I went to the WTC in 2022 and 2023. Both times were so much fun that I’m returning this year (for a walk through of my experiences for 2022 see here; and for the 2023 experience see here). All list for this year’s WTC are available online. I’ll do this in two parts. First part will cover day one of the tournament and the second instalment will arrive later, covering the second day.  

My ambitions is, as always to win at least one and not end up last. I’m not going to do a long a complicated write-up of the lists; I’ll just go briefly through them and focus on describing the battles. Finally, I’ll see if there are any lessons learned.

This year’s Winter Korps lists are Kommander Tatiana Sikora in a heavy armour Man-O-War list and Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova is a (Khador) nimble list. Winter Korps is a big thing at this year’s WTC. According to Longshanks, there are 17 players using the Motherland. The third most popular army. Without any further ado, here are my two lists:

Khador – Winter Korps Kommander Tatiana Sikora    – Iron Flesh    – Puissance    – Dire Wolf [9]      HEAD – Shield Guard      RIGHT ARM – Ice Hammer      LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield    – Dire Wolf [9]      HEAD – Shield Guard      RIGHT ARM – Ice Hammer      LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield    – Dire Wolf [10]      HEAD – Shield Guard      RIGHT ARM – Long Axe      LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield Koldun Lord Damien Korovnik [3] Sergeant Sergei Krol [5] Winter Korps Officer [2] Winter Korps Officer [2] Arkanists [4] Arkanists [4] Man-O-War Suppressors [11] Man-O-War Suppressors [11]                              Man-O-War Wrecking Crew [10] Man-O-War Wrecking Crew [10] Winter Korps Snipers [4]    – Winter Korps Hunting Dog [1] Winter Korps Snipers [4]    – Winter Korps Hunting Dog [1] Command cards     – Careful Reconnaissance     – Hit & Run     – Old Faithful     – Power Swell     – Put the Fires Out Total Points   100/100

Khador – Winter Korps Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova    – Avenging Force    – Fog of War    – Freezing Grip    – Mastodon [34]      HEAD – Fire Support      RIGHT SHOULDER – Heavy Cannon      LEFT SHOULDER – Heavy Cannon      RIGHT ARM – Great Axe      LEFT ARM – Grinder Fist AC-2 Bison [10] AC-2 Bison [10] Battle Mechanik [2] Battle Mechanik [2] Magziev Zariyah Volkova [4] Winter Korps Officer [2] Winter Korps Officer [2] Winter Korps Officer [2] Arkanists [4] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Command cards     – Blessing of the Gods     – Break Through     – High Alert     – Old Faithful     – Power Swell Total Points   100/100

What can I say? I like Man-O-Wars. Big stumpy infantry, which according to the ad material from the Khadorian department of materials are neigh unstoppable. So, the arrival of the Annihilator Cadre really made my day as the Suppressors finally got some company in the shape of the Wrecking Crew, a sergeant and a new Man-O-War ‘caster (we all remember the last incarnation of Sorscha).

I have basically taken all the Man-O-Wars that I’m allowed to; save for two Kontrollors (who actually might be pretty cool, but that is for another time). Who better to lead this wall of steel than Tatiana; herself in a Man-O-War armour? As a side note, it seems that female Man-O-War soldiers are smaller than there male counter parts. Once again, she is only on a 40 mm base, whereas everybody else in on a 50 mm base.

The plan is pretty simple. Walk across the field with the Suppressors in front shooting stuff. Follow up with the Wrecking Crew once the lines meet. Finally, have som ‘jacks as a backup plan. Snipers for scoring, contesting and being annoying. That’s it. What could possibly go wrong?

I have been playing Tatiana to some degree. The second list is quite new to me (yes, I’m really well prepared). I got a Mastodon and really wanted to field it. I did manage to paint it. It was done, along with the rest of the army the night before I left for Germany.

I also have two Bisons, and true to my creed of always duplicating I wanted two in the list. Baranova seems like a pretty good choice. Obviously, I’m not going to use the whole “get focus when stuff gets killed by magic” (which I actually think is a trap). However, her main spell Invocation of Wrath is golden for a shooty list of things that are not terrible good at hitting.

To fill up the list, I took all the Pikemen I’m allowed. I actually think that they are the unpolished gem of the Khador military. But more on that in another post, perhaps. Finally, a bit of support to keep everything running smoothly. 

Again, I’m sticking to simple plans. The Mastodon in the middle with its entourage (Mechaniks, Volkova, Arkanists and Baranova. A Bison on each flank with two units of Pikemen coming up behind it. Shoot a lot and finish off with the Pikemen. How hard can it be? 

First of is Skorne under Zaal and all the little stone men you can think of (and two rather large ones). This is in some way quite fitting, thinking of all the stone statues the Italians have produced in the last couple of thousand years. They are really hard to kill, in particular under Zaal’s feat. Yet, I don’t think it is an impossible task. 

