#143: The Rune Axe Team Championship 2018 Players Pack

THE RUNE AXE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

PLAYERS PACK V1.1

EVENT DETAILS:

Date: The Rune Axe Team Championship will be held on the 3^rd and 4^th of November 2018

Where: The Waterford Room, Fitzy’s, Loganholme (Cnr Bryants Rd and M1 Pacific Motorway)

The venue has a restaurant and a bar, for all your food and drink needs. There will also be hot food table service during Rounds.

We are guests at the venue, so please act and dress appropriately.

Timetable:

Saturday

9am - 9:15am – Player Registration

9:15am – 12pm – Round One

12pm – 12:45pm – Lunch

12:45pm – 3:15pm – Round Two

3:15pm – 3:30pm – Break

3:30pm – 6pm – Round Three

6pm – 6:15pm – Army display set up

6:15pm – 7:30pm – Dinner

7:30pm – 8pm – Painting competition and army nominations

Sunday

9am – 11:45am – Round Four

11:45am – 12:30pm – Lunch

12:30pm – 3pm – Round Five

3pm – 3:30pm – Final scoring and pack up

3:30pm – Prize Ceremony

WHAT TO BRING:

·         Your army

·         A sufficient amount of dice for your army

·         Tape measure

·         Any Battletome, literature or FAQ relevant to your army

·         A copy of the General’s Handbook 2018

·         A copy of your army list

·         Pen

·         3 Objective Markers

·         3 Pieces of Terrain

A Note on Terrain: If you’re travelling to the event from outside south-east Queensland, and transporting terrain will be problematic, please get in touch. Arrangements can be made to provide you with terrain to be used at the event.

SCORING:

Each Team combines the results of their four individual games each round into a single score. The Team score for each round is capped at 60 battle points maximum. A team may never score less than 20 battle points per round. If a team achieves a combined score of more than 60, each point above 60 will be ignored for all intents and purposes. If a team achieves a combined score of less than 20, they will be awarded 20 points.

Battle Points:

Major Win – 15 Battle Points

Minor Win – 12 Battle Points

Draw – 9 Battle Points

Minor Loss – 6 Battle Points

Major Loss – 3 Battle Points

Secret Objectives – 2 Battle Points Each

Sportsmanship:

All sportsmanship scores will be added to the team’s total score after Round 5, and is not subject to the points cap.

Each round, players will give their opponent’s a Sports score between 0 and 5, with 5 being an excellent experience, and 0 being a negative experience. Each player can score a maximum of 25 Sports Points, allowing the team to score a maximum of 100 Sports Points.

Painting:

All Painting scores will be added to the team’s total score after Round 5, and is not subject to the points cap.

Each player can earn up to 25 Painting Points by meeting requirements as found on the Painting 

Rubric found later in the document, allowing the team to score a maximum of 100 Painting Points.

BATTLE POINT TEAM MAXIMUM: 300

SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM MAXIMUM: 100

PAINTING TEAM MAXIMUM: 100

OVERALL TEAM MAXIMUM: 500

Players must also keep track of their Victory Points lost to their opponent, as well as Victory points they’ve killed. This will be noted on the score sheet. For purposes of calculating victory points, Endless Spells are counted as “killed” if they are not on the board at the end of the game. Warscroll Battalion points may only be claimed as Victory Points if all units from that Warscroll Battalion have also been slain.

Summoned units will surrender Victory Points if killed.

Players that concede and accept defeat at any point in the game, before the end of the game, will award their opponent a major victory and surrender a total of 2000 Victory Points.

SCENARIOS:

·         All Scenarios will be drawn from the General’s Handbook 2018

·         For clarity and planning surrounding the structure of army lists ahead of time, the Total Commitment scenario will not be played at the event

·         Each scenario will be announced before each round of matchups is announced.

·         If, for any reason, a player from a team is unable to be present at his or her game within 10 mins of the start of any round, he or she may be considered to have forfeited a major victory to his or her opponent. A TO will make the decision at the 10 minute mark, considering all circumstances surrounding the player’s absence. Games will still be played wherever possible.

SECRET OBJECTIVES

At the start of each round, after matchups have been decided but before games begin, Captains may hand out four secret objective cards to themselves or their teammates. Any player may be given a minimum of zero and a maximum of two secret objective cards. Players do not have to reveal their secret objectives (or in fact, if they have or don’t have a secret objective to their opponent), until they complete it, whereupon they must immediately declare to their opponent that they’ve completed the objective.

