Zealot's Florida Frenzy 2.0 NHSD 08 Battle Report

[Zealot]

--Well, I wanted to follow the same tradition that Vydar and Sisyphus started with their battle reports after the first 2 Florida Frenzy tournaments so here is what details I can remember from my experiences and opponents in the tournament... (if anyone feels I was incorrect in any of the accounts please let me know, I'm posting as early as possible so I dont forget anything ) (Also, I couldn’t remember all the names exactly right so if someone could correct me on any of my opponents’ names/gamertags I’d appreciate it.)

Intro...
--The Florida Frenzy 2.0 was held at Sci-Fi Games in Orlando on October 18th 2008. It was organized and run by Necroblade, James, and Himsati who all did an awesome job setting everything up and running the show.The Florida Frenzy followed its usual of format of 5 swiss rounds followed by the top 8 in a quarterfinal, the remaining 4 in a semi-final, and the final 2 in a championship match.The rules for the tournament used 495 point classic armies (no Marvel). With a special bonus giving an automatic +1 to all Frenzy rolls tournament wide. There were also special SoS bonuses given: +1 SoS for not using A+ units, +1 SoS for not using more than 3 of any common squad.

So in a nutshell...
The format was:
- 495 point armies.
- 24 space starting zones.
- 2 random glyphs per map.
- Five swiss rounds plus Top Eight.
- 50 minute rounds.
(there were 26 people who attended)
--Maps: Stroll through the Park, Crystalized, Broken Skyline Remake, Road Rampage, Overlord (Semi-Final), Badru Valley (Final)
--Glyphs: 20 sider +1, Common Attack, Unique Attack, Move +2, Defense +1, Initiative +8

My Army.
--Having never made even made it to the quarter-finals in the last two tournaments I was determined to design an army that would be highly competitive. My first instinct was to design another Tor-Kul-Na army since he has been repeatedly successful for me in the past but I remembered how devastating losing him had been to my army when he was defeated by other hivelords and stingers in the Florida Frenzy 1.5 so I opted to try something new.I restricted myself to staying within the SoS rules for the tournament, not using A+ units, and not using more than 3 of any common squad. A Short time later I received some reputation points on the forums for my "Keeping Marcu in Check" strategy that I'd received my title for.

It used...
--Blastatrons x2, Gladiatrons x2, and Marcu Esenwein. It was a perfect 300 points that prevented Marcu from hurting your army by cyberclawing him if he happened to betray me on a bad D20 roll. I immediately decided to test run my "title" strategy in the tournament. That left me with 195 points left to compliment my Blastatron/Gladiatron army. I expected to face several mirror armies knowing that SpiderPoison had won GenCon using a Blast/Glad army himself. I needed a good counter to the Blasts/Glads' weaknesses (ranged common squads) The answer was deceptively simple... Zelrig. His Majestic Fires attack could make short work of any Frenzy armies, 10th Reg., or other Blast/Glads that I competed against. With only 10pts left, Isamu was the natural choice.
--So my army was completed...
120 - Blastatrons x2
160 - Gladiatrons x2
020 - Marcu Esenwein
185 - Zelrig
010 - Isamu
--A 495 point Blast/Glad army with 3 situational heroes. (Zelrig for squads; Isamu for clean up and countering characters like Nilfheim, Drake, and Zetacron; and Marcu for taking engagement strikes, glyph grabbing, and assassination attempts) I practiced with the army for several weeks with both Torog and Rennix on our weekly game days and only lost 1 time before the tournament. I was ready and confident with the stategic flexibility of my army.

Round #1

I faced off against “RandomSkyFears” on Crystalized.

