Warzone, A very Imperial update

It's been a little while since my last update. In this time I may have been quiet, but I have not been inactive.

Most of my time has been spent playing and hobbying with Warzone: Resurrection. However, since my last Warzone post there has been some change. I'm no longer playing Dark Legion. Another gamer in our garage group wanted to jump feet first into the Warzone world, and really wanted to sell his soul to one of the many Dark Apostles.
Unfortunately for Mitchel I had picked up our stockists last Dark Legions box. At the same time however my other favorite faction the Imperials really caught my eye. We made a quick deal and trade, and before you could shake a undead legioneers decaying limb he had plunged into the Dark Symmetry and I was down in the trenchers with the Imperial Ministry of War.

With the Imperial starter box in my hands I got to painting and here are the results.

  

Playing this game has been fantastic. Learning a new game and having other gamers enthusiastic about it has been so refreshing. 

Warzone: Resurection

Way back in the old days of gaming in Palmie North NZ, there was a time where we really turned our backs on the GW games for awhile. The local stockist, now long gone Hall of Heroes got his hands on a huge amount of minis from the Warzone and Chronopia range. The company that made the two systems was kind dead or dying, but largely thanks to some mates such as Mr Mildon the interest was kept up. He had the books as well as copies for our local club M.A.G.E, and we kept on playing.

I built myself up a decent sized Dark Legion, that I also completed painting. When it came time for the big move countries I had to let go a lot of gaming supplies and my Dark Legion was one of them. From memory I think I donated it to the club? I can't be sure now though.

Fast forward 10 years and while at Cancon 2015 in Canberra I was shocked to see Warzone being played as demo games. It turns out the game has been restarted by a company Prodos Games, who also do the Aliens Vs Predator game.

I joined in the demo games with my two oldest boys and it was a serious flash back in time. There were a few additions, but it seemed very much the same game I remembered from Palmie North. What I am really kicking myself for is that it turns out there was a Kick Starter re-release. I missed out but would certainly have backed that.

In great news though my local has started to stock the game, and I was quick to pick up a Dark Legion starter box. If anyone is looking at this I highly recommend Tabletop Empires for all your Warzone, or any other gaming needs.

Yesterday I stopped by and grabbed a box, then rushed home and dived in whilst watching the Chiefs win yet again.

The box and art work is a huge improvement on the old stuff.

I was a little surprised and disappointed in opening the box half expecting the old slide top and foam inside like I remembered  from back in the day. However the new models arn't metal so I guess none of that was needed. Cracking it open I was instantly impressed by the contents. Firstly I looked at the cards included. These are a new addition to the game, and were quite spectacular. They are made of a strong solid card without being thick. They have a nice gloss finish, and more wonderful artwork.

The bases supplied are the nice solid lipped round basses you see in Warmachine and such. They have a slot down the middle, which I found odd as it's not needed at all for the miniatures. A nice touch is the inclusion of two D20 dice to play the game.

The obvious best part of the starter box is of course the minis themselves. The new model design is spectacular, the detail and look really impresses me, and there was very little clean up required. The new miniature designers have taken a big step away from the huge shoulder pads everything had in its last rendition which is great.

The only small criticism I had of the whole box was trying to glue the minis. It may have been my glue, but it was Zaapagap so I doubt it. I think it may have been the plastic, it took a lot to get a bond. I even had to resort to pinning infantry models.

So as you can see from the pic, in the Dark Legion starter box you get two squads of undead legioneers, two Necromutant Squad Leaders for them and one Razide for heavy support. With everything else that's great value for $70. I've worked out that this is around 250pts. At some stage, i'll expand it by adding in a character but no rush, there's plenty of painting to be done with what I have.

Why do I like Warzone?

Well it's a sci-fi skirmish level game, but where Necromunda or Infinity is about each individual, Warzone still is based in units. It's probably closer in similarities scale and play wise to Warmachine.

It has more inbuilt details game wise than 40k, but without the overly complicated systems of Infinity. Although unit based each model within the unit can act individually and doesn't have to copy what the guy next to him does ie: 40k. It is great skirmish level but if you want you can play bigger games with ease. And I really enjoy games with alternating activation's, and off turn reactions. No sitting around while your opponent has their whole turn.

It's simple, cheap to get into and great fun. 

I plan on picking up a second starter, probably imperials and get some battle reports done introducing the game to new people so stay tuned.

GronkCon II in July

Preparations are underway for our next group tournament experience.
This time we are heading to GronkCon, a warhammer fantasy tournament held in Wollongong NSW.

