Tag: pilgrimage gt

THE HALLOW 31-32: THE PILGRIMAGE GT DAY 2

On By SalvageIn THE HALLOW2 Comments

As the tournament was being held offsite from the hotel, shenanigans were kept to a dull roar after day one wrapped and we collectively feasted. All too soon, it was time to rejoin the battle for the Mid-Atlantic. Having gone 1-2, my Herd were drifting down the standings, but I was gunning for that day two rally to shore my record up.

GAME 4: GOBLINS

Mincer Mob Regiment – Brew of Sharpness
Troll Horde
Troll Horde
Rabble Horde
Rabble Horde
Rabble Regiment
Rabble Regiment
War-Trombone
War-Trombone
War-Trombone
Goblin Slasher – War-Trumpets
Goblin Slasher – War-Trumpets
Winggit – Bombs Away!
Winggit – Bombs Away!
Wiz – Inspiring Talisman, Knowledgeable, Lightning Bolt (3), Alchemist’s Curse (2)
King – Groany Snark [1]
King – Jareth’s Pendant [1]
Flaggit – Lute of Insatiable Darkness
Banggit
19(24)

I almost never face Goblins, so that’s cool, but these gobs are being piloted by Steve Forster of Dash28 fame! I do enjoy throwing down with people I recognize from the Internet. Steve’s list seemed fine, free of the really egregious shooting spam I’ve heard about and a little more interested in fighting than being trash (i.e. two Troll hordes and double Slashers). The Slashers were the biggest wild card for me, having been freshly buffed in Clash 2023 and a unit I really like in theory.

We played Salt the Earth I think, except neither of us wanted to burn any so we basically played Pillage 😛 I did not go first this game! But not by choice 😉

BATTLE

I approached this game like most of my Herd games: junk wanders forward to prepare counters from my slower hammers, while my Lycan super-hammer hunts down a flank and applies pressure, with the Stampede forcing enemy hammers back. Versus Goblins this seems to run into an awkward situation where they too have a bunch of garbage pushing forward or holding objectives, except instead of hammers they mostly have short range guns. The twist here is that Slashers are very very good, IMO, and Steve’s dice were especially kind to them, in combat or when trumpeting.

The play of the game for me was spotting a Troll flank with my Lycans at almost full charge, which they nimbled into and suddenly Steve has a Lycan horde in his rear. I made the choice to reform the Lycans towards Steve’s center, rather than clean up the left entirely, but then was chaffed and lost the big worm’s targets. My other hammers similarly suffered to get much momentum going – I’d kill a thing, get shot, maybe wavered out of combat (I have a lot of fury that does nothing in that case), maybe fight again, but I’m bleeding to death and the Goblins don’t care. Come end game, I once again have very little left to score, while the Goblins have more than enough to take it.

HALLOW LOSS (4-9)

I don’t know how Steve got 9 points? It definitely doesn’t look like a draw in those last photos! All the same, well played by Steve and I seriously underestimated the Slashers throughout, and paid the price.

GAME 5: LEAGUE OF RHORDIA

Honour Guard Horde
Honour Guard Horde
Foot Guard Horde (or Dogs of War?)
Knights Regiment
Knights Regiment
Pole-Arms Regiment
Pole-Arms Regiment
Halfling Archers Regiment
Halfling Archers Regiment
Battle Shrine [1]
Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez
Duke Hetronburg [1]
Duke on Horse
Baron
14(29)

I don’t have John’s list but this is my best recreation. There are 90 points of upgrades missing, which feels right between all the Indomitable Wills and typical upgrades for cavalry or hammers. John was a super nice dude, and a very low key end to the event. If not on the bottom table, we weren’t far from it!

We played Invade to finish the tournament out. The Hallow took the initiative, for a solid four out of five first turns to me. Not bad.

BATTLE

My memory of this game is the weakest of all of them, but I certainly took a lot of photos! Partially because John’s army looked great. The gist of this match is that I woefully undersupported the left flank – the Stampede wasn’t intended to crash through all that fast stuff, but without backup or hot dice it probably wasn’t going to do much, so was essentially delaying the hammers as long as possible … except it’s Invade, so I’m also just letting US3+ walk across the center line and win the game.

On the right, I needed to keep his knights penned in to get my Brutes into play, which only half worked (I wonder if that horde is Dogs of War? To have blunted the Brute charge or clapped back so hard). Plus my Lycans weren’t able to trade for even one knight regiment, a shameful turn of events to be sure. Duke Hetronburg also proved a real thorn in my side, with his Ht 4 hard for my short army to keep in check. In the end, the Brutes and the Lycan Alpha survived, however weren’t enough to offset John’s Honor Guard and couple infantry regiments – all three units that started the game in the upper left! Thanks Stampede 😦

HALLOW LOSS (?-?)

