50 points of Warmachine

I got a game in for the first time with a "full" Warmachine army after playing the Beastmen this weekend. I have been wanting to play at this point level for a while and had only ever even played one game at 35 before, so the size was a little daunting as a new Warmachine / Hordes player. I was able to get another game in against Adam, who seems to be my most regular Warmachine player with my epic Madrak list. I should play with some other casters, but I really have been focusing on eMadrak as I learn the game. We played a scenario where you had to control the two zones once each to score 2 points and win.

I brought:

eMadrak
-Dire Troll Mauler
-Troll Axer
-Runebearer
Full Fennblades
-unit attachment
Full Pyg Burrowers
Full Long Riders
Fell Caller Hero
Trollkin Champion Hero

The idea of the list is tough cavalry and reach to go along with Madrak's "thresher" feat. Not too hard to grasp. I basically charged right up front and try to smash face (The "Axe to Face" Troll Strategy!). And it worked for me too, even though I got shot up as I advanced and lost my Fennblades, Adam focused hard on my left and I got in his grill on the right.

I was able to get +2 attack on the Pyg's and Blood Frenzy on the Long Riders and get into range to start chopping. Things ended when a Long Rider charged through two infantry with impact hits to get to Adam's caster and roll 6/6/4 for damage (with -4 dmg from armor), and then my Axer putting +2 move and Pathfinder on himself to get in range, make the final attack, and also roll box cars for damage to kill the caster for the Assassination.


It was a lot of fun playing at that level, and really makes me want to finish painting up my Trollbloods and start playing in more events. I'm pretty busy with the Skaven, but I see a lot of more Warmachine on the horizon for this Fall/Winter.

Necron Debut

Had my first game with Necrons this week, and I had a blast. I played with the 1000 points I have assembled against Tau. My list was an Overlord with warscythe and res orb, Destroyer Lord with warscythe and 2+, 10 Warriors with Ark, 10 Warriors, 3 Wraiths, and an Annihilation Barge. We rolled up a scenario with 5 objectives, which meant we had a little more room to move around with only 1000 points on the board, but we still ended up playing for 3 or so objectives.

Billy the Bloodthirster

I had a game at GW this week, playing as Daemons against High Elves. I had been playing a lot of Skaven so wanted a break from them, and knew Drew had High Elves so wouldn't want to double up the same army, so Billy and the Daemons came out to play.

Buckeye Battles Game 1

Last weekend I attended another Midwest Grand Tournament, my first Buckeye Battles in Delaware, Ohio. I brought the Skaven and a nearly identical list as Blood in the Sun to make preparation and practice easier, and to stay completely familiar with the list between events. The event had special comp where Magic Resistance could be used against any spell, even spells that normally do not allow saves (Dwellers, Pit, 13th). Also, hills blocked line of sight to all but large targets.

Also importantly was the "comp" which was not truly comp, but a banding system. This meant the hard armies would only play the hard armies while the soft drew the soft for the first full day. My first opponent of the event was Jason Matley, who beat me for the GLWL League Championship with his Dark Elves. He brought them again, and this time they were fully painted, and I was looking for some revenge.

Game 2 at GS

Today's game was the second game at Gamers Sanctuary's July 2500 point tournament. I was running the Daemon list I posted in yesterday's game and I was lined up against Tom's Dwarfs with loads of warmachines and we were playing Battle for the Pass!

1 / 365 !

Here we go, the kick off game of the 365. I decided to start at my local regular tournament, which is held at the Gamers Sanctuary in Flint, MI. The format is 2500 with no comp, so basically anything goes. I've been successful at this event with all kinds of different lists, and today since Andrea was playing her new High Elves I decided to really filth it up with a special character heavy Daemon list. I'm not going to lie and say this is anything other than 'Ard Boyz -ish in quality, but I plan on helping Andrea learn Kairos and also seeing him at the Screw City GT coming up in September.

Here is the list. Be careful, as you may need a shower afterwards:

Blood in the Sun 2012

I've been back a little bit and had a rough couple weeks, but I need to get my BitS reports up! This year's Blood in the Sun 2012 tournament was fantastic. I may not have placed as high as last year, but I still did well and had a good time along the way.

This year I brought a different list than last year, and the style of play was very different. Instead of a large Furnace horde and pushing it forward looking for the best match ups, I brought swarms of Gutter Runners and played the defensive shooting and magic battle.

