Warhammer Masters Tournament 2015

The Masters events for WFB, 40k and Flames of War were held in Hamilton this year. I was lucky enough to be able to lend my support as umpire and scorekeeper for the Fantasy event, and so was able to witness the games first hand and hang out with a great bunch of wargamers.

The comp pack used was based on the ETC 2015 rules, to ensure a tight and tested set of list guidelines, proven for a competitive environment.

We had eight players competing, due to some last minute withdrawals. The field was tightly contested by a few heavy hitters. Kelly Gragg has been dominating all year with his Warriors of Chaos, and continued to smash face at Masters. McCrae Loudon fielded a gazillion Wood Elf Waywatchers to decimate his opponents. The Elven hordes (PEGs) made a strong showing, making up 5 of the 8 lists.

Here are the final results:

Congratulations to Kelly Gragg for a well deserved victory, and the capstone to an epic year!

This could well be the last Masters event to run Warhammer Fantasy, and while there will continue to be events which run this rule system, the community is likely to opt for Kings of War or 9th Age for Masters next year. 

I had a blast being involved with the event this year. Wherever these top gamers end up directing their interests, and the many other gamers around the country alike, I hope they continue to achieve in and enjoy their hobby going forward. Please keep in touch, and as always, let me know if you want to roll some dice, whatever the game system.

Here are some photos from the event:

Over The Top 2016 - WFB and AOS Player's Packs

Over The Top is the Hamilton Immortal's annual Games Workshop game system event, this year held on February 6th and 7th in Hamilton.

Brian and I were given the opportunity to organise the player's packs for the Fantasy event. The intention was do do something a bit different, while keeping to the theme of 'over-the-top'.  OTT has always been a no-comp event, and we wanted to keep in that tradition.

You can find info on all the events at Over The Top on the Hamilton Immortals website as the packs are finalised. In addition to Warhammer 40,000 and Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, there will be a two-day Warhammer Fantasy event and a single day Age of Sigmar event.

Warhammer Fantasy Battles

The recent proliferation of game systems in the NZ tournament scene makes it difficult to accommodate everyone's tastes and interests for wargaming events. Being a GW event, we decided to stick to the 'Old School'. WFB 8th Edition is still enjoyed by our club members, and the successful Tauranga Open earlier in the year showed that there are plenty of folks still interested.

In order to make this 'not-your-usual Warhammer Tournament' we also decided to include a lot of the End Times rules. We have included custom scenarios, based around a Hero of the End Times model for each army, giving the event some narrative value. In addition, a 'bingo' like meta-game will take place over the course of the weekend.

Hopefully this will provide a different set of challenges for veteran gamers wanting to add this to their gaming calendar, and a great excuse to 'get out the toys' for newer players. It would also make for a great send-off to the game system for those moving on.

Click to download

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar

This is for those that are enjoying the new models and game system. I'm under no illusions that AOS is not for everybody. However, some of us are having a good time with it, and for those people we felt the opportunity to run an AOS event was deserved. It certainly fits the theme of 'over-the-top' in any case! To my knowledge there has not been an AOS event run in New Zealand yet, so this is a great opportunity for those who are interested to give it a go.

The open nature of the basic AOS rules has not proven a problem for us in casual games, but makes it unsuitable for competitive events. Overseas, AOS has been run as a tournament using the set of composition rules and a pool choice document used for the UK's Clash of Swords event. It is regularly revised based on feedback from every event that uses the comp. I have emulated those for Over The Top.

The game size has been scaled down so that players with just the starter set will have enough models to participate.

We have enough registrations already for this to go ahead, but if for whatever reason not everyone can make it on the day, there will instead be pick up games going over the course of the weekend, so come check it out if you are interested.

Click to download

Everyone who attends will be given a 15% discount voucher from Mark One Comics & Games. The Immortals have a special offer on this year whereby you can nominate one other player attending the event, and that chosen nominee will get an extra $5 voucher from Mark 1. So grab a buddy ( or more if you're popular) and enjoy some dice games.

Please let me know if you have any questions about these events. My contact details are in the Player's Packs.