Recently I was looking for a carry case.
And as I listen to various podcasts, I of course found myself salivating at the prospect of buying a Battlefoam case. However when I looked into it I found myself bauking firstly at the price and secondly at the limited range on offer for what I was expected to pay.
In the end I bought a case from KR Multicase and am delighted with it - not least because it was more that half the price that Battlefoam wanted to gouge out of me.
So I am not surprised to learn that Romeo at Battlefoam has brought out another product - in line with various other 'corporations' - namely the spurious and bullying law suit. And not only the spurious law suit, but the chimpers on the net to defend his spurious action - or more precisely to prevent his underhand business tactics being exposed.
It will be interesting to see how the Battlefoam sponsored 40k Radio handle the situation, seeing as they have taken a stand against this sort of thing before, but having taken Romeo's shilling I guess they will be all for him in his action against Foam Corps - or whatever the name of the company is he is suing.
What interests me about Battlefoam as a company is that Romeo is protrayed as this bloke who is all for the hobby - yet I seem to recall that he had to pull one of his infomercials because it attacked a competitor, and his customers comlained that it was unnecessary. And I have to say that laughed at his largesse when he announced a price cut because he didn't want to be one of those comanies that exploit the gamer - which explains why his products are sold in the UK at a pound for dollar price (the classic corporate rip off) and he appears to actively discourage direct ordering from anyone but his Amercian customers. Apparently it is impossible for him to calculate a postal rate for the rest of the world and sell direct.
Still it is nice of him to highlight the products of Foam Corps/Outrider Hobbies.
Who knows, maybe they will turn out not to be a company that rips people off and uses the tactics of the corporate bully to protect their rip off.
peace:)
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
The Cost Of Winning
For all it's drawbacks WFB does mask the gamer's personality - in part because of the imbalances between the armies.
40k being a more balanced game the personalty of the gamer comes to the fore.
Last week I faced the cheesemonger, and this week it was the win at all costs powergamer.
Ok it was partly my fault. I haven't read the rules for ages, and there are parts f the rules I haven't read at all. So we get to set up the tabe and that was were the disagreements started. I wanted walls and barbed wire and lots of cover, he didn't - so we didn't.
The set up took ages as he insisted on showing me his painting skills. Now fair enough everyone thinks their minis are wonderful - and his were nice - but I can do without having to bil and coo over stuff I couldn't give a shit about. I mean conversions are nice enough but they are rather overrated imo - or rather it is something for the other player to notice and admire, not something to be rammed down their throat.
Oh and then he picked up one of my minis and says, 'oh you've gone for the blobby camo,' in a disparaging manner, which I point put is a based on German WWII camo, which illicts a speach on how he used a 5 layer sponge technique. Now not wishing to be unkind, because his army was nicely painted, but to be honest his camo was brown, and it wasn't camo, it was mottled brown.
So after an eternity, he finishes setting up. So I start setting up. Which provoked the next round of carping from my opponent. Apparently I had deployed 2mm over the line - which in fact I hadn't, the dice marking the centre of the board was on a slight angle. So instead he started going on about where the deliation was between two 30 boyz mobs. Now fair enough this might be an issue, but frankly it was in deployment, and it might be an issue that crops up on forums as a cheat tactic in tournaments, but let's be honest this was a 'friendly' game, and I knew where the line was, and as soon as they moved it would become obvious.
But the point was that even before the game he was trying to pay wuth my troops as well as his own.
And let's put this game into a proper context. He has three battlewagons, and I have no AT except for the rokkits on the copters, and a combi-rokkit with the bikers -unless I can get a side shot from the looters. So the game basically boils down to my having to footslog it over to his tanks, assualt them, blow them up and then withstand the counter attack.
Anywho, the game gets under way and by turn two the disagreements have started again. This time it is about the nob bikers, which are kitted out to maximise wound allocation, which he says is cheating - yeah right - he then starts waffling on about whther or not I have done this bu accident - which of course I haven't - why would I? I try to point out that I have done it because I have just started the army and the megaforce comes with 9 bikerz - which unless it had I wouldn't have had bikerz at all, and since I have the figures I have maxed them out to get an army big enough to play with - he doesn't listen to this and continues arguing about the matter and calling me a cheat.
The second argument breaks out when my trukk blows up. As he thinks he is playing my army and I am just there to enjoy watching his skill at 40k, he immediately removes the trukk and starts putting out the figures, which I of course object to, since he shouldn't be handling my minis without my permission and because we are now in the inevitable position of having an arguement of where the trukk was when it blew up.
Anywho, as mentioned above the game went the way predicted above with me blowing up the battlewagons on the charge and he winningthe counter attacks. At which point he apologises for making such a fuss about the bikerz.
It was an interesting game in that I learned a little more about the Orks but it certainly wasn't a fun game.
Still I have a plan to get him back - very Orky - which whilst bound to cause a row, will hopefully remind people that Warhammer is suposed to be a fun role playing battle system.
Oh and aparently the fluff for my army is wrong - lol.
peace:)
40k being a more balanced game the personalty of the gamer comes to the fore.
Last week I faced the cheesemonger, and this week it was the win at all costs powergamer.
Ok it was partly my fault. I haven't read the rules for ages, and there are parts f the rules I haven't read at all. So we get to set up the tabe and that was were the disagreements started. I wanted walls and barbed wire and lots of cover, he didn't - so we didn't.
The set up took ages as he insisted on showing me his painting skills. Now fair enough everyone thinks their minis are wonderful - and his were nice - but I can do without having to bil and coo over stuff I couldn't give a shit about. I mean conversions are nice enough but they are rather overrated imo - or rather it is something for the other player to notice and admire, not something to be rammed down their throat.
