Three weeks after a near statistical improbability that saw my Scions of the Flame warband tie for first finish at the Montreal Golden Troll Warcry Tournament, I was able to meet the other victor and schedule a tie breaker match.
The two of us faced off with our tournament winning warbands in one battle to seize the title (and ultimately have one of our names engraved on a trophy plaque).
So who was the final victor? Well, I’ll walk you through the matchup and results below.
The Warbands
I’m already written about both warbands and their lists previously, including posting both lists in a tournament recap from earlier, but here they are again for convenience.
Azure Arsonists
Warband Roster
955pts | 8 fighters
- Blazing Lord (200pts, Hero)
- Lord of Plagues (170pts, Hero)
- Fomoroid Crusher (260pts, Ally)
- Initiate with Morning Star (65pts)
- Initiate with Morning Star (65pts)
- Initiate with Morning Star (65pts)
- Initiate with Morning Star (65pts)
- Initiate with Morning Star (65pts)
At only 8 units, I came with slightly less pieces than I might normally want for a Rumble Pack play. But the low unit count meant I could field some serious damage dealers and tanks among my 3 elite units.
Note – I used my remaining 45 points for blessings to grant my Lord +4 HP and my Fomo +1 attacks.
My warband was setup in the following way:
- Shield had my Blazing Lord and two Initiates
- Dagger had my Lord of Plagues and two Initiates
- Hammer took my Fomo and remaining Initiate.
Calcified Cruelty
Warband Roster
1,000pts | 11 fighters
- Mortek Hekatos (105pts, Hero)
- Necropolis Stalker with Spirit Blades (200pts)
- Necropolis Stalker with Spirit Blades (200pts)
- Dire Wolf (85pts, Thrall)
- Dire Wolf (85pts, Thrall)
- Mortek Guard with Nadirite Spear (55pts)
- Mortek Guard with Nadirite Spear (55pts)
- Mortek Guard with Nadirite Spear (55pts)
- Mortek Guard with Nadirite Spear (55pts)
- Mortek Guard with Nadirite Spear (55pts)
- Mortek Guard with Soulcleaver Greatblade (50pts)
At 11 units, he had the bodies advantage and the two Dire Wolves were great additions for their ability to quickly get around the map (especially since most of the warband had only 3 move).
The deployments were:
- Shield with the Hekatos and three Mortek Guards (including the Greatblade)
- Dagger had a Necropolis Stalker, Dire Wolf and two Mortek Guard.
- Hammer with a Necropolis Stalker, Dire Wolf, and Mortek Guard.
The Tie Breaker – Setup
Prior to the match, we both mutually agreed that it should be duked out over a Rumble Pack scenario over something from the core rulebook. They tend to be less random, and allow for more even matches from experience. The only question was which one we would end up playing, so we rolled off.
The result? Spoils of War.
For those not familiar with this mission, it’s a 4 objective, 4 found match. Holding an objective grants a team 1 point while using an action to destroy it gives them 2 points but removes it from play. Whoever ends with the most points is the winner.
In any event, we rolled off for colours. I ended up with Blue and my Opponent with Red.
Round 1 – Hammer on the Table
At the start of the first round, we had both our Hammer teams on the table. Curiously, each was our smaller deployment (2 for me and 3 for him).
No one had any particularly interested abilities. We each ended up with some doubles and used them for movement.
Over the course of the first round, I double parked my Fomo in such a way to cover both the South and East objective and left my Initiate near the East as well.
My opponent secured the West and North, and brought his wolf in to contest the South, ending a very short round for us with no combat.
Points: 2-1 for my opponent.
Round 2 – Rest of the Gang Comes In
We deployed the rest of our pieces at the start of the round. I ended up with the initiative with two doubles while my opponent had a triple and a double. He opted make a Quad out of his Triple, even though it was only a value of 1.
My opponent began with the advantage, as he had more points under his control, and was in a good position to Burn some objectives for quick VP.
I started the round off with this in mind, sending my Blazing Lord from the South Shield deployment onto the South objective to contest it while also engaging the Wolf who was there. With one action left, I attacked and dealt 8 damage (out of its 10 total).
My opponent’s first move was to bring a Mortek Guard from the Northern Shield deployment into range of the Objective there and burn it, securing himself 2 points (and making the running score 4-1).
In response, using a double to give my Fomo 1″ additional movement, allowing him to get into range of the West point’s 3″ perimeter edge, while also engaging the Crypstalker. With one attack left, I hit the Cryptstalker for a total of 12 and ended my move there.
