White Dwarf: Morghasts released

This coming weeks White Dwarf is doing the rounds on Twitter already. This time we see the much awaited Morghast variants. I posted earlier here how huge they are

They come in at $113 for a box of two. Although the price is steep, I was expecting about $98 for 1!

The box can build the two variants, Harbingers and Archai, which basically mean they get different weapons.

And in this weeks release we also get the new Spirit Hosts. These models tie in well with the new Undead legion releases and also offer a through back to the likes of the Coven Throne. 

With these few release Vampire Counts are looking to be one of the nicest ranges of models in Games Workshops line up. Once they re-sculpt the zombies and release a few odds and ends like the Bats, job done right? I hope not...

Now if only Tomb Kings would get this type of treatment. Hurry up and makke new core skellies!

Nagash Preview - Rules inside

So I'm lucky enough to have the book in my hands, and so far I am very pleased with the product, despite the price!

The 296 page lore book is, simply put, a must have if you are a fan of the background and theater of the Warhammer stage. I won't go into to much detail (read spoilers) here but the book touches every race in Warhammer. Nobody is left out of the storyline.

The first few pages are an artistic prelude, feature large battles scenes or mustering of armies, with some rather elusive statements and references of events to come. I'm most beguiled by the High Elf one, referencing a great lie...

A lot of you will also be interested in the new rules. Let me be clear, the rules included in the Nagash volume II, are NOT new grand sweeping changes to WHFB 8th edition. They are intended for use in the campaign, and it clearly states you "may" use them for any game.

Also included in Volume II (the books are labeled Volume I and II, so is that an indicationg there will be further volumes?) are rules for scenarios, generic rules for battlefields including underground fighting (lots of trolls and squigs can appear!) and of course the new Undead Legion rules

So for all you doomsday fodder out there, you will just have to wait a little longer!

Now in saying that, there is some long overdue changes which effect the Tomb Kings in the campaign introduced. Simply put, I wish GW would eratta them to be rules changes for Tomb Kings! 

 

First up is the sweeping change that makes the Undead legion possible. Ignore the rules, use this instead. Nehekharan and Vampires magic lore works on all undead...

Now the generic Undead rule, meaning now Tomb Kings can MARCH. Yes, you read that right. GW almost fixed Tomb Kings...

The new healing rules basically follow the previous, however, it now clearly states you may heal ethereal and Constructs 1 wound per spell. GW is getting ever so close to fixing Tomb Kings now!

But then once you read the designers notes on Slain Generals... In the Nagash campaign, your Undead Legion does not crumble from your general dieing any more.

There is plenty of other rules changes for the campaign, so go buy the book and read up yourself. From what I have read so far the implications are grand.

So what does this mean for the game. Well, at first glance, very little. The book is clear these rules are made for the campaign. Increases in Lords and Heroes allowances is a throw back the 4th/5th edition where that was the norm. The changes to the Undead rules are a good fix for Tomb Kings, but mean very little to Vampire Counts. 

But if we start thinking about the tournament scene, things get interesting IMO. We now have a set of rules written by GW that help Tomb Kings somewhat. There are already people speculating that Undead Legions will be an army able to be fielded in a tournament, and I agree some what. However not without some very important changes.

First and foremost, the 50% cap for Lords and Heroes needs to be removed and replaced with 25%. I think that goes without saying. There are some other changes which are debatable, like the General Slain/Army Crumble rule being reinstated, however that will be a landmine with the crossover between Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings... And then there is balance. Will mixing the best parts of Tomb Kings with the best of Vampire counts be overpowered? 

It could work, but then we might see a lot of WAAC gamers make the jump, and nobody wants that. They just need to stick with Daemons...

Morghast's are HUGE

If you didn't manage to see my twitter feed last night, I posted a range of pictures of the new rules for Nagash.

But this is worthy of a post of its own...

That's right, these suckers are HUGE. Its really good to see them in context of other models. Pictures are from the new Nagash book.

They are scheduled for pre release on September 7 and available to purchase September 14 alongside the new Spirit Hosts

If you where in two minds about purchasing the book set, the 296 page story is worth it alone!

The End of Times: Whats next?

Warning! This post contains massive amounts of grandiose speculation!

