Peoria NHSD 2013: Pod Draft

[samuelfrost4]

Originally Posted by Ninja Status

This was sooo much fun . It was awesome meeting everyone, and I shall resist bringing chompy next time lol. I look forward to the next tourney, thanks for hosting kevindola!
~NS

I met ninja today, and I must say, he is a boss.

Thanks Kevindola!

[jetjake]

Did anyone start a battle report thread yet? I don't want to be the first one.

[Arch-vile]

That was a good way to spend a day, all heroscape! It was good meeting those I hadn't before and seeing some old faces again. The format was a big win, I only played with the exact same army twice, and the armies were crazy!

I struggled to come up with two good pods, then I realized it really didn't matter what they were as long as the pods were balanced against each other. So, I looked through the units I had with me from my latest Auggies purchase and decided to run:

Taelord + Omnicron Snipers x1 (280, 4 figures)
Eltahale + James Murphy (215, 2 figures)

While the point difference between the pods is substantial, Eltahale is really good, and you're only running 1 squad of Snipers. I picked the Eltahale pod every single time; though that wasn't always the smartest move in retrospect.

Game 1 vs SamuelFrost (Team Valiant) on Hot Heights

Sgt. Drake v2, Thorgrim, Eldgrim
4th Mass x2, Finn
Taelord, Omnicron Snipers x1
Eltahale, James Murphy

I won the pick with a 20 and chose the 4th Mass, then Sam countered with Sgt. Drake and the Snipers. Sgt. Drake really scared me until I realized the majority of my army was Jandar, meaning immune to pistol fire. Sam was a fun opponent, making some moves of questionable strategy () but keeping it a very close game until the end. I won with a 3-wound Eltahale.

1-0

Game 1 vs jetjake (Team Champions) on Fulcrum

MacDirks x2, Sir Hawthorne
Finn, Eldgrim, Atlaga, Tarn Viking Warriors
Taelord, Omnicron Snipers x1
Eltahale, James Murphy

I won the pick and wasn't sure which pod to pick. I knew I didn't want the Finn + Eldgrim pod, so I decided to defer. Jetjake picked the Finn + Eldgrim pod, to my surprise, so I went for the MacDirks and my ace, Eltahale. I opened with a James Murphy lead, hoping to use Shotgun to take down clumps of figures. However, James quickly is surrounded by the Tarn Vikings, then killed as the Omnicrons and Taelord advance. At this point I start putting Order Markers on Eltahale, and Eltahale goes berserk. Thunder Ram Assault after Thunder Ram Assault, almost always rolling 3-4 skulls and felling 3 figures almost every time. Eltahale takes down the Tarns and the now-screenless Omnicrons are also felled. Taelord and Atlaga are the next to fall, and when Eltahale falls only a 1-wound Finn and a 2-wound Eldgrim are left.

I now decide to activate my MacDirks, but I do not bond with Hawthorne, because if a "1" is rolled, it's game over (the MacDirks can't attack a traitor Hawthorne). The MacDirks kill Finn, losing two of their clan, then finish the Imp off. I wish the dice had been more even this game, because jetjake was a fun opponent who is really good. However, Eltahale's dice were even better.

2-0

Game 3 vs kevindola (Ninjas & Samurai) on Marr Highway

Shiori, Moriko, Kozuke
Izumi Samurai, Ninjas of the Northern Wind, Harquebus x1
Taelord, Omnicron Snipers x1
Eltahale, James Murphy

Sweet, I get to face kevindola. Kevindola wins the pick, and defers to me. That's not good, I was hoping to defer! I figure Eltahale had won me the last two games, so why not a third? Kevin smartly picks all the range plus Taelord. I spend the first couple rounds moving everyone forward (grumble Marr Highway grumble) then lead with James Murphy, which kevin's Ninjas intercept. His Ninjas went to ninja school or something, because they did incredible! They killed James, put 5 wounds on Eltahale, put 2 wounds on Moriko, and killed a Kozuke. Finally one of my Kozukes manages to kill one, but has to choose the lower ground. Kevin's remaining Ninjas attack from above, 5d vs 3d, and both are Counter Struck to my (admittedly excessive) excitement. I love Counter Strike.

