Polish Sausage was a team event run at Maelstrom Games’ Eye of the Storm venue. As with the Swiss Cheese tournament last year it was a European Team Championship (ETC) style event consisting of 20 teams of four players. As it was an ETC style event that also meant using ETC style army and rules adjustments. Unless you’re one of the hosts of the Jaded Gamercast you’ll know that Warhammer still needs some balancing out in 8th Edition but the ETC has, rightly in my opinion, come in for some flak over some of the previous drafts of the rules. For Polish Sausage the first draft of the restrictions for the 2012 ETC were being used (link to the thread on the Warhammer Forum if you want to read the full details). Some of the restrictions would be familiar to anyone who’s played in a tournament in the UK recently but some of the restrictions on magic in particular go a lot further than that, such as restrictions on the number of additional dice that can be generated through channelling and limiting the maximum number of dice that can be used to cast spell to five. On top of that several armies were given additional points on top of the baseline 2400 points level. Beastmen, Tomb Kings and Wood Elves all got an extra 200 points while High Elves got an extra 100. As a result of being the one who bought the ticket I ended up being captain of the second team going to the tournament from the Leicester SQUIGs, the SQUIG Hoppers. Fortunately we were clear from the outset that we were only going for a laugh as my being in charge meant that the least experienced and arguably worst player in the team was the captain
Army Lists High Elves Arch Mage (General) (Lore of Shadow) - Level 4 - Talisman of Preservation - Silver Wand - Ironcurse Icon Mage (Lore of Metal) - Level 2 - Sigil of Asuryan Noble - Reaver Bow - Seed of Rebirth - Dragon Armour - Great Weapon Noble - Battle Standard Bearer - Amulet of Light - Dragon Armour - Great Weapon - Shield - Longbow 16 Archers - Musician 15 Archers - Musician 26 Spearmen - Full Command - Standard of Discipline 5 Dragon Princes - Musician 23 Sword Masters of Hoeth - Full Command - Banner of Eternal Flame 22 White Lions - Full Command - Banner of Sorcery - Ruby Ring of Ruin Great Eagle Great Eagle As those of you who have read my previous battle reports may have noticed, this list wasn’t massively dissimilar to what I was running at the Summer Incursion and Midlands Open last year. This is mainly because with the first draft of the ETC 2012 restrictions not being put online until the start of February, I was only going to get one practice game before having to submit my list so I largely went back to what I know. (I had been playing a few games with a list drawn up under the 2011 restrictions that basically had to be binned so I could think properly about where to put the extra 100 points High Elves were allowed). That and the fact that as I’d been redoing the paint scheme on my Archers to bring them into line with the last lot of Spearmen I’d painted meant I didn’t really have any different units I could put into the list. Obviously one of the main differences is that I’ve dropped the Banner of the World Dragon from the BSB. The main reason for this was that I could pretty much guarantee that the unit I’d be wanting to cast Mind Razor on would be the one where the BSB would currently be residing. This did leave me quite worried about coming up against Skaven or Warriors of Chaos whose magic has spells capable of removing entire units in one go. A key mistake I made was not putting the Guardian Phoenix (5+ Ward Save) on my BSB. I'd meant to after a game at the start of February but forgot to make the change while worrying about making sure I got the team's lists in, so it wasn't until my last practice game before the tournament that I realised my mistake.
Round 1 – Dragon Slayers Team B Going into this round we’d all identified the armies we didn’t want to face. For myself I definitely didn’t want to face the Lizardmen and wasn’t overly keen on facing the Warriors of Chaos list seeing as it was toting a Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord. Unfortunately we hadn’t really taken time to digest the match-up process properly and so I think only Dan out of the four of us was really happy with his match up playing Ed Morris’ Beastmen. For me, I was facing Lizardmen, the army I most definitely didn’t want to face. Andy Barnes – Lizardmen Slann Mage-Priest (General) (Lore of Light) - Focussed Rumination - Earthing Rod Slann Mage-Priest (Lore of Shadow) - Battle Standard Bearer - Soul of Stone Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens) - Cube of Darkness Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens) - Dispel Scroll - Dragonbane Gem Saurus Scar-Veteran - Cold One - Light Armour - Charmed Shield - Dawn Stone - Burning Blade of Chotec Saurus Scar-Veteran - Cold One - Light Armour - Great Weapon - Dragon Helm - Amulet of Itzl 34 Saurus Warriors - Full Command 24 Skinks - Full Command - 3 Kroxigor 10 Skink Skimishers 10 Skink Skimishers 10 Skink Skimishers 3 Terradons 5 Chameleon Skins 5 Chameleon Skins 2 Salamanders (Full team lists on The Warhammer Forum) Magic High Elves Arch Mage – Lore of Shadow 1. Mystifying Miasma 2. Enfeebling Foe 3. The Withering 4. Pit of Shades 5. Okkam’s Mind Razor Mage – Lore of Metal 1. Searing Doom 2. Final Transmutation Lizardmen Slann – Lore of Shadow 1. Mystifying Miasma 2. Enfeebling Foe 3. The Withering 4. Okkam’s Mind Razor Slann – Lore of Light 1. Burning Gaze 2. Speed of Light 3. Net of Amyntok 4. Banishment Skink Priest – Lore of Heavens 1. Ice Shard Blizzard Skink Priest – Lore of Heavens 1. Ice Shard Blizzard Deployment To save myself some time on describing the table layout, Andy and I ended up using layout number 1 as seen in the first post in this thread on The Warhammer Forum. Deploying in the bottom half of the table I deployed a Great Eagle to the left of the wood and the White Lions to the right of it. The larger of the Archer units came next then the Spearmen block with the Noble and the Arch Mage behind and to the right of the piece of wall. Further to the right were the smaller Archer unit with the BSB and Level 2 Mage. Next up was the second Great Eagle with the Sword Masters behind them and finally the Dragon Princes on the right board edge. Andy deployed a unit of Skink Skirmishers in the woods in his deployment zone. Another unit of Skirmishers and the Slann general was deployed close to his back board edge roughly half way along the table. The horde of Saurus deployed on top of the hill with the Slann BSB and one of the Skink Priests. Behind the hill the Salamanders and Terradons deployed while the Skink/Kroxigor unit deployed to the right of the hill along with a Scar Vet, with the last unit of Skink Skirmishers deploying just in front of them along with the other Scar Vet. Finally the two units of Camo Skinks deployed just in front of Andy’s lines.
