2500 pts O&G Swedish Comp 11-12

There is a tournament coming up in the middle of April that I shall be attending. This will mark the first full-scale tournament that features the Swedish Comp System. For this tournament, players must have armies that comp between 10-15, which is about average. For each full point of comp you have more than your opponent, you get a 'free' 100 VP (so a comp 15 army going up against a comp 10 army will get an extra 500 VP). Therefore, I'm planning to field a list that comes in at around 12, to give me an edge against the filthiest lists out there (while still liking my chances against them) without giving up too many free points to the softest lists.

With that said, I will be trying out a few creative solutions to still get a competitive army on the table without it comping too hard. I'm thinking something along these lines...

2600 pts O&G Fast, Wyvern & Boar Boyz combo

I've been playing around with the idea of creating a very fast and hard-hitting army, with enough infantry backing it up to create an interesting synergy. The idea is to outdeploy my opponents and then stack one flank with a hard-hitting one-two punch that won't give up too many wounds (by Greenskin standards) while dishing out enough pain to clear a flank before the start of round 3. Meanwhile, the slow moving footsloggers will make their way across the field to backup my hard-hitters against the heart of the enemy army, allowing me to attack them from two sides.

2600 pts O&G vs All-Comers

This past weekend I went into town for some gaming. With the new ETC restrictions set to be used in a few upcoming tournaments, I wanted to try out a potential tournament list. This is what I brought:

2000 pts O&G for Club Championship 2012

Just before Christmas I partook in a club tournament at my new gaming center in Stockholm, in order to determine the Club Champion of 2012. Having been part of their scene for about a month leading up to it I felt a bit strange competing against people who had been there for most (if not all) of the year leading up to it, but the people there are friendly and welcoming so I quickly got over it.

What was (and still is) a bit weird to me, however, is that this particular club (called Rogue Traders) tends to play using the Swedish Comp System for army building rather than the ETC rules I'm used to. This essentially means that instead of having a unit point cap or army restrictions, all units and many options and items will subtract points from an army point pool, with the final score determining how 'ard your army is, which later rewards the player whose army is the "weakest" by additional bonus points when calculating the victor. It's a bit complicated and I'm not a huge fan of the system, but those were the rules and I was fine with them. The tournament was to be played with 2000 point armies with a hard comp cap of 18 (pretty soft lists in general). This is the army I brought:

2500 pts O&G Defensive, Orc Heavy

Lately I've been planning a more orc-heavy, defensive army. Please note that by "defensive" I do not mean "dwarf-like" with no movement and lots of shooting, no. What I mean is an army with less risky elements in it. No Warboss flying on a Wyvern, no armies with big Troll units led by a Shaman with lower leadership. No big Squig units that can be shot up, no big monsters that can be killed by a well-placed cannon. Just a list with a lot of synergy, units working together, each one with a specific purpose, that can wade through shooting, crazy spells, take down dangerous monsters, kill annoying characters, soften up and redirect nasty units, before finally rolling over them in a tide of green. This is an infantry-focused, orc-heavy army with solid leadership and a lot of punch. They may not provide the sheer hitting power of Trolls or Squigs, but I have a feeling they might prove even more solid as an all-comers army list.

2400 pts O&G for Swedish Championship

It's been a long time coming, but Troll Tales is finally back. If you've missed reading it, trust me when I say I've missed Warhammer even more. Things have finally slowed down a little bit with grad school, enough to at least take the time for hobby blogging.

With the semester break coming up in April, I've been preparing an army list for the next Fantasia Fanatic tournament on the 28th of April. It will be for the Swedish championship, with the latest ETC rules at 2400 points.

A drop from 2500 points means there is no possibility of including a Warboss on Wyvern and a Savage Orc Great Shaman, which presents an interesting dilemma. Do I get an infantry Warboss for killing, or tanking, or do I stick with a Shaman as my General, despite running Trolls, and field all three of my special choices (Trolls, Squig Herd and Black Orcs) for the additional points? For now, I think I'll try a Shaman-lead army.

New army project: Wood Elves

I mentioned sometime ago that I've been planning a few new armies, as I'm finally approaching the final remaining models of my Orcs & Goblins. I had planned to do Dwarfs next, as I have an army box lying around, but I'm not really feeling the inspiration at this time. Instead, I'll be working on my Wood Elves next, where I'm intent on proving the nay-sayers wrong and succeed with a modified MSU-army instead of the dual Treekin/Mass Glade Guard armies that you usually see in 8th edition. The theme will be The Summer of the Wild Hunt, with an army centered around a large-ish unit of Wild Riders, flanked by other mounted, swift moving troops. I'm looking to set up angles where I'm able to combo charge from several directions at once, rather than fighting "fairly" like my Orcs tend to do.

