Serious Business

Over the past fortnight or so, I've had an ongoing clean-out of some of my surplus wargaming items. Some went at Horned Rat last week and some have been selling on TradeMe (NZ's eBay equivalent). For the odd specialist item I'll use US eBay as it opens up a larger market - recently sold some old school Imperial Battle Bunker and Imperial Firebase still in shrinkwrap on there.

When you use the auction sites you then have to package up the items for posting. This is where my helper comes in.

Nurgle checks out the packaging for size and strength before the box is packed. Strangely he does this without ever being asked!

This weekend a series of Empire items have been on the block and coming up I have a lot of Ogre Ironguts and Bulls to sell.

New FAQs Incoming?

New versions of Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos, Empire and Daemons of Chaos have shown up in the iBook library.

This means changes have been made to existing files. I suspect that we may see new FAQs uploaded to the Shrine of Knowledge in the next week.

I haven't had a chance to see whether I can spot the changes.

Earlybird Rego for Call to Arms

Just a reminder to anyone looking to attend to Call to Arms. The event is creeping up on us - it's the first weekend in August. Check out the Players' Pack here

Early bird registration ends on Sunday. Currently it is $45 but it raises to $55, so it is well worth getting in before it rises.

I'm expecting to see quite a few of the locals at this event so we should get an interesting event.

Whispers of Emo Fear & Loathing in Q4

It is pretty much expected that Lizardmen are the next WHFB book - sometime in Q3 2013. However we are now getting the first glimpse of what will follow them on the WHFB production line.

Dark Elves.

The talk is that we will see the Naggarothi before the end of the year.

Rumoured is a plastic kit that creates either Black Guard or Executioners and another dual kit producing a Witch Elf Cauldron or another variant. There is talk of it having an effect like the Engine of the Gods whereby it inflicts attacks on units within a certain distance.

I'm not sure what other models need doing. I guess I must be one of the few people in the world that like the current Witch Elf models - in fact I used them as Daemonettes in my Emperor's Children ahead of the Juan Diaz sculpts.

Anyway I'm really excited about the Dark Elves getting an update. Although I've never played them, they are one of my favourite armies in the Warhammer World.

Bruised, Beaten But Not Boiled - Skaven at Horned RAT - Part Two

So after a relatively quiet night down at the local pub with most of the participants, I rocked up on Sunday morning to find that I was playing Locky Reid.

Game 4 - Locky Reid (Skaven) - Meeting Engagement

Locky had a combat focused Skaven army which had Stormvermin pushing his Bell and a large unit of Monks pushing a Furnace. This meant that there were no Gutter Runners to contend with. I set up first and given the nature of his list, adopted a defensive position. Locky followed suit, also deploying well back from the centreline. He didn't seize first turn so my army rumbled out to meet him.

The Pretend-Seer Cowering Under Bell Before Slaves Deliver Summary Justice

Going first allowed me the upper hand in that my army got to shoot first. I felt Locky should have been more aggressive in his deployment and also should have immediately put up his Storm Banner. I was able to make in-roads into his Slave units so that they were always smaller than mine. I managed to get a cheeky Plague off when Locky pushed an Engineer with Rocket ahead to my lines and then jumped it back to his, further depleting his Slaves. My Doomwheel got the jump on his and I was able to destroy it with some Str 8 bolts.

From here I was in the ascendancy. My Gutter Runners came on and tried and failed to shoot off the Furnace. Locky then reformed and breath-weaponed one unit. However they survived, slipped past and started to work on WLC and Stormvermin. His HPA cleared out a depleted Slave unit but then took hits from the Ruby Ring and decided chaff hunting was the better course of action - rampaging on one wound. I multi-charged Slaves and then into a now depleted Stormvermin Bell unit. Locky's Assassin killed some Gutter Runners but the unit was destroyed by the combined attention of two Slave units, the HPA and a unit of GRs. In the last turn my Slaves pulled down the wounded Assassin and did four wounds to the Seer (who failed three 4+ saves).

Locky killed 212 points of mine while I killed enough to be 1054 points ahead.

Win 15-5

Game 5 - Wil Hoverd (Ogre Kingdoms) - Battleline

There had been some rumblings in the Seerlord's army about a dying curse from the Pretend-Seer but such things are the subject of fairy stories.....like non-balanced Skaven forces.

Wil and I played two weekends ago and it was a hard-fought battle with the Skaven coming out on top in the end. This game started reasonably well for the rats and I was pretty happy with how deployment left the game looking.

Unfortunately in my first turn the Seerlord slipped from Level 4 to level 1....annoying, but not insurmountable. I managed to reduce a Bull unit to two wounds and did a massive amount of damage to Wil's Big Maneaters. However my HPA broke (on its last wound ) and managed to flee and rally from the two remaining Maneaters.

