GAME 19: DWARFS

On November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Another round, another clubmate. In this case Senator Rossi, who I havent played in over a year Id reckon?

BLOODFIRE GAME 19: DWARFS

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Brew of Haste
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ankylodon Battle Platform – firebolts
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge (8), Heal (3)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Dwarfs 2000

Berserkers Troop
Ironclad Horde – [Magic Item?]
Ironguard Regiment – CS1/D5
Ironguard Regiment – CS1/D5
Earth Elemental Horde
Berserker Brock Riders Regiment – [Magic Item?]
Ironbelcher Organ Gun
Ironbelcher Organ Gun
Army Standard Bearer – Diadem of Dragon-king
Army Standard Bearer – Lute of Insatiable Darkness
King – Wings of Honeymaze
Stone Priest – Bane Chant (2), Banner of the Griffin?
Battle Driller
Battle Driller
Greater Earth Elemental

There are 45 spare points, which Im guessing were items on the Ironclad and the Brock Riders, as there are plenty of good ones they might have had. Anyway props to Rossi on sticking with Dwarfs and trying to make mostly-infantry work – in the past hes done the gyrocopters as Elohi thing, and I know hes fighting against going back to that.

Second round was Push, with Sallies going first again.

BATTLE

Deployment sees a flank denied, as the Bloodfire does. Wondering how often its the left flank I ignore, because it seems like most of the time. Push tokens are on the left Ironguard, the Earth Elementals and the Ironclad; and the Ankylodon, central Earth Sprites, and rightmost Fire Elementals.

Roll out! Redementals scoot forward, trying to stick to cover where able. The central Fire horde is surged forward a few inches, because I already know theyre a target.

Dwarfs shuffle forward a bit, knowing theyre outpaced nearly across the board. And the Brocks hold still, not wanting to start absorbing breath damage when they dont need to. Organ Gun fire plinks off a couple wounds from the leading Fire hordes.

Sallies reach that 12 standoff band with the Dwarfs. Exploratory breath attaks cant get much purchase in D6 rockementals 😐

With a resounding cry of YOLO! the Dwarf line slams forward, with the Earth Elementals hitting the bait Sprites and the Brocks thundering off their hill into the token-bearing Fire horde, plus the flying King bopping the Healing Herald.

The Sprites evaporate, as do the Fire Elementals (which was a bit surprising to me, given the 4+ and 4+ they needed per wound, although the Dwarven rout dice were definitely hot all game). The Herald also wavers, on a rerolled 11! The central Fire horde also copped more shooting damage from the Organ Guns.

With the battleline getting cramped and not enough Dwarfs dying, things get a big drastic for the Sallies. The Ankylodon flanks the Greater Earth along with Fire Elementals in the front, with the understanding that hes screwed if this doesnt work. Meanwhile Fire hordes go into the Ironclad to begin the grind and the right Ironguard to hopefully break through next round. To protect their flank the Diadem Herald tosses himself in front of the Brocks, offset to pull them to the side when they align. Breath attaks lay a little damage into the Brocks but their nerve is far higher than I remember.

The Ankylodons gambit pays off and the GGE is reduced to rubble, and happily the Ironguard fall to the speedy Fire horde as well, letting them scoot past the arc of the Brocks. Even more unexpectedly, the central Fire horde is able to waver the Ironclad! Headstrong or not, thats pretty sweet.

[We then went into his turn and forgot the lucky waver on the Ironclad, which resulted in a lot of carnage and so on until I went and spotted his headstrong token. He failed the headstrong roll and, being an absolutely gent, we reset the game based on my photos ]

Despite these setbacks the Dwarfs shoulder on, as they do. Earth Elementals piled into the waiting Ankylodon (for little result) and the Brocks ran over the poor Diadem Herald. A battle driller had a shot at the hasty Fire horde for a lark and the King continued to harass the Healing Herald. The Dwarven left flank crept closer and Guns tried for 6+ to hit vs something red.

That failed headstrong on the Ironclad is punished to the full extent when the Dwarven horde receives Fire Elementals in the front and the flank, as the speedy Fire horde smashes through a Battle Driller and follows into the Ironclad. They die. The Ankylodon faffs away at the Earth Elementals (his 4+ to hit being way harder to deal with then their D6) and the Brocks take another breath bath from the CLOFD, but likewise dont care.

The Dwarf answer by hitting the speedy Fire horde with Brocks (tons of damage but no rout); flanking the Ankylodon with bane chanted Berserkers + Earth Elementals in the front (the Serkers roll insanity and the ABP is toppled); and shooting the hell out of the central Fire horde (popping it). Brutal stuff. Also note that the King has been chasing the Healing Herald around all this time, bopping him for a single wound to disorder him.

Sally 5 sees the flanking Ironguard finally engaged by a Fire horde, the Earth Elementals receive some breath loving (for all the good it did), and the speedy Fire horde punch the Brocks, who still refuse to rout.

