Goblins v Undead – Kill

Recently, a mate (Dan) and I have been getting hyped for Kings of War. Consequently, I put together a couple of 1,000 point lists utilising my old Warhammer Fantasy collection. We were able to get them to the table late last year, but I’ve only just gotten around to getting this write up finished.

Disposition of Forces

I took command of the goblins (with orc allies). The force comprised of:

• A horde of goblin sharp sticks with a maw pup;
• A regiment of orc ax with a skull pole;
• A troop of orc morax;
• Two regiments of goblin spitters;
• A regiment of goblin fleabag riders;
• Two goblin sharp stick throwers;
• A goblin wiz; and
• A goblin big git.

Dan took command of the undead, which consisted of:

• A horde of zombies;
• Two regiments of skeleton spears, both with giant undead rats;
• A regiment of ghouls;
• A regiment of revenant cavalry (horses currently lack riders);
• A horde of werewolves (lacking suitable models, these are represented by 40mm bases);
• A necromancer with heal (3); and
• A vampire lord with surge (4).

These lists were built from the models I had on hand, and I skipped on magic items to keep things simple, so I’m well aware they’re not particularly optimal or anything.

Order of Battle

The scenario we rolled was kill. In this scenario you count up the points costs of units that each side has routed. If one side routed at least 10% of the enemy force’s total value (so 100pts in this case) more than the enemy had of theirs, then they are the winner. Otherwise the battle is a draw.

The below description of the battlefield is from my perspective.

Forward of the centre line on my left flank was a field. On my centre left and covering the centre of the field was a wood in front of a house. After a gap, more trees stood forward of the house. These features were left of a hill positioned directly in the centre of the battlefield.

The right hand side of the battlefield was comprised of stands of trees ringing swampy ground. One stand of trees was on my centre right at the front of my deployment zone. The first marsh was positioned next to these trees on the forward left. The next stand of trees ran alongside the hill at the centre line of the battlefield. The second marsh was right of these trees, in the centre of my mid-right. The final marshes were forward left and right of this central marsh, while the final stand of trees of left of the forward and left of the first of those.

I deployed one sharp stick thrower on my far left deep in my deployment zone. To the right of that were the two units of spitters. Right of them were the ax and the wiz, then in my centre the big git and sharp sticks, with the second spear thrower to the right of the latter. Finally my morax were right of the second sharp stick thrower, while my fleabags had the far right wing.

The goblin battle line. Alas I don’t have a good shot of the undead at deployment.

As for Dan’s deployment, he placed the two units of skeletons right up behind the field. Next to those in the open were the zombies supported by the necromancer. In his centre were the revenant cavalry, vampire lord, and werewolves. Finally his ghouls protected his left flank.

I went first and had a very exciting turn indeed. I moved my fleabags at the double up on the right between the marshes while, on the left, my thrower inflicted three damage on the zombies opposite. Dan’s first turn was perhaps even more exciting with his ghouls pivoting to front my fleabags and the rest of his force moving up just short of bowshot (or the hill in the case of his centre). In his shooting phase, Dan’s necromancer healed the damage the zombies had taken.

The standoff between the fleabags and the ghouls.

Dan’s units on the other side of the hill to my line.

Skeletons and zombies shuffling toward my line, turn one.

Turn two and I didn’t like my chances with a hindered charge from my fleabags on the ghouls, particularly with the werewolves there to turn around and ruin my day. Consequently I moved my fleabags back and turned them to face the centre. My left most thrower fired on the zombies again, but the results weren’t very exciting.

The fleabags and the ghouls shift around, turn two.

Dan spent his second turn moving his forces up again. His right lumbered forward into bowshot, his cavalry crested the hill while his werewolves surged over it, and his ghouls moved up right into the face of my fleabags. Dan’s movement was followed by some very minor surging.

Dan’s shambling masses come into bow shot.

My turn three and I opted for a hindered side-flank charge from my fleabags onto the werewolves. Dan’s ghouls had moved up too far to, in his turn, threaten my fleabags after such a move and I didn’t like the idea of a hindered frontal charge on the ghouls (having moved my fleabags back a little too far the turn before). To support the charge I moved my sharp sticks and morax up. The positioning was such that the werewolves wouldn’t be able to charge the morax or thrower. My ax also shuffled up.

My shooting wasn’t particularly crash hot and the zombies continued to stick around. Melee was similarly unspectacular with my fleabags managing a measly two damage to the werewolves.

The action in the centre at the end of my turn three.

Undead turn three and Dan began with a double charge on my sharp sticks. Meanwhile the ghouls repositioned for a rear charge on my fleabags and his right flank continued to shamble forward.

While Dan’s surging continued to be pitiful, melee was another matter entirely. The cavalry in particular performed better than what was probable. Then, at the end of combat, not even an inspiring forced re-roll of the nerve test could see the sharp sticks stick around. The cavalry then continued forward, but fell short of the big git while the werewolves turn round to front my fleabags and morax.

‘My what big teeth you had’ – Last words of Snargit the goblin

Turn four and I was on the back foot. I responded by double charging the werewolves. I considered charging the zombies with my ax, but decided against it. My big git in the meantime ran away from the cavalry like the little coward he was.  In the shooting phase I finally saw off the zombies, while my right hand thrower put some damage on the ghouls.

My left flank, where Dan’s line has one zombie horde sized hole in it.

Meanwhile, in melee, my morax in particular lay the smackdown on the werewolves. They were broken quite easily in the end, but I couldn’t manage the 4+ required to overrun my morax into the cavalry. My fleabags opted to change facing at the end of combat to receive the ghouls’ charge.

My fleabags and morax go into the werewolves…

and they are promptly butchered.

Undead turn four and the ghouls went into the fleabags, the cavalry turned and advanced toward the morax, and the skeletons shambled up. No sooner had I commented that Dan should’ve turned the cavalry after the previous combat rather than overrunning than he reminded me of surge. He had no trouble rolling the required single inch to see the revenants into my morax, who were routed easily. To to both of our surprise however the fleabags held firm against the ghouls.

Dan’s charges on my morax and fleabags, turn four.

Turn five and I kept my fleabags in combat with the ghouls and turned my ax to face the cavalry, which had changed facing after seeing off the morax. My ranged units focused on the right unit of skeletons, while my other thrower went for the cavalry. Combat was an incredibly close affair. My fleabags did some good damage, but the nerve roll led me down and I fell one or two short of making the ghouls waver when I had better than even odds.

The fleabags and ghouls are locked in a vicious combat.

My left flank, turn five.

Dan maintained the ghoul-fleabag combat in his turn while his cavalry charged my ax, vampire lord charged my second thrower, and skeletons shambled forward. In the following combats, the fleabags were finally broken and thrower easily routed, but the ax held firm.