Oh and then he picked up one of my minis and says, 'oh you've gone for the blobby camo,' in a disparaging manner, which I point put is a based on German WWII camo, which illicts a speach on how he used a 5 layer sponge technique. Now not wishing to be unkind, because his army was nicely painted, but to be honest his camo was brown, and it wasn't camo, it was mottled brown.
So after an eternity, he finishes setting up. So I start setting up. Which provoked the next round of carping from my opponent. Apparently I had deployed 2mm over the line - which in fact I hadn't, the dice marking the centre of the board was on a slight angle. So instead he started going on about where the deliation was between two 30 boyz mobs. Now fair enough this might be an issue, but frankly it was in deployment, and it might be an issue that crops up on forums as a cheat tactic in tournaments, but let's be honest this was a 'friendly' game, and I knew where the line was, and as soon as they moved it would become obvious.
But the point was that even before the game he was trying to pay wuth my troops as well as his own.
And let's put this game into a proper context. He has three battlewagons, and I have no AT except for the rokkits on the copters, and a combi-rokkit with the bikers -unless I can get a side shot from the looters. So the game basically boils down to my having to footslog it over to his tanks, assualt them, blow them up and then withstand the counter attack.
Anywho, the game gets under way and by turn two the disagreements have started again. This time it is about the nob bikers, which are kitted out to maximise wound allocation, which he says is cheating - yeah right - he then starts waffling on about whther or not I have done this bu accident - which of course I haven't - why would I? I try to point out that I have done it because I have just started the army and the megaforce comes with 9 bikerz - which unless it had I wouldn't have had bikerz at all, and since I have the figures I have maxed them out to get an army big enough to play with - he doesn't listen to this and continues arguing about the matter and calling me a cheat.
The second argument breaks out when my trukk blows up. As he thinks he is playing my army and I am just there to enjoy watching his skill at 40k, he immediately removes the trukk and starts putting out the figures, which I of course object to, since he shouldn't be handling my minis without my permission and because we are now in the inevitable position of having an arguement of where the trukk was when it blew up.
Anywho, as mentioned above the game went the way predicted above with me blowing up the battlewagons on the charge and he winningthe counter attacks. At which point he apologises for making such a fuss about the bikerz.
It was an interesting game in that I learned a little more about the Orks but it certainly wasn't a fun game.
Still I have a plan to get him back - very Orky - which whilst bound to cause a row, will hopefully remind people that Warhammer is suposed to be a fun role playing battle system.
Oh and aparently the fluff for my army is wrong - lol.
peace:)
Monday, 8 March 2010
Waargh
The Orks got their first run out yesterday.
They won thank you for asking.
To be honest it wasn't a particularly fun game due to the opponent.
Now ignore the opponent was playing Nids, and had a maxed out cheesy list - oh he'd and won a tournament last week and was therefore in full douchebag mode - the reason the game was not that enjoyable was that the opponent had all the drawbacks of the power gamer.
For instance his measurement was 'flexible' to say the least - but he argued about everything to do with my measuring.
But what was more annoying was that he said stuff like - 'oh I'm just trying stuff out and I wouldn't normally have done that' - in a situation in which had he not thrown a big gribbly into with a bunch of small stuff to attack a squad of nobs, the nobs would have chewing through his line and killed the big gribbly the next turn anyway - and as it turned out the gribbly meant that he managed to save the combat but one of the small things remaining alive due to my having to split the attacks.
But as I say I won - we pretty much wiped each other off the table - and seeing as he was maxed out cheese and the Nids list is pretty much the epitome of what is wrong with GW at the moment - lots of stoopid rules designed seemingly to remove the fun from the game.
peace:)
They won thank you for asking.
To be honest it wasn't a particularly fun game due to the opponent.
Now ignore the opponent was playing Nids, and had a maxed out cheesy list - oh he'd and won a tournament last week and was therefore in full douchebag mode - the reason the game was not that enjoyable was that the opponent had all the drawbacks of the power gamer.
For instance his measurement was 'flexible' to say the least - but he argued about everything to do with my measuring.
But what was more annoying was that he said stuff like - 'oh I'm just trying stuff out and I wouldn't normally have done that' - in a situation in which had he not thrown a big gribbly into with a bunch of small stuff to attack a squad of nobs, the nobs would have chewing through his line and killed the big gribbly the next turn anyway - and as it turned out the gribbly meant that he managed to save the combat but one of the small things remaining alive due to my having to split the attacks.
But as I say I won - we pretty much wiped each other off the table - and seeing as he was maxed out cheese and the Nids list is pretty much the epitome of what is wrong with GW at the moment - lots of stoopid rules designed seemingly to remove the fun from the game.
peace:)
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Risky Business
With the rumours of 8th edition coming out in the summer, the internet is rife with chatter as to what changes will be made.
The general feeling is that the magic phase is too strong - something I wholeheartedly agree with. It isn't that the mechanism is flawed, indeed the game design and rationale behind the magic phase is sound, it's just that it massively favours certain armies and certain spells - and in doing so unbalances the game.
My main problem with the magic phase is that it is too certain.
Personally I would like to have some sort of mechanism that makes the winds of magic, just that - like the wind. I'm not suggesting that it go so far as the charts and dials incumbent in naval wargaming, but I can't help feeling that making magic more chancey would not only improve the game but it would instantly balance the game more.
