NZTC Time again: Legion of Doom flexing it's muscle (Yeah, right)

NZTC Time again: Legion of Doom flexing it's muscle 

(Yeah, right)

So here we go again. The premier event on the New Zealand Wargames Caledar. The 2015 NZ Team Championship. The Legion of Doom are ready to defend their title. As undisputed holders of the Wooden Spoon, we sally forth to meet the challengers. Shelving the Dwarfs this time, we have opted for 2 shooty armies and 2 Power-fist armies. Dark Elves, Wood Elves (expected to be more competitive this year, with a new book, and better models and stats); Ogre Kingdoms and Daemons of Chaos. 

So, underdogs of underdogs again, we are ready to rumble!

 

You only step on us ONCE !

Dark Elf and Empire Alternatives

Swap Day Haul: Alternative DE and Empire Models taking shape

I obtained a good number of models at the KWC swap meet a few weeks ago, and have also been looking at what resides in my pile of shame. With the new Druchii Armybook in hand I have set about plotting, planning and building...

The Empire is also ever in my mind, and has not been left behind.

Works in Progress:

Fantastic Little Dragonet. I intend to use him as an alternative Pegasus.

I also had a Giant Owl in my hand, but remembered someone fielding one at NZTC this year, and I do not wish to appear a copycat next year. I think he would make a fine mount in my Dragon Themed Druchii Army.

From the pile of shame came the Matincore:

Languishing there for a almost year, waiting for the new DE Book. Building him with interchangable removable WoC Lord/Mage, for my WoC Army;  and making place for, of course for a DE Dreadlord or Beastlord!

Empire Bits:

What a delightful, agile little  fellow! 

Great little Halberdier wielding Character for my Empire Army. 

Bought from Pukeko Games at the swap meet.

(Another) BSB: This time the Forgeworld Character on Foot.

Leftover from my Christmas Present Demigryff Bonanza (Got 2 by accident)

Mage-type Caster guy. Impulsive buy at the swap meet. Not to sure where he's gonna end up as yet.

Alternative horses for the Empire. Mantic Basilean Mounts (I think)

 I am soooo over the old empire cavalry mounts !

GW had better hurry up and get their act together. The knights are way overdue an overhaul. Mantic and 

Raging heroes (Clicky) are looking very attractive. Also waiting to see what their Dark Elf offering is going to bring. Kickstarter is hopefully coming soon. Have been watching since early this year (Think their teasers came out then)

 

Dark Elf Army Book finally in my sweaty paws

My DE Army book has finally arrived. Collected it from The Post Shop at Lunch time.

It is sitting in the car, waiting...

Could have had a hairy cadenza on Friday when I checked the mail, and there was a note from the postie: "Too big to fit in postbox"  Collect it from the Postshop on Tuesday!

You may ask why it took me so long to get a copy. The answer is in a previous post. Admin mayhem and issuing gift certificates in the wrong currency at GW. Anyhow, it has finally arrived.

So Labour Weekend was spent without the DE book.
Continued to modify the Dark Eldar Boat thingy I bought off James at the swap day. Also converting the Dark Eldar Wyches into Sisters of Pain (Slaughter)

Few Hours board gaming with my son and his friends:
 Luc, Logan and Jackson we played  the Aztlan Board game, an entertaining Risk-meets-Catan domination game. Good for a few hours' fun!

 

New Dark Elf releases: Warlocks and Kraken, whole rework of army coming: Dark Elf Rumour Drums

The Dark Elf Rumour Drums are stepping up the beat: Major revamp coming

Looks like we are in for DE release in Oct. Major revamp of the DE's seem imminent

Early sightings of high-res pictures and info from " insider friends that work for GW" claim the following:

Lion275 over at Warseer :

" We can't and won't show pics unless our source gives us the ok. The pictures we have received are the high res pictures that will be in the WD. As of right now we only have the pics, no details on the book. Last time we got the pictures and then the book a little later. As soon as we get more info we will pass it on. So as far as the weapons I can only go off the pictures. Here is what I see:

Warlocks appear to have one hand weapon
The new chariot crew is armed with spears and what looks to be a large crossbow or bolt thrower on the chariot.

