Whispers of the blood god...

Khorne has been whispering sweet murder musings in my ear over the past few weeks. This has led me to come up with a list that incorporates the WoC models I currently have with a couple of new additions. Very straight forward, punch you in the face style gameplay but I think it could be fun...

BEHOLD! KHORNE!

LORDS: (403)

Chaos Lord - Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut, Halberd, Helm of Many Eyes, Dragonhelm, Talisman of Preservation, Favor of the Gods, Diabolic Splendour (403)

A down right nasty example of Khorne's chosen sporting 6 ASF S6 attacks (with another 3 S5 from his mount), a 4+ ward save (2+ vs flaming attacks), a 0+ armor save, and a few nasty Chaos tricks to boot. He'll live in the unit of Chaos Knights for one hard hitting Khorne-powered steamroller.

HEROES: (314)

Chaos Sorcerer - Infernal Puppet, Talisman of Protection (135)
Exalted Hero - Mark of Khorne, Fury of the Blood God, BSB, Halberd, Shield (179)

The Sorcerer isn't "fluffy" in the list but he will be modeled in a way that matches the Khorneyness of the army (hahahah). He will actually be the puppet - a sort of head and torso being controlled by one of Khorne's chosen and there simply to protect his forces (and manipulate the miscast table for extra fun.. especially when the Hellcannons misfire). The BSB is a must in an all Frenzy bonanza such as this and a nice opportunity to use the Fury of the Blood God gift in a fluffy and functional way. The BSB will deploy in the Warriors while the Sorcerer will live in with the "Marauders".

CORE: (683)

Chaos Marauders x 39 - Mark of Khorne, Musician, Standard, Champion (176)
Chaos Warriors x 24 - Mark of Khorne, Halberds, Musician, Champion, Standard, Lichebone Pennant (459)
Chaos Warhounds x 8 (48)

Two big fat units of nasty fighty things. I skipped the flails on the "Marauders" as I will be using Beastmen instead and I don't think the flails look good on them. If only they had the additional hand weapon option...

The Warriors are pretty basic but I wanted them to have the Halberds as a way of really dealing some serious damage to incoming heavies, plus a little magic protection in the form of the MR1 standard. Hmm... I should look into how MR works in a unit for 8th (as the BSB has MR2 already and I might be able to use those 15 points on a character elsewhere).

SPECIAL: (440)

Chaos Knights x 8 - Mark of Khorne, Musician, Standard, Blasted Standard (420)

Common 8th edition WoC tactics say... DON'T TAKE KNIGHTS!! To hell with that I say! Sure they aren't quite as impressive as they once were, but used in the right way this unit can still deliver one hell of a punch. I've given them the 5+ ward vs shooting banner to ensure that most (if not all) of them make it through til the Turn 2 charge that will get them into CC. Overall this unit could probably be seen as a Chaos Lord delivery system.

RARE: (410)
Hellcannon (205)
Hellcannon (205)

Yup. I went there. The Hellcannon is just so damn cool and the only thing cooler than one Hellcannon is TWO! I played a one day tournament last year (or was it at the start of this year?) with Goatboy's WoC models and I had a blast with two of these guys running around the field. Unpredictable, deadly, and fun to field. Yes it can suck to be on the receiving end of a Hellcannon but I am counting on most players learning how to deal with the evil bastards. 

Total Points: 2,250 (of 2,250)

So there you have it.. my "all Khorne" Warriors of Chaos list that features both Magic and Shooting. I like the idea of a Khorne army twisting these two hated things to their advantage and best of all I only have to buy another 4-5 models to make this list a reality.

It's been quite a while since I had much WHFB content here and even longer since I wrote a new army list (for 8th no less). If you have critiques and/or feedback I would love to hear from you.

Army of Malal - 2,250 Warriors of Chaos list (version 1.0).

 Malal!!

"There is a name whispered quietly and with fear even by the most depraved, the most evil, and the least sane of the worshipers of Chaos. That name is Malal, the Renegade God of Chaos. Any man who dares look within the unholy black pages of The Great Book of Despair, that foul tome held sacred by worshipers of Chaos, would find the following words: "...and he that went before now came last, and that which was white and black and all direction was thrown against itself. Grown mightily indignant at the words of the Gods, Malal did turn his heart against them and flee into the chambers of space . . . And no man looked to Malal then, save those that serve that which they hate, who smile upon their misfortune, and who bear no love save for the damned. At such times as a warrior's heart turns to Malal, all Gods of Chaos grow fearful, and the laughter of the Outcast God fills the tomb of space . . ."

In eons past Malal was cast out from the bosom of Chaos by the other Gods, or else abandoned them of his own volition, no one is sure which. In any case, Malal's relationship to the other Gods of Chaos is a strange one. All Gods of Chaos pursue purposes that are wholly their own, yet only Malal occupies a position so resolutely parasitic upon his own unfathomable creed.To be a follower of Malal is to be a Chaotic warrior bent upon shedding the blood of other Chaotic creatures. As such, Malal is both feared and hated by the other Chaos Gods. Malal's worshipers, too, are loathed by other Chaotics; they are outcasts beloved by neither the friends nor enemies of Chaos, dependent upon the least whim of their patron deity. Few men worship such a God; fewer still live long in his service. The bonds that tie master and servant ever drain upon the soul of the warrior, and it is a rare man that can loosen the bonds of Malal once forged."

Sounds pretty cool... but where does Malal come from? Well, since you asked!

"The concept of the Chaos God "Malal" was created by comics writers John Wagner and Alan Grant along with Malal's champion, Kaleb Daark, for the Warhammer Fantasy world in the Citadel Miniatures Compendium and Journals. In the comic strip adventure Kaleb Daark's mission allied him temporarily with the forces of good. He fights at the siege of Praag and confronts the followers of the Chaos God Khorne, and also finds himself at odds with the Skaven. Less mutated than other followers of Chaos, he is equipped with his soul-drinking daemon axe "Dreadaxe" with its pterodactyl-like head on a shaft of bone. His shield was shaped in the form of Malal's skull symbol, his armor was all-black with white details and his steed was a black mutant horse. Kaleb himself appeared pale, as the contact with Malal supposedly drained him of energy. His battle cry was "Dreadaxe thirsts for you!"

I've been crafting a themed Malal Warriors of Chaos list since the new WoC book was first released. The basic elements of my Malal force will be a small band of Malal followers being led by a "Kaleb Daark" style hero (a Chaos Lord). Since Malal's followers rarely get together, preferring to work alone, I wanted to force to be representative of a small "elite" force. As such the idea of the Chaos Chosen fit perfectly.

While my first attempt was a Chosen "deathstar" (months before it became all the rage at tournament events/etc), my version of the list isn't as "cheesy" as others I have seen but still features some pretty hard elements. 

In addition to the hard Chosen center the force is backed up by two hard hitting Chaos Knight units and three sacrificial bands of Chaos Marauders (modeled as Beastmen to represent the "Claws of Malal"). 

So what does my list look like? Glad you asked!

LORDS: (400)
Chaos Lord - Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut of Khorne, Shield, Soporific Musk, Axe of Khorne, Crimson Armor of Dargan, Necrotic Phylactery (400)

My first Chaos Lord build featured the Chaos Daemonsword as a way of representing Kaleb's "Dreadaxe". Instead I decided to go with a build that is focused on destroying other followers of Chaos. With both the Crimson Armor and Phylactery the Lord will be immune to Poison, Killing Blow, and the magic lores of Nurgle and Death.

In close combat he has 6 strength 6 Killing Blow attacks with a 0+ armor save to keep him alive. The model will be a version of Kaleb on his mutant steed and will not feature any Khorne related imagery - I am just using the rules to represent Kaleb's desire to destroy the forces of Chaos.

HEROES: (680)
Exalted Hero - Mark of Tzeentch, Flail, Shield, Disc of Tzeentch, Bloodcurdling Roar, Book of Secrets, Golden Eye of Tzeentch (219)
Exalted Hero - Chaos Steed, Mark of Nurgle, Shield, BSB, Banner of the Gods (301)
Chaos Sorerer - Mark of Tzeentch, Level 2 Fury of the Blood God (160)

The other characters in this list all serve a very specific purpose. The BSB and Sorcerer will be deployed in the Chosen unit to give them the benefits of magic resistance 2, Terror, and Stubborn. Meanwhile, the flying Exalted will be harassing the enemy flanks and flyers or rushing off to kill enemy war machines. Not sure how I will model the flying aspect of this (perhaps he will be riding a Malal daemon or Malal inspired flying mount?) but I really like this character build and I want to include it in the list.