The Hidden Agenda cards found on the Warhammer Community site will be used as secret objectives, with the specific cards being revealed at the beginning of each day. Each team will be given four cards at the start of each day to use for that day’s games.

TERRAIN SET UP & RULES

After match ups have been decided, and tables allocated, but before rolling for table sides, players must roll off and alternate placing their three pieces of terrain. Terrain pieces must be placed more than 6” away from other terrain pieces wherever possible.

All battlefield terrain will be considered Mysterious Terrain and must be rolled for at the start of the game. Terrain warscrolls will not be used, with the exception of any terrain that is part of a player’s army (Sylvaneth Wyldwoods, Feculant Gnarlmaws, etc).

ARMY AND TEAM COMPOSITION:

This event will be using the Core Rules, General’s Handbook 2018 as well as the most recent FAQ’s in their entirety, as well as Battletomes, Warscrolls and Forgeworld Compendiums (Legion of Azgorh, Monsterous Arcanum and Tamhurkan’s Horde) in the most up to date and current form. 

Legacy warscrolls and non-Forgeworld Compendiums will not be considered legal.

Allegiances from the Firestorm Supplement may be used only if the army using them does not have their own allegiance abilities (excluding Grand Alliance allegiance abilities) available to them.

Realmscape rules and Realm-specific magic will not be used at this event.

Realm-specific artefacts may be used.

Each team is made up of four players, with each player fielding an army of no more than 2000 points, following the army construction rules from GHB18.

Each player in a team must have a different Allegiance to their teammates.

All Warscrolls, Endless Spells and Realm-specific artefacts may only be used by one player per team. For example, if you have two Chaos players on your team, and one includes Chaos Marauders in his or her list, the other Chaos player may NOT include Chaos Marauders in his or her list, regardless of Allegiances or Marks. This condition does not apply to units summoned during the game.

Battletomes, Warscrolls and units released after list submission deadline may not be used.

All models in a player’s army must be fully assembled and based. Conversions and third party models need to be approved by a TO, and must accurately represent the Warscroll being used.

LIST SUBMISSION AND FORMAT

All army lists must be submitted by TEAM CAPTAINS to The Rune Axe Wargaming via Facebook Messenger or via email to gabrielhanna90@gmail.com. Lists must be submitted by 9pm Saturday October 13^th.

All army lists must be submitted in Warscroll Builder format and must include the following details.

·         Allegiance

·         General

·         Realm (if any)

·         Artefacts

·         Command Traits

·         Any Temple, Skyport, Stormhost or subfaction

·         Any Endless Spells or Battalions

Spells and prayers do not need to be listed and may be rolled for or selected at the beginning of each game.

If a list is incorrect, the Captain may be asked to resubmit the list, and a reason will be given as to why they’ve been asked to resubmit. A second incorrect submission will result in a 5TP penalty for the player’s team.

A team will suffer a 1TP penalty per day per list for list submissions after the deadline, so get those lists in on time!

All army lists will be published prior to the event on the 20^th October, giving teams two weeks to read up on their opponents.

BEST OPPONENT SCORE:

After Game Five has concluded, all players will be given the opportunity to vote for their Best Opponent, as well as an Honourable Mention to a second opponent. A Best Opponent Vote will be worth 3 Best Opponent Points, while an Honourable Mention will be worth 1 Best Opponent Point. The player with the highest Best Opponent score will be awarded Best Sport.

RULES DEBATES:

Rules debates will occasionally arise and resolving these debates quickly and correctly is important to the enjoyment of all involved. The first step to resolving these debates is to refer to the rules, Battletomes and FAQ’s. If no solution can be found, opponents may choose to roll off a D6 to resolve the debate. Otherwise, they may ask a TO for adjudication. The TO will make a decision, and that decision will be final. Battle Point penalties may apply if the debate continues after a decision has been made.

PRIZES:

First Place – Team with the highest total score (Battle + Sport + Painting)

Second Place – Team with the second highest score (Battle + Sport + Painting)

Third Place – Team with the third highest score (Battle + Sport + Painting)

Wooden Spoon – Team with the lowest score (Battle + Sport + Painting)

Best Sport – The most important prize of all. Player with the highest Best Opponent Score

Best Painted – Player with the best painted army, as decided by judges

Best Painted Runner Up – Player with second best painted army as decided by judges

Player’s Choice – Player with the painted army who received the most votes by other players

Best Hero – Player with the painted single model (60mm base or smaller) with the most votes by other players

Best Behemoth – Player with the painted single model (base exceeding 60mm round) with the most votes by other players.