The revenant cavalry charge my ax, turn five.

In my final turn I held my ground. My shooting saw off the right unit of skeletons to protect my ax’s read, while in combat I managed some damage and a double six nerve test on the revenants, unfortunately when we double checked this till put me two short of breaking them!

One unit of skeletons remains on my left.

Dan’s final moves saw his last unit of skeletons charge one of my units of spitters and the cavalry continue fighting the ax. Both my units were broken in the ensuing combats, except that an inspiring re-roll saved my ax. The same would’ve been said of my spitters, but it was that they were just a little bit beyond the aura’s range.

And thus ended the battle.

Aftermath

I managed to rout 485 points worth of undead while Dan had managed to rout 605 points of goblins/orcs. With a lead of 120 points, the undead took the day!

It was a close fight and things really could’ve gone either way. Had Dan’s dice not been as favourable in the charge on the sharp sticks, or mine been just that little better when overrunning the werewolves or fighting the ghouls, we would’ve had a different result.

Another possibility, now I think about it, would’ve been to disengage the fleabags following the charge by the ghouls and then running off to cause chaos elsewhere.

It’s all learning however and we both had an absolute blast, which is the main thing. Our battle certainly only served to fuel our enthusiasm for the game.

Conclusion

I can see Kings of War being a game I enjoy equally as much as Bolt Action.

Dan and I did weekly X-Wing for five years and one of the things Dan pointed out was that Kings of War is very similar in the sense that the game is all about the moves you make to set yourself up to execute a battle plan. I couldn’t agree more and we both find it incredibly engaging because of it.

I hope you enjoyed this after action report and expect more Kings of War in the future. Next time however: terrain.

Update, Update, where art thou Update?

A flurry of activity for a couple of months and then nothing but silence. What happened? University. Who knew that studying law part time and working full time would keep me so busy?

I’ve not be wholly idle on the hobby front though; so here’s a look at what I’ve been doing over the past few months.

Skeleingtons

The leg bone is connected to the hip bone.

These bony boys were actually painted back in May/June, I’ve just taken that long to get around to taking a happy snap. While I’m still left what younger me was thinking when he assembled them, the refreshed paint work is a big improvement I think.

Originally they had Beasty Brown spear hafts and shield backs, while the metal elements were done in plain Tin Bitz. I’d also just painted the bases Scorched Brown.

In the refresh, I went with Desert Yellow for the spear hafts, Black for the shield backs, and Gunmetal highlighted with Chainmail for the metal parts. I also gave them an Agrax Earthshade wash and sorted out their bases as well.

Finally, I’ve magnetised their bases and assigned them a magnetic movement tray.

Orc Boyz

They iz real gud at fightn.

Now here are some classic Games Workshop miniatures for you. These are the orc boyz from the Warhammer Fantasy Battles 6th edition starter set. I can’t remember when I got my copy, possibly 2003 or 2004. I do know I went halves with my youngest brother though. I assembled them (aka cut them off the sprue and glued them to their bases) when we got the set, but otherwise these have been gathering dust ever since.

I went with a variety of colours for their jerkins: Khaki Grey; German Camo Orange Ochre;  Stonewall Grey; and German Camo Beige. There are a couple of colours used for their pants too, though I can only remember Brown Violet. Leather things are in German Medium Camo Brown and metal in Gunmetal highlighted with Chainmail again.

Again I’ve magnetised their bases and assigned them a magnetic movement tray.

Dire Wolves

The model being eaten by the crow is my favourite.

Finally we have the dire wolves. These are a current GW offering for Age of Sigmar. I’ve assembled them on 50×25 MDF bases though for use in rank and flank games. They’re quite characterful models, though the mate who assembled them for me said they were extremely arduous to put together. GW love to make things needlessly and overly complicated these days.

Fur is layering of German grey, German Field Grey, then Ghost Grey. Fleshy bits are Gory Red followed by Medium Flesh. I’ve used Black Wash on the furry bits and Umber Wash mixed with some Gory Red on the fleshy and bony bits.

I was dubious about the contact the minis had on their bases, so I haven’t used magnetic bases. That’s also why they haven’t got a movement tray.

The Table

My wargaming table.

In other news, here’s a nice bit of carpentry that dad did for me.

Previously this room had a model railway layout that was in a permanent stage of very early construction. I got sick of the wasted space, so we did away with the top and then dad disassembled, cut things down to size, and reassembled with a fresh top.

The top is 1800x1200x16mm MDF with adhesive velvet stuff stuck on top (comes in sheets of 1000x450mm). The legs are, from memory,. 100mm square and are 800mm high (they’d previously been 1000 high in the train layout). The wheels add another 100mm, so the table is about 900mm high all up, so about benchtop height. The wheels are 360° rotating ones with locks too.

Don’t we wish our rolls always look like that?

We’ve added drawers at either end. They were from a furniture kit which Dad rescued from a skip. We’ve them added some firm felt to the inside.

All up a very neat construction.

The Rack

136 bottles of paint in a rack…

Finally we have my painting desk. This isn’t really anything new; I just wanted to show off my reorganisation.

The paint racks are from Back 2 Base-ix, a local company that does MDF and acrylic hobby products. They’re also who I source my movement trays and magnets from.

I previously only had two racks, but I was getting sick of the excess bottles accruing on my desk so I bought a third. I’ve now got all my paints braille labelled (it’s really hard for me to read the labels these days) and arranged in alphabetical order (Model Colour on the top two rows, varnishes and washes on the far end of the second row, Game Colour on the bottom three rows).

I also spreadsheeted the lot so I could keep better track of what I have (so I stop buying extras of things I don’t need).

Next Time

As mentioned, mid-semester break is soon upon us and I’m hoping to get some hobby things in while I can. I’ve a game of Bolt Action this Sunday that I’ll do my best to get posted as soon as I can after. I’m also expecting a game of 40k within the next three weeks. Will that be the first game of 40k I actually feel inclined to post on here? Only time will tell.

Until next time.

A Blast From the Past – Orcs and Goblins vs Vampire Counts

So I’ve been pining for some good old rank and flank gaming of late. Partly because I always found I enjoyed Warhammer Fantasy more and partly because I think it’s a form of wargaming that’s easier for someone who is blind/VI – less units to keep track of and all. Well as it happened I was in luck.

With Dark Heresy falling through again and three of four in my boardgame group busy, the last the latter, Ben, was keen to play some Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WFB) 6^th edition. Why 6^th? Because it’s the best edition, and because I have hardcopies of the rulebook and 6e army books for Orcs and Goblins and Vampire Counts.

So I rustled up my old forces, dusted them off, and got ready for some Old World fun.