So, as most of you will know by now, unless your name is Patrick, Nagash has returned in all his glory!

The release will be interesting to watch unfold. We already know there is at least one more week of models to be released, thanks to the early leak of the September issue of Warhammer Visions. But what next?

Lets take a look at 40k's latest campaign. Sanctus Reach combined a multitude of host armies coming together in a 2 volume campaign that encompassed most of the 40k universe. It included army specific expansion books for Orks, Astra Militarum and Space Wolves. The release was done over a month long period with little insight to what the next wave might have been. It didnt however include many new models for release, but concentrated on formations for recently updated armies.

So what do we know about Warhammer: Nagash. We know we are getting a 2 book volume which contains a campaign focusing on the return of Nagash and the premise around the event. We know we are getting at least 4 kits: Nagash, Arkhan/Neferata/Manfred triple kit, Morghast Harbingers and Spirit hosts (although these may turn out to be built from the other kits).

But who is Nagash fighting? Well the story line basically goes along the lines (in its most simplistic version) of Nagash has been bought back by Manfred to unit the Undead to fight a Chaos incursion. Chaos...

And this leads to my speculation, that we may indeed see a second volume based around Chaos, which would potentially include the release of the 4 new Greater Daemon kits frequently rumored... What better way to introduce a large number of monstrous plastic kits! I would suspect that the volume would be a similar 2 book binding, with a united Chaos Legions list like back in the old days. Hands up who remembers the Chaos Boxed set of 5th edition!

This release style is unheard of in Warhammer Fantasy, but the precedent has been set by 40k already. This would also tie into the much lambasted rumors of 9th edition having volumes that covered a range of armies instead of an individual (which I dont buy personally). it would go a long way to cover the rumors that point to it being true/false which we have heard from several sources. 

So, my speculation is that the Nagash release may be more than just a 2 week Undead splash, but in fact the beginning of a more comprehensive release schedule. September was rumoured to be a big fantasy release (some claimed 9th edition) but I think this fits the bill a little better. This is indeed The End of Times! name says it all!

Time will tell...

The Clown Face that was...

Surely this is the end of times, at least for my wallet

Arkhan the Black, but wheres his chariot!

I don't know... but he looks rather vampirish. Aborash maybe?

New spirit hosts, shore to get the restless specters exited

Morghast Harbringers. Surprisingly similar to Crypt Horrors, most likley a Nagash Elite, although I cannot remember him using them in the Trilogy

This weeks White Dwarf cover. Ruthlessly hacked off twitter

Nagash in all his glory!

This weeks release schedule. Thats a lot crammed into 1 weeks of a weekly release cycle!

Ltd edition Nagash army book.... wait what. Nagash army book... let that salivate in your mind for a moment. Fantasy gets a (technically) new race...

Old vs new. The many faces of clown face

NZTC countdown: 4 days! Greatest Warhammer Battles of History...

Greatest Warhammer Battles of History...

The lists are all in and by now every team should have had a good go at reviewing potential matchups. The lists this year are definitely a step up from last, with 90% of the field bringing what can only be called a "competitive" list. 

Of course there are the usual cry babies who a lambasting over such abstract terms as "copy & paste" and "netlist". Some have even called the tournament boring. Well here is a clue to all those haters out there. HTFU. 

There is no peer/panel/subjective comp to be seen here (except the team called panel comp.. stupid Aussies can't let it go!) fixed it for yah =)

The breakdown this year is very interesting in that just about every team has arrived with a different team composition. Not only that, when you start reviewing the lists individually you start to see stark variation in the list designs. There is not 9 Throgg lists like some claim... However there  is always one exception to the rule, this time being Empire. The other lists have a huge degree of variation to them and waves a good flag for the low/0 comp community (read real Warhammer). 

Apparently, not to be undone by the Juggernaught factories of Khorne, The Empire has founded a new breeding ranch for Demigryphs, and the Nulu artillery school has been hard at work increasing the number of steam tanks and cannon in the realm. And as there is always an exception to the rule, there is also always an exception to the exception... the special snowflake this time is Alan from team Basiliers who seams to have submitted the same list as last year...

So on to the important stuff...

I'm taking a Krak at picking the top teams this year. In no particular order...

