Adepticon Results!

 2012 Crystal Brush winner

After being home for a couple days I have time to sit back and reflect upon the best 4 days in gaming of the year. This year's Adepticon may have not been as "successful" as last year in terms of rankings, but I had more fun than ever hanging out with friends from across the country I usually only get to see once or twice a year. So lets dive into the games and see what happened!

Last minute preparation for Adepticon

We all know the drill. Touching up models, adding static grass, maybe making you last minute display board. I didn't think I had much to do but it turns out I needed quite a few touch ups before I hit Adepticon.I spent the last few nights preparing my Skaven while @Luckysixes finished up her Daemons (that I would also be using in the Team Tournament) for her first Adepticon. She will be playing in the It's How You Use It second tournament, and I will be playing the Skaven in the Big Brawl, Chamionships, and Team Tournament (as Daemons with Dark Elves).

Here is some of what I've been working on, along with a shot of how far the Daemons have come.

I actually had about 80 models that needed static grass, ugh! My Big Brawl list is up to 280 models this year.

The Daemons looked great at the GLWL.

I've also been working on Man-Eaters for the Ogres! I really, really like these models with the pistols. The pistols are all from the many Mournfang kits I have.

Win a Battle Force or a Troop Box!

Alright folks, those of you who were around last year may remember that folks who attended Adepticon had the opportunity to win a Battleforce box of their choosing by buying anybody wearing one of the DFG  shirts a drink during the convention ... well, we are doing it again and expanding the idea!

Upcoming big events

I like to travel to tournaments in my local area, and regularly participate in any Warhammer tournament I can get my hands on. But this year I wanted to take part in more large "grand tournaments". Currently, the plan is to bring Skaven to all of these events, but that may change as the Ogres begin to see the painting table. Here is a list of some of the 5 game, 2 day BIG events coming up.

April - Adepticon (Chicago, IL)
http://www.adepticon.org/

Adepticon is not a GT, but rather 3 large tournaments in 3 days at the largest miniature wargaming convention in the US. Each tournament will have between 120 and 200 participants! The Adepticon Championships are 4 games at 2200 points, special characters allowed, and no comp. The Adepticon Big Brawl is 3 games at 3000 points, special characters allowed, no comp, no grand army rules. The Adepticon Team Tournament is 3 games of 2 teams at 1000 points, no special characters, no lords, but otherwise no comp.

May - Midwest Rampage (Peoria, IL)
http://midwest-rampage.jimemerick.com/

3000 points, no comp, special characters allowed, no grand army rules. This is a 40+ player 3000 point tourney similar to the Big Brawl. There is also a terrain contest where you can build a whole table's worth of terrain to get a home-field advantage and play on the table you created for the first game.

June - Blood in the Sun (Northbrook, IL)
http://www.bloodinthesun.com/index.asp

My favorite event from last year because of the awesome atmosphere. 2400 points, currently 64 player and possibly expanding. No comp other than no special characters. There is also a terrain contest and other ways to earn re-roll tokens to use once per game during your first 4 games, like turning your list in on time and paying on time. The 64 slots are already sold out, but they are starting a waiting list and possibly expanding up to 80 players!

July - Buckeye Battles (Delaware, OH)
http://www.buckeyebattles.com/

This will be my first attempt at heading to Buckeye, which has been a yearly trip for many members of the GLWL. 2200 points similar to Adepticon, with lots of comp restrictions. No special characters, limits on unit sizes and point costs, limits on magic phase power dice, limits on killer spells, and their own line of sight system that is not 8th edition rules. There is also a "banding" system that will have hard armies playing similar armies, and soft armies playing soft armies for the first 3 games. I don't like changes to the core rules of the game, but if I want to attend another closer GT this Summer I will have to deal with their rules! Last year they had 80 participants.


After these, I am looking forward to what Alex Gonzalez comes up with to replace Core Comp (which he ended last year) and possibly making the drive way up north to attend this year's North Star GT.

Gonna be a BIG year!

Rhellion's 2011 Wrap-up

2011 has come to a close, and it was a great hobby year. My first serious year of Grand Tournaments and lots and lots of smaller tournaments has really allowed me to hone my Warhammer skills and set my sights on bigger things for 2012.

