This tournament I had a bit of a fire to go outside my comfort zone. There were so many armies I wanted to run, but somehow I found myself thinking about C3V figures, and then I remembered I just got some Incendiborgs in the mail, and it would be totally awesome to use them. Never having played them, I really didn't know what kind of support I'd need in order to make them effective. After a lot of thought, I decided on:

Rats X3
Raelin (RotV)
Krav
Incendiborgs

I figured Rats would tie down the board while Raelin buffed Krav and Borgs could dispatch of any figures that made their way through the rat screen. Here's how it went...

Battle 1 vs. True

Nilfeim
Greenscales X3
Raelin (RotV)
Marro Warriors

Map: Relic

Oh how this one hurt! I started out developing rats to lock down the board as he sent out Nilfeim with Greenscales. I must say, that Rats were amazing!! They did exactly what they're supposed to do...that is: Keep your opponent in the same spot, and keep them busy. True had his hands full of Rats, and though he had some elevation with jungle and Raelin backing him, my Krav went to work. Rats continued to scatter as True tried to kill them faster than they could move in, but to little avail...they defended like champs! The Krav made good use of themselves killing Greenscales and Marro warriors from elevation, and then gaining elevation on Raelin to take her out quickly as well. At this point, we both thought I had the game. With Rats locking down Nilfeim and every Greenscale in sight, I had the clear advantage. Then it happened...Mistake #1: I got too confident and let the Krav get a little too close. He disengaged Nilfeim and engaged 2 Krav, killing one. I decided Krav weren't strong enough to knock down Nilf, so I killed as many Greenscales as possible. Krav #2 gone! I engage 3 rats all around Nilf...special attack and they all go down. Mistake #2: It's the last round and I send out the last Krav to kill a greenscale to get another full squad and ensure my win by points...defended. True gets his last turn, on the last round to try and beat me by points. He's down 120 points. Flies in Nilf to special attack Krav....blank +100 points to True...20pts to go. I have one elevated Rat left, he surrounds with 3 Nilfeim-buffed Greenscales. Attack 1, blocked. Attack 2, blocked. Attack 3, one shield short. +40pts to True. Game. I literally lost on the last attack, of the last turn, of the last round...by 20pts!!

Record: 0-1

Battle 2 v.s. dreamscaper

Deathcommander Mark 3
Deathwalker 9000
Zettian Infantry X3
Deathwings X1
Beorn Boltcutter

Map: Deathstar Hallways

I dreaded this army...I dreaded this map...and I dreaded my opponent. dreamscaper has managed to beat me in each tournament matchup we've had (4 out of 4 now) and to make it worse, he had good figures to take me out on a tight, congested map. Even still...it was a good game. This time around I decided to lead with Raelin and Incendiborgs and then clean with Rats and Krav. In hindsight, at least 1 squad of rats would have done me good to help lock down his units early while the Borgs burned away. He opened with Deathwings to try and get an early explosion on me, but my Borgs quickly took them out. Then he sent in Beorn (who I must say I was unfamiliar with), and not knowing his ability I didn't mind him engaging my Borgs. I had already taken position in the middle of the map with Raelin on elevation buffing all the Borgs who blocked off the corridor keeping anyone from getting to her. The setup was perfect, but the dice were not. Even with the redundancy markers...Borgs didn't hold out too long b/c of Beorn's special. They quickly took him out before too much damage was done..but the dice spoke in favor of dreamscaper and he wounded Raelin and took out a Borg. I continued to put faith in them nonetheless and even after Raelin was silenced they defended like champions. They managed to defend long enough to sneak an attack by DW9K. +140pts for me leaving the score 240pts - 80pts in my favor. Another Borg fell. Last round I activated my Rats and Krav. Unfortunately I had 2 OM's on rats and only 1 on Krav which really hurt...b/c that round ended up being our last due to time. So my OM 3 was on Krav. During 1 and 2 I moved up rats while the last anticipated fall of the final Borg came swiftly, +180pts to dreamscaper, score 240 - 260...I was down 20pts. On turn 3 I was able to get all Krav in sight of each member of a full squad of Zettian Infantry. If I could take out the squad...I'd get game 2! Krav 1 attack, kill Infantry 1. Krav 2 attack, kill Infantry 2. Krav 3 attack, Infantry defended. Game. Once again, I literally lost the game on the last attack, of the last turn, of the last round...by 20pts!!