CORE: (174)
Chaos Marauders x 11 - Mark of Slaanesh, Musician (58)
Chaos Marauders x 11 - Mark of Slaanesh, Musician (58)
Chaos Marauders x 11 - Mark of Slaanesh, Musician (58)

Three units of minimum Core units, these guys are just bait. They will deploy near the Chosen to take advantage of the Stubborn rule and pull enemy units into position for a counter charge. As mentioned above, these units will be modeled as Beastmen to represent the "Claws of Malal". The number 11 is the number of Malal.

SPECIAL: (854)
Chosen x 16 - Mark of Tzeentch, Shields, Champion, Favor of the Gods, Standard, Banner of Rage, Musician (414)
Chaos Knights x 5 - Mark of Slaanesh, Musician (220)
Chaos Knights x 5 - Mark of Slaanesh, Musician (220)

The "meat" of the list - two hard hitting units of Chaos Knights and a solid block of Chosen. The "always Frenzy" banner of the Chosen allows them to ignore the units of Marauders that may be fleeing through them, and increases the chance of getting the "good" rolls on the Eye of the Gods table (in addition to their Stubborn and Terror abilities). The Mark of Tzeentch is for increasing their probable 4+ Ward Save to a 3+ Ward Save when they get a roll of 12 on the EoTG chart.

RARE: (140)
Chaos Warshrine - Mark of Slaanesh (140)

The Warshrine is basically just in the list to supercharge the unit of Chosen or the units of Chaos Knights as needed. Mark of Slaanesh keeps it from running off the table due to a bad failed panic test (or two), or from fleeing units of Marauders that may come too close. Not sure what the model will look like, but I am tossing around ideas such as a defaced Chaos statue or a sort of shrine to Malal.

Total Points: 2,248 (of 2,250)

Malal approves! What do you think?

Last Tournament here in Austin (for now??) - 2,250 Warriors of Chaos list.

Packing up and heading off to my last regular tournament here in Austin before I move. Goatboy was kind enough to lend me his Warriors of Chaos models to use for the event as all my models are packed up and ready to move. Based on the models he had access to I made this list to play:

LORDS: (400)
Chaos Lord – Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut, Rending Sword, Chaos Runeshield, Favor of the Gods, Soporific Musk, Bloodcurdling Roar (400)

HEROES: (726)
Chaos Sorcerer – Chariot, Level 2, Mark of Nurgle, Conjoined Homunculus, Black Tongue (310)
Chaos Sorcerer – Chariot, Level 2, Mark of Tzeentch, Infernal Puppet, Talisman of Protection (290)
Chaos Sorcerer(85) – Chaos Steed, Dispel Scroll (126)

CORE: (225)
Marauder Horsemen x 5 – Mark of Slaanesh (75)
Marauder Horsemen x 5 – Mark of Slaanesh (75)
Marauder Horsemen x 5 – Mark of Slaanesh (75)


SPECIAL: (485)
Chaos Knights x 5 – Mark of Slaanesh, Lances, Musician (245)
Chaos Knights x 5 – Mark of Khorne, Musician (240)

RARE: (410)
Hellcannon (205)
Hellcannon (205)

Total Points: 2,246 (of 2,250)

Pretty simple - run at enemy, bait with Marauders, kill with Knights and Chariots. The Hellcannons do all kinds of crazy stuff, usually eating something as they rampage across the board. I've played the list twice over the past two days and managed to win both games so I am looking forward to seeing what it can do against some of the nastier tournament lists today.

In other good (and exciting) news, I just received a call from the game store I am trying to secure a job at and they are interested in scheduling an interview for next week! Sadly it was for two days when I will still be in Austin or on the road to my new home in Kalamazoo, but after speaking with the owner he asked me to give him a call once I was back in town. Encouraging!

UPDATE:  It was a really fun last tournament here in Austin and the Warriors went 1-1-1.

First game was against High Elves with a lot of shooting and magic. Managed to squeeze out a Draw in the last few rounds with two great casts of Rot, Glorious Rot from my Nurgle Sorcerer.

Second game was against Vampire Counts and basically ended on Turn 2 when my Chaos Lord and Khorne Knights made it into his caster Vamp Lord's block. I finished off the Vamp Lord in CC and overran into his other main block with Lvl 2 casty Vamp. Meanwhile one Hellcannon kept a unit of Wraiths tied up while the other kept a nasty block of Black Knights with Hatred and Regen banners stuck on the far flank. Minor Victory for me in the end as he had a lot of points tied up in the Black Knight unit.

Third game was against the new Beastmen. It would have been an more interesting game but Slugtongue killed off half my army before the game began, dealing half wounds to the two Hellcannons, killing my Nurgle Sorc and severely wounding his Chariot, picking off some Knights, and erasing some Horsemen. The Hellcannons must have been pissed at this because on Turn 2 they misfired and I rolled the miscast misfire then used the Puppet to kill Slugtongue and another Level 2 Bray Shaman. Chaos Lord whiffed some important attacks on the Doom Bull and died in a challenge. Beware of Slugtongue!!!

Vampire Counts 2,250 list take 4 - Revenge of the Skeledudes.

About two years ago when I started playing WHFB I had a really hard time winning. At best I could manage a draw, but I lost far too often. My first army and games were with the Ogres which are known to have a steep learning curve and hard time winning some match ups. Still ... I grew discouraged. With practice and patience I managed to achieve a winning record with the fatties and life was good.

Flash forward to last weekend's tournament where I brought my "new" Vampire Counts army out for a test run. The results? 1 draw (against Beasts) and 2 losses (against Skaven and a Night Goblin army). While the dice were not with me that day I still felt as if my list was the one letting me down. My magic phase didn't help matters; I only cast 11 spells in three 6 turn games with 10pd each phase. My vamps are some of the worst spell casters.

I learned a few things though:
1. VC core troops are really bad. No, really. They can't do anything.
2. A unit of 3 vamps (one being the Lord) and some Black Knights can wreck most things on the charge.
3. Wraiths are good and the unit of 5 with Banshee is quite powerful in the right situation.

Most of my games came down to me running my two units that could actually kill things into the enemy while the rest of my army was systematically destroyed. My plans to invoke enough Skeletons to keep them alive failed as I often needed to focus my casting on the costly (and fragile) Grave Guard unit. With that in mind I have made some changes to my list. Perhaps you can spot them in the following?

LORDS: (400)
Vampire Lord - Level 3, Red Fury, Beguile, Dread Knight, Blood Drinker, Walach's Bloody Hauberk, Black Periapt (400)

HEROES: (645)
Vampire - Dark Acolyte, Lord of the Dead, Book of Arkhan, Cadaverous Cuirass (195)
Vampire - BSB, Flag of Blood Keep, Dread Knight, Walking Death (250)
Vampire - Dread Knight, Supernatural Terror, Dispel Scroll x 2 (200)

CORE: (575)
Skeleton Warriors x 24 - Musician, Standard, Champion, Warbanner (237)
Skeleton Warriors x 24 - Musician, Standard (204)
Zombies x 20 - Musician (84)
Dire Wolves x 5 - Doom Wolf (50)

SPECIAL: (355)
Black Knights x 12 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Lance, Standard, Champion, Standard of Strigos (355)

RARE: (275)
Cairn Wraiths x 5 - Banshee (275)

Total Points: 2,250 (of 2,250)

Gone are the Grave Guard (right after I spent a week assembling them and making sure my vampire on foot would rank up in their unit), I have used to points to beef up my two Skeleton units and the Black Knights. As more added protection I have ditched the Hellfire Banner in favor of the 4+ ward save banner for the unit as most of the causalities I suffered came from shooting and magic missiles. The Skeleton Warriors where the caster vamp will live have gained a champion and a warbanner. I considered changing up the Vampire thrall to have Lord of the Dead (for early game invokes when he is near the Skeletons) but I like the insurance that 2 dispel scrolls brings.

I am considering changing up my warband list as well. I just don't see 10 Skeletons doing much against the types of forces I am likely to be facing. Comments, suggestions, and theory are welcome and encouraged. I don't really know what the hell I am doing with these undead!

Vampire Counts 2,250 list - this is what I am working towards.

I have posted a few variations of this list previously but this is what I am working towards for assembly and painting at the moment. Overall I am pretty happy with this list. I have played two games with it so far and won both. Would love to get feedback from the more (or less) experienced VC generals reading this. The overall theme is still Skeletons.

Skeledudes!

