1,600 Emp. VS Ogres... Again...

So Ryan and I meet on the field of battle yet again!  I trudged the same list as previous with little to no alteration while Ryan changed his up for some entertainment value and dropped a Mournfang and some other misc. for 2 Giants.  Good times were ahead!

Turns 1 and two saw very little action from either side.  We both moved forward conservatively.  I fire balled one of the Sabertusk's to death hoping to avoid the usual death of my War Machines.

From their though things began happening quick.  I wickedly threw 6 dice at a Pit of Shades on Ryan's Ironguts, only to suck myself and 17 Spearmen into the warp and only take down 3 Ogres as Ryan made an intolerable amount of 1's to save them.  His Mournfangs made a charge on my Knights and I shockingly held fast to get my Flagellants into his flank next turn.  Sadly a Stubborn spell would see them remain in combat to the far future of the game while the Giants would come in to assist.

Ryan became his own worst enemy with the 2 Giants on combat.  He kept rolling Yell and Bawl which would end combat and leave the Flagellants alive to hold him in place yet another Round!  They also killed 1 of the 2 Giants. The Knights broke and ran back but rallied later, the Hellheart then exploded another 12 Spearmen from the Warrior Priest (yes this was a incorrect rules play, but oh well).  They panicked, rallied and would later die.  The Steam Tank got his charge off this game and slagged the regular Ogres quickly.  The Ironguts then charged but failed multiple fear tests in a row doing only 2 wounds to it over 2 turns of combat.

The Knights eventually charge into the flank of the Irongut/Steam Tank combat to ensure that the Guts are wiped and then ran down.  The Mournfang charge and kill the Spear unit and run off the table in pursuit.  The remaining 2 regular Ogres charge the remaining 2 Knights and although they win combat I hold.  The game ends in a 61 point difference in Ryan's favor.  A draw!  I know could manage it eventually!

Take Away:
So from this game I take away some new thoughts.  Flagellants are still awesome.  Warrior Priests don't miscast.  Ever.  The Steam Tank is amazing; but with the caveat that it is only so if it charges and it certainly doesn't hurt if the opponent fails their Fear test.  The turn I charged I did 11 wounds to the Irongut unit.  It was hot.  Magic was pretty ho-hum for both of us I think.  It did not make this game.  I also believe that had I not lost 12 guys to the Warrior Priest Miscast debacle the unit would have been large enough to have survived the Mournfang combat at the end and be Steadfast.  Could have made the win.  I am still satisfied with the direction the army is going.  I'm learning some basics of unit placement which is critically necessary for this army to have any hope of success.  Still I am hopeful for it.  At 2k I'll be increasing the Knights as well as adding a Warrior Priest to them to give them more hitting power and likely be upgrading one of my Wizards to a Lord.  It should be very interesting.

ToTG: Joe F. - Flagellant's and Gryphon

So I drug out the white backs to get some pictures of things I've finished since its been quite a while.  I finally finished that unit of 24 Flagellants that I started on in June.  I haven't even started on my Knights for July which means they're getting pushed back but I did on the other hand finish a model that I hadn't intended to do in July which is my Lord on Gryphon.  I painted him with a Tiger style Gryphon since I've never been able to do anything decent looking out of yellow colors and magnetized him and his weapon arms so that I can swap him onto horses or equipment should I desire.  As with probably 95% of the army he is an old model which required me finding a way to really make him take up the new standard base size of a Gryphon.  Since he'll be on the ship part of the display board, using a mast made the most sense.  Hope you guys dig all this!

ToTG: 1,500 Empire vs. Ogres (Take Two)

So Ryan and I got together again tonight to play yet another 1,500 point game.  Well, 1,600 actually in practice for our Bloomington Tournament that's coming up at the end of August.  Ryan changed his list slightly and I made some sweeping changes to mine as detailed in the previous post.  We rolled up 'Meeting Engagement' and I chose a corner and deployed first also going first as Ryan failed to steal the initiative.  The only thing starting off board at all was Ryan's Firebelly.

