I started off 2012 with a Fantasy tournament this month. My first ever since 8th edition and with just a few games under my belt and went with the expectation that I was not going to do well but wanted to get both the experience and practice in for the game.
In attendance we had 9 players in total, which was a terrible thing as someone was always going to get a bi every round instead of being able to play. Nothing sucks more than having to sit around for 2+ hours and watch other people play. We had a mix of aggressive tournament and passive tournament players in almost equal portions.
The army breakdown looked like this:
1 Tomb King
1 Vampire Count
2 Skaven
1 Bret
1 Lizardman
1 Orc and Goblin
1 Ogre
1 Warriors of Chaos
My List was like this:
The Undying Legions of Bubba Hotep
280pts Liche High Priest (Hierophant) Ramtep
Lore of Nehekhara, Earthing Rod, Lv4, Talisman of Preservation
265pts Liche High Priest Setta
Lore of Death, Lv 4, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Endurance
208pts Tomb Prince Bubba Hotep
Ironcruse Icon, Armor of Fortune, Biting Blade, Shield, Chariot
194pts Tomb Herald Harolda
Light Armor, Great Weapon,
Battle Standard Bearer, Standard of the Undying Legion, Chariot (55)
136pts Archers x21
Musician
130pts Archers x20
Musician
375pts Chariots x6
Full Command, Banner of Swiftness (15)
85pts Tomb Scorpion
85pts Tomb Scorpion (Spider)
310pts Ushabti x6
Ancient
120pts Screaming Skull Catapult
Skulls of the Foe
135pts Casket of Souls
175pts Colossus
Extra Weapon
Round 1 vs. Chaos Warriors
My first draw was against Lance with his Warriors of Chaos. This was perhaps one of the worst pairings I could expect. His army was solid and the mission was very slanted towards his list. Lance was a good opponent and we had an excellent game.
His list was roughly:
1 Character in each unit including Festus, a Tzeench Warrior and X
3 blocks of 20 Chaos Warriors (Tzeench, Nurgle and Khorne)
1 Large block of Marauders
2 War Shrines with the Mark of Slaanesh
2 Units of 5 hounds.
Lance won deployment and we were playing “Blood and Glory”. Our Breaking point is 3 and I only had 4 Fortitude. Lance had I think had 5 or so. 3 for the Units and 2 for the General, not sure if the War Shrines counted.
This game could be summed up like this: I had two very bad magic phases and a second turn failed charge with my chariots set the tone for game of a downhill slide. The Nurgle unit locked my Chariots and slowly ground them down. The Khorne unit piled into my right flank and creamed the Ushabti, Colossus and the Catapult. On the last turn the Tzeench unit was slowly grinding me down there.
If the magic phase went better I would have had a chance perhaps, that and the charge. I feel that the game would have changed to a different tune.
Due to the nature the scenario Lance did not table me, granted he came close and earned 17 out of 20 points. We got a few bonus points and moved on to the next round.
Lance, Chaos General
Warriors of Khorne sweep past the Bone Giant.
A failed charge by the chariots allows the Warriors of Nurlge to charge!
The fight on the left flank.
Near the end.
Round 2 vs. Skaven
This match was against Richard and his Skaven playing the “Dawn Attack” scenario. Richard has been a long time Fantasy player and a great guy to play against.
His list was a mix of large blocks of Skaven (one Stormvermin and Clanrats/slaves), several characters, a Plague Furnace with a large unit of Plague Monks, a warp lighting cannon, two small units of giant rats, three units of Gutter Runners with slings (two flanked) and Hell Pit Abomination
Richard won the dice toss and picked his table side. Most of his deployment rolls placed him in the center. Mine came up about the same way.
Again, the first early part of the game was a series of bad magic phases and no opportunity for a good charge with the chariots or Ushabti. On Richard’s first turn he nailed my Tomb Prince with the Warp Lighting Cannon, failed the “look out sir” and poof! The Giant charged and was mauled by the Plague Monk unit. The X mauled the Ushabti, chariots and destroyed the archer unit with the Hierophant as well. By the end of the game I had a catapult left and nothing else. I was pretty much tabled again by intimidating hordes of rats; I did manage to deal some damage to a few blocks of units with the Storm of Skulls which was the claim of fame for me and the Catapult hitting the furnace dead on inflicting a few wounds on it.
What went wrong here was again the magic phase failed me for two turns, only later in the game did it help but by then it was too late. I also lacked any major bulk force to hurt his blocks of troops in the end.
Richard, that rat bastard general.
Skaven Deploy
Skaven Advance
Plague Monks vs Bone Giant
NOM NOM NOM NOM
Suprised by a Desert Spider (aka a Tomb Scorpion)
Round 3 vs. Ogres
The last match was against Bob and his Ogres, Bob is a long time player and one of the most laid back players that I have met. I really enjoyed this game with him and the outcome was a pleasant surprise with a draw. We had the “
Battle for the Pass” scenario that made for an interesting game.
Bob’s list was something like this. Fire-eater, Butcher, BSB Bruiser, Leader. He had about three large units of Ogres (some was Ironguts), a large Leadbealcher unit (6-8), Sabrecats, Thundertusk with Hunter with harpoon gun, 2 small gnoblar units, and the Iron Blaster.
Again this was a quick sum of the game and mostly got interesting on turn 5 and 6 when the Ogres was close enough to charge. My Ushabti managed to win a fight and chased after the Leadbealchers. The Giant named “Teabag” long ago wrecked an Ogre unit with the General in it, and then wiped out a Gnoblar unit. The large beastie was shot down between magic, archer fire and a catapult shot. The Fire-eater unit with the BSB also took several hits and was wiped out to just the BSB standing with 1 wound left. Of course my magic phases was slightly better but still below what I had hoped they would be.
When we did a tally it came up a draw with full bonus points for Bob and one short for me.
Bob, the Ogre Slaughtermaster!
Deployment
Shot of his Fire Eater.
Da Boss!
The battle unfolds!
Teabag (aka the Bone Giant) flanks the Ogres and plows through them!
Ushabti battle it out against the Leadbealchers!
Lessons Learned:
1) Don’t rely on magic to win a game for you. I needed larger blocks of units and stronger choices to help win.
2) Never forget you have a Banner of the Undying Legion! Several times I forgot this bound spell to cast. This would have kept the Chariots alive a bit longer perhaps. I think I may make some magic cards of my own for magic items as a reminder. Nothing fancy just something printed on an index card with an image and information on a sticker that is on it.
