Orange Ben and @rightangle79 (Declan) are both off to the Facehammer Grand Tournament this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I thought it would be a great time to interview them about their tournament lists and their past glories…..
Ok. So you’ve both been to tournaments before, what do you enjoy the most about them?
Ben: For me it’s mainly seeing friends and looking at cool armies. But mainly this:
Declan: Seeing friends, having a beer and chatting about Warhammer. It also means I have a deadline for painting toys… which I almost always need. For most tournaments I include something new to paint.
So which armies are you taking to Facehammer this year? Care to share your lists?
Ben’s Kharadron Overlords (Ghostlords)
Declan’s List
Loonboss – Clammy Hand
Fungoid Cave Shaman – Hand of Gork
Madcap Shaman – Hand of Gork & Moonface Mommet
Webspinner on Arachnarok Spider – Curse of da Spider God & Amulet of Destiny
60 Shootas
20 Shootas
40 Stabbas
2 x 20 Stabbas
2 x Sneaky Snufflers
Rippa’s Snarlfangs
Scuttletide
Scrapskuttle’s Arachacauldron
Emerald Lifeswarm
2120 points; 214 wounds; Warlord; Hunters of the Heartlands; Vanguard
This is my favourite at the moment. Other option is full squigs.
Do you have battle plans or tactics in mind for when you make it to the tournaments?
Ben: To a certain extent, you know you need to claim objectives so you need units that can do that.
Declan: Gloomspite outside Troggs can struggle to kill things so I need to play like Gargants – get on objectives early and start scoring. Hand of Gork (movement spell) is critical in the list as it means people can’t leave objectives unguarded. I have the Spider to get Monstrous Takeover early and get the option of broken ranks with him. Although I need to protect him or lose him on my turn to prevent him giving 1 point away. 2nd turn is normally Ferocious Advance with Loonboss and both Fungoids (who spend most of their time hiding behind the Loonshrine). Finally I don’t mind losing units because I want as many opportunities as possible to get them back – hence Clammy Hand (Roll twice for reinforcements from Loonshrine).
Ben’s Ghostrek
Ben, I notice you have the dreaded Gotrek! Facehammer have slightly adjusted rules for him now, how do you think he’ll do?
Ben: He is still super smashy, he is there to kill gargants!
Declan, Sounds like a thorough plan. I love the Arachnarok unit, I’ve seen people include more than one, you weren’t tempted to do this?
Declan: I want to try a horde army because its my normal playstyle and is against the meta with reinforcement points and no horde discount. Unfortunately points are too high normally, but with an extra 150 it’s worth a go. I also want GW to see that people will take armies which are rubbish if they get small boosts. GG effectively have c8% reaction in points at facehammer which is what they need before the book. Unfortunately 60 Grots went from 360 to 450 which is criminal for a low power level book.
Have you ever crossed swords with each other in a tournament, if so how did that go?
Declan: I think we played Ogor v GG didn’t we? On the way in people were complaining about your list being too good and I said it was fine… then gummed you up with Grots?
Ben: Yeah it was the cows Throwing snowball list, I told everybody it was rubbish but no one believed me and then I got grotted!
Declan: Ah yes… you forgot the Stonehorns!! I did have 180 Grots in your defense.
Ben: 2+ I do six mortal wounds, cool, there are 54 left.
Declan: Yeah… no where near enough damage.
Whats your most memorable moment at a tournament?
Ben: Played a chap called Laurie who Declan will know, with a shooty stormcast list, and turn one took off his archaon off turn one, was crazy good.
Declan: I was playing GG with allied Gitmob grots at Sheffield Slaughter against Nurgle with their first book. It was against a GW employee who I won’t name as they get enough grief! His Great Unclean One had a -1 to hit within 12″ bubble. My shaman cast a spell on 60 Gitmob archers, who walked into the 12″ range, fired at the GUO and took it off! He was a little shocked but took it very well!
Ben’s Ghostlords Army
For someone looking to go to their first tournament, what advice would you give?
Declan: Definitely take the plunge. Let the TO and your opponents know it’s your first tournament. Take an army you know (don’t go for LRL net-list). Limit your warscrolls where possible. If you can bring 6 or fewer it gives you a chance of remembering the rules. Play the objectives!
Ben: Agreed
Looking at each others list, how would you try and defeat them?
Ben: You can’t ask us that we might play each other! But the short answer is throw Gotrek at him and shoot him a lot.
Declan: I think I probably have the advantage due to numbers here. If I can get on the objectives early it’s difficult to get me off them. Especially as Ben’s units flying in the boats don’t count as on the objective. I also just played Will with his KO and the grots can actually damage the units with shooting, and in combat. That said no doubt we’ll play now and Ben will rightly beat me!
Following my article last week on five alternatives to Age of Sigmar, I thought I would do some research and find out what the 50 greatest Fantasy games (skirmish & Massed Battles) of all time are.
This will come with some caveats; the ratings are taken from BoardGameGeek.com and I have only included games which have more than 50 votes against their name. This may mean that some of the more recent rules are missed off the list (Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings, being one).
The listed is sorted by the highest rated to the lowest, with games of equal ratings being split by the number of votes (the more votes, the higher their placing).
Some of the popular games you know and loved also didn’t quite make it into the top 50. These include Warhammer Fantasy Battles (1st Edition) 1983 (Ranked 52nd), Battle Masters 1992 (Ranked 61st) and Cadwallon: City of Thieves 2010 (Ranked 62nd).