Record: 0-2

Battle 3 vs. The B.I.V.

Glads X2
Blasts X2
Q10
Blk Wyrmlings X2

Map: Remains of Clionesia

As stated by The B.I.V. it was a slugfest. Rats provided an amazing screen for me. I sent them in to lock down my front, and they did beautifully, creating an impenetrable wall behind which Raelin, the Krav and the Incendiborgs camped. And the slugging began. Lucky for me I was able to get by some of his defense to take out a couple squads but unfortunately for The B.I.V Realin decided not to die this game. Usually she doesn't mind passing on into the next life while leaving behind a bunch of defenseless units...but this time she stayed true, and no matter how many attacks were sent at her, she never faltered. Had she gone down, it would have been a different story...but with all my units podded and buffed, there was little hope for The B.I.V. to clean up on any points at all. His army was not a bad army...it was just sluggish, ugly die rolling game of all defense both sides, except for the few attacks that made their way through for me.

Final Record: 1-2
Final thoughts: Rats were a great choice this time around. They did their job beautifully in each game, allowing me to gain position and control those positions...and they even killed a Greenscale or two on game 1!! Krav were my army, but they didn't intend to be. Incendiborgs are not the focal point of an army, they're not meant to be...despite their point value. So they never really showed their true potential unfortunately, but it taught me a lot about them...b/c they are a fun unit!! And despite the record, This army actually preformed as a potential tournament winner. Had I not lost so unluckily on my very last die rolls of my first two games, the outcome of this tourney would have been very different. So this army isn't too bad, but if I were to run it again...there would definitely be a few changes.

This tournament I wanted to do something unheard of. And yet, I wanted to be competitive as well. I started thinking of units that don't get much field time and I realized Roman Archers, if used right could be a strong - but not too strong - army. But versus the right army they might get wrecked...so I decided to through in a good strong standalone hero and after a lot of thought, I decided on:

Nilfeim
Roman Archers X5

I figured with 5 squads, against a hero heavy army I'd always have their special as an option, and against a squad heavy army I'd have their normal attacks as an option as well. I also had Nilfeim who's the perfect mix for being able to take on heroes as well as squads. Here's how it went...

Battle 1 vs. Josh (Scaperdude's friend)

Marro Warriors
Stingers X2
Wyvern
Sgt Drake (SotM)
Air Elemental

Map: Isenfell

This was a rough one for Josh from the get go. I started off all Roman Archers and just started pushing them up and creating a long wall of archers. He moved in his marro warriors, wyvern and Sgt Drake. Disaster struck when I got an initial strike on Drake with my arrow volley and promptly put 3 wounds on him. Unfortunately for Josh, he didn't have another OM on him and so next turn Drake fell to another volley of arrows. Tough break for Sgt. Drake :-( After that, we traded figures back and forth as my roman archers traded 1-for-1 with each of his figures. Unfortunately for him I had more and initial strikes as well and by the end my Roman Archers pushed him back to his startzone and finished him off. I'd lost 3 squads at that point, and never put an OM on Nilfeim.

Record: 1-0

Battle 2 v.s. @The B.I.V.

(Reverse the Whip: So I used his army)
Nilfeim
Greenscales X3
Raelin (RotV)
Guilty McCreech

