That war alter is a pretty sweet conversion mate. Also, those movement trays rock... very economical...
Thanks
I put the trays through their 'trial by fire' at yesterday's tournament, and they pulled through really well....unlike my Helblaster, which didn't last beyond turn three in any of my five games.
A quick tournie report:
Outpost Onslaught 2009
Outpost is my 'local' gaming club (it's actually the second closest, but I prefer the crowd down there) and each year they have their Onslaught Fantasy tournament in September. It's a 1500 pt, five game tournie which rewards good comp and sportsmanship. I've played the last two years, winning the wooden spoon my first year and coming second-last last year (only because I had good painting scores...could have spooned two years in a row....*sigh*). In both years, my best result was a solid loss in one game (every other game being massacre losses) This year I went in with the goal of at least drawing one game of the five...
My list:
Heroes
Warrior Priest
Great Weapon
Warhorse
Barding
Heavy Armour
Shroud of Magnus
= 162
Warrior Priest
Great Weapon
Armour of Meteoric Iron
Icon of Magnus
= 144
Battle Wizard
Level 2
Warhorse
Rod of Power
= 140
Core
24 Swordsmen
Musician
Standard Bearer
Duellist
= 169
9 Free Company Detachment
= 45
25 Swordsmen
Musician
Standard Bearer
Duellist
= 175
5 Knightly Orders
Musician
=123
Special
5 Outriders
Musician
Champion
Hochland Long Rifle
= 134
9 Knightly Orders
Inner Circle
Musician
Standard Bearer
War Banner
Preceptor
= 299
Rare
Helblaster Volley Gun
= 110
Total = 1500
This is a lot harsher list than I usually play...I like playing he traditional Empire infantry heavy list, which is possibly why I get butchered so much. Oh, and my dice rolling sucks. That might contribute.
Game 1: Outpost of the Old Ones vs. Dark Elves
I was hoping to avoid the big three in my first game, so of course I drew a game against DE. I've played against them a few times before, so I kind of knew what to expect. This particular scenario had a building in the middle which allowed the unit closest to it to randomly cast certain spells. My notes are a little vague, but I'm fairly sure this was a fairly soft DE list; RBT, no hydra, medium magic, Spear elves, RBX, can't remember what else. In any case, I was massacred 20-0. Nothing seemed to go right for me, including my Helblaster blowing itself up first turn (which soon proved to be a common occurrence).
Game 2: Pitched Battle vs. Chaos
At this point I was a little demoralised, but determined to turn my luck around and scrape out a win. Drawing a Chaos player didn't really help my confidence. His list was cavalry heavy; two units of knights, two of marauder horsemen, two of hounds, a unit of ogres, plus characters. I don't recall the specifics of the battle and my notes aren't to detailed, but he split his army into two and I sent my knights off to hunt his knights. He then proceeded to play keep away, and my knights did squat for the battle. Hmm. My two infantry blocks fought the other unit of knights and the ogres to a standstill before they broke right at the end of the game. Hmm. My dice hate me. Result was a 15-5 loss for me, whcih up to that point was my best ever result in a tournament game.
At this point I started making threats to my dice in an attempt to get them to behave themselves. It didn't work.
Game 3: Pitched Battle vs. Tomb Kings
My notes suck, but from memory this army had a Bone Giant, a unit of three Ushabati, two units of skeletons, a unit of Chariots, plus something else I can't think of. I've only played TK's once or twice before against one of the guys at the club, but I knew their magic phase can be quite nasty. Again, my Helblaster blew up first turn. This was exceedingly unhelpful, as it turns out the Ushabati I was shooting it at were out of range by about half an inch. I was less than impressed. I'm fuzzy on the details of the rest of the game, but I *think* I kept his magic under control, but still got hammered. Result was an 18-2 loss.
Game 4: Pitched Battle vs. Lizardmen
I made absolutely no notes for this game, so I'm very vague on details. I do know the Helblaster went up in flames turn one (again) after opening fire on a unit of skinks (it was one of those there's no other targets moments), rolling two misfires and killing one skink in total. I was very disillusioned with the Helblaster at this point. Can't really recall much more of the battle...I remember Saurus cav and infantry, but don't really remember details. In any case, this game resulted in a 12-8 win for me! First ever tourney win, so I was quite happy.
Game 5: Pitched Battle vs. High Elves
Final game was against the youngest competitor in the field - he's actually the son of the guy I bought the dragon I'm using for my KF conversion off. The army consisted of (from memory, as my notes are thinner than Lindsay Lohan) Silver Helms with hero, Spear Elves with mage, Archers, Eagle, Bolt Thrower, Shadow Warriors with hero, Phoenix Gaurd. (That's it I think?) I'd call this a pretty soft list really. My knights with WP ended up taking on his Silver Helms and hero; his hero killed mine in a challenge but I broke the unit anyway (capturing their banner) and ended up chasing them to the edge of the board where they rallied...where I broke them in a later turn. I felt bad for doing it haha. His Eagle went pop in a cloud of feathers when my Outriders opened fire on it, and the Helblaster annihilated the Shadow Warriors and hero. My unit of Swordsmen with WP knocked off the Phoenix Guard and captured their banner. It wasn't all that one sided, as he ended up knocking off my Outriders and got half points for a few units. We ended up running out of time and having to call it at the end of turn four, with my knights poised to run riot through the remainder of his army. Final score was a 13-7 win for me.
So, overall I placed 14th out of a field of 21. I'm really happy with that, as my goal for the day was to draw at least one game, and to walk away with two wins is fantastic. I received a few compliments for my army, and at least two votes for best army which is awesome. Next year I'll be back, though I'm thinking about fielding either Dark Elves or Skaven instead of my Empire for a change. We'll see how it goes. I actually took the camera along to take some pics of the tournament, but entirely forgot about it, so I'll take some pics of my army in the next day or two when I get a chance.