Gronk is on the 4th and 5th of July, the player pack can be found here.
Now I havn't been to Gronk before obviously, it'll be my second warhammer tournament after Sydney Slaughter, but all the reports I have heard have said this is a massive highlight on the event scene. The players pack seems to back this up.

GronkCon appears to be a warhammer event with quite a difference. It heavily encourages non optimal builds, rewarding them as such. It is a chance to try that army combo that you know is dumb but just wanted to run it for a laugh anyway.
The event is won by the person with the most points at the end. While you do win some points for beating your opponent in games, you actually gain more points in list writing, things that happen during games, fluff, hobby, shouting the TO a beer etc etc. You also can loose points for things like refusing a challenge or trying to 6 dice a spell.

All up it reads for a hilarious weekend and something very different from the normal competitive scene. The list of achievement points can be found here.

*******

So a new event means new army prep. You earn points at Gronk for taking an army you havn't taken to a tournament before. This seemed an easy point to pick up, so despite loving using chaos for the first time at Slaughter, I've put them on the shelf and picking up Empire.

I've tried to create a 'Gronky' empire list, which mostly has been restricted by what models I actually have, using some things I have but have never used before and creating a list of wimpy humans who can still hold up and give my opponent more than a two turn game. My list is certainly non-optimal for the empire net lists etc, but possibly not quite is gronky as I would hope. I figure this is balanced out by the fact its only empire, we suck anyway. I wanted to try leave out a BSB and earn another easy tournament point, however I couldn't justify it. Fluff wise the BSB is the good old paymaster or the accountant of the army. My guys are all mercenaries, they fight for gold, hence the banners replaced with gold chests.

I'm happy with the progress I have made on painting the army so far. My characters bar my general are done as are a big chunk of the units. All I have left to paint is some crossbowmen, a halberd detachment, some pistoliers, huntsmen and one artillery piece. That's just five small units and a character, should be done in plenty of time. Oh and of course I have to model/paint something to be my Fozrik's Folding Fortress.
      

30 Swordsmen with full command. Look at all that shinny gold.

 An Greatcannon aint that great for an Ogre.

 The Accountant, a Priest and their mate the engineer.

My two Wizard Lords, hanging out. My stick is bigger than yours.

In case you havn't had enough reading yet, here is the fluff of the White Lions of Eto-Prelensya.

The highly wealthy trading town of Eto-Prelensya sits on the shores of the Gulf of Kislev, and situated directly upon the border between Ostland and Nordland. Eto-Prelensya was originally settled as two separate villages Eto of Nordland and Prelensya of Ostland each using the port inlet and the vicinity to the other as a means to facilitate trade between the realms.

Over time as the villages each grew, and family’s from each side of the boarder began to unite through marriage and birth, the realm’s boundary became little more than a memory, and the villages united to become a large and wealthy trading town of the north.

Time passed for the families and citizens of Eto-Prelensya with little involvement in the political woes of the Empire, their isolation from the large cities and self dependence and wealth allowed them to live with a certain amount of freedom. However as time passed Eto-Prelensya became a pawn in the political game between the Elector Counts of Nordland and Ostland. A town had developed that neither Lord could claim as entirely his own. Arguments between the courts arose over the border line, should it move East taking Eto-Prelensya wholly into the Nordland Realm, or West to become Ostland’s.

The people of Eto-Prelensya struggled with the political attention they suddenly had thrust upon them, and all argued that no change would be accepted. They had lived as both citizens of Ostland and Nordland for generation’s. The Elector Counts each decreed that they would have no more discussion, and if the people of Eto-Prelensya would not agree, then they would be forced to accept becoming one realm. The forces of Nordland and Ostland were dispatched, and war between the two realms was set to take place with the rights to Eto-Prelensya the prize.

Being as stubborn as any northerner can be the people of Eto-Prelensya seeing two warring nations approaching set about fortifying the town. Roads that once lead through open rolling plains became cominated by large defensive fortifications.

The wealth of the trading council, a city governing body made of the head trading houses behind them, Eto-Prelensya hired warriors from all parts of the old world.

Great warriors from the frozen north were hired in droves to form elite town guards. Militia from the streets of Marienburg and any other realm of the empire were welcomed within the walls. The often ridiculed Halfling’s were paid the same as a human soldier and provided ample opportunity to use their unique skills.