The Armies

While not the prettiest things, most being unpainted and a good chunk of what was having been done before I became decent, it turned out I had quite a bit of stuff. So much so that with a bit of proxying Ben and I came up with two 2,120 point lists. Why 2,120? Because that’s how much we got the Vampire Counts to and we did them first.

Orcs and Goblins

Level 4 Night Goblin great shaman with the Staff of Badum, Dangly Wot-Nots, and a dispel scroll

Black Orc Big Boss with heavy armour, an extra hand weapon, and Crumpa’s Club of something or rather

Level 2 Night Goblin shaman with the Staff of Sorcery,

Level 2 Night Goblin shaman with a dispel scroll and a power stone

Two units of 20 Night Goblins with spears, both with three fanatics

Two units of 20 Night Goblins with shortbows, both also with three fanatics

16 Arrer Boyz

Two units of 8 Goblin Wolf Riders with shortbows (half proxied with Forest Goblin Spider Riders – clearly they’re wolf spiders)

25 Black Orcs (15 proxied with regular Orc Boyzz)

(All units had standards, musicians, and bosses)

Vampire Counts

Level 4 Master Necromancer with the Rod of Flaming Death, Book of Arkan, and a dispel scroll

A Blood Dragon Vampire Thrall on a nightmare with barding with a lance, shield, Talisman of Protection, and blessed with Red Fury

Level 2 Necromancer with a Power Familiar (proxied with a Wraith)

A Wight Lord with heavy army and the Hell Battle Standard (I think that name is correct, unit he is with causes Terror. Proxied with a regular old skeleton standard bearer)

Two units of 20 Skeletons with spears and light armour plus champion, musician, and standard bearer

Two units of Zombies with musician and standard bearer (half are zombie-fied Empire militia)

19 ghouls, including a Ghast

6 Fell Bats (one is just a stand, requires fixing)

9 Black Knights with the Screaming Banner (proxied with a Wight converted from an Empire captain, a mounted Wight, a mounted Von Carstein vampire, and six Norman knights)

The Battlefield

I set up a battlefield with a couple of hills, some woods, and a big chunk of marsh.

From the perspective of what would become my side, there was a one hill positioned left of the middle in my deployment zone. Forward of that, through the mid-section, a wood obscured the left flank, while from that to the centre line was clear. Opposite the hill, nearer the centre of the opposing deployment zone, stood another wood.

In my deployment zone and near the centre line, or just right of it, was another wood. Forward and right of the trees the marsh spanned through the mid-section up to the mid-point between the deployment zones. Beyond the marsh was a stand of trees right of centre. Right of these trees lay the second hill. It was forward of the opposing deployment zone and obscured that flank.

The Battle

We had a roll off to choose our side that Ben won with a 6. We then took turns deploying one unit at a time, as well as rolling all our spells.

The Greenskin Horde

From my right to left, Ben positioned his two units of Wolf Riders behind the hill, then Arrer Boyz behind the tree-line. The two units of speargoblins were positioned either side of the wood in his deployment zone. The first unit of shortbows was then placed left of the left-most unit of spears, the Black Orcs behind them, and second unit of shortbows on the far left flank, obscured by the wood in the mid-section. His shamans were positioned between various units.

Corpse Wall

As for my deployment, going left to right, I went with my Black Knights left of the hill in my deployment zone, unit of Zombies and unit of Skeletons on the hill with Master Necromancer between them, then my battle standard Skeletons and my second unit of Zombies with the other Necromancer beside the latter. Right of that came my Ghouls facing the marsh and Fell Bats on the far right flank.

Ben won the roll off for first turn, again with a six, and the battle commenced.

Right off the bat the second Wolf Rider unit decided fighting amongst itself was the order of the day while the first unit shifted back to wait for my Fell Bats to near. The rest of the Goblin force marched up and Mork’s gaze saw some Skeletons crumble to dust. Gork also got set to go on the warpath, prompting me to use my dispel scroll to avoid a stomping.

Greenskins after Turn 1 movement

In my turn I flew my Fell Bats up, but kept them obscured by the hill, while the ghouls marched through the swamp. The rest of my army marched up, which led to the first onslaught of fanatics.

Half a dozen whirling loonies scattered themselves about the place. Two ploughed into my battle standard bearing skeletons, while others interposed themselves between my battle line and Ben’s. I moved up my other units just shy of seeing a further three fanatics being unleashed. I also crossed my fingers and hoped Gork and Mork wouldn’t see fit to push any of them into my general.

Turn 1 Undead movement

In my magic phase, I reanimated all the destroyed skeletons and set a bolt from the Rod of Flaming Death into one of the fanatics. And so Turn 1 ended with everything more or less as it began, though with our armies closer together and Fanatics all over the place.

Turn 2 and things went from funny it hilarious as the second Wolf Rider unit continued to squabble, while the first decided to show them what’s what and shot at them. The rest of the greenskins kept it together, but only thanks to the encouragement of the nearby Black Orcs.

Fighting within the ranks

To my relief the Fanatics weren’t overly troublesome. They mostly put themselves in annoying positions. One made its way toward the forest behind my line and another was even so kind as to plough through a unit of Night Goblin shortbows. Most importantly none went hurtling into my Master Necromancer.

The rest of the horde stayed put to focus its efforts on shooting undead and bring down Gork’s wrath. Evidently he was put out at having been put off last turn and so his big stompy foot came down with irresistible vengeance. Thankfully he failed to squish any Black Knights, but crushed some skeletons before slipping and flattening a Black Orc.

My turn began with a charge from the Fell Bats into the left flank of the first unit of speargoblins. After that, I continued to move everything up, which sent yet more fanatics hurtling into everything. My terror causing Skeletons were devastated down to only 5 models as the nutjobs ploughed through. I was quite fine with the losses though, the Necromancers would just have to earn their keep. I was much more cautious with my Black Knights however, given they wouldn’t be getting back up should they fall.

Bat attack!

None the less, I had them trigger the last three fanatics from the shortbows behind the forest. They could only be set up for mayhem next turn, and even then RNG might keep my units safe.

My magic phase was quite eventful. Not only was I able to replenish my devastated unit of skeletons back up to 20, Vanhel’s Danse Macabre sent the unit charging into the second unit of speargoblins. Unfortunately, while the first unit failed their Fear test on the Fell Bats, the second passed their Terror test and held firm against the Skeletons.

Combat was underwhelming. Casualties on both sides were exceedingly light. My Wight Lord in particular put on a terrible performance with his three attacks rolling 1, 1, 2 for 3/3 misses. When the dice stopped rolling however my Fell Bats won their combat and lapped around, the Night Goblins having held, while my Skeletons lost combat by 1 but didn’t lose a Skeleton thanks to my battle standard.

