Summer Incursion Aftermath

Had a brilliant weekend, six great games and opponents.  Tournaments at Maelstrom Games always live up to expectations.  The tables, scenery, food and overall experience was excellent as always.

The gaming hall during Saturday morning

Game 1 - Andy with Tomb Kings

Loss by 1298 victory points (Massacre).  Andy only took three units of chariots, which all ended up in his dead pile.  The Ogres high strength attacks took care of those!  Yet I couldn't get to grips with the scorpions and magic.  Excellent game and I didn't expect to get anything out of Tomb Kings.  

Game 2 - John with Beastmen

Loss by 2087 victory points (Massacre).  This was a bloodbath!  A very different build of Beastmen army to that I had faced before, with a lot of of monsters.  The minataurs are nasty especially in a unit of six.  Everything I threw at them just bounced, but in the end the unit was below half strength.  John managed to remove all of my army from the battlefield, it wasn't pretty on the start of turn 6 so I conceeded.

Game 3 - Dan with Skaven

Loss by 993 victory points.  After two massacres in the first two games I faced Skaven with the Furnance.  I did managed to kill the Furance in turn 5 along with a few other units.  But I just couldn't get to grips with Dan's army.

Game 4 - Sam with Daemons

Loss by 604 victory points.  This was Sam first tournament and Sam's first win!  Sam took a very small Daemon army with a Lord of Change, two units of 10 Bloodletters and two units of 20 Daemonettes with a few Heralds thrown in.  My Leadbelchers put a couple of wounds on the Lord of Change, and the Scraplauncher impact hits finally got him down to half wounds!  My Ironguts managed to see off the two units of Bloodletters, but the Daemonettes units stayed around.   This was a hidden deployment scenario, I wrote where in my deployment zone I was placing units then Sam deploys his whole army.  Sam deployed all of his units behind a building in his left corner and the Lord of Change behind a wood on his right.   Unfortunately this only left one flank available for me to attack and a very small frontage because of the building and other terrain.  

Game 5 and 6 were against brothers Dave and Edward Barfield.  Two of the best opponents I have ever played.  These guys play the game and have a laugh, absolutely the very best two games of Warhammer I have played by a mile.

The Barfield brothers face off for a battle!

Game 5 - Dave with Orcs n Goblins

Draw (15 victory points difference).  At last a Orc n Goblins player.  After 25 tournaments games since I started playing tournaments I finally played a Orc n Goblin army!  This was a random deployment (roll a dice and lookup on a table for which type of unit to deploy).  Again another length way deployment, so a lot of combats in the middle of the battlefield.   I didn't expect Ironguts to defeat Dave's two units of Black Orcs, but they did!  What aided in me losing the game were the Fanatics (of which I entirely forgot about!).  I found my self needing to slow down the progress of a large unit of Night Goblins, plus take some Wolf Riders on the same flank.  So I stupidly charged my Tyrant out of the Maneaters into the Night Goblins (Yep you guessed it)  two Fanatics putting four wounds on my Tyrant!!.  Then the Black Orc hero finished the Tryant off in the challenge.  A really fun game and at least I didn't lose!!

Game 6 - Edward with Vampire Counts

Loss by 1362 victory points (Massacre).  This is getting to be too much of a coincidence, facing Vampire Counts on the bottom table last game of a tournament.  In the seven tournaments I have played this is the third time this has happened.  As per usual another massacre against Vampire Counts.  Having only a single butcher and a single scroll I couldn't stop the contant raising, needing to keep the dispel dice for the movement spells.   Most of the Skellies and Zombies were upto full strength by the time my units hit them so a bit of a bloodbath.  I never play well against Vampire Counts with Ogres and this was again one of those games.  But Edward was an absolutely brilliant opponent to play.

Final Words

So in the final placing I finished in last place, my third last place in seven tournament!  But had a brilliant weekend, the Barfield brothers were the highlight of my weekend!  So where did I go wrong?  I should have played smarter against Sam and his Daemons, at least getting a draw.  Not remembering the Fanatics and stupidly charging my Tyrant out of the unit most definately lost me the win against Orcs n Goblins.  

For my last place I was awarded an Infinity rule book, which is a sci-fi skirmish game.  So will probably get a small force for that together and give it a try!  

I would like to mention Craig Johnson who also took a Ogre Kingdoms army and finished in 4th place.  Well done Craig!!  In the hands of a very good general the Ogre Kingdoms can put up a fight against the other armies.

I will most definately be returning to Maelstrom Games in the near future.  I am planning on attending the Dragon Slayers one dayer in July and the Autumn Incursion in August.

Tomb Kings and Beastmen

The draw for the first two rounds of Summer Incursion has been posted on The Warhammer Forum, and my Ogre Kingdoms have been drawn against Tomb Kings and Beastmen.  Both of these armies allow my Ogres to take an additional 250 points.  So what to take?  

I have the option of two units of two Leadbelchers, or a unit of two Leadbelchers and a unit of  three Bulls with additional hand Weapons, or a Hunter with Beastkiller, or a Hunter with Seigebreaker.

Against Tomb Kings I think my best bet is probably the Hunter with Seigebreaker auto hits and D6 wounds should make a mess of some chariots. I have seen this Tomb Kings army at Gobstyks earlier in the year and it has a bucket load of chariots, so tempted with the Hunter.  Also we have the Bullgorger cast on my three units of Ironguts for smashing chariots, should be fun.  Could the Butcher with his immune to poison tackle the swarms, may give it a go?

Against Beastmen again I am tempted with the Hunter with Seigebreaker or may be the two units of two Leadbelchers.  Depends on how many chariots I will be facing.

