Akden's Battle Reports

[akden]

This would be the first thread I've started, but I have a few battle reports among various tournament threads, so I thought I'd bring them all into a single thread. So without further ado, here are my battle reports:


Battle Report: Bring the Cheese, Eat the Cheese - 10/1/11 (NHSD event), Savage, MD

This is my first attempt at a battle report, and I’m working from memory, so it may not all be in exactly chronological order. I didn’t take notes, so I offer my apologies to my opponents who may have a slightly different recollection of the matches.

As Dad_scaper mentioned previously, the format was 415 points, Reverse the Whip, starting at round 4. My army consisted of 10th regiment X 3 and Nilfheim. I felt this to be a reasonably strong, straightforward army, and I decided I’d have a decent chance to win my first three matches, at least, and then I could wing it from there.

Match 1:
akden (10th Regiment X 3, Nilfheim)
Xanth (Shurrak, Marro Drones x4, Marro Warriors)
Map: Blackroot by Mad_wookie

My plan was to send a hail of ice shards down on the drones from height, but Nilfheim only knocked out a few. He traded a few blows with Shurrak, and ultimately went down to a swarm of Marro drones. The D20 rolls were going Xanth’s way, and they were moving in huge numbers.

Shurrak destroyed an entire squad of 10th regiment in one swing (4 in one blow) before going down to their sustained fire. The drones finally slowed down and fell to my redcoats.

After some maneuvering, the 10th got height and fired down on the marro warriors to mop up the rest.

I was really impressed that Xanth was such a tough opponent, and he is definitely someone to watch out for.

1 - 0

Match 2:
akden (10th Regiment X 3, Nilfheim)
ClanCampbell (Minions X 2, Cyprien, Sonya)
Map: Soggy Bottom by Tannergx

Nilfheim flew ahead and took down a squad plus one Minion before succumbing to a beatdown. With their glacial pace, the 10th had several rounds of wait then fire to take the rest of the minions down after only a few losses.

Cyprien then swooped in and devoured 4 redcoats before being brought down by a combination of bayonet attack and wait then fire amidst the jungle brush. There followed a brief Sonya hunt, with one lone redshirt out for bait. Sonya decided to charge and went down in a hail of bullets from the remaining redcoats.

2 - 0


Match 3:
akden (10th Regiment X 3, Nilfheim)
hosj (Q9, Stingers x1, Deathreavers x1, Marro Warriors, Raelin RotV)
Map: Trepidation by Dignan

This was a pretty one-sided loss. I think I had a reasonable strategy, but I just could not get any luck with the dice, while hosj was rolling skulls left and right.

His stingers got the attack +1 glyph early and took down Niflheim easily while dodging ice shards with no apparent effort. Q9 shrugged off multiple shots from 10th regiment from within Raelin’s aura. My only bright spot was taking her out when she took the central glyph.

At this point, with Raelin gone, I was able to bring down all but one of the remaining stingers and warriors, but Q9 remained. Even without Raelin, he decimated the rest of 10th. During this match, the rats were never even activated.

2 - 1

Match 4: First round of Reverse the Whip
akden (Sentinels x1, Q9, Atlaga, Isamu)
Twinkie (10th Regiment X 3, Nilfheim)
Forgot the map name (I'll add it later)

I played my opponent’s army. I planned to swarm Nilfheim with sentinels that were less slow than usual (thanks to Atlaga), but they died at the hands of the 10th, despite having a height advantage.

Q9 and Nilfheim faced each other with Nilfheim on height, but the dragon kept missing his melee attack. I tried to end things decisively by taking out Nilfheim, but Atlaga’s bolt of Witherwood apparently struck harmlessly somewhere off the map.

Instead, Nilfheim died at the guns of Q9 with a little conventional help from Atlaga, and the 10th was left to face a 1-life Q9 firing down on them. He picked off 3 at a time from a distance and withstood multiple volleys of WTF from on high to seal the victory.

It was not really payback for my previous loss to the Major, but at least I wasn’ t on the receiving end of the Queglix gun this time.

