Utah Monthlies 2017

[Saints_Wrath]

I think that this format is a great way to get new players to experience the game, if they haven't had a lot of experience with it yet. And it's a way for them to experience the tournament setting too. So invite your friends and family to compete with you!

[Scaperedude]

Originally Posted by Saints_Wrath

My wife (McKayla) and I are coming! And we will be competing with another couple. It'll be their first tournament! We'll be showing them the ropes.

Half looking forward to seeing your wife again.... She nearly had me on the ropes last time!! XD (Just kidding, she's awesome!) Glad to hear that you're introducing new players!!

[BiggaBullfrog]

Originally Posted by Saints_Wrath

I think that this format is a great way to get new players to experience the game, if they haven't had a lot of experience with it yet. And it's a way for them to experience the tournament setting too. So invite your friends and family to compete with you!

I completely agree with you. For that reason, along with just how much fun team battles are, this is probably my favorite format that we do, and I'm glad we're revisiting it. This would definitely be one to bring new players to, and I'm hoping to get my brother who hasn't played for 5+ years to come.

[Sir Heroscape]

@Lady Heroscape should be making a showing...so watch out...cause we ain't holding nothing back!

[Sir Torin Brokenshield!]

I have a teammate who has never played before but has wanted to learn how to for some time so I am super excited to bring a new player and good friend of mine to the tournament!!!!!

[The Dewk]

Aww yeah! I'll update the event post to reflect all these RSVPs.
We should do team formats more often! Maybe again for National Heroscape Day?

[Sir Heroscape]

Originally Posted by The Dewk

Maybe again for National Heroscape Day?

Team tourneys are fun, but I think that would be a little too often...Its a good idea keeping it fresh with new and different formats imo

[BiggaBullfrog]

Alright, it's that time again!

Bigga Battle Report

Origin story! Easy one this time. The very first tournament I attended back in 2010 was set at 450 points, and at that time I discovered my favorite army I’ve ever played. When the Gencon tourney was announced to have 450-point armies, I was thinking how cool it would be to take my army there. So, when we decided to do a Gencon prep tourney here, my army was an easy choice.

BiggaBullfrog’s Army:
Warforged Soldiers x3 80 (240)
Heirloom 90
Fen Hydra 120
450 Points/11 Figures

I honestly wasn’t sure how well this would fare in a Reverse-the-Whip tournament, but I love playing it so it was really no contest anyway. There are a lot of moving parts in this build, and while there are no obvious synergies, the units do all work well together. Obviously, Warforged can switch opponents into groups to be Force Orb-ed, or onto lower ground to get Hydra-ed. On top of that, the whole play style is complimentary, as Warforged excel at taking out lone figures which encourages the opponent to keep them closer together, which makes things easier for Heirloom and the Hydra to get productive turns. Then, after that main group is gone, each figure can play cleanup on its own really well. I just really like playing games that feel like puzzles as I try to take apart the opponent’s army.

Game 1

Spoiler Alert!

VS
Bryson
Charos 210
Eldgrim 30
4th Massachusetts Line x3 70 (210)

Reverse-the-Whip - We play each other’s armies

Wait Then Fire armies scare me, so I was okay with taking the 4th on this one. It was still a tough matchup, though. Warforged are good against 4th because they can switch them off of height, but Charos can tank Warforged pretty well. But the Hydra is scary against Charos, especially if it can manage to hit it from a space away. And Heirloom was going to make sure I didn’t group up my 4th too much, and is always scary in endgame regardless.

Bryson led out with Warforged, while I claimed a Unique Attack +1 glyph with Eldgrim, moved out some 4th, and put Charos on the hill. I got the dragon on a good choke point at the top of the hill where only one Warforged would be able to hit him from height at a time, and Big Green munched some metal men on his way. Then I started focusing on positioning the 4th, spreading them across the map where they could have shots on the Warforged attacking Charos, as well as control the lower ground by making sure they weren’t next to low points (the lower level is pretty flat which was good for me) and were spread out enough that the Warforged couldn’t engage more than one at a time, but that each time he engaged one a couple more would be able to hit him with Wait Then Fire.

Meanwhile, the Warforged were swinging away at Charos and dealt a few wounds, but a couple died to Counterstrike and then a couple more to the Dragon’s teeth and some musket shots, so Bryson changed tactics, opting to go for the low ground rather than keep climbing the hill. He got to some of my 4th and also killed Eldgrim, but Wait Then Fire was keeping them at bay. By which I mean, there were a good few turns that I did nothing to him because I couldn’t roll more than one skull, and he usually had jungle bonuses helping him anyway, but the threat of Wait Then Fire scared him enough that he didn’t rush in blindly which gave me a bit more time.