The Vonn Trapp Family

Current reining Warhammer champion of the >country< and current holders of the NZTC cup, only a fool would discount Pete and his offspring. They bring Warriors, Dark Elves, Daemons and Skaven to the party, which, IMO is close (ruined only by the rats!) to a perfect combo for team design. Can they hold on to the old mug or will the even make the podium? No doubt the team will have to carry Pete's Skaven as everyone knows they are so hard done by these days...

Wolfpack

The team with the dream. Can they dethrone the coven of evil? Arguably one of the strongest team designs including Warriors, Daemons, Empire but once again being let down by rats. If they had some good stout Dwarfs (snigger) or more seriously Dark Elves they would be a shoe in. Wolfpack has the potential to be the kingmaker, but it all depends on their day one performance. 

Stonesfall Massive

Packing Warriors, Ogres, Daemons and Empire, this is another team that has a good mix of armies. The only thing holding them back will be if Joel chokes every round or not. 

Panel Comp

Trying to embrace the spirit of Warhammer, I have included some of our unfortunate cousins from across the ditch, despite the name. Warriors, Skaven, Empire and Dark Elves make the combo. Having no Daemons will be a sore point however can the Aussies compete to the same level without all the handicaps they place on the game? They will either finish top 5 or bottom 5! 

Team with the Guy.....

Dark Elves, High Elves, Daemons and Empire. Oh so close, except for that Guy. The guy is obviously the High Elves player, and the full name is obviously the "Team with the Guy that let down the rest of the team by taking High Elves to a serious Warhammer competition..." If they switched out High Elves for Woc, they would be the Dream Team!

DILF

The gay bandwagon team arrives in all is glory, no smack post would be complete without talking about DILF's. If they can stop day dreaming about having their very own sugar daddy, or checking out the opposition they may just have a chance. Although not the strongest combination of armies, they afford an interesting mix which is sure to give some teams a headache. just be careful of them offering you a drink as they may have slipped something into it... You have been warned

So that leaves my Team. Where will we come? Rocking Dark Elves, Lizardmen, Vampire Counts and Dwarfs its an obvious run for the wooden spoon here. Packing a Lizardman Bus, a new player that's never played in a tournament before, the slowest Warhammer player in the universe and an infantry DE list that I have never tested before, with a bit of luck and some ace matchups we will middle pack in about 7th (+ or - 6 places)

So who will be the Winner? Who wins out of Blackbreard vs Al Capone?

Parting shot: Best team composition IMO would have been Dark Elves, Daemons, Empire, and Warriors. Interesting nobody took it...

Introducing: Krak Team. NZTC lists revealed

So Peter has released the lists to the dubdubdub. You can visit here for the full list details.

So its time for the big run down. Plastic Krak is proud to present its Krak Team!

Tim "the Executioner" Joss (Kaptain)

Choppy LordNaked chickPsyco chicks on fireDouble flee horse dudersExecutionersMore executionersdid I mention executionersSome Black Ark hardwareoh, and some Brolocks

Hagen "6 Dice" Kerr

Tetto Eko
Scar Vets
& Skinks
Seriously thats all

Neil "Old man" Williamson

Runelord on AnvilThaneBSBLongbeard RangersGreat WeaponsMiners miners miners!Some cannonsA musical instrumentand a choppa

Ben "Blender" Crum

Blender Vampy Lord Baby Vamp Necro Ghoul Hoard Wolves Meatsheild Ghosts Black Knight Bus Big flappy bat vamps Huge flappy bat vamp Bring it!

NZTC 12 days to total oblivion!

We are now closing in on the final stretch. In a little under two weeks, the windy capitol will be hosting a bunch of bridesmaids and the winning team!

We have past one of the last milestones on Friday midnight Kiwi time. All lists have been submitted and finalised by now. After the stark appraisal from resident self proclaimed Warhammer guru Pete Dunn, our team had to go back to the drawing board.

Peter Dunn11 February 2014 18:59

You're f@$ked

ReplyDelete

Now the original draft was to shock and awe by using Old World fluff to confuse our opponents to our underlying strategy. After running a few scenarios (I started watching Season 2 of House of Cards, that s*@#s amazing!). We had come up with the combination of Dwarfs, High Elves, Wood Elves and Brettonians (High Elves was later swapped to Tomb Kings). Upon closer scrutiny, we realised that the matchup process may be more difficult than anticipated...