I'm really looking forward to start assembling and playtesting the army, as it will provide a welcome break from the horde of green I've been painting ever since I started in this hobby. The army that I'll be building features closer to 2800 points rather than 2500, which leaves me with the option to swap out a unit for another depending on what I feel is the most effective. Read the army list I have in mind directly after the jump.

1st try at Storm of Magic

I shall be trying out my first Storm of Magic game this afternoon, by going up against my buddy Benjamin's Ogre Kingdom at 3000 points. Bear in mind, I haven't read through the new rulebook yet nor am I familiar with all the new magic items. I have, however, read a few battle reports in White Dwarf so I'll basically just be bringing a Giant and an Arachnarok Spider with Slinger for those 25% additional points.

The list I'm bringing looks more or less like this one back here, although I've replaced my Black Orcs with the Trolls and a Mangler Squig with a third Shaman, seeing as how that new magic phase seems to be quite important to compete in.

I'll let you know how it goes.

2500 pts O&G from this weekend

I was down at the gaming club this weekend and managed to get in two good games. I've moved away from using the Wyvern now, having had my fill of Thunderstomps for the time being, which has freed up some points and strategies for other mobs of units. Here is the list I brought to the battles. Reports will follow later.

Kill count: 2500 pts O&G, Fanatic '11 #3

With the Fanatic tournament over, it's time to reflect on how the 'ard boyz did, how my army performed overall and what changes (if any) I should make going forward. I've graded all my mobs and units based on how they did with reflections on things I could have done to improve on their performance.

Army list musings, Fanatic 2500 pts #3

After these last games, I have to say I'm starting to feel very pleased with my army in its current shape and form. It is a bit light on deployments for an Orcs and Goblins army (I actually finished up before the Chaos one) but since most of the times I know quite well where I want most of my mobs to go, I don't really care that much about waiting for my opponents units to deploy. Also, since it's an army that wants to get into battle early, especially with two monsters vulnerable to artillery, I don't like to give up the +1 to the roll for first turn.

2500 pts O&G #3 for Fantasia Fanatic 2011

Apologies for missing a few days of blogging, dear friends and readers. I've actually been away om Warhammer business, doing work for Games Workshop in the very north of Sweden. Tons of fun, but the hotel where I was staying were struggling with their wi-fi, only offering ethernet cable connection, which my tablet does not support.

So we have entered the month of May, which can only mean we're less than 30 days away from the Fantasia Fanatic tournament at the full point level of 2500. Therefore, it's time to look at tightening up my army list; getting rid of some of the dead weight and figuring out how exactly to spend those last points.

After adding all of the mainstays I've found myself short about 150 points, with all the necessary core points sorted out already. This means I can spend the points on whatever I want, except for more Lords as that's all but filled up.

Kill Count: 2500 pts O&G, Fanatic #2

Reader Fnurgn asks:

A quick query on your BSB being a Black Orc as opposed to a Savage Orc - is it to give you more options where to place him and for animosity quelling (as well as some better protection from gear)?

Yes and yes, spot on in fact! I usually trust my Savage Orc Big 'Uns not to fail their leadership check when I don't want them to charge, but I don't trust them not to fail animosity. Having to charge the closest enemy and overrun if you break them can cost you a game if you're not careful. The Black Orc usually helps out with that in the first couple of rounds. It's important also since I want my Shaman to be casting - not fighting due to animosity. But the BSB will usually join his Black Orc buddies later on. It depends a little bit on what they're going up against. If I'm facing artillery he might join them immediately to give them a 6+ wardsave against those hits. If I go up against death magic he usually hangs back with the Savages for the added ward save against souldrains. It depends really.

2500 pts All-Goblin Spider Waaagh! #2

The weekend is coming up, and I'll be looking to play a couple of games down at the gaming club at various point levels. I was intrigued by the success of the Gobbo army last week, and I'm eager to give them another go, this time with a tighter list as I get rid of a few ineffective choices.

More specifically, this mean the Squig Hoppers are gone along with their Big Boss, as is the Wolf Rider Big Boss, as I feel two fast cavalry units provide enough mobility. I'm sticking with the Pump Wagons per your advice, favouring them ahead of the unit of Wolf Chariots. Some tightening up my core mobs, ditching the Nasty Skulkers in my unit of poison gobbos, saves me quite a lot of points. Enough points, in fact, to bring in a second monster next to the Arachnarok - That's right, I'm bringing the Giant.