As the Warforged began to dwindle, Bryson began moving up the Hydra, and with Eldgrim’s Spirit now on Charos, I was able to take him out of engagement with a Warforged and make an attack on the Hydra from height, dealing 3 wounds before it could touch my troops. From there, it was stuck fighting Charos, slowly wounding the dragon one attack at a time, but Greeny the Meany held out long enough for my 4th to clean up the remaining Warforged and make it to the Hydra. Which then got Counterstruck.

Heirloom then came out to play. He finished off Charos and started on the 4th, and I was again struggling to wound him with Warforged Resolve being a thing. Luckily, he was struggling to kill my 4th as well, and I eventually put enough wounds on Heirloom for the win.

1-0

Game 2

Spoiler Alert!

VS
@Leaf_It
Deepwyrm Drow x4 70 (280)
Drow Chainfighter x2 25 (50)
Iskra Essenwein 50
Rechets of Bogdan 50

Sometimes the dice just love you, and that was the case for Leaf_It this game. Well, at the beginning, at least. By which I mean that the dice felt very even. I started by moving my Hydra onto road, and then piled OM’s on the Warforged to go toe-to-toe with the Drow. And toe-to-toe they were, as they kept smacking each other, but almost everything was blocked for both of us. Drow kept Hiding in Darkness, and even when they didn’t, their usual defense blocked my attacks. Meanwhile my Warforged Resolve in conjunction with my usual defense blocked the Drow attacks. A whole lot of dice thrown, a whole lot of nothing happening.

This went on for a good few rounds. I was slowly pulling ahead, but not by much, and Leaf_It had numbers on me so I didn’t feel safe yet. Then the Drow finally started pulling closer to my start zone (I had been trying to lure them closer with my Warforged, but kept going for opportunistic strikes against them that kept most of the fighting in the middle or on Leaf’s side of the board). So Heirloom came out at the beginning of the Round and threw a Force Orb at a pair of Drow - 3 Skulls! Better yet, they couldn’t be blocked by Hide in Darkness, and both Drow went down. Invigorated, Heirloom attacked again, this time hitting 2 Deepwyrm Drow as well as a Chainfighter. 3 Skulls again! And all 3 fell.

With Heirloom single-handedly changing the course of the game, Leaf decided to swing out Iskra. She flew in but failed to summon the Rechets. Luckily for me, I already had my Hydra on the road, and at this point had a clear path to the Vampire. Hydra went in and killed Iskra in one turn, preemptively taking care of the Rechets as well. The rest of Leaf’s OM’s for the round were on Iskra, so I had plenty of time to finish cleaning up the remaining Drow for the win.

2-0

Game 3

Spoiler Alert!

VS
@The Dewk
Su-Bak-Na 160
Marrden Hounds x2 90 (180)
Airborne Elite 110

Reverse-the-Whip - We play each other’s armies

I was worried I was going to have to play against an army of Large/Huge figures. Luckily for me, the whip was reversed.

I got the Drop on Round One. I was really excited for this, and got the Airborne Elite into position. All I had to do was win Initiative and this game would be a dream as two of the Airborne sniped the Hydra (the biggest threat to my army) and another two shot approaching Warforged. Naturally, The Dewk won initiative, so it didn’t quite go as I was hoping. The Warforged started rushing the Airborne, and I switched tactics, having three of them focus on advancing Warforged that didn’t have Jungle cover while the fourth shot the Hydra. The Hydra took two wounds. The Warforged didn’t die at all, and next turn they were engaging my Airborne, switching them down and attacking. I attacked again with my remaining two Airborne, then started advancing Hounds. Or so I had hoped. Plans again changed when I rolled a 1 for their movement.

So the Warforged were coming across the map to my start zone. Naturally, I was hoping for the Hounds to bail me out, but I kept rolling 1’s for their movement power, meaning that about half of the time I was only moving them 2 spaces. Still, I was able to push through the Warforged. Occasionally the plague got one, but more often my Attack dice were on point and were able to chew through the Warforged Resolve. With only six Hounds, I was being really careful with engagements so I didn’t lose too many at once. Of course, I also had to pick and choose engagements with how low my movement was a good amount of the time. Eventually, though, I got through enough of the Warforged that The Dewk had to start advancing the Hydra and Heirloom. At this point I was almost out of dogs, so I threw the last of them at each hero to tie them up a bit while Su-Bak-Na started his advance.

Su-Bak-Na first went after Heirloom, but the Hydra was advancing and since it could still attack more than Heirloom could in a single turn, I changed the Bone Dragon’s course to attack the Hydra. 2 Skulls! Luckily I got one wound on the Hydra to take it down to one attack per turn. But then Heirloom snuck up on Boney from behind and laid some wounds on him. Then began a general melee as the figures tried to get an advantage on each other. The Hydra eventually died (I don’t remember how, but it must have been great because I do remember that with my few attacks with Su-Bak-Na I never rolled more than 2 skulls), but then Heirloom finished of Su-Bak-Na and a final stray Hound for the win.