Then disaster. Not regular disaster but disaster on an A-R-M-A-G-E-D-D-O-N type scale. On Turn Two my Bell tolled and rolled 6-6-6. Now if you have never seen the apocalyptic implosion that is "18" on a Bell roll, well, it's a thing of beauty. The Bell goes and then ever model with 4D6" takes a Str 4 hit. I rolled 18" and took off between 100-120 models. Good times!

So Turn 2 things are looking dire.

From there I spent my time diverting and distracting Wil, picking up points where I could and trying to ensure I didn't have more "disasters". However they kept coming - both WLC and Ratapult blew up.

In the end I thought I did very well to limit the loss to 302 points. With the Seer alive he gave up no points for the Bell and the units I lost, bar one unit of Gutter Runners (162 points) were all less than 150 points.

I'm not going to lie, it was tooth and claw fight for survival.

Loss 9-11


Summary

In the end I finished on 77 points, seven points ahead of Locky with Wil heading a group of three a further point back.

Showing how hard a fight it was - at Runefang I scored 17 points more than here.

It was a great event, well umpired by Ray and strongly contested by the participants. Having such a strong field meant that it impacted the rankings with four jumping into the Top 10.

Next event for me is Panzershreck where Swedish Comp will be used.

Bruised, Beaten But Not Boiled - Skaven at Horned RAT VI - Part 1

This weekend was Horned Rat VI in Khandallah and the event attracted 30 gamers to the party. Unfortunately two got better offers and so on Saturday morning 28 intrepid souls braved Wellington's weather to battle it out.

I took the Rats hoping to get the necessary points to wrestle the Skaven icon off Dave Appleby - he having stole it while my back was turned playing Daemons.

"Sit-Sit man-thing and listen to my tale of woe-glory!" - Seerlord Morskitta

Game 1 - Sam Campbell (Daemons of Chaos) - Dawn Attack

I had played Sam at Runefang and won 15-5. I was pretty sure that he had digested all my nasty tricks and would be working hard to reverse the result. Neither of us suffered too much from the random deployment - I'm guessing because neither of us are morons or were extremely extremely unlucky - though I had my Ratapult by itself in the far corner.

I was surprised Sam put his Drones in frontline especially as he knew I had Howling Warpgale and the Storm Banner. Off rolled the Doomwheel towards them and managed to take them almost out from a mix of shooting and combat before it was destroyed. The remaining wounds were picked off by Gutter Runners. His 5-BoN unit munched through Slaves building Epidemius' tally while the rest of the Skaven army focused on Epi's unit - eventually reducing it to five models before it charged a unit of Clanrats. These held and Epi's unit (and the Daemon himself) where flank charged by the Bell.

On the other flank the GUO took 3 wounds from the tolling of the Bell before walking near a board edge from which Gutter Runners emerged to poison him off.

The last combat of the game - four rounds worth - had my HPA randomly charge the rear of his Plaguebearer block and reduce them to 6 models before the end of T6.

Sam picked up my three Slave units, a unit of Clanrats, the Doomwheel, WLC and Ratapult. The points difference was 770 points in my favour.

Win 14-6

Game 2 - Peter Williamson (High Elves) - Blood & Glory

Peter had Fortitude of 6 against my Fortitude of 5. However 4 of my FP were in the Bell unit while Peter's were spread across the army. The first few turns saw me take out his Reavers with combined charge from Doomwheel and Slaves. The Slaves followed up to right in front of Dragon Princes and then fought them from T2 to T5 before being destroyed. However by then there were only two left and those DPs were cleaned up with Warp Lightning. On my left I got lucky when a unit of 10 Silver Helms reduced themselves to 4 with two Dangerous Terrain tests. They charged home versus Slaves with two Engineers but were killed after killing one Skyre initiate. Peter's Chariot was beaten in combat by a unit of Clanrats then fled off the board. This allowed me to charge the other Reavers that got around to threaten my warmachines.

In the centre the depleted White Lions charged Doomwheel and died over two turns while Frostheart fought slaves forever. Eventually charged by Clanrats who broke it, it fled, escaped, rallied was re-charged and beat the Clanrats who escaped.

To break Peter's fortitude I killed Eagle-bound BSB who had killed Doomwheel and then turned his Level 4 into a Rat.

By the end - with bonus - I was up 1795 points.

Win 19-1

Game 3 - Joel van de Ven-Long (Watchtower)

Joel beat me in B&G at the Masters when he killed my Seer with a Cannon shot so to say I wanted this was an understatement. His army was - IMO - the strongest at the event with wall to wall 1+ Armour Save. He had two units of 4 Demis, Steam Tank, 10 ICK and 5 other knights. He also had a unit of 40 Halberdiers where he put a Warrior Priest, BSB and Level 4.

The key moment in the game happened in Turn 2. The Bell got off a Bound 5 Scorch. Joel picked up dice to dispel and I reminded him that a natural "1" or "2" would see it go through. He then picked up a second dice and rolled "snake eyes".

