Scott's report of 200 point standard tournament at Galactic Goods in Kenner
Round 1: played Kevin: 1 Umber hulk, 1 Mind flayer lich, 2 Dark mantles, 1 Drow spider priestess, 1 Astral stalker. Map dragon grave yard?
He made me come to his side of the board and kept his pieces all separate so I couldn't blast more than 1 or 2 at a time with lightning bolts. I eventually picked his pieces off one at a time taking very little in casualties myself. He played a superb strategy, the only reason I won was that my pieces were more devastating than his were, and I was rolling well. Lets face it, keeping the Kuo toa within 6 squares gives you a +5 to hit, or +10 if you use a champion power that round, that gives a total of +20 to hit with the lightning bolts. Hard to miss anything like that.
Round 2: played Maxwell: Lady vol, 3 Bone shard skeletons, 1 Delver sergeant, 2 Blood of vol fanatics, 1 Darkmantle. Map: ruined temple?
We met in the middle of the map, I dropped some of his supporting units in 1-2 rounds. Kept blasting at Lady vol with lightning bolts. Eventually she breathed on my guys with both breath weapons, I bloodied her and she breathed again, I think killing about 3 or 4 Kuo-Toa. I killed the rest of his pieces, and time ran out without me having to continue battling Lady vol.
Round 3: played Sherry: 2 Hook horrors, 1 Vampire vizier, 1 Bugbear head reaver. Map: ruined temple?
I had her come to my side of the map, which allowed me to pick off 1 of her hook horrors right away in about 2 rounds. After that, they just continued to get blasted off the board with lightning bolts. She didn't stand a chance. Game over in 30 minutes.
Greg's report of the Borderland's Night Below pre-release tournament on July 1st 2007.
I was the only one to make the trip this weekend. I got crushed, finished 5th out of 8 people. I don't think i could have had any worse of a pull than what I pulled. The best character I had was the lich and my second best was the medusa archer. My warband was as follows:
199 Points 8 Activations 1. Delver Sergeant 2. Hobgoblin Marshall 3. Gnoll Claw FIghter 4. Kou-Toa Hunter 5. Carnage Demon 6. Mind Flayer Lich 7. Medusa Archer 8. Ice Mephit
My other pulls were: Assassin, Trained Carrion Crawler, Brass Golem, Hierophant of the Seventh Wind, Large Chaos Beast, Deep Legionnaire, Bluespawn Ambusher, Prisoner, Greater Barghest (promo fig).
What I really lacked was a melee hitter, hind site being 20/20 I am not sure if I would have faired any better using the brass golem, the whole requires commander thing scared me off (thanks to you and our last 500 epic match :) ).
Match one: Ron Map: Mithril Mine
His band was: Champion of Dol Dorn, Guardian Naga, Loviater, halfling tombseeker, darkmantle, assassin ....
That damn Halfling Tombseeker was the bane of my existence all day, I don't know how much time I wasted trying to kill this thing out of the victory area. I made a couple of critical mistakes with my guys. I got the ice mephit to far out front and it got routed in round two, and I did not read my card well enough with the Medusa Archer Petrifying Gaze ability and that if the creature saved I could use archers eye and take an ranged attack. Not that it would have helped a whole lot, but I could have killed that tombseeker in round two or three at the latest. Then concentrated on his other stuff. Good match, he whooped me like he did at coast con.
Match two: Dylan Map: Mithril Mine
His army: GreenSpawn Zealot, Greater Basilisk, Halfling Tombseeker, Delver Seargent, bodyguard, assassin, he had another rare in this warband but i can't remember what it was.
I had everything work right in this match, he rushed out with the basilisk and I use my extra activation and popped him with my medusa archer and lich hit him with acid arrow. By second round it was routing. He came in and petrified gazed one of my guys then I did it right back to him in round two and three. He lost a 40hp figure and other 25+hp figure to that ability. After that the lich, and ice mephit just nuked his other pieces to death along with the medusa archer hitting each round. Things were looking up :)
Match Three: Jerry Map: Keep of the Falling Kings I
His Warband: Lady Vol, ShadowBane Inquisitor, Bodyguard, Deep Legionnaire, Champ of Dol Dorn, Prisoner, can't remember what else he had.
My lich could not do anything against Lady Vol, she was a beast. He got into a victory area on round one by running the deep legionnaire and then stone stepping into the VA. I brought my ice mephit up and laid down a cone effect on three of his guys then he coned me back from lady vol and my mephit was routing, and commander made the save. Jerry having a 110hp point piece, 95hp piece and another 65+hp piece just did me in, i could not do enough damage to make a difference. I got one or two of his fodder pieces to rout but none of the main pieces were scratched.
Match Four: Dawn dropped so I got a bye, I liked her army a lot better than mine but she said she made a big mistake commander wise. She was running: Guard of mithril hall, wild mage, valiant cavalry, skeletal courser ..... Not sure what the rest was.
Overall I had allot of fun, level of competition is good, I will prob start playing constructed once a month in Mobile. Will help sharpen my skills.
Placing: 1. ? (friend of Ron and Jerry) 4 and 0 2. Ron 3 and 1 3. Jerry 3 and 1 4. Damon (? young guy that works there) 2 and 2 I think 5. Me 6. Dylan 7. Dylan's Dad 8. Dawn
I will be going back to the release event next saturday, they were really sweating you showing up today. As for big mini's:
2 Wulfgars, 2 White Dragons, and Lady Vol brought all the heat during play. Some of them opened the boosters they one and two shadow dragons came out another lady vol. No Raistlin and no large gold dragons that I know of, unless the guy who one 5 boosters got one.
Jim's review of Unhallowed Pre-Release tournament is live on his site: http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/unhallowed_pr/
Jeremy's Report of Blood Wars Release Tournament – 11/4/06 – at Galactic Games, Metairie, LA – Sealed Limited Format
Pulls:
Greenspawn Sneak, Dragonmark Heir of Deneith, Large Water Elemental, Marilith, Harmonium Guard, Orc Wizard, Gnoll Barbarian, Doomguard, Storm Silverhand, Half-Orc Spy, Skeletal Reaper, Fiendish Snake, Medium Copper Dragon, Hammerer, Soldier of Bytopia, Hero of Valhalla
Warband: Greenspawn Sneak, Dragonmark Heir of
Deneith, Large Water Elemental, Marilith, Harmonium Guard, Orc Wizard
Map selected: Drow Outpost
Round 1: Jason on Drow Outpost
Jason’s main figs were the Arcadian Hippogriff and Vlaakith the Lich Queen. First round normally goes pretty slow for me since I’m still learning the figs. I also usually play pretty cautiously. Well, I made 1 big mistake in that I had myself in perfect line for a first round fireball from Vlaakith. The Orc Wizard failed the save, failed morale and ran off the board. There went the plan to push Jason’s players into the pit. After recovering from that, I then moved the Marilith up too quickly. Vlaakith then cast Disintegrate on her. Naturally, I failed that save as well – that was worth 60 damage. I did the best I could to protect the Marilith while trying to make it through the rest of the game. I just couldn’t ever get myself on the offensive. Eventually, everything was destroyed. I didn’t get the rolls when I needed them, Jason played very smartly, and it seemed like he had a counter every time I thought I was building momentum. It also didn’t help that I lost every initiative.
