Sunday, May 28, 2017

NICON 2017 - Grand Alliance: Destruction List Overview

The list analysis continues! See below for the Destruction lists for NICON 2017. Previous posts have looked at Order and Death.




Grand Alliance: Destruction


Carl T - Moonclan Grots

The General
Grot Warboss - this guy has a Giant Cave Squig sidekick and a prodder. His command ability allows a Moonclan unit within 20" to inflict double damage when they roll a 6 to wound. As a four-wound hero, he is quite vulnerable, with some protection from his Dead Tricksy ability, which means attacks that target him count hit rolls of 6 as a roll of 1 instead.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
So. Many. Grots. His grots have grots coming out their grots. No less than 220 Grots on foot. No less than 12 Grot Fanatics hidden away in there to block charges. Two Doomdivers for some ranged damage, 5 Squig Hoppers for some bounce. Two more Warbosses on foor and another Warboss on a Great Cave Squig. And three Grot Shamans, casting Curse of Da Bad Moon - a D3 mortal wound spell that can bounce between enemy units.

 I don't have any good advice for this army besides... kill Grots. Don't forget that large units gain extra Bravery for battleshock for every 10 models in the unit, so don't count on them to be blown away in the breeze unless you kill significant amounts. I have seen some of Carl's models, and they will be a treat for those Oldhammer connoisseurs out there.

Fraser B - Ironjawz

The General
Gordrakk, the Fist of Gork - said to have grown out of one of the knucklebones of Gorkamorka Himself, Gordrakk has potential to wreck armies solo given half a chance. His command ability is used once per battle, and affects one Destruction unit within 20". That unit can roll three dice to charge, and makes 2 extra attacks with each of its weapons. If the unit is part of a battalion, THIS APPLIES TO ALL UNITS IN THE BATTALION. If he starts to kill heroes, his wounds and attacks increase. The Maw Crusha deals mortal wounds when it charges. If this wipes out everything within 3", he can make another charge, and can keep doing this. So throwing chaff at him is not always a good strategy.

The Battalions
  • Ironfist - This consists of all his non-hero models. So 10 Brutes, 20 Ardboys and 6 Gore Gruntas. One of the unit champions gets to add 2 to its wounds. As long as this Bigboss is alive, the battalion can move D6" in the hero phase. This is on top of the allegiance abilities. And remember, Gordrakk's command ability affects the WHOLE BATTALION so watch out for that mighty charge.
The Army
The other units are a Megaboss, who can buff the hit rolls of nearby Brutes, two Warchanters, who can again add one to the hit rolls of a nearby unit, and two Weirdnob Shamans, who have two spells.  Green Puke deals D3 mortal wounds to all units in a straight line, and Foot of Gork does D6 mortal wounds on a unit and can then bounce to another unit, and another. What's more, Fraser is giving them a balewind Vortex, which increases the range of this spell to 36". Potentially devastating.

 Try not to let the Maw Crusha charge you, and bear in mind the Brutes will eat most things they get into contact with.

Geoff E - Moonclan Grots

The General
Grot Warboss - this guy has a Giant Cave Squig sidekick and a prodder. His command ability allows a Moonclan unit within 20" to inflict double damage when they roll a 6 to wound. As a four-wound hero, he is quite vulnerable, with some protection from his Dead Tricksy ability, which means attacks that target him count hit rolls of 6 as a roll of 1 instead.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
More Grots! 160 of the blighters on foot, with 3 Fanatics. Geoff is bringing a couple of units of Sourbreath Troggoths, who regenerate, vomit, and hit like angry green monsters. There is a Mangler Squig unit, which does a lot of damage if it careens into your units, and the maximum five war machines. Three Rock Lobbas and two Spear Chukkas will be great ranged support and will help with key targets. They are also hard to remove, as his opponent needs to destroy both the crew and the machine (separate units) in order to get rid of them. Watch out for getting bogged down if you assault them. Three Moonclan Shamans with the Curse of Da Bad Moon, as described in Carl's list.

Hayden H - Beastclaw Raiders

The General
Frostlord on Thundertusk - a nasty 18" shooting attack. Watch out for it. Command ability allows all Beastclaw Raider units within 14" to re-roll charge rolls. Likely to combo with the allegiance abilities, and could lead to first turn charges. It's what the army does. 

The Battalions
  • Eurlbad - Contains a Huskard on Stonehorn, the Stonehorn Beastriders and the Mournfang packs. Wound rolls of 6 for these units deal a bonus mortal wound to their attack, in addition to the normal damage output. The Huskard has +1 damage to all his melee weapons. Ouch!
  • Olwyr Alfrostun - Contains the Eurlbad battalion and the general. Gives the general two different command traits! The Mournfang gain +1 to hit. All run rolls can be re-rolled. Speedy.
The Army
This is not a subtle army. If you are considering plying Hayden with alcohol, and carefully trying to coax his battle strategy out of him, you can save yourself the time, effort, and hearing damage as he yells in your face. With the now famous warcry "STONEHORN" he will come at you. Lists like this are why you bring cheap, expendable blocking units (chaff) in your army. If you don't have any, try deploying on the table edge. He can deploy his army in one drop, so will likely get to choose who goes first. If he gets double turns it will hurt, but that goes both ways for alpha strike lists. Plan accordingly.

Kenny T - Bonesplitterz

The General
Savage Big Boss - a big force multiplier. Bonesplitterz are all about overwhelming synergies, and this is where it all starts. After he attacks, another Bonesplitterz unit within 10" can immediately pile in and attack. If they are fighting the same target it could catch you off guard. The command ability allows a unit within 10" to make an extra attack whenever it rolls a 6 or more to hit. This is important, because a lot of the other buffs are focused around giving his units extra attacks.

The Battalions
  • Kop Rukk - Contains the  three Wardokks and three units of Savage Orruk Morboyz. The Dokks get bonuses to casting rolls that increase depending on how many Morboyz are nearby. The downside is that rolling a double kills some Morboyz.
  • Teef Rukk - Contains two units of Savage Big Stabbas. Already nasty, they can now pile in 6"  near monsters and activate twice in the combat phase.
  • Kunnin Rukk - The infamous battalion. Contains the Big Boss general, the Savage Orruks and the Arrowboyz. In each of his hero phases, Kenny picks a unit (Arrowboyz!) within range of his general to either move, shoot or make a melee attack. It can then act normally later in the turn. So that doubles their attacks.
  • Drakkfoot Warclan - Contains Wurrgog Prophet, and all other battalions and units. Spells count as cast if wizards roll a double on the casting roll. The army gains extra magical protection. Lastly, the wizards gain an extra spell - Blood Waaagh!, which allows a unit to immediately pile in and attack as if it was the combat phase. 