You can see the basic setup here.  Pretty much a straight setup across from each other.  I had hoped my Knights might get a flanking position at some point but as you'll see later that didn't work out at all.  I moved up very slightly on our 1st turn to the point where if Ryan charged they would be very long charges and unlikely to succeed.  On turn 2 after Ryan moved forward I chose to try and make a lot of charges.  None of them were really in my "favor" but it was an issue of I charge now or I definitely get charged next turn so I tried.  As you'll see below I didn't make a single one.  Even worse is that Ryan got Flame Cage off on my Flagellants and torched 18 out of the 24 when they failed their Frenzy check and failed their charge.  It was a serious blow to the army.

The Steam Tank only failed its charge by 2" which really sucked as that's when the tank does most of its damage is impact.  The Flagellants even though they look full there are down to 7 models.  I just didn't have it in me to remove the models from their tray as I knew they would be dead very shortly.  On Ryan's next turn he makes all the obvious charges.  The Mournfang on the left hit and run the unit of Knights off the table.  The Ogre's with Firebelly finish the Flagellants and the Stonehorn hits the Spears while the Ironguts hit the Tank.  Shockingly the Stonehorn loses combat by one and runs but due to Flamecage now being on my Spearmen I elect not to pursue.

In the end the Tank dies, both Mournfang end up in the flanks and the Ironguts come in with the rallied Stonehorn to finish the game.  Flamecage was cast again on the Spears making any real movement impossible for me.  It was a really interesting game in a couple ways which we'll discuss shortly.  The end result here is me getting tabled at 1,600 with what seemed like very little effort on Ryan's part.  Good for him.

Take Away:
So I would've liked to see the Tank perform better.  I know it isn't really a big monster that is going to go win combats on its own.  It needs support which I tried to do when I dual charged it and the Spears into Ryan's Guts but missed the numbers.  I also rolled pretty poorly on its armor saves; that said it was not a shining display of its ability.  The Knights did squat this game; partly because they didn't get a charge off which is necessary if they hope to break anything with armor but also because I'm stupid.  I had them set up in a 4x2 formation where if I'd had them 5 wide I would've been Steadfast for at least a round or two.  My own mistake there.  The worst part of this game for me was definitely the Flamecage.  It was a funny opposite of our last game where my Mindrazor totally kept me in the game where in this game Flamecage completely controlled my army.  It destroyed my hittiest unit in my Flagellants and utterly made my Spears stand still from turn two on until I lost.  It was terrible.  I'd like to say having a Scroll would've helped but 2 of the 3 times Ryan cast it, was on Irresistible so there's really nothing you can do about it.

I'm going to try the Tank again.  I have to, I can't just call it based on one outing where it hit the worst matchup for it in the Ironguts.  Not to mention the fact that Ogres seem to just in general be a hard match for the Empire.  Well, they are a hard match for most armies, but for me it seems especially.  In August when Ryan and I hit 2,000 the Knights will be 10 strong which will hopefully keep them moving longer and perhaps I'll learn to use the Tank to its effectiveness.  Practice, practice, practice...

Empire, Tiny Adjustments

So I've been plugging away on my Empire army and there are two tournaments coming up in August loacally.  The one we run in Bloomington which will be 1,600 and the one in Springfield by Capital City Games which I'm unsure of the size on.

That said my goal will be to have my full 1,600 pointer painted.  I mean August is the month were supposed to be at 2k for the Tale of Two Gamers so I should have it done anyway.  This month was rough though as we're nearly out of time and I know I wont finish my goal.  The 24 Flageallants are almost complete; in fact I simply need to add static grass and then Dull Coat them.  However my 8 Knights did not get there in time.

My goal for August will be to add large chunks to the army.  The teeeth of it.  My Steam Tank and probably the Gryphon Lord.  Although he's definitely sub-par in general but I still want to do him as a centerpiece of the army.

However I currently only have a little WIP shots of the Tank.