The simplest method would be in the magic phase each mage wishing to cast has to take leadership test to see if they have tapped into the magical winds. If they suceed then they proceed as usual. If they fail then they have to roll on a miscast table that ranges from on a 1 that side loses all magic for the game, 2 loses magic for that turn, 3 all casting values 3+, 4 3+ added to all dispel rolls, 5 mage loses one level of magic, 6 all spells cast that turn by the mage are irrestible on any double.
Added to this change all magical creatures - demons, vampires, forest spirits etc - require the winds of magic. Should an army lose the winds of magic then they would have to take crumble tests or an equivilent as the magic drains from them.
Also it might be applied to magical weapons. The first time they are used the wielder has to test, and if it is failed then it turns out they have been sold a pup and it is just a mundane weapon.
I feel that this would place magic in a proper context, without nerfing it, of support and place troops back at the centre of the game.
peace:)
The general feeling is that the magic phase is too strong - something I wholeheartedly agree with. It isn't that the mechanism is flawed, indeed the game design and rationale behind the magic phase is sound, it's just that it massively favours certain armies and certain spells - and in doing so unbalances the game.
My main problem with the magic phase is that it is too certain.
Personally I would like to have some sort of mechanism that makes the winds of magic, just that - like the wind. I'm not suggesting that it go so far as the charts and dials incumbent in naval wargaming, but I can't help feeling that making magic more chancey would not only improve the game but it would instantly balance the game more.
The simplest method would be in the magic phase each mage wishing to cast has to take leadership test to see if they have tapped into the magical winds. If they suceed then they proceed as usual. If they fail then they have to roll on a miscast table that ranges from on a 1 that side loses all magic for the game, 2 loses magic for that turn, 3 all casting values 3+, 4 3+ added to all dispel rolls, 5 mage loses one level of magic, 6 all spells cast that turn by the mage are irrestible on any double.
Added to this change all magical creatures - demons, vampires, forest spirits etc - require the winds of magic. Should an army lose the winds of magic then they would have to take crumble tests or an equivilent as the magic drains from them.
Also it might be applied to magical weapons. The first time they are used the wielder has to test, and if it is failed then it turns out they have been sold a pup and it is just a mundane weapon.
I feel that this would place magic in a proper context, without nerfing it, of support and place troops back at the centre of the game.
peace:)
Monday, 4 January 2010
Waaargh
It's been a few months since I updated here.
I haven't had a game since then, I'd like to say that there is a some big reason for this but in truth I have been doing other things.
I will admit there are a few 'the face' reasons why I haven't had a game - namely the wood elves lack of magic power and that I haven't had fun in my last few games but hey! matbe things will change in the new year.
Oh and shock horror! I have been lured over to the dark side.
Yes it's the warboss and his nobs form the black reach box.
I guess this makes me a typical wargamer. I still have five or six models to finish for the wood elves but for some reason I just can't get around to doing it - and instead I have embarked on a whole new project.
I have decided to theme it as a Blood Axe force - hence the camo trousers. I'm not sure exactly how the army will develop - my first thoguth was some kind of mech list, but I figure it's probably best to slog my way through the Boyz and then see what I fancy painting after that.
I suppose I should get my figure out and get in some games because there will be precious few when the baby arrives.
peace:)
I haven't had a game since then, I'd like to say that there is a some big reason for this but in truth I have been doing other things.
I will admit there are a few 'the face' reasons why I haven't had a game - namely the wood elves lack of magic power and that I haven't had fun in my last few games but hey! matbe things will change in the new year.
Oh and shock horror! I have been lured over to the dark side.
Yes it's the warboss and his nobs form the black reach box.
I guess this makes me a typical wargamer. I still have five or six models to finish for the wood elves but for some reason I just can't get around to doing it - and instead I have embarked on a whole new project.
I have decided to theme it as a Blood Axe force - hence the camo trousers. I'm not sure exactly how the army will develop - my first thoguth was some kind of mech list, but I figure it's probably best to slog my way through the Boyz and then see what I fancy painting after that.
I suppose I should get my figure out and get in some games because there will be precious few when the baby arrives.
peace:)
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Balancing Magic
There's a pretty interesting thread over on warseer discussing what people would and wouldn't like to see changed in 8th edition.
One of the phases that people have focussed on is magic.
It is not a problem that has an easy solution, but it is a problem.
True in most fantasy fiction there is a mage who is capable of pulling off huge feats due to magical power - and therefore Warhammer has to reflect that in some way. The only problem here is that in these fictional scenarios, this magical feat generally only happens once, yet in Warhammer it happens turn after turn. Ok there is the miscast table, but let's be honest how many players have seen this do anything significant? The mage may take a wound, but all this achieves generally is to reinforce the bunker mentally of the mage.
The main problem with the magic phase is that it distorts the game - ok you can argue that ItP does too - because it forces players to at least take part in the magic power game, and in turn makes players take mages.
Which raises the fluff question of whether or not the Warhammer world really is so full of magic users? And more to the point if the magic users that populate the world, really are as powerful as those that appear on the table?
After all if that is the case, then how come the army books and novels are mainly about warriors?
Let's face it if the fluff were reflective of the game, then very few arriors would last more than one battle in the face of strong magic, let alone lead an incursion of chaos, a might Waargh, or the defence of an Empire city. And more to the point why would people follow a warrior, when anyone with eyes can see the mage is more potent and liable to live.
Which raises the question of how to make magic more reflective of the power level of the other game phases.
Perhaps a simplification of the miscast table along the lines of the misfire table. Or perhaps making all doubles miscasts - meaning that the big spells are harder to get off - and the speels being subject to the kind of drift artillery is subject to, meaning that spells might actually miss their intended target *gasp*. Or perhpas rolling for spells each turn to reflect the way in which the winds of magic are changing, with a chance that the mage is not able to access the power.