Map: Common Ground

Well, I wasn't so sure about this one because we both had Nilfeim's, but I realized that I should be okay as long as I kept mine from getting shot down by arrows too soon. To start out, I moved my scales and Nilf out toward the side of the map with the movement glyph. I knew this would be important to keep from him so his slow archers couldn't become more developed, and on top of that, it'd give my already speedy dragon and scales an even better boost of movement. I was able to grab and hold the movement glyph the entirety of the game. It really helped b/c I was able to develop my greenscales a lot quicker. But he wasn't going to let me off that easy. I had Nilfeim on the mound with Raelin and some Greenscales, but he was well within range and firing heavy shots down on Nilfeim who luckily took minimal damage and only took a wound at a time. The hardest part for BIV was that I had my Nilfeim just trashing his Roman Archers. Literally 3 turns in a row I wiped out a squad in one attack with Nilfeim...then rushed in the greenscales to engage and tie down the others. Once that happened we made quick work of the Archers and it really wasn't until then that BIV sent in Nilfeim. He'd had him hanging out of reach but then took height on the mound and started attacking. Luckily Raelin kept damages low, but it was only a matter of time before my Nilf and my surrounding Scales broke through his defense and finished him off. By the end BIV -according to Full Card scoring- had received no points :-(

Record: 2-0

Battle 3 vs. @El Donas (my brother)

Jotun
Sonlen
Kelda

Map: Noctus

This army actually scared me a little. It scared me b/c Jotun can potentially destroy armies all on his own, especially with Kelda flying around healing him. But at the same time, I was confident my arrow volleys would take care of him pretty quick. I started off all Archers while he developed Just Jotun (after Kelda grabbed a treasure glyph). Jotun wasted no time in rushing in but not without taking a few wounds from my volleys. Unfortunately for me, Arrow Volley's require me to cluster...and knowing he'd want to come in and chop up Nilfeim...I had to screen with my Archers. This made for a very powerful and impressive couple wild swings for Jotun. Attack 1: 4 dead Roman Archers...next attack 3 dead roman archers. I was wounding him as well, but then he flew in Kelda to heal him a couple wounds. It was looking a little grim with a mostly healed Jotun amidst my archers at the end of the round, so initiative would be crucial. Luckily I got initiative and was able to get 5/6 skulls to finish off the big giant before he could do anymore damage. Then it was Sonlen's turn. Sonlen didn't arrive in time to help Kelda before she went down, but he did his fair share of damage before the end. He eventually went down to give me the win, but I only ended with a 2 life Nilfeim and 4 Roman Archers...so a little too close for my comfort...but still a win!

Record: 3-0


Championship Game - both of us undefeated
Battle 4 vs. @Scaperedude

(Reverse the Whip: So I used his army)
Phantom Knights
Krav Maga Agents
Marro Warriors
Frost Giant of Morh
Drow Chain Fighter
Crixus

I had no idea what to do with this hodge podge army...but my first thought were not to divide order markers too much...so that's what I tried to do. I also knew I had great counters to Nilfeim with Crixus and the Frost Giant, and my Krav and Marro Warriors were great counters to the Roman Archers...now I just had to execute. Well...enough said...just watch the VIDEO!!!

Final Record: 3-1
Final thoughts: I would totally run this army again...or at least a variation of it...b/c I loved it! I loved effectively using Roman Archers the way I did and I think it taught me as well as my opponents a lot about their potential. With enough squads they become quite formidable, and I hope everyone watching the video and there at the tournament learned a thing or two about the Roman Archers!

This tournament I wanted to do something a little more competitive and with my favorite unit, Sonlen. I needed strong range support, but also a strong first wave. I realized Goblin Cutters, if used in hordes, can be devastating...and not too many people know how to fight against them. Goblins are great against ranged squads because they can go in and engage with minimal casualties. They get bonuses for swarming, they move fast, small hit zones, and a fast developing squad. I decided a great combo would be to match them with Q10 and Sonlen. Sonlen can heal Q10 (or himself), can bypass defensive units with his special ability, and is a strong attacker as well. Q10 provides long range as well as short range shots and gave me the range support I felt I needed. So I decided upon:

Sonlen
Major Q10
Goblin Cutters X4

here's how it went...