The new Warriors look quite different to me. But then again I am a big geek that notices stuff like that. They have cloaks that come down their back and all the helmets don't cover the eyes any more.

The warlocks are bare chested, and the weapons look mundane...aka not glowing. They look like large jagged daggers. They are held in reverse grips which looks pretty slick. The warlock champions eyes are glowing which IMO hints at some magical abilities. md as far as the warriors go I think a big difference will be the size of them. Look at the size difference between Isle of Blood Lothern Sea Guard and the normal High Elves spearman.

Im really excited to hear about a plastic hydra finally.It looks bigger and beefier. Like we said Dark Elves are setting the bar for the best range of models in WHFB.  Can you tell what size base the hydra is on?

I can't really tell from the pic. The two handlers are actually on the base so I don't have their base size to compare to. .

The cloaks hang down from underneath the shoulder armor and cover the back of the chain mail. It definitely is new for them but it looks really cool. The Druchii warriors also have shoulder armor. It makes them look simply awesome. The skull embossed on their shields looks great too. Yes the Hydra does have 2 handlers.

The Warriors, Black Guard, and Dark Riders all have cloaks. None of them appear to have face coverings. The Executioners appear to have skull faced helms. The theme to me appears to be a more sinister version of their High Elf bretheren. The plate armor has very spiked and jagged edges. The style will still fit well with the Shades and Reaper but next to these new models they will look very dated.

-The Kraken has 5 heads/fanged maws. The have spines and scales with smooth neck and belly flesh. Scales are painted a Dark Grey with the softer flesh painted blue. Looks awesome.
-The pictures we have of the Witch Elves has them with two hand weapons. 
-Black Guard look very stalwart with large halberds and high helms with 3 spikes on each side with a flowing plume on top. Their armor is black trimmed in gold and they have dark purple cloaks. The unit champion is holding a sword by the hilt with the blade planted in the ground. Musician is a drummer.
-The executioners have what look like skull helms, and their armor is a brighter silver than the Black Guard. Their tunics are red in color and the Draiches are all held on the left hand side of their bodies (their left our right). They look very cool ranked up.

The Dark Riders are very cool looking. Sleek looking horses with only a bit of armor. All of the Riders are hunched over in the saddle to give the illusion of speeding fast cav. The helmets appear to be open faced and they are armed with spears in the picture I have, once again that doesn't mean they wont get crossbows (in the pictures we have they are in the back ground behind the Warlocks). The Kraken doesn't have tentacles, it has four legs with webbed appendages ending in claws and it also has a tail.

The Cauldron of Blood/Blood Throne looks very cool. If you are a fan of the newer larger models GW has been putting out for WHFB you will really dig it. It is a bit toned down compared to the Empire Celestial Hurricanum/Luminark of Hysh and has blades and hooks on it to make it very sinister and Dark Elf. I also want to say thanks for such the warm welcome. I am glad that you guys are fired up for this release. As soon as more info becomes available to us I will share it on our Facebook and post here too. I will continue to answer questions about the models to the best of my ability and thank you for being very understanding as to why we cant release the pictures sent to us."

Rumour Bells Ringing Dark Elves and 9th Ed Rules?

