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alepulp
Underboss
1538 Posts
    
Manchester, England
 | | 12/03/2005 6:32 AM |
| UK Challenge Cup 2006 - Tournament Report
So the game became reality.
Final placings (comments by Fanboy3 owner to me)
1) You (6 Wins, 981)
2) Ron (5 wins, 1110)
3) James (4 Wins, 981)
4) Charlie (4 Wins, 971)
5) David (4 wins, 787) Tell him that, if he'd BEATEN you, he'd have won :-)
6) Lwc (4 Wins, 694) Two bad match ups scoring 0 and 3 points really hurt)
7) Pawel (3 Wins, 1 Draw, 1030) Look at those points; that draw put him out of the running
8) Sam (3 Wins, 1 Draw, 883)
9) Nick (3 Wins, 928)
10) Jason (3 Wins, 799)
11) Chris (3 Wins, 781)
12) Richard (3 Wins, 756)
13) Stephen (3 Wins, 623) Cagey play limited his LOSSES, but lost him points overall
14) John (2 Wins, 689)
15) Steve L (2 Wins, 673)
16) Mike (2 Wins, 639)
17) Arthur (2 Wins, 600)
18) Alex (1 Win, 547)
19) Declan (1 Win, 489)
20) Tom (1 win, 341)
This report is, of course, from my perspective, and I hope others will chide in and give their views.
The preamble - I spent a lot of time considering various warbands, including my favoured archmage in various build, death slaads again in various builds - but I was drawn to Helmed Horrors. I played a tournament with the HHx3, Dark Naga, Gravehound, Bluesx2 and a goblin skirmisher. The band won a local tourney and I went 4-0, against the best players here in Manchester, England. I still didn't like the build - the HHs really need magic weapons from fairly low cost mini. I tried two commander version with Hobgoblin Sergeant and a Kobold Sorcerer. Again, I wasn't happy - they were simply to slow, and did very little as time moved on. I started to study the maps to see which one I could guarantee tile points only and realised the truth of the Outpost map - the central bridge is only 13 squares from either assembly area. That's when I decided to use the Rakshasa - the slide spell could move a HH one step and get it to the central area in one move. I also decided to make it especially difficult to win points from the warband and so included kobold miners x 3. The idea was simple - stand in the centre, use slide and Bigby's to maximise the effect of the HHs. The magic weapons would be supplied by the excellent Dark Moon Monk.
My final warband:
Rasta Horrors (after the Rakshasa's hairstyle).
HHx3
Rakshasa
Dark Moon Monk
Kobold Miners x 3
Drow Outpost
I only had a chance to play this warband 3-4 time before the game - and I played my friend, Eric from Belgium, on Vassal against a HH mirror matchup with the original Dark Naga build. I beat it, just. It gave me confidence to take it down to the tournament. Eric's skill level gave me the confidence that it would be competitive there!
The journey - arrived at FB3 at 07:30 and started filling up the car with their stocks (we had stocks in two estate cars) and headed down in an independent convoy. As is so typical on the M6, there had been an accident and there was a long queue, and time was passing - we would be late for the tournament I had been organising. Do'h. Once we had got passed the 4 mile queue, we managed to make up some lost time and got there about on time. FB3 set up their stall as we started registering the warbands - list at bottom:
Round 1: Tom
Tom's a fairly new gamer at Manchester and had spent some time thinking up a warband idea for the game. I won map init, and - really, that was the game. The LG guys were just to slow to get tile points and I could guide the game my way. However, he did inflict some serious pain from Rask on one HH and got rid of my Kobold Miners. Tom is improving a lot and will start showing up soon with his warbands at the Manchester venue (Fanboy3) - 1-0
Round 2: Ron
I've never played Ron before, but his reputation is strong. His warban wasn't what I had expected - only 5 activations. Anyway, this matchup was a very tough one and I had to work out some kind of way to win it. The idea was fairly simple - get rid of his commander and protect my own points. We played on the Outpost and I had the setup area at the top, opposite side to the outpost itself. I like that one for HHs. I spread out the HHs by running one down to the bottom, used the slide to get a HH on the tile grabbing area and one more within a magic weapon range of the DMM. On the next round I managed to base his Kobold Sorcerer in the outpost building and proceeded to kill it - however I managed to get that HH surrounded by two of his! The game progressed as he killed two of my HHs and I killed two of his. The end result being the first round tile points and the difference in points between my DMM and his Kobold Sorcerer - 115-100, 2-0.
