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Between the Battles & the Art ... => The Count's Tavern => Topic started by: Atchman on October 09, 2006, 02:46:53 PM

Title: Hoosier Challenge 2: IndyGT Evansville, IN
Post by: Atchman on October 09, 2006, 02:46:53 PM
Hoosier Challenge 2:  IndyGT Evansville, IN

There were three mighty men from Team Tennessee making the long trek to Evansville, IN for the Hoosier Challenge.  Racticus, Chaos Dave, and myself left on Friday morning and I used the trip as an excuse to work my way to Evansville.  Despite numerous delays (cough) I did get to do a couple of work stops and helped some folks out.  This left us free to continue out journey. 

That evening we found the venue and went out to dinner. Racticus got sick on us by drinking a little too much alcohol too quickly.  Chaos Dave and I gave him hell of course.  Dave and I, at least, enjoyed a nice dinner at the restaurant next door.  That evening we tried to flock the rest of my figures.  We missed a couple of them, but I don’t suppose it really mattered. 

We got there early enough to set up our armies and visit with some friends we made at JimCon.  For some silly reason, I thought that the army lists would calm down there from last Hoosier Challenge, but some tough as nails armies were to be found (I think my comment to Sean was “these are England tough armies).  Almost instantly I longed for the Skaven army packed and ready to go in my downstairs.   

My Army: 
(http://www.dxsinc.com/JIMCON/HC2.jpg)
Well they were painted anyway :P

Well there is a story behind this army.  I’m not a VC player, though I do own the army for testing and for loaning out.  Bigrin42 indicated that he would like to take a VC army similar (or the same) to the Hoosier Challenge, which Gorbad plays over in his home country.  Fortunately for him, Bigrin received a new job and had to move away just prior to the event.  Since I had already started working on the army, I decided to finish it and take it just to see how it would have done. 

I went into action trying to locate the models so that the list could be painted before the tourney.  Scrounging through my stuff, I found about 12 old skool Wights.  An Ebay auction netted four more Wights, and four really poorly painted Fell Bats.  In the bargain bin at Hobbytown, I found a Wight BSB model, which I used for the unit standard.  Three old skool armored skeletons had to fill in for the three Wights I was lacking.  Mike Marshall and I traded some models, but they did not arrive in time for me to paint them up. It didn’t matter since I hid them in the middle of the unit. 

The Wights painted up fairly nice and were the centerpiece of the army.  I had to do an emergency stripping and painting of the Fell Bats; they were horrible.  Another Ebay auction netted a cool Blood Dragon model to use for Wickerteeth.  Looking through some stuff I had from an auction a year ago, I found a necromancer model that I used for Kaz the UnKlean.  Some filing and hacking, transformed a Blood Dragon model with hand weapon and shield into Bloodgrin; it was the second attempt because the metal banner I had was not stable.  Lying in some debris in my painting area was the Lichmaster himself, which was transformed into the feared- Ghoulbad, Master Necromancer! 

It wasn’t over, the entire army needed to be based.  Using a suggestion from Bigrin, I used Graveyard earth on the bases and dipped them in some really light green static grass.  I think it turned out well and was a pleasant change from the basing schemes I’ve used in the past.  The army was not up to my tourney standards, but it was based and painted and ready for action. 

Ghoulbad’s Ghoul Boyz!
 

Ghoulbad
Master Necromancer, Level upgrade, Cloak of Mists and Shadows, Black Periapt, Dispel Scroll

Kaz the UnKlean
Level two Necromancer, Dispel Scroll, Book of Arkham

Bloodgrin
Blood Dragon Thrall, Flayed Hauberk, Sword of Might

Wickerteeth
Blood Dragon Thrall, Cursed Book, Great Weapon, Shield, Heavy Armor

Total Characters:  750 pts

Core Troops:

21 Skeletons, Full Command

20 Skeletons, Full Command

3 x 5 Dire Wolves
4 x 6 Ghoulgirlz

Total Core: 802

Special Troops:

20 Grave Guard, Full Command, War Banner

2 x 4 Fell Batz

2 Spirit Hosts

Total Special Troops:  605

Rare Units: 

Banshee

Total Rare Choices:  90

Total Points:  2247

Game One:  Vampire Counts!