LORDS: (400)
Vampire Lord - Level 3, Red Fury, Beguile, Dread Knight, Blood Drinker, Walach's Bloody Hauberk, Black Periapt (400)

With the exception of the level 2 Vampire the rest of my characters are deployed in the unit of Black Knights. This Lord build is a bit of a hybrid but mostly combat orientated. He has a 1+ armor save, a 5+ ward save, and the Blood Drinker to help keep him alive. Combined with Beguile and Red Fury he can really do a number on most units/models while still supporting the rest of his unit.

HEROES: (605)
Vampire - Dark Acolyte, Lord of the Dead, Book of Arkhan, Cadaverous Cuirass (195)
Vampire - BSB, Royal Standard of Strigos, Dread Knight, Walking Death (210)
Vampire - Dread Knight, Supernatural Terror, Gem of Blood, Dispel Scroll (200)

The level 2 Vampire is deployed with the Grave Guard, typically with units of Skeletons to either flank. He spends most of the game buffing up these units while trying to stay close to the action to make use of the book. The BSB is mostly a support character but he can do plenty of damage on his own, plus he bring +2 CR and Hatred to the unit of Black Knights. Initially I was planning on making my BSB a Wight King but I have not been able to find a model I like enough to use so he has become a Vampire instead.

The third Vampire is mostly there for extra killing power, a bit of Terror for fun (this might get dropped), and the nasty trick that is the Gem of Blood. Great in a challenge when you just need to get that last wound in (especially if your opponent doesn't have a ward or regen save). It can be dangerous though .. on a roll of a 1 it does 2 wounds to the Vampire instead. This item might be dropped for another Dispel Scroll but for now I am going with just one.

CORE: (468)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Zombies x 20 - Musician (84)
Dire Wolves x 5 (40)

Skeletons! Initially wanted to field two units of 30 but I couldn't find the points to include the extra models and the Grave Guard. Zombies are my tar pit and redirecting unit, typically deployed near the flank of one Skeleton unit to stop and nasty stuff from getting a flank charge. The small unit of Dire Wolves is mostly a nuisance I use to chase off flyers and other Fast Cav. Also good for throwing at war machines to give them something to worry about for a turn. Would love to run more but I don't have the points!

SPECIAL: (501)
Black Knights x 7 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Lance, Standard, Champion, Banner of Hellfire (210)
Grave Guard x 19 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Musician, Standard, Banner of the Barrows (291)

Black Knights have the always important champ for taking challenges I don't want to throw a Vampire (or Lord) at. They bring the Banner of Hellfire for regen and anything that needs to be hit by magic attack. The Grave Guard are 19 strong and have the banner of +1 to hit. Always nice to hit most things on a 3+ especially when you have Killing Blow!

RARE: (275)
Cairn Wraiths x 5 - Banshee (275)

Wraiths. People don't like them and I know why. The biggest issue I have seen with this unit is it's larger frontage. I often throw these at a flank and they tend to kill themselves out of CC. Without the wounds for CR things can get dicey. You never want to crumble with a unit of 5 models that costs 275 points!

Total Points: 2,249 (of 2,250)

So that is what I am working towards finishing at the moment. As for the status of the models ...

• 40 Skeletons (60 assembled, 20 painted, 20 in progress, 20 yet to be primed)
• 20 Zombies (20 assembled and primed)
• 5 Dire Wolves (10 assembled, 4 painted, 6 in progress)
• 19 Grave Guard (10 assembled and waiting to be primed, another box to be assembled)
• 7 Black Knights (16+ assembled, 1 painted, 2 in progress, the rest are primed)
• 5 Wraiths w/ Banshee (5 assembled, 1 painted, 4 to be primed)
• Vampire on foot (1 assembled and waiting to be primed - may make a different model still)
• Vampire Lord (1 assembled and primed - a bit tipsy though and he doesn't rank up well)
• Vampire BSB (1 assembled and primed - using one of my Blood Knight models)
• Vampire on Nightmare (1 painted)
  

As you can see, most of the work to be done is in the painting stage. I am still hoping to have this done by the end of the year but it isn't looking likely. Even if I finish multiple units a week I will probably run out of time. I will have it all assembled and primed though dangit!!

Win some you lose some.

Well the Beer Gut Tribe performed about as well as I had expected them to during yesterday's tournament. I won my first two games and lost my last. Going into the final round I was in first place by two points but I probably finished somewhere south of 5th place. Not a bad showing but not the three wins I needed to make it into next month's championship tournament.

I meant to take a bunch of pictures during the event but I only grabbed a couple and they didn't turn out very well. The picture above is the only one that was somewhat usable. Oh well. Here is a quick rundown of the games I played and highlights from each.

Game #1 - Jeff's Skaven.

• Jeff is one of the better players in our scene (if not the country) and he brought a pretty ugly Skaven list from the new book.
  
• List consisted of a Grey Seer on foot, two level 2 Plague Priests, BSB, two or three units of Clanrats with Ratling Guns, big block of Plague Monks pushing the Plague Furnace, a unit of Censer Bearers, Hellpit Abomination, Warplightning Cannon, and two or three units of Slaves.
• Neither the Plague Priests nor the Grey Seer got Wither (thank goodness) but the Grey Seer did take the Dreaded 13th Spell.
  
• I got turn 1 and pushed everything forward with a unit of Trappers heading towards the WLC to limit it's shots and charge it on turn 2.
  
• Managed to get buffs up on all the Ogre units and Bangstick a Ratling Gun off the board.
  
• Scraplauncher pulled off it's first amazing moment of the day by scoring a partial hit on a Plague Priest in a unit of Clanrats. Plague Priest then fails his "Look Out Sir" roll and is destroyed by a Killing Blow on the roll of 6.
  
• Hellpit Abomination moves up the left flank towards a unit of Ironguts with a Butcher. Rolls triples, then 6, moving into the flank of the Ironguts with a super-charged S7 fury and crushing them all.
  
• Leadbelchers move behind the Hellpit Abomination and blast a couple of wounds off the beast before charging the rear by themselves (while a unit of Bulls fails it's Fear test and stays put). They are quickly absorbed/eaten but manage to do one more wound to the beast.
  
• Bulls get their courage up and charge the flank of the Hellpit Abomination and manage to do the last 3 remaining wounds to "kill" it. Jeff rolled a 2 and the beast stays dead for good.
  
• Meanwhile on the right side of the board the Maneaters and characters slam into a unit of Clanrats who are crushed but slow down the unit long enough for the baited Plague Monk unit nearby to manage a counter charge on the unit's flank (only touching the BSB Bruiser).
  
• This combat goes on for the rest of the game with the BSB managing to kill all but one of the Plague Monks while the Maneaters and Characters take multiple T tests each turn (probably in the neighborhood of 30 or more).
  
• Grey Seer manages to cast the Dreaded 13th spell on the unit of Bulls which killed the Hellpit Abomination. It goes off with Irresistible Force and the 4 Bulls are turned into 4 Clanrats.
• The Ogres have their revenge on the next turn when the Grey Seer miscasts and blows himself up (rolling a 2 on the miscast table).
  
• Final score is close with a narrow victory going to the Beer Gut Tribe.
  

A close fought game that was a lot of fun. There were moments of "WTF" on both sides of the table and the game could have gone either way at many points. This was my first game against Jeff and I hope to be able to play with him again in the future. In other news - the updated Skaven book is no friend of the Ogre Kingdoms (then again who is!?). My next opponent is a familiar face, Jeff's father Mike.

Game #2 - Mike's Warriors of Chaos.

• Mike and I have played a few times and it is always fun. Well, the two times I had to play his Tecilis list at BoLSCon might not be my favorite moments in WHFB history but they were still fun.
  
• He brought a slightly unusual WoC list with unmarked level 4 Sorc Lord, level 2 Chaos Sorc with the Mark of Nurgle, Exalted BSB, three units of 20 Marauders, two or three units of Marauder Horsemen, a unit of Chaos Knights, two Chariots, and two Hellcannons.
  
• Mike got the first turn and began moving forward with one Hellcannon in the middle of the field and another on the far right flank near his Marauder blocks.
• In his opening volley with the first Hellcannon he misfired and rolled the "all wizards miscast" roll. His casters survive thanks to the Puppet. My first Butcher does 3 wounds to himself (after he was already able to cast Trollguts on his unit due to the Sorc Lord's miscast) while the second Butcher rolls a 1.
  
• That would have been the game but Mike (in a move that proves to be his downfall) modifies the miscast to the "Butcher can no longer cast spells" outcome (later I found out he had the Black Tongue and probably could have killed him at any time).
  
