Yes, I can kill Plants Too....

Little known fact. If you don't water plants, they die. If they don't get the right amount of sunlight, they die. If they are in the wrong growing conditions, they die. Did you know that?

If you could now please turn your attention to the following picture:

This my friends, is a miniature bamboo. Bamboo plants, again if you were not aware, are very hardy specimens.

For a long time, this bamboo was healthy and thriving, and loving life. Then all of a sudden, it just started dying. For no apparent reason. Try as I might, I cannot get it back to life. (Seriously though, if anyone has any ideas please let me know, I love this plant).

This bamboo plant is The 9th Age. Well, no, actually it's just a bamboo plant.

But it's current state is my observation coupled with opinion of where things stand.

Before you turn away, before you starting slamming that keyboard with angry comments, and before you tie me to the back of your undead chariot and drag me through the dirt, please take a moment to continue to read, and understand that this is NOT a rant. This is NOT a venom surge of poison aimed at the community. I just hope that this is the water of life we need.

Anyways.

I spoke recently to a close friend. This (you know who you are) person's thoughts on the gaming community, and wisdom on life, I hold more highly then most (No, I am not about to go build a golden idol of him and bow to it, fuck, what did you think this is, a cult or something?????)

He said something to me along the lines of this:

         "T9A in NZ is sitting on the very unpleasant edge of a cliff. It would not take much for it to       topple over. May it be growth in the AoS community, or KoW just pulling their socks up a little bit. Either, will be the balance change that would push T9A off into oblivion"

Not exactly what he said, but you get the point. And he is right.

We have seen little growth. Maybe a new player into the scene every 2-3 months. And no I am not just talking about in my own little scene. I am talking about the community as a whole. No I am not just talking about attending tournaments (do not get me started on that issue), but from watching not just the interaction online of NZ players, but how many of them decide just to press the goddamn "Join" button on the Facebook Group to be apart of the main social platform for the game in this country.

And guess whose fault it is? No, its not the trolls in the forums spreading their poison. No, it is not the Executive Board who blatantly disagrees with every who puts up a post on the forum with even constructive criticism.

The blame, is yours.

Well, its just as much mine, but today I want to play the blame game.

You stopped watering the plant.

I have watched so much as people in the community put up their hands saying I want to do this. And then never do. Or start to, and just let it fall flat. Or people in the community who have the ability to do things to grow the community, but just chose not to.

Guess what people, wake up. Its not the T9A Exec board's responsibility to come off their high horses and do it. It isn't the job of your club board to do so. Hell its not just the responsibility of the leaders in your gaming community to do so.

If you want to see the game grow, If you want to see more players, new players, then just water that goddamn plant. Take the finger out of the arse and do something.

And yes, I know right now you are probably sitting behind the screen thinking "thank God he isn't talking about me". Well guess what, you are absolutely wrong.

We took it upon ourselves to become part of this community and to play this game (and no, I do not want any "Its just a game, don't take it so seriously" comments, because that's just an excuse for lack of motivation). We don't get something without giving something. That doesn't happen. That is not how life works.
We got a community, and it is our responsibility to continue to put back into that community. It's our obligation. Not just the higher powers role, but everyone's.
You don't just get a plant, put it in a pot, and expect it to live into eternity. You have to give back to it, to feed it and grow it. Unless you got a fake plant, in which case I openly judge you for it.

I can tell you openly and honestly, that if we do not start seeing changing in the motivation of this community, we will wither and die. THIS IS FACT.
I also know for myself in person, I cannot keep carrying the torch when so few others are even willing to raise a hand.

And now comes my favourite excuses: I work. I have a family. I have study.
Okay, sarcasm and shit aside, I actually respect that far more then you are currently thinking I do.
But it doesn't take much........bring out the trumpets please.....
I work 40-50 hours a week for an employer. I own and run a business that takes up another 30-40 hours of my week. I have family and friends too.
But I am still here, running with an ever dying torch, because it is just as much my responsibility as everyone elses, to grow this community.

Now that thought is running through your mind as you angrilly reach for the keyboard to write.."You want to grow the community yet you write such a negative and harsh blogpost about the community we already have, you fucking asshole"....
Yes. And you are right. I am a fucking asshole. And thank God for that. Why? Because someone has to be. Someone has to be willing to say what needs to be said in the interest of progression. Otherwise we may as well just be the T9A Exec Board walking around with blindfolds on and washing our hands clean of it all.

