05-22-2010, 04:22 PM
Hello all. We recently had a fantasy team tournament at our local gaming store which I organized. We ended up having a cancellation which meant an odd number of teams. I had a friend who wasn't playing in the tournament so I asked if he wouldn't mind helping me cover the missing team's place in order to prevent a bye for the odd team. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it to the tournament so I was stuck having to whip up a suitable list to cover an entire team. Because of the army selection restrictions and a lack of an extra paymaster and general, I ended up throwing together a single list which unfortunately topped out at a mere 1800 points in a 2k pt team tourney (1k per player). Undaunted, I decided to give it a shot. This would be the biggest challenge ever for the Dogs.
Here is a short recap of the three rounds:
Round 1 vs Chaos Mortals & Wood Elves - this was a weird matchup as I was expecting the Wood Elf player to bring his Demons. These guys should've gotten a massacre against me if it weren't for some horrible luck on the chaos player's part. He charged Voland's Venators with chaos knights, yet the knights whiffed and Voland's ended up breaking and running the chaos knights down. The pursuit of Voland's took them into his chaos lord on a juggernaut. I thought for sure the Venators would get cut apart. He ends up killing Voland in the challenge but I still won on combat res so he had to take a break test. He rolled boxcars and off the general goes. Altogether the Venators accounted for about 600+ points! The game was ends in a dead draw, with like 30 VP difference.
Round 2 vs Chaos Mortals and High Elves - What is it with these elf/chaos combos? These guys were newer players yet I ended up getting a massacre against these guys with about a +1600 VP difference. The elf player was completely tabled and the chaos player only had a warrior unit left on the board. Once again (and surprisingly) Voland's performed above and beyond expectations, breaking a marauder unit head on, an elf archer unit, and a bolt thrower. I also had a duellist unit on a hill with a cliff that shot up most of a chaos knight unit. The knights couln't really get to the duellists due to the cliff and so I was able to put several shots into them. Hats off to my cannon team as they sniped two high elf wizards in that game.
Most embarassing moment - my lone wizard miscast a whopping 3 turns in a row! He finally ended up killing himself on his last miscast. This was just hilarious to watch.
Round 3 vs High Elves and Wood Elves - It seems like every army was either elf or chaos at the tournament... This last round was against the team that won the tournament. These guys had gotten massacres in their first two games and were both really good players having won several prior tournaments. This game was perhaps my favorite game ever as a Dogs of War player. Being down 200 points all day meant having to play perfectly just to stay in the games. My one major advantage was that neither of my opponents had ever played against Dogs of War so I could use some tricks. There were several memorable moments in this game so let me recap: Voland's ignored a large spear elf unit (bait) and charged a nearby driad unit (since they can't flee as a charge reaction) and wipe them out and then overrun off the board.
One of my xbow units is charged by a great eagle but manage to kill it on the stand and shoot! The high elf player's expression was priceless. My cannon crew stepped up and hit an elf bolt thrower dead on and blew it into kindling. One of my duellists units was charged by a driad unit. I decide to flee which carried the duellists through the Leopard Company. The Driads end up charging the pikes but are obliterated. A unit of dwarfs which was guarding the right center of my line ended up finishing off a unit of 4 war dancers. The best moment of the match has to belong to Lumpin Croop's as they managed to kill off the wood elf player's waywatcher unit on turn one after they only put a single wound on my pegasus. After six turns the game ended in another almost even draw. I was pretty pleased with myself for taking these guys to a draw since they had completely destroyed their first two opponents. Not bad for being down a couple hundred points.
At the end of the day, one massacre and 2 draws combined with high soft scores was enough to push me into second place!
Not having a lot of magic hurt throughout the day especially in round 2 as my 4 power dice couldn't make headway againts my opponent's 10 power dice until I killed off their wizards. Surprise performers: Voland's and the mercenary cannon. Whereas my wizard failed quite a bit, I never had a mishap for my cannon in 3 games. Voland's, who normally underperform for me, were acting as if they were a real deathstar unit this day, going through any and all opposition. They really should be a staple unit in most Dogs of War armies.
Here is a short recap of the three rounds:
Round 1 vs Chaos Mortals & Wood Elves - this was a weird matchup as I was expecting the Wood Elf player to bring his Demons. These guys should've gotten a massacre against me if it weren't for some horrible luck on the chaos player's part. He charged Voland's Venators with chaos knights, yet the knights whiffed and Voland's ended up breaking and running the chaos knights down. The pursuit of Voland's took them into his chaos lord on a juggernaut. I thought for sure the Venators would get cut apart. He ends up killing Voland in the challenge but I still won on combat res so he had to take a break test. He rolled boxcars and off the general goes. Altogether the Venators accounted for about 600+ points! The game was ends in a dead draw, with like 30 VP difference.
Round 2 vs Chaos Mortals and High Elves - What is it with these elf/chaos combos? These guys were newer players yet I ended up getting a massacre against these guys with about a +1600 VP difference. The elf player was completely tabled and the chaos player only had a warrior unit left on the board. Once again (and surprisingly) Voland's performed above and beyond expectations, breaking a marauder unit head on, an elf archer unit, and a bolt thrower. I also had a duellist unit on a hill with a cliff that shot up most of a chaos knight unit. The knights couln't really get to the duellists due to the cliff and so I was able to put several shots into them. Hats off to my cannon team as they sniped two high elf wizards in that game.
Most embarassing moment - my lone wizard miscast a whopping 3 turns in a row! He finally ended up killing himself on his last miscast. This was just hilarious to watch.
Round 3 vs High Elves and Wood Elves - It seems like every army was either elf or chaos at the tournament... This last round was against the team that won the tournament. These guys had gotten massacres in their first two games and were both really good players having won several prior tournaments. This game was perhaps my favorite game ever as a Dogs of War player. Being down 200 points all day meant having to play perfectly just to stay in the games. My one major advantage was that neither of my opponents had ever played against Dogs of War so I could use some tricks. There were several memorable moments in this game so let me recap: Voland's ignored a large spear elf unit (bait) and charged a nearby driad unit (since they can't flee as a charge reaction) and wipe them out and then overrun off the board.
One of my xbow units is charged by a great eagle but manage to kill it on the stand and shoot! The high elf player's expression was priceless. My cannon crew stepped up and hit an elf bolt thrower dead on and blew it into kindling. One of my duellists units was charged by a driad unit. I decide to flee which carried the duellists through the Leopard Company. The Driads end up charging the pikes but are obliterated. A unit of dwarfs which was guarding the right center of my line ended up finishing off a unit of 4 war dancers. The best moment of the match has to belong to Lumpin Croop's as they managed to kill off the wood elf player's waywatcher unit on turn one after they only put a single wound on my pegasus. After six turns the game ended in another almost even draw. I was pretty pleased with myself for taking these guys to a draw since they had completely destroyed their first two opponents. Not bad for being down a couple hundred points.
At the end of the day, one massacre and 2 draws combined with high soft scores was enough to push me into second place!
Not having a lot of magic hurt throughout the day especially in round 2 as my 4 power dice couldn't make headway againts my opponent's 10 power dice until I killed off their wizards. Surprise performers: Voland's and the mercenary cannon. Whereas my wizard failed quite a bit, I never had a mishap for my cannon in 3 games. Voland's, who normally underperform for me, were acting as if they were a real deathstar unit this day, going through any and all opposition. They really should be a staple unit in most Dogs of War armies.