Now they say sharks smell blood but so do wizened old Seers. The first Scorch was followed up by a second and 40 halberdiers were 7. This was followed by Power Scroll, five dice 13th and Joel's bunker plus characters were 10 twitchy Clanrats. To add insult to injury these rats garrisoned the building to win the scenario. 

The rest of the game was Gutter Runners cleaning up warmachines - 2 cannons and hellblaster for one unit of GRs - and my HPA and slaves killing one unit of Demis. I lost the Doomwheel to cannon shot while both the WLC and Ratapult "mis-functioned". I lost a unit of Clanrats and Slaves to Demis. In the end, with bonus, I was 2129 points ahead.

Win 20-0

Day One Summary

So at the end of Day One I was on 53 points, three points clear of Locky Reid's Skaven and four points above Wil Hoverd's Ogres.

However there had been a number of suspicious "accidents" and it was with some trepidation that I snuggled up in my nest on Saturday night.

Second part tomorrow.

Fields of Blood NZ WHFB Rankings Updated

The FOB Rankings have been updated for Horned Rat VI and as you would expect there has been some major changes. You can check the latest rankings by clicking the link on the banner.

We have seen four new people enter the Top 20 - Wil Hoverd, Thomas Roekel, Locky Reid and Tane Woodley - while there have been some changing of places.

A Masters spot now costs just over 205 points and will continue to escalate through the year.

With the icons:

• Ogre Kingdoms - shifted to Wil Hoverd from Paul Dalton
• Skaven - shifts to Hamish Gordon from Dave Appleby
• Dwarfs - Tane Woodley picks it up from Simon Switzer
• Changeling (Most Different Armies) - goes to Neil Williamson

Next events are Tin Soldier in Auckland and then Panzershreck in Palmerston North. These will be followed by Call to Arms in Wellington.

Horned RAT VI Results

Horned Rat Gobbo VI was run over the weekend here in Wellington. And when the dust settled there was much rejoicing in Skavenblight as the ratty juggernaut delivered a 1-2 finish.

Here are the results:

BEST PAINTED: Graeme Fry (High Elves)

BEST SPORT: John Murrie (High Elves)

BEST NEWCOMER: Fern Campbell (Orcs & Goblins)

Graeme's Elves are a beautiful army and everyone here locally enjoyed the opportunity to see them in the flesh. John Murrie showed the rewards you can reap when you discard Dwarfs and embrace Warhammer.

A special mention for Tane and his "moving" Dwarfs. Isn't it interesting - and ultimately more successful - when you venture out of that 12" square in the corner of the board.

Thanks to all the players for their attendance, especially those who traveled to get here. Also thanks to those who helped move tables - greatly appreciated.

And a big thank you to Raymond for his efforts before and during the weekend with the organisation and umpiring.

Two More Completed Terrain Pieces

With Horned Rat Gobbo VI this weekend I have been working towards finishing some more terrain for the event. I am looking to do 10 tables with five others to be done by other participants.

So here are two completed pieces people can look forward to battling over!

THE ABANDONED FACTORY

 THE HAMLET

I love tournaments for the opportunity to finish up various terrain pieces. Hopefully they will generate some great battles

Review - Movement Trays from Kiwihammer Supplies

Recently James Brown sent me some movement trays produced for Kiwihammer Supplies.

In the past I have purchased movement trays from three major sources - Gale Force Nine, Warpuppy and Sarissa Precision. All three produce wooden trays that readily accept PVA (allowing you to tecture with sand) and adhesive steel paper. This is important to me as I like to match my trays to my army bases and I like to magnetise my armies.

So how do the Kiwihammer trays compare?

First of all, they are one piece items, the same as Warpuppy and Gale Force 9. Sarissa differ from the others in that they are two piece - top and bottom - which has advantages and disadvantage.

Second, they come in two depths, 4.7mm and 3mm. This sets them apart from their competitors which have only one depth. I can see this being an advantage when you are using some of the larger resin bases out there.

The third point is that they come with straight and round corners. James sent me the round cornered ones and they do look attractive. If you are texturing your trays then the corner is less noticeable but they is a fashion amongst the hipsters out there to have bare wooden trays and this provides some variety.

The last noticeable feature is that the tray rims are noticeably thinner than other makes. They are about 3.5mm which is closest to Sarissa but still about a mm less. This means they look tighter on a unit which again is a matter of taste - certainly for untextured trays I think it is superior.

So overall I think they are a very nice product and have definite advantages depending on the look you want to achieve e.g. clean, non-textured. One area where I think Sarissa has an advantage is in being two-piece. This allows you to put steel paper on the base and then stick the top on ensuring no gaps or the need for fiddly cutting - especially important with Skirmish Trays. However Kiwihammer Supplies can address this by offering the product with or without top stuck on.

The key for whether I will use these in the future is service rather than product based. At present I use primarily Sarissa. They have an excellent website, strong customer service in terms of customisation, an attractive price point and a 5-7 day delivery from UK (from point of order).

Kiwihammer are looking to reproduce these features and it will be good to have a local alternative.

