Pre-tournament stuff:

I traveled to Nottingham with Phil, Phil, and George, who were three-quarters of Defenders of Lethis (the 4th being Declan), a team that played at and won Honest Wargamer Rob’s team tournament happening on the same dates. Congratulations and thank you for the lift and great company, folks. We had a good time listening to Rob’s stream on the way, hanging out at Rob’s place on Friday evening (where I played a test mirror game vs. Declan), and then grabbing some drinks on Saturday night (where I also learned some tips that I actually managed to put into practice on Sunday). Shout out to all the folks I’ve met!

The tournament happened at Warhammer World in Nottingham on August 19-20, 2023. There’s probably not much I can tell about the venue that hasn’t already been said. I think everything was good regarding the space and setup. Lunch was included on both days, though the beer could have been better. It’s definitely a place to visit for every Warhammer fan. I wish there was time for me to spend in the museum and the shop, but there was none, so maybe next time.

My army

Still 100% committed to Khorne, of course. This time I’ve taken not 2 but 3 Bloodthirsters, with Skarbrand being the new addition. I’ve also decided to try out Valkia as I believe she might be very useful in this situation. Since lists didn’t need to be submitted until the day of the tournament, I put myself under pressure in the week again, painting those and a unit of Furies in the days just before the tournament. Here’s what I had:

- **Army Faction:** Blades of Khorne
  - **Subfaction:** Reapers of Vengeance
  - **Grand Strategy:** Slaughter of Sorcery

**LEADERS**
- Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)
  - Nullstone Adornments: Hand-carved Nullstone Icon
- Skarbrand (380)
- Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (300)*
  - General
  - Command Traits: Firebrand
  - Prayers: Bloodbind, Killer Instinct
  - Artifacts of Power: Halo of Blood
- Bloodmaster (110)*
  - Prayers: Blood Sacrifice, Bronzed Flesh
- Slaughterpriest (110)*
  - Bloodbathed Axe
  - Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Killer Instinct
- Valkia the Bloody (140)**

**BATTLELINE**
- Blood Warriors (190)
- Bloodreavers (80)*
- Flesh Hounds (100)**

**OTHER**
- Bloodcrushers (180)**
- Furies (80)**

**TERRAIN**
- 1 x Skull Altar (0)

**CORE BATTALIONS**
- *Warlord
- **Vanguard**

**TOTAL POINTS:** 2000/2000

Golden Ticket: Age Of Sigmar Event

Day 1

Game 1

Win vs. John’s Big Waagh @ Geomantic Pulse

(Breakka-boss on Troggoth, Megaboss with Destroyer, Weirdnob Shaman, Wardokk, Ardboys, reinforced Savage Orruks, Bruts, Squig Hoppers, Killbow, Boldboys, Gore-gruntas, reinforced Savage Arrowboys)

I got off to a somewhat smooth start since John is just coming back to playing games after a year or two break, and his army build didn’t feel very competitive. I feel like I’ve played this battleplan 10 times already, so I set myself up nicely in the middle for mid-game scoring, while John approached the game a little too carefully, missing early points. Eventually, the Megaboss did manage to kill one of the thirsters with Destroyer, but early pinning of John’s shooting units allowed me to progress upfront and do a lot of scoring and killing before all the Waagh buffs were in place. We concluded the game at 19:7 after 3 rounds.

Game 2

Loss vs. Brent’s Kharadron Overlords @ Nexus Collapse

(Barak Ubaz: Admiral, Khemist, Navigator, 2 * Arkanaut Company, triple Thunderers, Ironclad, Gotrek)

