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Showing posts with label Dark Elves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark Elves. Show all posts

Monday, May 2, 2011

Mocksville Fantasy Tournament: Fourth Place Beasts



I attended the Heroes Headquarters Warhammer Fantasy Tournament put on by Game On in Mocksville, NC this past weekend.   The venue was very nice, the event was well run, and I had a lot of fun.  In three games, I lost to a Lizardman Slann army, beat a Skaven army, and barely got a win against some Dark Elves in a wild back and forth game that came down to a 200 point difference.  Thanks to all involved for a great time!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Lilith Hesperax, WFB Dark Elf Hag


There are some models in the Dark Eldar range that just cry out to be Dark Elves.  I very much wanted the Wyches to fall into that category, because dynamic plastic models would have been awesome for our Witches, but I think they'd take a good bit of work to convert over.  However, I really like the Lilith Hesperax model, as well as the new Archons.  I picked up one of each.  I'm also considering getting some Incubi to sit in with my Executioners, because they look like a good time to paint. 

Lilith was a lot of fun to paint, and I even got to add in a torn turquoise banner for her to stand on.  Shades of High Elves to come? 

Monday, October 18, 2010

Blood Angels First Tactical Squad Painted



Okay, so I have a new plan.  Get some posts up on Sunday night so that they're prepped for the week, when I won't have time to post.  As plans go, it's a good 'un.  Execution will be the key.

As I noted earlier, I've started painting Blood Angels.  The army won't hit the table until it's painted (or at least that's what I'm telling myself).  The idea is just to roll up (in about a year or so) with a fully painted Blood Angels army and plop them down. 

Right now, we're at a squad.  Blood Angels Assault Squad Tabbris to be exact (Rhino not yet included).  These are the rank and file.  I stuck with the green metallic shoulder trim, and personal heraldry on the knee pads. Fourth Company all the way!

The thing that scares me right now is the temptation of the new, gorgeous Dark Eldar.  I have a nicely painted 8,000 points of Dark Elves, and I think it'd be kind of neat to paint some Dark Eldar in a similar scheme.  Nothing like having too much on your plate and piling on. 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Rebalancing in Eighth - From Old and Busted to the New Hotness


One of the things I'm enjoying most about Eighth Edition is the complete rebalancing of armies that has occurred.  Unless you're new to the game, you'll remember the lovely army power tiers from last edition.  Some books were just miles better at using Seventh Edition rules, with Daemons at the very top all the way to Ogres and Orcs at the bottom of the heap. 

Eighth Edition, I'm sure, has it's own tiers that will shake out eventually.  Some army books, such as High Elves and Lizardmen, sure look scary out of the gate, and it's not like Dark Elves really got worse.  For the most part, however, things seem more balanced overall.  Part of this might be that the game is still in its infancy, and people are trying out a variety of lists, with all sorts of fun things making it to the table.  No army really seems to be in terrible shape, however, as long as you ignore the internet hysterics and the theoreticians who don't actually play.

Last week, I got to play Brian with his Orcs and Goblins.  I had my Dark Elves.  In Seventh, Dark Elves would have been a top tier army, and Orcs on the bottom.  The Druchii would have had a ton of advantages, at least on paper.  In Eighth, Brian's Orcs were scary stuff!  He had a variety of good, cheap Lords and Heroes, magic that worked out great for him, and tons and tons of Orc Boyz.  He broke my big blocks of troops, fed me cheap garbage, and sniped my main mage out with a stone thrower.  Yikes!

It ended up being a lot of fun, and reminded me that Eighth is a whole new ball game.  So here's to Orcs, and all the other armies that suffered for years.  Now they're the new hotness!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Just a Bug on A Windshield


You ever have one of those games when the dice just refuse to like you?  I had one the other day vs. one of our local players, Lance, and his Dwarfs.  We didn't take pictures, but if you can imagine me as the bug in the picture above, I think that would make sense.

Lance and I both set up pretty evenly around the middle area of the table.  Sadly, he went first, and splattered one of my two Hydras immediately (a feat he would do again in the second round, and to a chariot in the third).  Meanwhile, my Crossbowmen fired over 200 shots into a unit of ten quarellers over four rounds of shooting, and killed four in total.  In the end, the same quarellers helped run them down with the help of some Longbeards.

Meanwhile, some bad decisions and atrocious rolling tarpitted my 60 spears, general, and BSB on fourteen hammerers, where I netted about six wounds in five rounds.  Yeesh!

In the end, Lance made good, conservative decisions, and I did not, so I suppose the dice were punishing my aggressive nature.  The funny thing is that Lance is a fun opponent, and was relaxed, so that this was one of my most fun games of Eighth, even if I was being pummeled by fate.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

To Horde or Not to Horde


One of the most interesting questions for me so far in Eighth Edition has been whether or not to use the horde formation.  Bringing units ten wide and a million models deep sure sounds epic, but it's taken a while for me to come to grips with doing so in practice.