Disgustingly Resilient – Player who loses the fewest Victory Points across all five of his or her games

Glass Jaw – Player who loses the most Victory Points across all five of his or her games

Unfettered Fury – Player who kills the most Victory Points across all five of his or her games.

Johaan – Player who kills the least Victory Points across all five of his or her games.

PAINTING MATRIX

COMPULSARY (15 POINTS)

5 Points – The whole army is fully painted with three or more colours

5 Points – The whole army is based on round or oval bases (models on square bases must be blue-tacced to the appropriate round or oval base)

5 Point – The army is visually cohesive

OPTIONAL (MAX 10 POINTS)

1 Point - Models have detailed basing

2 Points – The army is showcased on an appropriate display board

2 Points – Models have been shaded and highlighted

2 Points – Small details such as spear tips, gems and pouches have been painted.

2 Points – Models showcase advanced techniques such as wet-blending, Non-metalic-metal, OSL, etc)

1 Point – Banners display freehand, decals or iconography

2 Points – Models in the army display freehand, decals or iconography

1 Point/2 Points – The army contains conversions/The army contains advanced conversions with kitbashing and greenstuffing

1 Point/2 Points – Three pieces of terrain painted/Terrain painted to match your army

1 Point – Three objective markers have been painted to match the army

LAW OF DREDD:

This event has a zero-tolerance policy on foul conduct and foul play. The tournament organizer reserves the right to remove any player or spectator from the event, effective immediately, based upon this policy at their discretion. No refund will be offered in the event of a player’s removal.

#142: RCGT Game 1 - Maggotkin of Nurgle Vs Clan Skryre 2500pts

The day had finally come. My army was fully based and mostly painted. I hadn't left anything at home.

I was starting the day on the right foot.

The night before, the Round One matchups had been announced, and I was facing down against Jemma and her Gautfyre/Arkspark Skryre list.

Clan Skryre Allegiance:

Arch Warlock (General, Cunning Creature)
Warlock Engineer (Vigordust Injector)
Warlock Engineer
6 Stormfiends (3 Warpfire Projectors, 3 Shock Gauntlets)
3 Stormfiends (3 Warpfire Projectors)
3 Stormfiends (3 Warpfire Projectors)
2 Warp Grinder Teams
2 Warpfire Thrower Teams
5 Skryre Acolytes
20 Clanrats
Warp Lightning Cannon
Clan Skryre (Warscroll Battalion)
Arkhspark Voltik (Warscroll Battalion)
Gautfyre Skorch (Warscroll Battalion)
Balewind Vortex (Endless Spell)

With the sheer mortal wound output, and her ability to completely bypass my To Hit debuffs, I was genuinely concerned going into this matchup. She had the killing power to just bulldoze straight past my Resilient saves and kill whatever I didn't zone out. I'd laid my army out on a table to see what was going to be the best way to deploy, and basically arrived at the conclusion that, to save my heroes and important elements, both units of Plaguebearers would be taking a punching turn one.

Gritting my teeth and preparing for the worst, I arrived at the event and prepared for my first game. And the scenario was Total Commitment!

This was the single best possible scenario for me, as Jemma was forced to drop her entire army on the board, meaning there would be no pop-up Stormfiends melting my face off. Instead, they would have to march across the board to get to me. I was confident that I had the speed to decide which of her units could even target things to a degree, and so my deployment looked very different to what I thought it would have to be.

 I deployed my army in two very distinct halves. With my opponent outdropping my by a long way, being a three-drop, I had the luxury of laying my army out to best benefit my game plan. My left side was my "offence side" complete with the Gnarlmaw, with the big unit of Pusgoyles, as well as the Great Unclean One and Lord of Afflictions to support them with command abilities, artefacts and spells. One of my units of thirty Plaguebearers also took up residence on the small pyramid in order to lock down my home objective.

My right objective was my "defence side", with the other unit of thirty Plaguebearers being backed up by the Lord of Blights, Festus and the Blight Kings. My two Jabberslythes took up residence in the centre of the board, so as to be of support to whichever side needed it most. Jemma deployed very centrally with most of her army, leaving Acolytes on my left side and Clanrats on my right. Her centre was VERY solid, but there weren't any objectives in the centre, so hopefully I could make the most of the space on each flank...

