Month: August 2019

GAME 42: SALAMANDERS

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Before the tournament began, I was joking with the other Sally player that we’d have to have a go sometime, but I assured him my money was on his meta build. Lo, as if summoned, it’s The Other Sallies in the final round.

BLOODFIRE GAME 42: SALAMANDERS

Salamanders 2350

Salamander Primes Horde – Brew of Strength
Ancients Regiment*
Ancients Regiment*
Ghekkotah Skyraiders Horde – Jar of the Four Winds
Ancients on Rhinosaurs Horde – Potion of the Caterpillar
Ancients on Rhinosaurs Horde
Agnih-Bhanu, Greater Fire Elemental
Lekelidon
Lekelidon
Clan Lord on Raptor – Banner of the Griffin*
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Critter’s Call (8), Heal (3), Shroud of the Saint
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Martyr’s Prayer (7), Bane Chant (2)
*Inspiration of the Ancients Formation

<fassbender-perfection.gif>

Gentle readers, this is peak lizard performance. Given how poorly he did to face me in the middle-ish of the pack should also say how much trouble even this has – and he said as much, as a new player to KOW who picked the army he liked the look of but was feeling the low ceiling to the faction. All the same, real smart player who is far more practiced then me, so I knew my sleep-deprived generalship was going to hold me back even more than my derpy list. We played OG Loot, and Bloodfire went first again (4 of 5 games!)

Round 5 we played on The Glade of the Gryphicorn table.

BATTLE

Battlines! Real Talk: I can’t stop the Rhinosaurs, so my goal is to delay them as long as possible and try to punch the center out of the list, then grind the Rhinos and end the game with 2 tokens. No pressure.

Bloodfire 1: I control the right flank, so look to lock that down; sadly, my Jarraiders can’t waver a Lekelidon

Salamanders 1: His two Leklidons lucky waver my Jarraiders on the right; Rhinos envelop

Bloodfire 2: The Ancients at the center his line take significant abuse but hold (Clan Lord’s Rally(2) is real)

Salamanders 2: Wounded Ancients bounce off my Courage Fire Elementals, his Jarraiders + Agnih mangle the CLOFD, somebody hurts my Agnes, and the Clan Lord shoots into my Lekidon and wavers it

Bloodfire 3: Central Ancients die to Fire Elementals + Agnes, CLOFD is Martyr’d down and focuses the Prime horde, one of his Lekelidons is dropped by Jarraiders (two turns late)

Salamanders 3: Because I didn’t rotate my lower left Fire Elementals, they cop Rhinodons in the front and flank, evaporating and putting the Rhinos into me a turn ahead of schedule (I am totally screwed now); Primes tear apart the Courage Fire Elementals, the CLOFD is torn into by his Clan Lord, and Agnes begins to absorb fire from his Agnih + possibly Jarraiders

Bloodfire 4: My Lekidon + Fire Elementals charge into the Primes, CLOFD counters the Clan Lord, Agnes removes his Martyr Priest and the right is thoroughly chaffed up with Sprites breathing on the remaining Lekidon with poor results; my Jarraiders shove some damage on his other Priest

Bloodfire 4: The Primes hold on 13 damage

Salamanders 4: Rhinodons + Primes remove the blocking Lekidon, shooting brings the central Fire Elementals to 9 and Agnes to 11 and kills my Martyr-Priest, the Clan Lord smacks the CLOFD around and on the right his Ancients waver some Sprites

Bloodfire 5: My Jarraiders murder his other Mage-Priest, the CLOFD swings again at the Clan Lord, Agnes chunks 5 damage off his Agnih and the smoldering Fire Elementals swing into the Primes … for only 4 damage (17 total), which is enough to waver them

Salamanders 5: Rhinodons flank the CLOFD, Agnih evaporates the Fire Elementals, his Jarraiders roll hot fire and drop my Jarraiders, and his Clan Lord shoots the 1″ gap between Primes and Fire Elementals to charge and kill Agnes; also those Ancients killed their Sprites *golf claps* (Agnih has both of his tokens at this point)

Bloodfire 6: Fuuuuuuuuuu— The last of the Fire Elementals run over his Lekidon on their way outta here (with a token), as Sprites and characters scramble for safety

