#4: Tiny Hammer Game 2 - Boom Hur Hur Hur

Off the back of a solid win in round one, and my army not collapsing completely under the pressure, I found myself climbing to Table 3. I was sitting just shy of the main, brutally competitive leader pack, and was looking to seize the opportunity to springboard myself into podium contention. My opponent, of course, shared my goals. 

I was facing down against Ogre Kingdoms, an army that I have had a bit of experience against, so I was quietly confident in winning. Now I honestly couldn't tell you why. Perhaps it was some bravado carrying over from my first game, or perhaps just completely unwarrented confidence in my army. Regardless, my confidence was misplaced. 

When my opponent deployed, I was pleasantly surprised. Firstly the army was fully painted, which always makes for an enjoyable game, despite the outcome. Secondly, there was a distinct lack of Ironguts and Ironblasters, two units that seem to be the bread and black-powder infused butter of every ogre army ever.

On his far left, a single sabre tusk sat behind a large wall that dominated that side of the board. Four Leadbelchers lurked ominously, while a Firebelly and his Bulls held the centre. He deployed three converted Man-eaters, picking poisoned attacks and Swiftstride, opting against Stubborn, which was a surprise. I think that I wrote these guys off as not being as scary for the lack of stubborn, forgetting that stubborn only matters if these mercenary killing machines lose combat. Two mournfang held down the right side of the board, and had my complete attention. My deployment was very similar to game one, operating on the concept, if it ain't broke...

I rolled up Spirit Leech and Caress of Laniph, and was very satisfied with these spells. Against other low-leadership armies, Spirit Leech can be game changing when pushed through on an unfortunate general. And after taking time to explain how lethal Slugtongue's curse was, it did a single wound to an Ogre bull. I was hoping for a dead sabre tusk, maybe even a cheeky panic check, but no luck. The scenario placed three objectives on the centre line of the board, where control of them would grant an extra 150 victory points. In this game, where where two fast, combat armies would clash in the middle of the board, those bonus VP's would swing towards whoever could drive over the top of their enemies. I planned that on being me. 

Ogres began the game by making a series of aggressive advances, making their presence known. The Bulls parked themselves on the hill in the centre of the board, and the Firebelly unleashed a boosted fireball that was beyond my dispelling abilities. My left unit of trolls suffered four wounds, being deprived of their precious regeneration saves. His Leadbelchers gave me a taste of what was to come by blasted the hounds before them to pieces. Acceptable losses, I thought. 

My first turn was largely uneventful. I moved up, opting not to charge, as the only easy charges were not ideal and I honestly didn't like my odds. I think this moment was my undoing. By pushing forward without being aggressive, I had given my opponent control. He could pick his charges and was very, very likely to get them. I made a few attempts to redirect, but with no conviction or plan. But I ponder on past mistakes. Onward!

The magic phase was not a negative experience, reign of chaos stripping two wounds off an unfortunate Man Eater, while Caress of Laniph removed one of the Firebelly's horrendously abundant wounds. With no shooting to speak of, I braced myself for impact. 

Being handed a golden opportunity to dish out that glorious, impact-hitty death, my opponent charged his slightly damaged Man Eaters headlong into my right trolls, easily defeating them and over-running dangerously close to my Gor unit. My trolls who had pushed up to block the Bulls were met with a fireball that completely wiped them out. Meanwhile the Leadbelchers, still grinning from disintegrating five dogs with a short-ranged wall of shrapnel, decided that they enjoyed it so much that they might tear a Razorgor apart with firepower bordering on the obscene. The flank had collapsed entirely, and with four oversized gun nuts smelling blood, I couldn't see myself reclaiming it anytime soon. 

At this point of the game, I realised I was in a real pickle. The Leadbelchers had completely crushed a flank almost single-handedly. If I was going to pull out a win from this, I would have to bring my A-game.