Though a simpler solution would be to change the targetting requirement to make bunkering characters less of an option. Or allowing a free hit against characters refusing challenges, which would affect mages more than warriors, and favour players who out-manouvred the enemy and managed to track a mage in combat.
Obvioulsy the problem for the game designers is that they have to keep magic a part of the game, so it's a subtle balancing act they have on their hands.
peace:)
One of the phases that people have focussed on is magic.
It is not a problem that has an easy solution, but it is a problem.
True in most fantasy fiction there is a mage who is capable of pulling off huge feats due to magical power - and therefore Warhammer has to reflect that in some way. The only problem here is that in these fictional scenarios, this magical feat generally only happens once, yet in Warhammer it happens turn after turn. Ok there is the miscast table, but let's be honest how many players have seen this do anything significant? The mage may take a wound, but all this achieves generally is to reinforce the bunker mentally of the mage.
The main problem with the magic phase is that it distorts the game - ok you can argue that ItP does too - because it forces players to at least take part in the magic power game, and in turn makes players take mages.
Which raises the fluff question of whether or not the Warhammer world really is so full of magic users? And more to the point if the magic users that populate the world, really are as powerful as those that appear on the table?
After all if that is the case, then how come the army books and novels are mainly about warriors?
Let's face it if the fluff were reflective of the game, then very few arriors would last more than one battle in the face of strong magic, let alone lead an incursion of chaos, a might Waargh, or the defence of an Empire city. And more to the point why would people follow a warrior, when anyone with eyes can see the mage is more potent and liable to live.
Which raises the question of how to make magic more reflective of the power level of the other game phases.
Perhaps a simplification of the miscast table along the lines of the misfire table. Or perhaps making all doubles miscasts - meaning that the big spells are harder to get off - and the speels being subject to the kind of drift artillery is subject to, meaning that spells might actually miss their intended target *gasp*. Or perhpas rolling for spells each turn to reflect the way in which the winds of magic are changing, with a chance that the mage is not able to access the power.
Though a simpler solution would be to change the targetting requirement to make bunkering characters less of an option. Or allowing a free hit against characters refusing challenges, which would affect mages more than warriors, and favour players who out-manouvred the enemy and managed to track a mage in combat.
Obvioulsy the problem for the game designers is that they have to keep magic a part of the game, so it's a subtle balancing act they have on their hands.
peace:)
Monday, 12 October 2009
Roolz Roolz
The results of the UK GT Heat 1 will no doubt re-ignite the issue of game balance in WFB.
There are two ways to look at this - the first is to shout and scream and treat it as the end of the world. The second is to look at past results and conclude that at certain times, certain builds and armies overpower all else.
Obviously being a Wood Elf player I would have liked to see more than 1 Wood Elf finish in the top 45 qualifiers. But then again it doesn't really effect me, because I already know that it is next to impossible to build the kind of power army required to compete in this competition - ok a wood elf player got through, and no Bretonian, Skaven, O&G or Ogres did.
Which brings me to the issue of balance.
The common cry is that the game is imbalanced, and it is true. But the problem is that each army complains that the game is imbalanced in a different way - which in turn allows GW to make the perverse logical claim that the game is in fact balanced.
Personally I think the problem is that the game mechanics are not particularly dymnamic.
For instance one dryad surrounded on all sides but 20 strong blocks, is as frightening as 20 dryads surrounding 1 Empire swordsman.
Or a unit tests on the same leadership if it is advancing with both flanks secure, no enemy in the rear, and all enemies fleeing before it, as it does when cut off surrounded and it's general in full flight.
Or indeed the skirmishing rules that force units to test leadership for skirmishers doing what they are supposed to do, as for a designated combat unit fleeing through them.
The implementation of a dynamic system could be easily introduced, without a wholesale overhaul of the current games system - for example the abandonment of D6.
There are other things that need changing, like over powerful cavalry and a review of the way magic works, but these are technical issues and not as relevant to testing the skill of the general.
Rumours abound about 8th edition and we shall have to wait and see what comes of them. I suspect that the only major change will be the implementation of scenarios and objectives which I personally think is rather a beardy solution to the problem.
peace:)
There are two ways to look at this - the first is to shout and scream and treat it as the end of the world. The second is to look at past results and conclude that at certain times, certain builds and armies overpower all else.
Obviously being a Wood Elf player I would have liked to see more than 1 Wood Elf finish in the top 45 qualifiers. But then again it doesn't really effect me, because I already know that it is next to impossible to build the kind of power army required to compete in this competition - ok a wood elf player got through, and no Bretonian, Skaven, O&G or Ogres did.
Which brings me to the issue of balance.
The common cry is that the game is imbalanced, and it is true. But the problem is that each army complains that the game is imbalanced in a different way - which in turn allows GW to make the perverse logical claim that the game is in fact balanced.
Personally I think the problem is that the game mechanics are not particularly dymnamic.
For instance one dryad surrounded on all sides but 20 strong blocks, is as frightening as 20 dryads surrounding 1 Empire swordsman.
Or a unit tests on the same leadership if it is advancing with both flanks secure, no enemy in the rear, and all enemies fleeing before it, as it does when cut off surrounded and it's general in full flight.
Or indeed the skirmishing rules that force units to test leadership for skirmishers doing what they are supposed to do, as for a designated combat unit fleeing through them.
The implementation of a dynamic system could be easily introduced, without a wholesale overhaul of the current games system - for example the abandonment of D6.
There are other things that need changing, like over powerful cavalry and a review of the way magic works, but these are technical issues and not as relevant to testing the skill of the general.
