Game 86 - Lizardmen - 2013/11/25

Game 5 - Bounty Hunt - Lizardmen - Alex

After 3 wins and a draw (which was technically a win :)) I was still in good position to place well and as I have found out after the tournament, at this stage I was among 6 players who were fighting for top 3. Talk about some pressure! On top of that I was about to face Alex, whom I have never met before but I knew is very strong player.

The scenario was relatively simple Battle line but with a nice twist. You got extra points for the enemy general, bsb or standards according to the following rules:

1. Did you capture more Standards that your opponent? - 1BP or 0.5 BP each if tied
2. Did you slay your opponents general? - 1BP
3. Did you slay your opponents BSB? - 1BP
4. Did you keep your General alive? - 1BP
5. Did you keep your BSB alive? - 1BP

I think it was a good scenario, that encouraged more aggressive approach and ensured that players didn't play defensively in their last game of the tournament. It was also a good motivation for attacking when you simply wanted to gamble and try to get extra points so that you place better.

Alex brought Lizardmen but it was a different army to the one I played the day before.

Lizardmen - Army List

Slann, level 4, BSB, Loremaster, Channeling Staff, 3 channels per turn
Scar Veteran, Cold One, Stegadon Helm, Dawnstone (?)
Scar Veteran, Cold One
Skink Chief on Terradon, 2+ armour, explosive egg!
Skink Priest

30+ Saurus Warriors, Full Command
10 Skink Skirmishers
10 Skink Skirmishers
10 Skink Skirmishers

30+ Temple Guard, Full Command
3 Terradon Riders
3 Terradon Riders
Salamander Pack
Salamander Pack

Game 85 - Warriors of Chaos - 2013/11/10

Game 4 - King of the Hill - Warriors of Chaos - Marcel

King of the Hill was a modified Watch Tower scenario. Instead of the building we had a fort in the middle, which was treated as a building with the following exception:

1. The garrison is -1 to hit with shooting and close combat attacks.
2. The garrison has +1CR in combat and +1 LD but not steadfast.
3. Combat resolution is counted based on wounds and standards only.

Depending on who had the fort by the end of the game different bonus points applied:

1. 5 BP if you kept the fort
2. 2.5 BP each if fort was not occupied by any army

This time Marcel was my opponent and he brought a very interesting army that was heavily converted from Beastmen miniatures and represented his mutated Warriors of Chaos.

Warriors of Chaos - Army List

Nurgle Daemon Prince, General, 2+ armor save (I think re-rollable) and 2+ ward against flaming attacks
Nurgle Daemon Prince, General, 2+ armor save and 2+ ward against flaming attacks
BSB on Daemonic Mount, 1+ armor save, 3+ ward, re-rolls 1's
Level 2 Sorcerer, Ruby Ring - Lore of Metal
18 Chaos Warriors (I think Slaanesh), Halberds, Shields, Full Command
5 Marauder Horseman, Mark of Slaanesh
5 Marauder Horseman, Mark of Slaanesh
Chariot of Slaanesh
Chariot of Slaanesh
Gorebeast Chariot
5 Warhounds
5 Warhounds
Giant, Mark of Nurgle
Shagoth

Game 84 - High Elves - 2013/11/07

Game 3 - Blood and Glory - High Elves - Marc

In game 3 we played Blood and Glory scenario with the following modifications:

1. Breaking point is 3 fortitude points
2. Did you break the enemy? - 3BP
3. Was the winning army 1 point away from breaking itself? - 2 BP to the loser
4. Was the winning army 2 point away from breaking itself? - 1 BP to each player
5. Was the winning army 3 point away from breaking itself? - 2 BP to the winner

Apart from that all was as in the rulebook.

It was a very interesting match up as I had to play against another HE army. Before the new book it was always a pillow fight as none of the units had re-rolls and everybody hit at the same time. Now it was different as some units kept re-rolls against some and getting into combat with right units was crucial.

Marc had a HE army with striking, purple-pink color scheme, Mr. Frosty as a center piece and some nice Reavers conversions.