3 - 1

Match 5: (Reverse the Whip)
akden (SBN, MBS, NGS, Marro Warriors, Nagrubs x2)
Drewcula (10th Regiment X 3, Nilfheim)
Badru Valley by GameBear

This was probably the most enjoyable match. There were some fun tense moments, but the dice just did not want to go Drewcula’s way.

I led off with the Marro warriors, getting height and firing down on the 10th regiment for a bit, but my warriors were whittled down by a combination of WTF and bayonet attacks.

In a battle of goliaths, Su-Bak-Na flew in and traded blows with Nilfheim, but he went down under sustained fire from the 10th. A wounded Nilfheim was finished up by MBS, who then took out the majority of the remaining redcoats.

The match was called on time, after Ne-Gok-Sa missed a hit on the last redcoat. I was left with NGS, MBS, and a few nagrubs facing the lone Brit.

4 - 1

I ended up in 4th place out of 21. I won twice with my army, and I beat it twice. A large part of those last two wins could probably be attributed to the dice gods, but I think it was a pretty reasonable army for this format. This was my second tournament, so I'm very happy with the way things went.

Thanks to my opponents for helping me to have a great time, and thanks again to Dad_Scaper for hosting the event. I really look forward to the next one.

[akden]

Battle Report: Multiplayer Madness - 2/25/12, Savage, MD


I am attempting another Battle Report, my second. I tried to take some notes during the matches, mainly by documenting each hit I made, but a lot of the matches are still running together in my mind a bit, so I couldn't come up with a play-by-play. As Dad_Scaper detailed earlier in the thread, this was a multiplayer format, 380 point armies with max 18 start spaces. The winner of each match received 4 Victory points, the 2nd-highest score received 2 VP's, and last place 0 VP's (3rd place on a four player map gets 1 VP). At the end of the tournament, the winner was determined by the most Victory points.

I usually enjoy ranged squads when playing, so I decided to change things up a bit for this tournament. I chose Phantom Knights X 3, Fen Hydra, and Marro warriors (because I just can't do without some range). My plan was to use the Phantom Knights' stealth flying ability to move quickly around the map to strike targets of opportunity and to tie up ranged units until my hydra could arrive. With his four attacks and reach, I was hoping he would deliver a lot of damage while avoiding engagement, with his targets tied up by the PK's. The Marro warriors were there for clean-up and to add some ranged attacks if necessary.

Match #1 -- Castle Forge by Dignan

Me - Phantom Knights X 3, Fen Hydra, Marro Warriors
Bassist of Doom - Death Chasers X 4, Ogre Warhulk, Isamu
Camper - Stingers X 2, Tandros Kreel, Feral Troll
Kidscaper - 10th Regiment X 3, Shotgun Sullivan, Brandis Skyhunter

Bassist of Doom was sitting on my left, Camper across from me, and Kidscaper to my right. This was not a favorable matchup for my army. The army to my left was purely melee, and the 10th, on my right side, have a reasonable defense against the melee attacks from my PK's. I led off with my Phantom Knights toward the Redcoats, but they were pushed back. I then attempted to tie up some Death Chasers and follow with the hydra, but my army ended up being overwhelmed by a combination of the Warhulk and Death Chasers on one side and 10th Regiment on the other. As I said, my Phantom Knights were meant to tie up opposing units while my Hydra came to eat them, but they kept dropping, and the hydra fell quickly to the Warhulk and Death Chasers. The 10th took out the bulk of the Phantom Knights and Marro Warriors. I killed one squad of 10th and put some wounds on the Ogre before we were called on time. Throughout the match I had no contact with Camper's army.