• With Gut Magic out of the picture things are looking grim for the Beer Gut Tribe.
  
• After fleeing from a Chaos Knight charge on the flank, and a double Chariot charge in the center of the board, I set up Mike for the counter charge with my Slavegiant and Maneater units.
  
• Mike flees from all the charges which allows me to redirect my charge into two additional units who also flee.
  
• By the end of my turn 2 half of Mike's army is fleeing on one side of the board while his blocks of troops move up the right side.
  
• Mike's Horsemen and Knights fail to rally and run off the board while the Chariots manage to turn around.
• Sustained Hellcannon shots decimate the Irongut and Maneater units.
  
• In turn 4 I charge my Tyrant out of his unit at the Hellcannon and deal 2 wounds.
  
• Marauders charge the Tyrant's flank on turn 5 but he manages to hold (testing on a 4).
  
• My turn 5 I charge a unit of Bulls into the flank of the Marauders who break while the Tyrant kills the Hellcannon before chasing the Marauders off the board.
  
• Ganes ends as a decisive victory for the Beer Gut Tribe with only one unit of Marauders and the three characters left alive on the table.
  

What started out as a complete loss thanks to the miscast outcome on the Hellcannon misfire chart turned out to be a really fun game with some close calls on both sides. All of this thanks to the kindness of my opponent. Much appreciated Mike! Going into the last game of the day I was in first place with two win and ahead in overall points. It was a tie between opponents between Jordan's Wood Elves and Dylan's Dwarfs. I manage to draw the Wood Elves and I am sure you can guess the outcome of this one ...

Game #3 - Jordan's Wood Elves.

• Jordan is one of the best players in the country and always gives a good game. That said I have yet to enjoy any of my games with him as he always ends up playing lists that seem tailored to destroy Ogres.
• His WE list consisted of two level 1 scroll caddies, a Hail of Doom arrow BSB, Ancient Treeman, three units of Dryads, three units of Archers, Waywatchers, three units of Wild Riders, and some other bits I can't recall. It was mostly a forest spirit army.
  
• This was only my second game against Wood Elves and I still hate them.
  
• Jordan got turn 1 and moved up his Dryads and Fast Cav while shooting the crap out of my Ogres and Slavegiant.
  
• I manage to get one or two Gut Magic buffs up but he quickly removes them in his magic phase.
  
• Tyrant ends up fighting the Treeman and does two wounds in the first round. This combat goes on for two more rounds but the Tyrant fails to do anything while the Treeman gets about a wound on average each time and holds.
• Treeman was equipped with the Annoyance of Netlings and D6 poison attacks.
  
• Treeman finally breaks and flees but the Maneaters and characters fail to catch him and slam into a nearby unit of Dryads.
  
• More Dryads and the Treeman charge back in and kill the Maneaters off but not before the Tyrant manages to land the killing blow on the Treeman.
  
• Meanwhile the Slavegiant and a unit of Leadbelchers kill a unit of Dryads but are charged in the flank by Wild Riders and die (with the Slavegiant falling on the last Leadbelcher and killing him off).
  
• Meanwhile the WE BSB has left the security of the woods and is standing in the center of the board shooting at some remaining Bulls.
  
• Scraplauncher takes the opportunity to land a direct hit on the BSB and kill him outright with a roll of 6 for Killing Blow.
  
• Game ends as a loss for the Beer Gut Tribe with only the Scaplauncher, Tyrant, BSB, and one Butcher remaining.
  

Why is it the Wood Elf army isn't considered a "strong" army? Compared to Ogres they have everything going for them but I can see how things go wrong with a bunch of T3 troops running around. I don't like Dryads. I don't like Trees that kill. Still, it was a fun game all around and I managed to kill about half the Wood Elf army which is good considering I expected to be wiped off the board by turn 3. Thanks for the first fun game Jordan!

So there you have it. Two wins and one loss and three fun games against some of the best players of WHFB I know. Win or lose you can't really beat an outcome like that. While I (probably) haven't made it high enough in the rankings for next month's tournament I still had a lot of fun and sometimes I need that reminder of why I play this game at all. For the fun times.

Last Tournament of the year - Ogre Dark Horse list.

Last tournament of the year, and this season, happens tomorrow at BattleForge Games. This one is for placement in the "Tournament of Champions" next month. As of this writing I am 11th in the rankings and I need a place in the top 9 to participate. This year's events have really put a damper on my first (and last in Austin) tournament season but I am hoping to have a good showing tomorrow to squeeze into the finals.

Tomorrow's event is a "Hobby" tournament which means that painting score and some light comp are involved. That should make for some "soft" lists but since it is the last tournament of the season I expect to see some nasty stuff on the tables still.

With that in mind here is the list I will be playing during tomorrow's three games:

LORDS:
Tyrant – Heavy Armor, Luck Gnoblar, Cathayan Longsword, Beastkiller, Greedy Fist, Wyrdstone Necklace, Greyback Cloak (311)

A now "classic" build - I have been using this loadout for my Tyrant almost all year and I love it. It is a more defensive build but I have yet to lose a challenge with it. Destroying magic weapons is something I love to do. My biggest success was eating a Frostblade but I almost always manage to eat at least one magic weapon each game. The Tyrant is deployed in the unit of Maneaters with the BSB and Cookbook Butcher.

HEROES:
Bruiser – BSB, Heavy Armor, Sword of Might, Gnoblar Thiefstone (194)
Butcher – Bangstick, Dispel Scroll (180)
Butcher – Halfling Cookbook (155)

Nothing too crazy here. BSB has the SoM for a little extra wound potential and Wraith killing. The Thiefstone is good for initial magic defense before I can get my Gut Magic buffs up on the Maneater unit. This is the first tournament list I have taken with the Cookbook and I have to say it is pretty cool. Played two games today with this list and the Cookbook spared me a couple wounds (about 1 a game) but I am still not sure I would take it over a Dispel Scroll in a more competitive list.

CORE:
Bulls x 4 – Champion, Bellower, AHW (186)
Bulls x 4 – Champion, Bellower, AHW (186)
Ironguts x 4 – Champion, Bellower (222)
Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54)

How did I live with my Ogres before I started playing with Champions!? They have saved my ass on so many occasions since I don't know if I can go back to playing without them. In a game against WoC today I cleared off an entire army and only lost 3 Ogres thanks to the Champions. Running these units a little wider with 4 wide instead of 3. Makes for more attacks but also means I have to commit to a charge - not a lot of room for error.

SPECIAL:
Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)
Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)
Scraplauncher (165)

I stopped shooting with my Leadbelchers and I haven't lost them in the past few games. I often find the threat of the shots is enough to keep units at a distance. I use their shooting ability only when I think I can weaken or destroy a unit, usually in the case of flyers or Fast Cav. Scraplauncher has been a real disappointment the past few games, almost always scattering 8-10 inches away from my target and misfiring about once a game. Here's hoping it does better for me tomorrow!

RARE:
Maneaters x 2 – GW, Heavy Armor (180)
Slavegiant (175)

Fairly minimal Rare selection but you need a unit of Maneaters to use as a character delivery system. The Slavegiant is fun and I have him painted so he makes the list. In a more competitive list I might drop him for more Maneaters but he has been doing really well lately and seems to enjoy jumping up and down quite a bit.

Total Points: 2,248 (of 2,250)

Not really my "ideal" list but I wanted to ensure all of my models in play were painted as I lost a third place spot during the last tournament because they weren't (stupid Hunter...). In the two practice games I played today the list performed well so I expect to win at least one or two of my games during the event. Here's hoping I can go all the way and grab a spot in the finals!

Since I am a dark horse to win tomorrow's event, and place in the top 10, I thought a review of a Dark Horse beer would be appropriate. Here is one I really enjoy from the Dark Horse Brewing Company out of Marshall, MI. I'll be adding photos of each beer as I review it so those reading at home can track down the ones they wish to try.

Dark Horse Brewing Company - Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Beer Type: American IPA

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with an off-white label and a picture of a crooked tree. Beer poured a hazy amber with a thick off-white head that left plenty of lacing.

Smell: Some fruity aroma (apricots or oranges?) at first, followed by floral hops and some malt. Smells damn good!

First Drink: Sweet malt followed quickly by a sharp bitter hops. Oddly refreshing!

Mouthfeel: A little dry but not overly carbonated which makes it work.

Last Drink: Not a lot going on here, just tastes like a damn good IPA. A little bit more "dark" biscuit flavors are coming through in the aftertaste along with more of the bitter hops.