I made it to my first Adepticon and traveled to my first 2 day GT with Blood in the Sun. Next year I am hoping to make it to a third large multi-day event, maybe even 4 if I can make both Core Comp (in its new incarnation) and Buckeye Battles. I did decent at Adepticon almost breaking the top 20 in both large events, and had an undefeated 5-0 record at BitS but failed to place.

I didn't do as well this year in 'Ard Boyz, getting knocked out of Finals contention on table 2 of the semi's round 3. I'll be better prepared next time! Though I played in a LOT of smaller 1 day events and won most of them, keeping my tournament skills as sharp as possible between large events.

Hobby-wise I 'finished' my Skaven tournament army and picked up a giant Battlefoam 1520XL case to carry them around in to tournaments. Now I find myself adding more and more, wanting to fill the giant case with Skaven reinforcements... and I am close! I also went through a couple secondary armies without settling on a single one. Currently I have a Wood Elf army on the shelf, waiting for some hobby time.

I also picked up a new game in Malifaux! My wife has joined me in starting up her own crews (she has more painted than I do), and we actually have enough space to play in our small home on our 3x3 Terraclips modular 3d terrain. I am mainly a Guild player, and she is mainly Arcanist.

In the coming year I have bigger plans for entering the Skaven in tournaments and becoming an even BETTER player. Practice is the name of the game this year, and I played a LOT last year. Also, I just ordered my Skaven reinforcements to begin preparing for Adepticon 2012 in Chicago. In addition to all of my Skaven projects I really would like to get started on the Wood Elves, if not some other army.

Happy New Year!

Adepticon!

I have signed up for my weekend full of gaming at Adepticon 2012! This yeah my wife is traveling with for her first Adepticon to play in 2 Malifaux tournaments and to take a couple painting seminars. Here is my schedule for the weekend. LOTS of Warhammer!

Thursday: Malifaux CAKE Event

Friday: Warhammer Fantasy Big Brawl (3000 points, 3 games)

Saturday: Warhammer Fantasy Championships (2200 points, 4 games)

Sunday: Warhammer Fantasy Team Tournament (1000 points x2, 3 games)

This year will be my first year playing in the Team Tournament, and I will be joined by fellow GLWL division winner Nik Rodorigo and his Dark Elves.

Sign up fast! I know the Warhammer 40k Championships and the Team Tournament are already sold out! The Warhammer events sold out last year as well, though it usually takes a lot longer.

See you at Adepticon!

Bad Dice Interview

Hey cool news! Episode 59 of The Bad Dice Podcast is out and I have a nice long interview about Adepticon, Skaven, Tournaments, and 'Ard Boyz. Please have a listen to support the Ben's if you're not already a listener!

I had a great time and appreciate the guys inviting me onto their show. Check them out HERE or on my Podcast list on the right margin further down the page!

Warhammer Fantasy Championships 1-2

And now for the Main Event at Adepticon 2011: the Warhammer Fantasy Championships. 4 games in one day of Warhammer at 2200 points with very little restriction other than no special characters. To start, my list was similar to something I would normally run, but I risked my General by giving him a Power Scroll and guaranteeing one miscast per game if I used it. Here is the list

The list:
Grey Seer, Level 4 (3 Ruin, 1 Plague), Talisman of Preservation, Power Scroll
Plague Priest, Level 1 Plague, Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll, Ironcurse Icon
Chieftain, BSB, Shield, Dragonhelm, Opal Amulet
Warlock Engineer, Doomrocket
30 Storm Vermin, Fang Leader, Musician, Standard, Storm Banner
30 Clan Rats, Claw Leader, Musician, Standard
40 Slaves, Musician
39 Slaves, Musician
30 Plague Monks, Bringer, Musician, Standard, Banner of Eternal Flame
5 Gutter Runners, Slings, Poisoned Attacks
5 Gutter Runners, Slings, Poisoned Attacks
Hell Pit Abomination, Warp Spikes
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon

2199

As I walked around the room, I saw a lot of nasty looking lists (not that mine was a fluffy bunny). The only thing that really worried me righ off the bat was all of the double Hydra Dark Elf lists. The I sat down to my first table to find a double Hydra Dark Elf list!

