Cheesefest

It been a busy few weeks so the blog is getting behind on some of that constant background noise of wargaming, the readily available battles of Warhammer Fantasy.  I don't mind, they get covered when opportunity arises, today, it's a record of four games in one day.

I'm going to keep each one brief though.  The event in question was a local tourney run at the LWGC, with a distinct 'Cheesy' flavour to it.  We were each given carte-blanche to bring the nastiest legal 1500 point army list we could, and then to play out a series of knockout matches to determine the winner.

I brought Vampires, as of my four WFB armies, they are the most competitive*.  The List was a tooled up magic leaning Level 3 vampire; Wight King with Regen Banner; 28 Grave Guard with great weapons and +1 to hit banner; Necromancer with d3+9 zombie staff (Noirot) and two units of 24/25 Ghouls.  Pretty standards one note deathstar stuff.  Only the Staff of Noirot necro is out of the ordinary; as a cheap magic item it ensures your undead speedbumps are of a useful size.

Game one did not go well.  I lined up against Demons, an army Ive never beaten, because it needs shooting and tough fighters to really knock it down.  But mainly charging a unit with flaming attacks screwed me, and by turn two I conceded.  Twenty minutes of defeat.

By comparison Game two was the funniest and most enjoyable of my day.  My opponents Empire had brought a folding fortress magic item and so his main unit of 64 halberdiers were hiding inside it!

Outside only a steam tank and a unit of Knights were left.  Well it was easy for me to out number them and refuse the tower as a target.  Needing only a victory points win I aimed to outflank and massacre the knights.  It was an all magic duel that the Vampires were having the better of, until turn five when the fighting started and he knocked off a couple of scrappy units of summoned undead for a few victory points.  I counter charged the knights and came within an ace of taking enough victory points to win.  But it wasn't to be.  2-0 down in the end. 

Still a great laugh with the sort of opponent who gets into the fun of the game.

Next up was High elves.  The scenario was one that played into my hands.  Standards.  And his army, lacking an Army BSB and with a mage as it's general, was always going to struggle.

In terms of casualties, he was doing well, using massed firepower to deplete my lines, but the scenario wasn't about that, and it allowed me to get stuck in.  The grave guard broke one large unit, but let a unit of ghouls go in against the key enemy formation where poisonous attacks took their hideous toll.  The enemy general died and I picked up a win.  I was off rock bottom, at 2-1 and in a playoff for ninth place out of twelve.

Sadly tenth would have to do.  A cagey Ogre player, who'd spent the day on a fast learning curve used cover and evasion tactics to get the better of my forces, some better sequencing of attacks by me - remember that for next time, and I would have had him by the proverbial's. But you live and learn.  3-1 down and tenth on the day.

Good fun but a long day; what made it in some respects was seeing the comeuppance of some peoples (Craig's) smack talk from before the game.  It also gave me an idea for another tourney with a distinctly different flavour; more on that to come, if I get my act in gear...

*OK, my Orcs and Goblins may now be even better, but with only one game under the new rules under my belt with them I wasn't ready to chance it.  Maybe I shoulda done.