Midwest Rampage coverage

My first MWR is in the books, and I have to say that it was a blast. The drive was long but the games were excellent. I am looking forward to hopefully making the trip again next year. It's a great event to kick off the Summer GT season with loads of fun terrain, good scenarios, and quality players. Lets start off by having a look at my list. It was definitely something unique for me, as I have NEVER played a list with this much shooting.

The new display really looked great with the full 3k points.

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!

Ogres in their first Tournament

I hit up Gamers Sanctuary in Flint, MI yesterday to take the Ogres for their first spin on the tournament tabletop. I pushed around a few lists in my head, but with so little experience with the Maw worshipers I decided to just go for the throat and help my chances. Just FYI the tournament scoring was very different that some events. A 20-0 win required you to beat your opponent by over 2400+ points! My list looked like this:

Slaughtermaster, L4 Maw, Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales, Dispel Scroll, Dragonbane Gem, Rock Eye
Bruiser, BSB, ironfist, heavy armor, Rune Maw
Firebelly, L2 Fire, Hellheart
15 Ironguts, champion, standard, musician, look out gnoblar, Standard of Discipline
4 Mournfang, heavy armor, ironfists, standard, musician, Dragonhide Banner
4 Mournfang, heavy armor, ironfists, musician
1 Sabertusk
1 Sabertusk
Ironblaster
Ironblaster

Very simple, yet powerful list meant to do one thing, just hammer the enemy lines.

Game 1 vs Nik's Dark Elves

Shadow L4 with the dagger, double hydra, spearmen bunker, corsairs, etc. Fairly standard DE tournament list. The scenario was Dawn Attack and luckily I was directly across the table from the bunker with my Gut-star and got the first turn.

Turn 1 I was able to snipe 1 Hydra and get off regen to protect my advance across the table. I charged forward and crushed the Corsairs, but the escaped with their flee movement. The Dark Elf spearmen bunker charged into my flank but the Hellheart hit both wizards on the DE side, exploding within their unit and killing 20 or more Spearmen in their own magic phase while draining the pool of their entire magic resources.

Charges on my next turn popped the Blackguard, and the spearmen panicked and were run down. The army falling apart around them, the Ogres cruised to a solid victory.

Game 2 vs Neil's Dark Elves

Dark Elves again, with more shadow magic but the Cauldron with only 1 Hydra in the list. The Dark Elves deployed mostly in the opposite corner and forced me to chase after them this game, which was a good tactic against the Gut-star. Early in turn 2 I was surprised when I charged into the Executioners whose Hag BSB gave them always strike first. They ate through my Dragonhide banner Ogres before they even had a chance to blink.

Early on I was already on the back foot as I had to bull rush the Gut-star forward and try to regain points. I picked off the hydra and magic'd the far left Spearmen off the board, while charging everything in range of the Guts. By the end of the game units were just fleeing from the giant unit but I would get lucky every time and catch them. Late in the game a Pit of Shades got off vs the Gutstar, but I then revealed the Rune Maw and avoided disaster handily. The last turn I charged the Cauldron and finished it in a challenge (for a bonus battle point) to sneak by Neil with an 11-9 game.

Game 3 vs Al's Warriors of Chaos

A quick and messy game vs the Warriors. As you would expect we were in combat early and often. My turn 1 the Ironblasters sniped the Hellcannon right away as the Ogres maneuvered forward. Al charged the Marauder horde into my left most Mournfang after I failed to charge the round previously, and they crushed them! I was surprised the Marauders did so much damage, leaving me with a fleeing Mournfang but escaping being wiped out.

On the opposite flank the Chaos Knights charge my other mournfang in front, while the fast Marauder Horsemen charged from the rear. To me, the second charge was the fatal mistake that lost him the game. I passed an amazing amount of saves with the Mournfang armor and the bubbled 4+ regen my Slaughtermaster got off previosuly before losing 3 magic levels due to the infernal puppet and Pandemonium. I derected ALL of my attacks to the rear unit and totally wiped out the Marauders, giving me enough combat resolution to defeat and then run down the Knights into prim position to flank the Chaos Warriors on my turn.

I then charged into the Warriors with the Fangs, and also the Gutstar, while both Ironblasters charged the Marauder horde. The Marauders actually lost, and then failed their steadfast test and got run down by the remaining Ironblaster! The Mournfang and Gutstar crushed the Warriors and ended the game quickly, on the top of turn 3 and score a 20-0 win with bonus battle points adding to that total, and giving me the overall win.

The tournament was over and the Ogres walked away with their first tournament win in their first appearance. I was still disappointed because I made A LOT of mistakes during my games. Constantly forgetting my Rock Eye, constantly forgetting my Maw attribute and getting the +1 to the next spells I cast, and even forgetting to charge with the Mournfang against the Warriors (which didn't really sway the game's outcome). I played sloppy at time but it didn't hurt me, luckily.