Turn 3 and you’d be forgiven for thinking the second unit of Wolf Riders would’ve gotten over their differences by now. They hadn’t and continued to squabble. The shortbows on Ben’s far right were also subject to animosity and moved up toward my Black Knights. Thankfully the forest slowed their movement enough to prevent them running into their own Fanatic.

Speaking of Fanatics: two of them clobbered half my Black Knights to death much to my dismay. In good news however, two put themselves into trees and a further two collided and took themselves out. With the good came the bad however, as every single unit within 6” of my terror causing Skeletons passed their Terror test, dashing my hopes of a Terror induced rout.

Wolf Riders finally join the fight – never mind the napping Arrer Boy

The greenskins continued to pick off undead, with the Arrer Boyz and first unit of Wolf Riders falling just one kill shy of inflicting 25% casualties on my Ghouls. Goblin magic this turn was terrible, with several failed casting attempts and a miscast that left one shaman unable to muster power for the rest of that phase.

Meanwhile our melees started to edge in my favour. While the speargoblins still held against the Fell Bats, the other speargoblins fled and were destroyed after losing to my Skeletons. This sent the Skeletons pursuing right into the Black Orcs.

In my turn I threw caution to the wind and charged everything I could. The Black Knights went straight through a fanatic and into the second unit of shortbows. Miraculously, while Ben rolled four or five hits he failed to wound with a single one of them.

Charge!

In the centre, my second unit of Skeletons charged the out of position Night Goblin Shaman, who promptly fled. As a result, the Skeletons ploughed into the Black Orcs and other unit of shortbows. They were joined by some Zombies, while the other unit of Zombies finally made their way across the bit of marsh they were stuck on.

Magic saw more Skeletons back on their feet, as well as the Wind of Death sapping the Night Goblin Great Shaman of his life force.

Knight fight

On to melee and the rout began. While my knights won handily, snake eyes saw the shortbows hold firm. The rest of the goblins weren’t so lucky. The Fell Bats finally caused the speargoblins to rout and chased them down. Meanwhile the Zombies broke the other shortbows and ran them down too. The odd unit out was, as to be expected, the Black Orcs. They butchered Skeletons with gay abandon and won their combat handily, leaving my battle standard unit with only five models left.

End of the battle

It was however quite obvious which way the battle was going, and Ben had to head off anyway. While the Black Orcs would undoubtedly hold on, my forces were free to swarm them, and my Necromancers had free reign.

Another shot of the end state

We did the Fanatics movement to see what would happen, but that only resulted in one spinning off the table and another two colliding. The second unit of Wolf riders stopped squabbling though. Better late than never.

We also rolled a one on one combat with my Vampire Thrall and Ben’s Black Orc Big Boss in which the latter was decapitated handily. Even allowing the orc to strike post-humous my Thrall managed to make two of three 6+ ward saves, granted thanks to his Talisman of Protection.

Aftermath

The battle was Ben’s first time of really playing WFB. Should he do it all over again, he said, he’d definitely deploy differently. The most important change of which would be to get the Black Orcs in the front line. I also advised he would’ve been better to take the side he gave me, using the height advantage of the hill and marsh to guard his flank.

For my part, I’m definitely not going to set up such a large marsh next time. I think it was too much of an impediment. Though I do need to double check movement and difficult terrain. Battle-wise, everything proceeded as I had foreseen *cackles in Palpatine*.

Final Thoughts

Ben and I had an absolute blast. WFB 6e was my first wargame and sure there’s a nostalgia element, but it was genuinely a highly enjoyable experience. It’s quite obvious why 6e is considered the best version of WFB. The rules are solid, the army books flavourful and balanced, and it was a time when GW was still about the hobby and not about building castles out of wads of bank notes (no surprises if there’s a chapel to Harry Enfield in there).

It’s given me real enthusiasm for getting some more fantasy stuff together and touching up all my old models. So who knows, maybe you’ll get to see more bony boys in the future?

Friday Hobby Check In – May 2018

Welcome to June. May was a busy month so I didn’t get a huge amount done, but there were some things.

Bolt Action – American Update

No pictures for this one, but I have assembled and undercoated 20 American GIs. NCOs have SMGs, two BARs, and the rest have a mix of M1903s and M1 Garands.

I also bought another box of US Infantry (and was thrilled to receive the email two days later to say a new US Infantry box would be released soon…), a half track, and an MMG team.

I’ve also got a partially assembled M8. It’s the old resin one and while I’ve got all the big things in place, it’s the fiddly little bits that I’m unsure where to place that remain. I’ve been unable to find the old assembly image so it’s been set aside in frustration for a time.

Guild Ball – Stoker

I finally got around to painting Stoker. Not much to say really, he came out ok.

I’m also pleased that I was able to get my hands on Esthers and Pint Pot, so I’ve all the Brewer’s models now (except regular Spigot, but I’m not fussed about that, I have the Veteran Spigot model which I can use. It’s not like both can be on the field at once). My one aim for June is to get those two models painted.

Reaper Bones

Here we have the clockwork dragon. This model is probably my favourite from the Reaper Bones line. The paint job is very basic, but I think it came out nice. It’s also a lot larger than I first envisaged. (The images I took tonight were a bit bright, so I’ve included one I took on the kitchen cupboard that does a better job of showing it off I think).

Then the other night I got this mage done in about an hour or so. Again, incredibly basic colour scheme for the most part. I somewhat wish I’d done two different colours coming out one a piece from each hand and mixing in the middle. I like the end result of the magical energy though. It reminds me of the most enjoyable colour combination in Magic: the Gathering: red and blue. (Again, I think the brightness fades it out a bit, but the magic goes blue from the hands, lightening through white to orange at the top).

I have so many Reaper Bones miniatures and hardly any are painted, so it is nice to get these two done. I’m not too keen on the medium used in Reaper Bones, but the simpler models come out quite nicely with basic paint jobs.

Next Time

I’m really not sure how productive the next few months will be. I always have so many things vying for my attention, and winter tends to be a less productive hobby time for me. I’d really like to see Esthers and Pint Pot painted though. I’ll also see if I can’t do a few more Reaper Bones, just for a bit of variety. I suspect the Americans will be waiting for the warmer months.

More immediately though, my brother and I will be playing some Guild Ball tomorrow. I might write up those match reports, dependent on how they go.

 

Guild Ball – Fish (Shark) v Brewers (Tapper)

This is the second game my brother and I played last weekend. We switched teams so I could show him how to Fish.