Rumours abound about 8th edition and we shall have to wait and see what comes of them. I suspect that the only major change will be the implementation of scenarios and objectives which I personally think is rather a beardy solution to the problem.
peace:)
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Kindling For Sale
It's one of the unwritten rules - well if you ask me it is - of Warhammer that whenver you try a new unit, that unit will be an epic fail. So I can't say I approached this game with much hope seeing as this was going to be the first outing for my all-singing, all dancing wild riders and also my new branchwraith.
Add to this that I was breaking another of my rules - I love dryads and have had success with them in units of 8, so what could go wrong with having two units of 10 and bunker of 16 for the branchwraith? Stick to what you know....
Right that's the excuses out of the way but let's face it I was playing against a really good player, who was playing a magic heavy elite force of High Elves - the game was 1999 points, and his army was 2 bolt throwers, a unit of archers, two units of shadow warriors, white lions, pheonix guard, sword masters, bsb and two mages. I looked at his troops and thought - 'where's the rest of them?'.
My army was three glade guard 2*11 and 1*10, dryads 2*10 1*16, 5 wildriders with warbanner, 6 glade riders, 8 wardancers, 3 treekin, 6 waywatchers, branchie, mage and alter noble with gw and amber pendant - oh and while I'm making excuses the branchie and the mage were upgraded because I was 100 points short, ideally I would have prefered another unit - alright I'll stop moaning and get on with it.
So it came to terrain deployment - and I thought I'd try something new. Normally I just go wqas a hill and two woods, but this time I deployed a house one one flank, a hill on the other, (both half way across the field) and a walled field in the centre. Against this my opponent placed a hill in the deployment zone, and two woods. We rolled for sides - I won - and because I wanted to deprive the bolt throwers of a hill, we swapped sides - and I effectively handed him a redoubt - doh!
In deployment I lined one of the smaller units of dryads and the larger unit of drayds on my left, screening the wardancers and treekin. The archers formed a line between the woods and the hill on my right. and on the right flank I deployed the other dryad unit screening the wild riders, alter noble and glade riders, whose job was to use the cover of the hill to sweep around the flank and take out the bolt throwers in the redoubt.Against this was deployed swordmasters on the right, and the white lions, along with the two units of shadowwarriors with the mages. The bolt thowers and archers took up position behind the walls of the field and the pheonix guard guard their left flank against the flanking move by the cavalry.
I had intended the waywatchers to go in the house, but misunderstood the rules for buildings, so they ended going int he woods beside the archers.
I won for turns and elected to go first.
Turn 1
The dryads in the left and centre pushed forward. On the right the dryads moved onto the hill and moved towards the pheonix guard. The cavalry and the alter noble set off on their flanking move. The archers in the centre moved around to get better fields of fire. Nothing much happened in the magic phase - a bit of treesing that moved the woods around a bit. I targetted the archers in the field in the shooting phase - needing 6's to hit, I killed 4 of them but they passed their panic check.
The High Elves responded in kind to my overtures, by pushing foward on the right with the swordmasters, white lions and shadow warriors. The pheonix guard stood still by the redoubt. Then the magic phase began. Fire balls flew around, targetting the archers - my dispelling was frankly lame and one of the glade guard was reduced to below half strength in no time. And another was pretty much mangled in the shooting phase.
Turn 2
I only declared one charge, on the far left the dryads used their skirmishing abilities to declare a charge on the shadow warioors and mage lurking behind the swordmasters. They fled, and for some reason I disn't pursue into the swordmasters as I could have done, instead I setlled for a failed charge - I'd like to say that this was tactical genius but it wasn't - and it turned out to be disasterous. The large dryad unit also didn't charge - in part because I was trying to set up a combat with the white lions in which the treekin could pile in the side - whilst the wardancers moved forward to contest the house with the other unit of shadow warriors. On the right the cavlary appeared around the hill, with the glade riders screening the alter noble and the wild riders, the other unit of dryads continued over the hill toward the pheonix guard. The archers in the centre moved forwad to bring the phoenix guard into close rnage. Again not much happened in the magic phase. A bit of treesinging to help with setting up the treekin attack, and a filed attempt at fury of the forest. Shooting concentrated on the pheonix guard and took off about four of them thanks to some good rolling on the ward saves.
The swordmasters and the white lions overcame their fear and charged the respective units of dryads facing them. The shadow warriors who fled rallied - in such a poisition that the mage could now hit the treekin - drat!. And sure enough in the magic phase, my dispelling failed epically, and the treekin took a fire ball full in the face taking them down to one wound - and the wardancers lost 6 of their number to another burst of firey magic. Oh and there was a miscast, that gave me a free spell - 'great' I thought 'fury of the forest' - the only problem was that the only thing I could hit was 18 1/164th" away - so all I could do was to treesing a wood a few inches. Shooting didn't ammount to much - maybe two or three acrhers died - but we were both more concerned with the combats. On the left the swordmasters attacked first and managed to kill 2 dryads - a chance, a definite chance - except that the dryads were not up for it and though they killed three swordmasters, they still lost the combat, though they held. A similar thing occured between the white lions and the dryads with the branchwraith, the dryads killed more of the enemy but ranks, banner etc swung the combat, and again the dryads passed the test.