Round 3: Gritbone
I always despair in playing my son in DDM - we design the warbands together and they tend to be pretty solid. His gaming style is very aggressive (that'll change I suspect). He was 2-0 at this point also. The trouble I have in playing him is 1) he's a very strong player - especially considering he's only 13 and 2) do I let him win, or go easy? Well - I have made the decision to play him the way I'd play anyone else - that way, when he starts winning, it's all his own doing - on that day, I'll be the proudest dad around. He knew my strategy pretty well and blocked my ability to get tile points in the first round and he was up by 10. I set up my favoured - spread HHs from the top right side of the Drow Outpost to be able to get into combat quickly around the bridge. However, he won 2nd round init and shortly had inflicted 40 damage on a HH and had Crow Shamans waiting to do more! On my turn I started to move one of the HHs in to muck around his support units and surrounded his AoK with the other two. I got in a few hits, but not enough to cause a Morale Check. I managed to get a successful Bigby's on the AoK and got further hits. I think he passed Morale Check. The next round I killed the AoK and had HH:s in his support area. He saw no way of winning and conceded. 200-30 - 3-0
Round 4: Pawel
Pawel is a great player - and a specialist Archmage player. Having spent a fair bit of time on the Archmage myself, I knew that I could hide my support units well enough to force the tempo. Again, I won map init (against Ryld - wow) but he chose to place first in my favoured top right area. I got great rolls for placing my Miners and managed to cover the central area just right to stop his Pegasus from getting into it at all unless he used the Archmage to kills a miner. The plan was simple - kill all his support units and win on tile points. If I could get at the Archmage - that would be a boon. I could kill 102 points - he could likely only kill one HH, my miners and the DMM and Rakshasa = 101 points. I needed to ensure I was getting tile points all the time. I decided to get the battle to stay inside the outpost. Pawel placed two swords on one of my HHs (the one I thought I'd lose). He also moved into the outpost with the Pegasus - it didn't take long to kill it - but I also lost my commander - however, at the cost of his commander - so far the game was going to plan. He had also forced a Morale Check on my DMM - which I failed. As the game progressed, I had cleared his minis on the bridge and he no longer was getting any tile points. His Archmage also started being hit by the HH in the outpost and he had nothing to really hit back with - in the end the Archmage was forced to a morale save, which he failed. As he flew away, I was still getting tile points and he conceded. 4-0
Particularly pleasing was the fact that this is the irst time this warband has been beaten in his hands - and I've lost to it twice before. Pawel is a great sport.
Round 5: One_Wing
I've not played One_Wing before and this was a lesson. I thought I could win this matchup - however, he won map init and we played on the mushroom map - not a map I've spent any real time on (I'll do that more now though). The game went bad from the beginning - I chose and area to have the battle - and really should've done something completely different. Hindsight is excellent. I made huge mistakes and he punished them severely. I managed to get Rikka off the board (well - we did that part after the conceding). I simply couldn't hit the darned bear often enough and when it needed a morale save, it passed. I lost two horrors to it and the FB and then placed my commander one square too close to the FB - he came and hit me for 30 and I failed Morale and ran off the board - ouch. At that point I had a badly injured HH left and conceded - well played James. - about 56-200. 4-1
Round 6: Lwc
Lwc is one of the better DDM players in Manchester and regularly beats me with his non-standard builds. He also has a knack of getting the best rolls when needed. Something he knows... Anyway, I won map init - and he placed in my favoured area. The problem really for him is that his warband was so slow - and the bridge really punishes this. I spend some time arranging so that I can get all my pieces magic weaponed by round 3 and get onto the bridge with my first MW piece, blocking access to the outpost side for any non-flying (or non-burrowing) warband. The game goes badly for Lwc and I feint a move up and over with one of the HHs, drawing away some of the attention from the bridge - nice if I can get him to completely buy into the feint - but he only does so with little commitment. The battle commences on the bridge in round 2 and I soon rout one of the "spinning tops" - GDS's - and start the death of the dwarves. The next round the first slayer dies. The next round the second one. Shortly after, both remaining GDSs are dead and his commander routs and dies on the resulting AOO. Lwc concedes - 5-1.
At this point I find out that Ron has managed to do what I couldn't - beat One_Wing! So the final is between the two of us.