All cause for worry, but the most disturbing was the revaluation of a rat being caught in a trap in the garage. It was assumed that Pete had sent spies to all the other teams Captains but now I had proof. No sooner had I found the rat (nothing better than a dead rat I tell you) than I double guard duty on KastleKrak and enlisted the services of my pet guard dog Sam.

Here is Sam Standing at attention. Nothing gets past him! Note supper long tongue, perfect for licking spies to death!

Sam also does a great Sphinx impersonation. He plans on guarding for a long time...

Here he is savagely mauling the next door neighbours kids ball that attempted to infiltrate the back yard...

Seriously that dog is a psychopath. This morning he found a hedgehog in the garden and started throwing it up in the air like a ball before digging a hole and attempting to bury it alive... you have been warned!

So all this has lead to an 11th hour decision to change the team makeup. We will now go for a much softer approach to at least give others a chance (in the fluffy stakes).

Our new team will consist of the following:

• Scar Vets
• Executioners
• Terrorgiests
• Miners

Now that we have left the filth at home we can feel all warm and fuzzy about ourselves next weekend. For the safety of all others I will however be leaving Sam at home. No doubt some sneaky rat will try infiltrate KastleKrak whilst I am gone. Best be safer rather than sorry.

Southcon Battle Reports

Six games. Two days. 2500 points and 14 players. It wasn't the largest field but we got some familiar faces turn up and and most armies represented

Game 1 - Raymond - WOC

Raymond had 2 regenerating Chimeras, a Tzeentch Sorcerer on a disc, some gorebeast chariots and a Hellcannon. No Skullcrushers! Scenario was dawn attack

My Hellcannon killed his on turn 2, Magma cannon picked up some wounds on a Chimera which was finished off by some hobgoblins, and my K'daai rampaged around until it burnt itself out turn 5. Prophet managed to avoid going down a hole early in the game. I had a hard time dealing with his unkillable Tzeench Sorcerer so just avoided it for the most part. Pretty good game for me with the Hellcannon picking up a few valuable kills and not a lot going wrong for me. 17-3 win

Game 2 - Rhys - WOC

Rhys had dual Chimeras as well, but they where accompanied by 2 units of skullcrushers, and an unkillable Tzeentch combat lord. The scenario this time was meeting engaement.

I had terrible luck with the Truck, K'daai, Hellcannon, a hogoblin hero and a unit of hobgoblins not even starting on the table! I got first turn and moved things on anchoring around a building. Magma cannon failed to do anything all game and got charged by a Chimera. A unit of 3 Skullcrushers failed to restrain and charged into my K'daai. they caused 4 wounds and in return Bowser killed 2 of them. They fled and got away. Next he was charged by the unkillable lord. Not only did blazing body managed to wound and get past the 1+ 3++ rerollable, But I scored 3 wounds with his attacks, two of which made it though. Job done, Bowser burnt himself out! Hellcannon came on song later in the game picking off a Chimera, with the other dieing to the Prophet on Great Taurus. In the later stages of the game I surrounded his unit of 4 Skullcruchers and triple teamed them with Truck, Taurus and BC. His warriors ran out of range. Things where going terrible until I killed the unkillable, and then the game changed entirely. 20-0

Game 3 - Mal - LMC

You all know Mals normal ETC restricted list. Yeah. Skink cloud and death by a thousand papercuts. Scenario was watchtower worth 1k points...

I threw some hobgoblins in the tower first up and figured my only chance for a draw/narrow win was to hold the tower and try thin the cloud with the Truck. Well one truck is not enough. K'daai dies to poison, mobility of Prophet allows him to survive. Infernal guard die to final transmutation. This is the match the Chaos Dwarfs struggle with. Some funny moments where both Mals Scar vets go stupid wanting to charge, but with so much poison in the army that ignores some of my defence, backed up with metal magic this was always going to be bad. 0-20 loss and the first time I had been on the receiving end of one at a tournament...