I want to see a continually growing and thriving bamboo plant on my bookcase. And I want to see our community do the same. But I am really, really out of ideas anymore people on how to push you to build this community. I really am. And it's the appalling lackluster of people in the community, that is slowly taking away my love for this community.

Warbanner is in a few weeks, and I cannot wait.
Invitationals are following, should I get there.
I have demos I am working on getting booked in at my local hobby store over the next little while, which will be awesome fun.
And I am still sitting on the fence regarding my application to ETC18 (for other reasons).
There, I even gave you a mini hobby update....I am good at multitasking.

Well guys, if you read all the way through this and didn't get distracted by a shiny tumbleweed passing your window halfway through, I thank you. Regardless of whether it was because you saw reason in my words, or wanted to have the full capability to destroy me from behind a screen, I thankyou.

And I do humbly thank the few in our community who have taken up torches with me to try and drive this, without you, none of what we have accomplished these past two years would have happened, and you have done an amazing job. I truely look forward to working with you in the future, well, that is if you still talk to me after reading this blog post and don't ban me from your dinner table.

I hope, in my own way, I have hit home to at least one person out there. If not, then thankyou to the Internet for giving me a place to leaving writing on the wall that no one pays attention to until it is too late.

And with that,
Peace.

Tournament: Sheep of the Dark Ages?

As you now know, I recently attended my first tournament for this year, Panzershrek.
It was a fantastic event and a lot of fun, and it was great to get back onto the competitive scene.

The tournament was run as a generic tournament template, and its new TO did a fantastic job of it. However across the weekend, and later, him and I discussed how sportsmanship and paint scores effect the scoring, and if there is both an easier and more efficient way of doing it. This then got me thinking.....

The standardisation of Ninth Age tournaments (along with many other platforms competed in its like), run a scoring of Best Paint and Best Sports. Both of these are then calculated into percentages, added to the battle points, to give you the positions of Best Overall. Most events do not have a separate award for purely Best General based on battle points, so the impact of your sportsmanship and your painting skill effects how you will place.
You may be the top scoring player in an event when it comes to battle points, but maybe your ability to paint is terrible, or is not the reason you are in this hobby, and because of this, your placing in the event can be effected.

Alongside of this, apart from knowing what time you need to be at the venue, player packs have become almost copycat pieces of paper that do not require any attention. I say this, as apart from the randomisation of what game type is played in each game (something I no longer pay attention to until just before the game itself), there is no difference between them.

In a sense, I feel as tournament goers and tournament organisers, we have become stagnant.

Have we become sheep? Has creativity in ideas become unwanted? Are we sitting in the Dark Ages of tournaments? Have we given up looking into the progression of how to evolve events?

Four years ago when I set out to establish Warbanner, which in its first year saw only 6 players, I opted to aim for difference. Every tournament in the country, and almost across the world, was using the standardised 20-0 system for Warhammer Fantasy.
However, a major USA event called Brawler Bash, was using a different scoring system called Carnage. This system threw out the 20-0 scoring, based your tournament points on your victory points per game, and the end results were not effected by sports and paint. It also utilised very creative and different scenarios, which were designed by the TO to force players to think differently.
Although in its first year this was frowned upon, and the second it was somewhat questioned, by adopting this style of tournament, Warbanner was able to create a major point of difference in the tournament scene.

Okay, so now you are sitting there thinking, "Oh so he thinks the tournament he runs is better then the others?" "This is just pride and vanity talking".

The answer, is no.

Warbanner's design was a needed stepping stone away from standardisation, and to hope move stagnant waters. But it is not perfect, and as each year goes on, I work hard to tweak and amend its systems and style to better create the event.

What I am saying, is for tournament play to progress, we need more creatively designed events.
I am not saying that every event needs to move away from the 20-0 out of the book style format. That still has an integral part in the tournament scene.
What I am seeing is that we do need to see change.

When a great painter but poor player gets ranked higher then a slightly better player because he has been painting for 10 years and the other player on a matter of months, there is an issue.
When a player amicably questions or disputes a rule issue, and is right, but gets knocked down in placings due to a poor sports score by his opponent, there is an issue.
When the venue time is all that really matters in every single player pack, there is an issue.