Finals: Ron
The strategy here is similar to the original one - try and kill off two HHs without losing my third, protect my additional pieces and win on tile points and the extra points for his commander. Ron won init and used the Hellspike prison. The first round I got tile points from my KMs - but they were soon dead or running away. I spent the first round pulling his warband over to my side (the one over at the bottom right, under the shrine). I managed to surround one of his HHs and he came in guns blazing with all 4 HHs against my 3. Now - his rolls were awful and that is the one reason that I managed to get rid of 2 of his HHs. More importantly, I got one of the HHs to base his Sorcerer 12 squares away on the other side of the battle map while he was still pounding (and missing) my second HH. Once his second HH had died, his Kobold Sorcerer had routed off the board he managed to kill my second HH. At this point it was a matter of grabbing tile points - and I moved the Rakshasa across the board to get the DMM into command and placed in the Victory area. Ron kept his second HH on the VP area - the stalagmite area at the bottom - and had the second pursue my Rakshasa the next round. However, as I moved away from it, he rolled too low (again) to hit the Rakshasa on his AOO and it ran into the shrine area 16 squares away. With him being out of Command I was able to gather Tile points and play hide and go seek until he left the tile grabbing area and go acoss the board to engage my undamaged HH that was protecting the DMM. It was only a matter of time before the tile points added up to the requisite 200. I think the final score was 200-160.
The main learnings from this competition is that you 1) need to know your own warband well and 2) Learn the maps that you might encounter. Also - if you can - have a plan and don't rely on luck. Choose a strong tactical approach that should bring you victory and then pursue it aggressively. Only divert from it if it isn't working.
WARBANDS
Lwc:
Cleric of Lathander
Slayer of Domiel x 2
Celestial Dire Badger
Gold Dwarf Solider x 3
Dwarven Raider
Richard:
Chraal x 3
Orog Warlord - Orc Brute and Orc Savage
Mongrelfolk
Scarlet Brotherhood Monk
Mike:
Urthok the Vicious
Mercenary Sergeant
Duergar Champ x 2
Chraal x 2
Kobold Soldier
Stephen - XAos:
Inspiring Marshal
Rikka
Frenzied Berserker
Elf Pyromancer
Wizard Tactician x 2
Guillaume - Sam:
Dark Naga
Efreeti
Helmed Horror x 2
Dark Moon Monk
Blue
Kobold Miner
Alex:
Stone Giant
Purple Dragon Knight
Justice Archon
Gold Dwarf Soldier
Cleric of Moradin
Celestial Dire Badger
John:
Greenfang Druid
Dire Bear x 2
Inspiring Marshal
Graycloak Ranger x 2 - Timber Wolves
Xeph Warrior
Gritbone - my son:
Graycloak Ranger x 3 - wolves
Aspect of Kord
Inspiring Marshal
Crow Shaman x 2
Devis
Arthur:
Troglodyte Captain
Green Dragon
Helmed Horror x 2
Kobold Soldier
Duergar Warrior x 2
Pawel - honorary Englishman from Poland:
Ryld
Celestial Pegasus
Archmage
Wold Elf Raider
Xeph x 3
Orcmonk - Chris:
Couatl
Ulmo Lightbringer
Justice Archon x 2
Hill Dwarf Warrior x 4
Charlie:
Efreeti
Helmed Horror
Dark Naga
Gauth
Kobold Sorcerer
Kobold Miner x 2
Skeletal Dwarf
Jason - Tritex
Drow Arcane Guarg
Lolth's Sting x 4
Xendrick Champ
Ryld
Large Deep dragon
James - One_Wing
Greenfang Druid
Dire Bear
Frenzied Berserker
Rikka
Aramil
Timber Wolf x 2
Ron - Rondom:
Kobold Sorcerer
Helmed Horror x 4
Steve - Dr. Who:
Moon Elf Fighter
Wizard Tactician
Frenzied Berserker x 2
Devis
Wild Elf Raider
Elf Warriors x 2
Nick - Drago F
Justice Archon x 4
Exorcist of the Silver Fire
Loyal Earth Elemental
Tom:
Half Orc Paladin
Rask
Regdar - Adventurer
Slayer of Domiel
Caravan Guard
Warforged Wizard
Royal Guard
Declan:
Sword Archon
Marut
Gold Dwarf Soldier
Man at Arms
Mercenary Sergeant
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One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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CSchroder
Sergeant
415 Posts
| | 01/31/2006 10:46 AM |
| | Good luck Peter and kudos for all your efforts! | |
Charles AKA The Beardless One, Proud Member of Team Amish | |
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alepulp
Underboss
1538 Posts
Manchester, England
| | 01/31/2006 1:03 PM |
| | Thanks! Many on these boards are there, Orcmonk, Froffenhoffer (I think), _Gloom and XAos come to mind! If I come in the top 20 I'll be a happy bunny! | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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Feathers
Underboss
1140 Posts
| | 02/04/2006 5:01 AM |
| Good luck to all.