Fortune favours the brave, as they say, so with the threat of a flank charge from some very cranky Man Eaters, I decided I'd rather charge the Bulls on the hill than to them charge me (down a hill) with their impact hits (which hurt Gors a lot). I should have expected bad things when I failed my Primal Fury, missing out on those precious re-rolls, and from memory, maybe I did a wound or two but nothing significant. The Firebelly, being rather peeved from an early wound, unleashed his breath weapon, killing six before he and his regiment started swinging their oversized machetes. My Gor champ was cut down in a challenge, and after the dust settled, twelve Gors lay dead, which was enough to make them turn tail and run. Not really the result I was hoping for...

My opponents next moves were calculated and deliberate. His Bulls charged my Gors, catching and killing all of them, including my general. His mournfang, who had spent the entire game trying to dodge some pesky hounds, finally charged and overran off the table. With only a chariot and a Razorgor left on the table, strewn with dead Beastmen, I did the only thing left to do, charging both models into his Man Eaters, trying to claim some final, much needed VP's. Both man eaters fell to the onslaught. 

The Firebelly unsuccessfully tried to fireball my chariot, not reaching the casting value, but the Leadbelchers continued their blood-soaked rampage, anhialating my final Razorgor. The game ended when I charged the chariot into his Bulls, and managing to kill two of the brutes before being cut down. 

Well, a 20-0 loss... I could go on  with excuses about deployment or my mistakes in the game, but at the end of the day, I was beaten fair and square. I could not fault my opponent on a convincing win. He made no tactical errors, and used his units efficiently and effectively, gauging when to strike and doing so with force when he did. A great sportsman and an enjoyable game however, despite the utter carnage unleashed upon my army. Those Leadbelchers...

Game three and four along with a post tournament wrap up will be up in the next few days, home renovations allowing!

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel 

#3: Tiny Hammer Game 1 - Tragic Happenings of the Elven Variety

Well, my dear reader, game one of the tournament was finally upon me. 

The round one draw was random and I ended up playing a fellow using an Elves of the End Times list, rolling all three books into one big, terrifying mess. Elves are better at a lot of things than me; magic, shooting, wearing armour (or clothes at all for that matter), but I had two aspects of the game that the Beastmen had the upper hand. Soaking up casualties and not running away thanks to Mark of Slannesh or immune to psych almost army-wide. The scenario dictated that each player could place an objective marker in his deployment zone, and whoever controlled more than his enemy at the end of the game gained an extra 150 Victory Points.

From left to right, my opponent deployed an eagle claw bolt thrower guarded by five Cold One Knights. Beside them, 16 glade guard with (surprise...) true flight arrows were accompanied by a level one Death Spellsinger with a scroll. It should be said here that my opponent and I both forgot he even had a scroll, and it never came into play. The black unit in the centre was 15 Executioners, and on the right flank, five warlocks prepared to unleash some magical carnage. The executioners had me concerned, but hilariously enough, his warlocks would get no ward save against my conveniently marked units! His wizard on the hill rolled up spirit leech, which didn't worry me too much. Its short range combined with his alternative casters in the warlocks meant that he would not be doing any heavy lifting in the magic phase. His objective marker can just be seen beside his bolt thrower in the picture; an objective I was confident in seizing out of his delicate, lifeless little hands.

I discovered about now that I had a distinct advantage in the deployment phase. Most of my opponents were finished deploying long before I had placed the last of my cheap, expendable units (and if there is one thing Beastmen do incredibly well, it's cheap, expendable units). My deployment was what you might call a "classic" battle line, with my main block in the centre, trolls either side to mitigate the effects of stupidity, and my fastest elements on my flanks. Mr Sluggington rolled up Fate of Bjuna and Spirit Leech. Not my favourite spells, but oh well. My objective was tucked behind the hill on my left, safely out of sight of his rather concerning fire base on the hill.  His curse did very little, killing three glade guard and a single executioner. 

I won first turn, and boy, did my army seize the chance to impress. My right-hand trolls got distracted by a particularly interesting beetle, and stumbled forward a few inches. The rest of my force pushed forward to close the distance quickly, with the exception of my far right Razorgor, who decided the best use of his fur-covered butt was to be parked on top of my objective in case things went south. My hounds, with the help of their vanguard move, drove forward to redirect his executioners and warlocks, knowing full well that they would die a horrible death. My magic phase was brutal. And I mean, "game changing" brutal.

