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Showing posts with label Brawler Bash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brawler Bash. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Brawler Bash Battle Reports: Round Three


Golgor surveyed the broken Ogre camp.  Victory had been won, but the herd had taken great losses, and he himself had been injured.  Perhaps it would have been better to be more grateful to the Dark Gods for the victory over the Skaven...it had been a very close fight with the Ogres again, and Golgor didn't know how long it would take to get the Horde moving again.

Suddenly, the air above Golgor began to crackle and pop.  A portal opened, and Lizardmen began to pour forth.  Eternal enemies of the Dark Gods!  Golgor roared to his scattered troops to form up!

Game Three of Brawler Bash was a Dawn Attack Scenario against Lane Webster.  He had a Shadow Slann and Life Slann, both with the ability that gives them +1 PD per cast.  It was very effective, and I seemed to run out of luck at the same time.   We did get into combat fairly quickly, but all of a sudden my magic really began to fail me, while his was fantastic.  I removed all of the Temple Guard save one from around one of the Slann, but suddenly couldn't get a spell off for three turns, which allowed him to keep it alive and bring help. 

It was ugly.

I ended the game crushed, and didn't score many points on the way out.  So I ended up 2-1 on the day, with two big massacres and one crushing defeat.    

Monday, April 30, 2012

Brawler Bash Battle Reports - Round Two


Angry and tired after defeating the Skaven, Golgor's Horde moved on.  Only a day later, they came upon a tribe of Ogres, who had apparently prospered in raiding the surrounding areas and trading slaves to the Skaven in exchange for foul weaponry and armor.  Golgor's legions, hungry and irritable, knew that the Ogres would have plenty to loot, eat, and drink.  Before Golgor could even call the battle cry, the Horde surged forward, eager to kill the Ogres. 

My second game at Brawler Bash was against Dan Rothrock's Ogres.  The game was a straight battleline.  I like getting drawn up against Ogres, as I see Beastmen as a natural foil to the army.  Our weapon skill is naturally higher, our toughness helps with their strength four, and we can push out a great deal of mid to high strength attacks.  Furthermore, we have the numbers to withstand them and punish them in a grind. 

This fight was a fairly straight up slobberknocker, but I had a major problem early on when my Bestigor pursued a fleeing Sabretusk seventeen inches, pulling them massively out of position from my army and into position for most of his army to charge into them.  This was followed by Dan unleashing the Hellheart, which went the full thirty inches and caused all four of my wizards to miscast.  The nasty thing about that spell, aside from the obvious damage it wreaks, is the fact that it effectively ends a magic phase, so my Bestigor were hanging out in the breeze with no hope of buffs.  They were broken and run down. 

My Gor, General, and BSB were still alive, as was the Shadow wizard, and they managed to carve out huge chunks of the Ogre army.  I had a Chariot also do wonderful things on a flank, killing two or three of the units that the Bestigors had mauled before dying.  It was rough lacking the Bestigors' punch, and I ended up losing one Gor horde and my General.  My BSB held on by sheer luck, and I had a Gor herd hanging back, but Dan lost everything except his General and an Ironblaster when the game ended.  I'm not sure if I would have been okay on the next turn, but since the game ended, I managed a decent win, getting just shy of maximum points, while Dan got a lot of points in his loss. 

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Brawler Bash Short Battle Reports, Round One


Golgor Fangs-First stepped down off of the Doombull's corpse, its heartblood still hot on his lips.  Yuri, his standard bearer, knocked away any Gor that came too close as the herd rushed in to devour the dozens of minotaur corpses that lay scattered in the clearing.  Golgor had dreamed the slaughter of the Bulls, and knew it to be a sign from the Dark Gods.  His shamans had confirmed the signs in the augurs.  The Minotaurs had failed, and were to be sacrificed.  In return, the Gods would bring Golgor primacy and great victory.

Golgor had killed every Minotaur himself, finally throttling the Doombull with his bare hands.  

Only Gor and their lesser kin now remained in Golgor's Horde.  Bestigor strode forward in huge ranks, knocking aside their smaller brethren.  Massive Gor herds formed up loosely on the sides.  Golgor screamed his rage and fury, and horns of bone and brass rang lustily in anticipation of the slaughter to come.  

The Northern Forests shook and crashed as the Horde of Golgor Fangs-First strode forward.

Game One

My first game at Brawler Bash was a grudge match against Joel Busta's Skaven in a Meeting Engagement scenario.   Joel is a great opponent and went on to win Best Sportsman.  Unfortunately, he had terrible luck and I had very good luck.  I came at his line aggressively, and managed to take down his lone abomination in combat with my Gor horde very early in the game.  Meanwhile, his two Warp Lightning Cannons and smaller warmachines continually misfired, failing to do any wounds to my army, and his Doomwheel destroyed itself in a forest.  After a particularly bad overrun, I did have some trouble when my Bestigor ran too far forward and were flanked by his Plaguemonks with the reroll banner.  I needed a three on my break check to keep them in the game, and made it.  By turn six, I had removed all of Joel's army aside from two units of Gutter Runners, which allowed me a big win. 

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Brawler Bash 2012 Awards and Pictures



I hope to have some small Battle Reports and comments up tomorrow.  Here are, as promised, the full awards.

Best Overall:  Ben Tuite (Beastmen)
Second Overall:  Dan Pace (Orcs and Goblins)
Third Overall:  Dan Rothrock (Ogres)

Best General:  Ben Tuite (Beastmen)
Second General:  Lane Webster (Lizardmen)
Third General:  Dan Rothrock (Ogres)

Best Paint: Robert Brandon (High Elves)
Second Paint:  Dan Pace (Orcs and Goblins) 
Third Paint:  Kelly Gragg (Ogres)

Best Sports:  Joel Busta (Skaven)
Second Sports:  Jarad Cashman (Skaven)
Third Sports: Dan Pace (Orcs and Goblins)

Misfire Award:  Nick Newswanger (Empire)

Player's Choice:  Dan Pace (Orcs and Goblins)

Also, pictures from the Bash can be found here

Monday, April 23, 2012

Brawler Bash 2012 Results!


Brawler Bash V, our local Warhammer Fantasy Grand Tournament, finished this weekend with thirty-four participants.  As always, it was an awesome time, with great opponents and a good time had by all.  We had people come in from all over the eastern seaboard.  Not bad for a GT on the same weekend as Adepticon! 

Prizes were given for Bash Grandmaster (Best Overall), Bash Battlemaster (Best General), Bash Crasher (Best Sportsman),  Bash Brush (Best Painted), Player's Choice and Top Club.  The Overall, General, Sportsman and Paint categories also gave out second and third place prizes. 

I ended up taking Best Overall and Best General home, which is my first #1 overall finish in a Grand Tournament.  I've been finishing in the top five with my Beastmen for a couple GT's in a row now, and was thrilled to take the top spot.  I literally couldn't have done it without my amazing club, The Fancy Lads, and we were lucky enough to take home The Top Club award, which I hope will hang in our local store when they move to their new location in September.  Until then, I hope to pass it around for various club members to keep it from week to week. 


 The Grandmaster's Sword for Best Overall


Top Club Prize


Best General


The Mug for Best Overall (Because you can't swing a wooden sword wildly and irresponsibly around the house without a mug of beer to go with it).