With kevin's Order Markers lost, my Kozuke do some serious damage but eventually fall. Moriko survives a ton of shots and helps even it out for me, then Shiori is left against 2 Izumi and a full health Taelord. I decide to pounce on the wound glyph so Taelord wouldn't grab it, then Shiori is slain. I didn't expect such a close finish from the not-so-close beginning to this game, so I had a fun time.
2-1

Game 4 vs I.S.B.3 (Marros) on Sidewinder

Marro Hounds x2, Kaemon Awa
Marro Dividers x4
Taelord, Omnicron Snipers x1
Eltahale, James Murphy

Whoever said "with age brings Heroscape wisdom" hasn't met I.S.B.3. He wins the pick and defers to me, and I go for the Eltahale pod again. He picks both of his own pods. I underestimated just how fast those Hounds are; they can cross water due to being double-spaced plus 8 move! The Hounds engage James Murphy before he can let off a Shotgun, and James is already dead after two turns. Since all 3 of my Order Markers were on James, the Hounds are free to attack the Omnicrons, killing them all by the first turn of the next round and engaging Eltahale, preventing Thunder Ram Assault. Eltahale manages to kill one Hound before being killed, then Taelord falls soon after. This entire game, I managed to destroy one Hound (30 points), while I.S.B.3 killed 2 of his own Dividers due to Marro Plague (33 points). He killed more of his own army than I did, and still won. Well played, I messed up on the draft (I should have gone for the Dividers), but you played the Hounds really well; I had no idea they could be so good.

2-2 (no playoffs for me)

Game 5 vs The Bearded One (Carry-ers) on Gravel Garden

Tarn Vikings, Theracus, Sonlen
Thorgrim, Brunak, Marro Warriors, Isamu
Taelord, Omnicron Snipers x1
Eltahale, James Murphy

I knew I didn't want the Brunak pod this round, but I don't remember who deferred and such. We played our own pods. Theracus led for Beard, carrying Sonlen, while James Murphy grabs some Bracers of Teleportation and teleports to Beard's start zone and unleashes the shotgun. Sonlen shoots some magic James's way and puts the cowboy down. Sonlen then takes out all my Snipers while healing the wounds I'm giving him, until Eltahale enters the fray. Eltahale pummels Sonlen with lightning and sends the archmage to an early grave. Beard brings up Brunak + Thorgrim in retaliation, and in two turns both Brunak and Thorgrim are dead. Eltahale rocks.

The game comes really close, and I make a good move predicting some OMs on Isamu while putting my own OMs on Taelord, which gives me a couple free Taelord turns. Despite that, Taelord is unable to kill the Tarn Vikings, and is surrounded and slain. Beard wins with 3 Tarns and 1 Marro; a really close and fun game.

2-3

Extra Game vs vegie's dad (Vydar double date) on Steaming Bridge

Heirloom, Mika Connour
Agents Skahen, Carr
Taelord, Omnicron Snipers x1
Eltahale, James Murphy

Vegie's dad asked me if I wanted to play a game while the championship match was going on, so here's one final report. Again, I don't remember how we chose these pods, but we ended up playing each others' builds.

Mika throws down some shadow and waits for someone to come close while Skahen shoots at the Omnicrons. The Omnicrons fall, then Carr & Eltahale meet in battle (guess who wins?). Eltahale takes down Mika and Skahen before a 1-wound Heirloom knocks her down. Heirloom then sends out a Force Orb which takes out Taelord and the last Omnicron. Heirloom and James fight, though I feel vegie's dad made a mistake here. Instead of engaging Heirloom and trying for the Whip, he stays back 7 spaces and uses his normal attack. Heirloom is forced to use his weaker special attack rather than his normal melee attack, but still puts wounds on James while shrugging off all the attacks directed at him. This was a close game, and it was good to finally play vegie's dad after playing vegietarian18 3-4 times already.

I ended up in 12th place, and won a Deadeye Dan! My cowboy collection is complete. Thanks kevindola for hosting, I had a great time and it was great to meet everyone there.

[vegietarian18]

My pods for NHSD were:

Eltahale, Gurei-Oni, Dumutef x1
Warden 816, Zettian Guards, Drow Chainfighter x3

I wanted to play some rarely used figures, so I went with an all guard/warden theme. My Eltahale and Gurei-Oni pod seemed slightly stronger to me, but I thought it was beatable with the more solid overall Soulborg and Drow pod.

