Went to Conflict London today, with my uber-Bretonnians. For those who aren't familiar with my list, it consists of two huge units of KotR, a slightly less huge unit of Grail Units, a tiny unit of Peasant Yeomen, and a few characters. Look it up in the Bretonnians section, I can't be bothered to type it out here :P
Anyway, I definitely enjoyed the event, and will probably return next year (Lizardmen, perchance). Here'a a brief breakdown of how I did:
Game 1: Oh ye gods... newbie Dark Elf. When he
did know the rules, he tried to cheat. Needless to say, I pulled the Big Red Book on his shenanigans and scored a solid Massacre. Which he deserved, the scum. I also accidentally slated him on the non-gaming score, thinking each column of boxes was 'tick one' instead of 'tick all that apply'.
Game 2: Much nicer. Another Bret! The guy had a similar list to my own - smaller units, though (8 KotR, 7 KotR with BSB, 7 Grail Knights with Paladin, 2 Lvl 2s, I think 16 archers and 3 Pegasus Knights). He was very sporting and amiable, but I managed another, even more solid massacre, as he used his superior number of units to try and pincer me and ended up being too cautious, so that I had the opportunity to run my cheapest unit of knights right into his unprotected centre (Archers and Damsel on foot), then swing round and eliminate one arm of his pincer while ignoring the Grails. By Turn 4 even the Grails were dead - and all I lost were my Yeomen (Pegasus Knight... grumble... growl... still, I bought another box of those beauties at the tournament so the experience is not wasted!)
Game 3: A much closer game - as the closeness lasted
after turn 2 - but a less enjoyable one, simply because my opponent, while fine, wasn't of the same sporting caliber as the second chappie. He had a very well-thought out HE list of all-rounders:
- Commander, Guardian Phoenix, Heavy Armour, Helm of Fortune, Great Weapon - goes in a chariot
- A Level 2, Jewel of the Dusk, Silver Wand
- A Level 2, Ring of Fury, Dispel Scroll, dobbin
- 2 units of 16 HE Spears with full command
- 6 fully-upgraded Silver Helms with full command
- 2 Tiranoc Chariots
- 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
- 5 Shadow Warriors
His luck with 'to hit' rolls for the Bolt Throwers was absolutely hideous, and he managed to slaughter every single Grail Knight before I could even get to grips, leaving only my General looking very alone. My cheaper unit of KotR were forced into a game of cat and mouse with the Silver Helms and the regular chariot - but the stars of the match, the BSB's unit, tore straight across the battlefield, not quite going below half strength from RBT-pounding as they first charged and slaughtered a spear unit, pursued off the table, came back, got charged by the others, who lost the combat by a great amount and fled (Banner of the Lady and the War Banner make for a potent combo) - and were run down, then finally they managed to garner another 100 points and remove the contestants of the TQ by killing one of the RBTs. It was a Draw, with the BSB and Co. having racked up a mighty 812pts - although if my General's charge against the enemy general (challenge a dude on a chariot, who has to step down and face my re-rolling S6 attacks, followed by my 4 S4 attacks next turn) had actually
worked, which it
should have, damn it, I should
not have died, I would have got a Solid Victory (denying him the 151 points of the Paladin and also the General-killing bonus, which I would have got, as well as the points for his Commander and that Chariot (which would have fled)).
In the end, I enjoyed most of the tournament, although I believe I was unfortunate in the painting skills I got to see as all my opponents had very unspectacular, average armies. However, I did manage to tour the tables after my first two massacres, getting a lovely look at some of the other armies around (some people have attained a standard of painting that is absolutely brilliant, incredible - words fail me). When the results were posted I came a mighty 19th, out of 120 players - not bad, if I say so myself. Rasputin came 7 places below me in 26th place (just missing his dream of being the highest-placed Druchii in the tournament), and my brother's Orcs weighed in at 76th.
So - I know at least two people here who went. Tell us your experiences! I thought I saw KarQuo's army - although I didn't get to ask - but I couldn't see Caledorian anywhere.
