10/28 Prerelase Alternate Universe, Holmes PA > maxminis.com- D&D minis, 4th edition D&D

Subject: 10/28 Prerelase Alternate Universe, Holmes PA

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tundrin
Sergeant

408 Posts

Randolph, NJ

10/29/2006 4:52 AM
I went 3-1 and took 2nd place in Holmes PA (losing to Chad Dragonlord in the last match) I drew the solar and Howler as rares, one thing i noticed wa a lack of cheap pieces to round out activations - i faced bands with 5, 8 nd 6 acts and I only had 7 ( i saw at elast one other with only 3 or 4 acts). I cant complain about finish, but I might have made 1 change to have a stronger band. Solar 105 Orc Wizard 24 Shadow Dancer 28 Greenspawn sneak x 2 6+6 Soldier of Bytopia 12 Hero of Valhalla 11 192/8 I took mushroom cavern - I wanted maximum los for the slaying arrow. Choke points to protect my weak pieces and lots of walls for the shadowdancer to hop around. (gotta ask guy about that hop) The VA's for side A are well hidden and spread out. Not many people use this map so I figured it was a good choice - i won map init all 4 matches I had also pulled - copper dragon 32, maug 41, blood vol 18, skel reaper, free league ranger, harmonium guard I knew I had to play the solar, and the orc wizrd giving him crit 18-20 was a must 2 sneaks proved to be a key scoring and distracting method in hindsight, with so mnay low act bands I should have swapped the dancer28 + sneak or bytopia + 8 left over points for a Maug as a backup beater but it only mattered in last match First match Devon Marilith, Kolyarut, Doomguard and filler (note to self - never stand in front of a marilith He won side and took A, but had no ranged attacks. He never wnet after either sneak so I got free 10pts per round, he also never moved a piece on to his bottom VA, though it didnt matter much. 1. I moved up from the botom, waiting for someone to come into range. He moved completely around the bottow VA's and set up to come after me. Dolorus on the solar of course 2. Game breaker - I shot his Kolyarut, and it failed the save 45 points for me adn his secodn beater gone. He based the solar with the marility and brought up doomguard for CFX 3. I stupidly took all 3 swings at the marility, casued damage but didnt rout it. He then hit 4 times with a crit, extra damage for the CFX and brought me down to something like 25 points! 4. I flew away next round. orc cast fire and blew something up. He moved up to base the solar. I think I shadow stepped to flank the marilith. 5. Thankfully won init, killed the marilith and went over 200pts. Lucky for me to win init, otherwise I would have lost playing poorly and kicking myself. Round 2 Matt Barry - an excelletn player I have lost to before, but this time "I dont like my band" was written on his face as he placed his much maligned Lillend. Elf Warmage, Doomguard, Archeron goblin, Lillend, Green sneak, Kob Monk, Dragonkith, Copper dragon (good synergy for a selaed event) I won map and side and took A to spread out the sneaks. 1. We both moved up to center of our sides. I did crit his kobold with my sneaks acid, (monk routed) then shot his sneak with solar ("That was the slaying arrow - right" - NOT - hahah) 2. Won init, The assumed move came next as the solar positioned at top of the map and hit the lillend with slaying arrow - damn thing saved arg. Its annoying his ranged is only 10 damage. He moved aroudn the VA's at the bottom kept the dragon and kith neighboring. Using the smoke em if you got em method, I used the orc to base the goblin and fireburst - it failed save it either routed or i killed it quickly. He surrounded the orc and damaged it but he didnt rout. Warmage maximized her ring of blades., wizard passed Beguile ssave! 3. he hurts the wizrd, but with bad rolls doesnt kill it. I shaodw stepped to flank the doom guard(?) I flanked and kill the dragon kith with the solar, the doom guard went down soo also, but we all got fire coned for damage. Solar misses the dragon with his +12 and +7 atacks, very annoying but my only poor rolls of the match. (i dont talk about the gnome and hero as the y perish easily in the cones) Another cone and now I decide to run, the solar reaches the vicotry area at teh top, opposite the one in the corner to protect my sneak. I aolso wanted to be far enough away so that in case I routed I would have a rally chance. I left the dancer out alone, but she had passed MC. And passed beguile i think also Down on points and time running out, Matt had to come after me. A sound lance whittled down the solar, if i had a mc i passed it, he based the solar with ring