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Post by Ulf Hreda on Apr 29, 2013 17:10:30 GMT -5
As a first post to a new forum I figured I would add a few bits of info on my first trip to Adepticon in Chicago last-last weekend.
I decided to fly out rather than drive all the way from Horseheads. The trip out on Thursday the 18th was a nightmare because of weather. I was supposed to get to Chicago at 12:40 PM. I actually got there at 1:30 AM Friday- and my army and clothes got delivered to Milwaukee!
So I started the fantasy 3 game team tourney on Friday with a borrowed Dark Elf army. My partner was playing a Vampire Counts army. 1200 pts each.
We went 2 and 1 and had a good time through the day. I failed more panic checks with my mage general's unit then math should allow but the solid vamps held the center for us. We fininshed about 21st out of 130 or so teams.
More later...
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Post by Ulf Hreda on Apr 29, 2013 19:17:54 GMT -5
If you decide to do the team event next year I suggest you use "trusted" allied armies according to the Alliance rules. Our allliance quickly deteriorated to "desperate" and that hurts. The worst part is splitting power and dispel dice. By turn 3 we were really nurfed in the magic phase.
Some of the teams had complimenting paint schemes and display boards. There were even team uniforms and costumes. You will also get and extra 4 points per round for having written fluff about how the armies got together.
There are some cool combos in magic and characters that change the ways that armies fight. Its nice to try out in tourney settings.
More soon.
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Post by calypso2ts on Apr 29, 2013 21:20:21 GMT -5
I always flirt with playing fantasy - Daemon 40k player - so I really enjoy hearing about what the current environment is in the Fantasy world. Congratulations on your strong finish, I would love to hear some summaries of the details of your games.
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Post by Ulf Hreda on Apr 29, 2013 22:14:12 GMT -5
So the airline got my bags to Chicago Friday evening. When I opened the army case I found the telltale TSA search card. Uh-oh. They rifled through the foam and broke some banners and my Hydra off its base. So after a nice Gyro platter dinner, a repair session and Django Unchained it was bed time.
Saturday morning started early with getting everything arranged for the Warhammer Fantasy Championships.
My 2400 Dark Elves list:
High Sorceress Lvl 4 Sac Dagger, Pendant of Khaeleth. Death Lore 320
High Sorceress Lvl 3 Dispel Scroll, Seal of Ghrond, Shadow Lore 280
Death Hag BSB Cauldron 225
Assassin Manbane Stars 151
Assassin Manbane Stars 151
20 Repeater Xbows Full Cmnd 240
33 Corsairs Hbow Full Cmnd Sea Serpent Standard 383
5 Harpies 55
5 Harpies 55
20 Witch Elves Stndrd, Mus, Banner of Murder 240
7 Shades xhw 119
Hydra 175
2394 pts
My build gave me lots of good spell choices and a fair amount of shooting. Along with the Hydra I had my witch elves for close combat punch. This was the first tourney I took two assassins. I was anxious to see if the 300 points would be worth it. I also used shooty corsairs rather than a big block of spears. This would be the bunker for the sac dagger general.
It took me a bit to warm up to the list but by the end I was happy with how it performed.
More to come on the battles..
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Post by grubnards on Apr 29, 2013 23:45:26 GMT -5
Glad to see a fantasy perspective from adepticon. Can't wait to hear about the matches. By any chance do you have any pictures taken during adepticon?
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Post by Ulf Hreda on Apr 30, 2013 13:04:47 GMT -5
I didn't take any pics but there are a ton of vids up on YouTube now. Ohiohammer did lots of interviews at the end of the first row of tables. They even set up a "flying" camera on a boom over a table. However, the audio is awful.
I'll post some thoughts about the first game against Ogre Kingdoms tonight.
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Post by Ulf Hreda on Apr 30, 2013 21:21:19 GMT -5
Game 1 scenario was called "OOO...Shiney!" You set up per the Blood and Glory deployment. 9" from the edges and 15" forward. Victory went to the player who scored 100 points more than the opponent. Special rule was "Treasure seeker" meaning you needed to take out the opposing army's most expensive magic item or demonic gift.
Battle points were 15 win/ 10 draw/ 5 loss. +3 for taking the "treasure". +2 for knocking out the opposing most expensive core unit. +1 point (up to 5) for capturing terrain features by having most models within 6".
My opponent was Matt Hunt from south Florida. His Ogre army was very fluffy. IIRC his army was:
Slaughtermaster w Heavens magic
Butcher w/ Maw magic
Bruiser BSB
Hunter on Stonehorn
1 unit of Bulls
1 Ironguts
2 units of 6 Leadbelchers
1 Sabretusk
Can't remember the rest...
