SCUTTLIN’ REALM 36-37: ORC TOWN DAY 2

On September 12, 2022 By SalvageIn SCUTTLING REALMLeave a comment

After a lovely evening of raiding Cape Cod and playing arcade games at Skull Face’s pad, we were back at the Cape Cod Curling Club for another day at Orc Town. I’m unexpectedly on Table 3 or 4 facing off against Corey Reynolds, a Masters-tier player who also runs the Crossroads GT (which kicks off in just a few days of writing this!) The last time I played Corey was in Philly on the top table in the last round of a WHFB GT, where I conceded because I had no chance of doing anything to his Wood Elves once they broke through my Skaven lines and I wanted to drive home. Coincidentally that was the last time I’ve conceded :X

GAME FOUR: TWILIGHT KIN

Twilight Kin 2600
Blade Dancer Neophytes Horde
Twilight Gladestalkers Regiment
Twilight Gladestalkers Regiment
Impalers Regiment – Brew of Strength
Impalers Regiment
Cronebound Fiends Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Cronebound Fiends Regiment
Cronebound Shadowhounds Troop
Cronebound Gargoyles Troop
Cronebound Gargoyles Troop
Cronebound Mind-Screech – Lightning Bolt (6), Mind Fog (6), Wind Blast (6)
Cronebound Mind-Screech – Lightning Bolt (6), Mind Fog (6), Wind Blast (6)
Cronebound Archfiend – Fireball (10)
Mikayel, Lord of Nightmares [1]
Soulbane on Dread-Fiend

Naturally Corey is playing his Twilight Kin 😐 It’s certainly not the worst TK list, with blessedly zero levels of Host Shadowbeast, plus it looks amazing hobby-wise. But it’s still TK – even his ‘Cool New Model Added to Hit 2600 Points’, the Archfiend, is an absolute unit against me thanks to Stealthy. Corey is adamant I have more of a chance than I think but there’s only one way to find out …

We’re playing Kill, which is a bummer in general and especially against his list. Stealthy will make it hard to kill with my shooting, and that’s how my list usually kills Corey is going first. Here’s the rundown (head back to 34/35):

ORC TOWN GT GAME 4 – Twilight Kin

The Kin pushed hard into the center and then the left side, which involved a lot of playing peek-a-boo around that leftmost forest as grinding happened towards the center. A grind which I didn’t win but I did kill his Archfiend with my Coral Giant, and we all know I love a clash of the titans.

I felt a lot more confident on the right flank, however his shooting was far more effective than mine, and my double Kraken rush got bogged down with Gargoyles and dismantled by an unexpected Impaler counter. I also lost my Placos by woefully underestimating Twilight Gladestalkers in combat – poison melee, even hindered, does work! However you slice it, this was a big …

TRIDENT LOSS

In talking about it afterwards, Corey felt I should have just put all my guns on the right side and really forced down his Gladestalkers, and then put all the titans together on the left and gone full square base monster mash. I’m genuinely curious if that would have worked, as I so often try to spread things out when the game rewards focused aggression whenever possible. Ah well.

With that drubbing I plummet down the tables to face the Glacier King and friends in …

GAME FIVE: NORTHERN ALLIANCE

Northern Alliance 2600
Frostfang Cavalry Horde
Ice Elementals Horde
Ice Elementals Horde
Huscarls Regiment
Tundra Wolves Regiment
Ice Kin Hunters Troop
Half-Elf Berserkers Troop
Cavern Dweller
Ice Kin Bolt Thrower
Lord on Chimera
Hrimm, Legendary Ice Giant [1]
Ice-Queen – Surge (8), ???
Skald

There are 160 points of missing upgrades which I assure you exist and are smart, I just don’t have a list or much memory of the match left 😛 It’s a very unassuming list piloted by the youngest member of the New England War Kings, however he was in the running for highest attrition so was clearly putting work in the violence department!

The final game was Loot with 3 tokens, with the Alliance going first. Here’s the play by play (start on 41/42 and prepare for glamour shots of Hrimm doing stuff since I love that model):

ORC TOWN GT GAME 5 – Northern Alliance

I felt pretty strong going into this, as NoAl are relatively weak, the list seems a bit unfocused and I’m a more seasoned player. WELL that started to change Turn 2, when he alpha-ed the Water Elementals with his Frostfang and central Heartpiercers with his Chimera and routed both with solo charges. That’s not really supposed to happen, y’all, and it split my battleline, voided the traps I’d set and made me scramble to deal with these hammers instead of having time to whittle down the Frostbound stuff shuffling toward me. The flanking Kraken also ran into embarrassing predicaments, with the right one getting stuck fighting Wolves for half the game and the left one eventually being shot to death by a troop of Ice Kin Hunters and a single Ice Kin Bolt Thrower :O I had to golf clap those guys, but WOW.