The Dwarfs drop the hammer once more, double teaming the left Fire horde, running over some Sprites and dispersing the speedy right Fire horde. Somehow the left Fire horde survives the (hindered) Berserker blender in the flank! And the CLOFD is wavered after suffering focused Organ Gun shelling.

Sally 6, the last Fire horde pounds into the Ironguard, triumphantly claiming their token.

Dwarf 6 sees the Fire horde extinguished by the Berserkers and a lot of stuff made dead – I think the King killed the Mage-Priest this turn, after a lucky 10 reroll on the Healing Herald the turn before. Well ahead on tokens, Turn 7 would have simply given the Dwarfs a chance to table the Sallies by shooting the CLOFD to death, but the extra turn die said no.

BLOODFIRE LOSS

GAME 18: VARANGUR

On November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Back with another handful of quickie Salamander reports! November 18^th I drove down to Philadelphia to hangout at PAX Unplugged and throwdown in the KOW tournament going on that Saturday. Originally it was supposed to be four games with a 20 person cap but for whatever reasons it ended up just being me, two clubmates from Albany, and the TO (a great dude Im happy to see going to more NE events). So we cut it down to just three games, which suited me fine, as I was able to get in a little vendor time and drive home early.

BLOODFIRE GAME 18: VARANGUR + NIGHT-STALKERS

Salamanders 2000

Originally I had wanted to change things up and start running double Mage-Priests, but I wasnt about to go into a tournament with a list Id never played – one I hadnt played for a few months was bad enough!

Varangur + Night-Stalkers 2000

Warband Regiment – Banner of the Griffin
Warband Regiment – Brew of Courage
The Fallen Horde – Helm of the Ram
Tundra Wolves Troop
Mounted Sons of Korgaan Regiment – Cat Potion, gift of the warrior
Horse Raiders Troop – bows
Magus Conclave – famulus
King on Chimera – Brew of Haste, gift of the warrior
Skald – Lute of Insatiable Darkness
+
Fiends Horde
Void Lurker

The two monsters I respect most in the game right now are probably Kings on Chimeras and Void Lurkers, and this list has them in a tagteam O_O I also was shocked at how mediocre Warbands are, although they are pretty cheap for their stats, so I suppose it works out.

First round was Invade, with Sallies grabbing first!

BATTLE

Deployment sees a flank denied, as is typical for the Bloodfire.

After Sally Turn 2, the red battleline prepares to receive chargers. Not counting the rightmost Sprites, who got eaten by Wolves, who then were barfed on and destroyed by more Sprites.

Boom! The Varangur elite crash into the elemental host. The Fire horde facing Mounted Sons + Void Lurker explode in a shower of fiery gore, however the King finds himself stuck after his solo venture into a neighboring horde. On the left flank the Horse Raiders begin a long grind in the woods vs some very tenacious Ember Sprites.

Retaliation is brutal, with the Void Lurker ignored in favor of hitting the Sons with CLOFD + ABP and smashing the King with a Fire countercharge to the front and surge charge to the flank. The Sons are smacked around (wavered but whatever) and the King is melted to slag under 54 CS2 cuddles.

The Varangur head in again, this time punching in their flankers – Fiends (hindered) + Fallen into a Fire horde, Warband + Raiders into their own obnoxious Sprites. The Void Lurker makes contact with the Kings Fire horde (which had been rather significantly healed at this point) and the Sons countercharge the CLOFD. Despite putting out a lot of hurt none of the Salamander targets go down, including a cheeky snake eyes on the central Sprites holding up the Warbands. Importantly the leftmost Sprites take no wounds from the Horse Raiders.

Last turns lucky nerve roles are particularly nasty as they let a Fire horde flank the first Warband reg, followed by countercharges on the Fallen (ignoring the Fiends to keep them hindered), the Void Lurker and the Sons. Plus the free Ember Sprites questing for the Magus Conclaves heads. And on the deep left flank those pesky Sprites combine fire with the Diadem Herald to cook the Raiders.

After combats, the Sons have been devoured by the Bloodfire heavies, the first Warband is toast, the Fallen are wavered, and the Void Lurker remains unmoved.

As is typical for Fire Elementals, the following turn sees most of them burn out. A hindered flank from the Fiends finishes the leftmost horde and the Void Lurker ends what the King started.

It must be a Bloodfire late game with so few red things on the board. The surviving Fire horde shoots the gap into the Fallen, the CLOFD takes matters into his own hands and stomps into the Void Lurker, and the hero-mode Sprites charge the Magus Conclave. With the exception of the CLOFD, things work out great: the Conclave is devoured by Ember Sprites, the Fallen are beaten to a pulp, and, unexpectedly, the Diadem Herald manages to waver the uninjured Fiends with a ridiculous display of dice!

Varangur 5 sees the surviving Warband shove for the enemy half of the board, and the Void Lurker waver the CLOFD. The end is nigh!

Sally 6 is largely spent sending a Magmadroth into the front of the Warband (no result) and making sure unit strength is on the enemy side. Annnnd the Diadem Herald killing the Fiends with another stunner of a breath roll ❤

In Varangur 6, the Void Lurker chops down the CLOFD and the Skald powers up for what could be a game tying throw. If he can hit and wound the last Fire horde with his throwing axe the game will be a tie! He hits! He fails to wound!

