Last weekend marked the second German two-day tournament in Winnenden, and the line-up was stacked: 22 players, including the French elite and the South German scene at its finest. One thing was clear – this wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
On a spontaneous whim, Nino and I decided to represent the North and throw ourselves into the fray, despite the 8-hour journey. Sadly, Uziel couldn’t join us due to work obligations, so I had to survive the weekend without my Schatzi-mon.
I stuck with my tried-and-true list, the same one that had already brought me solid results at the ITC and other tournaments. It really makes an impression on the battlefield, I know it like the back of my hand, and my goal was clear: a clean 5:0.
== (Warlord) Chieftain [130]: Conquest, Vision
- Veterans (3) [170]
- Veterans (3) [170]
- Slingers (3) [150]
== Predator [100]: War
- Braves (3) [130]
- Hunting Pack (3) [120]
- Apex Predator (1) [190]
- Slingers (3) [150]
== Predator [100]: War
- Braves (3) [130]
- Hunting Pack (3) [120]
- Apex Predator (1) [190]
- Slingers (3) [150]
No changes to the list, but still green brutality—at least when it comes to my paint scheme. The list delivers at least five cards in round 1, and a minimum of seven in round 2. On top of that, it generates enough tokens to consistently fuel three Slingers, and occasionally lets a few Braves or Veterans do some chanting as needed.
What really makes the list a pain to deal with are the Hunting Packs. Alongside the Slingers, they apply massive pressure and also act as the perfect screen and bodyguard for the shooters. I accept that I won’t be scoring in round 2 in some scenarios—that’s a trade-off I’m willing to make. In theory, I could avoid that by swapping the two Apexes for a Winglord and a Quatl. That’s definitely on the table, but playing with unpainted models is a no-go for me.
Game 1 with Konrad „DrizztDarnok“ Zacharias (Nords, NTR 9 Germany)
The tournament in Winnenden kicked off with a tough opponent right out of the gate. In my first game, I faced Konrad, currently ranked 9th on the German NTR list. He’s not only one of the best and most experienced northern tournament players, but also known as a co-founder of the “Feldherren von EA” podcast and winner of the second-to-last Bedburg tournament.
I was genuinely looking forward to the match. Even though we know each other well from various events, we rarely end up facing off at the table. Our last direct encounter was early last year in Frankfurt, and I was excited for a rematch.
I don’t have Konrad’s list on hand, so here’s a rough overview from memory:
Nords [2000/2000]
== Jarl [120]: Reyngeir, the God Spear
* Raiders (3) [140]: Captain
* Raiders (3) [140]: Captain
* Bearsarks (3) [200]: Savage
* Bearsarks (3) [200]: Savage
== (Warlord) Volva [115]: Ancestors' Blessing
* Huskarls (5) [270]: Skald
== Vargyr Lord [175]: Massive Frame, Wild Beasts
* Fenr Beastpack (3) [140]:
* Goltr Beastpack (3) [160]:
* Goltr Beastpack (3) [160]:
* Goltr Beastpack (3) [160]:
Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for him in the early game. His reinforcements came in at unlucky times in rounds 1 and 2. I, on the other hand, was able to apply early pressure on the field thanks to Flank. With less resistance than expected, I quickly destroyed two markers and was then able to fall back and play it safe.
The plan was to let him crash against my front line bit by bit—because on Echelon, the only way he could catch up was by controlling my zone or at least denying me access to it.
In round 3, his army finally made it onto the field almost in full. But by then, my position was already solid: Slingers on each flank and in the center, with both Veterans and Braves stacked on one side, each backed up by an Apex. I had originally planned to play symmetrically, but as the game progressed, Konrad shifted his focus more and more to the right flank. So I decided that doubling down on veteran firepower over there would be the more constructive move.
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Konrad moved forward cautiously and blocked me with a move-charge to prevent me from slipping the Hunting Packs between his units and breaking apart his army.
In round 4, it became clear that his positioning wasn’t optimal. Many of his units were blocking each other, and on top of that, more bad luck with the dice struck when a few Berserkers only dealt a handful of damage to an Apex. Under the constant pressure from my list, it became increasingly difficult for him to position himself in a way that kept me from regularly taking two cards for every one of his.
