Wandering Monsters Tournament Results Thread

[clancampbell]

Originally Posted by tom

It doesn't seem like many people played the Wandering Monsters all that much from the reports. I feel like the monsters played a small but important role in my games but not so much for the rest of the players. Am I wrong or were the monsters primarily bonus kill points for one player?

Don't fret Tom. I think the Wandering monster format was a fun and exciting way to "shake up" the tourny scene norm. If nothing else, you certainly showed a willingness to think outside the box.

The wandering monster offered an interesting degree of tactics. Would players use it as an offensive weapon, a decoy, bonus points, or a hybrid of all those? To be honest, my main thinking was to place my X marker on it (to serve as a decoy), and then play it by ear. It wasn't my intention, at least early on, to be the "monster slayer". My first 3 matches, my opponents used the monster offensively against me. So I decided to kill it off simply to "get it out the way". After that, when I saw that I was in the lead of monster kill points, then I decided to actively try and take it out and win the slayer award.

So, I saw a mix of stratagies from my opponents, and frankly, from myself as well.

Bottom line, it was a cool, and very fun and interesting, addition to the games.

[Arcus]

Bravo to Tom on another well runned tournament. I went 3-2 on the day running with pretty much the same army I used last tournment. Why the same army? Cause it was already in the box and I was lazy.

I was cruising through the tournament at 3-0 before I ran into Tom and his God-like luck; the guy is so lucky he farts out four-leaf clovers, swear to God! His win was so one-sided it wasn't even fun, but thems are the breaks. I was hungry anyway so it gave me a chance to run to the burrito stand and get me some much needed food. Food eases all pains. 3-1

The food did not help against Spidysox. His Zombies ate my Deathchasers along with everything else on the board. I think my army would have beaten Tom's under any other circumstances, but not Spidysox's endless supply of Zombies. 3-2

It was great seeing everyone and meeting new people. I hope to see you all soon.

[DragonSlayer2]

Well, I must say that I am upset that I missed this event. It would have been alot more fun then moving my brother. (and easier on the rest of my body. The worst thing was the door in his new house were smaller then the old house. We had to take things apart to get them in the house. ie the couch/fridge)

However, I do plan on being at the Vineland Tournament. I might need to borrow some figs to run the armies I am thinking of.

Congrats to Norhtgate on the victory.

[TheEpicLlama]

Originally Posted by Arcus

I was cruising through the tournament at 3-0 before I ran into Tom and his God-like luck; the guy is so lucky he farts out four-leaf clovers, swear to God! His win was so one-sided it wasn't even fun, but thems are the breaks.

farts four-leaf clovers. Clever

[Johngee]

Originally Posted by TheEpicLlama

None taken.

LOL . . . last month at ATKM in Pitman, my HS Army was SOOOO cheesey and I received soooo much grief from our peers, that this month, I actually brought my HS Army to RCC in Philadelphia inside a Chees-Its box. I hope everyone enjoyed the little yellow crackers.

[TheEpicLlama]

Originally Posted by Johngee

LOL . . . last month at ATKM in Pitman, my HS Army was SOOOO cheesey and I received soooo much grief from our peers, that this month, I actually brought my HS Army to RCC in Philadelphia inside a Chees-Its box. I hope everyone enjoyed the little yellow crackers.

Yep Captain America and 4th mass is about as cheesy as it gets.

[Johngee]

I always bring several armies with me, but for this the January-2011 Philly Tournament I decided to play with: the unique hero Kaemon Awa ninja warrior (1 @ 120 pts.), the Airborne Elite unique squad of (4 @ 110), Krav Maga Agents unique squad (3 @ 100), a Blastatron soulbougs common squad (4 @ 60), and the unique ninja hero Otonashi (1 @ 10) ... For a TOTAL of 13 figures on 5 cards at 400 points.

I hated to give up the 5 extra points and actually intended to replace the Blasts and the little ninja girl with a squad of Mohican Tribesmen (3 @ 70) or a squad of 10th Regiment of Foot (4 @ 75), but forgot to substitute them at the last minute before leaving the house. I think they would have provided me with more firepower for my ranged attacks and more staying power during melees. Oh well, I wanted to try Kaemon and the Airborne together and the rest were just filler units anyway. My five tournament games as I recall them (which may not be a totally accurate interpretation of the events) are described as follows...

