26 September 2013

Feast of Blades: Faction sure, Lists not so much

So I settled down on a faction but after some practice I wasn't really happy with my list choices. I have bumped Grissel to the 3rd list and Grim is back in the bag. And I have decided to bring Madrak 2 into the fold as my second list. I have also made a slight change to my runes of war list that I may or may not go with depending on my gut feeling day of.

The reason for Madrak 2 is I really felt I needed a more combined arms package for my off list and I needed a better answer to circle in particular. I attempted to change up Grissel to get some good shooting elements in the list, however it took too much away from her kill stroke which would be forcing me into too many death clock or dice down games. So let's look at Madrak 2's army.

Madrak 2
*Mauler

Fell Caller Hero
Gatorman Witch Doctor
Full KW's with UA & 3 Cabers
Full Nyss Hunters
Full Burrowers
War wagon
Min KSB w/ Elder

19 September 2013

Intermountain Cup Recap by Geek Garage

This past weekend in Ogden, UT the IMC Fall tournament took place. 64 slots for players and I believe 58 attended that day. It was a great turnout with a professional camera man and a wonderful painting contest. Here are my photos from the event.
Geek Garage raffle prizes.

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18 September 2013

Intermountain Cup Fall 2013 Results

It was a long grueling Matchup that ended up in Washington ripping the Cup out of the clutches of Gameopolis for Card Kingdom.  We had stores competing from more than 5 states and it was an awesome day.  Full Results Below.

Card Kingdom (52 points) ~ Washington
Gameopolis (46 points) ~ Idaho
Gamer's Asylum (41 points) ~ Utah
Silvermoon (7 points)
Rooks (2 points)
All About Games (1 point)


Name Faction Score (SoS)(CP)(PC Destroyed)
Charles Arrasmith Legion of Everblight 6 (19.0)(14)(222)
Jay Larsen Cygnar 5 (26.0)(24)(202)
Sam 'Susan' Ross Cryx 5 (24.0)(3)(192)
Jeremy Jensen Retribution of Scyrah 5 (21.0)(12)(201)
Trevor Christensen Skorne 5 (21.0)(8)(192)
Brent Moffit Khador 5 (20.0)(13)(216)
Anthony Carter Khador 4 (26.0)(5)(188)
Scott Wray Cryx 4 (24.0)(10)(196)
Brandon Bateman Circle Orboros 4 (22.0)(2)(226)
Jonathan Doggette Circle Orboros 4 (21.0)(6)(179)
Bevan Burnell Cygnar 4 (21.0)(6)(175)
Adam Blakeslee Cryx 4 (21.0)(3)(190)
Brent Beardsley Minions 4 (19.0)(12)(149)
Nicholas Klusener Cygnar 4 (19.0)(7)(133)
Colby Natale Protectorate of Menoth 4 (19.0)(6)(242)
Trenton Bates Minions 4 (19.0)(2)(167)
Robby Oylear Protectorate of Menoth 4 (18.0)(7)(203)
Matt Ramsey Trollbloods 4 (18.0)(1)(162)
Jason Whitcomb Khador 4 (14.0)(4)(212)
Eric Defoe Circle Orboros 4 (13.0)(8)(209)
Stryder Lindsey Legion of Everblight 4 (12.0)(9)(154)
Ed Hachtel Minions 3 (21.0)(2)(188)
Fall 2013 IMC.dohyou.dohyou Report file:///C:/Users/Dallas/Desktop/Fall 2013 IMC.html
1 of 4 9/18/2013 8:24 AM
Jon Medrano Legion of Everblight 3 (21.0)(2)(156)
Jamal Martin Khador 3 (20.0)(21)(214)
Thomas McCoy Protectorate of Menoth 3 (19.0)(9)(173)
Bryan Hopkins Trollbloods 3 (18.0)(2)(100)
James Brannan Cryx 3 (17.0)(13)(193)
Tyson Harrison Cygnar 3 (17.0)(8)(177)
Logan Crawford Protectorate of Menoth 3 (17.0)(5)(149)
Michael Dillon Cryx 3 (17.0)(5)(144)
Jason Welch Cygnar 3 (16.0)(7)(149)
Cory Edlin Cygnar 3 (16.0)(6)(206)
Derek Edgar Trollbloods 3 (13.0)(19)(127)
Sam Hake Skorne 3 (13.0)(8)(179)
Rory Moore Minions 3 (12.0)(7)(184)
Sam Thompson Retribution of Scyrah 2 (22.0)(4)(105)
Mike O'Donnell Minions 2 (19.0)(9)(180)
Jason Scanlon Circle Orboros 2 (19.0)(0)(124)
Trevor Ward Trollbloods 2 (18.0)(16)(173)
Jordan Gardiner Protectorate of Menoth 2 (16.0)(2)(115)
Greyson Watkins Cryx 2 (16.0)(0)(123)
Will Connolly Cygnar 2 (14.0)(5)(110)
Daniel Horn Skorne 2 (13.0)(9)(216)
James Cutler Cygnar 2 (13.0)(0)(98)
Spen$er Flitton Trollbloods 2 (12.0)(14)(125)
Tyler McGary Cygnar 2 (12.0)(11)(93)
Austin Gardiner Cygnar 2 (12.0)(0)(108)
Johnathan Lawson Retribution of Scyrah 2 (11.0)(0)(81)
Chris Baptiste Cygnar 1 (18.0)(4)(152)
Brandon Pelkey Circle Orboros 1 (18.0)(4)(83)
Fall 2013 IMC.dohyou.dohyou Report file:///C:/Users/Dallas/Desktop/Fall 2013 IMC.html
2 of 4 9/18/2013 8:24 AM
Joshua Betournay Trollbloods 1 (16.0)(0)(51)
Denny Weston Mercenaries 1 (15.0)(7)(30)
Matt Allen Khador 1 (14.0)(5)(52)
Chris Powers Cygnar 1 (11.0)(1)(132)
Tanner Lauerman Mercenaries 1 (7.0)(2)(80)
John Hopkins Trollbloods 0 (10.0)(0)(53)
Rich Theisen Mercenaries 0 (9.0)(0)(84)
Michael Parsons Skorne 0 (8.0)(0)(68)