I wish my trip to the UK was this week instead of next. I would have loved to represent the States and participate in this event. [:(]
But have fun ya'll!
Any chance you guys getting together for casual skirmishing on the 11th? [:)] | |
Champion of Neogi
Completed Trades/Transactions: sttmxn, Krush, jgsugden, Ayrychx2, Venport, Tysac
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alepulp
Underboss
1538 Posts
Manchester, England
| | 02/04/2006 4:44 PM |
| | Where are you going in the UK? London and Manchester have fairly regular DDM games going. | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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froffenhoffer
Sergeant
702 Posts
| | 02/04/2006 4:53 PM |
| | alepulp, who won you or Ron in the final? | |
Champion of Wildshaped druid in with natural spell!
Thus said froffenhoffer
The Official through the heart, and im to blame archer. | |
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alepulp
Underboss
1538 Posts
Manchester, England
| | 02/04/2006 5:51 PM |
| | It was close again - I won 200 - 170 (or 160 ?). | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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One_Wing
Sergeant
494 Posts
London
| | 02/04/2006 6:14 PM |
| Well done. I will post a full report in the other thread I made (probably) tommorow. Did you get any good photos?
Edit: Your sig needs changing now; one down, one to go. | |
Thousands of Zulu's, behind You!
Proud member of PK's team low tier beasting; CG for ever!
Champion of the Dragon Disciple | |
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alepulp
Underboss
1538 Posts
Manchester, England
| | 02/04/2006 6:26 PM |
| Well done on being the one to keep me from 100% - you played very well. I can blame the dice all I want - but the loss was your good play and a bad choice of tactics from me.
I honestly didn't think I'd win many games at the Cup and was delighted to win the event.
Full report on the way at my website - feel free to grab piccies from there! | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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juice
Warrior
175 Posts
| | 02/04/2006 9:50 PM |
| | Congratulations! I cant wait to read your full report of the tourney. [:)] | |
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Gloom_
Sergeant
583 Posts
| | 02/05/2006 6:05 AM |
| Haha, fast report! I'll stick one up of how I got on if I can remember correctly.. I was 3-1-2 (yes, we managed a draw in one game).
I still am pretty suprised that I did not see any Gith monks, Slaads, or infact any Ravagers, Eyes, Champs ETC. (infact, there was only a single CE band?!) If anyone wonders what it was like to play, there were just horrors *everywhere* (7 of them on the same table in the final!).
Also, big thumbs up for Alepulp for organizing it.. as he seems to organize everything!
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orcmonk220
Underboss
1608 Posts
| | 02/05/2006 6:18 AM |
| | Aye Peter, well done. I was pretty glad with my result too. Nice one on winning. | |
My Trading Thread | |
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alepulp
Underboss
1538 Posts
Manchester, England
| | 02/05/2006 6:55 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Gloom_
Haha, fast report! I'll stick one up of how I got on if I can remember correctly.. I was 3-1-2 (yes, we managed a draw in one game).
I still am pretty suprised that I did not see any Gith monks, Slaads, or infact any Ravagers, Eyes, Champs ETC. (infact, there was only a single CE band?!) If anyone wonders what it was like to play, there were just horrors *everywhere* (7 of them on the same table in the final!).
Also, big thumbs up for Alepulp for organizing it.. as he seems to organize everything!
Thanks, Sam - the 3 HH's v 4 HH's was a really nerv wracking experience - I was shaking after both games... Ron was very unlucky with his rolls in the second match | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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froffenhoffer
Sergeant
702 Posts
| | 02/05/2006 8:26 AM |
| Report mark 2-how my warband went (im charlie):
My warband was:
1 Helmed horror
1 Efreeti
1 dark naga
1 gauth
1 skeletal dwarf
1 kobold sorcerer
2 Kobold miners
(see alepulps post for warbands)
Round 1: Steve with Moon elf.
Played on fane of lolth after losing map initiative. he took left side as i lost side initiative aswell.