We are playing Payload with two 50 mm objectives (cohort), two 40 mm objectives (units), one 30 mm (solos) and two flags (models). So, objective galore. Despite the fact that the two 50 mm objectives are far appart, and it would be good with more than one ‘jack, I don’t think that the Suppressors are going to do anything against small based and high armoured models. So, Baranova gets the honour of opening the ball. The very nice Italian player is fielding the following army:

Skorne – Exalted Zaal, The Ancestral Advocate    – Agonizer [4]    – Basilisk Krea [6]    – Basilisk Krea [6] Supreme Guardian 1 [16] Supreme Guardian 1 [16] Abidan the Keeper [4] Ancestral Guardian [4] Ancestral Guardian [4] Extoller Novitiate [2] Extoller Novitiate [2] Hakaar the Destroyer [5] Immortals [6] Immortals [6] Immortals [6] Immortals [6] Command cards     – Arcane Forces [1]     – Careful Reconnaissance     – Grave Robbing     – Hit & Run     – Put the Fires Out Total points 100/100

My plan is to shoot a lot, in particular at the large stuff. These Supreme Guardians are dangerous. Also, I hope to survive long enough to chop away at the little stone men with the Pikemen. They should be able to kill a few, in particular if they get to charge. 

Both parties roll off. The Italian wins and decides to go first. The picture below depicts the situation after deployment. 

The little stone man (a two big ones) spend the first turn just advancing. More or less just straight ahead, spreading out a bit. Zaal also drops some spells on different models. Not a lot of stuff happened. The picture below shows the state of the battle field after Zaal’s advancement.

It is time for Baranova to react. Her forces advance, and lo and behold, Zaal is actual within range of some of the Mastodon’s guns (when it has Superiority on it). So, Baranova might as well begin by casting Superiority. She also casts Invocation of Wrath (IoW) and Avenging Force. Everybody advances and the Mastodon puts a few shots into Zaal, removing half his boxes. The opponent’s expression was priceless. The picture below depicts the end of round 1.

Round two is typically where the action starts happening (unless you are the lucky owner of a Mastodon). Zaal goes ballistic and feats. He moves in behind an obstacle to avoid the barrage from the Mastodon. All the little stone men runs forward under feat and presents a serious ARM problem. They are now at least ARM 22, which I have often heard is annoying to face. The picture below shows the state of play after the great little stone men rush. 

This is actually a problem. Have an uncountable small stone men at ARM 22 in my face it difficult. It puts a real scenario pressure on Baranova. There really isn’t a lot to do, but try to chew through it, feat and hope for the best. Everybody chips in, advances and tries to kill stuff. Unfortunately, chip is the key word here. ARM 22 is hard, and chipping is mostly what happened. The only exception is on the left flank where a unit of Pikemen runs along the edge of the board to be near the objective. The picture below shows the sorry state after the army’s attempt at ruining sculptures.

Zaal is clearly in the lead. At least a lot of his stuff can’t charge this turn due to Tatiana’s feat, and the really big stone men can hardly move. Nevertheless, small stone men just walking up still hurts. A unit of Pikemen on the right flank is removed along with an Officer. On the left flank, one unit of Pikemen barely survives with only on model left, and yet another Officer dies. In the middle, the Mastodon is swamped and surrounded. Zaal makes a Cygnar advance to stay out of range of the Mastodon. Scenario score is now 4-1 in Zaal’s favour. The state can be seen in the picture below.

Baranova is in trouble. Far too much stuff in her part of the field. The pressure is less on the right flank, so Baranova needs to focus on the left flank to see if something can get around the obstacle and threaten Zaal. She does what she always do and cast IoW. She then moves left and let her troops loose on Zaal. The Bison moves up and shoots everything at Zaal, with some effect. The Mastodon follows suit and offload in to Zaal. It does quite a lot of damage, but Zaal can transfer. Beasts go down. Yet, Zaal finally goes down as well. The picture below shows the result of Baranova’s valiant last stand and how it looks when she looses on scenario, yet pulls a victory out of a Mastodon.

Zaal and all the statues is still a viable opponent, despite it being a Legacy army. Baranova was loosing on scenario 7-1 in round 3. They produce a tremendous scenario pressure. If the combined shooting of a Bison and Mastodon had not been where it was she would surely have lost. It was a fun game and the opponent was lovely. We both had fun. 

The round ended with our team loosing 2-3, where only our Orgoth player managed a victory. Our Storm Legion player lost to Dust, Circle to Grymkin, and Cryx to a second Dusk player. The excellent thing is that I have already achieved one of my goals: win at least one match! It was a good start to the day and the WTC.

Second round is against one of the Canadian teams. This time I get Orgoth. So far, there seems to be connections between my opponents’ nationalities and the lists I face. This time it is Sea Raiders coming from across the Western sea. My impression of Canadians are quite different. They are normally polite and pleasant. Who would have guessed that they are actually the Orgoth? I have traditionally had som trouble with Orgoth. I know I don’t like Harriers, so they need to die fast. Also, I have never faced a Sky Bomber before. So, that’ll be a treat.