I haven't played against Tomb Kings or Beastmen with my Ogre Kingdoms yet, so the first two games should be fun.

Summer Incursion Ogres

Summer Incursion is a two day, six game tournament with the same rules pack as for the Winter Incursion.  At Winter Incursion I took my Warriors of Chaos, but this time its the Ogre Kingdoms which will be gracing the battlefields at Maelstrom Games.











I have made the following decisions in building the list.

Include two units of twenty Gnoblar Fighters in the core 2,000 points.  Primary use is to contest a table each.

Include a unit of Gnoblar Trappers in the core 2,000 points.  Primary use is harass and march block the enemies battle line.

Only include a Tyrant and Butcher in the core 2,000 points.  This means my main core 2,000 points can be bulked out with units.

This might sound strange but I have never run Sword Gnoblars, Brace of Handguns or a Tenderizer on a Tyrant. Also I have never run champions in any of my units before, but Randriod on a recent episode of the WaaghCast has opened my eyes to the benefits against shooting. Also I will be taking a Scraplauncher, Gorger, Gnoblar Fighters and Trappers again these are a first for my Ogre Kingdoms army.

At the moment this list is the basis for some practise games which I intend to play before the tournament.  I am hoping to get in around six games.  The core 2000 points will be played against only Orc & Goblins and other Ogre Kingdoms armies.

Tyrant (303 pts)
Heavy Armour, Luck Gnoblar, Tenderizer, Sword Gnoblars, Brace of Handguns, Wrydstone Necklace

Butcher (180 pts)
Bangstick, Dispel Scroll

Bulls x 3 (147 pts)
Crusher, Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Bulls x 3 (147 pts)
Crusher, Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Ironguts x 4 (247 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer, Look out Gnoblar, Rune Maw

Ironguts x 4 (227 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer, Look out Gnoblar

Ironguts x 3 (194 pts)
Gutlord, Bellower, Standard Bearer

Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54 pts)

Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40 pts)

Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40 pts)

Leadbelchers x 2 (120 pts)
Thunderfist

Leadbelchers x 2 (120 pts)
Thunderfist

Maneaters x 2 (180 pts)
Heavy Armour, Great Weapons

For the reserves I can take 4 options totaling no more than 250 points each.  I am still undecided what reserves to take against each army.

Against Beastmen, Bretonnians, Dwarfs and Tomb Kings I can take 1 reserve

Against Dwarfs of Chaos, High Elves, Warriors of Chaos and Wood Elves I can take 2 reserves

Against Empire, Lizardmen, Skaven and Vampire Counts I can take 3 reserves

Against Daemons of Chaos and Dark Elves I can take 4 reserves

Reserves A (probably going to be used every battle)

Scraplauncher (165 pts)

Gorger (75 pts)

Reserves B (my next most probable units to use, unless I think a Hunter to be more useful)

Bulls x 3 (127 pts)
Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Leadbelchers x 2 (120 pts)
Thunderfist

Reserves C

Hunter (215 pts)
2 x Sabretusks, Seigebreaker, Talisman of Protection

Reserves D

Hunter (235 pts) 
2 x Sabretusks, Beastkiller, Greyback Pelt

Therefore I now have the following to build, paint and base for the 12th June.

1 x Scraplauncher 

1 x Gorger

9 x Gnoblar Trappers

40 x Gnoblar Fighters

More Movement Trays

I have a lot of painting and some practise games to get in before the 12th June.  Really looking forward to this event, and hoping to see all my 2,999 points of Ogres on the battlefield against either Dark Elves or Daemons!

Winter Incursion Aftermath

Over the weekend I attended my first two day tournament at Maelstrom Games in Mansfield.  This has to be the best tournament I have attended to date.  The tables, scenery, food and overall experience was excellent.  I had six great games against brilliant opponents.  All in all a fun weekend, I would definitely recommend Maelstrom tournaments.

I ended the weekend in 29th out of 30 players, avoiding last place.  My target for the weekend was to at least win a game and avoid last place.  My best results out of the six games was a draw, but I did avoid last place!

Game 1 - Kirt with Lizardmen

A first for me playing against Lizardmen.  Sadly a massacre lose by 1,241 points.  This was a long ways deployment scenario, not good for an army with movement four.  Didn't roll up Infernal Gateway on either my Deamon Prince or Sorcerer, but as the weekend spanned out this didn't really matter.  I had 250 more points in this game, so on came the Chosen.  I was happy with the way I played, but Kirt and his Lizardmen were by far better.

       
Game 2 - Andy with Warriors of Chaos  

On to game 2 and I played Andy from Andrath's Wargaming Blog.  So a "Battle of the Blogs" so to speak!!  The game ended in a draw, with me up by only 57 points.  If I hadn't had charged my Daemon Prince into a unit of four Chaos Ogres then the Daemon Prince would probably have not ended on half wounds.  This could have possible cost me the win.  The plan for the weekend was to keep the Daemon Prince out of combat and hidden from shooting, but I just couldn't resist.

Game 3 - Alex with Dark Elves

A solid lose by 937 to end day one.  Alex's Death Hag raped my entire first rank of Chaos Warriors in a combat.  I did managed to kill the Dragon with Flickering Fire and Infernal Gateway.  Managed to get Pandemonium to remain in play for most of the battle.  The bolt throwers and hand bows were a real pain, Alex played well his shooting, along with hatred did a lot of damaged.  Not to mention that Death Hag!