Battle 1 vs. BiggaBullfrog

Gladiatrons X2
Blastatrons X2
Dund
Agent Skahen

Map: Hephaestus

Boy...I knew this would be a rough matchup with the Gladiatrons being able to lock down my cutters. I was not looking forward to it. So, I decided that Q10 was probably my best shot at taking out his units. I figured if I could shoot over my Goblin screen with Q10, I'd be able to take out the Blastatrons quick enough that he wouldn't get too many hits on me. This map is also filled with lava height, and if I was going with Q10, I wasn't too keen on putting him on lava, so I elected to stay mostly lower level with my goblin screen engaging high. My hope was that Q10's multiple attacks would take their toll. Unfortunately a lot of things went wrong. First, even though glyphs were on lava, Bigga very strategically would take the glyph turn one and hop off turn 3 so no damage would get dealt. Unfortunatley for me, it was a defense glyph which made the Blastatrons quite defendable. He only ever put OM's on the Blastatrons the entire time, and though I was able to use Q10 to thin the ranks significantly, the heavy hitting power those guys had from elevation ripped through my screen of Goblins way too fast. Eventually, I was pushed to my start zone and after Q10 fell (blanking with 5 defense is so sad sometimes) I was forced to go with Sonlen. Sonlen gave me some hope bringing Bigga down to just 2 Gladiatrons and a few Blastatrons, all which were spread out for the most part. But, it was just a matter of time once he collected his troops, locked me down and gunned me down.

Record: 0-1

Battle 2 v.s. Tiranx

Rancor X2
Arrow Gruts X1
Martial La Hire

Map: Desecrated Mine

Easily the most enjoyable, funny and yet sad game of them all. In short Rancor's are insane, but their one flaw is that before taking a turn with them you have to roll the D20, and if you roll 1-4 your opponent gets to take a turn with them (and naturally you lose the turn). Tiranx proved to defy all odds. I had the wonderful and enjoyable opportunity to take a turn with his Rancors 6 out of his 8 turns!!! Yes, it's true. Turn one for Tiranx I got to use them, turn 2 I got them again, turn 3 I got them again, turn 4 he used them, turn 5 I got them AGAIN! turn 6 he used them, turn 7 I got them again and turn 8 I got them again. Remember, those were all on his turns. So during my turns I was running up one squad of Goblin cutters to jump in the fun. His army literally defeated his army. I was able to basically fight him in his start zone with his own army. It was kind of sad by the 5th and 6th time, and yet at the same time...so epically insane to have it happen that many times where I got to use his own figures against him. But that wasn't all. The one squad I sent in was enjoying a height advantage on one of his Rancor's and cutting up his legs mighty well and it went down having only killed one Goblin. So he sent in his other Rancor (on the turn he actually got to use them) to engage all 3 and use his special attack of 5 that would handily take care of the squad (keep in mind, once a round a Rancor can remove a wound for killing a figure). I was actually kind of worried b/c if he was able to heal his Rancor by killing my Goblins then I might be in some trouble. But, sadly enough he blanked on his special attack. Next turn my Goblins did their cutting and the last Rancor fell. Naturally, Tiranx figured the least he could do would be to send in Martial with a potential double attack and finish the squad. Well along came another blank attack, after which my cutters once again finished off the poor La Hire. One lone Arrow Grut was left in the start zone...and I think we know what happened next :-) Game. Tiranx managed to kill 1 single Goblin cutter...a wonderfully miserable game for Tiranx.

Record: 1-1

Battle 3 vs. podunksarmy

Bahadur
Varkaanan Quickblades
Varkaanan Greyspears
Varkaanan Fangs (or something)

Map: The Ruins of the Great Wall of Valhalla

I've played against podunksarmy when he's using the Varkaanans in a tournament before and I wasn't looking forward to it again. But as we were setting up, I felt that I had the advantage considering the Cutters ability to lower defense. Varkaanans are heavy, but cutters can take em out if they're being swarmed. And that's what happened. Besides the dice gods really being very kind to me, I set myself up well. Cutters took defense glyph turn 1 as well as unique attack. I knew the fight would be over the unique attack glyph because that'd make podunksarmy very strong, so I focused developing my cutters to the center of the board. There's not much to tell on this one other than it was a matter of time. He'd kill a goblin or two, but I'd scurry limiting his other attacks and then engage and swarm the next turn. One by one the Varkaanans fell effectively limiting his order marker placement, and I stole an OM or two in there as well. It was a rough battle for podunksarmy, the cutters really came through.