We are playing Recon with two flags (two models within 2″), two 30 mm objectives (solos) and two caches (pick up the opponent’s cache). I don’t think this is a list for Baranova, with actually any hard core arguments, except for Suppressors liking to shoot stuff that is not on small bases. This will be a job for Tatiana. The very pleasant Orgorth – I mean Canadian is fielding the following list: 

Orgoth – Sea Raiders Horruskh, The Thousand Wraths    – Redline    – Second Sight    – Jackal [6]      HEAD – Arc Node [2]      RIGHT ARM – Mace [3]      LEFT ARM – Clawed Fist [1] Sky Bomber [15] Grhotten Champion [5] Grhotten Champion [5] Grhotten Keeper [5] Grhotten Keeper [5] Halexus the Warlord [4] Maulgreth, The Charnel Plague [4] Reaver Commander [3] Reaver Commander [3] Gnashers [9] Gnashers [9] Rhok Harriers [10] Ulkor Axers [8] Ulkor Axers [8] Command cards     – Blessing of the Gods     – Careful Reconnaissance     – Put the Fires Out     – Savagery [1]     – True Inspiration Total points 100/100

We both roll of and Horruskh goes first. The picture below shows the clean battle field after deployment. 

Horruskh’s first turn is as event full as most other first turns. Everybody basically just moves forward. Some upkeep spell goes onto the Rokh Harriers, and another one on Horruskh. The picture below shows the state of the battle field after the Orgoth advance.

Tatiana follow up on the Orgoth advancement by just moving the wall of steel forward. Iron Flesh goes on a unit of Suppressors, Puissance goes on a unit of Wrecking Crew and Avenging Force on Tatiana. That’s it. End of the shuffling forward round can be seen in the picture below.

Horruskh is playing it safe. Only the Sky Bomber actually does anything. It moves forward shoots at the middle of Tatiana’s line and moves back again. One of the Dire Wolfs catches fire. Most other troops just shuffle about. Shield guard are brought into better positions. The picture below shows the end of the first turn in round 2.

Tatiana is slightly bored. She need some action. So, she starts by giving Desperate Pace to the Suppressors on the left side and cast Tactical Supremacy on the Wrecking Crew just behind them. The Suppressors move forward and the two teleporting models end up sufficient close to shooting something. One of the Axers are killed and some pressure is put on Horruskh. Everybody else just walks forward and stays out of charge range. The picture below shows the result of Tatiana’s baiting.

It is unclear if Horruskh took the bait; or perhaps more if it was a bait at all. What is clear is that stuff happened. First and foremost, the ambushing unit of Gnashers arrive on the left flank. The Harriers fly way forward and put damage onto the Dire Wolf in front. This is followed up by a unit of Axers and Halexus. Who, in combination kills the poor Dire Wolf.

On the right flank, the Sky Bomber kills all the Snipers – but the dog survives! Axers and Gnashers move forward. Finally, the two Grhotten Keepers line up in front of Horruskh to hide him from the horrors of the battle field. Horruskh feats. The picture below show the result of Orgoth actions.

OK, the Orgoth have arrived at Tatiana’s doorstep. She is clearly going to feat (perhaps she should have done it in the last round?). She casts Positive Charge on the remaining Dire Wolf in the middle, and moves a bit forward to catch as many of the troops as possible in the feat.

On the left flank, the Sniper move into the cloud a tries to shoot the Gnashers, but only does one point of damage per shot. On the right flank, the dog is now alone and moves towards the middle to supply Mark Target to the rest of the army. Now ‘axe to face’ can commence in the middle, and ‘bullet to face’ on the right flank.

An Officer gives Pathfinder to the Suppressors on the right, who can then move forward through the forest and shoot at anything and everything. The unit of Gnashers are partly removed and some damage goes into the Sky Bomber. They are followed-up by the unit of Wrecking Crew, which removes the Gnashers. All in all, not terrible successful. But, Horruskh’s feat is hard to chew through. +3 ARM and super tough is difficult (not that any tough rolls were successful). The Dire Wolf follows suit, just to be ready for next round.

To the left, the Wrecking Crew and the last Dire Wolf cleans out the Harriers. Tactical Supremacy bring one model further into Horruskh’s lines. The picture below shows the battle field whilst waiting for Horrukh’s revenge.

Horruskh is going to strike back. On the right flank the Sky Bomber flies behind the Man-O-Wars and clean out all of the support models, except for one Arkanist. It seems that these flying blips needs to be taken care of earlier. The Gnashers follow up and attempts to chew through the Man-O-Wars. So far, the right flank is actually solid. Nothing much happens on the left flank, save for the expected eating of Snipers by the ambushing unit of Gnashers.  

More stuff happens in the middle, where Horruskh commits his soldiers to attempt a kind of wedge manoeuvre aimed at getting to Tatiana. He himself hides out in the back. I guess they did pick up on Cygnar tactics the last time they were around. Two Wrecking Crew goes down. That is about it. The picture below shows the result of Horrukh’s revenge. Scenario score is actually 6-4 in Tatiana’s favour.

It is a difficult point in the game. Tatiana is up on scenario, but scoring is becoming more difficult. Also, there is a Sky bomber in the back yard contesting an objective. I’m thinking scenario is still an option. Tatiana orders the Arkanists to spray the Gnashers in the scenario terrain on the left, which doesn’t do a lot. The Officer assist, which helps a bit. She will have to clean up her self. She shouts Desperate Pace to Sergie, charges and after some axe to face two of them are down. Still one left unfortunately. 

On the right flank, the Dire Wolf cleans out the Sky Bomber, with a bit of help from some Suppressors. The now allows Sergei to move over to the objective to score. The last remaining Wrecking Crew member picks up the cache. A single Gnasher disappears along the way, somehow. The dog contests the terrain. 

