Historicon 2021: Inner (and Outer) Daemons - Warmaster Revolutions AAR

After my first two games on Thursday, I was ready for a full day of gaming with the Warmaster tournament. My Daemons were fully painted and raring to go.

We had six players; definitely less than previous years, but with no conventions and some attendee issues over mask requirements, I wasn't surprised. 

My first game was against John and his Bretonnians. It was my first time facing the Arthurian/French-inspired, knight heavy faction in Warmaster. Like Nippon (which I have faced before), the Bretonnians have a special army rule that affect their breakpoint. Only their heavy mounted knights actually count. Chaff units like Peasants and Squires don't count against the army's breakpoint; both for and against. 

This meant that John's breakpoint was only 5 compared to my army's 9. But I had to get through his heavily-armored mounted knights to force him to break.

The scenario was Take and Hold. Both sides had two objectives to place at the start of the game. One was closer to their backline, and the other closer to the center of the table. To control an objective, a side needed to been the only one with a unit within 5cm. Units like flyers could contest objectives, but not control them. 

Since this was my first outing with the Daemons, I was far more cautious then I should have been, especially against an army that outmatched with the amount of cavalry it could bring. Even with the restrictions to commands in the Revolution version of Warmaster, cavalry is still arguably the kind of the battlefield. 

John used his Squires to disrupt my Chariot brigade, which left it vulnerable to his own brigade of Knights and Grail Knights. This shattered my right flank. While I was able to wipe out his Peasant brigade, that kept one of my infantry brigades from moving further up. 

Eventually John was able to grind enough of my units beneath the hooves of his cavalry and broke my army in turn 6. Adding up the objectives we controlled (and a bonus to John for breaking my army), it was a 2-5 loss for the Daemons. 

My second game was against Liddick and his new army, Lizardmen. Their main gimmick is that their Slann "general" can't actually command any units. However it can give a bonus to Skink character's Command stat and can relay spells through Slann Shamans with an unlimited range!

I didn't manage to catch the name of the second scenario, but it involved placing two objectives in the centerline of the table. Starting on turn 3 the objectives activated, and when a side controlled both objectives by being on top of them at the start of their turn the game would end and bonus points would be scored.

I tried compensating for my lack of aggression in the previous game by being too aggressive during this match. Both cavalry brigades ended up worse for wear; my Chariots couldn't handle the Cold One Riders and the mixed brigade tried attacking Kroxigors in terrain. Not an ideal matchup!

With my Daemon Chariots and Cavalry spent, Liddick marched his infantry out into the open and onto the objectives, and the Daemons couldn't push them off. It was another loss for the Daemons, 565 victory points to 945 victory points. 

My final matchup was against Kal, who was commanding a ragtag Dogs of War force. Finally, a familiar enemy!

The final scenario was Battle for the Tower, with both sides fighting to control the central (Chessex dice) tower. 

After a couple turns of failed command rolls and a potentially devastating blunder (which put my Chariot brigade in range of Kal's Ogres and Dwarfs), I thought that the game was all but over. 

Things turned around somewhat when the Chariots did better than expected and managed to mangle the Ogres without losing too many stands. My other cavalry brigade ended up mostly pinned up on the massive block of Pikemen, but reduced their numbers greatly. And they even took out a Giant!

What really saved me was finally getting the Daemonic Hordes into Kal's Crossbowmen and Handgunners. The unarmored, ranged troops were easy targets for the hordes of Bloodletters, Plaguebearers, Horrors, and Daemonettes, which pushed Kal over the breaking point. I had also managed to drop a couple units of Hordes to control the Tower. In their last games, the Daemons managed a 5-0 win. 

So, how were the Daemons? They're definitely an aggressive army. I felt the hurt that I had no ranged units or artillery to interfere with approaching enemy brigades. And I'd probably try to drop the Daemon Swarms, since they only got in the way of the Hordes on the attack. But having Command 8 Wizards, and three Wizard characters, is definitely nice.

The toughest part of the army is dealing with the Daemonic Instability rule. It's a 2/3 chance that something bad is going to happen to any Daemon unit that has lost a stand; either charging uncontrollably, becoming confused, or losing another stand (or disappearing entirely!). The only offset is that the "Summon Daemons" spell in a 4+ to cast and the army can take three Wizards. Without those two conditions, the entire faction might be unplayable. 

Still, I was happy to be able to play Warmaster at a convention again. And now I can get working on a new army!

Painting Update - Warmaster

I'll be heading out to Historicon tomorrow, so here's a quick look at the last two parts of my Daemons of Chaos army for the Warmaster tournament. 