Game 1: Dark Elves

My opponent had 2 Hydras, a Cauldron, General on pegasus, Cold Ones, block of spears, block of corsairs, repeater crossbowmen, and 2 units of shades. My opponent set up first with Dawn Attack with most of his army on my left. I set up with my entire army split, and only 1 unit deployed in the center.

I rolled and stole the initiative! It was now or never so I decided to do something rash to take the game early. Skaven plans NEVER fail...right? My Grey Seer cast Skitterleap and my opponent let it go off. What damage can a Grey Seer on his own do? I decided to place my Seer right in the middle of my opponent's lines, next to 2 Hydras. I then cast a Power Scrolled Crack's Call through both Hydras, all 6 Cold Ones, and his level 4. The first Hydra rolled a 1. The second Hydra rolled a 2. Heartbreak. Laughter. Lamenting the imminent death of my Grey Seer. But he survived! Ever with the Dark Elf Shades on his tail, the scenario rules were basically a Storm Banner, and on the Dark Elf turn I activated my own Storm Banner to stack with the effect.

Because my Grey Seer was in his lines, I actually marched blocked his Hydras. The were in a nice line, so on the second turn I shot my Warp Lightning Cannons. The first shot misfired and did nothing. The second shot went through both Hydras, doing 5 wounds to the first and 4 wounds to the second! A sigh of relief as the Grey Seer's failure did not cost me too much. With the Storm Banner active, my opponent could also not move his General into position to effect the game much until the third turn. By that time he had moved out into the open, baiting my Hell Pit Abomination. On my third turn I took a shot at him and the Cold Ones with my WLC, destroying the Cold Ones and revealing the reverse ward save pendant. Next turn I charged my Hell Pit into him and did ZERO wounds. But he did no wounds back, and I won the fight on combat res. My opponent then rolled and failed his leadership, and was run down by the Hell Pit's 3d6 random movement!

That was pretty much the game as my opponent had lost both Hydras, his General, has my HPA in his midst, and my Plague Furnace was mopping up archers and coming down his flank. Great game, crazy dice, and big win for the Skaven in round 1.

Game 2: High Elves

More Elves! Game 2 was against Chris Yu and his beautiful High Elf display that was Player's Choice. The Elves had a level 4 Life mage, Swordmasters, White Lions, Dragon Princes, a spearmen bunker, large unit of archers, a bolt thrower, and 3 eagles.

With my deployment I set up to take control of the center of the board, guard my flank from Dragon Princes with Slaves and a building, and move my Hell Pit and Furnace in from the flank. This game was almost entirely tactical movement, as we didn't get into any serious combat until the bottom of the third turn. My Storm Banner combined with Skaven magic kept his Eagles out of the majority of the game and I believe was a large factor to my winning. I saved spell dice each turn to keep the birds grounded.

Early on I tried to soften his small but elite numbers up with cannon fire and magic. I even ran my Hell Pit backwards rather than towards him on one turn in order to delay combat for another turn, and it worked out perfectly. My Gutter Runners nuetralized the Eagle and Bolt Thrower in the center of the board late in the game, and I made my moves.

He charged his Swordmasters into my Slaves that had moved up to protect my Grey Seer's unit. The Dragon Princes were into the Slaves that were hugging the building. The Archers had fled from a charge from the Storm Vermin and Furnace, and were out of play (but not out of the game). To counter, I finally unleashed the 13th Spell on his White Lions, that I had waited to use. They were taken down to manageable numbers, but then fled and were caught by my Gutter Runners. I fired Warp Lightning into the Slaves and Dragon Princes, recuding them to 1 knight eventually. The Hell Pit Abomination crashed into the flank of the Swordmasters and decimated them. His two main fighting units gone, the High Elves were effectively crippled.

Throughout the game, my strategy was to dispel Throne of Vines first and foremost. My opponent was very hesitant afterwards to throw 6 dice at Dweller's, knowing his Lord was unprotected. Finally he did decide to go for it, without Throne. 3 times he got Dweller's Below off on my Grey Seer's Clanrat unit. 3 times I passed the test with both my Grey Seer AND Chieftain BSB. This luck, combined with my wiping out the Swordmasters and White Lions, led to another big Skaven victory.