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

GAME 17: ABYSSALS

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BLOODFIRE GAME 17: ABYSSALS

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Sparkstone
Fire Elemental Horde – Healing Brew
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ankylodon Battle Platform – firebolts
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge (8), Heal (3)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Abyssals 2000

Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Lower Abyssals Horde
Lower Abyssals Horde
Succubi Troop
Succubi Troop
Molochs Horde – [15 point item]
Molochs Horde
Tortured Souls Horde
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment
Abyssal Harbinger
Efreet – Inspiring Talisman
Abyssal Temptress – Bane Chant (2)

Last one of these mini reports! This was an intro game for a clubmate who used to play WHFB with us and mostly disappeared after the cataclysm, until he finally caved and bought an Abyssal megaforce late in the summer. He slammed the army out in really stunning time although note that the list he ended up painting and bringing to the Crossroads GT 2017 was not the one above. We berated him out of using the Molochs in short order and he replaced them with a Well of Souls, more Gargoyles, etc.

Pretty sure we played Dominate, because I may as well have an advantage XD

BATTLE

Ha! I dont remember much and my photos are terrible. I think in these intro games I was more interested in talking about KOW and its intricacies than taking board shots. Thats my excuse.

But wow are my guys red!

Eventually a lot of his things bumped into mine and were clobbered back, with the things in the list you expect to die dying Molochs (though they did better than the internet might think, especially with multiple flank charges (!) going off), Horsemen, Succubi, Gargs all succumbing to burning love and breath attaks.

This might be the turning point:

Tortured Souls pulled off a stunner of a long distance charge into the Ankylodons flank, shredding him down 17 wounds and then rolling snake eyes! A lot went sideways after this, with flank charges and surge charges bashing up the rest of the Abyssals but good.

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

GAME 16: VARANGUR

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BLOODFIRE GAME 16: VARANGUR

Salamanders 2000

Varangur 2000

Sons of Korgaan Regiment
Sons of Korgaan Regiment
Sons of Korgaan Regiment
Tundra Wolves Troop
Tundra Wolves Troop
Mounted Sons of Korgaan Regiment
Magus Conclave – famulus
Magus – fireball (12), famulus, Inspiring Talisman
Chieftain
King on Chimera

*Plus upgrades and items

This was an intro game for an Age of Sigmar dude who had been convinced to rebase an old Warriors of Chaos army and give KOW a try. By all accounts he enjoyed it and we had a good game. Much slower list than the typical Varangrr Fallenfest ;P

We played Eliminate and thankfully my opponent took photos because I remember very little!

’BATTLE’

Sprites gonna sprite!

CLOFD gonna flop! Only model in the army that hits on a 3+

Everything dies! This came down to me winning in Turn 5, him grabbing it in Turn 6, and me not pulling off the lucky Diadem run on his King that I needed in Turn 7 to win it. Cool nailbiter ending to a real slugfest.

BLOODFIRE LOSS

GAME 15: NIGHT-STALKERS

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BLOODFIRE GAME 15: NIGHT-STALKERS

Salamanders 2000

Night-Stalkers 2000

Blood Worm Legion
Blood Worm Legion
Shadowhounds Regiment
Shadowhounds Regiment
Nightmares Regiment
Nightmares Regiment
Fiends Horde
Fiends Horde
Void Lurker

I think this rematch against the NS was an Occupy game, apparently with me going first.

BATTLE

Red dudes slump forward, with the Stalkers more or less holding back while the Shadowhounds flank in and are eventually burned up. The Fiends over in the top left would refuse to engage until the very end of the game, despite over-threating the slow Fire hordes.

WOOOOO! While the left side of the field was largely a stand-off, the center/right involved the Magmadroth putting his D6+ to good work frustrating the Worms who he couldnt do anything to, thanks to being a doofus when it comes to hurting things. The turning point of the game was likely the late turn where I remember not actually breaking the hard NS targets Id been working on for turns, especially the Lurker. Everybody wavered out, not letting me clear up the mess above as I needed to.

I honestly have no idea how this one ended up, but Im willing to call it a Stalker win.

BLOODFIRE LOSS

GAME 14: NIGHT-STALKERS

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BLOODFIRE GAME 14: NIGHT-STALKERS

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Sparkstone
Fire Elemental Horde – Healing Brew
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ankylodon Battle Platform
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge (8), Heal (3)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Night-Stalkers 2000

Blood Worm Legion
Blood Worm Legion
Shadowhounds Regiment
Shadowhounds Regiment
Nightmares Regiment
Nightmares Regiment
Fiends Horde
Fiends Horde
Void Lurker

EOD sparring partner had begun scratching up an elite NS army at this point, which for this game was just white primed bases.

No idea what we played but I I did finally field the painted Magmadroth / ABP:

I seem to remember him meeting an ignoble end, as appears to be his fate.