At first, hording units seemed to have little upside.  Sure, an extra rank gets to attack, but in general, the cost of having enough troops for that to happen is way to high and is not cost effective.  We can't all play Skaven or Goblins!

It's quickly become apparent to me, however, that the horde has better qualities that aren't apparent at first glance.  Eighth Edition seems to really be about the concept of points denial.  Preventing others from killing your units and then eeking out victories by holding onto your points while damaging the other army is what it's all about.  This is due to the new concepts of units not giving up any points until all of their models are dead, combined with the new steadfast rule, which keeps big units from running away easily. 

These concepts make hordes of troops (if not always in horde formation) golden.  Sixty Dark Elf Spearmen (especially with a Cauldron Ward Save) is murder for other armies to chew through in cc.  I wish I owned more.  They die slowly, and refuse to give up a single point until every one of them is dead.  Heck, they can be fleeing at the end of a game and not give up any points. 

Personally, I've been enjoying taking a large unit of Dark Elf Crossbowmen tend wide, and then switching them to five wide if close combat threatens, in order to be steadfast.   It's been pretty successful, and has earned me a few wins, along with the extra large block of spears, by husbanding my points carefully.  I haven't quite mastered it, but am getting there slowly.

Now, if only there was an effective job for my poor Dark Riders!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Last of the Trollbloods: Dire Troll Bomber Painted!


Like my Khador and Imperial Fists, who have all wrapped up in the last month or so, my Trollbloods are finished now with this fantastic model, who brings the entire collection up around 110 points.  concept and pose of the Bomber, and wanted to add him in.

Unlike my Khador, my Trolls aren't going up for sale.  For now, they'll sit in the cabinet while old projects (Dark Elves and Beastmen) get upgraded for Eighth Edition and new projects (Blood Angels, Space Wolves, High Elves and Skaven) get started.  In the long run, I think this fella has a great gaming future...as a Hellcannon in a Warriors of Chaos Troll army. 

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Video Battle Report: Dark Elf v. Dark Elf in Round Three Tournament Action!


This past weekend, I played in a "End of 7th Edition" WFB Tournament, and ended up taking the top prize home (a free 8th Edition book, no less).  While I had stopped taking pictures at this point, my great opponent took some pictures and threw up his own video battle report on Youtube.   It's a lot of fun, and he does some good narration.  He was a nice guy to play against, and I look forward to our next game. 



Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The 7th Edition Farewell Tour


As Seventh Edition of Warhammer Fantasy winds down, I'd like to give each of my armies a final run around the table before things change.  The plan is at least three games before Eighth comes out, with each of my armies. 

So we'll have to dig the Bretonnians out of storage.  The plan is to run each of my old fun builds, so probably I'll dig out the nights and just try and steamroll a table like the old days.

Next, we'll grab the Dark Elves.  I'd like to run them with the Black Guard, and maybe give Steve the Black Dragon a flight or two across the table.  They're a tough group, and I want them to have some fun before they get arguably better in the next edition. 

Finally, the Beasts.  They're my newest babies, and I've had plenty of opportunity to play them, but it'd be great to get them out one more time and have them eat some fleshy weaklings. 

Watch for the Video Battle Reports coming soon as I take the Seventh Edition Farewell Tour!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Dark Elf Assassin


Sometimes, you just have to pop out of a group of Spearmen and just stab a whole ton of the enemy right in the neck, and to do that properly, there's only one model to call.

Somehow, GW really didn't make a bad assassin model. I have two of them, plus Shadowblade, and they were all awesome to paint and look great on the table.  I've never run all three in a list (yet), so they get to rotate duties. 

I'm worried about their place in Eighth Edition, or lack thereof.  With stepping up, attacks will always come back, and so the Assassin can pop out and do a lot of damage, but then he'll always get hit back, and probably hard.  Aside from using him on elite cavalry, I can't see where he's going to earn his worth when he appears.  Maybe there's something I don't understand yet...or maybe he'll be retired for a while.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Tale of Painters for May!

I just thought I'd share some rough shots of the models I painted for Tale of Painters this month.  I painted over 2,000 points combined.  These were the pictures that went up to make the deadline.  They're a bit rough, but good shots should come over the next few weeks of the various models!

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Camp Fire - Fluffing It


Kuffy over at The Trading Post sent out the following questions:

How important is fluff to you?  Do you base an army around the fluff and make the looks/minis suit the background you have for them or is it the other way around?  Do you use units that would never fight alongside one another fluffwise?  Do you care for the fluff or is it all about the rules for you?  Do you write fluff for your armies?

As a tournament player, this is a pretty common set of questions for me, because the fluff debate at tournaments is ever present.  So here's my take.