Next weekend I will be defending my GLWL Tournament Championship with the Skaven!

Weekend Warhammer

Andrea and I had a good weekend of Warhammer. Saturday we hit up Pandemonium for a few games of Warhammer to give her a better idea of how much goes in in larger games compared to small, 750 point skirmishers. Sunday we hit up GW really quick and picked up a box of Bloodcrushers for her Daemon army. They really are fantastic kits.

First game was an Adepticon Team Tournament practice game for my partner Nik and I. I have decided to try and bring Ogres along with his Dark Elves, so we had a practice vs more Ogres and Daemons. Things did not go so well for our team as Nik's Spearmen block and Sorcerer got Dweller'd off the board, my Ogres got eaten up by Bloodletters, and my Mournfang were seemingly ineffective. I still want to give the composition a chance, but worst case scenario I can switch back to Skaven for the Team Tournament.

Then we practiced a straight up 2500 point game with possible tournament lists for next month. The Daemons switched up to use Shadow magic for the second game, and I brought my triple Mournfang list.

I wanted to keep all three Mournfang within the range of at least the General, BSB, or hopefully both. My Ironblaster was on the far right flank hoping to get a shot on the Bloodthirster first turn, but the Daemons rolled to go first and Billy (the Bloodthirster) was able to take cover behind the building. The Shadow magic hurt early as critical debuffs on my Mournfang made me gun shy and less eager to move forward.

From here the Daemons ate me pretty easily. Daemonettes moved to the side of my line and smashed into a Mournfang block, boosted up by ASF from the Herald, and a nifty spell called Mindrazor. The chewed through the entire units 12 wounds and 2+ armor save like they were nothing and wiped the first unit of MF on the second turn.

I was able to get off 2 long 10" charges on the Bloodletter horde the next turn and just about wipe them out in a single round. Mournfang and Ogre units together will  do that. But as I finished them off, Fiends and Daemonettes were killing off my General's unit elsewhere, and Billy was circling around, catching cannon balls, and setting himself up to finish off stragglers... which he did.

In the end I was tabled. I think I killed off the Bloodletters, Daemonettes, and some chaff... but didn't touch the expensive support units of Fiends and Flamers, or the Tz Herald on a disc or Bloodthirster. Big win for Daemons as the Ogres go down in flames.

Also in an update, we finished up all 5 Fiends in the unit. I posted them to my Twitter feed this weekend, but here they are for the blog.

GLWL Game 5

My final game of the 2012 GLWL was against the Empire, with an artillery capped list. It was more of a 7th edition style list with small units and detachment support, but I would still have to survive the salvo of war machines as I crossed the table. We rolled up Meeting Engagement and my opponent would deploy and go first, so he definitely would maximize the amount of shooting he would hit me with.

Lord
BSB
L4 Life
L2 Fire
2 War Priests
20 Swordsmen
10 Handgunner detachment
20 Halberdiers
10 Crossbowmen detachment
20 Great Swords
10 Crossbowmen detachment
20 Halberdiers
10 Handgunner detachment
16 Crossbowmen
2 Mortars
1 Cannon
1 Rocket Battery
1 Volleygun

The Empire set up behind swamps and forests and told me to come get some. Even with the storm banner up he was able to roll 4+ to shoot all his artillery both of the first turns. It did at least slow his small arms fire from chewing me up. First turn the Fire Wizard threw 6 dice at a large Fireball and managed to put 4 wounds on the Hell Pit Abomination straight away. A cannonball went through the Plague Furnace, killing the Priest and putting 2 wounds on the Furnace itself (luckily for me it was only 2).

I marched forward as quickly as possible and Skitterleaped my second Grey Seer to 6 dice Crack's Call at his mass of war machines. When I didn't get the double 6 I was hoping for I lost Crack's Call to seal of destruction, and now had less tools against the cannon that would be facing down my Furnace next turn.

But instead, the cannon turned to grape shot the Grey Seer, leaving my Furnace free to advance upon the Empire Lines. This also managed to NOT kill my lone Grey Seer, who had no saves of any kind.

From here out I was able to get the Abomination into the unit on the left as the Furnace aimed towards the artillery on the right.Plague did its job and I was able to weaken the Empire lines as I trudged forward. A Doomrocket blast panicked the Great Swords off the board, as they were well away from the General and BSB. They were the serious threat to my flank as I went up the middle, and with them gona the Skaven heavy hitters had free reign.