Dark Elves, Brettonnia or Dwarfs? Rumours abound:

I would like to believe the DE Rumour (being one of my Fave armies)

4 October 2013
September 27th (pre-orders)

Condensing my net trawlings:

Dark Elves are due in October 2013, it is said be a complete new book and not just a wave
New elite infantry kit, possibly witch elves, executioners or black guards.
(If new witch elves, there will most definitely be a new Cauldron of Blood piece)

As expected Monsters and Flyers:

- New Multi-kit Hydra / Kar Karond Beast (Sea/Land/Flying Monster)  - two variations of hydra and Sea       Drake/Beast (flyer)
- Box of 10 new plastic Witch Elves
- Box 10 new plastic Executioners / Black Guard alt builds
- New Cauldron of Blood / Altar of Khaine. (Hybrid kit with old witch Elf or aura similar to EoTG called ?      Khaines blades?  a whirlwind of magic blades emitted by Khain's hatred.
- Blister Fine Cast Priestess/Crone/Hag of Khaine
- Blister Assassin  (Shadowblade)
- Blister Dark Fleet Admiral/Corsair Hero - more than Lokhir, who has become useless w make way rule.
- Executioner /Black Guard Hero Blister
- Plastic/resin  Morathi ?
- Plastic harpy kit with two options
- dual kit chariot ?

Rules:
- Dark Magic buffs up characteristics  of characters, transformation and wound recovery spells aka 5th      
  Edition.(Do we see the Black Horror spell back?)
- Sacrificial Dagger;  buffs the Cauldron of Blood in units (Skaven bell type.) ( 4 + and one per phase)
- Dark Fleet Admiral Hero buffs shooting skills  of unit
- Revamp of Assassins ? Cheaper and causing terror, better rules in keeping with their intent ?
-  Ability to use poison as an option across all Khainite Units
 - Multiple wounds and killing blow for executioners and Black Guard respectively .
-  Malekith more powerful than Teclis. (Doubtful)
-  Monster of the deep-Kar Karond (Sea Drake? ) more powerful than current Hydra

- The emphsis of the book lies around Khainite units (Kharond Kar, Hag Graef and Clar Karond

 So Monsters+Altar of Khaine+Khainite Units, Corsairs as focus.Dark Elves getting more destructive and poisoned attacks to cope w monstrous cavalry , many players' perception of the character each of the Elven races strengths in battle: DE - Offensive, HE - 
Defensive,  WE - Guerrilla warfare . 

The Elite/ heavy infantry definitely need something to help cope against the trend to Monstrous Cavalry:
Multiple wound attacks ( Execs used to do D3) and Killing Blow for Black Guard ? Thanks, that will do me just fine.

Rumours about 9th Ed?
From Tim the Thief on Faeit 212:

New Rumors for the 9th Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Release:

All Softcover Army Books will become obsolete with the new release.
The New Starter Set Boxes  will released at the same time as the Hardback Rule Book
The Set will include a Book called “Armies of Warhammer”, this Book will have simplified "beginner" Army lists for ALL available Armies. No full rule book - i.e. force you to buy a book and a starter set.

Armies of Warhammer will give Players a little view of all Armies and they Units, also it will be a transitional solution for the obsolete Army Books
Armies of Warhammer will be a part in the new Hard back Rule book
The Rule book in the Set will be a simplified “Starter or beginner " Rule book

A smaller complete Hardback Rule book will released too, called “Warhammer – The Rules”

Rules
The rule set will change again, GW has recognized the last Edition has had a hard impact on sales of Warhammer products. (read people are not buying it, and opting for the starter set instead)

The number of special rules will reduced
There will be no releases of Fantasy Supplements, the books will contain more background.
Page numbers up to 150 pages are possible!

First War Trophy: A Lizardman Head on the Wall

First head on my Trophy Rack: 

Lizardmen fall to the Druchii

15.02.2013

NZTC

In the Warhammer World warriors often keep trophy racks.

Some festoon their bodies with the remains of their worthy enemies. 

The Druchii sometimes  display theirs on their walls:

Kapiti Krushers at the NZ Team Championships Tournament (Warhammer Fantasy Battles)

Kapiti Krushers at the NZTC (New Zealand Team Championships) Tournament
Warhammer Fantasy Battles

The Kapiti Wargames Club fielded a team called the Kapiti Krushers on Saturday and Sunday's at the New Zealand Warhammer Fantasy Battles Team Championships, held and Ngaio Town Hall, in Wellington  

Arrival and selection of opponents: Round 1

The boys unpacking and deliberating.

