Southern Ontario Open Recap Part 2

So after our night on the town the alarms woke us up earlier than any of us really wanted. After rocking the free breakfast at the hotel and the mandatory (should be for all convention goers) shower we threw on the Team Spite shirts (except Tim who forgot his) and hit the road for the Canadian Legion that was hosting the event.

Some of the only photos I remembered to take

When we go to the Legion I got to say quick hellos to some of my Canadian buddy like Northblade, Chadi, Boots, and Charles (my partner in crime after the painting class) After the hellos it was time to break out the minis and get the tray ready for the day. It was at this time Tim realized he brought one of his troll cases and didn't have the minis needed for one of his lists :/

This mess is my tray prior to round one. Damn three lists and trolls :)

I don't know about y'all but round one of any event is always the most nerve racking for me and the lead up to pairing is always anxious. All I was hoping for was a match up where I had a clear drop and didn't have to think too much. Lucky for me this came true and I was paired up vs Legion and the scenario was destruction. 

Round1: I was paired up with Fadi from Northblade's meta. I forget what his other two lists were but I was nearly 100% sure he was going to drop eVayl theme force and I was right he did. Fadi's list was as follows (to the best of my memory):

Vayl, Consul of Everblight (*6pts)

* Naga Nightlurker (5pts)
* Raek (4pts)
* Angelius (8pts)
* Angelius (8pts)
* Angelius (8pts)
* Ravagore (9pts)
* Ravagore (9pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)

I dropped Runes of War. I was very happy with round one as it was a central scenario I felt very comfortable, the terrain was set up in such a way I could put my wall in great spots plus there was water, and I know the Vayl list pretty well to boot. 

I won the roll and decided to go first. I deployed in a pretty standard runes set up with the Doomie, the beasts, Janissa, and the KSB centralized and two units of runeshapers on each flank. Turn one everything pretty much runs forward. I had a little brain fart in my turn one as I forgot to do no continuous effects from the KSB and on his turn the ravegores set two of my runeshapers on fire....doh! All in all the game went pretty well for me and I feel hes was a little too conservative as I was able to score three scenario point on top of three and then get another two on top of four to win the game on scenario. Out of round one W CP:5 AP 23....1-0

Round2: I was paired up with Andrew who was playing Circle. His three 'locks were eKreuger, pMorvahna, and eMorvahna. I was pretty sure I was going to see eMorvahna so I decided to drop runes of war once again. He did indeed drop the Goatlady and his list was as follows:

Morvahna the Dawnshadow (*5pts)

* Gorax (4pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
* Woldwarden (9pts)
Warpborn Skinwalkers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
* Warpborn Alpha (3pts)
Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Wolf of Orboros Officer & Standard (2pts)
Druid Wilder (2pts)
Gallows Grove (1pts)

The scenario for round two was balance of power which from my experience isn't all that "live". I decided to drop runes once again. Just like in round one I won the roll for initiative and once again elected to go first. This round my side of the table wasn't as favorable to my standard deployment as there was a pretty large obstruction on my right flank that would effect my standard "unpacking" He deployed his skinwalkers across from the runeshapers on my right flank and the unit of wolves across from the runes on my left flank where they could run into a forest. I went with a pretty standard turn one except the two units of runeshapers on my right flank were not able to get as far out as I would normally like them. The next turn we exchanged minis on the flanks and were jockeying for position. I lost the mauler to a primaled stalker on a turn I was considering feating but decided to hold off. I attepted to RFP as many of the skinwalkers as possible but my axer just didn't damage Mulg enough and Mulg was fully healed after eating two skinwalkers. Once he was down to a skinwalker and the alpha he ran them around my right flank and feated putting a lot of pressure on my backfield and swinging the attrition game largely in his favor. Luckily for me he had scales a few too many time and Morvahna was pretty far up the table to get feated skinwalkers into my backfield and she had 2 fury left in her. After surveying the table I felt I had a very solid Mulg assassination run in line if I could get all my orders of activation layed out properly. Janissa advanced and tectonic shifted pushing two skinwalkers off of Mulg and one off of Doomies back arc. Doomie was now un-engaged and I advanced him forward to rampager a beast out of mulgs charge lane, put fortune on Mulg, and feated. I was struggling deciding if, after receiving rush, Mulg was in charge range of Morvhana it was going to be <1/4" either direction. I decided I could afford to charge and fail so I charge a wilder that was a little closer but on the same trajectory I needed. I had to take a freestrike from a gorax but mulg was at full health so it wasn't too scary. Once the charge of the wilder was completed it turned out I would have been able to charge Morvahna....oh well. I killed the wilder with my fist and was able to take my club initial on Morvahna without having to goad. Since Doomie's feat was up she was going to have to take a D6 each time she transferred and between Mulg's dmg and feat dmg she just couldn't hold up. Mulg killed her with two fury remaining. Round 2 W CP:0 AP: 42.... 2-0