The importance of fluff is a personal thing, and is an important part of our hobby.  Done well, fluff can be used to bring an army to life on the table and in your mind, but "fluff abuse" is also a thing that we see around the area from time to time.  I think there are two keys to being a fun and fluffy player.  First, do what makes you happy.  Second, use some moderation and remember the other hobby aspects.  For me, fluff is a great and wonderful thing, but shouldn't dictate your fun.

Doing what makes you happy with fluff means different things to different people.  For some, playing their army as a certain faction, such as a Nurgle Daemon army or a Khainite Daemon army is the way to go, and so they limit themselves and build accordingly.  When I build an army, I love to have a theme or idea in mind, but I want to make it more big and general, because I want to use everything in the army book.  For instance, I always think of my red and bronze Dark Elves as a desert raiding force, plying the wastes to loot and pillage.  A little bit of everything shows up in the army, as each Dark Elf faction is represented and vies for glory and reward.  In this way, I enjoy my personal fluff without giving up some of the other things that I enjoy, such as collecting and painting.

My big joy is playing the game, mostly at a tournament level, and so I do notice examples of fluff gone too far.  There are two offenders that are related, and I call them the Intentional Gimp and the Hidden Cheese.  The Intentional Gimp is the player who intentionally makes his army terrible in order to make it what he or she considers "fluffy", and then complains about getting beaten by all the other armies.  While it's one thing to have a fluffy army, don't be a bad sport when you lose because you ran a Bretonnian all Peasant army.  On the other hand, the Hidden Cheese hides his cheesiness behind fluff.  When he shows up with your 25+ power dice Vampire army, he should still get a terrible composition score even if you painted your army to look like Necrarchs.  A cheesy army is a cheesy army, even if it has a great theme.

Finally, and this is my big offender, is the Fluff Nazi.  Don't be this guy.  Your opinion is your opinion, and while it's cool to share, don't condemn the guy who doesn't think the same way you do, or has other priorities with his army.  I'm going to play in a doubles tournament next month with my good buddy Lon.  We're running Beastmen and Lizardmen (or "Blizzardmen" if you will).  We both realize that it's not fluffy, but he's playing his army and I'm playing mine.  I'm okay with this combo because I'm going to the tournament to play Warhammer and to hang out with my friend, and that's my priority.  Years ago, when my brother and I started 40K, we were almost kicked out of a doubles tournament for bringing Space Marines (me) and Tau (him).  We had just started, and those were the only armies we owned, but we had to talk our way into being allowed to play.  My priority there was to go to a tournament with my brother. 

So like all things with the hobby, I guess what I'm saying is that you should be happy with what you do, and let others be happy with their hobby as well, be it in painting, modeling, fluff, or anything else.  I look forward to playing you with my Eighty plus power dice Dwarfs soon!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Quiet Limit of the World is "The Trader of the Week" at The Trading Post!

Whooo!  For those of you who aren't familiar with "The Trading Post" http://the-tradingpost.blogspot.com/, it's a blog that serves as a great hub for other Warhammer Fantasy blogs.  This week, The Quiet Limit is featured as "The Trader of the Week"!  I've copied the interview, and hope you enjoy it!


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Again we have another Fantasy blog up for promotion.  This is good old blog, lots of content - especially about Beastmen.  Go check it out folks:

http://quietlimit.blogspot.com/

The Interview

Real name or Avatar
My real name is Ben, and I use the moniker of "Tekore" on forums.  I'm based in Durham, North Carolina, in the United States.  Other occasional contributors are Blair and Tom.

What fantasy army(ies) do you play?
I have around 8,000 points each of Bretonnians and Dark Elves, and am currently playing Beastmen in their latest incarnation.
 

Beastlordette?

What projects are you currently working on?
I run the Tale of Painters over at Librarium Online, and usually have a lot of different projects brewing at the same time.  I believe that by running multiple projects you can paint regularly without becoming bored or burning out as much. Currently, I'm painting:

* Around 5,000 points of Beastmen
* A 2,000 point Imperial Fist Space Marine army.
* 100 points of Khador for Warmachine.
* 100 points of Trollbloods for Hordes.
* Various Malifaux gangs.

I recently finished my entire Dark Elf army, and always have Bretonnians to paint if I get bored.  I'm looking to finish my Imperial Fists, Trollbloods, and Khador in the next few months, and am considering taking on a Blood Angels / Space Wolves dual army project after finishing.  For Fantasy, I'm not sure what I'll work on after Beasts, but am thinking about a joint High Elves / Wood Elves Avelorn themed army.

Barbarian hero

What is the main focus of your blog?
When I created The Quiet Limit of the World, I wanted it to show aspects of all aspects of the hobby.  I love to model and convert, to paint and bring those models to life, and to game in both casual and tournament settings.  A lot of blogs only focus on one of those things, and while they are all interesting, I like a little bit of everything.  I'm also interested in a lot of different games, so I flit around there as well.  So I suppose The Quiet Limit doesn't have a main focus, but is rather a general blog on the hobby. 