Line-Up

Me: Greyscales, Siren, Shark (cpt), Salt (msct), Jac, Angel

Lee: Vet Spigot, Stave, Scum (msct), Tapper, Hooper, Friday

Match Report

Lee won the roll off and elected to receive. I kicked with Shark, joggin him right up the middle and putting the ball about 3” over the halfway line. Stave went first, sprinted up and snapped the ball, and dropped it behind him at the end of the sprint. He then threw a barrel at Shark, pushing him back and knocking him down.

The majority of the rest of the turn was players repositioning. I shifted Jac, Salt, and Greyscales into position to receive a Lured Stave, courtesy of Siren. But when Tapper charged Jac and put him into the ground, I decided instead to use Seduce on Tapper to get him to attack Stave. The reason for this was that Stave blocked a charge on Jac from Hooper. I also only needed a single momentum to get Shark back on his feet. Meanwhile, Scum had snapped the ball, and Friday headed to my right near the tree, Scum tagging along with the ball but just short of getting cover.

With my one momentum from using Tapper to knock down Stave, I got Shark to his feet. He charged Stave, wrapped and was able to use Tidal Surge and a 1” dodge to shift 5” around, passing through Hooper and on to the other side of Tapper. Another attack and dodges put Shark into melee with Scum, but he wasn’t going to be able to tackle, dodge out, and have range on goal. I tackled the ball and then scored a couple of dodges to generate momentum.

I won the roll off for turn two and Shark went first. He attacked Scum five times, generating five momentum, then jogged up to the goal and nailed it. Me 4 v Lee 0. I used Run the Pitch to dodge Shark closer to the goal. Lee put the ball in on the right, next to the tree but out of snap range of Scum and Friday. Stave then used momentum to stand back up, hit Ramming Speed to push back Jac and Salt as he moved, and went to knock down Siren. Except that two attacks totalling 12 dice failed to net him a single 5. I repositioned Greyscales, before Tapper went in on Angel (Jac having stood back up and healed last turn). Angel was knocked down and took a beating, but I repositioned to Jac to cut off a charge from Scum and save her.

Friday sprinted, collecting the ball and passing to Hooper, who took a momentous dodge towards Shark (hoping to avoid a Seduce from Siren. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Lee, I had the plot card Good Mark, giving Siren’s Seduce +2” range. I was able to shift her around Stave, hit Seduce, use Hooper to pass to Shark, then bonus time a snap shot to score a second goal. Me 8 v Lee 0. The ball came back in with Spigot, who moved on Greyscales, managing to knock him down and generate some momentum. Scum went in on Jac and did some damage, while Angel stood back up and was healed at some point.

Turn three and Lee got first turn. Spigot got some momentum from Greyscales, sprinted and nailed a goal. Me 8 v Lee 4. I kicked the ball back in on the left and used Salt to collect it, and then drop it off near Greyscales (him being knocked down still). I forgot about Friday though, and she was able to nab the ball and kick to space near the tree on the left. I used Shark to generate a bunch of momentum from Hooper and knock him down too. Tapper wailed on Jac, getting up Commanding Aura, before I used Siren to Seduce Tapper into attacking Scum, putting him to half health. A fully loaded Scum then went at Jac, but fell just one point short of getting a Take Out with the first attack, allowing me to Counter Attack, taking the cat down to one health.

Scum finished Jac off and went in on Angel next, but she also Counter Attacked and was able to do the last damage to Take Out Scum. Me 9 v Lee 6. I stood Greyscales up and used him to collect the ball. Hooper had a go at Shark, but the dice continued to be against Lee and he netted nothing.

Turn four and I won the roll off. Greyscales went in on Friday, generated three momentum, passed to Shark, who then too a Bonus Timed Snapshot to win the game. Me 13 v Lee 6.

Aftermath

Lee felt this game went better than the first and preferred the play style of the Brewers. He noted that I played much more aggressively than he did. I was also able to split his players up and avoid a gang of Brewers roaming around, beating me into the ground. He had some very bad luck though: Stave not being able to do anything to Siren, Hooper doing likewise on Shark, and he wasn’t to know I had Good Mark which allowed me to pull off the second goal.

 

Guild Ball – Brewers (Tapper) V Fish (Shark)

The first of two games I played against my brother this weekend.

Line-Up

Me: Vet Spigot, Stave, Scum (msct), Tapper, Hooper, Friday

Lee: Greyscales, Siren, Shark (cpt), Salt (msct), Jac, Angel

Match Report

Lee won the roll off and elected to kick with Salt (I did recommend Shark), who put the ball on the right near the crates.

Friday used Shadow Like and a sprint to collect the ball and pass to Tapper. Greyscales moved up before Stave sprinted and threw a barrel behind Greyscales, knocking him forward. Lee moved Jac up, and then I went in on Greyscales with Tapper by first passing to Scum, using a momentous dodge to move up, then charging. I hit Commanding Aura and put some serious hurt in, I also hit my heroic and gave two influence to Hooper.

I think Angel shifted up at this point, before Hooper charged in and finished Greyscales off. Me 2 v Lee 0. Shark activated and went in on Tapper. He was unable to hit Tidal Surge though and just spent his influence generating momentum and dodging around, trying to get closer to Scum. Obviously I wasn’t going to let this happen, and moved Scum into cover of the tree on the left. The final moves were Siren and Spigot moving up the field.

Turn two and Lee won the roll off. Unfortunately the dice were not in his favour after that. He tidal surged past Tapper and Hooper, scored a momentous dodge off Stave, but then couldn’t get a single 5, let alone two, to tackle the ball off Scum. His last attack likewise failed. I got Scum out of trouble with Shadow Like, then made sure to move more than 4” away from Shark. Siren came in and seduced Scum to pass to her, before she passed to Greyscales (who had come back on near her).

I used Stave to knock Shark down and do some damage before Jac went in on Friday, but failed to do anything. The rest of the turn for the Fish involved repositioning from Greyscales and Angel (who lurked at the back, Lee just didn’t want to play aggressive) and Salt was around somewhere. For me, Shadow Liked Friday out of trouble, charged Shark and got Dirty Knives off and some small damage. Tapper turned on Shark, got Commanding Aura up and did some damage to boot. His activation finished with his heroic, again giving influence to Hooper who came in and finished off Shark with ease. I then played Man Marking for +2 influence next turn. Me 4 v Lee 0

I won the roll off easily and put Tapper into Siren straight away, knocking her down and hitting Commanding Aura, but only doing 5 damage. I used Sic ‘Em to charge Scum into Shark who’d come back on the left side, but only did minor damage. And Spigot moved up and engaged Siren, who he took out but couldn’t quite dodge around enough to get to Shark. Me 6 v Lee 0

Meanwhile Jac engaged Hooper but failed to do anything good, Greyscales and Angel moved up, Salt darted around where ever. Hooper and Stave together knocked Jac down and put the boot in, leaving him on five health.