110 - Airborne Elite
110 - Ninjas of the Northern Wind
100 - Marcus Decimus Gallus
100 - Sacred Band x2
075 - 10th Regiment of Foot

--I felt fairly confident facing off against Greeks and Ninjas but we started the match a little late since we were still setting up when the round started. I didn’t realize he had the Airborne Elite until he successfully rolled for their drop on the first round. Two landed on each side of the map in walking distance to the two glyphs while the other two landed on the road in the center high ground of the map, all with height and in range of Zelrig who I’d set up at the front of my start zone to try a Start Zone burn. Not wanting Zelrig to be gunned down by AE from height, I placed all my markers on him in the hopes that I could take out the two AE in the center of the map and get off 1 fireball at the Greeks and Ninjas grouped in his start zone. I won initiative and flew Zelrig up to engage one of the AE, a high melee attack killed him and Zelrig’s 1st turn ended. RandomSkyFears took his first turn with the AE and fired 3 shots at Zelrig. 3 skulls, 1 shield, 2 wounds on Zelrig. 2 skulls, 1 shield, 1 wound on Zelrig. 3 skulls, Zelrig whiffs defense and dies. I lose my 2nd and 3rd turn markers. RandomSkyFears takes his 2nd turn and captures the Common Attack and Initiative Glyphs. He then takes 3 shots at 3 of my soulborgs, killing two of them. He then immediately takes his 3rd turn and moves his 10th Reg. onto the road.
--On the next round (which he won with the initiative glyph) he moved his 10th Reg. in range of my soulborgs and began unloading on me with height and the common attack glyph. With 1 AE and 4 Redcoats on the center road (high ground) it was a long and costly march to get my soulborgs up to fight him. (The blasts were taking pot shots but it was very time consuming to move the Glads into position with both heavy snow AND slippery ice slowing them down to a crawl). Eventually I did get some lucky shots off and was able to kill his 1 squad of 10th reg. but not until after they’d killed almost double their points worth. Once they were dead and I took the high ground between the glaciers I started to make a comeback using my remaining glads to block the road with Cyberclaw and my final 3 blasts taking shots from height.
--At one point I used Marcu to fly over and kill the AE on the Common Attack Glyph to weaken his Greeks. I took another turn with him (against my better judgement since I didn’t have a Glad standing next to him) in order to claim the glyph for myself, I rolled an 18 so RandomSkyFears flew Marcu over the large glacier and killed off 1 of my 3 remaining Blasts. With only 2 blasts, 2 Glads, and an injured Marcu (Isamu having died earlier missing his first vanish attempt) I was eventually defeated and RandomSkyFears was left with a Marcus with 5 wounds and 4 or 5 greeks. (We were the last game playing during the 1st round)

Zealot’s record = 0-1

Round #2

I faced Chris (aka “Roller”) on Stroll through the Park.

180 – Q9
150 – Q10
080 – Raelin ROTV
080 – Deathreavers x2

--I was very concerned going into this game against all A+ units. I knew I’d never have a chance so long as Raelin was alive so I made killing her my #1 priority. The Jungle terrain gave me a major boost as I charged my Blast/Glads towards the center of the map and the cover of the bushes. Roller moved his rats to intercept my Glads and claim the glyphs but I was able to claim the Common attack glyph with a Blast before 1 of his rats could reach it. This game (like my first) was also VERY long, using almost all of the time limit. I was able to kill off Raelin in the 2nd or 3rd round (thanks especially to the common attack glyph’s much needed boost) but was constantly hindered in positioning my Glads due to the Rats that filled much of the map (who were also gaining the jungle terrain’s defense bonuses).
--With his rats preventing my Glads from engaging his Q-brothers, he alternated using Q9 and Q10 to slowly pick off my glads. Zelrig went 1 on 1 with Q10 and ultimately won despite Q10 getting 2 shots of 4 against Zelrig’s single attack of 4. The game ended after Q9 gunned down my Isamu who failed his first vanish attempt (again!). Roller won the game with Q9 with 2 wounds, and 2 rats remaining. Another close game.

Zealot’s record = 0-2 (At this point I was thoroughly depressed, knowing how effective my army had been in the past, but starting the tournament with 2 losses regardless)

Round #3

I faced “Big Baby” on Road Rampage.

150 – Cyprien Esenwein
045 – Sonya Esenwein
100 – Syvarris
120 – Raelin SOTM
080 – Kelda

--This game was fairly short lived as Cyprien was completely useless against my mostly soulborg army. I put my first 2 order markers on my Glads so that they could use the road bonus to reach the high ground bridge. My 3rd, and every marker thereafter, went to the Blasts to take shots and move the Glads now that they’d had a good head start (Zelrig, Isamu, and Marcu never moved this game). Big Baby’s Syvarris came out shooting and was able to run and gun killing off 3 glads and 2 blasts before he finally was killed by numerous pot shots from height. I claimed the defense glyph from his side of the board (my side having the D20 glyph which was useless to me) and marched my blasts and glads towards his start zone. He moved his Raelin up to prepare for a whirlwind assault but I cyberclawed and killed her the next turn. After that I was able to kill off Sonya, then Cyprien, and finally Kelda, for the win.
Big Baby was an excellent sport and this was simply a case of a really bad matchup for his army.