I was 2-0 going into game 3 against what turned out to be my nemesis of Adepticon: Vampire Counts! Next report with cover games 3 and 4, and my final standing.

Adepticon Results

I still have to post up my Championships review, but in the mean time the results have been posted on Adepticon's website!

Big Brawl (2-1)
22/73 Place, 36/60 Battle, 19/25 Paint, 30/32 Sports

Warhammer Championships (3-1)
23/143 Place, 65/100 Battle, 25/25 Paint, 31/32 Sports

Next year I think I may play all three days!

Adepticon Big Brawl Report

Here is my first event report from this year's Adepticon. The Big Brawl was a 3000 point, no comp tournament with only two restrictions: no special characters, and no Grand Armies. So not quite 'Ard Boyz, but close. I am having trouble finding my notes, so I will do the best I can. I did very well throughout the tournament, so lets get right into it!

Game 1 and my opponent is playing Orcs! What's that? He has Mangler Squigs? I thought Adepticon restricted the armies by a certain cut off date? My opponent didn't get the memo (or read the rules) and after conferring with a judge, anyone who was playing Orcs and Goblins were allowed to use either 7th OR 8th Edition Orcs, so long as they told their opponent which army they would be using. No problem, I started an O&G army just weeks prior, so I no what to kill (Mangler Squigs, lol).

Starting off, my opponent had a Warboss, lvl 4 Orc Great Shaman, lvl 4 Goblin Shaman, and Orc BSB. He had a large unit of Savage Orcs, a couple units of Night Goblins full of Fanatics, Black Orcs, 2 Orc Chariots, some Goblin Wolf Riders, 2 Rock Lobbas, a Doomdiver, a Giant, 2 pump wagons, and 2 Mangler Squigs.

I got hit early, and I got hit hard by magic. The scenario special rules stated whatever turn it was, if you rolled doubles of that number your spells would be irresistible force and miscasts just as if you had rolled double 6's!. First turn, Foot of Gork was cast on my Screaming Bell, then again, then again, and again, and again... EIGHT TIMES. Then he proceeded to hit the Bell with a rock lobba, and roll six wounds when I failed my ward save. Outstanding start to the day.

I deployed my Abominations to my right flank, and wanted to use them in combination with my Slaves. But my opponent had about 6 more deployments than I did, so his Mangler Squigs were screaming down the middle of the table. I was able to take both out with a single Slave unit, then once the coast was clear, take out his Giant with an Abomination.

My Plague Furnace was working over time on the opposite flank, fighting its way through the chaff to try and get to the Orc bunker of Savages. Things were looking dire all throughout, and an irresistible force Curse of the Bad Moon didn't help! I was really getting beat up by magic. Things turned full circle when we were running out of time, and I got my last turn. All game I had saved my power scroll, and slowly taken out a few Savage Orcs here, and a few there. On my turn 4 my patients payed off, and his bunker unit was down to only 15 models, including his Warboss, BSB, and Great Shaman. Irresistable (power scrolled) Curse of the Horned Rat warped his entire leadership core to turn the game from a 7-13 loss to a 13-7 win.

Game 2 came against a solid Warriors of Chaos list. It has a level 4 on a disc, a level 2 with Lore of Fire, 2 hell cannons, 2 units of hounds, 6 chaos trolls, chaos warriors of khorne with halbers, tzeentch with hw/shield, a unit of khorne chosen with great weapons, and 2 war shrines. There may have bee a couple other units in there, because again I was beaten on deployments. My strategy of large blocks worked this games as well, though. It also helped my opponent didn't roll Gateway.

From the start, I again new what my strategy would be against the Warriors. Lower their numbers with my tough items and spells that aren't effected by armor, then use the 13th Spell to finish them off. As the Warriors pushed forward through the center of the board, I deployed my Plague Furnace on the far right flank with the idea that as the rest of my army waited for the Warriors, it would have time to flank. The Hell Cannons were effectively neutralized the entire game by the Storm Banner and Gutter Runners harassing them.