So without further ado, let’s jump into numbers 50-46:
50. Warhammer Age of Sigmar (1st Edition) (2015) – Games Workshop
The Age of Sigmar 1st Edition Boxed Set
This was Games Workshops’ attempt to reignite the passion for Fantasy in their fan base. However the initial release saw a lot of backlash from the loyal Fantasy fans who had been playing Warhammer Fantasy since the 80’s. This included videos of some fans burning their Warhammer Fantasy army. A lot of outrage was due to the change in base sizes and the “squatting” of many factions such as Tomb Kings and Bretonnia.
The move to Age of sigmar, also saw many rules pop up for “Rank and Flank” games as a result. Games such as Kings of War and the Ninth Age came about mainly because of the removal of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
Rise of the Kage started life as a Kickstarter on 6th September 2014 and was funded only five days later. It also met all of its stretch goals by the 5th of October after raising £105,000.
The boxed set is all you need to play and all the miniatures are included with no further purchases necessary.
“Rise of the Kage is a fast paced, tense and thrilling board game for two to four players. The game is set in the world of the Jwar Isles, and requires one or more players to control the stealthy ninja, and one player to control the stalwart guards.“
48. Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms (2019) – Modiphius
“Let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll?”
The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms is a skirmish level wargame that has two modes, either solo utilising the rules for ‘Delve Mode’, or you can go head to head with other players in ‘Battle Mode’. Both play styles can quickly be picked up from the scenarios listed within the quest book, although you are able to easily create your own.
“It is the time of the Dragonborn. Battle rages across the forests, plains and mountains of Skyrim as Imperials and Stormcloaks fight for supremacy. In ancient barrows, the restless dead rise from their sleep. Skeletons and fearsome Draugr jealously guard their treasures from bands of delving adventures. The Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms is an adventure wargame set in the world of Tamriel. Gather your heroes and venture into Draugr haunted tombs and ruins, searching for treasure and glory. Or, fight the Civil War as the Stormcloaks and Imperials battle for the future of Skyrim.”
In 2005 Games Workshop released a boxed game called Great Battles of Middle Earth: The Battle of Five Armies based on the battle from the book “The Hobbit”. The rules are heavily based on the Warmaster ruleset, and it uses the same miniature scale. The boxed set contains rules, 10 mm plastic miniatures, and scenery (plastic hills, ruins and a cardboard river).
Additional miniatures for this game were cast in white metal. While detailed in the box set rule book, these extra miniatures were sold separately. They were discontinued shortly after being released. The box set remained in print for a long while before being removed shortly before the launch of the 28 mm line based on the movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”.
Battleground is advertised as a miniatures game without the miniatures. Players are given cards representing the bases of the various units with the artwork on top. However, there is nothing stopping you substituting these for actual miniatures from your favourite manufacturer.
Battleground is still for sale today through Your Move Games‘ website.
“Armies of stalwart Men defend their homelands against the Undead tide. Battle tested strike forces of High Elves ambush the Orc horde. Regiments of indomitable Dwarves fend off Dark Elven raids. Marshal your forces and command them to victory, but take caution: you cannot be everywhere on the battlefield at once. Your troops will follow your orders completely, and the general who triumphs is the one not just with the best strategy but who can also adapt to changing circumstances.”
Ben is one of the founding members of the Woehammer crew and also plays the character Grymar on the Curse of Strahd D&D playthrough.
I talked to him about how he got into the hobby and why he loves the Raptors so much.
Ben, top right as Grymar in Dunces & Dragons
Ok first question, when did you first get into wargaming?
I first got into wargaming when I was 12/13, so around 1998. It was after visiting the GW store on Oxford Street (London) for a friends birthday.
Did you get your parents to buy your first army while you were there then?
No, my first model was a Leman Russ tank for my birthday that year. After that it was Imperial Guard all the way.
Leman Russ tank! That’s an awesome first model! Do you still have the Guard army?
Unfortunately my older brother like Abaddon decided that Cadia must fall. He burnt all my minis and gaming board.
Wow! You never went back to them after that. Is that when you moved on to Marines? Also I hope your brother made up for that!
I had started to move away from warhammer at that point and wouldn’t return until 2019. He has since made up for destroying my minis by buying me copious amounts of paint so I’d call it even.
Good man! We all have that gap away from the hobby at some point. What brought you back?
My wife started to sell GW products in her shop around 2018. I was helping her with learning about the 40K side of things. After really getting into all the new lore I had missed I decided to start painting up a Deathwatch army so I could play again.
Ben’s Beautiful Bel’akor
And what made you interested in the raptors?
My Deathwatch army was made entirely of non primaris units. I wanted to keep the feel of the Deathwatch being an elite veteran chapter. While I was building and painting my Deathwatch army I would watch lore videos. That’s where I came across the Raptors, or as they’re also known, the Reasonable Marines.
I began to read more into the Raptors. They’re a successor chapter of the Raven Guard. The Raptors are know for being stealthy, using geurilla warfare and hit and run tactics. They are also prized marksmen. I felt this fit well into Phobos primaris units like infiltrators and Eliminators.
Some of Ben’s Raptors
What was the last game you played and against who?
The last game I played was a path to glory game of AoS against fellow Woehammerer Declan Waters. You can read his excellent write up on here.
Declan the baby faced assassin
What’s your most memorable gaming moment?
Haha, that has to be when my Chaos Lord on Karkadrak was down to his last wound and ended up killing my opponents Lord Kroak in one turn.
Was this against Orange Ben?
