Went to Buckeye Battles in Ohio last weekend. Had a great time and finished well with a 4-1-0 record. The tournament using Swedish Comp for match-up purposes for the first 3 games, and also gives some in-game advantages (chose table side, choose first turn) if there is a sufficient difference in comp scores. I went for Band 3 (soft) and here is the final list I took with some comments about how each choice performed. Swedish Comp score was 14.7. LORDS 266 10.64% Saurus Oldblood 266 Armour of Destiny Dawnstone Other Trickster's Shard Great weapon Cold One This guy is a combat beast and he performed very well throughout the tournament. He only died once (Killing Blow spell did him in against a Tomb Kings army). And in my last game he failed 2 consecutive stupidity checks while on his own that probably prevented me from tabling my opponent, but I would absolutely use this build in the future. HEROES 479 19.16% Saurus Scar-Veteran 180 Sacred Stegadon Helm of Itza Luckstone great weapon light armour Cold One Battle Standard Bearer Performed very well. Like the Oldblood, he only died once and it was to Killing Blow by Tomb Kings. Having the Leadership re-roll for the Cold One unit was invaluable. Skink Chief 114 The Egg of Quango Charmed Shield spear light armour Terradon Totally underwhelming. Was killed every single game. Egg of Quango only did a single wound the entire tournament. Best thing he did was valiantly sacrificing himself to a Great Unclean One so I could delay having to deal with it. Skink Priest 95 Cube of Darkness Lore of Beasts Skink Priest 90 Dispel Scroll Lore of Beasts I held my own in the magic phase with just these 2 level 1 skinks against every opponent except the Tomb Kings. Having the equivalent of 2 scrolls was great. Cube of Darkness only failed once (against the Tomb Kings). Every game but 1 I took Wyssan's on both and the spell was very good to have. CORE 695 27.80% 25 Saurus Warriors 305 Spawn Leader musician standard bearer Saurus block held up very well and ground through a number of opposing infantry units (Wildwood Rangers, Tomb Guard (didn't quite finish them off), Plaguebearers, Daemonettes. Never lost this unit. 14 Skinks [70] 150 Skink Brave [10] musician [10] standard bearer [10] 1 Kroxigor Unit only saw combat in 1 game, flank charging a unit of Plague Drones. Also helped control enemy movement when needed. Served as a good place for my 2 skink Priests to hang out. Also, the Krox leadership really did help a couple times, so although the points may be better spent on 2 more units of skirmishers, it's a close call. 10 Skink Skirmishers 80 Lustrian javelins and shields Patrol Leader 10 Skink Skirmishers 80 Patrol Leader 10 Skink Skirmishers 80 Patrol Leader These guys did what skinks do and did it pretty well. Shot, redirected, and died when necessary. My shooting dice were fairly cold with these guys all tournament, but they were still invaluable. SPECIAL 975 39.00% 8 Cold One Riders 302 spears Pack Leader musician standard bearer Overall the cavalry did very well. Thanks to the BSB, they never went stupid, and I only lost them in one game. My opponents gave them a lot of respect and deservedly so. I think the unit size was just about right, and although expensive, I would take spears again. 5 Kroxigor 260 Kroxigor Ancient Perhaps my MVP unit. It's been a couple of editions since I ran a unit of Krox outside of skinks, and these guys exceeded all expectations. They broke 4 units in my first battle against Wood Elves, killed a Stonehorn, Plague Drones and more. Only lost them in my last game. Having a unit with all those strength 7 attacks is really good. Having the Ancient available to take challenges was worthwhile. Bastiladon 150 Solar Engine Did quite well. Solar Engine was not spectacular, but was able to kill off some single models like a Tzeentch Herlad on a disk in one game, and a lone Beast of Nurgle in another. In both games, my opponents maybe gave it too much respect after that, making it easier for me to get Wyssan's through. Even performed pretty well in combat. I used the Basti to take a charge from a Great Unclean One, and Papa took three rounds to kill it (Papa did not have a magic weapon gift). 3 Terradon Riders 105 Combined with the skinks, these guys did a great job controlling enemy movement. Didn't kill a bunch of stuff, but they didn't have to. 6 Chameleon Skinks 88 + Stalker Shooting did very little, but they performed well as part of the overall effort to control and direct the enemy. 2 Jungle Swarms 70 Another possible MVP candidate. My opponents generally ignored these guys, and they were able to get into some combats and tip them in my favor by spreading poison around. They worked very well with the Saurus Warriors. RARE 84 3.36% 1 Salamander Pack 84 additional Skink Handler Did not do much damage for me and ate a lot of skinks over the course of the tournament. Did help in efforts to redirect and control enemy movement. Overall, the list was fun to play with and I could definitely get wins with it. Even in the game I lost, I did not get tabled and got nearly as many battle points as my opponent (13 to 14) because the large number of scoring units helped me gain objectives in scenarios that had them. However, the army is not great at scoring really big wins and so it suffers as a result under the 20-0 system that a lot of tournaments use these days (I think that's an issue with the Lizard book in general though). GAME ONE - Wood Elves (William Calhoun) I had not fought the new Wood Elves, so this was going to be new to me. Scenario was Hidden Deployment - there was a big cardboard screen about 3 feet high set up across the middle of the table. Normal deployment zones 12" in, but deployment was simultaneous and unseen by the opponent. Scouts and vanguards were taken after removing the screen. Bonus VPs for controlling table quarters and bonus Battle Points as well. I won the roll to choose table side, and I picked the side that had a river coming on to the board on the left side near the center line, curving back towards my deployment zone and exiting on my table edge about a third of the way down from the left. Before deployment, my opponent put his free wood front and center on his half of the table and made it a Venom Thicket. My opponent's army: Glade Lord, Glittering Scales, Hail of Doom, Talisman of Preservation, Starfire Shot, Great Weapon Spellweaver, Level 4, Lore of Heaveans Glade Captain, BSB, Armor of Destiny, Moonfire Shot, Great Weapon Spellsinger, Level 2, Dispel Scroll, Lore of Heavens Spellsinger, Level 2, Lore of Shadow 16 Glade Guard, Hagbane Tips, Musician, Standard 16 Eternal Guard, Musician, Standard 16 Eternal Guard, Musician, Standard 6 Wild Riders, Banner of Eternal Flame, shields, Musician, Standard 6 Wild Riders, shields, Musician, Standard 16 Wildwood Rangers, full command 7 Deepwood Scouts, Arcane Bodkins Great Eagle Great Eagle 7 Waywatchers I took Wyssan's on both my Skink Priests. Only spell of consequence on the other side was Comet on the Level 4. In deployment, I put my Skrox, Krox, Salamander, Bastiladon and a unit of skirmishers on the left third that was behind the river. Saurus Warriors were centrally deployed along with the swarms, and the cold ones were just to their right. On my right flank, I had my Terradons, Skink Chief and a unit of skirmishers. The plan was to advance the aquatic troops on the left using the river for cover, run the saurus and cold ones up the middle to the central forest where I expected something important to camp out, and use the stuff on my right to redirect and delay any threats to the center advance. On reveal, my opponent had a fairly symetric deployment. Glade Guard in the middle behind the free Venom Thicket with the Level 4, BSB, and Level 2 shadow all in that unit. They were flanked on either side by a unit of eternal guard, a unit of wild riders, and an eagle. The Wildwood Rangers (with Glade Lord) were on my left across the river from my