So after much cajoling by Mr Paint Hammer himself (@Paint_Hammer) I have finally got my finger out and done a quick report on my trip to Cry Havoc 2014 with my Ogres.
Cry Havoc is a one-day event ran by the Dunfermline Wargaming And Roleplaying Fellowship a.k.a D.W.A.R.F located in the Dell Farquharson centre in Dunfermline. The T.O was John Harper (@the_john_harper) and a fine job he did, supported by his fellow club members. The event ran smoothly, a difficult feat when there was 60+ gamers to deal with. The food was good, with a great buffet lunch and donuts/juice available throughout the day, my only request would have been some bottles of water to go along with the soft drinks. A special mention needs to go out to Mother Nature as well for her cruel sense of humour, 22oC days do not mix well with a hall full of gamers!!
So on to my army and the games I played, my list is a pretty standard ogre army with the addition of a giant to offset the filth of the gutstar!
Slaughtermaster: Armour of Destiny; Crown of Command; Dragonbane Gem; Level 4 Wizard; great weapon
Bruiser: Ironcurse Icon; Talisman of Preservation; great weapon; heavy armour; battle standard; Lookout Gnoblar
Firebelly: Dispel Scroll; Ruby Ring of Ruin; Level 2 Wizard; additional hand weapon
9 Ironguts: Standard of Discipline; Gutlord; Bellower; standard bearer; Look-out Gnoblar
3 Ogres: additional hand weapons; Bellower
3 Ogres: additional hand weapons; Bellower
6 Leadbelchers: Bellower
1 Sabretusk
4 Mournfang Cavalry: Gleaming Pennant; heavy armour; ironfists; Bellower; standard bearer
Ironblaster
Giant
2,399 points
The standouts of the weekend were the Mournfang and the Firebelly – The Mournfang for the ridiculous amount of damage they can put out and soak up, the Firebelly because lobbing out two fireballs a turn is becoming increasingly useful in the current meta of elves everywhere you look, not to mention the S4 breath weapon which can turn that crucial combat in your favour.
So my 1st game was Blood and Glory against Alan Wolstenhome (@woostie3) with his Chaos Warrior Slannesh Bomb. It roughly consisted of a Lvl 4 flying Demon Prince, 2 Exalted heros on fiends one a BSB, Festus, A huge block of Nurgle warriors (30 or so), 2 units of 5 hounds, and 10 hellstriders and a unit of 6 Skullcrushers. Ouch not a good match up for my Ogres but I relished the challenge.
It was a game where my Mournfang shone, a 2nd turn charge on his hellstrider bus and a few good rolls later the unit was destroyed and his BSB was cut down as he fled from the combat. From there my luck continued with his Demon prince failing to cast Cacaphonic Choir bubble on 6 dice 3 times in the game! The leadbelchers took a toll on the Skullcrushers and when the Ironblaster got involved as well – only one was left for my Mournfang to cut down late in the game to allow me to break him and take a 16-4 win. This was a great game for me and I must put my hands up and say the dice gods were very good to me, Alan is a top bloke and I look forward to playing him again if we get the chance.
It was a game where my Mournfang shone, a 2nd turn charge on his hellstrider bus and a few good rolls later the unit was destroyed and his BSB was cut down as he fled from the combat. From there my luck continued with his Demon prince failing to cast Cacaphonic Choir bubble on 6 dice 3 times in the game! The leadbelchers took a toll on the Skullcrushers and when the Ironblaster got involved as well – only one was left for my Mournfang to cut down late in the game to allow me to break him and take a 16-4 win. This was a great game for me and I must put my hands up and say the dice gods were very good to me, Alan is a top bloke and I look forward to playing him again if we get the chance.
My 2nd game was pitched battle against Frank Miller and his …..Warriors of Chaos! Franks army was very nice with the Lvl 4 Tzeentch special character, a bsb and another exalted champ, a massive block of chaos warriors of tzeentch, 3 units of 5 warhounds, 6 Skullcrushers and a chimera.