(http://www.dxsinc.com/JIMCON/HC3.jpg)

Well, I was scheduled to fight Racticus, which I fight nearly every week so they made a change.  That moved me to fighting Duke’s Vampire army, while Sean went on to fight a Wood Elf army on a barren table (probably good that I avoided the Wood Elf army though). 

Duke’s army was pretty tough with a Vampire Lord with the Carstein Ring, and two necromancers.  A large unit of Black Knights (twelve I think), and no less than two units of Tomb Guards rounded out his army.  His core was two units of zombies and some ghouls. 

The scenario was a blind setup with maps, which was cool.  I setup in the left corner mostly and he setup in the middle. 

(http://www.dxsinc.com/JIMCON/HC1.jpg)

There was a large area of woods on the left hand side.  I sent some ghouls and a unit of skeletons on a long flank march.  I setup a trap for Duke’s Black Knights with my Wights (lead by Wickerteeth).  In came his knights, with the help of the Cursed Book they caused no casualties.  Wickerteeth’s mighty great weapon lashed out and destroyed three Black Knights. With ranks, three kills, a follow up charge from some Dire Wolves, the huge unit of Black Knights powdered without causing a single wound.  This left the flank of his Vampire Lord’s unit open, and the game was effectively over.  Some of my Ghouls destroyed a HUGE unit of Zombies! 

With his flank open I charged my Wights in the flank, some wolves in the rear, and some skeletons in the front.  The unit powdered in two melee rounds, taking the Vampire Lord with it. 

Win Ghoulbadz Ghoul Boyz!

Duke was fantastic to play.  I wish I had gotten to play him the previous year.  He won Best Sportsman at the Hoosier Challenge 1 and I can see why. 

Game Two Wingnut’s Dwarf army:

(http://www.dxsinc.com/JIMCON/HC5.jpg)
I’m not certain what was in his list, but he had destroyed Chaos Dave’s army in game one.  Dave indicated that it was the Organ Gun that caused the carnage so I was wary of its effects. 

I do recall that he had two immune units to fear and terror in his army.  He setup with those units on each end.  The anvil in the picture was an ornament and wasn’t being used. 

I rushed his shooters with my skirmishers, taking them out in short fashion.  The rest of my army moved forward confronting his five heavy blocks.  In about turn four, I charge his Ironbreakers in the front with skeletons and the flank with spirit hosts. I thought he could hold but he whiffed sending a very expensive unit running.  My army was now behind him and to his flank.  The Vampires just rolled up the line and the game was over. 

Win Ghoulbadz Ghoul Boyz!

Game Three:  Mike Schmidt’s Khornetaurs

(http://www.dxsinc.com/JIMCON/HC6.jpg)
 
I saw this army when I walked in and prayed I didn’t have to fight it.  Since I won my first two games, I knew I would have to face a tough foe.  I just  didn’t want to face this army at all. 

Doombull, Chaos Runesword, Mark of Khorne

2x3 Minotaurs with xtra hand weapons, Mark of Khorne

3x4 Minotaurs with Great Weapons, Mark of Khorne

2x3 Minotaurs with Great Weapons, Mark of Khorne

Two units of hounds

Two units of Centigors

Two herds

10 Dispel dice  :shock: 

What can I say?  My army was hosed from the beginning.  I did a lot better than expected, and lost mostly because of table quarters and banners.  I had a round of bad dice early in the game when my Wights charged some Minotaurs and failed to kill even a single model.  This delayed my advance and probably led to my defeat.  I like Mike so the game was actually fun.  I think he thought I would do better.  Some of his advice to me I thought was humorous, “just raise some units, that is what my other foes do” and I thought “you have ten dispel dice, what are you talking about?”  I guess they play with a lot more hardcore lists that we do in Tennessee.  :P 

Loss to Ghoulbadz Ghoul Boyz  :(   

Day One thoughts:

Well, I ran into a nemesis army.  I was hoping to catch some more semi-normal armies, but instead hit a wall.  If I had thought about it more, I would have had a chance by using my Necromancer to hold up some of his units and using the BSB to keep from crumbling.  That just shows the inexperience of playing with this list. 