Despite these setbacks, the Crabs did take their pound of cold flesh over the course of the game, but losing hammers so early made it hard going. A fun, bloody game to end the tournament. Oh right, and a …

TRIDENT LOSS

My opponent would go on to win a trophy for highest attrition! I’m sure the 2135 points I gave him here helped 🦀

After a meteoric first day, I’m sure I was ending up somewhere in the middle, maybe higher-mid if my soft scores were good. We assembled for the endless raffle as points were furiously tallied up, and I came away with the swag I really wanted, which is always nice.

Finally, Orc Town is known for its awesome trophies, so all that was left was to see who walked away with them:

I’ll cut to the chase: I won Best Sports! As voted by my five opponents, which makes the award even more humbling. Big thanks to all those lads and to the hardworking maniacs in NEWK, I was already looking forward to next year but this time I guess I have something to live up to ❤

*Orc Town GT 2022 Best Sports (with Stack of Swag + Bountiful Breads)*

Thanks for reading through these recaps, sorry they weren’t the full write-ups I usually do. I’ll make another pre-Crossroads post this week gesturing towards the practice games I’ve had between Orc Town and now, but otherwise get hype for me eventually writing up another set of tournament reports in the near future!

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 33-35: ORC TOWN DAY 1

On September 8, 2022 By SalvageIn SCUTTLING REALMLeave a comment

What is up, Bloodfirers! Hope your summer was a good one, mine became very busy with lots of traveling and a side of COVID (I’m quad-vaxed so that Omicron is a beast). Sadly my reporting (and to large extent gaming as well) was a casualty of all this busy-ness. To get up to speed, I’m going to do Day 1 and Day 2 recaps for the Orc Town GT, with slideshows for the full games for those who want to click through. Strap in!

Orc Town was a 2600 point two day event held on Cape Cod, MA from June 4-5, 2022. I took a deep breath, painted two more crabs, and rolled out with the following:

Trident Realm 2600
Water Elementals Horde – Brew of Strength
Placoderms Regiment
Placoderms Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Coral Giant
Kraken
Kraken
Kraken
Naiad Centurion – Blade of the Beast Slayer
Naiad Centurion – Axe of the Giant Slayer
Naiad Envoy – Bastion (2), Horn of the Ocean’s Fury
Naiad Envoy – Lute of Insatiable Darkness

Coral Giant and double Centurions were the standouts for this slobber knocker of a list, with the Lute of Insatiable Darkness making a return and the Trident of the Drowned Sea left in the armory.

GAME ONE: LEAGUE OF RHORDIA

League of Rhordia 2600
Knights Horde – Boots of Striding
Knights Regiment – Brew of Strength
Honor Guard Horde – Potion of the Caterpillar
Dogs of War Horde – Chant of Hate, Beasts of Targun Spire [1]
Dogs of War Regiment – Shields of Hetronburg [1]
Spear Phalanx Regiment – Pikes
Mounted Scouts Troop
Mounted Scouts Troop
Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez
Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez
Duke Hetronburg [1]
Battle Shrine [1] – Lightning Bolt (6)
Wizard – Conjuring Staff, Bane Chant (2), Lightning Bolt (3)
Wizard – Shroud of the Saint, Lightning Bolt (3)
Halfling Master Sergeant on Pony

Kevin and I were talking at the last Unplugged GT and realized we haven’t played each other since 2E, and simultaneously grudged each other for Orc Town 😀 The general feeling going into this was that I had an advantage, with so much Rampage, but he’s got some extremely punchy stuff and the support to deliver it.