You can se here the progress.  The tank that was with the army when I originally took control of it was the original metal that was produced in 2001-02 when it was first released.  Not everyone knows, or remembers but then the Steam Tank actually had 3-4 variants.  You could mount a small hellblaster in it, a fighting platform (as seen above), a no roof version with a mortar and a completely enclosed one called a hammer.  Luckily for me Chris (the guy who had the army before me) had the platform still.  As such I've decided to use it.  I procured and used a plastic tank for a cleaner look but the platform definitely adds some serious pizzaz to the model.  I love it!  The models riding atop it are awesome too.  I can't wait to paint this bad boy up.

My plans for a 1,600 list currently are...

Captain - BSB
Wizard - Level 2
Wizard - Level 2
Warrior Priest
39 Spearmen - FC, Shields
8 Knights - Musician, Standard
24 Flageallants
Great Cannon
Steam Tank
Hellblaster Volley Gun

Very close to my 1,500 I played against Ryan in early July and I hope to have even better results with this one as it definitely has a bit more fight given by the Tank and BSB.  I'm looking very forward to it.  When I start getting some more painting done I'll start throwing up some new pictures.

ToTG: Ryan G. 1,500 + Mournfang Pt. 2

      For July I finished up my other two mournfang to round out the unit to four.

      Mournfang completely live up to the hype. They are awesome! I have been having a fun time running these guys around the table. They are not unbeatable though. Tough 4 and Armour 2+ goes a long way, but not far enough. You still gotta be careful with them, but once they get into combat, they stand a good chance against most units.

My 1500 point list consisted of the following.

Firebelly - lvl 2

Bruiser - BSB

7 Ironguts

6 Ogres

Stonehorn

2 Mournfang

2 Single Sabertusks

      My game with Joe ended as a win for me, but not sure how it really happened. I really owe it all to my 2 Sabertusks which killed a Volly gun, Engineer, and 12 Handgunner. I spent most of the rest of the game backing away from Joe's spearmen horde because he kept getting Mindrazor off on them. I thought eventually I would be able to stop a casting of it, but never did, and his spears finally trounced my Ironguts. However, because I spent most of the game running, he did not get very many other points, and I squeaked out a win.

      I would like to review my first go with the Firebelly, but he miscast on his first spell and lost all of his wizard levels. He did get to use his breath weapon in a challenge with the battle priest and kill him before the rest of the unit went, thanks to the Sigil Sword, and took away their hatred. That saved one Irongut left and preserved the points of the unit.

      I am liking Joe's empire, but I agree that he is too magic reliant at this time and needs to get some hammers into his army. 2000 should be an interesting battle.

Cheers,

Ryan G

ToTG: Joe F. 1,500 Empire Vs. Ogres

So Ryan and I got together for a game sooner than I'd planned.  I decided on a list for the month although I doubt I'll actually accomplish painting it in the 1 month limit. 

Warrior Priest - Heavy Armor, Shield, Van Horstmens Speculum
Wizard - Level 2 (Shadow)
Wizard - Level 2 (Fire)
Engineer
14 Handgunners
40 Spearmen - FC, Shields
8 Knights - Musician, Champion
24 Flagellants
Great Cannon
Hellblaster Volley Gun

I can't quite remember what he had for certain, but...

Firebelly - Level 2
Bruiser - BSB
6 Ogres - FC, Ironfists
8 Ironguts -FC
2 Mournfang - Champion, Standard
Sabretusk
Sabretusk
Stonehorn

We played Dawn Attack which didn't really effect either of us very much.  Facing off from left to left were going to be my Flagellants against his Stonehorn and Sabretusk's.  Centerline was my Volley Gun, Handguns, Cannon, Spears, Knights and characters against the rest of Ryans army.

I went first based from scenario and Ryan not stealing the initiative.  Flagellants moved forward, Knights moved forward and nothing else special.  Ryans turn the Stonehorn failed a charge on the Flagellants, everything else moved forward.  Turn two the Flagellants made the super charge to hit the Stonehorn which they broke and ran down.  The Knights tried for the Mournfang but failed.  I threw a big fireball at the Mournfang killing one and shot the other off with the Hellblaster.  The Cannon didn't hit a damned thing.

The Knights were way out of place now giving Ryan a superb flank on them which he took.  He also threw a Flame Vortex into the Spears with Irresistible Force.  Luckily for me it scattered off harmlessly, and unlucky for him his wizard lost all his levels giving me the definite magic supremacy.  I fled with the Knights and bounced through my Spears stopping just at the board edge but leaving Ryan with a failed charge.