Winning the roll for turn one I advanced my units up the board with the aim of getting better range in subsequent turns for my Archers and Mages. The first magic phase saw a dice advantage of 10 ten dice to five in my favour only for my mages to fail in their attempts to cast a four dice Pit of Shades and a five dice Final Transmutation at the Saurus. Even the White Lion champion’s Ruby Ring of Ruin failed to for Andy to roll a single dispel die for the phase. With that incredibly poor baseline to start from the shooting phase surely had to be an improvement. Considering that everything with a bow was shooting at over half range and had also moved that turn a result of four dead Saurus wasn’t too bad in my opinion. Aside from moving the Skink Skirmishers in the wood out into range of the nearby Eagle, Andy’s movement phase was overall quite cautious with only one of the Camo Skink units and a Scar Vet moving into positions where I’d have to deal with them in my next turn. The magic phase saw Burning Gaze cast at the Great Eagle in front of my lines. With Andy having six dice left I decided to chance letting the spell off only for it to do the three wounds needed to kill the Eagle. This was followed by a Miasma that failed to go off allowing me to successfully dispel a Net cast at the Spearmen and Banishment cast at the Dragon Princes. Shooting saw the Skink Skirmishers easily do the three wounds required to kill the other Great Eagle while the Camo Skinks that had moved up onto the central hill shot at the Dragon Princes but couldn’t penetrate the armour. My turn two and the Dragon Princes charged the Camo Skinks, while the White Lions carried on moving swiftly up the middle of the board to try and get into the Lizardmen lines and the Sword Masters also moved up aggressively. A low roll on the Winds of Magic, bolstered up to seven power dice via channelling and the Banner of Sorcery didn’t give me enough to go on to actually get anything cast, with the Arch Mage again failing to cast his first spell (this time the Withering at the Saurus) and the Ruby Ring at the Slann General in his unit of Skink Skirmisher was dispelled. It was left to the shooting to again do a modicum of ranged damage with a further three Saurus being dropped. As was expected the Dragon Princes slaughtered the Camo Skinks and reformed to face the nearby Scar Vet who, along with the Skink/Kroxigor unit charged into the Dragon Princes at the start of Andy’s second turn. Aside from the charges the Skink Skirmishers on the left and the surviving Camo Skinks started to sandwich the White Lions while the Salamanders decided to start heading out to play and swap positions with the General’s Skink Skirmishers. Magic was much stronger this turn for Andy as after Pha’s Protection cast at the Skink/Kroxigor unit was dispelled he successfully cast Banishment at the Sword Masters, killing six while Enfeebling Foe was cast on the Dragon Princes. Just to cap it off, Net of Amyntok then went off on the Spearmen with Irresistible Force, putting a wound on one of the Skink Priests (although no ill effects to the Elves who took advantage of the Nobles strength four to pass their test). The Skink shooting failed to down any White Lions while the Scar vet and Skink/Kroxigor unit wiped out the Dragon Princes. Unfortunately for Andy the solo Scar Veteran was aligned such that his overrun missed the Sword Masters while the combined unit fell short of the Elves. With not much option to do otherwise the Sword Masters charged the Skink/Kroxigor unit while the White Lions failed their march test and so could only edge a few inches further towards the Lizardman back line. The Mage left the Archers in preparation for throwing as many dice as possible at a Searing Doom on the Scar Vet while the Archers wheeled to face the Scar Vet. Yet again my magic phase was a failure with Enfeebling Foe cast at the Skrox unit being dispelled, Searing Doom on the Scar Vet scrolled and Miasma at the Skrox also dispelled. Yet again it was the Elven Archers who stepped up to score some wounds, killing a further four Saurus. The Sword Masters somewhat predictably chewed through the Skinks in the Skrox unit and actually got off lightly from the return attacks, losing only five of their number in reply, for all the good it did them considering the Lizardmen were Steadfast. Andy charged his Scar Vet at the Mage who had no choice but to hold considering how close to the back board edge she was. The Skink Skirmishers and Camo Skinks closed in further on the White Lions while the Salamanders moved up into shooting range. Meanwhile the Saurus block started backpedalling behind the hill, joined by the Terradons and the Slann’s Skinks. In the magic phase I finally used my scroll to stop Enfeebling Foe being cast on the Sword Masters. Pha’s Protection on the Skrox succeeded while Banishment at the White Lions failed and Miasma on the Archers was dispelled. The shooting phase saw a heavy toll inflicted on the White Lions with 11 being lost to a combination of Salamander and Skink shooting. The Scar Vet cut down the Mage while the Sword Masters lost their combat against the Skrox with the sole survivor just outpacing the pursuit. High Elf turn four and the White Lions charged the Camo Skinks. The Sword Master champion failed to rally and then, after rolling 11 twice for his rally test, I rolled double one for his flee distance. The Arch Mage cast The Withering on the Skrox unit which was cast successfully while Miasma at the Scar Vet was dispelled. Shooting from the Archers and Noble shot the two of the Kroxigor. The White Lions overran after butchering the Camo Skinks. In Andy’s turn the solo Scar Vet failed his Stupidity test and ended up stood one inch from the flank of the Archers. The Skrox unit charged the Sword Master champion and then redirected at the Archers who stood and shot, killing the surviving Skink. Magic saw the BSB Slann fail in his attempt to dispel The Withering on the Skrox unit while a Banishment on the White Lions was dispelled while Net on the Spearmen succeeded. The Sword Master champion was shot down while shooting on the White Lions saw six killed. In the combat between the Archers and the Skrox saw the Kroxigor struck down but the Archers took two casualties in return, although they held. Turn five and the White Lions chanced a long range charge at the Skink Skirmisher unit ahead of them. The Spearmen I think also charged the Skinks. Both units failed to make their distance. The magic phase saw me roll double one for Winds of Magic, a situation only made better by rolling a channel and then two dice from the Banner of Sorcery. The Arch Mage tried to cast Mind Razor on the Archers but this was dispelled by the Cube of Darkness while a Fireball from the White Lion champion’s Ruby Ring of Ruin at the Skinks was dispelled. In combat the Archers were beaten by the Scar Vet but still held. The White Lions who had rocks dropped on them by the Terradons and then were wiped out by a Banishment from the Slann. We didn’t have enough time for turn six but by that stage it was a clear win to Andy and with only 452 points to me and 1450 to Andy it was a 16-4 win to him. As for the rest of the team, Adam lost 1-19 to Darren Dabell’s Warriors of Chaos, Graham went down 8-12 to Steve Wren’s Daemons of Chaos and Dan won 12-8 against Ed Morris’ Beastmen.