Game 4 - Alan - Empire

Alan had cannons. Lots of cannons. Some empire duders in there as well. Steam tank, 2 cannons, 2 hellblasters, a hurricanium and an Alter. pewpewpew... Scenario was a capture the flag worth 700 points

Well helcannon got a few wounds on the steam tank first turn, and wolfies ran at a cannon. My Prophets ride got dwellered turn one, so turn two I ducked him into the Infernal guard, just so he could roll a 1 on his LOS and get cannoned off anyway... Steamtank also picked off the hellcannon turn 3 or 4. K'daai shook off a cannon to the face and then RAMPAGED. It picked up a halbadeirs unit, steam tank and some chaff. The truck ate a hellblaster for dinner and then dined on the War Alter for desert, and the BC chased off the great swords after Alan elected to flee from Infernal guard. Wolfies picked up some cannons and chased off the great swords. A convincing 20-0 to me after all but tabling Alan (he had a unit of knights that had failed 3 charges vs hobgoblins in the game). K'daai lives!

Game 5 - Darren - Daemons of Nurgle

Epidermus, a GUO, blocks of plaugebearers and  beasts. Was looking forward to facing Darren as i wanted to see how well I could do against this list. 

I hid my banners in buildings and basically cock-blocked half of his army whilst going to town on the big unit of plaugebearers in the middle with the BSB and a banner. The intention was to break him early. Epidermus and the GUO hid behind a building for most of the game not wanting to come out and play with my Hellcannon. Truck tanks a unit of 6 beast, and then gets some help later on from the Prophet to clean them up. Darrens other beasts take 2 turns of combat to finish of the flame cannon, and then spend the rest of the game trying to deal with the Hellcannon. He gets it on the last turn but only just. I fly over and zapp Epi with the prophet and Bowser runs away from the GOU thats come out to play since the Hellcannon is tied up. A convincing 20-0 win 

Game 6 - Basil - VC

Last game is against Basil and the black night bus blender lord. Zombies, Ghouls, Black Knights and a full size unit of Hex Wraiths. 

Hellcannon lands 2 shots on the Hex Wraiths wiping them out. K'daai runs down the right flank and bogs down in some Zombies for a turn. I manage to ash storm the blender bus 4 times in the game with the hobgoblin wolf heros redirecting the other two. It never makes it into combat. I get a curse of Hashut off on his Lord and roll double 6 for the hits (netting me 7) he only has a 5+ ward but then again I only score one wound on a 4+... lucky! I pick off all the other characters and avoid any manage to outflank Basils army to net me a 14-6 win. Tough game but we both enjoyed it.

So finished overall in 2nd place and no Chalice of Blood and Darkness in sight. Had to be said.
Didn't face any Ogres this tournament nor Skaven which would have been telling. I've got some new ideas from the games I want to try before the ETC.

Equinox Roundup - Battlereports

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending my first singles tournament of the year being Equinox. I took this as an opportunity to practice for the ETC later this year and entered a Chaos Dwarf army based on the Tamurkhan Books Legion of Azgorh. After running them at the NZTC earlier this year I was looking to get a variety of games in against a host of the other slave races, and not just Daemons.

The event was an interesting one in that we had 4 games on the first day, followed by a break on Sunday morning and 2 games in the afternoon. Something to do with a booking cock up from the Auckland Council.
The draw for the first round was published a few days before the event and we went in almost blind with none of the lists readily available pre tournament.

So the first settlement I came across was James Brown and his Ogres. James had been playing the good game all week with the "pre tournament smack" and had even gone as far as starting what can only be a new additional sideline competition going forward. The Battle of the blogs was on an New Zealands top Warhammer Celebrity would be decided this weekend. 

Lining up opposite me was all the usual suspects except this build had a tonne of fire wards. James, where you expecting my company? Being a crafty little Jafa, James lined up his little fatties all in a row as to minimise any magmacannon pain coming his way. James then lucked up and grabbed first turn, getting off a 2D6 fireball and taking out my Magmacannon first turn, followed up by laser guided cannonball taking out a Death Shrieker Rocket. To add to my misery a hobgoblin unit decided to leg it after failing an animosity test. I got my own back with the other Death shrieker rocket taking out the Ironblaster. The game was them spent with each of us out-maneuvering each other with me avoiding the Gutstar with the Bowser the K'Daai and James avoiding the K'daai with the Mournfang. Henery Khan managed to run around all game picking up heroic 1v1's with Sabre Tusks. The little (hob)goblin that could...This resulted in 10 slaves captured and 10 getting away. A draw in anyones books

