Team NZ ETC 2016 Captain's selection underway

The 2016 ETC will be held in Athens Greece on 5th to 7th August or 12 to 14 (most likely the 5/7)
Playing 9th Age

The first stage to putting together a team is selection of a Captain. This is undertaken by last years team who review applications and make their selection

The new Captain then runs the team selection process ie convene a selection panel and seek nominations from interested players

So to start can those interested in the 2016 captaincy please email me at katatt@bigpond.com
The deadline for applications being 7pm NZT on the 14 October 

I do not intend to apply for the Captains roll 

Cheers Chris

Athens is a beautiful city, and the Greek Islands are only a few hours away on the ferries. 

The ETC community has voted to bring in "The 9th Age" as the rule system to replace the now unsupported WHFB 8th edition, with Age of Sigmar almost unanimously being voted down. Full details on the rules can be found on the 9th Age website. 
If you are interested in the captaincy for 2016 please email Chris.

A big thanks to Chris for all his efforts over the past few years!

ETC 2015 Fantasy final results are in

Full results are in and a big congratulations to Germany for taking the top spot in both WHFB and 40K. Poland and Italy round out the top performers.

A good effort from team NZ finishing in 27th after a narrow loss to the Ukraine 79-81 in the last round. Also well done to our Cousins across the ditch coming in an all mighty 10th place!

There was no game between NZ and AU this year, and since we always win that match I guess NZ has been sorting them out previously.

We also see our warm up partner Singapore finish in a respectable 16th. Newcomers Argentina are also up in 18th ahead of USA! who finished 19th. Did not see that coming...

Horned Rat results

Horned Rat VII was run over the weekend and attracted 26 players from throughout New Zealand.

It was run under ETC comp and played on ETC terrain. Many thanks go to Pete for not only putting up with about 20 gamers taking over his home, but for organising and supplying all the terrain for the event. 

My much vaunted Dark Elves managed 3rd overall and 60 something battlepoints. McCrae managed to establish Dwarven stubbornness as a weapon and succeeded in placing his throng on the second step. And finally Dan set a tall order to follow taking out his second tournament this year with WoC

So with the ETC comp we managed to get 7 different races in the top 10, with Dwarfs, Empire and Tomb Kings taking a double stake. Even Beastmen made a showing in 8th! Well done Stewart.

Disappointment of the weekend goes to Jeff Kent proving that no amount of drill can prepare you for the trepidations of a weekend of war dollies.

WHFB ETC Results

ETC is over for another year and the results are out

Place	TEAM	VPTotal	BP	BPTotal	penalty
1	POLAND	29978	631	564
2	AUSTRIA	5108	564	536
3	ENGLAND	13102	554	530
4	DENMARK	16917	551	526	-1
5	GERMANY	9381	547	523
6	FRANCE	7874	525	521	-2
7	GREECE	8301	531	518
8	SWEDEN	5835	511	514
9	ITALY	6561	520	506	-1
10	FINLAND	4772	511	504
11	SPAIN	9792	528	500
12	UNITED STATES	1415	490	494
13	MALTA	-1746	460	488
14	SCOTLAND	6009	498	487
15	NORWAY	4604	492	485
16	SINGAPORE	1687	491	485
17	AUSTRALIA	-81	482	484
18	RUSSIA	-6631	481	484
19	BELARUS	-1599	468	474
20	NEW ZEALAND	-2009	465	474
21	UNITED NATION	-7715	444	465
22	IRELAND	887	463	462
23	UKRAINE	-7179	457	462
24	CZECH	-6923	449	459
25	NETHERLANDS	-5609	440	457
26	LATVIA	-8494	436	448
27	SERBIA	-4364	443	447
28	BULGARIA	-3574	424	444
29	NORTHERN IRELAND	-10165	429	442
30	WALES	-16637	399	441
31	BELGIUM	-7529	425	438
32	SWITZERLAND	-16728	396	424
33	CANADA	-11577	418	418
34	HUNGARY	-12761	393	416

So team Kiwi managed to beat the Aussies in round four. That's all that counts to be honest! 
I am looking forward to some bat reps from our team, especially how our Ogre player managed to turn a 20-0 win into an 18-2 loss???

I have been really disappointed by the coverage this year however. Last year we got some good coverage from RHQ on youtube, several forums had running commentaries, a few podcasters when hitting the airwaves and twitter was singing a happy tune. This year RHQ continues to ignore the largest user group of its ranking system, and TWF had one short thread. I don't know about twitter as I dont subscribe to the birdies. Baddice came to the party with some podcasting love but I cant shake the feeling things could have been better. Hopefully there will be some good post tourney summaries for us to tune into.

Did I mention Team Kiwi bet the Aussies?

ETC 2012

So this week bought us the ETC lists and breakdown for this years Tournament, to be held in Poland.
The lists can be found here available for download in PDF.

First thoughts (for those new to the ETC) are they would be a great source for learning more about the meta from different regions, however, that is, untill you read the fine print, and discover they are all based on the abomination that is ETC restrictions.

This is not Warhammer 8th edition. It is more like version 7.5, the hangover edition (that never was or should be). But that is another story...

The breakdown is as follows:

27 – Skaven
25 – Empire
25 – Dark Elves
23 – Vampire Counts
21 – Daemons of Chaos
21 – Dwarfs
20 – Ogre Kingdoms
19 – Lizardmen
19 – Warriors of Chaos
17 – High Elves
12 – Orcs & Goblins
11 – Chaos Dwarfs
10 – Bretonnians
7 – Tomb Kings
4 – Wood Elves
3 – Beastmen

So we see the usual suspects heading the numbers up, despite the nerfing's. I find it good to see Empire numbers on the ascent with thier recent new book, and also interesting to see the VC are still popular despite the new book! 11 Chaos Dwarf armies are making thier first appearence at the ETC, complete with one list not sporting a Ka'Daai, destroyer of toys! Yes you heard correct. Someone is taking Chaos Dwarfs without the nastiest monster in warhammer... Brain fart or sublime tactician....?

