The Beer Gut Tribe has gone on the road and returned (mostly) victorious!
I attended my first WHFB tournament yesterday here in Austin at
BattleForge Games. It was a 2250 Hobby Tournament which meant the lists were a little less competitive and the players were more friendly overall. Not sure where I finished in the overall rankings but I know I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack (probably around 15 out of 30 or so players).
Sadly I didn't have the chance to take any notes or grab any pictures of the event. The following is a brief overview of each match as I can remember it. Apologies to anyone or anything I may screw up.
First RoundPrimary Objective - Basic victory points awarding points based on point differential.
Secondary Objective - Destroy your opponent's highest point cost unit.
Tertiary Objective - Claim more table quarters than your opponent.
Bonus points for having a unit in your own deployment zone and for keeping your general alive.
Opponent - Shane playing Orcs & Goblins.
His list consisted of 2 Spear Chukkas (w/ Bullies), 1 Rock Lobba, 2 units of Spider Riders, 1 unit of Wolf Riders, 2 units of Night Goblins with Bows, 4 Fanatics, 2 units of Orc Boyz with choppas and shields, 2 units of Arrer Boyz, 1 unit of Black Orcs, a lvl 2 Goblin Shaman, and a Black Orc Warboss on a pig. That is all I can remember seeing on the table.
The game started with a bit of "chicken" in the middle of the board as almost every O&G unit rolled a 6 to start and surged forward. Coupled with their additional movement that put them very close to the middle on Turn 1. Magic was a wash for my opponent in this turn but he did manage to put 3 wounds on my Hunter with the Rock Lobba and blew up one Leadbelcher with two shots from the Spear Chukkas. They proceeded to fail their Ld roll and run towards the board edge. Not wanting to rush headlong into the waiting Fanatics I used one Butcher to force a panic check against the first unit of Night Goblins who failed their Ld test (on a 10 needing a 9) and ran away, dropping their two Fanatics. The second unit stood their ground. I used my remaining dice to cast Trollguts on both of my control units (3 IG w/ Siegebreaker/Skullmantle Butcher and 4 IG with the Tyrant and Bangstick Butcher) and heal one of the wounds caused by casting that spell.
After managing to cast the O&G bouncy smashing spell my opponent rolled a 1 giving me the chance to smash his unit of Orc Boys. This was followed by a spectacular scatter for the Rock Lobba which put the template directly in the middle of the remaining Orc Boys. The Hunter and nearby Leadbelchers managed to whittle them down to half strength before being shot down by Bolts, Arrows, and Magic (not counting the Leadbelchers who mostly killed themselves with their two consecutive misfire rolls).
On the left flank the Yhetees managed to kill one unit of Spider Riders before scaring the nearby Wolf Riders off the board. After moving into a nearby forest I forgot to move them for two turns and they did nothing for the remainder of the match.
On the far right flank my Slavegiant was playing around with some Spider Riders before making his way behind the enemy lines and threatening the second unit of Orc Boyz. The Gorger didn't come in until Turn 4 before finally charging the Rock Lobba crew. He killed everyone but the Bully who managed to stand his ground. The remaining Fanatics spun themselves out by rolling doubles and opened the way for a charge against the units of Night Goblins. One unit fled while the other stood and took the brunt of the damage from the Ironguts and Characters but managed to stand their ground.
Result - DRAW.
The game ended at the start of Turn 6. I could have played this game better but my nerves were getting to me a bit as this was my first competitive tournament game against a total stranger. Shane was really nice and good natured about the game and overall it was a lot of fun. I think I would have had the marginal win given another round but I also didn't contend with his super "choppy" Lord on the Tusker who had items to give him extra attacks when multiple enemy characters were around. At one point this model was surrounded by all four of my characters which would have given him a huge number of attacks. Glad I didn't have to face him!
Second Round
Primary Objective - Basic victory points awarding points based on point differential.
Secondary Objective - Have the highest unit strength unit within 3" of the center.
Tertiary Objective - Win a challenge.
Bonus points for having a unit in your opponent's deployment zone and killing the enemy general.
Opponent - Steven (Stephen?) playing Lizardmen.
His list consisted of a Slann BSB in a unit of 25 Temple Guard (or was it 20?), A Scar Vet on cold one, a Scar Vet with Jaguar Charm, a level 2 Skink Priest, a Stegadon, 2 units of Skinks, a unit of Chameleon Skinks, a unit of 3 Kroxigors, and a unit of 2 Salamanders. I think that was everything he had!
The game started with my Leadbelchers moving into position to blast his Chameleon Skinks that he deployed near the far right of the board across from a unit of Bulls. I misfired once (of course) but did 10 shots and wounded 4 of the skinks. They passed their Ld test, moved back, but failed their next Ld test when they were charged next turn by the Bulls and remaining Leadbelcher.
The far left flank was occupied by a large forest where my Trappers awaited the nearby Skinks aided by the Yhetees as they moved into position. The Yhetees ended up charging the Skinks and ran them down, moving just out of range of the Salamanders who proceeded to blast them to bits.
Meanwhile I moved up my larger command units towards the middle of the board, awaiting the moment to charge and trying to get within 3" of the center. A unit of Bulls I put into position to hold the space fled a charge by the Stegadon and continued to flee for the remainder of the game.
