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ktatroe
Sergeant
572 Posts
    
 | | 05/08/2006 7:46 PM |
| First off, I'd like to thank Gerald Brady (spikegif) and the folks in Utah for putting on a fine qualifier. I knew going in that Southern California was bringing a carload or so -- turned out to be five. Then, Northern California also showed up with a full six folks. Three of us came from Colorado, and one from Idaho.
In the end, the qualifier had 26 attendees, and among them some of the finest players around. It promised to be a tough day. Luckily, I had prepared -- I picked two warbands about a month out and practiced the heck out of them. As the qualifier approached, I had to pick one or the other and practice it even more.
My goal was modest -- go at least 50/50 and get good practice for the upcoming Colorado qualifier. Still, I took the competition seriously, and played an uncountable number of practice games on Vassal, both with my warbands and with expected archetypes, particularly against Jesse (doubtofbuddha) and there is no question that that helped.
Due to the number of multi-Helmed Horror and Marut bands I expected to face, and due to its resilience against a wide variety of rogue and spoiler bands, I went with:
SWarm!
Sword Archon
Dwarf Artificer
Sacred Watcher x5
Timber Wolf
Map: Dragon Shrine
-----
Round 1: Britton Hair
In the first round, I was paired with Britton Hair. He was playing:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Cleric of Dol Arrah
Justicator x2
Slayer of Domiel
Man-at-Arms
Timber Wolf x2
Map: Dragon Shrine
Obviously we set up on Dragon Shrine -- I won side initiative and had him set up on the Cold side. No reason to let him nerf even the little elemental damage my warband had.
I first sent a number of Watchers to eliminate his tile grabbers, eliminating two wolves in as many rounds. After that, I knew the route to success would be to eliminate the Cleric as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately for Britton, he bunched his figures together, which meant that I was able to practically base every figure he had with Sacred Watchers while sitting on the sacred circle closest to the Tiamat statue, while one Justicator and the Slayer were not on the circle. I was able to eliminate the Slayer and the Cleric in short order, then was able to take one Justicator down with two watchers and the Sword Archon while harassing the other Justicator with two Watchers.
Record: 1-0
-----
Round 2: Chas Culverwell
Inspired Skirmishers
Inspiring Marshal
Wemic Barbarian
Rikka, Angelic Avenger
Xen'dric Champion
Crow Shaman
Graycloak Ranger
Aramil, Adventurer
Medium Astral Construct
Timber Wolf (minion)
Again, the map was set at Dragon Shrine. I won side initiative again, and set up on the fire side. In order to prevent an early attack on my Timber Wolf (the only figure I had which was remotely likely to fail a morale save, I dangled a Sacred Watcher out in front of the tile-scoring wolf earlier than I generally try to.
My goal this time was to first base Aramil and the Crow Shaman as quickly as possible, then focus on the Wemic first and Rikka second (they each can kill a Sacred Watcher in two swings, but the Wemic gets two chances).
Chas was a new player, and also played quite slowly -- as the half-hour mark passed, and we hadn't even finished the first round, I knew I had to change the strategy to kill as much as possible as quickly as possible. That meant skipping Rikka and the Wemic and going for the soft underbelly.
In rapid succession, his Wemic and Rikka both hit and got through incorporeal on three Sacred Watchers in a row -- two rounds, six swings between them, six hits, and six incorporeal checks made. On my side, I'd missed attacks on everything except Aramil, who ran after a single hit.
I was in a pretty bad spot, but then luck shifted -- the Crow Shaman and Graycloak Ranger ran off the board, while I managed to kill the Xen'drik Champion. At the end of the three rounds we got in, that put me ahead 107 to 84, of which I scored 64 points in the last few activations of the game.
My biggest mistake this game was not calling Gerald over to watch -- getting two rounds in before the one hour mark (we'd just rolled initiative as time was called) is entirely too low.
Record: 2-0
-----
Round 3: Jacob Lujan (Felagund)
Untitled Warband
Cleric of Order
Couatl
Aspect of Kord
Arcane Ballista
Aramil, Adventurer
Timber Wolf
Man-at-Arms
Map: Broken Demongate
Yet again, I won map initiative and chose Dragon Shrine. I was getting some good practice in on this map, for sure, even though until this point, I hadn't faced anything with any elemental damage to speak of.