Do I have the answers? Absolutely not. I wish I did. Warbanner for me was the start of change, but by no means, the end all.
For real change, it requires those who wish to see the evolution of the tournament scene take the time and energy to work to develop new systems in how they run events.

My intention is to run a new Napier event alongside Warbanner. This event is yet to be named and will likely be held at the end of next year's April holidays. Although I have no idea as of yet how to break the tournament wheel with something else that is different yet competitive, I aim to work tiresly to do so.

I know this blog may annoy some competitors, and in particular, tournament organisers.
But I also know that change does not occur without the ruffling of feathers.

Until next time,
Peace

Hobby Update July'17: Let's Roll

It seems like forever ago already since Panzershrek, yet this time last week I was being dragged down to the Irish Pub just a block from our Palmerston North accommodation. So much has happened since then, both in the business world and the plastic world.

But we are only here to talk about Plasti-crack.....

Since leaving Palmy, things have gotten really full on on the painting table.
I have picked up another commission, well, sort of the end of an old commission so to speak. My tournament partner has decided that it is time his frozen Ogre Khans collection was complete, not just as a single army but in a way that he can take anything off the shelf and put it on the table, and it is painted.
So to kick it off, I have 45 gnoblars to paint with stand out unit fillers. How do we make frozen gnoblars? Well, really they are Eskimos, though politically correct we must call them Inuits, like it is politically correct to call these miniatures cave goblins, but really they are gnoblars......#mindblown
I have also picked up a secret little project that involves a High Elf, an Orc and a Beastmen (no this is not a poor reenactment of the Three Hunters of Middle Earth!).
This little side project has me excited, as it will allow me to explore more techniques, and increase my experience on freehand.
To top it off, my Empire have returned to the painting table (Sound the horns, beat the drums!), as I get working on the army of the Queen of Promissa Terra. As many of you may know, I started this collection back in WHFB, but never really got far with painting it, minus a little bit here and there. It follows in the paint style of the old Altdorf of WHFB, but will not be designed around the typical war-stricken fantasy army.
I am looking forward to posting photos of these many works in progress.

The local scene is about to light up again, as I have opened registrations for the 3rd year running of the Hawkes Bay Regional Championship! This year 9th Age is back in the event as the main stay, and we are working towards involving Flames of War too!
However on the 9th side, it runs as a 3000 pt open list event, with a few list restrictions over the course of five weeks. The first four weeks see you face off in heats against 4 randomly selected opponents. Following this, in a one night event, the top 4 face off in a single death match semi final, followed directly by a death match final! It's intense!
For the past two years, my Empire have succeeded in taking second place. Let us see if this year is their year to shine!

Although I do not wish to go into too much detail on this, I have also opened up registrations for the 4th annual WarBanner event, a multi-platform event held on the 14/15 October.
This year sees the return of Flames of War, who joined the event for the first time last year, The 9th Age, which has became the fantasy tournament after we switched it from WHFB, along with a newcomer, Napoleonics.
As per usual, I am really excited for the weekend, and am working hard to make it as stand out of an event as possible. For more details or to register for any of these tournaments (or the HBRC above), email anempirefallennz@gmail.com

On a final note, before I put the keyboard to rest tonight and get myself lost in reading the mystery that Elon Musk is, it is time to touch on something that I have promised many times before....

.....I am starting a YouTube channel.....

Previously, although inspired, the motivated lacked for me when it came down to the crunch of doing it. Maybe not only that, but a mix of self consciousnesses and perfectionism got in the way.
Recently, I gave a good friend some advice on a written battle report he had created, and pushed him to do them as videos for various reasons. This got us talking further, which reignited my interest in doing it myself.
I have now lined up with him a very awesome and special series of videos that we will be doing post ETC, which gives me the inspiration to commit more.
However, I feel a lot of it will come down to what the community wants. It is all good and well to put in the effort to do this, but is wasted if people do not want it.
So, what would you wish to see? Battle reports from a known NZ player/tournament goer? Pantisodes as the troll-king Malorian once called them, bring a space of addressing recent topics whilst painting? Interviews with NZ and world recognised players? Tactica and Paint tutorials? What would grab your interest? What would make you watch? We all know it has to be a little more then just my good looks and charm right........okay, stomach hurts from too much laughing now.
But please, have your say in the comments! I really want to know.