o blades, but I killed off the warmage and the either the lillend or dragon for enough points to go over 200. The solar is quite vulnerable to fire and sonic damage, the warmage was a bad non beater to have to face. So now 2-0 and feeling prety good. I had a 1/3 chance to face chad and thankfully didnt have to yet. Kendall - (multiple beaters and not good matchup for my titan band) Bluespawn stormlizard Centaur war hulk Harmonium Guard mezzoloth copper dragons same set up, me on A and spread out the sneaks dolorous blow on solar 1. I let him move, He advanced around the bottom,. I got off a frist round slaying arrow on his war hulk, hit but PASSED the save (arg!!) He put his dragon up tot he top VA and mexzzoloth came after the bottom one. One small mistake, he tucked himself into the corner at the top VA, so I had melee cover and his engagement attack missed by 1. I Shadow hopped across the board and set up behind his dragon. Hemoved up the war hulk and guard tothe otherside of the wall from my start area. the CWH took aout my hero. The orc wzard stepped up and fireburst, he failed the save, now he was a key 5hp from a MC. 3. Thankfully won init, the orc cast Ram, auto 5hp, and he fialed the MC. even with his speed he didnt reach the exit, but he was JUST barely out of command. At 58 points and a big beater I didnt think he would let him auto rout ooc. So I made a risky moved and put the solar behind the guard, he would have to take an aoo in order to try and rally the CWH. The risk wa that I now based the bluespwan and the mexxoloth stepped up to flank, poor rools and I took only one hit. The drawgon hit the dancer, but she shrugged it off. Ken moved the guard, I took my aoo and 20! for 50 damage and the kill, so he lost his commander, the CWH would rout off for another 58pts - he conceded - which surprised me. Considering that we were 15 minutes itot the match and he had my 105hp guy flanked b two other beaters, I would have played it out, but I took the win happily. As expected Chad also won (he used a confused enemy bluepsawn to bolt most of the other team to near death) So now at 3-0 with only the other 3-0 to face I knew I had second and three boosters in the bag. Chad is the best player I know and usually i mkae some sort of a blunder to amke the win easier, so I read his cards carefully. He had a great band. Chad Dragonlord of aiur I call it "Got Commanders? + plus LG Beaters" Storm Silverhand FreeLEague Ranger Doomguard Thundertusk Maug Kobold Monk stacking up to hit and damage from both small commanders, who also became fearless under stormette was just nasty. Standard set up. He won sdie but still took B. He protected his low save Tusk , so I shot the Maug on second round, but he PASSED THE SAVE (needed a 12, rolled a 13), he then based the solar with the Tusk and the MAug, moved up all commanders. Then he won the critical init. everyone teed off on the solar, with CFX brough him down to 25hp, passed MC. AC 19 isnt that great and in constructed the solar really needs an AC buff) So I had to stand there. The Maug is fearless so I attacked the tusk. I missed, then critted, he passed MC (rats) then I killed him with the +7 attack, but that stupid deathburst, he hit on the nose and killed the solar. That was pretty much match, but I stuck around for a bit, damaged the domguard, but - oh she's fearless under stormette command so not even a MC there. Only other think I could have done was move into the very far corner to take my arorw shot, but that was giving the mau cover, and i wanted every chance to hit him with the slay arow. So 3-1 is my best result and I never placed in a real tourney so good for me, bad for the wife! Observation, the solar is cool and has "threat potential" I alsways used the arrow as soon as I had a main piece lined up. All 4 shots hit, but only 1 save failed (three other rolls were in their "teens" so odds were in my favor but dice were not. At AC 19 and 105 hp with no fire immunity - the solar will not last long in toe to toe combat with a lot of other pieces, so you must pick your targets wisely, use screeners to hold off other beaters and in constructed buff him up. Having a second beater bsides the Shadow dancer (+13/10magic 60hp) mght have been better against chad's band, i still ilky would have won the other matches, but still, no compalints about results. Anoyone in New Jersey on NOV 18th, (not going to limited qual) please contact me for a startup tourney in Denville, Morris County Everyone at the tourney was good natured , cooperative and helpful - thank you to Alternate Universes and Dorian.