Despite his high AC (especially after being legion's shield of faith buffed), I knew that exposing the Sword Archon to the Ballista would spell the doom of my warband.
And then I made my first (and only, I think) major mistake of the day -- I placed the Sword Archon such that if he got lucky and killed a Sacred Watcher, he'd be closer to the Ballista than any other figure. He killed the Sacred Watcher, then cast snake's swiftness on the Sword Archon. One Kord thump later, it was game over.
With an incredible amount of luck, I would have still been able to pull it off (kill the Ballista, route Kord, lose no further Watchers), but I didn't have any luck, and only managed to route Aramil after that.
Record: 2-1
-----
Round 4: Paul Grashoff
George
Sword Archon
Sacred Watcher x6
Warforged Scout
Map: Mushroom Cavern
Finally, I lost a map initiative and we ended up playing on Mushroom Cavern. Although I felt I had the slight advantage in the mirror due to the legion's shield of faith, I felt that might be negated by my relative inexperience on this map -- it just doesn't show up very often in our local meta.
We maneuvered for a round (with me getting ahead on tiles for the round), then dove into the center victory areas. Strictly due to the slightly higher ACs, I managed to get ahead by killing two of his Watchers, but I had to sacrifice my tile lead to do it. After that, he had a stellar round -- killing two of my Watchers and my Timber Wolf, and shutting me out for the round on tile points, putting him ahead 127 to 56.
However, he left my Sword Archon relatively unmolested, and at the beginning of the next round, I was able to swoop in and kill his Sword Archon, closing the gap and then some. I was now able to kill his Watchers in two hits from mine, while he was having to kill mine in three.
After that, while he managed to take down several more Sacred Watchers, I was able to keep pace and take it in the end.
As a side note, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this was one of the most fun games I've ever played. If ever there was a game to dispel the myth that competitive play between good players has to be all frowns and silence, this was it!
Record: 3-1
-----
Round 5: Glyn Dewey
Hex Watcher
Sword Archon
Sacred Watcher x6
Standard Bearer
Map: Dragon Shrine
Another player on Dragon Shrine! Glyn won side initiative, and took the fire side. No amount of AC boosting was going to turn this match in my favor with both my commander effect nerfed and the ability of the Sword Archon to remove a Sacred Watcher removed in a single swing.
I knew killing the Standard Bearer was going to be the key to winning this -- even if it meant losing two Watchers and fighting an uphill battle. Glyn was not going to give him up without a fight, however, and I didn't manage to get close to him in the first five rounds.
Having the wolf meant that I was able to get an early advantage on tile points, but in the second round, he killed two of my Watchers, while I only got one. (That three hits to two hits ratio thing!) I managed in the next round to tie it up -- and then made my gambit for his Sword Archon. If his Standard Bearer wouldn't die, maybe his Sword Archon would.
In what can only be described as a stunning set of rolls, he missed my Sword Archon with his (then I hit him in return), won initiative, then missed again. My Sword Archon hit again. I was able to then kill a Sacred Watcher and (finally!) get rid of that pesky Standard Bearer to roll over 200 points.
This was definitely my "influenced by luck" game for the day. Glyn played perfectly and had the advantage going in, but the dice turned the tables in the end.
Record: 4-1
-----
Round 6: Robert Hatch (Dagni)
Spirit of Iron
Couatl
Marut
Sacred Watcher x3
Aramil, Adventurer
Standard Bearer
Mialee, Elf Wizard
Map: Drow Outpost
I played well enough throughout the day that even getting paired with Dagni in the final round couldn't dampen my spirits. I'd practiced my warband plenty against various MCx builds, and I knew I could take it on -- I figured my best shot was to use my advantage of two hit kills on his Watchers versus mine to try and eliminate them, which meant first eliminating the Standard Bearer.
For the second time, my Sword Archon was grounded by legion's undeniable gravity, and for the second time, a gambit to get an early hit in on the Standard Bearer failed -- pesky 2s!