The Army
The main thing to worry about is that every model has at least two wounds, even the nasty infantry. And they take up a lot of table space. The other main thing is how many shots the Arrowboyz do. They start with two shots each (so 80 shots). When they have 20 or more in their unit they get an extra shot each (now we are at 120). The Kunnin Rukk lets them shoot in the Hero Phase, so that doubles their shots (to 240). And finally, the command ability allows hit rolls of 6 to become an extra attack. And there may even be more bonuses in the Allegiance Abilities, which I am not covering.

 So how do you deal with this? KILL. THE. WARBOSS. If you can't do that it's going to hurt. 

 The other issue is how many models and how many dice rolls Kenny has to handle. This is an unwieldy army to play with, so consider assisting Kenny with where you can or time will get eaten up!

Matt B - Destruction (Moonclan, Beastclaws, Bonesplitterz)

The General
Frostlord on Stonehorn - Not to be confused with the Thundertusk! The main difference is the mortal wounds he does when he charges, and his lack of shooting attack. HIs command ability allows re-rolls to all charge rolls within 14" for Beastclaw units.

The Battalions
  • Kunnin Rukk - Yep, another one. Again, this applies to 40 Arrowboyz, and again you need to kill the Big Boss to stop them shooting in the Hero Phase. They will not gain the extra attack on 6's though. So small mercies. 
The Army
This army is a very good example of how to use mixed alliance lists. Matt has covered his bases with a fast, hard hitting turn one charge from no less than three Stonehorns, two Moonclan Grot Shamans with their Bad Moon Curse chain spell, and 240 shots from the Arrowboyz. Four units of 10 Savage Orruks is not insignificant either, as they have two wounds each (20 per unit). So, durable, hard hitting units with ranged threat. Mixed arms!

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Saturday, May 27, 2017

NICON 2017 - Grand Alliance: Death List Overview

With one week to go until the event, here is part two of the NICON List Saga!

In Part One I looked at the Grand Alliance: Order army lists, and what to expect from the tournament metagame.

Before kicking into the Death lists, I wanted to briefly mention the time limits at NICON, and give a shoutout to our awesome sponsors.




Prizes at NICON

We are very lucky to have two awesome sponsors this year - Mighty Ape and Gaming DNA. Please go check out their stuff.

There will be no double-ups with the plaque awards.

Here are the awards:
  • First Place Overall
    • "Realm God" Plaque
    • $80 vouchers
  • Second Place Overall
    • $40 vouchers
  • Third Place Overall
    • $20 voucher
  • Favourite Army Award
    • "Grand Panoplist" Plaque
    • $40 voucher
  • Favourite Opponent Award
    • "Arch Manipulator" Plaque
    • $40 voucher
  • Top Scoring Order Player
    • "Prime" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Destruction Player
    • "Megaboss" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Death Player
    • "Mortarch" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Chaos Player
    • "Exalted" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Club or Gaming Group
    • Terrain Kit (TBD)
  • Spot Prizes*
    • 1x Kharadron Overlords Grundstok Gunhauler
    • 1x Kharadron Overlords Arkanuat Admiral
    • 1x Stormcast Eternals Excelsior Upgrades
    • 1x Stormcast Eternals Prosecutors (3 figure boxing)
    • 1x Stormcast Eternals Liberators (5 figure boxing)
    • 1x Quest for Ghal Maraz (book)
    • 1x Treemen Ancient
    • White Dwarf issues
*Each player will get one entry into the spot prize draws. Additional entries will be given out for sharing 'cool stories' from your battles! In addition, each player will receive a Mighty Ape discount voucher.

What a haul!



Timekeeping at a Tournament

When we play Warhammer socially, often the only time limit is just how long we have to get the game in alongside our other commitments. We can let games go on for hours, or even just call it after one or two turns for absolutely massive games. 

At tournaments, the necessity of cramming in enough games to produce a fair result, and things like venue times, means that we have to impose time limits on  each game. For the Warhost sized games at NICON (2,500 points), I have allowed 3 hours per game, with a short break in between. This is slightly longer than Battlehost events (2,000 points at 2.5 hours), and depending on the type of army each player has, it may be a challenge to complete each game within the allowed time.

If your game goes to time, you are asked to finish the turn your're on, or if that will take more than 5 minutes, then "dice down" will be called. Depending on where you are at in your game, an early finish can greatly affect the victory conditions and the outcome.

So my comment about this is to please try to do all you can to finish as many turns as possible. It is part of respecting your opponent. Some players like to take their time to consider their moves. Which is absolutely fine. However, with the time constraints of tournament play, the ability to quickly make decisive decisions is one of the measures of success.

A while ago I did a blog on Tips and Tricks for Tournament Players. The take-away is that by doing some preparation in the lead up to the event, you can save yourself game time on the day. 


Now, onto the Death lists! There are only three Death armies coming to NICON so this will be short and sweet.



Grand Alliance: Death



Andrew L - Tomb Kings

The General
Settra the Imperishable - THE Tomb King.  His command ability is pretty epic: so long as Andy holds out his hand and utters 'War' in a commanding tone, he can add 1 to all hit rolls for Death units within 18" of him in the combat phase, and add 1 to wound rolls if they are also Deathrattle. This is a huge force multiplier, and makes Settra a priority target. But that's not all he does. All Mummy heroes within 18" can also use their command abilities. He has a prayer that allows a Deathrattle unit to fly and double their movement distance. He has an extra wound ignore ability on a 5+. If he charges his damage 3 weapon gets an extra two attacks. And if he is slain, the unit that killed him takes D6 mortal wounds. The downside is, Andrew can't kneel during the game or he loses. Settra does not kneel!

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Andy has two other Tomb Kings - one on foot and one on a Royal Warsphinx. This means extra command abilities  - one Skeleton unit can add 1 to hit, run and charge rolls. Another adds yet another +1 to wound rolls for Mummy and Deathrattle units. The Necrotect can add 3" to a units Movement, and allow his catapults to shoot twice. So, lets look at who these buffs can go on. Mostly, it's likely to be the chariots; +2 to hit, +2 to wound (re-rolling 1s), a 26" movement range, which can fly, and then add 1 to charge rolls and re-roll failed charge rolls. This might sound like Andy really wants to charge you with his chariots, and there is a reason for that. They double all their attacks when they charge. They have 5 wounds each, so assuming you can kill some of them, they also return one model per turn back to the unit thanks to the Icon Bearers. And then in the next turn a second chariot unit hits you. Glorious! 