Drinkability: Can't complain! It tastes like a better (more refined) version of the first homebrew we made! 6% ABV makes the time fly while drinking a few.

Notes: Drank this on a recent trip back to my home state of Michigan. Then I drank it again. Then I brought some back to Austin with me. Now I want more and can't get it here. Oh well, I have something to look forward to when I move back home!

Verdict: 4.25 out of 5.

Links: Beer Advocate and Dark Horse Brewing Company.

Skaven - 2,250 Clan Moulder Freak Rat Romp!

I love monsters. The Skaven have their Clan Moulder who love monstrous rat creatures. Here is a monstrous rat creature list made with the new Skaven book that I hope to proxy and try out (perhaps collect, assemble, and paint):

LORDS: (225)
Throt the Unclean (225)

HEROES: (270)
Warlock Engineer(15) - Level 2, Shadow Magnet Trinket, Warp-Energy Condenser (150)
Warlock Engineer - Level 1, Dispel Scroll, Warpstone Token, Warpmusket (120)

CORE: (1255)
Rat Ogres x 10 - Master Moulder w/ Electro Whip, Packmasters x 3, Skweel Gnawtooth (580)
Rat Ogres x 10 - Master Moulder w/ Thingcatcher, Packmasters x 4 (485)
Giant Rats x 26 - Master Moulder w/ Thingcatcher, Packmasters x 3 (155)
Giant Rats x 9 - Packmaster (35)

RARE: (500)
Hellpit Abomination - Warpstone Spikes (250)
Hellpit Abomination - Warpstone Spikes (250)

Total Points: 2,250 (of 2,250)

Two big units of Rat Ogres w/ Packmasters and a big block of Giant Rats with Engineers. The smaller pack of Giant Rats is for harassing flanks or claiming table quarters. Giant monsters do what they do best - kill things! I have never played Skaven. Just looking for something fun to play with and model and huge mutant rats seem to be on my mind at the moment. Suggestions for the list are welcomed and encouraged!

It has been awhile since I featured a beer review on the site. I still have a huge backlog of beers I need to review but I thought this one was thematically appropriate.

Indian Wells Brewing Company - Lobotomy Bock

Beer Type: Doppelbock

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a red "cartoony" label on it. Beer poured a dark reddish black color with a thick head.

Smell: Bready... a bit of sweet dark aroma (chocolate?).

First Drink: A little bit of chocolate but nothing that really sticks around.

Mouthfeel: Thin and a little flat feeling (more carbonation would be nice).

Last Drink: More malt and bread flavors but overall this is a very simple beer.

Drinkability: Seems a bit like Shiner Bock in taste and mouthfeel, but I feel like there should be more going on.

Notes: This beer is 10% alchohol but you can't really taste it. Not great, not bad, this one is just alright (and my brains are still intact).

Verdict: 3 out of 5

Links: Beer Advocate and Indian Wells Brewing Company.

2,250 list review from Saturday's tournament.

While I often add my thoughts and commentary on a list before the army hits the tabletop I rarely share my thoughts on a list after it has been played. Well starting today I want to keep track of the effectiveness of the lists I play – what works and what doesn't?

Starting with the Lord choice...

Tyrant – Heavy Armor, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Cathayan Longsword, Gut Maw, Wyrdstone Necklace (281)

I typically play my Tyrant in one way only; get into close combat and kill a lot of rank and file troops or challenge and crush an enemy champion or character. I usually build my Tyrant to live up to this challenge although he doesn't need a lot of help - the Ogre Tyrant is a close combat machine.

Heavy Armor is a must for 6 points and I usually give him a magic Gut Plate to up the armor save to a 4+. In this list I went with the Gut Maw which "heals" the Tyrant if he wins a challenge, restoring a number of wounds equal to the champion or character he has killed. This only came up once in last weekend's tournament when he smashed a Saurus champion and was able to add +1 wound to his profile. The armor save was often negated by 1 or 2 points giving him (most often) an armor save of 5+. Overall I am still not a huge fan of the Gut Maw but I can see it having a place in the OK army.

I am a huge fan of the Cathayan Longsword at the moment. The addition of +1 to the Tyrant's WS and Ini makes him more of an equal to truly elite fighty Lords and allows him to hit sooner in extended combats or challenges. The Cathayan Longsword also confers an armor piercing bonus of -1 which gives the Tyrant's attacks a -3 AP thanks to his strength of 5. This is a nice even number for armor piercing as it makes a 0 or 1+ armor save something that can actually fail.

I almost always give my Tyrant the 5+ ward save with the Wyrdstone over the more expensive and situational Spangleshard - although I am interested in seeing that item in action at some point.

The sword and luck gnoblars are the first things to go if I need the points but it is great to have some insurance on that crucial saving roll (from the luck) and I have found the extra two attacks from the Gnoblars (mostly wounding on 6's) to be effective as well. I think of them like a mount's attacks, and horses seem to always wound when you don't want them to.

During the three games I played this past weekend the Tyrant only participated in two challenges and won both of them. He wasn't crucial to my success in any situation but I was still glad to have him "on my team" when it came time for close combat. Overall he fared as well (if not better) than I had expected.

Next up are my Hero choices...

Bruiser – Heavy Armor, Cathayan Longsword, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Greatskull, Gnoblar Thiefstone (207)

Basic anti-magic loadout with the magic armor that makes all rolls of double count as a miscast if the spell is targeted at the Bruiser or the unit he is with, and a Thiefstone for magic resistance 1.

Not a single spell was directed at the Maneater/Tyrant/Bruiser unit in the three games I played. Was that a coincidence or was it because of the Great Skull? I have used this item a few times now and it has never come up - not once. I can't say I am terribly impressed.

Bruiser – BSB, Dragonhide Banner, Lookout Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Heavy Armor (234)

Ah the Dragonhide Banner. Certainly overcosted and probably not worth it, I doubt I will be running this again... unless I can find a way to combine it with the equally useless Thundermace!

A Bruiser BSB without magic items just isn't that good. He had next to no survivability (just his 5+ Armor Save) and I tried to keep him on the ends of the unit as much as possible to ensure he wasn't in combat.

Hunter – Sabertusks x 2, Longstrider, Sword of Battle (235)

The Hunter. His job was to deal with Forest Spirits and Wraiths, neither of which came up in my games. He shot his Harpoon Launcher almost every turn in every game and failed to kill anything with the exception of 1 Cold One Cav in the first game. A total waste of points, I don't think I will be bringing him out again any time soon.

Not the "best" character loadout I have ever used but none of them died in the three games I played either so it wasn't all bad. Now on to my Core choices...

Bulls x 3 – Champion (125)
Bulls x 3 – Champion (125)
Ironguts x 3 – Champion, Bellower (174)
Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54)
Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54)

The Bulls were the first to die in most of my games, but it was always for a good cause. Trading 150 victory points for a chance of getting back 200+ is a good trade off in my opinion (killing the Army general, destroying a block of infantry, claiming standards, etc).

The Ironguts failed to do anything impressive in most of my games. I have to say I am very disillusioned with Ironguts in general. I know most Ogre Kingdoms generals swear by them but I find that they rarely hit with their WS3 and they still have next to no survivability with their 5+ armor save since they tend to fight nastier close combat troops. One to two units is the max I plan on running in any one list, I just don't like them for the points when Bulls can do almost the same (bad) job for a cheaper price.

My Trappers were the MVP of this army list - killing two characters in the first game, and grabbing table quarters and sharp stuffing things in the last two. I wish I could field two units all the time without having to take a Hunter.

Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)
Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)
Scraplauncher (165)

I have really come around to liking my Leadbelchers, especially with the champions randomizing incoming hits from shooting and magic. It does sting to lose 120 point per unit, but by keeping the units small and relatively inexpensive I have managed to make their points back in most games I play. If I have them alive at the end of the game - great! This weekend they did not misfire at all and did an average of 12 shots with 4-6 hits and 3-4 wounds per volley. Not too shabby.

The Scraplauncher did not perform any massive hits with its shots but my guesses were also really off for some reason. It did perform rather well in close combat against the Vampire Counts list I played and in one instance actually saved me from losing a combat thanks to it's rank busting unit strength. Nicely done! Now how about those Rare choices...

Maneaters x 2 – CLS, Heavy Armor (180)
Slavegiant (175)

The Maneaters made back their points and more in every game I played. I know some people frown on the idea of a "Death Star" but I don't consider two Maneaters, a Tyrant, and two Bruisers to be equal to such a thing. To me that unit is simply a character delivery system to ensure I get the most points back out of the points spent gearing them up. The unit survived every game I played and did plenty of damage. Points well spent I think.