Kobold miners set up in his victory areas, never got any tile points before there death. Round 1 He placed all mmodels within move distance of mine. I move efreeti to front of my warband- big mistake. In round 2 he wins initiative and moves 1 fb(using tactics) to hit my efreeti for 30. Then a wizard tactition shoots it with empowered MM. I pass morale save, so second fb come and finishes it off- my turn.
HH goes in attacks hits fb-which gets paralysed and fired and slapped by gauth and naga respectively. kobold kills an elf archer with MM. Dwarf hit fb for 20. Round 2 he uses fbs to put horror on 5. Horror kills fb dies to death strike. He then kills naga with more fb attacking in game. He wins on tile points, me getting 56 points, him 200.
Round 2- against richard.
Once i won terrain and side initiative (to play on drow outpost)this game was a forgorn conclusion. Gauth constantly deals 30 to Chraals each turn. 3 breaths do 60 to Efreeti, 30 to Naga and Horror, none to amyhting else. 1st Chraal dies when based only by skeletal dwarf- no explosion effect. Second one dies to Kobold sorcere fire explosion. 3rd one decided not to try and kill efreeti, bad mistake. Gauth deals it 30, efreeti hits it for 25, HH for 20, and then it gets lightening bolted. As a last ditch effort sends orog in, who goes down to 35 until I win as i get tile points every time.
Round 3- Grit bone. On his map mushroom tangle.
Once again kobolds get no points. He uses first turn GMA which moves him close to me once i am all out of activations. Kord slams the horror for 30. Round to Kord slams horror for further 40, but misses with a snakes swiftness attack, horror on 25. Gauth paralyses it, horror hits it for 50, gauth for 15. Multiple graycloak shots finish of the horror, but Dwarf and kobold sorcere finish Kord of, and efreeti bases the shamans, makes one run away. Naga lands tile points.
Next round Gauth begins to start picking of greycloaks, efreeti takes Inspiring marshal who charged him. Next round naga Uses Lightning bolt to make remainder of filler and crows run away.I win 200-65. I am 2-1
ROund 4 Ron Quad horror.
His horrors just ened up making the game quick and painless for me, on my map and my side. On round 3 I end up flying his commander with My horror, but his horros are allready in the middle. Despit my auto damage i only kill 1 before losing, but i got 4 round of tile points,, finnaly some by kobolds. I lose 200- 115.I am now 2-2.
Round 5 Arthur-very interesting band.
We both use same map,and i get end which is 3 by 8. He tries to send a green draon for tile points, that gets killed by Gauth and efreeti.When his horrors get into the fight i kill them quite fast, with auto damage. Gauth paralyzes Trog captain to keep him out of battle. Without support the gauth Efreeti and my HH easily kill his 2 HH. I then base his kobold with my Efreeti. He sends Trog to deal with it- who gets slaughtered by gauth and efreeti. I win on tile points before he is wiped out.200- 51 i think. I am 3-2.
Round 6 v sam on mithril mines. Both of our kobolds get early tile points,but in round 2 efreetis kills his with produce flame. IN the fight There is an exchange of lightening bolts, but the auto damage proves the difference against the other HH, and paralysing naga helps aswell. Placing the dwarf skeleton in a place so his naga cant use his second lightning bault as it is based anywhere, so naga trys to kill it, fails. My HH kills one of his. Second of his finished of by Gauth in its attempt to kill gauth in melee. His Efreeti finished of by mine. I win on tile points. That game was mostly one as both of us had a kobold on one fo my victory areas. My 1 passes a morale save after his 1 attacks it even though naga cant see it, natural 19 wins me the game yay.I make his one rout with my attack. He does kill the HH in the big fight. I win 200-65
I finish up with 4-2, 971 points in 4th, ten behind One_wing in second. Congrats to alepulp for final win.
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Champion of Wildshaped druid in with natural spell!