My opponent had given me first turn, as taking the first turn would have left her relatively short-ranged army with nothing to do. I wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to put some points on the board. I spent one of my command points on Spearhead of Contagion to launch the Pusgoyles across the table and massacre the five poor Acolytes cowering behind the stone blocks. I also cast Mystic Shield on them, but didn't bother with the Great Unclean One's command ability, as I was pretty confident that they didn't need the extra attacks just yet. The Lord of Blights did put Cloud of Flies on his unit of Plaguebearers though, who pushed up a little. This just gave me another sturdy barrier between my opponent's army and the objective. The two Jabberslythes pushed up the centre, staying just outside of Warpfire range, and making sure to put terrain between them and the Warp Lightning Cannon.  In a shock to no-one, the Pusgoyles butchered the Acolytes and claimed the objective for Nurgle, pushing me into a good position on the scoreboard. 

Retaliation was swift, as the nearby unit of Stormfiends turned their flamers on my Pusgoyles, before charging in to punch me! When the dust settled, two flies had been incinerated, and thanks to the two Warp Grinder Teams, the Skaven had clawed back the objective. For now...

On the other side of the board, things were beginning to get ugly. The unit of six Stormfiends barrelled into my lines, and then realised that my To Hit modifiers were able to pretty much shut down the damage potential of the Shock Gauntlets. Two Stormfiends did manage to punch the Jabberslythe to death, which resulted in nine mortal wounds bouncing back at them, killing one of the Warpfire Fiends. All things considered, I didn't think it was going too bad!

After having lost my second Jabber to magic and shooting, I was keen to keep momentum going in my favour. Skryre is one of those armies where, if you present them with the smallest opportunity, they can swing the entire game on its head! With that in mind, I launched my whole left flank foward, using the Gnarlmaw and the Great Unclean One's bell to make sure my Plaguebearers pushed right up onto the objective. I made the decision to charge the Warpfire Fiends on the objective with my Plaguebearers, as it would prevent them from shooting my Lord of Afflictions, but I kept him nearby for that Witherstave aura! The GUO hung back and waddled over to my objective in case push came to shove, and I needed to summon something to hold down my backline. My remaining Pusgoyles, got the hell out of dodge, and retreated toward the handful of heroes and war machine at the back of the board. In my opponent's turn, one Blightlord was shot to pieces, while the other was crippled on only two wounds, but he didn't have a degrading profile, and I was confident he could kill the squishy support pieces on his own. The kill didn't come cheap, however. In their haste to kill the flies, the Warp Lightning Cannon overloaded its reactor, and blew itself to smithereens in a single stroke of bad luck on the Skaven's part. Excellent. 

Much to my surprise, a plucky Engineer decided enough was enough, and charged in. What was an Engineer going to do in combat, I thought. Well, as it turned out, he pushed through just enough wounds to finish off the Pusgoyle unit, saving himself and his fellow wizards from a messy death. 

Things on the other side of the board were getting very messy very fast! The two Warpfire Throwers and the Engineer managed to inflict enough mortal wounds to drop the Plaguebearers below 20 before the combat phase, which meant that the Shock Gauntlets were unhindered by debuffs, and their crackling fists went to work, obliterating Plaguebearers en masse. With only a handful remaining, my objective was starting to look a little exposed. 

That was, until I spent a metric ton of Contagion Points to summon 20 Plaguebearers on again to cover my objective in bodies. The remaining Stormfiends charged once more into the fray killing Plaguebearers in droves, but this time, they were faced with the combat prowess of Blight Kings and the Lord of Blights, and were finally cut down, bagging me a sizeable chunk of kill points. 

On Jemma's backline, I'd managed to cause her no end of troubles with the Plaguebearers pinning down the Stormfiends, the Witherstave preventing them from building any momentum in combat, and both Warp Grinder Teams falling to the Lord of Affliction's Festerpike! With a measly four Plaguebearers left in the unit, it was still enough to stop her from claiming the objective back, and I won the game with a solid lead on the scoreboard! 

I got supremely lucky in this game. If it were any other scenario, I would have been in a real spot of bother, but luckily for me, all my little ducks lined up in a row, and the matchup and scenario played very heavily in my favour. Jemma was a stellar opponent, and is always a delight to play. We're now 1-1 after my pummelling at BrisCon, so we'll see how this friendly rivalry plays out! 

With a major win, and a healthy chunk of kill points, I was moving up through the tables! 

Until next game, thanks for reading,

Gabe

#141: The Road To RCGT - Gabe's Maggotkin of Nurgle List Breakdown

With list submission having been and gone for the event, I figured it was a good time to break down my list for one of the iconic Brisbane Age of Sigmar events; the Redland City Grand Tournament.

