Game 45 - Bretonnia - 2012/11/24

Greetings!

Please, accept my apologies for the delay but fortunately I have finally managed to find time to write the last report from the Hammer of Dave tournament. Last round I played against Murray (Adam's dad whom I faced in round 2) and armored might of Bretonnian army. :)

Army List and pre-battle thoughts

Bretonnian knights are always troublesome. Their high armor save and additional ward save mean they have a good chance to deflect even the mightiest blows. And their S3 in combats when they do not charge is still enough to kill lightly armored elves. Their great speed and formidable lance formation can be the bane of many units of regular size, even more so in the case of MSU type. But they often have quite a nice selection of heroes among regular knights and that makes things even more difficult. If you add to that trebuchets and bowmen who also can hurt small units then you can see that that match up is definitely quite tough.

Murray had a more classical approach to the army list building which means that there was a mixture of knightly units supported by reasonable number of bowmen and field trebuchets. Unfortunately I cannot remember many items his heroes carried and if I made a mistake then it is due to fading memory. I really should have written these reports quicker.

Bretonnia - Army List

Lord, Barded warhorse, heavy armor, shield, Virtue of Heroism, Dawnstone
Prophetess, Barded warhorse, Chalice of Malfleur - Lore of Life
BSB, barded warhorse, heavy armor, shield, Gromril Great Helm
Paladin, barded warhorse, heavy armor, shield, Morning Star of Fracasse, Dragonhelm
Paladin, barder warhorse, heavy armor, Enchanted Shield

9 Knights Errant, Full Command
8 Knights of the Realm, Full Command
8 Knights of the Realm, Full Command
10 Bowmen
10 Bowmen
10 Bowmen

3 Pegasus Knights, Champion

9 Grail Knights, Banner, Musician
Trebuchet
Trebuchet

Game 44 - Vampire Counts - 2012/11/17

Greetings!

Game 4 and another challenge in the form of another army of darkness - Vampire Counts. New Vampires have multitudes of options so it is not that easy to predict what the army will consist of. There are also so many new toys in the army list that despite the fact I have played some games against lords of undead there were still many mysteries for me to discover. Kaleb, who came down from Sydney for that small local tournament and against whom I had a great pleasure to play against this time, had a mixture of classic approach and a few new units he added to his army.

Army list and pre-battle thoughts

As I said it is hard to predict what VC is going to field exactly. I had a good training against them when I played against Gatti and his highly mobile forces. I also knew there is an army of VC with two Terrorgheists and a flying Vampire which would be a problem to deal with. Kaleb, however, had a different approach to the undead horde:

Vampire Counts - Army List

Vampire Lord, level 4, hellsteed, heavy armor, shield, Talisman of Preservation, Quickblood, Red Fury, Book of Arkhan - Lore of the Vampires
Necromancer, level 1, Dispel Scroll (?) - Lore of the Vampires
Wight King, BSB, Heavy Armor
Cairn Wraith
Cairn Wraith

44 Crypt Ghouls, Crypt Ghast
25 Skeleton Warriors, Full Command
Corpse Cart
22 Grave Guard, Great Weapons, Full Command, [i]Banner of Barrows[/i]
3 Vargheists, Vargoyle
5 Hexwraiths
5 Hexwraiths

Game 43 - Daemons of Chaos - 2012/11/15

Greetings!

In Game 3 I played against Peter and his Daemons. I met Peter before at CanCon 2012 where he defeated me with his Warriors of Chaos so it was a good chance for a rematch. On the other hand Daemons tend to be a tough opponent for many armies and when I saw Peter's army list I knew I am up to a challenge again. :)

Army lists and re-battle thoughts

Peter's Warriors were built around big units and his Daemons were similar in that regard. It also seemed that Peter prefers to build tough armies and make up for any penalties from composition score (10/25) with big enough wins against any opponent he faces.

Daemons of Chaos - Army List

Blood Thirster, Obsidian Armor, Immortal Fury, Spell Breaker
Herald of Nurgle, BSB, Noxious Vapours, Stream of Bile
Herald of Khorne, Axe of Khorne, Armor of Khorne
Herald of Tzeentch, Loremaster, Spell Breaker - Lore of Beasts
30 Blood Letters, Full Command
30+ Plaguebearers, Full Command, Icon of Eternal Virulence
7 Flesh Hounds
10 Horrors of Tzeentch
5 Furies
2 x 1 Fiend of Slaanesh

Game 42 - Lizardmen - 2012/11/10

Greetings!

In my game 2 I faced Adam and his very nicely painted Lizardmen. We played once during CanCon 2012 so it was a chance for a re-match. We had similar armies too, as Adam made a little changes in his list to accommodate Scar Veteran. Otherwise his army was quite the same. Another difference was the scenario. At CanCon we played Battle for the Pass while this time it was Battle Line.