With that said, it is time to get these weary eyes away from the screen and to the pages.

Until next time, Peace!

From Last Place to Podium: Three Years at Panzershrek

They were warned. The were told to run. The Blood Hunt returned, and boy were they hungry....

This past weekend saw the annual Panzershrek tournament, a FoW and T9A event in Palmerston North.

My tournament travel partner and best friend, who also turns out to be the guy who manages to get me to drink faaaar too much over tournament weekend, decided it was time to get back onto the scene, after having nine months off after Invitationals at the end of last year.

So, going to a tournament, what does this mean? Well, it means cramming in some last minute painting! I managed to get the paintbrush down at 8pm on the Friday night, after sitting down and doing a solid nine hour stint of painting to complete a few unfinished models, and paint from scratch my beautiful new Gortach model from Mierce Miniatures.

So, with the Blood Hunt packed and ready, and the roads thankfully open, Saturday morning we hit the tournament scene once again...

My first game I had dubbed prior as likely to be the most enjoyable game I have all weekend. My opponent, a very talented player and painter, was the last person I played on tournament, handing me a crushing defeat at Invitationals which cost me the podium. It seemed only fitting to come back to the scene and face him again!
He didn't make it easy though did he. His MSU style Sauian Ancients are got a little "race-confused", dancing around my army and running away like pesky wood elves. I remember at one point in the game looking at the board and couldnt believe how much of a cluster-fucked mess board the table was, with no clear vision of who was where.....everything was just so spread out.
This game landed me a 16-4, and as I had assumed prior to the game, was the most enjoyment I had all weekend. My opponent isn't just an awesome player, but a real good guy to throw dice around with.

Landing on table two, I was up against my first ever T9A tournament opponent, and his flying circus of chicken...okay okay, Highborn Elves. Although confident I could secure a victory in this game, the idea of double phoenix and double sky sloop running circles around me, was a concern going in. I mean, the Blood Hunt is fast, but these Elves had their share of Red Bull, as they had wings!
So with some fast moving up turn one, and punishing magic rolls, by turn two we could see where the game was heading. I think had it not been so early in the game we would have just called it there, however finding things to do for 3 hours waiting on the next game, would have been boring.
I took out a 20/0 victory in this game. My opponent is a great young player, with a real obvious thirst to learn as much as he can, both in battlefield tactics and in hobby, and I really hope I was able to pass on a few tips to him.

Sitting at 36/40 points going into the final game of the day, I was on table one against my arch-rival (yep, you have claimed that title now 😛), a player who takes out just about every event he goes to, and whom I have yet to defeat.
Going in there with confidence that I could beat him, even just slightly, held my play together for a while. Up until the start of turn four, it was still easily anyone's game. However, the long march to get to the stunty dwarfs hiding in their corner bore down on my herds, and thinks quickly fell apart after that.
I walked away from this game crushed 1/19, and was ready to settle for a mid pack placing.
We had dinner and beers with my opponent again, and as per usual, he was more then willing to share ideas on some really out there but quite effective list ideas for different armies....looks like my Blood Hunt will be getting a few new units added....and all of them centaurs.....

After my defeat game three, Sunday morning saw my hangover up against my favourite Sylvan Elves player. You have to realise, that games one, three and four, were against three of the top players in the country, and although I have played a lot of tournaments, I have never faced a collaboration of them all.
Going into this game, I knew it would be hard, as although my ETC team opponent's list did not look hard on paper, it had one secret weapon that would tear my army to pieces. But turn two saw tragedy strike my opponent, in what was the biggest upset game of the weekend, as my two-wound remaining Gortach failed a frenzy check, charging his lord's unit of sisters, who failed to add to my wounds with their stand and shoot. Adding salt to the wound, the strength 6 or 7, 5 or  6 attacks lord, flubbed. The sisters managed to get one more wound off, and then the Gortach went to town. At this moment of horror, my opponent accepted that the game wasn't to end his way, and I left the table sitting on 55/80pts, taking a 18/2 victory against the chicken.
My opponent in this game is a really great guy, and that loss was crushing. Although I still currently stand as one of two players he has never beaten, the games I play against him are usually some of the most hands on intense games, and I love it. Another fantastic opponent!