       
Game 4 - Ed with Dwarfs       

Another first for me playing against Dwarfs.  However another massacre lose to start day two!  This was another deployment scenario, I had to write down my deployments then Ed got to deploy his whole army.  I then revealed my deployments.  Basically it ended up with Dwarfs in one corner to my left and the bulk of my army in a corner to my right.  So I could either hide in the corner and play for a draw or walk diagonally across the battlefield towards the gunline.  I chose to make a game of it and started walking.  Big mistake!!  Ed's gunline was on fire all game, not one misfire and all his range guesses were spot on.  The cannons, bolt throwers and stone throwers completely raped my entire army!

Game 5 - Rich with Beastmen

Yet another first for me playing against Beastmen.  And yet another massacre lose. This was another long ways deployment scenario with a random deployment.  I never really got to grips with this game.  Rich played his Beastmen army excellently, whilst I reacted to his army.  A large combat ensured in the centre of the battlefield, I lost and it was really all over.

Game 6 - Guy with High Elves    

Last game and another shooting army and archers, bolt throwers and a dragon.  And another massacre lose.  No scenario's here just a pitched battle.  Again I never really got to grips with this game either.  Too much shooting and just couldn't get to grips with the dragon.   

Final Words

The Dice Gods were not favourable for me over the weekend.  I did roll up Infernal Gateway in all but the first game.  But I never rolled the magic number for the strength all weekend.  In fact I would say that over the six games Flickering Fire was more destructive than Infernal Gateway.  I had started the weekend five dicing Infernal Gateway, but come the end was two dicing Flickering Fire and four dicing Infernal Gateway.

The Chaos Spawn was a complete waste of time and points.  In six games I didn't roll a single dice in close combat.   Not being able to control the movement was a pain.

So with the Warriors of Chaos I have now played nine games at two tournaments, won one, drawn one and lost seven.  The one game I did win, I really don't look at as being a win.  That game was won because I cast Infernal Gateway on a Vampire Lord and removed the unit, game over for the Vampire player.  My Warriors of Chaos army build isn't really up to the task, with Infernal Gateway being the key component.  I have found that the Magic Phase for me and my opponent gets a bit boring.  How many times can you say "Infernal Gateway on that unit" over a weekend, without sounding boring and predicable?  

So I am taking a few months off tournaments and Warriors of Chaos for a while to practise with my Ogre Kingdoms.  Hopefully I will be attending the Summer Incursion in a few months time, and with my Ogre Kingdoms.  As I find my Ogre Kingdoms more challenging to play with.

All in all an excellent tournament really enjoyed the weekend and every game.

Eve of the Winter Incursion

At the weekend I am off to Maelstrom Games for their first ever Warhammer Fantasy Battles tournament, Winter Incursion.  Its a two day, six game tournament with some scenarios (mostly around deployment) thrown in to mix things up a little.  The armies have been banded according to their relative strength, which allow the weaker armies more points on the table in the form of reserves.

The points limit is 2,000, but against certain armies I will have reserve units up to the value of 250 points.  So against  Empire, Lizardmen, Skaven and Vampire Counts I have one reserve.  Against Deamons of Chaos and Dark Elves I have two reserves.  But against Bretonnians, Dwarfs, and Tomb Kings my opponent can take reserves, and against Ogre Kingdoms and Orc and Goblins my opponent has two reserves.

Because of the army banding system in place, in the first two games I will avoid playing Deamons of Chaos, Dark Elves, Ogre Kingdoms and Orc and Goblins.  However no Ogre Kingdoms and Orc and Goblins armies are present at this tournament.

So onto the list.  I have dropped the Black Tongue, it did nothing in my last tournament.  The Rod of Torment is in and on the Battle Standard Bearer.  I had to move around the Arcane items because I noticed that one of the sorcerers at my last tournament had two arcane items (naughty!).  
Unfortunately this has mean't that I have lost a scroll, because the Infernal Puppet and Spell Familiar had to be on seperate sorcerers.  Another change is Mark of Slaanesh on the Warriors and Knights.

My Core 2,000 points.

Daemon Prince (General) (575 pts)
Level 4 Sorcerer, Mark of Tzeentch, Tendrils of Tzeentch, Bloodcurdling Roar, Fury of the Blood God, Causes Terror, Fly, Stubborn, The Will of Chaos, Scion of Chaos

Chaos Sorcerer (200 pts)
Level 2 Sorcerer, Mark of Tzeentch, Dispel Scroll, Spell Familiar, Conjoined Homunculus, Hand Weapon, Chaos Armour, The Will of Chaos, Eye of the Gods

Chaos Sorcerer (136 pts)
Barded Chaos Steed, Infernal Puppet, Hand Weapon, Chaos Armour, The Will of Chaos, Eye of the Gods, Lores of Death or Fire

Exalted Champion (Battle Standard Bearer) (195 pts)
Battle Standard, Sheild, Rod of Torment, Mark of Tzeentch, Hand Weapon, Chaos Armour, The Will of Chaos, Eye of the Gods

Chaos Warriors x 13 (293 pts)
Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer, Banner of Wrath, Shields, Mark of Slaanesh, Hand Weapon, Chaos Armour, The Will of Chaos

Chaos Marauders x 15 (95 pts)
Marauder Chieftain, Musician, Standard Bearer, Flails, Hand Weapon, The Will of Chaos

Marauder Horsemen x 5 (110 pts)
Marauder Chieftain, Musician, Standard Bearer, Shields, Throwing Axes, Hand Weapon, The Will of Chaos, Fast Cavalry, Horse Lords

Chaos Warhounds x 5 (30 pts)
The Will of Chaos

Chaos Warhounds x 5 (30 pts)
The Will of Chaos

Chaos Knights x 5 (280 pts)
Knight Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer, Rapturous Standard, Mark of Slaanesh, Barded Chaos Steed, Shield, Ensorcelled Weapon, Chaos Armour, The Will of Chaos, Causes Fear

Chaos Spawn (55 pts)
Causes Fear, Unbreakable, Lurching Horror, Flailing Appendages


My Reserves.  The Chosen I will play against Empire, Lizardmen, Skaven and Vampire Counts.  
And the Ogres for Deamons of Chaos and Dark Elves.