With 1 wound left the Hell Pit chewed through 3 units, halberdiers and 2 detachments of shooters (including the Fire mage) before succumbing to dangerous terrain and finally dying. The furnace recieved a charge from the weakened swordsmen and Empire General gladly, and broke and ran them down. From there it popped war machine after war machine, leaving the Empire line crippled.

I finished off the rest of the Empire that I could and picked up a very solid win. I definitely think it could have gone differently if the Empire had stayed focused on my big targets in the beginning. The fact that the Furnace survived while my opponent passed his Storm Banner rolls is luck and poor target choice. The HPA just does what he does, killing 3 units while having only 1 wound remaining. The majority of my units that were left were shells as well. If the Empire could have finished off all of what was left with less than 10 models, I may have lost as much as I won by.

The big 2437 point win puts me at 5-0 in the GLWL and sitting on top of the current pile. The final 8 for the Championship bracket will all also probably be big winners. Now I sit and wait and see if I earn a place in the top 8 and get a chance for the league championship.

GLWL Game 4

Game 4 was what I figured would be my toughest challenge in this year's GLWL, last year's Division Winner Nik Rodorigo. This year Nik brought a tough Dark Elf list that looked like the following:

L4 Shadow, dagger
L2 Death, scroll
L1 Death, plus 1 spell
BSB
40 Spearmen
16 Repeating Crossbowmen
16 Repeating Crossbowmen
16 Repeating Crossbowmen
20 Blackguard
20 Blackguard
Cold One Chariot
Cold One Chariot
War Hydra

We rolled up our deployment with Dawn Attack. Nik deployed first and much of his power was deployed on my left flank with the rest of the bulk in the middle of the field. A pretty solid deployment which is lucky for Dawn Attack. My force was then deployed very similarly, which allowed me to start away from his Hydra and chariots, which I thought was perfect for my plan to magic him until he got close enough to engage.

And magic him I did. I was able to stop early shooting with the Storm Banner and keep the death magic off my Abomination first turn. This allowed me to start in with my own magic. Nik made the mistake of not using his scroll early on Plague and failed his dispel roll. Plague ripped through the Dark Elves and decimated their line first turn. This is a best case scenario for my army, because I love softening up vulnerable elite units to smash with my strengths later in the game.

From there on out I was able to really commit to punching forward, though I did my best of avoiding and blocking up my left flank. I didn't want those chariots and hydra wrecking my flank. My cannon made a solid shot and sniped one chariot and put wounds on the other. My Warlock with the orb got sniped early so I didn't get to use him against the hydra, but another cannon shot put 4 wounds on the hydra to make him severely weaker.

Now the Plague Furnace was clear of the woods and building and rumbling towards the DE lines. With the Furnace and HPA running free, and his level 4 bailing out to try and flee, I was able to roll over the rest of the army for the easy win at this point. It would have been a tougher game if that first turn Plague had been dispelled, but I got the big win and move on to 4-0 in the 2012 GLWL.

Next up will be my final report of the season against Empire.

GLWL game 3

My third game of this year's Great Lakes Warhammer League was against the powerful Ogre Kingdoms, and I was not entirely sure what to expect. Because of the league comp I know that I would be facing a maximum of 1 Ironblaster but could possibly be facing 3 units of Mournfang, so I made my list accordingly.

Grey Seer, earthing rod, foul pendant
Plague Priest, furnace, dispel scroll
Chieftain, bsb
Warlock, doomrocket
Warlock, brass orb
30 Storm Vermin
30 Clan Rats
30 Clan Rats
40 Slaves
40 Slaves
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
35 Plague Monks
5 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon
Hell Pit Abomination
Doomwheel

and my opponent's Ogre list


Tyrant, 4+ ward armor, asf sword
Butcher, L2 Maw, hellheart
Butcher, L2 Death, dispel scroll
5 Ogres, ahw
6 Ogres, ironfists
9 Ironguts, dragonhide banner
20 Gnoblars
4 Leadbelchers
3 Mournfang Cav
3 Mournfang Cav
Gorger
Stonehorn

Things got off to a poor start for the Skaven, who rolled the first turn. I was able to get a Skitterleap off and get my Brass Orb Warlock right behind the Stoenhorn, and position him so that he would hit the Stonehorn and 3 Ironguts if I hit, and the Stoenhorn even if I missfired. I rolled a hit! The Stonehorn then passed his Initiative test, though I did pick off 3 Ironguts. My cannons were quiet the first turn, missing their marks. After the Stoenhorn disappointment, I was sure luck was against me as the Hell Pit and Doomwheel were both charged on the first Ogre turn by long rolls from the Mournfang on the left and and Stonehorn on the right.