Zealot’s record = 1-2

Round #4

I faced “Dustin” on Broken Skyline Remake.

150 – Ulginesh
100 – Jorhdawn
050 – Arkmer
100 – Morsbane
090 – Chardris

--This game was also short lived as my opponent wasn’t using Emmirron or Kyntela Gywn to give his Elf Wizard Army its maximum potential. Jorhdawn and Arkmer moved toward the center of the map early and I moved my Soulborgs forward to try to spread out. On his next turn, Jorhdawn launched a Rain of Fire attack of 2 on a cluster of my troups, rolling 1 skull. All but 1 of my forces defended against it. Arkmer then moved up next to Jorhdawn to deter my Glads with his Engagement strike. I answered his two elves by using the ladders and the center pillars to engage Jorhdawn without touching Arkmer. I was able to gun down Jorhdawn fairly quickly using ladders and pillars to give my blasts height advantage.
--After her death Arkmer moved on top of the higher pillar in the center of the map and killed off a Glad. I didn’t want to engage him with my Glads having faced the Nakita’s engagement strike multiple times in practice games and used the same counter that I used for them; I flew Marcu onto the ladder next to Arkmer, took 1 wound for engagement and hit him for 1 wound. I positioned a Glad next to Marcu on the next turn as insurance, and took my 3rd turn with Marcu again (he didn’t betray) and killed off Arkmer. As the game shifted strongly in my favor we ended up discussing strategies on how to use the Elf Wizards since I enjoy playing them frequently myself. This game ended with my soulborgs surrounding and killing each remaining wizard one by one ending with Morsbane.

Zealot’s Record = 2-2

On a side note: Before the 5th round started I found out that both SkyFearMan and Roller were 4-0 so far in the tournament (they had been set against each other for the 5th round). This made me feel much better about my chances for the top 8 since both of my losses had been against them, giving me an excellent SoS for later.

Round #5

I faced “Nick the Ant” on Stroll through the Park.

110 - Airborne Elite
185 - Nilfheim
150 - Q10
050 - Marro Warriors

--Having played against Nilfheim before, when practicing against Torog, I knew how devastating he could be to the Blast/Glad combo. I had also experienced a defeat in my first match thanks partly to the Airborne Elite; so I was a little nervous going into the battle. I became even more nervous when Nick roller for the AE’s drop and succeeded. He dropped 3 of his AE into the bunker in front of my Start Zone and the last AE behind the bunker next to a glyph. I was racking my brain with how to keep my army from being grenade to death. The strategy I picked was risky but my only feasible option to protect my soulborgs. I placed my 1st turn marker on Marcu and both my 2nd and 3rd markers on Zelrig; now all I needed was Initiative. We rolled and I won initiative (YEESSS!!), now I just needed Marcu not to betray me, I rolled a 16 and flew Marcu into the center of the Bunker engaging all 3 AE and killing 1. On Nick’s turn he claimed the Glyph (Initiative) and had his 2 AE attack Marcu who was on height; they each rolled 2 skulls and Marcu rolled 2 shields twice . I took my 2nd turn and made Zelrig shoot a fireball at Marcu since he was connecting the two AE. Zelrig rolled 3 skulls, putting 3 wounds on Marcu and killing both AE. (YEESSS! Again) Nick’s 2nd marker was on the AE who couldn’t see anyone from his glyph spot. I took my 3rd turn and moved Zelrig forward to take a shot at the last AE (assuming that is who Nick has his marker on) Zelrig’s fireball successfully killed the final AE. Nick forfeits his last turn since the AE were all dead.
--The next round was also suspenseful when Nilfheim entered the fray. Nick won initiative and moved his ice dragon close enough to get off an ice shot on Zelrig who defended. I took a turn with my soulborgs to move them closer to the battle while Nilfheim was distracted with Zelrig. On his next turn, Nick moved Nilfheim adjacent to Zelrig and 1 gladiatron and rolled a 3 skull attack at melee on Zelrig. Zelrig rolled 2 shields and took a wound. On my next turn I moved 3 additional Gladiatrons adjacent to Nilfheim (much to Nick’s dismay) and unloaded 3 attacks of 5 and 1 attack of 6 on the dragon killing him.
Nick lost his 3rd turn again. On the next round I flew Zelrig forward and shot a fireball into the center of 3 of his Marro Warriors killing 2 of them. Major Q10 moved forward and, after a couple turns back and forth between the two of them, Zelrig fell leaving Q10 with 2 life points left. My horde of Soulborgs moved forward killing Q10 and the 2 remaining Marro Warriors. Nick managed to kill Zelrig and 2 Glads when the game was over, but in his defense it was a similar situation to my first match where his dice rolls were absolutely pitiful whiffing on defense repeatedly and getting no more than 2 skulls per attack.

