By The Chosen of Sigmar and
Stefano
Prequel:
(By The Chosen of Sigmar)
After having scored not that bad at the last 'Ranking Tournament' I decided to join in the tournament of Conect'R, the club annex store that Stefano has frequently visited since his move from Leuven to Tielt-Winge. Stefano would also play at this tournament but our goals were set differently. I was hoping to get another good result in the ranking where Stefano hoped to get some credits for his fine painted army and the presentation of it. On arriving we first did our tour to greet some of the players we met in earlier Warhammer gatherings...
The tables:
Just like in Leopoldsburg, Stefano and I had a look around the tables where would be played upon. All the tables were forseen of some scenery without really giving either site of the table great advantages. My guess was some nice battles could be played here...
The draw of battles:
The first draw (alfabetical order of the names was it?) gave me a Bretonni-player whereas Stefano drew an Orc and Goblin adversary.
Round 1:
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The Chosen of Sigmar's Opponent: Jethro Army: Bretonnia About the opponent: Jethro was a player that was a little carefull if you ask me. Meaning: if every one of your movement phases takes half a hour, you just can't play six rounds of battle in two hours time, can you? About the battle: Seeing all those big blocks of knights appearing on the battle field had me going for a while. My Great Canon and Mortar however decided to get a day off and did nothing but misfiring and scattering... As I needed that real heavy fire it was not surprising that once these knights got charging there was just no way of winning the combat. Result: loss by massacre... Most valuable unit(s):
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Stefano's
Opponent:
Wim
Bergisch Army: Orcs and Goblins About the opponent: Wim and I really came along, since we kind of like the same principle : “in case of an argument about the rules, ask an umpire. If there is no umpire in the neighbourhood, draw a D6”. This kept the fun in the game, even when loosing big time. I even kind of hoped he would win the tournament … About the battle: : The game went on quite evenly, loosing few points on both sides, until Wim managed to kill my general (partly my own mistake, having left the poor strigoï count all by himself lonely in the open). Also count in the damage a warboss on wyvern can deal out, and the result is not surprising : complete wipeout. At least his giant and half his chariots didn’t leave the table in one piece … Most valuable unit(s):
Most unfortunate unit(s) :
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Round 2:
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The Chosen of Sigmar's Opponent: Corneel (The Knights Errant) Army: Chaos (Khorne) About the opponent: As I first heard his Dutch accent I immediately thought "Oh nee, nen 'Ollander!", thinking of my last encounter with one in Leopoldsburg. Corneel, the bloodthirsty Khorne adept that he is, proved however to be my Dutch counterpart: having fun was the name of the game... Scoring a massacre while doing it is a nice bonus ;-). Corneel, I still owe you a drink for that fine game.. About the battle: I never like playing Khorne but having such an extra ordinary painted army against me always makes the effort worth while. The blocks of knights I had against me really looked impressive and also were... Although my opponent really likes throwing ones (even his dice were blood red) he got the upper hand of my disciplined troops that failed too many tests (Stubborn on an 8 should at least h  old for 4 close combat round, not just one!)... The carnage was
complete but hey I died with a smile and that's what this game is about,
isn't it? Corneel, congrats on your massacre, Khorne will be pleased... Most valuable unit(s):
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Stefano's
Opponent:
Alexander Follens Army: Dark Elves About the opponent: This was his first tournament, so I had to explain some of the general and army-specific items. I don’t mind doing that, but I always feel pity if their self-thought plans don’t work because a rule they didn’t know. However, the battle was fun and the only thing this lad needs, is a bit of experience. About the battle: The scenario for the second battle was “capture”, meaning you have to focus on an objective, rather then “kill ‘em all”. Alexander went straight for the objective, concentrating most of his units in the centre. Good tactics, as long as you don’t charge everything that is chargeable.  In this way, I
could lure him away from the objective, and sneakily directing my big units
closer to the objective. In the end, it looked like a draw, but in the
final turn I managed to kill all his units within range of the objective,
rendering me a crushing victory.Most valuable unit(s):
Remark: Note for Alexander : don’t despair if you encounter some defeats during tournaments. Learn from losses, but keep up the good gaming ! By the way, you English is far superior to mine, so there you win anyway ;o) |
Round 3:
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The Chosen of Sigmar's Opponent: Seppe (De Witte Ridder) Army: Chaos (Undivided) About the opponent: Oh boy, after 2 massacres I really wanted to set the records straight. Along came Seppe, a youngster who still makes tactical mistakes but certainly with the right mind for the game: have fun, even when being butchered... Seppe, it was fun playing you and not only because I won... About the battle: Well, from start to finish I had the advantage of the strange choices my opponent made. If you're going at slow rate with your Chaos Knights I just have to shoot them, haven't I? In letting his Dragon Ogres failing a few charges with my pistoliers I got his complete right flank disordered. His slow advance made him suffer too many casualties and so he suffered another massacre on my hands... Better luck, next time Seppe...  Most valuable unit(s):
Some tips for my young opponent: I don't normally do this, but hey...
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Stefano's
Opponent:
Tim
Aerts (Conect'r) Army: Vampire Counts (Necrarch) About the opponent: Tim is also member of the Conect’r group, playing with the same army as myself (apart from the bloodline). In former tournaments, he always ended up higher in the ranking, so this was my chance. Not that easy against this nice chap … About the battle: Things went quite equal for some turns. Tim immediately came after my necromancers, while I tried to get my fast units into a flanking position. Plans went well for both of us, until I couldn’t help myself charging my strigoï general into a multi-unit close combat, hoping to tip the balance back into my favour. It went ok for one round (decimating his black knights), but caused my general to vanish in smoke due to a devastating combat result in his advantage . After that, it looked like game nr 1 : crumble and die. It also meant the end of my plans, loosing too much knights because of the dead general. Result : complete wipe-out even before my 6th turn. Most valuable unit(s):
Most unfortunate unit(s) :
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Aftermath by Stefano :
Only words of thanks to opponents and tournament organisation for a day full of excitement, fun and laughter ! Success number one for me !
I went to the tournament to at least win one combat after three losses in a row during the Full Tilt Tournament. So, one out of three was a crushing victory, success number two !
I initially also went again for the painting price, but the competition was tough, giving me no hopes whatsoever of even coming close to a nomination. So I already went to the bar, ordered a beer and started drinking. Exactly at the moment when the fluids were being transferred from glass to mouth, the judge proclaimed “and the winner of the painting and army composition category Fantasy is … Steven Beerten”. It struck me in such a manner that beer started to transfer itself from mouth into air, of which I apologize again to the tournament organisation. Collecting my price, I thought to myself : “Success number three !”
Aftermath by The Chosen of Sigmar:
Three massacres on a day. I had blood on my hands and but it was mostly my blood. I want to thank the organisation for a nice day of battles and the price they let me keep after saying I had finished last. I was not far from it but hey, at least I won a couple of places... By the way: I traded your 'lucky dice' box for the High Elf hero Stefano won for his best Fantasy Army painting and composition... Your tournament was a success and will be noted in my agenda for 2006...
