Tag: orc town gt

THE HALLOW 35-37: ORC TOWN GT DAY 1

On By SalvageIn THE HALLOWLeave a comment

Ah, the Orc Town GT. Crown jewel in the Northeast tournament circuit. Held at the Cape Cod Curling Club in Falmouth, MA, Orc Town is five big games of Kings of War (2665 points) on a surprisingly tight clock (69 minutes), but with amazing prize support, themed tables and great vibes. I had a banging first day in 2022 with my crabs and ended up with Best Sports, would I be able to repeat some of this success in 2023?

Find out in these especially sketchy recaps. Sorry, dead readers, this was almost a year ago and I was in a rough headspace that weekend due to life stuff that happened the week of. Which I suppose is more spoilers!

HERD 2665
Lycan Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Guardian Brute Horde
Guardian Brute Horde
Guardian Brute Horde
Minotaur Chariot Regiment – The Stampede [1]
Tribal Spears Horde – Chalice of Wrath
Tribal Spears Regiment
Tribal Spears Regiment
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Hydra
Lycan Alpha – Wingbane Cloak
Great Chieftain – Horn of the Great Migration [1]
Druid – Conjurer’s Staff; Bane Chant (2), Heal (2)
Centaur Chief
Forest Warden – Surge (4)
16(29)

I talked about my list changes in the last post, but the summary is: Tribal infantry got spears, third Brute horde was windmill-slammed into the list, Hydra saw his first event outing. Wingbane Cloak drinking game is in effect (but you may want something to sip on while you wait for the cloak to matter :P)

GAME 1: FORCES OF THE ABYSS

Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champion
Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champion
Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champion
Tortured Souls Regiment
Abyssal Ghouls Regiment
Abyssal Ghouls Regiment
Abyssal Ghouls Regiment
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Abyssal Fiend – Fireball (10)
Abyssal Fiend – Fireball (10)
Chroneas
Chroneas
The Well of Souls [1]
Abyssal Warlock – Staying Stone, Knowledgeable, Celestial Restoration (3)
Seductress – Gnome Glass Shield
16(25)

I hadn’t played Brian in quite some time and wasn’t sad to face him off the rip. His Abyssals looked great, with a very cohesive scheme and almost entirely Mantic, including possibly the only official Tortured Souls I’ve seen in person. As the list went, it was basically perfect. Top flight Abyssals for Summer 2023 with no fat on it. The Celesto Resto was an interesting touch but Brian knew that the Molochs were the lifters and they didn’t really need any help beyond arriving alive.

We played Raze, with the Hallow going first, as is my want.

BATTLE

I won’t bury the lead on this one: I clocked out on Turn 4. My game of positioning and piece trading took way too long to get moving (45 min spent on Turn 1+2), which didn’t leave me enough time to actually execute with my hammers. Despite me being firmly in control of this match, Brian had a cushy 19 minutes to decimate my dudes, who were now disastrously rooted in place, only allowed to turn to face.

HALLOW LOSS

Rough start to the weekend to say the least! Sorry to Brian for the poor time management on my part.

GAME 2: ORDER OF THE BROTHERMARK

Order of the Abyssal Hunt Regiment – Blessing of the Gods
Order of the Abyssal Hunt Regiment – Boots of Striding
Paladin Knights Regiment – Brew of Strength
Paladin Knights Regiment – Blood of the Old King
Paladin Knights Troop – Skirmisher’s Boots
Oathsworn Guardians Regiment [1]
Villein Bowmen Horde
Villein Bowmen Horde
Heavy Arbalest
Heavy Arbalest
Phoenix – Heal (5)
Phoenix – Heal (5)
High Paladin on Dragon – Blade of Slashing
Exemplar Hunter – Order of the Lone Wolf, Mace of Crushing
Priest – Conjurer’s Staff, Heal (3), Bane Chant (2)
15(25)

Mr. Kevin Spear, everyone! Always a pleasure and his army is a joy to look at. He was back on Brothermark from Rhordia last year (we played in a Round 1 grudge match as you’ll recall), with quite a bit more shooting thanks to the Phoenix buffs and everyone discovering that Arbalests are rather legit (the Bowmen were always there). If it wasn’t shooting, it was charging 16″ / 20″ into my waiting arms. I remember not feeling like I had the brainpower to stay in control of this one …