My Slavegiant has really been on a losing streak for the past few month but this past weekend he made up for it by rolling two "Yell and Bawl" rolls when I needed them, crushed a unit to death the one and only time he died, and helped win or at least tie some combats that were not going the Ogre's way. All in all I am very glad I took him and I really want to get another model sometime soon.

So there you have it... certainly some changes I would make if I were to play this list again but overall it was fairly effective in the matches I played. I think I learned a thing or two about these units and hopefully my lengthy ramble has proved to be informative to someone reading this out there.

As always comments, critiques, rants, and rebuttals are welcome and appreciated.

Tournament results - a hard luck story.

Well the tournament I attended yesterday went well overall, although the ending may haunt me for weeks to come...

Got to the store to find one of the regular players had locked his keys (and army) in his vehicle. Made a quick call to my insurance company and got a truck to come out and slim jim the lock. All was well and I felt a surge of good karma come my way. Had a cup of coffee and I was ready to take on the Warhammer world!

I left my camera at home. Crap. Without my camera I didn't bother to keep track of everything that went on in my games but here is a "short" recap of the important moments as I remember them.

Game 1 - Eric's Lizardmen

• Eric (nice fellow who I had never played before) brought a fairly tame Lizardmen list. Lord on Carnosaur (always bad news for Ogres) but not with Blade of Realities (can't recall what his kit was), Scar-vet on Cold One, level 2 Skink Priest, and a Skink Chief on Ancient Stegadon with the Stegadon Spear. The rest of the list contained one unit of Skinks with blowpipes, one with Javelins, one unit of Cold One Cavalry, and two blocks of Saurus Warriors - one with spears.
  
• My entire focus during deployment was to avoid the Carnosaur with my mini-star and go for the Cold One Cav and Saurus.
  
• He had less to deploy and I was able to avoid his Carnosaur by placing my Maneaters with characters last.
  
• Deployment looked (mostly) like this:

• Everything moved up on Turn 1 (with the exception of the Scraplauncher and Hunter).
  
• On Turn 2 my Trappers in the woods on the left passed their Terror test against the Carnosaur (awesome).
• Leadies moved up on the left and blasted away some Skinks that were screening the Carnosaur.
  
• Scraplauncher scores a direct hit on the unit of Saurus with Spears but only kills 1 Saurus.
• The Maneater unit charges the Cold One cav who flee 4" and are caught and killed.
  
• Slavegiant redirects its charge into the Saurus w/ spears, Yells and Bawls and keeps the Saurus tied up for a round.
• Ancient Steg w/ Skink Chief attempts to charge the Slavegiant's flank but can't fit in between the two Saurus units sideways and moves backwards instead.
• Meanwhile on the far right flank the unit of Bulls charges the Skinks, loses one to stand and shoot before winning combat and chasing the remaining Skinks down.
• The Hunter and Trappers keep the Carnosaur busy while the Skinks move towards the Maneater's rear.
• Skink Priest drops a Comet on a unit of fleeing Leadbelchers, the Sraplauncher, and Hunter. The Hunter survives while the other two units are destroyed.
  
• Trappers move up and kill the Skink Priest with sharp stuff in revenge for their fallen Gnoblar brothers.
  
• Maneaters charge the Saurus unit to help back up the Slavegiant (who is down to 2 wounds remaining), kill two ranks on the charge and proceed to chase down the fleeing Saurus and kill them.
  
• Skinks get their revenge by shooting the Slavegiant to death who then falls on the Skinks and kills the remainder of the unit.
• The Ironguts flank charge the remaining baited Saurus unit (with Scar-vet), win CC, and laugh as the fleeing Saurus are chopped down as they run into the Trappers who have spent the game bickering in the nearby forest.
  
• Trappers realize they are awesome, leave the forest and hurl sharp stuff at the Skink Chief on the Ancient Steg but fail to kill him.
  
• Game ends as a Victory for the Beer Gut Tribe with only the Ancient Steg and Lord on Carnosaur remaining.
  

Game 2 - Ralph's Vampire Counts

• Just the other night Ralph and I were discussing the list he planned on bringing to the "Hobby" tournament (it seems that as an Ogre player I am the unofficial opinion maker for what is "fair" and what isn't) and in a strange play of luck we were matched up against one another.
  
• Ralph's one nasty character was a level 3 Vampire Lord w/ Infinite Hatred, Red Fury, the Cursed Book, Dread Knight, Bloody Hauberk, and the Balefire Spike. The rest of his list was made up of a Scouting Vamp, two Wight Kings, one on foot with the Black Axe, one as BSB with the Nightshroud and Sword of kings, a big unit of Black Knights (where the characters went), two units of Skeleton Warriors with full command and magic banners, a Varghulf, a unit of Fell Bats, one unit of Dire Wolves, and a block of 12 Ghouls.
• My goal was to not get charged by the Black Knight unit while avoiding the Varghulf.
• Deployment looked (something) like this:

• Ralph got Turn 1 and used it to get his trap into position by moving the Wolves and Scout Vamp up in front of the Ironguts while the Bats moved to screen the Varghulf near the Trappers.
  
• Trappers pass yet another Terror test and pop out to sharp stuff the Fell Bats but fail to do any wounds.
  
• Leadbelchers move up and blast away at the Bats, dealing 4 wounds and leaving one base.
  
• Meanwhile the Ironguts have charged the Terror causing Scout Vamp and Dire Wolves, managing to survive a challenge and killing all of the Wolves before chasing down the Vampire as he fled.
  
• The Scraplauncher fired ineffectually at the Black Knight unit, killing one Knight.
  
• Hunter shot at the Varghulf and hit before the nasty creature made its Regen save.
  
• The Bulls near the Maneaters move up into a position to flee from the Black Knights, while the far right Leadbelchers do the same.
• Ralph charges the Leadbelchers who flee, leaving a nice tasty flank for the Maneaters to take advantage of.
  
• Ralph manages to IoN back all the Fell Bats before flying them directly in front of the Maneaters and blocking their charge.
• Meanwhile the two units of Trappers are swarming around the Varghulf and throwing sharp stuff, hitting and wounding approx 8 times but the damn thing Regens all of the wounds.
  
• Maneaters charge the Bats while the Bulls charge the Black Knight flank in an attempt at holding them in combat.
  
• Scraplauncher and Slavegiant charge a unit of 5 Zombies which have been raised in front of the Skeleton units preventing a combo charge.
• Ghouls charge and kill the unit of Leadbelchers on the right flank, then overrun into the Bulls before killing them as well in the next combat.
  
• Maneaters crush the Bats and overrun out of the charge arc of the Varghulf behind them.
  
• Bulls hold for the turn they charge, although the do not win close combat against the Black Knights.
• Black Knights turn to face the Bulls and the Vampire Lord moves the fight them, dealing 4 wounds in a challenge against the Bull champion.
  
• Bulls lose combat and break, are run down, and the Black Knight unit hits the front of the Maneaters (with a frontage of 3 and no ranks).
  
• Slavegiant and Scraplauncher beat the 5 Zombies but only the Slavegiant manages to overrun into the nearby Skeletons as the Scrappie only goes 3" (needing something like 4" to make it).
  
• Luckily the Slavegiant rolls a 1 and Yells and Bawls against the Skeletons winning the combat by 2 and allowing the Scraplauncher to charge in and help next turn.
  
• Hunter fails two Terror tests, one which almost puts him off the board, and another when he needs to charge the Varghulf to keep it from charging the rear of the Maneater unit.
  
• A massive clusterfuck of a fight continues in the middle as the Ironguts charge the Black Knights flank, followed by the nearby Skeletons charging the flank of the Ironguts, followed by the Scraplauncher charging the flank of the Skeletons after destroying the other Skeleton unit.
  
• Tyrant manages to hold on in a non-challenge fight against the Vampire Lord, even after a turn of the Cursed Book being used.
  
• Game ends due to time on Turn 4 as a Victory for the Beer Gut Tribe.
  
• A truly brutal (and fun) game, with many things not going well for the Ogres but with them managing to still claw their way to victory.
  

Game 3 - Thomas (Goatboy)'s Warriors of Chaos

• This game was played on table 2 of the tournament and was for third place in the prizes.
  
• Thomas brought a hard but not too terrible list that had a Chaos Lord in a big block of Blasted Standard/Tz marked Chaos Knights (w/ a level 1 Nurgle Sorc in the block as well), another big block of Khorne marked Chaos Knights (w/ Exalted Hero on Juggernaut), three units of Marauder Horsemen, a Warshrine, and a Hellcannon.
• I was excited for this game as I have never had a hard time killing Chaos Knights with a Maneater/character unit and I knew he would be looking for close combat to get the win.
  