Turn 3
With the wardancers and the treekin decimated there was nothing that could come to the help of the dryads, so it was a case of damage limitation and try to get somethying from the cavalry flank attack and shooting. First I needed to shuffle things about in the centre to make sure that if the dryads went they didn't take stuff with them. I toyed with the idea of the alter noble trying to take out the BSB with the pheonix guard but decided against it. And so he and the cavalry pushed on behind the pheonix guard to fulfill their mission to take out the shooting in the redoubt and hopefully to plough on in the shadow warriors protecting the mages. Again the magic phase was a damp squib. In the shooting phase I fired everything at the pheonix guard and killed 6 or 7 of them, they passed the panic check. The combats finally went against the dryads, the swordmasters ran down the unit on the far left, while the 'uber' unit (lol) in the centre through a 12 and the white lions managed only an 11. But in terms of the game it wasn't exactly a disaster because effectively these units had been taken out of the game - except for table quarters.
At this point my main concern was lasting out to turn 6 - and my opponent was of the opinion that I shouldn't.The pheonix guard charged the dryads on the right, the white lions charged the fleeing dryads and ran them down and the only other movement of signifacance was the one of the units of shadow warriors - with accompanying mage - moved away from the building and towards the centre. The glade riders did their job in the magic phase of screening the wild riders and alter noble - they lost two horsemen but continued to block line of sight, and for once the magic didn't melt the army. This was helped by a miscast that did a S6 hit on the caster. The waywatchers took three casualites and decided to cack their pants. In the shooting the bolt thrower closest the glade riders shot them and reduced them to the musician but still they wouldn't flee. As for the rest of the shooting a few archers may have died, but it was not significant. The combat between the pheonix guard and the dryads went like all the other combats pretty much, the dryads killed more than they lost but banner and ranks won the day - though by now the unit was reduced to under half strength.
Turn 4
Charges - the sole remaining glade rider charged the repeat bolt thrower. And then I decided to take a gamble - it was at extreme range - the alter noble charges the shadow warriors with the enemy general. My opponent hummed and haaaed at this - his first reaction to flee, but then he decided to stand and shoot, 6 shots - 6 misses - and the alter noble piles in. The fleeing waywatchers continued to run, as did the dryads, In the movement phase the wild riders moved forward to the wall, perparing to charge the archers or the other bolt thrower the next turn. The archers moved about a bit and my general and the last treekin - with his one remaining wound tried to keep out fo the way - I should I suppose mention that the last two wardancers had somehow succombed to magic while hiding in the house. In the shooting phase I fired two units - by now about 15 men at the pheonix guard who were reduced to five men and a BSB, and the remining archers - about 6 men - fired at the shadow warriors who were not engaged with my alter noble, killed two or three of them, forced a panic check, which they failed and made them run a massive 2 inches. And so to combat. The crew of the bolt thrower did no wounds, the glade rider did no wounds - 'drawn combat' says my opponent - 'musician' says I - they pass the test. The alter noble challenges the mage - who duely runs away to hide at the back - there is much talk of how my nobele is about to die horribly, but he has different plans, kills two shadow warriors, they do nothing, he wins the combat but the shadow warriors manage to pass on the general's leadership.
Clearly the antics of the alter noble are alarming the my opponent, because he declares a charge by the archers in the redoubt, who hop over the wall and charge the alter noble in the flank. The pheonix guard charges a unit of archers, who stand and shot but don't do much. The fleeing shadow warrios rally and the swordmasters and white lions amble about to ensure table quarters. The magic phase is a bit of a non event, except for the cowardly general managing to get an extra ward save off on the shadowwarriors fighting my alter noble. The shooting phase is the last bolt thrower firing at the wild riders, they kill one, thanks to the wall protecting them. The pheonix guard rout and catch the archers - no surprise there. The fight between the bolt thrower and the glade rider again goes in favour of the muso - though this time he kills a crew man - or rather his horse does. The alter noble again declares a challenge against the general - who again hides - and again the alter noble - using the amber pendant to strike first - kills two shadow warriors, and fends off all attacks, wins the combat and again the enemy hold.
Turn 5 - actually it must be Turn 6 - the narrative is correct but I seem to have missed a turn somewhere - it must be all those damned fireballs have wiped my memory.
The wild riders jump over the wall and charge the bolt thrower, the waywatchers and dryads rally, and the archers jiggle about to get better shots at the few remaining targets. The general finally makes it to a place of safety in a unit of archers, and the treekin takes cover behind another unit of archers. The pheonix guard manage to save one casualty thanks to the ward save but are reduced to the four elves and the BSB. The shadow warriors not fighting the alter noble take a hit. In combat the wild riders kill the bolt thrower crew, the glade rider finally dies, and so it all comes down to the heroic alter noble. The general has no where to go now, he can't refuse the challenge - four attacks, 3's and 2's (or something like that) needed what can go wrong - uh dice that's what - the alter noble only manages one wound, the general manages one wound, the noble loses combat through out numbering, fails his leadership, and runs an epic 7 off three dice and is run down.
The game ends with the archers shielding the treekin fleeing and leaving the treekin to be destroyed - either by magic or shooting - it hardly matters, and one wild rider being killed.
The result was a victory to the High Elves by 1100 points and thus a massacre.... which is rather better than I faired against him last time a played, when I was reduced to a single mage left on the table, and they were fleeing.It was a good game, I was generally out played - though I find myself cursing my dispel dice. The flank attack worked well, but I doubt I'll be using dryads in large blocks again - well at least until I draw up another list:) - since it was putting too many eggs in one basket and playing for the failed fear test. In the end I can only really conclude that the army lacked it's usual fighting spirit - on another day the dryads would have punished the fluffed attacks from the white lions and the swordmasters, and the alter noble would have carried his attcak through to the end - or at least all three of them wouldn't have failed.
Also I find myself cursing the charge of the dryads against the shadowwarriors which placed the mage in LoS of the treekin when they rallied - I guess I was just trying to be too clever - and should have piled into the swordmasters at the first opportunity - they might have lost anyway but heyho!
