last updated:
21.08.08 | 19:43 gmt
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Speed Painting Lessons
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Having not painted any figures since last October's
WPS GT
- when I cranked out a Brettonian army in ten days - I took the upcoming Mansfield Maul as an incentive to paint the Vampire Counts army I had kept in my cupboard for the last six months. This was going to be a squeeze; I had seven days to go and only had twenty Skeletons with spears and ten Zombies painted! In a frantic painting effort I managed to get my army finished, plus another twenty figures for raised units. Speed Painting Lessons anyone?
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organiser:
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venue:
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city:
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country:
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Mansfield
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United Kingdom
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system:
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event rules:
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Warhammer 5th
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unavailable
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The Blood Dragons of Ironville
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1 General, Blood Dragon Vampire Lord riding a Night Mare
1 Blood Dragon Vampire Thrall
1 Necromancer Champion
1 Wight Lord 8 Wight Cavalry riding Night Mares
1 Wight Lord 29 Zombies
1 Wraith 15 Skeleton Warriors with musician
23 Skeleton Warriors with magic standard and musician
12 Direwolves
1 Banshee
1 Black Coach with magic standard
2 Bat Swarms
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My designated Flank Force (if we drew the Flank Attack scenario) was the Black Coach, the large unit of Skeletons with Spears, The Necromancer & the Vampire Thrall.
Having not played with undead before I knew I needed a couple of practice games. The first one was against the Orcs & Goblins of
Petar Kanuritch which I lost by about 400pts. The second was against the High Elves of
Rob Lane in which I was completely annihilated. Not a good start for a fledgling Blood Dragon, but rather than put the toys back into the box then get the tried & trusted Wood Elves out I decided to persevere...
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opponent:
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army:
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Conrad Gonsalves
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Khorne Daemons
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My first game was against the Khorne Daemons of Conrad Gonsalves. I was originally in a Grudge Match against Ian Whittaker in this first round; Ian had been needling
Adrian McWalter (and myself to a lesser extent) on the WPS Forum for a few weeks so Adi asked me to relinquish the grudge so he could “batter” Ian – which he did in fine style. I offered Conrad the grudge explaining my lack of success so far and he accepted (he he).
Conrad's army comprised of his Daemon Prince, a unit of five Bloodcrushers, two units of about 16 Bloodletters, one led by a Champion and the other led by the battle standard bearer, two units of five Fleshounds and one unit of three Chaos Spawn.
Throwing for the scenario we drew Flank Attack and I would be the flanker. What ensued was a very bloodthirsty affair in which I was left with four models – My Vampire Lord, Black Coach, mounted Wight Lord and Wraith and Conrad had his Daemon Prince, a Fleshound and a Chaos Spawn. I won the game 2,292 points to 1,864 points giving me 2,500 tournament points (the maximum you could score for a game was 3,000 points). I had broken my duck and was off to a reasonable start.
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Vampire Counts:
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Khorne Daemons:
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2,500 points
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1,500 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Dan Heelan
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Skaven
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I was drawn against the Skaven of Dan Heelan from Battle Force Pompey for this game. Dan’s a really nice guy and earned my “Best Opponent” mark. Dan’s army comprised a large unit of Clanrats led by his General; he threw a six for his Skavenbrew, this unit was going to smart! Attached to this were two Poison Wind Globadiers. A Grey Seer led a large unit of Clanrats with an attached Warp Fire Thrower, there was also a block of Plague Monks led a by a Plague Priest screened by five Plague Censer Bearers. There were also three Rat Ogres led by a Pack Master, two units of Giant Rats led by Packmasters, a rat Swarm, two Jezzail Teams and a Doomwheel completed the verminous collection.
Again we threw for the scenario and again it was Flank Attack and again I would be the Flanker. Without regard to personal safety I launched myself at the verminous horde. A co-ordinated flank attack on the second turn saw my Vampire Lord and the Black Coach rout his Generals unit and run them down. Dan valiantly attempted to claw back the battle but when my Skeletons with the Banner of Defiance charged his Stormvermin in the rear it was all over bar the mopping up. It was not all one sided though, Dan did manage to cause quite a bit of damage to my army, killing the Black Coach, Wight Cavalry, Zombies, Direwolves, Bat Swarms and Banshee.
I won the game 2,482 points to 1,429 points giving me a Total Victory, earning me the maximum 3,000 points available.
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Vampire Counts:
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Skaven:
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3,000 points
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965 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Alan Thompson
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Bretonnians
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The previous game had put me into third place and I was drawn against the Bretonnians of the rightly respected Alan Thompson, also of Battle Force Pompey, on table two. On table one was my club colleague
Adrian McWalter with his Blood Dragons facing Robert Sedgeman, another Battle Force Pompey dude, with his Brettonians. Looks like tables one and two would be the Siege of Mousillon featuring the Blood Dragons of the SMDS against the Bretonnians of BFP!