Salamanders 6: Clan Lord charges my Mage Priest, shots are lined up …

Salamanders 6: … and the Herald dies one last time, but Jarraiders can’t stop my scoring Fire Elementals and the De 5+ Priest holds

While I didn’t think I would win this one, I didn’t think it would be quite so crushing of a

BLOODFIRE LOSS

All the same, this was a stunningly fitting way to end the event, after slogging through four evil armies helmed by great dudes to play the other Salamander and have them hand me my fiery butt. Also note that this is the first and last time Bloodfire has played against Salamanders. So damn narrative it gives me chills.

I’m not sure what my final record was (2-1-2 or 1-2-2) but as always for me, all but my last games were quite close, which meant low scores either way. I ended up with 44/105 battle, although I’m sad to see I was tanked on painting, tying with a partially painted army for worst paint. That’s … really frustrating, however I guess all the more reason to move on from this army. People either get it or they don’t, and more often than not paint judges don’t (7 points here isn’t as bad as what I got at Unplugged 2017!) Crunching the numbers, it wouldn’t have changed my placing much either way, still putting me in the bottom third.

Anyhoo, that’s Orc Town GT done and finally dusted! Good time in a far away ocean-side land, and officially the end of the road for Bloodfire. I’ll do a retrospective when I get the chance to take some lightbox photos of the army, but I won’t be playing them for a while, or if I do it’s mostly to mess around with KOW 3E when somebody needs a loaner army.

GAME 41: RATKIN

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There’s a magical thing that happens at most tournaments for me, where I’ll chat a person up a whole lot on Day 1, typically about how much I like their army’s models or because it does something cool or whatever, and then get to play them on Day 2. Enter the rat army made entirely out of metal Skaven …

BLOODFIRE GAME 41: RATKIN

Ratkin 2350

Tunnel Slaves Regiment
Tunnel Slaves Regiment
Tunnel Slaves Regiment
Tunnel Slaves Horde
Shock Troops Horde
Shock Troops Horde
Blight Horde
Blight Horde
Clawshots Troop
Clawshots Troop
Clawshots Troop
Tunnel Runners Horde*
Tunnel Runners Horde*
Weapon Team – Storm of Lead
Weapon Team – Storm of Lead
Weapon Team – Storm of Lead
Night Terror*
Night Terror
*Turbo Runners Formation

First game of Orc Town Day 2 was against a great Canadian dude with a legit horde of rats – and yep, no inspiring at all. Whoa. I think we played Ransack, but spoilers, it’s all going to come down to the middle three-point objective. Bloodfire grabbed the initiative again.

Round 4 we played on … a table I forgot to take a photo of and then lost the photo of when I went back. Ah well.

BATTLE

Battlines! Worth noting that his horde order (L2R) is blight, blight, shock (behind blight), shock, slaves (behind stormies), as his blight are nightmares for me (ensnare is horrific for 4+ Me, and my CS2+ means nothing)

Bloodfire 1: *squishing sounds* Red markers are 2 points, green are 1, blue is 3 (I think)

Ratkin 1: His Clawshots all hammered Agnes whenever possible, with this 5 damage opening salvo giving me some fear for her safety!

Bloodfire 2: Lots of fire loiters in that field, ready to grind for the center; Agnes and Sprites start breathing on the right Shock Troops as combat approaches (Agnes gets Martyred up and will continue to be so all game long); Jarraiders and Lekelidon shooting goes into uninspired Weapon Teams with medicore results o_o

Ratkin 2: Sprite death, Night Terrors outflank, Agnes gets shot

Bloodfire 3: Lekelidon shoots + delays, Fire Elementals brace for the Blight grind, right Shock Troops die to I think combat not shooting; two Weapon Teams eat it

Ratkin 3: Lekelidon is mobbed by double Blight hordes, Agnes is pushed to 10 damage but big girl don’t care (-/20!)

