Report by Redyak
Last Saturday we held a miniatures tournament at The Source Comics and Games in Minneapolis. Turnout was decent, ten people arrived. We did a lot of trading and managed to get in three one on one swiss rounds per player as well as one final round with a four player free-for-all. Overall it was a really great time, all of the people I met there were friendly and pretty cool people all-around.
The format was a 100-point Triad tourney. We did not receive sanctioning materials from WOTC in time for the tourney so we were free to have a little leeway in the matches. Because of this there were only three swiss rounds. We started a little on the late side and the general feeling was that it would be more fun to get a few more non-tourney games in so that people would be able to do what they wanted. Some of us traded, some of us played another game with new warbands, some of us played in the final round.
Ill try to list all the players and warbands. Im sure Im going to mess up a few warband setups, I didnt get a look at everyones warband. Same thing goes for tactics; I can only list my own tactics and what happened in the games I played. If anyone else who played in the tourney wants to correct their warband setup or post their own battle reports or impression on the tourney, Id encourage them to do that. Also I dont believe some of the players have maxminis accounts, but if they do and I missed them I can update that as well. Any warband or mini marked with a star I am unsure about, it might not have been included correctly.
Players and Warbands
John Maxminis name = Gaddzooks Swiss 2-1, 1st place in final round
Warband: CE
- Tiefling Captain 21
- Orc Champion x2 78 (39 each)
Mike Maxminis name = Redyak Swiss 3-0, 2nd place in final round
Warband: CG
- Cleric of Kord 32
- Axe Sister 21
- Unicorn 21
- Ragnara 7
- Devis 6
- Elf Spearguard x2 12 (6 each)
Brad Maxminis name = Finley Swiss 2-1, 3rd place in final round
Warband: LG
- Cleric of Yondalla 14
- Halfling Veteran x2 22 (11 each)
- Halfling Wizard x2 38 (19 each)
- Halfling Ranger 23
- Man-at-arms 3
BreeAnn no Maxminis account Swiss 2-1, 4th place in final round
Warband: CE
- Drow Sergeant - 16
- Ogre Ravager - 38
- Drow Archer - 14
- Drow Warrior x2 12 (6 each)
- Orc Spearfighter x2 10 (5 each)
- Orc Warrior x3 9 (3 each)
Kyle Maxminis name = Skidds Swiss 2-1
Warband: LG
- Sword of Heironeous 29
- Gold Dwarf Fighter 29
- Soldier of Cormyr 11
- Halfling Veteran 11
- Gnome Fighter 6
- Stonechild 12
Jason Maxminis name = Ellowyn Swiss 1-2
Warband: CE
- Drow Cleric of Lolth 42
- Tiefling Captain 21
- Githyanki Fighter 35
Jesse no Maxminis account Swiss 1-2
Warband CE*
- Vampire Aristocrat 57
- Dretch 14
- Cursed Spirit 11
- Yuan-ti Pureblood 11
- Remaining 7 points* = ?
Scott no Maxminis account Swiss 1-2
Warband LG*
- Sword of Heironeous 29
- Stonechild x 2 24 (12 each)
- Dalelands Militia 7
- Half-orc Monk 17
- Dwarf Axefighter* - 12
- Halfling Veteran* - 11
Jeremy no Maxminis account Swiss 1-2
Warband CE*
- Cleric of Gruumsh 21
- Half-orc Assassin x2 30 (15 each)
- Half-orc Barbarian x2* - 24 (12 each)
- Orc Berserker* 8
- Orc Spearfighter x2* 10 (5 each)
- Orc Warrior x2* 6 (3 each)
Note: I am very sketchy on this warband, sorry if its wrong Jeremy!)
Kirk Maxminis name = Kirk Swiss 0-3
Warband CG
- Cleric of Kord 32
- Halfling Ranger - 23
- Centaur 20
- Catfolk x2 10 (5 each)
- Greycloak Ranger 15
Overall Warbands by Alignment
Mikes warband strategy:
Basically I wanted to try out a melee-focused CG band. Their damage output was quite nice, chance to hit was great after the Cleric of Kords command effect, even against LG. As an added bonus, the Unicorn, Cleric of Kord and Devis all have small healing abilities. Devis is also available to countersong, but I dont believe I was able to put that into use at all in any of my matches. Pretty much weak in the AC department and too liable to run for my tastes though (I failed every morale save I made throughout the tourney. Made a few key rallies though.).
