We'd finally reached the last round of the tournament. I was sitting on three major wins and a major loss, and was feeling confident that I could maybe jag a 4-1 end result if the match up was kind.
It wasn't.
I drew up against Wes and his Gristegore FEC (at the height of their meteoric rise to the top of the meta). Hitting FEC at this point wasn't a huge surprise, as over 10% of the field was FEC, and all were well and truly in the top half. I knew it was going to be a tough fight, but there was no point wasting any time! Load those cannons!
There weren't too many surprises in the army list, with the exception of the Chalice of Ushoran, which (if used well) can have a huge impact on a fight.
The scenario was Escalation, which was a blessing and a curse. My Magma Cannons, which would be vital to bringing down the big beasties, were stuck at the back of the board, but so were the two Ghoul Kings on Terrorgheists. Thanks to being Battleline, the two Royal Terrorgheists started on the front line. Yikes...
It should also be noted that we both played the scenario scoring from turn 1 (instead of 2). This was a mistake on both our parts, but by the time we realised, we were a full turn and a half into the game, and as we were both playing to the same scoring, we decided to just push on. Short of re-racking the entire game, we felt like that was the easiest solution, as it was still an even playing field.
My opponent handed me first turn, and I had to form a plan and stick to it. I pushed each unit of Fireglaives to just within 6" of each objective, capping all three for maximum points. Knowing that they were going to be devoured in no time at all, I left a big gap between them and the rest of my army. The idea was that Wes would have to commit to combat to get the numbers advantage with single models like Terrorgheists, and then I could push up fast bodies (hounds, Kdaai, etc) and take back the objectives without having to get into fights I didn't want to. That was the plan, anyway!
The next couple of turns showcased just how mental FEC's rules are. Making full use of the Command Ability that allows monsters to pile in twice with impunity, the Activation Wars turned into a bit of an activation massacre. The riflemen on the left objective held strong against the first round of fighting, but the second activation from the Royal Terrorgheist was too much to bear.
The centre objective was really where my undoing lay, however. The Fireglaives had died predictable swiftly, but I was poised to put a lot of damage on the GKoTG, and wipe out the Ghouls with the K'Daai to re-establish numerical dominance on the objectives.
On the left, my plan worked to sling the Warhounds in to claim back the objective, but it didn't take long for them to be nuked off the board too. Wes summoned in a Vargulf Courtier for free to park on that objective, leaving the Royal Terrorgheist to go join the brawl in the middle of the table.
And here is where my plan fell apart. That bloody Chalice of Ushoran! I didn't really pay too much attention to it, until it was at the nexus of a raging melee! Ghouls and K'Daai kept the Chalice topped up, while the Chalice and Courtier kept the Ghouls topped up in a vicous cycle of bloodshed and healing. Over the course of the game, I managed to put almost 30 wounds on Wes' general GKoTG, but being on the wrong end of a double turn meant that by the time I had an opportunity to dispel the Chalice, it was too little too late.
The melee swirled on, the K'Daai were shattered, and the Taur'ruk was bitten in half like he was a regular old not-murder cow. When fully buffed up with extra pile-ins, striking first, extra attacks and so on, that GKoTG is pretty obscene. The Skullcracker showed his worth, surviving a double pile-in on a single wound, before sawing a Royal Terrorgheist in half. The Magma Cannons finally got into range of juicy targets, and blasted the second Royal Terrorgheist into ash.
But the ploy was up. I'd left the Chalice on the board too long, and it was enough for Wes to weather the worst storm I could throw at him! The last couple of turns of the game were a matter of mopping up the survivors.
Despite the absolute carnage inflicted, I'd managed to put a pretty healthy score on the scoreboard, tagging objectives and sacrificing units for literally any scenario points, but in the end Wes managed to creep outside of the minor win bracket to claim a Major Win.
I've not played against FEC lots, but always seem to hit them in Game 5 at events. This game was prior to their minor changes in the FAQ, and it felt pretty overwhelming. I'm glad this game was with someone I knew and had a laugh with, because there were moments where it felt pretty un-interactive. Being on the receiving end of two GKoTGs piling in twice and just deleting whatever they touched wasn't the most fun I've had, but Wes and I weren't playing for sheep stations, and weren't too phased by who won.
This wrapped up my BrisVegas Open weekend sitting on 3-2 and sitting in 31st place out of 100. I was actually pretty happy with my overall standing. I would have loved to crack the top 25, but I was happy with the overall performance of the Legion of Azgorh.
While that finished up (finally!) the BrisVegas Open battle reports, I've got plenty more on the way, as I report from my games at War in the West!
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
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