Upcoming big events

I like to travel to tournaments in my local area, and regularly participate in any Warhammer tournament I can get my hands on. But this year I wanted to take part in more large "grand tournaments". Currently, the plan is to bring Skaven to all of these events, but that may change as the Ogres begin to see the painting table. Here is a list of some of the 5 game, 2 day BIG events coming up.

April - Adepticon (Chicago, IL)
http://www.adepticon.org/

Adepticon is not a GT, but rather 3 large tournaments in 3 days at the largest miniature wargaming convention in the US. Each tournament will have between 120 and 200 participants! The Adepticon Championships are 4 games at 2200 points, special characters allowed, and no comp. The Adepticon Big Brawl is 3 games at 3000 points, special characters allowed, no comp, no grand army rules. The Adepticon Team Tournament is 3 games of 2 teams at 1000 points, no special characters, no lords, but otherwise no comp.

May - Midwest Rampage (Peoria, IL)
http://midwest-rampage.jimemerick.com/

3000 points, no comp, special characters allowed, no grand army rules. This is a 40+ player 3000 point tourney similar to the Big Brawl. There is also a terrain contest where you can build a whole table's worth of terrain to get a home-field advantage and play on the table you created for the first game.

June - Blood in the Sun (Northbrook, IL)
http://www.bloodinthesun.com/index.asp

My favorite event from last year because of the awesome atmosphere. 2400 points, currently 64 player and possibly expanding. No comp other than no special characters. There is also a terrain contest and other ways to earn re-roll tokens to use once per game during your first 4 games, like turning your list in on time and paying on time. The 64 slots are already sold out, but they are starting a waiting list and possibly expanding up to 80 players!

July - Buckeye Battles (Delaware, OH)
http://www.buckeyebattles.com/

This will be my first attempt at heading to Buckeye, which has been a yearly trip for many members of the GLWL. 2200 points similar to Adepticon, with lots of comp restrictions. No special characters, limits on unit sizes and point costs, limits on magic phase power dice, limits on killer spells, and their own line of sight system that is not 8th edition rules. There is also a "banding" system that will have hard armies playing similar armies, and soft armies playing soft armies for the first 3 games. I don't like changes to the core rules of the game, but if I want to attend another closer GT this Summer I will have to deal with their rules! Last year they had 80 participants.


After these, I am looking forward to what Alex Gonzalez comes up with to replace Core Comp (which he ended last year) and possibly making the drive way up north to attend this year's North Star GT.

Gonna be a BIG year!

GLWL game 3

My third game of this year's Great Lakes Warhammer League was against the powerful Ogre Kingdoms, and I was not entirely sure what to expect. Because of the league comp I know that I would be facing a maximum of 1 Ironblaster but could possibly be facing 3 units of Mournfang, so I made my list accordingly.

Grey Seer, earthing rod, foul pendant
Plague Priest, furnace, dispel scroll
Chieftain, bsb
Warlock, doomrocket
Warlock, brass orb
30 Storm Vermin
30 Clan Rats
30 Clan Rats
40 Slaves
40 Slaves
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
35 Plague Monks
5 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon
Hell Pit Abomination
Doomwheel

and my opponent's Ogre list


Tyrant, 4+ ward armor, asf sword
Butcher, L2 Maw, hellheart
Butcher, L2 Death, dispel scroll
5 Ogres, ahw
6 Ogres, ironfists
9 Ironguts, dragonhide banner
20 Gnoblars
4 Leadbelchers
3 Mournfang Cav
3 Mournfang Cav
Gorger
Stonehorn

Things got off to a poor start for the Skaven, who rolled the first turn. I was able to get a Skitterleap off and get my Brass Orb Warlock right behind the Stoenhorn, and position him so that he would hit the Stonehorn and 3 Ironguts if I hit, and the Stoenhorn even if I missfired. I rolled a hit! The Stonehorn then passed his Initiative test, though I did pick off 3 Ironguts. My cannons were quiet the first turn, missing their marks. After the Stoenhorn disappointment, I was sure luck was against me as the Hell Pit and Doomwheel were both charged on the first Ogre turn by long rolls from the Mournfang on the left and and Stonehorn on the right.