Round 2 – The Giant’s Lair After the disaster of the match-ups in round one you’d think we’d have sorted ourselves out for round two. And you’d have thought wrong. This meant that I ended up facing off against Empire, Owen Farmer - Empire Arch Lector (General) - War Altar - Armour of Meteoric Iron - Van Hortsmann’s Speculum - Biting Blade Wizard Lord (Lore of Light) - Level 4 - Seal of Destruction Captain of the Empire - Battle Standard Bearer - Full Plate Armour Captain of the Empire - Full Plate Armour - Shield - Lance - Dragonhelm - Pegasus Warrior Priest - Heavy Armour - Shield - Ironcurse Icon Warrior Priest - Heavy Armour - Shield Engineer - Light Armour 10 Crossbowmen 39 Halberdiers - Full Command 5 Free Company (Detachment) 39 Halberdiers - Full Command 5 Free Company (Detachment) 20 Swordsmen Great Cannon Great Cannon Helstorm Rocket Battery Steam Tank (Full team lists on The Warhammer Forum) Magic High Elves Arch Mage – Lore of Shadow 1. Mystifying Miasma 2. The Withering 3. Penumbral Pendulum 4. Pit of Shades 5. Okkam’s Mindrazor Mage – Lore of Metal 1. Searing Doom 2. Enchanted Blades Empire Wizard Lord – Lore of Light 1. Burning Gaze 2. Pha’s Protection 3. Speed of Light 4. Light of Battle Battle Wizard – Lore of Metal 1. Transmutation of Lead Deployment For this game I believe Owen and I were playing on table layout four as shown in the first page in this thread on The Warhammer Forum, although the hedges were fallen columns (one of which appears to have been moved in the first game since it’s no longer where it should be on that map). I deployed in the top half of the map as seen in that image. Had we actually got round to looking up the chart on the day we’d have know that the two pieces of ruins that ended up in my deployment zone were in fact supposed to be fields. Not that I think it made any massive difference as we just played the wall sections as obstacles. Anyway, from left to right, in my deployment zone I had the Dragon Princes deployed between the two ruins with the first Great Eagle. To the right of the right hand piece of ruin was the larger unit of Archers containing the Level 2 Mage. On their right were the Spearmen, Arch Mage and Battle Standard Bearer and next was the smaller unit of Archers with the Noble. Up next behind the wood were the White Lions and Sword Masters and then the last Great Eagle. Owen deployed with his Steam Tank behind the hill. About a foot to the right of the hill were the Crossbowmen. Behind the wood were the first of the Great Cannon and the Captain on the Pegasus. To the right of them was the first of the Halberdier blocks containing the Level 1 Wizard and a Warrior Priest with the detachment of Free Company in front of them. The Arch Lector was on their right with the Helstorm and Engineer behind. Straddling the column/fence was the unit of Swordsmen with the BSB and Wizard Lord. Finally there were the second Halberdier block, with Warrior Priest with, in front, their Free Company detachment and behind the second Cannon.
Winning first turn Owen sent the Steam Tank off round the left side of the hill while the Captain on Pegasus flew out in the direction of the Dragon Princes. The Arch Lector, Swordsmen and right hand unit of Halberdiers shuffled forward. A low dice magic phase saw the Arch Lector attempt to cast Banishment at the White Lions only for it to be dispelled. Shooting was more effective with the Crossbowmen somehow steadying their aim enough to shoot dead four of the Archers opposite them. The Helstorm shot at the White Lions and scored a hit, killing eight. The left hand Great Cannon took aim at the Spearmen block but misfired and blew up. For my turn the Dragon Princes moved forward slightly to pose a threat to the Pegasus rider if he should land too close in front of my lines while the Spearmen, White Lions and Sword Masters all moved up. To allow him a better choice of target, I moved the Noble out of the Archers, behind the White Lions. The magic phase saw a Pit of Shades cast towards the left hand Free Company (hoping for a luck scatter onto the Arch Lector) go off irresistibly. The result of the spell saw nine Halberdiers and three Free Company die and the miscast result saw a wound on my Mage as all those who could channel or generate Power Dice took a hit. Shooting saw the Noble chip a wound off the Pegasus Rider, the Free Company in front of the left Halberdier unit shot down and a shameful one Crossbowman Turn two and Owen moved the Steam Tank further around the hill. The Pegasus Captain flew to the flank of the Dragon Princes (I’d forgotten to measure to check how far to the flank he could get so I’d moved a bit too far forward). The Archer Lector and right side Halberdiers and Free Company shuffled forward again. The Magic Phase saw a bit of a couple of booboos from me. I thought Owen had said he was casting Burning Gaze at the Noble out on his own. As that’s a Flaming Attacks spell and the Noble was wearing Dragon Armour giving him a 2+ Ward Save against flaming I let it through. It was only when Owen rolled 2D6 for the number of hits that I realised my mistake. I then forgot all about the Noble’s regen save from the Seed of Rebirth… Needless to say, that was one dead Noble. The Crossbowmen again shot like demons, killing another four of the Elven Archers opposite. The Helstorm fired at the Sword Masters but scattered onto the White Lions who lost another three of their number. High Elf turn two and I turned the Dragon Princes to face the Pegasus Captain and the Archers wheeled slightly as well to make sure that if the Captain tried charging the Archers he’d be going into the front and taking a Stand and Shoot reaction. The Spearmen moved up again as did the White Lions and Sword Masters. Both Eagles also moved out, one to the flank of the Spearmen, the other in front of the White Lions. The Winds of Magic delivered eleven dice which were topped up to the maximum by the Banner of Sorcery. However, this was facing eight dispel dice on the Empire side. A Pit of Shades at the Arch Lector brought out Owen’s scroll while The Withering at the depleted Halberdiers was dispelled. Enchanted Blades at the depleted Archers I think failed and a Fireball from the White Lion champion’s Ruby Ring was dispelled. The Archers on the left shot the Crossbowmen again and did slightly better this turn killing one. The other Archer unit killed three Halberdiers. Empire turn three saw the Steam Tank charge the Dragon Princes. With the Pegasus Captain lurking nearby they didn’t have much option but to hold. The Pegasus Captain flew behind the Archers and that was it for Movement. In the Magic Phase Burning Gaze at the Sword Masters was dispelled while Banishment at the same target saw my Sigil of Asuryan being used to stop it. The Helstorm killed six Sword Masters and the Crossbowmen failed to kill any of the opposing Archers for the first time in the game. The Steam Tank smashed through the Dragon Princes who fled four inches. My turn three and the Great Eagle charged the Swordsmen while the Sword Masters charged the Free Company detachment who fled. The Sword Masters passed their test to redirect at the parent Halberdier unit but then failed their charge. The White Lions tried to charge the Arch Lector but only rolled two