It's the timing, fool!

So the 4th Iron Cabal is history and as always it was a very enjoyable experience. :-) This time it was especially nice becomes some guys from Bern, Basel, and even Bavaria showed up for the tournament. :-)

This tournament was also the second and last qualifier for the Swiss National Team for the World Team Championship in October. To make a long story short, I won't be on the team as I did better than I thought, but I am still far from doing well enough.

My tournament score sheet - three losses and one win with pDoomshaper and pGrim.

Game 1 - pDoomshaper vs Kromac

Setup

In my first game vs. Thomas Fuchs I had a really hard time to decide what list to play. On the one hand I was afraid of playing the pDoomshaper tier list as I knew he'd outmaneuver me with his stones. On the other hand, I didn't wanna play pGrim as I felt that list lacked the hitting power to be a serious threat to his warbeasts.

Well, it ended with a dead pDoomshaper. I realized that I should not play a slow and  beast heavy list against Circle again. I guess I should try playing my pGrim list against +Robi Deola next. Also what completely threw me off was Kromac's spell that didn't let me cast any spells for one round. This is awful for a pDoomshaper list where a lot depends on spells.

Game 2 - pGrim vs. Vladidmir

I forgot to take pictures in my game vs. Andreas Bernrieder for the most part. The story is quickly told - his Winter Guard sprayed away my front line. Basically they kept spraying my fennblades and my Nyss Hunters without seeing them ever get into a significant range to do anything. My warbeasts and pGrim were able to build up some pressure with their shooting, but it was too little and too late. I wonder if I should have run pGrim and the beasts more upfront so they'd get more chances for shooting.

Game 3 - pGrim vs. eMadrak

I went into my game with Chris Lehner with the knowledge that eMadrak and Kriel Warriors are an extremely good combo, but it never was of interest for me as I always thought other Trollbloods warlock's do even more awesome stuff.

Early in this game already, the Long Riders clashed into my Nyss Hunters and absorbed them for the rest of the game. In the center, the War Waggon and the Kriel Warriors built up the pressure. I guess I can summarize the game that I didn't feel like anything in his list is overpowered, but if your list can do many many well powered hit, every army dies sooner or later. pGrim was shot by eMadrak's thrown axe.

Game 4 - pDoomshaper vs. eCaine

Now this was the game that really sweetened the day for me. Everything that went wrong in the previous games suddenly started to work here as if it were some magic. I felt I am going to win this game as soon as +Andreas Balmer's Greygore Boomhowler & Co. stopped a couple inches short of my front line and started shooting their Blunderbusses. Back when I was playing Cygnar, I always did that when I wasn't happy with the movement at all.
Well, on my next turn on the left flank, the Runeshapers started shelling templates into the Gun Mages (primarily) and Greygore Boomhowler & Co. Mulg gave them a hand whereas the EBDT took care of everything on the right flank. The Mountain King held the center and killed Rowdy and the Stormclad over the course of the game.

I got a heart attack when +Andreas Balmer used Gatecrasher to teleport into pDoomshaper's back arc - I had forgotten about the spell and felt save behind Janissa's wall. I expected any kind of attack to come from the front of the wall.
Either way, once eCaine had teleported, I knew the only thing to save me was his limited focus left - Gatecrasher is quite expensive. My pDoomshaper indeed did survive because +Andreas Balmer didn't think about Hordes warlocks being able to transfer damage. pDoomshaper had almost full Fury (6/7) and Mulg hardly any damage - I had to transfer only once, pDoomshaper was able to suck up the rest. Once it was my turn again, pDoomshaper boosted his To Hit rolls and clubbed eCaine to death.

General Thoughts

I lose too many games because many models of mine don't really do anything. Why is that so? Because they are on the wrong spot at the wrong time. That's why my opponent tears me apart bit by bit while frustrated reacting is the only thing left to me.
How to solve that?
With better movement of my pieces and setting them up at the very beginning of the game in the first place.
I guess I will have to talk +Gergely Gati into doing learning games where we more or less just move around the pieces in various scenarios and try to imagine what would hapen.