Yes it was. I should probably stop bringing it up…
No! You need to make the most of these memories.
Makes up for the battering I took from Declan.
The baby faced assassin!
Will be interesting to see what happens if him and orange Ben have a game.
What do you find the hobby gives you?
It’s surprised me how much I get out of the hobby. I really enjoy building and kit bashing models. I’ve found the painting to be massively therapeutic and has kept me reasonably sane through long stints of lockdown. It’s also an amazingly social hobby too. Not just the gaming element, but also chats over zoom while hobbying and meeting up for days out.
So apart from 40k what other games do you play?
During the first lockdown I started to build and paint a Slaves to Darkness army for AoS. Coming out of lockdown AoS has been the predominant game I’ve been playing. Ive also got into playing Dungeons and Dragons recently.
Ben’s Slaves to Darkness army
And hopefully we’ll be adventuring together again in the future! Ok time for a bit of a quiz. Name five GW games that aren’t AoS or 40k.
Necromunda, killteam, warcry, blood bowl, and trolling customers.
Magnus did nothing wrong. Yes or no?
It’s all his fault…
If you were to fall to chaos which power would you devote yourself to?
Blood for the blood god!!! Khorne all the way.
And the last one…. Ultramarines are…..?
Blue
Thanks to Ben for agreeing to be my first ‘subject’ in this series.
You can find Ben on Instagram here. Next week I’ll be talking to our very own Chaos Dave…
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But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
Jervis Johnson officially retired from Games Workshop in July. As such I thought it was a great time to cover his career as a games designer, from his first game to his last and the impact he’s had on the hobby.
If you don’t know who Jervis Johnson is then this will introduce you to a man who has created many of the great games you know and love today.
Jervis joined Games Workshop as a trade sales assistant in 1982. During this time he started writing rules for Games Workshops’ own games in his spare time (them being the seller for dungeons and dragons in Europe.and not producing their own game of Warhammer Fantasy until 1983). What would become the first edition of Blood Bowl was produced in 1986, followed closely by Rogue Trader (the 1st edition of Warhammer 40k) in 1988.
During his time Jervis has designed or has been involved in the design of over 93 games and add-ons. Both for Games Workshop and other companies.
Many other companies have taken inspiration from some of Jervis Johnson’s games. Whether you know it or not, your favourite game has probably been worked on or has used inspiration from one of Johnson’s game.
Some of the games Mr Johnson has worked on
His retirement is well deserved, but the wargaming community is losing a true giant of the industry. Goodbye Jervis, and enjoy your retirement.
Why don’t you let us know in the comments below which of Jervis’ games was your favourite?
Why not join our Facebook group to get the notifications on new posts and share your work with us for Tale of Painters.
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
A lot of us started wargaming with Games Workshop and have stuck with them ever since.
Therefore I’m hoping that this article may introduce you to other wargames you may not have heard of, while giving you a brief synopsis of the game itself.
All of the following games are from companies which both produce the rules, and sell the miniatures for that game.
Kings of War (Mantic Games)
Kings of War is thought by many to be the successor to Warhammer Fantasy, and features many of the same armies (with slightly different names. E.g. Ratkin instead of Skaven).
“Kings of War is a table-top war game that allows you to play epic fantasy battles in the world of Pannithor. You and your opponent will pit your wits and armies against each other in a battle of tactics, a contest of skill and an explosion of magic and steel.“
Manticgames.com
Kings of War Dwarf Army
However, be aware the price point for these models are pretty much the same as Games Workshop with a pack of twenty models costing £32.50 in the UK.
Northern Alliance Pack Hunters (pack of 20 for £32.50)
The models are well crafted and look stunning. Some of the range is still in metal.
Skyrim – Call to Arms (Mordiphius)
For fans of Skyrim there’s Call to Arms by Mophidius.
Skyrim: Call to Arms
“The Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms is an adventure wargame set in the world of Tamriel. Gather your heroes and venture into Draugr haunted tombs and ruins, searching for treasure and glory. Or, fight the Civil War as the Stormcloaks and Imperials battle for the future of Skyrim.“
Mophidius
The advantage of Skyrim: Call to Arms is that it also has a solo play method for gaming.
While not a massive battle game like Warhammer AoS or Kings of War, the game focuses more on small skirmish games and dungeon delving.
The models will set you back roughly £40 for a pack of 12. But the quality is on par with both Mantic and GW.
Imperial Vanguard for Call to Arms
A Song of Fire & Ice (Cmon)
This is the official Game of Thrones miniatures game which has been licensed to Cmon.
Stark v Lannister Starter Set
“A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game is a competitive miniatures game for two or more players. Each player controls one of the Great Houses of Westeros, commanding battlefield units, recruiting legendary Heroes, and manipulating the political stage, in the attempt to claim the greatest prize of all: The Iron Throne.“
Cmon
The miniatures are excellently detailed, however they are mono-pose. The starter set which includes 50 Lannister miniatures and 43 Stark Miniatures can be found on various websites including Amazon for about £100.
Starter set contents
The game also incorporates deck building and list building into its five different game modes.
A Unit of Stark Outriders
Warmachine/Hordes (Privateer Press)
“WARMACHINE is a fast-paced and aggressive 30 mm tabletop miniatures battle game set in the steam-powered fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. Take control of an elite soldier-sorcerer called a warcaster and his mighty warjacks–massive steam-powered combat automatons–as you battle to destroy the enemy warcaster.“
Privateer Press
30 models inside the two player starter set
Warmachine and Hordes are relatively similar and involve smaller armies. It’s a great system for those looking for lower model counts. The models are really nice and would make great painting projects on their own. Just look at the below Warjack model….