As for the game itself, I had an Ember Sprite regiment hold up a Worm legion on snakes twice in a row, which allowed me to overwhelm them with Fire hordes and turn the match on its head. Flukey stuff but I’m not complaining.

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

GAME 13: EMPIRE OF DUST

On November 28, 2018 By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

I havent played KOW since July, when I closed on a house and instantly lost all my free time. And through a cruel twist of fate all the KOW events in the NE US happened to fall on dates I was already booked for music festivals and stuff like that. The struggle.

That said, before July I did play some games that went unreported, and in the interest of completion I wanted to share what details / pics I have of them. Also because I miss writing and reading KOW reports, which really seem to have dried up in the last months. Ill be trying to fix that again (hopefully by playing more soon).

BLOODFIRE GAME 13: EMPIRE OF DUST

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Brew of Haste
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ankylodon Battle Platform
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge (8), Heal (3)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Empire of Dust 2000

Skeleton Spearmen Regiment
Skeleton Spearmen Regiment
Skeleton Crossbowmen Horde
Mummies Regiment
Mummies Regiment
Enslaved Guardians Horde
Swarm Regiment
Balefire Catapult
Balefire Catapult
Balefire Catapult
Bone Giant
Cursed High Priest on Mount – Fireball (12), Vicious
Cursed High Priest on Mount – Fireball (12), Vicious
Undead Army Standard Bearer

*Plus a bunch of items where relevant. Caskets, ASB item, crossbow booster, those sorts of things.

It looks like we played Dominate, with Sallies going first.

BATTLE

Sallies go as aggro as they can, with the Ghostdroth overextending a tidge.

Ka-surge! Ghostdroth gets nabbed by a healthy Mummy surge, they rip into him with hot dice but he stays cool. Sallies respond with some jam for the most part.

Sprites gonna sprite! But meanwhile Ghostdroth is wrecked by smoking Mummy dice.

Retaliation is swift and overwhelming. For the Droth!

The Swarm is cuddled into molten bug goo too as Team Fire prepares to receive Team Dust.

The undead for the most part bounce off the wall of fire.

And are dispatched with uncharacteristic competence!

Cant stop this elemental train!

End game looks to be a tie by my count, with eight unit strength for both sides within range of the center.

BLOODFIRE DRAW?

GAME 12: THE HERD

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Threw down last Wednesday! Which also means I dont remember a lot of the game! But completeness tho.

BLOODFIRE GAME 12: HERD

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Brew of Haste
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ankylodon Battle Platform
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge (8), Heal (3)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Same list for me, still with +1Sp on those fancy elementals. Still toying with BOTOK (because awesome and overextending seems bad) or Pipes of Terror (because brutal is great and keeps happening), but due to flanking being so legit in KOW Im trying to stick with Haste.

The Herd 2000

Spirit Walkers Regiment
Spirit Walkers Regiment
Harpies Troop
Harpies Troop
Lycans Regiment
Lycans Horde – Helm of the Ram
Centaur Longmanes Regiment – Healing Brew
Beast Pack Troop – Fire-Oil
Stampede – Brew of Haste
Chimera – wings
Shaman on Mount – Heal (5)
Shaman on Mount – Heal (5)
Tribal Totem Bearer on Mount – Lute of Insatiable Darkness

Changing things up a bit: no infantry horde(s), even stronger emphasis on speed, all the bane chant.

We diced up COK #12: Eliminate! Bounties went out on my CLOFD, Ankylodon and Fast Elementals; and on his Lycan Horde, Stampede and Chimera. I won first turn (!) and took it, mostly to get closer to the center I suppose.

BATTLE

Ghostdroth!

Roll out! The Herd moves up in response, cautiously across the main battleline but with Lycan beginning to envelope the right Fire flank, as is their want. Salamanders respond by advancing Sprite Screen and breathing all over the enemy chaff / Stampede. Both Harpies and Beast Pack are only wavered (), and the Stampedes token wounds will be healed away by Shamans in the coming turn. Speaking of which:

Fighting! I intentionally positioned the Ankylodon so the Stampede could solo into him if they wanted to, but would face some stiff reprisal if they flopped (and even if they didnt). Though frankly I just wanted to see what would happen when the Ultimate Hammer Unit smashed into a Pretty Solid Anvil Monster. While we wait for that, Ember Sprites got batted around, though only the Longmanes actually routed, with the Chimera and Spirit Walkers just wavering their obnoxious swarm friends.

Anyway, the showdown: Stampede thunders into Kylo Don, 30 dice @ 4+ becomes ~28 hits then 26-27 wounds. Holy. Hell. No snake eyes so the big beasty poofs back to the painted table. (Even discounting batshit dice, the Stampede should still do 13 wounds, which is a hard soak for any monster (also I always think its 24 attaks, 30 seems just too crae!))

Wavered Sprites are annoying for me too, and my Fire Elementals are boiling for vengeance. The Fast Horde settles for beating up the Longmanes (routing them!) while the horde to their left bops into the Stampede to at least put some wounds on it / disorder it (success), and the CLOFD flanks into the Chimera and does heavy damage (wavering it). The Diadem Herald and functioning Sprites barf off the Harpies and Beasts on the left flank.