Months of war rolled into a year and then a second as the forces of Ostland and Nordland lay siege to Eto-Prelensya and each other. Neither realm had the ability to stop ships and trade entering into Eto-Prelensya. Captains of the Kislev Gulf, many of whom had family within the walls all displayed more loyalty to Eto-Prelensya than either rival nation. Unable to halt shipments a traditional siege seemed endless.

As the second year of conflict neared it’s third and under the glow of the two tailed comet returned, the Ostland army to the east of Eto-Prelensya was attacked in the night. As the soldiers slept in their tent’s their guards were overrun by tribal Norsemen crossing the Gulf from the Northern Wastes.

The Nordland Army was simultaneously attacked by feral bestial creatures, hoofed animals who walked like men poured from the forests to the south overrunning the camp quickly. It was the forces of Eto-Prelensya who turned the tide on each front. The gates were opened and the crumbling forces from each nation were welcomed within the walls. The forces of Eto-Prelensya hit back at the two true enemy forces.

As the realm’s armies re grouped and messages were sent through the lines to each Elector Count, the war that later became known as “The War of Eto-Prelensya independence” began. Not with the conflicting realms but this time against the enemy of humanity, Chaos.

With reinforcements from Nordland and Ostland, the empire was able to turn back the tide of chaos, sending the attacking armies back. Driving the beastsmen into the woods and the Norse into the waters of the gulf. As the war came to an end there was still no settlement over ownership of Eto-Prelensya. No agreement was ever likely causing the Emperor Karl Franz himself to enter into the political Fray. With the heroic actions of Eto-Prelensya saving both armies of Nordland and Ostland at the start of the war it was decreed that the people of Eto-Prelensya shall choose their future for themselves.

A quick decision was reached by the council of trade decreeing that Eto-Prelensya will now and forever be an independent trading town of the empire showing direct loyalty to both Ostland and Nordland.

To this day Eto-Prelensya is a safe haven for any person willing to work to earn. The town continues to hold a large and formidable military force superbly funded and resourced by the trading council. It carries on a well earned reputation as being home to the mightiest mercenary force known to man.

New Minis cases from GW

It's not often I go to the GW website, and less often I go into an actual store.

Stopped by the website today and saw they have new figure carry cases for sale. This was news to me, hadn't seen it mentioned on forums or FB at all.

My initial thoughts looking at the few photos posted on the GW website didn't impress me much.

Looking a bit further however, and finding a video preview on YouTube I have to change my mind. 

This is quite different to what has very much been a standard across all hobby transport systems for a long time. The ability for the rows to push and fold out of the way is quite excellent. No more cutting large holes in the foam trays to fit a vehicle though multiple levels.
I approve. Shame about the price, but thats more GW standard.

Trials for Gronkcon

Hello there,

                  My name is James, I'm a long term fantasy player who, thanks to the Western Warriors, has finally been introduced to the tournament world. My first tournament was The Sydney Slaughter using my Undead Legions list.

MY SYDNEY SLAUGHTER ARMY

I am here today to talk about Gronkcon,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwE9CcbJC-2-U1FuT3g1TE9vMG8/view

For this tournament i have decided to use my skaven force.
and have had a trial game with a wood-elf army with only dryads, tree kin, tree men, and giant eagles.
whilst this is not my final list for the tournament (lots of tweeking to be done)this was my list

New Roster (2699pts)

Skaven - Army Book (2013-4) -V8.7.7. (Standard) (2699pts)

• (No Category) (272pts)

  • Giant Rats (272pts)

    33x Giant Rats, Packmaster, Packmaster, Packmaster, Packmaster

    • Packmaster

      • Packmaster Skweel Gnawtooth

        AB - Warp-lash

    • Packmaster

      Master Moulder

• Lords (1013pts)

  • Queek Headtaker (215pts)

    AB - Dwarf Gouger, AB - Warp-shard Armour

  • Ratstail the Dread - Grey Seer (540pts)

    Screaming Bell, Warpstone Tokens (FAQ'ed)

    • Magic Items and Scavenge-pile items

      BRB - Fozzirik's Folding Fortress

    • Wizard Level 4

      Skaven Spells of Ruin and/or Plague

  • Squeak The Flesheater - Warlord (258pts)

    Rat Ogre Bonebreaker, Shield

    • Magic Items and Scavenge-pile items

      AB - Blade of Corruption (FAQ'ed), BRB - Obsidian Lodestone, BRB - Potion of Speed, Poisoned Attacks (FAQ'ed)

• Heroes (65pts)

  • Getafix the Potion Brewer - Warlock Engineer (65pts)

    Ruin

    • Magic Items and Scavenge-pile items

      AB - Skavenbrew (FAQ'ed)