• Deployment looked like this (same table as the first game so same terrain for the most part):

• Thomas had Turn 1 and moved his Horsemen up for the screen and flee.
  
• Ironguts charged the Hellcannon while the far left Leadbelchers moved up and shot half the nearest Marauder Horsemen unit off the board.
• Bulls charged the Horsemen in the middle, both of which fled through the Knights but failed to panic anything (shocking).
  
• Far right Leadbelchers moved up to bait the Khorne Knights while the Slavegiant moved to a flanking position.
  
• Ironguts deal three wounds to the Hellcannon before being flank charged by the Chaos Lord's unit of Knights.
  
• Khorne Knights charge the Leadbelchers who flee, leaving a tasty front charge for the Maneater unit and a flank charge from the Slavegiant.
  
• Maneater unit blows through the Chaos Knights and they are chased down as they flee.
• Ironguts are obliterated by the Hellcannon and Chaos Lord, Leadbelchers manage to kill off the remaining Horsemen with another round of shooting before running off the board from the rampaging horde.
• The rest of the game consists of the Chaos Lord unit falling back to not allow the Maneater unit to get a charge, while the Scraplauncher and Hunter fail to do any additional wounds through shooting.
  
• Game ends as a Draw with the Beer Gut Tribe needing 4 more points to take a victory.
  

So there you have it, three games played, two wins and one draw. What is so tragic about that you ask? I was one point away from taking third place (my last opponent Thomas took it from me). It came down to the fact that I had two unpainted units on the table (my Hunter and a unit of Trappers) so I basically double screwed myself out of a top three finish.

From now on, I am not pulling any Ogre punches. I could have taken a "harder" list but I chose to go with something "soft" and lost out on prizes because of it. Lesson learned, better luck next time. Tomorrow I will post my specific thoughts on the list, what worked and what can be improved in the future.

Thanks to all of my opponents for three great games - win or lose I had a lot of fun and that is why we play the game right?

The Beer Gut Tribe goes to WAR - a 2,250 list for today's tournament.

Headed off to one of the monthly tournaments at BattleForge Games today, this month it is a "Hobby" one. During the last "Hobby" tournament I went 3-0 but I still didn't get into the top 3 for prizes. Here is hoping I can make it a little closer to the sun this time around. I am also using this as a chance to try out items and combos I would normally never use so I can gauge their effectiveness in a tournament setting. My pain is your gain if you are a regular Ogre Kingdoms player!

LORDS:
Tyrant – Heavy Armor, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Cathayan Longsword, Gut Maw, Wyrdstone Necklace (281)

Basic "challenge machine" Tyrant. If I had the points I would give him the Greyback Pelt as well for the -1 to hit in CC. Gut Maw allows me to take some wounds and still gain them back assuming I win the challenges the Tyrant fights.

HEROES:
Bruiser – Heavy Armor, Cathayan Longsword, Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Greatskull, Gnoblar Thiefstone (207)
Bruiser – BSB, Dragonhide Banner, Lookout Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x 2, Heavy Armor (234)
Hunter – Sabertusks x 2, Longstrider, Sword of Battle (235)

The Bruiser buddies go with the Tyrant in a unit of Maneaters to make up my mini star of Ogre doom. Once you add in Sword Gnoblar attacks you are looking at 27 attacks from the unit, plus impact hits (hopefully) on the charge. In a game earlier this week I charged a unit of Dwarf Hammerers and killed 10 on the charge and won combat by 2 (even against the double US banner, and super CR BSB combo).

The Dragonhide banner is probably the worst magic banner in the game and certainly over costed. It allows rerolls of 1's for 'to hit', 'to wound', and armor saves on the turn the unit with the banner charges. If it is charged it gets none of these bonuses. Luckily you still get to take benefit from the other magic effect of the banner - immunity to 'Ice Magic'. Yup. Watch out Kislev armies!!

Hunter is going Monster/Wraith hunting.

CORE:
Bulls x 3 – Champion (125)
Bulls x 3 – Champion (125)
Ironguts x 3 – Champion, Bellower (174)
Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54)
Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54)

Basic fodder and redirection/flank support. Double the Trapper units equals double the fun! Actually they are quite powerful when near the Hunter and using his Ld of 9 to stand up to Large Terror causing targets. Here's Sharp Stuff in your eye you damn Dragon!!

SPECIAL:
Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)
Leadbelchers x 2 – Champion (120)
Scraplauncher (165)

Shooting is fun, especially when you have no real control over the results.

RARE:
Maneaters x 2 – CLS, Heavy Armor (180)
Slavegiant (175)

Maneaters form the chewy (ItP) and crunchy (Stubborn) center of my Tyrant/Bruiser/Dragonhide/reroll/27 attacks candybar. If this unit does not get the charge it may still hold up in CC (with Stubborn and a reroll from the BSB) but I am hoping it won't come to that. The Slavegiant is just fun and hopefully he stuffs something into his pants this game (last time it was a handful of Troll Slayers).

Total Points: 2,249 (of 2,250)

I have played a couple games with the Dragonhide banner now and it has actually been kind of useful. If you don't get the charge ... well you have probably lost already anyway. Here's hoping it goes well today and I have some fun games! I'll try to be better about grabbing pictures for my poorly written Battle Reports.

Vampire Counts - 2,250 Skeletal Horde.

I spent the last few days gluing together models! Wow!!

This is very exciting as way back in January I developed signs of a super glue allergy (which is most inconvenient in this hobby). After visiting a dermatologist (and getting no help), a helpful recommendation from realgenius (thanks by the way), and a little internet research, I discovered "foam safe" CA glue. I still have to wear gloves when I do my gluing but the fumes are almost non-existent and my lungs, eyes, and skin are not getting all messed up from the glue. I can build again!!

With that in mind I have been trying to get my Vampire Counts army assembled to a point where I can play it in the regular 2,250 events around town. I think I am pretty close to being able to field this list (with some massive skeleton assembly).

I am still going for something that could be considered "friendly" but has a shot at taking on some "Heavy" lists. The idea is lots of Skeletons, but I would love some critical feedback from VC players and haters.

SKELETONS!!!

LORD: (450)
Vampire Lord - Level 3, Nightmare, Flying Horror, Red Fury, Walach's Bloody Hauberk, Wristbands of Black Gold, Black Periapt, Balefire Spike (450)

Flying level 3 lives in the unit of Black Knights but can charge out if the opportunity presents itself. I'm probably being paranoid but I built this guy to stick around - 2+ AS, 5+ WS, 3+ WS vs shooting or magic missiles.

HEROES: (467)
Vampire - Dark Acolyte, Avatar of Death, Book of Arkhan, Sword of Battle (200)
Wight King - Skeletal Steed, Lance, Heavy Armor, Shield, BSB, Banner of the Barrows (172)
Necromancer - Dispel Scroll, Extra Spell (95)

Level 2 lives in with the Grave Guard, Necro might as well or I will put him in a unit of Skeletons. Wight King lives in the unit of Black Knights with Lord for +1 to hit/Hatred/S6 on the charge/Killing Blow mania. Only one scroll but I hope that will get me by any really bad spells with my 6 DD.

CORE: (516)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Skeleton Warriors x 20 - Musician, Standard (172)
Dire Wolves x 5 (40)

Skeletons! I love skeletons, I know they suck but I just love the look of them on the table and modeling them is fun in a sick way. The small unit of Dire Wolves is there because I had 40pts left and couldn't decide on a better way to use them. They will most likely get blasted off the board but at least they present a target for one turn, and maybe they can march block something.

SPECIAL: (502)
Grave Guard x 15 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Champion, Musician, Standard, Banner of the Dead Legion (235)
Black Knights x 8 - Heavy Armor, Shield, Lance, Musician, Standard, Champ, Royal Standard of Strigos (267)

Character bunkers mostly, also the units I expect to actually kill things.

RARE: (275)
Cairn Wraiths x 5 - Banshee (275)

Gotta have some scary fast movers! These will likely support the flank of the Black Knight/character unit.

Total Points: 2,250 (of 2,250)

I don't think the list is terrible and I have a pretty good idea how to play it. What are your thoughts?

BoLSCon Wrap-up.

Well I made it out alive! The first annual Bell of Lost Souls Con for me by the numbers: 2 days - 7 games - 2 wins - 5 losses - several beers. Overall it was a really fun and memorable event and I am already looking forward to next year when I will hopefully be able to take a slightly more "competitive" army (if I ever finish these damn Vampires).