Galleon Mercenary for Warmachine
However a model like the above will set you back around £70 with the rest of the range costing between £30-£70 for a box.
Frostgrave (Warlord Games)
Warlord Games are quintessentially Games Workshop ex-employees. With Rick Preistley being among their number. They have a large (and excellent) historical range of figures, but also some fantasy with offers in both Warlords of Erehwon and Frostgrave.
“Warlords of Erehwon is a fantasy based game designed for 28mm tabletop warfare. The gameplay is built around the D10 system developed for the science-fiction game Beyond the Gates of Antares and also using the praised order dice mechanic first used in the Bolt Action WW2 rules.“
Warlord Games
Rulebook for Warlords of Erehwon
Warlord Games miniatures are not as finely detailed as other manufacturers out there, but what they lack in detail they make up for in value. A box of 20 plastic models from Warlord will set you back around £20 (half of what GW charge nowadays).
A Starter Army for Warlords of Erehwon
Next week, I’ll go through five non-GW science fiction games as an alternative to Warhammer 40,000.
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
Woehammer is organising a few of us into a Path to Glory campaign. I am playing Troggoths (Gloomspite) led by my General – Phileas Fogg the Trogg. You can find out more about the starting warband on the first blog entry for the campaign.
My first games were against Ben’s Slaves to Darkness (StD) army which is mostly based on the starter set. He added 10 Chaos Warriors to it in order to bring it close to 800 points, and I dropped the Ravening Jaws and 3 Fellwater Troggoths in order to bring mine down to this level too. This would allow Ben to learn the rules and for me to have some practice with the Troggoths whilst still having at least one of each Warscroll.
Pre-game
Before starting off, I needed to pick the Quest for my Troggoths, and I decided that Verne (Fungoid Cave-Shaman) would influence Fogg to Hunt the Endless Spell – Scuttletide. To do this Verne would need to be near Arcane terrain at the end of the game – in order to assist with this I can automatically generate an Arcane terrain feature for 1 Glory Point if I don’t roll it. I then had to keep him alive against the StD.
Game 1 – Sudden Assault
The Slaves to Darkness brought a Lord on Karkadrak, 2 x 10 Chaos Warriors, and 5 Chaos Knights… all with the Mark of Khorne. This meant they were re-rolling 1s to hit!
The StD were trying to take over my Gloomspite Shrine, and Phileas sent out himself (Dankhold Troggboss), Fungoid Cave Shaman, 6 Rockguts and 3 Fellwaters. As this was a Sudden Assault where we would get points for holding table quarters.
The armies assemble.
Ben’s Slaves to Darkness advanced quickly on my right (bottom of the picture), whilst the Chaos Warriors started the slow walk towards my shrine. In response the Rockgut’s charged the Chaos Knights… and in rolling that embarrassed me, wiped out the Chaos Knights – wow!!
The StD counterattacked with the Lord and 10 Chaos Warriors who put a few wounds on the Troggoths, but they swung back and killed half the Warriors and put some wounds on the Lord. In my second turn the Dankhold charged in to help them and the Fellwaters charged the second unit of Chaos Warriors.
Turn 3 – The aftermath!
In Turn 3, I cleared up the Lord & Chaos Warriors and the Fellwaters continued to chip away at the last unit of Chaos Warriors without any casualties – the healing being very useful in a small point game.
The last two turns the Dankhold rescued the Fellwaters and then the units fell back to the four quarters – I had defended my Shrine!
Post-Game 1
The great benefit of Path to Glory is the ability to improve your army. So we returned to the core book and post-battle sequence.
Glory Points – I was now on 21 Glory Points for winning the game and having my Warlord still alive.
Injuries – With no models killed, I didn’t need to roll any. Fortunately for Ben his Slaves to Darkness resisted most of the damage and only failed 3 casualty rolls.
Renown Points – Each of my units gained a renown point for surviving the battle, and a bonus one for holding the objectives. Fogg’s Ladz were my chosen and rolled sufficiently to become Veteran Warriors. This allowed me to give them a bonus. I chose Disciplined Battle-Drill as they were rapidly becoming Fogg’s bodyguard. This would allow them to add 1 to wound once.
New Units – I added a unit of Fellwaters to the army. I now had all my painted Troggoths in the list… time to paint some more.
Quest – My Fungoid finished the game next to the Arcane terrain next to my Shrine, and found lots of Spiders to command.. Scuttletide was mine!
New Quest – I chose to Scout Fertile Lands to enable me to re-roll my new territory roll next game.
Territory – I found Wild Lands this time, but didn’t really need an extra Monster, so decided not to settle it.
Game 2 – The Trap
We had some time to play a second game, so Phileas Fogg decided to counterattack and invade the StD’s terroritory… unfortunately he was walking into a trap and was ambushed…
After the first game, Ben decided to bring some additional back bone; he had managed to convince Be’lakor to join him; as he is expensive it did reduce the size of the force – Chaos Lord on Karkadrak, Be’lakor & 10 Chaos Warriors… they would have to do some work!
Setup
The set-up left the Slaves looking more like the ambushers than the invaders, but how would Ben unpack to start killing my units?
The first few turns were cagy, with me running around board edges whilst the Chaos Warriors struggled forward. This allowed me to rack up a lot of Victory Points and solidify my control of the area.