Record: 2-1

Battle 4 vs. TREX

Gorillinators X2
Nakitas
Isamu
Darth Maul (unreleased HoSS hero)

Map: Hephaestus (again?!)

The lava map again, oh how I dreaded it (force users can force push units into lava...uh oh!). Currently I was behind in strength of schedule, and I needed to win this game to make it into the top 4 to move on into the playoff. I wasn't sure what to expect in this matchup, but one thing I knew...I needed to take risks and couldn't let lava field damage hold me back for getting position. This philosophy proved to be what gave me the edge. I rolled out my Cutters as before backed by Q10. Trex rolled out Nakitas with Gorillinators. Gorillinators worked as an effective screen for the Nakitas while they shot from height, but my pesky Cutters made sure to scurry and reposition. I took risks. My cutters went running all over engaging the Gorillas and Nakitas from height on lava just trying to engage and get a lucky attack. It worked for the most part but not without it's consequences..I lost a good squad just from lava field damage. My cutters effectively drew the attention while I occasionally had Q10 fire in a heavier shot or two. I got lucky and took out a Nakita, limiting his fire power. In retaliation, Trex targeted Q10 and put a few wounds on him. I took a risk, sending Q10 up on lava height and at the same time holding the defense glyph. I had 2 options turn 3 at the end of the round. Get off lava but give up height and try to attack Nakitas...or stay on lava and attack the remaining 2 Nakitas from Height/Same level with only 1 life on Q10. Heroscape is about taking the risk. I took the risk. Machine pistol it was: 4 attacks of 2 on the Nakitas. It paid off! 2 Nakitas feel to the rapid fire attacks and Q10 survived the lava damage!! All that was left were a few gorillas, Isamu and Darth Maul. At this point, I knew Q10 would be targeted by Darth Maul and so put turn 1 to get a shot off before going down and then the rest on Sonlen and cutters. As expected, Darth Maul came charging in, I got a wound or two with Q10 before he went down, but then surrounded him with cutters. And the cutters did what they do best...Darth Maul went down after only killing a few Goblins (lava dunking most of them). Sonlen then came out and dragon swooped Isamu coming out of the start zone and finished off the last Gorilla was a powerful 4/5 skull attack. Game. Clinched 4th place and moving on to the playoff against #1 jlightnin

Record: 3-1

Playoff Game Round 1
Battle 5 vs. jlightnin (#1 seed and undefeated)

(Reverse the Whip: I use his army)
Spartacus
Crixus
Achillean Gladiatrix X2
Capuan Gladiators X2
Isamu

Map: Desecrated Mine (2nd time)

I was really worried about this matchup. Goblins vs Gladiators is a terrible matchup and I was hoping he didn't know how to use that army, b/c I've played Goblins vs Gladiators and gladiators fall fast. Luckily, I was right and he didn't play the goblins very well. He actually opened with Q10 which I was really happy about because it allowed me (with my bonding glads) to engage him by the end of the round and start getting hits on him. with my heavily buffed Glads and bonding Q10 went down fast. phew! But still Sonlen and plenty of cutters to go. He next sent in sonlen to do the dirty work. Sonlen held his own for a bit and killed of Crixus (or maybe goblins, can't remember) before getting engaged and taking heavy hits from glads. It was a rough bout after that. Gladiators took out Sonlen and the game was far from over, but jlightnin's play with the goblins was far from ideal and he never utililzed their negating defense ability to it's full potential. Good thing for me he didn't really know how best to use them, and at that point it was just a matter of killing the goblins one by one. Game set...going to the Championship!