Heading into game five I knew I was sitting first equal to the player who crushed me at the end of Saturday, and needed to score well. But of course, my opponent ad best friend, wasn't going to make that easy for me!
Taking on his ogres once again, I went into the game with the confidence that he had never beaten my Blood Hunt, a confidence that quickly dissipated into nothing as my first three turns saw my army collapse and perish to immense shooting. After a quick smoke and accepting my fate, I returned to the table to face the Khan's Judgement.
And that was when the game turned....
With major failed charges, and his inability to roll high to pursue, his army was left extremely vulnerable. I was able to take out the remainder of his army with just a wounded Gortach, my general and bsb, and a lone razortusk that had done nothing all game, and swung the game back to a 20/0 victory.

Panzershrek '17 was yet another great weekend that just went way too fast, and our TO, did an amazing job running the tournament for the first time. Everyone had an absolute blast.
And then this happened...

Not only was I able to take best painted two years in a row at Panzershrek, with last year's being the last time I took a tournament paint award (I @BlametheDice......get it slishy? #insidejokes), but I was able to not only podium after nine months off the scene, but take the gold!!!!
It was interesting reflecting back on Panzershrek over the years. in 2015, I remember walking away gutted with a last place result, and last year sitting comfortable with mid-pack. To turn my original last place to a gold result seemed quite fitting.

There are a lot of things in the works, and I will be sure to do a Hobby update very very soon, but until then, some eye candy for you of what was apparently the best painted army 😝

Peace

Hobby Update November: Towards a New Year

With the excitement from a great weekend away at Invitationals still running through my veins (along with some much needed caffeine and nicotine!), I thought it was a great time to talk about what is next.

The tournament scene has now come to an end for me for the year, and I am expecting to come back to the tables in February for Over the Top in Hamilton.
However, my Beast Herds will not be making it to the tables for this event, as I have my sight on a new project...

Well, actually three.

Firstly, as I have mentioned before, I am creating  Cthulu themed Dread Elves collection, and I am slowly getting together all of the items and units I need to convert and paint the first list I plan to run with them. However, this army is a long term plan, and I have no intention to rush it. It also took a hit this weekend, as yet again 50% of players bought out Elves, and I really don't wish to join an already high statistic on the tournament scene.
Secondly, I am heading into more Elves. My best friend and I created a brutal Highborn Elves list the other day, and were talking about it on the way to Auckland on Friday. We have decided that this will be a joint project between us, with him sourcing the miniatures and I taking them from the dulls of plastic grey into a warstricken and ragtagged elven host. This project will also be a slow to work project, however, certain aspects of it will need to be table-top ready come OTT in Feb.
Finally, I am after another Icon. I currently hold the Beast Herds Icon, with no intention of letting that go, but am out to grab the Empire of Sonnstahl icon as well. OTT will see my first opportunity to put my Empire onto the table, and so I need to get them table-top ready as well. It shouldn't take long to do so, as there is minimal conversion work in the army, and the colours are easy ones to work with. The time consuming aspect for them will without a doubt be the display board, which alongside the basing on the miniatures, is what I expect will make this army pop the most.

With all of this said and done, I haven't left my Beast Herds to the dust. After returning home last night I made a few changes to my list.
Firstly, I dropped my Centaur chieftain. I like this guy and I love the idea of what he does and can do. He just doesn't do it enough. And although he poses a threat that people do not like, he is generally taken off the board very early game. My list also has enough other more durable threats, so he is taking the cut.
I have also take out my giants. These guys are some of my favourite in my army lists, give me a little bit of fluffy randomness. The only reason I am dropping them, is I need the points to make the changes I want.
Replacing my giants, we shall see a second Gortach. These monsters are brutal and scare the living daylights out of my opponents, just with the sheer volume of attacks at high strength, with the ability to do multiple wounds and heal himself in the process. One is great, two is devestating.
I am also bringing out a second razortusk as chaff. The one thing I noticed is I didn't have enough drops to make me happy, but playing the one razortusk I had, he worked really well, as both chaff and anti chaff. I am looking to see where I can shave points for a third.
Finally, the biggest change of them all. I am dropping my unit of minotaurs from eight to six, but am bringing out a second unit the same. My minotaurs are my powerhouse unit, and eight works really well when I have another solid infantry killing unit on the board. But without one, they get targetted out too easily. Taking them in two units of six I feel will be more beneficial.
Yes, the changes have turned my list into a Frenzy Fiasco, but I like frenzy, and Beasts often get bored with their prey and wander off anyways....

