In my excitement to tell the world about Skirmish 2012, I neglected to add in Flames of War into the tournaments listed. There is already a large and growing fanbase for this game in Scotland, which will have the opportunity to take part in the only Scottish heat for Flames of War Tournament Series 2012.
Details are still being negotiated, but it is hoped this will become the premier Flames of War event in Scotland each year.
If you don’t already know, the new tournament rules set for Warmachine/Hordes has just been released. With several new scenarios and some modifications to the existing structure; it is going to add a new dimension to tournament play.
You can get the rules from the Privateer Press website, under the Organised Play section. Or you can just hit my handy link and get whisked off to the page directly. You will need to scroll right to the very bottom, where the update has been placed.
Well as I mentioned in a previous post, Livingston Battleground were starting up a Friday night session. This meant that we could play on Friday and leave the game up and running for the Saturday session. First thing that sprang to mind was Unbound, 150pt of mass mayhem and bloodshed. As not even I have that many models (yet), let alone any of the players in the area; we will leave that for later.
So 100pt, should be easy; right? Nah, it was a nightmare in the Nightmare Empire. First up, was which casters to run, of the ones I have in my collection; pDenny & pSkarre would be the best combo ever. Potential -7 DEF and ARM on feat turns, was a big influence to me starting the list with those two. I like to use iBodger, when making an army; though I do know most of the points costs by heart for Cryx. However it is limited in what it can show, which means some info is missed. Case in point was when I kept wondering, why I couldn’t take Nyss Hunters and Bloodgorgers. Nyss won’t work with Blighted models, in this case Bloodgorgers; so it was one or the other. So this left a hole in the army, that I really wanted something decent to fill it with. First thought – Skarre & Satyxis (+UA/Cptn), a quick plea out to the West Lothian Gaming Group on Facebook; yielded what I thought was a full unit of Satyxis I could borrow.
On going to pick them up, Tim only had a minimum unit; still a great thing when you have none of your own. So with a little readjustment, I borrowed Gerlak Slaughterborn as well to run with the Gorgers. So the final army was ready, but my Skarre/Denny plan had discovered by my opponent; though in fairness Denny/Skarre is THE ultimate match up for Cryx in my book.
Final 100pt Army
Last month Wrath was released, causing a stir among the players of Warmachine and Hordes. The first expansion to MkII, it gave players of Warmachine factions, a little more detail on new models and the continuing story of the Iron Kingdoms. In honor of this, I had organized a steamroller tournament; in which the winner would get their hands on a free copy of the book.
This was actually my first tournament ever, run by me in Worlds at War. Sadly I didn’t (and still don’t) have Pressganger status, so this couldn’t be called official. That didn’t stop it being a great event and day for all concerned. Of the 12 players booked in, 10 appeared; lists in hand ready to do battle. I used a piece of software called Dohyou 1.1.2 (though this is also a good program LostBlue), which made things easier; but a little more complicated.
Look at the concentration
Other than one problem with final round match ups, the day went really smoothly and ended within the timeframe I had hoped for. The biggest joy of running this event, was that we had 3 players, who had never played WM/H in competition. Sometimes it can be scary, but these guys did really well; winning a couple of games as well.
Deploying, ready for carnage!
The eventual winner, was Michael Murray; deserved winner with a demolishing 4 – 0 record for the day. Close second and third were Stephen McLeish and Tam Fullard; with Stuart Walker one of our first timers claimed the wooden spoon.
Despite my nerves, it was a good day; so roll on 27th August.
As you will have seen from the blog recently, things have been going a little crazy. First up we had the launch of Wrath, the new expansion to Warmachine MkII. Also building and painting models galore, over the last fortnight. Finally on Saturday just gone (25th June), Worlds at War hosted their launch event for Wrath; where I ran my first tournament.
Given that I am trying to expand the tournament play at the shop, I though this would be a great event for me to organize and actually run. I had also wanted to keep it to local players, as I am trying to encourage them to take part in the tournaments. Tournaments to some people, are daunting at the best of times. With the possibility of facing some of the UK’s top players as well, that can be a scary prospect. I respect everyone I have met in the Scottish scene, Jim Lawrence and Michael Murray; are two of the best people I have met in gaming (not the only ones though). They are willing to help people, even in competitive tournament play. I remember one of the tournaments in Dundee, Mark McKinlay drew Jim in the first round. You would have thought it was a practice match, given the advice Jim was giving Mark; on deployment or what to look out for.
Sorry got a little off track there. What I am trying to say, is that as scary as it sounds; the current WM/H scene in Scotland is the best I have seen. I haven’t come across anyone, like the nightmares I have heard from other games. On Saturday, we had 3 players; who had never played competitive WM/H. It is my hope as a potential Press Ganger, they enjoyed the day and will come back to play again. I can say on a personal level, that I was terrified on Saturday; running my first ever tournament. Thankfully it went off smoothly and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I must have done something right, we already have 12 (out of 16) places booked for Steamroller in August.