aquatic stuff. Level 2 Heavens was in the Eternal Guard unit to my left. Scouts were deployed. Waywatchers took position in the Venom Thicket near the middle of the board. I deployed chameleons on my right, and the scouts went down on across the river and all the way back in my opponent's deployment zone. I won the roll to Vanguard and moved my Terradons up on the right to the center line, effectively keeping the Wild Riders on that side from vanguarding forward since they had to stay 12" away from my Terradons. Skink Chief also Vanguarded up on the same side. Wood Elves got first turn. Waywatchers moved out of the venom thicket into the open in the middle of the table, and the Glade Guard moved into the forest just vacated and Eternal Guard moved up on either side of the forest. On the left, the Wildriders and Rangers advanced. On my right, the Wildriders strangely moved back to my opponent's table edge -- I think he knew that charging the Terradons would just result in Flee reaction, and was afraid that he could be too easily sucked into position to be charged by my Cold Ones if he stayed forward on that side. I probably would have been less tentative with them, but I wasn't complaining. Eagles stayed back, perhaps afraid of poisoned shooting. Magic phase saw my opponent get off a Comet, placing the marker between and slightly in front of my Saurus and Cold Ones. Probably should have placed it more in the middle where I planned to be rather than where I was at the time ... but it still worked out for him. Shooting was remarkably uneventful. My first turn saw a general advance. On my left, I moved up the Krox and Skrox into the river for cover from shooting, and skinks into position to bait the Wild Riders. I made sure that the Krox were outside the charge arc of the Wildriders. In the magic phase the Comet did not come down. I tried the Solar Engine on the advancing Wild Riders but it was dispelled. Shooting from a unit of skinks killed 1 Wild Rider and the Salamander got 2 more, reducing the advancing unit to 3. (Salamander tried to shoot 3 more times that game and misfired every time.) Wood Elf Turn 2, Wild Riders on my left declared a charge on some skink skirmishers, who fled diagonally back towards the center and popped through my Saurus. The Saurus failed their panic test even with reroll from the nearby BSB, and fled back stopping right on top of the Comet marker. Wildriders ended up failing their charge, leaving them with their flank exposed to the Krox leading to a series of cascading combats that decided the game. Wood Elf magic phase was largely uneventful (I think I used my scroll) with Comet not coming down, and shooting didn't do much either, although I lost a Cold One to the Waywatchers. My opponent was considering whether to use the Hail of Doom on the Krox, but decided against it because they were in the river and he would have been at -4 (range, movement, multi-shot, cover) and would need 5 to hit -- he should have done it because he never got to use it. My Turn 2, my Krox charged the Wildriders on the left in the flank and they could not flee (Frenzy). My Skink Chief on Terradon had a charge path to the flank of the Wild Riders on the right that had pulled back to the table edge and he took that charge, hoping the Egg could nuke the unit. Cold Ones advanced in the middle, and on the right the Terradons dropped rocks on the Eternal Guard (minor damage) and Chameleons moved up to shoot them. Saurus Warriors rallied right on top of the Comet marker and fleeing skinks also rallied. In the magic phase, the Comet came down at strength 7, hitting 13 Saurus and killing 12. At that point, I was planning to just hold them back to hold a table quarter. I was unable to cast, and shooting was uneventful. In the combat phase, my Skink Chief rolled a 1 for the Egg (d3 strength 3) and killed 1 Wild Rider. He took a wound from the one Wild Rider in contact, and dealt 1 in return with his spear. The remaining 4 Wild Riders held and then reformed in 2x2 formation to face (did not have room to go 3-wide due to proximity with table edge and another unit). Krox crushed the Wild Riders they charged, and their overrun took them into the flank of the Waywatchers in the middle of the table. My opponent was unfamiliar with the rules for pursuit into fresh enemy and thought they could Flee but I pointed him to the rule that they could only hold. Felt bad for him, but there was no reasonable way to let him go back and do anything differently. Wood Elf Turn 3, my opponent swift reformed his right-side unit of Eternal Guard into a conga line and moved them right up in front of the Cold Ones. Since Eternal Guard are Stubborn, he figured he could take the charge and hold. He reformed the Glade Guard in the Venom Thicket, intending to Swift Reform and move, but he failed his leadership check even with BSB reroll, and the reform left their flank exposed to the Krox ... very unfortunate for him. Eagles finally moved out front, and on my left, the Wildwood Rangers curled back towards the center in the direction of my Cold Ones. He obviously wanted to get them locked in with the Eternal Guard then hit them in the flank. Magic phase saw another comet, this one near my chameleons that were to the flank of the conga-line Eternal Guard. Shooting was again ineffective--Waywatchers were in combat, Scouts shot the Salamander to little effect (1 handler), and Glade Guard could not hurt the Cold Ones. In combat, my Skink Chief was killed by the 4 Wild Riders at my opponent's table edge. My Krox butchered the Waywatchers, then overran into the flank of the Glade Guard in the Venom Thicket. Lizardmen turn 3, I did not take the bait of the Eternal Guard. Instead, I charged my Oldblood (who was on the left corner) out of the unit and into the front of the Glade Guard who were engaged in the flank by the Krox. The Cold Ones then moved backwards to get away from both the Eternal Guard and Comet marker. Chameleons also moved away from the Comet. The depleted Saurus unit stayed moved up -- I figured they might have a role after all. In the magic phase, the Comet came down, only hitting the Eternal Guard, killing a handful. I did not get a spell off. Shooting killed a few more Eternal Guard and some Wildwood Rangers. In combat, my opponent issued a challenge with his BSB in an attempt to prevent my General from smashing his Level 4. I accepted with the Krox Ancient, who took 2 wounds from the BSB in the challenge and dealt 1 back. My General easily killed the level 4, and my Krox did several casualties to the elves but they made their break test and held. Wood Elf Turn 4 things were looking very bad for my opponent. He charged my Salamander with an Eagle -- not a good choice and the Salamander ultimately killed the Eagle in the second round of combat. Wildwood Rangers moved across the middle towards the Cold Ones. Eternal Guard on my turned to face the flank of the Krox, Scouts stayed put. Magic and shooting were uneventful. Combat saw my General and Krox put the hurt on the Glade Guard, killing almost all of them, breaking them, pursing them, catching them, and ending up near the 4 Wildriders, but otherwise out of harm's way. My turn 4, Krox charged the unit of 4 Wild Riders near my opponent's table edge. Closer to the center of the table, my Cold Ones where in a spot where they were threatened by the Wildwood Rangers (who were outside the charge arc of the Cold Ones), and couldn't really get away. I wanted no part of that combat -- those elves with Great Weapons would tear up my expensive cavalry. So instead, I took a calculated risk. I marched my BSB out of the Cold Ones and exposed his flank to the Wildwood Rangers. Cold One's them reformed to face the Rangers. The Rangers could charge the BSB, but the wheel to align would cause them to face totally away from my table edge, presenting their flank to the Cold Ones, and I thought my BSB had a decent chance of surviving and that he should hold if he did. In