Combat came and was bloody, but it was in the form of 2 Hell Pit Abominations smashing through the Warriors. Normally I try to combo charge HPA's with Slaves. Especially against Warriors, they can't often get the job done against steadfast unit. But also with Warriors, there is the danger of mass attacks just killing you. I initiated a frontal charge with my center-most Hell Pit into the Tzeentch Warriors, because I was much less worried about their killing power. Surprisingly, I smashed through the entire unit in two turns, including the level 2 Fire Mage. He died too early and was not able to do any damage to either Hell Pit, because I shut him down in the preceding magic phases. On the left, a poor roll by me and a good roll by my opponent left my HPA open for a flank charge by 7-wide Warriors of Khorne with Halberds. I thought I was in trouble, but miraculously survived with 1 wound after 2 turns of pounding them to dust to wipe them out. 7-wide hurts when every model touching the Hell Pit takes an auto S6 hit with no armor (roll of a 1-2 on the HPA chart).

The Plague Furnace was able to get in to the Warshrine on the right, and I was able to 13th the Chosen to weaken them before it hit the Furnace unit. It was sooner than planned, but I didn't want a full strength unit chopping away at it, Unbreakable or not. It stayed around long enough to let the first Hell Pit finish off the Tzeentch Warriors, reposition, and rear charge to wipe the Chosen. As the game wound down, we could see the writing on the wall. All three main blocks were destroyed, though my opponent still had his Trolls around. The game finished up as a 20-0 Skaven win.

Game 3 I was on table 5 against an interesting Vampire Counts list. He was using a Lord on a Zombie Dragon! He also had 2 Varghulfs, a Black Coach, Grave Guard, lots of Ghouls, and a few Vampires, one with the lore of Death. We set up, and the zombie dragon and a varghulf were on my right flank, with a varghulf on my left flank. I was content to hold the middle and push my Furnace, Slaves, and Aboms forward well supporting with my Bell and Grey Seers.

Turn 1 was a disaster. He pushed his Ghouls with a Vampire forward. Announcing Purple Sun, large version, Power Scrolled, I expected some damage... but not for my entire left flank to be demolished. Hell Pit Abomination has initiative 4, roll a 5. Plague Furnace has initiative 5 (Priest), roll a 6. Wow. I was definitely put on my heels from then on, rather than being aggressive. Still puching the advantage, the zombie dragon and varghulf were marching down the right flank (as I had activated the Storm Banner to stop him from flying). 2 misfires on the first turn meant I had lost my chance to take out the zombie dragon and Vampire Lord before he came crashing into my lines.

He was able to get his flying charge off on my Screaming Bell by turn 3. From there I was able to challenge and win combat by static res for anough turns that I did finally kill the Vampire Lord AND Dragon, but it was too late by turn 5. The rest of the Vampire army was able to get to my lines and the Bell was eventually taken out. It was disappointing to lose my toys so early when I knew it was horrid dice rolling by me that led to their demise. BUT, that is 8th edition, and I have certainly have taken advantage of the same strategies with the 13th Spell. To cry foul would be hypocritical. The game ended with some anti-climatic crumbling rolls that came too late to make a difference, and the Vampires won the match 17-3.

I have to say, for being a large Ard Boyz style event I had some excellent opponents. The games were all light hearted and fun, even when I was getting Purple Sunned off the 5th table! I can't wait until next year, where I think I will be taking my Orcs for the Big Brawl to switch it up and split the events. As far as results, I got high sports and painting scores to carry me to 23rd place (or so). I really take pride in high Sportsmanship scores, so I was glad to see I was at least a pleasure to play with. Until next year, though, I will just have to keep visions of Purple Suns in my memory before getting another shot at The Big Brawl.

Coming up soon, another battle report from the Adepticon Warhammer Fantasy Championships! 140 Players!!!

RHQ TV

Day 2 of Adepticon has been posted by Rankings HQ TV. Check the video out and see if there is a certain Skaven army you recognize (at 8:25 haha)!

Resin everywhere!

One of the great things about Adepticon are the great vendors I would normally have to view online. You can get a real "feel" for a rare-ish product when you can actually see it in person. I took advantage of the vendors about bought myself some Space Wolf reinforcements in the form of Scibor miniatures and Paulson Games.


If you have already seen my swag bag photos, you'll know I got a Khador Warmachine box set in mine. I hit up the CoolMiniOrNot booth to find some resin bases for when I painted them up. I did not make it very far, because I got hit in the face by some GREAT resin Space Wolf "counts as" models. I picked up a box of the 3 characters, and then enough more to fill out a full squad of 10 with matching shoulder pads, total.