He managed to get his Marut within 6 squares of my Sword Archon and use its attack to clear a Sacred Watcher. Then, the next round, despite his 4-point deficit in initiative, win initiative, move in and swing twice on the Sword Archon (hitting both, of course). Finally, one of his Sacred Watchers hit as well, leaving me with a pile of more or less uninjured Watchers.
In an early last ditch effort, I ran my Dwarf Artificer up to rust construct, risking two attacks of opportunity. Both hit, and the Dwarf failed morale. That ended my chances.
As luck would have it, I'd see this very band the very next game...
Record: 4-2
-----
Semifinals: Robert Hatch (Dagni)
I felt good about how well I'd played, and particularly felt good about my record for the day -- especially given the field. There were a number of 4-2s, and my only two losses were to the sole 6-0 and sole 5-1, so my chances of getting in were pretty good.
And I did. Holy crap, I qualified.
Unfortunately, I qualified at the bottom of the top 4, which meant facing Dagni again.
I got map initiative. Dagni had admitted in the earlier match that he knew no map better than Drow Outpost, and while I know it very well, too, it was clear that he knew it better, so I chose Dragon Shrine.
He won side initiative and chose the cold side (as long as his Couatl was around, the Shrines were inconsequential, and he wanted to dictate where the fight would take place, which is simpler from the cold side).
We maneuvered around for three full rounds -- him coming down along the right side of the center area, and me sneaking around the left corridor (left-rights based on fire shrine facing you).
In my first minor mistake, I'd left the Dwarf Artificer behind, and brought him out to try and move in for the rust construct later, even though I was fairly certain I'd win or lose based on killing everything but the Marut. He managed to hit him three times with his three Watchers and kill him on the third round.
At the start of the next round, I snuck through and killed Aramil. Then the Standard Bearer on the next round. During these two rounds, my Sacred Watchers managed to survive four swings from the Marut (go incorp!).
In the next round, I dropped both Mialee and a Sacred Watcher, leaving me with a distinct advantage on points. He still hadn't managed to drop a Sacred Watcher with his Marut. Then, his Couatl ran off the board. At this point, it was 158 to 91.
Time was called and we entered our last round. I'd placed the Sword Archon at just the wrong spot -- the Marut was able to bypass my screeners and take a swing, killing him -- putting the final total at 183 to 168.
I'd literally just lost the game by an inch.
Although it would have been incredible to win, I can honestly say that was the best I've ever played. My biggest mistake was not just taking as much time as I needed during the last round, and count out every possibility -- time was already called, so there was no reason to not play extraordinarily carefully.
In the end, I'd done more than I set out to do -- I not only went better than 50/50, I'd qualified, and in an incredible field to boot.
So now I get to judge the Colorado Qualifier and leave one spot there (well, presuming I would play well enough to get a spot!) for someone else and still come to GenCon and play there.
My goal at the Championships is to go 50/50...
| |
H/W: http://www.hordelings.com/frontend/profiles/profile.php?user=ktatroe | |
| The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 05/08/2006 8:35 PM |
| | Nice report Keith. Two losses to Dagni is never a shame, and I feel your pain on that ballista move, I've done that before myself... stupid dead blocker. | |
Im out- find me on Hordelings if you want to chat. | |
|
Dagni
Sergeant
870 Posts
| | 05/08/2006 8:42 PM |
| A great read, thanks for the report!
While it's fresh in my mind, here's a couple comments on the final game.
quote:
Originally posted by ktatroe
I got map initiative. Dagni had admitted in the earlier match that he knew no map better than Drow Outpost, and while I know it very well, too, it was clear that he knew it better, so I chose Dragon Shrine.
He won side initiative and chose the cold side (as long as his Couatl was around, the Shrines were inconsequential, and he wanted to dictate where the fight would take place, which is simpler from the cold side).
Even simpler than that, only my Couatl could reach tile points, and only from that side. I figured no other consideration was worth much, as all the Sacred Watchers hardly cared about which side was which.
quote:
In my first minor mistake, I'd left the Dwarf Artificer behind, and brought him out to try and move in for the rust construct later, even though I was fairly certain I'd win or lose based on killing everything but the Marut. He managed to hit him three times with his three Watchers and kill him on the third round.