Record: 4-1

Championship Game
Battle 6 vs. Biggabullfrog

(Reverse the Whip: I use his army)
Gladiatrons X2
Blastatrons X2
Dund
Agent Skahen

Map: Desecrated Mine (3rd time)

Yes on Desecrated Mine again and yes against BiggaBullfrog again! But how fitting that we meet up Round 1 and then meet up again in the Championship. I was pretty confident with my army of Glads and Blasts against my own army, the key would be to execute and hope Bigga wasn't sure how to run my army. Well things started out pretty hot. I was able to develop my glads and blasts extremely well thanks to the Move +2 glyph I picked up (and held for the majority of the game). This put me on height and in great position to do some hurt, and hurt I did. Bigga brought out Major Q10 to meet my advancing forces with goblins. Though he did so pretty well and taking out a Glad or two on the way, I was able to engage him and get height attacks on Major Q10. He didn't got down fast, but he did go down faster than Bigga would have liked. At this point I felt pretty solid about my position. Next, he brought out Sonlen with his cutters and really started becoming pesky. Thanks to my Glads locking down cutters I was able to minimize his ability to scurt around my forces and gain position on me. I'd kill a goblin or two each turn and fire away at Sonlen as well...unfortunately there were like 3-4 times throughout this exchange that the Goblins with their 1 defense actually defended an attack from my blasts (very important later)!! Sonlen went down with little effect to the game, but not without taking out a Glad or two. At this point, there were about 6 Blasts and 3-4 Glads, Skahen and Dund against Bigga's 2.5 Squads of cutters. I felt pretty good about my position. This changed quickly. Cutters went on a rampage, and though I killed at least 1 each turn (sometimes 2) the cutters managed to sneak through my heavy Gladiatron defense and wittle away at my firepower. This became an issue to the point that I was forced to have to place OM's on Skahen and Dund with just 6 cutters left to kill! Bigga was very smart with his play b/c my hope was to use Dund to engage and use his special to steal OM's which would be devastating. He kept the cutters out of range at the beginning of Dund's turn and then swarmed well to take him out. He lasted 2 turns with killing maybe 1 goblin (maybe not). Skahen, you better show up to play! And show up to play she did. I brought her up to a position where he could only get one level attack on her, and she defended like a champ. Each turn she killed one or two figures and it came down to an initiative roll. I had 1 life skahen, and he had 2 cutters left. He won initiative and got a 2/2 attack roll to finish off Skahen. Very close game, and an epic finish for the tournament!! Well played BiggaBullfrog...we shall meet again: dun-dun-dun...

Final Record: 4-2
Final thoughts: I would totally run this army again...or at least a variation of it...b/c I loved it! I loved effectively using the goblin cutters to their fullest potential, and seeing just how strong they can be. They are an underestimated unit, and I saw just how fun (and annoying) they can be to play in swarm. With enough squads they become quite formidable, and when backed by strong heroes like Sonlen and Q10, they shine :-)

Wow...an 8 round tournament and 2, 350pt armies to choose...WHAT?! This tournament preparation was difficult. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to play and how to play it. After a lot of thought, I decided that I needed mostly strong range support and lots of numbers...so I decided on two armies I felt fairly confident with already. I decided Cutters were strong against most any army, especially ranged armies, and Q10 could back them up really well. That, and with my other army, Kaemon Awa is a beast on his own, and some expendable but underestimated Roman Archers could be worth a shot. So that's what I went with...mainly because the past two tournaments I'd brought these figures and gotten to the Championship each time.
So I decided upon:

Army 1:
Major Q10
Goblin Cutters X4

Army 2:
Kaemon Awa
Roman Archers X4
Isamu

here's how it went...

Battle 1 vs. Dadude

Charos, 4th Mass X2 & Krav, Sentinels of Jandar X2, Guilty
vs.
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Invasion

Picking which army to for dadude to play was trying to pick the better of two evils. I knew I was at a disadvantage after he chose my roman army to play. So, I decided I better try for the 4th Mass and Charos and hope I could take out the blue coats before I ran out of archers. Unfortunately for me, I never really made it out of my start zone. The blue coats were speedier than my archers and were able to gain elevation much faster than I could develop. Archers were falling fast to the four attacks, but I had enough of them that I was able to take out 1 squad of 4th mass before running out of archers. At this point, Kaemon Awa started giving me hope. He ran in and mopped up the remaining squad of 4th Mass and taking 2 wounds. But even still...a full life Charos vs. a half life Kaemon is never a great situation, even if Kaemon is ranged. I was able to get height and shoot down on Charos, but due to an initiative switch, Charos was able to fly in and take out Kaemon with little effort.