We played Control, with Kevin going first. Last turn is good for grabbing board sections, right? Here’s hoping I have an army left 🙃

BATTLE

This was a particularly rough second game. Losing the initiative and having my left Centaurs wavered held up my left flank quite badly, and you can see the moments where luck slapped my Brutes down. On the right, I failed a 3″ overrun off his Exemplar Hunter into a knight regiment, losing the Brutes next turn. In the center, I snaked a rout into peasants with more Brutes, losing the momentum and eventually that unit to Kevin’s dragon … although it’s very strange I didn’t rotate to put the dragon in their front? I’m guessing this is the moment I clocked out :/ Because that also happened, tho going into Turn 6 this time. Hydra lived at least!

HALLOW LOSS

Going into this I felt like we were pretty well matched? Kevin and I are at similar skill levels and our armies have interesting answers to each other, but he grabbed the initiative and I couldn’t wrest it away from him, between wavers, losses to shooting and some floppy combats that I needed to go my way. Clocking out again didn’t help.

GAME 3: TRIDENT REALM

Gigas Horde
Gigas Horde
Depth Horrors Horde
Depth Horrors Regiment
Thuul Regiment
Thuul Regiment
Riverguard Treeleapers Troop
Riverguard Treeleapers Troop
Tidal Swarm Regiment
Kraken
Knucker
Knucker
Naiad Centurion – Trident of the Drowned Sea [1]
Thuul Aquamage – Rising Tides, Icy Breath (10), Barkskin (5)
Naiad Envoy – Horn of Ocean’s Fury, Bastion (2)
*The Hidden Ones Regiment [1]
*The Hidden Ones Regiment [1]
*Ineesha [1] – Bane Chant (2)
18(29)

Surely this wasn’t the first time I’ve played Chris and his fishpeople? Soft spoken gent and a canny player, I’ve enjoyed chatting with Chris at basically all the NE events since he started coming to them. As for the list, it seems legit. As with most pre-2024 TR lists, the goal is to buff and deliver Thuul where needed, with a backbone of Gigas and sneaky problem solvers in the Knuckers and trident Centurion. Essentially everything ensnares, so I’d have to flex my dice rolling skills. (Ed. note: These skills had apparently not made it to Cape Cod yet.)

We played old school Loot, with the Herd going first. At least I’ve got that going for me.

BATTLE

Walking through my photos, you can see that basically everything took an extra turn to break – Brutes hitting on 5+ are significantly less great, and I was relying on them to carry me through the tournament. Plus there was that one snake eyes once the Stampede trapped a Knucker against the board edge 😛 Anyway, my Hydra grabbed a token and slithered away to hold onto it (doing his one damn job like a professional token holder), while Chris’ Depth Horror horde was handed the left token and was never really in any danger of losing it. Which meant we were fighting for the center token. I grabbed it immediately with my Tribal horde, and had it in control until very late game when the waves of Thuul wore my Tribal spears and then Brutes down. The Thuul weathered my Lycan horde’s late game dive thanks to layer upon layer of barkskin, clinging to life and winning Chris the game.

HALLOW LOSS

Fun fact, I actually clocked out this game too 😅 I had enough to launch the Lycans in and swing but not enough to roll any of the other extraneous combats going on. In retrospect, the clock played less of a role than I gave it credit for in my second two games of the day, but I was definitely scrambling throughout.

So! At Orc Town 2022 I went 2-0-1 the first day with my crabs, ending the day in the nosebleeds of fourth place. Day 1 of Orc Town 2023 saw me 0-3-0 with Herd and literally in last place … but you know what, the bartenders were great and propped up my flagging spirits with plentiful glasses of Orcto Cooler, one of the tastiest damn hangovers I’ve had the pleasure of drinking too much of 💚

UP NEXT: Day 2! The only way to go is up!

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 36-37: ORC TOWN DAY 2

On 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

None shall pass!

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 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:

KAIJU BIG BATTEL!

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!

GAME 42: SALAMANDERS

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

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

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

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 -_-