Andy has his bases covered with fast moving shock troops (with good buffs), and his catapults, which reduce Bravery by 2 for battleshock tests. This will be devastating on some armies. A Necrosphynx and Royal Warsphinx to help deal with big gribblies, and which are both hard to kill due to halving all incoming wounds. Lastly, Prince Apophas. I am so delighted to see this guy in a tournament list that I'm not even going to cover him, just so that you will either go and look him up and learn about this awesome character, or you will let Andy surprise you with him on the day!

Brett LF - Nagash Deathmages

The General
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead - The Big Guy. The internet will tell you he is not viable at tournaments. I  disagree, even at Battlehost sized games. Perhaps I will to a blog about that later. Until then, let's look at what he does. His command ability allows all his units on the table to re-roll 1s for hit and save rolls, and everything is immune to battleshock. I've found the re-rolling ones is not to be underestimated, especially when his own armour save is 2+ with Mystic Shield. It makes Morghast very reliable. Nagash also does a lot of summoning. Another thing the internet will tell you sucks in Matched Play. Again, I beg to differ. I don't know what Brett is summoning with his 320 points but Nagash's ability to double what he can bring out to the table means that he can get units out very quickly, such as a full unit of 20 Grave Guard or 40 Skeleton Warriors to swamp an objective. he can summon heroes if needed. We do know, however, that he cannot summon a Mourngul, which is 400 points. remember that he can react to his opponents deployment and summon some hard hitting units where needed. Seems like a small thing but it's not.

 That besides, you should probably just read his warscroll as there is a lot there. Some nasty spells. And he can use the spells for all other Death wizards on the table, friend or foe.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Brett's battleline consists of zombies. If units of 10 looks unflattering, just consider that Brett can combine them into a unit of 40 in turn 1. Then, with the Necromancer and Corpse Cart buffs, they have +4 to hit rolls, re-rolling 1s. They have +3 to wound rolls, pile in and attack twice in the combat phase, are immune to battleshock, and can gain D6 models back each turn (more sometimes). The Corpse Cart reduces enemy casting rolls, while the Mortis Engines do the same and give a bonus to his own side's casting. Casters are in for a bad time against Nagash. The Mortis Engines also release their once-per-game ability that heals friendly units D3 wounds each within range and damages enemies by D3 within range. Pop both at once could be nasty. Morghast give Nagash yet another +1 to cast when he summons. So now he is at +5, more if he finds Arcane terrain. Only advice I have is watch out for the Morghast, and whatever he summons. Nagash can be hard to kill, and zombies will be hard to move. 


Tim L - Deathlords

The General
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead - As per Brett's army. Nagash also gets to use Arkhan's spell, and Arkhan gets to use Nagash's spells. I have 300 points of summoning, so not enough for a Mourngul, but enough to get tricky with objectives and/or chaff or another hammer unit, depending on the opponent. Summoning 10 Skeleton Warriors is nice, being able to stop some Stronehorn or other such nastiness from charging Nagash directly. Again, flexibility is the key.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Four units of Morghast, which become Battleline units as my army is Deathlords allegiance. I like the concept more than the army's capabilities, but I came second with this list at Warhost last year in Wellington, so it has its surprises. I also had a lot of luck! Keys to the list are judicious summoning (as mentioned), Nagash kicking some ass and not dying, and Arkhan's Curse of Years triggering full DEATHMODE, which statistically has about a 15% chance of happening each time it is cast. The downside is that Morghasts in units of two are not ideal, and if I can't get first turn against an alpha list, I do not have the benefit of Nagash's command ability or summoned chaff. 

 Also, the metagame has moved on from last year, and some of these new armies will wreak me!

 I am not playing to compete this year, but I always love fielding this army for pure Cool Factor.

_______________________________________________

More to come this week with the Destruction and Chaos List Overviews!

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Thursday, May 18, 2017

NICON 2017 - Grand Alliance: Order List Overview

As is tradition, it's time to look at the army list overview for the upcoming NICON event in a few weeks time. For previous events, players have enjoyed these little write-ups. They also serve a useful function for newer players, or those without all the Battletomes.

Sometimes it's hard just by looking at a model list to determine exactly what you are in for. There are so many rules that interact with each other in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar though synergies, or extra allegiance abilities, that it is useful to unpack each list a little bit. I am by no means as skilled as the Dark and Mysterious 'Jim', but hopefully I can help out in some way. I only have time to do this in phases, so I'm going to start with Order and cover the other Grand Alliances in the coming weeks.

So, here is the NICON 2017 List Guide!






The Tournament Metagame

The first thing to appreciate about this Matched Play event is that it uses five out of the six battleplans out of the General's Handbook, randomly determined before each round. This means that win conditions are objectives based, with slight variations in how they are captured, held and scored on depending on the battleplan. Hardened veterans will be familiar with the subtleties and will have optimised their armies to take advantage of this - high movement, plenty of scoring units, durability, and high damage output all do well. If you need to brush up on your win conditions, I have prepared a document to assist you. Read carefully so that you aren't surprised on the day!
Other army elements that you often see are 'chaff' units, to stop first turn charge or alpha strike armies, fast armies to counter gunlines, gunlines to counter chaff. A mix of all the above is where we are headed. Magic is going to be a strong element at NICON, as are mortal wound damage (which ignore armour).

Newer armies such as Kharadron Overlords, Blades of Khorne and Tzeentch Arcanites are worth looking into due to the new allegiance abilities that can surprise you on the table if you are not ready to face them.

So, now to the individual lists!



Grand Alliance: Order



Alex C - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. His spell will let Alex set up his Wyldwoods quickly.

The Battalions
  • Household - This one contains the Treelord Ancient, Branchwych and some of the Tree Revenants. Enemy units within 3" of these guys cannot retreat! This gives them some fantastic crowd-control, and stops objective jumping once in combat. These units also gain Bravery when they are near enemies.
  • Free Spirits - Contains the Spirit of Durthu and three units of Kurnoth Hunters. Allows these units to make an extra move in the Hero phase towards a chosen unit.
  • Gnarlroot Wargrove - This requires the Household battalion, and includes all the remaining units. It allows one of her spellcasters to cast an extra spell, and give them access to a spell that brings back models to units.