I’m running really short on time (41 seconds), so that’s it. This leaves the scenario score at 8-5 in Tatiana’s favour. The picture below shows the situation.

Horruskh needs to do something or Tatiana is getting a victory on scenario. Unfortunately, he has 15 minuets on the clock. I can’t understand what I have spend so much time on. 

On the right flank, my dog is killed. There really isn’t a lot of dog people around. That is one scenario point secured. A Grhotten Champion charges Sergei and cleans out that scenario. That is another scenario point secured. The last Gnasher charges Tatiana. The rest doesn’t really matter. 41 seconds before doom is depicted below. Scenario is 8-7 in Tatiana’s favour.

OK. So 41 seconds to make sure I win on scenario in the next turn. How hard can it be? Plan is as follows: both ‘jacks run to contest. Tatiana kills the Gnasher and Officer joint to score. That will leave the scenario at 9-7, which unfortunately is the best I can do. 

Hey ho, here we go. ‘jacks run. Tatiana starts hitting, or rather attempts. After a lot of dice rolling, including missing and low damage, she finally makes the killing blow. The Gnasher rolls tough! I think it is the first time in this battle that my opponent actually made a tough roll. Time’s up. Below is a rendition of the end of Tatiana’s stand.

Horrusk is hard. I do, however think it was a pretty good game. With some better piloting, I’m pretty sure a victory was within reach. A bit more aggressive and scenario pressure would be good. I have no idea what I spend so much time on.

Our team managed to go 0-5 against the Canadians. Nevertheless, spirits are high. We are having a blast. 

Last round for today is against the second Italian team. The logic of playing an army that matches your country seems to be recurring. First it was Skorne stone men fittingly reflecting the long and proud tradition of stone statues in Italy; the raiders from across the western seas;  now, is is Infernals reflecting the long religious fascination of such creatures in Italy; and not the least the birth place of Dante Alighieri.

I have always had a pretty hard time with the Infernals. All of this summoning beast in the middle of the game by sacrificing solos is highly disruptive of well formulated battle plans. So, I guess solos must die for my hand, rather than the Infernals.

We are playing Invasion with two 50 mm objectives (Cohort models), two 40 mm objectives (units), and two flags (models). Here also objectives are moved. In a sense, this is probably a scenario for Tatiana. However, I need to kill solos fast, so I’m opting for long ranged fire power. This is a match for Baranova. The second pleasant Italian for today is fielding the following list:

Infernals Zaateroth, The Weaver of Shadows    – Lamenter [7]    – Tormentor [12]    – Tormentor [12]    – Tormentor [12] Great Princess Regna Gravnoy [4] Foreboder [3] Hermit of Henge Hold [4] Lord Roget D’Vyaros [4] Saxon Orrik [4] The Wretch [4] Valin Hauke, the Fallen Knight [5] Cultist Band [4]    – Master Preceptor Orin Midwinter [3] Cultist Band [4] Griever Swarm [6] Howlers [7] Howlers [7] Command cards     – Blessing of the Gods     – Careful Reconnaissance     – Grave Robbing     – Hit & Run     – Power Swell Total points 100/100

My plan is to move up fast. Shoot as many solos as possible as fast as possible and take it from there. Both parties roll off. Zaateroth decides to go first. I pick the side with a hill where Baranova must likely is going to hang out the rest of the game. After deployment, the field looks like the picture below.

First round for Zaateroth is as uneventful as most other first rounds. Everything just goes forward. The most important thing is perhaps Regna Gravoy casting Deceleration, which we don’t like. Zaateroth casts Rites of Torment, which probably is going to be important further on. The picture below shows the end of Zaateroth’s advance. 

Baranova’s first turn is also quite uneventful. On the right flank, a unit of Pikemen run to the objective to be ready to score. I suspect they are camping there for the rest of the battle. Baranova casts Avenging Force and IoW, expecting the Mastodon to be able to shoot something. She then moves up on the hill, where she most likely is going to camp for the rest of this skirmish. 

The Mastodon moves forward into some fire and unleash a shot towards the Desolator. I think I might have measured wrong or something. Nothing happens. Everybody else just moves forward to be ready for next round. The picture below shows the result of Baranova’s movements.

It is apparently Zaateroth’s feat turn. +3 DEF for everybody and models can be placed 3″ if I miss a model. Mostly everything advances. Most importantly, a unit of Howlers make it into contact with a unit of Pikemen of the left flank; and kill one of them. Naughty Howlers. One of the solos gets sacrificed, and yet another Tormentor appears. That is basically it. The result can be seen in the picture below.

Action turn. Baranova needs to make some trouble. She is obviously going to feat and cast IoW. She’ll upkeep Avenging Force and Superiority. But before that, the Mastodon takes the Avenging Force shot and removes some of the Griever Swarm. 

Baranova carries out the very complicated plan and continues camping on the hill. Camping looks like fun, so the Pikemen on the right flank follows suit at the objective. In the middle, the Mastodon advances, after being filled up by the Arkanists and commences the barrage into the enemy’s line. The rest of the Griever Swarm disappears, as does the guy on the horse (Valin Hauke) and two cultist from having a Tormentor slammed over them – Momentum is fun. The Bison and a unit of Pikemen move up, leaving the Arkanists and an Officer to score.