Now, when I approach an event, the evil part of me wants to keep my list a complete secret in hopes of blindsiding my way to victory, but two things stand in the way of that. Firstly, when it comes to the hobby, I can't keep things under wraps to save my life (see super-secret Chaos Dwarf army that was a secret for all of three days). The second, and more important reason, is that as I'm about to go over all the army lists going to the event for the list review live streams this week, I thought that I'd disclose my list and my thoughts behind it first. That way, everyone knows what I'm bringing before I know what they're bringing.

So, without much more waffling on, let's jump into it...

In an attempt to be a little more competitive in this Handbook cycle, I've chosen Nurgle to be my main tournament army for the immediate future. It's a super strong book, and is a nice change from Clan Pestilens, which started to feel very restrictive toward the end of it's table run. Not only that, but I've already got a massive Nurgle army that is, for the most part, very quick to paint. So with my army chosen, I moved onto selecting a 2500 point army. 2500 feels like a lot of points, but I can tell you, that number quickly dissolves!

Heroes are always my first port of call in any army, and this was no different. My first pick was a Great Unclean One with a Bell and Flail. GUO's are a really solid pick, with their huge reservoir of wounds and healing mechanics, two casting and unbinding attempted, and a really solid command ability. I'm a huge fan of the Daemon spell "Glorious Afflictions", which only casts on a 5+ and halves the move, run and charge of a unit, and most importantly, stops it from flying.

Backing him up on the arcane front is Festus the Leechlord. His signature spell is invaluable in an army with little rend, and he also gives me a candidate to cast Blades of Putrefaction. He's surprisingly tough for a foot character, with six wounds and his healing mechanics.

The third hero was the Lord of Afflictions. When I first read the book, the LoA really didn't jump out at me, but after playing him a few times, he's incredibly versatile. He has all three keywords (MORTAL, ROTBRINGER, DAEMON), which means he has his pick of any traits or artefacts he might want. He's not going to kill a Stardrake, but he can be relied upon the beat down smaller heroes or units, and he's pretty tough to get rid of, with 8 wounds, a 4+ 5++, a heal each hero phase, and the Discharge and Incubatch for added annoyance.

I weighed up whether to leave it there or not, but in the end, I decided to add a fourth hero. And it was actually a pretty easy choice. The Lord of Blights' command ability is ridiculously good, and it didn't take much deliberation to settle on putting him in the list.

With my command structure sorted, I moved on to battleline. Needing four battleline for a 2500 point army, I started off my purchases with two units of thirty Plaguebearers. In a big unit, they're tough as nails, and with the LoB's command ability, this is only accentuated. They make great screens, objective grabbers and catchers for incoming alpha strikes, and putting sixty on the table is enough to make anyone second guess the killing power of their army.

For my third battleline, I took a unit of five Blight Kings. They're such good value, and give me a unit that can move behind my Plaguebearers and stop up any weak points in my line. They also gain a shooting attack if they're near the LoB, and while it's not much, sometimes sneaking one wound through can be the difference between winning and losing a game.

My fourth choice was by far the hardest. My initial thought was to run a cheap unit of Marauders, leaving plenty of points to pour into a unit of 6 Drones, which has fast become a staple of Nurgle armies. However, after a long deliberation, I decided to go with a less popular choice. By electing the Lord of Afflictions my general, I killed two birds with one stone by including a big unit of Pusgoyle Blightlords. They become Battleline under the LoA, and also fill the role of fast moving unit that can reach out and touch just about anything on the board. I know that Pusgoyles are a polarising unit (people either love them or hate them), but I was keen to give them a chance. With 7 wounds per model, a 4+ save and a 5++ Resilient wound mitigation, each model rivals that of heroes from other armies! They're also not too shabby in combat. Sure, there is a distinct lack of high-rend attacks, but they can still push through a horrific number of saves. And with three attack profiles each, with every second dragging a bell, they make great use of the GUO's Command Ability, as well as Blades of Putrefaction. In a practice game, they managed to drop a full-health Rogue Idol down to one wound with barely any buffs on them, so I know they have potential. That potential does require a bit of luck with the dice, though...

With four heroes and four battleline, I was quickly running out of points. My biggest concern was damage output. While I had an army that could rival any in resilience, I really wanted an answer to big scary units; something I could reliably send in and kill everything it touched. And so I went with a bit of a renegade choice...

I allied in two Jabberslythes.