Herd reprisal sees the Spirit Walkers both kill some Sprites, the surviving Harpies on the right flank descend on the Mage-Priest and disorder her (just!), the Lycan continue to menace, and the Stampede countercharge those Fire Elementals. Freshly healed and bane-chanted, they toss out a second two handfuls of dice: 30 attaks @ 4+ @ 3+ does an astounding 17+ wounds! The Fire Horde is reduced to mist and Im personally stunned at how good these pigs are today O_O

Much of the Sally response runs itself, as the Stampede finally has its reign of terror ended by the Fast Elementals in the flank, the CLOFD slaughters the Chimera (with legit Sprite flanker support of course), and annoying Harpies are mashed to pulp by the central Fire Horde. The real conundrum was how to handle the right flank:

To a large extent I had already written off those Fire Elementals, as I had woefully under-supported that flank in favor of a stronger left/central push (which I tend to do too much). So the fact that those fire dudes were still alive this late in the game was novel, however I also wanted to get something out of them, even if that was just to delay the Lycan. As I saw it, my choices were:

Not charge and cop Spirit Walkers + Lycan Horde in the front, likely dying.
Charge the Spirit Walkers and do a little damage, then take SW in the front + Lycan Horde in the flank, instantly dying.
Charge the Lycan Horde and do a little damage (which would be regenerated anyway), then take the (disordered) Horde in the front and Regiment in the flank, instantly dying (if a little further away from my line and with the wolves consolidated). The Spirit Walkers charge into my central Fire Horde then get killed.

I chose #3, and entirely forgot about the 1 pushback when that beleaguered Fire Horde bounced off the Lycan Horde -_-

Yep, Stampede + Chimera are toast.

Yep, Fire Horde is toast.

The other Spirit Walkers head into the Fast Elementals, which is important because that Fire Horde is holding a bounty token (the CLOFD has the other one), and Im currently up 2 to 1. The Walkers do good damage but bounce.

In Sally Turn 5, the Fast Horde counter-charges those Walkers, bashing them up, with a side of healing. The other remaining Fire Horde is faced with the Herd flanking force (Spirit Walkers + Lycan Horde + Lycan Reg), and can no longer rotate to keep them all in the front. It turns to face the Spirit Walkers + Lycan Horde, as I dont have enough faith in my shooting dice. Which is a shame as the CLOFD rolls like a maniac and easily burns down the Spirit Walkers, with an assist from the Mage-Priests fireball.

The wolves descend in Herd 5, gorging on that poor Fire Horde. Meanwhile in the woods the Walkers smash the Fast Horde up to 10+ wounds, but cant land the shaky rout.

Sally 6 and its still 2-1 on bounty markers. I get tunnel vision about keeping the Lycan away from my Fast Horde and charge the Lycan Horde with the CLOFD (who has a marker himself and isnt that tough), who bashes them around (also disorders). The Lycan Reg gets chaffed up by the surviving Ember Sprites, who also manage to waver them with the breath assist from the Diadem Herald. Meanwhile the Fast Horde gets a die of damage removed thanks to Healing Herald + Mage-Priest, then obliterates the Spirit Walkers pestering them and prepares to weather the next turn or two.

With game end looming, the Lycan Horde bites into the CLOFD and rips him for 10 wounds (that bane-chant, so hot right now), possibly wavering him. Shaman and Totem Bearer throw themselves into the Fast Horde but cant land a wound for that rout test.

THE GAME CONTINUES!

Turn 7 Sallies, I slam the bleeding CLOFD into reverse, chaff the Lycan Horde with the surviving Ember Sprites, waver/rout the Lycan Reg with breath attaks, and liquefy the Totem Bearer with the Fast Horde. Healing goes into the Fast Horde but isnt great.

Turn 7 Herd and its literally the last gasps. Lycan Horde flanks and pulps the hero Ember Sprites (RIP), as Shamans charge the Fast Horde and the CLOFD, my two bounty holders. One Shaman lands a wound on the Fast Horde (!) but cant manage the rout roll. The other Shaman sneaks a wound onto the CLOFD (!), then double aces the average roll to rout him, nabbing a second bounty and drawing the game! Respect, lil Shaman!

BLOODFIRE DRAW

GAME 11: EMPIRE OF DUST

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It took a while to get back in the saddle, but Saturday night I threw down with Albanyadriel. Despite telling him I wasnt batrepping the game, heres a quick and dirty rundown for completeness ;D

BLOODFIRE GAME 11: EMPIRE OF DUST

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Brew of Haste
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ankylodon Battle Platform
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge (8), Heal (3)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Swapped the double Greater Fires for the Ankylodon and the return of the fourth Sprite base. This leaves 15 floating points, which will probably hover between +1 Sp or BOTOK on the one of the Fire hordes, as my keen analysis has told me that they most hurt for speed and actually hitting things.

