Hello and welcome to my Battle Report for Game 1 of the UK Masters (I know, I don’t know how I made it either).
So the tournament is the standard 4500 points format and all 6 deployments and all 6 secondary objectives will be used for each round. Interestingly round 4 will be an army swap round where you swap armies with your opponent, I’m dreading that one, fingers crossed for some ID filth that round!
So for this event there was only one army I was going to take, the Beast Herds! I was tempted to take my Warriors as I think they’re a better army but I’ve only made it to the Masters because of my Beast Herds so I owe them this one. The Minotaur Warlord would never forgive me if I didn’t take him.

So here’s my List:
705 - Minotaur Warlord, General, Light Armour (Destiny's Call), Paired Weapons (Blessed
Inscriptions), Obsidian Rock, Crown of Horns
570 - Soothsayer, Wizard Master, Shamanism, Light Armour (Trickster's Cunning), Hand
Weapon (Ancestral Carvings), Seed of the Dark Forest
475 - Minotaur Chieftain, Greater Totem Bearer, Battle Standard Bearer, Light Armour
(Aaghor's Affliction), Great Weapon
325 - 3 Raiding Chariots
303 - 29 Wildhorn Herd, Shield, Standard Bearer (Legion Standard), Musician, Champion
(Totem Bearer (Gnarled Hide))
273 - 18 Wildhorn Herd, Paired Weapons and Throwing Weapons , Ambush, Musician
642 - 6 Minotaurs, Shield, Standard Bearer (Banner of Speed), Musician, Champion (Totem
Bearer (Black Wing))
240 - Razortusk Chariot
170 - 10 Longhorn Herd, Ambush, Halberd, Musician
160 - 10 Longhorn Herd, Ambush, Halberd
150 - 5 Gargoyles, Scout
140 - 5 Gargoyles
115 - Raiding Chariots
115 - Raiding Chariots
115 - Raiding Chariots
4498

Fairly standard to what I’ve been using most of the year except the Minotaur Warlord bought himself some new armour for the occasion and is strutting around in his shiny new Destiny’s Call which means I’ve saved points and can take the Obsidian Rock too for that extra magic protection. The Minotaur Chieftain is now rocking the Aaghor’s Affliction, because who doesn’t love being Res 6 with a 4++ Fortitude save?

The Soothsayer with the Trickster’s Cunning and on Shamanism should make him pretty hard to kill, especially in combat. He’s also carrying around the Ancestral Carvings so he can dish out some damage too. He will mostly be sitting in the unit of 29 Wildhorn with Shields, Legion Standard and the Gnarled Hide Totem. They can be a pretty hard unit to shift and with so much static combat res they can hold their own against most things. I’d like more Wildhorn in the unit but I ran out of points.
I’ve got 3 ambushing units, 2 Longhorn with Halberds and 18 Wildhorn with Paired Weapons and Throwing Weapons. I do think the Paired Weapons on the Wildhorn are a little expensive but if you can get them in the right match up (ambush helps with this) they can really surprise people.

There is a lot of Chariots because they are just so good for their points, 115 points each and they have huge spike potential and zoning threat. I think they’re incredibly gamey and I don’t like taking them but if you can’t bring bent filth to the Masters when can you? I also have a unit of 3 Raiding Chariots because 3 are even better than 1 and a Razor Tusk Chariot to give me even more threat range.

Then its 6 Minotaurs with Shields to baby sit the characters when they need to, and they also hit like a ton of bricks. Thanks to the change to command group they got even cheaper for me, yippee!

Lastly it’s Gargoyles chaff because there ain’t no chaff like flying chaff. Only one with Scout though because I always have one unit hiding behind the Minotaurs to protect them from counter charges and failed charges so there’s little point taking scout on them.