Game two was against Russell and his VC. Normally not a very good matchup for the Dawi Zharr but in this case I wasnt to realise till after "what could have been". Russell had a Terrorgiest, or what I like to call it, no.1 top priority to kill. He also had a Black Knight Bus loaded up with leaches, and some skittles and what not to match. After taking out the no.1 target, my artillery spent the game working on dropping the numbers of skittles. Some timely casting of ash storm stopped them coming back. I fed the Bus with Henry first, followed by the Bull Centaurs whilst I ran around the back of the bus with Bowser and the Prophet after it survive a "going down the hole" roll. Meanwhile, my hobgoblins decided it was time to leg it again, and fled from the oncoming Ghouls. Early in the game Russell miscast and feedback caused wounds on a bunch of his characters allowing me the ability to snipe his BSB with curse of Hashut. This resulted in me picking up 12 slaves to his 8. After the game Russell pointed out that he had the flaming banner on his Bus, and only mundane weapons on the characters in the bus, and wondered why I didn't change in with Bowser. I had no answer except top bash my head against the table...

After kicking myself some more it was time for me top face Mike Stewart, a future (and past) team mate of the upcoming ETC. We had a mission this time, King of the Hill!. Mike had Empire with only one chicken Knights, however there was 2 cannons... Knowing my armies worst enemy was on the board in the form of cannons, I decided I would try just running at him. Yeah I want to be an Ogre deep down and push everything forward. A rolled up first turn and after hiding behind a hill I flew up the prophet and zapped a cannon with a 2D6 flaming wrath, but only picked up 2 wounds. I then finished it off with a Death Shrieker. Henry ran up the right flank into a grap shot from the other cannon. Meanwhile Bowser steamrolled right into the Halberdiers bunker with the L4 caster in tit and spent the next few turns grinding it to dust. I left the Great Swords alone whilst leading around the chickens until the Prophet could come over and deal with them. I sat some hobgoblins on the hill after chasing of some archers and collected myself 19 new slaves for the trouble, letting one get away. Damn it I still can't believe I didn't pick up on the flaming banner in the Black Knight Bus...

Game 4. Game on. Lining up opposite me was Rob's Chaos Warriors made up of many classic miniatures from GW's hay days. Looking good Rob. I started out by landing a perfect magmacannon shot on the trolls, removing 4 out of 5. The last one then spent the game hiding behind a hill whilst the cork come out the magmacannon and it blew itself up. The Hellcannon was dropped first turn to a combined Death Shrieker attack and I started pushing a refused flank in the hole I had made. I loose anothe Death Shrieker to a msifire and the Prophet survives another "down the hole" miscast  after zapping the Tzeentch Sorcerer Bowser then makes contact with 18 Warriors and a L2 sorcerer and cleans them up. Robs Tzeentch lord then ties him down for the rest of the game and I throw Henry under the skullcrushers to save them contacting Bowser. I pick up 13 slaves for my efforts.

Game 5 and a new venue. Tom is next up and another Ogre matchup to contend with. I start by giving Tom, a former ETC player and stuntie player a lesson on what it feels like to line up agaisnt a classic Dwarf deployment... Yeah I turtle up in the corner. Fist turn and another perfect Magmacannon shot. Bye bye Ironguts. I take 4 wounds off the Ironblaster but don't finish it off. In return Tom uses it to take out the Magmacanon. Tom tries to entrap my K'daai but I manage to get it in behind his lines. My Prophet takes out Toms "Bruiser who thinks he's an Arabian Prince" and overruns into 2 mournfang. A timely ashstorm stops the 4 mournfang in their tracks. I try make an Ogre sammich (between Bowser and the Prophet) but Tom bails all his chars into the Bulls before Bowser gets in to finish the ironguts. Tom lets me have a hardcast Burning wrath which I then roll up 12 hits on the remaining 4 strong Mournfang, killing 2. This however allows Tom the ability to charge my warmachines as Henry is no longer redirecting them. The Mournfang clean up a Death shrieker before overruning into the other one, which in turn allows me to charge the fangs in the flank with my Infernal Guard breaking them. I pick up 16 slaves for my troubles this game.