These horrific monsters not only look like scrotums with wings and a face, but they have one of the most volatile warscrolls in the game. They're dangerous to kill, they're dangerous not to kill, and they can't be ignored. The first real drawcard on these monsters is their Aura of Madness. At the start of my hero phase, I roll a dice for every enemy model within 6" of a Jabber. On a 6, that model is, for all intents and purposes, turned off. No moving, no casting, no attacking, charging or piling in. It's like a piece of old school Mystical Terrain that I can fly around! I saw this used to great effect when a Jabberslythe turned off a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon for a double turn, so he stood there for two full turns of the game drooling and staring into nowhere. While hardly dependable, it's incredibly powerful when it does go off. And it's not restricted to single models. It can turn off an entire unit!

The second, and more important rule for the Jabbers is Spurting Bile Blood. For every wound inflicted (not to be confused with 'Suffered', as a Jabberslythe can only ever suffer 10 wounds, but may have any number of wounds inflicted on it) on the Jabberslythe, I roll a dice. On a 4+, the unit that inflicted the wound suffers D3 Mortal Wounds. This is my answer to everything scary that I don't really want to fight. I can throw them into combat with Prince V, Morrsarr Guard, basically anything that is going to push through a huge volume of wounds on them, then watch them inevitably die in an explosion so big, it will herald in a nuclear winter. Again, this is not restricted to single models, so a unit of buffed up Witch Aelves with Mindrazor on them that HAVE to attack are going to do a tremendous amount of damage to themselves that not even their Hag Narr save can protect them from.

With the last chunk of points, I purchased Soulsnare Shackles and Quicksilver Swords, as well as two extra command points. This army has three exceptionally good command abilities, and I really wanted enough points to make use of them.

The only thing left to do was distribute my command trait and one artefact. I put Avalanche of Flesh on the Lord of Afflictions, giving him an extra 2" to both his runs and charges, making him even more mobile. I also slapped the Witherstave on him. Thanks to the fact he rides a Drone, he has access to the Daemon artefacts, and the Witherstave is ridiculously good. It affects all enemy units (not models) within (not wholly within) 12" of the bearer, and they must re-roll all 6's to hit, which severely hampers abilities that need an unmodified 6 To Hit or even a 6+. Brutal. I thought about putting it on the GUO, as he is far harder to kill, but the LoA is far more mobile, so I can make sure it's exactly where I need it to be, without having to worry about leaving room for the GUO or getting blocked by screens. It also means that I have three heroes eligible to hold objectives in one of the scenarios where wizards and heroes with artefacts can claim.

Probably the biggest strength of this army is it's ability to completely shut down a hyper aggressive assault. A unit of thirty Plaguebearers with the LoB command ability on them are -2 to hit in combat and -4 to hit in shooting. Combine that with the truly massive Witherstave Aura, and the hardest bit about killing this unit is landing a blow. Because modifiers happen after re-rolls, it just mitigates so much incoming damage.

Let's say a unit hits my line. They hit on a 3+ with re-rolls To Hit. Re-rolls happen before modifiers, so despite the -2 To Hit in combat, they're only re-rolling 1s, 2s, and of course, 6's from the Witherstave. After the re-rolls, the modifiers kick in, meaning only 5s and 6s are actually hits. Then they have to wound, and I have to fail armour saves and Disgustingly Resilient saves.

Tough...

As...

Nails...

Of course, there are plenty of ways around this for a savvy general, and I'm counting on my opponents doing everything they can to crack the combo before they go in. But who knows... It might save my bacon!

What do you think of the list? Rock solid or am I setting myself up for disappointment? I think that while it has immense staying power, it will struggle to cleave its way through an opposing army, as it still kind of feels that it lacks serious killing power across the army. It's easy to focus on what it can do, and forget what it can't, so there will be plenty of practice games between now and the event. It's probably the most competitive army list I've taken to an event in over a year, and I'm hoping to go at least 3 win out of 5 games, but we'll see. The most carefully laid plans rarely survive contact with the enemy.

If you haven't already seen, I'll be breaking down the other armies at the event in a List Review Live Stream on Tuesday and Wednesday night, so tune into Facebook and hang out with me! :)

Thanks for reading and I'd love to know your thoughts on my army.
Gabriel

ALLEGIANCE: NURGLE
Lord of Afflictions (General, Avalanche of Flesh, Witherstave)
Great Unclean One (Glorious Afflictions, Bell & Flail)
Lord of Blights
Festus the Leechlord
30 Plaguebearers (Battleline)
30 Plaguebearers (Battleline)
5 Blight Kings (Battleline)
4 Pusgoyle Blight Lords (Battleline)
Jabberslythe (Allies)
Jabberslythe (Allies)
Soulsnare Shackles (Endless Spell)
Quicksilver Swords (Endless Spell)
2 Extra Command Points

#140: Tale of Four Gamers - 1000 Point Mark

Well, it's been another frantic month of painting for myself and my three adversaries, with some stunning results! After last month's "First 500", two of the participants have changed armies completely, but not wasted any time in making up for the lost time. So without too much more waffling on, here are the four armies at the end of month two!

