Disclaimer: I wasn´t planning on writing a report because during tournaments I am always experiencing heavy “tunnel-vision” which makes me focus only on the game and nothing else – like taking pictures. But to give you a holistic view of us 3 i write down short summaries for my games without pictures.
I decided to play a W’adrhun infantry-tribal army without any dinosaurs as i wanted to play with the terrain for once, and not against it. Unfortunately i had a lot of stuff to do before the tournament so i
didn´t manage to play a single test-game with this list. But at least in my head everything made sense! Fast – Aggressive – Turn 2 scoring for near objectives with Warbred in the Chieftains Warband – a lot of Cleave for the Meta and hopefully enough Volume but only 12 Activations and no Spells.
Wadrhun marching to Ljubljana [2000/2000]
The W'adrhŭn
== (Warlord) Matriarch Queen [160]: Conquest, Roar of the Awe'khwge, Vision
* Warbred (3) [180]:
* Chosen of Conquest (4) [260]:
* Hunters (3) [150]:
* Braves (3) [125]:
== Chieftain [130]: Death, Death's Gaze, History
* Veterans (4) [210]:
* Braves (3) [125]:
* Slingers (3) [150]:
* Warbred (3) [180]:
== Scion of War [130]:
* Chosen of War (3) [200]:Round 1 vs. Siccoro | Divide and Conquer
A super nice dude from Slovenia. He played City States where i was most afraid of as normally their Chariots decimate my MSUs too fast to be effective…
His list:
=== The Last Argument of Kings ===
Pole with horses [2000/2000]
The City States
== Warlord Polemarch [135]: Primodynamic Globe, Inscription of Lighter Alloys
* Thorakites 4 [170]: Minotaur Thyrean Auxiliary
* Talos 1 [270]: Mask of Eris
* Phalangites 7 [325]: Dorilates, Sacred Band Veterans
* Satyroi 3 [150]:
== Ipparchos [130]: Blades of Eakides
* Companion Cavalry 3 [140]:
* War Chariots Flogobollon//Skorpios 2 [270]: Skorpios 2
* Companion Cavalry 3 [140]:
* War Chariots Flogobollon//Skorpios 2 [270]: Skorpios 2Not much happened until Turn 3. My Slingers destroyed one Chariot but then a chain reaction started to begin. A MSU Warbred wasn’t able to destroy one Chariot with 6 Wounds left. I needed to win an uninspired clash to charge the next Chariot and escape a charge in my flank from his Companion Cavalry but 16 Attacks with Cleave 3 (i chanted war) where not enough. I ate the charge and although in forest, without impacts, he clashed and oneshot my Warbred. My Hunters managed to kill 2 stands of his Thorakites but he succeeded on a March-Charge for a 5 which later locked my CoW out of the battle – high risk & high reward! He controlled both center zones as i was not able to get onto the zones with my CoC or Veterans. He outranged and outzoned me pretty hard and with his Strategic-Deck move and also a lost supremacy he controlled the tempo. His Phalangites came in position at the Zone with him being able to later kill my MQ with her CoC.
It wasn´t even a game as i managed to just score 2 points on one backward zone. I don´t want to blame dice or statistics but with no power left (i later lost my other unit Warbred to his Satyroi) I conceded at turn 5 as I wasn´t able to create scoring.
His Talos stood his ground and only suffered 1 wound during the course of the game and his Phalangites where just too much of a deal to break.
I think if i won my flanks, and would have had the opportunity to threaten the center zones we would have had a game. To be honest i maybe should have brought my “blocks” on the flank and my double Warbred in the center as they would have been less weakened by the chariots because the MQ could have healed my CoC back up but it just feels bad to bring your blocks on the flanks – but maybe in this game and with this terrain placement it would have been the right call. My lack of experience vs. City States charged a heavy toll this game.
Round 2 vs. Columbo55 | Off-Balance
Also a great dude from Slovenia who tried to make a Trebuchet working in his 100k. It was a nice game but the dice clearly didn´t favor him.
His list:
=== The Last Argument of Kings ===
||
|| Pf pf, metak, metak [2000/2000]
|| The Hundred Kingdoms
|| [object Object]
||
||
|| == Noble Lord [120]: Dynastic Ally, Armor of Dominion, Weapon Master, Graceful Combatant
||
|| * Household Guard 6 [275]: Armsmaster
||
|| * Longbowmen 4 [170]:
||
|| * Men at Arms 3 [110]:
||
|| * Trebuchet 1 [200]:
||
||
|| == Warlord Imperial Officer [130]: Standard of Steel
||
|| * Gilded Legion 6 [280]:
||
|| * Men at Arms 3 [110]:
||
|| * Hunter Cadre 3 [160]:
||
|| * Men at Arms 3 [110]:
||
||
|| == Chapter Mage [105]: Gilded Rampart, School of Water
||
|| * Men at Arms 6 [230]: Seasoned VeteranAs in the first game not much happened until turn 3 where my CoC block managed to hit a 19″ march-charge (it´s on a rerollable 3 after chanting so its about ~89% chance so it´s not too lucky).
He played his Gilded Legion and Household Knights on one side, most of his MSUs on the other side and his Chapter Mage pretty much in the middle. My CoC destroyed all his MSUs and Longbowman and on the other side it was a stand-off between Veterans, CoW, Warbred on my side vs. his Legion, Household Knights and Trebuchet.
I think he failed one charge on 4 with rerolls which was kinda unlucky but i think it wouldn´t have changed the result of the game but definitely the Victory Points a bit.