At the other end of the scale, we see a few die hards working beastmen into the team strategy. And despite the bonus 200 points, only 7 people cut the grade with our resplendent Tomb Kings. Oh how I wish I could take an extra 200 points in tournaments in NZ. But then again, the ETC hamstrings the army with retarded restrictions such as limiting BS based shooting to 45 shots, and 5 dice max casting. When will they learn? One look at the international news section tells us... never...

A little closer look into some of the TK lists:

The Motherland

Russ Veal, Tomb Kings
Liche High Priest: General, Army Hierophant, Lvl 4, Nekharia, Earthing Rod, Dragonbane Gem, 240
Liche High Priest: Lvl 4, Light, Dispel Scroll, 235
10 Skeleton Bowmen: Musician, 70
10 Skeleton Bowmen: Musician, 70
10 Skeleton Bowmen: Musician, 70
5 Skeleton Horse Archers: 70
5 Skeleton Horse Archers: 70
5 Skeleton Chariots: Musician, Standard, Banner of Eternal Flame, 305
5 Necropolis Knights: Musician, 335
5 Necropolis Knights: Musician, 335
1 Tomb Scorpion: 85
1 Tomb Scorpion: 85
1 Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
1 Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
1 Necrosphinx: 225
1 Necrosphinx: 225
Total: 2600

I notice Russ is taking dual Necrosphinx action and can only assume its for some character assasination! The regular dual Necroknights turn up in his list (supported by a L4 Light Liche) although reduced to units of 5 this time (he normally sports 6), and is that 10 man archer units I see??? =P In this case Its most likley for bunkers for the casters though.
Oh Russ, where the hell is the casket?

Chocolate Danish

Troels Hugo Cederholm, Tomb Kings
Tomb King: general, light armour, Warrior Bane, 175
Liche High Priest: hierophant, Lvl 4, Nehekhara, Sceptre of Stability, 225
Liche Priest: Lvl 2, death, Scroll of Shielding, 120
Liche Priest: Lvl 2, death, Dispel Scroll, 130
12 Skeleton Archers: 72
12 Skeleton Archers: 72
39 Skeleton Warriors: Musician, Champion, 176
10 Skeleton Warriors: 40
10 Skeleton Warriors: 40
5 Skeleton Horse Archers: 70
5 Skeleton Horsemen: 60
5 Skeleton Horsemen: 60
5 Skeleton Horsemen: 60
8 Ushabti: great bow, 400
8 Ushabti: musician, great bow, 410
1 Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
1 Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
1 Hierotitan: 175
1 Casket of Souls: 135
Total: 2600

I spot a current trend at the moment in the form of Ushabti with bows, or Bowshabti. This unit more than any, was one often overlooked when the book was released. Im tempted to participate in this trend myself, but not at $34 a model!

The Flying Dutchmen

Richard de Swaaf, Tomb Kings
Liche High Priest: Hierophant, lvl 4, Nehekhara, Sceptre of Stability, Talisman of Preservation, 270
Liche High Priest: General, lvl 4, Death, Dispel Scroll, Opal Amulet, 250
35 Skeleton Archers: musician, 220
10 Skeleton Archers: 60
4 Skeleton Chariots: 220
4 Skeleton Chariots: 220
3 Carrion: 72
3 Carrion: 72
3 Carrion: 72
1 Warsphinx: Fiery Roar, 230
1 Warsphinx: 210
1 Warsphinx: 210
1 Hierotitan: 175
1 Casket of Souls:135
1 Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
1 Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
Total: 2596

Wait what? Warsphinx without fiery roar??? I know its hard to make cuts when your up near the limit but really, kittys without bad breath are just puppies! Someones been eating to many brownies? Nice to see a L4 Death Liche in the mix though... mmm Death magic....

Hot Potato

Ivan Magowan Tomb Kings
Liche High Priest: General, Light, Lvl4, Dispel scroll 235
Liche High Priest: Hierophant, Nehekhara, Obsidian Lodestone, Lvl4 255
Liche Priest: Light, 70
Liche Priest: Light, 70
Liche Priest: Light, 70
Liche Priest: Light, 70
20 Skeleton Archers: Musican 130
20 Skeleton Archers: Musican 130
3 Skeleton Chariots: Standard Bearer, Banner of Eternal Flame 185pts
5 Skeleton Horsemen: Champion 70
5 Skeleton Horsemen: Champion 70
16 Skeleton Warriors: Champion, Musician 84
5 Necropolis Knights: Musican 335
5 Necropolis Knights: Musican 325
Casket of Souls: 135
Hierotitan: 175
Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
Screaming Skull Catapult: 90
Total 2599

Love it. Light spam! L1 light Priests with an avearge caster level of 3 (thanks to the hierotitan) means 1 dice'n Shems all day long

I find it good to see other parts of the world have been trying and suceeding with similar ideas I have had. Theres even a double casket list in the mix, something I have playtested with success so far. There seams to be a few common trends occuring, namely defensive builds based around Bowshabti, and all rounders/offence based around the dual 5-6 strong necroknights (supported by a L4 light liche). Coomon theme. Scatterpults. We still do have the best ones in the game!

Where is the bloody Tomb Guard!!!!!!

Despite my ramblings I wish Team NZ all the best in their campaign in Poland this year. Any result is fine, as long as its higher than those bloody Auzzies! =P