The Gorger came in on turn 2 before being nearly killed by fire from the nearby Salamanders. Having survived he rear charged the Stegadon while the nearly dead Slavegiant (Skinks are bad news for these big guys!) managed to get a flank charge on the mammoth beast. After rolling Yell and Bawl (which was actually bad for me) the combat was over but the Stegadon held.
After whittling away at the Salamanders and killing one, the Hunter moved up to threaten a flank charge on the Kroxigors, while the Temple Guard stood and accepted a charge from the 7 Ironguts, 2 Butchers and the Tyrant. The Tyrant challenged and cut down the Scar Vet on Cold One and the remaining LM forces dealt a two wounds total to the combat. They stood their ground and the game was over due to time.
I had to weather a lot of magic in this game with about 11 power dice on average being thrown at me in the form of magic missiles. Thank goodness for Trollguts! I can't imagine playing this match without it.
Result - WIN.
The game ended at the start of Turn 4. It was really going my way though and another turn would have probably seen the Stegadon fall with the Kroxigors and Temple Guard being close to breaking as well. I was exactly 1/2 " away from the 3" center of the board and didn't complete that objective. Overall it was a fun game and Steven was a great (if not a little slow playing) opponent. I don't look forward to facing the new and improved Lizardmen when the new book comes out next month!
Third Round
Primary Objective - Basic victory points awarding points based on point differential.
Secondary Objective - Pick an enemy character and kill it or force it to flee.
Tertiary Objective - Have a Core unit alive and above half strength at the end of the match.
No Bonus Points.
Opponent - Jamal playing Warriors of Chaos.
For some reason I wasn't that scared of this list as he was deploying it and playing it, but after further thought this was probably one of the meanest lists I have faced as an OK player in my time with the game. Jamal had 2 units of Chaos Knights (one marked with Khorne), 2 units of Marauder Horsemen (one marked with Nurgle, both with Spears and Throwing Axes), a unit of Chaos Warriors (with mark of Nurgle), 2 Chaos Giants, a Khorne Chaos Lord on Juggernaut, and a level 2 Nurgle Chaos Sorcerer.
I knew from previous experience that I had to beware the long range charges of both the Horsemen and the Knights so I placed back farther in the deployment zone with the intention of baiting his units into a flank charge. The far left flank was guarded by my Hunter (which was my opponent's choice for character to kill) and a unit of Trappers while the far right flank was comprised of a unit of Leadbelchers, the Yhetees, and a unit of Bulls. I started the game by moving these units far up on to the enemy flank while the Hunter shot at and dealt 3 wound to the Giant across the table from him. The remaining Trapper unit deployed behind the unit of Warriors and pelted them with Sharp Stuff (doing nothing) and march blocking this force.
Meanwhile the other Leadbelchers and the Slavegiant surged forward to meet the incoming horde of mounted Chaos. The Leadies took 4 shots at the other Chaos Giant and dealt no wounds proceeding to flee a charge from the beast and being run down. The Slavegiant fled a charge from the Khorne Knights and the Horsemen but was caught being 1" too slow. On the left flank the Hunter managed to deal another 2 wounds to the other approaching giant while the Trappers finished him off dealing 1 wound on their 18 Sharp Stuff shots (and making it past his 6+ Ward Save). The Skullmantle Butcher managed to get off a lucky Braingobbler and forced the unmarked unit of Knights to flee.
On the right flank the Leadbelchers moved up and shot a unit of Horsemen killing 3, before they were charged by the Bulls. The Bulls killed the remaining Horsemen and ran in front of the now unscreened Khorne Knights and between the OK control unit.
After smashing through the Bulls the Khorne Knights slammed into the 4 Ironguts with Tyrant and Bangstick Bruiser. The Chaos Lord challenged and was surprised when his challenge was answered by the Tyrant. The Tyrant withstood the incoming assault of 12+ attacks, only taking one wound after his regen save from Trollguts, but failed to make it through the defenses of the Chaos Lord with his own 3 wounds. The unit lost combat and fled but managed to escape the Knights by 1" and rallying on the next (and final) turn.
On the right flank the Yhetees and Leadbelchers charged the Nurgle Warriors before proceeding to lost multiple combats but not breaking (with some very lucky Ld rolls). The game ended due to time with the Gorger never making it on the board.
Result - DRAW.
The game ended at the start of Turn 4. After managing to rally my command group and forcing the Knights to flee I won by 200 points. Jamal was pretty frustrated by the whole game as he was sure he would be able to beat me (and he would have given a few more turns), but his nearby friend who also plays OK thought it was a great way to end the game.
Final Results - 1 Win, 2 Draws. Not too shabby for my first tournament games. I think a lot of my good fortune came down to my opponents not knowing what Ogres are capable of as nobody in the local scene plays with the army. I heard a lot of negative remarks about the army, some of them fairly insulting, but I didn't bother trying to explain why I play OK. These are the same people who love Daemons and Dark Elves so there is really no point in arguing about it.
Thanks to all the great people I played with and thanks to Brandon and
BattleForge Games for putting on a fun event. I will certainly be back for more abuse in the future.