Big congratulations to Joel Busta for taking Best Sportsman, Robert Brandon for taking Best Painted, and Dan Pace for taking Player's choice. I'll get the rest of the award winners listed when the results are published, as I probably can't list them all correctly from memory.

In related news, Erik Lindley is retiring from running Brawler Bash due to time commitments, and I'll be taking over running the tournament next year with help from The Fancy Lads.  Brawler Bash is a great tradition for Warhammer Fantasy, and we plan to keep it that way.  We're already planning for and looking forward to Brawler Bash VI in 2013. 

I believe my Beastmen will retire as well, and be shelved for a while.  Best Overall is a good way to go out.  I'll work on finishing up the painting 2500 points of Wood Elves and go with them for a while.  After almost three years of Beastmen, it'll be a very different change of pace.

For those interested in my 3000 point Beastmen list, here's a rough outline:

Beastlord with Crown of Command
Level Three Lore of Death Great Bray Shaman
Level Four Lore of Shadow Great Bray Shaman
Wargor BSB with Beast Banner
Level One Lore of Shadow Bray Shaman
Level One Lore of Beasts Bray Shaman with Shard of the Herdstone
44 Gor in Horde Formation
44 Gor in Regular Formation
10 Gor
22 Ungor
Two Tuskgor Chariots
Two Razorgor
48 Bestigor with Flaming Banner in Horde Formation

The list puts a lot of tough models on the table, and can take a beating in close combat while dishing a lot of nasty attacks out. The general and BSB usually go with the 44 Gor in horde formation, with the Lore of Death Shaman riding with the Bestigor and the Lore of Shadow Shaman switching units depending on my opponent's deployment.  Everything castles around the Ungor bunker and the Herdstone to start the game and then moves forward quickly and aggressively in while the chariots and Razorgor move around the flanks.  I use the ten Gor to ambush the soft parts of my opponent's army if possible.

Anyway, I'll try and get my five battle recaps (with five great opponents) up this week, as well as the full results and award winners when they are published.  See you then!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Fourth Painted Wolf Scout


I only realized after I was halfway through painting this guy that I had used the same head on him that I used on the Wolf Scout Sergeant.  Thank goodness for the magic of painting, and the ability to give him a very different face paint scheme. 

I played what is either my last or next to last game of Warhammer Fantasy before Brawler Bash, and am reasonably pleased with my Beastmen going into the tournament.  I need to do some magnetization and fix some basing this weekend in preparation for the tournament, and I'd like to paint up a couple Thunderwolves as Razorgor.  We'll see how that goes.


Monday, December 12, 2011

Weekend Update: December 12th, 2011


I feel like Weekend Update should just be renamed as "Nope, the Dryads aren't done."   I was supposed to have a long weekend, and instead went to work some more.  Such are the trials of being an adult, I suppose. 

There were some high points.

Games Day in High Point went off well, from what I hear.

My wife and I celebrated our Christmas early (we travel on the holiday, so we give each other gifts earlier) and she got me a Jabbersclythe!  More on the Jabber later this week, but it sure was a nice gift!  I even assembled it this weekend.

The Brawler Bash WFB GT has been announced for April 21st and 22nd in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Save the date!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Brawler Bash IV - Day Two



Now that I've gone ahead and lost my notes from the last two games, we'll see how much I can remember.

I finished the first day, 2-1, and had a chance to do well going forward.  Then I sat down to my Round Four, and got a wee bit nervous.

Round Four

Jon was my opponent in Round Four, and brought the Double Abomination Skaven scariness.  He did only have one magic user, a Level Four Gray Seer, and rounded things off with several blocks of Slaves, Clanrats (including a block with his War Litter General and BSB (which was in the second rank, grr!) and a Warp Lightning Cannon, as well as two groups of Gutter Runners.

Since I don't have notes, I'll hit the pivotal stuff.  We played Meeting Engagement, where units and characters have to stay in reserve if they roll a one.  Deployment was weird, with only my Gor block of 45 getting left in reserve.  This caused my BSB and General to be in the Flaming Banner group of Bestigor instead of my Gor. 

By the beginning of turn two, Jonathan had killed all four of my mages using his Abominations and General's unit.  My level four had managed to use his bound Stone of Spite, which killed Jon's Grey Seer.  At this point, I was pretty nervous.

Enter the Bestigor.  These guys, combined with the General and BSB, suddenly became an unstoppable unit.  They got charged by the Skaven General unit with BSB and an Abomination, and chopped everyone down.  They chased a couple other Clanrat units and the other Abomination until everything died, and Jon ended up with nothing left except a few low point rats on the table.  His WLC had been eaten by a Razorgor.

Massacre to me, and I believe Jon went down as my favorite opponent of the tournament.  He was a great sport when he was kicking my butt, and a great sport when the tides turned.

Game Five

Joel was my final opponent, and was somebody I had never had a chance to play before.  He had a pure Nurgle Daemon army, with a Great Unclean One, Three Blocks of 25 Plaguebearers with Heralds, Three Beasts of Nurgle, and Five Swarms of Nurglings.

Our final match was straight Battleline.  Joel got an early lead when I charged a unit of Plaguebearers in the flank with my Flaming Banner Bestigor, only to whiff and end up fleeing.  His Great Unclean one charged my other Bestigor, and while the GUO killed a ton of the Bestigor, he didn't manage to kill my Level Four in the unit.  The Bestigor fled through my Gor block, and then rallied.

At this point, I managed to get some good magic off, and took down his Great Unclean One, followed by a Purple Sunning of one of the Plaguebearer blocks.  My Gor Block moved up, and supported by Beast and Shadow buffs and debuffs took another Plaguebearer block out.  Meanwhile, my Chariot and Razorgors were busy tying his Nurglings and Beasts of Nurgle up on the other side of the Board.  Joel ended up killing them, but not soon enough, and the game ended with my achieving a massacre.

So I ended the tournament 4-1, and placed 3rd overall out of 38.  Not bad for some bright orange Beastmen! 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Brawler Bash IV - Day One



After Brawler Bash, I scribbled down my thoughts about my games so that I could copy them here.  Now that I have the chance, I'll attempt to read my chicken scratch and give some short battle reports. 

Game One

My first game was against Jerry, who I played and lost to in the final game of last year's Bash.  I was hoping to even the score.  Jerry's Empire army was very cool and well done, with a Sigmarite Zeppelin representing a Hero on Pegasus, and every model having individual colors and heraldry.  He had (roughly):

Arch Lector on War Altar
Level 4 Shadow Mage on Foot (in a unit of Swordsmen)
BSB Captain and War Priest in a unit of ten Knights
Captain on Pegasus
3-4 Big Blocks of Swordsmen
A Horde of 40 Halberdiers. 
2 Cannons, a Hellblaster, A Mortar, and a Steamtank.

Our mission was Dawn Attack.  Jerry's game was a story of bad luck, whereas I couldn't roll badly.  He deployed a coupld warmachines and his big troop blocks in the center, with a Steamtank and Zeppelin on one side and his Knights and Altar with his other Warmachines on the other.  I countered by covering one corner opposite his Steam Tank with almost my entire army, with one Razorgor opposite his Knights and Warmachines on the other side of the board.

