#138: Toowoomba Remote League 1000pt Tournament - Game 2 - Maggotkin Vs. Maggotkin

After a close-fought win in round one, I found myself facing off against James, another player who had made the trip up from Brisbane, and his Maggotkin.

Harbinger of Decay (General)
Horticulous Slimux
Festus the Leechlord
5 Blight Kings
5 Blight Kings
5 Blight Kings

While my army was focused solely on the daemon side of the army, James had chosen to go with the mortal elements, and was going to pose some serious problems. Blight Kings are no joke, and the Harbinger only makes my job harder. The scenario was Knife to the Heart, and I knew that it would be all but impossible to shift him off his objective, so it would come down to kill points and the minor win or loss. Having suffered from caution in Game 1, I made the decision, when presented with turn one, to go straight on the offensive.

 Leaving my two units of Plaguebearers on my own objective, confident that they would be able to, at the very least, contest my objective should something launch an assault on it. As part on my own assault, I cannonballed across the board with both the Drones and the Great Unclean One. My hope was to do as much damage as possible before the Harbinger of Decay was able to get his command ability up and give them another layer of protection from harm.

Despite my most valiant (or nefarious, depending on your perspective...) efforts, I wasn't able to kill off any units. I cut my way through a few Blight Kings, but was unable to wipe any units out with my initial alpha strike. The kings proved to be quite unpredictable, with some failing to have any impact and others triggering their blighted weapons to push through an obscene number of wounds. Thankfully, his lack of rend and my wound negations meant that retaliation was quite minor. 

In what I thought was a horrendously unfortunate turn of events, James double turned me, and piled into the chaotic melee with everyone but Festus. While the Great Unclean One only had three Kings to contend with, the Drones were beset on all sides by Kings, Slimux and the Harbinger. Three Drones were hacked down in exchange for very little damage in return. I did manage to pop a one for battleshock and return a Drone to the unit, which was a bonus, but my attack was blunted. And I needed to pull something incredible out of the bag.

Then I saw it... the path to victory. My opponent had made a single mistake. Between Horticulous and his Contagion Points, he'd planted several trees in order to create a healthy flow of summoned units, but in his haste to hamstring the unit of Drones, he had over-reached with his army, leaving only Festus guarding his objective.

At the bottom of turn two, I retreated with the Drones, flying over the heads of Slimux and the Harbinger, and used my command point from that turn to ensure I ran 6". This got all four Drones within 6" of the objective, but out of combat. With only Festus to contest the objective, I claimed it with ease.

The third battle round began, and as I was holding both objectives, I immediately won a major victory.

This was a bit of a cheeky win, and I don't think my opponent or I really expected it to only go to turn three. Both of us were kind of expecting it to come down to kill points, but even then, the combat was an absolute grind! Both armies were shrugging off damage, and the Wheel was busy healing every Nurgle unit on the table! I'd managed to get two units of Blight Kings down to a single, wounded model each, but didn't get a chance to finish them off, as the game ends immediately when victory conditions are met. I think if James had summoned Plaguebearers over Gnarlmaws, this game would have been a very different story, because he could have stacked numerous, high-quality bodies onto that objective, while keeping pressure on the front line. As it was, I managed to pull off a crafty play that ended up paying off!

 I was stoked to land another major win, but with not a single unit being destroyed from either player's army, it had left me in a difficult place, as I'd have to pull something special out for Game 3 to catch all the other players on two major wins and tons of victory points.

And when the Game 3 draw was announced, I was facing Daughters of Khaine...

This would put my army to the test.

Until next time, thanks for reading,
Gabriel

#91: Tournament Preparation - Brisbane City GT

With BCGT fast approaching, and being an event that the Rune Axe is pretty involved in, I thought it would be a good idea to run through my list and show you what I'm planning on putting on the table. I'm not usually one to keep my list a secret; some people like to play their cards close to their chest leading into tournaments, and that's totally ok. But I've been sitting on this list, and its burning a hole in my head to share with you! So, let's not waste anymore time…

Having my Bloodbound fully painted, and various Khorne Daemon units in different stages of completion, it was an easy choice. I was comfortable with the army and how it plays, I know the triggers and mechanics and I know what it can and can't do on the table.

Not only that, but in the clamour and chaos of packing and moving house, its one of the few armies that isn't packed away in a box. So here it is.