Record: 0-1
Round 2: Sean on Drow Outpost
Sean was running the Centaur War Hulk, Maug, Orc Wizard, and Mezzoloth. This time I played much better. I blocked the center passage with my Elemental. He and the Maug went at it for several rounds. I was able to use the Orc Wizard’s Battering Ram to move the undamaged Centaur War Hulk into a pit. He failed the save and was gone. Sean and I tried back and forth to move each other figs into the pit with our respective Orc Wizard’s Battering Rams after this, with neither of us successful. I ran the Marilith completely around and engaged the Mezzoloth. I eventually wiped him completely out while the Marilith was barely damaged. I then slowly whittled away his forces until I eventually won with a combination of Victory points and kills.
Record: 1-1
Round 3: Annette on Drow Outpost
Ironically, I was able to play all my matches on the Drow Outpost, which I felt was a good match for my Orc Wizard’s Battering Ram. Annette had a Maug, Lord of Blades, and Brelani Eladrin. I was able to get tile points every round of this game. The Marilith targeted Brelani initially and caused him to route. Meanwhile, the Elemental once again tied up the middle ground until the Maug caused him to route. He was rallied the next round. Eventually, the Marilith tore through the Lord of Blades and dropped him. Once again, I won on Victory points and kills. On a side note, the Orc Wizard’s Battering Ram pushed two of Annette’s figs into the pits, and they both failed. I really had fun with Battering Ram in this tournament.
Final Record: 2-1
Final Thoughts:
I thought this was a really good tournament. It was well organized, and I think everyone got along and had a good time. I think I had a pretty good pull and had a hard time coming up with a warband. I took all the time considering the Storm Silverhand or Medium Copper Dragon, but determined I should really have 6 activations to try to maximize the Marilith and get her in position. I felt I was competitive in every game, and had a good shot against Jason, but luck wasn’t with me in that one. It was nice coming away with 4th place and a certificate for a booster which I’ll use when Galactic Games gets more Blood War boosters in stock.
Glennard @ GenCon
Trip total : $730
Mini Promos: 8 (worth about $3)
Overall swag: a bag full of fun junk (for the short attention span)
Overall
rating : fantastic.
Met a great deal of good people who didn't mind talking about minis all day
long. There was a bit of frustration in that there were quite a few people who
were just looking to join in with a 'ddm clique', but otherwise it was well
worth the trip.
There was League Play, which allowed you to play for as long as you had someone
to play against. Crazy. Crews were coming in empty handed and walking out with
over a case of WotDQ figs each. Just for playing the game!
The booths were very overpriced for rares, but the common/uncommons could be
found for 6 for $2. On Sunday, there was a booth that had 10 for $1. Just giving
stuff away. I suppose the overall theme, if you wanted the best deals, was
'Endurance'. The longer you waited (cause nobody was going to pay $80 for a
Gauth), the better deals you could find (nearly bought one for $25).
The following is my write up for the Grinder. Mostly, I was worried that I
didn't get crushed (or at least last 30min). I couldn't promise anything.
What I ran:
Warden of the Wood 46pt
Dire Bear 44pt
Dire Bear 44pt
Wand Expert 33pt
Crow Shaman 26pt
Xeph (fodder)
First round: Keep of Fallen Kings
D.Horn
Couatl, Marut, Meph. Pyromancer, W. Scout, Cleric of order, fodder
First few rounds were just positioning. With his scout getting VP and the Marut
looming large, I got aggressive and accidentally opened my tech pieces to a
fireball. Both pieces failed saves, made moral.
A round or two later, as I am coming in, another fireball hits my tech.
All dead. My bears run in but with no support, it was a difficult opening match
for me. 0-1
Second Round: Drow Outpost
R.Duffy
Couatl x2, Kord, Eberk, Cleric of order, fodder
By far the most frustrating match of the weekend. This match alone convinced me,
completely, that the dice rule. No matter what. Amazing pilot or not.
irrelevant. Dice rule. All you can do is hope to reduce the amount of dice
rolling as much as possible. Stay away from rolling if you can!
Anyway, He started off very aggressive with Kord but once the WoW's briar web,
lightning hit and his Couatls were too far behind to support, his play went
straight to my tech I would say I was ahead the first half of this match. I
killed off Kord with the bears but the Couatls were a crazy pain in the ass.
Duffy had piloted them inside the drow house area and all my tech could do was
sit there (except the W.E. who could do a whopping 5 fire damage to one of
them).
As time was running out and the pilot running across the gaps and shooting me
with mini missiles, time expired as he was ahead by a few points. Overall, I
rolled 5 -'1's on my attacks and never one a single initiative. Super! I
honestly believe I would have one this match if I had just rolled 2 more '2's or
better. Honestly. All I had to roll to hit with the bears was a two. Another few
hits and I would have killed off a Couatl and won as time expired. Oh, well.
That is part of the game that keeps things 'even'.
Even with the best band, you can still lose.
Things I learned from this match:
1.Dice suck. Take them out of the game as MUCH as you can (with magic or buffed inits like Ryld, Ghale, or the satyr)
2.Keep track of your own game! I cant stress this enough. Keep a writing pad with you and take a moment to log every point as it happens.
3.And three. Know the rules as clearly as you can before sitting down to play. Every rule I had a question about was shot down and nearly cost me a slow play caution (jumping gaps, seeing out of smoke, cover in melee by own fig, blah blah).
Most of this should be covered in your local game but many times I saw that the local game was wrong. (partial cover in smoke, partial cover in forest, etc)
0-2
Third round : Drow Outpost
R.Myer
GAS, Eberk, Sun Soul
A flamestrike in the first round sealed it. I routed or killed off a few of his
pieces. After that you could see he was rushed to get back into the game. He ran
past a set of bears to base my tech, end of the GAS. A number of bad rolls on
his part didn't help either (never made a single moral check)
1-2
Fourth Round : Hellspike
M.Gross
Ryld, Ogre Skirmisher x3, Quag Slave x2, 2 wolves This guy really knew the map
well and played his pieces accordingly. The spring attack by the ogres was
something I hadn't run into before.
Fortunately, the open terrain allowed my bears and tech to gang up (which is
their strength), and routed them all one by one. You could see a major
difference in results when a pilot went after my tech or tried to go thru the
bears. If no countersong was involved, nobody made it thru the fearless bears
with the tech behind them. 2-2
Fifth Round : Keep of Fallen
D.Kulpa
Fire Belcher x4, Tief. Captain, War Drummer, Hyena Intimidating band. All that
auto damage looking straight at me. me with my two big spells nerfed
(flamestrike and wand experts fire wand). I went in figuring to go for points
and let the dice sort out the rest.