FIRST GAME :

I faced off against NorthGate on BoV map E, "Ticalla Sunrise." His army consisted of: Heirloom (1 @ 90), Theracus (1 @ 40), Darrack Ambershard (1 @ 60), and 3x Axegrinding Dwarves (12 @ 210). The terrain seemed to be very uneven and cluttered, which is the way a jungle swamp is supposed to be. Right?

In my initial strategy, I intended to use the Wandering Monster to augment my army's strength as much as possible, so I placed my #1 and 2 Order Markers on it to attack Northgate's army relentlessly and do as much damage with it as possible, even if he got the points for killing it. I remember his Theracus delivering Heirloom to a piece of high ground in center stage, so I guess he killed the thing and I then went after the four legged chicken.

Then I got a good d20 roll at the beginning of the Second or Third Round to land the AE close to NorthGate’s start zone, where the thirteen dwarves were still clustered. But then I failed to win the initiative roll, so I watch helplessly as each parachutist became engaged and eventually hacked to pieces by the onslaught of the short, stout, bearded guys. Two survived long enough to lobe their grenades, but it did little damage to the main body of axe wielding stubbies who were quickly dispersing in my direction. Only 2 or 3 died.

It was quite a see-saw battle as NorthGate rushed his Dwarves forward to engage my characters in hand-to-hand combat while I did my best to maneuver away from them and take advantage of isolated hexes of high ground. I knew my best chance of defeating him was to pick them off one at a time at the longest range possible.

Being accustomed to traditional war games that attempt to simulate actual combat conditions with realistic capabilities for modern weapons, I'm always overconfident that my HS shooters will be more effective than they usually are. I'm learning the hard way that in HeroScape, on most BoV's the Range of a shooter is practically irrelevant, since your opponent can close the distance in 1 or 2 Order Markers.

I remember Kaemon Awa being trapped and dancing around the swamp water and jungle bushes to gain a slight, but all important height advantage. As both of our armies were eliminated one by one, it came down to my last Krav Agent and Otonashi against his only two remaining dwarves. In the end I roll some lucky dice twice in a row and chalked up my first victory for 2,011. ( 1 - Win / 0 Losses / Total = 405 Points )

SECOND GAME :

Me vs. Arkus on Map K, "Kalengeist," with the D&D-Wave 3 Ice Troll as the resident monster. In his army he had: Me-Burq-Sa the mounted Marro Warlord, Nerak the mounted Ork leader, the Krav Maga Agents (3 @ 100), Guilty McCreech (1 @ 30), and 3x Death Chasers of Thresk (9 @ 165).

The battle had not even started when there was a sudden turn of events. I thought the dice gods had smiled on me when I rolled a high enough number on the d20 to allow the Airborne Elite squad to drop in on the first round, so I placed them very close to my opponent's Start Zone. Feeling a bit boastful, I boldly announced, "Ah-ha, I guess this might change your intended strategy a bit." To which Arkus, in his usual complacent manner merely replied, "No, not really, but this might change yours..." and then proceeded to MOVE all of his ork-ish Death Chasers out of the Start Zone and engage my four isolated soldiers, in accordance with their Special Ability - to move before the first round begins. OUCH!

Thus the game began with my hard punching, long range, ace-in-the-hole, surprise-attack unit... deep inside enemy territory and already engaged with multiple Orks and their primary target, now widely scattered to thwart the effectiveness of their hand-grenades. I don't remember if I won the initiative roll, because at that point it really didn't matter. Therefore, the AE went down fighting early in the game and died valiantly, but did not do as much damage to Arkus's forces as I had hoped.

Next, we both put several Order Markers onto the Ice Troll and moved it back-and-forth, with little effect, until I was able to kill the monster for it's 85 points and put an end to that annoying menace. Over all I was only able to kill 215 points of Arkus's army before I was completely wiped out. Still it was a fun game and I learned an important lesson about the Death Chasers’ special movement ability and where NOT to place my AE the next time I'm in a similar situation. ( 1 - Win / 1 - Loss / Total = 705 points )

THIRD GAME

Me vs. TOM on BoV map B, "Highways and Dieways" with Dund as the resident monster. "Snakes, why did it have to be so many snakes” (7x squads of 3 + 1 Warlord commander = 22 figures). Again the Airborne Elite failed to drop in and I also did not win the first Initiative Roll either. Fortunately with my first Order Marker I moved Kaemon Awa out of the Start Zone to the nearest high ground (the only one he could reach), a double hex tile between the road and the water. Tom had positioned one squad of Vipers onto the road and then with his second OM and frenzy they zoomed 12 hexes (7 normal + 2 for Scout enhancement + 3 for Road enhancement) all the way to my side of the battlefield. SURPRISE WE’RE HERE!