Over the next couple turns some crazsiness happend out on the left.  I stepped my Fire Wizard out to kill the Sabretusks.  I failed.  The cats then killed my Volley Gun, Engineer, Handguns and nearly got the Wizard too.  It was terrible.  Meanwhile my Knights rallied and everything had to take the time to rearrange.  Ryan had more than enough time to engage at this point, but I'd been having huge magic phases and getting Mindrazor off on the big block of Spears thus convincing Ryan not to charge them.  I as the Knights got back into position I began charging (and failing I might add) myself.  My cannon also finally Grapeshotted the last Sabretusk off.

Ryan chose to after hit the Knights with his Ogres after my Spears failed a charge and getting themselves out of the flank arc from where Ryan would end up in combat.  The Knights 1+ save managed to hold them steady for 3 rounds of combat.  I did finally make a charge with Mindrazor still up.  I killed all but the Champion.  Ryan in turned killed my Priest and Shadow wizard but still lost combat and with it his BSB.  I however missed the run down by 1" leaving him alive.  At the bottom of 6 the Knights broke from combat and were ran down on a terrible flee thus securing Ryan the victory by a margin of 148 points.  Had the Knights not broken or the Spears successfully caught the Gut unit it would've been an Empire victory.

Takeaway:
Flagellants are a definite in the list.  Yes, they are frenzied and can be led about, but they also pack a serious amount of hitting power.  True they only killed one thing, but it was nearly equal points.  I was very surprised at the Knights resilience.  I expected them to disappear after any combat in which they didn't charge, but that 1+ really kept them around for quite a while.  In fact, Ryan only ever killed 2 of the 8 before running them down and that was over I think 5 rounds of combat.  Of course they were only fighting regular Ogres but still.  Mindrazor did its job securing my the biggest amount of damage and what would have been the win with a better pursuit roll.  I hate to depend on it, but until I build the things with bigger teeth (Steam Tank, Gryphon, Greatswords) this list will depend heavily on the luck of spells holding it.  Even at higher points I'll still be depending heavily on magic to make it effective.  Still I'm satisfied with where its going.

ToTG: Joe F. 1,500 Empire Work

So now that BiTS II is over with, and I've had my vacation (or work-cation) depending on how you look at taking your son to his boyscout camp for a week is considered I'm ready to get moving on the Empire again.  For 1,500 points I really wanted to add a unit of Knights as well as the rest of the Flagellant unit to the army but as I haven't been able to procure horses for the old style Knights Panther and I doubt after the vacation I'll actually have time to paint up 14 Flagellants,  I'm moving on to other pastures with different ideas.

So I'm doubling up the artillery.  Lets face it, when this list hits 2,500 I'm going to want the 2nd cannon.  The 2nd Hellblaster I think will probably turn into a 'diminishing returns' item, but I figured I'd put it together and see how it goes.  Then I thought about this...

Yes, I know that at 1,500 a Lord may be just a bit overkill, but hey; he definitely eats up the 500 points I need for the month.  LOL!  Also, how good could a Gryphon be against Ogres.  I don't get the Thunderstomp which is what makes monsters so good int his edition in my opinion.  Of course, he is still a big killing flying thing.  Something that is purely offensive which is what the army I think lacks in general.  Another reason I'd wanted to add the Knights.

Of course I'm sticking with the old style models which means my Gryphon is significantly smaller than the new edition model.  To bulk him up I'm going to have him hanging off of a mast on the boat display base.  I'll add some smaller pieces to the base as well so that it doesn't look so barren.  The original rider for this Gryphon looks like garbage and I didn't strip him originally so I've turned a regular knight into a rider.  I've magnetized his arms to wield either a great weapon or a lance.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do for the lists, but at least I have options.  My starting intent will be to add a Great Cannon, Hellblaster, Captain of The Empire (BSB), and 10 more Flagellants.  If I can't get those done or it looks hopeless maybe I'll do the Gryphon.  We'll have to see.