So, enough talk about my list, round 1 was Marching Columns and Hold The Ground, not a bad objective for me but there are better ones. My opponent was randomly drawn and I was drawn against a colossal of the UK Ninth Age scene, Adam “Tanka” Jones, @Tanka. I’ve played Tanka a couple of times before and he’s 20’d me both times but I like to think I learnt from them (I learnt nothing!), so I was ready. This tournie though Tanka decided to randomly determine what army he was going to be bringing by rolling a D16 and going through the armies alphabetically, he rolled an 8 and it was KoE. An army I know very well and have little success with but an army that Tanka hasn’t used in the best part of a decade. After I’m sure much scouring of the KoE book Tanka settled on this list:
560 - Duke, General, Barded Warhorse, Shield, Bastard Sword (Blessed Inscriptions),
Crusader's Salvation, Dragon Staff, Renown, Questing Oath and Bastard Sword
540 - Duke, Barded Warhorse, Shield (Fortress of Faith), Lance (Supernatural Dexterity),
Bastard Sword, Basalt Infusion, Might, Questing Oath and Bastard Sword
385 - Damsel, Barded Warhorse, Wizard Master, Druidism
305 - Paladin, Barded Warhorse, Shield, Battle Standard Bearer (Aether Icon, Aether Icon),
Lance (… [Read More]

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Orcs and Goblins
vs
Vermin Swarm

[Read More]

Welcome back to Part 2 of my 2020 review and I shall crack straight on with the next event I attended, House War. This event was very different to previous ones in that everyone was split into 4 groups of 12, the top 2 from each group would progress into the next round which was then a knockout event. I decided to mix my list up a bit and took the following:

710 - Minotaur Warlord, General, Light Armour (Aaghor's Affliction), Paired Weapons (Blessed Inscriptions), Crown of Horns
575 - Soothsayer, Wizard Master, Druidism, Light Armour ( Essence of Mithril), Paired Weapons, Dark Rain, Talisman of the Void
485 - Minotaur Chieftain, Greater Totem Bearer, Battle Standard Bearer, Heavy Armour (Death Cheater), Great Weapon
342 - 24 Wildhorn Herd, Shield, Standard Bearer (Banner of the Wild Herd), Musician, Champion
320 - 3 Raiding Chariots
104 - 8 Feral Hounds
104 - 8 Feral Hounds
95 - 10 Mongrel Raiders
660 - 6 Minotaurs, Shield, Standard Bearer (Banner of Speed), Musician, Champion (Totem Bearer (Black Wing))
405 - 6 Razortusk Herd
230 - Razortusk Chariot
160 - 10 Longhorn Herd, Ambush, Halberd
160 - 10 Longhorn Herd, Ambush, Halberd
150 - 5 Gargoyles, Scout
4500

Now, I really hate Druidism as Lore, I find it too static and defensive and it just makes for a dull Magic Phase for everyone involved. I took it because I really wanted to take the big unit of Razortusk Herd and I loved the thought of making them Resistance 8!

Game 1 I was drawn against Warriors, so I was off to a bad start. The advantage I had was that my opponent had nothing that could tackle the Minotaur Warlord except for Silver Spike. So I ran the Warlord off solo turn 1, I then reformed my Minotaur unit so that they could contest the centre which was the objective. I did it badly though and didn’t realise I had left my opponent a charge on my Minos with his unit of 3 Barbarian Chiefs on Chariots. He only needed a 9 on the dice and was rerolling from a hill. The Chariots went crashing in and broke them, running them down, because I also forgot that a unit of chariot characters counts as a rank. My Mino Lord was then promptly hit with a 5 diced Silver Spike which did 3 wounds and it was down hill after that. 1 – 19

Game 2 and I was against ID, another bad match up but this time it went extremely well. My opponents dice were horrible and my army just went to town. The Minotaur unit killed an Infernal Engine, a Giant and 22 Disciples. The real stars of the show were my unit of Wildhorn which were charged by a Giant who fluffed his attacks, lost combat and broke. In my previous turn my ambushers had come on behind the gun line, my opponent had turned his Citadel Guard around to face them and shoot it off. This meant that after my Wildhorn and beat the Giant they were now facing the back of the Citadel Guard and they smashed through the enemy lines. Big 19 -1 to me.

Game 3 was against the loathsome VS with the obligatory 3 x 14 of Plague Disciples, Plague Pendulum and 20 Plague Brotherhood, Vermin Daemon and Plague Catapults. I started off very aggressively, too aggressively it seemed as I had left a flank charge on my Minos with a unit of Disciples. Luckily they failed it but I had to flee with my Razortusk Herd and they never rallied again. The Pendulum went into my Minotaur unit and I wasn’t that bothered, I’ve done this fight many a time and the Minotaurs always do the job. Alas, it wasn’t to be this time and I lost combat by 3, I failed my Discipline 6 rerollable break check and got run down. It was all over after that, 0 -20. I played this one really badly and was needlessly aggressive.