On my first turn, my Level 4 pulled off a Purple Sun, which went 30 inches and destroyed his Steam Tank.  Meanwhile, my Razorgor opposite his Knights moved up the board to threaten his war machines.  Jerry took the bait, and used his Knights to block the Razorgor on his turn.  He moved up a bit and shot a bit, but nothing major occurred.  On my second turn, my Level 4 again hit a 30 inch Purple Sun after my Shadow mages lowered his War Altar's initiative, and the Altar was destroyed.  The Sun also clipped his Level 4 Mage, which failed her Look Out, Sir! check and died as well.  At this point, my Razorgors had also gotten into his war machines.  There was a little more shooting, but Jerry's dice continued to desert him, and between my magic and my Bestigors, I took his Knights and remaining characters down.  In the end, Jerry's Horde failed a stubborn check after losing combat to my Bestigors, and fled off the table.  At that point, he called the game. 

Jerry was a great opponent again this year, and went on to win his other four games and finish 5th overall for the tournament. 

Game Two

My second game was against Jason, who had his Daemons.  The scenario was a modified Watchtower, in which the watchtower itself was replaced by a hill.  Units touching the very center of the hill became stubborn, and whoever controlled the hill at the end of the game won the entire game.  Jason had:

Greater Daemon of Tzeentch with Lore of Tzeentch
Herald of Tzeentch with Lore of Life
2 Units of 35 Bloodthirsters
Two Small Units of Screamers
A Unit of Furies
Six Bloodcrushers

Jason won the game in the first turn, by winning the roll to go first and marching both units of Bloodletters onto the hill.  One unit became stubborn, and if that unit was destroyed the other unit would be the closest to the hill's center and become stubborn int it's place.  This was a masterful move on his part, and meant that destroying his entire army was really the only way I could have a shot at winning the game.  I grinded the Bloodletters, but couldn't kill them off by the end of Turn Six. 

This was my second time playing Jason, and he is a great player and a ton of fun to play against.  The scenario was a bit rough on me, but I look forward to our next game.  Jason went on to win Best General at the Bash and place second overall. 

Game Three

Michael was my third round opponent, and had flown up from Texas to attend the Bash and visit our mutual friend Lance.  He borrowed Lance's Empire for the tournament, although his normal army was Skaven.  We played the Blood and Glory scenario, and the matchup did not favor him.  He had:

A War Altar
2 Level Twos
Swordsman and Halberd Blocks
Several War Machines
A Steam Tank

Michael started with six Fortitude.  I have trouble remembering his exact list, as our game was very short.  There was minor shooting on his part at my large (45) Gor block, but my Level 4 quickly sniped his General off the War Altar.  I then plowed my Chariot, Razorgors, and a unit of Bestigor into one of his smaller units with a standard, and ran them off the table.  Because of Blood and Glory, his army then broke automatically, giving me the big win.  Michael was very gracious and a great opponent, even when things went against him that quickly. 

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Brawler Bash IV Results

The results are up for the Warhammer Fantasy Brawler Bash IV Grand Tournament, and yours truly took home third place overall! 






I'm going to try and get some short battle reports up in the next couple days.  Overall, I went 4-1 (with my loss being to stubborn Daemons in a "Watchtower" style hill, so I'm not beating myself up).  Click on the results below for a closer look at my Beastman fury.




Looks like I did well on Battle Points and Sportsmanship, but couldn't score very high on painting as compared to some of the great painted armies at the tournament, which ended up costing me a higher finish.  I told people going in that it would be impossible for me to win the Bash since I am not a very top tier painter, but I sure gave it a heck of a run.  Being placed in the "hard" tier of composition (along with over half the tournament attendees) ended up hurting a bit as well.  Overall though, I'm thrilled with my finish and my improvement over a 2-3 showing last year, and have a lot to live up to next year. 

My list, for those interested:

Beastman the Beastlord (General), with Crown of Command, Biting Blade, Heavy Armor, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Endurance

Skeletor the Great Bray Shaman with Level Four, Talisman of Preservation, Stone of Spite

Charles Sharkley, Wargor BSB with Great Weapon, Armour of Destiny

Level One Shaman, Lore of Beasts, Additional Hand Weapon, Shard of the Herdstone

Level One Shaman, Lore of Shadow, Additional Hand Weapon, Dispel Scroll

Level Two Shaman, Lore of Shadow, Additional Hand Weapon

45 Gore, Additional Hand Weapons, Full Command

30 Ungor, Full Command

Tuskgor Chariot

27 Bestigor, Full Command, Banner of Flame

27 Bestigor, Full Command

Razorgor

Razorgor

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Beastman and Skeletor: Ready for War



As Brawler Bash quickly approaches this weekend, I've finished up my painting and modeling.  Leading the Orange Beasts are Beastman the Beastlord and Skeletor the Great Bray Shaman.  Can anything stand in their way?  Probably, but at least it'll be a good time!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Assembly Line Bestigors Finished


On the painting table this past weekend, I finished forty-five Bestigor, followed by a delicious Tuskgor Chariot.  Once again turning the the en masse theory of rank and file painting, the models were done in a group, paint layer by paint layer.  It can get a bit dull, but after having done the one hundred Gor batch, I found that the Bestigor really didn't faze me. 

In progress, I have almost finished movement trays for the Gor and Bestigor, am working on painting my characters, with two out of five mostly finished, and need to make a tray for the Ungor. 

Brawler Bash is now less than two weeks away.  My army was placed in the "Hard" category between soft, medium, and hard, but it honestly doesn't sting that much since almost half the current armies submitted also earned the hard rating.  Any chance at winning something may have just gone downhill a bit, but for the most part I'll be there to drink and teach people new swear words, as per my Brawler Bash tradition.  Maybe I'll see you there!

P.S.  I know that's a Qunari up there, and not a Beastmen, but if you've seen that video, think of it as a fight between Chaos Sorceror and Beastman.  So good. 

Monday, March 7, 2011

GW Forest Assembly and Thoughts



As it rained all day yesterday, I wasn't in a huge hurry to assemble the GW Forests I'm working on, as I couldn't prime during the day.  A couple things to note:

1.  Those tree branches seem to hate being glued together.  I ended up using the tiniest bit of green stuff to give them a head start at the connection points.  

2.  I'm not a fan of the GW leaves.  The trees are great looking, but in the end I only put leaves on one.  I think I'll paint that one in a normal leafy green forest scheme, and then paint a dying autumn scene (wald!) and a dead winter forest. 

Anyway, hope for some dry weather today, so I can do some priming!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Painting Forests


I'm painting up three GW forests for this year's Brawler Bash IV (see information above).  I wanted to poll around and see what kinds of forests you folks would suggest.  Blood Forests?  Snowy Treelines?  Autumn (Insert different word for Forest)?  Leave a comment below, and I'll see what I can whip up!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Brawler Bash IV

Hi all!  Just wanted to repost Brohammer's announcement of Brawler Bash IV, a fantastic WFB GT in Raleigh, NC this March.  Details below!

Brawler Bash IV!!!

The Oak City Brawlers are excited to bring you the Brawler Bash, a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Indy Grand Tournament.  Now in its fourth year!
Five games over two days with 2,500 point armies.
This event will be held in Raleigh, NC on Saturday April 9th and Sunday April 10th 2011 in conjunction with the Triangle Simulation Society's Spring Fever miniatures convention. 