3rd place, 1 Victory Point, 111 total points destroyed


Match #2 -- Fulcrum Flogging by Piherculis

Me - Phantom Knights X 3, Fen Hydra, Marro Warriors
Mrs. Q-tip - Mimring, Grimnak, Microcorp X 1, Isamu
Friend of Sagrilarus #2 - Wyvern, Fyorlag Spiders, Me-burq-sa, Sahuagin Raider, Brandis Skyhunter, 10th Regiment

Mrs. Q-tip was to my left with Friend of Sagrilarus to my right. This game played more according to my strategy. Mr. Q-tip led with Mimring, who sent a fireline at some 10th and spiders, but the dragon fell quickly to the Fen Hydra, who charged straight up the middle. . The Phantom Knights tied up Brandis and the 10th while the Hydra eliminated Grimnak as well. Despite some stiff resistance by one persistent member of the 10th regiment, the hydra took out two of the Microcorp, as well as most of the 10th, the wyvern, and Brandis before falling. The remaining Knights (which was most of them) then swarmed the rest of the field and eliminated Me-Burq-sa and the Sahuagin raider. After Isamu eliminated the last pesky redcoat, the Marro Warriors then fired down on the spiders. When time was called, only Isamu and one spider were left standing on the opposing teams.

First place, 4 Victory Points, 609 total points destroyed.


Match # 3 -- Castle Forge by Dignan

Me - Phantom Knights X 3, Fen Hydra, Marro Warriors
Rob - Syvarris, Warriors of Ashra X 4, Raelin ROTV
Gurei Ornery - Pelloth, Drow X 3, Zetacron, Marcu
Twinkie - Major Q9, Atlaga, Krav Maga

Rob sat to my left, Gurei Ornery sat directly across from my position, and Twinkie sat to my right. Back to this map, but it worked better for me this time, although again, my Phantom Knights stuggled to defend from range. Syvarris took out multiple Marro warriors and PK's, receiving three wounds from me before dying at the hands of G-O's Zetacron. The Hydra consumed Atlaga early on after dodging an attempted Bolt of Witherwood. Q9 then proceeded to put a couple of wounds on the Fen Hydra, reducing his effectiveness, but the hydra still managed to devour all three Krav Maga, who had been previously pinned down by G-O's Marcu and one Phantom Knight, and he put a couple of wounds on the soulborg, who was tied down by Drow, before succumbing to the Queglix gun. Meanwhile, the PK's destroyed one of the Warriors of Ashra (after multiple attempts), managed to put a couple of wounds on Raelin, and one on Pelloth, as well.

First place, 4 Victory Points, 381 total points destroyed


Match # 4 -- Fight in the Shade by Dignan

Me - Phantom Knights X 3, Fen Hydra, Marro Warriors
Dad_Scaper - Stingers X 4, Eltahale
Clancampbell - Nakita Agents, Gorillinators X 2, Erevan Sunshadow

Dad_Scaper was seated to the left of me, with Clancampbell to my right. The Fen Hydra really shined in this game. He just would not die! I started out with the hydra quickly taking to the road and heading toward the gorillinators and Nakitas and then took a turn with the Phantom Knights sending them out to take out two of the stingers. The Hydra consumed mass quantities of gorilla meat topped off by a tasty Nakita. All the while, he shrugged off shots from both. Shortly after, Eltahale disengaged from a Phantom Knight and moved to attack the hydra, who continued to withstand damage from all sides. Even though he was under siege, I gambled and left a couple of order markers on him, which paid off, as he continued to wreak havoc and inflicted four more wounds on Eltahale before dying. In the meantime, the Phantom Knights were swooping about and destroying stingers, only to be knocked out in turn. The Marro Warriors even got into the act, taking pot shots at the closest foes. The Phantom Knights took out the last of the Stingers, and although it seemed he was headed to an early elimination, Clancampbell's lone Nakita actually outlasted Dad_Scaper's army, and the game ended with her valiant last stand on height, where she fell to a swarm of PK's.

First place, 4 Victory Points, 531 total points destroyed

I finished in second place behind Dad_Scaper with a total of 13 Victory points (he had 14) and 1632 points destroyed. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome, and I was happy at how much damage my army did over the four matches, even with the slow start in the first game. The fen hydra went out early in that match, but he definitely showed in later games that when he works, he works well. He can be quite the tank.