Oh man if you look at the Trebuchet it looks so great! And i think, even as opponent it feels funny to play or play against but in the end it does just nothing… I think it made some wounds to the CoW and killed one stand of Veterans but besides that… i guess this really needs some rework. I think he played well but 100k are in a really hard spot right now.
And let me add that it was also just great to play with Colombo! I think end of Turn 4 i reminded him on my MQ supremacy before deckbuilding but on turn 5 i called it too late. But when the judge (shoutout to Ulverbite) came to clarify things he (Colombo) just said “It´s okay, just use it.” I don´t know if it would have changed the result but it´s important to mention that you all see just how fair/smooth the intent-gaming ,works even at a tournament, in Slovenia!!
Round 3 vs. Perko | Melee
Perkachu as he is called down in Ljubljana wanted to give his SK a call to arms and had me facing an a bit unusual list. We both were a bit exhausted as this was the 3rd and last match of the day so we had a prolonged talk through our armies and some glasses of water and a nice chat before we started playing. It was my first time playing against SK and – cheers to him – he really took his time to explain the rituals and deck manipulation with Farsight etc. etc.
His list:
=== The Last Argument of Kings ===
||
|| Mist [2000/2000]
|| Sorcerer Kings
||
||
|| == Warlord Maharajah [120]: Court of Air, Court of Earth
||
|| * Dhanur Disciples 3 [130]:
||
|| * Mahut 1 [240]:
||
|| * Steelheart Djinn 3 [170]:
||
|| * Trinavarta Chandavat 1 [240]:
||
|| * Ghols 3 [110]: Court of Earth
||
||
|| == Sorcerer [110]: Dancing Scimitar, Court of Earth
||
|| * Ghols 3 [110]: Court of Earth
||
|| * Trinavarta Chandavat 1 [240]:
||
||
|| == Raj [130]: Prijm Khanjar, Court of Air, Bound to the Elements
||
|| * Steelheart Djinn 4 [230]:
||
|| * Steelheart Djinn 3 [170]:The first few turns we had a bit of a shoot-off with my Slinger vs. one of his Birds. Also my Hunters were played super aggressively and nearly managed to kill his Ghols hosting a Sorcerer in turn 3 (1W was remaining before he could cast some heals).
Turn 3 gave me the opportunity to score 3 zones which gave me a huge lead. My CoC where hiding nasty behind a Rock but on a Zone whilst my Warbred started positioning to hammer his birds. On the other flank my Veterans positioned on the Zone just outside charging range for his Steelheart Djinns. The 4th round he needed to do sth. to prevent me frome extending my lead. I moved my Warbred forward to contest one zone whilst me scoring 2 others and him scoring 1.
Positioning was strongly in favor for me as i prepared counter-charging-ready units for all of his engagements. One Bird was already dead while my board was still full. With him having – i think ~14 cards including rituals – it was time to go as i wouldn´t survive the delay-game.
I didn´t feel like i needed the MQs supremacy yet but i planned on playing some aggressive moves to block his valuable charges.
This plan went well and i killed some stuff while locking him out of valuable charges for his Steelheart Djinns. With my last activation and Deadly Blades ready to be chanted i activated my Veterans and went for the Mahut. He told me 3 times how tanky this model is and showed me his profile but i was sure i had some chances to oneshot him. (i had additional 15 Impacts from Death’s Gaze) and Flurry on 3´s.
Well, lets say it worked. I hit about 9 Impacts where he saved 5 and my Chieftain hit all his attacks with Cleave 2 while my Veterans hit 12 of their 13 attacks. So 18 hits – 6 vs D2 and 12 vs. D3 – with some 6s being rolled, that triggered deadly blades, were enough to bring him down to i think 2 remaining wounds. Oblivious didn´t help from his 18 suffered wounds so he succumbed to bad morale. Right after his Mahut was eradicated he conceded the game as he was unable to catch up in points anymore.
Pfuh what a game. I think i caught him on the wrong foot with my early aggression. We talked after the game and we agreed that he made one major missplay when he brought his Raj with the Steelheart Djinns in 4 models wide. If he brought them in 3 wide, he would have been more flexible and maybe able to catch my CoC one turn earlier. Also he said he underestimated the damage of my units and that i wasn´t afraid to bring the fight to him which crippled his positioning.
Conclusion
Wow! What a great tournament. Every game was fun to play and the tabletop-vibe was felt all day long around the location. Great people, great games and nice chats! In addition they had incredible price support! This is not taking as granted by anyone of us but highly appreciated! We are really looking forward playing more Conquest down in Slovenia!
Although i wasn´t able to go for 3-0 (or 5-0 etc. which i always aim for when playing tournaments but which never happens) i had a lot of fun with my list. Hunters really caught my attention. After these 3 games i consider them superior to Slingers as they´re just better in listbuilding and their Loose Formation/Sureshot/AP(1)/Deadly Shot ruleset with a possible threatrange of 37″ in turn 2 is just bonkers. There is just no hiding but behind some forest. They also don´t need to hide inside forests – like slingers – and care less for magic. I advice every W’adrhun player who hasn´t tested them yet to do so! Don´t listen to the voice of the internet. At least they really fit my playstyle.
Also i have to say i didn´t miss my Thunder Riders at any point during the tournament. Those Forests and Ponds and <insert hindering terrain here> are not really missed. The Warbred were used to fill in for doing the TRs job and they dide quite well!
I think the only problem i encountered sometimes was that hosting 3 different cults is semi-strong. I think i would either go for the Chieftain with War or maybe don´t care about turn 2 scoring and run a Scion of Conquest Warband instead of my Chieftain.