Here is the link to the convention- You can also pre-pay (and save $5!) for the event using Paypal on this page [Spring Fever drop down tab at top, select “Spring Fever pre-registration”].  Spring Fever link:
http://www.trianglesimsociety.org/?page_id=27

Use this link to register (or use the Spring Fever drop down tab at top, select “Brawler bash Registration”) and upload your army list. http://www.trianglesimsociety.org/?page_id=141
**At the time of writing this, some information (like dates) on the website is in the process of being updated.

We also have a Brawler Bash Forum: http://brawlerbash.proboards.com/
Sign up today for all of the latest information and discussion! The most up to date rules pack is also available on the forums.

Brohammer Podcast is the official WFB podcast of the Brawler Bash!
http://brohammercast.blogspot.com/
Listen in to get the latest scoop on the competition and how the tournament field is shaping up.  Your fast lane to the inside track on everything from prize support to comp discussions.  Get to know the T.O (me)before you attend the tournament :>  Also, tune in for in-depth coverage of the event featuring player interviews before, during and after!

Number of Players: There will be a maximum of 50 players in this tournament so register early!  Only a paid registration will hold your spot.

Cost: Price has come DOWN this year! $20 + cost of entry to Spring Fever ($20). $40 Total.  To get this price you must pay by March 26th 2011.   You can pay by Paypal on the website or by check.  Checks should be made out to: Ron Oldham (Send via snail mail: Ron Oldham 1017 Wetterhorn Way Wendell, NC 27591)  Paying at the door will be possible, but it will be $45 and your spot will not be reserved so it is first come first served.

Age Requirements: You must be at least 16 years old to participate.  Younger than that will be decided on a case by case basis.

Prizes: There are four main prize categories: Bash Grandmaster (Overall), Bash Crasher (Best Sports), Bash Brush (Appearance), and Bash Battlemaster.  All of these will get to take home the coveted Brawler Bash trophy swords, each engraved with the appropriate category!  We are going to a different format for main "swag" give away this year.  In the past we have had a large random raffle at the end of the Bash.  This usually meant that almost every player took something home.  We are continuing that tradition but giving away ALL (other than a few choice items for the Bash Master :P) of the juicy prizes like this.  That means that even the last place player has a chance to win big!  The top players will be playing for the awesome swords and bragging rights, everyone will have a chance to snag some loot!

*NEW* for 2011- Terrain Table Contest: This year the Brawler Bash is hosting a Terrain Table Contest.  Entries can be individual or clubs/groups.  Bring your best terrain and make a table!  The table will be used for the tournament.  The staff will pick one entry to be the winner on Saturday night.  In addition to a prize, the winner will have his/her choice of playing on that table once on Sunday(If a group wins, then they get to choose which player will get the honor).  EVERY participant that enters will get full points on the "Army Theme and Cohesiveness" category of the paint scoring checklist.**Groups/clubs will have to choose up to 2 persons to gets this bonus ( in other words, everyone in a 10 man club doesn't get the bonus because of one table)
Rules: You may have multiple entries if you wish(we reserve the right to cap that number in order to let everyone who wants to enter participate).  The deadline for letting the TO know that you plan on participating (and how many entries you plan to bring) is March 26th 2011.  If you are entering a table/tables PLEASE be courteous and arrive on Friday evening or early enough on Saturday to set it up.  You should bring a drop cloth or game mat/board if that goes with your entry(We will have extras if needed, but ask ahead of time).  No more than 2 pieces with special terrain rules. Tables should be the standard 6x4.  There should be 5-10 pieces of terrain as per the rule book.  Contact the TO ahead of time to schedule your entry.  We need to know how many are going to participate before Saturday, April 2nd 2011 so we can set up the hall accordingly.  You will get to take your stuff home at the end of the BB of course! :)
**NOTE** These tables will be played on and accidents do happen despite all of our best efforts.  If you have irreplaceable items or items of great value please consider this before you enter them into the contest.  We will take every care with your terrain, but Brawler Bash will not be held responsible for any damage that occurs to terrain through normal game playing. 
This is supposed to be a fun side event and is helpful to us staffers since 8th edition has ramped up the terrain requirements.  We are flexible.  If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask!

Army List Due Date: March 26th, 2011 (Please see the rules packet for allowable armies and email them in either Text, Word, or Excel format to the Tournament Coordinator)
** +2 bonus points added to your sports score by meeting the army list deadline!

I look forward to seeing you there!
-Erik

Friday, March 19, 2010

Brawler Bash Battle Reports from Erik Lindley, Player's Choice Winner

Hold on to your hats, folks!  We've got a long set of battle reports, but boy are they worth it.  These were written by our friend Erik Lindley, who won Player's Choice at Brawler Bash!

I finally finished my bat rep from the Bash. I thought I would put it here also in case you local folks wanted to read it(originally posted on IWFB and the Daemonic Legion). If you were at the BB, I am sure you had a good time. If you didn't make this one, you should come next year!

Brawler Bash III 2010

There are very few GT's in the south east. So few in fact, that we had to start one locally just to have one within 200 miles. The Brawler Bash in Raleigh, NC has been growing for 3 years. This year there were 38 players. It has a very talented pool of participants and one of the best scenario systems that exists. The venue is a clean Hilton hotel with good access to all the things gamers want (mostly decent bars, fast food, other hotels, etc...)

My list:
Keeper of Secrets- Lvl 2 wiz+ Spirit Swallower (every wound caused in combat heals a wound-up to starting value)
1-Herald of Slaan in a chariot+ Ether blade (no AS)+ Lvl 1 wiz
1-Herald of Slaan on Steed (in big 'nette unit) + Lvl 1 wiz
1- Herald of Slaan on foot (in small 'nette unit)
28 Daemonettes with full cmd
18 Daemonettes with full cmd
18 Bloodletters with full cmd
6 Seekers of Slaan with full cmd
1- Fiend of Slaan
1- Fiend of Slaan
6 power dice, 5 dispel
It comped at a 3008 (15) in WPS scoring. This tourney was heavily weighted to high comp. It effected your match-ups in the first 2 rounds and also how many battle points you got for wins/draw/loss.

The list is very effective, but it does lack a lot of the nasty combos that make DoC so darned tough. It is very fast and compact. It could even be called resilient (5+ wards on everything) but not if you saw how I roll wards tongue.gif
user posted image
user posted image

More picts of the army can be seen here:
http://z7.invisionfree.com/wyrmling_x/inde...?showtopic=7102


On to the games!


Game 1: Andrew Weber O&G
Andrew drove down from Ottawa Canada. He is a friend of mine and a super swell guy. I was super excited about playing him. We have talked a lot about warhammer, but never played. He has several fantastically painted armies, but chose to bring his O&G. We grudge matched each other which was a tough road for his 4400 comped O&G vs. my 3008 WPS Daemons (The Bash comp bracketed for the first 2 rounds), but Andrew wouldn't have it any other way!
We had a board that was peppered by small pieces of impassable terrain- a lot of it. There were a few open spots and the board did look very nice, but it definitely put the screws to our movement. He deployed heavily on his right flank and I did as well. That left us on opposite ends of the board, but no worries-our fast stuff will meet quickly anyways :>

His army from memory:
BlkO gen on foot.
Blk O BSB on Chariot
Goblin Shaman Lvl2
Orc Shaman Lvl 2
Big unit of BlkOrcs (28)
Unit of Orc Boys
Unit of Boar Boyz
2 units of Arrow Boyz
Unit of night goblins (3 fanatics)
Giant
2 bolt throwers

Turn 1:
I go first. Mostly everything moves forward or towards his lines. Kos moves up a flank along with the chariot. I try to get into range to spam the stupid spell (stupid and greenskins is like PB&J!), but failed on all my casting rolls (3 tries at 5+ on 2 dice) All game I think I got off one stupid spell that stuck and it was never failed so I won't mention it again. [ Magic wasn't integral to my battle plan with this army build, which was good as generally, I got very little of it off. :> ]

There was some maneuvering here and there. We both did a decent job of getting where we wanted to be. Animosity didn't really hamper Andrew too much that I can remember.