Next up are the real gem. I have posted time and time again about different Thunderwolf options out there. I had originally planned on waiting on GW... but the deal in front of me this weekend was too good to pass up. I picked up a set of 3 Paulson games Thunderwolves. I am hoping to get them assembled this week and try them at Ordo Fraternitas' Chapter Night next Tuesday.

I also picked up a Forgeworld limited Chaos Dwarf that I am decided what I want to do with. He really is a beautiful model. I got a 40k Boarding Captain, but he is already spoken for. They WERE limiting them so that the first person couldn't walk up to the counter and buy every one to resell on EBay.

Resin!!!!!!

Adepticon 2011

Adepticon is OVER! I had an amazing weekend with lots of new and old friends. I appreciate everyone who recognized me and said hello, it was mind blowing. I was glad I was able to meet all of my favorite podcasters from Podhammer, Garagehammer, Point Hammered, Waaagh! Cast, and Bro Hammer. Especially Garage Hammer because I had a great time hanging out with them during the weekend. I was glad I got to meet so many names I see on forums every day. I spent most of my other non-gaming time starting trouble with the Dark Future Games crew after trying to win their battle force contest... and somehow I was offered a spot on their contributing roster of blogger. I must have gotten someone very inebriated. Look for me on their blog roll soon.

As far as games went, I will be posting tournament reports for both days of marathon Warhammering asap (probably Tuesday). Until then, take a look at my Twitter feed for all kinds of Adepticon coverage, and head over to Rankings HQ TV to watch their day 2 video (when they post it), where I was interviewed at the Warhammer Championships on camera!

Battlefoam!

I am packing my army up for Adepticon tonight, in my new Battlefoam P.A.C.K. 1520 XL! I picked it up last month from my FLGS, but had to order the Fantasy specific foam to put inside it from BF directly. I just wanted to put up a couple of photos and give my impressions.

Packed and ready to go! I got some GREAT advice before buying my foam. DON'T buy the Skaven set from Battlefoam. The 92 Troop pice will not hold models well. I went with the 72 Troop trays and they were perfect. They hold a TON of models. The Skaven special tray to hold the Bell, Furnace, and 2 Doomwheels (mine holds 2 Abominations) is an excellent buy. Well worth it. I also picked up one Dark Elf Spearmen tray to hold my 1 unit of Clanrats with spears, a Weapon Team tray that actually holds my Stormvermin and only a couple teams instead of its intended use, and a Clan Moulder tray that I use for my Rat Ogres and Characters.

It is a very pricey system, but it is well worth it after I have the finished product in my posession, ready to be loaded into the car for Adepticon. I also bought a Battlefoam XBoard Display Board with the foam. I have it painted up and it fits perfectly into the 1520 XL too, in the side pouches! I will post pictures with my army at Adepticon.

I will be at Adepticon Thursday to hang out and register. Friday I am playing in the Big Brawl, Saturday in the Fantasy Championships, and Sunday I am possibly playing in the Fantasy Team Tournament. If anyone is looking for a last minute partner, I am bringing a 1000 point list!

For updates at the convention live, follow me on Twitter @Rhellion

If you see me there, I will be wearing my Winter Classic Detroit Red Wings hat!

Road to Adepticon - Primer BatRep

Adepticon is quickly approaching, my army is painted, and my Battlefoam will be here this week! I will be all set when I get my XBoard display board painted up. I have one last practice game against Dark Elves scheduled for this weekend against the player who won my Cold War tournament. I promised pics and a battle report of the weekend's Adepticon Primer, so here it is.

My Army:

Game 1 vs Dwarfs. Meeting Engagement.

My opponent set up first, and rolled poorly for reserve troops, and left his Hammerers, Anvil of Doom, and Organ Gun off the table. He also had a large unit of Longbeard Rangers, so his only deployment was in a small area of the board. I was able to aggressively deploy and get to him quickly.

I stole the initiative and moved up quickly. On the second turn I  had the Gutter Runners charge the closest catapult, and the Organ Gun after it moved on the board. My Slaves came on from my board to block the Longbeards, but it was unnecessary as shooting and magic decimated them down to two troops. Once the Hellpit got into the lines, and the Gutter Runners took out all of the war machines, all that was left standing was the Anvil of Doom. The Hellpit was MVP after wiping out thew Warriors and overrunning into the Hammerers with my Storm Vermin, also wiping them out.

