Storminator's Forgewalk Marches Tournament Grand Prix!

[Ranzadule]

It is also the normal Warlord/Warmachine night at The Whiz, so we'll be gaming until 8pm.

 

Rich

 

Maybe I'll bring my Denny Assassin list as well then....

[ElementsWarden]

Get ElementsWarden and Shadowmage to come down too.

 

Shadowmage has a soccer game at 2:30 and I have to take him there so I unfortunately we will not be there hopefully next time.

[jdripley]

Today at the Whiz was great! Here's how my end of the battles went:

 

My build:

Thorgram, Ivar w/2 bandages, 2 bless, and a speed, 6 piercers, music

Freya, 6 maidens, 3 halberds, music

Gargram, 8 warriors, music

Griffon

Thorvald

1498/1501, 29 models, 5 troops + 1 tactician and spy

 

Round 1

I faced a Grand Reven HORDE! something like 40 models. So not a huge model count disadvantage, but enough to make me feel uncomfortable about it. I had very accurate piercers which helped thin the orcs. My Maidens gave the ultimate sacrifice in order to secure the middle. After 3 rounds they were all but dead, however I'd broken the Reven advance upon their shields and blades. My warrior troop supported them and took on all comers admirably. Thorgram plinked away at archers and lesser orcs, thining out the ranks along with the Piercers. Cavalry murdered Ivar, but the King was in range to charge up and seek revenge in a rather bloody way. The Griffon held the rest of the goblin cavalry before being wounded severely and seeking safety behind a hill. A final second (very literally!) double move on Thorgram's part secured me a point advantage in the middle, gaining me a victory. Win.

 

Round 2

I faced Ravenwolf's Crypt Legion. Early in the game I charged his two banshees and wounded each. Unfortunately he managed to retreat and use Necromantic Surges, or whatever foul magic it is, to heal both back up to full. The Griffon was swarmed by wraiths and killed (though he took down a fair number with him!) and my shieldmaidens moved up to take over the fight. On the other side of the table Ravenwolf advanced his Cavalry up aggressively, under cover fire from his archers. I had been moving my warrior troop up the middle to engage those archers and had to move them back double time to protect my king. All hands lost in the Piercer ranks. My bear helped take down the cavalry as well. This all took quite a long time, and in the final minutes Ravenwolf moved his skeletal warriors into the middle to try to secure the "hold the middle" objective. The remainder of my maidens broke off from the wraiths and killed off the skeletons, and my warriors and bear swarmed into the middle as well to tip the center balance in my favor. Aysa's Spectral Minions managed to wound Thorgram enough for him to count as slain according to the tourney rules, plus I'd lost more points than I killed. Loss.

 

Round 3

I faced a low model count Overlord army. A Golem, and a troop of Matisse, Ymrilix, Balthon, 5 warriors and 2 crossbows. There was a road system on the map which my opponent used to excellent effect. The Golem went down to my bear and my warriors. His warrior line went down to my maidens. I moved the Griffon up too aggressively in an attempt to kill off Balthon. It almost worked, but Matisse came roaring back with a 24 inch charge (via the road.. and with movement upgrades which, now that I think of it, were inappropriately stacked. Oh well) to clip the Griffon's wings. He died a round or so later. I never managed to crack Matisse, as next turn he double moved across the entire board (stinking roads!!) to base my king. He managed to land a wound on the king, but I fled and surrounded the king with a shell of models as time was dwindling. He didn't have time to cut through and kill the king (though in the end, Matisse was in contact with the king!). Very fun, quirky game, not a difficult win due to the low model count, but it was fun seeing the kitted out Overlords doing their best. Those named models sure did fight hard! Win.

 

Great day! I tied for 3rd for the day, and I'm sure I'll jump several spots in the overall standing.

 

After the tournament I played a 1000 point battle for fun with rcrosby. He beat me pretty soundly, but it was still a fun time. It's fun meeting and getting to know people that you "know" from the forums!

 

Thank to the Whiz store for hosting, and to Storminator for putting on another great event. Keep up the good work!

[Ranzadule]

IT was a good time indeed! THe best time I've had on Warlord in a while. Hat's off to Ravenwolf and his "broken" list. ;) Now that I know how ou Forgewalkers roll, I'll have a slightly better list next time! 'Til then, I'll be here, talking nonsensical smack!