And at least the wild riders didn't die:) Oh and I managed to get to turn 6.... and the general didn't die.... and.... and.... and.... and.... there's always next time....
Oh and not to self - take your camera....
peace:)
Add to this that I was breaking another of my rules - I love dryads and have had success with them in units of 8, so what could go wrong with having two units of 10 and bunker of 16 for the branchwraith? Stick to what you know....
Right that's the excuses out of the way but let's face it I was playing against a really good player, who was playing a magic heavy elite force of High Elves - the game was 1999 points, and his army was 2 bolt throwers, a unit of archers, two units of shadow warriors, white lions, pheonix guard, sword masters, bsb and two mages. I looked at his troops and thought - 'where's the rest of them?'.
My army was three glade guard 2*11 and 1*10, dryads 2*10 1*16, 5 wildriders with warbanner, 6 glade riders, 8 wardancers, 3 treekin, 6 waywatchers, branchie, mage and alter noble with gw and amber pendant - oh and while I'm making excuses the branchie and the mage were upgraded because I was 100 points short, ideally I would have prefered another unit - alright I'll stop moaning and get on with it.
So it came to terrain deployment - and I thought I'd try something new. Normally I just go wqas a hill and two woods, but this time I deployed a house one one flank, a hill on the other, (both half way across the field) and a walled field in the centre. Against this my opponent placed a hill in the deployment zone, and two woods. We rolled for sides - I won - and because I wanted to deprive the bolt throwers of a hill, we swapped sides - and I effectively handed him a redoubt - doh!
In deployment I lined one of the smaller units of dryads and the larger unit of drayds on my left, screening the wardancers and treekin. The archers formed a line between the woods and the hill on my right. and on the right flank I deployed the other dryad unit screening the wild riders, alter noble and glade riders, whose job was to use the cover of the hill to sweep around the flank and take out the bolt throwers in the redoubt.Against this was deployed swordmasters on the right, and the white lions, along with the two units of shadowwarriors with the mages. The bolt thowers and archers took up position behind the walls of the field and the pheonix guard guard their left flank against the flanking move by the cavalry.
I had intended the waywatchers to go in the house, but misunderstood the rules for buildings, so they ended going int he woods beside the archers.
I won for turns and elected to go first.
Turn 1
The dryads in the left and centre pushed forward. On the right the dryads moved onto the hill and moved towards the pheonix guard. The cavalry and the alter noble set off on their flanking move. The archers in the centre moved around to get better fields of fire. Nothing much happened in the magic phase - a bit of treesing that moved the woods around a bit. I targetted the archers in the field in the shooting phase - needing 6's to hit, I killed 4 of them but they passed their panic check.
The High Elves responded in kind to my overtures, by pushing foward on the right with the swordmasters, white lions and shadow warriors. The pheonix guard stood still by the redoubt. Then the magic phase began. Fire balls flew around, targetting the archers - my dispelling was frankly lame and one of the glade guard was reduced to below half strength in no time. And another was pretty much mangled in the shooting phase.
Turn 2
I only declared one charge, on the far left the dryads used their skirmishing abilities to declare a charge on the shadow warioors and mage lurking behind the swordmasters. They fled, and for some reason I disn't pursue into the swordmasters as I could have done, instead I setlled for a failed charge - I'd like to say that this was tactical genius but it wasn't - and it turned out to be disasterous. The large dryad unit also didn't charge - in part because I was trying to set up a combat with the white lions in which the treekin could pile in the side - whilst the wardancers moved forward to contest the house with the other unit of shadow warriors. On the right the cavlary appeared around the hill, with the glade riders screening the alter noble and the wild riders, the other unit of dryads continued over the hill toward the pheonix guard. The archers in the centre moved forwad to bring the phoenix guard into close rnage. Again not much happened in the magic phase. A bit of treesinging to help with setting up the treekin attack, and a filed attempt at fury of the forest. Shooting concentrated on the pheonix guard and took off about four of them thanks to some good rolling on the ward saves.
The swordmasters and the white lions overcame their fear and charged the respective units of dryads facing them. The shadow warriors who fled rallied - in such a poisition that the mage could now hit the treekin - drat!. And sure enough in the magic phase, my dispelling failed epically, and the treekin took a fire ball full in the face taking them down to one wound - and the wardancers lost 6 of their number to another burst of firey magic. Oh and there was a miscast, that gave me a free spell - 'great' I thought 'fury of the forest' - the only problem was that the only thing I could hit was 18 1/164th" away - so all I could do was to treesing a wood a few inches. Shooting didn't ammount to much - maybe two or three acrhers died - but we were both more concerned with the combats. On the left the swordmasters attacked first and managed to kill 2 dryads - a chance, a definite chance - except that the dryads were not up for it and though they killed three swordmasters, they still lost the combat, though they held. A similar thing occured between the white lions and the dryads with the branchwraith, the dryads killed more of the enemy but ranks, banner etc swung the combat, and again the dryads passed the test.
Turn 3
With the wardancers and the treekin decimated there was nothing that could come to the help of the dryads, so it was a case of damage limitation and try to get somethying from the cavalry flank attack and shooting. First I needed to shuffle things about in the centre to make sure that if the dryads went they didn't take stuff with them. I toyed with the idea of the alter noble trying to take out the BSB with the pheonix guard but decided against it. And so he and the cavalry pushed on behind the pheonix guard to fulfill their mission to take out the shooting in the redoubt and hopefully to plough on in the shadow warriors protecting the mages. Again the magic phase was a damp squib. In the shooting phase I fired everything at the pheonix guard and killed 6 or 7 of them, they passed the panic check. The combats finally went against the dryads, the swordmasters ran down the unit on the far left, while the 'uber' unit (lol) in the centre through a 12 and the white lions managed only an 11. But in terms of the game it wasn't exactly a disaster because effectively these units had been taken out of the game - except for table quarters.