I ran straight at the Belchers with the bears in hopes of killing one off in a
round or two(85pts possible in one round for me). Since he didn't have the space
to get around me (belchers are large), he split two of them off and went around
the VP area. By the time he got around, the bears and tech killed off his first
set of belchers. That slowed him down and now, as I was ahead on everything, he
got aggressive. I won out as time expired. 3-2
Things I learned from this match: Apparently, weire talking a ranged/radius
spell here, if you can just see a corner of the a square, you can chose to land
the spell on any corner of the square. Even if you cant see it. Odd.
Also, on large figs, the shot HAS to go off on the middle of the piece. I think
our local game was doing that differently.
Sixth round: Dragon Shrine
S.Webb (fron Canada)
Cadaver Collector, Deurg. Champs x 2, Snig, Gob Skirms, fodder.
I split up my Warden from the bears to get a shot off on all his fodder. He had
like 12 activations. A flamestrike later, things were much closer. I must say,
this band was much stronger than I had expected. Because of the way my band is
set up, in my opinion, I have to be relatively close together to gang up on one
fig at a time. This sets me up for the crazy strong breath attack of the
Collecter(dc20). Everyone fails, everyone is paralyzed. I lose. Simple rolls
people. Stay away from rolling the dice!
Anyway, the band was run very well. I crowded a magic circle with the bears
(mistake cause it split up the bears), and I just couldn't keep up with the two
champs AND the collector. I think if I had piloted better it would have worked
out my way, but NOTHING would have mattered when the dice rolls paralyze my
figs. 3-3
Seventh Round: keep of fallen kings
. Bender
Couatl, Ballista, Standard-bearer, Tordek, Filler By far the worst beating I
took for the weekend. I couldn't even get CLOSE to the ballista. Keep in mind
that the ballista hits larges at +20 for 45 damage (I think). crazy. Even with
my 16 move bears, I couldn't get across to do anything. Outmatched. And no, my
opponent failed to roll any '1's.
3-4
Eighth Round: Keep of Fallen Kings
???
Frenzied Berserker x2, a cleric of something, the caster who gives energy
immunities/resistance, fodder At this point I have consumed over a gallon of pop
and a few hotdogs. I'm seeing two of everything and to top it off, were sitting
under the air vent that cools the entire hall. We're freezing.
This was the first time I had faced the berserkers with the bears, ever. I had
heard all kinds of horror stories about how hard they hit and blah blah.
I'll tell you what, looking at how much damage they did do (what is it, like 30
or 35 with two swings??) was intimidating. Fortunately for me, the berserks +to
hit is crazy low and my opponent did not invest in any swiftness. My opponent
was going to let the dice decide who was going to win.
With my tech giving blur to the bears plus the AC for cats grace made ALL the
difference in this match. My opponent, swinging with a +7 or something just
couldn't land his second swing. Most times when he did hit, he would fail the
blur. My opponent also tried to chew thru the bears as well. With such heavy
hitters like the FB, I probably would have tried the same thing.
Unfortunately, even on decent days, the FB couldn't hit the bears. I really
liked the idea of his band, with the cleric healing the 'zerks for a few extra
rounds, but the low +hit was not going to work in his favor.
I ended up wining before the timer. 4-4
One of these days I will learn to follow thru with my plan to keep the band
focused on ONE fig at a time and pilot the bears to gang up. No matter the cost.
I've lost more matches simply because I let the Warden stray away for a
flamestrike or split the bears, just a bit, to keep me from attacking a fig with
both bears. I've been playing for a year now and I show no signs of learning
from my mistakes. Blah. One of these days.
I missed the 500pt opener due to miscommuniction between myself and the judges.
Fortunate for me that I got there just in time for the players who dropped from
500pt to start a side game of 200pt.
First round: Dragon Shrine
George from Maine
Collector, D.Champ, Urthok, Snig, Fodder
Nearly identical to the band I played earlier in the day. I went in with what I
felt were the strengths of my band and , typical for me, I threw it all to the
wayside and just moved figs around.
Luck was on my side though. I did nearly the exact same thing I did the day
before. I strayed my warden for an early flamestrike against fodder, set the
bears up the EXACT same way on a magic circle (effectively splitting them up).
The only difference, and I mean the ONLY difference was that I made ALL of my
saves with paralysis. All of them. Even a Xeph warrior saved. Crazy. After that
you could see George was pissed. he wasn't aggressive with Urthok until the last
few rounds when he tried to base my tech. At that point though, the collector
had been mauled by newly positioned bears and the wand experts dual wand (which
had a bonus by the way, many opponents usually forget the wand experts wands
were specials, based me with a piece, and lost it the next round). 1-0
Second round : Keep of Fallen kings
. ???(a qualifier from Maryland)
Helmed horrors x3, Rakshasa, fodder
Was intimidated right off the bat. I was playing a guy who was a qualifier for
the championship. He qualified from Maryland and had flown in from...brazil?
Either way, I figured anyone who was going to come this far, had qualified, was
going to eat my bears up. This was not the case.
Again, an opponent tried to go directly thru my bears. This map allowed me a
small bit of protection from high movement figs and by the time my opponent
realized it was the tech that was chopping him down, he still didn't want to
risk an AO from the bears. Essentially, he tried to beat me up with the HH's.
Grouped in front of the bears allowing me to gang up on one fig, then two fig.
The HH's went out one round, then two round. One saving grace though was that I
saved on two DC20 Bigby's slaps. If I had failed either one, I would have lost a
bear and that would have changed the look of the entire match. 2-0
Third Round: (I'm forgetting the name, the new map with the waterfall) .
???(this guy, I think his name was Ron or Roy, was the #1 player from Maine)
Collector, D.Champ, Urthok, Snig, fodder This was an extremely close match. We
met at the side of the waterfall with woods and two square entry point. He got
his Champ in front of the Collector. I knew from the past that I just couldn't
rely on my dice to get me past the paralysis. So I had my guys spread out and
went for points.
Unfortunately, I had to sacrifice one of my bears and that doomed me. I picked
apart his fodder with the wand expert, the crow shaman had used up nearly all of
his spells and that damn collector was STILL on the board. At the begging of the
match I chose to use blur instead of magic weapon. A 50/50 choice. I didn't have
an option of putting all 4 spells on both bears with just one W.E. At one point
I had everyone running, I figured I had the match won. Next thing you know :
Rally!, Rally!, Rally! Snig, Urthok, and the Champ all saved. Right on the edge
of the map!! Daammnnn!!