inches on their charge distance. Magic saw the Mage attempt a five dice Searing Doom on the Pgeasus Captain but this was dispelled. With my remaining dice the Arch Mage cast Miasma on the Swordsmen to give the Eagle a chance to strike before it could be cut down by the Swordsmen or characters in the unit. The Archers on the left, who had reformed, shot at the Pegasus Captain but although they scored a wound it didn’t beat his armour. The other Archer unit shot down two Halberdiers. In combat the Great Eagle put a wound on the Wizard Lord and stomped the unit for two wounds. The Swordsmen in reply did two wounds to the Eagle which fled from the combat. Owen’s next turn saw the Peg Captain charge the lone mage while the Arch Lector charged the White Lions. The Steam Tank started meandering towards my Spearmen. In Magic Soul Fire on the White Lions was dispelled as was Speed of Light on the larger Halberdier block. This left no dice to stop Birona’s Timewarp on the same unit. Shooting saw the Helstorm drop on the Sword Masters hitting and killing 14. In combat the White Lions put a wound on the War Altar but lost five of their number. The Mage actually managed to put a wound on the Pegasus Captain but my elation was short-lived when I remembered a fraction of a second later that he gets three wounds thanks to being mounted on the Pegasus (stupid flying horse). The Pegasus rider scored the required wounds to kill the Mage and overran seven inches. The Sword Masters charged the Swordsmen who held while the Spearmen went into the flank of the War Altar. The fleeing Eagle rallied while the other one was sneaking around the back of the Empire lines. Magic saw The Withering cast on the depleted Halberdiers, taking two off their toughness, Miasma reduced the Weapon Skill of the Swordsmen by two so they were now going to need fives to hit the Sword Masters and then Owen dispelled the Mindrazor cast at the Spearmen. The smaller Archers shot at the Pegasus Captain doing four hits and four wounds but Owen rolled four passed armour saves. The other unit of Archers shot at the Halberdier unit and killed five. In combat the Sword Masters split their attacks between the Sorcerer Lord and BSB, killing both and winning the combat, although the Steadfast Swordsmen held. The White Lions and Spearmen only managed to put a single wound on the War Altar. In turn five the depleted Halberdiers charged the flank of the Spearmen unit, the other Halberdiers charged the Eagle which fled allowing them to attempt to redirect at the White Lions which failed. The Steam Tank carried on its path towards the Spearmen while the Pegasus Captain decided not to chance his luck and flew away from the Archers. The Arch Lector cast Soul Fire which killed two Spearmen while Hammer of Sigmar and Birona’s Timewarp were dispelled. The surviving Great Cannon shot at the Great Eagle, killing it. Combat saw the War Altar take another three wounds and a couple of Halberdiers killed. The Elves lost the combat but were Steadfast and passed their Break tests. The Sword Masters won combat again, killing five Swordsmen for one loss, again the Swordsmen held being Steadfast. High Elf turn five saw the fleeing Eagle rally. I forgot to reform the depleted Archers and as the other Archer unit had too many modifiers to hit the Crossbowmen I ended up without a shooting phase. Before that though the Arch Mage cast Miasma on the unengaged Halberdier unit, dropping their Initiative to one and then cast Pit of Shades on them, killing thirteen. Fortunately for the Empire they passed their Panic test. Mindrazor on the Spearmen was dispelled. In combat the Sword Master champion killed another three Swordsmen but the unit finally killed him off. The War Altar was finally destroyed but no wounds could be landed on the Arch Lector himself. The High Elves lost the combat again but held on. In the last Empire turn the Steam Tank charged into the rear of the Spearmen while the unengaged Halberdiers charged the White Lions. In the Magic Phase two Soul Fires went off wiping out the White Lions. In combat the Steam Tank and Halberdiers ground out the Spearmen who fled only to be run down by the Arch Lector who overran into the Great Eagle. Last turn for the High Elves saw the Archers again fail to do any damage to the Crossbow unit and the Arch Lector finished off the Great Eagle. Overall then I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this was a 20-0 loss to me. The rest of the team fared better with Graham pulling out a 15-5 win over Ed Matson’s Tomb Kings, Adam beating Martyn Cooper’s VC 11-9 in a game that featured a cascading detonation of Mortis Engines doing the thick end of 40 wounds to units in the area. Finally Dan lost 15-5 to Rob Farmer’s Wood Elves.
Round 3 – Heroes of Legend Last game of the day and we were starting to think a bit more about the match ups. I think we put my High Elves up first and I ended up going for Tom Loyn’s Vampire Counts out of the options presented to me (again, I think). Vampire Lord (Lore of Vampires.)(General.) - Red Fury - Quickblood - Giant blade - Dragonhelm - Seed of Rebirth - Potion of Foolhardiness - Shield - Heavy Armour Master Necromancer (Lore of Vampires.) Vampire (Lore of Shadow) - Aura of Dark Majesty - Biting Blade - Enchanted Shield - Dragonbane Gem - Dispel Scroll - Heavy Armour Wraith - Great Weapon Wraith - Great Weapon Wraith - Great Weapon 40 Skeletons - Full Command - Screaming Banner - Spears 40 Zombies - Standard - Musician 40 Zombies - Standard - Musician 25 Zombies 30 Grave Guard - Full Command - Banner of the Barrows - Great Weapons Mortis Engine Mortis Engine (Full team lists on The Warhammer Forum) Magic High Elves Arch Mage – Lore of Shadow 1. Mystifying Miasma 2. Enfeebling Foe 3. The Withering 4. Pit of Shades 5. Okkam’s Mindrazor Mage – Lore of Metal 1. Enchanted Blades 2. Glittering Robes Vampire Counts Vampire Lord – Lore of Vampires 1. Invocation of Nehek Master Necromancer – Lore of Vampires 1. Invocation of Nehek 2. Gaze of Nagash 3. Raise Dead Deployment We were using table two from the layouts in this thread. Apologies for the picture – this is actually the end of my turn one. I don’t appear to have remembered to take a picture at the end of deployment. Anyway, from left to right I had the Dragon Princes and a unit of Archers with the Arch Mage, who were a few inches back from the wall with one of the Great Eagles behind them. Next up were the Sword Masters, deployed 12 wide, with the BSB and to their right behind the field/obstacle was another of the Archer units. The Spearmen were next with the Mage and Reaver Bow Noble. A bit of a gap until the Eagle behind the river and then the White Lions angled to march past the river as soon as they could move. Tom’s forces deployed in the expected cluster around the Mortis Engines. One of the Zombie blocks behind and to the right of the wood as I looked at the table. To the right of them were the Grave Guard containing two of the Wraiths and the Vampire Lord. On their right was another Zombie unit; the two Mortis Engines were behind these units. The Skeleton block was on top of the hill to the right of the Zombies and contained the Vampire and last Wraith while behind them was the small block of Zombies and the Master Necromancer.