Looks like this game was Salt the Earth, with the League going first. Here’s a rundown of the game (you’ll need to click back to 29/33 and then move forward, these are uploaded in chronological order and I can’t reverse them easily):

ORC TOWN GT GAME 1 – Rhordia

If that seems short, we only made it through four turns of the 69 cute minutes we each had to work with, and that’s including going over into lunch. I don’t know how we were soooo slow but I blame being out of practice and extra chummy, on top of the huge armies. Anyway, this grudge match came down to a very gregarious …

DRAW

All told a great way to start the event, even if I was a little shook at the clock 😐

GAME TWO: ELVES

Elves 2600
Drakon Riders Horde – Banner of Eternal Darkness
Forest Shamblers Horde
Stormwind Cavalry Regiment – Potion of the Caterpillar, Quicksilver Lancers [1]
Stormwind Cavalry Regiment – Brew of Strength
Palace Guard Regiment – Brew of Sharpness
Kindred Gladestalkers Regiment – Orb of Towering Presence
Kindred Gladestalkers Regiment
Silverbreeze Cavalry Troop – Piercing Arrow
Hunters of the Wild Troop
Hunters of the Wild Troop
Tydarion Dragonlord [1]
King’s Champion [1]
Elven Archmage – Inspiring Talisman, Bane Chant (2), Lightning Bolt (5)
Elven Archmage – The Boomstick, Lightning Bolt (5)

If these green Elves look familiar, it’s because I played Jim back at Dead of Winter, making 2022 the magical year where I played him twice! This is typically a once-a-year event for us. As to the list, seems legit? Lots of nice Elven tools backed up by Jim’s frighteningly good dice. Would I be able to stay on scenario and shake off my slow play from the first game?

The game is Push – I’m sending 2 tokens up with some Placoderms and 1 token hard right on Heartpiercers, while the Elves put 2 on the Palace Guard and 1 on the regular Stormwind hard left. Importantly, Jim’s not really making a play for the center, while I’m flooding it with more Placos and ‘Piercers, with the Coral Giant looming. Crabs go first, possibly by choice since it’s Push and so many Elves have scouted forward. Here’s the rundown (click back to 30/31):

ORC TOWN GT GAME 2 – Elves

For those who clicked through, you might have noticed the crabs became really passive at the end of the game? I clocked out at the end of my Turn 5 … Fortunately Orc Town had a rule where you were still allowed to change facing in your turn, so I was able to both protect my flanks on my token holders and keep that ensnare in play, even if I couldn’t regen since nothing was actually activating. Thanks to a decisive lead going into Turn 6, I was able to weather two back to back turns of Elven aggression (and blessedly no Turn 7) to hold onto my …

TRIDENT VICTORY

I think one of the deciding factors of this game was his Drakons floating about in the middle without a clear plan of engagement, which let me shoot them to hell while dismantling his scouting forces. At the same time, two Kraken and a wood held back his strong cavalry + dragonlord flank, as they were tasked with from the beginning. However it worked out, Jim’s always a pleasure to play, even if his dice often give me fits 😛

GAME THREE: OGRES

**Ogres 2600**
Warrior Chariots Legion – Potion of the Caterpillar
Siege Breakers Horde – Chalice of Wrath
Siege Breakers Horde – Dwarven Ale
Hunters Horde – Brew of Haste
Boomers Horde
Berserker Braves Regiment
Berserker Braves Regiment
Red Goblin Spitters Regiment
Red Goblin Scouts Troop
Giant
Sergeant on Chariot – Blade of Slashing
Nomagarok [1] – Bane Chant (3), Heal (4), Lightning Bolt (4)
Warlock – Conjurer’s Staff, Lightning Bolt (3)
Warlock – Orb of Towering Presence, Lightning Bolt (3)
Warlock – Lightning Bolt (3)

Ahhhh Ogres, it was always going to happen, but at least it’s a rematch with Josh and his awesome Moontian army. Not a ton to say on the list, it’s got lots of gnarly stuff with smart items, with a Chariot legion and Giant for flare. Josh seemed pretty down on his performance so far, and I suppose he didn’t exactly burn the world down if we were playing each other in Game 3? Like me, he seemed pretty out of practice and generally tired. All the same, we were here to make war, so war we did.

We’re playing Dominate this game, which is nice for the Ogres anyway 😀 At this point I confide in Josh that I don’t fancy my chances but I do have one goal. I want my shiny new Coral Giant to kill his shiny new Giant, at which point we’re going to go do shots at the venue’s bar. And then the killing started (click back to 36/37):

ORC TOWN GT GAME 3 – Ogres

Wait wait wait, rewind! Ok, it’s Turn 4, his Giant has spent a couple turns aggro-ing some Heartpiercers while my Coral Giant is stuck on Scouts:

I back the Heartpiercers out, then flank his 1 damage Giant with my Coral Giant. I slam fistfuls of damage into the titan, roll the rout and nail it, reroll and fail by one … and then remember this guy is brutal! I flip out and we go shoot some tequila. Amazing.