In the magic phase, I was able to hold off the Death snipes vs my Plague Furnace, which would be key to me winning the game. The Leadbelchers lined up the rain down on my Storm Vermin, and rolled 4 1's for their shots! In combat, my Doomwheel was defeated but my opponent chose not to chase me because of my 3d6 move, and because he didn't want to leave his flank open. My HPA took some serious damage after also only rolling 1 S6 hit that had its wounds dealth halved.

On the next turn, the game shifted dramatically. My Plague Monk horde slammed into one of the smaller Ogre units, and my cannons started lighting it up. It also helped that my Doomwheel rallied and turned to face the Mournfang now in their flank. I was able to shoot and take out 2 Mounrfang on the left, and another from the right unit. Magic was less effective as my Crack's Call is dispeled on double 6's, but the Plague Monks break and run down the Ogres and the Hell Pit's avalanch of flesh kill off the Stonehorn.

In the next turns I am able to flank charge the remaining left Mournfang unit with the Doomwheel and blast it off the table while the right unit is sniped by Warp Lightning. The Plague Monks slowly grind away on Gnoblars and the Ogres who flanked them the next turn, using Gnoblars as combat resolution needed to defeat and break the Ogres, running them down. The remaining Ironguts charge into my Clan Rats as I have set up a log jam for them and they sit there happy with their steadfast rolls.

I was able to hold this for another turn as my Grey Seer shot Crack's Call into the Ironguts and narrowly miss the Tyrant. They ground down Clan Rats and Slaves and I decide to bring in the Hell Pit to try and finish them off, which is risky. The HPA's impact hits kills the Irongut, but then the Tyrant finished his remaining wounds off. He then gets back up with 6 wounds on the last turn! This saves me his points lost, but does not give me the Tyrant as he is now the only Ogre model remaining on the table... with me only having lost a single Warp Lightning Cannon to a misfire.

Lots of key leadership tests and rallying, and taking out the Mournfang were the key to me winning this game. Every unit that broke on my side did not get caught, and eventually rallied. Every unit that broke for the Ogres was run down. My cannons were hot, and if they had not been having Mournfang in my flanks would have been a nightmare. I take away the big 2389 vs 265 win and advance to 3-0 in the 2012 GLWL.

Next up, Empire and then Dark Elves to finish up the league.

Hobby update

If you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know I have been busy with the hobby, and not with my Skaven. Well I still have another 40 Skavenslaves to paint for Adepticon, but I have been spending a lot of time putting my new Ogre army together! Here is the basic list I have together that I played my first game with this weekend.

Slaughtermaster
Firebelly
Bruiser BSB
8 Ironguts
6 Ogres
1 Sabertusk
1 Sabertusk
1 Sabertusk
4 Mournfang Cavalry
4 Mournfang Cavalry
4 Mournfang Cavalry
Ironblaster

It's the list that has been floating around the internet, but I love the idea of mass Mournfang Cavalry... and not so much the idea of the monsters. I also love the idea of a LOW model count army.

I have everything assembled, and I am looking forward to getting to work on it very soon, as soon as those pesky Slaves are painted! Maybe I will even have them done in time for Blood in the Sun!

Speaking of Ogre Kingdoms, my next GLWL is against the Ogres this Thursday. Until then, take a look at my converted Slaughtermaster. He is supposed to be wearing Glittering Scales and has the Fencer's Blades, so I wanted him modeled appropriately.

GLWL round 2

I actually played my 5th game second for the GLWL. Order doesn't matter so long as you get all your games in. This time I was playing Steve's Lizardmen. I changed my list up slightly from the last game to include a Warp Lightning Cannon for the possibility of facing Stegadons and one less Warlock, but otherwise my list was similar to last game. This will be a short report...

Steve's army was very Saurus heavy, with Light magic to buff them up to be combat powerhouses. Typical unit of Salamanders but what I didn't expect was the unit of Razordons. A few units of Skink Skirmishers I would have to deal with and some Terradons rounded out the list. Based on his fixed list and not having any other casters in his army, I knew Steve didn't have a dispel scroll, and he did not have Codgitation on his Slaan. This meant I would have a strong magic game.

I set up with my core towards the center and spread my magic out. He lined up heavy to my left with Saurus so I tried to deploy my strength to my right and wheel into his weak side through his support units. This sort of worked out as planned but I do think I could have deployed better.