I killed him with Marut double move and then Snake's swiftness, actually.
quote:
At the start of the next round, I snuck through and killed Aramil. Then the Standard Bearer on the next round. During these two rounds, my Sacred Watchers managed to survive four swings from the Marut (go incorp!).
In the next round, I dropped both Mialee and a Sacred Watcher, leaving me with a distinct advantage on points. He still hadn't managed to drop a Sacred Watcher with his Marut. Then, his Couatl ran off the board. At this point, it was 158 to 91.
Time was called and we entered our last round. I'd placed the Sword Archon at just the wrong spot -- the Marut was able to bypass my screeners and take a swing, killing him -- putting the final total at 183 to 168.
I'd literally just lost the game by an inch.
Although it would have been incredible to win, I can honestly say that was the best I've ever played. My biggest mistake was not just taking as much time as I needed during the last round, and count out every possibility -- time was already called, so there was no reason to not play extraordinarily carefully.
Let's see: at the start of a round, I had a slight point lead, (I'm pretty sure) until you killed a Sacred Watcher with the Sword Archon and moved away. You had the point lead at this point, though I had a chance to get it back by a minimal margin with two tries of killing a Sacred Watcher. (Marut + Snake's Swiftness). I believe that time hadn't been called yet, in fact I'm sure of it, as my strategy depended on another round. This Sword Archon move was when you made your mistake.
At first I didn't see it. I had gotten your Sword Archon down to 60 hp left, which was very significant, only taking 2 Marut attacks to kill it now. I knew that. What I almost didn't see was that I only needed to attack once that round, and as long as the Sword Archon was based, then it was inevitable that I would kill the Sword Archon the following round. In my personal thoughts, I considered that possibility, with maybe 5-10 minutes on the clock basically a sure win, even if he got one swing on my uninjured or almost uninjured Marut.
I double moved the Marut to base the Archon, and the Couatl was able to follow and Snake's Swiftness. I didn't roll a 1. Thereafter his many unactivated SWs attacked my Couatl routing it and putting the game still within his reach. However, in the final round, my Marut did kill his Archon, and I was able to keep my remaining Sacred Watchers alive for the win.
- Dagni | |
Proud member of the GRUUMSH fan club! | |
|
robby
Sergeant
918 Posts
| |
memphisto
Warrior
213 Posts
| | 05/08/2006 9:21 PM |
| | Congrats again, Kevin. Thanks for the colorful report - loved it. | |
Completed trades: arbados
Completed 23 trades on Hordelings www.hordelings.com - http://www.hordelings.com/directory/profile.php?user_id=429 | |
|
Kevizoid
Sergeant
373 Posts
Southern California
| | 05/08/2006 9:37 PM |
| | Ktatroe is a conspiracy! He has two identities! Keith and Kevin! | |
SoCal Colluder | |
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sienar
Sergeant
640 Posts
| | 05/08/2006 10:03 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Kevizoid
Ktatroe is a conspiracy! He has two identities! Keith and Kevin!
we're really two different people! honest. [)]
It's not our fault our parents named us so close. I'm thinking I should change my name to Jean-Luc.
Funny thing about our names. We had one person on Sat meet me as Keith and turned to Kevin and said 'you must be Keith'. I just about died laughing. | |
[http://www.hordelings.com/frontend/profiles/profile.php?user_id=22] | |
|
Eliminator53
Sergeant
628 Posts
| | 05/08/2006 11:27 PM |
| | Good report Kevin and congrats to the three CO players went and did well. Way to represent the state! As for Jacob's band, it should be called simply, Ballistic. | |
Champion of Tavern Stripper
Knight of Knights
Squire of Death Giants
Somethin-or-another of Big Arse Swords | |
| Master Peon
spikegif
Warlord
5699 Posts
| | 05/09/2006 12:55 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by sienar
Funny thing about our names. We had one person on Sat meet me as Keith and turned to Kevin and said 'you must be Keith'. I just about died laughing.
Hay now!!!, don't go making fun of me[:)][:D][:I][B)] | |
First peon to make it to "Knight Warlord"
Completed Trades -148- | |
| Master Peon
spikegif
Warlord
5699 Posts
| | 05/09/2006 1:01 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by spikegif
quote:
Originally posted by sienar
Funny thing about our names. We had one person on Sat meet me as Keith and turned to Kevin and said 'you must be Keith'. I just about died laughing.