At this point my main concern was lasting out to turn 6 - and my opponent was of the opinion that I shouldn't.The pheonix guard charged the dryads on the right, the white lions charged the fleeing dryads and ran them down and the only other movement of signifacance was the one of the units of shadow warriors - with accompanying mage - moved away from the building and towards the centre. The glade riders did their job in the magic phase of screening the wild riders and alter noble - they lost two horsemen but continued to block line of sight, and for once the magic didn't melt the army. This was helped by a miscast that did a S6 hit on the caster. The waywatchers took three casualites and decided to cack their pants. In the shooting the bolt thrower closest the glade riders shot them and reduced them to the musician but still they wouldn't flee. As for the rest of the shooting a few archers may have died, but it was not significant. The combat between the pheonix guard and the dryads went like all the other combats pretty much, the dryads killed more than they lost but banner and ranks won the day - though by now the unit was reduced to under half strength.
Turn 4
Charges - the sole remaining glade rider charged the repeat bolt thrower. And then I decided to take a gamble - it was at extreme range - the alter noble charges the shadow warriors with the enemy general. My opponent hummed and haaaed at this - his first reaction to flee, but then he decided to stand and shoot, 6 shots - 6 misses - and the alter noble piles in. The fleeing waywatchers continued to run, as did the dryads, In the movement phase the wild riders moved forward to the wall, perparing to charge the archers or the other bolt thrower the next turn. The archers moved about a bit and my general and the last treekin - with his one remaining wound tried to keep out fo the way - I should I suppose mention that the last two wardancers had somehow succombed to magic while hiding in the house. In the shooting phase I fired two units - by now about 15 men at the pheonix guard who were reduced to five men and a BSB, and the remining archers - about 6 men - fired at the shadow warriors who were not engaged with my alter noble, killed two or three of them, forced a panic check, which they failed and made them run a massive 2 inches. And so to combat. The crew of the bolt thrower did no wounds, the glade rider did no wounds - 'drawn combat' says my opponent - 'musician' says I - they pass the test. The alter noble challenges the mage - who duely runs away to hide at the back - there is much talk of how my nobele is about to die horribly, but he has different plans, kills two shadow warriors, they do nothing, he wins the combat but the shadow warriors manage to pass on the general's leadership.
Clearly the antics of the alter noble are alarming the my opponent, because he declares a charge by the archers in the redoubt, who hop over the wall and charge the alter noble in the flank. The pheonix guard charges a unit of archers, who stand and shot but don't do much. The fleeing shadow warrios rally and the swordmasters and white lions amble about to ensure table quarters. The magic phase is a bit of a non event, except for the cowardly general managing to get an extra ward save off on the shadowwarriors fighting my alter noble. The shooting phase is the last bolt thrower firing at the wild riders, they kill one, thanks to the wall protecting them. The pheonix guard rout and catch the archers - no surprise there. The fight between the bolt thrower and the glade rider again goes in favour of the muso - though this time he kills a crew man - or rather his horse does. The alter noble again declares a challenge against the general - who again hides - and again the alter noble - using the amber pendant to strike first - kills two shadow warriors, and fends off all attacks, wins the combat and again the enemy hold.
Turn 5 - actually it must be Turn 6 - the narrative is correct but I seem to have missed a turn somewhere - it must be all those damned fireballs have wiped my memory.
The wild riders jump over the wall and charge the bolt thrower, the waywatchers and dryads rally, and the archers jiggle about to get better shots at the few remaining targets. The general finally makes it to a place of safety in a unit of archers, and the treekin takes cover behind another unit of archers. The pheonix guard manage to save one casualty thanks to the ward save but are reduced to the four elves and the BSB. The shadow warriors not fighting the alter noble take a hit. In combat the wild riders kill the bolt thrower crew, the glade rider finally dies, and so it all comes down to the heroic alter noble. The general has no where to go now, he can't refuse the challenge - four attacks, 3's and 2's (or something like that) needed what can go wrong - uh dice that's what - the alter noble only manages one wound, the general manages one wound, the noble loses combat through out numbering, fails his leadership, and runs an epic 7 off three dice and is run down.
The game ends with the archers shielding the treekin fleeing and leaving the treekin to be destroyed - either by magic or shooting - it hardly matters, and one wild rider being killed.
The result was a victory to the High Elves by 1100 points and thus a massacre.... which is rather better than I faired against him last time a played, when I was reduced to a single mage left on the table, and they were fleeing.It was a good game, I was generally out played - though I find myself cursing my dispel dice. The flank attack worked well, but I doubt I'll be using dryads in large blocks again - well at least until I draw up another list:) - since it was putting too many eggs in one basket and playing for the failed fear test. In the end I can only really conclude that the army lacked it's usual fighting spirit - on another day the dryads would have punished the fluffed attacks from the white lions and the swordmasters, and the alter noble would have carried his attcak through to the end - or at least all three of them wouldn't have failed.
Also I find myself cursing the charge of the dryads against the shadowwarriors which placed the mage in LoS of the treekin when they rallied - I guess I was just trying to be too clever - and should have piled into the swordmasters at the first opportunity - they might have lost anyway but heyho!
And at least the wild riders didn't die:) Oh and I managed to get to turn 6.... and the general didn't die.... and.... and.... and.... and.... there's always next time....
Oh and not to self - take your camera....
peace:)
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