Game 4 and I was bottom of the pile with no way of progressing so it was a formality of a game. I was drawn against Ogre Khans, a list that contained a nasty block of 6 Merc Vets, 3 Kin Eaters, Frost Mammoth, Pyro Master, Big block of Bruisers, Bombardiers and some trappers for chaff. I made a long bomb charge with the Minos into the Merc Vets and I thought I was going to smash them off easily, however what I forgot was the aura of the Frost Mammoth, I thought it was 6”, turns out it is 9” and I was within that aura. SO he was striking first and the Merc Vets destroyed the Minotaurs, broke the Lord and BSB and ran them down. Meanwhile the Wildhorn were busy fighting one Kin Eater for about 6 rounds of combat before they broke and got run down, so disappointing. The Razortusk Herd panicked off when they were charged by the Frost Mammoth and it was all over after that. I somehow managed to scrape 3 points from this game at least so 3 -17.

Awful tournament for me, played really badly, I was unprepared and took a list I didn’t particularly like and just reaffirmed my opinion of Druidism. I did like the format of the event, it certainly puts a lot more pressure on those early games. Anyway, onto the next Tournament.



Autumn Assault

So for this tournament it was bespoke maps made by the tournie organiser and they were really good with lots of terrain on the… [Read More]

T9A in Bayern: How does chaffing work? Oder wie lenke ich den Gegner um?
To chaff or not to chaff? Aber vor allem wie funktioniert das mit dem Umlenken überhaupt? Alle diese Fragen werden in diesem Video beantwortet.
youtu.be/1D92FlZfcrI


T9A in Bayern: Fading Flames Elimination Rounds (Spiel 1 von LastKnight)
Was sind die ausgehenden Flamen nochmal? Was hat es mit der Eliminierungsrunde auf sich? Wie wird LastKnight in seinem ersten Spiel in dieser Abschneiden?
All dies erfahrt ihr in unsere, ersten Bericht von den Fading Flames. Mehr Berichte von Carsten und anderen Spielern werden folgen.
youtu.be/Bk32pAEtVvA [Read More]

and



We discuss the new points update, Casimir's new Dwarves Holds list and give a sneak peak of the Hobgoblin Supplement! [Read More]

With the 2020-21 Master’s upon us, Tony and I take you through the first round match ups giving our ‘insightful’ thoughts as to how these first games will go.We also take a punt at our favourites for the event.Take it all in (with a pinch of salt) and let’s get on with it!


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Credits Due:


Music from the Freemusicarchive.org:

Into - Jan Morgenstern - Circling Dragons
Outro - BoxCat Games - Battle 'Special'
Sponsor music – Ice Man – SI-PML


Sound effects from FreeSFX.co.uk [Read More]

HOT OFF THE PRESS - UK MASTERS LISTS EXCLUSIVE WITH DAN THOMAS!!!!!!! - READ (LISTEN) ALL ABOUT IT!!!!

The UK Masters Lists will be released at 0700hrs GMT 15th Jan but you can get them here, early and undiluted, in the Scoop of the century!!! The magnificent mind of Dan Thomas is turned full force onto the 16 hopefuls as the Hype Train throws another shovel of coal onto the white hot fire...

Enjoy!

(as if you wouldn't.....)

[Read More]

The Lads are joined by some of their Hobby Heroes in a smorgasbord of the good and the great. From the young gun Trent to the sublime mastery of Jake C, the smash and grab specialist Alistair P and The Spiciest Man Alive - Marcus, the boys get the low down on the forthcoming Masters with a little peak into the minds of the Big Beasts in the UK meta.
I don't mind telling you, it made me nervous to be in the presence of so much Ninth Age Royalty but each and every one of them was a pure gent. I now don't know who to support - apart From Kev - obviously!

Enjoy!

[Read More]

Well, well, well. It’s been far too long since I’ve written in my blog and I apologise for that but I’ve been no slouch in the world of the Ninth Age. Our Podcast (The Paired Weapons Podcast) is going strong and we are close to our 40^th episode already, so get listening to that if love hearing people slag off VS (that only happens in about 50% of our episodes).



