NZTC 2014 wrap-up

So unless you have been living under a rock (Patrick) you would know by now that the New Zealand Teams Championship has been run and won. 

Apparently some Auzzie Guy submarined his way to the top dragging a bunch of Auzzies kicking and screaming all the way. Not being use to the lofty heights of a podium that actually matters, they looked like a bunch of possums in the headlights as the paparazzi swarmed them for pictures and quotes (read Sam took a pic on his cell phone...).

The oxymoron's managed a distant 26 points behind. I blame this squarely on the complete lack of bare chests, opting to remain fully clothed throughout the whole event. A complete let down! I expected more of them and everyone was disappointed when the chanting of "take it off" fell on deaf ears.

Bringing in the rear, and playing well to their namesake, the DILF's filled out the bottom rung of the podium, edging out the Victorians by a twelver. To this day, Pete still has no comprehension of what the name means!

So how did my predictions go? Well they where mostly on the money. The only guys I did not pick where the eventual 2nd place getters, and I can be excused for that as they kept their shirts on the whole time disappointing the masses. 5 out of 6... 

The Vonn Trapp Family
*Wolfpack*
Stonesfall Massive
Panel Comp
Team with the Guy.....
DILF

We shall just ignore Wolfpack for the time being. Apparently proving the point that you can netlist all you want but it still dosn't make up for player skill...

What is most interesting is the split between 5th and 14th is 40 points, demonstrating a tight midfield of teams and making a great weekend of the whole event

So over the weekend I managed to rack up a respectable 83 points (out of 120) only dropping one game to the ratster himself after he 13th me off the board 15-5. The haul was 9th overall out of 64, with the highest going to Mr day two wobbles himself. Two 20-0's against Dwarfs (those poor poor guys! I still feel bad for the guy I IF boosted Purple Sun most of his Dwarfs...), an 18-2 vs Daemons thanks to the last dice roll of the tournament taking off a fatty, 10 each way vs some Trollish wiles off Throgg and his band of merry non existent WoC, and 10 score each vs Philfy Phil and his panzy self righteous Elves.

This eventually settled our team in 12th overall, squarely within the predicted placing of 7th (plus or minus 6 places). I think we did well for a 40k player, an old man who has never finished a game of Warhammer (or any other game for that matter), a bunnie at his first tournament, and a prolific blogger who dosn't even play... (damn 40k player holding us back!)

This years bus driver goes to Basil from the Basiliers of Christchurch, scoring most of his teams points whilst throwing the rest under the bus. This is most amusing as I held the coveted title last year, and also captained the same team. I am beginning to think that it has more to do with the team than the pilot! But who can help it with those soft and fluffy bunnies from the south!

And so wraps up the 2nd annual greatest Warhammer event in the Universe. 

Everybody reported having an amazing time, and congratulations to the Guy and his team, showing us Kiwi's no mercy and wrestling the title from the Dunn Dynasty. Hopefully we will see them come back again next year to defend my trophy! I was robbed!!!

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.

NZTC 18 days away and counting...

The now annual NZTC (New Zealand Team Championships) is just around the corner, which can mean only one thing. The smack talk is about to embrace us all!

This year sees the 2nd annual running of the event expand to a full 16 teams to be held in the windy capital. Teams are made up of 4 players, each of whom use a different WHFB army. This year I will be taking another team along to cement my mid field tendencies! Last year My team came 5th overall and I managed to score top battlepoints for the entire event. 

This time Team PlasticKrak is made up of a wide array of players, from wiry old timers who cant finish games, newbies who havn't rolled a dice in a tournament, and malevolent individuals who would throw their mother under a bus if it scored them an extra victory point!

All your trophies belong to me!

The field is made up of a range of people from all walks of life, and we have even aloud people from Christchurch to attend. Even the Aussies from across the ditch have got in on the act, with several seeing the light and embracing playing proper Warhammer, leaving all that ridiculous peer comp garbage behind them (no doubt when the loose, they will blame it on comp and not being touchy feely enough to use a Australian "expert" panel judging...) 

Our Krak team will be ready for all comers this year. We bring to the field filth never seen before in the competitive field, constituting Dwarfs, High Elves, Wood Elves and Bretonnians. A masterful combination sure to amaze based on our shock and awe tactics of presenting a combination that nobody knows what the hell is going on with!

Final lists are to be submitted this week which will surely mean that we will all get to preview all the lame ducks everyone else will be bringing.

We live in interesting times...

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...

Return from (almost) Glory

I arrived home from the first annual NZTC tonight with a smile on my face.

And I am happy to say we achieved our goals for the weekend


Quote "As for us I think we will be competing for 5th or 6th place. My reasoning simply because Mike refuses to use Doom Divers! So to all those attending, when you see Mike, ask him about his doom divers, or lack there of!"