Ratkin 3: Blight reform thusly, as the rat general laments some of his Shock Troop / Blight layering, as the Shock are left out of the action

Bloodfire 4: The only way I can deal with Blight to the front is overwhelming force, so two Fire Elemental hordes it is (it doesn’t work); Slaves also hold against Fire Elementals + commando Sprites; Agnes nukes the last Weapon Team as the CLOFD + Jarraiders slam the Shock Troops – you’ll notice Agnes was healed for 6 but the Martyr-Priest didn’t take any, that die appears later when I caught the mistake (she was never targeted anyway)

Ratkin 4: Shock Troops and Blight combo a Fire horde, leveling it; Sprites are also merc’d by Slaves :'[

Ratkin 4: Thick brown line with Runners idling behind it!

Bloodfire 5: Fire Elementals end the Blight and the Shock Troops, the latter with Agnes’ help, while the CLOFD + Jarraiders burn down the Slave horde

Ratkin 5: Tunnel Runners hinder-charge into Agnes (and bounce), Slave regiments start to stream down the field (including booping some Fire Elementals for 1 damage), Blight tear into the central Fire Elementals, left Night Terror finally starts making a play for the left objective

Bloodfire 6: Fire Elementals burn into the Blight (and get Martyred down), Agnes + the backline Fire Elementals break the Tunnel Runners, other Fire Elementals smoke the Slave regiment, CLOFD cooks the Night Terror lurking on the right flank, the Jarraiders grab 2 VP and tickle some Tunnel Runners, annnd the left Ember Sprites shoot and waver the left Night Terror (!)

Ratkin 6: It’s in the rats’ paws now, and the only moves that matter are Slaves grabbing 2 VP and the second Tunnel Runners + Blight combo-ing the Nv -/19 Fire Elementals

Ratkin 6: The Fire Elementals crumble on 15 damage, snatching victory from a game that felt firmly in the Salamanders’ claws

BLOODFIRE LOSS

Awesome grind of a game against a very cool army and great opponent. Look forward to seeing him at upcoming events!

 

GAME 40: ABYSSAL DWARFS

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End of Orc Town Day 1 and it’s a familiar face:

BLOODFIRE GAME 40: ABYSSAL DWARFS

Abyssal Dwarfs + Forces of the Abyss 2350

Blacksouls Horde
Slave Orcs Horde
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Staying Stone*
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Pipes of Terror*
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Chalice of Wrath
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Orcish Skullpole
Abyssal Grotesques Horde – Brew of Haste
Slavedriver
Brakki Barka*
Ba’su’su the Vile
*Bhardoom! Formation
+
Tortured Souls Regiment
Abyssal Temptress with Wings

Third game of Orc Town Day 1 was against one of my favorite opponents (also from our sister club), with the upgunned version of an army I faced at Crossroads last year. I barely understood what Barka and Ba’su’s are capable of, but as it turned out, super-individuals are indeed pretty annoying. I couldn’t tell you what we played – frankly, it may have been Kill! Whatever we were doing, it involved violence and the Dwarfs going first.

Round 3 we played on the Town of Yahbuttia table.

BATTLE

Battlines!

Abyssal Dwarfs 1: The formation Halfbreeds are the rightmost two, in flying V’s near Barka

Bloodfire 1: *limbering up*

Abyssal Dwarfs 2: That was fast! Sprites die, wound dice go everywhere

Bloodfire 2: Gargoyles die, as does a formation Halfbreed I’m guessing because I hosed it with shooting and then surge-charged in, AND the left-flanking Halfbreeds thanks to hot Jarraider dice

Abyssal Dwarfs 3: The next wave hits …

Abyssal Dwarfs 3: … taking down the Jarraiders and the Martyr Priest (sorry Agnes!), and otherwise bouncing

Bloodfire 3: Agnes tries to deliver some pain before her imminent death, the Tortured Souls are burnt down, Grots get punched, and in a surprise move, the leftmost Fire Elementals flank the Blacksouls, shattering them

Abyssal Dwarfs 4: Violence! You can see Ba’su’su bouncing around across my deployment zone all game, combo-charging everything

Abyssal Dwarfs 4: Agnes dies (curse you Barka!), as do the Grots’ Fire Elementals

Bloodfire 4: The Slave Orcs get shot to hell, surge-charged and routed; meanwhile the Herald tries to boop a formation Halfbreed regiment, for that lucky pop (no dice)

Abyssal Dwarfs 5: Murder! Including the Slave Driver charging some Fire Elementals, his charges all dead

Abyssal Dwarfs 5: It’s mostly effective! Bloodfire right flank is run down, also Ba’su’su did 7! wounds to the CLOFD in one go O_O

Bloodfire 5: Lots of counter-charges, which mostly work (CLOFD should have just run forward and not even tried to deal with Ba’su’su … which is kind of messed up, given how big and expensive my monster is)

Abyssal Dwarfs 6: More fast murder!