There was a pivotal point in the early turns where my keeper and chariot overran into his giant (his boar boys fled a charge and I EitW) Giants are weird, whacky things those giants... The KoS must have took a shine to him though, since he was very reluctant to kill it. It lasted through 3 combat phases with the KoS and the Chariot herald! It got thump with a club twice and on the second time I failed the initiative test! So Andrew rolls up a nice even 10 wounds on his 2d6. It is all riding on the ward save... a 6! KoS is safe and giant is dead soon after. We both laughed, we cried, it was better than "Cats."

If big nasty fails that ward then the game changes drastically. With the giant out of the way and his left flank in full retreat, all that was left to do was feed his general's unit a juicy unit of 'nettes with herald (which he gobbled up happily) and try to secure bonus points.
Win to the DoC. I finished with max bonus battle points for a total of 12
After battle thoughts: Andrew beat me in deployment for sure. I think he had a tight rein on his main troop blocks to protect from terror. He kept them close to the general until the right time. He had a few chances to kill the KoS (bolt throwers also) and nearly did it, but it just wasn't to be. The win was very one sided at the end, but the game as a whole was a close one that could have gone either way. Excellent game!

Side note: We had a friendly wager on this game. For 1 month after the tourney Andrew has to sign any post he makes in a WFB related forum as:
-andrew (I lost the right to capitalize my name in a game of WFB)
(to be a little more even I spotted him 300 VP for purposes of the bet-but if it ended in a draw, we both suffered the consequences)

Game 2: Lance Lagroue -Bretonnians
Lance predicted that we would meet in round 2 of the tourney. He turned out right and we threw down. Lance and I play fairly frequently, so I knew we would have a good game and whoever won would have to earn it.
His army was (from memory)
Lord kitted out to kill large targets (no way my KoS is getting near that thing)
1 scroll caddy
3 heros- 1 was BSB- all had magic weapons
5 lances of knights (7-9) with all but one lance being Errants
1 unit of 3 peg knights
1 unit 5 grail knights
1 unit fast cav, 1 unit of bowmen (10) , and 2 units of Men at arms

I deployed heavily to my right flank while he deployed fairly evenly across the board. His general's unit was opposite my KoS on the right flank. I did have the small unit of nettes with non-magic herald on foot on the extreme left flank. That unit (along with the no AS chariot herald for most of the game) held a stalemate on that side of the board with his BSB's unit and the fast cav/archers. The real game happened in the middle and right flank.

Turn 1:
I get to go first and I make a bold move with the Keeper. I move him up 20" and tuck him into some cover that shields him from charge arc of the general's units. I am march blocked and in a dangerous position, but he is now hemmed up as well. I can also threaten terror and throw my stupid spells from this position.

We entered into a maneuver and counter maneuver contest because of our fast elements. Neither person could get the edge they felt they needed to commit to the battle. It finally broke free with a charge by the Brets into the big 'nette unit on the far right (combo charge of grails and General's unit) and the central bloodletter unit by a hero lance and Men at arms (unfortunately the MaAs failed the fear test and stranded the knights). Those two units held and allowed a vicious Deamon counter charge series in my turn that saw the chariot smash the flank of the MaA and overrun into the Knights/bloodletter combat. The KoS went into the flank of the Grails and cleaned them up (challenge was ongoing elsewhere in the combat-so that option wasn't open to them) That round of combat saw all those Bret units destroyed and run down. The loss of those units was too much. Those combats could have gone much better for Lance than they did, lots of failed wards.

Win to the Daemons.

After battle thoughts: This game was decided on movement, plain and simple. We had two of the fastest armies in WFB and our first combat was bottom of turn 3. I decided early that I wasn't going to risk anything needlessly. I had units that Lance couldn't blow through (statistically :>) in one turn- we both knew that. Same was true of his units for me. My lack of high strength attacks and his ward made it unlikely that I could break him on the charge either. The effect was we both set our countercharges/traps and tricks and waited. All the while we were attempting to force targets of opportunity for soft points in case it devolved into a draw scenario. What a great game. It could have gone either way.


Round 3 Brian Griffen- Dark Elves
It turned out to be Brian Griffen and his Dark elves. I have always wanted to play Brian, but we hadn't gotten the chance up until now. His army:
Master (gen) steed+crimson death
Hag+cauldron BSB
2 x lvl2 sorceresses 2 scrolls total
2x 23 spearmen
3x Dark riders with mus and x-bows
18 Black guard with ASF banner
5 shades
2x Bolt throwers
Hydra

I am sitting at 2 wins and decent battle points. I knew that there were no more comp bandings for games 3 through 5. I knew that I would be facing a tough opponent. I was not disappointed! I was excited to learn I was playing Brian Griffen and his Dark Elves. I was NOT excited to find out that we were playing on the river table (the entire table is bi-sected by a large river- the river has 3 crossing points). Gahh! I knew that while Brian’s list was not abusive in the shooting phase, he had more than enough to punish me severely while I crossed that heinous landscape.

As a side note- the fact that I had resigned myself to a loss took a lot of pressure off and allowed me to settle down to have a good enjoyable game of warhammer. I am sure that helped. tongue.gif
For deployment we both deployed very heavy on my right flank. He split his bolters to opposite ends of the board. Brian had dark riders and shades on the light left flank. I had one fiend and the unit of Seekers threatening that flank. My plan was to send in the solo fiend to be shot and sacrificed to hold those units up and leave the reaper stranded with nothing good to shoot at.

Turn 1:
Brian’s heavy deployment in the right corner would end up working against him. I got first turn and moved everything up across the board. Now my KoS, chariot, and large unit of ‘nettes with mounted herald were threatening his black guard unit. That BG unit was in front of everything else and sort of bottling up some of his other support units. Because of the scenario card I played, a few of his units had moved forward 3” before the game. One of those units was the bolt thrower that could have drawn LOS to the Keeper. That earned me 1 free turn without getting bolted to death :>

Turn 1 of the DE’s went well on the right flank, but poorly on the left flank. His bolt thrower and dark riders failed to kill my single fiend who was lined up to take out the bolt thrower next turn. On the flip side Brian got off a devastating black horror spell on the large ‘nette unit. It hit 29 models! I was semi-fortunate when only 7 or 8 ended up dying. That, along with his concentrated shooting took out a large chunk of the 30 strong ‘nettes.

T2 I declare a combo charge into the BG unit. Keeper, chariot and mounted herald out of the ‘nettes all go into the front of the BG’s. My single fiend on the left eats his lone bolter on that side and overruns off the table. My single fiend on the right flank charges a dark riders unit near the table edge. It breaks them and pursues them off the table. In the center, my characters start chewing on his BG unit. I get rid of his general with the Keeper, fail to kill the sorceress in the unit and do enough wounds to easily win combat. The BG are stubborn of course, so go nowhere.