On the left flank, it is a bit more complicated. The Bison moves up and hammers the Howlers. The Officer follows suit. The, until now engaged Pikemen unit is now disengaged and can charge to the middle of the table to kill a Howler from another unit and screen the Mastodon a bit. This opens up a charge lane for the last unit of Pikemen, who proceeds to take out the Howler unit to the left. That’s it. A somewhat successful turn, I think. Scenario score is 3-2 in Baranova’s favour. The result is depicted in the picture below.

Zaateroth is somewhat annoyed with the lack of success of the feat round. Even more annoyed when I re-read Baranova’s feat text out loud. Nevertheless, trickery is the game of Infernals and Zaateroth demonstrates how. On the left flank, a unit of cultist run to the objective to score. Some solo runs towards the Bison and becomes yet another Desolator. A Tormentor and the centre unit of Howlers make it to the Pikemen and kill one of them. They are dangerously close to Baranova.

The Infernals haven’t got anything on the right flank. In the middle, stuff just shuffles around cursing at Baranova’s feat. Scenario score is now 4-5 in Zaateroth’s favour. The picture below shows the situation.

Baranova needs to get something done. She is behind on scenario score and there are Infernals in the front yard, ruining a perfectly fine camping trip. Luckily, her army is more or less intact. She will as always upkeep Superiority but drops Avenging Force. She will also go first and cast IoW, and take a pot shot at a Howler. 

On the right flank, the Pikemen are still enjoying the out in the nature camping experience. The Bison, on the other side, rams into the Desolater and does some damage. The Arkanists fuel up the Mastodon and hangs back to score. The Officer moves forward to look closer at the battle line. Finally, the other unit of Pikemen charges the Tormentor, but does an unimpressive amount of damage. 

In the centre, the Mastodon walks forward and apply axe to face. This is followed by the fist and small cannons. Finally, ending with more axe to face. Unfortunately, it does not succeed in being disengaged. So the main guns remain silent. 

On the left flank, the Bison moves to contest the Objective and shoots at some cultists. Not everybody is cleared out. The only main problem now is the Desolator being a bit too close to Baranova. The two Officers must step up. The first charge is so-so. Yet, the second Officer has her eyes on a promotion and charges with all she got. Weapon Master is sometimes impressive. The Desolator is ARM 19 and 24 boxes. The Officer is only POW 9 – but Weapon Master. She rolls 6,6,5,6 resulting in 8 points of damage going through. Since they have Dual Attack and Pistol, this is followed up with a shot from the Hand Cannon rolling 6,5 on the damage dice for an additional 6 points of damage. That is 58% of the Desolators boxes removed. Medals are on the way. That’s it. Scenario score is at 6-5 in Baranova’s favour. The picture below shows the result of a pretty OK turn for Baranova.

This is clearly a setback for Zaateroth. The Mastodon is in her face, she has lost the right flank and is slowly loosing the left flank. It is time for more trickery. Assassin run upcoming. 

Somehow she managed to get a Tormentor near Baranova. There must have been some solo able to run down there. Luckily, I think it can’t attack when being summoned. The Lamenter almost makes it down to Baranova as well. The Pikemen unit in the middle are killed along with the Bison. Finally, a little Foreboder is put in front of the Mastodon to stop it from walking up to Zateroth.

That is more or less it for this turn. Baranova is partly in control of the scenario. So, score is now 8-5 in her favour. The situation is shown in the picture below.

Turn 2 of round 4 can begin. Baranova is close to being in potential trouble. There are horrors in her face. And there isn’t really anybody near to help her out of this pickle. Also, the Mastodon can’t walk up or charge Zaateroth due to lack of landing space. The Bison is occupied so there is no good way of getting rid of the Foreboder. Am I really about to snap defeat from the jaws of victory (again)?

Whilst thinking out all sorts of creative manoeuvres to get rid of the Foreboder, it hits me. The Mastodon is an arc node… This is an almost unheard of feature in the Khadorian army. In addition, Baranova has Gallows. So if the Mastodon can’t come to Zaateroth, Zaateroth will have to come to the Mastodon. New plan: cast IoW, cast Gallows and boost to hit. Then walk briskly away from the Tormentor, just in case. Gallows hits and I actually roll a 6 on the dice. Zaateroth is now in the face of the Mastodon. I guess there is no point is detailing what happens when a POW 24 axe (times two), a POW 21 fist, and a bit of Grinder shots connects with an Infernal master. However, it turns out that Infernals can transfer like a Hordes faction (I completely forgot). I will just look at this as a bonus. Not only does Zaateroth go down, but a few of the Horrors do as well. 

Baranova takes the game. The royal photographer was so thrilled that he forgot to take pictures. Reprimands will be given. 

Infernals are still dangerous. I think they could have won given they have had some other priorities. Nevertheless, the Empress is victorious and I have managed to over perform. I’m now 2-1. Two of my colleagues are also victorious. So, the team is now 2-1. We had a fun an intense game and our team is doing pretty good. What a lovely way of ending the day.