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I got a bit too greedy and careless, which led to me giving away a Veterans Regiment unnecessarily. I had overlooked that his Volva and a few Gotrl hadn’t activated yet. That was annoying, and when Konrad then attempted a charge with the Berserkers on a 6 in round 5, succeeded, and my Slingers only dealt two damage, I briefly saw the right flank start to collapse. But the card losses I had suffered up until that point were too heavy, and in the end, it was a clear victory for me.
From the outside, it might have looked more one-sided than it actually was, but the momentum was on my side early on. I’m hoping for a rematch soon – with a better start, a bit more luck, and new ideas from both sides, it will definitely be exciting again.
Game 2 with Kilian „Rawr“ Sieutat-Lacaze (100k, France NTR 1)
The second scenario was "Melee," and as regular readers of my blog know, I consider this scenario the best for the Hundred Kingdoms. So, it wasn’t particularly exciting to hear that in round 2, I’d be playing against France’s number 1 and one of the best Hundred Kingdoms players in the world. A matchup I’d have expected in the final. However, Kilian also wasn’t too thrilled about playing a killpoint mission against my list.
Assault on Winnenden [2000/2000]
The Hundred Kingdoms
== Mounted Noble Lord [155]: Dynastic Ally, Tourney Champion, Eccentric Fighting Style
* Household Knights 5 [270]:
* Household Knights 3 [160]:
== Crusading Noble Lord [155]: Elysian Fragment, Get in Position
* Men at Arms 8 [270]: [Veteran]
== Warlord Imperial Officer [130]: Art of War
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [110]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [110]:
* Hunter Cadre 3 [160]:
* Hunter Cadre 3 [160]:
== Chapter Mage [100]: School of Water, School of Fire, Talented
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [110]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [110]:
Kilian’s list, besides having absurd amounts of ranged firepower, also boasted an impressive reinforcement curve, which was better than mine. Aside from two regiments, he could score with almost everything. I wasn’t sure how to trade cards effectively, especially because he had more attack range than me with his Knights and the Supremacy of the Imperial Officer. On the other hand, I had the Slingers, three regiments, and their theoretical potential was equally intimidating.
In round 1, only my reinforcements arrived, while Kiki already had everything on the field. That was a problem, so I decided to hold back my Hunting Pack a bit and use my Slingers more aggressively. A building separated one of the large zones from the rest of the battlefield, and I decided to ignore that side at first. It was clear that Kiki wanted to move his cavalry into the forest in front of his small zone, and my Slingers had the potential to wipe out a Crossbow unit with a single hit. Of course, he knew that as well and positioned his Crossbows with characters almost at the edge of the battlefield to avoid losing any points. He placed the other two Crossbows a bit further ahead, but so far to the left that they weren’t interesting to me.
In round 2, his card advantage continued to grow. I hoped he’d leave me alone until the rest of my army arrived, but I couldn’t quite figure out what plan he had for jumping in my face by the end of round 2. At least I got another Hunting Pack, both Veterans, and one Braves regiment. Thanks to my Slingers positioned at the front, I could theoretically reach both large zones. I decided to claim the left zone with the Veterans, since his firepower didn’t reach far enough. Otherwise, we both made sure not to make any silly mistakes. My Braves moved to the center, and his two cavalry units did the same. Then, suddenly, the Man-at-Arms block appeared on the far right. I knew he had it, since we had talked about his list online, but somehow I had forgotten about it. 8 Man-at-Arms with characters on the field are pretty imposing.
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My second Veterans unit was supposed to go to the flank, but I decided to position them on the left instead. By rounds 3 and 4, very little came from Kilian, and I saw the opportunity to break through on that side in the long term. At least I went into the next round with a point lead.
In round 3, my last Slingers and an Apex arrived. With the Conquest Chant, I tried to land a few lucky hits on the Knights in the forest, but D4, RR6, and Obscuring were too much, and I only dealt two damage. We continued positioning, claiming both the small and large zones. He couldn’t really make use of his card advantage since I had positioned my Slingers far downfield to punish any potential advances. The last Slingers also marched up the left side so that with double Veterans and Slingers, I could just overwhelm his Crossbows and Hunters.
In round 4, the rest of my army finally arrived, and we hadn’t lost anything up until then. This round was rather drawn-out and focused purely on positioning. We talked, but neither of us wanted to make the first move, especially since our positions almost completely covered each other. Risky initiative rolls and charges weren’t an option, so we played conservatively and calmly.