Round 1, Game 1, Turn 1: 

Dark Elves vs Dwarfs: 

My War Hydra being goaded into action,

while the Corsairs rattle their sabres in anticipation of the slaughter to come

Tane's Dwarven throng bursting forth from their hold at the sight of the approaching Dark Elves

Tane: " So this is where the shot will land. 

Let's see how far it bounces!":

Ouch!

Death Hag: "We'll put a 5+ ward save on the corsairs."

To no avail ! Dwarven steel was too much.

Flame Cannon taking out the Hydra

 (No Armour saves or regen, down to Str 1 with his breath attack by the time he got into the Hammerers)

Druchii slaughtered mercilessly by the dwarf throng. 

Dreadlord and dragon escaping by the skin of their teeth.

Start of Round 2

Up against Team Omen...

 

Druchii Civil War!

Sam's Cold One Knights thunder into my waiting line of crossbowmen

Banner, armour saves and ward saves make them all but invincible

Level 4 Sorceresses and Shades take cover behind the building from my hail of crossbow bolts

Dark riders dart out to destroy my bolt throwers

While his Cauldron of blood buffs up his units. 

Isn't that just a lovely conversion?

Corsairs bit off more than they could chew. 

The dragon could have made short shrift of the harpies, but they delayed him from getting into the  action.

Receicing the charge with lances...

Standing and shooting did not help much:

Shortly before the Sea Serpent Banner fell...

Then came round 3:

Dark Elves vs Lizardmen

Sizing up the Lizardmen: Corsairs and Crossbowmen flanking the hydra. 

Terranodon riders dropping stones on the bolt-thrower, but failing to cause a single wound. 

The tenacious crew would cause him to commit two units of riders and two skink units over four turns before they finally fell, drawing most of his chaff and opening up the soft throat of his saurus unit, which was slowly being picked to bits by the crossbow units. 

Add the withering and Okkram's Mindrazor...

and the Slann and his bunker crumble before the pent up fury of the corsairs: 

My first ever tournament win!

The Aussies are up next:

Capital Crusaders

Deliberations and decisions...I end up playing against Brettonians.

Have never had a game against them before.
It was either them or the Tomb Kings, that I have not played against either.

Turn three: The Brettonian BSB dies in a hail of bolts! 

Swiftly followed by the level 4 Mage 

 Pegasus Knights swoop in for the kill on the bolt-thrower, but...

The Dreadlord on Black Dragon intervenes,

 receiving a unit of Peggasi in his flank and knights in his rear for his trouble. 

Hydra charges in, breath  attack, usual attacks, thunderstomp, killed for his efforts.

Takes 2 rounds of combat to dislodge the Lord from the melee, but he emerges victorious.

So close to winning this one...

Then in the last turn's shooting phase...

 two direct hits from the trebouchets on my Cauldron of Blood, killing the Hag and her attendants. 

DRAT!

A draw, and a very enjoyable game. 

Great opponent, a fun game.One of the highlights of my tournament!

Round 5 (Next morning) 

First up against the Cut the Mustard Team. 

Druchii vs Daemons of Chaos

Got absolutely trounced by Leon's Daemons of Chaos, with only my Cauldron and one unit of crossbowmen still standing by the end of play. Another 19-1 loss.

Horde of Daemonettes with Herald, repeatedly getting Pha's Protection, and Melkoths Miasma cast on my unit. Cut to shreds...My Dreadlord dies for the first time in the tournament. Not absolutely whitewashed, but a 19-1 victory to the Daemons. Only relief is that Sam's Daemons inflicted a similar fate on his opponent.

Then came the Von Trapp Family (Dunn Family)

Favourites to win the tournament...