Starting quickly things went down hill for Steve. First turn I put a Plague on the Temple Guard to weaken them for further magic. Normally this would be a few casualties, but rolls were on my side and half the Temple Guard were lost. As we advanced towards each other on the second turn, I got a combo charge that saw my HPA and Slaves both in combat against one unit of Saurus (giving the HPA the much needed rank support). I did this by maximizing the charge with my slaves and still leaving the corner of the front arc open so that my HPA could get in there.

On this turn the magic flowed freely as well. Another Plague forced my opponent to use the majority of his dispel dice to stop it. This left me open to cast and succeed with the 13th Spell on his Templ Guard, destroying them. I was ONE short of also taking out the Slaan with the spell.

In combat the Hell Pit and Slaves beat, broke, and ran down the Saurus. This left my opponents two main blocks defeated and the entire center of his army crumbled, with his Slaan out in the open. My opponent took a look at the battlefield at this point, and conceded the game.

Next up I have Ogres, then Empire and Dark Elves to finish out my season.


I was hoping to also have a tournament report with my new Ogre army, but there wasn't enough to hold this month's Gamers Sanctuary 2500 point event. Next month though I am attending 2 Adepticon Primers here in Michigan. March 3rd at Gamers Sanctuary in Flint, and March 4th at The Game Room in Saginaw.

I still have 40 Slaves to paint for Adepticon, but look for more pictures and posts about the Ogres soon! They just might make an appearance at Blood in the Sun this year.

GLWL Game 1

The Great Lakes Warhammer League is under way, and I have won my first game of the season. It was a familiar battle against Warriors of Chaos, which is usually a good match up for the Skaven. Here was my list:

Grey Seer
Grey Seer
Plague Priest on Furnace
BSB
Warlock w/ Doomrocket
Warlock w/ Dispel Scroll
30 Stormvermin
30 Clan Rats
30 Clan Rats
40 Slaves
40 Slaves
35 Plague Monks
5 Gutter Runners
Warp Lightning Cannon
Hell Pit Abomination

My opponents brought a Marauder heavy Warriors of Chaos list, and tried to throw in Death Magic to surprise me:

Chaos Lord, runesword, charmed shield, 4+ ward, bloodcurdling roar
L2 Tzeentch sorc
L2 Death sorc
35 Marauders of Nurgle
35 Marauders of Nurgle
24 Warriors of Tzeentch w/ blasted standard
18 Chosen of Nurgle
3 Chaos Trolls
Chaos Warshrine
Chaos Spawn

Things started off slow for the Skaven, as my long range fire was ineffective and I started out of range of the majority of my spells. My opponent was able to chip away fast at my first Slave block as Treason of Tzeentch killed 16 Slaves fast. His Trolls marching forward a fast 12" immediately up the center made me redirect my attention to them fast.

On the second turn the Skaven power wheel got going and I was able to do some serious damage. Starting off, I only had 3 power dice with the winds of magic showing a 2 and 1. I used my forbidden rod to get another 2 dice and had warpstone tokens to cause an imbalance in resources early. My opponent burned his dispel scroll immediately agaionst Plague, fearing the devastating rip through his lines. I was then able to use my powerscroll to drop 13th down to a required 14 to cast (GLWL rules puts 13th Spell up to 28 to cast) and I got it off without a hitch against the Chas Chosen, dropping them from 18 to 3 models! In the shooting phase, the Doomrocket gets a direct hit, crippling the Marauders on the left flank by killing 25 out of 35 models.

The Choas turn 2 begins with the Chaos Trolls charging my Hell Pit Abomination. I am slightly worried about the matchup, but the Trolls in front are now holding up the rest of the Chaos Warriors behind them with nowhere to maneuver. I burned my Scroll early in the game as well against a Purple Sun aimed for the Plague Furnace.

Turn three, and I'm charging my Furnace into he remaining Chosen to finish them. Slaves joined the HPA in combat with the Trolls to add some static resolution (only 2 slaves in contact), and the Stormvermin charged to finish off the Marauders. Magic was fickle and I was only able to kill 4 Warriors with Plague.

Combat was bloody, as the Marauders and Chosen were wiped out. The Chaos Trolls were taking no damage though, passing 6/6 regen saves. The furnace overran into the Chaos Warriors, which would turn out to be terrible as the Warriors now had a 2+ armor save with the Eye of the Gods roll from the Warshrine.