• Core (682pts)

  • Pushers of the Bell - Clanrats (145pts)

    Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer

    • 25x Clanrats

      25x Shields, 25x Spears

  • Queek's Stormvermin (493pts)

    Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer

    • 39x Stormvermin

      39x Shields

  • Underclaw slaves - Skavenslaves (44pts)

    Champion, 20x Skavenslaves

• Special (192pts)

  • Gutter Runners (192pts)

    Champion, Hand Weapon + Snare-net

    • 10x Gutter Runners

      10x Poisoned Attacks, 10x Slings

• Rare (475pts)

  • BIGBADABOOM - Warp Lightning Cannon (90pts)

  • Fluffy - Hell Pit Abomination (235pts)

  • ZZZZZAPPP-a-GAP - Doomwheel (150pts)

The scenario we played was Dawn Attack, with the table quarters giving 2 victory pts per quarter 10 pts if the whole table is controlled by one player.

after a sum-what unfavoured deployment, i was able to steal the initiative and take the first turn (sneaky vermin)

with a solid march of my hordes and Fluffy getting right across the table I was pretty happy with my advancements,

in the magic phase i rolled a solid 8 power-dice(6+2) yet the trees managed to tame some of the winds of magic and successfully channelled one extra dice giving them a nasty 7 dispell-dice 

TOAD UNDER THE BELL

Casting howling warp-gale with my grey-seer stopped the giant eagle from getting behind me on turn 1 as the spell was ignored by the tree-folk,

followed up by a warp lightning into the farthest eagle causing 2 wounds, however thanks to the toad branch (Sivejir's Hex Scroll witch they are allowed to have in this tournament) my wizard was turned into a toad!!!!!!

CANNONBALL!!!!!

Shooting was next and thanks to my warp lightning cannon i was able to kill 5 dryads and a whole tree-man in a strength 6 shot(d6 wounds). witch put me into a rather good mood for my turn 1.

The tree-men retaliated charging my hell-pit with the tree-kin but alas only got 13 attacks and 2 wounds thanks to Fluffy's Regen :) and lost 6 wounds to the hell-pit, holding on there stubborn 10 Ld, in his magic phase with the only 4 dice in his pool he cast the Dwellers Below with irresistible force killing only 5 clan-rats,but my wizard being a toad had no hope to survive and perished to the spell.

In my turn 2 (and all other turns after) I forgot to roll for my gutter-runners, but I have learnt that lesson now!

charging the still engaged tree-kin with my bell unit in the flank I felt victory was all but assured, My warlord issued a challenge and was answered by the unit champion, only to be cut down by my warlord breaking the unit. however i was unable to catch them as they fled through a building and tree-man and ended up one inch on the other side .

FOR THE UNDER-EMPIRE

FLY YOU FOOLS

 With a successful charge by Queeks Storm-vermin and Gnawtooths Giant-rats i was feeling rather solidly about a victory.

Queeks unit having drunk the potion and received Rabid result were fighting with +2 attacks slaying a lot of the dyads till they Broke and fled only to be cut down by the fast rat-men who over ran into the horde behind.Who broke in the following turn on a test getting 11 when they were stubborn 10, much to my opponents dismay. Queeks Storm-vermin were unable to catch them but charged them in there turn forcing the unit to flee off the board. giving me a table quarter

Gnawtooths rats were not as fortunate only rolling +1 attack on there mutations they did not have the holding power i wanted and they flead to there deaths as the treekin stomped them flat overrunning to my deployment zone giving him a table quarter.

After 5 turns we called it quits all together deciding on a draw, with 2 Tournament points each and loads of ideas on gow to make my list work better.

hope you have enjoyed my first addition to Garagehammers blogs

James

Welcome to GarageHammer, our first blog post.
GarageHammer is a bunch of guys from Western Sydney who just like to hang out and play wargames. We are also known as the Western Warriors, our club until our local independent shut down. We still have the flag in honor of 'Mikes'.

The idea of this blog is for us as a club/group to post updates on our hobby adventures, be it games, campaigns or modeling and events.

To start off with post one I thought I would discuss our weekend just gone and the great Warhammer fantasy event that was the Sydney Slaughter.

We had six of us go along to the tournament. Slaughter was a six game warhammer fantasy singles tournament using 2800 point armies with hidden panel comp scores between 0-8. The event also used all six scenarios from the warhammer book.