If you'd like to order the products or discuss your requirements with James you can get him by email or on Twitter where he is @gas_monkey82
 Thanks to James for the opportunity to review the product.

Retreading the Realm of Battle Gameboard

My Gameboard gets pretty heavy use with typically two games a week on it. I bought it at the end of 2008 and painted and flocked it with static grass early in 2009.

Well after fours years of use the service was starting to show some wear. I took the opportunity last weekend to re-apply static grass. It was a bigger job than I thought it would be going through 0.4kg of grass (though a third was recoverable). Part of the reason was I used the Grasstech II Static Grass Applicator I purchased earlier this year. This causes the grass to stand end on end rather than lying flat.

It has resulted in a really thick verdant feel to the board. Here's some shots:

Horned Rat VI - Top 5 "Most Interesting" Lists

Okay, yesterday I picked the podium getters and I can feel the smoke seething out of Otaki and Palmy that some players didn't even warrant a mention.

Perhaps they'll fare better in today list of the "Most Interesting" armies at Horned Rat. Who am I kidding? We know that both just downloaded a "LEET" list from Warseer and showed little or no independent thought. If they were Tyranids they'd be hive workers given their level of autonomy.

Here however is the list of armies I found most interesting:

#5 - Harry Dixon - Tomb Kings

Harry has been in Midwest USA and is likely to be a little rusty. However he has come up with what looks like it could be a very offensive TK list. He won't want to see any of the Skaven armies but I can see the Casket playing havoc with some of the Ogres and perhaps even the Warriors of Chaos.

The army has been written off in some quarters but with 3 big monsters, well I think it can surprise.

#4 - Neil Williamson - Orcs & Goblins

Neil's list has more characters than Dan Butler's has models - almost.

It looks sooo big on paper but I suspect it is held together by rubber bands and sticking plasters. If it works, it will work spectacularly. If it doesn't well I think it will implode spectacularly.

There does have to be a question mark over an Umpire whoallows Neil to bring such a big army. I'm guessing Ray will have to sit at Neil's table to ensure they start Turn 3.

#3 - Tane Woodley - Dwarfs

Pete Dunn in Dwarf revelation shocker.

Who would have thought that I would show a passing interest in a Dwarf list. Tane's list has only a couple of drops and focuses around his scouts and Miners. The acorn doesn't fall too far from the tree and so on top of having 2x PD +3 Dispel Dice, Tane has brought two scrolls. He also couldn't resist runing up his cannons.

While I think this list would work in say Peter williamson's hands, the key is to use Ancient Power to move three units a turn. Now Tane is a Dwarf through and through and that sort of risk is just crazy talk.

#2 - Graeme Fry - High Elves

Nicely themed list with surprising punch. Graeme is bringing the Everqueen, her handmadien and 15 Sisters of Avelorn.

This will scare the bejesus out of A-bombs, Chimeras etc and with three supporting infantry blocks, heaps of shooting and plenty of re-directors this could be a fun ride.

#1 - Henry Poor - Orcs & Goblins

Not since the day of theme points for 40k have I seen somebody name every unit - but Henry has done it.

This Goblin army is supported by Trolls and Giants (two of them!!!) and led by Grom the Paunch.

If Henry isn't the "People's Champion" this weekend then there is no romance left in Warhammer. I'd love him to win the event, however my head says that it's going to be a long weekend.

If Sports starts with list construction, then Henry is a short-priced favourite for Best Opponent!

Thought - Unit Point Cap

One of the things that is difficult to balance when looking at comp systems is whether there should be an upper limit on the size of a unit be it in points or in models. The models issue is less of a problem in uncomped magic but the points you can put into a "Deathstar" thereby creating a point denial issue is.

By putting a points cap on the base unit (usually 400-450 points) you restrict the use of some elite units e.g. Greatswords or Black Orcs.

While listening to a podcast today I came across a solution to this "problem", put forward by Adepticon winner Brian Moyer. His remedy was to have no upper limit on the points cost of a unit but the cost of the second most expensive unit must be at least half of the largest.

e.g. you want 600 points of Greatswords then you must have 300 points in another multi-model unit. This might be Halberdiers, Demigryphs, Knights etc.

This means you can't put all your points into a single unit but must create another points rich unit that your opponent can go after. Currently you get the deathstar supported by chaff rather than other significant units.

I think this is quite an elegant solution. Interested in the thoughts of others.

Horned Rat VI - My Top 5

So having perused the lists and having a pretty good idea of the individuals running them, here are my picks for the Top 5:

#5 - Peter Williamson -High Elves

Not the strongest list he could make but it has all the tools he needs to fail miserably against the actual contenders but go on a Day 2 Baby Seal killing spree to grab 5th spot.

More drops than any other list and toting the new coldness in the Frostheart Phoenix, Peter will be slipperier than a very slippery eel in a vat of lubricant.