By round 5, I finally had a bit of luck, or rather, Kiki unfortunately had some bad luck. Finally, a few of his protective rolls failed, and both Knight units lost two stands each. On the left, a Crossbow unit died, and the Hunters took significant damage. Kiki retaliated by killing a Hunting Pack, and he almost managed to get something rolling. But we still had the most important cards left, so neither of us had the chance to really catch the other in a bind. What was noteworthy was that the player who won initiative always let the opponent go first, because there was simply no reason to start yourself.
Then, I broke the last resistance on the left flank. I consistently dealt 6 damage to the Man-at-Arms through the forest and killed the small HHKs. Kilian cleared my screen of Hunting Packs, and his HHKs made a move-charge on the first Apex, while the second one had been broken by a failed charge. He had to do that because a unit of Slingers and Veterans from the left side started clearing his backfield. I was now able to close in on him from both sides. The Apex held as expected and survived the clash in the following round, which ultimately decided the game.
All in all, it was a real challenge both tactically and mentally—by far the closest victory I secured that weekend.
Game 3 with Guillaume "BillyZeKid" Verdier (City States, France NTR 2)
Gilli is the organizer of the ITC and had won a major tournament with Spire in the winter. Luckily, he didn’t bring my hated faction and instead went with City States. I think the list itself is pretty solid: 12 cards plus a Strategic Deck, potentially five cards in round 1. A combination of double Agema, Sacred Band for healing, and Chariots applies a lot of pressure and is quite fast. Especially the Loose Formation of the Selinoi is always a real problem for me as a Hundred Kingdoms player. But today, I wasn’t playing Hundred Kingdoms. I had Dinos instead. 14 cards, five guaranteed cards in round 1, and Slingers who couldn’t care less about Loose Formation. With Hundred Kingdoms, I would have probably struggled a lot, but with my list, I felt clearly advantaged. I had tested a lot against City States in the last few weeks and knew: If I get in close, everything bursts. Admittedly, that was also true for my own troops, but we were playing Divide and Conquer. That means everything has to go to the center. And anyone who stands there will be shredded by the pressure from the ranged regiments. The fact that the Wadrhun all had 5 or 6 health helped a lot too.
The City States [2000/2000]
== (Warlord) Aristarch [140]: Standard of Last Oration, Expert Scouts
* Selinoi (3) [130]:
* Selinoi (3) [130]:
* War Chariots (Flogobollon//Skorpios) (2) [260]: Skorpios
== Polemarch [160]: Aristia, Blades of Eakides, Disorienting Strikes
* Agema (5) [295]: Andromachos, Sacred Band Veterans
* Agema (4) [245]: Andromachos, Sacred Band Veterans
* Minotaur Haspists (3) [180]:
* Sacred Band (3) [190]:
== Mechanist [90]: Hephaestian Alloys
* Thorakites (4) [180]: Minotaur Thyrean Auxiliary
In round 1, Gilli only got one unit of Selinoi, while I brought everything. As usual, I placed my Hunting Pack in the center, Slingers on each flank, and a regiment in the middle. His Selinoi were also placed in the center, but too far forward.
In round 2, I had the pleasure of shooting them, despite their Loose Formation. However, in this round, I only got my required selections, which were the two Veterans. Gilli brought his chosen Agema with Polemarch, the second unit of Selinoi with Aristarch, and the cows. His chariots came in the center and left, while the rest was pushed to the right flank, probably because I had deployed wide.
Round 3 saw the rest of the armies arrive, though I was still missing one Apex. The first and later the second Apex naturally landed on the right. But the real fighting hadn’t begun yet. We faced off, shot a little, I aimed at the cows and chariots, while he shot at my Hunting Pack, which eventually fell. Then his cows pushed into a regiment of Slingers, which put me in a good position to threaten the flank with my Hunting Pack in the next round. But then his Agema with Polemarch dared to enter the zone and showed the first Apex their flank. Although it was standing in the forest, Gilli saw the matchup as so bad that he wanted to gamble on initiative.