the magic phase, the Bastiladon was able to kill some Scouts. Shooting saw my Chameleons and Terradons further erode the unit of Eternal Guard on my right (I moved the units in position to cover the flank of my cold ones). In combat, my Krox took some wounds but butchered the 4 Wild Riders they were engaged with, overrunning off the table. This was their last action of the game, but they had done their job, killing 4 enemy units. Salamander killed the Eagle it was fighting. Wood Elf Turn 5, the main events were that the Wildwood Rangers with Glade Lord did charge my lone BSB. Also, a an Eagle landed about 6 inches in front of my Saurus Warriors. It did effectively cover the flank of the Wildwood Rangers from the Cold Ones, but effectively exposed their rear to the Saurus since they could charge it then hit the Rangers with a long but makable overrun/pursuit. Shooting from the 7 scouts did little of consequence. Magic saw no successful casting from the remaining Level 2. In combat, my BSB took 1 wound -- Toughness 6 and 1+ Armor Save are wonderful. He did have to use his Luckstone, and it prevented a second wound that would have killed him. He failed his first break test but made his reroll. My Turn 5, Saurus charged the Eagle in front of them which held. My opponent did not have much choice since if he fled, the cold ones could charge the Wildwood Rangers in the flank. Magic did nothing. Shooting mopped up the depleted Eternal Guard on my right. Salamander tried to spit at the Enternal Guard on my left containing the remaining Level 2 but misfired. In the combat phase, I did the saurus versus the Eagle first. Saurus warriors killed the Eagle and rolled high enough on their Overrun to hit the back of the Wildwood Rangers. Since my BSB had not fought, I did that combat next, declaring a challenge to minimize the number of attacks to the BSB. The Glade Lord had to accept since I killed the champ in the previous round, and he could not go to the second rank since it was engaged by the Saurus Warriors. BSB survived the 4 attacks from the Glade Lord, not even needing to make an armor save (2 hits, no wounds -- T6 to the rescue). In the back, the Saurus Warriors gave better than they got against the depleted Rangers, who then broke and were run down by my BSB. Turn 6 was uneventful. My opponent had a unit of Eternal Guard with a Level 2 as well as some scouts, and he tried to get them out of harm's way. In my half, I tried to use shooting and magic to finish off the scouts, but couldn't do it (salamander misfiring again) and the unit was left with one model. I nearly tabled my opponent, losing only my Skink Chief and one unit of skinks in return (at this point I don't remember exactly when I lost them). I achieved all scenario objectives and Battle Points were 23 to 5 in my favor out of a maximum of 25. My opponent obviously made some mistakes with positioning that allowed my Krox to run wild. Also, I think putting the Hail of Doom on his Glade Lord on foot was a mistake since he never got to use it. He was in a unit that wants to see combat, but if it marches to try to get in position, the Hail of Doom can't be used. Good opponent, nice guy, and good sport despite the beating he took. He went on to finish in the middle of the pack both in terms of battle points and overall, placing 64 out of 124. GAME TWO - Ogre Kingdoms Elves (Ray Lambert) Ray had an Ogre list with some unusual choices -- when is the last time you saw a Hunter on a Stonehorn? But remember this is a tournament with banding based on Swedish comp, and all my Day 1 battles were in the "soft" band. Anyway, here's his list: Tyrant, Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales, Greedy Fist Slaughtermaster, Level 3, Ironfist, Armor of Fortune, Dispel Scroll, Lore of the Great Maw Bruiser, BSB, Ironfist, Armor of Destiny Hunter, Stonehorn, Sword of Swift Slaying, Charmed Shield, Opal Amulet, Potion of Speed 5 Ironguts, full command, Lookout Gnoblar, Standard of Discipline 7 Ironguts, musician, standard, Lookout Gnoblar 27 Gnoblars, full command, trappers 1 Sabretusk 1 Sabretusk 3 Mournfang Cavalry, full command, Razor Standard Ironblaster Scenario was "Messenger" in which each side had an extra model that they had to try to get off the other side of the board. Extra VPs award for completing that mission and for killing the opposing messenger. I am not going to give a turn-by-turn on this battle since I honestly don't remember exactly what happened when. The fact is that I just had too many units for Ray's small army to deal with. I had so much chaff that I was continually able to double flee and prevent him from entering combat except on my terms. Magic was easy to deal with -- Ray got Regen and +1 Strength augments and a magic missile as his spell selection. I really only had to worry about the magic missile to keep my chaff alive and didn't worry about the other spells until I was ready to engage a particular unit. Quick summary: Ray got first turn and made a general advance. Sabretusks died early to shooting. On my right, I had my General leave the cold ones and park right in front of the Mournfangs. They charged and he ground through them in 3 rounds of combat without taking a single wound. My Skrox unit on this side slipped through the enemy line and delivered my messenger to the other side of the board. In the middle, the Gnoblars actually got ahead of the Ironguts (due to failed charges on the part of the 'Guts) and were promptly smashed in a combined charge by the Cold Ones and Saurus Warriors. I did pay a price as I lost 3 Cold Ones to failed Dangerous Terrain tests caused by the Gnoblar trappers. This allowed my BSB to be cannon-sniped out of the unit later in the game. After grinding through the Mournfangs, my general and the Cold One unit charged the smaller block of Ironguts who had the BSB inside. They elected to flee, but only rolled a 3 and were caught and run down (if the Cold One didn't have spears, they might have stuck around). On the left, I used my Bastiladon and poisoned shooting from Skinks to kill the Hunter and hurt his Stonehorn, and then charged in with Krox to finish the off. The Skink Chief charged the Ironblaster, but rolled a "1" on the Egg and ended up dying horribly (but in the second round of combat so prevented one turn of shooting). My general survived two cannon shots to come all the way across from the right and charge the Ironblaster in turn 6, but it fled and he couldn't catch it. In the end, my opponent still had his Ironblaster plus the unit of 7 'Guts with his Tyrant, Slaughtermaster and Messenger inside. That never saw combat. I had hoped to surround and charge it, but it took a bit longer to deal with the Stonehorn and Mournfangs than I had hoped, so the units I wanted to use were out of position and that never materialized. I lost my BSB and a skink priest to a single cannon snipe, my Chief in the suicide charge on the Ironblaster, and a couple units of skinks I had to sacrifice. I with I had paid a little bit more attention to the scenario because I did not get any of the bonus Battle Points -- the possibilities were: (1) +1 for wounding the enemy messenger; (2) +2 if your messenger or his unit completed a charge; and (3) +2 if you both got your messenger off the other side and killed the opposing messenger. So total of 5 possible. I was not able to wound or kill the opposing messenger because the final combat I hoped for didn't set up right, but I did have a chance to charge my Skrox+Messenger unit into the Mournfangs who were engaged with my Oldblood. I should have done it, both because of the +2 Battle points, and because that combat would have ended sooner (due to the way the combat was aligned, only 1 Mournfang could have attacked the unit, and charge, standard, ranks and Krox atatcks probably would have done the job). In the end, it was a 13 to 8 victory with 2 bonus points to Ray (his messenger's unit completed a charge on one of my redirecting skink