2 Objectives were now contested and 1 was in my control.
As the round progressed, I managed to finish off the Dire Wolf on the South Point with an initiate while also bringing more units onto it. Similarly for the East, I was able to crowd my Dagger deployment onto it.
My opponent in turn, sensing the futility of attacking the Fomoroid crusher even with an Onslaught, retreated with his Crypstalker. He then used his Quad for a Rampage to rush towards the East and kill off one of my Initiates who had been defending it.
He also began his slow advance of Mortek from the North and West. His 2nd Dire Wolf also went to the East Point, getting him 2 bodies there to my remaining 3.
Points: 5-3 for my opponent
Round 3 – In it to Win it?
The third round started with a lot at stake. My opponent was in the lead, but I was arguably in a better position where the control of the objectives was concerned.
It was also my turn to walk away from the initial roll with a Quad 5 that I had to put to good use if I was to turn it around.
Strategy-wise, I knew at if my opponent was able to burn 1 more Objective, it would put me into, and so I was determined to not let that happen. He was started to contest the South and East, but I still had one more unit on each, meaning I could worry about them in an activation or two.
The move I had to make was with my Fomoroid Crusher, taking him on the West point and engaging the units there. Using the Quad for Rampage, I was able to kill off the two Mortek Guards who held the point and then use my last action to Burn it. I had now brought the match up to a 5-5 tie.
My opponent then knew he had to fight for the East point. He double moved a Mortek Guard from the North Shield Deployment onto it. That put us at 3 bodies each on it.
On my turn, I used an Onslaught from my Lord of Plagues who had managed to double move the turn before and begin in combat with the new Mortek Guard. I was able to take the model down and use his second attack on the Crypstalker, dealing significant damage in the process. I now controlled the point but had no more actions to burn it.
For the following moves, my opponent and I took turns where he moved in a unit to that objective, and I managed to fight him off and keep the numbers tied (with my Initiates rolling plenty of Crits).
My opponent then tried to Onslaught with his Cryptstalker in the hope he could remove my Lord of Plagues, but while he did double digits in damage, my Ally remained with 20 HP.
As we were tied for the point, I also a unit from the South to bolster my numbers there using 2 move activations.
I ended up each with 4 units on the point to his 3.
Elsewhere, at the South, my opponent managed to get his remaining bodies onto the point to contest it with 2 units each.
The round ended with 2 Objectives remaining, one contested and one in my control.
Points: 6-5 in my favour.
Round 4 – Final Round
Going into the final round, I was in the lead and in a better position on both points.
My opponent had to dislodge one of my units from the East point to have a chance.
He opened with an Onslaught from his Crypstalker against my Lord of Plagues. It was his best chance as all his pieces were locked up. However, he wasn’t able to take the piece down.
On my next activation, I burned the East objective, making the score 8-5 in my favour.
As there was no path forward for my opponent, with his best bet an uphill battle to burn the South point (while having to kill off my Blazing Lord with his remaining units) to get to 7 points versus my 8, we called the match.
Points: 8-5 for me.
Match Wrap-Up
After spending most of the game lagging behind in points, and with fewer bodies, I was able to turn it around by the end of round 3.
The matchup could have gone either way, but here are some factors that I believed played into the win:
- Speed: Despite having 11 bodies, my opponent was hampered by the 3″ move of his Mortek Guards. They managed to make it onto the Objectives, but always with two moves – and not enough to deal the damage needed to dislodge me from that East point.
- Damage: My ability to deal damage arguably gave me the win. I was able to consistently remove pieces of his from the board, whittling his numbers and never letting him have an advantage crowding the two points I held for most of it. To get a better picture of this: the total kill tally was 1x Initiate lost from my side, and from his -> 2x Wolves, 3x Mortek Guards, and 1x Crypstalker.
- Chaff Utility: My Initiates with Flails were again MVPs to a certain extent, consistently netting me at least 1 Crit per full activation (and often with 2-3 a piece). This made my crit-hunting chaff incredibly valuable as they were able to dish out damage to finish off or prime enemy models for my other pieces. Also, in contrast, the Mortek didn’t get to play to their main strengths of high toughness and solid objective control for most of the match as it took him too long to reach the defensible locations.
- Razing Objectives: Lastly, burning objectives is often necessary to eke out a victory in this scenario. However, doing so too early can hamstring you for following rounds. My opponent’s choice to burn the North Objectives was to prevent me from seeking to contest it, and give him an early points advantage, but it left him with a long march to the next point. It also allowed me to better concentrate my forces on the remaining points without having to further split to try and fight for the fourth objective.
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