He sat back a bit because he had good shooting and ranged magic. I moved up to him trying to focus on killing his leadbelchers but I never pulled it off. My low point was casting Purple Sun of Xerxes and misfiring the artillery dice then scattering to kill my Death Hag BSB with the Cauldron of Blood! Ouch.
His big item was on his general in the big irongut unit. I just couldn't whittle it down enough.
He was a fun opponent that was sure he was going to lose during setup. I showed him! Matt finished 145 of 156.
More tomorrow..
Still getting used to the assassins.
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Post by Crispy on May 1, 2013 12:50:15 GMT -5
It's good to hear about the fantasy side of things. There's almost an overkill of info regarding 40K and virtually nothing of fantasy.
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Post by Carlos Danger on May 1, 2013 19:12:30 GMT -5
you could of said something chris when i was over the other night ask craig and evan how it went they played in the team event
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Post by Ulf Hreda on May 1, 2013 20:51:53 GMT -5
No doubt that 40K dominates at Adepticon- but this year they made the Warhammer fantasy championship a proper 2 day 5 game event. Maybe they want some balance.
So my second game was against Jonathan Michener from Canada. He fielded a more traditional Ogre Kingdoms army:
Slaughtermaster w Beasts Magic
Butcher w Maw and Hellheart
BSB w Crown of Command
9? Ironguts
12? Bulls
3 Sabretusks
6 Maneaters xhw Scout Immune to Psych?
2 Ironblasters
The scenario was "A Traitor in Our Midst" where both sides had to give the other a core infantry model to use as the traitor. Straight Battleline deployment. 100 point difference for win. If you moved the traitor into the enemy deployment zone then you got +3 battle points. If you kill the opposing traitor then +2 points. Again +1 point (up to 5) for controlling terrain features.
This battle was a dance of opposing traitors on opposite ends of the table. I was trying to catch his with my Harpies while he tried to line up a charge against the flying hags with his sabrecats. I tried to run and hide my traitor's way into his deployment zone until the ogre cannon pasted him.
The whole match came down to a giant scrum in the center with his Ironguts(and characters) and big Bull unit fighting my witch elves in front and corsairs on his flank. My witches turned his bull unit into a giant pile of gore. I won by lots but his stubborn crown held the Ironguts in place so his Maneaters (Elfeaters more likely) could rear charge the corsairs and grind me down.
This battle made it clear that the Adepticon closed list rules can hurt unless you assume the opponent has all the goodies. I didn't think the bruiser had the crown- doh!
It was a fun game but I was feeling down because I know Ogre Kingdom armies inside and out- but I lost my first 2 games against them. Even so, I was getting more comfortable with my list and making better use of the assassins and magic phases. I needed a win- and Orcs and Goblins were next up.
Jon was a cool guy who ended up finishing 54 of 156.
More tomorrow...
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Post by Ulf Hreda on May 2, 2013 21:06:53 GMT -5
Game 3 was with Nathan Strathopolous and his Orcs and Goblins. IIRC Nathan was Canadian as well. He came to Adepticon for the fourth year in a row with his dad Peter. His experience was backed up by a decent army:
Grimgor
Orc Shaman Lvl3?
Orc BSB
Big block of Black orcs
2 units of goblins w fanatics
2 mangler squigs
spider riders
squig hoppers
2 goblin chariots
The mission was "Fortune Favors the Bold." It was Blood and Glory set up and victory rules. The bonus +2 battle points was from destroying a core unit nominated by the opponent (the "Bold" unit eligible for a free vanguard move).Up to +3 points depending on how many fortitude points you knock off your opponent- then the possible +5 for terrain control.
Since this was Blood and Glory, I focused everything I had on his general/BSB unit of Black Orcs. His mangler squigs did some serious damage by destroying my shades and hydra but in the end I broke him with relentless magic (Spirit Leech on BSB) and shooting on the generals unit.
The assassins shined in this game by picking off his chariots and squig hoppers on the edges so I could focus in the center with the rest of the army. The harpies took a few for the team by sucking out the fanatics early.
Nathan was always smiling and having fun- even when things turned against him. He was one of my 2 favorite opponents.
I finally had a win so I could avoid going to bed (floor) with a winless first day. Sunday had 2 more games ahead of me- and a Nurgke deamon list to start me off.
Some thoughts on the first day..
The games had plenty of time at 3 hour each. I have a tendency to use up most tournament game time but this day I finished every game before "dice down". I'm not sure how I feel about the 3 hours per game and 1 hour breaks between. it was nice to play at a comfortable pace but I would have liked to have some more time to take advantage of the other events/demos/vendors. Adepticon really is a "Con" rather than just a tournament. I felt like we were a bit harnessed by the tourney schedule. 2:45 games and 30 min breaks would have been enough.