In the magic phase, I was able to hold off the Death snipes vs my Plague Furnace, which would be key to me winning the game. The Leadbelchers lined up the rain down on my Storm Vermin, and rolled 4 1's for their shots! In combat, my Doomwheel was defeated but my opponent chose not to chase me because of my 3d6 move, and because he didn't want to leave his flank open. My HPA took some serious damage after also only rolling 1 S6 hit that had its wounds dealth halved.

On the next turn, the game shifted dramatically. My Plague Monk horde slammed into one of the smaller Ogre units, and my cannons started lighting it up. It also helped that my Doomwheel rallied and turned to face the Mournfang now in their flank. I was able to shoot and take out 2 Mounrfang on the left, and another from the right unit. Magic was less effective as my Crack's Call is dispeled on double 6's, but the Plague Monks break and run down the Ogres and the Hell Pit's avalanch of flesh kill off the Stonehorn.

In the next turns I am able to flank charge the remaining left Mournfang unit with the Doomwheel and blast it off the table while the right unit is sniped by Warp Lightning. The Plague Monks slowly grind away on Gnoblars and the Ogres who flanked them the next turn, using Gnoblars as combat resolution needed to defeat and break the Ogres, running them down. The remaining Ironguts charge into my Clan Rats as I have set up a log jam for them and they sit there happy with their steadfast rolls.

I was able to hold this for another turn as my Grey Seer shot Crack's Call into the Ironguts and narrowly miss the Tyrant. They ground down Clan Rats and Slaves and I decide to bring in the Hell Pit to try and finish them off, which is risky. The HPA's impact hits kills the Irongut, but then the Tyrant finished his remaining wounds off. He then gets back up with 6 wounds on the last turn! This saves me his points lost, but does not give me the Tyrant as he is now the only Ogre model remaining on the table... with me only having lost a single Warp Lightning Cannon to a misfire.

Lots of key leadership tests and rallying, and taking out the Mournfang were the key to me winning this game. Every unit that broke on my side did not get caught, and eventually rallied. Every unit that broke for the Ogres was run down. My cannons were hot, and if they had not been having Mournfang in my flanks would have been a nightmare. I take away the big 2389 vs 265 win and advance to 3-0 in the 2012 GLWL.

Next up, Empire and then Dark Elves to finish up the league.

GLWL round 2

I actually played my 5th game second for the GLWL. Order doesn't matter so long as you get all your games in. This time I was playing Steve's Lizardmen. I changed my list up slightly from the last game to include a Warp Lightning Cannon for the possibility of facing Stegadons and one less Warlock, but otherwise my list was similar to last game. This will be a short report...

Steve's army was very Saurus heavy, with Light magic to buff them up to be combat powerhouses. Typical unit of Salamanders but what I didn't expect was the unit of Razordons. A few units of Skink Skirmishers I would have to deal with and some Terradons rounded out the list. Based on his fixed list and not having any other casters in his army, I knew Steve didn't have a dispel scroll, and he did not have Codgitation on his Slaan. This meant I would have a strong magic game.

I set up with my core towards the center and spread my magic out. He lined up heavy to my left with Saurus so I tried to deploy my strength to my right and wheel into his weak side through his support units. This sort of worked out as planned but I do think I could have deployed better.

Starting quickly things went down hill for Steve. First turn I put a Plague on the Temple Guard to weaken them for further magic. Normally this would be a few casualties, but rolls were on my side and half the Temple Guard were lost. As we advanced towards each other on the second turn, I got a combo charge that saw my HPA and Slaves both in combat against one unit of Saurus (giving the HPA the much needed rank support). I did this by maximizing the charge with my slaves and still leaving the corner of the front arc open so that my HPA could get in there.

On this turn the magic flowed freely as well. Another Plague forced my opponent to use the majority of his dispel dice to stop it. This left me open to cast and succeed with the 13th Spell on his Templ Guard, destroying them. I was ONE short of also taking out the Slaan with the spell.

In combat the Hell Pit and Slaves beat, broke, and ran down the Saurus. This left my opponents two main blocks defeated and the entire center of his army crumbled, with his Slaan out in the open. My opponent took a look at the battlefield at this point, and conceded the game.

Next up I have Ogres, then Empire and Dark Elves to finish out my season.


