for the 2nd attempt while the Greatswords kill the BSB, General and the stormvermin run (witchhunters managed 2 wounds on the target)
In other news, my detachments kill 2 gutterrunners who them flee off the board! The Hamsterwheel however finishes them off nicely + my lvl4 runs off the board with a failed rally grr. So the Stormvermin run off the board and the Greatswords set about destroying all the skaven machines of war. The Hellpit comes out for some fun...
And takes out the knights over a couple rounds of combat due to jerk move reforms to get the BSB in range
Halberds were in horde to take the HPA to the face...they almost kill it, but the game ends :(

Result: 14 -6 win. Losing the lvl4 off the board cost me a 15-5, but happy with the win given what I started with off the board and the demis taking no part in the battle other than acting as verminlord "bait".

Overall result:
So after 6 games, paintscores and sports etc I came in 5th behind Sam Whitt who did the most impressive submarining EVER on the last 2 turns. Peter Williamson picked up his well-overdue first tournament win so congrats there.

Thoughts on the event:
I thought the event was well run and in a decent location - helped by the onsite hot food stand and free coffee/tea (God send!). It would have been nice if there was an official "all info in one place" comp pack to clear up the rounding issues etc..but it didnt affect things too much. I didnt have a single game where the comp impacted on the score.

As much as I think the Swedish Comp is overly proscriptive in its approach, it was great to have a change of scenery and see different units on the board. That alone makes the comp "worth it" for the odd event...but not as a "standard' approach.

Thanks to Jeff for organising the event and I look forward to going back next year.



Wednesday 10 July 2013

The Battle of Stone Falls

Righty,

The armies met, the forces lined up and prepared to do battle. 



The forces of the dead got the first turn and stumbled up. The curses of the Ithric were too much for the Otto's Banner bearer (BSB dead). With unnatural speed the Graveguard occupied the Manor.

In return the glory seeking Knights Errant charged head first into the first unit of 100 zombies. The Winds of Magic were not kind, but there was enough for Gunther to give the Errants the ability to move twice as fast as normal. The Gunshow opened up with a fizz. Underwhelming display from the Helblasters vs no regen Crypthorrors and 2 cannons = 5 dead crypt horrors and only 1 wound on the Mortis Engine. A treb decides to blow up too :(
The Knights Errant plow into the hordes, who (through an odd 8th rule) still get a ldship 10 reform even though almost 50 died.

The banshees decided to pop out to cause mayhem. The Great Swords are not having any of it and "tactically retreat". The varghiests smash into the pegknights. 
The choir decides to sing. Even though the Errants are ldship 10, 5 are brought down. The Pegknights hold, saving the Great Swords from ruin. 

The Bret lord drinks his Potion of Foolishness and promptly fails to charge the remaining Crypthorrors. 
Gunther and his apprentice unleash their magical might on the 6 strong varghiest unit, drawing out a scroll - but not before a few are slain. The Helblasters turn their attention to the Ghouls stripping their ranks. The cannons smash into the crypthorrors, yet fall short of the Mortis Engine. 
What remains of the Ghouls charges into the first Helblaster. 1 Spirit host runs into the (detachment rule) steadfast archer detachment. Direwolves charge through the vemon thickett to begin the butchering of the Brettonian archer levy
The Graveguard kindly decide to exit the Manor so the Sisters and their swordsmen can occupy it.With more unnatural speed they move forward into a very vulnerable position...but save Ithric from Grailknights to the face. 
2 more Knights errant and the non charged Helblaster die to scream - panicking the Engineer. The Varghiests finish off the Pegknights and prepare to get charged by the GreatSwords. The Direwolves are so brutal that another unit of Bret Archers panic off the board having witnessed the needless slaughter. Helblaster is ripped apart as the ghouls continue their advance in the Engineer. 

So something has to go right, right? Otto and his bodyguard frontal charge the Graveguard while the Grailknights smash the flank. The Bret Lord and his Knights of the Rhelm also charge the Crypthorrors. Not to be outdone, the Captasus and his sidekick Bret buddy flank the OTHER 100 zombie horde.
With all the dice in the world Gunther, try as he might, could not lose control - all that training, and the undead scroll a bubble timewarp. Instead the archers, magic missiles, and a healthy sized unit of GreatSwords remove all Varghiests from the battlefield. The Graveguard are SMASHED...but not enough to remove them. Otto's ancient luck charms work as 4 KB's are warded. Ithric takes 2 wounds form the Captasus. The Crypthorrors are finally slain. 
Ghouls and doggies continue to rip through the Human backlines. 8 Graveguard get back up and the choir has a doom and darkness inspired American Idol worthy performance...
Yup...the Brets seem to have all disappeared! The knights Errant run, while the Bretlord passes his break test with insane courage...alone holding off the Ghoulking and his wrightking 2IC.

In more happy news, the Greatswords smash up the direwolves they had overrun into having dealt with the Varghiests. No ones to lose momentum the overran into the fellbats with their eyes on Father Lukas and his blasphemous cult.
Gunther has more luck this time and bubbles Timewarp resulting in the removal of the Graveguard. Try as he might (6+ warding a KBlow attempt), the BretLord loses his steel and runs. 

Seeing a bad thing when it comes, the Necromancer who had been secretly helping Father Lukas jumps from the unit. Screams, Mortis Engine (one 1 annoying wound) continues to pulse. Otto is having none of this and tactically retreats through the Manor. Seeing Otto's redeployment the Captasus and sidekick also retreat from the horde who fail to catch them..but open themselves for the charge of all charges...

The Grailknights charge in! the Sisters and their Swordsmen approach the zombie horde from the rear. Gunther sees the change and grants the Grail knights unnatural speed. Captasus and his sidekick rally in support. 1 Very brutal combat and this is the result when Timewarped Grailknights flank 90ish zombies:
In other news the Greatswords smash into Father Lukas and his cult, slaying the father, but the cultists remain troublesome. 

The Undead flank into the Grail knights to try swing the combat.
A few screams later and the Grail Knights are no more....but neither are the Cultists...so all the fluff missions achieved...

With their eyes on the prize that is Ithric, the Sisters, Captasus and his sidekick charge the zombie bodyguard. The sidekick is felled, but the sheer weight of attacks and divine guidance of Sigmar and Ithric finds himself exposed.

However, there the battle ends. The capture of Ithric a turn away, but the tide had turned long before that point. Otto and Gunther surveying the battle from beyond the manor see no signs of the Brettonian's who had arrived to help. The undead are less numerous than before...but an uncomfortable number remain along with a very battered looking machine of blasphemy. The battle may have been lost, but the war had only just begun. Otto knew that his part in this story was about to get  a whole lot more interesting...