In round 4, Gilli activated his Supremacy, but my Apex got to start fairly. He lost two out of five Agema stands right away. They didn’t want to reform because of other threats and caused hardly any damage. As expected, my Slingers were overrun by the cows and died in return to the Hunting Pack. The chariots tried to shoot my Veterans out of the zone, but with 6 health per stand, they were just too resilient. One of the many points I think should be adjusted for Wadrhun at the moment. Then the Selinoi brought my Apex down to 10 health. I let the small Veterans wipe out the Agema, took the counterattack from the Thorakites, but thanks to the large health buffer, I didn’t care. The second Apex had meanwhile arrived on the field and positioned itself in charge range, and the remaining Slingers pushed both chariots to half their health. The attrition was going very well for me overall. I had actually expected the Thorakites to go into the Apex, but instead, Gilli had sent the Sacred Band with a Move Charge into it. Especially because it didn’t fit with his activation order. This meant he was once again relying on the initiative in the next round.
Father loved me, so I got the initiative. The Apex ate two stands of the Sacred Band and also survived the counterattack. The second Apex went into the Thorakites, who fought with the Veterans, and even they were slowly worn down. My Veterans with Cheifthain finally engaged the chariots, which marked their end. Overall, I took almost his entire army off the field in this round. Gilli still had his second Agema, which tried to circle around me and advance into the small zone, but it was too late. I consistently held two to three zones and had a massive card advantage.
Day 1 was over, and I was exhausted but also satisfied with my performance. Two games in English and three strong opponents—it was definitely draining. For the next day, I was hoping for a somewhat easier opponent, but in the bracket, there was no one left who promised that. So, we all went together to a cozy inn and enjoyed the southern German cuisine.
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Game 4 with Maphi "Farnir" Werner (Wadrhun, Germany NTR 7)
Maphi, the winner of the last Worms tournament, joked that I had wished for an "easier" opponent yesterday at dinner, and now I had gotten him. A humorous comment that highlighted his strong self-irony, as he was fielding a list very similar to mine.
Double Time [2000/2000]
The W'adrhun
== Warlord Chieftain [100]: Conquest
* Veterans 4 [220]:
* Veterans 3 [170]:
* Braves 3 [130]:
* Slingers 3 [150]:
== Predator [100]: Death
* Braves 3 [130]:
* Slingers 3 [150]:
== Matriarch Queen [110]: Death, Apex Master
* Warbred 3 [180]:
* Warbred 3 [180]:
* Apex Predator 1 [190]:
* Apex Predator 1 [190]:
The scenario was Breakout, and the terrain divided our deployment zones. This made one of the outer zones less attractive, which shaped the game right from the first round. We chatted a bit, and while I was well familiar with the mirror match, Maphi had no experience with it. In the first round, he deployed his Slingers very passively, which gave me the opportunity to push forward and advance my reinforcement line quite far. This allowed me to score both outer zones in the second round, which surprised Maphi a bit. He had previously assessed the side game as not particularly relevant, and I took the time to explain to him at what range I thought it would make sense to consider this strategy. At the same time, I cleared the mission marker out of the way and kept my position at a distance, aiming to score for two rounds before he could start doing so. To prevent that, Maphi set up double Warbread on the right flank and kept his distance as well. But then, almost recklessly, he threw his first Veterans with Chiefthains into range of 18" from my Slingers. I gladly took this opportunity, shot one, and placed a Hunting Pack in Auto Charge for the next round.
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I got to act first, and the Hunting Pack tore Maphi's Veterans apart, sending them off the board. Completely thrown off by the loss of his anchor in the center, he sent his Warbreads with Move Charge on the right side into my Veterans. However, half of those Warbreads fell victim to the Slingers. I then placed my first Apex behind the Veterans to protect them and failed the Clash action to eliminate the last Warbread. That was annoying, but it didn’t matter since I denied the zone. On the other side, I caused some damage to his second Veterans, which were supposed to cover the center, and his Queen, riding with healing on an Apex, marched forward on the left flank. Primarily to heal the Veterans, but overall too far ahead. She and the big Dino were right in the range of my Slingers for the next round.
In the following round, Maphi began, and we exchanged Veterans for two Warbread regiments. That was fine, but I knew I could have played it better; however, I got greedy and made some mistakes. When the Slingers then reduced the Apex of the Queen to one life during a shooting phase and the next shot finished the job, I had an absurd card advantage. With that, I could afford to finally position my Veterans in the middle zone to put pressure on his two Slinger regiments. This forced Maphi to confront me with his Braves. He positioned them in such a way that my Slingers could shoot at his Braves, and with Fire and Advance, they stayed out of his range. We played half a turn more, but eventually, Maphi conceded when he realized he couldn’t score any more points and I would wipe out his troops completely.