T2 for the DE’s stats off with a failed terror test on the spearmen near the BG combat. They did roll really low for the flee though and stayed on the table (to rally next turn). He moves up his hydra and blow flame on the remaining big unit of ‘nettes. Through magic, shooting and flaming, the 30 man unit of ‘nettes is now a 7 man unit of ‘nettes. Magic ceases to do all that much, a random MM here and there. I won’t speak of it any more. In combat, more BG die. I fail to kill the Sorceress in the BG unit with the Keeper’s 6 attacks! (Brian had the 5+ ward save from the cauldron on that unit tongue.gif) Somewhere during this melee the Herald on Steed of Slaanesh is killed. BG lose combat again but make the test. They made every test they needed to take. I ultimately end up taking 2 or three more combat rounds to kill them to a man.

On DoC T3 I decide to cross the river in the center with the 18 ‘nette unit with herald to engage his waiting spear block #2 and shade unit. I also decided to move my seekers unit over to the lightly defended left flank since the demise of his blot thrower made travelling that way much safer tongue.gif I finished off his sorceress in the BG unit and finish the unit off. I charged the hydra with my near dead unit of ‘nettes. I moved up my bloodletters behind the nettes to either fight it when the ‘nettes died or move towards the x-bow DE’s that were shooting my units to ribbons. The hydra killed all but one or 2 ‘nettes (after combat res).

T3 for the DE went something like this: He maneuvered his spearmen unit in the middle to intercept my ‘nette unit+ herald at the bridge crossing. He shot that unit with his shades and my bloodletters with his x-bows. The Hydra killed the remaining ‘nettes and sat around waiting for the bloodletter charge that was coming. The spearmen that rallied got into position to support the hydra in that coming battle.

DoC T4 I charged the hydra with the bloodletter unit that is now down to around half strength due to magic and shooting. I charge the spearmen unit in the middle with the center ‘nette unit+ herald. I charge the chariot herald into the CoB. I move the seekers and single fiend to threaten the unit of shades and a unit of DR. The fiend on the right side sets up to charge the remaining bolter. I move the Keeper to the hill to see the cauldron, the rear of the hydra and the spearmen. In combat the hydra kills a few bloodletters, but loses combat, fails the break test and runs. I pursue, but don’t catch it, but do run into the waiting spearmen. The hydra stays on the board. The chariot gets challenged by the hag on the CoB and sits in combat with it for 3 combat rounds. The center ‘nettes break the spearmen on the charge and catch them on the pursuit.

DE Turn 4: The shades and DR kill 4 of the seekers with missle fire. The spearman block holds against the bloodletters. The x-bows+ remaining sorceress go stupid because of a spell I got off on them earlier. The CoB lasts one more round in combat with the chariot herald. The hydra fails to rally and runs off the board.

DoC T5 I combo charged the remaining DR unit with the 3 remaining seekers and the fiend. The Dark Riders fled the charge and I redirected into the rear of the X-bows with the fiend. I charged the rear of the spearmen unit with the Keeper. The center ‘nette unit turned around to get shot by the shades. In combat the chariot herald killed the BSB death hag on the CoB. The remaining hag broke from combat and the chariot overran into the flank of the X-bows. The keeper and the Bloodletters cleaned up the spearmen block, running them down. I wiffed all my attacks against the X-bows and the Sorceress. The sorceress kills the chariot out from under the herald, but I still win combat, the DE’s hold.

DE T5 and beyond: The shades shoot up the remaining seekers. Then they slink away to live another day. The sorceress dies a horrible death by the herald on foot patrol. I have control of the board. I can’t remember if the x-bows actually held and survived, or if they died in combat. Either way it was clear that the Daemons had won the game. WOW
I ended up getting a few bonus points from that game and finished the day with 30 battle points (out of a possible 36)

After game comments: I did not expect to win that game. Had a few rolls early on gone a little differently it still might not have been. Brian’s deployment really hurt him on the heavy flank. The BG held really well, but nothing could get to the aid of that unit in time. It was a very fun game. When he got off that T1 Black horror I just figured that was how the game was going to go :>

I wasn't at the top in battle points, but I was close. I knew with soft scores added in that I had a shot at winning the whole shebang. It would all depend on my next 2 games!


Andrew, my wife Denise, my brother Kevin and I ended up hooking up with Ben Tuite and crew for drinks and dinner at the Carolina Ale house. The beer was expensive, but good as was the food. We had a very relaxing evening and even managed to get back to the hotel at a respectable 10 p.m. The rooms at the Hyatt place where we were staying were very nice. They had a great set-up for hanging out with a separate “living room” area with a sectional couch and refrigerator. After an hour or so of talking we called it a night and hit the rack.

I woke up early and met Andrew and Kevin for breakfast down in the hotel lobby. We talked about strategy and engineers (the building kind, not the train driving ones tongue.gif) that are missing pinky fingers… you had to have been there :>
I get to the venue about 30 minutes before go time and talk to some of the guys. Rob Canterman tells me that his mission is to destroy the hopes of his next two opponents! (all in good fun of course). Guess who his next opp was? Yeppers, me!

Rob Canterman’s VC (from memory)
General Vamp with 18” charge, nightshroud and magic ability, also was stupid and had red fury with sword of might?
Vamp with master of sorcery and the helm on nightmare
Wight BSB with Regen banner
Vamp with magic on steed.
Big unit of ghouls
Big unit of Skels
Big unit of Zombies
Unit of Black knights
Unit of fell bats
2 units of dire wolves
Black coach

Rob and I have played before. I met him at the first Brawler Bash. Our games are always fun. I knew that this one would be no different. I settled down to have a good time. We were on table “2” Table “1” to my right was Alex S. and his O&G vs. Chaves and his TK. Table “3” to my left was Jason Conca and his Kholek army vs. Collins “the Kid” Mullins and his Teclis army. Jason is a large man and Collins is a slight, young man. Their game was very interesting and I kept looking over, but mostly to make sure that Jason didn’t eat Collins! I would have liked to watch both games in their entirety because they both looked very interesting. I was surprised (and happy) to see an O&G army at the top table. That is surely a testament to the player as much as the comp/scoring system the Bash used.

I could talk about this game in a turn by turn format, but truthfully it was decided early on with very little maneuvering, so I’ll just abbreviate the narrative a little.
We both deployed heavy on the left flank. I had the unit of seekers and a fiend on the right to threaten while he had his 2 units of dire wolves, fell bats and the coach there. Everything else was squared up against each other in the middle and left flank.
Rob got the first turn. He was a gentleman and warned me before the game that the ghoul unit could move after deployment and the Gen could charge 18” so watch out for a T1 charge. He did just that and solo charged my single fiend. The gen broke through and was behind my lines. On my turn I maneuvered a little and dispelled Curse of years on the big ‘nette unit. He got Curse of years off on that unit 3 times. I was able to dispel it in MY turn each time, but it cost me most of my power dice each turn. My magic was inconsequential for the game, his magic was devastating.