I took along a soft Warriors of Chaos list with none of the new legion toys.
My army consisted of:
Khorne Lord on Juggernought, sword of might, 4++ ward
Nurgle Sorcerer Lord, level 4, lore of nurgle, dispell scroll, Barded Warhorse
Exalted Hero of Nurgle, BSB, Filth Mace, Dragon Bane Gem

19 Warriors of NUrgle with Halbers, Shields, Full Command
10 Warriors of Khorne with additional Hand Weapons, full command
5 Warhounds with Vanguard
5 Warhounds with Vanguard
20 Marauders of Khorne with Flails and full command

9 Knights of Nurgle, Enscrolled weapons, full command and banner of swiftness
Gorebeast Chariot of Khorne

Spawn of Nurgle
3 Skull Crushers with enscrolled weapons, full command and banner of rage.

Pretty tame for 2800 of Warriors.

I ended up with a comp of 6 our of 8. This was exactly what I aimed for, and what I liked about this event is they kept your comp scores secret until the end.



The first game was a Dawn Attack, very fitting to open the weekend up with.
My opponent was Mikkel Kragh with one of the most beautiful High Elf armies ive ever seen.
His army was not the typical avoidance, minimum units elf list, he had some good solid blocks of fighters and bowmen. A general on a phoenix and a second phoenix to cause problems.

A few in game shots.

The bridge was quite fun to fight over. We decided not to worry about ranks width within reason. Halfway over the bridge I got flanked by his greatswords. We agreed that it would count as a wall/barrier for a defended obstacle, but the river ended up being a light river and gave him WS10 I10. It was a fun fight to see us grind each other down.

My deplyment let me keep fairly central as did Mikkels. The game was fun, and he was a great opponent to play against. I ended up with a 17-3 win. We both had the same comp score so this wasn't adjusted at all.


Game two was against Chris A-J and his Goblin army.
This game was great, playing a battle for the pass I was up against spiders. There were two goblin wizards riding Araknaroks, two more Araknaroks, a HUGE ambushing mob of giant spiders, about 30 I think, two more blocks of giant spiders and a bunch of spider riding characters.

This game was much closer than my first one with me getting a 12-8 win. Again we both had comp 6 as it turns out so our scores stayed the same.


Game three saw our first scenario with an objective being blood and Glory.
In this unlike most warhammer tournaments Victory Points didn't mater. If you broke your opponent you got a 15-5 win, that was it. Played just like it should be from the rulebook.

I played Marcell Fisher, a late entrant to the event and his Beastmen/Warriors of Chaos army.
Firstly ill start with the game, or lack there of. He had a very low fortitude, having only a general, bsb and two banners. Turn two I charged the BSB on its daemonic mount with my Gorebeast chariot, did 7 impact hits, his 1 up armour became 3 up and he failed 4, he went for his 4 up ward (rerolling any ones and got a 5, 3, 2, 2. SO three wounds and he couldn't even reroll any. BSB dead.

His warrior block got charged by my hounds and Knights the same turn, were split open and that was the end of the game in my turn two.

I won 15-5 without Marcell getting a second turn.
Marcell had a comp of 2 against my 6 which means a bonus to me of 800 points, im not sure how that worked into the 15-5 win but it was massive.

Now I have a bit of a gripe about Marcell's army. He was Chaos Legion's, Beastmen and Warriors of chaos. Every single model in his army was a Beastman model, with them counting as warriors of chaos. Usually I wouldn't have a problem with this, keeping things into a theme is cool. However I felt Marcell took things to far. of hsi 2800 point army the only unit that were actually beastmen were one unit of Bestigors. His minotaur was a daemon prince, his beasts chariots were warriors chariots, etc etc. I felt that just the one single beastman unit was pushing the counts as thing way to far. It should have been the other way around with most of the beastmen models being beastmen and one being a warriors unit. It was confusing.

That ended day one and we decided as our team to hit the Chinese restaurant downstairs.

I highly recommend the restaurant at 99 on York, it was delicious.

Most of the tournament goers it seems headed into town and got on the cans.

Into day two Game four was a Meting Engagement against Matt Wilson (who ended up winning the tournament) and his Skaven.

Firstly I thought the Panel comp judges did an amazing job with good fair scores. Out of 60, from what I looked at aroudn the room I felt they were a bit kind on only two lists. Matt's was one. Everyone knows Skaven are filth and he ended up with a 5.

His list consisted of a Vermin Lord Warpseer, BSB and Rat General, two Engineers, big block of Slaves, two big blocks of Stormvermin, a Hellpit, a doom wheel AND three Stormfiends. Rat Ogres and scouts.