Win 20-6

Game 2 Beastmen. Dawn Attack.

My deployment was horrible as my entire army was split into the left and right flanks. My opponent had almost all of his in the center with his Herd Stone and level 4 Death Shaman, and three level 1 Shadow Shaman with the signature spell to debuff me. I maneuvered my Grey Seer and Clan Rats around the right with the Plague furnace, as my Hellpit and Slaves moved from the left towards the main beastmen line.

After taking out the enemy BSB with a single round of WLC firing, I focused on redirecting minotaurs. It was unsuccessful as they did eventually hit my lines, but the Hellpit and Furnace had been doing good work behind them. Late in the game my opponent fled his Bestigors from a Slave charge that he was sure would also bring the Hellpit into combat. His flee move brought him within range and sight of my Grey Seer, who finished the unit with the 13th spell. His General and BSB now gone, it was left to the cleanup... though my Grey Seer died in the end to minotaurs. MVP goes to the Power Scroll, and 13th Spell.

Win 20-5

Game 3 Lizardmen. Blood and Glory.

Game 3 was against my driving buddy for a few tournaments now, and the winner of Best General at the Fall Classic, Mike H. Mike had a Shadow Slaan, Engine of the Gods, Temple Guard, 2 blocks of Saurus, double Salamanders, and double chameleon skinks. After he set his first unit I decided to castle on the opposite corner and make him come to me. Hopefully I could focus on one Saurus unit at a time this way and get some good shots on his Steg.

And that I did, when the first turn my WLC put two wounds on his steg and shot the Priest and engine off. Also first turn I rolled TWO separate 4's on the miscast table. One was a cupped hands miscast, graciously given to me by my opponent. The second was a 3 dice cast of Warp Lightning. My Grey Seer survived his 50% chance of vaporization on both rolls. Then my army went on a tear. The Warp Lightning Cannons finished off the Stegadon and took out Mike's Temple Guard, with the help of a natural 29 on the 13th Spell (no IF). The next turns had more Warp Lightning and the 13th spell (this time with power scroll) dropping the SLaan's new bunker to 5 Saurus. I finally shot the doom rocket into it, finished the last 5, and my opponent's army broke at 3 fortitude. MVP was the Warp Lightning Cannons.

Win 19-6.


Solid performance. I had at least one great game in each of the three phases to really give me some confidence going into Adepticon. I am not 100% sure on the survivability of my Grey Seer, but that is the risk I have to take at 2200 points with only a Grey Seer as General guaranteed to explode at least once per game.

Road to Adepticon - Primer Victory

 Yesterday was the Adepticon Primer Tournament for the Warhammer Fantasy Championships. The Fantasy Championships is a 4 game, single day tournament set at 2200 points with little to no restrictions, the only main restriction being no special characters. At the event I had three good games against Dwarfs, then Beastmen, and finally Lizardmen to take home the 1st place Overall win and really give me some confidence in my list going into Adepticon. If you are interested, have a look at the list, and please leave feedback. I will try to get battle reports of the days games up asap.



Grey Seer, Level 4 (3 Ruin, 1 Plague), Talisman of Preservation, Power Scroll

Plague Priest, Level 1 Plague, Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll
Chieftain, BSB, Shield, Dragon Helm, Opal Amulet
Warlock Engineer, Doomrocket

30 Storm Vermin, Fang Leader, Musician, Standard, Storm Banner
30 Clan Rats, Claw Leader, Musician, Standard
40 Slaves, Musician
39 Slaves, Musician

30 Plague Monks, Bringer, Musician, Standard, Banner of Eternal Flame
5 Gutter Runners, Slings, Poisoned Attacks
5 Gutter Runners, Slings, Poisoned Attacks

Hell Pit Abomination, Warp Spikes
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon

Road to Adepticon - Big Brawl list

Friday night is the face-smashing tune-up for Saturday's Warhammer Fantasy Championships, in the form of the Big Brawl. I had plenty of 'Ard Boyz experience with 8th Edition rules in all three rounds last year. The Big Brawl is basically 'Ard Boyz, although now there are no Grand Army rules or Special Characters for me to worry about. I think that is definitely an advantage for my list that is very similar to my 'Ard Boyz lists from last year that faced off against a lot of special characters. Here is the list, let me know what you think.