Highest CP :
Player Name Faction CP Total
Jay Larsen (Gameopolis) Cygnar 24

Best in faction
Circle Orboros
Score
Brandon Bateman (Gamers Asylum) 4
Jonathan Doggette (Silvermoon) 4
Eric Defoe (Atomic Games ) 4
Cryx
Score
Sam 'Susan' Ross (Card Kingdom) 5
Cygnar
ScoreJay Larsen (Gameopolis) 5
Khador
Score
Brent Moffit (Card Kingdom) 5
Legion of Everblight
Score
Charles Arrasmith (Card Kingdom) 6
Mercenaries
Score
Tanner Lauerman (All About Games) 1
Denny Weston (Gamers Asylum) 1
Minions
Score
Trenton Bates (All About Games) 4
Brent Beardsley (Gamers Asylum) 4
Protectorate of Menoth
Score
Colby Natale (Rooks) 4
Robby Oylear (Card Kingdom) 4
Retribution of Scyrah
Score
Jeremy Jensen (Gamers Asylum) 5
Skorne
Score
Trevor Christensen (Gameopolis) 5
Trollbloods
ScoreMatt Ramsey (Card Kingdom) 4

12 September 2013

Feast of Blades: Overcoming my faction A.D.D.

About a month from now I will be attending feast of blades. My intention between Lock'N'Load and now was to refine a 2 and 3 list combination for this event. However, faction A.D.D. prevailed and I found myself playing a lot of Skorne and a few games with Khador, Legion, and Minions. With the event coming up fast it's time for me to pull myself together and focus on 3 lists. Inevitably I am turning back to trolls. My relationship with this faction is akin to Chris Brown and Rihanna (I have some busted models to prove it). So here are the 3 lists I will be playing.




Hoarluk 1, Runes of War
Mulg
Earthborn
Mauler
Axer

Janissa
Full Krielstone w/UA
4 Units of Runeshapers





Grissel 1
Pyre
Storm
Impaler

Horthol
Saxon
Full Longriders
Full Kriel Warriors w/UA and 3 Cabers
Full Krielstone w/UA
Min Champions



Grim 1
Earthborn
Bomber
Slag
Impaler

Full Boomhowlers
Full Bushwhackers
Sons of Bragg
Whelps

Runes of War needs no intro I will likely play it in hardcore and it will be my go to list in other events. The Queen of the Red Sea, she is a fantastic longrider caster and my mindset on Troll pairings is you need 1 beast brick and 1 longrider caster. Grim is hanging out in case I manage to snag a spot in masters. However, he may get swapped in for the 2 list event if I see an overwhelming number of certain factions.

Playing trolls competitively can be a challenge at times, this is largely due to trolls lacking an over-all focus. As a troll player you often find your options to be mediocre at best, to get the most out of trolls you have to position well, know your casters good/bad match-ups inside out, and be able to pass multiple mental command checks.

The challenge of playing the trolls well is what always brings me back. Positioning is an important part of this game, but when you are a medium base synergy faction it is even more important. We also suffer from poor defensive stats which means often times positioning is the only way we can reduce casualties outside of an absurd tough streak. My positioning is not the greatest, to combat this I have chosen lists that each have a denial element that helps cover my deficiencies and I don't have an outrageous amount of infantry.

List chicken and match-ups are a very entertaining portion of the game for me. I like to have balanced lists that can stand a chance even in a bad match-up. Trolls tend to have a hard time against hard denial or board control, this is why Hoarluk is my go to caster. He has the staying power to endure the punishment and eventually push back hard. However even Hoarluk has some terrible match-ups, primarily dude spam which both Grim and Grissel can cover well enough. There are also certain scenario's where trolls have a difficult time competing. Trolls do not enjoy dividing their forces due to their synergistic theme. Grissel has long threat ranges, her feat, and the hoof it fell call to make it very difficult for the enemy to determine where she is going to apply force. Grim brings enough guns that when backed by his feat the enemy has to accept that they will suffer heavy casualties if they want to remain relevant in scenario.

I feel mental command checks are a big portion of this game. We have all had situations where we lose a large portion of our army, or are completely tilted by a feat or ability. It is extremely easy to just give in and scoop. Trolls as a faction have a built in mental command check for both you and your opponent, tough. One thing to keep in mind when you are about to roll your command check, trolls can do a lot of work with a limited number of models, and if nothing else you can grab another scenario point or kill a few more models to help with those tie breakers!

I hope some of you find my ramblings on trolls in the competitive arena helpful in your own adventures. After feast of blades expect to see a Hindsight's 20/20 article where I talk about my failures and hopefully what I learned in the process.