last updated:
21.08.08 | 19:43 gmt
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The View From the Bottom
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This report details the five games which I played at the Mansfield Maul II... I've called this report the view from the bottom 'cos that's where, unfortunately, I spent most of the tournament - on the bottom tables! Things were not supposed to be like that but hey, a new Warhammer edition, and no previous games under the new rules does not bode well does it??
Anyway, onto the gubbins...
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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 6th
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unavailable
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The Host of K'rak n'Gor
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1 General, Daemon Prince
1 Bloodletter Champion
7 Bloodletters with standard and musician
8 Flesh Hounds of Khorne
1 Plaguebearer Champion
15 Plaguebearers with standard and musician
5 Flamers of Tzeentch
6 Harpies
1 Chaos Spawn
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opponent:
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army:
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Matt Oakley
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Slaanesh Chaos Warrior
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Matt was first to move and as you would expect came charging straight across the table, his six Knights, ten Marauder Horsemen, Chariot and Dragon Ogres moving as fast as they could towards my ranks. My first turn did not go well. The majority of my army was out of charge range, the only unit which did charge were my Daemonettes on Steeds - straight into an Exalted Champion, so I was hoping that my superior eleven casting dice might help cause some damage, but as my Pink Horrors lined up a nasty spell, they miscast! Rolling a double one (AGAIN!!!) was not a good move, and several horrors vanished in a cloud of smoke (exploding does that to you). In the combat, my Daemons were held by the Exalted Champion to fight another turn.
Matt's second turn saw most of his army charging into my Daemons from various angles, front and flank (not good!). His Dragon Ogres hit my Pink Horrors who seemed to vanish without even a murmur, charging through and destroying them in the first round of combat. The third turn saw all the previously unengaged units charging into each other. Matt's Knights and Marauder horsemen charging my Plaguebearers, while my Daemon Prince and Bloodletters charged into the Chaos Spawn; and casting the Fiery Sword of Rhuin on himself, the Daemon Prince shredded the most of the Spawn in the initial combat, and with the help of the Bloodletters, reduced the three bases to none!! What a spell!!
However, elsewhere things were not going well, as the charging Knights and Marauder Horse reduced my Plaguebearers to a pile of Maggots. The fourth and fifth turns saw me trying to cast spells to get at least some victory points, and when my Bloodletters charged into Matt's chariot, which was defeated in combat and fled, I thought things might look a bit better; but when he defeated my Daemonettes on Steeds, and his Exalted Champion and my Daemon Prince exchanged handbags at dawn, that was it.
I was left with one figure on the table - My Daemon Prince - and Matt ran out a clear winner, 2590 victory points to 295! Well, my first 6th edition game had not gone the way I had hoped - but the only way now was up (or so I mistakenly thought!!)
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Undivided Daemons:
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Slaanesh Chaos Warrior:
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398 points
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3,000 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Dave Thompson
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Khorne Daemons
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My second game pitched me against a fellow SMDS (well, SMDSS) player, Dave Thompson, and his Khorne Daemon army. This should go slightly better, I thought.
The game consisted of much bloody combat, and both sides took a good old hammering, however, I was again trying to rely on my magic to help win the day, and against the Khorne Daemons it just does not happen! What really won Dave the game was his expert use of two Exalted Daemons on Juggernauts of Khorne - which, in combination with two large units of Bloodletters, saw off all of my units and, again, at the end of the game I was left to count my remaining figures on ONE FINGER. (Guess which finger that was?)
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Undivided Daemons:
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Khorne Daemons:
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345 points
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2,490 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Ian Thornhill
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Empire
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My third game was against the Empire army of Ian Thornhill, from the Nottingham Games Club. The first turn went to Ian, who set about unleashing a devastating volley of gunfire into my ranks, the unit of Bloodletters getting the brunt, and being reduced to less than half strength soon enough.
After this initial worry, which did not give me much hope, things turned around; and, using a mixture of magic and a well placed charge by my Plaguebearers, I managed to destroy a detachment of Halberdiers leaving their parent unit open to a charge in the next turn. This threat brought out a move from the nearby swordsmen, who tried to get into a position to help, but to no avail, as my Daemonettes on Steeds came charging into their flank, and broke them, running them down as they fled.