#4 - Joel van de Ven-Long - Empire

I keep tipping Joel and he's got to come right at some stage. Personally think that this list is the best here and having so utterly crashed and burned at Runefang - enough to make him withdraw from Nicon - this is Last Chance Saloon for Joel. If he doesn't make Top 5 I expect the Empire army will be going into a box under his bed, he'll hang up the codpiece and break the High Elves, next time around.

There is very little Metal floating around so Joel's AS should be safe. I do suspect he'll come a cropper versus Dan Butler's WoC if they meet up.

#3 - Sam Campbell - Daemons of Chaos

Seriously Sam, you've taken the net list minus the Skullcannons and given the amount of Charmed Shields, Dragonhelms and Dragonbane Gems, they were never going to give you much payback. So that's 270 points to spend elsewhere. That's a big boost along with the Round One stepladder.

The big question is whether Epidemis will be sent to the Portaloo at any point over the weekend.

#2 - Thomas Van Roekel - Ogre Kingdoms

So what's better than one Gutstar? Two Gutstars. This, coupled with the risk-free set up on characters plus the optimal Mournfang set-up makes Thomas one of the two to beat this wekend.

Depending how heavy his Saturday night is, I can see Thomas flicking on the cruise control Sunday morning and riding all the way to the podium.

#1 - Dan Butler - Warriors of Chaos

It's hard to believe that some people actually think that this new book is weaker than the old one. It oozes power out of every pore.

And now the Big Man has popped his cherry by winning Nicon, perhaps winter really is coming. This could be the Year of the Dan and for 29 lucky participants they'll be able to say they were part of history.


As for the others I could say why I think they will not be contenders but I think they are likely to suffer enough trauma over the weekend without me laying out the harsh realities here.

Horned Rat VI Lists Released

Here are the thirty lists for the upcoming Horned Rat Gobbo VI.

I'll be looking through them over the next few days and giving my thoughts later in the week.

Enjoy

The Pool of Forbidden Love

As a lot of you may be aware, New Zealand legalised same-sex marriage earlier this year. In conjunction with the release of a new book for High Elves, this makes 2013 a big year for a lot of people.

Anyway it got me thinking. One of the arguments against same-sex marriage was "What next? Will a man be able to marry his dog?"......While this shows a strange contortion of logic, what if romance between the races was celebrated in the Old World?

Enter the "Pool of Forbidden Love"!

Here on the Warhammer Battlefied we have immortalised in stone, the instance where Cupid Trollslayer got his man.....well, snotling. Perched on a Heart-shaped rock a smitten slayer reclines above his one true love.

No doubt at future events Dwarf players will make a pilgrimage to the Pool, looking for the same or similiar companionship. But only if its in their deployment zone.

Race Breakdown for Horned Rat VI

The Umpire has released the lists to participants but has asked that they are not posted until later today. You will be able to check back then to see them.

However in the interim here is the race breakdown of the 30 participants:

5 - Warriors of Chaos, High Elves
4 - Orcs & Goblins
3 - Ogre Kingdoms, Skaven
2 - Lizardmen, Dark Elves
1 - Daemons of Chaos, Tomb Kings, Empire, Dwarfs, Vampire Counts, Chaos Dwarfs

A few interesting observations. It is great to see that a lot of previously misguided folks have left their Dwarfs at home and thought about their opponents' enjoyment. However, as they say, the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree and they have either picked up Chaos Dwarfs or piled into the wardrobe and come out wearing High Elf finery.

Warriors and High Elves make up a third of the field. Great to see the new books get a run and it will give us a better guide to their strength post event. Both are essentially uncomped and I'm hoping that we get some reinforcement of that view - good players do well, middling players do middling etc

Skaven for Horned Rat VI

So list deadline has passed and hopefully everyone has got their lists in on time. I've decided to take Skaven to Horned Rat VI - primarily motivated by securing the return of the Skaven Best Army icon to its rightful home. With the Nicon 2012 result falling off the icon had slipped from Seerlord Morskitta's twisted paw and fallen into the grasp of the undeserving. Morskitta's suspects someone on the Council has been plotting against him. How rude!

The list I've submitted is based on the Runefang list but with a few refinements to reflect the rise of the Warriors of Chaos and the emergence of High Elves.

Seer - Bell, Skalm, Power Scroll, Dragonbane Gem

Chieftain - BSB, Storm Banner
Engineer - Lvl 1, Condensor, Doomrocket
Engineer - Lvl 1, Scroll, Ruby Ring
Engineer

38 Clanrats - Full Command, Shields - Ratling Gun
25 Clanrats - Full Command, Shields
3x 40 Slaves - Muso

2x 9 Gutter Runners - Slings, Poison

Hell Pit Abomination
Plagueclaw Ratapult
Warp Lightning Cannon
Doomwheel

So some subtle changes which I hope will address what I see as the likely meta at this event.

Full set of lists will be released by the umpire in the next few days.