Tough nuts to crack. I draw Jack Dunn's Dark Elves. Better match than Ogres, Daemons or WoC for me.

Civil War again. As if the word civil and Druchii can be used in the same sentence...

Dark Elf vs Dark Elf

Opposing fractions lining up. two level 4 wizards, Dreadlord on Dark Pegasus with Black Guard.

My shades deploy first. He rolls to start. Tete-a-tete with harpies and shades, both losing units in the process, one of my bolt-throwers gone...

Black Guard moves into ruin, taking shelter from hail of bolts. Hard cover, 2+ AS, and stubborn.

I keep my distance, shooting all the time but high armour saves and wardsaves make his bunker all but impenetrable. 

Dreadlord and Hydra engage the Tower Guard, I get Melkoths and Withering off on them, dreadlord and hydra take the Lord on pegasus out, taking many wounds as they go. 

Pendant of Kaleth working against my lord, and he fails several saves, and is slain. Hydra bites the dust too. Dragon passes leadership test, and finishes the tower guard off in his fury

Really now at a stand-off. He's not coming any closer, neither am I. Wizards exchanging spells, shooting phases now really doing much, really just maneuvering to maximise victory points.

Result a draw at turn 6. 

Quite pleased with that outcome: I expected worse

My Dreadlord on a Black Dragon surveying the battlefield.

So there are the spoils: The cup and the medals. 

Didn't think for one minute we'd feature.

Victors: The Von Trapp Family. 

Well deserved, and clear winners

Followed by the Nerdy Boys

and NZ Hammered.

Well done to all the teams.

Kudos: All my opponents were all decent and friendly, sporting, played to the rules, threw no tantrums, and accepted that I was a newbie to tournaments.

I think all and all the Von Trapp Family (Dunn family) was the strongest team, and were the clear winners in the end. Peter Dunn was quite accurate in his predictions with the standings (except that his own team would be on top), of course: check his blog Fields of Blood; and we did almost end in the top 7 as predicted.

Thanks to Peter for arranging a well run and fun tournament.

 I am generally quite satisfied with our performance (being the newbie)

I suppose we could claim that KWC's Kapiti Krushers are now Ranked no 8 team in NZ until next year.

Not bad for a start, I think.

And…we beat the Aussies (yay!)
Trans-Tasman rivalry rules.

Dark Elves and WoC

Dark Elves and WoC

Played my dark Elves against Hamish's WoC  with our Team Tournament Lists for NZ Team Championships this weekend. fully expected to get traunced by his units of skullcrushers once they got in.

Generic photos off the web. If they belong to you I'll be happy to credit you.

No infringement intended. Didn't have my camera, and game was too intense and fun to use phone camre.

Will upload some of my snaps soon

The lists:

Hamish  – Warriors of Chaos

LORDS Characters
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
1 Sorcerer Level 4, Mark Of Tzeentch, Disc of Tzeentch, Talisman of Preservation, Enchanted Shield, Infernal Puppet, Biting blade 410

HEROES Characters
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
1 Chaos Sorcerer, Level 2, dispel scroll, Dragonbane Gem, Tormentor Sword, 3rd eye of Tzeentch, Lore of Fire 180
1 Exalted Hero, Mark of Tzeentch, Battle Standard Bearer, Halberd, Talisman of Endurance, Charmed Shield, Ironcurse Icon, Barded Chaos Steed 205

CORE
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
25 Chaos Warriors, Shield, Full Command, Mark of Tzeentch 450
5 Marauder Horsemen, Mark of Slaanesh 75
5 Marauder Horsemen, Mark of Slaanesh 75

SPECIAL
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
9 Chaos Knights, Musician, Standard Bearer, Mark of Tzeentch, Banner of Rage 445

RARE
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
5 Skullcrushers, Musician 310
4 Skullcrushers, Musician 250