In Turn 3 Be’lakor was unleashed and charged my Rockgut Troggoths. He did 10 wounds, killing two of them and the swingback only did 4 wounds as Be’lakor ignored Rend.
As my mission was to survive to end of Turn 3, I took no risks and the Rockgut’s retreated, whilst the Dankhold & Fellwaters advanced on the left towards the Chaos Knights.
In Turn 4 I charged the Chaos Warriors, killing most of them, and then Ben caught me again between Be’lakor and his Chaos Lord. The Lord killed 2 Rockgut’s whilst Be’lakor failed his rolls and the Fellwaters did a few wounds.
Turn 5 saw me retreat again, and Be’lakor chase my Fellwaters whilst the Chaos Lord chased the 2 remaining Rockguts. The Lord (Jeff) went first and killed the Rockguts (gaining a reknown). This did allow the Fellwaters to swing first against Be’lakor and they did 6 wounds. As Be’lakor had only 4 wounds left he needed to roll 5 out of 6 successful armour saves… Ben rolled! and Be’lakor lived; He took out 2 Fellwaters in revenge.
The Warlords face off; Whilst Be’lakor attacks Troggoths
I had won the mission although this was more bloody than the first game and I would need to roll some casualty rolls. This was a great fun game and Be’lakor definitely gave the StD the speed and damage potential to take out the Troggoths.
Post Game 2
Glory Points – I gained the maximum 13 Glory Points for winning the game and having my Warlord still alive.
Injuries – I needed to roll for 6 Rockgut’s and 2 Fellwaters. 2 Rockgut’s rolled the 1 and 1 Fellwater. I would need to roll for recuperating.
Renown Points – Each of my units gained a renown point for being alive in the third turn, and most of them survived and picked up points for this. Da Watery Boyz (Fellwaters) were my chosen and rolled sufficiently to become Veteran Warriors. This allowed me to give them a bonus as well. I wanted to be different to my Rockguts so they chose Deadly Volley for their spitting attack.
New Units – no new units for me, but I rolled to recuperate the Rockguts, and rolled 2 4+ meaning I got both of them back – good news for Fogg, who relies on this unit.
Quest – My Fungoid finished the game close to the board edge (after a turn 5 Hand of Gork), and so I could roll twice on the territories table
New Quest – I would need to consider this before my next game
Territory – After my reroll I found a Large Settlement (underground cave network), which would reduce the Glory Cost of my new units by 1. This would be useful when I had more painted Troggoths.
The Force
Warscroll
Name
Reknown
Points
Dankhold Troggboss
Phileas Fogg
19
250
Fungoid Cave-Shaman
Verne
4
95
6 Rockgut Troggoths
Fogg’s Ladz
7
290
3 Fellwater Troggoths
Da Watery Boyz
8
155
3 Fellwater Troggoths
Da Swampy Boyz
155
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws
Da Wet Boyz
55
Scuttletide (Endless Spell)
85
End of Session!
Summary
What a great evening – Thanks to Ben for the games; it was great to play small games and see what everything did without being shot off the table – Khorne really wanted to get stuck in. I also learned a lot about the Troggoths, who I have never used in large numbers – these were mostly painted during lockdown. I needed more practice, but they may make an outing at Facehammer.
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But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
All my games of AOS3 so far have been tournament games, so it was great to have the opportunity to play a one off game against Reece from the NWA and his lovely Seraphon. Thanks to NWA for hosting us – a great venue and a great group.
Gargants army (Taker Tribe)
Kraken Eater (General)
Amulet of Destiny
Kraken-Skin Sandals (Very Acquisitive)
Warstomper
Gargant Mob
3 x Gargants
Seraphon army (Thunder Lizards)
Kroak
Skink on Palaquin
Skink Priest
Astrolith Banner Bearer
Skink Priest
Old Blood on Carnosaur
5 Saurus Guard
3 x 5 Cold One Riders
Tectonic Interference
Mission was randomly rolled and we got Tectonic Interference. This is three objectives in the middle of the board with a random one being worth 2, and the others 1. As they are all primary objectives, we couldn’t destroy one in turn 3 either.
The Battle
Having deployed first, and making sure I was out of range of Kroak’s spells where possible, I gave the first turn to Reece. In my recent tournament I mostly took first turn, but this is one of the benefits of friendly games… you can try new things.
Kroak chipped a few wounds of most of my units, the Cold One’s took all the objectives and the Carnosaur advanced on my right clipping that objective for Monstrous Takeover. The Bastiladons then opened fire, killing a Mancrusher and putting wounds on the Warstomper. A good start for Seraphon with 7 points.
The Gargants then advanced, the mob taking the left, the Kraken the centre and Warstomper headed to the right. The Warstomper failed his charge into the Cold Ones meaning I couldn’t get the objective, but the Kraken charged the Cold Ones in the centre, and the Mob failed a long charge after their Cold Ones had redeployed. The Kraken only killed 3 Cold Ones, and took a few wounds in return, but I had completed my battle tactic.
Fortunately I won the priority and was able to chase the Seraphon into turn 2. The Kraken killed the Cold Ones with shooting, and charged the Skink on Palanquin, killing him. The Warstomper charged the Cold Ones and killed them, and the Mob charged a Bastiladon and did some wounds.
The Seraphon then chose to kill the Warstomper, so I used ‘Finest Hour’ to increase his survivability. Kroak chipped more wounds, and crucially destroyed the Amulet of Destiny on my Kraken (oh dear!), and the Bastiladon and Carnosaur charged the Warstomper. The Carnosaur roared at the Warstomper so I couldn’t use all out defense – as it turned out this was critical and the Warstomper fell after the Carnosaur didn’t get any of the six bites through!