I had a great time, and my son and I, along with various hangers-on, are eagerly awaiting our next tournament.

[akden]

Battle Report: Clash of the Titans - 4/21/12, Baltimore, MD

The Format here was 340 points, 24 hexes, and each army had to have at least one huge figure.

I went through several army builds for this event before settling on my final one. When the format was announced my immediate inclination was to use Axegrinders. I stuck with this idea for a full month.

I thought they'd be a great squad to fight all those huge monsters out there (with Fen Hydra because the points work out well, and it's a great unit), but when I playtested this army, it lost to everything I threw at it. That may have been due to my poor play, but I ultimately settled on Su-Bak-Na and stingers (initially 3 squads, but then at the last minute I swapped out a squad for 2 squads of Nagrubs). As it turned out, Su-Bak-Na was the second most popular unit, and I faced him twice in a row.

Round 1 - Horseshoe Hill by Killometer

Hivelord #4 - Fen Hydra, Raelin (ROTV), Marcu, Deathreavers X 3


In looking at this matchup, I knew I wanted to avoid my stingers being tied down by rats while a Raelin-boosted, 8-defense hydra reached over and snacked on them. As it worked out, Raelin came out early in an attempt to get height along with the rats, who pinned a few stingers down. I was able to maneuver my stingers well, and she fell to fire from them early. I used some nagrubs as a screen to make it more difficult to engage Su-Bak-Na, and at one point, I used life bonding to eat a nagrub that was between me and the Fen Hydra, enabling me to engage the hydra and ultimately eliminate it. Shortly after, Su-Bak-Na died at the paws of rats. Hivelord then activated Marcu, who went down to sustained fire from the stingers on height. After that, I went on a protracted rat hunt with stingers and nagrubs.


1-0

Round 2 - Ice Thistle by Typhon2222

Xanth - Cyprien, Brunak, Raein (ROTV)

This army made me nervous. It definitely had the potential to run through my army if Xanth had good dice rolls. Instead the dice went my way. As in my previous match, I concentrated fire on Raelin, and she went down before she had a chance to help. I also got an excellent attack roll for Su-Bak-Na, attacking Brunak from height in the middle of the map. My six skulls were enough to take the big guy down in one fell swoop. The match ended with Cyprien doing some damage, but he was unable to overcome the remainder of my stingers and fell to repeated hits.

2-0

Round 3 - Frozen Wellspring by AliasQtip

Robber - Fen Hydra, Syvarris, Deathreavers X 3

This was a tough map to play, and it seemed designed for Syvarris and the rest of Robber's army. I started off trying to send Su-Bak-Na over the divide, but he couldn't make it far enough to hit anyone and ended up one wound away from dying due to Syvarris' long-range sniping. I then retreated Su-Bak-Na to the high ground and ate a few grubs to heal him up. I tried to change tactics and work with the stingers, but by this time, they were mostly locked down by the rats. Robber played his rats perfectly, really limiting my stingers and forcing them to whittle the deathreavers away while he hung back, taking potshots with Syvarris. By the time he moved the hydra in, my army was dwindling, but still in the game. I had finally eliminated enough rats to move around, but in the hope of giving myself more of a chance to overcome the hydra's high defense, I rolled for drain and missed, losing a stinger and my attacks. At that point, Robber had a free turn and ran rampant through my army, taking out a couple of stingers and eventually eliminating Su-Bak-Na. From there, it only took his hydra one turn to consume the rest of my army. Losing on the drain roll would become a recurring theme.

2-1

Round 4 - Corvus by Typhon2222

Josh - Su-Bak-Na, Krav Maga Agents, Warforged X 1

This was the first time I faced Su-Bak-Na, and it went well for me. Josh started out moving in the Warforged, while I sent my stingers to the high ground in the middle of the map. Once there, all but one died at the hands of the Krav, despite the fact that they were defending from height. I then moved in Su-Bak-Na, who fared better, surviving several shots by the Krav. he was able to engage all three, with height on two. He proceeded to eliminate two of them, and the third died at the hands of a lowly nagrub. Josh brought his Su-Bak-Na, but mine had height and obliterated the other dragon with one mighty swing. After that, Su-Bak-Na bounced around and wiped up the Warforged.