So far, it has been a marvellous WTC. The germans have managed to organise a fantastic event. I have, as always only met nice people and have had fun games that both players enjoyed. I’m so much looking forward to tomorrow. The second instalment of battle reports describing day two will arrive shortly, I hope. 

Until next time. For the Motherland!

I have been playing Vlad1 and his infamous Winter Guards almost exclusively for a bit over a year. It has been fun. Yet, all good things come to an end. The crazy hermit have had weird visions (that are obvious not correct when it comes to Vlad) where Vlad does his last stand (see here for details). It only seems fitting that I also end my Winter Guard Command list with a bang. I took the list to a tournament, where Vlad was allowed to play against anything and everything.

Vlad and his proud Winter Guards

Vlad is again leading the normal list, which has been steady for the last year. For some of the original reasoning behind the list, see here. Compared to the original list, the Mortar Crew has been exchanged for a Greylord Adjunct. The list is as follows:

[Theme] Winter Guard Kommand

[Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28]
 – Marauder [11]
 – Marauder [11]
 – Marauder [11]
 – Greylord Adjunct [0(4)]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [0(4)]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8]
 – Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8]
 – Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]

The tournament is over five games. It was a team tournament where Vlad’s two other team members played Cygnar and Minions. We ended up as number 10 out of 19 teams, so not too shabby. Vlad managed to face Crucible Guards twice, Dwarfs (Mercenaries), Infernals, and Skorne. I am not going to do detailed battle reports for each game; rather, a summary of each.

Crucible Guards is a returning issue. Vlad has faced them once before (see here for battle report), which was also led by Gearhart. They two main obstacles tends to be the Rocketmen and spray trains. Luckily, there are no spray trains here, only a Vulcan. However, a Vulcan is considered lunch for the triple Marauder goodness. The Rocketmen are still an issue, they tend to be really annoying and quite difficult to hit. There are also Trancers here. They are ubiquitous in Crucible Guards lists nowadays. I think I tend to overestimate them. Finally, the Infantry can be really Winter Guard hostile with their shooting. Yet, I’m not too worried. The list is as follows:

[Theme] Magnum Opus

[Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27]
– Retaliator [9]
– Vulcan [35]
– Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Thamarite Archon [8]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
Crucible Guard Rocketmen (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Rocketman Captain [4]
– Rocketman Gunner (1) [2]
Dragon’s Breath Rocket [5]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller King of the Hill scenario. Gearhart won the roll-off and decided to go first. Vlad pick the side with a linear obstacle. He really likes to stay behind those.

Gearhart deployed with all the shooting on the left flank (Archon, Dragon Breath and Infantty), the Rocketmen go the the right flank, and all the rest in the middle, with the Vulcan slightly to the right. Vlad deploys in the standard formation. The picture below shows the end of the deployment.

Deployment

The first round is like most other first rounds: everybody moves forward. Gearhart moves everything forward and spreads the infantry out a lot. Vlad does more or less the same thing, with the addition of the two carriages taking pot shots and the Archon, with no effect, and the Rocketmen, where it actually manages to take out two.

The second round starts off with the guards doing some of their dirty tricks. The Retaliator sprays Black Humor on one of the Marauders, whilst the Vulcan puts rust on another Marauder. The Rocketmen pushes forward on the right flank and engage a Field Gun and a carriage. All in all, the guards are now in all zones and in a situation to score at all objects and the flag. Vlad needs to be creative to not start loosing on scenario. Creativity equals feat time! This early feat brings one Marauder into the face of the Vulcan and one far into the centre zone to contest both zone and flag. The last one is held back as a backup. The two carriages do what they do best. They move into the rectangular zones, clear out an Archon, an objective, and a few Rocketmen. Suddenly, Vlad is ahead on scenario.

Round three is a cleaning up round for Gearhart. He removes the two Marauders who went upfield – and the reserve! Vlad retaliates by keeping on killing Rocketmen and lopping grenades on the Vulcan. He also keeps on scoring and contesting.

The fourth round starts with the Vulcan removing the remains of one of the Gun Carriages, and thinning out in the Winter Guards. He also sacrifices troops to keep on contesting. But, he is slowly but steadily running out of steam (and clock). As a last attempt, a few Rocketmen attempts to assassinate Vlad. Clearly without success. Vlad takes advantages of these weaknesses and (finally) gets the Gun Carriage to remove the Vulcan, whilst the remaining contesting troops are killed. Vlad returns the clock to Gearhart, who then proceeds to clock himself. The picture below shows the end of the fourth round and the game.

End of game

Victory to the Motherland! We ended with 4 scenario points to Vlad and none to Gearhart. Vlad killed the equivalent of 87 points, whilst he had to hand over 54 points to Gearhart. All in all, a good result. There really isn’t any big comments to be made. It is the perfect scenario for this list. Vlad behaved and no great mistakes were made.