Interestingly, my opponent chose not to bring those rallied figs into the fray.
he kept the points away from the main skirmish on my VP area. It was my entire
band (minus one bear) against the collector. Breath weapon! All failed! Dead
bear, dead wand expert, dead everything. I lost in that single moment because I
failed saves on that freak'n breath weapon. I felt I had to stay clumped to
protect my tech against his figs that were still on the board. My opponent took
advantage and boom. all gone. 2-1
Fourth round: Keep of fallen kings
???
GAS band, standard-bearer, wolf
Lots of drama surrounding this match and by far the closest match I had played
in all weekend. It came down to time and who won initiative. I was getting
pummeled. I had pretty much given up when one of the judges sat with us and
said, 'you never know, a few crits here and there and you could be back into
this'. My bears had survived all the stuns, auto damage, crits, everything! A
few conceal 6's and I was in the match! I had critted two of his monks and got
them off the board. It was a bear, WE vs. his Young Master and two monks. I had
positioned myself in my vp since there was no way I was going to try and chase
him down. I sat there and it came down to who won initiative. he was ahead by 4
points, 2 minutes to go in the match and we rolled. He would win init, let me go
first. All I could do was sit on the tiles and wait. he would move onto his vp
(I couldn't block the space due to points and fear of losing my WE which would
have given him the match). We rolled init, he won and moved his VP guy out of
the way. I could just sit there. We rolled again, he won, moved his guys
in....on and on. he did this like three times. I ended up losing at the buzzer
by 4 points. if I had won an initiative, I would have been able to force him for
a moral check (or if he didn't come in for vp, I would have won). Considering
where he was set up, he wouldn't have been able to save his monk on the
following round. that was IF I had won an initiative. I never did. Freak'n dice.
I hate'em I tell you. Hate them! 2-2
Just for participating in this event I received a free booster (pulled a
tiamat!) And shared a booster with the last opponent because of the drama of the
match (he was late, came down to time, blah blah...he showed incredible
sportsmanship thru the entire thing)
I played in a number of unofficial matches. Players that didn't want to pony up
the 40+ dollars to get into league play or didn't want to jeopardize their DCI
standings. I probably went another 4-4 thru that entire thing. The rest of the
weekend I walked to all the booths, played in some crazy games, saw a number of
expansions coming out. Overall a fun time. Seeing so many costumes and people
that supported those with costumes on was very refreshing. Participated in a
'light touch' real time combat event. Foam weapons, real costumes. For me, after
a slap or two on the face by a shield, forgot about the light touch and let it
all hang out against some of the gladiators who were set up to face people in
the crowd. I love the sound of a foam hammer on a metal helmet. Good times. I
ended up dying as the contact and said contact is a compromise between
participants on if it was a hit that was crippling or 'merely a scratch'.
Never had an opportunity to get into the 'real dungeon' either. A 3-4 hour jaunt
into an entire floor of a hotel set up like a real dungeon. "light touch' combat
in some rooms, puzzles in others. Hidden doors, real trap (again, compromise
among the participants), I just couldn't find a group that needed a person to go
in. Also, at that time I was way past my allotment of money to go in. It was
about 20-30 dollars but with 7.50 for mixed drinks in the 'tavern' while you
waited for an opportunity to go in, I couldn't afford it any longer.
Hopefully, maybe next year, I can convince a few people to go with me. The
opportunity to win enough figs, promos, free stuff that pay for nearly half the
trip along with a chance to meet some guys you only play against on Vassal is
well worth it.
Jason (aka Flint_Firestone) 7/29/06 at Chuck's Field of Dreams
Brief run down on my Matches
First match vs. Les
I went in this match with the plan to use the BG speed to engage the troll before he could gain access to the bottleneck in the airship. And use the small copper to get VP from same area. Secondly to harass the Displacer with SoB with spells and breath weapons then move in. and finally to use my ogre skirmisher to harass Les’s castes. I figured this was a sound strategy considering the low AC of the troll. By doing this I had hoped to eliminate, the trolls then play keep away from the Displacer with a large point lead. Well the Troll turned out to be more than the BG could handle (les rolling 2 crits. on her didn’t help) the tables turned and I lost the BG and did not have the firepower left to take out the Troll. Came close when he failed his save for Hold monster from Sob but it was too late and time ran out Lost by exactly the point cost of the BG.
Second, match Vs Tracy
This was on teleport and very fun (even if I didn’t win)
My strategy for this match as to double team AoT with SoB and BG Wile using Meepo to nurf AoT Breath weapons and small copper to get tile points. Then harass the WoW and the rest with the Ogre and my filler. All was working according to plan had AoT within 5 hp of forcing a MC. Lost a critical Int. followed close behind by my SoB. Forced a MC on AoT with BG but with out the extra
–save from SoB AoT made her MC and time was called shortly after. Another very close game.Third Match vs, Jason D.
This was a blowout from the get go he had a blurred AoB and Godslayer. Was over in round five. My plan again was to double team the God slayer and ignore AoB as best as I could. And hope I could beat down the Godslayer and Point denial until time. Well AoB squatted down On My VA and could not get past the blur on the god slayer.
All in all I played well did not make many mistakes. Just could not get the rolls when thy counted.
Jason (aka SpiderMines) 7/1/06 at Gameworx
This was my first DDM tourney, and took place at Gameworx in Baton Rouge, LA.
http://www.gameworx.org/
http://battleworks.net/
Thanks a ton to the Gameworx crew: Joey, Mike, and Karen for running a good
show; I had a blast. The turnout was 20 players, larger than normal from what I
hear, which I'm sure made things a little harder to run. After the lengthy
tourney, I expect next time to see an announced break time once or twice during
the tourney. The players were all very cool people, and I hope to see many of
those faces again. We had players from all over the state and even a couple from
out of state, and I was very glad to see the large showing for our relatively
small town.
I pulled:
Tordek
Cerlic of Syreth
Mountain Troll
Eldrich Giant
Doomfist monk
kobold zombie
sm. fire elemental
clawfoot rider
tavern brawler x 2
witchknife
Cleric of Laogzed
Aasimar Fighter
azer fighter
Poison Dusk Lizardfolk
Warden of the Wood
I decied to go
Epic Torkek
Cerlic of Syreth
Mountain Troll
Doomfist monk
tavern brawler x 2
Aasimar Fighter
In retrospect, it would have been interesting to try the H. Fiendish Spider in place of the Troll for flyover/flanking purposes to raise Epic Tordek's AC to the max via the Cleric of Syreth. But the Troll did pound things pretty nicely... melee reach 3 is definitely handy, too.
I noticed 3 or 4 purple worm pulls and found out later there were at least two Dracoliches. I believe there was only one Bahamut and one Tiamat. I was not looking forward to the purple worm matches as Tordek could easily get swallowed, but figured my Troll could hold them off. Ironically I never played vs. a worm, but the Dracoliches were my downfall (didn't have any dragons to hold them off with).