I thought about being coy and playing shifty for a possible draw, but the truth was it would be tough to pull one since he was dominant at range(magic) and had me beat in deployment and equal in maneuver elements. Soooo I decided to go all in :> I forced the big battle for the game right off the bat. I charged the KoS and the big ‘nette unit into the front of the ghouls (containing the BSB and support Vamp). I charged the Bloodletters into the flank of that same unit. I charged a unit of dire wolves with the seekers. I charged the black knights in the flank with the chariot herald. This is gonna’ be great right? Carnage galore right? Not so much tongue.gif The chariot herald had to go through about 1” of woods to complete the flank charge on the BK’s- roll up the damage to chariot and it kills the chariot out from under her-failed charge. KoS+Nettes+bloodletters fail to do much more than kill the champion in their combat. The power of the regen banner was far too great for me to overcome. That means they are exposed to multiple counter charges in the next turn with no support in sight. The Seekers did punch through the dire wolves and got a decent overrun, but magic in the coming turns assured that he got his coach into their flank ending their escapade.
Could it have gone differently? Sure it could have, but it wasn’t a good plan to start with. With that round in the bag the game was done and all Rob had to do was sweep up the pieces. Full win to the VC and no bonus points at all to DoC.

After battle thoughts: Well, Rob beat me in deployment then he out played me. I had a really silly plan that vastly underestimated the regen banner. If I got a do over, I would play much more conservatively and try to take out points with the mobile elements instead of supporting my troop blocks. I should have left them to their fate. It would still have relied on rolling the bones to get good combats, but probably would have ended better for me in the end. This army build really struggles with tourney hard VC.
So I end up with “0” points going into game 5. That dropped me considerably in the standings, but it also took the pressure off. :> I would be matched up with Dan Rothrock and his ogres for game 5!


I had already had 4 great opponents during this tourney. I have NEVER had a 5 game tournament where all 5 opps were fun to play. Dan Rothrock walked up to the table and I immediately knew that I was in for a first-5 fun opponents at a tourney!

Two other things make this game extra nice from the get go:
1- Dan’s ogres are easy on the eyes and
2- The table we played on had more space around it than any of the other tables. That was a serious bonus because some of the tables were pretty cramped.

Dan’s army (from memory-I could be wrong on some of this-I didn’t fight a lot of his army)
Tyrant- Greedy fist, greyback pelt and a big name (maybe longstrider?) maybe magic weapon?
Butcher- 2 dispel scrolls
Maybe 2 other bruisers?
Unit of 2 Bull Rhinox
Scrap Launcher
Unit of 3 Leadbelchers
1 unit of gnoblars
Slave Giant
2 units of 4 Iron Guts
2 or 3 units of Bulls

I hate to be anticlimactic, but there wasn’t a lot of excitement in this game to report. While Dan and I had a pleasant game, it was clear from the beginning that we would be playing for points.

The board had a lot of terrain on it, mostly woods. There was also a hill and small stream on my board edge. He deployed heavy on the left flank and I deployed heavy in the middle and on the right flank. I played the card that gave me bonus points for holding terrain features (there were many to choose from) and for having units in the enemy deployment zone at the end of the game. Dan played the card that gave him bonus points for keeping his most expensive AND his least expensive unit alive. To that end he hid the gnoblars behind terrain in his corner and only used the Rhinox riders to threaten-never committed them to battle.

I had the seekers and a solo fiend to threaten the left flank. He had a unit of bulls and a unit of ironguts behind them holding that table area. We had a standoff on that flank the entire game so I won’t mention that side again. **No units on that flank were harmed during the filming of this batrep tongue.gif

The real game happened in the middle of the table and the right flank. There was an open slot about 2 feet wide in the middle of the table.

Honestly, I can’t remember who got first turn (I think it was Dan), but I moved my entire army up and towards his left flank position. I moved the casters close enough to throw the stupidity spell on a few units. No combats at first. I did get the stupidity spell off on the scraplauncher who was Ld6 with no general anywhere near. He dispelled some, but saved his 2 scrolls for later in the game.

I had so much speed that I was able to pretty much choose where the battles were fought. The KoS and the fiend combo charged a unit of bulls then overran. The iron guts were lined up to get a nice flank charge on the KoS when he overran , but I was able to move the solo fiend in the way so that he had to charge the fiend and overrun into the front of the KoS. By the time that combat happened between the IG’s and the KoS I was able to bring up the bloodletters who charged the scraplauncher killed it and overran into the KoS/IG combat. They predictably broke and the Bloodletters held while the KoS ran off the table (saving him from the leadbelchers that were poised to shoot him) The lead belchers shot the bloodletters and then fled the charge.

During this right flank action the middle saw a standoff between the big ‘nette unit , smaller ‘nette unit and the chariot herald vs. a bull unit, giant and the leadB’s (also the Rhinox riders early on). Once the right flank broke, I committed to the combat around turn 4 or 5. By this time Dan had pulled his Rhinox riders back to his left flank. After I took care of the bull unit, I was able to move my troops up unmolested to take a few terrain features. A turn 6 charge on the giant got my small ‘nette unit into Dan’s deployment zone. Along with the KoS who just menaced the rest of the game once he came back on the table.

Our game kind of just coasted to a close. I think it was around turn 2 that we both realized that this game wasn’t going to be all that exciting. We both apologized to the other person and went about our business :>
In the end, I ate enough of his soft points to secure the win. I also was able to get all 5 bonus battle points for the scenario. That gave me the max 12 points for the game. I finished the tournament with 42 total battle points (out of a possible 60) and very respectable 4-1 record.

After battle thoughts: Well, Dan played it extremely conservative. He told me early on that he didn’t think he had anything that could deal with some of my units. Personally, I was very concerned about the Rhinox riders and the highly mobile, wizard level eating Tyrant slinking around. I wasn’t taking many chances on my end either. I had very little reason to really. There were enough points available on the right flank to secure the win without risking the majority of my army. I was also able to accomplish all my bonus points without demolishing his army, so I was happy :> Daemons are a tough draw for ogres no matter how you slice it.

We never found out what would have happened if we had committed to an all out brawl… the world may never know tongue.gif

Wrap up:
I knew I was up in the top 5-10 in terms of battle points. I also knew that my soft scores were pretty good. It wasn’t totally out of the question that I might be in the race for overall.
The winners were announced starting with Whipping boy (I can’t remember who won this one) and Best Sport (Ian Holland). They then went on to Best painted (won by our Canadian friend Andrew Weber with his amazing O&G). They then moved on to Player’s Choice and called my name! Of course, I knew that since I had won the PC award that I had missed the Overall (At the BB you can only win one major award), but I was ok with that. Denise and I were very happy and proud to win the PC award this year. There were several inspiring armies in attendance. That was our 2nd Player’s Choice award at the Brawler Bash. Best General was Alex Chaves with his TK and the Overall grand champ was Eoin Wheelan with his very pretty Slaanesh DoC. I ended up 5 points behind Eoin in second place overall.

I don’t have a problem with WPS comp, even though it is extremely harsh to DoC. I think that it did its job of encouraging varied army builds and books. I was wrong in my pre-GT prediction that an army that was in the 3k+ range would win it all. Eoin’s DoC scored 2012, but it was beautifully painted and he got several favorite player votes. Those things added in to his overall win. What you did see was 2 O&G, TK, Ogres, Brets, and 2 WoC (NON- gateway FTW) in the top 10. The army spread for the tournament as a whole was very wide as well:
6 DE, 6 WoC, 4 TK, 3 DoC, 3, VC, 3 Brets, 3 Lizzie, 3 O&G, 2 Dwarf, 2 WE, 2 OK, 1 Skaven
It was a nice change from the same old builds and combos you see repeated over and over in the overwhelming majority of GT’s. I do hope that special characters are not allowed next year. I wish they could be, but they are too random in their power level. Some are fine, but others are totally bent.