3-1

Round 5 - Corvus by Typhon2222


Rob - Su-Bak-Na, Stingers X 3

This was the army I almost brought, so it was interesting to see it, and to again face Su-Bak-Na. Until this round, I was in the running for a higher spot, but some tactical blunders quickly took care of that. We each started out bringing our stingers up to the middle ground. Rob held his giant back, but I pulled Su-Bak-Na to the high ground as well, using him to eliminate a couple of stingers and taking control of the central height. On the next turn, Rob rolled for drain and missed, losing a stinger (the only time he missed the entire game). Here, with my stingers on height, and with the chance to really gain an advantage, I gambled too much, rolling for drain myself and missing. This was a significant screw-up on my part. Perhaps, it wouldn't have made a difference in the overall outcome (I could have whiffed on three attacks), but it was definitely a missed opportunity. The round ended with both of us losing a turn, Rob won initiative on the next, and he proceeded to take out two of my stingers. I only had one on height at this point, and feeling a little desperate, I again rolled for drain ... and rolled a 1. From here, Rob pressed his advantage, eliminating Su-Bak-Na with his stingers on a successful drain roll, and taking over the central height. He then moved in Su-Bak-Na, and with the help of his stingers, wiped out my remaining stingers and the rest of my nagrubs.

3-2

And now well out of the running... but there's always next time.

Thanks to Clan for running the tournament. All my opponents played well, and it was great to see how players approach games differently. This was a fun format, and it game me my first chance to really face deathreavers (twice) in competitive play. I really understand why they make people groan. And speaking of groaning, those missed drain rolls can just drive you nuts.

Despite a disappointing finish, both 10th Regiment and I look forward to the next tournament, and I hope we don't have to wait too long to come back.

[Fedex worker]

These are some great reports akden! I like reading them, you keep me intrigued.

[boromir96]

Great reports! I did notice something though, in you match against Xanth, you said he took out 4 10th reg in one turn, which is illegal(He can hit a max of 3 figures a turn)

[akden]

Originally Posted by boromir96

Great reports! I did notice something though, in you match against Xanth, you said he took out 4 10th reg in one turn, which is illegal(He can hit a max of 3 figures a turn)

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the feedback.

I just checked the card for Shurrak:

"Choose a figure to attack. Any figures adjacent to both Shurrak and the chosen figure are also affected by Sweeping Sword Special Attack. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately."

You're absolutely right. There's no way more than two other figures can be adjacent to both Shurrak and the targeted redcoat.

Apparently, we misplayed that special attack, and I gave him an extra chance to take out my unit. I won't make that mistake again.

[Fedex worker]

Originally Posted by akden

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the feedback.

I just checked the card for Shurrak:

"Choose a figure to attack. Any figures adjacent to both Shurrak and the chosen figure are also affected by Sweeping Sword Special Attack. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately."

You're absolutely right. There's no way more than two other figures can be adjacent to both Shurrak and the targeted redcoat.

Apparently, we misplayed that special attack, and I gave him an extra chance to take out my unit. I won't make that mistake again.

Unless of course, they happened to be stacked above eachother on a ladder that was next to Shurrak, then there could be more hit. while I doubt that was the case, little things like this have happened to me in tournaments a few times and I always wonder if it could've been a game changer.

[akden]

Originally Posted by Fedex worker

Unless of course, they happened to be stacked above eachother on a ladder that was next to Shurrak, then there could be more hit. while I doubt that was the case, little things like this have happened to me in tournaments a few times and I always wonder if it could've been a game changer.

I'm pretty sure we didn't have any ladders around.

I ended up winning the round anyway, so it didn't impact our game, but I've definitely played games where an additional remaining squad member could have made a big difference.