units) for a 13 to 10 win. Ray was a good guy and good general, but my army was a bad match-up for him. He did go on to finish 16th overall with a higher Battle score than me. GAME THREE - Tomb Kings (Jon Gelhausen) Tomb Kings are always an interesting match-up for Lizards since on the one hand, we have a lot of poisoned shooting that can be really good for taking down T8 Sphinxes. On the other hand, their shooting always hits on a 5+ regardless of modifiers, so it can be good for clearing out those same skinks who are aiming for the constructs. Also, the Tomb Kings army features a lot of units with Killing Blow, which my General and BSB are really afraid of. Turns out they were right to be afraid. Anyway, here's Jon's list: Liche High Priest, Level 4, Hierophant, Lore of Nekhara, Talisman of Preservation Tomb King, Golden Death Mask of Karnut, Armor of Fortune, Dragonbane Gem, great weapon Liche Priest, Level 1, Lore of Death, Dispel Scroll 6 Skeleton Chariots, Standard, Musician, Banner of Swiftness 14 Skeleton Archers, Musician 13 Skeleton Archers, Musician 5 Skeleton Horsemen, Champion, Musician Khemrian Warsphinx, Fiery Roar 3 Necropolis Knights, musician 3 Necropolis knights, musician 23 Tomb Guard, Full Command Casket of Souls Hierotitan Interesting list. Remember that the tournament requires "scoring units" for purposes of achieving some objectives, so I think that's the reason for the musicians in the Necro Knight units. Scenario This one time, at Base Camp... - The table was split into 4 sections by connecting the 2 corners, and then also connecting the middles of the short table edge and long table edge. At end of game you get 250VPs for not allowing an enemy scoring unit in zones A and D and 100 VPs for zones B and C. +2 BP for invading enemy camp A or D at any point during the game with a scoring unit +1 No enemy scoring unit in your camp A or D at the end of the game +2 For meeting both when the game ends Things were thrown off a bit for us because we were on very cool and thematic but 8-foot-wide table so the zones didn't work exactly like they were supposed to, and we didn't realize until after the game was well underway. For spell generation I took Wyssan's with both priests again. Would have taken Savage Beast if I had rolled it, but wasn't lucky on that. My opponent got the following with his Level 4 -- (1) Killing Blow augment, (2) 5+ Ward augment, (3) Movement augment, and (4) a magic missile. The Level 1 took Spirit Leech. Terrain was largely built into the table, with 3 flat-topped step pyramids dominating the scene. Pretty cool since it could fit with the theme of either army. One was right in the middle of my opponent's deployment zone, and there were two other on the right and left sides near the center line. A small forest was also on my right flank near the middle, and a small marsh on the left near the middle. My opponent castled in deployment -- casket right in the middle at his table edge. To the left of the casket were the chariots, then a unit of Necro Knights, then the Horsemen. A unit of archers with the Hierophant were right in front of the casket, and the sphinx in front of that. To the right of the Casket were the Tomb Guard with the King, the Hierotitan, the other unit of archers with the Level 1, and finally the other unit of Necro knights. I deployed my Saurus in the middle, putting my BSB in the unit. To their left were the swarms, the Cold Ones with the General, the Terradons, the Skrox (with both priests) and a unit of skinks. To the right of the Saurus were the Skink Chief, the Salamander, the Krox, and 2 units of skinks. I scouted my Chameleons on the left side with the idea that since they were a "scoring unit" with their champion, they could move up into the corner zone and score some bonus battle points. Bastiladon was also on the left, Salamander on the right. I vanguarded both the Terradons and the Skink Chief towards the middle. I made sure the chief was in a place where it would be a long charge for the sphinx. Terradons were in a spot where they could be charged by the chariots, and I would have sacrificed them for a counter by my cold ones. My opponent vanguarded his horsemen up a bit, towards my chameleons on the step pyramid. Rolled for first turn, and for the third time in 3 games, my opponent got it. Tomb King Turn 1. No charges, and not a lot of movement. Necro Knights on my right move up, as do the archers. On my left, the Necro Knights move up a bit, but stay well out of Cold One range. Tomb Guard and Sphinx move toward the Saurus warriors. Looks like he want me to commit before rushing his stuff forward. Magic was a 5+5 for 10. He 6-diced the casket at the Chameleons and I had to scroll it. Stopped anything else of consequence with my dice. Shooting saw the Hierophant's archer unit unload on the Skink Chief and kill him--MathHammer says 0.77 wounds from that one unit, but bad luck happens. Had he survived (would have been shot by more stuff first), he would have charged the Hierophant's unit and unleashed the Egg. Chariots shot at the Terradons and did a single wound. On my right, I seem to recall the other archer unit shot at the Krox and failed to wound. Lizardmen Turn 1. On my right, I moved up a skink unit to shoot at and try to bait the Necro knights, along with the Salamander also for chaff purposes. The Krox moved into a spot out of their charge arc but facing for a charge of their own. In the middle, my Saurus moved to a spot that was a long charge for both the sphinx and the Tomb Guard. I felt I could take the Tomb Guard, but not with a sphinx in the same combat. One of my skink units on the center-right move up to a spot to shoot at the sphinx. On the center-left, my Cold Ones move to a spot where the chariots could charge but their path would take them across the small marsh. On the left, my chameleons move forward to a spot where they can shoot the Horsemen and that is also in the corner zone for bonus point purposes. They are vulnerable to getting charged, but are far enough away to stand and shoot. My skrox move up to support them, and also to threaten the flank of the Necro Knights if they decide to move forward and towards the center. The Terradons fly up to the center left, behind the Necro Knights, and face the middle to threaten the Casket. Magic phase I try to 6-dice the Solar Engine but it's dispelled. Shooting is reasonably effective. On the left, 2 skeleton horsemen go down. On the right, skinks plink the Necro Knights and do a wound. In the middle, 2 wounds to the Sphinx. Tomb Kings Turn 2. On my left, the Horsemen charge my Chameleons. There are only 3, left, so I decide to stand-and-shoot. I figure that between the stand-and-shoot and higher initiative, I might actually be able to win that combat. One horseman falls. Necros on that side pretty much stay put, waiting for my Cold Ones to advance. Chariots actually back up to block the charge path of my Terradons to the Casket. Sphinx and Tomb Guard move up to threaten the Saurus Warriors. On my right, the Necros try to charge, but get baited into an odd spot by a salamander/skink double flee--my Krox can just see them but would only be able to get one model in contact with one Necro Knight. Magic phase sees my Opponent with 12 dice after channels and the casket. Not good. Don't remember everything he cast, but he did cast everything. Two augments healed up the Sphinx, and the Casket killed my Bastiladon. I tried my Cube of Darkness on the Casket and rolled a 1, and rolled a 9 on 5 dice trying to stop something else. Not good. Shooting, the chariots ineffectively shot at my Cold Ones. Hierophant's archer unit swift reformed to face my Terradons, but only about 5 could see due to the hill/step pyramid and they couldn't wound. On the right side, the archers shot at the Salamander and I think a handler died. At least the shooting didn't do much to me. In combat, my chameleons could not do a wound, and the horsemen struck back and killed 2. The