I won priority again, and charged the Kraken at the Bastiladon on the right… although I did a few mortal wounds on the charge, the Thunder Lizards reduced the damage by 1 and I didn’t bracket the monster… when he attacked the Kraken Eater did 1 damage! Oh dear. On the left the Mob finished off their Bastiladon.
Reece then counterattacked with the Carnosaur into the Kraken Eater killing him. Meanwhile the Saurus Guard killed the last of the Mob, and I was left with 2 Gargants.
Reece then won priority turn 4, killed my fifth Mancrusher and moved towards the last one. I failed a charge on the Saurus Guard, and so fell behind.
Reece won priority turn 5, and with only one Mancrusher left, in range of the Carnosaur I conceeded.
Round
Priority
Declan (BT)
Reece (BT)
Points
1
D/R
Conquer (Y)
M.Takeover (Y)
5-7
2
D/D
Broken Ranks (Y)
Bring it Down (Y)
12-12
3
D/D
M.Takeover (Y)
Conquer (Y)
19-18
4
R/R
Spearhead (N)
Spearhead (Y)
21-23
5
R/R
Concede —
21-30
END
Hold the Line (N)
Beast Master (Y)
21-33
Results!
A great game, and thanks to Reece for the fun evening! Thanks also to NWA for hosting and Paul Hayley for organising us. It’s a great location.
Conclusion
Although giving away the first turn made the double turn possible, it did mean I didn’t do Ferocious Advance (run three models) which has been my normal start in other games… this meant I was struggling for Battle Tactics later in the game. I also should have charged the Carnosaur (first with the Warstomper turn 2 when the charge had the distance, and then with the Kraken). Although it did a lot of damage it is easier to kill than the Bastiladon and does more damage than the Cold One’s.
Other than that, it was great to play against Kroak. Unlike some of the other ‘God’ characters I wasn’t too concerned about him. Sure, he gives out a lot of damage but it was the Bastiladon’s and the Carnosaur that won the game.
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An Army for the Ages…!
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My First AOS3 tournament
Woehammer has asked me to write a few Blog posts for tournaments I go to to give their readers an idea of what tournaments are like in the UK.
TL:DR; They are great fun; take the plunge and buy a ticket for one wherever you are based
Who am I?
That’s all very well, but why should Woehammer ask me – I wasn’t sure either, but I have been attending tournaments for Warhammer Fantasy and AOS since my first Bristol Brawl in 2002. I find the gaming fun, and the preparation of army lists interesting, but the main draw for me is meeting new gamers, and having fun over the table. The tournament scene has given me friends all over the UK; and there are friendly faces at each event.
This isn’t to say its insular and unwelcoming – new players are welcomed into the tournament scene and given help and advice by those of us a little longer in the tooth. Just let the organiser and your opponents know that it’s your first event and they’ll look after you.
THWG – Barbarians Brawl 2 (One Day; Three Games)
For my first event of any new edition I always take my Glooomspite Gitz. I’ve been playing Goblins forever since the Elves invaded the Goblin mountains in 4th Edition; and they are always my go to army.
I did have something a little different though, because the new Kragnos book had given Gloomspite new allegiance abilities and I had been painting a lot of Squigs … so Jaws of Mork (Gloomspite) it was.
I will admit to being concerned about the army as it was ranked in the lower tiers by most players since AOS3, and I knew it would be an uphill struggle, but I wanted to give the new toys an outing.
Army
Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Option: Jaws of Mork – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Loonboss on Mangler Squigs (310) in Warlord – General – Command Trait: Envoy of the Overbounder – Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact) Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig (110) in Vanguard – Moon-cutta – Artefact: Syari Screamersquig Fungoid Cave-Shaman (95) in Warlord – Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork Fungoid Cave-Shaman (95) in Warlord – Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance
Battleline 36 x Squig Herd (480) in Hunters of the Heartlands – Reinforced x 2 20 x Squig Hoppers (360) in Hunters of the Heartlands – Reinforced x 1 10 x Squig Hoppers (180) in Vanguard
Units 10 x Boingrot Bounderz (210) in Hunters of the Heartlands – Reinforced x 1 6 x Sneaky Snufflers (75) in Warlord 6 x Sneaky Snufflers (75) in Warlord
Core Battalions Warlord Vanguard Hunters of the Heartlands
There wasn’t a big plan for this; just to see how the new game worked, and whether I could bring the Gitz to a longer format tournament. I really like one dayer tournaments for this as it gives an opportunity to try out new things without waking up on Sunday morning 0-3 down and seeing 2 more games looming ahead.
My biggest concern was with the Squig Hoppers as their mortal wound damage (for moving over units), now only worked on normal moves. So, so run or retreat over units.
Game 1 v Nighthaunt
Nighthaunt are in a similar position to Gloomspite so this was going to be close. My opponent (Chris) had a nice list led by Olynder with Chainrasps and lots of other ghosts. Very thematic.
We both advanced on the objectives, and in the second turn I gave Chris the turn as he was far enough away to do limited damage – he charged the large squig herd and we both did damage to each other. I then set my Mangler Squig Boss on His Finest Hour and went to clear an objective setting him 3″ away. I rolled double 1; command point; rolled double 1 again!