Last game and I am matched against the undefeated Ross and his Warriors of Chaos. He has a nasty list, including Skullcrushers, chariots, and the unkillable Tzeentch disc lord, not to mention that Nurgle Daemon Prince build we all love... Split deployment sees my Prophet and Bowser lined up opposite Ross's Helcannon and Daemon Prince. I get first turn and push up the flank with them. The DP and HC are out of range of the Death Shriekers so with the help of the Magma cannon they take of the Chimera instead. I zapp the DP with Curse of Hashut and take a wound off. In my second turn Bowser charges into the Hellcannon whilst the Prophet flies in behind the DP and zapps it again. Ross throw 6 dice at it to dispel, and rolls a 1,1,1,1,2 and 3... yeah. I cause 5 wounds in which he saves one. Bye bye DP. I fireball off some chaff and shoot some dogs. Poor puppies. Meanwhile, both Hobgoblin units feel that things are going so well that they are not needed, so leg it... again... and the magmacannon kills 4 or 5 Warriors each turn before the Tzeentch lord takes it off. The warriors flee the field. At this point Ross is felling extremely under the weather and asks to call the game. The game is called and we work out I have captured another 16 slaves all up. 

So that ends my first outing with the Dawi Zharr in a singles event, and with well over 40 attending I pick up 1st place over all, after the tie breaker with Ross. Not a bad way to start the year. I am happy at how the Chaos Dwarves are preforming so far and got some good practice in for the ETC later this year. The tournament was very tight at the top, with Dan Butler (WOC) out scoring me on battlepoints but with an unpainted army, and 13 points splitting the top 22 players!  I bagged 84 slaves out of a possible 120 so I hope the tower masters will be pleased. 

NZTC Recap - Day 1

So a few weeks ago New Zealands WHFB community descended on an unsuspecting hall in our capital city for the first inarguable New Zealand Team Championship, and what a success it was!

Huge thanks to Pete for organising this event!

I was invited to attend by some friends in Christchurch, on the condition I would captain the team. Alan, Damon, Mike and I rocked into the capital with Empire, Lizardmen, Orcs and Goblins, and my new army Chaos Dwarfs. 

Our army composition was not really based around any great strategy as a team. It was more a case of Mike was bringing Orcs and Goblins regardless, Alan only had Empire, Damon wanted to bring Wood Elves, leaving me to fill any perceived gaps. Mike had a list that he refused to change, not for a lack of trying by the rest of the team! Alan only managed to paint up 4 chickens, and after some discussion at Guardcon last year, Damon opted for pink lizards! over the woodies. This left our team with two armies which where more conservative in approach, and one that should be a good kicker for short wins, (despite its lack of Doom Divers...). We really needed something that could chase the big wins, so I took the opportunity to try out my Chaos Dwarfs. I geared the build to specifically take on Daemons, as I suspected most teams would roll out triple letter lists. It gave the build some inherent difficulties playing cannons, which also meant avoiding Ogres, which would be another big contender.

So Round one we drew Cut the Mustard. We thought this was favourable to us, but the one problem was the Ogres. 2 cannons meant the CD needed to avoid Ogres. However the other three armies that was a favourable matchup. 

We ended up with the following:

Chaos Dwarfs vs Vampire Counts

Orcs & Goblins vs Daemons

Empire vs Ogres

Lizards vs Wood Elves

Mike got a solid victory going 12-8 over the Daemons. Damon scrapped out a 13-7 win despite not being able to finish everything off. Alan got overrun by the Ogres 0-20. We really thought he had the big high strength blocks to win combats. I pulled a lucky 18-2 win over the VC. I managed to double flank the infantry blocks and used the artillery to decimate them before wiping them out on the charge. A good round overall and a nice first outing for the Evil Stunties (it was my first game ever with them!)

We finish the round 43-37. We where looking for more here but didnt expect the complete collapse of the Empire/Ogre match. 

Second round was drawn and one of the harder matchups came to fore. We got the Nerdymen and what was going to be not the best round. My Chaos Dwarfs needed to avoid Rory's VC, his bus and general would just steamroll my entire army by itself. Nobody else wanted to face the Daemons so that was the perfect match. Mike got the Warriors which was a good match, and we threw Alan to the Ogres again. Hopefully this time he would have some better luck and get a draw which his army should be capable of. This left Damon to the VC, and with lore of Metal and being able to pass off miscast to Rory's lord, we thought we had got a good round of matchups.