2000 Points
Blades of Khorne Allegiance

Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (General)
Command Ability: Slaughterborn (Re-roll To Hit in combat)
Artefact: The Crimson Crown (6" bubble of "every 6 to hit generates an extra attack for Khorne Daemons)

Bloodstoker
Artefact: Talisman of Burning Blood (8" bubble of +1" to Runs and Charges)

Gore Pilgrims (Warscroll Battalion)

Bloodsecrator
Artefact: The Brazen Rune (2+ save against wounds or mortal wounds caused by spells, can be destroyed to auto-unbind a spell on the battlefield)

Slaughterpriest
Prayer: Bronzed Flesh (+1 to save)

Slaughterpriest
Prayer: Killing Frenzy (+1 to Hit)

10 Blood Warriors

10 Blood Warriors

10 Blood Reavers

10 Blood Reavers

Murderhost (Warscroll Battalion)

Skullmaster, Herald of Khorne

30 Bloodletters

10 Bloodletters

10 Bloodletters

There you have it. That is exactly 2000 points, and I've managed to fit a TON of bodies into the army. Thanks to Gore Pilgrims and Murderhost (how could you look past these two criminally good formations), I not only get three artefacts from the juicy list of murder-tools, but it brings my army to four deployment drops. This means that unless I'm facing an extremely low drop (or even one-drop) armies, I'll be getting first turn. And this is where things get violent.

You've probably already worked out the "big play" of this army. Despite the distinct absence of Sayl the Faithless (I really didn't want to break Allegiance), the army slingshots the 30-strong Bloodletter unit into the biggest, scariest threat in my opponent's army and kicks it in the balls, causing as much damage as possible before its inevitable demise. So, how do I do that without Sayl? Let's break it down.

The Murderhost is the first piece of the puzzle. After deployment, but before turn one, all units from the Murderhost within 8" of the Skullmaster (including the Skullmaster himself) can move 2d6. This on its own is a huge tactical tool. It lets my assault army get up the board faster, as well as allowing me to push up onto objectives before the game even really begins. But, for now, lets focus on my Letter Bomb. 30 Bloodletters are now 2D6" closer to the enemy. Next, my Bloodstoker whips them into a frenzy, adding 3" to both their run and their charge distance. By doubling down on the ability, the Talisman of Burning Blood adds an additional 1" to Run and potentially the charge as well.

The final piece of the puzzle is the Bloodthirster. His command ability not only adds ANOTHER 1" to both the run and charge rolls of a selected unit, but (and this is the golden goose) also allows that unit to Run and Charge in the same turn.

All of a sudden, that 30-man Bloodletter unit is Murderhosting 2D6", moving 5", running 5+D6" and charging 4-5+2D6". Minimum threat range is 19" (with ALL the 1's), and a potential threat range of 45". Turn one charges are going to be a very common occurrence with this unit!

Then, to add to the brutality, they will typically be in range of the 30" Portal of Skulls thanks to Gore Pilgrims, as well as possibly the blessing of Killing Frenzy for +1 to Hit, bring that Mortal Wound trigger down to a 4+!!

This is, of course, all based on my four drops securing me first turn. This will not always happen, and in that case, my opponent is going to be forced to deal with the Bloodletters in their droves, or risk copping some serious damage. Pretty confident, aren't I. But you know the saying…

Something about "best laid plans" and "surviving contact with the enemy"?

In a perfect world, this army operates on a brutal level, with Blood Warriors, Letters and a flippin' Bloodthirster forming a second wave of murderous aggression to back up the Letter Bomb. In the real world, I'm aware that my opponent is going to do everything in his or her power to stop me doing what I want to do. And while, my army has a lot of buffs, synergies and redundancies, it is far from unbeatable.

I think the match ups I will really struggle with are armies with long-range, high quality damage output. Skyfires, Kurnoth Hunters, Longstrike Raptors and Warp Lightning Cannons (to name a few) will all give me serious heartache with their ability to delete key components to my combos with horrifying ease. This was evident in a practice game I played against Waystone Pathfinders, where a two-drop army got the jump on me and obliterated my Thirster before he could scratch, essentially crippling my main combo. Gnarlroot Wargrove (while thankfully being very rare in my local scene) will cause absolute mayhem with their single drop.

On the other side of the coin, I think there are a few scenarios that play heavily into my favour. Three Places of Power is a great scenario for me, as 5 of my 6 Heroes are very mobile and vary in tenacity. Priests have a whopping six wounds each, and the Skullmaster is no push over either.

The other thing I love about this list is just how many models I'm putting on the table! I'm also very at peace with the fact that every single element in my army is totally and completely expendable and disposable for the sake of the scenario.

It's been a few weeks since I've played Sigmar, but I'm really looking forward to this event. My goal for the day is to finish in the top half of the player pool, which I think is achievable if I use my head and don't get too into the spirit of the army (CHARGE!).

What are you running? If you're in Brisbane, I encourage you to come along to BCGT!

Thanks for reading,
Gabe