Match 1:
Dracolich
a hitter or two (?)
warden of wood,
white spawn x 2
My first match was against a Dracolich, another hitter (Cadaver Collector), warden of the wood, white spawn x 2, etc. on Field of Ruin. He took middle first with the Dracolich. I decided to charge in with Tordek since my Troll was nearby, figuring with 40 HP done to the Draco that round, if I won init there was a decent chance I'd finish off the Dracolich the next round. Well, he won init, paralyzed Tordek, and it was all downhill from there. Tordek never woke up and the Troll was unable to kill the Dracolich before Tordek died. The Troll finally finished the Dracolich with his first attack one sec before buzzer. If I had had another 5 seconds I may have killed another unit with the Troll's second swing, but I think he still would have won on points.
If I could have done it again, I would have used Tordek's ranged attack vs the Draco then using Troll Melee Reach 3 to force him out of his hole. After this match though, I was deathly afraid of the Dracolich and figured the next time I saw a Draco I'd run my butt away and throw fodder in the way.
0-1
Match 2:
Blackguard (epic i think)
Ogre Skirmisher
cleric of Laogzed
poison dusk lizard(?)
War Ape
Rat(?)
Greenspawn Razorfiend (?)
This was against Dylan on Field of Ruin again. I don't remember details, but if I remember correctly, Tordek was just unstoppable here. Hit hard and basically couldn't be hit. The Blackguard got within Basing range midway through the battle and went down quickly.
1-1
Match 3:
Bonded Fire Summoner
Tundra Scout
Hobgoblin Talon of Tiamat
Huge F. Spider
War Ape
Azer figher x 2
Storm Archer
This was against David (one of the 3 or 4 Davids there) on Field of Ruin once again. He went North with his T. Scout and south with the Spider. I blocked off the T. Scout with my Troll, not wanting to give him the chance to run over Tordek, and went through the middle with Tordek. At one point I realized by taking an AoO or two I could run past his men and attack his Hobgoblin. The Hobgob went down quickly to Tordek, and the Troll stunned and finished the T. Scout. After that, Tordek avoided the spider for a bit and went around pounding things pretty hard.
2-1
Match 4:
Eld. Giant
Tordek (non-epic)
Cleric of Sy
Warweaver
Blackspawn
Cerlic of Laogzed
Azer
Warape
This was against Brian, one of the three or four guys who were undefeated at this point. I was a little surprised that he didn't go for epic Tordek, and was itching to put my Tordek with the +4 ac VS giants against his Eldrich. I had forgotten about Snakes Swiftness and that could have been bad for me had things sized up differently.
He won map init and picked Teleport Temple, his map. I've played on it once, maybe twice, so wasn't totally comfortable, but by the end of the match I was liking the map better. The map may have been upside down, but I picked the Southwest (left) start area. He got init and went north and blocked a teleporter with his giant. I went south with my men; blocked off the nearby teleporter on first round with my monk. After buffing up my men I continued on, and he soon teleported his Tordek semi-close to my men, I believe to intercept any attempt at my nearest VP area. This was his mistake as I was able to get a ranged hit with my Tordek on him and then base and stun him with my monk. After that his Tordek went down quickly before he could move away. He took a VP area of his own with his Ape, then brought his Giant around south via Teleporter. As my Troll and Tordek were killing his Tordek and making way for his tech, the giant down south had me worried about my Cleric. I blocked him using fodder and finally got my cleric next to my Troll in relative safety. He did take out several fodder units with the giant and Blackspawn, then made an unexpected move north instead of going after my cleric... then used Dimensional Door to put his Giant on my near vict area, then teleported an Azer to the teleporter that his Tordek had just died on. Realizing he was up one round on me via victory points, it was time for me to grab some tile points. I was able to run my monk to the southern teleporter and take my other victory area. I then based his giant with Tordek (not wanting the giant to move near my vulnerable units any more) and stayed at Melee 3 with my troll. If I had realized how close we were to time, I would have made it a point to go after some squishies for points.
The one round of grabbed victory points for me proved crucial, as to my astonishment time was called very soon after (I have to remember to bring a stopwatch next tourney). After adding up my one kill and vict points, I beat him by exactly one point. Wow. This was my lesson on denial strategy- had I paid attention to time I wouldn't have made some of the choices I did, and I feel lucky that I went for tile points when I did.
3-1 I had now made it to the "finals", and was really pleased with myself.
Match 5:
Dracolich
Cadaver Collector
Warape
Dread Warrior (I think) as zero level commander
Blackspawn Exterminator
Greenspawn Razorfiend
etc.
I'm bad with names, I think this was Sean. He won map init and picked his Hellspike. I took the Southeast start. My semi-plan was to avoid the Dracolich, block with fodder, and take out his fodder with my Tordek until I was forced to fight the Dracolich. I was also very intent on using my ranged attack vs. the Dracolich before moving into melee with Tordek. His Draco moved to behind the middle rock area, his CC went south, and his other units (except commander zero) all went north after my monk I had sent that way. I had Tordek move northward as my Troll stayed south... thinking that I may get a flank chance against the Draco.
Well, I underestimated F9 and reach 2, and he was able to perfectly place the Dracolich past my fodder and get a swing on Tordek. Naturally he failed the paralysis, and I was reliving match one from there. My Troll was able to kill his CC, but Tordek got whipped out by everybody from Greenspawn, Draco, and probably fodder pounding on him. And paralysis finally got my Troll and he went down.
After hearing how badly the Dracolich was supposed to do in the sealed tourneys, I was really disappointed to have been killed twice by one. Did I mention how much I dislike paralysis?
I spoke with Brian after the match (it lasted no more than 25 minutes) and asked about his other matches. He said that he had lost one, his dracolich had gotten killed quickly. And he had won several very quickly with paralysis, including one against Tiamat. It turns out that not many people were aware of dragon's immunity to paralysis (including Brian). Brian played great and deserved to go to the top 4, but if they had known that rule Tiamat may have advanced past him. I definitely would have rather taken a tiamat match instead of Draco considering my lineup, but I am still pleased with my first tourney.
3-2
---------
That's it for my games, but I'll make a couple more comments.
I saw the end of Manny (Dual Spider plus another hitter) vs the one Slaughterstone in the tourney along with a Sorcerer on Black. It got down to one spider and the Sorc on Black, and I believe the last init won the game in favor of the Sorcerer.
One out of towner had to leave, and Bahamut [correction, it wasn’t Bahamut… not sure who got it] got a bye (if that's the correct term). It may have been Bahamut that had to leave early].
So the top 4 included the Slaughterstone+Sorc on black, the only Bahamut (+ Godslayer?) [correction, purple worm + Godslayer], Sean's Dracolich + Cadaver C., and one more I'm not sure about [turns out it was another Dracolich… so much for Dracoliches being bad in the tourney!].
If I had to guess, Slaughterstone and Bahamut got 1st and 2nd place.
[Correction; Manny set me straight on the outcome. Correction as follows:]
Actual Outcome:
1st A Dracolich warband
2nd Godslayer and Purple Worm
3rd Slaughterstone E.