2-1

Game 4

Spoiler Alert!

VS
@antmarchingroves
Nilfheim 185
Ninjas of the Northern Wind 110
10th Regiment of Foot x2 75 (150)

Final game against newcomer antmarchingroves. I was excited to play against a new guy, and especially against one who was demonstrating such proficiency at the game as antmarchingroves - he was so far undefeated, and I was the only guy standing between him and a First Place prize at his first tournament.

Like I said, Wait Then Fire armies scare me. What scares me more is Nilfheim, at least against my army. Part of that is a small amount of PTSD - at the aforementioned first tournament I played in, the winning army had Nilfheim in it. I played a game against the champion after the tourney and the dragon singlehandedly kicked my trash, and I was afraid of it happening again.

I didn’t know what opening to expect - whether 10th would try to lure me in or if Nilfheim would start peppering Warforged who couldn’t switch against him - so I opened with my Hydra taking a high point near where the action would take place and then advancing Warforged. antmarchingroves went with the Nilfheim approach, and as I was fearing, the Dragon wreaked havoc on my units. Every Ice Shard attack dealt damage, and soon he had killed 5 Warforged (more than half of them) and dealt 2 Wounds to Heirloom. I was scrambling, trying to engage Nilfheim with Warforged but they kept melting away. Or rather, freezing away. So I threw one Warforged on a Unique Attack Glyph, and luckily Nilfheim ignored it. Then the Hydra came to play, and using it Reach attacked Nilfheim four times with 5 dice. Attack one - 1 Wound! Attack two - 1 Wound! Attack three - 1 Wound! Attack four - 3 Wounds! And the Dragon fell!

My hopes started boosting there.

Taking advantage of the swing and the lost OM’s for antmarchingroves, I then directed the Hydra to my opponent’s side of the map to take out some 10th who had been trying to get on the hills. Soon four of the Redcoats were down, and the Hydra was finally slowed down by the Ninjas, who quickly put three wounds on the monster. With Hydra effectiveness down, I started advancing my remaining Warforged while the Redcoats and Ninjas tried to finish off the Hydra. The Warforged started picking off lone 10th, with a couple of my troops falling as I went (not the Hydra though - after those first three wounds, it rolled defense like a champ). Soon the Redcoats were down and I was finishing off the Ninjas. Or trying to. They kept Disappearing, but they were slowly falling. I started advancing Heirloom once a round to utilize his Special Attack, but I finally killed the last Ninja before the Wizard got there, claiming the win.

3-1

Had a great time everyone! I had a ton of fun games and really enjoyed them all! True said he had a fun time as well, even though he lost all of his games. We've really got a great group going here and it's super to keep seeing new people crop up as well! Looking forward to this month's event!

[Sir Torin Brokenshield!]

Does anyone have a black dragon wyrmling that they could bring to the tournament on the 26th for me to borrow

[The Dewk]

Originally Posted by BiggaBullfrog

Game 3

Spoiler Alert!

VS
@The Dewk
Su-Bak-Na 160
Marrden Hounds x2 90 (180)
Airborne Elite 110

Reverse-the-Whip - We play each other’s armies

I was worried I was going to have to play against an army of Large/Huge figures. Luckily for me, the whip was reversed.

I got the Drop on Round One. I was really excited for this, and got the Airborne Elite into position. All I had to do was win Initiative and this game would be a dream as two of the Airborne sniped the Hydra (the biggest threat to my army) and another two shot approaching Warforged. Naturally, The Dewk won initiative, so it didn’t quite go as I was hoping. The Warforged started rushing the Airborne, and I switched tactics, having three of them focus on advancing Warforged that didn’t have Jungle cover while the fourth shot the Hydra. The Hydra took two wounds. The Warforged didn’t die at all, and next turn they were engaging my Airborne, switching them down and attacking. I attacked again with my remaining two Airborne, then started advancing Hounds. Or so I had hoped. Plans again changed when I rolled a 1 for their movement.

So the Warforged were coming across the map to my start zone. Naturally, I was hoping for the Hounds to bail me out, but I kept rolling 1’s for their movement power, meaning that about half of the time I was only moving them 2 spaces. Still, I was able to push through the Warforged. Occasionally the plague got one, but more often my Attack dice were on point and were able to chew through the Warforged Resolve. With only six Hounds, I was being really careful with engagements so I didn’t lose too many at once. Of course, I also had to pick and choose engagements with how low my movement was a good amount of the time. Eventually, though, I got through enough of the Warforged that The Dewk had to start advancing the Hydra and Heirloom. At this point I was almost out of dogs, so I threw the last of them at each hero to tie them up a bit while Su-Bak-Na started his advance.