Round3: Before the pairing came out I was desperately hoping for some compelling reason to pick one of my other two lists. I was really enjoying runes of war but I needed to get the other lists on the table. Turns out I was paired up with David who was playing Cryx so Grim2 you're up. David was playing Lich2, Terminus, and pSkarre. He ended up dropping pSkarre and the list was as follows:

Pirate Queen Skarre (*6pts)

* Desecrator (9pts)
* Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Bane Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)
Necrosurgeon & 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)
Necrosurgeon & 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)
Satyxis Blood Witches (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
* Satyxis Blood Hag (2pts)
Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Satyxis Raider Sea Witch (2pts)
General Gerlak Slaughterborn (3pts)
Satyxis Raider Captain (2pts)

Scenario for round three was incursion. The board was pretty fair in regards to terrain with nothing really sticking out except one fag was in a forest. I won the roll to go first and I never like to go second vs Satyxis so I elected to go first. I deployed the SoB and Saxon on my right flank across from the right flag which was in the forest, D&S got deployed on the left flank, and the Hunters Grim/battlegroup/scattergunners/dygs we all centrally deployed. Turn one dygs burrowed, Grim put mirage on the scattergunners, and everything advanced. I tried to keep minis far enough back so as not to get charged by the raiders. I did a pretty good job of not getting charged on his turn but he decided to just run his raiders into my army and start jamming up the scattergunners and the dygs pop up zone.....the flag on my left went away. On turn two I popped my feat and attempted to clear as many raiders and mcthralls as I could but didn't' get as many as I would have expected. Over the next few turns the middle of the was just bogged down with back and forth fighting and David taking the advantage on attrition due to the recursion he had in his list. I really didn't execute a good game plan after engagement was established and felt like I was fighting an uphill battle the entire game. As I was getting very short on time I attempted a last ditch attempt to snatch a win from the jaw of defeat and was able to dominate the right flag to get up to four control points with 20 sec left on my deathclock. He was able to contest on his turn however and I lost on time. This game was very disappointing to me and has stuck with me since it ended. I have replayed it in my head multiple time and I just played poorly and didn't really make it tough on David. I had some terrible dice throughout the game but by no mean was this why I lost. It seems to me that dice tend to favor a well executed game plan and my rolls reflected my play. As I mentioned above I wish the list was a little different from design but I really wish I could play this game again from go. I cannot say with confidence that I would win but I can say I would play a better game. My hopes of an undefeated day one went out the door and the wind was completely out of my sails. I took a while looking at the table and replaying things in my head. Round 3 L CP:4 AP:37.....2-1

Round 4: I was still a little out of sorts and replaying the last round and I don't remember the warlock pairing for this round. I was playing Matt and he had Legion so I was gonna drop runes I figured I could play eGrissel day two if I qualified. The scenario for this round was Close Quarters. He dropped Saeryn. Once again I won the roll for initiative. I don't remember too may details from this game but I ended up winning via assassination on my feat turn as he ended up killing himself with feat dmg. Round 4 W CP:0 AP 75...... 3-1.

So at the end of day one I was 3-1 and had only played two of my three lists. When they did the raffle and announcements for day two they decided all the 3-1 players were invited back to day two and that they weren't going to narrow the field to the top 16. So I was back for day two and after losing round one Tim clawed back to a 3-1 record and was also going to be playing on day two. It was at this time that the announce the top player from each faction for the day and turns out I was the top Trollblood player and got a Trollblood patch and pair of dice for that achievement. I was pretty worn out by this point and while our initial plans were to hit up the town once again I ended up just going back to BWW to grab some food and watch the UFC PPV.