High Elves - Army List

Archmage, level 4, Talisman of Preservation - Lore of Beasts

BSB, Halberd, Armor of Caledor
Mage, level 1, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Heavens

30 Spearmen FC
10 Archers
5 Reavers bows, spears, musician
5 Reavers bows, spears, musician

23 Pheonix Guard FC
21 White Lions, Musician, Banner of World Dragon
5 Shadow Warriors

Frostheart Pheonix
Great Eagle
Great Eagle
Bolt Thrower
Bolt Thrower

Game 83 - Lizardmen - 2013/10/31

Game 2 - Battle for the Pass - Lizardmen - Ethan

Game 2 of Castle Assault was Battle for the Pass. The usual rulebook scenario but again, in line with the whole tournament player's pack, with modifications. First of all each player had to bring appropriate objective marker. Something that fits army theme and is either on 40x40mm or 50x50mm base. I decided to use the miniature I have been given by my Secret Santa (thanks a lot again, grntmepower! :)) and she was looking attractive enough to stir even coldblooded Lizardmen so that they wanted to capture her :) We had to place our respective markers in the middle of no man's land and then scatter them. Then we rolled a dice and as I won the roll-off I was to pick what was the primary and what was the secondary objective. I naturally chose my own marker as primary objective! But as you can see on the diagram, both scattered towards my own deployment zone.

To claim an objective a player needed to position a unit (or part of it) in 6" away from the objective. If both players had units close to the marker, then the one with higher static combat result (ranks, banners, bsb, etc.) would claim the objective. 3 battle points were granted for taking Primary objective, 2 for Secondary and points were shared if no one could claim the objective.

Ethan was my opponent this time. We haven't had an opportunity to play before but I can tell you right now that he is a very nice person to play against and it was yet another very pleasant game for me. Thanks a lot, Ethan!  

Ethan brought his stalwart Lizardmen. I was very curious about the outcome as I haven't played against new Lizards yet. They were always a tough opponent for me and I had no doubts it would be the case here as well. But then would it be because of their new toys or due to old tricks?

Below is the army list Ethan brought to the game, obviously, with some details lacking as I don't remember all the items  

Lizardmen - Army List

Slann, level 4, BSB, Knows all signature spells
Oldblood on Coldone, Piranha Blade, 1+ armor save (I think)
Scar Veteran on foot
Skink Priest - Lore of Heavens

30 Saurus Warriors, Full Command
30 Saurus Warriors, Full Command
10 Skink Skirmishers
10 Skink Skirmishers
10 Skink Cohort
6 Saurus Cavalry
5 Chameleon Skinks
5 Chameleon Skinks
Bastiladon (bound spell shooty thing)
Stegadon Ancient (lots of blowpipes)

Game 82 - Beastmen - 2013/10/26

Greetings!

This is the first report from the games I played during Castle Assault 2013 tournament that took place in Newcaslte.

The first game of Castle Assault was Dawn Attack. The scenario followed the rules from the rulebook with following modifications:

1. If you had 1 or more standards in your opponent's deployment zone at the end of the game you got 2 Battle Points.
2. If you kept your deployment zone clear of enemy standards at the end of the game you got 2 Battle Points.
3. If you had more standards in your opponent's deployment zone than they had in yours then you got 1 Battle Point. If there are the same number of standards then 0.5 BP each.

As you can see it payed off to have units with standards and keep them moving too!

In the first game of the tournament I played against Jonathon and his Beastie Boyz. Jonathon traveled from Queensland to participate in the event and I had a pleasure to meet him earlier this year when I played at the tournament organized by Queensland Northern Knights. Back then our game was unresolved as it ended up with a draw. I think we both were eager to find out if one of us can prevail this time :) I was very happy to start the tournament with a game against Jonathon as he is a gentleman and a great player. I was sure I could have a challenging game played in great, sporting spirit!

Johnathon brought different army than the one he had at QNK Joust 9.0 Here is his list (from memory):

Beastmen of Chaos - Army List

Great Brayshaman - Lore of the Beast
Brayshaman - Lore of the Beast
Brayshaman - Lore of the Beast
BSB, Beast Banner

40 Gors, Full Command
25 Bestigors, Full Command
25 Bestigors, Full Command
5 Ungor Riders
Tuskgor Chariot
Tuskgor Chariot
Tuskgor Chariot
5 Harpies
5 Harpies
5 Harpies