So, I won first turn and moved both Eagles quickly up the flanks with the Dragon Princes on the left and the White Lions on the right not far behind them. The Spearmen and Sword Masters moved up but more cautiously. The left hand Archers moved up to the wall. Winds of Magic and Channelling gave me maximum dice against six for Tom. The first spell was a five dice The Withering cast at the Grave Guard which was dispelled. A two dice Fireball from the Ruby Ring singed three Skeletons enough to disrupt the malign power that was animating them while four dice on Enchanted Blades at the smaller Archer unit (the one on the right) went off irresistibly with a miscast roll of nine killing four Spearmen and losing me my last power die. Both units of Archers shot at the Grave Guard but while the augmented unit on the left dropped two, the other unit scored a single hit and no wounds. The Noble with the Spearmen also shot at the Grave Guard and dropped a further two. Tom began his first turn with a lot of movement. The Zombies on the left wheeled to the right slightly, facing the oncoming Dragon Princes and Eagle. The more central Zombies marched forward and around in front of the Grave Guard who wheeled to the left slightly. The Skeletons on the hill moved to the right and were joined by one of the Wraiths from the Grave Guard. A Mortis Engine moved up in the gap between Grave Guard and Skeletons while the Necromancer’s bunker of Zombies were moving along behind the hill. A low dice magic phase saw Tom get just four dice which he using to cast Raise Dead. This went off irresistibly with a result of seven. The new Zombie unit were raised just behind the Grave Guard. In my second turn I moved both Eagles further up the table, in the case of the one on the right up past the flank of the Skeleton unit. The Dragon Princes held station, as did the Sword Masters while the White Lions carried on moving forwards. The left Archers moved up past the fence while the unit on the right sidestepped to get a better view of the units to the right of the building. The Spearmen also moved forwards. With a total of nine power dice to Tom’s four dispel dice I was hoping to put some my magic phase to good use but my first spell, a Pit of Shades at the central Zombie unit was dispelled and then a four dice The Withering at the Mortis Engine closest to the Spearmen failed, as did the Fireball from the White Lion champion’s Ruby Ring of Ruin. The Noble with the Reaver Bow shot at the closest Mortis Engine but only hit it once. This wounded but was saved by the Engine’s Regeneration save. The Archers behind the field shot at the Zombies but also only wounded once and saw that wound cancelled out by Regeneration. On the other side of the table the other Archers shot at the Grave Guard and killed one. Vampire Counts turn two saw the Zombies on the left move backwards while the central unit moved parallel with the building, facing towards the Dragon Princes. The Grave Guard moved further round to the right. The Zombies behind the hill moved up on top of it, just behind one of the Mortis Engines. The Skeletons moved on towards the White Lions. Tom had another four dice magic phase and tried to cast Invocation of Nehek on the first area of effect but this was dispelled. My turn three and I charged the White Lions and Great Eagle into the Skeleton unit while the Spearmen and Sword Masters moved up. The Arch Mage left the Archers to give him better range for his spells while the Mage left the Archers to protect them from any miscasts that might occur in the following phase. Magic saw a a Pit of Shades on the Zombies behind the building go off and kill twenty-four with a direct hit, thinning them out nicely for when I planned to charge them in my next turn. However, a five dice Enchanted Blades on the White Lions was dispelled, putting paid to my plans to take out the Wraiths that turn. The Shooting phase was uneventful with the Noble shooting at the Mortis Engine atop the hill again but hitting only once and not wounding. Both Archer units shot at the Grave Guard but could only kill one between them. In combat the White Lions and Great Eagle won the fight by three, the Eagle even surviving the fight another round much to my surprise. In Tom’s turn the Mortis Engine on top of the hill and the Grave Guard charged the White Lions while the Zombie bunker charged the Eagle in the rear. The other Mortis Engine moved on top of the hill. Tom again had a low dice Magic phase with only five power dice to play with versus three dispel dice. He tried to cast the bubble Invocation from his Necromancer with all his dice but I used my Sigil of Asuryan, dispelling it and also destroying. In combat the While Lions failed their Fear test and neither they nor the Eagle did any wounds. In return the White Lions were wiped out while the Eagle fled and was run down by the Zombie bunker. The Grave Guard combat reformed to face the Spearmen while the Skeletons and Mortis Engine also combat reformed to face towards the centre of the board. Turn four and I charged the Sword Masters into the Zombies and the Spearmen into the Grave Guard. The Dragon Princes moved a bit further around the woods. In the Magic phase Enchanted Blades on the Spearmen was cast successfully but Mindrazor on the unit brought out Tom’s dispel scroll. Miasma on the Grave Guard was successful, reducing their Weapon Skill by two. Shooting again proved pretty ineffectual with both units shooting at the Mortis Engine on top of the hill, both only managing to do a single wound and both wounds being saved. In combat the Sword Masters went through the Zombies like a lightsabre through thin air, overrunning to put the BSB in range of the Spearmen. The Spearmen did five wounds to the Grave Guard but took thirteen wounds in reply and broke from combat with the undead in hot pursuit. Tom naturally declared a charge on the Spearmen with the Grave Guard in his following turn and ran them down thanks to a low flee roll. In other movement one of the Wraiths in the Skeletons moved out to block the progress of the Sword Masters before the Skeletons carried on round towards my lines. The Mortis Engine that had been in combat moved alongside it. The pursuing unit of Zombies reformed to face back the right way after charging and running down the Great Eagle they had previously fought while the second Mortis Engine slipped round their back. The left block of Zombies had charged the Great Eagle. In the Magic phase a Raise Dead was dispelled but Invocations from the Vampire Lord succeeded and put five models back on the Grave Guard. The Mortis Engine used its scream attack on my Mage, killing her. In the only combat the Great Eagle fled from the Zombies. My turn five and the Sword Masters charged the Wraith as they didn’t really have much else to do and the Dragon Princes charged the nearby Mortis Engine. The Archers near the Grave Guard backpedalled to give themselves a chance of getting a Stand and Shoot against the inevitable charge. The Arch Mage made use of his four power dice to cast The Withering on the Grave Guard, dropping their toughness by three. Both Archer units took advantage of this to shoot down five of the undead. The Dragon Princes did two wounds to the Mortis Engine leaving the infernal device on a single wound <CHECK WOUND NUMBERS IS IT 5 OR 6 WOUNDS?> while Sword Masters beat the Wraith as expected. In Tom’s next turn the Dragon Princes took a wound from the effects of the Mortis Engine while the Sword Masters lost nine of their number to its effects. The Grave Guard charged the Archers who stood and shot, killing four on the way in. The Necromancer cast Raise Dead but this was dispelled. In the Shooting phase the Mortis Engine in combat with the Dragon Princes screamed at them doing three wounds, reducing the unit to its last man while the other Engine screamed at the Arch Mage but did no wounds. To their credit in combat the Archers did two wounds to the Grave Guard but took four in response and fled while the Grave Guard reformed. In combat it was a no score draw between the Mortis Engine and surviving Dragon Prince who then blew his horn to win the combat. From the resulting explosion three Sword Masters were killed while the Prince’s victory turned out to be pyrrhic as he took two wounds. High Elf turn six and just for the heck of it the Sword Masters charged the Wraith Tom had kindly put in their way to stop them charging the Mortis Engine. I don’t think I chanced any spells or just forgot about the Magic phase as I don’t seem to have any notes on it but in the shooting phase the unit of Archers that wasn’t fleeing shot down another two Grave Guard. The Sword Masters cut down the Wraith but went “meh” as it didn’t bring them much satisfaction. The last Vampire turn saw my Arch Mage die to the effects of the Mortis Engine at the start of the turn while four Sword Masters also died to its effects. With magical supremacy Tom used his Necomancer to cast Gaze of Nagash on the Sword Masters, managing to kill the remainder of them. And that was that. Oh look, another 20-0 loss. As for the rest of the team, Adam went down 19-1 against Tom Hale’s Skaven, Dan pulled out a 10-10 draw with Craig Jones’ Warriors of Chaos and Graham got an 11-9 win against Patrick O’Sullivan’s Empire.