The second cavalry brigade for the Deamons is a mix between Chariots and Cavalry. While I could have taken Daemon Hounds to support the last couple Chariot units, I decided to use Cavalry instead, since they get 4 base attacks and a 5+ save in combat. 

And to round out the army, here's another brigade of three required Daemon Hordes and another Daemon Swarm to take any incoming ranged attacks.

So that's it! 18 units, with a Breakpoint of 9. We'll see how the Daemonic Instability rules and the Summon Daemons spell work against each other. 

Get ready for plenty of Historicon posts over the next weeks!

Painting Update - Warmaster

 My work on various projects continues!

The Daemons of Chaos army for Warmaster continues. Above are the various commanders for the tournament at Historicon this year; a General (who can also be upgraded to a Wizard), two Heroes, and two Wizards. I'm sure you can hazard a guess at which Chaos God each character is aligned with.

With no options for ranged units like archers or artillery units like rock throwers, the main goal with the Daemons will be to get into close combat as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Daemons not only get Cavalry, but the potentially much more dangerous Chariot (3 units per 1,000 points). Here's a brigade of them, ready to charge blindly into any enemy formation. 

Long-based flyers may not be as good as short-based flyers (who get the same frontage as cavalry units), but if you've got them in Warmaster, there's little reason to not take them. As such, I've painted the two units that I can in a 2,000 point force, hopefully as a means to counter enemy artillery or flank enemy brigades. 

Painting Update - WWII, Mythic Americas, Romans, Warmaster

It's been a long time since I've had any posts about what I've been painting between games, so here's an update!

I wanted to add a little more armor to my 28mm Late War Germans, so I picked up a Marder III from Warlord Games. 

I also finished the monstrous Ayar for my Aztec warband in Mythic Americas. This Monstrosity is a Mythic Americas original, formed from the shattered soul of one of the legendary Ayar brothers after having been captured by the Aztecs and sacrificed. Now an Aztec High Priest can call upon the Ayar to aid them in battle. 

I've been working on a Second Punic Wars project as well. Josh was kind enough to supply me with a fully 3d-printed set of miniatures. As Josh will be commanding the Carthaginians, I took over the Romans. 

Here's a unit of Velites. We're using Hail Caesar for the rules, and DBx basing. So two bases for small units. 

Here's the Hastati. Regular sized units will be four bases. 

The Principes are close in style to the Hastati. The white feathers on the helmets will help distinguish them from the front, and from behind the chainmail armor also makes them stand out. 

The Triarii are the most visibly distinct, with feather and crests on their helmets, and their long spears. 

Hail Caesar calls for a 2:2:1 proportion of Hastati, Principes, and Triarii, so that's what the two Roman legions will be formed from.

And finally, the commander 

I have another battlegroup of Romans to paint up (probably with blue shields), along with a battlegroup of allied Italians and a cavalry battlegroup. 

What currently on the table is a Daemons of Chaos army for Warmaster. I received these minis from another Black Gate Miniatures kickstarter, and I wanted to take them to a tournament. The upcoming event at Historicon was the perfect excuse to start working on them.

This is a brigade of three Daemon Hordes and a Daemon Swarm. The demonic infantry are generic looking (they would work for any 10mm demonic force, rather than something specific to the Warhammer Fantasy world), so I've used a color palette that should tie them in to the main four factions of Chaos. 

Good Knight and Good Luck - Warmaster: Revolution AAR

Since Josh recently showed off a wonderful looking Goblins army for Warmaster, I set up a game with my Dogs of War so we could get a feel for the rules, and get some practice for the event at Historicon (barring any cancellations due to rising Covid cases. Who knows at this point...).

Terrain placement focused on a small village, surrounded by fields and the local lord's castle. One side of the road had more hills, eventually leading to a ridge (the table edge), while the other was forested, with denser concentrations of trees that acted as terrain pieces. 

Josh and I brought 2000 point forces, and the scenario was a simple brawl to either a turn limit (6, 7, or 8 turns on a 4+ die roll) or break point (10 for me, 12 for Josh). 

The first turn saw both sides move cautiously from the start, although on Josh's part that was due to a lot of failed command rolls. 

Josh had pushed one of his brigades (Wolf Riders and a unit of Wolf Chariots) up to a gap between the castle and woods, so I sent in a small brigade of Knights to hopefully hit and destroy the units. 

The combat overall went well for the Dogs of War, with none of the knights taking any damage and the Goblins retreating. 

The little greenskins got their courage back when a wyvern-riding Hero and a Giant got into the combat. 

In an absolutely stunning reversal, all but a single stand of the Knights were wiped out, including the attached DoW Hero riding a Griffon.