If I had to guess, I’d say I picked up another 3-4 points. Despite getting a trickle of points every game, a single win out of five games wasn’t the best feel to leave with. None of my games felt out of my control, even against Ken, but they all spiraled away in the late game as my soft bodies got bogged down or shot. It was also pretty clear to me that Tribal Spears would have been super helpful in all but possibly the Dwarf game, with so many cav hammers kicking around. Spoilers for the lists ahead.

Sorry for the wait on these Herd reports, and for their brevity. I’ll try to keep the momentum up so we can get back to 2024 🤦‍♂️

UP NEXT: Preparing for the Orc Town GT!

THE HALLOW 28-30: THE PILGRIMAGE GT DAY 1

On By SalvageIn THE HALLOWLeave a comment

I took my Hallow Herd to four grand tournaments in 2023: Dead of Winter (January), The Pilgrimage (March), Orc Town (June) and King Beyond the Wall (August). You can read about my Dead of Winter run already, but my goal is to finish reports for all of these events before the year ends eventually! Strap in, dead readers, slideshows and recaps are incoming.

The Pilgrimage GT (March 4-5) was five games at 2300 points held in Philadelphia, PA. Of note is that this is a different KOW region from my own, so me and a handful of the Northeastern lads would be raiding the Mid-Atlantic for a change. With decidedly mixed results 😅 It’s worth noting that Pilgrimage used Modified Bullshroud scoring, which gave 10-5-1 points for W-D-L with additions for scenario points and attrition earned, not scenario or attrition differential.

HERD 2300
Lycan Horde – Brew of Strength
Guardian Brute Horde
Guardian Brute Horde
Minotaur Chariot Regiment – The Stampede [1]
Tribal Warrior Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Tribal Warrior Regiment
Tribal Warrior Regiment
Tribal Warrior Regiment
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Lycan Alpha – Trickster’s Wand; Hex (2)
Great Chieftain – Horn of the Great Migration [1]
Centaur Chieftain – Blade of Slashing
Druid – Conjurer’s Staff; Bane Chant (2), Heal (2)
14 (27)

In the two months and +150 points between Dead of Winter and The Pilgrimage, all I’ve added is a third regiment of Tribal Warriors and given some tasty upgrades (Wand, Staff, Blade) to the support staff. The concept worked great at DOW, why mess with it? Honestly one of the reasons I went to Pilgrimage was because I wanted to play a 2300 singles event. It sounds weird to say, but those are extremely rare in the Northeast region currently, where we do different points levels or doubles instead.

GAME 1: VARANGUR

The Fallen Horde – Chalice of Wrath
The Fallen Horde – Brew of Haste
Mounted Sons Regiment – Helm of the Drunken Ram, Guise of the Deceiver
Mounted Sons Regiment – Boots of Striding, Guise of the Deceiver
Night Raiders Regiment – Bows
Snow Foxes Regiment
Draugr Regiment
Draugr Regiment
Magus Conclave – Famulus
Magus Conclave – Famulus
Frost Giant – Giant Club (!)
Magnilde of the Fallen [1]
Lord on Frostfang – Snow Fox
Skald – Lute of Insatiable Darkness
14(21)

Mike had taken a fairly standard fast Varangur list for this event, with an emphasis on punching as hard as possible but with the usual scenario doers and some shooting of his own. I gave him props for taking a Frost Giant outside of Northern Alliance (with rampage no less!), however he assured me that ‘Frosty the Pillow-Fisted Freakshow’ was mostly a liability. I also took a brief moment to laugh in Herd at his Mounted Sons’ investment in stealth 😅 Note that this is before the Northern Alliance buffs, so the Skald doesn’t grant Ordered March (to the Draugr??) and the Frostlord is still on 9 attaks.

We played Pillage, with the 2 point tokens center and just to the left. The Hallow went first, by design.

BATTLE

The Herd grabbed four of the five tokens immediately and implemented Operation: Bait the Giant All Damn Game on the left. On the right, I used the 19″ charge of the Lycans (1″ longer than Mike’s Sp 9 Fallen, thanks to the Horn of the Great Migration) to force the Fallen to engage, which helped me trade hammers until I had cleared all of the Varangur menace from the board.