This meant I had to take the third turn, allowed Chris to remove the objective my Mangler was (supposed) to be fighting on. My Hoppers moved onto the middle objective, and bounced onto a support character killing him, but I should have charged Olynder and I was too worried about losing the squigs.
This meant I was the first to drop points as I only held one objective, and the Chris came smashing back making a 10 inch charge roll with his ghosts (allowing an immediate round of combat), and taking back the central objective.
Once behind it was difficult to get back and I couldn’t achieve a fifth battle tactic, leading to the loss. Chris played really well, and I learnt a lot about the new game – lots of time at the beginning of each turn choosing battle tactic and making sure to leave one for the end!
Round
Priority
Declan (BT)
Chris (BT)
Points
1
C/D
Expansion (Y)
Advance (Y)
5-5
2
D/C
Conquer (Y)
Expansion (Y)
10-10
3
D/D
Broken Ranks (Y)
Conquer (Y)
13-15
4
D/D
Advance (Y)
Bring it Down (Y)
16-21
5
C/C
None possible
Spearhead (Y)
16-26
END
Hold the Line (Y)
Hold the Line (Y)
19-29
Scores on the Doors
Game 2 v Soulblight Gravelords
Greg’s army is unashamedly top tier – Nagash, Vengorian Lord, Manfred, 3 x 10 Zombies… ouch! I was in some trouble here but I started with an advance and send off my Boingrots towards some Zombies. I was in a defensive formation around the Shrine with the hope of weathering the storm and then striking with the Hopper’s mortal wound output.
Greg took the objective I had a toe on, won priority turn 2 and charged with everything. My screen was hit badly but with 72 wounds in the unit it weathered it well, and the Shrine ensured no battleshock. I now needed to get out.
I decided that I needed to kill one of the big things, and with Manfred’s ability to disappear and the Vengorian Lord to my right I went for Nagash. Despite retreating the Squig Herd couldn’t leave enough space for my hoppers who only did 2 mortal wounds to Nagash due to space constraints. The Mangler again did Finest Hour, charged Nagash and Manfred (with Sneaky Snufflers on as well), and did no wounds to Nagash…! The 2+ save rerolling 1s was very good.
My gamble over, Greg proceeded to take the Gloomspite apart. We chatted afterwards… perhaps after a little cursing at the different strengths of the books, and struggled to see how I could win!
Round
Priority
Declan (BT)
Greg (BT)
Points
1
G/D
Advance (Y)
Conquer (Y)
5-5
2
G/G
Bring it Down (N)
M. Takeover (Y)
6-10
3
G/G
Conquer (N)
Slay Warlord (Y)
6-17
4
None Possible
6-25
5
None possible
6-29
END
Hold the Line (N)
Beast Master (Y)
6-32
Breaking down the Doors
Game 3 v Skaventide
Skaventide have been making headlines for the Stormfield build, but George had brought a superb moulder army with 2 Hellpits, 2 Rat Ogre units of 6 and lots (and lots) of battle line Giant Rats… Hold the Line was going to be difficult to stop.
Due to the number of rats, I got to ask George to go first and he moved onto the central objective. I moved my Squig Herd forward, killed a few Giant Rats, and took the objective back. In the second turn George tried to kill the large Squig Herd with his Hell Pit Abominations for Broken Ranks. I don’t think he realised how many wounds they have and the unit survived, and smashed one of the Hell Pits down to a few wounds allowed me to pick up Bring it Down in my turn and go slightly ahead.
I then got the priority roll and a double turn allows my Mangler to kill some more rats (Broken Ranks was easy!), whilst my Boingrots killed most of one of the Rat Ogre units on my right. The smash back killed the Mangler (mostly through shooting), and started to reduce the Hoppers. The Squig Herd also died at this stage.
With little left my Boingrots went after a Master Moulder and got into the Grey Seer killing him and gaining savage spearhead with the Loonboss in turn 5, but on my left the Squig Hoppers (my last battleline) were trying to run away from the undamaged Rat Ogres… unfortunately, they were caught in George’s turn 5 and he stopped my Grand Strategy; giving him the game
Round
Priority
Declan (BT)
George (BT)
Points
1
D/G
Conquer (Y)
Advance (Y)
3-5
2
G/G
Bring it Down (Y)
Broken Ranks (N)
9-8
3
D/D
Broken Ranks (Y)
Slay Warlord (Y)
12-13
4
D/D
Advance (Y)
Conquer (Y)
17-16
5
D/D
Spearhead (Y)
Spearhead (Y)
20-20
END
Hold the Line (N)
Hold the Line (Y)
20-23
Door Left Ajar
What did I Learn?
Not a very destruction concept, but what did I learn?
Battle Tactics are very important and you need a plan about which ones you’ll do when.
Monster heroes are very good… when the Mangler charged he wiped out what he was fighting (except Nagash) and the finest hour made him great fun. Unfortunately the other armies have better ones – Manfred, Nagash & Arkhan who I played. The ability to do damage at range with these characters is very powerful
There’s book keeping – I used the AOS score sheet from thehonestwargamer.com which was essential for keeping track for both me and my opponent
Try to kill a monster a turn. I killed both Hell-Pits in the same turn; normally really good, but I could have grabbed an extra point if I’d managed to engineer them dying in different rounds. Difficult to do, but worth watching out for.
Conclusion
After the enforced COVID break, it was great to be back rolling dice, but the Gloomspite just didn’t cut it. I had very close games against Nighthaunt & Skaven but they weren’t top tier armies, and the only game against top tier was a demolition. In 5 game tournaments I like to aim for 3-2 and I couldn’t see how this was possible with the Squigs! Unfortunately the Gloomspite WhatsApp group didn’t provide much solace and so I made the decision to play Sons of Behemat… as luck would have it there was a team tournament the next day at the same venue, so I would be back!