Zealot’s Record = 3-2

With such a high SoS I qualified for the top 8 in the Quarterfinal.

Quarterfinal

I faced "RandomSkyFears" on Crystalized. (Rematch )

110 - Airborne Elite
110 - Ninjas of the Northern Wind
100 - Marcus Decimus Gallus
100 - Sacred Band x2
075 - 10th Regiment of Foot

--I was very excited to get a second shot at battling RandomSkyFears' disciplined army and crossed my fingers that his AE wouldn’t drop in the first round like they had in both of my previous games against them. The AE didn’t land on the first round so I breathed a sigh of relief. All of my markers were placed on the Blastatrons this time around, knowing that I had started to make a comeback in our last game once I took control of the center of the battlefield; this was my primary goal this time around. RandomSkyFears' first round consisted of him moving up his 10th Regiment to try to intercept my Soulborgs on their way up the road. Due to initiative, RandomSkyFears was able to get off the first couple shots and killed a Gladiatron. On my next turn marker I got off a couple lucky pot shots on the redcoats and killed two of them. 2nd round; I won initiative and, after moving more Glads forward and claiming the common attack glyph with 1 of my blasts, I killed off a third of the 10th Regiment.
--At the start of the 3rd or 4th round, RandomSkyFears' AE successfully dropped onto the battlefield but were very limited in their desirable landing choices due to my soulborgs having control of most of the high ground. After placing his AE we set our markers and rolled for Initiative, I won. Taking my first turn with the Blasts I engaged all but 1 of the AE with Glads and unloaded on the AE killing all but 1 of them in the 1st turn. On RandomSkyFears' 1st turn (the AE obviously) he took his 1 shot of 3 and killed off a blastatron. His next 2 markers were on the Ninjas which started to move toward the high ground. By the end of the round, I had claimed the movement glyph, killed off the last AE, and Cyberclawed 2 of his 3 Ninjas preventing them from using “Disappear.”
--Knowing that his Ninja’s couldn’t move and wanting to take advantage of his Greeks being clustered in his start zone still, I placed my 1st order marker on the Blasts (to try to kill off some ninjas) and my 2nd and 3rd markers on Zelrig (to fly up with a move of 8 and roast his remaining melee forces). RandomSkyFears used his 1st order marker (since he won initiative) to move up his Greeks and Marcus. On my 1st turn the ninjas, although unable to disappear, defended all but 1 attack dropping their number to 2. On his 2nd turn RandomSkyFears, not realizing that because of the movement glyph Zelrig could fly within firing distance of his units, placed the squad of 4 greeks adjacent to their Roman leader Marcus. On my 2nd turn I flew to the high road and shot an attack of 2 skulls at Marcus, Marcus defended the fire attack but all 4 of the Greeks with a defense of 1 were instantly incinerated. On his 3rd turn (the Ninjas) RandomSkyFears killed 1 of my soulborgs and moved the other ninja closer to my blastatron holding the common attack glyph. My 3rd turn consisted of Zelrig moving forward and killing 3 of his remaining 4 greeks. With only Marcus, 1 greek, and 2 ninjas remaining, RandomSkyFears was overpowered by my remaining Blasts and Glads.

Zealot wins rematch and proceeds to the Semifinal.