Turn four and I had two take outs waiting. I started by using Tapper to take out Shark, Me 8 v Lee 0. Angel then activated, sprinted forward, Super Shot, and kicked a goal, after which Lee played Knee Slider to reposition Angel away from Hooper and Stave. Me 8 v Lee 4

I kicked the ball back in on the left and then used Hooper to finish Jac off easily, Me 10 v Lee 4. Greyscales then activated and went in on Stave. He used push dodges to move Stave along with him, before hitting Where’d He Go? on his final attack and dodging across to grab the ball. Stave retaliated by throwing a barrel at him. The knock down ball scatter was favourable to me and sent it straight towards Spigot, only millimetres from snapping to him.

Lee didn’t have much left he could do. A reposition from Salt, but Spigot was then up and grabbed the ball, sprinted up, and used his heroic to make a kick without spending influence to nail the winning goal. Me 14 v Lee 4

Aftermath

This was only Lee’s first real game. He found constantly being knocked down frustrating and felt like he couldn’t deal with my scrum game. I pointed out that he needed to play much more aggressively and attack hard, using his longer melee range and dodges to skirt my players and run amok.

Guild Ball – Brewers (Tapper) v Fish (Shark)

With a full team painted, I decided to play my Brewers last night. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.

Line-Up

Me: Friday, Stave, Scum (msct), Tapper (cpt), Hooper, Vet Spigot

Ely: Greyscales, Jac, Shark (cpt), Salt (msct), Siren, Angel

Match Report

Ely won the roll off and elected to kick, using Shark to put the ball on the left in front Friday. I assigned two influence each to Friday and Stave, four Tapper, three Hooper, and one Vet Spigot. This allocation was my first mistake.

Friday grabbed the ball and passed back to Scum, but missed the kick. Scum was able to nab the ball in a scatter which Ely forced me to reroll with Match Fixing. Shark then activated and did Shark things. He charged Scum, tackled the ball, used Guy and Strings on Stave and pushed him around, bounced off Tapper, shot and scored, then momentous dodged near Friday. Me 0 v Ely 4. I activated Stave, played Good Mark, and used his two influence to throw a barrel next to Shark, pushing him passed Friday and knocking him down. Greyscales shifted up, then so did Scum who used Shadow Like then jogged around Shark, keeping in melee range, to block an escape back to Ely’s side of the pitch.

Siren Lured Tapper, but he still had plenty of range to charge Shark, hitting Commanding Aura and Marked Target (so Hooper would have charge range on Shark), before dishing out some pain (10 damage in two attacks I think). Jac shifted up and Ely cleared conditions on Shark to stand him back up. Hooper charged in and Ely used Defensive Stance and Counter Attack. Hooper was able to put him back on the ground, but failed to do the damage to take him out (Shark was left with 3hp). Salt moved up before Vet Spigot (who had the ball from when I kicked it back in) sprinted up to the fast ground on the right. I went a little too far though and Angel was able to charge me and get a momentous push dodge.

Although I was up on momentum, the dice were against me and Ely won the roll off. I went with four Vet Spigot, two Friday, three Tapper, and two Scum. This allocation was also a mistake. Shark forfeited his movement and got up. Hit his legendary and promptly dodged his way out of the scrum with a succession of attacks. In hindsight, I probably should have taken the chance with a counter attack from Hooper on the first attack to try knock Shark back down. Even then though, Ely would have generated one momentum from that attack and been able to stand right back up. After dodging clear of everything, Shark healed 4 (so he was now on 7). For my first activation, I went with Friday and hit Dirty Knives on Shark. This choice was also a mistake because Siren Seduced the ball of Vet Spigot and then passed to Salt. Tapper put up Commanding Aura, then hit his heroic to give two influence to Scum (this was an error, Scum has a max of 3). Angel then ran up into a snapshot position, before Scum charged Shark who put up Defensive Stance and Counter Attacked. I was only able to do two damage after a terrible roll, and then Shark’s counter attacked dodged him away. The only other interesting thing to occur this turn was Vet Spigot charging Angel, who also hit Defensive Stance and Counter Attack, failing to do anything, but Angel getting a dodge.

I lost the roll off again, and the turn began with Greyscales grabbing the ball (dropped by Salt) and moving up into tap in range. He hit Stave for some momentum before hitting the goal easily. Me 0 v Ely 8. I took a risk with the kick back in and ended up landing it with Angel. This forced me to activate Vet Spigot first, who took two attacks to tackle the ball back off Angel and couldn’t do anything else. Ely repositioned Jac to engage tapper and Hooper, followed by a Scum charge on Shark. A charge that fell one damage short of taking him out, followed by a second attack that scored nothing. That summed up the game pretty well. Shark went in and generated some momentum from Friday and Tapper. Tapper shifted across and laid the smack down on Jac, knocking him down, getting up Commanding Aura, and doing a total of 10 damage (and that was after Tough Hide). But the end of the game was nigh. Siren seduced Vet Spigot who passed to Angel, who then made the Snap Shot to end the game. Me 0 v Ely 12.

Aftermath

Well I learnt a lot about Brewers. The low movement and lack of abilities to repositions hurts big time. But it didn’t help I made endless mistakes. I realised afterwards that my allocation in first turn should have shifted two from Hooper and added one to Friday and Stave. This allocation would then allow me to make use of Tapper’s heroic to top Hooper’s influence up. This would have opened up my options, allowing Friday to use Dirty Knives as well as passing, or Stave to sprint and throw a barrel. In fact, even just opening with Stave and using a barrel to push Shark away perhaps would have been a better choice. He would have been knocked down, Ely would have no momentum and a hard time getting any, so a fully loaded Shark would likely be able to do little more than waste his movement standing up, Tidal Surge, and then nothing.

In the second turn I should have ignored Shark after he had activated and used Vet Spigot to score a goal. Even though the ball would have come back in to Ely, it likely would have been the better choice. I also should have only given Tapper two influence. I knew Ely was going to use Caught in a Net with Shark, so there was no point to giving him four influence. An extra two on Friday would have allowed her to use Dirty Knives and move in to attack Shark. Or two on Stave to use a barrel.

As for the last turn, well there wasn’t much avoid the outcome. Though better rolling would have taken out Shark, forcing someone else to generate the momentum for Ely’s snap shot.

The other big mistake throughout the whole game was constantly forgetting Shadow Like on Friday and Scum, and Unpredictable Movement on Scum (which might have been able to prevent Shark’s first turn goal, or even just keep him closer to my goal and easier to smack down.

Fish are a tough match up for Brewers though I think, especially when you’re playing your first game with them against someone who is very familiar with Fish. I’ve at least one, hopefully two, matches lined up against my brother tomorrow (1 July 2017) though, so hopefully I can use what I’ve learnt and play a better game (his inexperience should also put us on a more equal footing).