This game was going to be very difficult; Vampire Counts is Alan's main army and he had just won Best General at the Baltimore Grand Tourney. I played this game like I had never been in a tourney before and Alan gave me a rightly deserved thrashing, killing every unit apart from the small unit of Skeletons and my Necromancer. I managed to pull a few points back and even had a few good chances; on the last turn, managing to wound his general with a Wight weapon, I threw a one for the amount of wounds. Darn! In my last magic phase I Gaze of Nagashed his general's unit and he failed the panic test, but the Knightly Discipline re-roll soon dashed my hopes.
Alan won the game 3,082 points to my 909 points; I earned 705 tournament points from the game. I played this game over and over in my head that evening, cringing at the mistakes I made. Oh well, hopefully it’s a lesson learnt.
On table one though,
Adrian McWalter redressed the balance in the Siege of Mousillon by inflicting the sort of defeat on Robert Sedgeman that was inflicted on me.
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Vampire Counts:
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Bretonnians:
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705 points
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3,000 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Ian Whittaker
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Tzeentch Chaos Warriors
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The previous game drops me to 13th place but yahoo - I am up against the Tzeentch Warriors of Ian Whittaker! I’m going to get my game against him after all!
Ian's army comprised a Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord in a unit of 12 Chaos Warriors, a Tzeentch Sorcerer in a Chariot pulled by Disks, a Tzeentch Champion and Battle Standard Bearer in a unit of five Knights, a unit of 16 Marauders led by a Chaos Warrior, a Chaos Warrior Chariot, twelve Chaos Hounds and five Harpies.
Again we draw Flank Attack and I again will be the flanker. I commit my main force too early and very nearly hand Ian the game on a plate but claw back and kill every figure in his army. I capitalise well on a mistake Ian makes when he Witch Flights his Lord into my Black Coach and I add my unit with the Banner of Defiance to the combat, easily beating the Lord on combat resolution then running him down with the Coach.
I won the game 3,100 points to 1,518 points, earning me 3,000 tournament points.
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Vampire Counts:
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Tzeentch Chaos Warrior:
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3,000 points
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1,000 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Wood Elves
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The rout of Ian's Tzeentch Warriors puts me in 8th place and I’m back on the top tables to face the Wood Elves of
Martin Bunting for the last round. Martin's army comprises his General, two level two Mages, five Glade Riders led by a Champion, five Warhawk Riders led by a Champion, two units of 20 Archers, five Wardancers, five Scouts, five Waywatchers led by a Champion, five Dryads and a Treeman.
Again we threw Flank Attack; in four games me or my opponent has thrown a five on a D6 for the scenario. I give it a “Bloody hell, that’s the fourth five we have thrown in five games!” Martin also has already played two Flank Attacks, so we decide to re-roll and abide by that result. We throw a Pitched Battle. Wood Elves is my main army so I know pretty much what to expect and so I go for a gamble. I throw my Vampire Lord out in front of the army on the first turn and Martin takes the bait. Twenty archers, five Waywatchers and seventeen arrows from the Hail of Doom thud into him and he emerges unscathed. Everything else hits the Black Coach, killing the horses.
Again I lose most of the Wight Cavalry to a charge from the Dryads and his General, but next turn back the remaining cavalry up with the smaller unit of Skeletons, win the combat by the musician bonus and run down his Dryads but do not catch his General. Martin valiantly pulls points back but a last turn effort by me sees him left with only his Warhawk Riders, Wardancers and Waywatchers.
I win the game 2,595 points to 979 points, earning me another 3,000 tournament points.
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Vampire Counts:
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Wood Elves:
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3,000 points
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740 points
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Taking Stock
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Winning four out of my five games, I have managed a total 12,205 League Points from a possible 15,000 which I am dead chuffed about, considering the lack of success I had in the only two other games I had played using the army. This score gives me the 4th best Generalship score of the event. I also get 2,900 points for army selection plus a bonus 1,350 points for the army theme. The sportsmanship scores ranged from a lowest of 1,750 to a highest of 3,250; my sportsmanship is a respectable 2,750. For painting I receive 2,500 from a possible 2,500, and this gives me a total score of 21,355, putting me in second place. Team-mate
Adrian McWalter comes in first with 23,800 points and another team mate,
John Dale, comes in third place with 20,809 points.
The Sheffield & Mansfield Dragon Slayers hold all top five positions, what a club!
See you next time!
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