[Darthiir]

So who won and what are the new standings?

[Qwyksilver]

Tony won the tourney and leads the Grand Prix, Mike C is still in second, but is 10 points behind Tony. In order for Tony to be bumped out of first now, he would need to no-show for the last meeting at the Toy Soldier, Mike C would need to win the whole shebang, and have 11 people show up to play.

 

Or we take a blow torch to Tony's Models 2 minutes before the tourney starts

[jdripley]

Or we take a blow torch to Tony's Models 2 minutes before the tourney starts

 

This is probably the most viable tactic :)

 

I don't think he'd be our friends if we did that though :\

[Ravenwolf]

Tony won the tourney and leads the Grand Prix, Mike C is still in second, but is 10 points behind Tony. In order for Tony to be bumped out of first now, he would need to no-show for the last meeting at the Toy Soldier, Mike C would need to win the whole shebang, and have 11 people show up to play.

 

Or we take a blow torch to Tony's Models 2 minutes before the tourney starts

Aw, c'mon. My army is beatable. No need to take it out on my Models. Ranzadule beat me... oh wait... Ranzadule DIDN'T beat me! Did you hear that? Not even Ranzadule can beat me! Muhahaha

 

Maybe my list is broken after all

[Ravenwolf]

Tournament report for the penultimate tourney of Storminator's Forgewalk Marches Grand Prix at The Whiz. We had 10 players with Ranzadule (and sons) coming all the way from The Bloody Strip. Some of the usual suspects were there as well: Curadhan, jdripley, Yuda Mahn, Qwyksilver, CaptC, rcrosby and others.

 

I was going to change up my list a little, but real life got in the way and I didn't have time to paint the additions I wanted. I wanted the extra point for having a fully painted army in the Grand Prix so I went with exactly what a ran last tourney. Many players at The Whis hadn't seen this configuration anyway so it was no big deal. You can check out my last report in this thread for the list.

 

Round 1: vs. CaptC (Necropolis Crypt Legion)

 

I fought CaptC to a loss the last time we met so I had an idea of what I was up against. He fooled me by not bringing Aysa and only fielding 3 Troops in a 1501 game. I figured he loaded Mondain up with spells and that's exactly what he did. We got the road board so his Zombies and Skeletons had a movement advantage over my Wraiths, Cavalry and Minions. He marched his Troops of Zombies up the road to the middle while I charged my Cavalry down one side in an effort to get Moandain. Moandain dropped a Firestorm on the Cavalry. Ouch. I spent two turns firing at Moandain's Gruesome Familiar, missing every time. Our forces clashed in the middle and near the end he ran Moandain to the middle to sacrifice an Undying Host for Necromantic Surges to stand an Azarphan and like 5 Zombies up. In the last 10 seconds of the game, my card was drawn and I rushed my Moandain to the top of the hill and Lightning Bolted that same Azarphan and many Zombies to their death as time ran out. It was enough. Great game CaptC. Win 1-0.

 

Round 2: vs. jdripley (Dwarves)

 

I had played Jim once before and won, but I knew he'd be prepared for my list this time. He fielded the King and a Gryphon so I knew he'd be gunning for Aysa. I hid Aysa between my Totem and the table edge so he couldn't get the Gryphon in there to base her. I tried to give the King more tempting targets and he picked off a couple of Wraiths during the battle. He managaed to base both of my Banshees with the Gryphon and wounding both while our archers exchanged fire and my Cavalry charged toward the Piercers, Bearrider and the King. Freya and her Shieldmaidens marched down the center of the board. By round two, I had Minions on the King and other units while I managed to break both Banshees and heal them to full with Necromantic Surges. The Gryphon got swarmed by Wraiths and fell taking a few Wraiths with it. My Cavalry got charged by Warriors and the Bearrider. In the end, the King was wounded enough to count as dead which sealed my victory. Great battle, James. Win 2-0.

 

Round 3: vs. Ranzadule (Reven Tomukh) or "How to hand Ranz his first tournament loss."