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The residents of Fairharbour were alarmed when the dark shadow appeared in the bay. Moreso when the fish began to float to the surface, their mangled forms twisted by growths and lesions. The smart villagers began to run then, but the backwater town was not known for producing geniuses. When the towering bulk of Lord Orificeus finally waded out of the bay, a cruel smile playing on his lips, it was already too late.
Who are the Sons of Slimeharbour?
Randall Gubbins was a simple farmer, who toiled daily in the fields surrounding Fairharbour growing turnips and potatoes. When Randall fell sick with a virulent wasting disease his fields fell fallow, and his crop went unharvested to rot in the ground. Surrounded within and without by decay Randall had delirious visions of his fields transformed into bountiful wilds where bulbous trees sprouted juicy, exotic fruits and filled the air with sweet, enticing scents. Brought to the brink of madness by fever Randall uttered prayers to himself for days that his visions would come true. Unfortunately for his neighbours his prayers were answered.
Randall’s vision, manifested in horrifying flesh
Lord Orificeus, one of Nurgle’s favoured grandchildren, was dispatched to Fairharbour immediately to ensure Randall’s conversion and make his dream a reality. The Great Unclean One sowed his fields with blessed seed, and fertilized it with the bodies of Randall’s neighbours. As the Feculent Gnarlmaws bloomed, Randall was carried from his sickbed by a frolicking crowd of Nurglings who bore him to the feet of Orificeus’ bulbous mass. He was christened there and then in a pool of vomit and bile and given a new name: Rancel Ganglion, Shepard of Nurgle.
Rancel, his mind now permanently changed by the virulent, magical fever that Nurgle bestowed upon him, took charge of efforts to transform the remnants of his village into a more pleasing state. Fairharbour became Slimeharbour, named for the choking, thick mucus of the giant, mutated Hagfish that spawned in the wake of Orificeus’ coming. Those of his neighbours who accepted Nurgle’s gifts became the first 15 members of Rancel’s flock. The rest were given to the nurglings.
Rancel Ganglion, Shepard of Nurgle and first on the painting table
Path to Glory
Nurgle was my first army in AoS back when I started playing in 2018. However, I still have a lot of work to do to finish them off so I’ll be using Path to Glory as an excuse to paint up the rest of my Rotbringers. I’m starting with a neat little 1k list, made up of what I already had painted and adding onto that as we go.
Name
Warscroll
Points
Lord Orificeus
Great Unclean One
350
Rancel Ganglion
Harbinger of Decay
145
Buboetis’ Warband
5 x Putrid Blightkings
165
Tubercules’ Warband
5 x Putrid Blightkings
165
Sputicus’ Warband
5 x Putrid Blightkings
165
TOTAL
990
My stronghold, obviously, is Slimeharbour: the ruined fishing village turned nightmare pus factory. It is located in the territory of Saltmarsh, which has been transformed by Orificeus’ arrival into Wild Lands. This allows me to include 1 more monster in my army, but that doesn’t matter right now because I only have 1 monster in my list. I can definitely see myself taking another monster later on though, and its thematically appropriate. I considered making Saltmarsh a Small Settlement, which would have allowed me to reinforce a unit 1 more time. However the changes to coherency in AoS3 make me hesitant to do that with Putrid Blightkings, and in low point games I think I will benefit from the flexibility of 3 small units rather than 1 giant ball of death. As for my first quest, The Sons of Slimeharbour are on the hunt for a sacred relic of Nurgle. Lord Orificeus has given many gifts in his short time in Slimeharbour – now it’s time that Rancel repaid his debt by finding him a worthy tribute. The infamous Witherstave should do…
Have you heard the good word?
What’s next?
The first thing I’ll be painting up for this army (after Rancel) is another 5 Putrid Blightkings, bringing me to a nice even 20 in Rancel’s growing flock of converts. Afterwards I think it will be time to add another type of unit to the roster, perhaps a Lord of Afflictions to buff the Blightking’s attacks or a pair of Pusgoyle Blightlords to zip about the battlefield capturing objectives. Otherwise, the transformation of Slimeharbour bay into a green, thick ooze will certainly have attracted the attention of the Admiral of the Slime Fleet: Gutrot Spume.
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Starting in August the guys at Woehammer are taking part in their own Path to Glory campaign. However is one with a twist, as we’re going to incorporate an actual 3D map!
The island of Losille
Right now, the guys are all deciding what armies they should play, as well as what starting size they’d like to be (as well as getting ready for Carnage next weekend). It’s been agreed that it doesn’t matter what starting size you pick, but if you fight a smaller army, then you must pick units from your roster to suit that size battle.
The game will also be using fog of war rules, so each player will be given a number of options as there starting location, which they then list in order of preference. Once it’s been revealed which starting location they’ve been given, each player will be shown the territories bordering their own and battle can commence.
Battles will take place in the same manner as a normal Path to Glory game, and players can claim territory from spending glory points after a game. However, once players have decided what they want that territory to be (i.e. Old Fort etc), then it remains as such even when taken over by another player.
As the game progresses we’re hoping the map will reflect the players choices in the campaign, with players being responsible for building on and naming territory.
I’ll write an article each month summarising what’s happened as well as posting regular YouTube videos of the battles themselves.