The Army
First of many Sylvaneth lists! The strategies will be similar, involving teleporting between summoned Sylvaneth Wyldwood. This will give them mobility to move between objectives at crucial times and to get to key targets. This list is very much a 'mixed arms' approach, always a good choice for dealing with a changing metagame.


Amy B - Sylvaneth

The General
Alarielle the Everqueen, the Realm-god of Ghyran herself - her Command Ability allows all Sylvaneth on the table to re-roll wound rolls. Luckily, she can only do this once per battle!

The Battalions
  • Household - This one contains the Treelord Ancient, Branchwych and some of the Tree Revenants. Enemy units within 3" of these guys cannot retreat! This gives them some fantastic crowd-control, and stops objective jumping once in combat. These units also gain Bravery when they are near enemies.
  • Gnarlroot Wargrove - This requires the Household battalion, and includes all the remaining units. It allows one of the spellcasters (other than Alarielle) to cast an extra spell, and give them access to a spell that brings back models to units.

The Army
The Gnarlroot Wargrove spell works well in tandem with Alarielle's spell, which also focuses on healing. Dryads and Tree-revenants are the melee troops, and the latter can teleport to Sylvaneth Wylwoods or a table edge with their Waypipes. Nine Kurnoth Hunters add some decent durable ranged damage. There are Four Wyldwoods on the list, enough for up to 12 Citadel Wood bases - more than enough to overgrow the battlefield, which can slow armies down, and provide teleportation for most of the troops onto objectives.

A very well crafted army for the metagame, and I am absolutely delighted at seeing Alarielle on the table. She is a hefty chunk of points, and needs to make it back by keeping units alive and kicking ass, but it's one of the great things about games this size - seeing all the big toys!


Brook F - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. 

The Battalions
  • Forest Folk - Consists of a Branchwraith and three units of Dryads. It allows the battalion to teleport to near any Wyldwood in his territory (9" from enemy). Another good one to move between objectives to attack or defend, and for getting out of trouble.

The Army
Brook's army focuses on the melee capabilities of the Treelords, Kurnoth Hunters, and some good old fashioned Tree Kin! Some durable units in there with one or two spell tricks up her sleeve. Delighted to have Brook along to join us with her dad for a weekend of gaming!


Craig T - Aelves

The General
Anointed - This Phoenix Temple leader has a command ability that allows fellow Phoenix Temple units within 8" to re-roll failed wound rolls in the combat phase. This will apply to the Phoenix Guard unit and to the two other Anointed flying around on Flamespyre Phoenixes.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Craig's army has a mix of different aelf units - Darkshards, Executioners, Phonenix Guard, Glade Guard,and Wildwood Rangers. The last few units benefit from the Glade Guard battle standard hero, which gives them a wound ignore on a 4+ if they are near. The Phoneixes will be a handful, with a 4+ universal save, and the ability to come back to life with full wounds! And before you ask, this has not been FAQ'd to cost Reinforcement Points (yet) so they get to come back for free. Wiley opponents will find ways to "not-quite-kill" them to avoid them being resurrected onto objectives. definitely the units to watch out for. Some other decent mixed arms capability in the infantry.


Dan S - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. His spell will let Dan set up his Wyldwoods quickly.

The Battalions
  • Forest Folk - Consists of a Branchwraith and four units of Dryads (they get an extra due to the Winterleaf battalion). It allows the battalion to teleport to near any Wyldwood in his territory (9" from enemy). Another good one to move between objectives to attack or defend, and for getting out of trouble.
  • Winterleaf Wargrove - This requires the Forest Folk battalion, and includes all the remaining units. It allows special deployment around Ophidian Archways, which will not come in to play at NICON, as we are not using terrain warscrolls. Dryads make an additional attack when they roll a 6+ to hit. Best of all, all Sylvaneth units can re-roll hit and wound rolls against Chaos units. Thhis battalion also allows Dan to take a non-Sylvaneth Order unit, which will gain the Sylvaneth allegiance. Dan has chosen a Celestial Battlemage on Hurricuanum...

The Army
The inclusion of the Hurricanum is a major set piece. This is going to be a huge force multiplier, as it adds +1 to hit for units up to 10" away (decreases as it takes damage). This makes his Dryad's extra attack trigger on a 5+, or less when combined with any other abilities.

A total of 12 Kurnoth Hunters with Greatbows will be potent ranged support for the Dryads, and are going to lay out a lot of pain. Dan will make good use of allegiance abilities and spells, so also expect some movement shenanigans, and to get through anywhere between 6 and 18 Citadel Wood bases to slow you down!


David C - Duardin (Fyreslayers and Kharadron Overlords)

The General
Auric Runesmiter on Magmadroth - no special command ability, but some other neat abilities. The usual Magmadroth magma attacks, and a Runic Empowerment of a nearby Fyreslayer unit, allowing re-rolls to hit and wound. There is also a once-per-battle ability that grants re-rolls to wound rolls to all Fyreslayers within 10".

The Battalions
  • Forge Bretheren - Contains the general and three units of Auric Hearthguard. Wound rolls for these units increase in rend when they roll a six. The Hearthguard nearby can grant an extra armour save for nearby units.
  • Iron Sky Squadron - Contains the two Frigates and three Arkanaut Companies. Allows the Akanauts to re-roll run and charge rolls when they disembark. Duardin with mobility! The Frigates get an extra attack for all their missile weapons in the first battle round.
The Army
An addition to the above, David has Endrinriggers and Thunderers, an Aether-Khemist for extra buffs, and some Fyreslayer footsloggers. I love the theme, and the mixed arms flexibility of the list.



James C - Wanderers

The General
Wayfinder - the command ability allows Wanderers within 18" to use his Bravery (8). Much more usefully, if those units roll a 1 on Battleshock tests, they can immediately shoot. Though hopefully there are enough models left to do something decent. The downside is that this ability will never work on heroes.

The Battalions
  • Waystone Pathfinders - Consists of everything in the army except Orion. It allows the battalion to deploy in their first Movement Phase (which unfortunately means missing Command Abilities and spells). They can deploy along any table edge (9" from enemies). additionally, one enemy unit within 12" of the Nomad Prince in the Hero Phase can be shot by all units in the battalion as if it was the shooting phase. This could potentially delete units, so be careful about being close to the Nomad Prince!
The Army
A good mix of ranged attacks, melee units and mobility. The risk with range heavy armies is not being able to contest objectives, so if James can balance holding the line with his Glade Guard, Waywatchers and Wild Riders, supported by his ranged units (who can shoot into and out of combat), and canny deployment, it should make for really strategic games.