We came back for day two but neither Tim or myself were that into it. I got paired up with Phillip who play with Ze Frenchies out of Quebec I believe. He was playing mercs and was a really good dude. I forget his pairings at this time but know one had an earthbreaker. The scenario for this round was Outflank. I had so much fun playing runes on day one I said screw it I'll play it again. He selected:

Magnus the Warlord (*6pts)
* Nomad (6pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Steelhead Heavy Cavalry (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
Lord Rockbottom (2pts)
Ragman (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

I may be off with one or two of the solos but I am pretty sure this was his list. Turn one prtty standard advances on both side. Top of two I rock hammered a bunch of kayazy and was able to kill one girl from each pair of eliminators so I was pretty happy at the end of my turn with what I killed and amy positioning......well I shouldn't have been. I kinda forgot what Magnus' feat did and after clearing the left zone (a couple of those runeshapers didn't want to die) he got Magnus into his zone and feated. Oh no! I was pretty much locked out and was done at this point. Hindsight being 20/20 I may have been able to throw my axer into the zone to get myself an extra round but I got rolled game over. Since the game ended early we got to chat a but and he was a good dude and I hope to run into him at Templecon next year.

Tim lost his round one game to a guy we know from Buffalo. Seeing as we were both out of the running for anything we decided to drop and hit the road back to the States. The tourney was very well run and I hope they do it again next year. While I would love to say I won and was heading to WMW the best part of these trips is truly the old friends you get to catch up with, the friends to travel with, and the new people you meet.

Southern Ontario Open Recap Part 1

I'm well overdue on writing this post so lets just get at it. Last weekend was the Southern Ontario Open (SOO) which was a masters event which was also a Warmachine Weekend Qualifier. The event was open to 96 players and the final count at the beginning of round one was 88 players! This is by far the largest event I have played in outside of Templecon. I have to apologize ahead of time for the lack of photos as, like usual, I got caught up in the event and forgot to take many pictures. Here are the lists I brought to the event:

Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)

Nothing Earthshattering here just your run of the mill tier 4 Runes of War. This is just a solid all around list and the one I probably felt most comfortable with going into the event. I'm pretty sure this was the drop if I didn't fell I knew the drop....if you follow :)

Here is the old man all ready for the Canadian invasion. I started painting him up two or three days before we were suppose to leave. He is nearly 100% finished in this photo just a couple small detail/touch ups needed. The base was re-purposed from another mini which helped save some time. 

Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels (*6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Feralgeist (1pts)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)

My version of what MoM calls the Miserable Meat Mountain. I obviously had to drop Mulg out due to character restrictions so I opted for a ranged battle group. I was pretty happy with this list going into the event and felt pretty comfortable with its game play.

Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Blitzer (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Sons of Bragg (6pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Dahlia Hallyr & Skarath (9pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)

This list was the one I was most unsure about and gave me the most anxiety going into the event. This is the list I was play-testing the most going into the SOO and the one that underwent multiple changes in the time leading up to our trip. I was never 100% sold on the list and I was playing with the build whenever I got a chance to think about it. Despite practicing it a fair amount of time I was running tight on the death clock every time I put it on the table which was a little concerning. I was tinkering with the list  all the way up to the time I had to submit it to the TO the day before we left for Canada. This list was going to be my Cryx drop with some Khador cross over in there. I tried to borrow some JBFlanz tech and use Dahlia and her snake but I kinda wish I just dropped her. Hindsight being 20/20 I think I would have dropped D&S and put a slag troll in the battle group and either a champ hero or kithkar to have a commander for the dygs. If I went with the kithkar I would have had a spare point for either a feralgeist, swamp gobbers, or even a sorcerer....IDK. There are parts of the list I like but just didn't get it to that sweet spot I was hoping for. I think in 9 days when Horgle hits shelves I'll drop D&S and slot Horgle and slag troll into that slot and give it some more table time.

I got out of work Friday morning at 0700 and headed home. after putting about an hours into pDoomie to get him to the photo above I grabbed a quick nap. I was heading to the SOO with three of my Team Spite brethren: Scudo (Circle), Tim AKA LordSorrow (Legion), and Nick aka Naseluk (Skorne) so after Tim got out of work I picked up the guys loaded up the mini van and hit the road. We got into Hamilton around 2130 and decided to grab dinner across the street at Buffalo Wild Wings. After some food and drinks (taste so good when it hits your lips) we decided to make a night out of it. We got back to our room at about 0300 Saturday morning. What a way to be rested for day one of a big tourney ;)

This went a little longer than anticipated so I'll get into my games in my next post. Off to bed for this guys.