 

Ranzadule brought his Reven Warcry list with many small Troops, one large Troop with 9 BO Archers, 2 Braugs and a Gurm. I knew this was going to be tough especially after the first activation when he downed 5 Wraiths with arrows. I retaliated with dropping 5 BO Archers with 5 Skeletal Archers rolling five 9s!! This put a damper on his plans. Since his Archers are his point scorers I focused on them throughout the battle. I ran my Cavalry down their side and charged Minions into them as well so he had to continually bring Leaders over to Warcry them back up. Many BO Archers died and I managed to wound Varaug enough to be counted as dead in the end. In the meantime, his other Troops were marching to take the center objective. Gurm was trying to kill Banshees and orcs were Enraging to kill my Cavalry. In the end, I killed more points for the win. Pwned! Great game Ranz! Better luck next time. Win 3-0.

 

Props to The Whiz & CaptC for hosting, Storminator for running the tourney and all my opponents.

 

Special props to Ranz who made the trip all the way out here only to get handed his first ever tournament loss at my hands.

 

Slops to Banshees which almost never kill their points worth. It wasn't for the cheap card they add to the deck I might never field them.

 

I hope to see you all at the final tournament of the Grand Prix next month at Toy Soldier. I might even bring a different list...

[wrightjd]

Question for Ravenwolf:

 

have you ever lost when you fielded Aysa?

[ElementsWarden]

Question for Ravenwolf:

 

have you ever lost when you fielded Aysa?

 

 

When I played Ravenwolf I would have won if I understood the modified tournament rules better. I Left one model that was half down and attacked another and put it half down. I thought that counted as dead but it was more than half so I lost the game. It was around a 35 point loss and it would have been about a 95 point win.

 

Ravenwolf could probably tell you better. It is not unbeatable but it is harsh. I believe there needs to be a small drawback to the GF Aysa combo but nothing harsh.

[wrightjd]

Do you get points for the spectral minions you kill or no?

[Ravenwolf]

Question for Ravenwolf:

 

have you ever lost when you fielded Aysa?

I have lost once in tournament play against CaptC's Crypt Legion list also fielding Aysa. This was in the early stage of my list which now looks very different. That was not an excuse for losing. CaptC played well and I made a tactical error that cost me the game. I have also lost once in casual play to Storminator's Overlords. I've had a number of close games both in tournament play and casual play. Very seldom is it a blowout.

 

Question for Ravenwolf:

 

have you ever lost when you fielded Aysa?

 

 

When I played Ravenwolf I would have won if I understood the modified tournament rules better. I Left one model that was half down and attacked another and put it half down. I thought that counted as dead but it was more than half so I lost the game. It was around a 35 point loss and it would have been about a 95 point win.

 

Ravenwolf could probably tell you better. It is not unbeatable but it is harsh. I believe there needs to be a small drawback to the GF Aysa combo but nothing harsh.

IIRC our game was very close. I don't remember the point spread, but it was a great close game that could have easily swung in EW's favor.

 

Do you get points for the spectral minions you kill or no?

Since Spectral Minions do not have a point cost, they are worth nothing when they are killed. This does give a good advantage in timed tournament play as I can charge Minions into the fray and not care when they die as they are worth nothing. Under normal Bounty Point rules they can be looting for 1d10 BP's however. In the FWGP we have a special point system that Storminator devised and do not use the BP system.

[Storminator]

My records also show you lost to Mike's Nefsokar back in April. That was a 750 point tournament.

 

I keep thinking of tweaking something, but then I keep looking at the scores and seeing Tony win by less than 50 points (at least once in each of the last 3 tournaments). It's not overwhelming.

 

I know that when I brought my Overlords in a casual game (with different objectives, and some modified rules) I was going to crush the unlife out Tony's force by a large margin. I think the uniformly high DV my army had was a significant advantage in that game. In another casual game I played Elves to no great distinction, but I'm pretty sure I was significantly ahead at the 1 hour mark.

 

PS

[Ravenwolf]

My records also show you lost to Mike's Nefsokar back in April. That was a 750 point tournament.

While that is true, I did not field Aysa in that list. That was 750 points, 2 Troops maximum. No room for Aysa. I fielded Moandain leading Breakers and Archers and Kentaur with Wraiths.