Orion makes a return to the Mortal Realms, with some abilities that adds reliability to charges. There are several other heroes to add other benefits to the army, including the Spellweaver, who can bring models back to units.

Very satisfying to see players making good use of the 'new' Aelf armies, and I'm hope James' loyalty to the cause will be rewarded with a full army release sometime soon!


James M - Aelves (Wanderers and Order Draconis)

The General
Nomad Prince - the command ability allows Wanderers within 8" to re-roll hit rolls of 1. Could have a good impact over the course of the game given how many shots this could equate to.

The Battalions
  • Waystone Pathfinders - Same deal as James C's above. Good flexible deployment, and the extra round of shooting for the poor target who gets close enough to the Nomad Prince.
  • Dragonlord Host - Consists of the Dragonlord and two units of Dragon Blades. Allows these units to make an extra move once per game in the Hero phase, potentially allowing them to charge during the Hero phase if they are close enough. The Dragonlord may also be able to get an extra shot with the Dragonfire during the Hero phase.
The Army
James M has a great mix of speedy cavarly to contest objectives, a hard-hitting monster, and tons of ranged support. Multiple threats with mobility and the ability to react to his opponents deployment should serve it well. Three Waywatchers boos the shooting and should allow him to deal with moderate amounts of chaff, clearing the road for his knights to charge.


James O - Duardin (Fyreslayers and Kharadron Overlords)

The General
Auric Runefather - allows re-roll of Battleshock tests for Fyrweslayer units within 20". handy for the durability of his rank and file. The Weapon-breaker ability can really upset big units that go after the Runefather. He has a Bravery debuff, and can put out mortal wounds to units around him.

The Battalions
  • Lords of the Lodge - Contains all the Fyreslayer heroes except the Runeson, and includes one unit of Hearthguard Berzerkers. Once per battle, he can add bonuses to the Priority roll equal to the number of heroes in this battalion left on the battlefield. Extremely useful to ensure he gets the initiative when he needs it. Additionally, the Hearthguard can pile and and attack twice each combat phase when they are near a hero.
  • Warrior Kinband - Contains Auric Runeson and three units of Vulkite Berzerkers. It allows the Berzerkers to shoot twice with their axes when they are near the Runeson. Additionally, they can pile in an extra D3 inches when they are near each other. 
The Army
The Fyreslayers have become much more competitive due to a points drop earlier this year. James is supplementing them with some of the brand new Kharadron Overlords, which will no doubt increase his ability to contest objectives, and give him some much needed ranged support. He is bringing along a Frigate and an Ironclad to help transport them around. Absolutely delighted to see these on the table. The only downside is that as he is taking a mixed army, he will have to default to the Grand Alliance: Order allegiance abilities instead of the extra toys available in a Pure Kharadron force. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing how these guys play!


Jared P - Stormcast Eternals

The General
Lord Celestant on Dracoth - grants immunity to battleshock within a whopping 24". There is now a whole lot of customising Jared can do with allegiance abilities now, but I will imagine this guy will be a combat beast.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Jared's Stormcast army has a heavy melee focus, but there are two units of Judicators to plug away at chaff and chip away wounds. Watch out for the Fulminators, who will wreck almost anything they hit, and the Retributors, who dish out mortal wounds. There is a Drakesworn Templar on Stardrake giving him a nice big assault unit, a Lord-relictor for a range of buffs, a Heraldor for some damage (good use against Sylvaneth), and the Vexillor, who can teleport one of his units. I love the Vexillor in tournament play for the objective contest, but also for assassination if needed.


Jarrod B - Seraphon

The General
Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur - command ability allows a Saurus Hero within 20" to add 2 to its attacks for the combat phase. This could also be applied to the Carnosaur itself, whose jaws do 3 damage each... The other notable ability is the Bloodroar, which can cause models to flee from battleshock, whether they fail or not - devastating for multi-wound models.

The Battalions
  • Shadowstrike Starhost - Contains Skink Starpriest, Chameleon Skinks and Ripperdactyl Riders. Allows them to re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1 against a specified unit. Additionally, the Ripperdactyls can swoop onto the table during the game up to 3" of the enemy, giving them a combat bonus in the next combat phase.
  • Bloodclaw Starhost - Contains the general and mounted Saurus heroes, as well as the Saurus Knights and infantry. Allows all these units to make an additional attack with their Jaws and Shields - drastically increasing the combat prowess. Additionally, all the Heroes get to use their Command Abilities! 
The Army
A relatively slow-moving army core, but a very capable melee force. This army has some really nice mobile units and some tank-like Bastiladons. The Saurus ave well armoured too, so the hope is they can assault and hold objectives while picking off key targets. Great to see an Oldblood Army!


Marlin F - Fyreslayers

Note - it has been brough to my attention that the Hearthguard units are not battleline because the army does not have the Fyreslayer allegiance. Marlin is in the process of revising this list.

 The General
Auric Runemaster - no command ability, but turns his Hearthguard units into battleline. He has some cool abilities based around seeking gold, which will give a minor buff to a unit of his opponent, but makes all his units much more effective against that unit. 

The Battalions
  • Lords of the Lodge - Contains all the Fyreslayer heroes, and includes one unit of Hearthguard Berzerkers. Once per battle, he can add bonuses to the Priority roll equal to the number of heroes in this battalion left on the battlefield. Extremely useful to ensure he gets the initiative when he needs it. Additionally, the Hearthguard can pile and and attack twice each combat phase when they are near a hero.
  • Warrior Kinband - Contains Auric Runeson and three units of Vulkite Berzerkers. It allows the Berzerkers to shoot twice with their axes when they are near the Runeson. Additionally, they can pile in an extra D3 inches when they are near each other. 
The Army
Another army that has benefitted form the points drop, and Marlin has supplemented them with some Irondrakes for some ranged support, and some air support from the Ironweld Arsenal. The sheer amount of heroes will post a big problem for his opponents in some battleplans - the Grimwrath Twins will surely forge some legends at NICON!


Nick J - Mixed Order (Darkling Coven, Scourge Privateers and their Slaves!)

The General
Black Ark Fleetmaster - an inexpensive choice points-wise, his Command Ability will allow one Privateer unit to re-roll all their failed hit rolls. This will be the Scourgerunner Chatiots.