List Evolution/Tweaks

Hey guys hope all is well. Many of you may be aware that myself and a few of my Team Spite brethren have been preparing for the Southern Ontario Open and Friday was a day I was able to get out an practice again. I have been having a really tough time pinning down my third list for this masters event and I am still in a state of flux but may be getting a little closer. I have said previously that Doomie1: Runes of War and Grissel2 were going to be lists one and two and this has not changed. This three, however, has gone through multiple drafts and warlock choices starting at Grim2, then Grim1, then Jarl, then back to Grim1, back to Grim2, Calandra, glance at Borka, back to the Grims and Jarl, and finally Grim2 (I think). As you can see I have been all over the place.

Friday afternoon I headed over to the FLGS with my latest Hunters Grim list to give it a go. In game one I play Nick and a Rastheth: Chain Gang theme force. The scenario was close quarters and we were playing with a 45 min deathclock vs the appropriate 60 min to try and drive focus and efficiency. I ended up clocking myself but I think I played pretty well but wasn't focused enough on scenario and need to work on that. Game two I played against Adam and a Denny1 list. I was very excited that Adam came out as I really want to try and use this Hunters Grim list as my anti-Cryx list and also have some spill over into anti-Khador infantry as well. Once again we played close quarters. I ended up losing the game on an assassination as I was nearing the end of my clock again (gotta get faster) but was very happy with the game and the way the list functioned for its roll. Adam made me realize I need to work on my "unpacking" and placement a little more but all in all I am fairly happy with the bulk of the list but I'm not 100% in love with the battle group. Grim's battle group has changed multiple time and here are some of the groups I have used:

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Bomber (10pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

I wasn't in love with this after putting it on the table. I think a large part of my issue was the entire list was too ranged focus and wasn't balanced enough. Time for take two.

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Rok (11pts)
*Axer (6pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

Due to my overabundace of range in my first lists I swapped to a more melee oriented battle group for my second attempt. I only tested this once and due to poor placeent got Rok killed too early in the game but I liked the more balanced feel to the list. I did miss having access to far strike on non-feat turns however.

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Bomber (10pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Storm Troll (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

The previous battle group helped me shift my list to a more balanced plan of attack in my troop selection so I shifted the battle group back to a more ranged oriented attack with an animus via the storm troll to assist more of my melee troops. This was the battle group I played in both games on Friday and was pretty pleased with it on the table.

Hunters Grim (-4pts)
*Blitzer (9pts)
*Impaler (5pts)
*Storm Troll (5pts)
*Runebearer (2pts)

This is a battle group which has not seen the table yet but will be tested next time I get out to the FLGS to practice. I love the bombers (whats not to love) but by dropping the bomber to the blitzer and dropping the feralgeist (just a point filler)I can add in a more useful solo like Victor Pendrake, Alten Ashley, or a min unit of bone grinders (Scudo wants me to do this). I love me some AA but I think I am leaning toward Vicky P as an other source of KD and easy application of mortality. That spell is truly bananas and if I can put it on a KD'd mini and not have to boost or let Moses troll apply it even better.

OK enough of my ramblings for now. I will leave you with a quick wip from this afternoon. This is a unit that has been in every version of my Hunters Grim lists right from the get go.

I didn't have a ton of painting time between laundry, dishes, a sick child, and getting dinner made while the wife had the sick child at urgent care getting antibiotics but i did get the metals basecoated on a min unit and the UA leader. I am sure many of you listen to the Muse on Minis podcast and a recent topic of conversation has been Minimum Sized Units of MSU list building. I guess this is a 40k principle and one they feel if gaining traction in WarmaHordes. While I don't know if troll shave a great MSU game (maybe here and there) I do feel that min scattergunners with UA is the way to go with this unit and save 3pts to put towards a solo or support. Well anyways here are the guys that will be joining Grim, Muggs, and Krump in my attempts to nail down list three for the Souther Ontario Open. I will paint up the last four minis but not sure if it will be while I bang out the min unit for my Grim list or later. While I was working on these gentlemen I reinforced and reminded myself of something....I HATE painting units. Well that's all for now have a great week y'all.