Hay now!!!, don't go making fun of me[:)][:D][:I][B)]
I have 2 local players who have names that start with "D". each one of them are in a different rollplaying group that I am in. We have miniature events all the time. To this day I still get their names mixed up, even after talking to 1 then turning to the other.
so just because the last time we met was 2 years ago is no reason for me to keep your names straight ΖD] | |
First peon to make it to "Knight Warlord"
Completed Trades -148- | |
| Master Peon
spikegif
Warlord
5699 Posts
| | 05/09/2006 1:03 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by sienar
I just about died laughing.
At least I made the trip was worth it then [:D] | |
First peon to make it to "Knight Warlord"
Completed Trades -148- | |
| Knight of Argenis
Corim Danex
Warlord
6810 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 05/09/2006 1:36 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by spikegif
quote:
Originally posted by sienar
Funny thing about our names. We had one person on Sat meet me as Keith and turned to Kevin and said 'you must be Keith'. I just about died laughing.
Hay now!!!, don't go making fun of me[:)][:D][:I][B)]
I was going to say, if it was me, I wasn't awake yet. The time I talked to both Keith and Kevin was when I first met them. I know both by their maxminis usernames now, and am a little fuzzy still on which is Kevin and which is Keith. From what seinar wrote, I get the impression that he's Kevin, though. | |
"Look to God and live." Alma 37:47
Vindicated Champ of Hippogriff (Arcadian Hippogriff) and Uncommon Horse | |
|
elder_basilisk
Sergeant
410 Posts
| | 05/09/2006 2:36 AM |
| | An excellent report. One minor correction though: you won side init and took the fire side in our match on the dragon shrine. I occupied it later in the game when I sent a sacred watcher after your dwarf artificer who was sitting on it. | |
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Eliminator53
Sergeant
628 Posts
| | 05/09/2006 1:50 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Corim Danex
I was going to say, if it was me, I wasn't awake yet. The time I talked to both Keith and Kevin was when I first met them. I know both by their maxminis usernames now, and am a little fuzzy still on which is Kevin and which is Keith. From what seinar wrote, I get the impression that he's Kevin, though.
Sienar is actually Keith. KTatroe is Kevin. (I think, I am going of of hordelings) | |
Champion of Tavern Stripper
Knight of Knights
Squire of Death Giants
Somethin-or-another of Big Arse Swords | |
|
Felagund
Sergeant
922 Posts
| | 05/09/2006 1:56 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Eliminator53
Sienar is actually Keith. KTatroe is Kevin. (I think, I am going of of hordelings)
Yep, that's right. But folks shouldn't feel bad about confusing the two of them. It took me several weeks of playing against them to get it straight in my head. [:D] | |
Champion of Gnomes | |
|
sienar
Sergeant
640 Posts
| | 05/09/2006 2:34 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by spikegif
quote:
Originally posted by sienar
Funny thing about our names. We had one person on Sat meet me as Keith and turned to Kevin and said 'you must be Keith'. I just about died laughing.
Hay now!!!, don't go making fun of me[:)][:D][:I][B)]
I kept you anonymous, but the cat's out of the bag, now. [:p] | |
[http://www.hordelings.com/frontend/profiles/profile.php?user_id=22] | |
|
Adkainen
49 Posts
| | 05/10/2006 7:52 AM |
| good report!
I am just wondering about the warbands, alltogether there were more sacred watcher than anything else :) | |
| |
| Master Peon
spikegif
Warlord
5699 Posts
| | 05/11/2006 9:38 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Adkainen
good report!
I am just wondering about the warbands, alltogether there were more sacred watcher than anything else :)
Not sure if there were more warbands with watchers, but the watchers was the most common mini. (did not count, just from obersavation) | |
First peon to make it to "Knight Warlord"
Completed Trades -148- | |
|
True_Blue
Underboss
2386 Posts
| | 05/11/2006 1:05 PM |
| | Nice report, it'd be nice to see more like these posted. Even if someone doesnt all the way win, its nice to see how they played and what they did. Thanks for the report. | |
Champion of a Knight of Takhisis/Knight of Neraka | |
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