The Battalions
  • Thrall Warhost - Contains the Sorceresses and all the infantry units. Nick will pick one of the Socerecess to be the Warhost master for each game, likely the one on the Black Dragon due to her mobility. In each Hero phase, one of those infantry units within 12" of the master can charge and then pile in and attack. In the Hero phase. This doesn't stop them charging or attacking later in the turn either. So watch out for this on the Black Guard and Executioners, as they could very quickly roll up a battle line.
The Army
Nick has a good number of bodies on the table to set up decent board control. The Helstorm Rocket Battery will combo with the Celestial Hurricuanum to make it more reliable. the Grimwrath Berzerker will be a tank like normal. A nice balanced list, with fast elements, shooting support, and force multipliers. I expect Nick will surprise some with his artillery support and Thrall abilities!


Rex F - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - As per the comments from Dan's list - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. His spell will help set up Wyldwoods quickly.

The Battalions
  • Household - This one contains the Treelord Ancient, Branchwych and some of the Tree Revenants. Enemy units within 3" of these guys cannot retreat! This gives them some fantastic crowd-control, and stops objective jumping once in combat. These units also gain Bravery when they are near enemies.
  • Free Spirits - Contains the Spirit of Durthu and three units of Kurnoth Hunters. Allows these units to make an extra move in the Hero phase towards a chosen unit.
  • Gnarlroot Wargrove - This requires the Household and Free Spirits battalions, and includes all the remaining units. It allows one of her spellcasters to cast an extra spell, and give them access to a spell that brings back models to units.
The Army
Similar to Amy's army, but with a Spirit of Durthu to add some combat punch, and some extra movement abilities. Rex has opted to include a Loremaster as his Order unit option, which gives him access to a spell that allows a model to re-roll all failed hit and wound rolls - this will be brutal on the Spirit of Durthu! Rex has armed some of his Kurnoth Hunters with melee weapons, so he will have a stronger combat focus that the other Sylvaneth lists. Movement shenanigans and summoning woods are taken as granted!


Shalom W - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - As per the others - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". 

The Battalions
  • Free Spirits - Contains the Spirit of Durthu and three units of Kurnoth Hunters. Allows these units to make an extra move in the Hero phase towards a chosen unit.
The Army
Similar to Amy's army, but with a Spirit of Durthu to add some combat punch, and some extra movement abilities. Expect a lot of trees being summoned, some durable support from the Hunters, and of course, heaps of healing! Watch for the Spirit of Durthu's ability to shield Alarielle from harm, giving her more turns to make her presence felt.


Shaun B - Stormcast Eternals

The General
Lord Celestant on Dracoth - As per Jared's list. This guy will be a beast! His command ability is really nice for his multi-wound infantry.

The Battalions
  • Lords of the Storm - Contains all the heroes. Gives all his units 1 Bravery when near one of the heroes. There is also a special mortal wound attack against a nearby enemy unit when three heroes are near each other. Situational but could come in handy!
  • Hallowed Knights Warrior Chamber - Contains all units in the army. Gives them an extra save against magic spell effects (5+). They add 1" to run and charge rolls. And lastly, when a Hero dies, they can get a round of combat in before they are removed.
The Army
This is a full toolbelt. Very good mixed arms selection with solid, fast melee units (Fulminators and Palladors), Liberators to hold objectives, and Raptors for mobile strike team. The heroes add a lot, with TWO Heraldors, the long range Venator, and some top-notch defence buffs from the two Castellants. Shaun has shown he knows how to play to the objectives, so this is a threat list!


Stefan M - Stormcast Eternals

The General
Lord Celestant on Dracoth - As per the other SCE lists!

The Battalions
  • Hammerstrike Force - Contains two of the Paladin units (probably Retributors?) and the big unit of Prosecutors. The Paladins will deploy form the Celestial Realm during a movement phase, 6" away from the Prosecutors. This can place them quite close to enemy units! If you manage to kill the Prosecutors first, they can only set up 9" away from the enemy. the Paladins also get +1 to wound when they land 12" away from Prosecutors.
  • Celestial Vindicators Warrior Chamber - Contains all the units. It allows them to re-roll hit rolls of 1 if their unit loses any models. Certain weapons can re-roll all hit rolls. There is also an additional command ability available for the Lord Celestant, adding 1 attack to specific unit weapons.
The Army
Another great mixed arms list. There is a focus on missile attacks, and Stefan has brought along the mighty Celestant Prime, which is a mid-late game clean up tool. 15 Paladins will form the bulk of the melee punch.


Thomas L - Seraphon

The General
Slann Starmaster - command ability gives units within 10" the ability to fly and re-roll failed save rolls in the shooting phase. The Slann also has a selection of buffs to macig or movement or combat.

The Battalions
  • Eternal Starhost - Contains the Eternity Warden and Saurus Guard. Gives the Saurus extra save near the warden. If they don't move, their polearms gain D3 damage in the combat phase!
The Army
This army has Kroak, who will become the center of Thomas' plans. The guy has amazing spells which can do a ton of damage anywhere on the board. Armies who can reach him or pour enough shooting into him early will do well. An Engine of the Gods will provide some other up front damage, with some sneaky Skinks and Chameleons to get some board control. Magical aspects of the list will come in handy against the magic metagame. Thomas also has a decent sized reinforcement pool, and could summon heroes or units to help with objective play or as needed to secure his battleline.

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A massive thanks to out sponsors for NICON - Mighty Ape and Gaming DNA!




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Monday, April 24, 2017

Hobby From The Sidelines

I think I may have picked the wrong year to go 'hobby-lite'.

In January this year I started a Masters Degree, and it has been a very busy four months already! Would you believe, the whole endeavour has proved a bane to my hobbying. I've only painted one or two models in that time, which feels like nothing compared to the back-log of projects I have waiting for me.

Not only that, at least three new armies have dropped for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, each one significantly changing the meta-game, and I have no idea how they play! It's the first time I have had my finger "off the pulse" and it feels weird.

So I've been doing what I can to stay involved, because there is so much exciting stuff going on with AOS in New Zealand right now, and some very cool news coming out of GW HQ.

One of the things I have been neglecting is this blog. So now that I've just finished a round of assignments, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on what I have managed to get up to in the world of wargaming this year.

Tournaments

On reflection, it's actually been a full year with tournaments. Mostly because I committed to them last year, before I got busy!