HALLOW VICTORY (12-1)

What happens when two hammers smash into each other? The faster hammer with more junk wins, I guess! This was a wild start to the GT and catapulted me to the top table 😐

GAME 2: VARANGUR

Human Clansmen Horde – Norj-Bik (De 5+)
Mounted Sons Regiment – Guise of the Deceiver
Mounted Sons Regiment – Guise of the Deceiver
Mounted Sons Regiment – Guise of the Deceiver
Night Raiders Regiment – Bows, Wolf Handlers
Night Raiders Regiment – Bows, Wolf Handlers
Draugr Regiment
Draugr Regiment
Lord on Frostfang – Chalice of Wrath, Snow Fox
Lord on Frostfang – Staying Stone, Snow Fox
Magus – Lightning Bolt (4), Drain Life (6)
Magus – Lightning Bolt (4), Drain Life (6)
Magus – Lightning Bolt (4), Drain Life (6)
Kruufnir [1]
14(24)

So this event had two Australian guests in attendance: Ken Ferris (the then Australian Master) and Jeff Traish (the now Australian Master). After dunking Mike, I had the pleasure of facing Ken Freakin’ Ferris 😵 His Varangur had taken several pages from the elven playbook (recall at the time that Gladestalkers of all flavors had just been buffed, so Night Raiders are doing a pseudo-stalker thing, except with smashier friends), emphasizing shooting with very strong counter-punch and a little sustain thanks to the Magus’ transfusion ability. Again, I took a moment to laugh in Herd at the stealthy knights but let’s be real, it was a nervous laugh.

We played Pillage, with Ken I believe getting the side he wanted. Blessedly, the Hallow got the first turn and took it with gusto, since I had so much shooting to wade through. Note that this game was streamed live – I’m not sure where to or if it’s still around tho, so you’ll have to click thru below per usual.

BATTLE

The first half of the game goes great for me, as I start to roll up Ken’s left flank and remove two of three Mounted Sons regiments early on. I jam hard in the center, preparing to grind in my favor as Brutes pound into the Varangur line. I do have some concern when the Stampede’s early charge into the right Draugr completely flubs, letting a Frostlord start breaking them down, but I’m hopeful that that will hold Ken’s right up until help arrives. All told, the opening three turns have been amazing for me, against the Australian Master of all things!

Then Ken takes a moment to psych himself up – “You’re the fucking Master!” (a direct quote) – and slaps back. His Frostlords heat up and his shooting finally doesn’t have swamp monsters punching them in the face, spelling doom for me. The back half of the game is brutal, seeing my squishy dudes shot off and my harder hitters chased down by Frostlords. I end the game with a single Tribal Warriors regiment cowering on an objective, to Ken’s five.

HALLOW LOSS (3-10)

While it was an honor to play Ken, I will forever remember how close I came to cracking him, on the Internet no less 😤 After the event wrapped, he let me know I was his favorite opponent for taking that rise and fall in stride. What a gent.

GAME 3: DWARFS

Berserker Brock Riders Regiment – Boots of Striding
Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff
Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff
Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff
Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff
Sharpshooters Troop
Sharpshooters Troop
Sharpshooters Troop
Mastiff Hunting Pack Regiment
Steel Behemoth – Golloch’s Fury [1]
Steel Behemoth
Dwarf Lord on Large Beast
Dwarf Lord on Large Beast
Faber Ironheart [1]
14(24)

I played Joe in the first game of his first Kings of War event (Keystone GT 2018), and it’s been great to see him do better and better as time has gone on. He’s been riding pretty high with Dwarfs as their star has risen, with Pilgrimage continuing that trend. His version of The Dwarf List eschewed the formation to go the Ironguard + Sharpshooter spam route, with the double Beast Lords, second Behemoth and Brocks giving it a bit more of a counter-punch feel than some versions. Note that this is pre-Clash 2024, so none of those Dwarfs have Ordered March. Thank the gods.

Pretty sure we played Control, with the Herd going first one way or another. Joe’s a largely reactive player, so he may have let me take it, but either way I was content to race into the Dwarven castle.

BATTLE

My takeaway from this game was that I shouldn’t have given the Dwarfs exactly what they wanted. Joe was clearly going to castle around the hill in the deployment zone he chose; I should have clearly gone hard on the other flank and swept in, forcing him to turn his lines as I scored the back end of the lower left section. Instead, I attempted to ford the gunfire on the left while hooking in from the right. That isn’t horrible … but became much harder when his totally incompetent Brocks couldn’t chew through the Centaurs escorting my Lycan super hammer into his lines, snaking them twice! When my Lycans finally did fight, they flopped hard (5 damage instead of 10 with a 3 to rout), dying for their efforts and leaving the right flank to the Centaur Chief to clean up. Fakk me.

Meanwhile, my assault on the Dwarf castle wasn’t going terribly. I had been pounding through all that De 6+ at a good clip, but Sharpshooters on a hill meant my dudes were not only bleeding from combat but being finished off after those combats wrapped. Come end game, I just didn’t have much left to score, with a lonely Tribal Warrior reg keeping me in unit strength.

HALLOW LOSS (3-10)

I’m not sure why I chose hard mode for this game – I vaguely wanted to give Joe a fun match? As fun as being the gallery part of a shooting gallery is! I kind of wanted to pressure test the Hallow as well, since this was one of my few matches into The Dwarf List, if possibly the first? All the same, Joe’s a good dude and a big fan of mine, and I had had a helluva first day.

UP NEXT: Day 2! Back to the bottom third where I belong.