Round 4 – Team Dragon This round we decided to put me forward first again with the hope of being matched up against the Daemon list (which my team mates assured me my list should do well against). All of which went to pot when they seemingly chose their first army at random and put down the Daemons. This meant I ended up with the choice of facing off against either their High Elf or Dark Elf armies. In hindsight, looking again at the army lists, I should perhaps have chosen the civil war route but at the time I decided based on my record against both armies (i.e. the fact that I’ve sort of squeaked some almost reasonable results against Dark Elves whereas every time I’ve been in an Asur-off I’ve taken a pasting) to take the sundered ones of Callum “Tim” Drury. Dreadlord (General) - Black Dragon - Whip of Agony - Dragonhelm - The Other Tricksters Shard - Talisman of Preservation - Heavy Armour - Sea Dragon Cloak - Shield Master - Battle Standard Bearer - Dark Pegasus - Soulrender - Pendant of Khaeleth - Heavy Armour - Sea Dragon Cloak - Shield Master - Dark Pegasus - Armour of Eternal Servitude - Dragonbane Gem - Lance - Shield - Sea Dragon Cloak Sorceress (Lore of Metal) - Level 2 - Dispel Scroll 30 Corsairs - Full Command - Sea Serpent Standard 5 Dark Riders - Herald 13 Repeater Crossbowmen - Shields - Champion - Musician 6 Cold One Knights - Full Command - Banner of Eternal Flame - Potion of Foolhardiness - Charmed Shield 14 Black Guard - Musician 5 Shades - Extra Hand Weapons, War Hydra (Full team lists on The Warhammer Forum) Magic High Elves Arch Mage – Lore of Shadow 1. Mystifying Miasma 2. Enfeebling Foe 3. The Withering 4. Pit of Shades 5. Okkam’s Mindrazor Mage – Lore of Metal 1. Searing Doom 2. Gehenna’s Golden Hounds Dark Elves Sorceress – Lore of Metal 1. Searing Doom 2. Plague of Rust Deployment I’m not quite sure which of the ETC table layouts it was we ended up playing on as I can’t seem to reconcile the terrain on the table with the layouts over on TWF. On my side of the table the Dragon Princes once more went on the left flank. To the left of the woods were the smaller unit of Archers and the Mage. Deployed just at the back of the wood were the Spearmen, containing the Arch Mage and BSB with the Sword Masters, who I ended up having to deploy eight wide to fit the gap I’d left, next to them. Just to the right of the wood was the second unit of Archers and a couple of inches further on from them were the White Lions with the Noble and then the Great Eagles. Tim deployed his Dreadlord on Dragon on the far left with non-BSB Pegasus rider next to him. To their right and behind the hill were the Crossbows with the Sorceress. About four inches to the right of them was the horde of Corsairs with the Black Guard behind them. The Hydra was behind the building while the BSB was back close to the table edge. The Cold One Knights were behind and to the right of the obstacle while finally on the far right were the Dark Riders. Finally the Shades went in the tower.
Tim won the roll for first turn and everything barring the Shades (and possibly the Hydra) moved up and or around. In the Magic phase it was five dice to three as Tim rolled Plague of Rust at the Dragon Princes. I elected to use my Sigil of Asuryan on this and managed to destroy it as well. Both the Crossbowmen and Shades shot at the unit of Archers containing my Mage, managing to kill four. High Elf turn one saw the right-most Eagle fly out behind and to the flank of the Cold One Knights while the White Lions wheeled slightly to face them. The Spearmen and Sword Masters and left hand Archers all backpedalled. The Winds of Magic brought me maximum dice against six for Tim. Casting began with four dice on Searing Doom at the Dreadlord on the Dragon which was dispelled, as was a Fireball at the Cold One Knights. A precautionary Miasma on the same target went through, reducing their Initiative by one. A four dice higher level The Withering at the Dragon failed to cast while Gehenna’s Golden Hounds at the same target brought out the Sorceress’ dispel scroll. In the shooting phase the Noble shot down a Cold One Knight with the one hit he achieved, the right-hand Archers shot down one Black Guard while the other Archers killed two Crossbowmen. Turn two and there were no charges but plenty of swift movement. On the right the BSB flew down to the flank of the White Lions with the Dark Riders behind him. The Cold One Knights edged sideways. The Hydra nipped round the left side of the building with the Black Guard following in its not inconsiderable footsteps. The Corsairs advanced off the hill while the Pendant Pegasus rider landed to the left of the tower while the Dreadlord landed just in front of it on his dragon. The only units not to move were the Shades and Crossbows. Magic was once more a quick affair for Tom as he cast Searing Doom at the Dragon Princes. I was half tempted to let it through considering the unit had a 2+ Ward Save against flaming attacks but decided to err on the side of caution and dispel it. Both the Shades and Crossbowmen shot at the Archers again, killing six. My second turn and I spent a while agonising over whether to charge the dragon with the Dragon Princes or try and weaken it with magic first. In the end, after I think Tim had gotten a bit fed up of my indecisiveness I ended up charging the dragon. Elsewhere the Mage abandoned the depleted Archers and joined the Spearmen, pushing the Arch Mage into the second rank. The White Lions wheeled to give the champion line of sight on the Hydra for his Ruby Ring of Ruin. My decision to charge in rather than hoping for a good roll on the Winds of Magic proved somewhat justified when I rolled double-one for the winds. While Tim channelled a dispel die I added three from the Banner of Sorcery giving a total of five versus two. I’d hoped for better this phase as the plan was to shoot off a Fireball on the Hydra and try and chip a cheeky wound or two off it to reduce the strength of its breath weapon for when it got into my lines next turn. I pressed ahead with this plan, starting the phase trying to cast Mindrazor on the White Lions using four dice, coming up one short on the roll with a grand total of 17 for my casting attempt. Needless to say this meant Tim had no problems dispelling the Ruby Ring’s effects when cast with a single die. With no wounds going on the Hydra I was left hoping I could get something through in the Shooting phase. Alas the Noble with the Reaver Bow hit the beast only once and although the shot wounded, Tim rolled a six for the armour save. The Archers to the right of the woods also shot at the Hydra managing to put two wounds on it which got through its thick skin only to be thwarted by the creature’s Regeneration save. Tim’s turn three and he charged the Dragon and Pendant Pegasus rider into the front of the Spearmen and the BSB into the flank of the Archers. The Dark Riders moved along my back board edge while the Hydra moved up to breathe on the Sword Masters. The Corsairs moved into the edge of the woods while the Cold One Knights moved to the left edge of the hill on my side of the table. Searing Doom was unleashed on the Sword Masters but dispelled. The real damage, as feared, came from the Hydra which breathed on them and killed 12. The Shades shot at the Archers and wiped out those left standing. The two combats went pretty much as expected with the Dreadlord, his dragon plus the Pegasus rider inflicting 12 wounds for none in reply but the Spearmen held thanks to being Steadfast. The Archers took four wounds but also held thanks to Steadfast, although they failed their combat reform test. My turn three and the White Lions charged the Black Guard while what was left of the Sword Masters charged the Corsairs. The Winds roll was slightly better this turn as I rolled double-two. Again I managed to add another three dice to my pool tanks to the Banner of Sorcery. Determined not to use too few dice this turn I attempted to cast Mindrazor on the Spearmen with the full five dice permitted in the comp only to end up one short of the casting value again. With no shooting this turn it was on to combat. The White Lions and the Noble inflicted the necessary thirteen wounds to wipe the Black