The Giant made a quick snack of the remaining stand of Knights before moving on towards the remaining DoW Knights, who were now leaderless. 

Things were going a little better for the mercenaries in the center, where the Goblins masses were faced by a couple of pike blocks and the Ogres. Concentrated fire from the crossbowmen forced back a Giant that had wandered too close. 

On the left, things weren't exactly going great. I had loaded most of my forces in the center and right, so I only had a couple units of Light Cavalry and Galloper Guns. I lost one unit of Guns to Josh's massive artillery brigade, but nearly wiped out a unit of Trolls in return. 

My center was pushing strongly forward, wiping out goblin units left and right. But the real danger was the Giant, who could do a lot of damage when charging, if I couldn't surround it with my troops. 

Back in the woods, the greenskins were mopping up the Knights, and the lone Wizard was overrun and killed. 

With my artillery wiped out, I sent the Light Cavalry charging into Josh's artillery unit. If they could do enough damage before dying, then the artillery wouldn't be able to threaten my center. 

On Josh's left, his commanders were busy gathering the various wayward units into a coherent force. I moved my remaining pike block to face them. 

And in the center, my Pikemen had wiped out one brigade of Goblins, and my Ogres had singlehandedly destroyed another (with a little help from a friendly Wizard's fireball). 

The Giant was wounded and down to 4 attacks and 4 hits, but that wasn't enough to bring the beast down, so it still threatened the rear of my army. 

However, losing all those Goblin units was enough to push Josh over his break point! It was a very close game. I ended up with 9.5 unit destroyed, to Josh's 13.5. Had I lost an extra stand here or there, Josh's Goblins would have been the ones declaring victory. 

All in all, it was a great game, with lots of suspense and blunders on both sides. With Josh's 3D printers, he can pretty much print any army he'd like, so I'm looking forward to playing against, and maybe with, various other armies!

Fall In! 2019: Gold and Glory - Warmaster Revolution AAR

This past weekend I traveled to Valley Forge for Fall In! 2019 for another of Dave's Warmaster Revolution tournaments. 

Since I hadn't acquired or painted any armies since my last tournament attendance, I decided to take my Dogs of War, which I had added a couple units of Light Cavalry to. 

The event was three games, each with a different scenario (so no pitched battle!).

My first game was against Brad and his Chaos army. There were Warriors of Chaos, Marauders with attached Spawn, Dragon Ogres brigaded with Chaos Hounds, and Knights of Chaos with Marauder Horsemen.

The scenario was Take and Hold, which places four objectives on the table. The objective closest to your deployment zone is worth one point at the end of the game, the objectives in the center are worth two points each, and the objective in the opponent's side of the table is worth three victory points. Breaking the opponent's army scored an additional two victory points.

The game was a seesaw between Brad and my advantage. I was too defensive and held my cavalry back, which let Brad get off the charges he needed (although we forgot that infantry cannot pursue cavalry unless they've charged their flanks or rear! This would have save my Heavy Cavalry Brigade). I mangled the Dragon Ogres and Hounds, but Brad's Warriors and Spawn slaughtered my left flank. I had to watch in horror as a single Chaos Spawn rolled up my Crossbowmen, Galloper Guns, and my Griffon Hero which I had thrown into the combat to try and stop the monstrosity.

And because my Pike brigade refused to move forward, I was unable to support the Ogres and Swordsmen, who had to face Chaos Knights and Marauder Horsemen on their own.

Towards the middle of the game, it seemed like I was close to reaching Brad's breakpoint and ending the game with a solid victory. My dice went cold on me, however, and Brad managed to reach my break point first while also pushing my units off of the middle objective I controlled.

After securing the victory points from breaking my army and denying me the middle objective, Brad was victorious.

My second game was against Liddic and his revised Nippon list, which cuts out a lot of the chaff that the "official" Revolution list has. It also operates like a Bretonnian army where only the Samurai counted for break.

Liddic's of the opinion that this should be reversed, with the importance and break placed on the more numerous Ashigaru and Ronin units. I agree, as it would give the army more unique flavor, and would also allow Nippon players to use their Samurai units, instead of hiding them behind the peasants.

The mission was Strategic Ground. The objective was a 20cm diameter circle in the center of the table. Whoever controlled the area (with no enemy units in it) gained a breakpoint and victory point bonus, which increased if the area was held in turns 5 and 6.

The battle ended up being three separate fights. On the left, the knights delayed and a failed command roll saw them charged by the Nippon foot troops. Luckily the 4+ armor save saved the Knights and they were able to take out some samurai units.