Semifinal

I faced off against "Starwolf" on Overlord.

180 – Q9
150 – 10th Regiment x2
080 – Realin ROTV
080 – Deathreavers x2

--Out of the games that I won, this one was by far the most difficult. Starwolf’s army was virtually the same thing as Roller’s except that he had the advantage of a powerful and versatile common squad. Having suffered losses to a disciplined army that used the redcoats and the Q9, Raelin, Deathreaver combo of Roller’s earlier, I knew I was in for a hard battle. The map “Overlord” made the game difficult for my Blasts and Glads as there were numerous large height changes as well as single hex choke points which made it easy for his rats to clog up and block my progress. My 1st turn used Marcu to fly forward and claim a glyph which ended up being the Defense glyph. The rest of my turns for the next several Rounds were all spent on the blasts in order to swarm the battlefield as best I could. Starwolf’s first markers were on the deathreavers and Q9 who followed the rodents towards my advancing soulborgs. My glads and his rats put each other in deadlocks at several choke points around the battlefield (on the roads) preventing either side from passing except through the middle where the low ground and the glyphs were. I continued to take shots at the deathreavers, triggering scatter but getting lucky and killing one every once in a while.
--Q9’s first attack killed 1 of my Glads but put him in position for a counter attack by my Blasts with height. On my turn I moved glads from my start zone forward (the others were stuck to rats) and moved one of my 4 activated blasts onto the common attack glyph that Starwolf had claimed, and lost, with a deathreaver earlier. Q9 blocked the first 2 attacks from my blasts but on the 3rd attack (3 skulls) Q9 whiffed taking 3 wounds; this was a potentially game changing moment as Q9 was reduced to the status of a Deathwalker. My 4th attack was blocked and the game continued. Starwolf moved Raelin up to boost Q9’s defense and later that round I got another lucky roll, killing off the Q9 Titan. With Q9 out of the picture, Starwolf moved Raelin back and marched his 10th Regiment into the battle. I struggled with ridding the battlefield of rats so that my Glads would be free to move up and engage the enemy, to no avail.
--The next several ROUNDS consisted of me taking 3 shots of 3 at Raelin and 1 shot of 4 at a deathreaver somewhere (only 3 blasts had range on Raelin) and she defended on low ground with her defense of 3 OVER and OVER and OVER again. (It took longer to kill Raelin than it did to kill Q9). Meanwhile Starwolf was slowly killing off Marcu (who held the defense Glyph like a champ) and my glads. When I was left with 6 Blasts and 2 or 3 glads and I’d lost both glyphs gave up trying to kill Raelin first and flew Zelrig up to fight the redcoats. Zelrig got off 2 shots of Majestic Fires which negated the +2 defense that they were getting from Raelin (they were spread out however, so Zelrig could only hit 1 at a time) killing a redcoat while the other blocked. Zelrig and the 10th Regiment exchanged attacks for a while some of whom moved adjacent to Zelrig to get the melee bonus. Zelrig was killed by 1 of the 2 remaining redcoats after I got lucky and FINALLY killed Raelin with my blasts. This left me with Isamu in my start zone and the 5 blasts I had on height vs Starwolf’s remaining rats and 2 redcoats. Both of us rolled defense like champions but I was able to pull out a win with 4 blasts and Isamu remaining.

Zealot proceeds to the Florida Frenzy 2 Final.

Final

I faced Roller’s A-Team on Badru Valley. (Rematch)

180 – Q9
150 – Q10
080 – Raelin ROTV
080 – Deathreavers x2


Side note: Chris made a lighthearted remark that got everyone laughing when he commented on how “If we were father and son we wouldn’t have had to play a final match.” We started the match laughing before our game faces went on.