For the next three rounds (most of the game), I found myself fighting a desperate defensive fight for my survival. The Viper's Frenzy did not work all of the time, but TOM hit the magic number often enough to make my situation very tenuous. I killed most of the first two squads of Vipers, but lost all three Krav Agents and three of my Blastatrons in the process and there were still so many more of them just waiting to join in the fracas.

Then my luck changed in the Fourth Round, when I rolled a 15 on the d20 so the AE could land within range of TOM's Start Zone and I also won the Initiative Roll. One of their hand-grenades wiffed, but the other three showed one skull each, which was enough to destroy 13 out of the 15 Vipers still closely packed in Tom's Start Zone. "Woohoo!" I felt exhilarated at having a chance to BEET the invincible TOM on his home turf.

As he responded to this new threat and eliminated three of the AE with the Viper Warlord, I was able to finally advance Kaemon past the center to a favorable position on a 7-hex plateau between two trees waiting for the now wounded slitherer to come within range. The tables had turned, but TOM was undaunted and very skillfully maneuvered the Warlord around and behind Kaemon to fight him on the same level. When Counter-Strike failed, KA succumbed to the big lizard. OUCH! Now I only had one soulborg and Otonashi remaining who were no match for the mean green fighting machine.

The TOM managed to turn it around in the last few minutes and live up to his reputation as a masterful HS player. We both pretty much ignored Dund at the beginning, because we were both preoccupied with the frenzying vipers. I don't even remember when TOM killed off the monster. I must have place an Order Marker on it and threaten him enough that he decided it needed to be eliminated, if not for the 110 points then just for convenience. ( 1 - Win / 2 - Losses / Total = 950 points )

FOURTH GAME :

Me vs. Fallow on BoV Map G, "Trail Blazer," with an Iron Golem as the monster controlling the center of the battlefield. His army consisted of: the Nakita Agents (3 @ 120), the Krav Maga Agents (3 @ 100), and 2x Gorillinators (6 @ 180) for: 12 figures at 400 pts.

Again the Airborne did not drop onto the board, so I placed my 1 and 2 Order Markers on the Krav Maga Agents and 3 and X onto the Iron Golem, intending to get them onto the road for better mobility in the next round. Meanwhile, Fallow had his 1 and 2 on the IG monster. I seldom won the initiative rolls all day, but got lucky a few times when it was most valuable. I wasn't paying attention to the fact that Fallow had moved the monster down onto the road and neglected to consider the +3 hexes movement enhancement.

So as I maneuvered the Krav out of my Start Zone toward the road, they did not quite make it up onto the cobblestone pavement, I was shocked to realize that Fallow wasted no time in advancing the monster to the edge of my Start Zone and now with the additional height advantage towered over my guys and gal in black and proceeded to slash and eliminate one-third of my KM agents very early. OUCH! With my last OM all I could do was send it marching back in the opposite direction and get it off of the road.

In Round 2 I got doubly lucky to drop the AE near his Start Zone and also win initiative, so I could hand-grenade his army and eliminate a Krav, a Nakita, and several of the big grey monkeys. This severely hampered his offensive capability for the rest of the game. So the battle swung back and forth with me loosing the AE and Blastatrons while taking out another of his Krav, a Nakita, and some gorillas.

I remember trying unsuccessfully to get Kaemon into a favorable position, preferably on a high ground tile and always keeping an eye on the Iron Golem and whether there were any Order Markers on the monster. At one point I put my #1 OM on it and then won initiative, so since I did not see a good target worth attacking and knowing Fallow also had an OM on him, I sent him as far away as I could and stepped him down into the water, hoping this would prevent it from coming back at me. I was surprised and relieved to realize that fallow's OM must have been the decoy ("X") because he took advantage of a perfect opportunity to destroy the heavy metal beast in it's now very vulnerable lower location. +100 points for Mr. F. but one less headache for my Strategic Planning Department. Fallow is just a fantastic person.