Anyways, time to move house. Until next time,

Peace!

Invitationals: Enthusiasm, Disappointment & Goats

Home is an amazing place to come back to after a great weekend. Except when its half packed with boxes, and instead of packing the rest of the boxes, you decide to blog. Procrastination is the key to life....

Anyways, what a weekend. After the long drive home from Invitationals 2016, the tournament that has ended the T9A competitive year, I have already written my new Beast Herds list. I find this rather funny, as I have every intention of shelving this army for a while after playing it competitively all year. But who knows.

So, here is a brief breakdown of the games:

Game One (Dread Elves - Failed from the Get Go):
Game One saw me face off against a local guy and his Dread Elves. This gent was actually the person I had faced just days before in my final practice game, and I didn't have high hopes of a victory. My expectations were met.
I misdeployed my army, and opted to keep my Wildhorns on the table instead of ambushing them. As you know, major deployment failures are often a game breaking mistake. Although I didn't expect to win the game, I had planned to try and keep the loss as minimal. However, as I watched MSU witch elves tear my army apart, my hopes were dashed.
It was a 14/6 loss before objectives, a loss I could have been happy with, but with some lucky last turn shooting from him killing my only scoring unit left, and some unlucky failed charges from me, leaving his 2 man scoring unit left on the board, objectives went in his favour, ending the game on a 17/3 victory to my opponent.

Game Two (Saurian Ancients - Hunger has its Price):
Game Two saw me face off against one of the Umpires, a guy who I had played just two months ago at GuardCon. In that match I took a major victory against him, and he was out for revenge.
Due to the terrain, I was able to force my opponent to split his army, making his infantry go to one side and his monsters to the other. I countered with most of my power stacking the flank of his infantry, and leaving a few units to hold up his monsters.
It didn't take long for me to clear the infantry flank, and by turn 4, I was sitting in a prime position.
This is where I made my biggest mistake of the tournament. This mistake cost me a 17/3 or better victory.
I got hungry, and over stretched. Had I planted my still at full force Minotaurs onto the objective, and moved everything else of mine away from his last three units (being 2 monsters, and a unit of 4 remaining warriors), I would have been fine. But I over extended. I didn't get my minotaurs where I needed them. I threw my BSB at his general with high expectations of killing it, and flubbed my rolls, and then watched his general destroy a unit of wildhorns that were contesting the Saurus warriors on the objective (2 rounds of throwing weapons and a round of close combat attacks from the Wildhorns failed to even bring the general down the single wound I needed to get half points for him).
With the additional points he gained, plus claiming the objective, my opponent took a 13/7 win over me. At this point, I was pretty down, and really f&%ked off with myself to say the least.

Game Three (Highborn Elves - The Beasts Favourite)
After a very very short break between to sort myself out, I was matched up against Highborn Elves. This match up with prime for me, because I build lists always thinking of how to kill elves, as majority of competitive players bring elves (50% at Invitationals). And I especially, have a knack for killing Highborn Elves.
My opponent bunkered down in a corner, with the intention to maximise his very shooty army. This was in my favour, as with so much hard and fast hitting units, I was able to get many multi-charges off into the right places, which meant his units were unsupported. The momentum was in my favour come the beginning of turn 2, and by the start of turn 4, it was all over for the Highborn, with only one unit left on the board. I spent the next two turns running all of my very chicken-filled beasts away from that unit, as I knew I already had max points, and wasn't in a position to ensure I could knock the whole unit out in a Round 6 combat.

Game Four (Highborn Elves - More Chicken)
Gleefully, my Beasts were matched up against another HE player at the start of day two. This list was a much more combat focused list, with a very killy lord in a unit of Ryma knights, anda brick of White Lions. But I was confident.
And I was sloppy.
I made one mistake which cost me my minotaurs early on, where I believed I had chaffed my opponent's White Lions in a way they couldnt get the charge against them at the same time as the knights (I had set up an easy charge for the knights purposefully, as I wanted them to charge and I knew my minotaurs could weather it). But, even though I had the movement spare, I put my chaff just milimetres in out from ensuring my opponent couldn't make that charge. Bye bye minos.
However, my sloppyness didn't carry out on the rest of my plan, as I had encircled the combat area with 3 monsters and 4 chariots, and after my opponent made a poor overrun, everything went in. One round of combat saw both of his killing units destroyed, and his characters dead.
At this point it was just clean up, and ensuring that I held the objective. I walked a way with an 18/2 Victory, which was fantastic. Had I not been sloppy, I feel it could have been a 20/0 easily, however, it is hard to say and I am very happy with the result.