Thanks to Reign of Chaos, seven plague bearers burst into reality, managing to squeeze into a vacant lot behind the bolt thrower, throwing my opponents fire base into disarray. To make things worse, Slugtongue cast Summon Infernal Legions to materialise a Burning Chariot of Tzeentch staring directly at his Executioners. Slugtongue had overextended himself, though, forgetting the spell, losing a wizard level, and draining the power pool dry. The burning chariot overshot it's mark, only toasting 4 executioners, and he easily passed his panic check. 

With my opening gambit revealed, my opponent reacted quickly and powerfully. His executioners slaughtered the hounds in a blink, while his Cold One Knights banished the Burning Chariot back into the veil with devastating ease, overrunning into three unsuspecting trolls. The Doomfires unleashed a doombolt at my Gors, killing three and detonating a warlock with the magical backlash. The Glade Guard, desperate to protect their objective, reformed and unleashed a volley into the newly appeared Plaguebearers, only killing two.

Turn two began with a cheeky flank charge on his warlocks with my hounds, hoping to get lucky and break them, or at the very least hold them in place for someone else to do the job. Yes, I'm looking at you, dopey trolls... The Plaguebearers made the obvious charge, barreling into his bolt thrower, only managing to kill one of the crew, who held their nerve. My magic was non-existent after last turn's lightshow, both Death spells being stopped or failing to reach casting value.

My hounds did no damage, and took a wound for their troubles, ending in a draw. The Knights slew a troll and put two wounds on another. In return, the trolls power-barfed two knights to death, before deciding that it was not worth their time and running. Deciding against chasing them down, the Knights turned to face my Gors.

With my Plaguebearers being locked in combat, the Glade guard looked elsewhere for a viable target, choosing the slightly aggressive Razorgor racing up the hill toward them. Spirit Leech stripped a wound off him, and for all their efforts, the elf archers could only take one more. The big, angry werewolf was severely wounded but not dead, and certainly not in the mood to use his words to resolve their differences. Then it happened; that pivotal moment in the game where events swung one way and swung hard. My Plaguebearers killed the last crewman of the bolt thrower, removing it as a long ranged threat in the game. To make things worse, dear reader, the Glade Guard, along with the Spellsinger General, saw what bloody fate had befallen their friend, soiled their dresses and fled the table. In one swift blow, I had wiped out my opponent's ranged support, removed his general, weakened his magic phase and I now had a unit parked securely on his objective with no one to challenge them. And to top it off, elsewhere on the battlefield, his Knights and Executioners charged into my Gors, and failed to break me. That's not to say he didn't kill a lot (because he killed a LOT!) but I was steadfast, and despite my unit champion getting himself killed in a challenge, there was still enough tenacity in the unit to hold things together!

To close the game out, my chariot managed to get a sneaky charge around the hill into the flank of of his preoccupied Knights, smashing them to oblivion. The executioners died to a man, but not before the champion introduced poor Slugtongue to a lifestyle choice called "not being alive anymore". My right unit of trolls, having spent the entirety of the game laughing at butterflies, where brought back to reality when they received a charge from crazy half-naked horsemen with self control issues. A few warlocks were punched from their saddles, but in the end, being without the recently-made-headless Slugtongue nearby for emotional support, leadership three let them down and they were run down. 

With the battlefield all but cleared, the last few turns were spent trying to catch a single, elusive warlock, who raced around the battlefield out of charge arcs of my limited surviving units, blasting my Gors with doombolt. Without magic defence, I could do little to stop him, and he killed my Gors to the man, claiming a huge chunk of victory points in the dying moments of the game. However, I walked away with a 14-6 win, my Beastmen having slaughtered their way through the elven host (with a little help from Nurgle) and holding both objectives, which pushed me up to table three. I was already noticing some significant weaknesses in my list, primarily Stupidity, but I was happy with my first game and had been pushed up to Table three for the first ranked match of the day. Onwards and upwards, my unruly rabble of forest critters!