The Skaven Slaves get flanked by the Marauders next turn because I didn't expect the Trolls to be still around. This turn though I activate my Plague banner, and my Furnace and Monks kill the enemy Warshrine before the Furnace is taken out by the Chaos Lord on the next turn. The Warriors are able to gring down the Monks and cause them to flee, but do not catch them and are blocked by the still surviving Trolls from maneuvering, again! The miraculous Skave Slaves roll double 1's for Insane Courage TWO turns in a row to save the flank of my army, as I now decide to sit back and try to magic the remaining Warriors to death.

I was able to finish up and stay away from the Warriors the last turns. My Storm Vermin had wrapped behind the Warriors, threatening a rear charge and forcing him to play a reforming game rather than committing. This was able to keep them off my lines to finish out. My Plague Monks then rallied near my board edge saving me 300 points! The damn Chaos Trolls still held up my HPA and Slaves with the Maruaders in the flank and eventually my tropps there get wiped out, but not before I was able to 13th Spell the Chaos Warriors away, leaving the Chaos Lord and remaining L2 Tzeentch Sorcerer all by their lonesome to finish out the battle.

In the end it was a solid victory for the Skaven to open up the 2012 GLWL, and I chalked up the 2 points for the win (2 win, 1 draw, 0 loss). For qualifying for the season end tournament, total points scored are important, so I was happy with my 1909 points in the game. Skaven win 1909 - 517.

2012 GLWL Pre Season

The 2012 Great Lakes Warhammer League is about ready to start, and I am running the Skaven again for the 3rd year. This is the second year 8th Edition rules have been in effect, so I expect a much better rules knowledge and overall stronger competition!

The GLWL is a Michigan-based Warhammer league that runs yearly starting in January. All across the state there are divisions of players that play 5 games for W/L/D points and victory point tiebreakers. The top 8 Division winners then meet up at the Season End Championship tournament in a special championship bracket and fight it out for the League Championship. This year there are 77 participants in the GLWL!!! I bet that number goes up even higher when the Lansing crew that is doing the Warhammer start-up league is more seasoned, next year.

This being my third season in the GLWL, I think it's time to really keep my eye on the prize. The first year, I won the Wayne Division but didn't make it into the championship bracket. The second year I fell short of qualifying for the League Championship, but won the Season End Tournament Championship. This year the goal is to win it all!

Here is the lineup for me this year in the Wayne Division:

Week 1: Warriors of Chaos

Week 2: Ogre Kingdoms

Week 3: Empire

Week 4: Dark Elves

Week 5: Lizardmen



A tough lineup indeed. Good luck to everyone participating in the 2012 GLWL!

Rhellion's 2011 Wrap-up

2011 has come to a close, and it was a great hobby year. My first serious year of Grand Tournaments and lots and lots of smaller tournaments has really allowed me to hone my Warhammer skills and set my sights on bigger things for 2012.

I made it to my first Adepticon and traveled to my first 2 day GT with Blood in the Sun. Next year I am hoping to make it to a third large multi-day event, maybe even 4 if I can make both Core Comp (in its new incarnation) and Buckeye Battles. I did decent at Adepticon almost breaking the top 20 in both large events, and had an undefeated 5-0 record at BitS but failed to place.

I didn't do as well this year in 'Ard Boyz, getting knocked out of Finals contention on table 2 of the semi's round 3. I'll be better prepared next time! Though I played in a LOT of smaller 1 day events and won most of them, keeping my tournament skills as sharp as possible between large events.

Hobby-wise I 'finished' my Skaven tournament army and picked up a giant Battlefoam 1520XL case to carry them around in to tournaments. Now I find myself adding more and more, wanting to fill the giant case with Skaven reinforcements... and I am close! I also went through a couple secondary armies without settling on a single one. Currently I have a Wood Elf army on the shelf, waiting for some hobby time.

I also picked up a new game in Malifaux! My wife has joined me in starting up her own crews (she has more painted than I do), and we actually have enough space to play in our small home on our 3x3 Terraclips modular 3d terrain. I am mainly a Guild player, and she is mainly Arcanist.

In the coming year I have bigger plans for entering the Skaven in tournaments and becoming an even BETTER player. Practice is the name of the game this year, and I played a LOT last year. Also, I just ordered my Skaven reinforcements to begin preparing for Adepticon 2012 in Chicago. In addition to all of my Skaven projects I really would like to get started on the Wood Elves, if not some other army.

Happy New Year!