Game Five (Dread Elves - Shattered Dreams)
Game Five was the most devastating game in a long time. As the points stood, I was lined up to face yet another Highborn Elves list, a list that although the player is one of the best HE players in NZ, I knew I could take out. Winning that game well, could have landed me in 3rd place. I was hopeful.
However, by this stage, all of the top table players had faced each other, so a rejig had to occur, which saw me instead face off against one of the most brutal lists I have seen on the table in a long time.
There isn't much to say about this game, it was a complete and utter whitewash, with me conceding to the 20/0 loss by top of turn 3. My opponent, the guy who out of all my great opponents, I gave my sports vote to, was extremely humble in his victory. He is a great guy and a fantastic player, and his placing second only went to prove how solid his list was.
It is hard to say that I was the most gracious in this defeat, as it took away any chances of seeing a podium, or even top 5. In saying that, I don't think I have ever had more fun while watching my army melt away to the quick slashes of corsair blades......

Over all, I took 7th place. A mid-pack standing at my first masters level tournament isn't something to be unhappy with. But me being me, and seeing the costly mistakes I made, I know it could have been better, and that I didn't deserve to place as I did after all was said and done. Although most of the time there was little moves I could fault, the mistakes I made cost me too much, and were stupid mistakes.

The guys who ran the event did a fantastic job, and although it was the highest level tournament in the year, in my opinion it was also the most relaxed one I have attended.

I am going to leave it there. I planned on writing about the changes to my list, and what army I plan to bring to the table for my first tournament next year, but its midnight, and I have bee up since 6, played two games, then endured the drive home. And I move tomorrow. So maybe it is time for some shuteye.
I will try and get another post up in a few days, and talk about the things above, along with the year as a whole and some hobby things.

To all the guys at Invitationals, you guys are all amazing and all did a great job. It was a fun weekend, and what made it fun was the awesome calibre of players, both on the gaming table and around the table of beers. Thanks for a blast!

With that,
Peace!

Invitationals 2016: 5 Days to Go and the Earth is Shaking

Good morning!

It is 1am, the ground has just been shaking with 6.6 magnitude earthquakes and I am writing a blogpost. It must be a ground breaking phenomenal post!

Well, probably not really....

Anyways, we are now just a handful of days out from the first ever New Zealand Invitational tournament. This event will become the most prestigious tournament in the year, and is hosting an open 40k tournament alongside the masters-style 9th Age tournament, with the top 12 players from across the year alongside 2 additional wildcard players, receiving invites.

As was the consensus, we are competing under the new updated V1.2 rules for 9th Age, and are using the new recommended points limit of 4500.

All of the lists are in and being reviewed as we speak, but I decided I wanted to jump the gun and throw my list out there myself (even though knowing my luck it will be sent back tomorrow to say I need to fix things...). After all, its my list, my Blood Hunt, my "PRESSSSSSSIOUSSSSS".....

So here it is:

The Blood Hunt
-Beast Lord (Razortusk Chariot, Lucky Shield, Blessed Sword, ToSS, Heavy Armour, Crown of  Horns)
-Beast Chieftain (Hunting Chariot, BSB, Heavy Armour, Dusk Stone, Shield, Beast Axe)
-Centaur "Philly" Chieftain (The Impaler, Heavy Armour, Hardened Shield)

-10 Raiders (Scout/Ambush)
-10 Raiders (Scout/Ambush)
-20 Wildhorns (Banner, Musician, Paired Weapons, Throwing Weapons, Ambush)
-20 Wildhorns (Musician, Paired Weapons, Throwing Weapons, Ambush)

-8 Minotaurs (Banner, Musician, Paired Weapons)

-1 Raiding Chariot

-1 Raiding Chariot

-1 Razortusk

-5 Gargoyles (Scout)

-1 Gortach

-1 Beast Giant

-1 Beast Giant

4500pts

Although I shall refrain from talking about the playstyle and method of using this list until after my competitors have to face it on the tables, I will note that as you can see, there is no magic in this list whatsoever! I have even left my very beloved Totems at home. To top that off, two of my favourite Magic Items are staying at home, with Dark Rain and The Pillager Icon not making the list.