And this was after baiting his Chariots in against my Placos in a swamp, who held and completely messed up his plans, getting flanked by Kraken and helping me takeover the momentum of the game, something that’s really difficult for my Crabs against Ogres. The game goes back and forth into Turn 7, when somehow I manage a …

TRIDENT VICTORY

What. A. Game. This was the most fun I’ve had against 3E Ogres in a while – the called shot with the Coral Giant certainly helped 😉 Crazily enough, this win also put me at 5th or so place in the GT at the end of the first day! A clubmate asked what was different this event than usual, and I’m pretty sure it’s that I hadn’t switched armies. The Crabs, even more so than standard Trident Realm, are a weird combination of denial, shooting and scenario play, but staying in that space has helped me learn some of the rhythms required instead of just getting frustrated and jumping factions.

UP NEXT: Day 2 kicks off bright and early with Mr. 300 himself!

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 32: UNDEAD

On June 16, 2022 By SalvageIn SCUTTLING REALM2 Comments

Gentle readers! I had the great pleasure of attending the Orc Town GT June 4-5 (2022) but then became mired in life and work upon returning home, however next week I’ll have a breather and will attempt to pound all the reports out. In the meantime, here’s abbreviated coverage of my token practice game before the GT. Enjoy!

You read that right, 2600 points! I used the bounty of points to finally paint my Coral Giant and second Centurion, which was coincidentally all I could possibly have painted in May, the busiest month of my year thus far 😐 The list itself became a bit of a Kaiju Big Battel affair, with the return of the third Kraken, escorted by the double anti-big stuff Centurions. Also note worthy is the return of the lute, an item I’d moved away from but the Placoderms spending so much time in combat had convinced me to bring it back.

Undead 2600
Wights Horde
Wights Horde
Zombies Horde – Undead Giant Rats
Soul Reaver Cavalry Regiment – Item?
Soul Reaver Infantry Regiment – Item?
Soul Reaver Infantry Regiment – Item?
Soul Reaver Infantry Regiment – Item?
Wraiths Troop
Wraiths Troop
Wraiths Troop
Lady Ilona – Enthral (5), Heal (3), Lightning Bolt (3), Surge (3)
Vampire Lord on Undead Horse – Surge (4)
Necromancer – Inspiring Talisman, Surge (6), Heal (3)

After a furious month of painting vampire infantry, my buddy was super excited to play an Undead list that fit his temperament a bit better. If and when he hit combat, he could be assured that it would hurt. I was happy to see the triple Wraiths too, he’s gone from zero chaff pieces to figuring out more and more ways to use them to control the game. Helps that Wraiths are super great. Also Ilona is here!

We played Push, and he must have won the first turn and cannily gave it to me 😛 Strap in, this is going to be largely pictorial!

BATTLE

Undead 1: A very timid advance, or lack thereof in the center! The right had to spend some time unjamming itself after deploying with bases interlocked.

Trident 2: Double Kraken pound into Wraiths on the right as a lot of harpoon guns come into range of the central Wights.

The left Wights take a startling 10 damage, and the right Wraiths are decidedly busted.

One Kraken backs up 3″ while the other prepares to get Soul Reavered. Will ensnare be enough to save him from their blood lust?

Undead 2: Becoming aware that he can’t play a waiting game against my shooting, the Undead general makes moves to pressure the center. Wraiths become a nuisance on the left and vampires crash into Krakens on the right.

The Soul Reavers tear 11 damage into the right Kraken, wavering the big guy. Meanwhile the Vamp Lord blocks the left Kraken from coming to his aid, dealing 3 damage in the process. Smart.

Trident 3: Kraken and Placoderms prepare to shoo away from Wraiths far left, harpoons lock and load centrally to end some Wights, and the Krakens on the right largely regenerate, although the Vamp Lord is indeed counter-charged.

One Heartpiercer unit is all that’s needed to drive the Wights off, so the other two regiments hammer 8 damage into the other Wights. Harpoons on fire tonight! The Wraiths on the left are also pinched into ectoplasm, while the Vamp Lord on the right takes token damage as a Kraken rampages him gently.

Undead 3: Another mangled Wight horde moves up into the central killing field! As the Soul Reavers behind them continue to sort their lives out. Wraiths are surged into the flank of the 3 token Placoderms on the left (will they punish my hubris??), and on the right the Soul Reaver Infantry hit their Kraken again while the Vamp Lord continues to pin his buddy down.

That poor Kraken disintegrates 😦 But the Placoderms weather the Wraith flank to the tune of 3 damage.