One demo/game that I would have liked to try was being played on the floor of the hallway outside the fantasy tourney room. It was some kind of Star Trek fleet battle using large size spaceships on poles so they were about 3 feet off the ground. It looked like you had large cards with fleet commander stats for Klingons, Starfleet and Romulans. Cool..
Did I mention the "Crystal Brush" painting and modeling competition? The winner got $10,000- yes- 10 grand! You can see the winning model, scratchbuilt Jester knight, at the Adepticaon site.
That is it for tonight- more later...
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Post by Ulf Hreda on May 8, 2013 21:16:22 GMT -5
Some more thoughts on the Adepticon schedule and terrain...
The actual schedule that I referenced in my last post was as follows:
SATURDAY (APRIL 20th, 2013)
8:00AM – 9:00AM Check-in, Tables, and Paint Judging
9:00AM – 12:00PM Round 1
12:00PM – 1:00PM Lunch & Paint Judging
1:00PM – 4:00PM Round 2
4:00PM – 5:00PM Break
5:00PM – 8:00PM Round 3
SUNDAY (APRIL 21st, 2013)
7:30AM Doors Open
8:00AM – 11:00AM Round 4
11:00AM – 12:00PM Lunch & Paint Judging
12:00PM – 3:00PM Round 5
3:30PM – 4:00PM Awards
Like I said above, the time is generous but it really fills the day. It could be streamlined. On the other hand, if they want to keep the 3 hour games then increase the point level. An extra 300 points would be cool.
On to the terrain. It was not impressive. The tables were created with 2'wide banquet tables pushed together for 4' wide and about 48' long rows. The surfaces consisted of long rolls of colored felt clipped to the long table edges. The play areas were divided from each other by 4' pieces of blue painter's tape. There was no room on top for supplies. Luckily there were extra chairs to put your display boards on for set-up and casualties.
The terrain features were very plain. Some of the buildings on the table 1 row were made of actual sticks glued together.
I understand that there are 80 tables required for the fantasy tourney alone but almost all the players have better tables and terrain at home- or local stores. At the Crossroads tourney in Horseheads we built simple basic tables that could be duplicated on a larger scale. Just 1/4" mdf boards with light painting and textures.
Got to go- more later..
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Post by Ulf Hreda on May 21, 2013 11:00:23 GMT -5
A lot later...
My game 4 was against Greg Dupuis and a filthy(pus dripping) Nurgle Daemon army.
His list was close to this (straining memory):
Daemon Prince, combat load
Epidemius (ouch)
Nurgle Herald lvl 1 mage
Nurgle Herald lvl 1 mage
20 Plaguebearers
20 Plaguebearers
3 Beasts of Nurgle
3 Beasts of Nurgle
3 Plaguedrones w/ death head
Soulgrinder
Magic made and broke this game. Since his 2 mages were lvl 1, I knew I had a big advantage on him. No scrolls for daemons is a killer. Also, his Reign of Chaos rolls were a killer- as you will see.
The deployment in this game used the reinforcements rule. Literally half of my army ended up not deploying at the start. He only missed Epidemius and his Drones- and since he went first it didn't bother him. For me, this unexpected deployment forced me into a defensive set up close to my board edge. All in all it probably kept me from doing something stupid like maneuvering too close to his lines and getting stuck.
He moved his army forward as fast as he could. Right away I got a Purple Sun spell off to kill the Soulgrinder- lucky distance. Then I think I got his Herald BSB with a Spirit Leech. My Harpies danced around his Drones on my right flank to keep them away from my lines. I've seen them do terrible damage to units like mine with low toughness and strength. I just concentrated the rest on shooting his leftmost Plaguebearers to whittle them down. Before the close combat got going I shrunk the left Plaguebearers down to almost nothing with shooting and Pit of Shades.
His Prince engaged by big Corsairs unit in a grind fest. His Beasts got into the Witch elves on the right and the RXBs on the left. The Witches took some damage but they diced up the Beasts in 2 phases. The RXBs shot down one of the Beasts on the way in along with Assassin help- and killed the unit in combat- again helped by the Assassin and magic hexes.
What likely turned the game was in the first turn he got into me for close combat. In his magic phase he rolled a 2 "The Winds Recede" result. Each of his units had to make an instability test. Remember that his BSB was killed early. He lost bits from a couple units but he rolled 12 for Epidemius= pop!
When the dust settled from the combats and his Prince tied up with my Corsairs I was able to pound the Drones with magic and my Hydra.
It was a big win for me. Greg took it well- even when the Tally master went down.
It was curious to see the Adepticon house rule on the Reign of Chaos in action. The rule said that a daemon player could roll for ALL enemy units on magic rolls of 5, 6, 8 and 9- not just those with the applicable marks. It didn't have an effect on our game but it had the chance to be devastating. I would like to hear a general feedback from players at the tournament whether it really changed some games.
Last game coming up- more Orcs and Goblins- and Trolls!
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