Keep checking in for the next three games! I would love to hear if you like this format of battle reports, or if I can improve them in any way for you, the reader. Let me know at www.facebook.com/theruneaxewargaming 

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel 

#2: If you have any poo, fling it now!

In pursuit of one of my goals for the year, I prepare for my first tournament in '15; a one thousand point comped tournament designed to introduce new gamers into the tournament scene. For that reason, a lot of the more experienced gamers are guided towards writing less competitive lists, and rightly so for the purpose of this particular event. 

Now by the time you read this, the tournament will be over. For all the difference it would make, I decided not to advertise my list or my tactics until afterwards, and it has been a true test of my patience to restrain from doing so. But it is that time of the week again, and it seemed only fitting to show you both my list and my army. So here goes...

Army lists for this tournament didn't follow a strict guide or scoring system. It was simply a yes or no to each list by the Tournament Organiser. This is tricky to gauge as it's sometimes hard to tell what you can and can't get away with. This was made clear after my first three list submissions (two for warriors of chaos and one for skaven, to be precise) were turned down. Now, to be fair, they were strong lists, but by no means optimised. 

Ok, maybe one of the Chaos lists was pretty crazy...

And maybe, just maybe, the Skaven one got a tad out of control...

This is a problem.

So in light of my three denials, and with a determination to run a force that can crush all before it, deal with all threats opposing it and to secure convincing wins, I turned to the army I knew could handle business. Then, instead of taking that army, I took Beastmen. 

Despite the army book being widely considered to be terrible, I look at it from the perspective of "playing warhammer with difficulty cranked up past Hell Mode". They are definitely a tricky army to use. Discipline, armour and personal hygiene are all foreign concepts to these feral, half-naked, half-deranged mutant forest critters who all seem to have pretty significant anger management problems. Their overall leadership is pretty abysmal, and if there are two things Beastmen do well, it's running away and dying. So why would I put myself through the horrendous ordeal of playing a whole tournament with such a bad army. My reasons are as follows.

1: My Beastmen are painted.

2: My Beastmen are fun to play, and this is a game after all.

2: My Beastmen are something of a challenge to play.

4: There is not much more satisfying in this game of ours than winning a game with Beastmen, because you know you've had to use every trick and tactic to get the upper hand. 

So here is my list.

Slug tongue (General)

27 Gors with Mark of Slannesh, full command, and additional hand weapons

5 war hounds with vanguard

5 war hounds with vanguard

Chaos chariot of Slannesh (using my converted tuskgor chariot model)

2 Razorgors of Slannesh (using converted werewolf models)

3 chaos trolls with additional hand weapons (using minotaurs as proxy)

3 chaos trolls with additional hand weapons (using minotaurs as proxy) 

You may notice I've opted to use the Glottkin list, not to run disgusting units of disgusting power, but to fill some significant holes in the Beastman list. Small things like being able to take vanguard on hounds can make a difference to the game, but the biggest game changer that Glottkin gave me was marks. I can finally make my army immune to panic for a single point per model. Sold. 

I also wanted to try trolls out. I've seen them used well and used poorly, but have never used them myself. They are a two edged sword in this list however, as they have stupidity, I have a generals leadership bubble of a measly 8, and there is a distinct lack of a battle standard bearer (only 25% lords and heroes allowed). It's quite likely they could spend all four games stumbling about in a forest investigating a wart on their elbow that they've never noticed before. I do have plans for some chaotic trickery by using the "Summon Infernal Legion" boosted to its second stage to summon a level one Herald of Nurgle with a battle standard on turn one, to bypass this dilemma, but as is always the way with the magic phase, nothing can be relied on.

The X-factor in this list comes in my character, Slugtongue, a hidden gem in the Beastmen book, and literally the only named character worth his points. To put it in perspective, I can take a 200pt Ungor named character that has a 12" stupidity bubble. That affects friendly units as well as enemies...In a list with notoriously low leadership... And that's his (and I use the most exaggerated inverted commas) "draw card". Just horrendous. But I digress. Slugtongue. 

At first glance, this guy looks like an overpriced level two death wizard. Regeneration is good, but not "80 points extra" good. Poison attacks are nice but combat bonuses for a squishy wizard? Pass. 