Surprisingly, Vlad is not too familiar with Skorne. I’m aware of the rumour of them being quite difficult. There are two of these Animantarax; they are definitely “good value” for the points. Yet, they are huge bases, so the Marauders will be a natural threat to them. I have never faced Rasheth before. Besides having a natural affinity with well build men, I have no idea what he does (I did, however receive a good description by my very nice opponent). It seems to be a shooting and scenario list. With the two battle engines and the cyclops, along with the many solos, it could be an interesting battle. It also turns out that the opponent is pretty adept (this teams actually comes second in the whole tournament). Nevertheless, Vlad is ready to face the following list:

[Theme] Disciples of Agony

[Rasheth 1] Dominar Rasheth [+28]
– Agonizer [0(6)]
– Basilisk Krea [0(7)]
– Cyclops Raider [9]
– Cyclops Shaman [8]
– Cyclops Shaman [8]
Bog Trog Mist Speaker [4]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [0(4)]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [4]
Paingiver Task Master [3]
Void Archon [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Siege Animantarax [17]
Siege Animantarax [17]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Spread the Net scenario. Vlad wins the rolloff and decides to go first. He deploys in the standard pattern, with two Marauders on the left flank. Rasheth deploys himself on the right flank with all the cyclops. The two battle engines go in the middle, and the rest on the left flank. The picture below depicts the end of the deployment phase.

Deployment

The first round takes off with Vlad pushing forward, more or less as far as possible. That is pretty important in this scenario. This brings the left carriage up to the flag, and the other one into the zone. So far, so good. Rasheth shuffles his tropps around and manages to take down the Gun Carriage on the right flank.

Second round means even more pushing forward. Rasheth and his army doesn’t appear to want to fight. So, Vlad has to bring the fight to him. One Marauder is parked in the zone to the right to start scoring. The last Gun Carriage has to push forward into the Skorne zone on the right. Everybody else go forward, and an Artillery Kapitan on the left flag. Rasheth continues his “I haven’t got a pair” approach with the two battle engines shuffling forward, shooting and then do a “Cygnar-advance”. Unfortunately, this approach is efficient and cost Vlad his second carriage. The Void Archon moves forward to contest the rightmost zone and tie up the Marauder.

The third round starts off with a scenario score of 1-1, Vlad needs to score, as it is unlikely that he will get rid of the two battle engines. The Void Archon is taken care of, and the Marauder moves forward to still score but also contest the flank on the right flank. The left most Marauder moves into the cloud and kills the solo standing there and puts a foot in the left zone. Finally, Vlad moves up behind the last Marauder to score the middle zone. This actually put Vlad at 4-1 in scenario score! Rasheth is feeling the scenario pressure. The two battle engines are finally moving forward. This kills the leftmost Marauder and the Kapitan at the flag. There is now a battle engine in the leftmost zone and two cyclops in the middle zone. All of the Winter Guards have also disappeared. Scenario is now at 5-3 in Vlad’s favour.

Fourth round is finally feat round. Not feating has actually kept everybody from getting too far forward. Defensive (not) use of Vlad’s feat is not to be frown upon. Making three scenario points will win the battle for Vlad. This is doable, as the rightmost Marauder will score automatically, Joe can move to the flag of the left and score. So, cleaning up the middle zone will win the game. Vlad and a Marauder goes into action and kills everything but a Valkyrie, She is taken care of by the rightmost Field gun and Joe. The game should be secure. Herein lies the mistake. The leftmost Field Gun also wants to shoot at stuff and kills the last Valkyrie in the unit. The game is now lost. I completely forgot that a battle engine has a foot in the leftmost zone. So, instead of a scenario score of 8-3, it is 8-4!

Fifth round kills Vlad. The picture below shows the end of the game. The red arrow depicts what the field gun did: it shot a Valkyrie. The green arrow depicts what it should have done: moved into the leftmost zone to contest.

End of game, due to greed!

This was going surprisingly well. Vlad was actually pretty much in control. Pushing hard forward and saving the feat gave him a really strong scenario pressure. He had actually won the game. But, the man behind the line got carried away and went into a killing spree instead of thinking. There is no excuse for this behaviour, and Vlad had words with him after the game. This was really annoying!

Anyway, Rasheth should be happy that Privateer Press removed the guideline: “play like you got a pair”. This game was much more a: “I can shuffle forward and shoot, and then run away and hide again”. Apparently, not having a pair is a winning strategy, at least when it comes to killing the enemy. Vlad could probably have been even more aggressive to get Marauders to the battle engines. However, Vlad was in control until he was led down by the man behind the line.

Ossrum and all of his bunnies are often difficult. Vlad has not faced them before, but Irusk with his Winter Guards have (for battle report see here). The spray bunnies are really Winter Guard hostile. The two Drillers are surprisingly dangerous, given their low cost. The combination of Ossrum and the Hammer Strike theme is deceptively mobile. The combination of Energizer, Bulldoze from the theme and the feat is dangerous. The benefit is that when they move as fast as they can, they are quickly within reach of Vlad’s feat. The extra new feature, which I haven’t seen before is the Siege Crawler. It seems to be pretty good. It is clearly food for Marauders. Vlad is ready and pretty confident facing Ossrum’s list:

[Theme] Hammer Strike

[Ossrum 1] General Ossrum [+28]
 – Ghordson Driller [10]
 – Ghordson Driller [10]
 – Grundback Blaster [6]
 – Grundback Blaster [6]
 – Grundback Blaster [6]
 – Grundback Gunner [6]
 – Grundback Gunner [6]
Harlowe Holdemhigh [0(5)]
Thor Steinhammer [4]
 – Ghordson Avalancher [15]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Hammerfall Siege Crawler [18]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Invasion scenario. Ossrum wins the rolloff and opts to go first. Vlad chooses the side with a trench to stand in. Ossrum deploys many ‘jacks on the left flank, along with Thor and his Avalancher. The Siege Crawler goes on the right flank along with the infantry. Everything else goes in the middle. Vlad deploys in standard formation, with two Marauders on the right to counter the Siege Crawler. The picture below shows the end of deployment.