Record: 0-1

Battle 2 vs. Ben

Subakna, Nagrubs X3, Negoksa & NotNW, Brunak, Raelin (RotV), Marro Warriors
vs.
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Underground Iceways

Coming into this game I felt pretty confident. My Goblins are beasts when they swarm, and I was not scared at all about killing his figures who already had low defense. I proved to be prophetic. The game was a slow bleed for Ben, my cutters swarmed very well and ripped through his army with ease. The majority of the time was actually spent trying to kill off Negoksa who was sitting on a defense glyph for most of the game, and he finally went down after many cutters hacking at his ankles.

Record: 1-1

Battle 3 vs. relish

Krug, Mimring, Arrow Gruts X2& Fire Elementals X5, Kurrok, Marro Warriors
vs.
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Stygian Rift

Well I did not want fire elementals running around with lava immunity, and burning up my whole army (because I've seen what fire elementals can do...and it's not pretty), and so I opted for the gruts and Mimring...but I was still very affraid of mimring's 8 range special that could take out my archers with very little effort. Again, I was prophetic. Most of the game was watching my Roman Archers get roasted by mimring...but not without putting a few key wounds on him, and taking out his supporting arrow gruts. This game was in relish's favor until one very crucial moment when at the start of a new round he put all his OM's on his arrow gruts b/c they bond with Mimring. What he didn't realize was that he only had 2 left, and both of them were on lower elevation and both were within range of Kaemon Awa's special attack. I won initiative. I was absolutely stoked...thinking that I had this round all to myself after i basically would instakill the last 2 gruts and steal his order markers. Well...the dice gods decided otherwise. My first attack down on a 1/4, which gave him a chance to defend...and the second attack on the grut resulted in a heart crushing blank from my Samurai. It was at this point that all hope was gone. Had I killed the grut I would have had free reign the rest of the map and taken out the one life Mimring and started poking at Krug...but it was not to be, and Mimring promptly dispatched of Kaemon and then Isamu with Krug never taking an activation.

Record: 1-2

Battle 4 vs. BiggaBullfrog

Marrden Hounds X2, Guilty, DW9000 & Khosumet, Anubians X3, Marro Warriors
vs.
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Quasatch Warfare

I was okay with this matchup, but not confident b/c my cutters like to swarm and DW9000 with his special can keep my goblins from scurrying and can burn em up pretty quick. But this was sadly not Bigga's day. His Hounds locked in a lot of my cutters, but with their swarming special I was able to take them out with little resistance. But even that was not the worst...I decided to send in a lone Goblin to engage 9000 just to lock him down. I decided what the heck, and attacked him from same level with a 1/2 result, and wouldn't ya know it, Bigga blanked 0/9! That little cutter musta climbed up into his armor and cut some important wires lol!

Record: 2-2

Battle 5 vs. Crashman00

Saylind, Sonlen, Rhogar & Sonya, Cyprien, Krav, Marro Warriors
vs.
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Entangled

I was pretty confident about this matchup considering he only had 3 heroes and I was build with strong hero killing Roman Archers and Kaemon Awa. All was going well the first couple rounds. He teleported in with Sonlen and Saylind together and killed a couple archers, but not before getting multiple wounds from elevated attacks. It was then that he retreated back to his startzone to heal up and regroup. But even still, with the short map and road, I was able to reach him with my archers and elevated attacks and after only losing a couple squads over exchanged attacks, i was able to finish off Saylind and Sonlen...leaving the lone Rhogar against Romans Archers X2, Isamu and Kaemon Awa. But this is when it all went downhill. Rhogar proved to be a beast by burning up multiple archers at a time, and when he rushed back to my startzone, he took height in a position that protected him from level attacks. At this point it was who could outlast the other. Rhogar continued to be a beast and only take one wound at a time, while taking out multiple archers, isamu and even Awa. It came down to one Roman Archer and a One life Rhogar. I was able to get initiative, run away and take a pot shot...defended. It was then that he ran in, took lower elevation, and was barely able to reach my roman with his special fire attack...and I failed to defend. He took the win on this crazy close game! well fought.