 

Guild Ball – Fish (Shark) V Union (Blackheart)

No game last week because I was busy, but this week it was a match against Dave playing Union. I was pretty tired, so details are a tad hazy.

Line-up

Me: Greyscales, Siren, Salt (msct), Shark (cpt), Jac, Angel

Dave: Snakeskin, Harry, Blackheart (cpt), Rage, Coin (msct), Avarisse & Greede

Match Report

I won the roll off and elected to kick with Siren. The ball ended up on the right hand side of the pitch, scattering towards the Union line. Usual influence assigned: one a piece Greyscales, Jac, and Angel, six Shark, four Siren.

I’m a bit hazy on the first turn, but ultimately Greyscales, Jac, and Angel all shifted up. Avarisse & Greede, Rage, and Coin all did likewise. The ball was picked up and made its way to Blackheart, never snapping to anyone (Coin missed the pass to Blackheart anyway). Blackheart was able to snap the ball in his activation, pass to Harry and take a Momentous Dodge, Shadowlike, jog into combat with Siren and take her out while she was still fully loaded. Me 0 V Dave 4 and four influence down the drain. I moved Salt into melee with Blackheart before sprinting Shark in, but could only generate some momentum and knock Blackheart down – no pinball to get to Snakeskin through Harry who had the ball.

The highlights of turn two were Rage taken Shark down from full with a single influence and loads of Rage – again, Shark was fully loaded. Me 0 v Dave 4. Blackheart was passed the ball and he shifted up, but the ball was tackled back off him by Greyscales who dropped the ball away from him. Avarisse & Greede came in, and Greede was able to collect the ball and pass to Blackheart. Blackheart then went in on an Icy Sponge’d Siren, taking her out for the second time, and scoring with ease. Me 0 V Dave 10. I kicked in way up to the right and managed to scatter the ball to Angel.

Turn three and it was pretty obvious the game was over, but I wanted to at least get some points on the board so we played it out. Harry tried to take down Greyscales, but poor dice kept him alive. Angel then activated, sprinted, Nimble (why not?), Supershot, and kicked a screamer from tap in range. Me 4 V Dave 10. Finally, Rage went in on Greyscales and finished him off handily. Match over, Me 4 V Dave 12

Aftermath

Mistakes a plenty this game. Siren probably wasn’t the one to kick off with, or I should of kept her out of danger. I feel I got unlucky with Rage, but sending Shark into the centre was probably a dumb idea. Greyscales probably should have held onto the ball at the end of Turn 2, and I should’ve given Siren three influence for Seduce in Turn 2 too. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to put on a better showing and have a closer game.

 

 

Guild Ball – Fish (Shark) V Fish (Corsair)

I ended up playing X-Wing last week, so there was no game, but this week it was back to Guild Ball.

Line Up

Me: Greyscales, Siren, Salt (msct), Shark (cpt), Jac, Angel

Elly: Sakana, Hag, Veteran Siren, Corsair (cpt), Tentacles (msct), Greyscales

Match Report

I won the roll off and elected to kick. Siren was my kick off choice again and put the ball just over the line to the right. Influence went four to Siren, six Shark, and one a piece Angel, Greyscales, and Jac. I forget Elly’s allocations, but Corsair received a full stack.

Elly’s Greyscales went first, moving up and taking the ball, before passing back to Vet Siren and hitting decoy. I moved Siren up, hit seduce on Vet Siren, took a momentous dodge off the successful pass and passed the ball back to Jac. Hag activated, moved up, and hit her legendary to dodge Elly’s team up. Jac then moved up and passed to Angel. Corsair was next and he charged into Siren. I went defensive stance, but it didn’t do much. Siren was knocked down and stomped into the ground with ease in the following attacks. Me 0 v Elly 2. Angel moved up into cover and passed back to Shark. Veteran Siren then moved into the middle of Hag, Corsair, and Tentacles (who she brought along) and put up dread gaze.

I then went to make my Shark play, but no direction looked good. I ended up trying to go through Corsair, who counterattacked and tackled the ball off me. I was able to get it back, but by this point had spent four influence and there was no way to get through to take a shot. I attacked again for more momentum, then passed to Angel who used a momentous dodge to move up. The final moves were pretty dull, with Sakana and my Greyscales moving up but otherwise doing nothing exciting.

I won the roll off for turn two thanks to having more momentum and went first. Siren came back on in front my goal and I assigned six to Shark, four Angel, two Greyscales, and one to Jac. Corsair again received a full stack, plus some to Elly’s Greyscales, Vet Siren, Hag, and Sakana. I activated Angel, charged Tentacles, hit a momentous push dodge that I was able to use to neuter Tentacles counter attack, then hit Super Shot and kicked through Greyscales in melee range, nailing my first goal. Me 4 v Elly 2. I played Knee Slider off it and dodged Angel up and into tap in range of the goal for Snap Shot purposes. Elly played Super Fan to put the ball on Vet Siren, then moved Corsair into Shark, bringing Tentacles along with him. Shark was knocked down and pummelled – ending with on 3 hp left. But 3 hp was more than enough. I used momentum to stand up, jogged around Corsair (keeping Tentacles in melee range). At this point I should have used my legendary, instead I hit Tidal surge into Vet Siren and Greyscales then used my legendary – which fell just short of Sakana (I knew it’d be the case, that’s why I intended to use it before Tidal Surge but forgot). I tackled the ball off Vet Siren, attacked again for a momentous 1” dodge, then shot and scored my second. Me 8 v Elly 2.

I think the ball came back in and snapped to Hag. Elly then activated his Greyscales and went in on Shark, but poor rolls meant he still couldn’t finish him off. I moved Jac into Corsair and brought Salt along too, and a bad roll netted me one momentum. Elly turned Vet Siren who went in on Shark and finished him off. Me 8 v Elly 4. I moved Greyscales up into Sakana, but failed to do much and had Sakana dodge out of reach in response. I used my last influence on him to Where’d He Go? up further. Hag then got the ball to Sakana, I shifted Siren up a bit, before Sakana jogged up and made an easy shot on goal. Me 8 v Elly 8. I put the ball back in far up on the left – in a great spot for both my Greyscales and Hag (with Shark to run on too) and the game was on.