Collateral Damage

So it was the first time the Collateral damage WM/H tournament took place in Bern, Switzerland, one of two tournaments that act as a qualifier for the Swiss national team for the WTC in Belgium.
Due to my lack of practice I didn't expect a top place, but in comparison to other tournaments where I didn't practice at all I had at least four training games under my belt plus I am technically playing pGrim since last fall, so I hoped I wouldn't do too bad. I saw only very slim chances to make it to the national team, but one or two victories may at least get me a spot as a backup player.

I went into the tournament with my pGrim List (Bomber, Pyre Troll, Impaler, Nyss) and my pDoomshaper T4 list featuring the Mountain King.

However, before I do a rundown on my games I have to say first that the tournament was great as it was the first time we got to meet +Fabio Zeppetella and +marcello maulini. :-) They traveled all the way up from Geneva just for this tournament and it was great to finally meet face-to-face. :-)

Game 1 (Ammunition Run)

Game 1 was against +Gergely Gati, my WM/H Tutor and arch-nemesis (for the mere sake that I haven't won a single game against him yet ;-)  ). Gergely played Menoth with his usual selection of either a Harbinger or eFeora list. I decided not to care about what list he may play as the scenario was Ammunition Run. I felt like I could get slightly more out of the mission objective with pGrim plus he had the infantry it took to pose a threat on a wide axis.

This is how we set up:

And this is how the game ended - the Judicator charged my pGrim:

Things that went wrong:

• I had no answer for the Zealots. Their minifeat made the left flank of my Fennblades pointless.
• The Judicator's rockets were really annoying for my Nyss. I had them run in the first turn instead of going slower so they could be zombified by the Witch Doctor. Once the Judicator opened fire it was too late.
• Grim attempted to shoot eFeora with Cross-Country on himself, but it wasn't until Gergely's protest that I realized Cross.Country allows to see through buildings and forrests, but not through enemy models. :-/

Game 2 (Close Quarters)

Game 2 was against Christoph's Trollbloods - this game was epic because we had two Mountain Kings facing each other. Christoph played an eDoomshaper monster brick that I knew from theory, but had never played against or played myself. I obviously picked my pDoomshaper Tier 4 list.

This is how we set up:

And this is how the game ended - the Mauler charged my pDoomshaper:

Things that went wrong:

• I allowed his Mulg to have a charge lane against my Mountain King. Mulg was all it took to kill it.
• pDoomshaper was afraid of his Mountain King's spray attack, so he escaped to the left. I felt save there because his Mauler was behind a wall, so I figured he can't charge me. Obviously I forgot he had an Axer on the table.

I managed to get three control points in this game because Christian forgot the Killbox and I played the scenario. This didn't prevent me from loosing, but at least got me something.

Game 3 (Fire Support)

This was the most fun game today against Pascal's Pigs/Minions. We seemed to have about the same playing skill and pretty much equally strong armies plus Pascal is a player with a great attitude, so this was fun. :-) I decided to go for my Mountain King list again as I felt I needed something to deal with his heavy pigs. Pascal had only one list with Midas as his Warlock.

This is how we set up:

I forgot to take a picture once it was over. pDoomshaper was in front of the house surrounded by pigs, the EBDT was on vacation to the left of the wood on the upper right flank after a failed fury check. pDoomshaper had left two wounds and was saved by Dice Down. One more turn and he would have been worked into pulp. The game was decided on the third tie breaker (army points).

Things that went wrong:

• After the game with Christoph he recommended to play Janissa more aggressively so I can place her wall better. I played her too aggressively in this game.

Game 4 (Incursion)

Game 4 was against +Philipp Mayer, our most recent player who also plays Trollbloods. Based on my recommendations he tried a pGrissel list with Long Riders and Fennblades - I knew from theory how good this list really is, but +Philipp Mayer made me experience it. I picked my pDoomshaper list again.