I won the other two games through skillful maneuver (I thought anyway).  Using my magic and positioning, I was able to fight one unit at a time until I broke their lines and then continued moving forward. 

The best part of Day One was [size=24]KICKING GEORGIA’S rear in football[/size].  The beloved Volunteers carried the day, in what was a very exciting game. 

Day Two:

Game Four:  Dwarfs
(http://www.dxsinc.com/JIMCON/HC7.jpg)
(okay almost NO ONE brought extra lists)

The game got started off to a rocky start as he pretty much just stayed still.  Good for me though as my army was concentrated on a small frontage around my General.  Suicide charged my bats, ghouls, etc into his shooters.  In the end I killed his Organ Gun, his Thunderers, and his Bolt Thrower.  He was greatly worried about my Ghouls and his Slayers so put them in a useless position.  I cautioned him about using most of his magic defense in turn one, but he ignored me.  His army also had two immune units to fear and terror.  I did the same thing as before and punched these two units out of the line.  I was then behind and to his flank, which took out the Ironbreakers through normal combat resolution.  All that was left was his Dwarf King’s unit, which was pounding my Grave Guard.  On the bottom of turn six his stubborn 10 hammerers, rolled an 11. 

Game Five:  Tzeentch DL

(http://www.dxsinc.com/JIMCON/HC8.jpg)
Oh My Gosh!

I had played Mike P. before and hoped to never play him again.  In fact I begged not to play him, but Robert was unsympathetic probably because he had to play my Skaven army at JimCon2.  :P

Let’s just say that magic and shooting devastated my little force.  I had no support units left at all on turn 2-NONE!  I managed to kill a chariot, the flamers, the heavy cavalry, but the big demon, the banner dude, and his horrors were all pretty much intact. 

Loss to Ghoulbadz Ghoul Boyz  :(   

Next time I play Mike P. I think, I’ll just concede the game.  That wasn’t the least bit fun.  The running commentary didn’t help the cause either.  Two years in a row, I’ve had to face Mike’s armies and neither game was “fun”.  I don’t know anyone that has had “fun” playing his lists, despite his claims that he only plays tournaments for “fun”. 

Army Comments:

Ghoulbad
Master Necromancer, Level upgrade, Cloak of Mists and Shadows, Black Periapt, Dispel Scroll

>I thought this was a good combination of magic items and gave me enough of a magic punch to be effective but not OTT. 

Kaz the UnKlean
Level two Necromancer, Dispel Scroll, Book of Arkham

>Wouldn’t change anything here

Bloodgrin
Blood Dragon Thrall, BSB, Flayed Hauberk, Sword of Might

>This is good, but I’m not really sure of how to use this effectively and thus two games because of losing this dude.  When you lose him the VP hit is horrible. 

Wickerteeth
Blood Dragon Thrall, Cursed Book, Great Weapon, Shield, Heavy Armor

>He died a couple of times, but he was devastating except for one turn against the Minotaurs, where he acted like one of my Empire Elector Counts. 

Total Characters:  750 pts

Core Troops:

21 Skeletons, Full Command

20 Skeletons, Full Command

3 x 5 Dire Wolves

4 x 6 Ghoulgirlz and Ghoulboyz

Total Core: 802

>All Good, though I think that Bigrin and Gorbad run their ghouls in 5.  The six helped a lot giving me some valuable CR and outnumbers against the Dwarfs. 

Special Troops:

20 Grave Guard, Full Command, War Banner

2 x 4 Fell Batz

2 Spirit Hosts

Total Special Troops:  605

>I thought the Banner of the Barrows would have been a better choice in retrospect.  I struggled to hit all the armies I faced.  Some key wounds would’ve helped as much as the War Banner and increased hits = increased killing blows. 

Rare Units: 

Banshee

>Useless!  Too many armies are immune to its effects.  I’m not certain what I would replace it with though.  Perhaps more batz for 7th edition? A third swarm?  A minimal unit of Zombies to build on early in the game?