Elly won the roll off and elected to go first. Sakana received a couple and Corsair the critical amount of four. Meanwhile I jogged Shark on the left side onto fast ground. Influence went six Shark, four Greyscales, one Angel, and three Siren. Hag was up first and dodged around to the ball and then kicked it off the pitch – which I did not see coming. The ball scattered back in and snapped to Corsair. I knew what to do and activated Siren, who successfully Seduced Corsair to pass to Greyscales, who took a momentous dodge to the left. Corsair was next and moved out of melee with Salt and Jac, taking two damage for his trouble. He tried to hit Rough Seas on Greyscales, but failed. He then hit a Drag on Greyscales, but he was out of influence and unable to try take the ball off me. Elly also had no momentum. Greyscales attacked twice for two momentous dodges, hit Where’d He Go?, jogged up into tap in range, and bonus timed to nail just not a goal, but a Screamer. Me 12 v Elly 8.

Aftermath

My two mistakes for the game were not taking a momentous dodge with Shark after receiving the pass in the first turn (which probably turned out for the best because it allowed for a two goal turn two), and forgetting to hit my legendary at Tentacles (which would have ranged Sakana and might have prevented Elly’s goal – it may not have though). Going into the last turn I knew I was in the better position. Elly was always going to need two activations to score, while I had both Shark and Greyscales around the ball and a momentum to start off with. Had Corsair received five or even six influence, things would have been different. Chances are he’d take the ball from Greyscales, then I’d need to spend two attacks just to get it back (in addition to perhaps needing one momentum to stand up or forfeiting my move). It was a close game though, could have gone either way, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

Guild Ball – Fish (Shark) V Hunters (Theron)

Weekly Thursday game, Fish (Shark) v Hunters (Theron)

Line-up

Me: Greyscales, Salt (msct), Siren, Shark (cpt), Jac, Angel

Campbell (of Double Dodge): Jaecar, Theron (cpt), Vet Hearne, Zerola, Chaska, Fahad (msct)

Match Report

Cam won the roll off and elected to receive. I decided to kick off with Siren, the ball landing about 2” over the half way line on the right in front Chaska and Fahad.

I went with four influence for Siren, six Shark, and one a piece for the rest of the team. All the Hunters were assigned influence, but I forget the allocations. Fahad went first, moving up to pick up the ball and back to the deployment line to drop it off. I then moved up Jac into cover on the right. Vet Hearne charged Siren, knocking her down and doing 1 damage. I moved Salt up into Vet Hearne, before Zerola had Chaska jogging up the pitch setting up a possible charge on Siren, but also great pinball for Shark. I decided to take the opportunity and charged Vet Hearne, triggered Tidal Surge into Chaska, then a momentous dodge, then another off Zerola to pick up the ball, a third to bounce back for an uncontested shot, then nailed my first goal. Me 4 v Cam 0. I threw down Knee Slider and moved Shark back to block off the Chaska charge route to Siren. Cam used Superfan to put the ball with Jaecar.

Unfortunately this put me in a position where Theron could charge Shark, and he did so. Theron knocked Shark around, applying a snare and pushing him around for Chaska. Greyscales moved next, jogging up and hitting Where’d He Go? to engage Vet Hearne. Jaecar made his move, throwing out a trap near Greyscales and jogging up, leaving the ball on the deployment line. I decided to stand up Siren, forfeiting her movement, and used her to generate three momentum. Chaska then laid into Shark, knocking him down and reducing him to 10hp. My final move was to sprint Angel up to within 4” of Shark.

Cam was up one momentum on me, and subsequently won the roll off and elected to go first. I forget the allocations, but Theron received a full six and Fahad two. I went with four Greyscales, Jac, and Angel, and three on Siren. Fahad was up first, charging into Shark, taking him out in two attacks easily and dodging around to engage Angel. Me 4 v Cam 2. Cam also played Man Marking for an extra two influence. He also triggered the linked activation with Zerola, who grabbed the ball and jogged off to the back right, taking the ball out of range for me to grab this turn.  I decided to charge Jac into Chaska, knocking him down and pushing him about. Jaecar then sprinted around Greyscales, taking a parting blow and some damage, before laying into Siren, who was left on 3hp and knocked down.

I wasn’t sure what to do next, but figured this wasn’t going to be my turn so I best set myself up for next. I activated Angel and struck out at Fahad, missing everything on my first attack. My second attack was all hits however and I hit momentous double dodge, then sprinted just short of Zerola (not wanting to trigger Unpredictable Movement) and activated Nimble. Theron went next, finishing off Siren and turning on Jac who was snared and took minor damage. Me 4 v Cam 4.

I ran Salt around Vet Hearne to trigger the trap next to Greyscales before Vet Hearne moved in to join the gang up on Jac, who took a little more damage. Greyscales made his way up the pitch into cover on the left, clearing conditions on Jac but discarding his last influence. Finally, Chaska stood up and used Boom Box twice (from a blessing) to knock Jac back a total of 8”.

Cam was well ahead in momentum and was first up again. I brought Shark back on the right side and Siren in front my goal. Influence for me went six to Shark, four Angel, two Greyscales, one Jac and Siren. Chaska was up first, charging Jac and pushing him back two, before hitting Boombox and sending him off the table. Me 4 v Cam 6. I was ok with this play however because it allowed Angel to sprint around Zerola into Tap In range, grabbing the ball on the way, Super Shot, then easily score goal number two. Me 8 v Cam 6. The ball came back in into space between Greyscales, Jaecar, and the scrum to the right. Scatter was favourable to me and put Greyscales in a goal scoring position. This forced Cam to activate Vet Hearne to grab the ball and pass to Jaecar – which he missed. His original scatter would have allowed Jaecar to snap the ball, but I played Match Fixing and instead it ended up heading the same direction, but much further, snapping to Fahad instead.

With eyes on the prize I activated Shark. He charged Fahad who went defensive stance. I scored a momentous dodge, second attack netted the tackle, two more attacks (one Fahad, one Chaska) for another two momentous dodges, hit his legendary (in the event my dice went bad), then a clear pass to Angel, who then nailed a bonus timed snap shot (with Super Shot this was a six dice kick needing two 3s) to score goal number three. Match over, Me 12 v Cam 6.

Aftermath

Kicking off with Siren is something I’ve wanted to try for a while now. I think I shouldn’t have sent her up as far, but it turned out ok. I possibly should have used Knee Slider to get Shark back more, but that would have meant saying goodbye to Siren turn one. The scrum in the middle was a real mire for me, but after Shark and Siren were taken out in turn two, it allowed me to spread everyone out and cover all sides of the pitch, while Cam was roving around in a pack. Cam’s shanked pass to Jaecar was a real boon to me, but even he’d nailed it, chances are he’d be looking at a goal and a take out (Siren again0, with the ball coming back in for Shark to pick up and score with. So tough spot all round for him.

Finally, Jac getting knocked off the pitch was pretty cool too. I like it when things get knocked off the pitch, even my own.

I’m hoping to teach the basics of Guild Ball to my youngest brother this weekend, then next Thursday I’ll be back at it again for another match. Till then!