In the middle, Liddic's Ronin and my Pikes formed a vicious blender of men and metal. The Ronin came out on top, however with some assistance from hidden ninja in the nearby terrain. It was only the defended position and the Galloper Guns that kept the Crossbowmen on the hill from being the disgraced warriors' next target.

On the right, my combined brigade of Light and Heavy Cavalry knocked the defending Ashigaru out of the way. Liddic had his remaining Ashigaru and Samurai pull back to the hilltop, giving them a defended position. I tried to shake them loose with the cavalry, but they were repulsed. But the Ogres came up next and snacked on the Nipponese.

This was enough to break Liddic's force, and my army had taken out enough of the weaker Ashigaru units to gain a victory.

My last game was against Coach, who had brought High Elves. Coach was a new player to Warmaster, which was probably my only hope against the very scary shiny elves arrayed across the table. The army was mostly foot, with numerous archer units, but still had a solid compliment of Silver Helms, Reavers, and Bolt Throwers. 

The scenario was Looting Field. Four objectives are placed on the table, alternating between players. The player who goes second can remove one objective. The objectives could be captured with an order by a single unit per turn, and would give a breakpoint and victory point bonus. I rolled high and decided to go second while removing the objective that Coach had place in his deployment zone. 

From the outset, I knew I was going to be in for a rough game. Coach had deployed with a refused flank, so my Ogres and Swordsmen were way off on the far right and wouldn't join the battle for the entire game. The large town in the center of the table also blocked my Galloper Guns' line of sight, so I had to spend most of the game just trying to get them into position. 

All of the action went down on the single flank of the battlefield. Elves came streaming across the table like a silver wave, thanks to their Command 10 general. I had finally learned to be more aggressive with my cavalry, which meant I was able to remove their elven counterparts, although at a great cost.

My Pikes did a great job at removing an Archer/Spear brigade, but were swamped by followup units and couldn't resist with their 6+ armor save.

However, my surviving cavalry were able to push the High Elves to their breaking point, and while Coach had claimed an objective, it wasn't enough to score enough victory points to beat what I had accrued. So the Dogs of War won their second victory.

Overall, I had a great time. The scenarios were interesting variations and made players think instead of just marching across the table and having their armies beat the snot out of each other. There was a great variety of armies as well. As for new armies, I'm hoping to have my kickstarted Daemons from Black Gate Miniatures in hand for Cold Wars next year.

Cold Wars 2019, Dogs of War vs. Dark Elves - Warmaster Revolution AAR

My last game was against Kal and his Dark Elves, who I had faced off against last year with my Ogre Kingdoms army. 

The last mission was Flanking Force. As the defender, I had to select four units and a hero to be a flanking force. Every turn, starting from the second, I would roll to see if the units and hero moved  onto the table from a predetermined short edge. Victory points would decide the winner (tallying the points cost of enemy units that were routed or damaged), and breaking the opposing army would provide a bonus.

My brigades steadily moved up, but were mostly waiting for the reaming units to arrive.

The Dark Elves advanced as well.

Luckily, it didn't take long for my flanking force to arrive!

However, I realized that I had chosen the wrong side to bring them on from, as Kal's most dangerous units - a brigade of dark riders - was all the way on the other side of the table.

I would need to deal with the pesky harpies in the Dark Elf army first, ast hey routed one of my crossbowmen in the fields.

My pike brigade was forced to wait as I made a personal blunder and completely forgot to order issues to my knights, leaving them on the side of the battlefield for another turn. However, my galloper guns were able to do some hefty damage to the oncoming witch elves.

I threw a unit of ogres deep into Kal's center, routing a unit of crossbowmen. In return, however, Kal's cavalry wiped out a two-unit brigade that was hoping to delay them.

In the center, a single stand of crossbowmen waited after being saved from the attacking harpies by a unit of dwarfs. The other unit of dwarfs had charged forward, also aiming to delay the oncoming elven spearmen.

And on the left, my knights finally got into the action, but only after the pikemen had done most of the work and taken horrendous casualties.

The knights congratulated themselves on a hob well done, as they ignored the grumblings of the lone remaining units of pikes.

The dwarfs were unfortunately rebuffed and pushed back, with the ogres and other dwarfs unable to help.

However, the game can to an end when the last mini-brigade of crossbowmen and marauders were charged, flanked, and wiped out, leaving victory to the Dark Elves.

This was a close game, and I may have been able to win if I had continued to refuse my right flank, and hadn't forgotten to bring my knights in sooner!

I had a great time, and really enjoyed all three games. We had more players in this tournament (eleven to last year's six) and we had plenty of convention attendees stopping to inspect our games and miniatures. Hopefully they'll attract more tournament players, as Dave plans to run another event at this years Fall In. I plan to be there!