We finished in 5th place overall jumping up from 6th place after playing the "Vonn Trapp family" in round 5 (which I am happy to say my team did us proud, only dropping 9 points for the round). The sixth round we played the Aussie team, and we did NZ proud by "schooling" them in how to play warhammer like many others did. I hope to see more aussie teams next year as IU hear they need more "learn'n"

The eventual winners where the Vonn Trapps taking overall honours and filling that "gap" in Petes Warhammer trophy cabinet he made the other week. The Extraordinary Nerdymen took out 2nd place, with third going to NZHammered. There was only 7 or 8 points difference between 1st and 4th at the end of the day. 

Looks like I was on the money with those predictions as well. 

Quote "I am picking the podiums to be made up of Kapiti Krushers, NZ Hammered, Cut the Mustard, and the Vonn Trapp Family."

Several teams are already plotting there revenge and "how to pry the trophy out of the Vonn Trapps cabinet" already

Be sure to look out for the battle reports that I hope to post soon.

Countdown to NZTC

We are now just a few short days away from the first NZ team Championship. 

Last night I spent some time assembling and basing my Chaos Dwarfs ready for the tournament, and realised that once again I have left everything to the last minute as nothing is finished... The army is so far away from being finished, and at the current rate will barely make the 3 colour minimum cut. I really hate using unfinished armies but with the ETC less than 6 months out I really need to get some experience/practice playing the army in a competitive environment, and what better place than the NZTC! Add to that I am not the best painter around, and have had painters block for the last month or so, so it has been a real chore to try get this far.

A huge preemptive thanks needs to go out to Sam Whitt from the OMEN team for lending me his BSB and K'daai destroyer for the event! Without it I would not be taking the Chaos Dwarfs to this event. So to all you other teams, you can thank him for his selflessness =P

Know now that he will not be taking bribes to 'forget' them as I am sure his cost is way out of your price range...

In the weekend that has just been I made the pilgrimage to Warclouds 2013 in Christchurch, teaming up with a friend to play in the 40k doubles tournament with some borrowed armies. We ran a combination of Raven wing Bikes and a Death Company drop pod army (format was 1250 points per player). I don't often play 40k, only owning a handful of FW marines and a few Necrons, but I did enjoy the weekend and opportunity to do something different for a change. However I did get caught sneaking a look at the WHFB rulebook half way through a 40k game... Our games consisted of action right from the word go, with 75% of our army scout moving, and those that didn't arriving via drop pods in the first turn. Highlights where people forgetting (or failing) to kill the Death Company Dread first turn, only to have it rampage through entire units, opponents not spacing out units enabling the baal predator to incinerate entire squads first turn, and single Death Company marine assaulting a tervigon and killing it with a power sword (yeah, 4 hits, 4 6's to wound...). We came out with 1 loss, 2 draws and three wins. I am now looking forward to the opportunity to paint up my FW marines and get enough to make a full force, but damn, whose silly idea was it to try paint yellow...

Damon, Mike and I got a chance to plan the demise of all the other teams attending the NZTC this weekend. Although we didn't actually manage to make a plan for their demise, we did manage to plan he demise of our other team mate Alans Empire army. Expect us to throw him under the bus at any given opportunity! 

In all seriousness there has been a lot of smack talk on the local interwebs scene. Whilst our team will not be stooping to the gutter like all the other teams (obviously there is no need to lower ourselves to their levels, as we have two uncapped ETC players on the team, the title is practically ours! /end sarcasm), the banter has been amusing.

I am picking the podiums to be made up of Kapiti Krushers, NZ Hammered, Cut the Mustard, and the Vonn Trapp Family. 

As for us I think we will be competing for 5th or 6th place. My reasoning simply because Mike refuses to use Doom Divers! So to all those attending, when you see mike, ask him about his doom divers, or lack there of!

NZTC - team Shaken, not Stirred

Well its the first of the month and we are now two weeks away from the first ever New Zealand Team championships! So you know what that means. Smack talk time....

There are 10 teams entered into the event, to be held in Wellington on the 16th and 17th of February. There are some very strong partnerships attending including a combo from across the ditch. I welcome our Kangaroo cousins to the bottom of the tables...

Having been invited into a team and promptly made captain, I present to you:

Shaken not Stirred:

Our first team member is Alan Redmond, which will arrive in all his glory, leading the grand army of the Empire to a tabletop near you. With a  couple of lazy cannons and some chickens he is sure to keep the local population happy.

Mike Stewart is our second team member. Hailing from the swampy badlands outside of Christchurch at the head of a Savage Hoard of Orcs and Goblins, he is eyeing up last nights dinner whilst holding onto the chains of his pet squigs

Damon Quaid rounds out the last of our Christchurch compnent to our team, fresh from the Southern Jungles on New Zealand. Damon has been working on multiple new poisons for his skinks all the time contemplating what pie to eat for breakfast for the last 4000 years. 

And lastly there is me. My legion of Dawi Zharr is coming for you. I am short of slaves down here in the desolate plains of the south and I drag behind me devastating weapons powered by the damned themselves whilst riding to war atop a daemon of fire and fury.