Trident 4: Kraken and Placoderms on the left prepare to drop another Wraith regiment, while the crab center likewise spots *another* Wight horde in their cross hairs. On the right, the surviving Kraken backs up rather then be flanked by the Soul Reavers what ate his brother (he was in their flank but couldn’t place thanks to the mighty Vamp Lord, so couldn’t front charge and try to grind). The slayer Centurion charges the Vamp Lord to keep him occupied / preferably dead.

Those Wights do indeed get ventilated, and the Soul Reaver Cav cop 3 damage in the process. Neither combat is decisive (Wraiths to 4, Vamp Lord to 5).

Undead 4: The Undead hammers *finally* begin descending, by which I mean the Zombies flanking the 3 token Placoderms (over a wall). But also Wraiths counter the left Kraken, Soul Reaver Cav hit some Heartpiercers, Ilona blocks the Coral Giant, the Vamp Lord continues to harass the right Kraken, and the right Soul Reavers prepare to blend the slayer Centurion – no ensnare in the flank 😥

Those Heartpiercers get properly reaved, but all other combats are less decisive. The real anomaly is the Soul Reaver Infantry on the right only wavering the Centurion in the flank! Unexpected!

Trident 5: The center pincers around the Soul Reaver Cav, with Water Elementals in the flank and Placoderms to the front. Otherwise it’s a lot of counter-charging across the board, or bringing guns to bear on the lurking Soul Reaver Infantry in the middle. The token-bearing Placoderms on the left take a risk and show their rear to the Wraiths, countering the Zombies.

Heartpiercers punch 6 damage into some Soul Reavers, wavering them (!), shortly before the Soul Reaver Cav are crushed to true-death by enormous claws. The left Wraiths are indeed rampaged away by the Kraken (thanks lute Envoy for the bane chant!), while the Zombies, Ilona and Vamp Lord all take their lumps. The Vamp Lord wavers in the process (on 8 damage). Oh, and the central Placoderms scoop up the central token.

Undead 5: If the Soul Reavers can blend out the crab center while the Zombies hold, they can actually pull this off. Luckily I hear Soul Reaver are pretty great at blending … To wit, the 2 token Soul Reavers dive into the Water Elementals, while the right Soul Reavers hit the slayer Centurion again (ensnared this time), Ilona continues to distract the Coral Giant on his first outing, and the Zombies counter the 3 token Placoderms. The Vamp Lord gets out of the Kraken’s LOS so he can live.

All the combats stall, which is bad for central momentum but honestly pretty ok on the flanks. The Soul Reavers waver the Centurion again, the Zombies stunningly push the Placos to 8 damage, wavering them, and the central Soul Reavers do a mathematically average 11 damage and don’t rout the Water Elementals.

Trident 6: On the left, the Placoderms retreat to let the Kraken have a go at the Zombies. On the right, the Centurion backs out to likewise let a Kraken rampage the Soul Reavers. Centrally, the Water Elementals counter their Soul Reavers as guns target the injured unit behind them. Ilona gets bopped.

Heartpiercers riddle the Soul Reavers with harpoons, adding them to the pile of dead undead in the center of the board. All the combats grind on (Zombies to 9, central Reavers to 4, right Reavers to 8?), with Ilona wavering on 6 damage.

Undead 6: With a Turn 7 victory still possible, the Undead do what they set out to in the first place: murder some crabs. Zombies counter the left Kraken, Soul Reavers counter the Water Elementals, more Soul Reavers counter the right Kraken, with Vamp Lord in the flank. Ilona simmers with rage (but not fury :P)

The Water Elementals explode and the Soul Reavers lurch forward, but not enough to cross the center line. With no Turn 7 and a score of 7 to 3, this is a solid …

SCUTTLIN’ VICTORY

You know, I think I’ve got this ‘shoot the Undead as much as possible’ strat down 😀 But it certainly helped that the Undead didn’t push into the center until it was too late to overwhelm me effectively, while tripping over themselves on the right. The Undead general had some good tactics to protect the Soul Reavers on the way in, but holding them back meant that while they might be more likely to reach combat, they’d also have to work extra hard to wrest the momentum back.

Anyway, that’s Orc Town practice out of the way! Stay tuned next week when we wade into the warm waters of Cape Code for a weekend of carnage.

UP FIRST: League of Rhordia!

BLOODFIRE

Tag: 2600

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 36-37: ORC TOWN DAY 2

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 33-35: ORC TOWN DAY 1

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 32: UNDEAD