TOTAL OVERALL POINTS 2400

Points %
Lords 410 17%
Heroes 385 16%
Core 600 25%
Special 445 19%
Rare 560 23%

Herman  – Dark Elves

LORDS Characters
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
1 Dreadlord, Hand Weapon, Heavy armour, Sea dragon Cloak, Crimson Death, Dragonhelm, Pendant of Kaeleth, on Black Dragon 542

HEROES Characters
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
1 Death Hag, BSB, Cauldron of Blood, Manbane, Rune of Khaine 275
1 Sorceress, Level 2, Tome of Furion, Seal of Ghrond, Lore of Shadow 180
1 Sorceress, Dispel Scroll, Lore of Death 125

CORE
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
31 Corsairs, Full Command, Extra Hand Weapon, Sea Serpent Standard 360
16 Repeater Crossbowmen, Musician, Repeater Crossbow, Light armour and shield 181
15 Repeater Crossbowmen, Musician, Repeater Crossbow, Light armour and shield 170

SPECIAL  
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
6 Shades, Repeater Crossbow 96
6 Shades, Repeater Crossbow 96

RARE
Number of models in the unit Type (include magic items, upgrades, bloodlines etc.) Total Points
1 Reaper Bolt Thrower 100
1 Reaper Bolt Thrower 100
1 War Hydra 175

TOTAL OVERALL POINTS 2400

Points %
Lords 542 23%
Heroes 580 24%
Core 711 30%
Special 192 8%
Rare 375 16%

Batle Report from (Elves side)

Hamish won roll-off, moved first, made Vanguard moves with his Marauder Calvary, but not enough to get out of range of my 2 units of Shades, who deployed behind enemy lines, and immediately started to harass his Warriors and Skullcrushers. Magic did not do a great deal, but had to dispell successful devastating spell from his Chaos Wizard. No shooting on his side.
My turn: Shades followed units moving away from them, firing as they went, whittling away at numbers. Hydra moved in, but not close enough to engage yet, Flanks being harassed by Marauder cavalry as expected, Shades taking a few of them off. Death Hag and cauldron imbued blessings to buff units:5+ Ward on 1st round. Repeater shorts from Bolt throwers reducing numbers of phalanx a bit, as do Shades. Reaper bolt throwers reducing numbers of Marauder horsemen and WoC on foot further.

Next round Hamish got his Skullcrushers into contact, sowing mayhem in the soft ranks of elven flesh. Xbow warriors reduced to last man standing, who then flees the table. Hydra takes a skull crusher out, but is annihilated in next round. Wizard on disc zooms around to harass flank of the Corsairs and The death Hag with her Cauldron. WoC fail to make contact on charge, only to be counter-charged by the frenzied corsairs, buffed up with an extra attack granted by cauldron. Multiple casualties from the rain of frenzied blows with hatred, they loose combat and flee, but caught by the sift-footed elves, and destroyed. The Elves overrun into the flank of the Skullcrushers. Winds of magic unkind all through the game, with really just small nuisance spells and buffs getting off. Finally get Purple sun of Xerxes off on darn double sixes! Does no damage, as purple sun redirects. Calamitous detonation, wizard gone and 6 corsairs around her.Bah humbug.

Bolt throwers take care of remaining Marauders, Dreadlord on Dragon kills remaining Skullcrushers, but sees Dragon slewn from under the Dreadlord, who then takes shelter behind the Cauldron in the last round. Stalemate: Game ends in a draw. I did surprisingly well given the tank units fielded and the lack of toughness on a Darl Elf

Dark Elf Corsairs and Team Tounaments

Dark Elf Corsairs and Team Tournaments

Our Warhammer Fantasy Gaming Group in the Kapiti Wargames Club 

have decided to enter the Team Event in February, been game testing our armies. 

I've elected to go with a Dark Elf Army. Skaven, Greenskins and Chaos Daemons make up the balance.

Silly season has got in the way (some of us have to work :( )

 I've not had any chance to test my Army as yet, but at least I have a list.