Oh in in Round One I'm playing Sam Campbell's Nurgle Daemons whose list can be found here

The Phoenician - Absolutely Staggering

"The mercurial and prideful Fulgrim, the Phoenician, strove to be a paragon of all things. He passed on his values to his Legion, where they became enshrined as a remorseless dedication to perfection in warfare. Such all-consuming ambition came at the price of vainglory and hubris for both the Emperor’s Children Legion and their master, and they were swiftly ensnared in the Warmaster’s conspiracy. 

Modelled in the thick of bloody combat, his arrogance and condescension given way to fratricidal anger and battle-born wrath, this dynamic miniature showcases the full opulence of Fulgrim’s panoply. The miniature comes supplied in a handsome presentation box, and features a large 60mm scenic base, itself packed with detail, into which a 40mm base sits, allowing for both display and gaming use."

Jack sent me through a "Wow" last night and I went searching on the Forgeworld site. He wasn't wrong. This model has to be one of the best single figures I have seen.

If there was any doubt that Heresy-era Emperor's Children would be my next army, there's not now.



Here is an interview with Simon Egan the sculpter of the piece.

Horned Rat/Gobbo Approaches

We are now one week out from Horned Rat Gobbo VI and the list deadline is tomorrow.

I submitted my list on Monday - after a few last minute tweaks - and am looking forward to seeing the collated lists when they are released. The event has attracted thirty participants and the field looks strong.  Once the lists are released I'll give my thoughts. I'm guessing we will see High Elves, Warriors and Orcs & Goblins as the most represented races.

The last few days I've been putting together more terrain for the event - all financial surpluses from previous events are put back into terrain - and I'm very confident that we'll have some nice looking tables on which to contest our battles.  One thing I will say is that those crying out for walls, well your pleas have been heard!

Warhammer Quest - An Apology of Sorts

The number of updates of this blog over the past fortnight has dramatically diminished as a result of the release of Warhammer Quest on iOS.

I've managed to spend 35-40 hours traversing dungeons on various quests. Both the packaged scenario and the Skaven expansion have now been completed. I managed this with the four basic characters and in the process picked up the game's rarest item in my penultimate adventure.

Heartily recommend the game to anyone with an iProduct but be warned as with most electronic games you will lose time.

My only reservation about the game was the disquiet I had with the Skaven expansion. The only beings that should kill Skaven are other Skaven.

However as a result of the game it has made me want to get out my Poisoned Wind Globadiers and use them on the tabletop.

Warpfire - New One-Day Warhammer Fantasy Event

Happy to announce that Warpfire will be held on Saturday 14th September at Cashmere Avenue School, Khandallah, Wellington.

Warpfire is a five round 1000 point event that will use scenarios. A Players Pack is being prepared over the next couple of weeks and will be released before the end of the month. Earlybird registration will be $25

Wellington Warlords "Call to Arms" Convention

At the start of August the Wellington Warlords are holding their annual convention "Call to Arms". This convention has been going for over 35 years and is unique among Wellington events in having the full breadth of games and genres on offer.

You can check out details here

Hoping for a good turnout for the Fantasy event.

Horned Rat VI Final Numbers

As of today I have 28 people signed up and paid for Horned Rat Gobbo VI.

From here on in I will only accept registrations where even numbers are maintained. If you'd still like to participate please contact me and I'll do all in my power to ensure that you get a start.

The confirmed field is:

Pete Dunn

Peter Williamson

Ryan Lister

Henry Poor

Daniel Butler

Sam Whitt

Thomas van Roekel

Neil Williamson

John Murrie

Bo Paterson

Mike King

Sam Campbell

Locky Reid

Joel van de Ven-Long

Mathew Collett

Hugh Dixon

Graeme Fry

Harry Dixon

Joe Dixon

Stuart Robinson

Hamish Gordon

Simon Switzer

John Tailby

Jeffrey Kent

Fern Campbell

Nic Jebson

James Millington

Wil Hoverd

Pete-Lite Comp: Warriors, Daemons and High Elves Included

So we have had four months with Warriors of Chaos, three with Daemons and one with High Elves, so how do I see the Pete-Lite Comp system given this myriad of releases.

Well I think that Games Workshop have done a fantastic job with the three new books. All have good internal and external balance [Warriors probably have the worst internal balance and Daemons the strongest, all three books have got nearer the average book balance - Warriors and especially High Elves got stronger while Daemons got weaker].

On this basis, here is the latest Pete-Lite appraisal. The intention of this comp is to be permissive so that players can bring what they want but at the same time the edge is removed from anything that pushes the envelope too much. It allows internet net-lists but unlike a lot of environs, the New Zealand scene uses both the scenarios and some mysterious terrain which does have a affect on balance.

General Restrictions

MAGIC DICE

Apart from Winds of Magic dice an army may only add 2 Power Dice or Dispel Dice to its
magic dice pool in each magic phase excluding channelling.

Any dice added to the pool, regardless of source (generated, stolen, stored from
previous magic phases, generated by magic items/abilities to boost spell casting before
or after the casting attempt, produced by spells, lore abilities, and so on) count. Excess
dice are simply discarded and cannot be used in any way.