Chaos Dwarfs vs Daemons

Lizardmen vs Vampire Counts

Orcs & Goblins vs High Elves

Empire vs Ogres

Once again Alan had a terrible game against the Orges. He really needed a second unit of Chickens. Some more terrible luck but managed to conserve 1 point with a 1-19 loss. Mike played a great game again and only went down 9-11. With some doom divers he could have collected a 12-8 win easy, well not according to him anyway. Damon's stratergy collapsed and the Knight Bus got through unmolested. I had a fairly easy game with a really favourable matchup. Daemons de-materialised to the artillery, I held up the blocks and worked one at a time, finishing them off with double charges by the Taurus and Kdaai. 19-1 to me

We finished round to going down 35-45. Not to bad, definitely could have been worse. If we had the right build (read Doom Divers) we would have tried to get Orcs vs the VC, giving Lizards the Ogres. 

Round three and half way through the long day. Kapiti Krushers pop up on our radar and another challenge for our team. We angled my Evil Stunties to the Daemons again, nobody wanting to take on the triple letter hoard but me. We tried to get Mike the mirror match, and put him and Alan up vs the Orcs. Damon took the match vs the Darkies in the end

Chaos Dwarfs vs Daemons

Lizardmen vs Dark Elves

Orcs & Goblins vs Warriors of Chaos 

Empire vs Orcs & Goblins

All in all a good draw. Only thing we really wanted to change was swapping the matches for Mike and Damon. Cant have everything go our own way however. I had another great game, controlling the board from the beginning of the game and working on one letter hoard after another. 19-1 win to me. Damon had a terrible turn of events in the last turn or so, with a critical combat that should have been in his favour turning against him with him going down 3-17 instead of the opposite number. Massive last turn swings thanks to mindrazor... Mike didn't have any luck in his match either, with the Warriors of Chaos being to fast for his army and taking the flanks and the eventual victory 1-19. Alan on the other hand took a steady hand and notched up 14-6 win against the Orcs. 

So this round finished with our team losing the round by three points 37-43. Thanks mindrazor! Not.

So we go into the last round of the very long day. We havn't gone down big in any round but havn't managed to climb out from practical draws. Seams we are not the only ones. The team games have a away of evening things out it appears. Team OMEN is next in our crosshairs and we are looking to get this one right. Once again I looked to avoid the VC list with its Vampire of Doom, and the Empire list with all its cannons. We thought the OnG would be a good match here despite the lack of Doom Divers. We aimed to get the mirror match with Alan. The round broke down to the follwoing:

Chaos Dwarfs vs High Elves

Lizardmen vs Dark Elves

Orcs & Goblins vs Vampire Counts

Empire vs Empire

I was not looking forward to this. Not only was it the 4th game of the day, I had managed only 5 hours sleep the last night. I turtled and threw some dice about not expecting much, as the High Elf match was not good for my list. But when James failed a few charges, and I managed to kill his dragon with rockets, things looked up a little. My Infernal Guard dealt to his BSB on eagle who was left to fend for himself thanks to the failed charges, and my hobgoblin archers shot the High Elf general that was now dragonless after fending off eagles in combat! Not only that, James fluffed the white lions combat vs the K'daai, allowing it to got on a rampage. I still don't know how I got a 19-1 win. Damn lucky dice. Alan and Joels Empire off resulted in a predictable 9-11, with Mike leaping to new strengths pulling a nice win from the VC 13-7. Damon discovered the Cold One Bus was immune to his magic but despite than managed to get the 11-9 win. 

The round finished as a nice, although unexpected win 52-28 to us. Great way to finish the day. We had gone in thinking 40 would be nice. Luck still has a lot to do with this game 

So day one ended with us on a grand total of 167 points. I think this was top half of the table. Not to bad considering our lists. Like I said I thought we would be gunning for 5th to 6th place and was happy to with our first day haul. We headed off home very tired and hungry. We all had a sneaking suspicion we would be playing the Von Trapp family next round...