Abyssal Dwarfs 6: Barka kills some Sprites, Halfbreeds kill the CLOFD

Bloodfire 6: Fire Elementals kill those Halfbreeds, other Fire Elementals face south for who knows why!

I kind of think this one came down to a right tidy …

BLOODFIRE DRAW

Which was a totally copacetic way to end Day 1, at more or less 50% against some great dudes. I’ll have Day 2 either late this week or next.

GAME 39: ORCS

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Woooo keeping up that reporting momentum! Here’s the next one:

BLOODFIRE GAME 39: ORCS

Orcs 2350

Greatax Horde
Longax Horde
Longax Horde
Skulks Troop*
Skulks Troop*
Skulks Troop*
Trolls Horde – Staying Stone
Gore Chariots Horde – Brew of Courage
Krudger on Ancient Winged Slasher – Blizzard (2), Blessing of the Gods
Godspeaker – Fireball (9), Drain Life (6), Bane Chant (2), Inspiring Talisman
Krusher on Gore*
Colossal Giant
War Drum
War Drum
*Skulk Stalkers Formation

Second game of Orc Town, and it’s Orcs again! I was pretty thrilled to be keeping it green, and against another great guy and sweet army – his was actually my favorite army, really awesome presence and I love the Shieldwolf orcs + Mierce monsters he used. The second round was Loot or a variant thereof, Bloodfire took the lead again.

Round 2 we played on Da Bone Yahd table.

BATTLE

Battlines!

Bloodfire 1: Central Skulks get cooked for vanguarding too far forward

Orcs 1: Left Skulks grab the loot and GTFO

Bloodfire 2: Right Skulks burn up, thin red line prepares for violence

Orcs 2: Sprites get jumped, Agnes takes a horde on the chin

Orcs 2: Mild Sprite death

Bloodfire 3: Triple charge on the central horde evaporates it; to the right, the Krusher gets punched by Fire Elementals while Sprites gum up everything and the Colossal Giant takes significant breath damage; Jarraiders continue to put 100% of their fire into the Ancient Slasher

Orcs 3: Wall of green crashes into central Fire Elementals; Trolls and Giant forced to deal with Ember Sprites

Orcs 3: All Sprites die, as do those Fire Elementals

Bloodfire 4: Agnes holds back one horde while Fire Elementals surge-flank the other (it goes poorly!); Giant falls to Fire Elementals + CLOFD, Trolls are held up by more Fire Elementals

Orcs 4: I prepare to lose my mind, as the Ancient Slasher charges the Martyr Priest, with a 2” overrun into the Herald and a 3” overrun into the rear of the Troll’s Fire Elementals

Orcs 4: Amazingly, the Ancient Slasher doesn’t swing the game, thanks to a 2” second overrun instead of 3” – still a terrible turn of events (and something I line up once every tournament) but I haven’t lost all my momentum (and my mind), just critical support staff

Bloodfire 5: Agnes tanks one more turn, but without healing she’s going down; the Lekelidon stalls the other horde, the Trolls get flanked and die, and the Ancient Slasher gest shot a lot, then surge-charged and murdered

Orcs 5: Fighting!

Orcs 5: It’s super effective! Agnes and Lekelidon bite it

Bloodfire 6: One Orc horde is killed by Fire Elementals, the other is wavered from all the shooting (it couldn’t be charged by the other Fire horde because of the blocking War Drum)

Orcs 6: The Chariots have a go at some Fire Elementals but I don’t think they get lucky, especially hindered

I don’t really remember how this ended up, but I sort of think it was a …

BLOODFIRE LOSS

Apart from the idiocy with the line of characters (…), this was a really satisfying game against an army I really like and a dude I’ve never played but seen around plenty of times (also he’s in our sister club). Yea Orcs!