Guard out even without the aid of re-rolls on the White Lions. They combat reformed to face the big combat in the wood, hoping the Cold One Knights would think better of any rash charges into five great weapon attacks likely to kill most of their unit before they could strike. The Sword Masters, who were still in their eight-wide formation as I hadn’t had a chance to put them back to ten-wide, killed sixteen Corsairs but they were all killed in response. The Archers were beaten in combat by the BSB and run down while the Spearmen actually managed to inflict a wound on the Pegasus rider but just managed to stay around thanks to still being Steadfast in the face of taking six wounds. It was all charge the Spearmen on turn four as the BSB, Hydra and Corsairs all joined the party. The Shades left the tower to edge closer to the White Lions while the Crossbowmen performed a Swift Reform to face the right way as well. With no magic cast this turn it was onto shooting and the combined Dark Elf shooting shot down one White Lion. It was all over for the Spearmen this turn as despite putting two wounds on their enemies they took eleven wounds in response and were run down as they fled. As the only ranked unit left it fell to the White Lions to try and salvage anything from the mess. A quick application of the tape measure showed the Dreadlord and his dragon were just within charge range. Tim spent a moment weighing up the improbability of the charge on one hand and the instructions he’d had from the rest of his team before deciding to flee with his general. The White Lions then redirected at the Pendant carrying Pegasus rider who also decided a tactical withdrawal might be in order. Needless to say this left the White Lions without the range to reach their target. I then forgot that the White Lion champion still had his Ruby Ring of Ruin so nothing happened in the magic phase. Much to my annoyance both the Dreadlord and Pegasus Rider rallied, denying me any mirth at the sight of a big, bad, Dark Elf lord fleeing off the table. The Dark Elf shooting killed another couple of White Lions and we were then on to High Elf turn five which saw another speculative charge, this time at the Corsairs who decided, correctly, that the charge definitely wasn’t going off this time. The last Dark Elf turn consisted of everything that could running out of sight of the White Lions who were left in my turn six with the choice between trying to panic the Corsairs off the board through magic and shooting or trying to shoot down the Pendant rider. I opted for the latter but didn’t end up troubling the Ward Save. Once again another 20-0 loss. This round Dan picked up a 20-0 win against Chris Stokes’ Daemons of Chaos, Graham got a 16-4 loss against Ben Boden’s Wood Elves and Adam went down 13-7 against Tom Harris’ High Elves.
Round 5 – Flame On This round the advice from my team mates once more was that Daemons was probably my best match, along with Ogres, so when I had to choose I plumped for James Knight’s Daemons with the advice of treating the Lord of Change like a dragon ringing in my ears. Lord of Change (General) (Lore of Light) - Level 3 - Will of Tzeentch - Master of sorcery Herald of Nurgle – Battle Standard Bearer - Stream of Bile Herald of Khorne – Firestorm Blade - Amour of Khorne Herald of Tzeentch (Lore of Tzeentch) – Spell Breaker - Winged Horror 27 Bloodletters of Khorne – Full Command - Icon of Endless War 28 Plague Bearers – Full Command - Icon of Eternal Virulence 10 Pink Horrors 5 Chaos Furies 5 Chaos Furies 5 Fiends of Slaanesh 1 Fiend of Slaanesh (Full team lists on The Warhammer Forum) Magic High Elves Arch Mage – Lore of Shadow 1. Mystifying Miasma 2. Enfeebling Foe 3. The Withering 4. Pit of Shades 5. Okkam’s Mindrazor Mage – Lore of Metal 1. Enchanted Blades 2. Transmutation of Lead Daemons of Chaos Lord of Change – Lore of Light Loremaster Herald of Tzeentch – Daemon Lore of Tzeentch 1. Flickering Fire of Tzeenth 2. Glean Magic Deployment For this game I was back on the ETC table two layout, again down the bottom end of the hall where the SQUIG Hoppers had marked our row ten as our own. From left to right I deployed the White Lions pretty much on the board edge with the smaller unit of Archers plus the Reaver Bow Noble and the Mage to their right, ready to move up to the wall. Just behind them was the first of the Great Eagles. To the right of the first unit of Archers were the Sword Masters and Noble, who I ended up having to deploy eight wide in order to fit them between the first and second Archer units (having deployed the larger unit before the Sword Masters, not thinking at the time that I was going to put the Sword Masters where I did. The Spearmen and Arch Mage deployed partly within the field while the Dragon Princes were between the field and the section of River. Finally the second Great Eagle was behind the river. Back to the left hand side of the board in James’ deployment zone we find the unit of five Fiends up on the deployment line with the Bloodletters in horde to their right, partially within the wood. To their right were the Plaguebearers then a gap of about five or six inches to the Pink Horrors who deployed to the left of the hill with the Tzeentch Herald. One unit of Furies and the Lord of Change dropped down close to the long board edge behind the Bloodletters. The second unit of Furies deployed behind the hill in James’ deployment zone while the lone Fiend was all on his, er, lonesome about eight inches to the right of the hill and up to the deployment line.
James won first turn and the forces of Chaos marched up the board. The Furies on the left hand side fluttered delicately in behind the Fiends who had been outpaced slightly by the Bloodletters. The second unit of Furies popped over the hill, the Horrors trotted towards the building in the centre while the lone Fiend edged nearer to my line. The Lord of Change meanwhile dropped down inside the edge of the woods. The Daemon’s first magic phase of the game was pretty ineffectual with Burning Gaze being dispelled and then Banishment failing to cast at all. My first turn and there was a little movement with the White Lions moving up as well as the Great Eagles. Magic saw the Arch Mage cast an irresistible Pit of Shades on the Plague Bearers that lead to a total of one dead Daemon, a wound on the Arch Mage and an ended magic phase, squandering my two remaining dice. All my shooting also concentrated on the Plaguebearers, managing to kill four more. Daemon turn two and the unit of Fiends and Lord of Change charged the White Lions who didn’t have any choice but to hold given the charge angles. The Plaguebearers also charged the Great Eagle in front of the Bloodletters while the Furies on the left deposited themselves in front of the Sword Masters. On the right the lone Fiend edged away from the Eagle while the other Furies interposed themselves. Once more the Daemon magic phase didn’t achieve anything with the Lord of Change failing to cast Speed of Light and then Glean Magic from the Tzeentch Herald was easily dispelled. In combat the Great Eagle was easily cut down by the Plaguebearers while the White Lions did five wounds to the Fiends, taking seven back from the Fiends and Lore of Change. High Elf turn two and the Sword Masters charged the Furies, the Spearmen charged the flank of the Plague Bearers and the remaining Great Eagle charged the Furies near it. Magic was an unsuccessful phase with Enchanted Blades cast at the White Lions failing and then Misama on the Fiends drawing out James’ dispel scroll. In shooting all the bow fire concentrated on one target again, this time the Bloodletters, shooting down 11 of the Daemons. Once more the White Lions took a pasting but again did five wounds to the Fiends. The Sword Masters minced the Furies and overran six inches. The Spearmen, who I’d been hoping would hold the Plaguebearers in place for a couple of turns until support could arrive, did only three wounds while taking eleven in reply and broker from combat, evading the Plaguebearers by a single inch. Finally, the remaining Eagle did enough combat resolution to the Furies to make the survivors die from instability. James’ turn three and the solo Fiend declared a charge on