Gabriel:

I'll get mine out of the way first.

Now, the first thing you're probably noticing is that my army is not quite 1000 points yet... Far from it, in fact. I only managed to hit 700 points fully painted this month, with another twenty Ard Boys on the painting desk to fill out the unit to thirty. I did, however, add a Warchanter and three Gore-Gruntas to the army!

I actually really enjoyed painting the Gruntas. They're probably my favourite models from the range so far, mostly because they offer a little variety in textures and colours that the armour-clad infantry just don't have. They also have nice big armour panels to allow me to practice more freehand and get those tags and strips down to a fine art. The two "rank and file" piggies are also awaiting their shoulder pads, complete with weathering and freehand, but... well... it was a slow month on the Ironjawz front. What this means is, I've got a LOT to paint next month to keep the pace! 

Liam:

Having started the challenge optimistically with Brayherd, Liam quickly realised that a horde army may not have been the wisest choice considering the time constraints. And so he made the bold move to go back to the drawing board, and start a brand new army from scratch. 

While it's undeniably character-heavy at this stage, considering the timeframe, I don't think anyone is holding that against him! Packing in two units of Blight Kings, this mortal Nurgle force is playing no games. A Rotbringer Sorcerer, Lord of Plagues and Gutrot Spume make a formidable bodyguard for Kazyk the Befouled...

...and some muscle was added to the list with this trio of Plague Ogres! Leaning heavily into some of the less common elements of Nurgle, I can't wait to see what Liam comes up with next month! It's sure to be suitably revolting.

Alistair:

Having also jumped ship for calmer seas, Al left Stormcast in his wake to work on a hyper-aggressive Idoneth army. With the intricate model range matching Al's impressive skills with the brush, it's no wonder that these have turned out incredibly. There are more eels than you can poke a harpoon at, and the shipwrecks have come up a treat. 

But without question, the Eidolon of Mathlaan is the centrepiece of his entire army. 

He's absolutely done the model justice, and it's going to look amazing leading the charge from the depths to pillage and raid the land of the dry. 

Blake:

Leading the challenge without question, Blake has added yet another amazing conversion to his Death army in the form of a towering Scarab Beetle, adorned with skulls and burdened with a Casket of Souls. 

In game, he's using it as a Mortis Engine, and no one is complaining. The model itself is both morbid and majestic, and fits the style of his army perfectly. He's also added two Dreadblade Harrows, heavily converted to fit the aesthetic, as well as another ten skeletons to give him his minimum requirements for battleline. 

The army of Death is growing at an alarming rate, and now that the armies are getting to the size where they can take to the battlefield, I dare say more than a few skulls will be claimed for Nagash yet.

I hope you enjoyed a peek at the armies as they prepare for war. Which is your favourite, and what two forces do you want to see face off first? 

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel

#139: Toowoomba Remote League 1000pt Tournament - Game 3 - Maggotkin Vs. Daughters of Khaine

With two big wins so far, I was in the top bracket of the ladder, and I knew game three was going to be a tough match. In the last round, I ended up being matched against Daughters of Khaine. This was one army that I was fully expecting to face, and there were two in the top bracket.

Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood (General)
Death Hag
30 Witch Aelves
30 Witch Aelves
2 Additional Command Points

This was going to be a tight game. My opponent, a gentleman named Cameron, had tabled his first two opponents by the end of turn two, so I knew I was going to be up against it. But I had a trick up my sleeve...

The scenario was Scorched Earth, so I knew that I needed to hold my opponent on his half of the board to stop him just swamping my objectives with superior numbers and burning my objectives. And with both of us sitting on four drops, that all-important first roll was going to be crucial, and would heavily influence how I was going to have to play the match. Thankfully for me, I won the roll off, deploying first and guaranteeing myself first turn.

I followed the tried and true deployment of a strong offensive centre and then Plaguebearers on each of my flank objectives. The table had some pretty serious terrain, which allowed me to obscure most of them, not that it would have mattered in this match up, as my opponent had zero shooting and a whole lot of angry ladies. 