Empire of Dust 2000

Skeleton Spearmen Regiment
Skeleton Spearmen Regiment
Skeleton Crossbowmen Horde – Blood of the Old King
Mummies Regiment
Mummies Regiment
Enslaved Guardians Horde
Skeleton Cavalry Regiment – Casket of the Damned
Balefire Catapult
Balefire Catapult
Cursed High Priest on Mount – Fireball (12), Vicious
Cursed High Priest on Mount – Fireball (12), Vicious
Idol of Shobik

Newly finished Guardians replaced the oft maligned Worm Riders, and the Bone Giant transmogrified into the Idol! At the cost of the third Balefire (and no doubt other stuff, that thing is pricey).

I asked to play Loot, as I dont know if Ive done it with Bloodfire (and screwed myself out of it during the GT, because Im dumb). We basically went equidistant with the counters, despite confirming that you can skew them all onto one side given the 12 placement rules. Which is generally my armys thing O_O

BATTLE

Part of what I wanted to do this game was work in three battle groups, as opposed to one to two mega clusters, which happens to be what Loot wanted as well. So to that end we formed Bloodfire Squadrons 1 (Fire Elementals + Ember Sprites + Ankylodon + Healing Herald), 2 (Fire Elementals + Ember Sprites x2 + Diadem Herald) and 3 (Fire Elementals x2, Ember Sprites, CLOFD + Mage-Priest), theoretically based on where the Empire was projecting force?

With the general slowness and short range of this army and the spread out loot counters, this also meant that the battle groups didnt interact very much – which happily worked out in the end (spoiler).

On the left, Healing Herald kept the Fire horde fairly topped off as it advanced at the Crossbows, while the Ankylodon went aggro on the Spears over there. Despite copping a sick flank charge from the Crossbows (:P), the big lizard stomped the Spears out in two rounds, spun around and helped the Fire horde deal with the Idol, which had plowed into them earlier. 20 CS4 attaks in the flank ended the 350-point legend. Late game on the left saw the Fire horde eviscerate the Crossbows (18 attaks into 13 wounds!!!) and the Ankyldon scoop up both the left and the center markers.

The lightly-held center turned early when the Cavalry bounced off the Fire horde, batted around in return, then bounced off the Diadem Herald in a wood, and the Mummies failed to even waver the Sprites. This got the Mummies flanked by the Fire horde and the Cavalry vaporized by breath attaks and fireballs. However the grind with the Mummies would go into the late game, with the same burning out Fire Elementals finally ending them.

Meanwhile on the right, the Bloodfire was applied pretty liberally and did what it does: Spears were vaporized by 32 breath + 10 fireball, Guardians got charged in front and flank by Fire hordes (thanks +1 Sp!), and despite losing a Fire horde to flanking Mummies (I was dumb and overestimated the reach / potential of the Cavalry in the center, turning my flank to the Mummies inches away), burnt them down too.

In the end, the Empire had one Cursed Priest desperately scrambling to fireball things and one Balefire which stubbornly refused to hit anything (AA had maybe two hits all game between the two catapults?), to the red things three loot counters.

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

GAME 06-10: UNPLUGGED GT 2017

On November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

The Unplugged GT went down April 22-23 and was by all accounts a really superb tournament. Well-run with great sports all around, I was very happy that I finally made it out after missing out on the last four years. That said, my fire elementals had a pretty rough run of it, which Im going to put down to poor luck with scenarios and some bad run-ins with the dice when it mattered (or all the time). Spoilers.

I actually took a ton of photos of each game, with the intent of doing standard turn by turn reports, however I dont think I have five full reports in me. So buckle up for five brief recaps instead!

SALAMANDERS 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Blade of Slashing
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Greater Fire Elemental
Greater Fire Elemental
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge, Heal, Inspiring Talisman
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Only change was dropping the Shroud of the Saint on the Priest for another source of Inspiring, largely so the diadem herald could go ham. And picked up that sweet Blade of Slashing, which I forgot all of Saturday – should have gone Healing Brew, but eh.

GAME 6: FORCES OF NATURE

Naiad Ensnarer Horde
Salamander Horde – Brew of Strength
Centaur Bray-Hunter Troop
Centaur Bray-Strider Regiment
Centaur Bray-Strider Regiment
Centaur Chief
Winged Unicorn – Lightning Bolt (5)
Winged Unicorn – Lightning Bolt (5)
Pegasus
Beast of Nature – Lightning Bolt (6), Fly + Speed 10, Vicious + 7 Attaks
Beast of Nature – Lightning Bolt (6), Fly + Speed 10, Vicious + 7 Attaks

There are 50 points in items somewhere in there (if it were me itd probably be Hammer on the Ensnarers and Bane-Chants on the Unicorns? But maybe not in this case.)