As always, critiques welcome.

Grey Seer (G), lvl 4 ruin, d3 warpstone, screaming bell, dispel scroll
Grey Seer, lvl 4 plague, d3 warpstone, power scroll
740 Lord

Plague Priest, lvl 1 plague, plague furnace, ironcurse icon
Chieftain, bsb, shield, halberd, standard of discipline
Warlock Engineer, doomrocket
409 Hero

25 Storm Vermin, musician, standard, storm banner
40 Clan Rats, command, shields
30 Clan Rats, command, shields
40 Slaves, musician
40 Slaves, musician
759 Core

30 Plague Monks, command, banner of eternal flame
5 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
5 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
425 Special

Hell Pit Abomination, warp spikes
Hell Pit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon
665 Rare

2998 Total

Adepticon WFB Primer

With the support of J&L Miniatures, everyone is invited to a Warhammer Fantasy Tournament.

It will match the format for Adepticon as closely as possible to help prepare those of us wanting to practice for the big one in Chicago.

Below are the details:

WHERE: J&L Miniatures in St. Johns, MI.

WHEN: Sunday, March 20th

COST: $10 entry Fee, payable to J&L Miniatures at sign-up. Tim, owner of J&L, is providing generous prize support for this event.

FORMAT: I will run 3 rounds (not 4 like adepticon), with 2.5 hours per round to match adepticon.

SCHEDULE:
8:30 to 9:30 Check-in, Table Assignments.
Game 1: 9:30 to 12 Noon
Lunch and paint judging: Noon to 1PM
Game 2: 1PM to 3:30PM
Break: 3:30 to 3:45PM
Game 3: 3:45 to 6:15PM
6:30 Awards

RULES:
Here is the Adepticon ruleset and scoring format:
http://www.adepticon.org/11rules/2011wfbchamp.pdf

I'll prepare a draft of the scenarios and gently revise the rules linked above to reflect scoring for 3 rounds rather than the 4 scheduled for Adepticon. Brad has gotten good info on the scenarios to get me started preparing this week. I will likely revise the prizes awarded also as compared to the larger scale event, with details TBD shortly.

ORGANIZER: John Williams Cell: 248-622-0186 johnphilipw@live.com.

SIGN-UPS:
Please e-mail me at johnphilipw@live.com to reserve your spot.
only 16 slots are available, so reserve your spot soon.

FURTHER DETAILS:
I'll follow up with further details by Wednesday, March 2nd.

Thanks, John

Adepticon 2011

Have you signed up for Adepticon yet? Because I have. AdeptiCon 2011 will take place on April 1st through the 3rd at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard, IL. I will be playing in Friday's 3000 point 'Ard Boyz style Big Brawl, as well as the Saturday 4-game 2200 point Warhammer Championships. I am very interested in both tournaments, because last year there were huge comp restrictions, and this year with the new edition there are almost none. I will be playing Skaven in both tournaments. I have already slowly started my High Elves, but I don't know if I will have a completed and competitive army before next April.

I am also hoping to put together a team for Sunday's Warhammer Team Tournament as well to keep me busy all weekend, but if not I may look into some modeling and painting workshops. This will be my first Adepticon ever after having to cancel plans last year.

If any other Skaven players are interested in teaming up for the Tournament, let me know.

Skaven at Adepticon!

I registered for my first Adepticon, and I'll be playing in the Warhammer Fantasy Championship. Adepticon is releasing their comp scoring guidelines for Skaven on Feb. 2nd, so I am eagerly awaiting the massive penalties for all my goodies and having to then fit what I want back down into 2000 points.

I am thinking I will probably have to paint another unit or two of rats, and I will finally have to paint my Warlord on a Warlitter conversion I did way back when the book was released. I have been playing a Grey Seer in the GLWL and most other pick-up game, but for Adepticon I will need the comp boost a Warlord gives me if I want any chance of taking my rare slot goodies.

Anyone else prepping for a trip to Chicago?