Chosen x 8 (237 pts)
Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer, Banner of Rage, Shields, Hand Weapon, Chaos Armour, The Will of Chaos, Chosen of the Dark Gods

Ogres x 4 (250 pts)
Chaos Armour, Great Weapons, Standard Bearer, Mark of Khorne, The Will of Chaos, Causes Fear

There are a lot of the top players in the country attending with nearly half in the top one hundred.  


So onto my usual topic for every tournament, my target.  This time around my target is to at least win a game out of the six I will be playing.  I am expecting to finish near the bottom (if not bottom), purely because I haven't had any practice with the army.  Also not expecting to get close on the best painted army, there are a lot of excellent painter attending.

GATEWAY!! Take it off

Why is this post titled GATEWAY! Take it off?  I will explain....  

Yesterday I attended my second tournament of the year at the Gobstyks Gaming Club in Lincoln.  It was a one day event with 30 players.  No composition and special characters were allowed, so GT style lists.  I had been frantically been painting my final units of Marauder Horsemens and Chaos Knights for my Warriors of Chaos army in the previous week, and they were ready.  So the Ogre Kingdoms stayed in the display cabinet and the Warriors of Chaos took to the battlefield for the first time.

Game 1 - Sean with Vampire Counts

Why do I always seem to face Vampire Counts at every tournament I attend?  Sean took a large block of around 20 Grave Guard and placed all his Vampires in it including his Lord and Manfred.  
The unit looked menacing of the battlefield.  My initially thoughts were nothing in my army can take that unit on in close combat, not even the knights and with no ranged shooting I was going no where near it.  I only had one option to tackle that unit, Infernal Gateway.  Along with two units of Wraiths Sean's army was going to be hard to defeat.  I had cast Pandaemonium on my first turn to slow down the raising and movement of the Vampires, my plan was to attempt to keep this spell in play for most of the battle.  Turn 2 started and I was avoiding getting into combat.  Next the magic phase, I targetted the massive block of Grave Guard and Characters with Infernal Gateway, Irresistible!!  Followed by rolling 11 for the strength, GATEWAY!! Take it off.  Sean was not happy, two turns later and his army had crumbled into dust.

I had ended my first ever game with Warriors of Chaos with 2,948 Victory Points a Massacre win!  

Later Sean told me that the unit of Grave Guard and Characters was worth 1,500 Victory Points.  I explained he gave me no options to tackle that unit apart from Infernal Gateway, "played for and got" I think is the phrase! 

Game 2 - Michael with Warriors of Chaos

I was on Table 1 second game playing Michael who works for Game Workshop.  Hang on a minute... I shouldn't be on table 1, I usually take a soft Ogre Kingdoms army to tournaments and play on the bottom tables!  Michael's army was mostly Warriors and Knights a harder list than mine.  A fun game, but Michael gave me a lesson on how to play with the Warriors of Chaos.  We had both taken the Puppet and Black Tongue, it was a game with both of us adjusting rolls on the Miscast Table!  Michael's dice were on fire all game, he mostly got off all this spells and dispels.  It ended with me on a Massacre lose.  An execellent game, I learn't a lot by playing another Warriors of Chaos player.

Game 3 - Neil with Warriors of Chaos

Table 8 this is more like it, and Neil with another Warriors of Chaos army.  It was a fun and close game, but sadly another lose.  Again another lesson on how to play with the Warriors of Chaos.  
My deployment and movement really let me down this game but Neil played an execellent game.  I ended the game with only a unit of knights and my Daemon Prince left standing, but had made a respectable dent in Neil army.  However it was all the small stuff I had taken out, so my Victory Points was only 823.  I had lost my level one sorcerer (scroll caddy) early in the game, followed by me throwing double 1 and double 1 on my level two sorcerer.  Which only left my level four Daemon Prince for most of the game.   However my Daemon Prince was the star of the battle.  I can't remember how many 4+ ward saves I rolled on the Daemon Prince, but it was a lot!

Final Words

Really enjoyed the day, had a great time with three brilliant games against excellent opponents.  I ended the day in 21st place out of 30 players, really happy with my overall standing.  But most of all enjoyed playing the the Warrior of Chaos.  It really was Gateway for the Win, well at least once!

Winter Incursion 2010

The rules pack for this tournament is now available on the Maelstrom Games web site, so I downloaded it.  Its 32 pages and excellently put together, the best tournament rules pack I have seen.  

Its a two day, six game tournament with some scenarios (mostly around deployment) thrown in to mix things up a little.  The armies have been banded according to their relative strength, which allow the weaker armies more points on the table in the form of reserves. 

I would have liked to take my Ogre Kingdoms to this event, as the results are not going into the UK rankings.  
But I need 2,000 points of Ogres plus four reserves at 250 points each.  I can muster 2,500 points army, but not 3,000.  I did look at including a Scrap Launcher, some Gnoblar Fighters and more Irongut or Bulls.  I even considered making both units of Leadbelcher 5 miniatures wide, and adding another 4 Maneaters.  But the cost and limited time available to paint mean't that the Ogres will have to stay at home for this one.  I am not going to compromise the painting quality of the army to meet a tournament deadline!