Thus said froffenhoffer
The Official through the heart, and im to blame archer. | |
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One_Wing
Sergeant
494 Posts
London
| | 02/05/2006 9:32 AM |
| As promised, here is my full report:
The band
As most of the London play group could probably tell you, my favourite faction is by far Lawful Evil. The problem is, I also like to play unusual bands, and I really hate playing with whatever band everyone thinks is “best” currently. This ruled out playing with Helmed Horrors, and the likely presence of Helmed Horrors ruled out playing with Chraals. The last time I played my Beholder band, it crashed and burned, and that was in a metagame without any of the Horrific Ones. So Lawful Evil was looking like a choice between my enjoyment and my success. Luckily, my brother, who never usually plays Lawful evil, was keen to try a variant of Dark Flames, for which he needed my Gauth. Because of these factors, I decided to try something completely different, and I gravitated to my favourite non-LE piece, the Greenfang Druid. The problem was, the old build that I used to play with: GFD, two bears, Eberk, Aramil, 5 T-Wolves and two elf warriors, just didn’t work in the 8 figs + maps environment, since multiple stun attacks used to be my main out against non immune beaters such as the FB, some of which I still expected to see. As well as this, having bot beaters on a large base did not work. The band I decided to test against my brothers was as follows:
GFD
Dire Bear
Frenzied Berserker, which combines perfectly with Great Vigor
Goliath Barbarian
Aramil
Timber Wolf x2
This band put up a good fight, but still lost. Most notably, the goliath seemed like dead weight in what would almost certainly be an LE dominated environment. Then on Thursday night (t-2 days), someone on these (Maxminis) boards suggested that I replace the Goliath with Rikka. Even a cursory examination of her stats showed that this would be absolutely the right choice, since she covered the three things the Goliath seemed to lack, Survivability, since she had DR and some immunities, as well as an existent armour class, Mobility, since she could fly, providing a flanker for the FB, and finally, the ability to actually hit stuff, attacking at +15. Her healing seemed like an added bonus (although actually, the only game I used it in I lost). Sadly, I only managed to pick up a Rikka on Friday night, so I was going into the event with no testing at all. Essentially on a whim, I chose mushroom cavern as my map, since it seemed to look about right for my band.
The Tournament
Well, as always seems to be the way for us poor Londoners, I had to get up at quarter to seven in the morning on the day, to catch the 8:10 train to Birmingham. After loading up on coffee and a bagel filled with bacon and eggs at the station, with more coffee on the train, I felt ready to go. In the end, we arrived at about 10AM for an 11AM start time, but this gave us time to check everything. The tournament started about 5 minutes behind schedule, but compared to my experiences at Magic tournaments, this delay was nothing.
Round 1 vs Chris Kay (Orcmonk 220)
Round one was against one of the other under 18 players at the event, Chris was also trying a relatively unusual band:
Couatl
Ulmo Lightbringer
Justice Archon x2
Hill Dwarf x4
I was slightly worried by this matchup. Past experience has shown that Ulmo can eat bears given half a chance (its all wrong), and JAs are obviously effective against the FB. In addition, even once I won terrain initiative, I had no idea how I would play it, and which side to choose. I went for side A this time. I set up with the GFD adjacent to the FB, and the bear closest to the center This became a theme in my set ups. Before first initiative, I dropped Rikka as close to his start area as possible in my victory area around the corner from it. Turn one, I won init, and forced him to move first. He started off by moving Dwarves towards the central victory areas. I moved up my stuff to(after regen on the FB) stand here:
C=empty
B=bear
F=FB
A=Aramil
_|CCCC_
AFBBC| |
CCBBC| |
Rikka was two squares down and one to the right of the bottom right square of Bear. Chris ended his activations by moving his Couatl to two squares down from the bear on the other side of the wall. Luckily for me, this was exactly 8 squares from Rikka, who moved up and stabbed the Couatl ( a wolf had replaced her for tile points).
Turn two, I won init again, and went first. The bear started by eating a dwarf that had offended it, and the GFD popped legions magic fang (I think). On his turn, Chris moved in a Justice archon to flank the bear, and Ulmo started to kill it. However, this left the Justice archon OOC, and a smack from the FB and a magic missile sent it running (not quite off). He managed to get the Couatl away from Rikka intact, but had to move far enough to escape chasing, so did little else. Rikka then went and hit Ulmo anyway.
I won init once again, and used it to hit ulmo once with the rather doomed bear, but he made morale. Rikka missed the Couatl. The bear got killed, and the Couatl healed itself. Then, the Fb, went and hit Ulmo for 30, and an MM finished him off. The rest of the match was mostly mopping up, although the FB spent some off it fleeing the JA.