the Spearmen who had no choice but to flee and went nine inches. It then redirected at the Dragon Princes who held. The Plaguebearers also charged the Dragon Princes who I decided to flee with after seeing what they did to the Spearmen. This turned out to be a mistake as the Fiend rolled like a, er, Daemon, for his charge range and ran them down. Finally, the Bloodletters charged the Sword Masters. Magic was once more a bust for James as I scrolled Speed of Light cast at the Bloodletters while Birona’s Timewarp cast at the same unit was dispelled. In combat the White Lions inflicted tow more wounds but were finally wiped out. The Sword Masters and Bloodletters did eight wounds apiece but the Sword Masters won by one and another Bloodletter died to instability. High Elf turn three and the Noble in the Archers charged the remaining Fiend from the unit while both units of Archers wheeled to look at the Lord of Change. Transmutation of Lead on the Bloodletters was dispelled but Enchanted Blades on the Noble went through. Shooting I don’t think did anything (at least I didn’t write anything down) while the Sword Masters wiped out the Bloodletters and popped the Herald of Khorne. The Noble killed the Fiend and overran out of the Lord of Change’s charge arc. The fourth Daemon turn saw the Lord of Change hightail it away from the Noble while the Plaguebearers and the remaining Fiend headed towards the right-most of my Archer units. Burning Gaze was cast at the Sword Masters killing four while two Flickering Fires at the same unit were stopped. Being unable to get out of the way of the Plaguebearers the Archers on the right reformed to get a round of shooting in while those on the left reformed for some pot shots at the Lord of Change. . In the Magic phase the only spell attempted, a Transmutation of Lead on the Plaguebearers was dispelled. The Archers on the left actually managed to put a wound on the Lord of Change while those on the right achieved the less notable achievement of killing a single Plaguebearer. Turn five and the Plaguebearers charged the Archers while the Lord of Change continued his tactical withdrawal. Burning Gaze and Flickering Fire at the Sword Masters were dispelled but a Banishment was cast and killed three. The Plaguebearers killed the Archers for the loss of just one of their own and overran. In my turn five the Mage cast Transmutation of Lead at the Plaguebearers which was dispelled while Enchanted Blades on the Archers went off irresistibly, causing the Mage to forget the spell. The Archers and the Noble shot at the sole surviving Fiend and killed it. Final turn and the Plaguebearers charged and killed the Archers and Mage while Magic did for the remaining Sword Masters and my BSB, leaving me just the one Eagle and Noble at the end of the game. At the time this got entered in as a 16-4 loss thanks to a 994 points difference in score. However, I’ve just realised writing this that I may have messed up when adding up the points and didn’t add in the last Archer unit. I say may because on my army list for game five for some reason I’ve crossed out the circle I put around the points for the second unit of Archers (at tournaments I normally have a list per game and put a circle around each unit that is wiped out) and so haven’t counted them. If they should have been counted that would have made it an 18-2. Fortunately that wouldn’t have affected the final placings as Flame On would still have been a point behind Team Norn Iron. As for the rest of the SQUIG Hoppers, Graham took a 15-5 loss against Mike Newman’s Lizardmen, Adam joined club 0-20 with a loss against Michael Walker’s Ogres and Dan proved to be most un-SQUIG like again with an 11-9 win against Hugh Allen’s Warriors of Chaos.
In conclusion Team Performance So, when all the dice had finished rolling, the SQUIG Hoppers had come in… dead last. By quite a distance, being some 37 points behind the Heroes of Legend in 19th place. Annoyingly, we (well, mainly Graham, Adam and Dan if you total up who scored what victory points) actually scored more victory points than the next five teams above us (as well as the ultimate winners of the event, the Heelan Hammer All Stars). I think the main cause of our downfall (other than not being the best Warhammer players in the world…) was that we really did just approach the event as a laugh. As I mentioned in the report for the first game, we hadn’t really looked at the match-up process before the first game and so we messed up badly there and in the second game. We also didn’t really critique each other’s lists much prior to the event. Other than my suggesting to Dan that as he had five points spare on the list he sent me that he might want to think about taking the Ironcurse Icon on one of his characters, and suggestions to ensure lists were legal, there wasn’t a whole lot of planning around the lists. Myself, Adam and Graham were travelling together that weekend and on the way back we discussed how we might have been better approaching our list design each of us taking on a couple of roles with our armies, for example Combat, Anti-Magic etc, and then trying to get match-ups based on our assessment of what role would be the best match for the enemy lists.. On a personal level this was my worst performance since I’ve been going to tournaments (in fact this was exactly the kind of set of results I was fearing when I went to my first tournament). Aside from getting two match-ups I really didn’t want in the first two games, my usual playing incompetence and bad dice rolls, it didn’t help that I came up against two armies using either a Dragon or Greater Daemon, neither of which I’ve played against before as no-one at the club has been running them since I’ve been going there. Of course, my first game at the club following Polish Sausage was against Daemons running a Lord of Change… The other SQUIG team There were two teams from Leicester SQUIGs at Polish Sausage, the other team, the Mangler SQUIGs consisting of Joel Henry, Paul Thompson, Alan “Not the legend” Thompson and Ben “Panzer” Harris. Overall they came a quite respectable 6th place and Joel picked up the “Bloodthirster” award for ETC Comp thoughts This was also the first event I’ve played in using ETC comp restrictions. As I mentioned at the start of this report, there was a lot of flak going about for previous drafts of the ETC comp and to be honest I don’t think the comp for 2012 improves things all that much. Personally I think there’s far too much tinkering with the main rules, such as in reducing the maximum dice you can use to cast with to five (and from what I’ve read, in Draft 2 of the restrictions you’re restricted to using only four dice with some lores) and reducing the amount of dice you can add through channelling. Trying to keep track of all the items that count as adding power or dispel dice is enough to drive you to distraction. I just can’t imagine what horrors, real or imagined, people in Europe think they are going to come across in games (I’m pretty sure I read a thread where Dan Heelan said just about all the changes have been voted through by the European members of the committee). Really they should just stick to army specific restrictions to limit some of the silliness that’s possible. The only change the ETC makes that I wholeheartedly agree with is giving half points for units reduced to 25% or less of their starting size. Overall I’m just glad I don’t live in one of the parts of Europe where ETC comp is becoming the norm for tournaments. Frankly that would probably discourage me from going to tournaments. I’ve nothing against the idea of team events as Polish Sausage was a fun event but we could do with a few more on the UK scene, using a more normal comp like the South Coast GT comp, although I note that in revision 2.0 of that comp some ETC type ideas on restricting the number of dice that can be channelled have crept in. Anyway, for those who are interested, the draft 2 restriction recently came out and can be found here. Incidentally, having mentioned the Jaded Gamercast right at the start of this report, during the writing of it the hosts of that show released another episode looking at the first draft of the 2012 ETC comp, which you can hear here.