I played now 6 games with the list and against it once.  I’m impressed with it, but it does suffer from some bad matchups.  The games I won, I could have won with almost any army I currently play.  The games I lost though, I would have had a better chance using one of my other armies.  Last thing, I am SO glad I didn’t take Tomb Kings!  OMG! 

Summary:

Well Team Tennessee did walk away with one award; Sean won Best Army [size=24]AGAIN[/size]!  Chaos Dave Brown finished with three wins and two losses (both to Dwarfs).  Sean had two wins, two losses, and a draw, thus improving his tourney play over the last tourney. 

The best part of the weekend was hanging out with good friends.  Sean, Dave, and I had a blast watching football and chatting about Warhammer. 

As for the tourney, I thought it was okay.  Some of the scenarios need to be tweaked I think.  We had one with mystery objectives, but only the General could pick them up, that needs to be changed to any character.  Though the racetrack scenario was a good idea; the rules for the scenario hosed several armies.
Title: Re: Hoosier Challenge 2: IndyGT Evansville, IN
Post by: Warlord on October 11, 2006, 12:46:10 PM
Cool report.

Still in 6th I see? - is that why no mounted vampires?

The bases for the wolves are a different colour...?

Your magic wasn't as offensive as it could have been (even with a L4 and L2)... would you have liked a bit more so you could have gotten more invocation's off?

Should you have used any of the Blood Dragon bloodlines? Would they have made your BSB better?


Are the dwarfs using a Great Cannon?
Title: Re: Hoosier Challenge 2: IndyGT Evansville, IN
Post by: Karl Schimmelfennig on October 12, 2006, 07:47:43 PM
I don't know what it is about Tzeentch players, but they always seem to be chatty. I think it has something to do with the fact that they only ever have about 10 models to move, so they don't really to plan their tactics.

Move -> Magic -> Kill.

Repeat.

There's an appalling specimen in my hometown of Brisbane that I just forfeited to one night at my Games Club, before a dice was rolled. After working 10 hours on one, ONE, car insurance claim from hell (uninsured third parties are scum of the earth) the last thing I wanted to do was front up against that git.

*Ahem*

Anyways, a great report, and as always, a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Title: Re: Hoosier Challenge 2: IndyGT Evansville, IN
Post by: Clarkarias on October 14, 2006, 03:31:54 PM
I don't know what it is about Tzeentch players, but they always seem to be chatty. I think it has something to do with the fact that they only ever have about 10 models to move, so they don't really to plan their tactics.

The Tzeentch army I'm building has over 80 models.  I guess it just depends on the player because I also thought about building a Tzeentch mortal list that had 6 models...
Title: Re: Hoosier Challenge 2: IndyGT Evansville, IN
Post by: Warlord on October 18, 2006, 01:51:05 AM
On the plus side its quick to paint  :evil:
Title: Re: Hoosier Challenge 2: IndyGT Evansville, IN
Post by: Lenny on October 18, 2006, 12:14:18 PM
And tends to have an irrational fear of our artillery....h
Title: Re: Hoosier Challenge 2: IndyGT Evansville, IN
Post by: Pat-Man on October 24, 2006, 11:03:01 PM
Great report Atch! I played Mike S. first game, and pretty much got ground into dust. Problem was, the "tar pit" strategy just didn't work. Too many attacks (and some good dice rolls); my skellies just couldn't hold him up long enough for the Vamp to do his thing. I also forgot that large flying monsters can charge over other units (doh!). Mike's a nice guy, though and I really liked his army.

Played Rac's empire third game. Man, that army's schweeet! He had some bad luck with the scenario's "racecar" rule. I don't know if it was because we had already played two games and were getting tired or what, but I don't think I've ever laughed that much during a game of WFB. I won, but I would have been just as happy to lose that game. Something got us going;we were cackling like maniacs.

And yes, Mike P has a bit of a "power gamer" rep. It can get pretty irritating. Thing is, he's a heckuva nice guy AWAY from the table. Oh well...