I did not find the time to create any extensively thorough battle reports (honestly I can't say I want to remember most of my games with a few exceptions). Here is a quick run down of the games I played last Saturday and Sunday during the tournament:

Saturday

Saturday - Game 1 (vs Patrick's WoC)

• This WoC list was led by Valkia with a force of Maruders, two units of Chaos Knights, Exalted Hero on Juggernaut, Hellcannon, and a level one Nurgle scroll caddy.
  
  
• Turn 1 the Scraplauncher scored a direct hit on the unit of Marauders with Valkyia directly in the center. She failed here Look Out Sir roll and I rolled a 6. BAM. Valkia is dead.
  
  
• Tyrant charges out of the Bullstar unit to run down a pack of Chaos Warhounds, then pursues into a unit of Marauder Horsemen who flee off the table.
  
  
• Bruiser BSB goes on to smash an the Exalted Hero in a challenge and run down the unit of Khorne marked Knights who were baited into a nearby woods by Trappers.
  
  
• Bruiser BSB continues his smashing streak by crushing a Hellcannon that has pursued a fleeing unit of Ironguts.
  
  
• Game ends on Turn 5 - a Massacre for the Beer Gut Tribe with only one unit of Marauders left on the table.
  
  
• Great game, Patrick was a really fun opponent and dealt well with the terribly lucky (for me) Scraplauncher kill of his Lord on Turn 1.
  

Saturday - Game 2 (vs Mike's HE)

• This HE list was led by Teclis in a block of Spearmen, flanked by two units of Dragon Princes, a unit of Archers, two chariots, Great Eagle, two level 2 casters, mounted HE character with super bow, and three Repeating Bolt Throwers.
  
  
• Scraplauncher was the MVP of this game as well - raining pointy death on the HE pointy ears.
  
  
• Leadbelchers obliterated one chariot in a stand and shoot, then holding their ground and smashing the other remaining chariot on a charge.
  
  
• Characters and Bullstar stalled out behind a hill in an attempt at avoiding the massive amounts of shooting and magic coming out of the enemy. Never actually left the deployment zone and did nothing all game.
  
  
• Slavegiant almost Terror checked Teclis off the board after he left his unit to attack him with magic. Tecilis rolled a 10 and stayed put only to Pit of Shades my poor Slavegiant off the board.
  
  
• Scraplauncher took 4 wounds from Bolt Throwers but managed to survive until the end of the game, slowly taking it's toll on the HE units but failing to do enough (damn high scatter rolls!).
  
  
• This game was a little frustrating (as Mike's list was meant to handle Daemons, VC, WoC, DE, etc.. not Ogres) but it was awesome to jump to table 2 before having my ass beat. I expected something like this to happen so I still had a fun game overall.
  

Saturday - Game 3 (vs Zach's WoC)

• This WoC list did not have a named character (it used to have Sigvald until Zach realized how crappy he was), but it still had plenty of magic and WoC scary stuff. Big block of Knights with Sorc Lord, Exalted Hero, and level 2 Tz caster inside. Another level 2 was flying around on a disc. The rest of his army was Marauders, more Knights, Chaos Warhounds, and a Warshrine.
  
  
• Game started off good for me with some excellent deployment and first turn moves. Managed to charge the Tyrant out of his unit to smash through some Horsemen and overrun into some Marauders.
  
  
• Shortly after that Zach rolled 12 on the Eye of the Gods table making his big block of Knights practically unkillable - with a 1+ armor save and 3+ ward save.
  
  
• The rest of the game was a series of really bad movement phases on my part, allowing the WoC forces flank charges on all of my units.
  
  
• Bullstar was run down and killed and the rest of my units fell shortly after that.
  
  
• This is the worst game of WHFB I have played in my life. I don't know what happened to me but I vow to never play that poorly again. The game went from a win/draw to a horrible loss in the space of one movement phase due to some really bad choices (not thinking).
  

Saturday - Game 4 (vs Will's VC)

• This VC list is the one you don't want to play. Mounted Vamp Lord with Frostblade, Red Fury, Infinite Hatred, Beguile, etc, in a big unit of Dire Wolves with two other killy Infinite Hatred Vamps, and a Wight King with the Dickenhoff regen banner. The rest of the army was comprised of three minimum units of Zombies, a block of 6 Blood Knights with Hatred banner, and a huge unit of Wraiths (6) with Banshee.
  
  
• This game was the splitting point between the championship and consolation brackets for the second day of the event.
  
  
• Horrible game - my army was wiped off the board by the end of Turn 3.

For those keeping score at home that put my record at 1 win and 3 losses for the first day. I score a total of 24 points on day one and left the event really frustrated and unhappy. Was day two better?

Sunday

Sunday - Game 1 (vs David's HE)

• This HE list did not feature Teclis but it did have a Star Dragon with "unkillable" Lord on top. The rest of the list was standard 2,250 fare with three Repeating Bolt Throwers, a unit of Archers, two units of Dragon Princes, Lion Chariot, Great Eagle, and a unit of Swordmasters.
  
  
• Scraplauncher landed several direct hits on HE units only to scatter 8 to 10" away each time.
  
  
• Tyrant charged out of the Bullstar to crush a unit of Dragon Princes, followed by a unit of Swordmasters, and did not take any wounds.
  
  
• Star Dragon attacked the flank but was flank charged itself by a march blocked Slavegiant. Slavegiant took one wound from the Lord before Headbutting the Dragon and tying combat.
  
  
• This allowed a unit of Ironguts to charge in, whiff all their attacks, pass their Break Test after losing one Ogre, and stand in place for a flank charge from nearby Dragon Princes.
  
• Slavegiant is killed, unit is wiped out, and the nearby Scraplauncher passes it's Ld test and stands.
  
  
• Scraplauncher charges the Star Dragon and whiffs all of its attacks before taking one S7 wound and exploding.
  
  
• Meanwhile the Bullstar rampages across the board and panics off the unit of Archers and a Bolt Thrower crew but takes heavy losses as flank shots from the other remaining Bolt Throwers take their toll.
  
  
• Game ends with the Bullstar dead by Dragon charge and the Tyrant hiding in a woods.
  
  
• Fun game even though it was my second hard fought game against High Elves.
  

Sunday - Game 2 (vs Mike's HE)

• Hey look it's Teclis again! (same list as before)
  
  
• Mike went "easy" on me, selecting lores he would not normally use like Death and Heavens.
  
  
• His goal this second time around was to destroy the Scraplauncher.
  
  
• Bullstar ran up the farthest flank only to be march blocked by a Great Eagle for 3 turns before a unit of nearby Leadbelchers were able to blast it off the board.
  
  
• Tyrant ran out to destroy two Repeating Bolt Throwers before being magic'd and shot to death by characters with just as much movement and 360 line of sight (stupid single model rules that Ogres don't get).
  
  
• Scraplauncher misfired on Turn 5 allowing Mike to roll a shot of his own. He rolled another misfire and then a 1 - removing the Scraplauncher from play.
  
  
• A fun but futile game that resulted in yet another loss for the Beer Gut Tribe.
  

Sunday - Game 3 (vs Sam's WoC)

• WoC force led by ARCHAON in a big unit of Knights surrounded by Throgg and Trolls. Also had Wulfrik in a large unit of Marauders coming off the board, and a level 2 Tz Sorcerer on disc.
  
  
• We decided to play "beat face" in the center of the board and left all the terrain on the far table edges.
  
  
• Archaon charged the Bullstar and challenged - Karnov (my Tyrant) accepted.
  
  
• Greedy Fist proceeds to eat after failing two ward saves. Karnov punches Arcahon in the face and knocks a wizard level out of his head. Bruiser BSB smashes three knights and the combat is a draw.
  
  
• Next turn my Ironguts charge the flank while Leadbelchers blast off the Trolls (who fail to make any mutant regen saves). Karnov survives his challenge again taking no wounds and dealing another two.
  
  
• Archaon lose combat and flees 11" with his unit of Knights.
  
  
• Bullstar and Karnov pursue 12" when I roll box cars.
  
  
• Game ends as a victory for the Beer Gut Tribe on Turn 2.
  

All in all it was a great event and I am glad I attended. It would have been nice to not play the same player twice, but the general lack of Fantasy players made this almost unavoidable. I blame you (the reader) for not coming out and playing some WHFB! Perhaps next year will be a better turn-out.

Until then I have a ton of Skeletons and other Undead nasties waiting for paint. Back to the painting table...