ToTG: Joe & Ryan 2k!

Joe vs ryan 2k

So Ryan and I got together last night as we’ve been doing every other Monday for a while now to play a game.  As its August we were running our 2,000 point lists; not to mention there is a 2k tournament at our local store this Saturday which we wanted practice for.  Sadly my i-phone broke last week and there are no photo’s.  Bummer…  So the lists:

Joe – Empire

Wizard Lord – Level 4, Power Stone (Shadow)

Wizard Hero – Level 2, Channeling Staff (Fire)

Captain – BSB, Full Plate, Shield, Banner of Discipline

Warrior Priest – HA, Shield

Warrior Priest – HA, Shield, Warhorse, Barding, Tormentor Sword

14 Handgunners

37 Spearmen – Banner, Musician

9 Knights – Banner, Musician, Inner Circle, Rangers Standard

20 Flagellants

Great Cannon

Hellblaster Volley Gun

Steam Tank

Ryan – Ogres (I may not remember this 100% correctly)

Slaughtermaster

Bruiser – BSB

8 Ogres – FC

8 Ironguts – FC

4 Leadbelchers

3 Mournfang – FC

3 Sabretusks

Stonehorn

We rolled for scenario and got Meeting Engagement.  Ryan will end up deploying and going first.  This is a really bad scenario for me as I really need a turn or two to shoot at Ryan before engagement happens, but with him starting so close he can easily make turn 2 charges.  Not helping me and making me just practically give up on turn 1 was the scenario.  Ryan’s entire army showed up but I ended up not getting my Spears, Knights, Cannon and Flagellants so huge chunks of my army were missing.  This left me to bunker all of my characters inside my Handgun unit for the first turn.  I put my Priest on Horse on the far left flank to counter Ryans 2 Sabretusks and hope that when the Knights came on he would be able to join them.  My Tank I put out on the right side pretty close to Ryan’s Ogre unit.  I was hoping for early combat and totally screwed up not seeing the Sabretusk behind the woods next to the tank.  Everything else started in my back corner.

Turn 1:

Ryan

Ryan charged his Sabretusks in; two into the mounted Priest and one into the Tank.  His Leadbelchers move into the building in the dead center of the board while everything else moves up.

Turn 1:

Joe

My Spear block comes on next to the Handgunners and all the characters jump ship except for the level 2 Mage.  The Flagellants came on just to the left of the Spears and the Knights came on near the mounted Priest.  From there I threw some magic which was negligible.  The Hellblaster tore into the Ironguts doing some decent damage.  The Tank killed the Tusk and the mounted Priest sat stuck in combat with the others.

Turn 2:

Ryan

His Stonehorn and Mournfang duel charged the Flagellants.  Ogres charged Tank.  Leadbelchers shot at Handguns and killed a few.  Tank and Ogres sat.  It looked close, but the Fangs and Stonehorn killed the Flagellants.  The Fangs reformed towards the Spears and the Stonehorn at the Knights.

Turn 2:

Joe

I go for Mindrazor on the Spears but don’t get it.  I do reduce the Strength of the Guts.  Knights hit the Stonehorn but don’t break.  The Tank wins and the Ogres run.  Mounted Priest wins combat and runs Tusks down.  Volleygun shoots the Guts again killing another.

Turn 3:

Ryan

Fangs and Guts charge Spears and I lose and break, he reforms Fangs to go after Cannon and Guts reform to go after Handguns.  .  Stonehorn combat draws.  Ogres continue to run.

Turn 3:

Joe

Knights finally win combat and Stonehorn runs but I fail to catch.

Turn 4:

Ryan

Ogres rally.  Guts charge Handguns who flee, he redirects into Volley Gun and kills it overrunning the Handguns.  Fangs charge the Knights who flee.  Leadbelchers kill mounted Priest.

Turn 4:

Joe

Tank goes south into the Guts and kills the unit.  Slaughtermaster lives and flee’s.  Level 2 fireball’s a Fang off.  Cannon fires at Stonehorn and does 2 wounds.