The Warriors of Chaos are in a different army bracket to that of the Ogre Kingdoms.   I need 2,000 points of Warriors of Chaos plus only two reserves at 250 points each.  I will have 2,250 points painted, so only need another 250 points.  Here's the plan...  A unit of Ogres from my Ogre Kingdoms army not sure on the upgrade yet, may be additional hand weapons with Mark of Khorne?

Really looking foward to this one, it will be my first two day, six game tournament!

Winter War 2010 Aftermath

Really enjoyed the day with three great opponents.  My performance on the day was in a word "abysmal" last place collecting the wooden spoon award.

With 68 players all the army races were represented, which is good to see.  Dark Elves were represented the most with 9 armies at the event.

Game 1 - Jon with Dark Elves

This was my first tournament game against Dark Elves.  I lost 19-1.  The shooting which included 2 bolt throwers, 2 chariots, and 2 units of shades raped my entire army through out the game.  The Ogres toughness whilst helped wasn't enough for the amount of shots.  I did managed to panic the Hydra in the fist turn with braingobbler, which only needed to roll average to flee off the board.  So what did Jon roll?  Double 1!  Next turn the Hydra rallied.

Game 2 - Jack with Dark Elves

Another Dark Elves player!  Jack had been beaten my another Ogre Kingdom player in his first game, so ironically we both had the same army to contend with in the second game.  Another lose 20-0. In Jacks first game his Dragon Mage failed a braingobbler and fled of the board in turn 1, I had no such luck!  A little less shooting in Jacks army, but he played well.  Only a lonely Irongut standard bearer remained on the battlefield at the end of the game.

Game 3 - Luke with Vampire Counts

In my last three tournaments I have played Vampire Counts every time.  Another lose 20-0.  One of the Hunters harpoons managed to kill three out of the six Black Knights with a flank shot but in the following turns the raising add another, so above half strength.  Luke managed to remove all my models from the board.

Final Words

Really enjoyed the day, had a great time. But disappointed with the way I played.  Two Hunters isn't really the best tactic for Ogres to take to a tournament.  For the points spent on the Hunters, I could have another Butcher or Bruiser, and spend the remaining points on some more Bulls. Something to consider for the future. But for the immediate future in tournaments it going to be my Warriors of Chaos.

Eve of the Winter War 2010

On Sunday I will be leaving early in the morning for the two hour drive down to Reading for my first tournament of the year Winter War 2010 held by the Spiky Club. This should be the last tournament outing for my Ogre Kingdoms army for a while, as the painting of my Warriors of Chaos is progressing nicely.

One of my new year resolutions is to achieve a Warhammer Fantasy Battles UK ranking of at least 250th, I am currently 955th so have a lot of catching up to do!  So I have done some calculations and I need to be placed 44th or better to be on target.  Of course should I not meet this target of 44th there are still plenty of tournaments this year to achieve my target.  After some more calculations I estimate that somewhere around 28 tournament points should see me finish in and around 44th place out of the 72 players. 

However because its the first tournament of 2010 and only my fourth a more realistic target would be to avoid being in the bottom ten places, if I do this then I will be very happy.  Its always healthy to have a target! 

*** Update: First round draw has been posted on TWF and it Dark Elves round 1 ***

This is my Ogre Kingdoms 2250 point army build that I will be taking.

Tyrant (286 pts)
Heavy Armour, Luck Gnoblar, Sword of Might, Wrydstone Necklace, Daemon Killer Scars

Butcher (180 pts)
Bangstick, Dispel Scroll

Hunter (235 pts)
Sabretusks x 2, Beastkiller, Greyback Pelt

Hunter (200 pts)
Sabretusks x 2, Beastkiller

Bulls x 3 (127 pts)
Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Bulls x 3 (127 pts)
Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Ironguts x 4 (247 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer, Look out Gnoblar, Rune Maw

Ironguts x 3 (174 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer

Ironguts x 3 (154 pts)
Bellower

Leadbelchers x 3 (165 pts)

Leadbelchers x 3 (165 pts)

Maneaters x 2 (180 pts)
Heavy Armour, Great Weapons

I have given both the Hunters the Beastkiller big name, as I plan to use these to hunt down large monsters and dragons.  Daemon Killer Scars on the Tyrant makes him cause Terror, not used this item before could be interesting on the effect if any!

Depending on terrain and my opponents army I will probably deploy both Hunters on a flank together and both Leadbelchers together on the other flank.  The butcher will be deployed centrally.  I could put both the Tyrant and the Butcher in the 4 strong Irongut unit, again this is dependant on my opponents army.  This will be my first tournament with both Hunters, let see if two are better than one! 

I will be posting the usual tournament report sometime next week.

Winter Incursion 2010

Winter Incursion 2010 is a new Warhammer Fantasy Battle tournament hosted by Maelstrom Games in Mansfield, England and their first Warhammer Fantasy event.  This is a two day event taking place on the 20th and 21st March 2010.

I noticed that the tickets were on pre order before christmas.  But here is the snag....  It is my wife birthday that weekend so didn't bother pre ordering a ticket.  So this week I get home from work, and my wife tells me that she has pre ordered the ticket for me as a present.  I love my wife!

My wife parents live just up the road from Maelstrom Games, so my wife and the children can spend the weekend at her parents while I go and play Warhammer!

Don't know what the army size and comp restrictions are at the moment, apparently these details should be finalised by the end of next week.  But what I do know is I will be taking my Warriors of Chaos. 

On the topic of my Warriors of Chaos....  I have completed painting on the Daemon Prince, Warhounds and started on the Knights.  With only the Marauders Horsemen and a Sorcerer to complete should have these done in time for the Gobstyks event in February.  If not I can always put a unit of Ogres in the army to bring upto 2250 points.