4th Dracolich
Thanks again to the players and the Gameworx staff. Was a lot of fun.
-Jason (aka SpiderMines)
Glennard(me): 6/10/06 at Gameworx
Archmage,Greenfang,D.Bearx2,Centaur Hero,
Inspiring Marshall, Warchanter, T .Rex (wwooo!!)
Round 1 (1-0)
Teleport Temple
Blake
2 D. Champ, Tr. Captain, Trog ,Yuan-Ti, AoNerull, Iron Golem,???,Dark Naga,
Blue Slaad
Round 1 was pretty cookie cutter. We met in the middle of the map, I focused
on his commanders. I landed two Mage Swords immediately on Aspect of Nerull.
In epic play, two Mord sword take a long time to chew thru 100+ hps on the
titan. All in all, a fun match.
Round 2 (1-1)
Teleport Temple
Dan
A straight Bully Band. 2 HGB, Hill Giant Chief, Ravenous Vampire (with
minions), Ogre Warhulk, and Fomorian
This round was not fun at all. Dan just beat me up. The first two rounds I felt I did well in covering up the teleporters and landing 2 swords on a HGB. That’s where things ended for me. I extended myself real thin and became too aggressive with the archmage and allowed him to get him into melee. Real bad mistake on my part. I just wasn’t capable of going fig to fig with this band and it showed. After he was able to reach me, it was over.
The best part about this round was that I learned a great deal about my band. What I learned showed in the next match.
Round 3 (2-1)
Field of Ruin
Jeff
Epic aspect of Lolth, Fomorian, Ambush Drake, a forest troll, Arachnomancer,
Fiendish Yuan-Ti, swarm of spiders
Again, cookie cutter. Round 1, we moved.
Round 2, we set up. Round 3 we rolled. I came out on top as Jeff failed
every MC and I landed a crit on his giant, along with 2 sword on it, it ran
when it activated. After that, the bears and the hero led the charge.
Summary: Everyone got a good laugh when I took out the T-Rex. A fun fig for sure but just didn’t have that certain something for 122pts. Overall, I learned that my band just didn't have a punch to wear down beater bands like Dan's. My overly aggressive play didn’t help, but I doubt much would/could have mattered. I’m looking forward to the next Con/Tourney with my own maps and a few tweaks to ‘Da Bears’.
Epic/Extreme tournament
1st match Angels and Archons vs. the War Giants.
One word: Rikka. Her celestial healing on a 16+init saved me. While the giants we bashing her, the justice archon with justice strike! and the sword archon wore them down. In the end, the morale checks saved me the game. I made all mine, the giants failed theirs. If it would have gone another round though, the giants would have prevailed.
2nd match Angels and Archons vs. Epic Lord Soth's band
One word: Rikka. With the 60pt abyssal blast looming in the background I sat on Rikka and kept my guys dispersed until Soth moved near a feature tile. I don't think Kevin the player was expecting it. Once Rikka came in on round 3, basing Soth, all characters were swarmed to Rikka. At this point, my movement based me with the Trogs who would go down quick with the sword, justice, and another angel whose name escapes me. Rikka healed on the init 3 times, keeping Soth and the others busy while the rest of the band cleaned up. On a lucky note, the Sword Archons (disincorporating dive) on the Aspect of Bane was successful with a failed save. 80+hp adept gone with one charge.
3rd match Angels and Archons vs. Dragon King
Rikka saved the day again! My opponent was content with grabbing a quick tile and evading me the rest of the play. Rikka based his small green dragon and killed it in a round or two. This forced my opponent into offensive mode which he didn't look to comfortable with. The dragons flanked me, but with a few key AO's and a few other failed morale checks I was able to win. One a lighter note, my opponent Matt showed a great deal of sportsmanship at the end of the game for which I am most grateful. he allowed us to finish the round out after the timer went of. In this case, it cost him a medium silver and the victory with points.
Limited tournament
Match 1: 0-1
2MSD's/trog capt vs. mephling sorcerer/wemic
Went in with lots of confidence against Kevin, my most hated opponent.(*cough cough*) I went charging directly at him, thinking I would take out the wemic quick and pick off the rest with great movement and flying. He got me bottled up around a corner and was able to dump 2 fireballs on me. Double damage from fire and two failed moral checks, one with my commander (trog capt), and the game was over. My lesson from this match: Know your opponents figs! On a side note, the burrowing Xorn 20/5/5 with burrowing 4 was an amazing piece I am just learning how to play with. I absolutely hate the moral check. I both won and lost this weekend because of them and both times left me angry.
Match 2: 1-1
2MSD's/trog capt vs. Obould/HG barb
With a very heavy hitting band against my MSD's, I was waiting for the hammer to drop. Fortunately, my opponent played the band cautiously. I kept my dragons back, waiting for the stench to hit and the breath weapons to start blazing. My opponent went for tile points and split off his heavy hitter with the tile grabber, waiting to see what I was going to do. This allowed me to gang up on obould. Two rounds, a failed moral (hate these with a passion), and his commander was gone. In comes the barb. very scary. He was setting up for a whirlwind attack, but I got off init. Hitting him with two flanked attacks, another failed moral (again, I hate these) and it was just formality after that.
Match 3: 2-1
2MSD's/Trog capt vs. Sand giant/night hag
Was playing on a crazy teleport temple. Lots of tight areas but the range of mobility was all over, making me crazy with fig placement.
After the match with Kevin, I now study my opponents figs at first opportunity. His heavy hitting sand giant and effective casting Hag was making me concerned. Once we started, my random placement fig got lucky and landed on a victory tile. My xorn burrowed and sat on top of a close teleport tile while the dragons sat guard on a few tiles waiting to see what my opponent was going to do. He came directly at me with his sand giant but was unable to support him with the rest of the troops. Once the sand giant teleported in, my dragons and trog capt went crazy. Breath weapons, stench, flank, oh my! Two rounds and he was forced to roll for morale. He lost. Once routed, I put my dragon into the teleporter against his entire group. My arrogance was about to cost me but my opponent felt the fight was over and conceded, giving me the victory.
2-1 for the tournament
5-1 for CoastCon 29
Jeremy's Underdark Pre-Release Thoughts 10/2005
I had what I thought were pretty bad pulls in the Underdark Pre-Release. I played the Battle Plate Marshall, Githzerai Monk, Guenhwyvar, Dromite Wilder, Drow Arcane Guard, Swarm of Spiders, and Royal Guard.
First round I played Manny. This was my best game of the day. I was able to get my guys in position and take out his band. Stunning attack worked the way it should from the Gith. I was able to take out most of Manny’s figs before they did any damage to me and then was able to hold on and finish off the Balor. I also won initiative in every round helping me make sure my guys got their swings in before the Balor wiped a few of them out.