Game 1 vs. briaka's son on Steaming Bridge



Redcoats x2, Kaemon Awa
Fen Hydra, Stingers x1, Marro Warriors
Eltahale, Gurei-Oni, Dumutef Guard
Warden 816, Drow Chainfighter x3, Zettian Guards

I was worried about how good Redcoats would be in this matchup so I was happy when I won the die roll and was able to take them. He took his Hydra pod and my Soulborg guard pod. I was hoping to end up with Chainfighters on this map, because it's the only one where I can chain grab into lava, but I was fine with Eltahale too. I led with her, picked up a defense +1 T-glyph along the way, and she slowly bashed her way through the Utgar forces. I was able to get first strike and knock off a order markers, and the defense glyph allowed Eltahale to stay alive against the low attack Zettians and Marros. Eltahale died to the final Drow, but the Redcoats had already moved into position and mopped up fine.

1-0

Game 2 vs. ISB3 on Blackroot



Marro Dividers x4
Marrden Hounds x2, Kaemon
Eltahale, Gurei-Oni, Dumutef x1
Warden 816, Zettian Guards, Drow Chainfighter x3

He won the diceoff, and deferred to me. Definitely the right choice; he guaranteed himself Eltahale and one of his own pods. I wasn't sure of my decision, but I went with Hounds. He took Dividers and Eltahale as I expected, so I was left with Warden & friends. Lots of Soulborgs made it easy for me to avoid plaguing my own figures, so I led with Hounds. I barely got any plagues, but he barely got any divides. Unfortunately we were still only trading casualties, so the Hounds underperformed. Kaemon was able to finish off the last Dividers and score a hit on Eltahale as she began her death run. Eltahale killed Kaemon only taking a few more wounds, but Warden and the Zettians finished her off, with half of the Zettians and half of Warden perishing in the fight. Gurei-Oni came out to fight the Warden, and Warden got first strike and killed her in two Everciraxes. The Dumutef proved to be tough to kill, but eventually, I got him down, after losing two Drow.

2-0

Game 3 vs Evar Scarcarver on Turret Rocks

Redcoats x2, Venoc Warlord
Venoc Vipers x3, Evar Scarcarver
Eltahale, Gurei-Oni, Dumutef x1
Warden 816, Zettian Guards, Drow Chainfighter x3



Redcoats are good against Venocs so this was a disappointing diceoff to lose. Evar took Redcoats, so I took Vipers to block him and Eltahale because she's awesome. I led with Vipers but they had a miserable performance, killing only two Redcoats despite holding Astrid. Eltahale killed a more, along with the Venoc Warlord, but two had climbed to height, and I foolishly went after them. She took five wounds in two shots of four, and while I still got the Thunder Step to those Redcoats off safely and killed one of them, she was dead the next turn. Evar Scarcarver and Gurei-Oni moved up alongside each other, Gurei serving as an LOS blocker for Evar when she could. Evar had some bad rolls but still managed to take out the Drow and the Zettians. Gurei was able to use Tetsubo on the Redcoats standing on height and killed both, so I began to feel better about my chances. But Evar died to a Warden potshot and Gurei just couldn't get a hit in on him.

2-1

Game 4 vs The Bearded One (Theracus, Sonlen, Tarn and Marro Warriors, Brunak, Thorgrim) on Fire Isles

Theracus, Sonlen, Tarn Viking Warriors
Brunak, Thorgrim, Marro Warriors
Eltahale, Gurei-Oni, Dumutef x1
Warden 816, Zettian Guards, Drow Chainfighter x3



I won the diceoff and took Brunak and the Marro Warriors. He took Sonlen and Theracus and Eltahale. I led with the Marro Warriors, only aiming to kill Eltahale. I didn't accomplish that, but I did get two wounds on her as well as a dead Theracus and a slightly wounded Sonlen. Brunak and Thorgrim were next and Thorgrim's aura apparently made Brunak roll amazing shields all game long. I never once whiffed, as he slowly rampaged through the entire army. My opponent just couldn't get enough skulls to do any damage; Eltahale had a chance but rolled 2/7 for her Thunderstep and height attack.

3-1

Game 5 vs. kevindola (Ninjas of the Nothern Wind, Izumi, Harqs x1 and Shiori, Moriko, Kozuke) on Blackroot



Eltahale, Gurei-Oni, Dumutef x1
Warden 816, Zettian Guards, Drow Chainfighter x3
Ninjas of the Northern Wind, Izumi Samurai, Harqs x1
Shiori, Moriko, Kozuke Samurai