So thats three tournaments in the first three months of 2010.  I am turning into a bit of a Warhammer Fantasy Battle tournament whore!  Need to sign up for a tournament in April now!

Gobstyks 2250 WFB

I have entered my second tournament of 2010, the Gobstyks 2250 WFB Tournament is being held by The Gobstyks Gaming Club on Saturday 20th February 2010. It is another one day 2250 point Warhammer Fantasy tournament.

I will be making every effort to paint my Warrior of Chaos for this tournament. However I can always fall back on my Ogres.

My 2010 Tournament Calendar

I have earmarked these tournaments in 2010 as the ones that I would like to attend.  I have already entered Winter War and the Gobstyks 2250 WFB events.  Along side each is the army which I will probably be taking.  One of my 2010 new year resolutions will be to play in at least six tournaments during the year.

January - Winter War (Ogre Kingdoms)

February - Gobstyks 2250 WFB (Ogre Kingdoms or Warriors of Chaos)

March - Call to Arms (Warriors of Chaos)

May - Open War 13 (Warriors of Chaos)

June - Battle of the Chumps (Warriors of Chaos)

September - Leicester Squiggle (Warriors of Chaos)

October - Mansfield Maul (Ogre Kingdoms or Warriors of Chaos)

October - Open War 14 (Warriors of Chaos)

November - Immortal War (Dark Elves)

December - Destruction Derby (Dark Elves or Warriors of Chaos)

My 2009 UK WFB Ranking

Well after my first three tournaments I finished the 2009 UK Warhammer Fantasy Battle Rankings with a ranking of 955th.  Unfortunately the Immortal War result has not been included, which won't really improve my ranking anyway.

A lot more tournaments next year, and I will be improving on this!

Winter War 2010

I have entered my first tournament of 2010, the Winter War is being held by The Spiky Club on Sunday 17th January 2010.  It is a one day 2250 point Warhammer Fantasy tournament.

It will be another outing for my Ogre Kingdoms.  I will be putting an army list together which will comprise mostly of my Destruction Derby list plus an addition Ogre Hunter.  Experience tells me that I need another Ogre Butcher if the list is going to be more competative, but I want to concentrate on painting the Warriors of Chaos army. So my second Ogre Hunter will be in the army for the first time.

I may consider getting two or three units of Gnoblar Trappers.  The extra two Ogre Hunters allow the list to have an extra unit of Gnoblar Trappers per Hunter, so I can have a maximum of three units.  I will need to drop a unit of Bulls to accomodate the extra Gnoblar Trappers units, this will still leave me with a single unit of Bulls and three units of Ironguts.  This should be an interesting painting project over the Christmas break!

The two units of three Leadbelchers served me will in the Destruction Derby tournament, so these bad boys will remain in the army list. 

The tournament has some very hard "comp" restrictions on the other armies.  Ogres aren't hit by the comp at all, but then again do not benefit.

Destruction Derby III Aftermath

Had a brilliant day with three great games.  My thanks goes out to the Ben's for hosting such a wacky tournament, and to my three opponents on the day.  I finished the day on 31st out of 36 players, which I am well chuffed with.

A "no comp" tournament with wacky scenarios is a great laugh, the scenarios really helped in leveling the playing field for armies such as Ogre Kingdoms.

Photo courtesy of Bad Dice

Game 1 - Paul with Warriors of Chaos

This was the wound Stinkcrapp Bumfeeler the Night Goblin Shaman more than your opponent scenario.  Plus at the end of every turn the Goblin summons the power of his gods, all units that caused a wound to Stinkcrapp in that turn are hit by the Foot of Gork spell.

I managed a WIN! wounding the Night Goblin Shaman 10 times to Paul's 6.  Also getting a Marginal Victory 1297 to 961 on victory points.  The two units of three Leadbelchers didn't misfire all game, and along with the Butcher with Bangstick and Bonecruncher did all the wounds to the Night Goblin Shaman.

All game I just concentrated on wounding the Night Goblin Shaman.  My deployment was key with both units of Leadbelchers, the Butcher and the Hunter all deployed centrally I could inflict the most wounds with these.  This left the remainder of my army to just get in the way of the Warriors.


Game 2 - Stuart with Vampire Counts

This game followed all rules for a pitched battle, along with a few extra rules to shake things up a bit such as no models can fly, all units are affected by the Rain Lord spell and at the start of each players turn roll a dice for all your units, on the roll of a 1 the unit is hit by a Forked Lightning spell.

After my experience against Vampire Counts at the Immortal War tournament, my plan was to avoid combat as much as possible and play for a draw.  Alas I lost this game 654 to 165 a Marginal Lose.  I am happy with the result, I avoided the massacre which happened against Vampire Counts at the Immortal War tournament.  Had a unit of Leadbelchers stayed alive, and I killed one more single skelly it would have been a draw. 

With only a single Butcher with a single Dispel Scroll and with only three dispel dice I couldn't stop the raising.  I found that after two turns I needed to save all my dice for the movement and always strikes first spell.  These spell seems to be harming my units the most.

There was a vital combat in the middle of the table for a couple turns.  I had a unit of three Bulls in the front and a unit of three Leadbelchers in the flank of a unit of skellies.  I did manage to get this unit down to a single model over the three rounds of combat.  But the next round of combat they were back to full strength of 15.  Stuart managed to get the spell off which gives Always Strikes First with an irresistible force on the unit of skellies.  This unfortunately sealed the fate of the Ogres in that combat.

Even though I lost by a Marginal Victory, I was happy with how I fought the Vampire Counts. 