Su-Bak-Na first went after Heirloom, but the Hydra was advancing and since it could still attack more than Heirloom could in a single turn, I changed the Bone Dragon’s course to attack the Hydra. 2 Skulls! Luckily I got one wound on the Hydra to take it down to one attack per turn. But then Heirloom snuck up on Boney from behind and laid some wounds on him. Then began a general melee as the figures tried to get an advantage on each other. The Hydra eventually died (I don’t remember how, but it must have been great because I do remember that with my few attacks with Su-Bak-Na I never rolled more than 2 skulls), but then Heirloom finished of Su-Bak-Na and a final stray Hound for the win.

2-1

Sweet Battle Report, Bigga!

I was so lucky that you were, well, so unlucky with the hounds mobility rolls. Hounds are excellent counters to Warforged (usually), and AE can end a Hydra before it can even get into a position to attack. It came down to one unit vs one unit in the end, which is the most fun result of a game
I was also lucky for the opportunity to use Warforged Soldiers for the first time. I've always liked the idea and look of them, but have only ever played against them. So that was fun!

[antmarchingroves]

Originally Posted by BiggaBullfrog

2-1[/spoiler]

Game 4

Spoiler Alert!

VS
@antmarchingroves
Nilfheim 185
Ninjas of the Northern Wind 110
10th Regiment of Foot x2 75 (150)

Final game against newcomer antmarchingroves. I was excited to play against a new guy, and especially against one who was demonstrating such proficiency at the game as antmarchingroves - he was so far undefeated, and I was the only guy standing between him and a First Place prize at his first tournament.

Like I said, Wait Then Fire armies scare me. What scares me more is Nilfheim, at least against my army. Part of that is a small amount of PTSD - at the aforementioned first tournament I played in, the winning army had Nilfheim in it. I played a game against the champion after the tourney and the dragon singlehandedly kicked my trash, and I was afraid of it happening again.

I didn’t know what opening to expect - whether 10th would try to lure me in or if Nilfheim would start peppering Warforged who couldn’t switch against him - so I opened with my Hydra taking a high point near where the action would take place and then advancing Warforged. antmarchingroves went with the Nilfheim approach, and as I was fearing, the Dragon wreaked havoc on my units. Every Ice Shard attack dealt damage, and soon he had killed 5 Warforged (more than half of them) and dealt 2 Wounds to Heirloom. I was scrambling, trying to engage Nilfheim with Warforged but they kept melting away. Or rather, freezing away. So I threw one Warforged on a Unique Attack Glyph, and luckily Nilfheim ignored it. Then the Hydra came to play, and using it Reach attacked Nilfheim four times with 5 dice. Attack one - 1 Wound! Attack two - 1 Wound! Attack three - 1 Wound! Attack four - 3 Wounds! And the Dragon fell!

My hopes started boosting there.

Taking advantage of the swing and the lost OM’s for antmarchingroves, I then directed the Hydra to my opponent’s side of the map to take out some 10th who had been trying to get on the hills. Soon four of the Redcoats were down, and the Hydra was finally slowed down by the Ninjas, who quickly put three wounds on the monster. With Hydra effectiveness down, I started advancing my remaining Warforged while the Redcoats and Ninjas tried to finish off the Hydra. The Warforged started picking off lone 10th, with a couple of my troops falling as I went (not the Hydra though - after those first three wounds, it rolled defense like a champ). Soon the Redcoats were down and I was finishing off the Ninjas. Or trying to. They kept Disappearing, but they were slowly falling. I started advancing Heirloom once a round to utilize his Special Attack, but I finally killed the last Ninja before the Wizard got there, claiming the win.

3-1

@BiggaBullfrog - - - What an epic battle that was! After Nilfheim came flying out of the gates using his Ice Shard Breath special attack to clean out Warforged after Warforged, I began thinking to myself that I've got this game in the bag! It was just after that overconfident thought that Fen Hydra came slithering around the corner to take out my dragon in one single turn. That was a well deserved victory!

Thanks for the awesome tournament. I had a blast in each and every game I played. Can't wait for the tourney at the end of this month!

[antmarchingroves]

Originally Posted by Sir Heroscape

@Lady Heroscape should be making a showing...so watch out...cause we ain't holding nothing back!

@Sir Heroscape - - - Hearing that @Lady Heroscape will be joining you for this month's tournament has me worried, I'm not gunna lie! I've watched several of your battle vidoes where you've played against her and she has shown true skill and mastery of the game.

With that being said, @Flash_19 and myself are up to the challenge if we go up against you and your wife!

This tournament is going to be awesome fun!