This game went all my way, with Frank pushing his hounds a bit too far forward on turn one allowing my Mournfang to get around his Skullcrushers flank. From there the gut star joined in and I rolled right through the whole army. One of my Ogre Darts were the shining stars, holding up a Chimera for two turns and causing 3 wounds on it! The game ended 20-0 to me, but Frank was a gentlemen throughout and it was a fantastic game. Onwards to the top tables….!
This game went all my way, with Frank pushing his hounds a bit too far forward on turn one allowing my Mournfang to get around his Skullcrushers flank. From there the gut star joined in and I rolled right through the whole army. One of my Ogre Darts were the shining stars, holding up a Chimera for two turns and causing 3 wounds on it! The game ended 20-0 to me, but Frank was a gentlemen throughout and it was a fantastic game. Onwards to the top tables….!
My 3rd game was against Micheal “First Round Loss” Ross and his VC in the meeting engagement scenario. Micheal was coming off a win at Caledonian Carnage so I knew he was a great player and knew the VC inside out. We were both on table 2 and it was all to play for. His army had a Lvl 4 Necromancer, Lvl 2 necromancer, Lvl 1 Vampire hero, 3 units of dire wolves, 20 Skeletons, 20 Zombies (possibly 30), 20 ghouls, 6 vargheists, two units of 5 hexwraiths, 9 Black Knights, 2 Spirit Hosts and a Terrorgheist. When rolling to see what units would deploy and what would arrive later 5 of his untits including the Vargheists – While for me my gutstar including all my characters and my giant decided to show up late.
This is the quickest moving VC army you’ll ever see, it felt like he was right in my face from the get go. Having no wizards also meant he had full control turn one to bolster all his undead units with some freshly raised corpses! Again the mournfang shone in this game – wiping out 5 hounds, the vargheists, and the black knights and the vampire before succumbing to the hexwraiths! The key to the game was when the giant made a run for his necromancer bus, forcing Michael to move them into a unit out of his line of sight, unfortunately this brought them into the range of the gutstar. Although we messed up the charge – with the gutstar going into the front and thus in base contact with the wizards rather than the flank - I feel with the number of attacks I was putting out the result would have been the same. With his lord dying and his army crumbling the game ended 15-5 to me. Michael is a top bloke, this was my second time facing him in the last game of a tournament, and once again he put up with my noobish questions and continued to smile throughout.
This is the quickest moving VC army you’ll ever see, it felt like he was right in my face from the get go. Having no wizards also meant he had full control turn one to bolster all his undead units with some freshly raised corpses! Again the mournfang shone in this game – wiping out 5 hounds, the vargheists, and the black knights and the vampire before succumbing to the hexwraiths! The key to the game was when the giant made a run for his necromancer bus, forcing Michael to move them into a unit out of his line of sight, unfortunately this brought them into the range of the gutstar. Although we messed up the charge – with the gutstar going into the front and thus in base contact with the wizards rather than the flank - I feel with the number of attacks I was putting out the result would have been the same. With his lord dying and his army crumbling the game ended 15-5 to me. Michael is a top bloke, this was my second time facing him in the last game of a tournament, and once again he put up with my noobish questions and continued to smile throughout.
With game 3 over I awaited the results from the other games to see how I finished. It was an unbelievable 2nd place for me and my first podium since my return to the hobby 9 months previously! I was delighted and can’t thank all my opponents, John and everyone at the D.W.A.R.F club enough - I also walked away with top ogre and a nice haul of goodies.
So that was Cry Havoc 2014, my first one day tournament and definitely not my last, congratulations to Donald McCallum for taking overall champion with his Empire army and to Rich for picking up Best Army with his beautifully painted OrcOgres. That’s all from me and my first every blog/tournament report, any feedback is much appreciated and you can catch me on twitter (@workshy88).
Cheers,
Andy