chameleons lost by 3, fled, and were run down. Even worse, the nearby Skrox unit failed its panic test and started fleeing towards the side of the table. Lizardmen Turn 2. On my right, I declare a charge with the Krox. As noted above, it was a bit of odd alignment due to the presence of a skink unit, and only 1 Krox could get in contact, but we would get supporting attacks from the guy behind him and there was already a wound on one Necro Knight, so I felt good about the combat. Skinks and Salamander rallied on that side. In the middle, my Saurus backed up, continuing to play range games with the TG and Sphinx. Also in the middle, I decided to take a risk and force the issue of the chariots--it was a long charge, but I sent my General out of the Cold One unit towards the chariots--he fails and is left in the middle, but I figure that if he survived charging Mournfangs he can survive charging chariots. He is outside the arc of the Sphinx. Cold ones move up and wheel left to threaten the two Horsemen that ran off my Chameleons. Swarms move in a spot to cover them from a possible charge by the Necro Knights. On the far left, my Skrox unit with the priests in it fails to rally -- needing 8 (Krox + musician) but rolling 10. I have no magic due to dead Bastiladon and fleeing Skink Priests. If there was any shooting of significance I've forgotten it. On the right, the Krox win their combat against the Necro Knights -- the 1 knight in contact does a single wound to a Krox, and the 6 attacks from the Krox do 4 wounds (Predatory got me an extra hit, and with Str. 7, all 4 wounded). Necros lose by 4, and are left with 1 mode with 1 wound remaining. I got this at least. Stupid me -- I totally forgot to move my Terradons. They should have hopped over the Chariots and archers and threatened the Casket from the other side ... Tomb Kings Turn 3. On the Left, Necro Knights charge the Swarms. The 2 horsemen did something, but I don't remember what. In the middle, the Chariots do not charge, staying put and blocking the charge path of the Terradons to the Casket. TG creep forward in the middle (he should have been more aggressive). Hierophant's archer unit moves so that all models are on top of the pyramid and can shoot my Terradons. On the right, the Hierotitan moves forward and away from the Hierophant, kind of towards the Salamander. Magic was relatively low and saw the casket go off and hit a unit of skinks on my right (lost a few) and skip to the Salamander which survived. Shooting, the chariots pointlessly shot at my general. Archers on the hill shot at my Terradons an were really unlucky, failing to even make a wound roll. Archers on the Right went for the Salamander again. I recall them killing another handler. In combat, the swarms got crunched by the Necro Knights on the left, but actually did 2 wounds before crumbling--I had them 1-wide to take the charge, meaning only 2 of the 3 knights could attack and I was pretty much guaranteed some return attacks. Got 2 poison and two armor saves were failed. On the right, the Krox took 2 wounds from the remaining Necro Knight over there, removing a model, but they killed the last knight then reformed to face back towards the middle of the board. Lizards Turn 3. This is where things really started going south for me. In the middle, I made a mistake that probably cost me the game. My general who was out in the middle trying to invite a charge from the TK chariots decided to charge the chariots. Not a horrible decision in itself, but I was so focused on the chariots that I didn't notice at the time that he also had a clear charge path to the flank of the unit of archers with the Hierophant in it. The charge path may have been an inch longer than the path to the chariots, and there were no enemy units positioned to countercharge, so I would have had at least 3 rounds to grind on that unit before help could arrive. Anyway, I made the charge on the chariots. In the middle, I crept back with the Saurus again -- I wanted to try to get a Salamander shot on the TG before that combat happened. On the left, my Skrox bunker for the priests again fails to rally and flees off the board. My Cold Ones who had moved over from the center charge the remaining two Skeleton Horse. On the right, things were going fairly well. It was ok on the right. My Krox were facing towards the center of the table after having beat up on the Necro Knights on that side. They marched in towards the middle to threaten the Hierotitan and archers on that side. I also moved the Salamander on that side generally in the direction of the Tomb Guard.I have no magic phase with my Basitiladon dead and my Priests off the table. Shooting was uneventful. In combat, the Cold Ones smash the 2 skeleton horse and overrun to the top of the pyramid on the left side of the table. My general does just 2 wounds to the chariots, winning combat by 2 so a total of 1 model plus 1 wound due to crumble. Once again, I forgot my Terradons, leaving them to get shot by TK archers from the Hierophant unit instead of hoping them over and at least forcing a leadership test to swift reform. Tomb Kings Turn 4. On the Left, Necro Knights (3 models but carrying 2 wounds) turn and face the flank of my Clod Ones on the top of the hill. In the middle, chariots are engaged with my General, and the Sphinx turns to get ready to charge him in the flank. Since the Sphinx is no facing in a good direction for potential support, Tomb Guard stay put instead of charging my Saurus Warriors. No movement of significance on the right -- Hierotitan over there should have moved since I had a long but viable charge path for my Krox. I think he was planning to charge my Salamander if it got close enough. Magic phase saw me unable to stop anything. The Killing Blow spell on the chariots brought the unit back to full strength, healing 4 wounds worth. Also tried the casket on my Salamander but only did 2 wounds (1 to the beast, 1 to a handler). Shooting, my Terradons somehow again survive the volley of fire from the Hierophant's archer unit, but fall to 1 model. On the right, the archers again go for the Salamander but can't hurt it--after that first round of nuking my Skink Chief, the TK archers have been pathetic. Combat, my general luckily survived all the Killing Blow attacks from the chariots and again does 2 wounds, winning by 1 and removing 1 model. Not looking good there. Lizardmen Turn 4. Running out of options here, but all is not lost. On the right, I declare a charge from the Krox to the Hierotitan. If I make it, the Krox should work over the Hierotitan and overrun into a spot to charge the Hierotitan's unit in turn 5. I need an 8, so about a 42% chance to make it ... but I fail. Salamander moves up to spit on the TG from a flank position. In the middle, I decide I need to commit my Saurus Warriors since the Sphinx is engaged and move them up close to the TG. On the left, my Cold Ones on top of the hill turn to face the Necro Knights. This time I don't forget the Terradon, moving him as far away as possible from the enemy. Trying to preserve points now. No magic phase for me. In the shooting phase, my Salamander lands the flame template a bit long, but still hitting 9 TG and killing 6 if I recall correctly. My skinks in the middle by the Saurus block shoot and the Sphinx but do nothing. In combat, my General once again somehow survives the rain of Killing Blow atatcks, grinding on the chariots but not getting very far. Tomb Kings Turn 5. On my left, the Necro Knights charge my Cold Ones on the hill. I take it. In the middle, the Sphinx charges the flank of my General, and the TG with the Kink in it finally charges and engages with my Saurus block. My BSB is in that unit but on the far right, only in BTB with the Tomb King himself so only one possible Killing Blow attack on him (supporting attack from the model behind the king). Hierophant's archers turn since the Terradon flew far away. On my right, the Hierotitan wisely pulls