What are we to expect in the future from your blog?

I'm going to strive for continued quality and quantity.  I like to try and update every weekday morning if possible with something fresh and new.  I'd also like to get more battle reports in, as it's an area that I'm not particularly good at.  2011 also is supposedly the Flames of War year coming up at the Friendly Local Game Store, so there may be some of that coming up. 

What/who is your biggest inspiration?

In terms of painting and modeling, I've always looked up to a few gentlemen over at Librarium Online.  I draw inspiration from several of the contributors there who have beautiful models, such as Minus_t, King Ulrik Flamebeard, and Andusciassus, and also from Cyric the Mad, who ran the first Tale of Painters and taught me to actually get projects done.

 Vargulf alert!

 In terms of playing the game, I draw inspiration from the players at my local gaming club, The Team Caribbean Breeze Women's Lacrosse and Warhammer Club (it's a long story).  We've got national GT winners and brand new players, but I think the general spirit of good sporting competitiveness is the thing that keeps me wanting to play each week.  To play as hard a game as you can every time and still have a fun, laughing game is a real pleasure.

What is your number one hobby tip?
Just do it.  Trite?  Absolutely, but true nonetheless.  The only way you'll improve with painting is with practice, and the same goes for green stuff and every other aspect of making your army look good.  Don't be afraid to make mistakes.  They're fixable, and you can always strip your miniatures if you're really unhappy.  Make some time to sit down and paint most days, if only for five or ten minutes.  You'll improve as a hobbyist, and you'll have the joy of actually seeing your army progress. 

Dark Elves Army

What is your number one gaming tip?
Don't be a jerk.  We're (generally) a bunch of grown folk playing a child's game.  Don't roll over if your opponent is cheating, but other than that, relax and have a good time, reveling in the great social experience that wargaming could be.  I've gotten to travel around and play a ton of people that I never would have met otherwise due to Warhammer, and it's been a real pleasure.  Don't soil the experience by turning your hobby into an unpleasant jaunt for you and your opponent. 

What is your proudest moment in wargaming?
I have a lot of tournament wins, but the tournaments I remember the best are the ones where I've gotten the very highest sportsmanship scores and painting scores.  Those are the days that I know I'm at the top of the hobby fully.  I especially enjoy when I'm put down as someone's favorite opponent of the day at a tournament.  It's a great feeling.
 
Dark Elf Dreadlord
 
If you could have a miniature made for a character or unit that does not currently have one, which would it be?
I've always thought a Crone Hellebron model for the Dark Elves would be a cool opportunity to make a really "over the top" Witch Elf.  Mostly, though, I'm happy to convert models that don't exist.  I think getting to play around on how I wanted to make my Cygor (converted Giant), Ghorgon (converted Shaggoth) and Jabbersclythe (LotR Fel Beast) was pretty great.

What are the top three Fantasy blogs you follow?
Drinkin' and Modelin'

- Randroid paints, models and plays in Warhammer, just like me.  Plus, we have the mutual interest of beer in common, although I'm a wheat beer guy myself for the most part.

The Painting Corps

- This is my site to read for great painting and modeling ideas.  I love that they post to different sites where they find the great stuff that I aspire to one day be able to do myself.

The Trading Post, ++ From the Warp ++, and Bell of Lost Souls

- I use these sites for their generally good daily information and to sort through other blogs for things I want to read.   It's kind of like the wargaming equivalent of the morning paper!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tale of Painters for April (Month 8)



I got a bit of work done this month for the Tale of Painters project on Librarium Online.  I managed to turn something in on all five of my armies in progress, which is always a challenge.  I submitted:

20 Corsairs with Full Command
Six Doom Reavers
Wrong Eye and Snapjaw (also used as Beastmen models)
An Imperial Fists Dreadnought.

For the next month, I'm hoping to finish:

An Imperial Fists Tactical Squad
Khador Mechanics and a Greylord Ternion for Khador.
Rorsch and Brine for Trollbloods (with Brine also being a Beastmen Razorgor)

I'm also entering a contest on Librarium Online to paint 1,000 points in 24 hours, and will do so with Beastmen next week.  So I suppose whatever I manage to finish there will be my entry.

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.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Tale of Painters for March (Month 7)

Vroom!  The Tale of Painters deadline for this month came and went, and so I had some entries.  Last month I painted (for ToP):

One Lysander of the Imperial Fists
One Khador Marauder
Lug and Brun Cragback for the Trollbloods
Ten Ungors for Beastmen (and Lug the Minotaur)
Fifteen Dark Elf Executioners

Pictures of all the craziness!

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!