Game 3 - Adam with Bretonians

This was the get units wholly in your opponent’s deployment zone to score scenario points.  Plus the in the centre of the table is a rift that leads directly into the Realm of Chaos itself! At the start of each player’s turn the rifts move 2d6” in a random direction, any unit touched by the rift are immediately affected by the Infernal Gateway Spell. The rift moves through units like a fanatic does.  The Infernal Gateway rift didn't play any part in the game it just moved over to the left every turn and out of the way of each army.

A Massacre Lose scoring zero scenario points, and only a few victory points.

Really messed up deployment in this game BIG TIME.  The scenario meant that you couldn't deploy within 12" of the short table edge and with a 12" wide difficult terrain in my deployment zone to the left meant that I had 3 feet to deploy in.  Also I had another smaller piece of difficult terrain to the front of my deployment zone.

Having deployed my army completely wrong and giving Adam the first turn it was all over bar actually rolling some dice.  I should have used the terrain to my advantage and not to my disadvantage (which I managed!).  Not going first also meant that I couldn't get my army out into the space of the centre of the battlefield.

After turn one with the Bretonians marching the full 14" my whole army was pinned down in a small space with Pegasus Knights to the flank.  It was a mess!! With no table space left to flee the charges by turn four it was all over.


Final Words

Really enjoyed the day, had a great time.  A result of 31st out of 36 players I am well happy with.

I have discovered that opponents really don't like the Trollguts spell going off and two units of three Leadbelchers seem to scare them!

Well thats the end of the 2009 UK tournament year.  I am hoping to attend a one day tournament in January next year, which will be another day for my Ogre Kingdoms army.  After that I should have my Warriors of Chaos fully painted, so they will have a day out at a tournament soon.

Destruction Derby III

On Saturday I am attending my third one day tournament.  The Destruction Derby III being held by the Derby Wargames Society and the Bens of Bad Dice podcast fame.  I am a late entry off the reserve list, hence this post is so close to the tournament date.

This year you can bring whatever you like upto 2013 points. If it has been published by GW you can bring it.  This includes storm of chaos (that hasn’t been replaced by a new book) White Dwarf lists, chronicles, journals, and back of the army book lists.  If I had plenty of time, then I would have purchased Skragg the Slaughterer and a few Gorgers.


They have decided to do away with the comp(laining) and have some fun, with 3 whacky scenarios.  Looks like its going to be a lot of fun!!  I have included the scenarios from the rules pack...

The Funhammer

In all 3 games if the same special character faces itself (i.e. Kairos vs Kairos or Thorek vs Thorek) only 1 will turn up. Roll a dice to see which player gets to use him.

Game 1 – Get ‘im!!!!

Stinkcrapp Bumfeeler the Night Goblin Shaman is high on magic mushrooms. He has been ‘interfering’ with the King’s daughter and has a huge bounty on his head. Whoever brings his mangled corpse to the king collects the gold.

Players deploy and start the game exactly like a pitched battle. Stinkcrapp starts the game in the centre of the table.

Because he is so off his head on magic mushrooms Stinkcrapp is Immune to Psychology and feels no pain. Any attack from any source (be it close combat, magic or shooting) can only wound him on a roll of a 6, multi wound hits will do only 1 wound. He can be shot and charged like a single character, and is only affected by spells with a strength value.

Every time he takes a wound he is knocked back d6” for each wound caused, exactly as if he was fleeing from a charge (a unit of bowmen doing 2 wounds will push him back 2d6”) In combat he is hit automatically and will always flee at least 1d6” even if not wounded. The charging unit CANNOT PERSUE.

At the end of every turn the Goblin summons the power of his gods, all units that caused a wound to Stinkcrapp in that turn are hit by the Foot of Gork spell.

Victory Conditions

The winner of the game is the player who does the most wounds to Stinkcrapp.  Victory points are calculated as per pitched battle

Game 2 – The Storm of Chaos

While perusing the goblin into the far north two armies have come to battle in the chaos wastes and an eldritch storm is closing in.

No models can fly in the storm.

All units are affected by the Rain Lord spell from the lore of Life (Wfb rulebook page 118)

In addition to this at the start of each players turn roll a dice for all your units, on the roll of a 1 the unit is hit by a Forked Lightning spell from the lore of Hevans (Wfb Rulebook page 116). Any unit with a ward save are affected on the roll of a 1 or 2.

Victory Conditions

The game follows all rules for a pitched battle

Game 3 – Pandemonium

All signs of the goblin are lost, the storm has blown over but you are now lost deep in the Wastes of chaos and strange occurrences have started to happen.

As you stumble across another army Pandemonium ensues and the world as you know it starts to end.......

The whole Battlefield is affected by the Pandemonium Spell.

In the centre of the table is a rift that leads directly into the Realm of Chaos itself! At the start of each player’s turn the rifts move 2d6” in a random direction, any unit touched by the rift are immediately affected by the Infernal Gateway Spell. The rift moves through units like a fanatic does.

In the confusion to escape the madness of the chaos wastes you are convinced that the way home lies beyond the opposing army.

Deploy and Start the game in the same way as a pitched battle.

Victory Conditions

At the end of the battle each of your units wholly in your opponent’s deployment zone scores Scenario points equal to its victory points. You score half points if the unit is at half strength or less and full points if it is above half strength.  The player with the most Scenario points wins the game.  Victory points are calculated as per pitched battle

Looks like these scenarios could aid the Ogres a bit...

Can the Leadbelchers inflict plenty of wounds to "Stinkcrapp Bumfeeler" the Night Goblin Shaman in game 1?
How badly will the Rain Lord spell affect the Leadbelchers in game 2?  Only if I fire!
With plenty of units, how many can get over to the opponent’s deployment zone in game 3?