GAME 38: ORCS

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Hail, ever faithful batrep readers! Salvage here, back to just shove a stake through this tournament report and put a bow on this blog. Sorry it’s been so long, but frankly my phone shuffles the order on all these photos, making my turn by turn documentation super hard to sort through. Combine that with how long ago this event was (June 1-2 in Cape Cod, MA) and there really aren’t that many details I can add to the photos. So strap in!

Salamanders 2350

Fire Elemental Horde – Brew of Courage
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ghekkotah Skyraiders – Jar of the Four Winds
Lekelidon
Herald – Banner of the Griffin
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Surge (8), Heal (3), Inspiring Talisman
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Martyr’s Prayer (7)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Heart-seeking Chant
Agnih-Bhanu, Greatest Fire Elemental

With 100 more points than usual and duplicates capped at four, I was finally pushed to paint up my Jarraiders and Lekelidon, two units I avoided simply because they’re actually in-meta and pretty great. Dropped the bane chant on the Priests, helping them stay focused, and picked up piercing for the CLOFD’s breath (16) – which was pretty sweet!

BLOODFIRE GAME 38: ORCS

Orcs 2350

Ax Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Ax Horde – Brew of Strength
Orclings Regiment
Orclings Regiment
Gore Riders Regiment – Staying Stone
Gore Chariots Horde
Krudger on Gore – Blade of Slashing
Krudger on Ancient Winged Slasher – Critter’s Call (8), Healing Brew
Godspeaker on Gore – Fireball (9), Heal (2), Weakness (2)
Wip the Half-Cast – Lightning Bolt (3)
Wip’s Playmates Horde
Colossal Giant
Colossal Giant
War Drum

First game of Orc Town and I’m up against the legendary Skull Face of the titular Orc Town army! Pretty rad way to start the event, and Orcs are always fun to scrum against. The first match was Invade, and Bloodfire got the jump on the greenskins, which is always helpful in movement-based scenarios (lulz, like all of them m’right?)

Every table at Orc Town was themed and had a bit of background and explained what the terrain was. Round 1 saw us on the War Kings National Cemetery.

BATTLE

Battlines!

Bloodfire 1

Orcs 1

Bloodfire 2: Preparing to receive Orcy violence

Orcs 2: Impact!

Orcs 2: So much Ember Sprite death; Agnes takes it on the chin (and then gets cleaned up next turn)

Bloodfire 3: Counter!

Bloodfire 3: Skull Face over the right took a hiding from those Fire Elementals, like very almost one-shotted him. Chariots have been taking focused fire from the Jarraiders and aren’t doing great

Orcs 3: Flanks and combo-charges!

Orcs 3: That hindered flank from the Ax doesn’t work out as planned (I don’t think it was double 1’s either, just horrible dice), but the fast Orc flank is free now … and the CLOFD got one-rounded by a Colossal Giant

Bloodfire 4: Yep, that’s a rear charge from Fire Elementals into that Ax horde ;D Bad times, also the Chariots are finished off by the Jarraider lords of dakka

Orcs 4: Agnes is flanked by Skull Face on Ancient Winged Slasher

Orcs 4: Even at zero damage, she can’t whether that brutality and folds; the Colossal Giant that a Fire horde has been fighting all game finally finishes them off

Bloodfire 5: Fire Elementals kill the wounded Giant and the mounted Krudger, Jarraiders flank Skull Face and drop him as well

Orcs 5: Late game grind continues; the Martyr Priest is finally popped

Bloodfire 6: Hordes push north of the line, Fire Elementals swing at the fresh Colossal because damages

Orcs 6: Wip’s Playmates have a go at the Fire horde as the Colossal sidesteps for the enemy half

After some finagling and measuring stuff, this ended up a …

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

Great violent game to start the tournament. Learned that Jarraiders are pretty awesome, didn’t learn a lot about Lekelidons tho since mine just fought Orclings for 5 turns -_-