I was hoping to also have a tournament report with my new Ogre army, but there wasn't enough to hold this month's Gamers Sanctuary 2500 point event. Next month though I am attending 2 Adepticon Primers here in Michigan. March 3rd at Gamers Sanctuary in Flint, and March 4th at The Game Room in Saginaw.

I still have 40 Slaves to paint for Adepticon, but look for more pictures and posts about the Ogres soon! They just might make an appearance at Blood in the Sun this year.

GLWL Game 1

The Great Lakes Warhammer League is under way, and I have won my first game of the season. It was a familiar battle against Warriors of Chaos, which is usually a good match up for the Skaven. Here was my list:

Grey Seer
Grey Seer
Plague Priest on Furnace
BSB
Warlock w/ Doomrocket
Warlock w/ Dispel Scroll
30 Stormvermin
30 Clan Rats
30 Clan Rats
40 Slaves
40 Slaves
35 Plague Monks
5 Gutter Runners
Warp Lightning Cannon
Hell Pit Abomination

My opponents brought a Marauder heavy Warriors of Chaos list, and tried to throw in Death Magic to surprise me:

Chaos Lord, runesword, charmed shield, 4+ ward, bloodcurdling roar
L2 Tzeentch sorc
L2 Death sorc
35 Marauders of Nurgle
35 Marauders of Nurgle
24 Warriors of Tzeentch w/ blasted standard
18 Chosen of Nurgle
3 Chaos Trolls
Chaos Warshrine
Chaos Spawn

Things started off slow for the Skaven, as my long range fire was ineffective and I started out of range of the majority of my spells. My opponent was able to chip away fast at my first Slave block as Treason of Tzeentch killed 16 Slaves fast. His Trolls marching forward a fast 12" immediately up the center made me redirect my attention to them fast.

On the second turn the Skaven power wheel got going and I was able to do some serious damage. Starting off, I only had 3 power dice with the winds of magic showing a 2 and 1. I used my forbidden rod to get another 2 dice and had warpstone tokens to cause an imbalance in resources early. My opponent burned his dispel scroll immediately agaionst Plague, fearing the devastating rip through his lines. I was then able to use my powerscroll to drop 13th down to a required 14 to cast (GLWL rules puts 13th Spell up to 28 to cast) and I got it off without a hitch against the Chas Chosen, dropping them from 18 to 3 models! In the shooting phase, the Doomrocket gets a direct hit, crippling the Marauders on the left flank by killing 25 out of 35 models.

The Choas turn 2 begins with the Chaos Trolls charging my Hell Pit Abomination. I am slightly worried about the matchup, but the Trolls in front are now holding up the rest of the Chaos Warriors behind them with nowhere to maneuver. I burned my Scroll early in the game as well against a Purple Sun aimed for the Plague Furnace.

Turn three, and I'm charging my Furnace into he remaining Chosen to finish them. Slaves joined the HPA in combat with the Trolls to add some static resolution (only 2 slaves in contact), and the Stormvermin charged to finish off the Marauders. Magic was fickle and I was only able to kill 4 Warriors with Plague.

Combat was bloody, as the Marauders and Chosen were wiped out. The Chaos Trolls were taking no damage though, passing 6/6 regen saves. The furnace overran into the Chaos Warriors, which would turn out to be terrible as the Warriors now had a 2+ armor save with the Eye of the Gods roll from the Warshrine.

The Skaven Slaves get flanked by the Marauders next turn because I didn't expect the Trolls to be still around. This turn though I activate my Plague banner, and my Furnace and Monks kill the enemy Warshrine before the Furnace is taken out by the Chaos Lord on the next turn. The Warriors are able to gring down the Monks and cause them to flee, but do not catch them and are blocked by the still surviving Trolls from maneuvering, again! The miraculous Skave Slaves roll double 1's for Insane Courage TWO turns in a row to save the flank of my army, as I now decide to sit back and try to magic the remaining Warriors to death.

I was able to finish up and stay away from the Warriors the last turns. My Storm Vermin had wrapped behind the Warriors, threatening a rear charge and forcing him to play a reforming game rather than committing. This was able to keep them off my lines to finish out. My Plague Monks then rallied near my board edge saving me 300 points! The damn Chaos Trolls still held up my HPA and Slaves with the Maruaders in the flank and eventually my tropps there get wiped out, but not before I was able to 13th Spell the Chaos Warriors away, leaving the Chaos Lord and remaining L2 Tzeentch Sorcerer all by their lonesome to finish out the battle.