Look out for the funhammer aftermath report on Sunday!

Immortal War II Aftermath

Had a great time and three great games. Plus I won the best painted army award, winning a Dark Elves Warrior box set and a Certificate.  I ended up in 23rd place out of 24 players, and avoiding last place.  Well chuffed!

It was a 1999 point tournament with no comp other than no special characters.  I took my Ogre Kingdoms with no magic defence.  Lesson learn't here is always take plenty of magic defence to a "no comp" tournament, as the games will demonstrate.

First game was against Steve with Warriors of Chaos which ended in a minor lose.  Steve's first turn he managed to cast Gateway and removed my Irongut unit with Butcher thats 334 points gone and my only magic attacks in the first turn.  I managed to get some units into combat which got me some points back.  I was happy with a minor lose especially with losing my Irongut unit with Butcher to Gateway on the first turn.  Had to question how a level 2 Tzeentch wizard can manage to cast Gateway.  At least a single scroll and I would have avoided Gateway.

Second game and another Steve this time with Wood Elves.  Massacre lose on turn 5.  A nightmare of a game for my Ogres up against 4 units of 10 Dryads, 3 units of archers, 2 units of fast cavalry and a treeman.  The skirmishing Dryads and archers reeked havoc.  I did manage to get my Bruiser into combat which killed the Alter Noble in a challenge.  But I couldn't contend with the Dryads and Archers.

So going into the last game I thought probably a game against the Orc and Goblin player.  But facing me across the table Vampire Counts. What am I doing playing a Vampire Count army on the bottoms table in the last round, I had to ask my self!?

So last game was against Dave and his Vampires.  Massacre lose with all models removed from the battlefield!   I was controlling my right hand flank with my 2 units of 3 Leadbelchers up until turn 4.  Well that is until they fired.  The potential 60 shots had the Vampires reversing for 3 turns.  But a sudden rush of blood and I fired both units, resulting in only 6 shots and 4 misfires.  Lesson learn't here is 2 units of 3 Leadbelchers together on a flank can be good, just don't fire!  I fed the Maneaters to the Wraiths hoping that being stubborn would hold for a turn or two, but didn't!  In the end Dave's magic reeked havoc and with only 3 dispel dice and no scrolls I was completely helpless, there were raised skellies every where.

Anyway I really enjoyed the day and will be attending more tournaments next year.  Will probably be taking the Ogres to my next tournament after that it will be my Warriors of Chaos.

Eve of Immortal War II

Tomorrow I play in my second tournament "Immortal War II" being held in Sutton Coldfield and hosted by the Sutton Immortals gaming club.  Its another one day, three game, 1999 point Warhammer Fantasy tournament.

I have changing the army list slightly from the army I took to the Leicester Squiggle tournament. Reducing the Irongut units from 4 models to 3 and increasing the Leadbelcher units up to 3 models, plus giving the Leadbelchers a Bellower each. The magic items on the Hunter and Butcher have changed as well.

 

My Ogre Kingdoms Army List

Bruiser (174 pts)
Army General, Sword of Might, Wyrdstone Necklace, Heavy Armour, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Ogre Club

Butcher (175 pts)
Bang Stick, Skullmantle, Hand Weapon, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Immune to Poison

Hunter (235 pts)
Sabretusks (2), Talisman of Protection, Greyback Pelt, Light Armour, Sic 'em boys, Loner, Ogre Club, Harpoon Crossbow

Bulls x 3 (127 pts)
Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Ogre Club

Bulls x 3 (127 pts)
Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Ogre Club

Bulls x 3 (115 pts)
Bellower, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Ogre Club

Ironguts x 3 (179 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer, Look out Gnoblar, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Great Weapon, Heavy Armour

Ironguts x 3 (179 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer, Look out Gnoblar, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Great Weapon, Heavy Armour

Ironguts x 3 (154 pts)
Bellower, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Great Weapon, Heavy Armour

Leadbelchers x 3 (175 pts)
Bellower, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Light Armour, Leadbelcher cannon

Leadbelchers x 3 (175 pts)
Bellower, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Light Armour, Leadbelcher cannon

Maneaters x 2 (180 pts)
Heavy Armour, Great Weapons, Causes Fear, Bull Charge, Immune to Psychology, Stubborn, Ogre Club

Leicester Squiggle Wooden Spoon

For my last place at Squiggle tournament I was awarded the "Wooden Spoon" prize, a £10 pounds discount voucher at Gifts for Geeks.  Its a bit ironic that I had purchased most of my Ogre Kingdoms army from Gifts for Geeks.

So I opted for the Games Workshop Battlemat, which arrived today and I am very happy with it!  

I am currently building a gaming table for home, so this is just the thing I needed.  The gaming table comes in 3 parts of size 4" x 2" which are bolted together.  I may even change this so it comes in 6 parts of 2" x 2".  Will post some pictures when it completed.

Immortal War II

I have entered my second tournament "Immortal War II" being held in Sutton Coldfield and hosted by the Sutton Immortals gaming club on Saturday 21st November.

Just like my first tournament its a one day, three game, 1999 point Warhammer Fantasy tournament. My Ogre Kingdoms will be having another outing.

I will be changing the army list slightly, probably reduce the Irongut units from 4 models to 3 and may be increase the Leadbelcher units upto 3 models. I will also have another look at the magic items on the Hunter and Butcher as well.



I will be giving my self another target for this tournament, and thats not to finish in last place. I want to at least improve on my last place at the Leicester Squiggle.

The tournament is 7 weeks away so I need to get some practice in. I will post a tournament report on how I got on after the tournament.

A link to the post on The Warhammer Form can be found here