This is how we set up:

This is how the game ended - Philipp won with 5-0 control points:

As you can see, pDoomshaper is in a mess with Philipp's Fennblades, but he survived their initial wave due to bad rolling on Philipp's part quite well. The Mountain King was blocked by the Long Riders. Both armies hadn't taken that much damage yet, but he won 5-0 because I wasn't even close to any flag while he had both for two turns.

Things that went wrong:

• I picked the Mountain King list again as his Bomber was his only "heavy hitter", but in retrospect I should have taken the pGrim list for at least some more mobility.
• I played Janissa too risky again.

Conclusion

Lessons for the future based on these four games:

1. Read cards before every tournament very carefully, even when there is virtually no time. Hopefully that stops me from having crazy ideas that violate the rules.
2. Try to put the Axer back into more list. He is a very valuable light warbeasts plus having him myself may stop me from assuming my opponent doesn't have him either.
3. Keep Janissa on the Mountain King's side (instead of his back), but not in the first line of battle.
4. I shouldn't delay my the assembly of my own Long Riders. Serious playtesting needs to show whether I should play the pDoomshaper Tier 4 list or a pGrissel list along my pGrim list in a two list format tournament.

Anybody with input on pDoomshaper or pGrissel in a two lists format is welcome to provide it. In a three lists format I will definitely play these three warlocks.

First WM/H Demo Day in Zürich

The two guys at the front table were playing Warhammer fantasy, everybody else in the room was hooked up on WM/H. :-)

The first WM/H Demo Day in Zürich, Switzerland is over and it's save to say that it was a blast. :-) I am tempted to say that it was more fun than any WM/H tournament I have ever been to and it definitely has strengthened my goal to become a Press Ganger.

WM/H is still rather small (40K dominating pretty much everything), so +Sven Emmert made arrangements with the FLGS to run a WM/H Demo Day. It was announced in all major Swiss wargaming forums and people said the'll come, but we didn't know that that many will com! :-)

From my point of view, the best part was that people spontaneously showed up in a distribution throughout the day that there were always demo games running on three tables. In other words, no table was empty ever, but nobody had to stand in line for his demo game either. Even if we had planned everything to the smallest detail, we couldn't have done it better. :-)

Anyway, cudos to +Sven Emmert, wargaming bastard par excellence. :-) And now, let the pictures speak:

+Sven Emmert explaining basic rules.

+Stephan Balmer chatting with the friendly Tactica staff.

+Andre Suwanda explaining the "subtleties" of Retribution and Gatormen.

The first Battle Box game of the day: +Andreas Balmer coaching Julian's Cygnar forces to their first victory against my Trollbloods.

This new player to the right soon started to appreciate the benefits of MUUUUULG. :-) He ended up playing three demo games in total as he enjoyed them so much. :-)

+Benjamin Tharin and +Robi Deola bringing WM/H closer to a 40K veteran.

The demand for demo games was so strong that we decided to split the table with the Battle Box games. +Stephan Balmer was wonderful with letting Julian play his 2nd game using Stephan's Khador (so Stephan could help him out with tipps and hints) whereas Stephan played Skorne, an army totally unknown to him to that point. They sure had a blast as the terrain was literally leveled out. :-) To the right, +Andreas Balmer is explaining Cygnar to another new player - this player was the other one of two players who did a total of three demo games because they liked them so much!

+Andre Suwanda is demonstrating his child caring skills. ^^

+Tudor Stanescu loosing graciously in the new player to the right's third demo game. You can't really do anything against an Earthborn Dire Troll and Mulg smashing everything to pulp, even if your warcaster is Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince of Umbrey.

After two battle box games, he wanted to get to know infantry. We gave him infantry. ^^ (maxed out Terminus list at 15pts)

+Andreas Balmer "volunteered" to play against the Terminus list with his Cygnar - he understood it was for a good cause! ^^

+Andre Suwanda in his longest demo game that day (I assume) teaching some 40K veterans the advanced tactics of WM/H.

+Andre Suwanda also won "best looking demo table" - next time I will pretend to know nothing about WM/H just to play with his Gatormen!