--This was a battle I was both eager and nervous to fight. I’d faced Chris earlier in the tournament and lost, but this was also my 3rd time (thanks to Starwolf) fighting the deathreavers, Q9, and Raelin combo and was familiar with my priority of targets. As the game started I flew Marcu over and captured the map’s single glyph (common attack) YEESSSS! Roller had Q9 make a b-line for 1 of the maps two areas of high ground. I had my blasts and glads do the same (towards Q9). When Q9 reached the highest point of the map he began taking Quelix shots at Marcu to make me lose my glyph bonus. Q9 got some bad rolls and Marcu’s 6 life kept him alive until the end of Roller’s 3rd turn marker. On my 3rd I moved my glads to within running distance of Q9 and 1 of my blasts to within running distance of the glyph that Marcu had just died defending. In his effort to get Q9 onto the highest point on the map, Roller had moved Q9 out of Raelin’s defensive aura by 1 space. We set our markers and rolled for initiative, I won. On my 1st turn I moved 3 glads adjacent to Q9, 1 blast onto the common attack glyph and fired with 3 attacks of 5 and 1 attack of 6 (1 blast was on even ground with Q9). I rolled 3 skulls, 3 skulls, 4 skulls, and 5 skulls . Q9 failed to block everything and was killed ; Roller lost his 1st and 2nd turn. I used my 2nd and 3rd turn to move my Blasts and Glads down into Roller’s start zone killing Raelin and wounding Q10. Roller used the next round to attack with Q10 but on the next turn I surrounded him with Glads and gunned him down using height and the common attack glyph. With Q9, Raelin, and Q10 defeated, Roller forfeited the match not wanting to drag out a battle with his Deathreavers when I hadn’t even brought Zelrig out to fight. We shook hands and the final was over.

Zealot wins his rematch against the A+ army and claims his first tournament victory at the Florida Frenzy 2.

[Mr Migraine]

Nifty stuff!

[BurnyFlame]

The name you are missing for your fourth round battle is "Dustin," I believe.

[Star Wolf]

Great job Zealot on beating an A+ team 3 times.

Congrats once again on beating my army in the semifinals. You deserve it

[Zealot]

Originally Posted by Star Wolf

Great job Zealot on beating an A+ team 3 times.

Congrats once again on beating my army in the semifinals. You deserve it

I only beat the A+ teams twice. The first time it was close, but I lost to Roller. I redeemed myself against the A+ teams in the Semifinal against you and the Final in my rematch against Roller.

[Star Wolf]

Oh yeah, you lost the first match with roller.

Kinda like when I played sisyphus in the 5th round and lost and then faced him again in the quarterfinals and won.

[Sisyphus]

Congrats again Zealot. I guess it is a testament to the size of Necroblade's tourneys that we have never faced each other at the Frenzies.

Originally Posted by Zealot

My first instinct was to design another Tor-Kul-Na army...

I had thought I was being original with bringing TKN and first I find that Necroblade brought almost the same army as me and then I find that you have done it before as well. Oh well.

Originally Posted by Star Wolf

Oh yeah, you lost the first match with roller.

Kinda like when I played sisyphus in the 5th round and lost and then faced him again in the quarterfinals and won.

I told you, the winner of a matchup in the prelims will lose in the eliminations. Always.


And I'll post my report if I ever find the time. I have to sing praise of the mighty Tor-Kul-Na Tor-Kul-Na with Nagrubs.

[Star Wolf]

I told you, the winner of a matchup in the prelims will lose in the eliminations. Always.

hmm. I guess it's true then.

I have to sing praise of the mighty Tor-Kul-Na Tor-Kul-Na with Nagrubs.

Don't you mean just the nagrubs.

[NecroBlade]

Nice report. Though if you ask me you got lucky with the Common Attack Glyph too often.

Speaking of Nagrubs and the Common Attack Glyph, I *loved* turning it over with them and going on the offensive with anklebiters. They always seemed to do some decent damage, too.

[Zealot]

Originally Posted by NecroBlade

Nice report. Though if you ask me you got lucky with the Common Attack Glyph too often.

Speaking of Nagrubs and the Common Attack Glyph, I *loved* turning it over with them and going on the offensive with anklebiters. They always seemed to do some decent damage, too.

I don't know if I'd say too often seeing as I was up against A+ units most of those times and 4 attacks of 1 need any bonus they can get against Raelin and the Q brothers.

[Vydar]

First: Congratulations, Zealot! Way to pull of the win even after a few losses. You must have been the highest ranked person with a loss the first round to have to match up against someone who won on the second round. Also, great job winning the tourny without any A+ units!

Second: I'm surprised the +1 attack glyphs made the list. They are extremely potent.

[himsati]

Awesome battle report! And again serious congrats on your excellent strategic skills and 1st place in the tournament!