Turn 5:

Ryan

Stonehorn charges Knights and catches them from their flee.  Fang moves towards Cannon.  Slaughtermaster rallies.  Leadbelchers shoot Level 2 to death and Ogres rally.

Turn 5:

Joe

Tank fails to hit Slaughtermaster.  Cannon kills Fang.

Turn 6:

Ryan

Slaughtermaster moves away from tank.  Everything else basically just moves around.

Turn 6:

Joe

The tank fails to hit the Slaughtermaster again, but fires the hull cannon finishing the Stonehorn off.  The Great Cannon then fires a cannonball straight at the Tank which the Sluaghtermaster is in front of and kills the Slaughtermaster.  It was crazy!

Take Away:

That scenario sucks.  No, really it does.  I completely didn’t get to see what would be the general full effectiveness of my Knights with the Priest in it.  The Flagellants and Spears were engaged on my board edge instead of open field where I could run away if I lost combat.  It just sucked.  That said I actually only lost this game by roughly 200 points.  One of the things Ryan pointed out is that even though I’ve been losing to him consistently it has always been low losses where on the 20-0 scale I would be getting decent scores even though I’d lost.

I’m actually pretty satisfied with the way the army functioned.  There were some definite screw-ups on my part.  Misplacing the Tank so Ryan could throw a cat at it on turn 1 was a big mistake.  I’m still really okay with the Engineer not being used on the Volley Gun.  In fact, in every turn of it firing it never misfired and I don’t think the higher BS would really do much extra.  My magic phases in general were pretty cruddy as well.  In fact the turn that I went for Mindrazor I had rolled snakes, channeled 1 and used the Power Stone to manage the value, but didn’t get the IF I needed and Ryan just scrolled it.

The only thing that I keep wondering is if I should change the magic Lores up in the list and if so, what to.  I’m mostly happy with the way things are going, but I also wonder if there is a better character configuration I could be running.  Just the usual questions.

For the 2,000 points I just have to paint my Knight unit which I should be able to finish by this months end.  The problem is I finished the 1^st test model last night and I really dislike how it came out.  I’ve also painted a Mortar up so I can try it some time.  Its extremely situational but with Shadow if I ever manage to get a -3 Toughness on someone it’d be nice to have it.

Ryan G: Tale of Two Guys: Firebelly

     July went zooming by, but I did manage to get a couple of things painted for the Ogre Kingdoms. The main model was my Firebelly.

       I really like the GW Firebelly, but I have never been great at painting fire so I chose to use an alternate model for my Firebelly. I tracked this guy down from a company called Titan Forge. They have some great models, and if I can find a way to fit some of their other Ogres into my army I will. I just wanted to start small to make sure the scale was correct. This guy is a little taller, but fits in just fine.

      I have used him a few times now, and I do like the Firebelly character. I don't think he fits into every army, but I have found him great for low point games.

      Next, is one more sabertusk. This now gives me three and I am happy with that. I have yet to use 3 Tusks in a a game, but we'll see how it goes. I dislike the fact that they can cause panic, and they may just cause me to start tripping over myself, or just plan getting in the way.





      I have two local tournaments coming up over the next two saturdays, but not sure what list I will be doing for the 2000 pts this month. Both my Firebelly and extra cat will be in my 1600 pt tourny list, but does not look like either will be in my 2000 point one. Either way it should be fun, and I am considering a few different things to do for next month. I really should do my Ironblaster because they are awesome, but I really want to paint up a Giant, which are fun, but far from awesome. Only time will tell.

Cheers,
Ryan G

ToTG: Joe F. VON ZEPPEL!

I've nearly completed my Tank.  Well, it is completed, just missing its base at the moment.  I went for fluff here right?  LOL!  There are 14 Shields on the tank itself.  Well 15 if you count the small one on the back of the boiler.  I painted one shield in the colors of each of the 14 provinces including those that no longer exist (Soland and Drakwald).  The 13th is the colors of the Church of Sigmar and the last is the colors of the Stirland River Patrol since that's my army.  That is also what I did the rear shield in is Stirland Patrol.  I dig it a lot myself.  Hopefully you'll all agree.

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!