SCENARIO: LOOT (aka PILLAGE 1)

Pillage is probably the worst scenario for my derpy red shambling castle, so I was prepared to be playing for the draw or minor loss in one to two of the matches this tournament. So prepared apparently that I mistook the TO calling out Loot to mean we were in fact playing the dreaded Pillage (in my defense theyre also on the same page in the OG book, meaning when I checked the rules I picked the wrong column to verify my suspicions). Loot would definitely have been preferred, though still up against a tough fight with all that lightning and speed. I didnt realize my mistake until like Turn 4, at which point we were well into pillaging.

I guess my plan is to dominate the right section of the board and try to smash through everything, then sit on whatever markers are left with whatever I have left?

Except, being half-asleep and a little hungover, advanced my left wing too far, letting a Beast into the flank of two of my four Fire Elementals, along with Unicorn support. One horde died, the other was crippled, we fought on the most awkward hill we could for a long time, with the Beasts devouring things until I finally burned them down.

Stupidity on the left was matched with tough luck on the right: I had caught a break when both Bray-Striders bounced off a Greater Fire Elemental, letting a Fire horde eviscerate the flank of one of the units – and then snake eyes the break. You can see that horde getting rear charged by a unicorn here (that horn HURTS). So a collapsing Nature flank became a collapsing Salamander flank. And then his hordes descended and ground my center out, leaving just my heroes standing (and unable to contest much of anything).

BLOODFIRE LOSS (4/20)

—

GAME 7: UNDEAD + NIGHT-STALKERS

Ghoul Troop
Ghoul Troop
Ghoul Troop
Zombie Legion – Hammer of Measured Force
Werewolf Horde
Wight Horde
Revenant Cavalry Regiment
Vampire on Undead Pegasus
Liche King
Necromancer – Undead Horse, Inspiring Talisman
+
Spectre Regiment
Spectre Regiment

Plus like 140 points in items and spells! (Brew of Strength Werewolves, Cat Potion Cavalry, Lightning Heroes, Something-something Wights?)

SCENARIO: SCOUR (aka PILLAGE 2)

And so time to more or less officially play Pillage

My only practice against Undead is at tournaments, and Chris was running stuff I had never faced (Wights, Revenant Cav) combined with old classics and new items (Hammer on Legion!), with a side of allied firebolts. Anyway, a great guy with a beautiful Titan Forge army. Pity about the scenario, but at least we were playing the right one!

We had an incredibly cagey game, where the first four turns (!) were spent with me advancing my line out in Reverse Death Crescent formation and burning his chaff off, as he enveloped from the left, with the Vamp on Peg pushing into my DZ to threaten rears.

Turn 5 he pulled the trigger, and while some match-ups worked out for me (Revenant Cav, Wights), others definitely did not, especially the Hammer Zombies. Once the Werewolves and Vamp slammed in Turn 6 it was well over scenario-wise, though I had held my own in attrition, which is a thing. Plus side of such a dice-light game was finishing 15-20 minutes early and getting afternoon beverages sorted out ;D

BLOODFIRE LOSS (5/20)

—

GAME 8: UNDEAD

Revenant Regiment
Revenant Regiment
Zombie Legion – Hammer of Measured Force
Werewolf Horde – Brew of Strength
Wight Horde
Revenant Cavalry
Revenant Cavalry
Vampire on Undead Pegasus
Liche King
Necromancer – Inspiring Talisman
Necromancer

Plus 120 points in items and spells!

SCENARIO: CONTROL

Up against one of the Unplugged dudes in a game that isnt Pillage! Plus Undead were pretty fresh in my mind from last game. We both refused our left flanks and prepared for a long shamble into the center

Early action on my left saw Vamp and both Cav playing with a GFE and two FE, with stunningly bad rout rolls on both our parts keeping that engagement going for too long, even with multiple flank charges going on. Eventually the rest of the lines slammed together (though note most of the fighting is in his central section, as was my plan):

We ground for ages, over which the Werewolves showed some real prowess at putting out fires, until being surged in the rear by yet more Fire Elementals. End game saw Salamanders with an unbeatable scenario lock, thanks largely to cheeky Ember Sprites camping the NE sector the entire game, although we nearly tied on attrition (1075 vs 1080). All told a great throwdown of a game to end a rough day on. Then I drank all the vodka and played all the board games – King of New York ftw!

BLOODFIRE VICTORY (15/20)

—

GAME 9: GOBLINS + ORCS

Spitter Regiment
Troll Horde – (Item)
Troll Horde
Mawbeast Troop
Mawbeast Troop
Mawbeast Troop
Big Rocks Thrower
Big Rocks Thrower
King on Chariot – Blood of the Old King
Biggit on Fleabag
Wiz on Fleabag – Bane-Chant (2), Inspiring Talisman
Giant
Slasher
+
Ax Horde
Krudger on Winged Slasher

Plus a smattering of items / spells! (Gregs army got I think Second Best Painted? Losing out to an amazing Ratkin army with stunningly smart multibasing throughout.)

SCENARIO: EXTRACT? (aka PILLAGE 3)

We played the other not-Pillage scenario from COK 2017, where counters are worth different weights. Before I start complaining about yet another round of Pillage, because our counters were all worth 1 except for two near each other that were worth 3 it dawned on me at some point that this was actually winnable for me, if I could hold out and not be dumb.