Then your eyes scan over a rule called Curse of the Famine Fiend. Take a breath and sit down for a moment. This aura of super-pre-game death is hilarious. Unreliable, and it doesn't always fire, but when it does!! When it does!! After deployment but before vanguards, enemy units within 36" of Sluggo must roll a dice. 1-3 does nothing. 4-5 causes d3 wounds on that unit which ignore armour. On a 6, it suffers d6 wounds, no armour. And there is nothing your opponent can do to stop it! Chaos Knights getting you down? War machines causing you problems? A character running around by himself? Send in the walking virus bomb, and watch him work his magic. Some armies will shrug it off or it will fail to impact past a couple of wounds off the back of regiments, but I have used him in a Blood and Glory game to take second place at a tournament, when Sluggo's curse killed a demon prince worth two fortitude, essentially winning the game before the game had even started. 

Some people don't rate him, but I do. And my regular gaming friends have a healthy and deep-seated dislike for the guy. This Sunday will tell whether he was a good choice. 

I'll be trying out Battle Reports this weekend too, and hopefully some great gaming moments come out of it. 

Well, it is getting far too late of an evening, and I am in dire need of sleep, so thanks for reading and I look forward to posting soon!

Thanks for reading

Gabriel 

If you enjoy this blog and would like to keep up to date, head to www.facebook.com/theruneaxewargaming for new posts weekly.

 

#1: The Magnificent Host Stage One

Well, I've been toying with the idea of a hobby/war gaming  blog for a while, and I guess it has to start somewhere. So to launch it, I thought I'd open with my hobby and gaming goals for 2015 in true, sappy New Years resolution style!

Goal #1: Paint 5000+ points of Warriors of Chaos

Goal #2: Occupy a podium position at two or more tournaments.

Goal #3: Paint an army, competitive or otherwise, up to 2400 points.

Placing in tournaments is something that I like to do, but rarely achieve (something that could easily be attributed to my 2014 tournament army being Beastmen). I'm not a fan of being "that guy" at tournaments but would love to be a bit more of a threat in that setting. 

Goal 3 is purely a labour of love, as it is incredibly satisfying to deploy a fully painted army, even more so if your opponent does the same! 

And the big one. Painting five thousand or more points of warriors of chaos. It's actually a lot more achievable than it sounds with an army like warriors, where two models can quite easily sink 800 points! And I have to admit before I continue that I have already painted about 1200 points worth! Cheating? Maybe. But I'm counting it. Because Chaos. 

As you can see, I've gone for a Slannesh themed army for several reasons. The first being it's something different; it's by far the least popular of the four chaos factions, both in colour scheme and in tabletop use. This is for fair reason, as the three other factions it competes with tend to have a bigger impact on the game. It's not that a Slannesh army is bad. It's just that a Nurgle army, for example, is widely considered to be better. But coming from a Beastman player, being immune to panic is like Christmas! I'll definitely be including elements from those other factions, but will keep the theme of Sigvald's Magnificent Host at its core.

I'm also not intending it to be a hugely competitive army, and instead focusing more on units I think are cool. You can see in the photo, that I've used Fenrisian Wolves as chaos war hounds (even Sigvald's dogs are better looking than everyone else's) and Converted Thunderwolf Cavalry/chaos Knights in lieu of Skullcrushers. These are just small inclusions I hope will add character to the army as a whole. 

And I can here you, the reader, muttering "steering away from power gaming, my foot. Crushers in a Slannesh army?" Rest assured that I am still including units of significant strength in the grand plan, using the pink and blue colour scheme to tie the army together! And alas, despite a terrifying reputation, my "wolf crushers" have had a notoriously pathetic on-table career. All the 1's!

This army is going to get big! The motivation behind painting such large forces is to eventually play some seriously large games. I'm talking in the 10,000+ points ball park! 

And to close out this post, which has ended up being twice as long as I first intended, if you, the loyal reader, have a painted army that you'd like me to showcase here or throw down against in a battle report, I'd love you to get in touch!

 

Thanks for reading!

Gabriel