My Flamers, having not done much for the rest of the tournament, now moved down the left flank, and, charging into another detachment, ran it down after they failed their fear test. Everything now seemed to be going my way, until a unit of Knights Panther - which I had judged to be out of range (bad mistake) - charged into the rear of my Bloodletters, breaking through and running them down, but not quite managing to hit my Plaguebearers.
My Pink Horrors, who had put themselves in a flank protecting position to the Plaguebearers, now charged into the Knights Panther, and, after defeating them in combat (the knights were outnumbered by a Fear causing enemy), pursued them to the edge of the table, but not far enough to catch them, and they subsequently rallied. I was Victorious, but what I hoped would be a large win, was not as big as I had hoped (those damn Knights - why could they not have run off the table?), but still, I had won by 1,647 victory points to 725.
Well, my first win under 6th edition - it can only get better. So, for the first day I had managed two losses and a win. It could have been worse!
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Undivided Daemons:
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Empire:
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2,574 points
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863 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Mike Grogan
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Lizardmen
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Day two saw me pitched against
Andrew Chesney but, on the table next to us two members of the NBTS had been drawn together, and asked if we would swop. Being the coward that he his (hehe - see you at the club soon!), Andy decided this option would be better than facing my Daemonic horde, and so he jumped at the chance.
This meant I would be facing the Lizardmen of Mike Grogan, as mentioned from the NBTS. Mike took the first move and advanced fairly cautiously towards me, with my superior dispel dice more than eliminating any magic he tried to throw at me. In my first turn, I took a gamble. Three Kroxigors had advanced down my right flank, but were easily within charge range of my mounted Daemonettes - who I believed should be able to cause some damage. So, taking the gamble I threw them into the Kroxigors, but several excellent dice rolls later, I had not inflicted one wound upon them with sixteen attacks! Bloody hell, bad gamble eh? The Kroxigors, in return, smashed the Daemonettes to pieces, and, with their overrun move, managed to hit my Flamers who were about to advance down the flank. The best laid plans and all that...
With Mike unable to cast any magic, I was hoping to turn the tide with my own spells, but again, several miscasts meant my Daemon Prince was unable to cast for several turns and when, after eating my Flamers for breakfast, the Kroxigors manoeuvred into position and charged my Pink Horrors in the rear, there was only one unit left who could cast, and their spells wee dispelled by Mike.
My Bloodletters faired slightly better after charging a unit of Skink skirmishers who ran away, and continued fleeing off the table but the Plaguebearers were now left isolated,and were charged by a large unit of Saurus with a Slann-Mage for company. They lost two combats and, fleeing out of range of their pursuers, managed to rally each turn, in time for the next charge!
By the end, I again had very few figures left and Mike won 1,760 VPs to 132.
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Undivided Daemons:
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Lizardmen:
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316 points
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3,000 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Dean Mellors
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Vampire Counts
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My fifth and final game (thank God!) was against yet another NBTS player, this time the Vampire Counts army of Dean Mellors. As with my second game, this was a very combat orientated combat, with very little magic being cast by either side.
The game saw us both move our armies into the middle of the table, where a major combat involving virtually every unit took place. My most notable victory was when the Bloodletters managed to hold and, three turns later, defeat two units of Wight cavalry that had charged them.
With his massive unit of Zombies, Dean managed to wear down my Pink Horrors and after destroying them charged into my Plaguebearers, who managed to hold their ground for two turns; this allowed my Flamers, who had moved into a flanking position to charge the Zombies, but it didn't matter much. The final result was a minor victory for Dean, with him collecting 1,224 VPs to my 1,073 - a very bloody game, with lots of death and destruction to end the tournament on a high note!
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Undivided Daemons:
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Vampire Counts:
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1,287 points
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2,112 points
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Taking Stock
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Congratulations to Mr
Adrian McWalterwho ran out the winner and also best General. would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr
John Dale and Mr
Rob Lane for their work (not that John did much!) in getting the tournament together. I think everyone who went enjoyed the event, and I would advise those of you who have not been, get yourselves to the next SMDS tourney!
Cheers to everyone who attended, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did (yes, even coming 51st out of 54 can be enjoyable), and showed their support to the SMDS.
See you next time!
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Wednesday, 07 January 2009
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