My 3-1 record and SOS pushed me to the playoffs. I got the diceoff and chose Eltahale. Kevin took Warden and his Moriko/Shiori/Kozuke pod, leaving me with Harqs, Izumi, and NotNW. I led with Harqs and he led with the Warden. Warden failed a shot on an Ashigaru as they moved up, which bought them time. I was able to open fire on his startzone, and though the shot I wanted most, on a Kozuke failed, I did manage two wounds on Moriko. The Kozuke charged, killed the Ashigaru, and set off toward my startzone. They got two wounds on Eltahale and killed two Ninjas before my Ninjas took them down. I sent out the wounded Eltahale next. Shiori got two wounds on her before I took the ninja down. Warden went in to try to finish the wounded Goliath with a 5v5, but the attack failed and Warden died the next turn. Eltahale died shortly later, to the Drow. I sent out the Izumi next. One of them was able to engage the Zettians, which severely limited their offensive potential by denying Zettian Targetting. The Izumi died taking out maybe one Drow, courtesy of Moriko's Saber Storm. I won a huge initiative the round after, and my final ninja was able to kill Moriko, knock off two OMs, and give me a big edge. Gurei mopped up the Zettians to end the game.

4-1

Game 6 vs boromir96 on Blackroot



Cyprien, Sonya, Zetacron
Major Q10, Kelda
Eltahale, Gurei-Oni, Dumutef x1
Warden 816, Zettian Guards, Drow Chainfighter x3

I messed up this draft pretty badly. I was disadvantaged from the start, with boromir forcing me to pick first, so I knew I was going to end up with my Soulborg pod. I felt like Eltahale was my best chance at getting lucky and taking out Q10 and Cyprien. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen that way. Cyprien killed Eltahale with an 18 on CT. My X factor was dead. Cyprien took out Gurei too, with a 19, and I was in serious trouble. The Zettians and Warden brought him down but I couldn't come back from that much of a deficit, especially with the shields that Zetacron rolled.

4-2, 2nd place

I was still excited; I got to take the Azurite Warlord home with me!

[briaka]

OMG!!! I just tried posting my recap of today but apparently took too long typing it out when I went to post, I wasn't logged in anymore and lost it all! Not typing it all out again. Sorry all. Short and sweet:

Game 1: Plagued to death. 0-1 (Marrden Hounds)
Game 2: Frenzied to death. 0-2 (Vipers)
Game 3: Burned to death. 0-3 (Moltenclaw)
Game 4: Two attacks are better than 1. 1-3 (Syvarris)
Game 5: Scattered to death. 1-4 (Deathreavers)

Had a great time. Looking forward to another but it's tough when I don't live in the area anymore. A big thank you to Kevin and Just For Fun for another successful NHSD! Biggest yet!

[boromir96]

Well I had an awesome time (This is usually where someone says "that's cuz you won" ) but anyways, Thanks Kevindola for hosting, and JFF for being an awesome game store.

I liked the format, as it makes for less bad matchups. As long as your 2 pods are balanced, the power level doesn't really matter, you just gotta make sure you get one of them.

[Ninja Status]

As did I, the format was interesting in many ways but was also pretty fun. I was going to try to host an event in mid November, does anyone have any thoughts on that before I try to book a place?
~NS

[boromir96]

Originally Posted by Ninja Status

As did I, the format was interesting in many ways but was also pretty fun. I was going to try to host an event in mid November, does anyone have any thoughts on that before I try to book a place?
~NS

Thoughts on what, format or location?

[Ninja Status]

I already talked to a game store owner in Arlington Heights and we talked about the tournament being on the 25th of November, it's on a monday but I'm pretty sure it's during everyones Thanksgiving break so I don't know why that would be a problem for anyone.

I was thinking just straight up 500 points-kill em all type of tourney with a map contest. Does anyone have any other ideas for format? If so I would be glad to hear them.

[vegietarian18]

Well, that's just a week after the Mad Titan so I'm not sure I can confirm myself being there. I also do not get Monday off for Thanksgiving break so there's that problem too. Arlington Heights isn't too far me and my dad though so we might be able to a different date up there.

[Ninja Status]

Would Saturday be better? The only problem with that is that it puts us closer to the end date of the Mad Titan tourney... hmmm. I'll have think this over a little more, thanks for your opinions.

[infectedsloth]

Thanks for hosting Kevindola. My crew and I had a great time. Are you planning on posting the final standings?

Originally Posted by Ninja Status

Would Saturday be better? The only problem with that is that it puts us closer to the end date of the Mad Titan tourney... hmmm. I'll have think this over a little more, thanks for your opinions.

If you do end up hosting a tournament around the dates you're thinking, I more then likely won't be able to attend.