back away from the Krox. The archer unit on that side, now well within charge range for the Krox, angles itself slightly towards the Krox. Jon also pulls the Level 1 out of the unit, but oddly puts him behind the unit in a spot that the Krox could overrun to--mistake on his part. Magic sees the Chariot unit once again healed to full strength and some TG come back as well. Bubble-effect augment gives Killing Blow to everything of consequence -- the Chariots, the Sphinx, and the TG (improving theirs to 5+ and giving it to the King). Shooting removes one Krox. Casket on a unit but don't remember which one and it didn't do enough to affect anything. In combat, my General does not survive the rain of Killing blows this time--the chariot crews get 3 KBs from their 8 attacks, and my 4+ ward only catches 1. The Sphinx was totally unnecessary in that combat. It reforms to face the Saurs/TG showdown. In that combat, my Saurus with their spears do more damage than the TG, but my BSB falls to a Killing Blow from the King (I did deal 1 wound in return since they were both striking simultaneously with the Great Weapons). All my characters are gone at this point. On the hill to the left, my Cold Ones account very well for themselves--taking 2 wounds but doing enough in return to win the combat and reduce the Necro Knights to 1 model. Lizardmen Turn 5. Not much to move. Lone Terradon retreats further. Krox on the right charge the archers on that side. I have a unit of Skinks left and move them up the left side of Saurus to prevent other units from joining in--skinks are angled so if they get charged, the enemy overrun path with not go to the Saurus block. No magic. No shooting of significance. In combat, my Cold Ones take a wound but finish the last Necro Knight. They reform to point more towards the middle but are too far away to do anything now. In the middle, Saurus and TG grind with Saurus getting the better of the exchange. On the right, my Krox beat up on the archers but don't finish them. Tomb Kings Turn 6. Chariots charge the skinks covering the flank of my Saurus. They have to hold. Jon then declares a charge with his Sphinx on my Saurus, thinking they can make it in after the Skinks contract to the Chariots. I point out that the straight ahead path of the Sphinx would actually still clip one skink, and so he can't make the charge since the Sphinx would therefore need to wheel twice to slip in alongside the TG and into contact with the Saurus. Jon is not happy but goes along. He forgets to move his level 1 on the right side. Don't really remember the magic phase--I think he put a 5+ ward on the TG and killed the last Terradon with the casket. In combat, skinks died to the chariots but they had done their job protecting the Saurus. Saurus and TG continued to grind. On the right, Krox finished the archers. Lizardmen Turn 6. Very Little to do here. Krox charge the Level 1 on the right that Jon left out in the open. No magic, no shooting (Salamander couldn't destroy any units at that point so didn't bother). Combat saw my Krox kill the Level 1, and the Saurus Warriors and TG fought another round of combat but were still stuck in at the end. Game over. I had lost all my characters, and a bunch of chaff, but my 3 most expensive units were still alive (Cold Ones, Saurus and Krox. However, I hadn't managed to kill much -- 2 units of Necro Knights, a unit of Archers, and the Level 1. Margin of VPs was a 13-8 win in Jon's favor. However, I picked up the full 5 bonus BPs because I had advanced a scoring unit (Chameleons) into the enemy "camp" at one point during the game, and there were no TK units in my "camp" at the end of the game. In fact, all the scoring units on the battlefield were in the middle, so Jon also got +1 BP since I was not in his "camp" at the end of the game. Final BP count was 14-13 in favor if Jon. Jon was a nice guy, but this was not my favorite game of the tournament. I had been up since 5 in the morning, and so was pretty tired and a bit cranky for this one. Early on, he rolled for winds of magic when I wasn't looking at the table, announcing the results and picking up the dice before I saw them. I really don't think he was cheating me, but I said something about it and said it in a way that probably was not perceived as friendly. I did get marked down by 1 Sportsmanship point somewhere in the tournament, and I suspect it might have been this game since there was also the bit about whether the Sphinx could charge my Saurus. Another point of dice etiquette for those reading--when you roll a bunch of dice to hit, don't pick up the successes and leave the failures on the table. Pick up the failures, leaving the successes on the table so that your opponent can easily verify them. At that point, you can sweep all the successes into your hand and roll to wound. Aside from failing to see my General's charge path to the Hierophant's unit, another tactical error I made was being too afraid of the match-up between the Necro Knights and my Cold Ones on the left side. MathHammer says that a charging unit of 3 Necro Knights will do about 3 wounds to a unit of Cold One riders, which is less than I thought. And 5 Cold One riders (with champion) striking back will do roughly the same (slightly less) in return. When my general was still in that unit, I should have pressed that match-up, using the Terradons and swarm to cover any potential flank charge by the chariots. Had I done that, I would have smashed the Necro Knights, and potentially been in position to roll though the chariots and into the Hierophant unit. GAME FOUR - Daemons of Chaos (Jason Eversole) Jason had a "Wall of Nurgle" style Daemon army. I did not keep a copy of his list, but I think I can remember most things about it since it was quite small. Great Unclean One, Level 4, Lore of Nurgle, 2x Greater Gift Herald of Nurgle, BSB - may have had a Locus/Gift but I forget what Herald of Nurgle, Level 1, Lore of Nurgle - may have had a Locus/Gift 39 Plaguebearers, Full Command 24 Paguebearers, Full Command 6 Beasts of Nurgle Beast of Nurgle Beast of Nurgle 2 x Nurglings 2 x Nurglings 2 x Nurglings Papa Nurgle generated spells. I remember he got Curse of the Leper (either bonus d3 T to the Daemons or minus d3 T to the enemy) and Miasma of Pestilence, but don't remember what else. Rolling for his Greater Gifts, Papa got a gift that gave him a 2+ Armor Save (there goes my chance of killing him with skinks) and another that gave +1 Wound. Jason had the option of switching either Gift for a magic weapon, and he should have done so. Spoiler - the Great Unclean One did survive, but things could have gone poorly for him at the end of the game when my Oldblood engaged it. Without a magic weapon, the GUO was not killy enough to hurt my general. Scenario was "Bloody Woody Haze!" A single forest was placed in the center of the table, and the goal is to control the forest at the end of the game. However, the wood in the center immediately gives any unit that even partially enters it “Irresistible Frenzy”. The unit gains “Frenzy” and must declare a charge if any enemy is in sight and charge range. They have no choice as the dominion in the wood has mastery over them. This special attribute ends immediately upon the unit exiting the wood entirely. Scoring units partially in the wood at the end of the game are worth 100 VPs toward victory. Scoring units entirely in the wood are worth 250 VPs. Bonus Battle Points were as follows: +2 for controlling the center wood +1 for each “Irresistible Frenzy” charge connecting with an enemy unit (MAX 3) Jason put his the two single Beasts of of Nurgle in the middle of his line headed straight towards the center forest, with the big block of Beasts of Nurgle right behind them. He deployed the block of 24 Plauguebearers + BSB to my left of the Beasts, and then Big Papa to the left of them. The huge unit of Plaguebearers + the other Herald was to the right of the wood. Jason divided up his scouting Nurgling