In the end it was a solid victory for the Skaven to open up the 2012 GLWL, and I chalked up the 2 points for the win (2 win, 1 draw, 0 loss). For qualifying for the season end tournament, total points scored are important, so I was happy with my 1909 points in the game. Skaven win 1909 - 517.

Tournament update, December @ GS

Another Gamers Sanctuary tournament attended, and another victory. This time I faced off against 3 new opponents (to me) with some of the tougher armies you would expect to face at an event. I brought a similar list to last month, though I removed one clan rat unit and buffed the other to 40 rats, and added more bodies to the Plague Monk unit as I felt it didn't have enough.

Game 1 vs Vampire Counts was against a fairly standard list for VC, but no Terrorgheists this time. Ghouls charging forward with my units having to deal with them were compounded by the table terrain. Half the board was very hard to manuever around because of graveyard terrain full of fences and impassable crypts. It almost forced us to play on a 4x4 section. I magic'd it up first turn and got lucky enough to continually bounce Plague around and roll high for casualties. The first two turns of magical onslought allowed me to finish them off handily when they eventually reached my lines. 19-1 win.

Game 2 vs a Warriors army that can be very difficult to deal with if you don't have the correct tools, but I did. 30 Tzeentch Chosen can give any army a bad day. Fortunately for me this was the game where my 13th Spell dice got HOT, casting it 4 times during the game and not losing any Seer's to miscasts. First turn Plague then 13th wiped out the Nurgle unit, and then I was able to focus on shooting and magicking the giant Chosen block while redirecting with Slaves.Game was a big 20-0 win after I tabled him thanks to a great first turn.

Game 3 was another 13th Spell to start the game. I can take no credit for the victory tactically, but that's alright with me. 13th Spell on the Temple Guard (in range of unit but out of range of the Slaan) to eliminate it. I was able to tie up the horde of Saurus on my flank and eventually lose my Furnace unit to it. I finished them off last turn, but not until after my Hell Pit Abomination got a hold of the lone Slaan who was unable to flee from him. I won solidly 18-2 to wrap up the tournament victory. I also won the award for most objective points, scoring 17 / 20 over the course of the event.

I will be back next month to Gamers Sanctuary with the Wood Elves if they are still in my possession! I didn't take them this month because I am short 2 Treemen for my possible list. Next month after Christmas I should have what I need. Though if you are interested in a Wood Elf army unpainted, EMAIL ME! I am looking to get back into 40K and don't have the funds to start again from scratch.

Also, here is you Skyrim interlude. My bad ass Daedric Bow that I crafted last night with 100 Smithing and Enchanting, and high Alchemy to make crafting bonus potions. Hehe, yes I even power game in 1 player RPG's on XBox.

Universal Battles!

Today I was introduced to a very cool, online way of playing Warhammer. It's called Universal Battles, and is basically an online map of the battlefield with chat options that allows you to position your models in real-time. Because it updates so quickly with your opponents, you are able to chat and discuss what you are doing, roll dice through the program, and play complete games of Warhammer. It's sooo cool!

Check out a screenshot of the game I just set up with Mr. Grant Fetter. We saved the game to finish on a later date.

Playing games are free, but with a membership you are able to create your own models / units. It also supports a very cool site. I paid $5 for a 3 month membership, or a $29 lifetime membership is also available.

Check it out!

http://www.universalbattle.com/

Gamers Sanctuary 2500 Tournament

The Gamers Sanctuary in Flint, MI has started running regular Fantasy tournaments every month. I attended their first with the Skaven to see how I could do against a new field of opponents. Here is what I took and how well I did:

My list

Grey Seer, dispel scroll, foul pendant
Grey Seer, power scroll
Plague Priest, plague furnace, forbidden rod
Chieftain, BSB
Warlock Engineer, doomrocket
25 Storm Vermin, storm banner
30 Clan Rats
30 Clan Rats
40 Slaves
39 Slaves
5 Giant Rats
5 Gutter Runners, poison slings
30 Plague Monks, plague banner
Hell Pit Abomination, warp spikes
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon


Game 1 vs Tomb Kings

Lich High Priest
Prince on chariot
Prince
Herald, BSB
Liche Priest
4 Chariots
10 Skeletal Horsemen
6 Skeletal Horse Archers
10 Archers
38 Warriors
38 Tomb Guard
War Sphynx
Hierotitan

The scenario was Dawn Attack, and I had the first turn. To start off, my Gutter Runners were deployed up the middle, and for the first time I utilized Bless With Filth on them. As they were already poisoned, the unloaded a volley of 5+ poison sling shots at the Hierotitan, but cam one wound short of killing him. My cannons unloaded on the chariot block, killing one.