Trollbloods Battle Box painted

Well, I finished painting the Trolls in the Battle Box last night for this saturday's newbie event, so here are the pictures of my finished creatures. :-)

pMadrak

Impaler 1 (red quiver)

Impaler 2 (brown quiver)

Viel Spass mit der Skorne und Trollbloods Battle Box

(for a change, this article is in German as we are going to Demo WM/H to newbies at the FLGS)

Herzlich Willkommen zu diesen beiden Spielberichten, welche zwei Battle Boxes aus dem Spiel Hordes der Firma Privateer Press Euch näher bringen sollen.

Jedes Volk/Fraktion hat eine Battle Box (mit Ausnahme der Mercenaries und Minions) und jede Battle Box ist eine komplett spielbare "Mini-Armee". Mit anderen Worten, man muss nicht viel Geld ausgeben, um ein Minimum an Infanterie und HQ für das erste Spiel zu sammeln, es geht gleich "richtig" los.

Jede Battle Box enthält einen General und eine Reihe von Monstern, die ihm gehorchen. Ziel ist es im Spiel, den gegnerischen General zu töten. (das ist auch später in fortgeschrittenen Spielen ein beliebter Weg zu gewinnen)

Ihr dürft diese Battle Boxes selber spielen am kommenden Warmachine/Hordes Demo Spieltag im Tactica in Oerlikon am Samstag, 16.02.2013.

Die Battle Boxes

Skorne

Die Skorne werden angeführt von Master Tormentor Morghoul (das ist der ganz Kleine im Bild), welcher extrem schnell ist und mit seinen Ripper Klauen anständig Schaden machen kann. Ganz im Skorne Stil scheut er sich auch nicht davor, seine eigenen Beasts zu schädigen, wenn es ihm einen Vorteil bringt, d.h. wenn sein Gegner nachher tot im Staub liegt.

Der Titan Gladiator (der ganz grosse Kerl im Bild) ist in etwa so, wie wenn man mit einem Kampfpanzer durch Tante Emmas Blumenbeet fährt. Subtil? Nö.

Die Cyclops Savages sind mittelgute Warbeasts, die mit ihren Falchions trotzdem ordentlich reinhauen können. Das Beste ist aber ihr Animus, der es ihnen (oder anderen Modellen ihrer Armee) erlaubt, bei Bedarf noch einen zusätzlichen Würfel zu werfen, nachdem die "richtigen" Würfel bereits geworfen sind und das Resultat eigentlich klar wäre.

Trollbloods

Ihr Anführer Madrak Ironhide hat keinen einfacheren Job, als sein Volk zu retten. Madrak ist sehr zäh und kann einiges einstecken. Seine Axt kann er sowohl werfen als auch im Nahkampf gezielt einsetzen.

Der Axer ist ein mittelgutes Warbeast und er kann mit seiner grossen Axt eine Attacke gegen jedes Modell machen, welches in seiner Nahkampfzone ist. Sehr nützlich, um mit einem Rundumschlag gleich mal alle zu treffen.

Die beiden Impalers mit den langen Speeren stecken ihre ganze Kraft in jeden Wurf und können bei einem kritischen Treffer ein getroffenes Opfer wieder von sich weg schieben. In einer perfekten Welt kommt das Opfer so gar nie an sie heran.

Alle Trolle können übrigens heilen - schliesslich sind Trolle zäh!

Alle Battle Boxes sind bei Annina im Tactica an Lager oder können bestellt werden - guckt Ihr hier im Online Shop.

Bei beiden folgenden Spielen war +Benjamin Tharin so freundlich, mir als Sparring Partner (sprich: Grandmaster) zur Verfügung zu stehen. :-) Jedes Spiel hat ca. 70min. gedauert.

Spiel 1

Die Skorne (weiss) rennen nach vorne. Die Trollbloods rücken weniger schnell vor und die Impaler werfen ihre Speere, machen aber keinen nennenswerten Schaden.