With that, the path to the final was clear, and since Nino had defeated the last French player, it was certain that the victory would definitely go to our club.
Game 5 with Nino "Torsul" Beck (Old Dominion, Germany NTR 2)
Dear readers, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The grand final in Winnenden, and my opponent was none other than the incomparable, legendary Mr. Bonegolem in both body and spirit: Nino Beck. Winner of the last Bedburg tournament, ITC 2025 Champion, and for over 20 years my loyal friend, which is probably best explained by a severe case of Stockholm syndrome.
Nino knows my list inside and out. We play multiple games a month, even though his current OD list hadn’t faced my green wave yet. We played Head to Head, and his three Lights with Loose Formation were basically ten points on a silver platter for me. Either he set them up so defensively that they did nothing, or I wiped them out and got the 10 points. Even Nino estimated the matchup in this scenario at 65-35 in my favor, as long as I didn’t lose my Slingers unnecessarily. The issue with the Slingers is currently significant, as they simply tear through Loose Formation regiments with effective range and Torrential Fire at 18". Hopefully, this will be adjusted with the update at the end of the month.
Rheinhippoteetisch unter Tierschutz [1995/2000]
The Old Dominion
== Warlord Strategos [165]: Legio I 'Primigenia', Skofnung, Eternal Discipline
* Praetorian Guard 5 [260]: Standard Bearer
* Athanatoi 3 [170]:
* Athanatoi 3 [170]:
== Hierodeacon [90]:
* Buccephaloi 3 [220]:
* Buccephaloi 3 [220]:
* Cultists 3 [90]:
* Legionnaires 3 [115]: Standard Bearer, Optio
== Archimandrite [110]:
* Moroi 3 [180]:
* Cultists 3 [90]:
* Legionnaires 3 [115]: Standard Bearer, Optio
The game started. I got all my Lights except for the third Slinger, Nino got all of his. I went straight on the offensive, despite the Moroi, because I wanted to put pressure on them as early as possible. Nino placed his Cultists with Loose Formation on the right side towards the large zone, while the Moroi and other Cultists were placed centrally. So, he decided to play aggressively.
In round two, both sides had an additional selection. Nino got double Athanatoi and Praetorians, and I got double Veterans and Braves. I went first. My Slingers managed to do no more than two damage to the Moroi. In return, one Hunting Pack was almost completely wiped out, while the other cleared the Moroi. Nino's Archie failed to deal damage to the full Hunting Pack, so his Cultists decided to take the heavily damaged pack off the table for points. The other Cultists advanced boldly, allowing the Hiero to cast spells, but my Slingers were faster. They shot down almost the entire regiment and then withdrew. This left Nino without a target. The rest of the round was just a straightforward advance. My two Veterans regiments moved up to the side of the large zone, while Nino placed his Praetorians directly opposite. Two Athanatoi regiments appeared in the center and moved towards my small zone, where Braves were already waiting.
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In round three, I got to go first. My Hunting Pack wiped out the Cultists of the Archimandrite. The others tried to retreat, but with Conquest, my Slingers were able to catch up with them. The score was 10 to 2. I would probably lose the Hunting Pack in the center to the Athanatoi, but Nino simply couldn’t get enough stands into the zone to surpass two Braves with characters. We quickly handled the rest of the round. The small dinos died, but in the center, the cows and my two Apexe appeared on the field to continue the dance later. Since things weren’t going well for Nino, he decided to double-move with the Athanatoi to force a reinforcement roll in the next round and maybe take out one of my Slinger units. Since he had the bonus, the idea was good, but I started again as in the following rounds. My Slingers wiped out the first Athanatoi unit, and the Apex almost ate the second regiment alone. The cows attacked my Apex but failed to kill it in the clash. In return, the second Apex went straight into their ranks and killed two cows. At this point, we both knew the game was essentially over, as I still had three Slinger regiments, which would simply cause a mountain of hits everywhere. Nonetheless, we kept playing, and as expected, the flank broke under the pressure.
Damage rained down from all directions. The Praetorians held out the longest, and both Veteran regiments fell to them. This cost them two or three stands as well, but when my Chiefthain was forced into a duel, both generals ended up killing each other. With that, the RR6 buff of the Praetorians was gone, and with Braves on one side and an Apex on their flank, they were finally cleared off the field.
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