Army Lists and pre-battle thoughts

Adam has an army which for me is a classic type with solid core and phalanx of tough Saurus warriors backed up by a nice section of support units. Unfortunately it still suffers from some comp penalties and Adam got 10/25 score for this list.

Lizardmen - Army List

Slann Mage-Priest, BSB, The Focused Ruminations, The Becalming Cogitations, Plaque of Tepok - Lore of Life
Scar Veteran, Cold One, Light Armor, Shield, Dragon Helm, Dawnstone (I think :))
Skink Priest on the Engine of the Gods, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Heavens

24 Saurus with Spears, Full Command
24 Saurus with Hand Weapons, Full Command
10 Skins with Javelins
10 Skink Skirmishers with Blow Pipes

7 Chameleon Skinks
20 Temple Guard, Full Command
3 Terradon Riders

2 Salamander hunting packs

Fast Cavalry Tactics

Greetings!

There are real gems among posts and articles people write on the forums or on their blogs. It takes some time to find them but when you do they are simply amazing read. I have two of such for you today. Just links to respective forums or blogs:

The death of chaff say it aint so - by Hinge

Hinge writes in a very informative but also very humorous way about the different roles of the fast cavalry a player may find useful to use. The inspiration to write it was the discussion on Orcs & Goblins forum where people discussed the current state of Warhammer and drew the conclusion that there is no space for fast cavalry in the game. Obviously, Hinge didn't agree but he was kind enough to write what this particular unit is good for.

Dark Riders can do it better - by KillerK

The article written by KillerK is more detailed and discusses examples where Dark Riders are featured but the principles he is talking about are applicable to any other fast cavalry unit. He provides diagrams that illustrate the case studies very well and I think it is one of the best tactical articles for 8th edition Warhammer.

Cheers!

Game 41 - Dark Elves - 2012/11/07

Greetings!

In my first game I faced Simon and his Dark Elves. Little did I know what kind of caliber of a player I am facing. Only later I have found out that Simon is actually the highest ranking player in NSW and will participate in this year Masters (a tournament for the highest ranking players in Australia, participation is granted by invitation only). He was invited to join ETC team for 2013 too. He decided to have a go at a small tournament in Canberra and was one of the two players who came from Sydney to do so. However, seeing his army list and playing against vile Druchii I knew was up to a challenge anyway.

Army Lists and pre-battle considerations

After 3 tournaments with composition scores in Oz I have noticed that in general players just take the armies they like. They are either hard but players aim at massacring the opponents or the lists are softer but the players can still be very tough opponents and can count on a little extra leverage for the overall scoring. It seemed that Simon prefers to crash his enemies as suits Druchii merciless warriors and make up for lower comp score with his outstanding results from battles. At least it was the case with this army :)

Dark Elves - Army List

Dreadlord on Dark Steed, Sea Dragon Cloak, Blood Armor, Pendant of Kaleth, Crown of Command, Biting Blade
Supreme Sorceress, level 4, Sacrificial Dagger, Talisman of Preservation - Lore of Shadow
Death Hag BSB, Cauldron of Blood
Sorceress, level 2, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Fire
Assassin

30 Corsairs, extra hand weapon, Full Command, Sea Serpent Standard
25 Warriors, Full Command
10 Crossbowmen

20 Black Guard
5 Harpies
5 Harpies
5 Shades

Hydra

Game 40 - Dark Elves - 2012/10/27

Greetings!

I have mentioned that already a few times that I had an opportunity to play a rematch against GuessRange and his DE. After massive beating I received last time I was more than eager to show that it is not going to be a regular outcome of our battles!

Pre-battle considerations and Army Lists

I knew already that I am against a very capable commander and an army that has quite a nice selection of tools that huts my army in particular. I was wondering, however, if GR is going to make any significant changes in order to test new toys. This is what he brought to the field of battle this time:

Dark Elves - Army List

High Sorceress Melith, Level 4, General, Darkstar Cloak, Crystal of Midnight - Dark Magic
Master Horkrim, BSB, Heavy Armour, Great Weapon
Assassin Kalil, Extra hand weapon, Repeater handbow, Rune of Khaine
Assassin Sharik, Extra hand weapon, Repeater handbow, Rune of Khaine

20 Corsairs, Full Command, Repeater handbow
20 Corsairs, Full Command, Repeater handbow
16 Repeater Crossbowmen, Musician
8 Dark Riders, Musician, Repeater Crossbows
5 Harpies

20 Black Guard, Full Command, Banner of Murder
5 Cold One Knights, Full Command, Standard of Discipline
8 Shades, Great Weapons

3 Reaper Bolt Throwers