I have also been busy playing lots of games in various Universal Battle tournaments and I always started them with the intention of writing them up but it just doesn’t feel the same on UB for me as it does on the tabletop. The best part of tabletop bat reps for me is pictures of the models having a good scrap and you just miss that with UB, so I’ve lost a lot of enthusiasm for doing them. Even though I’ve not been writing up my battles it doesn’t mean that they haven’t been happening! So I’ve attended a few tournaments so far this year:

• Art of War 3 where I took KoE (I did write this one up!), LWLWW - 45/60
  
• Scottish Championships, I took my Warriors out for a ride and came DWLWW 12/30.
  
• -----------------------Corona Virus Hits-----------------------------------
  
• Social Distancing (4 man Team Event), I took a brand new army, the mighty Beast Herds, as they are my next army project. I got WLWLDW 21/136, Team finished LLLLWW 31/34
  
• Lockdown Brawl, BH LWDWL 17/44
  
• House of War, BH (I mixed my list up a bit too much, I took Druidism and it was a mistake) LWLL 37/48
  
• Autumn Assault, BH, WWWLW, finished 2/44!
  
• Winter War, BH, LWDWL, 23/34
  

So, quite a mixed bag of results their and one event that just went amazingly well and gave me my highest ever finish, I’ve never made it to the podium before, I think 5^th had been my previous highest ever result. I’ll do some quick highlights from what I remember for each event.


Scottish Championships

I took a warrior list with a Evo master sorcerer on a Battle Shrine, Chosen Lord on a horse with the Burning Portent. Unit of Warriors, unit of Barbs, Chosen Cav and Warrior Knights.

Tough first match up against Ogres with a gut star and a big block of Merc Vets. Was super cagey and I was going down until I managed to break a unit of scraplings in turn 5 who had the objective (Spoils) and I was able to transfer that to my unit and win the objective. 10 - 10

Second match up against Saurians where in turn 1 I took off a Saurian Warlord on an Alpha Carno and that panicked off a unit of Raptor Riders. Thought I was in for a big win but the second Alpha Carno proved too much and managed to pull it back a bit but I still won. 12 - 8

Third was against Daemons and the dice betrayed me. Charged into a Maw with my Burning Portent Lord, killed it over three rounds. Meanwhile I was bombarding the Scourge with Hellfires and Grave Calls and when I did get it off I was rolling 2 or 3 for the number of hits. The Scourge then went crazy and killed most of my army. 2 - 18

Game 4 was against Empire, got a big win thanks to some expert sniping from my Sorcerer and Wrath Knights absolutely beating the crap out of Flagellants in a single round of combat. 16 - 4

Game 5 against Dwarves and the Wrath of God from Hell came down and wiped out the artillery and took out big chunks of units. Killy King was still a problem for a long time until I was able to snipe him out by Turn 5 but was too late by that point to push for a big win. 14 - 6

Good tournie for me really and some solid results. I really like the Sorcerer on the Battle Shrine, big fan (My WIP of my Battle Shrine, heavly inspired by Mad Max and Dethklok)







Social Distancing

So as this was the first UB tournament I took part in I decided it was the perfect time to try out the Beast Herds. I had been acquiring models for my Beast Herds for a long time and had a few practice battles on the tabletop with a small force of Beast Herds before. I already had a list in mind based on the models I had so this is what I ran with:

710 - Minotaur Warlord, General, Light Armour (Aaghor's Affliction), Paired Weapons (Blessed Inscriptions), Crown of Horns

530 - Soothsayer, Wizard Master, Shamanism, Dark Rain, Seed of the Dark Forest

485 - Minotaur Chieftain, Greater Totem Bearer, Battle Standard Bearer, Heavy Armour (Death Cheater), Great Weapon

320 - 3 Raiding Chariots

190 - 15 Wildhorn Herd, Shield, Ambush, Champion

190 - 15 Wildhorn Herd, Shield, Ambush, Champion

115 - 10 Mongrel Raiders, Ambush and Scout

95 - 10 Mongrel Raiders

660 - 6 Minotaurs, Shield, Standard Bearer (Banner of Speed), Musician, Champion (Totem Bearer (Black Wing))

260 - 3 Minotaurs, Shield

260 - 3 Minotaurs, Shield

230 - Razortusk Chariot

140 - 5 Gargoyles

105 - Razortusk Herd

105 - Razortusk Herd

105 - Razortusk Herd

4500



What can I say, I own a lot of Minotaurs! I was basically going for a lot of chaff and one big old unit of Minotaurs to go out and do the damage. Shamanism Master because it’s the best lore, extremely versatile and synergises well with a lot of chaff and ambushers I find.

There was some… [Read More]