Here’s the matchup I was dreading: a boat full of Thunderer dwarfs, this time supported by Gotrek, and really solid and confident play by Brent. I thought I would try to get Gotrek killed early through bloodbinding and surrounding him, but this was a mistake. A bit of shooting, Blood Warriors, and Bloodcrushers all flopped completely, getting through only 3 damage (which he healed later) despite putting more than 20 through his saves. Then he swung back and killed 3 bloodcrushers in one go (I failed 5 saves on 4+ modified!). In the following turn, the supporting Arkanauts at the back helped him deal with the remaining Blood Warriors. At the same time, I positioned Skarbrand so far away that he didn’t see any fight in the game at all due to assessing the battle’s location poorly. I also missed the chance to get 2 other thirsters into the boat simultaneously. They were shot off the map in consecutive rounds, and the outlook was grim for me. I automatically scored the strategy and prevented Brent’s strategy by shooting a meteor into the boat, but it was all over at that point. I finished 13:19, but the score doesn’t do justice to how comfortable the win was for Brent, who also ended up 6th just above me with a 5-1 record. Well done, Brent, and looking forward to seeing you at the London GT in a few weeks!

I am now 0-2 vs. KO in all my games. Hopefully, I will learn from this and perform better against them next time.

Game 3

Win vs. Darryl’s Sylvaneth @ Spring the Trap

(Gnarlroot: Alarielle, Spirit of Durthu, Battlemage, Warsong Revenant, Tree Revenants, 2 * Driads)

Just a few days earlier, I lost a game to another Sylvaneth player on TTS. So, I went into this one with the intention of applying all the learnings. The main one was to shut off the teleports by sitting near the overgrown terrain. The other was to throw tankier units forward to pin the opponent’s army. Together, this greatly limited Darryl’s mobility and objective play while allowing me to take the points for controlling the circles. Alarielle still posed a danger, but on round 2, Skarbrand deep-struck through battleplan mechanics only 9 inches away and delivered the punishment. I also realized at the end that I forgot to drop Valkia from deep strike as well. Despite an early setback, Darryl played well and still scored tactics and strategy while preventing mine, resulting in a very close score of 19:16. Great game! Darryl went on to win his remaining games and ended up with a 4-2 record, which I think is a great result with his list in the current meta. Well done!

Day 2

Game 4

Win vs. Alex’s Sons of Behemat @ Every Step is Forward

(3 * Gatebreaker, 3 * Mancrusher)

I had never faced Giants before and had no idea how this game (against 3 Mega-Gargants and 3 Kraken-Eaters) would work. I also had a hangover from the previous night, and I was expecting a tough match due to these two factors. Fortunately, I did manage to catch a Mega-Gargant sent out for battle tactics early on and then sent Skarbrand to meet the rest of the family, killing one of the big ones. Skarbrand himself was killed through getting struck last from being thrown around like a toy - great play, Alex. I was still on the defense, and tactics were challenging in this game as Giants are tough to face head-on. So, I focused on completing my grand strategy and preventing theirs, ending up winning 18:14. A lucky escape from under the crushing feet of the big boys.

Game 5

Win vs. David’s Gloomspite Gitz @ Limited Resources

(Badsnatchers: Cave-shaman, Madcap Shaman, SKragrott, Squigboss, Dankhold Troggboss, double Squig Herd, double Rockgut Troggoths, triple Boingrot Bounderz, Gobbapalooza)

I had never won against Gitz before, and I was aware of the firepower in Squigs with buffs, this time supported by a reinforced unit of Troggoths. I decided to play quite carefully here. David made some great early plays to eliminate threats on my side and managed to kill Skarbrand early on through a well-placed Blizzard from a wizard’s Hand of Gork, sending him to the other side of the map, along with some running-away Squigs. Having lots of models in my face allowed me to score some battle tactics early on without committing my main army forward. Valkia was dealing with the Squig boss to disable buffs, earning me some Blood Tithe points as well. I did manage to progress slowly and avoid direct confrontation with Troggoths by pinning and “murderlusting” them with more expendable units. This strategy also allowed me to deny David some battle tactics and secure more objectives for scoring. The game ended 18:10 in my favor, and I was already pleased with my number of wins. I’m sure David will be eager for a rematch if we are paired in the Fall to Darkness event in 2 weeks. See you there, bud!

But there was one more game to go.