Given how hungover / exhausted I was, that was going to be a tall order 😐

Fire Elementals on the fire table! Sweet! The markers that matter are by the mausoleum and in front of my dudes. Opening turns, I bowed out, he enveloped and advanced Mawbeast chaff, then I stumbled: 1-1 to clear one Mawbeast pack in the center, followed by huge flop by a GFE to clear another (1 wound, no luck on the rout). While this stalled my line, it also screwed over the parts that were going hard:

Those two fire hordes had punched out a unit of trolls, with the intent of both turning to accept some painful frontal charges but ultimately either pound through them or set up friends to counter-charge in. Unfortunately because those Mawbeasts lived, I couldnt rotate the two hordes back to back, so the Slasher flanked in, liquefying the left unit before its time. Which in turn lost the second unit, and so on – that Slasher chewed through several units, including the Mage-Priest some turns later.

And yet somehow this game hung in the balance even in later turns, as one of the last fire hordes was able to charge into the Ax horde and break them with the help of the CLOFD, giving me 6 points in counters. Until the Krudger, who I just failed to waver with a wall of breath attaks, teamed up with Slashy to shred much of what was left.

BLOODFIRE LOSS (3/20)

Despite the crushing defeat, Gregs a pleasure to play (and probably the Unplugged guy I meet on the table the most during tournaments), and I was a lot more engaged in this not-Pillage than most, as I felt I had a chance, even after the early kerfuffles with chaff sticking around.

—

GAME 10: ELVES + FORCES OF NATURE

Kindred Archer Horde – Jar of the Four Winds
Forest Shambler Horde
Forest Shambler Horde
Stormwind Cavalry Regiment
Bolt Thrower
Bolt Thrower
Master Hunter – Piercing Arrow
Tree Herder – Soul Drain
Tree Herder – Soul Drain
+
Air Elemental Horde

Plus 40 points in items (the Stormwind did not have Cat Potion!)

SCENARIO: INVADE

Whew, just one game left, and its on the bottom tables versus a very nice dude playing an unoptimized Elementals + Shooting army. And it isnt Pillage! And Im going first (for the first time all GT)!

A lot of this game would come down to using the plentiful cover to advance, while keeping some dudes who could handle the Elf firebase. In the end this worked out, with Diadem Herald going ham and blowtorching Bolt Throwers down, Ember Sprites lending their breath / mobile screen powers, and generally overloading the Elves with targets.

Come game end, almost everything had been smashed apart, including the Archers thanks to a Turn 7, though the Forest Shamblers took a painfully long time to dismantle, thanks in large part to horrible rout dice. (This shot is actually not the very end, as he was able to kill the GFE with his GWE (after 5 turns of slugging it out!) and take down the CLOFD, a first for the tournament.) A great slugfest with some funny small moments – the Master Hunter vs Healing Herald support fight was particularly dramatic – and a happy way to finish the GT for me.

BLOODFIRE VICTORY (15/20)

—

Those game photos are finally uploaded, but rather then blowing this thread up with 600+ MB of eerily similar pics you can check them out in slideshow mode here: http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/bo…PLUGGED%202017

I promised some concluding thoughts from the GT, so here are some bullets where I try to do that:

The Unplugged GT was as successful an event as it could be (great players, very well run, lunch included and on site, nice hotel, etc) and it was great to see so many familiar faces again
Painting was judged hard but I knew it would be (because the Unplugged Gamers made their rubric clear as well as their intent to judge hard in an effort to raise the overall level of painting in the scene)
I expected to have a rough time of some of my games, due to my skewed list, but I guess I didn’t expect to play the worst scenario for me three times (even if we ignore that the first time was my fault!) and lose so badly at it three times
On the flipside, I heartily won versus the lower tier dudes who I played non-Pillage games with, so I guess that says the army / me does have some ability
Whatever my successes or failures strategically and however bad my dice felt the whole time, I made tactical mistakes that could have been avoided with more careful movement, particularly in regards to giving easy flank charges to fast, flanking monsters
I’m pretty up on the competitive KOW meta, but this GT really showed how important units that are both fast and reliably fighty are over all other factors (spoiler: I feel like my army has 0 of these)
An army of fearless D5 NV17-18 dudes continues to feel nowhere near as tough as it seems on paper, especially when it comes to grinding (CS is everywhere / NV is everything)
Throwing 18 attaks @ 4+/3+ or 4+/2+ continues to underwhelm
Despite only having a game within 18″, this army’s 66 breath/fireball still makes for some fun and effective tactical play

Despite Unplugged being super legit, I ended up leaving the weekend exhausted beyond measure (having hardly slept) and fairly frustrated with all the pillaging and with the limits of the Bloodfire skew in general. But then I remember that I’ve played like 11 games with this army? And that it’s a skewed theme list, and that pillage was always going to suck, but even then I had a chance in the weighted pillage, and I made several cataclysmic-yet-derpy mistakes and had some atrocious luck when I needed the opposite.