My few remaining characters got some lucky dice rolls to mop up Fallow's last few figures, so I pulled off my second win of the day and was overall feeling better about myself, since I had faced four very tough opponents and most of them (except against Arkus) came down to the wire with only a few characters remaining and could have gone either way. ( 2 - Wins / 2 - Losses / Total = 1355 points)

GAME FIVE

Me vs. Tyler on BoV Map H, "Healing Waters" with the Ogre Warhulk dominating the high ground plateau on my left flank. It was an even more imposing presence, because as I approached the table, fellow Jersian, Justine warned me that the Ogre had been very problematic for her in the previous battle. Tyler's Army consisted of: Major Q9 (1 @ 180), 1x Drow Chain Fighter (1 @ 25), and 4x Goblin Cutter squads (16 @ 200), for a total of 18 figures at 405 points.

The very first round was an emotional roller-coaster for me. I got excited when the Airborne Elite dropped into excellent positions overlooking Tyler's Start Zone. Then disappointed when I did not win the Initiative Roll AGAIN! and watched as Q-9 mowed down two of the soldiers and engage a third one. Then a final moment of joy as the last AE paratrooper did get off a successfully hand-grenade Special Attack which destroyed 6 out of 7 tiny goblin cretures that were still all bunched up in the Start Zone.

Having had his Cutter Horde reduced by almost half so early in the game casued tyler to shift gears and in Round 2 and 3, he placed several Order markers on the Ogre Warhulk and came after my army with a vengence. Fortunately I used the time to get my Krav Agents and Kaemon Awa onto a 7-hex plateau tile which prevented the monster from getting a high ground advantage or even a level ground attack on my figures. Thus with an extra defense die, I was able to ward off repeat attacks from the OWH. Instead of placing an OM on the monster to send it back in the opposite direction, I decided to fight it out took down the beast with some luck dice rolls.

My next move was to send the Blastatrons forward onto the road to act as a screen against the many goblin cutters that were swarming toward me. That was a big mistake, as thery were quickly Quiglixed by the Major who only had to move two hexes forward in order to range them. But it was enough of a distraction to allow Kaemon Awesome to reach the 1-hex perch overlooking the road and the center of the board. that was a highly contested piece of terrain as the goblins knew that they needed a height advantage to be effective individually. Somehow I destroyed Q-9 and lost the Krav Agents in the process - I just don't remember the details.

It finally came down to a wounded Kaemon and Otonashi still back in the Start Zone against three GC's and the chain fighter which was now making his way forward. I should have left Kaemon on the perch because it was an excellent location, but I was only thinking about the fact that if I shot any one of the Goblins then the other two would scury and become invisible. So I brought him down to level ground and trusted in his Counter-Strike ability to kill off the little guys. I was oblivious to their Swarm Ability and when all three of them surrounded Kaemon and he lost half of his vital defense dice and then wiffed anyway, the tide had decisiviely turned in Tyler's favor. I tried to get Otonashi into a favorable position, but eventually rushed the Drow and got defeated. C'est la guerre.

2 - WINS / 3 - LOSSES / for a grand total of 1835 points killed, which was put me into SEVENTH place out of the twelve contestants, but over all it was just a very FUN afternoon. Thank you TOM for hosting another great event.

[tom]

Great battle reports Johngee!

[Johngee]

Thanks TOM. It took me all week to compile. Reading the other reports jogged my memory enough to keep adding ideas that I had neglected on my first scribbled draft version. Writing about monsters, ninjas, orks and snakes is a lot more fun than talking about simulated Kraznovian T72s and BMPs (Army lingo). Now it's time to start tinking about V-land, so maybe I'll go read NG's format... 500 points you said? Wow that's a lot of snakes! Are you going with 9x squads, the VWL, and Kyntela GyWIN?

edit:

Originally Posted by TheEpicLlama

Q10 moved out and began I shell the enemy and Raelin fallowed.

&obtw:
I'm curious to know more about how Raelin got "Fallowed" ... I know he has the hots for her, or maybe it's his Hot Lava Death he's got waiting for the Jandarian Kyrie warrior.
TEL ~ thanks for the giggle.