Items that add “D3” power dice are allowed to exceed the dice limit and add the
additional dice, should the result of the dice roll grant extra dice. As long as the limit had
not been reached before rolling.

Night Goblin Mushroom D6 do not count as "power dice" as per their Army book.

Shard of the Herdstone Dice do not count to the +2 PD

Chaos Dwarfs’ Chalice may not be used mid-spell.

LIST RESTRICTIONS

• No single non character unit in the army may be over 500 points
• Warmachines limited to four
• Max 3 4 units with the ‘Fly’ or 'Hover' special rule 
• The magic item “Fozzrik’s Folding Fortress” may not be taken.

Race Specific Restrictions:

Lizardmen

• Salamanders 0 – 3 models per army.
• Skink skirmishers are 0 – 3 units per army.
• Skink Cohorts are 0 – 3 units per army. Cohorts containing Kroxigor do not count towards the cap.
• Higher State of Consciousness and Crown of Command may not be taken on the same model.

Skaven

• Hell Pit Abominations and Warp Lighting Cannons are 0-1 unit selection per army.
• A Screaming Bell or Plague Furnace may only be placed in a unit containing no more than 50 models.
• Gutter Runners units are 0 – 2 per army.
• Warlock Engineers are 0 – 3 models per army.

Dark Elves

• Pendant of Kaleth and Crown of Command may not be taken on the same model.

Tomb Kings

• Khalida is restricted to unit with 40 shots

Ogres

• Ironblaster 0 – 1 unit selection per army.

Dwarfs

• Thorek may not be taken

Chaos Dwarfs

• Magma Cannons are 0 – 1 choice

Warriors of Chaos

• Crown of Command may not be taken on Lord with Third Eye of Tzeentch

Orcs & Goblins

• Spear Chukkas regardless of number count as single Warmachine  choice

Empire

• Steam Tank counts as a Warmachine

The major changes are the removal of some of the restrictions on Dark Elves (including Hydras and Magic Dice), the increase in unit points cap and a restriction on the Crown of Command for WoC. The restrictions for 8th Edition books are very light with only a single list specific restriction at most. Both Skaven and Lizardmen have more restrictions reflecting their 7th Ed genesis.

At the moment there does not appear to be any compelling reasons to include race-specific comp for either Daemons or High Elves.

Warhammer 40k Apocalypse Reboot in July - White Dwarf Picture

Okay, I've said it before "Has GW finally jumped the shark?" The answer in the past has been "Yes" but then they release something that takes it entirely to a new level.

Some were expecting Lizardmen but anong the wiser heads it was always going to be a 40k release for July. Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Timmy is off school wondering what to spend Gran's birthday money on.

Think no further Timmy because have we got the answer for you.

It's a giant Khorne Berzerker (cos everything is GIANTZ now) mounted on a bulldozer with a cattle grill off Thomas the Tank Engine. And we can use bits of the Skullcannon too.

So what do you think this thing will be called? Based on a study of GW nomenclature I suspect we'll see the Marketing Department christen this the SKULLGRINDER!!!!!! 

I am hoping that there is a Chaos God and there is no crossover potential for Fantasy. Pleasssssseeee.

Latest NZ Blog Rankings

May's Blog Readership rankings for May are out and Fields of Blood is in the Top 20 for ALL New Zealand based blogs.

Given we compete against not only political, cooking, informational and other general interest sites that is a phenomenal achievement.

Thanks to all of you for reading my drivel, both here in New Zealand and overseas.

Fields of Blood NZ Fantasy Rankings Updated

Over the weekend there was a big shakeup in the Fantasy Rankings. Last year NiCon attracted 34 participants making it the second largest event of the year. This year it got 10 which meant it didn't qualify for inclusion in the rankings.

As a result a lot of last year's NiCon achievers saw big scores drop out of their ranking. Dan Butler, John Willenbruch and Paul Dalton all fell out of the Top 10, despite Dan winning NiCon this year.

Sam Whitt is now up to 2nd Place while Mal Patel with his win at SouthCon jumps to 4th. Darren Urquhart, Antony Kitson and Ryan Simister all enter the Top 10 for the first time this year. Tim Joss has picked up the Chaos Dwarf icon with his 2nd at Southcon

The Horned Gobbo with what looks like 30+ participants is shaping as a kingmaker and will have significant influence on the rankings for the rest of 2013.

There are still places available but you'll need to get in quick.

The Nicon Experience

So back yesterday from Napier and six games of Warhammer at NiCon.

I took the Daemon list I had previously posted as I had spend the last 3-4 months painting Daemon figures and was keen to use them at an event.

Game 1 - Mike King (Lizardmen) - Battleline

Mike and I have been playing this game weekly and both had good understanding of how the other player's army worked. In the end there was carnage on both sides as we set about systematically dismantling one another. I lost a Skullcannon with the first shot of the game, a trend that was going to continue for that  particular model every game on the first day. I managed to clear out one Saurus block and get the Slaan General while Mike brought down the Death Chicken. After 6 turns I had killed 1940 VPs to Mike's 1910 VPs, making it a draw.