The list looks impressive on the table and has been for the most part enjoyable to play with. However, I need to paint! I am currently short a handful of Wildhorns, the Razortusk, and a BSB on Chariot conversion. I am currently re-converting my Razortusk Chariot to become my Lord's chariot, as I am still waiting on my other OOP Chaos Chariot that I use to make Razortusk Chariots to arrive in the mail!

It may not seem like a lot to paint, but I am madly attempting to pack my house between crazy work hours, as the day after Invitationals, I move! That coupled with the fact I haven't painted in 2 months and so feel out of wack, has lead to serious lack of motivation and major procrastination! Let us hope that I can pull this off!

I am really looking forward to the event, and a weekend away. To top it off, I will be doing video 'interviews' with some of the key contenders for the Cup, along with a few hobby and T9A team interviews. Once compiled, I will have these available on my YouTube channel and on the Facebook page.

Anyways, time for a few hours shuteye before the madness begins again.

Peace!

Invitationals & My Dilemma

It is currently 6.30am as I start writing this, with my first hot brew of the day in hand. Why so early you may ask? Well that is a mystery even I want answered after a sleepless night!

In just under four weeks, the physical journey begins again for the final time this year, as we make the drive to Auckland for the first ever New Zealand Invitationals tournament. And with such a long drive, I am glad I have great travel company to go with me!

But the adventure to a tournament is never just the drive there and the weekend whilst away rolling dice and drinking more then planned, but it should be the weeks leading up to an event, as you play around with list ideas and play test your army and tweak the list whilst madly rushing around to finish painting that half a dozen miniatures you need in your list because of those tweaks.

My journey to Invitational almost came to an end before it had really began. With the release of Version 1.2 to the rule set last week, between the change in rules and points itself, along with Invitationals adopting the recommended points level of 4500pts, I was absolutely stumped.

Now, do not get me wrong, I am not complaining one moment about the new rules or recommended points system. I do agree with everything that has changed, but I do believe it is for the betterment of the game as it progresses and comes into its own.

Adopting a new rules system so close to the most prestigious event in the year was not a call I would have wanted to make, and I do not feel it was the right one either. In saying this, it was driven by the competitors for the event, and now as many are in the same boat I was in up until late last night, I think many are regretting that choice.

With the changes, I was finding it almost impossible to create a list that I could easily adapt to the play style, that I had the miniatures for without having to spend excess amounts of money, and the time to paint only a few handfuls of models. Even with the list I finally compiled and am happy with, there is more work to be done.

I argued with the decision to take my WDG (which was the easiest to flip my V1 list into something workable with V1.2), and finally decided against it, as I wasn't enjoying playing the list and it was hugely designed around the way a Path of Magic could influence the list, a Path which now in V1. no longer exists.

I also play tested my new Dread Elves list. I pulled off a major victory with this list, in my first time ever playing Elves, and enjoyed every moment of the game. The synergy of the list worked well, and with  change in the Path of Magic used, I feel the list could easily become a standard style list I would take to tournaments. The issue was, I do not have the extra money to drop into getting all the models needed, nor the time to paint an entire army within 3.5 weeks.

The biggest struggle of them all, was a moral struggle. I have played my Beast Herds in every event I have been to since T9A hit the tournament scene, and I love them. But morally, how could I leave t home the army that helped me get to 9th place on the New Zealand rankings? That wouldn't be right!

So I tossed around a few lists, screwed up a lot of paper, and walked away from the list building to relax whist enjoying a cancerous habit. And as my alcohol infused brain was pretending I was being Smaug and blowing smoke, it hit me. And I started mentally drawing a list, watching the mechanics of the list, and seeing what it looked like on the table.

The list is written. My toys are ready.

The Beast Herds have heard the Call. The Blood Hunt is coming to Play.
Run and Hide, Run and Hide. For come the Break of Day,
Blood will run as we catch our Prey.....