Final Score 200-44
1-0
Round 2
This was against Pawel, who was playing a scary archmage band:
Archmage
Ryld
Celestial Pegasus
Fodder
He one terrain init, so we were playing on hellspike. I never really had much of a hope. Despite shrugging off Banishment and Mordy’s Sword, the Suicide Rikka couldn’t kill the Archmage, and the rest of my band got held up by fodder and Smoke and were picked off one by one. Final score, 41-200 (Pegasus and fodder only died)
1-1
Round 3
This was against Arthur. I won both terrain and setup again, and this time chose side B. What I had learned in round one was that a Rikka stealth strike against commanders would be both unexpected and effective, and side B both makes this easier and allows the Bear and FB to block the whole passageway to the kill zone. He had the following band:
Troglodyte Captain
Kobold Sorcerer
Helmed horror x2
Green Dragon
Duergar Soldier x2
Kobold Soldier
Before first init, Rikka once again dropped as close to his stuff as possible. He one first init , and used it to move his helmed horrors towards the center. I responded by moving a Bear towards the block point, and a wolf towards the spore victory area. Next, he MW’ed his green dragon, and moved his kobold soldier. This gave me the irresistible opportunity to move Rikka to base both of his commanders and both Duergars and still take a swing at the Kobold, which hit, but a natural 20 on morale kept him in the game. The beauty of this was that only the trog could actually hurt Rikka, and that at a maximum rate of 10 a turn. Before this though, The GFD vigoured the FB, and moved to get Rikka in sight. He responded by swinging at rikka with his Duergar, hoping for a crit. My FB moved up, and he finally moved his MW’ed dragon to base my Druid. On the next turn, I won init, which gave the bear a double hit on a Horror, and the GFD sent the dragon running off the board with a hit and a crit.. The Horrors both went after the bear (one having to move) and hit him for 45. The FB Hits the injured horror for 30, and Rikka misses the Trog. Round 3, I get init, and the FB hits Horrors for 30 each, and the GFD kills the injured one with produce flame. Horror two makes the Bear run, and Trog puts ten on Rikka for no loss. Round 4, FB takes 30 then deals 60 to horror, who is once again flamed. Bear rallies, and Rikka mops up Kobold. Next turn, FB stabs some fodder, and Rikka hits Trog, and finally, on turn 6 trog runs away.
200-0, 2-1
Round 4
This was against Stephen, who was playing a very clever band indeed:
Moon Elf Fighter
2x Frenzied Berserker
Wizard Tactician
Devis
Fodder
This band was, frankly, terrifying in the amount of damage it could deal in one shot. My only strategy was to get tile points early and constantly, and rely on the fact that his berserkers were burning out to even the field enough that I could get the points required for the win. I won map init, and he made me set up first, so I once again opted to go with side B. This was the only band against which Rikka was off the board turn one. On turn one, I moved into the traditional position, while he clumped his band around the fighter about 8 spaces away from my band, near the spore area. Before second init, I dropped Rikka in the spore area. Winning init, I rushed her to base as much of his band as possible, including the moon elf and the two FBs. I also moved a wolf. The FBs between them made Rikka run for it, but this had taken their turns, and made them burn again. I then went on the offensive with the bear and my own FB. What followed was an absolute bloodbath, during which Rikka rallied and the GFD regenned himself, which left only one of his FBs standing on 15 out of the two bands main hitters. I was on 40 tile points at this time, to his 0. I almost lost it when I left the GFD close enough to the FB that it could get to him on 5 hp for a swing and a death strike next turn but, luckily, both missed. The moon elf hit the GFD for ten. He regenned up to 65, and missed the moon elf twice Rikka went and attacked the tactician, but conceal saved her. More tile points brings me up to 50; I now only need the tactician to die. But alas, conceal saved her again, and the moon elf hit twice, taking the GFD to 45. he regenned up to 50 and hit once back. Next turn I won init, but conceal saved the tactician again. The GFD hit the Moon elf, and got hit once in return, going to 45. Next turn he won init but, unluckily the moon elf missed twice. This time, both of his things got hit and ran, with the tactician going off the board, which gave me the win. Final score 200-106, 3-1
Round 5
This was scary even before I saw the match up, since it was against Peter (Alepulp), the highest rated player in Europe. He was playing the following band:
Rakshasa
Dark Moon Monk
Helmed Horror x3
Kobold Miner x3