Draw 10-10

Game 2 - Nick Munn (Skaven) - Meeting Engagement

Having played with the rats on the odd occasion I had a pretty good idea of the army's strengths and weaknesses. Nick had the toys and the bodies. I managed over 6 turns to destroy his army picking up 2552 VPs while losing 645 VPs in return. This gave me a good win which was totally unexpected as I had heard on the internet that the Skaven were broken.

Win 19-1

Game 3 - Brian Smith (Dark Elves) - Battleline

Brian had the list that I thought was the most interesting in the field - bar my own one of course. It had huge blocks of Executioners and Corsairs backed by two Cauldrons and two Hydras. I quickly calculated that I would try and take out Hydras, Executioners and chaff while minimising losses to furnish a 15-5. While initially that plan worked, both Hydras gone by Turn 2, Brian got a long charge by his Executioners on my Death Chicken and I eventually lost him to the grind. In the end I was up by 199 VPs after killing 1539 VPs. This was a single VP short of a win.

Draw 10-10

Game 4 - James Cardno (Warriors of Chaos) - Dawn Attack

James pretty much had the internet build for Warriors of Chaos and this game was played on the heady heights of Table 1 with James leading the event by 5-6 points. Very early on things were looking very shaky as James made three of four slightly long charges into my Beast of Nurgle anvil. Through a smart challenge I was able to hold the combat with one wound left on my unit. My Death Chicken then went medieval on the Skullcrushers - Multiple Wounds and No Armour Save Gifts - doing 11 wounds. There was much smiling in the poultry farm. At the same time a Gateway (six Strength 8) wounded James Daemon Prince. I only did 4 wounds but James failed all four 5+ wards. James felt he was unlucky but based on averages (7x Str 7) he should die and on actual (6x Str 8) it is highly likely outcome. From here I went on a VP harvest and picked up points. I could have got a lot more but James' BSB made a Ld 4 Break test on the re-roll which was a swing of 800+ points. In the end I killed 2032 VPs for a solid win.

Win 15-5

Game 5 - James Brown (Ogres) - Battleline

James had Irongut Deathstar with RuneMaw and Crown making it largely invulnerable. I therefore planned to pick up the rest of the points and see where the cards fell. Unfortunately (well actually a fuck up of biblical proportions) I miscalculated the shot range of James' Ironbaster on Turn 1 giving him a shot at the Death Chicken. Of course he killed it with that single shot. So down 670 points before I start. Over the rest of the game I lost another 400 points and picked up 1242 VPs in return. I thought I played really well given the start but made two more errors in retrospect. I gave James' a charge on my Tzeentch chariot due to sloppy play and I received a "free" unit of Bloodletters which I threw away for little reward. I should have played a longer game with them.

Just a note on this game and mysterious terrain. I felt it was spoiled by the presence of a Wizard's Tower on the table - and just outside one deployment zone. This gave me free Loremaster on a unit of Horrors which mention I could potentially throw two Gateways a turn. I believe this is a good illustration of why we limit Mysterious Terrain to woods and marshes here in Wellington. It is potentially too unbalancing.

Draw 10-10

Game 6 - Dan Butler (Warriors of Chaos) - Blood and Glory

Dan's army had a Fortitude of 4 which meant I needed to pick up a single FP to win the game. These points were on his Dragon Lord (2), unkillable BSB (1) and Marauder Horse (1). My plan was to concentrate on the Lord - kill him after removing him from his Dragon - and the Marauders. A solid plan, but sometimes everything goes awry. I lost the Lord of Change to a Hellcannon shot Turn 1 and though I killed the Dragon and reduced the Marauders to two, I couldn't seem to buy a trick. I believe that I had about 6-7 dice rolls which would (and probably should) have won me the game but it wasn't to be my day. Saying that, I think Dan played superbly well and thoroughly deserved the win. It gave him the overall prize and I understand it was the first time he had taken out an event. I'd like to think that that was in no small part due to the help I gave him. Well done Dan, much deserved.

I avoided being tabled only by managing not to blow up my remaining Skullcannon after it misfired with the last shot of the game. Dan received 3015 VPs (with scenario bonus) while I managed 845 VPs.

Loss 0-20

Overall I had a great weekend. My record was two wins, three winning draws and a loss. Over the six games I collected more than 10,000 VPs which illustrates how aggressively the army was played. I thought I played well enough to podium but the Chaos Gods are fickle. In the end I finished 5th but had enormous fun. I played the list very aggressively pretty much always being in combat with my Chicken (when he was alive) Turn 1. Both the list and style of play was a surprise to a lot of players. The Daemons are enormously fun to play and I feel provide a real challenge both to me and my opponent. They are chaotic by nature but that just adds to their lovability.

Thanks to Jeff for umpiring and to all my opponents for a fun weekend