Madrak weicht nach links aus, um der zu erwartenden Hitze im Zentrum zu entgehen. Rückblickend war dies ein grosser Fehler. Die Impaler verbessern ihre Schussposition und werfen wieder ihre Speere, aber machen kaum Schaden.

Der Cyclop hinter dem Häuschen rennt zum freistehenden Madrak und bindet diesen. Der Titan Gladiator sorgt mal schnell für Ruhe und Ordnung in der Mitte, indem er einen Impaler zermatscht. Morghoul macht es sich derweilen hinter dem Felsen rechts bequem (man sieht noch seine Hand mit dem Ripper Handschuh) und holt schon mal sein Kaffeeservice hervor.

In dieser Runde laufen die Trollbloods heiss und schlagen auf die Skorne ein, aber diese bleiben ungerührt stehen.

Der Titan Gladiator zermatscht den zweiten Impaler, worauf sich der verbliebene Axer zu Madrak zurückzieht, um diesen aus seiner Bedrängnis zu helfen. Der Cyclops steckt aber alle Attacken problemlos weg.

Spielende. Madrak und dem Axer gelingt es zwar noch, den einen Cyclops zu töten, aber da kommen schon der zweite Cyclops und Morghoul, der sein Kaffeeservice wieder weggesteckt hat und jetzt umso giftiger angreift. Madrak fällt, Ende, Aus.

Spiel 2

Gleiche Ausgangslage wie bei Spiel 1.

Die beiden Impalers schaffen es, den Cyclop hinter dem Häuschen links mit ihren Speeren zu treffen und gleichzeitig seine Seele auszuschalten.Das bedeutet, dass der Cyclop durch Morghul nicht mehr kontrolliert und unterstützt werden und somit nicht seine ganze Kampfkraft entfalten kann.

Die Skorne rennen nach vorne, machen aber kaum Schaden. Im Gegenzug hauen alle drei Trolle auf den bereits angeschlagenen Cyclop und putzen in ganz weg.

Der grosse Titan Gladiator ist jetzt richtig wütend und nennt sich den Impaler rechts vor. dieser überlebt aber und wird in der nächsten Runde von Madrak wieder geheilt.

Morghoul versucht einen riskanten Move und versucht, sich zu Madrak durchzutanken, um ihn zu töten. Die Trolle bleiben aber auch hier standfest und Morghoul muss wieder abziehen.

Nach dem Motto "steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein" ist es endlich soweit, sowohl der Titan Gladiator als auch der zweite Cyclop segnen das Zeitliche, während Morghoul beim Haus rumlungert, was ihm aber nicht mehr lange helfen wird.

Morghoul geht verzweifelt nochmals in eine letzte Offensive und versucht, Madrak dieses Mal direkt zu töten, aber Madrak transferiert seinen Schaden auf seine Trolle und heilt sie dann in seinem nächsten Zug wieder.

Das wars. Morghouls Skorne Armee ist tot, während die Trollbloods zwar angeschlagen, aber immer noch vollzählig auf dem Tisch stehen. Die Äxte und Speere werden ein letztes Mal geschwungen und so ist dieses Mal Morghoul das unglückliche Opfer.

Fazit

Es war das erste Mal, dass ich überhaupt "nur" mit den Battle Boxes gespielt habe, wir haben bisher immer mit grösseren und komplexeren Armeen gespielt. Dieses Spiel hat uns aber gezeigt, dass grössere Armeen nicht automatisch mehr Spass bedeuten. Die Battle Boxes sind sehr ausgewogen und mit bereits wenig Regeln kann man sehr viel Spass haben.

Für neue Spieler sind die Battle Boxes sehr spannend, weil sie dank ihnen schnell ein Gefühl für ihre Armee entwickeln und alle Taktiken, die sie hier lernen, auch später in grösseren Spielen sehr gut gebrauchen können.

Für erfahrene Spieler ist es gut, ab und zu wieder ein Battle Box Spiel zu machen, um genau alle diese basics wieder einmal ein bisschen aufzufrischen.

Ich freue mich auf nächsten Samstag! :-)