Two Day Tatzylwurm

Last week I spent two days to paint up my Skarath and here it is. As I mentioned previously I am registered and preparing to play in the 96 player Southern Ontario Open in late May. I picked up Dahlia and Skarath a few years back when one of our FLGS was having a big sale and I finally decided to get them table ready. The use of Dahlia and Skarath is 100% borrowed Flanzer tech but hey we all borrow idea in list building from time to time, no? Here are some shots of Skarath all ready to spray and consume the enemies of the kriels:

Skarath was assembled by Rob and here are the "naked" snake photos 

 

I have wanted to try out some pink colors for a while now and if I were ever to pick up and paint a Retribution army I am pretty sure it would be in a pink and grey scheme so that is where I went with Skarath. the fleshy inner section were painted with P3 carnal pink and murderous magenta via the airbrush. they are different mixes of the two and then it was washed with a thin glaze of murderous magenta to pull it all together. The carapace was painted with one of my favorite sets of colors the Reaper Master Series dusky skin triad. I use this triad on all my elemental trolls and if I were starting trolls now I might consider painting all of the skins this color. I am debating what to do with the eyes. I'm not sure if I should just leave them black or paint them a yellow or green to make the "pop" more. This was a pretty quick and dirty mini but I am fairly happy with the results.

I was able to get two practice games in with one of my three lists last Saturday as Scudo and Tim met me at the store to start our prep for the Southern Onatario Open. Scudo and Tim were both playing lists that were very light on units but I still put the lady and here snake on the table in a Grim2 list to try and get the feel for their movement, spacing, and fury utilization/management. I am not 100% sure she will stay in the list I am working on but there is a decent chance. I still need to practice a lot (with all of my lists) and get the feel for them in the right situations (against actual units). As of right now the only list I am nearly 100% sure will be traveling with me to Canada is Doomie1: Runes of War. I was originally planning on leaving runes at home and maybe coming up with an alt Doomie1 list but I decided I was not going to try and be a unique little snowflake and play a tried and true list that is really solid. I am leaning towards Grim2 and Grissel2 as my other two lists but who know I have been all over the damn place with list builds lately.

I'll leave you with some quick WiP shots of Dahlia. I've just blocked in pink skirt and the grey armor sections. The grey on her was painted P3 greatcoat grey and the pinks with the same colors as Skarath. The skirt will need a wash but should be ok after that. The rest of the mini obviously has a ways to go.

Southern Ontario Open (Going, Not Going, Going, Not Going, Going...)

Early in the year a buddy, Tim, mentioned there was going to be a 64 player masters event and Warmachine Weekend qualifier (Southern Ontario Open) about 3 hour away over the Canadian boarder. I've never had a bad time playing Warmachine and hanging out when I have road tripped to Canada so I looked at the work schedule and saw I was working...bummer I'm not. Under normal circumstances I could put in for some time off and it wouldn't be too hard to get coverage but since work is rolling out a new computer system they have implemented a freeze on time off for the months of April and May. While I was disappointed I wasn't going to be ale to attend I kind of forgot about it and by the time I came up with a possible solution for work coverage I figured the event was full. I'm not going.

A few months back I was listening to my favorite Canadian Warmachine podcast (Lost Hemisphere Radio) and my man Northblade was talking with the organized of the Southern Ontario Open. During the 'cast they mention the field was now opened up to 96 players and was going to be run over two days. I figured now that I knew there were spots available I started working on my plan to get coverage. Looks like I'm going! I had everything all lined up with coverage when the basement flooded and I started hemorrhaging money to fix that situation (as I type thing I have people jackhammering the basement floor to truly waterproof the basement). So I decided I'd be better off not travelling and all that goes with it.....I'm not going :(

Last week after going over it in my head and discussing it with the wife I decided I was going to try and make arrangements once again. I contacted the guys at the SOO and found out there were four slots remaining. I quickly contacted my co-worker to see if we could still do a weekend for weekend swap and she was in. When I got home from work that night I registered and now I am officially going! (I hope).

In the process I picked up another Team Spite member who would like to invade Canada with Tim and myself. Canada beware I will once again be bring the angry hobbit himself Mr Scudo :D

I have month to finalize my lists and get some practice games in. I have been on War Room all the time over the last few days tweaking lists and trying to come up with new ones. I know one of the standard competitive trollblood lists is Doomshaper1 Runes of War but I'd like to try and avoid taking it and if at all possible try and take a non-theme Doomie1 list :o  As of writing this post I am think I am leaning towards Grissel2, Grim2, and Madrak1 but I have been soooo back and forth already who know what I will settle on. The key thing is I will be going! (knock on wood)