A five just felt a bit generous. Matt handed me my first loss of the tournament 11-9. I think my bonus 200 points may have pulled this back to a draw.

Game five was the second objective scenario of Watchtower.

As per the book who ever held the watchtower, won the game. Victory Points didn't matter.

Up against Mitch Edwards and his all Slaneesh Warriors of Chaos army this was going to be fun.

Mitch had a Daemon Prince, Sigvald as his general, a lvl 4 fire wizard riding on a Chaos Warshrine.

A block of Slaneesh Warriors with Halberdsm a Manticore, A slaneesh giant, and some hounds.

I won the deployment roll and threw my khorne warriors into the  tower. First turn they were charged by Sigvald and his Warriors. Sigvald strolled into the fight slaying a lot of my guys, my Khorne Champ was in a challenge with the Slaneesh champ, which I won. The few remaining Khorne Warriors slayed some of their Slaneesh kin before the remaining warriors struck back killing the rest of the unit. My Unit champ from the challenge was still alive however and steadfast held the watchtower all on his own.

His warrior block bounced out and were visable with one warrior each side of the tower. I charged in on the left with my skull crushers and on the right with my knights.I only had one guy from each unit fighting corner to corner. My Khorne Lord ended up in a challenge with Sigvald, while one night slowly whittled down the Slaneesh warriors a turn at a time.

This fight was soon joined by a Slaneesh Chariot, a Manticore, a Daemon Prince a Warshrine and my Gorebeast chariot.

Big epic smackdowns later most of his units were gone as were mine. In the challenge however on his final wound my Khorne Lord severed the head of Sigvald in one mighty blow.

Khorne was watching closely and the eye of the gods came up double 6.

  Rejuvenated to full wounds and now sporting true Daemonhood, this was the real turning point.

Mitch's Chimera ran down the last of my Marauders, and while this was going on i sneakily moved my big Nurgle block and BSB into the watch tower. 

I ended the game holding the tower so took a 15-5 win. Mitch had a comp of 4 which surprises me. So my 15-5 would have been pushed up into an even bigger win.

Then we rolled into game six. At this point I was in second place. Our scenario was a plain old pitched battle scenario and I had drawn Simon Turner and his Ogres.

I had been prewarned that Simon can be sometimes a punish to play against as a player but I found him to be quite decent. We had a few rules/situation issues but he just blew them off and said 'what ever, move on'.

What wasn't fun though was his army. This guy, unlike me was obviously a serious tournament player and his army matched that. It was strong and very effective, but from a garage hammer point of view it was not fun to play against.

Now when it comes to warhammer I believe this to be a social and multi person hobby. Its my opinion that both people need to have fun and want to play the game or there's no point playing. Of course im a garagehammer, shits and giggle kinda player. I don't begrudge Simon for his list, it was a tournament, and he took a good list to win. Kudos to him. It was unfortuantly for me the only non fun game of the weekend.

Simon's list consisted of 

Lvl 4 wizard lore of Heavens (general), lvl 1 wizard lore of Maw, BSB guy

2 Thunder Tusks

4 (or 5?) minimum 3 man iron guts units with full command

3 big units of leadbelchers (16 in total)

3 individual dogs,

1 cannon chariot

Right from the start I didn't know what to do. I needed to get my stuff into combat as one round of shooting would kill an entire unit no problem. However Simon plays his Ogres as though they are elves. The Ironguts bait and flee, screening the guns. Nothing can get into a fight. His dogs block and divert, its a nightmare. He plays the army very very well.

I had a huge building in front of my right flank and thought id just have to go defensive and try hide. This was working well until the end turns when my wizard and knights failed a panic, failed the BSB reroll and fled. With everything else he had managed to shoot to pieces, that pushed it easily to a 20-0.

His comp was 4, which I felt was about 2 higher than it should be. Chatting to people in the know this army list seems to fly under the radar, its not the 'usual' power build comp judges see so it seems as though they didn't see the potential. Kudos to Simon though, he really knows his army.

Since our game and having had time to think ive come up with another play. I don't know how it'd work but I would be interested to try it out.

In the end I slid down to fourth place. I was happy with that result in only my second tournament and my first individual tournament, especially since i said months ago I don't want to go and try place, I just want to play casual fun gamers in the low/middle levels.

That plan didn't really eventuate, but with the high comp pack players and armies were really great (mostly).

A big thank you to Nick from the WatchTower podcast for hosting the first Sydney Slaughter, and I plan on making an appearance again next year if it's the same format.