Second round I played Lance. I thought this game went very slowly as we only made it through 4 rounds, and my games usually make it through 6-7 rounds. I missed several conceal rolls. The Dromite failed on his attempt to use electricity burst by rolling under 5 at an attempt to use Wild Surge and get double damage. I missed several conceal attempts by the Githzerai. His Death Slaad routed and then came back. He had lost 3 fodder figs and I only lost the Dromite when time was called. His Drow Arcane Guard was routing and hadn’t activated yet to make a second rally attempt, and his Troglodyte commander was also routing. I think 1 more round (or 2 more minutes) would have put me over the top.
Third round I played Sean with his Balor and Rikka band. I thought I had a pretty good chance since I had earlier defeated Manny’s band. The difference was that Sean’s band, in particular his Duergar, was able to whittle my band’s hit points down before I had to engage the Balor. Once again, I failed 2 attempts for the Dromite’s Wild Surge and electricity bursts went for no damage. I was able to defeat all of his band, but with the Balor’s Red Tide, that gave him the initiative advantage which allowed him to knock out a couple guys before they could activate. He was also able to Enslave my Drow Arcane Guard. I did get his Balor down to about 20 hit points before he finished me off.
Final round I played Dudley. Not too much to report on this game outside of the fact that I couldn’t hit anything. Missed 2 more electricity bursts with the Dromite. Couldn’t hit any conceal. I couldn’t hit any of his players pretty much period. He clustered them really well to where I should have just let the electricity burst do normal damage. I might have had a few route or be destroyed. Just a bad game on my part period.
Overall, the Underdark tournament went from bad to o.k. to crappy. I was disappointed in my pulls and not confident in my band. Starting out with a win over a Manny driven Balor really got my hopes up I might be o.k. (maybe bring home an extra booster), but the second round loss was extremely frustrating and I just didn’t have the hitters or spells to take out Sean and Dudley when I was rolling low and they were making saves.
Ryan's Angelfire Prerelease Tournament Report 7/2005
I pulled the Sword Archon and Ghaele Eladrin for my rares. Their combined point value was too high to use both, so I opted to set aside Ghaele Eladrin and go for a 9 activation band consisting of:
Sword Archon
Justice Archon
Direguard
Longstrider Ranger
Abyssal Stalker
Dwarf Mercenary
Kobold Soldier
Xeph Warrior x2
Game 1 - Bye
Game 2 vs. Monte - Win
Monte had Ulmo Lightbringer, Efreeti, Wand Expert, etc. Monte was a
fast player and very enjoyable to compete against. I made killing Ulmo my first
priority. By surrounding Ulmo with all my hitters, I was able to accomplish
this. However, I was taking a beating from his Wand Expert during this time.
Monte also smartly positioned his Efreeti near Ulmo, such that he was able to
use whirlwind attack on my hitters every round, which also served to wear down
my forces. By the time I
defeated Ulmo, my Longstrider Ranger and Direguard were dead, and my
Archons were hurting. I believe this was round 4. On the last activation of
round 4, I used the Sword Archon to kill the Wand Expert
in one hit. I then won initiative and proceeded to have the Sword
Archon and Justice Archon run away like little cowards. His Efreeti survived,
but I had earned enough tile points to win the game.
Game 3 vs. Jeremy - Loss
Jeremy had the Steel Predator, Chraal, Justice Archon, Village Priest,
etc. This was an exciting, yet supremely disappointing, game. I played very
aggressively, attacking the Chraal and trying to keep my figures positioned so
that Jeremy wouldn't be able to use the Steel Predator's sonic attack without
hitting his own figures. However, after routing the Chraal, Jeremy was able to
move in and hit my Sword Archon and Justice Archon with the sonic blast. Sword
made the save, but Justice failed and made his morale save. On my last
activation,
I based the Village Priest with the Sword Archon, hoping to win initiative and
assassinate Jeremy's commander, which would have caused the Chraal to rout off
the board, leaving only the Steel Predator to be dealt with. On Jeremy's last
activation, he used his Justice Archon to fly over to my Sword Archon and make a
Justice Strike. He rolled a critical hit, dealing 55 damage and killing my Sword
Archon!!!! From there, the result was obvious.
Game 4 vs. Phu - Win
Phu had the Djinn, Fiendish Dire Wolverine (?), Direguard and some
other medium-strength creatures. I wasn't too worried about this game, since I
felt that my pulls were superior. I used tile placement to create corridors, and
moved my Longstringer in as a speedbump to keep the Djinn at bay. I was able to
eliminate most of Phu's support figures, and then I moved in with the Sword and
Justice Archons to finish off the Djinn. However, the Conceal 11 is a real pain,
and I couldn't hit the Djinn to save my life. He managed to rout the Sword
Archon. I later rallied, and decided to run away again. Time evetually was
called and I had enough points to win. I was not happy that I had to use this
cowardly strategy again, but it worked.
I accumulated enough victories to make the
playoffs, but I had
developed a headache. I decided to drop out and go home. All things considered,
I'm happy with my performance. The Sword Archon is a potent figure, but is a
little weak in the HP department. Perhaps he could be formidable if paired with
a healer, or with some buff spells.
Jermy's Account of the Angelfire Pre-release 7/2005
I had a couple of really good box pulls and constructed a band of the Steel Predator, Justice Archon, Chraal, Village Priest, 2 Caravan Guards, and an Ophidian.
Round 1
I played Joey in round 1. I don’t remember what he was running other than a Pegasus. Joey was new to the game, so I was helping him the best I could with movement and things like that. Ryan had a Bye, so he was helping both of us to make sure I got it right. I was able to have the Predator run up and Roar and took out a couple of his figs. Unfortunately, Joey had a fig that was Undead and Ethereal who was able to get close to my Village Priest at the end of a round. I needed to win Initiative to try and turn her to make her run. Naturally, I lost it. He routed the Priest. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the Chraal also Requires Commander. Well, I was unable to Rally the Priest, so I lost him and the Chraal. I nearly went into a panic. Luckily, I calmed down and was able to take out enough of his figs and get enough tile points so that when time was called, I beat him by about 30 points. Way too close if you ask me since he didn’t have a beast like the Predator. However, I was still learning the band, so I’ll use that as an excuse.
Round 2
In the second round, I played Manny and his Archmage band consisting of the Archmage, a pretty good sword guy, the Efreeti, and some lower figs. I really didn’t know the power of the Archmage, so I guess ignorance is bliss. I was able to take my Predator back a pretty good ways and Manny had constructed a nice little corridor for his guys. The Archmage was able to get some good shots on the Predator, but the Predator made his morale before he ran up and Roared. The Archmage failed the DC, took 40, then failed to make his Morale. 98 points down the tubes for Manny. After that, my guys were able to clean up the rest of his band. The Predator was taking 15 at every activation thanks to the Archmage, so he stayed out of it for a while and was healed by the Priest so he wouldn’t die. The Efreeti did some fire damage to the Chraal, but in the end, I didn’t lose a fig and Manny’s band was wiped out.