Turn 2 I went on the offensive with my second Grey Seer, Skitterleaping him towards the chariots and titan. After arriving though, he miscast and lost a level, along with Skitterleap. My Storm Vermin slammed into the flank of the Skeletal Horsemen and wiped them out, eliminating the TK vanguard.

Turn 3 the Storm Vermin were able to get into the flank of the King as the Plague Furnace charged the front of the chariot block. In combat the Hell Pit Abomination died to a flurry of Tomb Guard, but not until after killing all by 6 of the unit over two turns. The Skitterleaping Grey Seer while short on mobility, was able to Crack's Call the Hierotitan, a Prince on foot, and a row of Tomb Guard. After the Furnace finished off the chaiots, BSB, and General, my opponent conceded on turn 3.


Game 2 vs Vampire Counts

Game 2 against David's Vampires who I have played preparing for the GLWL Team Challenge, and who I plan on seeing in this year's GLWL League. Here was his list, with TWO Terror Gheists.

Vampire Lord, L4
Vampire
Cairn Wraith
Cairn Wraith
Cairn Wraith
Cairn Wraith
19 Skeletons
30 Ghouls
27 Ghouls
22 Grave Guard, banner of the barrows
Varghulf
Terror Gheist
Terror Gheist

Game 2 being a Battleline, I was able to deploy how I wanted against David's monster mash. I was able to get my army in the left corner and have plenty of time to try and shoot down the monsters while I flanked his forces. It started out well on the first turn when I was able to shoot down the first Terror Gheist with poison Gutter Runners and a Cannon shot.

Turn 2 was filled with magic influencing the battle. David cast Van Hels with his Vampire Lord irresistibly, slamming his remaining Grave Guard into my second Grey Seer's Clan Rat unit, but losing both Van Hels and Invocation when he was drained of 2 magic levels. The Grey Seer survived so that on the next turn he could unleash his own magical flurry, but he also miscast and Dimensional Cascaded! With a lucky roll I survived, and blasted the Grave Guard with the large strength 10 template, finishing the unit off with an unintended explosion.

The same turn, I was able to charge the Vampire Lord who had been left in a small remaining Skeleton unit that had been decimated by the Doomrocket. Able to kill off the last 2 skeletons and defeat the Vampire Lord through crumbling combat resolution, David's army started to crumble around him. On turn 3 I was able to shoot down the Vargulf and 2 more Cairn Wraiths and force a concession from the Vampires.

Game 3 vs Dark Elves

Game 3 vs Adam's Dark Elves was an interesting match. Adam was a new player but handily earned a spot at the final table being the only other 2-0 player at the event. He had a tough Dark Elf list that I had seen the likes of before, but is never an "easy" game.

Dreadlord, pendant of khaleth, hydra blade
High Sorceress, shadow, dagger
Noble, cold one, death piercer, BSB
10 Black Guard, asf banner
9 Cold One Knights
17 Witch Elves
9 Shades
10 Crossbowmen
10 Crossbowmen
20 Corsairs
24 Warriors
War Hydra
War Hydra

I started things of strong on the first turn with a torrent of magic. For starters, I only rolled 3 dice for the winds of magic, but I used the Forbidden Rod to score a full 6 more power dice, and also channeled a die for a full 10 power dice while Adam only had 2. Plague first decimated multiple units of elves, bouncing between units and leaving the Blackguard and the General in a vulnerable unit size. Which then left the opening for my second Grey Seer to use his Power Scroll to cast the 13th Spell on only a 13 to wipe out the Blackguard and the DE General.

Turn 2 was more of the same for me with magic, able to take down the Cold One Knights to 1 model. Turn 2 the tables started to turn as the Dark Elves hit the Skaven lines. A mindrazored, poisoned up Witch Elf unit tore through the Plague Monks and Plague Furnace, killing them all in 2 turns. The Abom and the Storm Vermin got into the Corsairs and a Hydra then next turn, but were routed and the Abom killed while the SV were run down as they fled. Things swung back in my favor as the Abomination stood back up after death with 4 wounds, but more importantly did not give up its points.

Finally I was able to come back strong on the final two turns with more magical onslaught. The Hydras had been tearing through my lines, but on turn 5 and 6 I took out 1 Hydra then another with Crack's call to finish the Dark Elves off. The game ended a solid victory 2100 to 1500 as I secured the tournament championship.

The Skaven win another, and I got some solid games in to prepare for this season's Great Lakes Warhammer League. Until next time!