units, one on his left flank, one on his right, and one in the middle of the woods. Since I had so many more drops, I could see where Jason was deploying his stuff, and my plan developed from there. I recognized that there was no way I could table this Nurgle army, so I didn't try. The huge block of Plaguebearers was probably too much for me to handle, and I decided to delay them with chaff for the whole game. Likewise, I decided to focus my energy on clearing the Daemon Chaff and taking down 2 of the other 3 expensive choices -- the 24-PBs, the block of Beasts, and Big Papa. I would delay the third of that group and only engage after I finished off the first 2. To that end, I put my Terradons and Skink Chief on the right, along with a unit of blowpipe skinks, the Krox and the Skrox. I figured repeated bait-and-flee from all these units could keep the big unit occupied all game. In hindsight, the Krox should have faced off against Big Papa. In the middle headed towards the woods I put my unit of Saurus, 2 supporting units of javelin skinks, and the swarms. Cold Ones with both charcters were immediately to to the left of them. Bastiladon, Salamander and a unit of blowpipe skinks were on my left flank. Chameleons scouted into a water feature on the left flank at the center line. The initial plan was to let Jason advance into the center wood, then use chaff to force his units to charge out of the woods, where I could hopefully hit them hard with multiple units. If they had the chance, Cold Ones would charge Big Papa and my Oldblood would issue a challenge -- since the GUO didn't have a magic weapon, I thought the Oldblood could come out on top in that combat and hopefully pop or seriously damage him with the weight of a charge and 2 banners. I am not going turn-by-turn on this one simply because there was too much bait-and-flee going on for me to accurately remember. Instead, I will give some general highlights of what was happening as the game progressed. I got first turn (due to comp score difference of 14 to 4 I was allowed to choose) and I moved my chaff up into bait position while keeping my main blocks back. In the middle of the battlefield, some of the Nurgle chaff advanced through the woods and I was able to pick it off as it came. One of the lone Beasts of Nurgle fell to the Solar Engine on the Bastiladon, and the other was beaten by my Krox. A unit of Nurglings made a successful charge out of the woods (+1 BP for Jason) into a unit of javelin skinks, and that combat actually went on for about 4 rounds (I had them boosted with Wyssan's and the Nurglings got their T boosted by Curse of the Leper) plugging things up a bit longer than I hoped. The big unit of Beasts followed, charging my Cold Ones from the other side of the woods (not in them though so no bonus BP for Jason). This combat ground on for a while but I eventually won due to the power of the 2 characters in the unit. Jason pulled a nastry trick when he was down to one model--Beasts of Nurgle can issue challenges (I did not know) and he was able to issue a challenge I could not refuse, minimizing attacks on that model and dragging the combat out a bit longer. The unit of 24 Plaguebearers followed the Beasts of Nurgle through the woods, eventually entering into grinding combat with my Saurus Warriors. Wyssan's Wildform helped a lot, and the balance was tipped when I got my swarms into the combat and made all my Saurus attacks poisoned. On the right, I was successfully able to bait and flee to keep the big block of 40 from engaging in any important combats. In turn 5, I had to sacrifice a unit of blowgun skinks in order to turn the facing of that big block. but that also allowed my Skrox unit to slip around them and enter the center wood in turn 6 to gain VPs and BPs for controlling it. On the left, I was using other chaff to bait Papa. At one point, my Salamander failed to rally, mixing things up a bit. I ended up having to sacrifice my Skink Chief to him (once again a low Egg roll and no damage inflicted) as well as my Bastiladon, which held out (near my general and BSB) into the 3rd combat round (I am once again thankful the GUO had no magic weapon). This delay allowed my Cold Ones to finally finish the big unit of Beasts of Nurgle before charging Papa in the top of turn 6. My Oldblood issued a challenge, taking no wounds from Papa and inflicting 2 in return. I won by 5 (wounds, charge, 2 banners) but Papa rolled low and was fine. Bottom of turn 6, no wounds on either side, I won by 2, and Papa held out again. All through the game, my various chaff units were able to wear down the Nurglings with shooting, eventually finishing them off (turn 6 charge from a Salamander took down the final, wounded Nurgling base). A little luck and 1 more turn probably could have finnished Big Papa, but I'm not complaining about the result. I lost my Skink Chief, Bastiladon and 2 units of skinks, but killed off the 2 lone Beasts, the 6 Beasts, all 3 units of Nurglings, the 24 Plaguebearers, and the BSB. Based on VP difference, it was a 13-8 victory. I got +2 for controlling the wood at the end, and Jason got +1 for completing a charge out of the wood for a final BP score of 15-9 in my favor.
Re: Quick Buckeye Battles Recap DT- Will be interested in hearing how the games went. As far as the Terradon Chief. I have taken mine (I kit mine a little more then yours) to 2 tournaments now and have had very mixed success. AT WCGT, it literally did nothing, accept the one game it held up a K'dai just long enogh for me to accomplish the objectives. Not once did the Egg do better then d6 ST 3! AT SAWS, he went bonkers. Slaying dark elves in droves, chaos chariots, bretts, etc. It only underperformed in the final game. I plan on keeping him in the list for one more tourney. Hinge
Re: Quick Buckeye Battles Recap Buckeye Battles is one of those events that I debate going to every year. I know the TO and lots of the attendees, and the reports from it are always very positive. Right now it's pretty much just my stubborn nature about not wanting to support highly comped and modified (the banding concept really sticks in my craw) events that prevents me from going, but that's a tale for another day. I will say, while on that subject, that I'd like to hear how you think your list would have performed if the event's modifications were not in place - in other words, how it would have done in 5 standard games against the armies you faced. => I've considered that build, but a few things stop me - a need for a magic weapon to fight ethereal troops, the need to put the armor on my BSB, and my desire to have extra Attacks (+2A sword) for max PF effect. Glad it worked for you! I may have to give him a go. => Did your TK opponent have Khatep? Also, great to hear that your 185 point investment gave you a worthwhile magic presence instead of having to spend 300+ points to do it. => I'm with you. I really like my Saurus unit. How was PF ruled at the event? Also, who decided the terms of engagement with the Tomb Guard? Standard opinion (I disagree with it, btw) is that TG are a "waste" since they will never reach combat if your opponent doesn't let you have it. Just wondering how that game unfolded. In fact, if you do nothing else, please make a detailed report of that game. => :blink: :blink: Why has this never crossed my mind before? :shakes head: => I think the spears on these guys are like halberds on Tomb Guard. They are overcosted, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go for it. I really want to find a way to get them in my army as I would prefer to be more Saurus-based. Actually, your army is very close to how I would like mine to be. => More details, please. How did you keep such a small unit alive long enough to make their return attacks meaningful? => Yep. That's what he does. 150 well spent usually. => Lucky you! That's exactly how I think they should be used. Nice job! Looking forward to details. Did you play against Marty Gaska?