It was an awesome tournament. There was nice growth from the year before (24 to 38 players). The venue was clean and well staffed. There were some really talented players all over the place and spread through the comp brackets. For such a modest player count the competition was stiff. A great way to spend a weekend! All things considered, this was probably the most enjoyable GT I have ever participated in. I enjoyed seeing new faces and meeting lots of new folks. I also enjoyed seeing the folks I already knew. Andrew enjoyed the tournament so much that he vowed to bring back more of his countrymen with him when he returns.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Brawler Bash, Games 3-5


We better get through the rest of Brawler Bash before I forget what the heck happened!

Game Three

So I went into Game Three with one loss and one win.  I played Ray, who was a great opponent, in one of his first tournaments.  He had an Empire army with a couple warmachines, flagellants, a steam tank, and a lot of infantry.  There was one unit of Knights with a Priest.  Unfortunately, that unit got too close to my Chariot and got run down.  His infantry was no match for my infantry, and his big guns couldn't do enough for him.  His Steam Tank spent too much time on the flanks of the army, and didn't get around to doing much until late in the game.  I ended up killing everything else eventually, and took full points in a win.

Game Four

I went into Game Four feeling pretty good, with a chance to come back.  Alas, it was not to be.  I forgot my opponent's name here, but he was a nice guy with a nicely painted green Chaos army.  He used Kroot to convert a lot of the army, which gave it a nice unique feel (including Kroot Archaon!).  Near the beginning of the game, I thought I had him when I rolled over a good half of his army, but I then failed (lots and lots of) crucial fear and terror checks to hand him the game by self-destructing my Executioners and BSB.  Stupidity failures led to my Knights piddling around in the woods for a good part of the game as well.  Basically, my dice went to hell on me.  I picked up a couple bonus points, but ended up with a small loss.

Game Five

So I entered Game Five against Jerry and his Bretonnians.  Jerry was a great opponent and I look forward to possibly playing against him in the future.  He beat me pretty good, pulling his main units back again and again to force me slowly across the field, while feeding me garbage until a good opportunity presented itself.  He caught my Executioners in the flank due to a forced charge, and managed to run them down.  My Hydra also pulled the very excited "Duh" response and stood in the middle of the table all game.  I continued to roll poorly, and lost a few combats that I felt good about going into, but that's the game.  Jerry did have the Green Knight, which I had never seen fielded (but always wanted to).  That sucker cleans out warmachines and archers nicely!  It was a fun game, but I lost with only a couple bonus points.

Wrap Up

So yeah, I ended up with two wins and three losses, which was a little harsh on the pride, but I can't say I've had more fun at a tournament in a good while!  The location was great, my opponents were all awesome, and it was really smoothly run.  Having watched a few disasters at ten man tourneys, it was cool to see almost forty folks play together nicely for two days.  I can't wait to go again next year!

Enter the year of Beastmen!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Brawler Bash, Game 2


How cool is that picture?

I knew going into the tournament that my list couldn't really handle Tomb Kings.  With the Ring of Hotek being my only real magic defense due to the WPS Comp system, I couldn't keep their magic at bay.  So it was a bit rough to find that (again, due to the WPS system) Tomb Kings were a very popular army at Brawler Bash.  In Round Two, I got a taste of Tomb King goodness.

Travis was a very professional opponent, and I enjoy playing against that kind of game most days.  Very little chatter, rules are known, etc.  I'm more of a gregarious beer and pretzels guy myself, but I hang out with a few people who take the game very seriously, so I'm not unused to it, and in fact I usually learn a thing or two, so I really enjoy that.  Having little experience against Tomb Kings, I learned a volume here.

Travis had a Tomb King and three Liches.  He had the Destroyer of Eternities on the King, and the banner that allows the unit a free reform before moving.  He also brought some Carrion, a Unit of Chariots and Ushtabi, and a couple units of Skeleton Archers. 

The game went, as I figured it would, well for me in most phases, but I was badly dominated in the magic phase, and that was all that mattered.  During the magic phase, he could get into my Excecutioners, ignore my BSB's Always Strike First Ability to kill her, and then run down the unit.  Carrion killed my Bolt Throwers.  Yuck!

During the rest of the game, Travis worked to avoid combat with his units against what I had left.  While I didn't lose anymore, he could use the magic movement to mostly avoid me, tying my Black Guard up with a Bone Giant for a good portion of the game.  I did manage to run down a few skeletons and shoot down some Chariots, but it was too little, and he ended up winning by a four or five hundred points. 

Had I known more about TK, I would have protected the Executioners more while forcing the issue with the Black Guard.  It was extremely difficult to handle the magic phase, but good positioning would have helped.  Hats off to Travis on his big win here.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Brawler Bash, Game I

I was pretty excited about getting to Brawler Bash, so excited that I may have overdone it the night before.  So I arrived at Brawler Bash feeling a bit "under the weather", and was more or less leaning on the table and drinking coffee furiously for the first little bit.  Luckily, my opponent was Eric, who is one of the nicest guys I know in this game, and who was a pleasure to play against, as always.  Side note:  he was also randomly the first person I ever saw play Warhammer Fantasy, years ago. 

Eric brought his Wood Elves, which are very cooly converted.  He had a Lord on a Dragon, a BSB in some Eternal Guard, and various units of Dryads, Treekin, and Wild Riders.

Unfortunately, it was a rather short game.  He couldn't quite hide his Dragon from one of my Bolt Throwers, and on the first shot of the game, I managed to shoot his regenerating Lord off the Dragon.  This was pretty crucial.  He also left his Wild Riders in range of a Cold One Knights charge, which led to him losing that unit and his Treekin on turn two.   After that, things continued to go downhill, and he conceded on Turn Five. 

I ended the game with full bonus points, and was fairly excited to be moving on strong into Round Two, where the Tomb Kings were waiting. 

Friday, March 5, 2010

Getting Ready for Brawler Bash III This Weekend

 

Tomorrow I head to Brawler Bash III, an Indy Warhammer Fantasy GT run in Raleigh, NC.  Today is my day to get ready.  

Brawler Bash uses the WPS Comp system, which they utilize to divide armies into "bands".  Each band, from meanest to softest army, scores differently, with the most points given to people who play soft armies.  I went with the medium band with my Dark Elves, and am running:

Dreadlord with 1+ armor and reverse ward save with Soulrender (Great Weapon with Armor Piercing).
Hag BSB with ASF Banner, Manbane (S is 1 greater than opponent's toughness), and Witch Brew (units flanking or rear charging this unit do not get bonuses).
Hag with Cauldron

Two units of Dark Riders with Shields, Repeater Crossbows and Banner
Ten Crossbowmen

20 Black Guard with FC, Ring of Hotek
Six Cold One Knights with Standard of Slaughter
15 Executioners with FC
One Cold One Chariot

Hydra
Two Repeater Bolt Throwers

So the Ring of Hotek is my only magic defense, which is rough, but I hope to quickly close with their army and force the issue.  

What I need to do today is:

Make movement trays for the oddly formed Executioner unit (seven wide) and the six man Cold One Knight Unit.  
Pack the Army.
Get all my other equipment together.  
Fix some paint scratches.

Wish me luck!