I helped run ValleyCon in January. I ran Over The Top in February. I attended and won a few prizes as Equinox in March. Attendance numbers have been growing and growing, and a tight cadre of regulars have formed. Even more exciting, there are new faces at each event.

In June (Auckland) is NICON 2017, where we have 37 signed up players. This is by far and away the best attended event yet, and shows just how far the competitive scene has come along in twelve months - we had eight attend NICON last year. I am hugely excited for this, even though it looks like I will not be able to play - with so many new players and brand new armies, it is going to be just as awesome to watch from the sidelines.

NZ's first teams event, the NZAOS Team Championship, has just been announced for September. This will be held in Hamilton, and has already seen some very good interest! 

And lastly, there will be our first Masters event in December.  

All this, and there are a ton of events that I have to miss out on.



Rankings Website

One of the things I have managed to get going this year is a rankings website for our local players: WarhammerNZ.com! I have got it to a minimum point I am happy with, but the plan for next year is to kick it up a few notches.



The Oldhammer Collection

With thanks to the bargain-hunters in my gaming group, TradeMe and eBay have been scoured for items for my growing collection of 4th Edition Undead.

These models are from the era that I started getting into the hobby. I spent a lot of time wishing I had these models - my worn out 4th Edition Undead Army Book is a testament to that. And I have many more models yet to reveal.



You might recognise this Gary Morley sculpt. The head is the original one. The story goes that the Marketing dept at the time wanted something more skeletal at the last minute, so he made a joke one, expecting them to reject it and go for the original. They didn't. However, one or two pre-production heads made it out into the wild...



Latest acquisitions include these guys:




I'm not yet sure what my end goal is. I don't think I will field these on the table, but they will be painted and will have pride of place in my collection display. I plan to use the old 'red era' colouring used by 'Eavy Metal back in the day, rather than going for gritty and realistic. I can't wait until I have some time to get to this project. Perhaps I will do the odd model.


Reading

The Black Libary has released some absolutely cracking novels for AOS this year. Dare I say it, some of them have exceeded the quality and scope on the Old World setting. The most notable of these is The Undying King, by Josh Reynolds. This is a sacred tome only available to buy from Warhammer World in store. I hope they make it available to the wider public someday, because it adds so much to the depth of the Realm of Death. In a Heart-of-Darkness-style descent into the depths of the Shyish, a poor unsuspecting Rotbringer army is drawn into the horror that is the Undying King - a god who is assumed to be long defeated, but who turns out to be anything but. The mortals remaining the Realm are drawn into the machinations of the Mortarchs, who though divided in their scheming, are united under a sinister will.



Another notable read which truly exceeded my expectation was Pantheon. Those of you who need a bit of an 'aelf fix', who maybe miss Teclis a bit by now, might find this an interesting read!


Gaming

Outside of tournaments, I do manage to get the odd game in during the monthly AOS day at our local gaming store. My preference is for Open Play, and we do have a Path to Glory campaign running. Most players are just as busy as me though, with a few exceptions. It's nice to take models that don't normally see the table.


Watching Warhammer TV

Rob, Eddie and the team have created something very special. Something that has been missing from GW's offerings for a long time - community.

The jewel in the crown is their Twitch Channel, where I can watch Warhammer played on TV while I study. 

To everyone involved - THANK YOU. I may not catch every broadcast, but I never miss a show.


Getting Excited About Rumours

So, Shadespire. Super excited for this. It looks like what X-Wing Miniatures Game should have been - objective based, so as not to get stale, and with some gate-way hobbying in the form of a smaller scale warband project. The recently-announced Deathrattle warband has me very excited indeed. Not just for this new game, but also for a potential AOS Battletome.

I think I spend way too much time day-dreaming about the potential for this army. GW, if you are reading this, hit me up. I have some amazing ideas for you.


Hamilton Immortals Painting Competition

Oh yeah, I ran this too this year! The full gallery can be found here, but here is the winning entry:





So, it appears after all this that I have in fact managed to fit a lot in this year after all. Even if I don't have much to show for it physically, I've certainly been a part of the world, and look forward to the AOS story-line resuming this year.

Now, I just need to learn what these new rules are. Does anyone know what a Skyfire is?




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Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Equinox 2017 Age of Sigmar - List Overview

Welcome back to the blog, readers! I apologise again at my lack of blogs. Study continues, and there is a lot going on behind the scenes to get this year's tournaments together. It's been wonderful seeing the hobby grow over the past year, and the number of new events, new players and attendance is a very good indicator of things to come.

 I will do a separate post about it at some point, but we also have National Rankings up and running, so do go check that out.

 This weekend is the Equinox tournament, run by the Auckland City Guard.

 The Warhammer: Age of Sigmar tournament is being run by Dan S., and has a strong hobby focus. If you are reading this before the weekend, there are still spots available! Check out the Player's Pack for more information.

 As is tradition, the enigmatic Jim has been invited to look at the army lists of those coming to Equinox, and his analysis is below.

 See you all there! You can catch live event coverage on the Age of Sigmar New Zealand Facebook page.



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Ok gents sorry about the late list write up but here is my take on Equinox 2017.

Andy

Andrew is running the revised/nerfed (but not neutered) Tomb Kings.  Tomb Kings have it all; great threat range, great damage and great defensive capabilities and Andy is bringing all of them.  Look for him to use his small unit of Chariots to break away flak lines before rushing in with his large unit of Chariots and a Necrosphinx which will lay the hurt down.  Do not underestimate the damage output of his Chariots - although they don’t have rend they can produce a ridiculous number of wounds when buffed by Settra, 2x Tomb Kings and a Liche Priest. This unit can easily wipe out two 30 man units of infantry in a single charge.  The only caveat to this army is the lack of flak lines and the lack of defence against gunlines so I think Andrew may fall victim to the shifting meta.  Still has a real chance if he avoids some unfavourable match ups.

Dan M.

Perfect example of the two wave approach to Age of Sigmar.  Hits you first turn with a unit that you have to deal with that’s both very killy and has 30 wounds, which normally forces you to bring out the big guns to deal with them.  This is when he hits your big guns with enough Daemonette goodness to rip apart your killy units exposed by the first wave.  The two waves are backed up by two main buffs; the ability to pile in twice and +1 to hit from the generals ability.  For players who are not used to units who can pile in twice this can easily catch you off guard – if your second line of troops are within 3-4 inches of the front of your flak units then he can wipe out your flak before piling in to your secondary line of troops.  Good contender for first place but may have some bad match ups.