Game 6

Win vs. Freddie’s Beasts of Chaos @ Power Flux

(Darkwalkers: 2 * Bray-Shaman, Tzangor Shaman, double Gors, double Centigors, 2 * Ungors, Ungor Raiders, 2 * Cockatrice, 2 * double Slangoor Fiendbloods, Taurus spell)

I knew that if I stayed to play this game, I would miss my ride back home with the folks and have to take the train back. But how could I not, after all this effort? For the last round, I was paired against a Beast of Chaos army led by Freddie, and this was also my first-ever encounter with this faction. We were probably both very tired after 2 long days, and I struggled to follow how all the tricks of BoC worked. Therefore, I might have referred to the rules and asked too many questions during the game. However, I remembered a piece of advice about facing BoC from last night’s chat (thanks, Kieron!). The advice was to screen very well and not spread out too much early on. So, I did castle up as well as I could, giving up the first-turn battle tactic, and I think it worked out. The battleplan (which I usually don’t like when I’m on the offense) this time definitely helped. Sitting across the home and side objectives denied my opponent high scores despite their strong presence on the board elsewhere. I weathered the storm in the first 2 rounds, while a lot of fighting allowed me to score well on later tactics. Some luck was on my side, resulting in Skarbrand being thrown only 2 inches on 2d6, keeping him where I wanted him to be and efficiently dealing with Slaangors. Again, I realized in turn 4 that I had forgotten about Valkia, who was still in deep strike. Despite that, after the initial clash of troops, earning BT points, mobility, and summoning helped me score by killing enemy wizards and denying their strategy. I ended the game 19:12, and the tournament with a 5-0-1 record! It was only on my way back home that I realized Freddie is among the top players in the world. I’m glad I didn’t know that and played without such pressure.

Tournament results

Martin went 6-0 with an Ossiarch Bonereapers list, which was the most popular build. He chose Crematorians, which sound terrifying when combined with recursion on the battleline. I’ve never played against OBr but tried them on TTR for a few rounds, and I believe they are absolutely the strongest army in the current meta. The 2nd place went to a Vyrkos list with a lot of Wolves and Graveguards. It’s nice to see that it’s not all about 180 zombies. The 3rd place was secured by the Lumineth Realmlords. I ended up 7th at the bottom of the 5-1 players, behind Seraphon, Ogors, and Brent’s KO. While there were no official prizes for the best-in-faction, it turned out I was the best in Chaos! Well done to all the folks, and big thanks to the organizers too.

Learnings

I believe that due to the relatively low scoring, I got paired lower on the tables. The tournament used battle tactics after wins rather than points, which is a bit more challenging for Khorne. On 2 games, we only summed up round 3 + grand strat, which affected this. This resulted in me mostly avoiding the lists that ended up at the very top, and the result feels like an overachievement given my still developing skills in playing the game.

I am delighted with how my tempo improved, and we managed to play 5 rounds for 4 out of 6 games. Reminders from the organizers helped with this a lot, and opponents were all great when they needed to remind me politely about it.

Also, I do need to remember to deploy Valkia, as I handicapped myself with -140 pts in two games (luckily, both games I won through other means).

Playing two games in the days prior to the tournament against absolute top players, Phil (Tzeentch) and Declan (Khorne mirror), allowed me to learn a lot and build some confidence. Hanging out with folks for beers and listening to bits of knowledge proved very useful during the tournament too. So, big thanks to all of them!

Regarding my list, I must say I am pretty happy with it. Furies provided the mobility I needed, Skarbrand killed a ton, and when he was not killing, opponents were focusing on killing him. Valkia gives me amazing flexibility and reach (if I don’t leave her in deep strike beyond round 3), while being reasonably survivable on a small base. Wrath of Khorne is the least popular of the thirsters, but thanks to him I have 2 striking-first thirsters. His shooting is really effective at clearing screens and threatening bigger targets too. Thanks to his command point, I’ve never been short. The thing I missed the most was Argath, who turns off wards (especially in that Gotrek encounter). I also missed Invocations a bit, but there was absolutely nothing to cut from the list without changing how it plays.

A cherry on top was the fact that Monday after tournament was my 3rd monthiversary since playing my first ever game. I would definitely take this result 3 months ago! I’ve also already submitted my list for the next tournament (Fall to Darkness) - if it works, why change it?