Right, enough of the awesome background to this battle (available for hire, Black Library ;p ) and on to the battle!
So, Pete (@petehumpage) and I have been friends for a fairly long time and we have played against each other many times, however never at AoS due to us missing each other with other commitments. This was our first chance to come up against each other with the new system and to check where we are at. Recently, Pete finished 16th at Heat 1 of the GT with Slyvaneth and he is very capable player so it would most certainly be a challenge.
Before this game, a group of us decided to make the journey across to Heat 3 (presuming everything is okay) so we will be using this time now as practice and the chance to try new things in tournament style practice games, where we can talk about decisions, plays and tactics. I must admit, when playing games like Malifaux and 40k (before it got confusing), I enjoyed this types of games where you can thrash things out with your opponent and come up with the best moves possbile, helping you learn for future occasions.
With this in mind, this game would quickly become a learning curve. Now, I've not faced Slyvaneth before but heard a lot about them. There have been numerous podcasts which give you good information on the tree people and I knew that I had to stand in the woods to stop stuff getting out! Now, that's okay... until they plant more trees... bloody environmentalists!
I would be taking Warrior Brotherhood against the Slyvaneth GT list. This was something that Pete hasn't faced before either, so it was guarenteed to be entertaining.
Anyway, here we go - The roll off for deployment! Whoever won this would be not deploying their forces on the board. Well, that's a lie! I still wouldn't in order to play against a situation which would give me experience of playing from behind. As it happened,
I WON! So Pete set some of his army up like so:
He did leave the Kernoth Hunters and Reavers in the woods for later but put the majority of his force on that left flank.
This gave me a chance to drop and occupy the woods in order to force him to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, elsewhere meant to closer to my objective (when it drops in turn 2).
Two Good
*Having turn one enabled me to take the drop and nullify woods and the surrounding area, penning the Slyvaneth in, forcing Pete to break his units up in order to deal with multiple threats.
*First few turns, my dice rolling was incredible and this enabled me to take a strong grasp on the game.
*Tactically, looking at the beginning of the game, Iwas able to pen Pete in. What didn't work so well was that units which dropped outside of the 'conventional' drop became piece-meal and an opportunity for Pete's units to escape.
Two Bad
*Kernoth Hunters... with bows... are just obscene! They easily removed both Retributors and Liberator units across the course of the game.
*I didn't properly cover my objective with rings of units which allowed dryads and Durthu to smash through and hold the meteorite!
Now... Turn 5 priority roll basically comes down to this... If I win the roll - I win the game. If Pete wins the roll - he wins the game. We were poised so finely on a knife edge that either one of us could make it impossible for the player going second to score during their turn, making this roll huge!
We roll...
We reveal our dice...
Pete wins!
Lessons Learnt
That fecking acorn! The trees are a great escape for the Slyvaneth and they provide the perfect spread across the board. There is very litte that the Stormcast can do to nullify this threat but it has been something which needs to be considered. I did keep my Retributor unit in the sky for two turns while we got to grips with the trees. When they did drop, they did a good job of protecting the objective but did get picked off by Kernoth Hunters and Durthu! Although they have 3 wounds with a 4+, they aren't particularly survivable - deceptive really!
I needed to either focus on my objective or taking Pete's. As it stood, I didn't really do either and kind of played into his hands by splitting my force. Had I of played that way it would have been a much different game - not high scoring and slightly boring. I'm not sure in a tournament situation what I would have done fully knowing the threat which is lurking in those trees!
It was a great game and I was a bit deflated after the game as I did work incredibly hard to get myself into a position in order to win and it is gutting when it comes down to a single dice roll but exciting none-the-less.
Looking to the future
I felt that the game was never out of my reach and coming down to a dice roll to determine margins is just a great way to end the game.
Looking forward, I think a Knight Azeros is the next addition to my force. I know he's been altered slightly but he is still an option which is most certainly worth exploring.
I am very excited to try the new Vanguard Auxiliary - more specifically, painting them as Final Fantasy Chocobos!
Well, that's it from me!
I'll see you soon!
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