Cameron dropped his Slaughter Queen on Cauldron on his centre objective, and a horde one each of his flanks. The Hag deployed on my right hand side, but was hanging off the side of the unit, unprotected by her kin. I think he may have spread out a little too far, as he found his units not "wholly within" the Cauldron's Bloodshield by only a handful of bodies. 

This game was going to either be a big win or a big loss, but I had a plan. The Great Unclean One successfully cast Glorious Afflictions on the left horde of Witches, while also dropping Soulsnare Shackles right in their face, so that the minute they stepped off their line, they'd be contending with the Shackles' movement cripple as well. This was something that I'd factored into the list well before the event, because while my list was strong, there were a few things that I simply couldn't deal with in 1000 points. Namely, Witch Aelf hordes and massive damage dealers like Skarbrand and the Stardrake. With the combination of Shackles and Afflictions, it gave me a way to essentially nullify a threat, not by killing it or injuring it, but by stripping its speed down to the point where even in a five-turn game, it would have no impact. 

With one unit of Witch Aelves put into a painfully debilitating position, and the Death Hag left very exposed, I knew I had to deliver the first punch and make it count. With a successful hero phase, I committed to a heavy first punch. Run rolls and charge rolls were on the very high side, allowing the Great Unclean One to slam into the Cauldron, and the Drones into the Hag and Witches. I managed to get two Drones into the Hag and delete her before she could have any significant impact on the game. I was stoked about this, as I managed to remove the source for Witchbrew, which would give me major headaches. I did only manage to kill a handful of Witches though, and was really concerned that I hadn't done enough. The Great Unclean One also managed to throw his considerable weight around, dropping the Cauldron down to six wounds. It was a start, but now it was the Daughters' turn...

In a stroke of not amazing luck, my opponent not only got the double turn on me, but dropped both additional command points on giving his Witches two Hero Phase pile in and attacks. This was the day before the FAQ dropped, and there was no limit on being able to stack command abilities. To counter my bad luck, my Drones survived four consecutive pile ins from the Witch Aelves, and rolled ridiculously on my saves. I still lost several bodies, but avoided completely losing the unit.

Utilising the new pile in rules, I slid my GUO 3" around the Cauldron to bring him back into range of the Locus for the Drones.

The the bottom of turn two, I managed to summon a Poxbringer, behind the front line (shown in the photo above), while the Drones finally started to put work in and cut through the crowd of berserker women! The GUO also managed to roll alright, suffering two wounds and inflicting another five, leaving the Cauldron on a single wound. Once again, he cast Glorious Afflictions on the other horde of Witch Aelves, who had only managed to move 8" total in turns one and two. 

My opponent once again won priority, and chose to spend his Command Point to let the Cauldron pile in and attack in the hero phase. Being turn three, the Avatar atop the Cauldron was automatically animated, and so the damage potential was much higher. He chose to do this, knowing full well, that the Cauldron was on borrowed time and a single wound, so I can't fault his decision. It was, however, his undoing. He did inflict a bunch of damage, but in return, Blubber and Bile inflicted three mortal wounds, and his Hag Narr save could only stop two. The Cauldron died, and with it, all the support for the nearby Witches. The remaining Aelves did what they could, but without buffs and nearby heroes, they simply couldn't drag down the surviving Drones. In return, the unit was mopped up, and I claimed a major win for my third game in turn three.

This was exactly the game I was planning for when I chose endless spells and spells for my GUO. I can say with complete confidence that it would have been a different game if I had to deal with all 60 Witch Aelves. As it were, I managed to stun-lock one unit into irrelevance, preventing it from having any impact on the game. This meant that I could focus wholly on the right side of the board. I was lucky to have gotten first turn, as it allowed me to pin my opponent on the back foot, and force the Daughters into a war of attrition, which is well and truly Nurgle's strength. That, and lightning fast speed, for reasons...

The Endless Gift once again saved my GUO from imminent death, as Slaughter Queens and Avatars are actually really stabby (who would have thought, from such a wholesome group of psychotic worshippers of the god of murder).

With that win, I was sitting on three major wins, which was podium territory, and it ended up coming down the Kill Points. Despite only losing one unit of Plaguebearers all day, it was all about what I killed. And game two against Nurgle, where I got zero kill points, cost me dearly. I ended up landing in third place, which I was stoked with.

The tournament itself was fantastic, as the Failed Charge crew ran their first big event. It was open to walk ins, and where they were expecting 14-18 players, thirty people ended up showing up and competing.

Thanks for reading,
Gabe

#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