Daniel S.

Daniel's playing one of the harder lists at the tournament with the fairly standard Sylvaneth list which has been adjusted a bit for the current Meta.  The move to a greater number of Kurnoth Hunters will make this list a nightmare for anyone relying on specific parts of their army to be able to function as a whole and with the ability to skirt them around the map anyone without 24+ inch threat range will find them very hard to deal with.  Lucky (for us) it looks like Daniel is not playing due to numbers which is unfortunate for him – but does make way for a softer list to win the tournament.

Fraser

Good to see at least one alpha strike list still in the Meta.  Fraser hits you fast and hard and any army lacking flak lines to put up in front will have a very hard time dealing with his army.  Gordrakk is a beast who I have personally seen wipe out 2k points by himself.  If he’s not buffing himself and charging turn one then he’s buffing the entire battalion that encompasses the rest of the army and still charging you turn one.  If Gordrakk goes down early however this becomes an uphill battle fast for Fraser and with the amount of gun lines being brought there is bound to be one that will get lucky and down him early.

Geoff

Fear the Moonclan! Geoff is bringing up the model count coming into Equinox.  Not the most killy army but has enough artillery to snipe important list components before taking objectives and holding up the rest.  Moonclan Grot Shamans are excellent spell casters with their +2 to cast when eating mushrooms and with an excellent spell to cast these are a simple choice at 60 points a piece – Geoff really brings this home by bringing three of them to ensure those rolls of 1 when eating mushrooms don’t affect those critical Mystic Shields or Curse of the Bad Moons going off.

James McG.

I really like James McG's list, Dragon Lords + Dragon Blades battalion is an excellent battalion and when combined with the Forest Dragon's ability to have units that its in contact with hit last this could really hurt lists such as the stone horn alpha strikes.  Way Watchers are good battle line and Sisters of the Thorn and Executioners are both good units in their own right, and James takes the cost effective Mistweaver Saih  as the Mystic Shield spellcaster to combo with the Sisters.  Love the toolkit, love the combination of range, defence, offence and manoeuvrability.  James is lacking a bit of flak to throw in front of units and hopefully learns to let go of Dragon Blades that may be required to be thrown under the bus against certain lists (cavalry can take up a lot of room and with the high movement make for excellent blockers when required). Look forward to a good showing by this list.

James O.

James’s list isn't looking too bad but unfortunately has fallen prey to the player's pack requirements of not being able to manipulate the initiative roll.  This is a major setback to the list and may be enough to cost him a few games.  I look forward to seeing more of the stunties in mixed order lists but the jury is still out to how much effect the change in points will have in a pure Fyreslayer list.

James P.

My list runs enough artillery to deal with issues then combines as many combat buffs as possible. Long Beards enable me to use multiple command abilities which means I can give units +1 attacks against a unit, up to -2 rend from Runepriests, +1 to wound from warden and +1 to hit and wound from Ungrim. This makes for units of Slayers that will definitely hurt with 4 attacks each hitting on 2s wounding on 2s with -2 rend.  If slayers go down early then other units can be buffed but to not as great effect.  Artillery definitely needs to carry their weight for me to do well and I require them to pump out the main portion of wounds that I need to deal.

Jared

The new Stormcast Eternals! I really don’t know how this list is looking tbh because I have not perused the book yet.  The new rules around mounts may make several units that we see in this list more viable but we will soon see how much of a difference coming down 9 inches away makes to the SCE units rather than being able to drop them into combat.

Jim McP.

Jim has a nice amount of flak to veil his hard hitting larger units behind, however James may be the victim of a changing Meta.  Lots of gun line based armies at the tournament will make for hard opponents for James.  James is however becoming quite the NZ tournament veteran and knows how to play objectives – we will have to wait and see if this is enough to overcome the meta shift.

Julien

The Chaos Undivided lists got a major boost with the introduction of Sky Fires.  Julien will most likely utilise the generals ability to give a unit +1 to hit to combine with the shaman being nearby to make them generate D3 mortal wounds on a hit roll of 4+ and with a range of 24 inches with a 14 inch move this makes the unit incredibly hard to deal while they destroy your backline.  On top of this, the unit is actually very good in close combat with re rolls to hit and wound and their demonic mount able to pump out decent amounts of rend 1 wounds.  To back this up Julien has brought Skarbrand with Sayl to really threaten your lines, he will wait till he is angry then fly him at you with Sayl's magic to wreak havoc.  The list has a few weird elements in it with the Gutter Runners etc but I hear Julien is an experienced 40k player and with a few adjustments to this list will start to easily make it up the rankings in the NZ AOS space.  The list is still on par with anything at this tournament however with no truly hard lists being shown yet in NZ so I expect him to do well with a real chance of taking it out.

Marlin

Marlin's list is a bit more objective focused with larger units of Dryads to issue forward and block and contest his opponents.  Marlin is also bringing Drycha, which is a nice addition to his army, with the relative amount of Dryads that Marlin is taking – Dryhca can sit behind the firing off her ranged attacks to dish out a considerable amount of wounds to larger infantry based units.

Ron

Ron's bringing out the Ironjawz again to trample over his foes.  Looking forward to seeing the Maw Crusha back in action – Ron will be relying on this and 2 units of Brutes to bring down the hurt on his opponents.  The Balewind Vortex is an interesting addition and will be interesting to see how it works out for him (long range Foot of Gork could really get lucky and win him a few games) so will be interesting to see how this list competes.

Tim

Tim is playing Nagash how he should be played – as the Lord of Summoning.  Tim's list only contains Nagash and three units of skeletons, with the rest of his points is reserved for summoning. Tim has a large assortment of different units that he can summon and really knows how to play objectives – think of it like a SCE army but he gets to change whats coming down.  He can and will summon the 900 remaining points in one turn with ease, placing them in strategic locations around the battlefield.  He has up to +4 to cast to summon and can cast 7 spells per turn – if he fails a casting spell he will just attempt to summon a different unit instead.  Really fun list to play and play against looking forward to seeing it on the battlefield.

Tristan

Last but not least the other dispossessed player Tristan.  Tristan’s list is very similar to mine and who would of thought the only double ups in special characters brought to the tournament would be Belegar and Ungrim! Tristan's army plays very similar to mine but has the advantage of combining all of his units into 2 battalions.  Unfortunately for me however I have to face Tristan in the first round and this small advantage of being able to decide who goes first might be enough to tip the scales in his favour.
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