Record: 2-3

Battle 6 vs. The Dewk

Q9, Phantoms X2, Marcu, Isamu & Stingers X3, Rats X2, Raelin (RotV), Isamu
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Sidewinder

I was not happy about either matchup, but i figured my Cutters with their swarm could help take out Q9 in the long run, so I gave him the robot army. Maybe not the best choice, because as I quickly came to remember...the Goblin scurry ability is only activated on a normal attack. Anyway...he takes a Move glyph while I develop a squad of cutters to contend on the initiative glyph on the other side and engage some phantoms. It was at the end of the first round that I realized my cutters would do no good until Q9 was dead, and they wouldn't be able to reach him, so I left them to be killed. I put all activations on Q10 who I felt would be the best contender for Q9. Unfortunately, Q9 was on a rampage and with buffed movement he was able to take height just outside my startzone and rip into my cutters. He was killing between 2-3 each turn, and killed 5 in one turn at one point. (but in order to gain height he had had to disengage a cutter, and receive a wound). While he was killing off all my cutters, I was relentlessly throwing shots at him with Q10, hoping upon a hope I could squeak in a wound here or there. Well after all but one squad of cutters were dead, I was able to finish of Q9, and then take his position on height. The Phantoms must have been pretty intimated by Q10 standing on the dead corpse of their metal captain because they did nothing by die when they flew in to engage Q10. It was nothing but mop up work after that. A crazy and swingy game, with only the Robots one either side getting the kills.

Record: 3-3

Battle 7 vs. Leaf_It

Arkmer, Kyntela, Aubriens X4 & Brave Arrow, Mohicans X4
vs.
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Quasatch Warfare

I felt the Aubriens would be the easiest to kill, considering their low defense and Mohicans are really good against range armies. But my main concern was their longer range than the Archers and their Frenzy. But I was willing to take my chances. Looking back, I wish I hadn't :-P The Aubriens proved themselves that game, running around and killing Archers at nearly every attack to start. The dice started to calm down though, and I was able to land a number of kills on the Aubriens and gain some position back. But it was difficult considering he'd had control of the movement glyph for the first round or two and was able to develop his units onto height. As it came close to the end though, I was able to get Kaemon in and start ripping into the Aubriens and wittled them down to just one squad left. But with some key blanks by Awa, he went down...and with only a couple archers left and isamu vs. Aubriens and a full life Arkmer and Kyntela...I conceded defeat. One key factor was glyph control, but also frenzy. Leaf_it was able to get his archers to frenzy about 3 times during key moments in the game, and it really hurt me in the long run. Good Game!

Record: 3-4

Battle 8 vs. Randon

Torkulna, Nagrubs X2, Phantom Knights X1 & Minions of Utgar X3, Marcu
Kaemon Awa, Roman Archers X4, Isamu & Major Q10, Goblin Cutters X4

Map: Pool of Shadow

To be honest, I wasn't too worried about this matchup. Yes, Randon was in 4th place and had handled most of his opponents pretty well, but I felt my Roman Archers would handle themselves well against this army. That and I was the one to design this map, so I felt like I had an advantage there. This game was over by the first round. TKN came into the center and tried to take a treasure glyph and wounded himself. Then turn 2 I'd already gotten archers on height and reigned down arrows on the big ugly to do 2 wounds. He then activated his phantoms which allowed me to get in another attack on TKN which ended in a 4/6 attack and a 0/6 defense roll and a dead TKN by the end of the round. That was basically game, but we played it out, and Randon was able to take out a few Archers before succumbing to the inevitable defeat.

Record: 4-4

Final Record: 4-4
Final thoughts: Love the cutters. Will probably play them in future tournaments. Still love the Roman Archers, and I've gotten them to a Championship once, and I'm determined to do it again, but I'll need a little more practice with them. As it was, the tournament was awesome and full of some epic moments. The best part was playing against so many new opponents and on so many new maps. Well played all, and looking forward to our next event!