Champs 2007 Top 16, Team Amish Class of 2007 Seeking Northern NJ DDM'ers - "There can be only one" (I hope not) Champion of the Doppleganger

Chad the DragonLordofAiur
Underboss

1085 Posts

Southeast PA

10/29/2006 9:18 PM
Chris - Congratulations on finishing 2nd. I knew by playing you so often in Doylestown that you were eventually going to be a very good player and I think that time has come. It is only a matter of time before you start defeating me regularly. I do remember our match quite well and wanted to share my side of the battle. I will be doing a full report of all my matches later but here is my version of my match with Chris. My band: Storm Silverhand Thundertusk Cavalry Maug Doomguard Free League Ranger Kobold Monk My map: Dragonshrine Chris won map choice and chose his Mushroom Cavern. Losing map choice didn't really matter to me. I had chosen the Dragonshrine as a defense against any bands running with elemental damage. My band was just fine with most any map. I won side choice and chose the left side (As viewed on Vassal). I can never remember which is A or B. (Why can't they make all maps the same and always put A on left and B on right?) Anyway, I chose that side because I didn't want the spike stones to be on my side and be messing with my large based creatures. Chris had placed one sneak on each victory area giving him two ways of ensuring he scored victory points.�I was a little bit concerned here.�I always try to be equal or ahead in tile points in every match.�So, in order for me to score I would need to run over to the VA near his start area and he had a ranged attack from the Solar and from the Greenspawn to hit me with. I was running with just 6 activations and Chris had 8 so there was no chance for me to move last and run my Kobold Monk over at the end of the round. So I waited until his Greenspawn activated that was nearby and therefore could only shoot me with the Solar. I figured if he shot with the Solar that he wouldn’t be able to put the Solar in the best position for him. Well he moved the Solar out and shot at the Kobold and promptly rolled a one! I moved all my pieces up behind the central wall being careful to hide the Thundertusk in the center of my forces. The Thundertusk was the one main piece in my band with the worst save and also the second highest cost. I didn’t want it to fail against the slaying arrow. I ran my FL Ranger out and shot and killed the greenspawn on the nearby victory area and also put myself in a position where I could move and shoot the greenspawn in the other VA the next round. And that is exactly what I did.�So just like that I was up a few points and he no longer had a piece on a victory area. I didn’t either though, as my kobold monk was dispatched by his shadow dancer (I think) in round 2. The key to the battle was going to be the save of the slaying arrow and the slugfest that would ensue. When I had reviewed Chris’s cards before the match I had put together a quick plan in my mind of how I was going to win. The Solar had AC 19 and 105 hp so my best chance was to go right at him and kill it. I had three fearless pieces and could do a lot of damage from my beaters and CFX of the doomguard. So my goal was to close as quickly as possible. In round two Chris won initative and fired off his arrow at my Maug. But I had set things up that if he moved around the central wall to shoot he would put the Solar near my pieces. I could bring my beaters up and base or attack him. The Maug was level 8 and needed a 12 to pass.�I rolled a 13 and made it by one.�I immediately breathed a big sigh of relief. I looked over the board and knew at that moment I had won the match. Chris had just activated his main guy and his support was a bit too far away and I was close enough that I could close in and even make attacks on the Solar this round. If I won the following initiative I would certainly win and even if I lost the following initiative I still stood a very good chance of winning anyway. So I closed in on the Solar. In order for the Doomguard’s CFX to kick in I had to put damage on the Solar and get her closer.� So I moved her up to be within 6 of that area and planned to use Storm’s silverfire to hit the Solar for an automatic 20 damage no save. I was hoping to hit a few more targets with it first so I waited a bit. I used the FL ranger to kill his last sneak first and sat the kobold monk just before it died. Chris did put his Hero of Valhalla in range so I eventually used the silverfire on it and the Solar. I moved Storm up close enough that she too could move 6 and attack the Solar the following round (just in case I needed it) because she hits at +14/+9 for 15 magic damage. Now the Solar was wounded and the Doomguard’s CFX kicked in. I was able to move the Maug 6 spaces and hit the Solar with his reach 2. Then I used the TTC’s mounted melee attack and double moved into base contact and attacked.�If I remember correctly, one of those two attacks missed but the Solar was now down to 60hp.�Now it was time for the big initiative roll. Knowing I was guaranteed victory if I won init I decided to use my initiative surge of +4. But Chris rolls a 20 plus his commander rating of 5 giving him a 25!!! Wow, I thought, that’s a great roll when he needed it. But I wasn’t concerned.�I figured maybe I could roll an 18 or better or win the battle anyway since I was still in a great position. I was getting a +8 so I needed an 18 or better as he would get the tie breaker.�I shook the die and let it fly. A solid 18 appeared!!!�I couldn’t believe it.�The initiative surge was huge here. I wasted no time and blasted the Solar with double attacks from the Maug and TTC. I missed on two of the attacks. The Solar was left with just 10 hp.�I still had a deathblow from the TTC should he die and Storm to move in and swing at +14 to finish it. The Solar swung at the TTC three times hoping for a failed MC. But I passed the save so he was forced to kill it. He brought up his Orc Wizard and used the fireburst to finish off the TTC. I rolled the deathstrike attack on the Solar and rolled a ONE!! Not to worry I still had Storm.�She moved in and finished off the Solar. Once the Solar dropped it was all mop up as I had a full strength Storm and a Maug to clean up with. Chris is a great player and I was glad to see him finish in 2^nd place. Congratulations Chris.

Member of Team Amish 3rd Place in 2007 Constructed World Championship My combined DDM Skirmish record of all games ever played in all formats. 486 - 188 - 4

tundrin
Sergeant

408 Posts

Randolph, NJ

10/30/2006 11:43 AM
Aw shucks, you're gonn a make me blush... Having a fearless Maug to hit or the TTC with deathstrike was pretty much a lose-lose choice. In defense, I did wnat to explain one move. When placing the solar to aim for the slaying arrow, I had 2 choices., move towards the center for a clean shot (no cover) or move on or near the "dangerous ground" for a shot with cover but much farhter away from his pieces I decide on the clean shot, Maug is AC 21 I think, so at +17 to shoot I need a 4, with cover that's an 8 and i didnt want a 1 in 3 chance of just plain missing with my main piece's main attack. That solar only went 1 for 4 on the slaying checks. It is a choice between killing a big piece with a good save chance or a smaller piece that will likely die. With no other hitter besides a shadow dancer I was in bad shape and losing the init did me in. If I could have at elast taken out either the Maug or the TTC before they swung, the match might have lasted longer. Hmm "beating you regularly" - thats a long shot, I would just take then next time I face you in a finals...lol.

Champs 2007 Top 16, Team Amish Class of 2007 Seeking Northern NJ DDM'ers - "There can be only one" (I hope not) Champion of the Doppleganger

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