I won both terrain inits, and set up in the usual way. Sadly, one of his miners set up in the top victory area, so I had to drop rikka there to deal with it. First turn, I moved up to normal position, while he stayed on his start area casting magic weapon. Rikka (predictably) dropped the kobold, and moved 2 into sight of the GFD for next turn. His second miner earned him tile points, while Aramil MM’ed the third, and a wolf got me mine. Turn two, magic weapon was again cast, and some HH’s moved up to base my bear. One got hit for 30 for its troubles, and Rikka moved to engage one from behind (no flanking bonus but heh), while the FB struck another for 30. The last flew over my head to claim tile points. Aramil put enfeeblement on the injured HH (closest target. Turn 3, Rikka and the bear drop HH 1 to 15. It strikes the bear back, as does the other in contact, but the morale save is passed. FB drops the HH it is fighting to 35. Tile grabbing HH engages Aramil, who passes his morale save. Bear passes a slapping hand save. He wins init, and Horrors scare Rikka off. In response, bear drops one and puts the other in FBing range. The FB then moves 8 to base the Rakshasa. Helmed Horror two drops Aramil and bases bear. Next round, a hit and a crit kill the bear after it had hit horror for 30, but FB sends Rakshasa off the board. Rikka runs off, but Peter then conceded, since it was an injured helmed horror facing uninjured FB and GFD, as well as me only needing 20 tile points for the win. 200-96 4-1
Round 6
This was a slaughter. Ron was playing Quad Horrors and won map init for hellspike. Basically, they could coordinate and I couldn’t, and my band got picked off one by one for the loss of only two Horrors. Although I felt I should have won a few more initiatives, I don’t think it would have helped that much, since Ron both had an amazing band and was playing masterfully. 140-200 (not as close as it looks), 4-2
The finals were between Peter and Ron (both on 5-1), but, mostly due to scoring 140 vs Ron, I had the best tie breaks of those on 4-2, so came third overall. I am very happy with this result, since I was playing a fairly rogue band, and I got a very ironic Helmed Horror in my prize booster. Many thanks to Peter, for organising the event, and to Dave, who came down from Manchester to run it as well as providing prize support.
Also, to Peter, I will send you the photos I took, since I feel that there should be at least some of you in this thread. | |
Thousands of Zulu's, behind You!
Proud member of PK's team low tier beasting; CG for ever!
Champion of the Dragon Disciple | |
| Master Peon
spikegif
Warlord
5699 Posts
| | 02/08/2006 9:53 AM |
| | Thanks for the reports, it did take some reading to get them all in. good meat to eat [:P] | |
First peon to make it to "Knight Warlord"
Completed Trades -148- | |
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Toxic_Rat
Sergeant
745 Posts
Lehi, Utah, USA
| | 02/08/2006 4:33 PM |
| | To what do you guys ascribe the lack of gith monks or heavy CE bands? | |
Any time you try to make something idiot-proof, someone always goes out and invents a better idiot.
Champion of Siege Equipment | |
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alepulp
Underboss
1538 Posts
Manchester, England
| | 02/08/2006 4:48 PM |
| I didn't play GAS because of the possibility of HH's and one particularly skilful Archmage player who I expected to come and, however carefully protected the YM and CoDA was would manage to soon remove the possibility of any victory. I practiced HH v GAS and Archmage and saw that they were easier to win with. As for CE - I'm not sure that it'd do well presently - although Quad Red Sams might just have done "something". I also expected Maruts with Couatls - and felt that Red Sam swarms wouldn't be so effective. HH is also perfect against dual and triple Death Slaads - simply too many HPs to destroy.
Others might have a different view - but I was drawn to HH because it didn't seem to have a completely reliable bad matchup. | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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rondom
Skirmisher
42 Posts
| | 02/09/2006 7:24 AM |
| | I agree with alepulp - there isn't a bad matchup for HH unless you don't have magic weapon. I hope there's a construct silver bullet in Wardrums or the metagame is going to stagnate. | |
Rondom
Remember - if you can use all your figures it's 'Full' - if not it's 'Restricted'. Anything that cycles figures out of use in a planned timetable is 'Planned Obsolesence'. Never accept your enemy's terms! | |
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lynchpt
Sergeant
930 Posts
| | 02/10/2006 11:32 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by rondom
I agree with alepulp - there isn't a bad matchup for HH unless you don't have magic weapon. I hope there's a construct silver bullet in Wardrums or the metagame is going to stagnate.
The new Dragonshrine map (in Wardrums starters) is already a slap at Helmed Horrors. If the opposing warband can keep one piece on the proper Victory area, his entire warband can gain Resist Fire 5. That will be huge in some matchups. Triple Frenzy is not so trivial for HH to beat when it takes 7-8 hots rathe than 5 to kill them! Other examples could be mutiplied.
Pat Lynch
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