Contrary to Orc-heavy lists, the Giant can do really well in combination with gobbos. He can operate on his own, away from the Warboss since he won't want his leadership anyway, but more importantly he will strike at the same initiative as the gobbos (not the case with orcs). This means that I'll dish out all the attacks of my foot sloggers, squigs and what not, before rolling on the giant table. Even if he does decide to yell and brawl, at least I've inflicted maximum casualties from my mobs. Also, he serves to bring the attention away from my Arachnarok Shaman, since the Giant is quite a lot easier to shoot down, but even more devastating in combat.

So that's the idea, and here's the next version of my All-Goblin list. You guys like it?

Kill Count: 2500 pts All-Gobbo #1

So the All-Gobbo army managed to take home two solid victories this past weekend, which was beyond expectations. There were a couple of units that did well, and some of them who probably won't see the field again for some time. Here's a couple of quick thoughts:

Heeding your advice - Adding Pumpwagons

A couple of you suggested I'd squeeze in a couple of Snotling Pump Wagons in my All-Goblin Spider Waaagh! army. I've been hesitant for some time, considering how they went up in price and their upgrades might make them even more expensive. However, the league we're running now explicticly allows no proxy models, and my Wolf Chariots have yet to be assembled, meaning that unit is out for now. Excellent opportunity to heed your advice and try out the Pump Wagons, I figured.

So now I've replaced my unit of 3 Wolf Chariots with my single Wolf Chariot, and two Pump Wagons. One of them is sporting a Spiky Roller, giving it S5 on their 2D6 impact hits, while the other one has been given an Out-Rigga, for the potential 4D6 move. I'm looking forward to trying these suckers out tomorrow!

2500 pts All-Goblin Spider Waaagh!

The weekend is coming up and as usual I'll be going down to the gaming club for a couple of battles. It's going to be at 2500 points, most likely, but instead of running my tournament list I've been eager to try out a new All-Goblin army at the full points level. I hope to be able to inflict a lot of hurting in the magic and shooting phases, meaning I might have a chance in combat if it comes to that. We shall see.

2500 pts O&G #2 for Fantasia Fanatic 2011

Five trial games with my earlier list and I've come up with a few changes I'll be trying out in the next week or so. The local gaming club will be hosting a league, where each one of us will be playing at least one game per week until the big tournament in May. That is indeed good news as that means the place will be brimming with activity, giving me plenty of opportunity to try my adapted army list out.

Only the changes are commented upon:

1000 pts Night Goblin Warband

Speaking of Night Goblins, I'll be going down to the local club for a bunch of games tomorrow, starting out with a couple of planned team games, where each of us will be bringing 1000 points each. Naturally, this calls for my Night Goblin Warband to hit the fields! They will probably be awful, with an inspiring presence of 7, no war machines or fast cavalry. But they sure will be fun!

Night Goblin Warboss
Armor of Fate, Great Weapon

Night Goblin Great Shaman

Night Goblin Big Boss
Giant Cave Squig, Spear, Light Armor, Charmed Shield

Night Goblin Big Boss
Shield, Light Armor, Banner of Discipline

47 Night Goblins
Full Command, Shields, Spears, Nets

20 Night Goblins
Musician, Short Bows, 1 Fanatic

7 Squig Hoppers

24 Squig Herd
14 Squigs, 10 Herders

Mangler Squig

After the team games I'll probably find time to do some tournament training at the 2500 point level. But I'm really looking forward to a good time trying out my Night Goblins.

Kill Count: 2500 pts O&G #1

So I've played three games with my planned tournament list at 2500 points, against two Dark Elves opponents and one Warriors of Chaos. All of them have been clear victories for me, so obviously I've been very pleased with the army so far. Although I lost him to a Hydra with Killing Blow in one game, overall Yaisog the Warboss on Wyvern has been doing really well. I cannot begin to tell you what a difference he makes against Warriors of Chaos compared to had he been leading a unit on foot. Granted, I've yet to go up against armies that would really threaten him (I've got a Skaven matchup coming up) but even so, I've started to realize that it's not the biggest of deals if he goes down.

In matchups where my opponent has brought cannons take takes out the Wyvern early, the Warboss is still well protected with the Charmed Shield and the Amulet of Preservation, so he most likely won't die from the first shot even if his beasty does. Seeing as Wyverns are quite cheap these days, it's not a heavy loss (although some mobility is gone), I just need to keep him close to infantry units in those matchups so that he can join up with them and continue lead the army forward.