Tournament Battlereport Battle for the Throne #2 / Hanna Game 1, Hundred Kingdoms vs. Spire

Overview:
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

On the last weekend of January, Max invited us again to Beckum, and this time a total of 16 players participated. Four of them played Nino's Old Dominion "Aura of Death" list, and as expected, all four ended up in the top 6, creating quite a battlefield.

On the Friday before the tournament, I had a test game to see if my list was competitive against the Aura of Death variant. Although I won narrowly, when talking about the meta, this variant is definitely the talk of the town, and the matchup at 1500 points is not favorable. One needs to plan explicitly and know what's happening; otherwise, it ends badly. Speaking of bad, I also brought something friendly and nice and added two units of Ashen Dawn - for the really good friends. I debated for a long time whether to play my test list or switch to Crimson Tower; the Murder Ponies are better against the Old Dominion list than the Sealed Temple.

I decided against it, mainly because I didn't feel like repacking my suitcase and because I wanted to continue testing the Sealed Temple. So far, I found them quite good, but only against Wadrhun and Nords. Against all others, it has been quite inconsistent. Additionally, the results were paired with the Para Bellum app, and the tier breaker was total scenario points made, not the strength of schedule. Total scenario points made are such a dumb system, but another reason why I like to bring a medium unit with Movement 8 and Fluid Formation. If I want to win the tournament, I cannot play it safe; I need to score as many points as possible.

The Hundred Kingdoms [1500/1500] == (Warlord) Priory Commander (Sealed Temple) [110]: * Order of the Sealed Temple (3) [185]: Standard Bearer <-- PC * Order of the Sealed Temple (3) [185]: Standard Bearer * Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [255]: Standard Bearer * Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [255]: Standard Bearer == (Warlord) Imperial Officer [75]: On Your Feet, Fire First, Aim Later * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]: <-- IO * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]: * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]: * Imperial Ranger Corps (3) [120]:

I opted against it, mainly because I didn't feel like repacking my suitcase, and I wanted to continue testing the Sealed Temple. So far, I found them quite good, but only against Wadrhun and Nords. Against all others, it has been quite inconsistent. Additionally, the results were paired with the Para Bellum app, and the tier breaker was total scenario points made, not the strength of schedule. Total scenario points made are such a dumb system, but another reason why I like to bring a medium unit with Movement 8 and Fluid Formation. If I want to win the tournament, I cannot play it safe; I need to score as many points as possible.

Game 1

The scenario played was "Melee" against Tim (p4tch on Discord), who marched in with Spires.

I took a look at the table and saw irrelevant water on the side and the quite relevant forest in the middle. There were also two houses and a wall. Interestingly, all tables throughout the tournament were set up the same way, with terrain placed in such a way that it should not be adjusted for any scenario. This information immediately triggered many thoughts for the upcoming games for me. But first, I had to deal with these nasty aliens that EA had contaminated us with.

The Spires [1495/2000]

== (Warlord) Lineage Highborne [120]: Cascading Degeneration, Pheromantic Override, Venom
* Avatara (3) [200]: Superior Creations, Standard Bearer
* Avatara (3) [180]: Superior Creations
* Centaur Avatara (3) [200]: Standard Bearer
* Siegebreaker Behemoth (1) [180]: 

== Biomancer [185]: Fleshcarver, Mastery of Flesh 1, Mastery of Flesh 2, Mastery of Flesh 3
* Bound Clones (3) [130]: Standard Bearer
* Incarnate Sentinels (3) [210]:
* Force-Grown Drones (3) [90]: 

Three Heavies without Flank and no ranged attacks, but a considerable amount of melee pressure and a Biomancer with Flesh 3 – the Spire players in our community are also testing something similar at 2000 points with the Siegebreaker. So, I had a rough idea of what was happening.

The first two rounds were rather uneventful since both of us had characters on top, and everything went in his favor. Yes, all three Mediums for the Spires, which gave me a bit of a headache, especially since I only had one Sealed Temple unit. But I positioned myself wide and took both large zones since the Rangers had pulled my reinforcement line forward, allowing the Knights to score. Accordingly, Tim placed an Avatara unit on each flank and the Highborne on the side of my Knights. In the middle, I wanted to have two Crossbows go through the forest or around it and have fire corridors, but I didn't have good targets yet. Score: 6-0.

In the third round, I got my second Sealed Temple, while he got the Centaur and the Siegebreaker. At least, the Avatara on the right were a bit far from the Biomancer, so there would be no Movement buff there. But with "Move Charge," he could potentially reach my Knights, and with "Aura of Death" (AoD) 16, there would be at least six life point losses. AoD 4 is just too much in my eyes because they are automatic hits. No morale tests, but it still destroys a lot.

Anticipating that I wouldn't run out of the zone, his Avatara were not on top. I placed my second Sealed Temple in front of the first ones, forming a solid four for the "Charge Clash" through his Avatara. He promptly took the cake, and I took seven damage. However, I also had the option to flank the Avatara with the other Knights, including the Commander. Two Avatara should fall, but all three died, and I got 4 great points. On the other flank, the Avatara eventually came forward and were covered by bolts and arrows. Two really died, and thus, I had two zones plus a small one where the Ashen Dawn moved in. I was looking forward to it, but then, of course, the Siegebreaker on the right and the Centaur in the middle smiled evilly. In hindsight, he went a round too early because I probably wouldn't have been able to control the combination so easily, but now it looked critical. Score: 20-2.

In the fourth round, our last two Heavies came into play. Tim started by healing his Bound Clones, who had received some damage from the Crossbows. Then he activated the Centaur with UE, and they took my Rangers and Imperial Officer on the left flank, enduring 8 wounds from Decay.

On the right side, I charged the Force Gron Drones, who stood against the Sealed Temple with all armor saves. Tim wished these had been the Decay rolls, but at least now the Siegebreaker came, bringing 6 damage to the Knights with the Commander through "Move Charge" and declaring the right zone as his own. I wouldn't be able to change that, at least not in the foreseeable future.

So, I shot another Centaur and placed the second Ashen Dawn in front of the far-left zone since I didn't want to play with an ill-tempered Siegebreaker, and I had nothing else to hold the zone. Score: 22-11.

In the fifth round, I used Supremacy and moved the shooters up, then the characters, and finally, the Knights. Tim started and killed the Sealed Temple, while my others killed a whole stand of Force Gron Drones and barely took any damage back because of "Blessed."

More importantly, my Crossbows in the forest shot the Bound Drones, breaking them and preventing healing. The second unit then shot the last stand and forced the Incarnates towards that zone. Tim preferred to score rather than deal with the Ashen Dawn, who had just become "Hardened" and happened to be inconveniently far away.

The other Crossbows got the last Avatara or Centaur, and the other was killed by the Ashen Dawn. Score: 35-20.

In the sixth round, my Sealed Temple finally managed to defeat the Force Grown Drones but ran away from the Siegebreaker, ending up in the arms of the Incarnates. I wanted to shoot the Incarnates away, but then the Siegebreaker stood on the edge of his zone, wanting to hunt my regiments. So, I focused everything on him, and three regiments of Crossbows brought him down exactly in two rounds, while one regiment was devoured by him. In the remaining time, we scored our two zones, or Tim scored his one, and I emerged victorious.

That was a solid start to the tournament, and I hope to write the next report shortly. However, I am currently a bit more tied up than expected. Nino, however, also has an interest in writing something, and I should upload his reports today or Wednesday.