Round 3
I played Ryan and his Sword Archon and Justice Archon in Round 3. I read the Sword Archon’s card before and was scared to death of his Discorporating Dive which had the potential to easily hit the Predator and then have a 50-50 shot of Destroying him. I played to avoid that. I kept a fig between the Predator and the Sword Archon at all times. I was able to get off a Roar and do damage to him. Being fearless, it didn’t cause him to route. The saving point of the game was my Justice Archon flying over to his Sword Archon and doing a crit on him. The Justice Archon has Justice Strike which means he is able to hit with the opponents melee damage. For the Sword Archon, that is 25, so I hit him with 50 damage. Talk about the right time for a crit for me! The Sword Archon went down. Ryan’s Justice Archon went after my Priest, so I sent in the Predator and the Archon to take him out. I think I lost a few figs and maybe the Chraal, but once again the Predator was alive and well.
Round 4
I then drew Gamble with his Archmage, Troll Slasher, Large Air Elemental, and Red Slaad band. My plan was to go after the Troll Slasher because if he died, the Elemental would go off too because it required commander. I was unconcerned with the Mage because if I could keep something in front the Predator, I would be o.k. until he could base the Mage. Well, the plan was working fine. I went up to the Troll and Roared, he only took 20 damage. Then came the worst part of the day for me. I went up with the Chraal and missed. The next round came, I missed again. Finally, I hit him and he didn’t route. Then, I couldn’t hit him again. It took way too long for me to kill that thing. The Predator routed thanks to the Archmage and some hits. I couldn’t save him. The Archon was tied up protecting the priest from the Elemental which would have been a moot point had the Troll gone down. Gamble had some awesome rolls for saves and hits and I couldn’t roll anything. End of game. He wiped me out. All I had left was the priest and he had the Archmage.
Round 5
Round 5 started the playoffs. I played Manny again. I thought the tournament should be over at this point and I was tired so I really didn’t care. Manny had the same corridor at the top of the board which he was running his guys along. I ran the Predator around a corner from it, but within striking distance. I got initiative and rand him up and Roared. I was hoping for a similar routing of the Archmage who I was able to hit. Didn’t happen. He didn’t route. I thought it was over from there. The Predator routed but still had 40 hit points. Manny went to try to hit the Predator while routing, but was 1 square short. This saved the game for me. I was able to rally the Predator and he came back into it. In the meantime, I was able to wipe out the rest of Manny’s forces while he killed most of mine. I still had the Priest and a Guardman, while he had the mage. I went to get tile points which I was unconcerned with until this point. Manny had already received about 30 points and I knew it would be close. I tried to hide the Predator away from the Mage, but he came after me. So, I went after him. It came down to the Predator based the Mage. The Predator had 10 points left and the Mage had 10 or 15 points. The next hit would win. Manny backed the Mage off, giving me the AoO. I bit and crit!! Game over!! It was awesome!!!
Round 6
I conceded to Gamble because I thought the tournament should end with him winning since he was undefeated in the regular round.
The Predator is awesome in limited. I think he won’t be as effective when other figs are available due to being able to prepare for him. Still, he was a beast in this tournament.
Jeremy's account June 16th, 2005
Jeremy vs. Gamble
The abyssal blast took out 5 of the orc warriors and damaged the Eye of Grumsh. He later stoned my Orc Champion. Grumsh was taken out before he had a chance to swing. It was humiliating. I couldn’t even get to Lord Soth or the Beholder. I think I killed 1 or 2 goblins.
Jeremy vs. Richard
Richard completely set me up with tile placement and I walked straight into it!! I had all my guys lined up down a corridor to make an impressive swarm and here comes the Red Samurai. I lost all my Orc Warriors with 1 breath. I was hoping for initiative or that he forgot about the weapon. Neither was true. I was able to use my Orc Champion to go after Ryld and I think Richard made a mistake using his Orc Champion to go after the ZWD. The ZWD can take the hits, but is easily avoided. On the next round I won Initiative and was able to take out Ryld, cleave the Orc Brute, and then mangle the Orc Warrior with my Orc Champion. I consider this the turning point of the match. I used my second move to wallop his Orc Champion with the Ogre Ravager. Eventually the Orc Champion routed and I was able to turn my attention to his Ogre Ravager. This was really an awesomely close match and I was lucky to get the win (thanks to the tile point advice).
Jeremy vs. Manny
I was surprised at how ineffective the ZWD was in taking the arrow hits.
I thought I had good tile placement, but Manny had a good movement to
get around where the ZWD was and start picking off Orc Warriors.
The Frenzied Berserkers are awesome. I was not moving Grumsh or
the Orc Champion to them. They would have to come to me.
Unfortunately, they both were able to get off good hits and
DeathStrikes. Of course, the key to the game was Idabod.
When he stunned the Tiefling, it was all over. My Orc Champion ran
and then I failed a moral check for the Ogre Ravager, even after the
Tiefling was no longer stunned. After that, the ZWD’s Slow Attack
prevented me from going after the archers. I also made a big
mistake not leaving the dragon to protect the Tiefling.
Overall, I thought it was a good tournament. All the bands did really well and owned at one point during the night. I’m still really impressed with Richard’s strategy against Gamble.
Richard's account June 16th, 2005
Last night I played in a DnD Skirmish tournament. It was swiss round, 200pt, constructed assault games. What that means is that we built 200pt warbands from any of the available figures and played each of the other players. An assault game you score points in 2 ways, kill your opponents figures or you can gain 10pts per round by occupying a 8x5 tile that is completely on your opponents side of the board.
This time I did alot better with my tile placement. I basically created a corridor my opponent had to come through to get at my figures. He rushed most of his guys forward to with 1 movement phase. The next round I won the initiative. I was able to move my red samurai up and use his breath weapon and catch almost all of his warband. The breath weapon does 20 pts damage or 10pts if you save. 4 of his figures had under 10 points and were killed outright. The battle was going pretty good for me. I surrounded his most powerful figure; the orc champion; with my drow commander, orc champion and an orc warrior and beat him down to half his hit points. He made his morale check and didn't flee. The round was over and I knew the next round I would be able to wrap things up. We rolled for initiative (I had a plus 8 and he had a plus 4); I rolled a 1 and lost initiative for the first time. He immediately activated his orc champion and attacked my commander. Critical hit for double damage (50 points!), killing my commander. The orc champion also has a special ability called cleave. On a death blow the figure gets an immediate attack against another creature. He used this attack against my orc champion (hit for 25) killing my big gun. And for his normal second attack he hit my orc warrior slicing him in half. Now without a commander and one of my powerhouses hurt I was in serious trouble. His next activation was with his ogre who hit my red samurai for 30 points of damage causing a morale check which I unbelievably rolled a 1 on! With his high movement rate he was able to get route off the board in one round. The next two rounds were a wrap up operation.