Re: Quick Buckeye Battles Recap Dyvim, I'm very impressed by your list and the results with said list. I enjoy the fact that you've took a sprinkling of a lot of things without super-focusing in one area - and the fact that you have no Slann! Awesome work. On your Terra-Chief - do you think he would have performed better with an Enchanted Shield and Dragonbane Gem instead of the Charmed Shield? That's the build I have been considering for that guy. It's awesome that you squeezed in a unit of Swarms, and made them work! Did you typically run them 1 wide, so that they could squeeze into the corner of the Saurus fights? Looking forward to reading more.
Re: Quick Buckeye Battles Recap Don't have time for battle-by-battle right now, but will respond to a few of Sleboda's and Ghost Warrior's questions: I don't see the banding system as heavy comp since it doesn't actually restrict what you can bring, but is mostly a match-making tool. It may encourage people to bring softer builds, but doesn't force the issue. Also, it is only on Day 1. On day 2, it's wide open and if you did well in the soft band you are guaranteed to fight armies from the tougher bands and that did well in those bands. That's what happened to me--on Day 2, I fought two Daemon armies (one wall-of-Nurgle and one mixed-god) and beat them both. I think that the Day 2 performance is illustrative of how the list would perform in a totally open environment. It can be competitive and can win, but it probably won't table the opponent (although I came awfully close against the second Daemon army I fought). Vampire counts are really rare in my experience so I take the risk and leave the magic swords at home. Also, killing normal rank-and-file is something our regular troops can handle so extra attacks are not a priority. I want a character who can put a hurt on 1+ AS and that can take lots of attacks without blinking, and he fits the bill. No. This is one area where the tournament is comped in that no special characters are allowed, although there is some talk of changing that for next year. I did not ask any judges about PF but just played it by the book (front rank only). Will give an account of the game later. If the unit is just a bus for the characters, leave the spears at home. But going in to the tournament, I planned to be flexible with my character placement when not facing cannons, and so the spears were taken to up their punch if the characters were with the Saurus Warriors or on their own. Generally by picking my battles and making sure I engaged on favorable terms. I did use them to bait-and-flee when necessary against a unit of Ogre Ironguts that would have beaten them due to Bull Charge and numbers. Only three times did I send them into combat with non-skirmishing infantry units. Two were flank charges, so they faced fewer models and no supporting attacks, and once was against a Tomb King archer unit and I wasn't worried about getting hurt in the combat. Nope. Opponents were William Calhoun (Wood Elves - win), Ray Lambert (Ogres - win), Jon Gelhausen (Tomb Kings - loss), Jason Eversole (Nurgle Daemons - win), Kevin Becker (multi-god Daemons - win) I think it's pretty much a wash, but against the Tomb Kings it would have been good to get him down to 2+ since it might have allowed him to survive the volley of arrow fire that killed him. Charmed shield is better against a list with artillery of course. Yes - 1 wide. So that they could charge through smaller spaces and get in on a corner, and so that if they got charged they would be facing fewer enemy attacks.
It's due to the tournament scenario rules. In certain scenarios, objectives can only be achieved by "scoring units" which are defined as: (1) a unit with at least 1 complete rank and at least 1 command model; or (2) a unit of at least 5 skirmishers with at least 1 command model. The addition of the champions turns the skirmishers into "scoring units". If not for the this aspect of the scenarios, I generally would have left the command models out (I still would have the command in the cohort unit though since that's where my Priests generally hung out, and the command models help protect them).
Great read and interessting list. It surprises me you do well with Saurus units, maybe I do underestimate them. They never seem to perform for me. Looking forward to reading the rest of your reports, thank you for taking the time to do them /Jacob
=> Yay! Here comes the one I want to see. Thanks! I'll keep reading, but some things right away - => Like his list! A little short on Tomb Guard (would drop sphinxes to make more Guard) but otherwise I like it. => TK don't have a magic missile. Do you mean the Vortex? => ...which would have won you the game. Now it makes sense. He got insanely lucky. => Actually, you want a TK opponent to combo you with a sphinx. The only time you don't is if he can get Smiting on the TG, but he didn't even have Smiting. The great joy that all other armies get to experience - the well-timed combo charge - is denied to TK players. Crumble kills sphinxes, and Saurus should eat TG for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. => You got robbed in a way that all TK players wish we could do. TK monsters are awful on many, many levels, but one of the ones we all wish were changed is to allow multiple healings. TK construct units (which means all their monsters) can only ever, no matter what, heal one wound per magic phase. It's needlessly crippling, but it is the rule.
Yes, it was the vortex. Sorry I don't know the TK army that well. Regarding the Skink Chief, it could have won the game if he got through, but it was a bit of a long shot. My opponent had 12 shots from the Chariots he could have brought to bear and the second archer unit, but didn't need them. Chief would have been Casket and/or Spirit Leech target had he survived. I disagree with you about the TG/Saurus match-up. Saurus win a straight fight, but they were WS 6 due to the King and adding Fiery Breath and Thunderstomp would means game over for the Saurus. It had been a while since last fighting TK but I've learned that lesson well. Will finish this report tonight.
=> Ah. I was just going off of the .77 wounds thing and directly into the Egg. => It's probably my inherent pessimism with Tomb Kings shining through. My sphinxes tend to roll 4 breath weapon hits and wound with 1, which is saved. Then the Tstomp rolls a 1 and it's over. I do agree that the presence of the King would help. EDIT: Also, see my note about the sphinx healing that I added above.
It's possible that I lost track and he healed back the second wound in a subsequent magic phase. Wouldn't have mattered one way or another. I'm going to add another turn or 2 right now.
Jon is a good guy. I'm sure he didn't miss play the heal rule. I played him last year at buckeye where he finished as the top TK, as he did again this year. His Hriotitan is sick, but he didn't finish his painting his army this year. I took a soft tier 3 TK list to buckeye this year and finished 5 points behind Jon. I held my own on day 1, but day two was rough. Jon also had a rough day two. I like your LM list, and I am thinking of taking them to buckeye next year. My plan is to take two Oldbloods and two Scar vets. One of each would be mounted and go in 13 COR. The others would be on foot in 34 Saurus. The two priest are in as well. I look forward to see how you did vs the deamons. Greg
Thank you very much for finishing up. It's too bad that your opponent may have marked you down as a result of you asking him to follow the rules. It's one reason I am not a fan of opponent-judged scores at events. Anyway, I'm sorry to be the one to point it out, but if your memory is accurate on this you got hosed. Cursed Blades does not have a bubble effect.
I am ok with player comp. If he marked me down, it wasn't due to the fact that I asked him to follow the rules, but the way I did it. I was tired and not all as diplomatic as I could have been at that point. If there is no bubble-effect on the Killing Blow spell, then it's probably my mistake. I did not take notes and may not remember correctly.