Elf spearguards are point men, hopefully take a hit or two before they take off running, plus their reach gives them a chance to attack before they get hit most of the time. Devis stays back to cure and countersong; Ragnara waits for a key moment to charge and smite (15 damage nice) then acts as a blocker, while the Unicorn, Axe Sister and Cleric of Kord run in to deal out the big damage while hopefully not taking too many hits, thanks to sacrificing the elves, Ragnara, and possibly Devis by the end. Tiles just set up to avoid ranged combat, as this warbands weak AC can take a beating from a ranged band and will likely rout before reaching melee due to poor levels.
Mikes matches:
1st match vs. Brad (Mike wins)
I set up my tiles to make a clear covered path to Bard to avoid ranged fire. Bard set his to try to maximize the mushroom tiles help, and it worked we ended up fighting on the mushroom tile. Brads wizards picked off my elf spearguards, forcing them to rout, but they later rallied due to a rules mistake. I had understood the rules to mean that healing a routing unit above half hit points rallies it this is not the case. Brad also peppered the Unicorn with magic missiles and ranged fire until it too routed. Ragnara, the Cleric of Kord and the Axe Sister dispatched one of Bards veterans while one of my elves occupied the other. My second elf ran up to Bards ranger to stop it from firing at my damage-dealing units. The next round, Ragnara was routed and the elf next to the ranger was killed, but it didnt matter. My Cleric of Kord took an AoO from Bards Halfling Vet to run up and kill Bards Cleric of Yondalla. My Axe Sister did the same thing to kill one of Bards wizards.
The last few rounds of this game were very close. Bards undamaged Halfling Ranger came up against my heavily damaged Cleric of Kord and Axe Sister. He managed to route both of my figs before they could reach him due to lucky rolling (it was karma, his ranger had rolled so many 1s, 2s, and 3s before that) and a well-timed crit. Unfortunately for Bard, my Cleric of Kord rallied and managed to rally the axe sister just as both made it about half way across the map. They came back at Bards ranger and took it out solidly in melee. It was a very close game.
2nd match vs. BreeAnn (Mike wins)
This was a quickstrike scenario. Early on I used my Unicorn to rout BreeAnns Drow Sergeant, placing her units out of command. The commander did rally, but took another hit from the axe sisters whirlwind later on, killing him.
My spearguards took out BreeAnns two Drow Warriors, but they got swarmed over, sacrificed to prevent access to my higher damage troops. My axe sister ran up to whirlwind BreeAnns commander, Ogre Ravager, and two orcs, taking 10 damage in the process. But it was still well worth the effort, putting a dent in BreeAnns warband. The axe sisters success was short lived though; the ravager hit her twice next round, one hit being a crit (90 damage = ouch). Although my axe sister was dead, my cleric, unicorn and Ragnara were able to dispatch BreeAnns last few troops besides the Ogre Ravager, handing me the quickstrike victory.
3rd match vs. John (Mike wins)
This match was a Cave of Pain scenario. I felt kind of bad about this victory, won mostly through luck in my opinion. As our warbands advanced, I had my Unicorn charge and Ragnara charge and smite one of Johns Orc Champions dealing 40 damage, just what I needed to make him roll a morale save. Although his save was at +11, Johns first Orc Champion ran and failed his rally check, routing off the board. Johns second Orc Champion slaughtered Ragnara, but the round after that he was attacked by my Axe Sister and Cleric of Kord this champion also failed his morale save, routing off the board in one round. John, left only with his Tiefling Captain, conceded the match.
Final: Four person Free-for-all Standard Scenario(John 1st, Mike 2nd, Brad 3rd, BreeAnn 4th)
At the beginning of this match, Johns Orc Champions cut a swath through half of BreeAnns orcs and her Ogre Ravager while my units dispatched the rest of BreeAnns forces, handing her an early elimination. Sorry about that BreeAnn!
Instead of focusing on John as I probably should have, I positioned my forces to have a go at Finley. I killed a few of his little guys, but Johns Champion cleaved both Finleys Halfling wizards in one round. He also took out Finleys Ranger. Finley did manage to take down one of Johns Orc Champions before he was eliminated. At this point, I could not possibly catch John in score even though my relatively fresh warband would definitely take out his Tiefling Captain and wounded remaining Orc Champion. So I conceded the match to John. It was well-played.