Deployment

The first round is like most first rounds. Ossrum and his motley crew rush forward, keeping the artillery a bit behind. Vlad does more or less the same. However, the two carriages pull out on the flanks to avoid the extreme charge range of Ossrum’s ‘jacks. The Rifle Corps on the left stay behind, whilst the rightmost spread out to avoid blast. Vlad goes into his trench.

Ossrum feats at the beginning of the second round and hurl his army forward. A Field Gun and half of the rightmost Rifle Corps disappear to a combination of bunnies and Siege Crawler. Personally, I thought it might have been a bit early to feat. But, on the other hand it puts pressure on Vlad. Vlad counter feats. On the left side, there is a knockdown galore. The combination of the last Field Gun, the Gun Carriage and Marauders remove some of the ‘jacks and knockdown a lot, leaving easy targets for the Winter Guards. The right flank is more difficult. Forge Guards under feat is really really difficult to get rid off. So, the Rifle Corps and the Gun Carriage can only try to contain the flank.

The third round begins with Ossrum cleaning up the right flank. The combination of a Siege Crawler and a unit of Forge guards is surprisingly dangerous. On the left flank, nothing happens as Ossrum’s ‘jacks hit the Khador wall of steel. One of the Drillers breaks through and kills the objective. This is an interesting battle. The battle field has kind of flipped 90 degrees. Vlad moves his army around the left flank. The Gun Carriage moves forward and shoots at Ossrum, who is in the middle of the centre zone, behind the forest. Two of the Marauders clear ‘jacks away. The Rifle Corps move into the zone to score. Vlad moves towards the zone, there is a Driller nearby. The last Marauder makes it through the forest and starts hitting Ossum. Unfortunately, it runs out of focus before Ossrum runs out of boxes (he has two left).

Ossum is for all practical reasons dead. There is a completely factory new Marauder in his face. The circle in the picture below shows Ossrum’s nightmare. He needs a Hail Mary in the fourth round. After much deliberation, Ossrum has a plan. He allocates focus to the Driller on Vlad’s part of the battle field. He casts Energizer (see arrow on the picture below). The Driller moves forward close to Vlad. It is touch and go if the Driller can get away with it here. He rolls to hit with the Drill – and rolls double six (see picture to the right). Game over. The Drill has Sustained Attack. Much jubilation and taunting is now going on behind Ossrum’s lines.

A Hail Mary saves the day!

I many ways, this was touch and go. If Ossrum hadn’t pull out a bunny (actually a Driller) of his hat, he would have been dead the following round. Vlad could probably have protected himself better by filling up with troops between himself and the Driller. 

I don’t really enjoy Infernals. I have played them a couple of times, and they are just too much a “got you” faction. Their weird mechanics and the option to keep on bringing Horrors onto the table doesn’t really work well for the game, and give a negative play experience. I would assume that this would also hold for the one playing Infernals, but the faction seems to attract a certain type of players. I could be tempted to just fold and ignore them, as I find Infernal games really boring. However, it is Vlad’s last stand. So, he charges onto the table hell bent on going down in flames. He is eagerly awaiting to face the following list (while the man behind the line rather would be in the bar):

[Theme] Dark Legacy

[Zaateroth 1] Zaateroth, The Weaver of Shadows [+26]
– Foreboder [4]
– Soul Stalker [13]
– Tormentor [12]
– Tormentor [12]
– Lord Roget d’Vyaros [4]
Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [5]
Great Princess Regna Gravnoy [0(6)]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
The Wretch [4]
The Wretch [4]
Umbral Guardian [0(6)]
Umbral Guardian [0(6)]
Cultist Band (max) [7]
– Master Preceptor Orin Midwinter [4]
Cultist Band (max) [7]
Griever Swarm (min) [8]
Infernal Gate [12]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Anarchy scenario. Vlad wins the rolloff and thinks if there is to be a chance in hell, he has to go first. He deploys in the standard pattern. The Infernals put some stuff on the table. To be fair, it was a very lovely painted army. The picture below shoes the end of deployment.

First round: Vlad charges ahead. Infernals moves forward.

Second round: The Gun Carriage on the left flank digs deep into the Infernals. Everybody else really wanted to shoot. But clearly there is some Infernal trick against that. The infernals do infernal stuff and kill most of Vlad’s army. Anybody arguing that the heavy horrors are balanced because they are squishy can only be an infernal player.

Third round: Vlad charges a Soul Stalker to go down in flames. He surprisingly misses and it moves away. So much for a heroic final stand. Infernals kill Vlad. See picture below.

What can I say? To be fair, it is clear that playing this Vlad WGK list into Infernals is obviously not a good idea by any measurement. But, Vlad is on a mission. Yet, I find Infernals really really boring. One could argue that the mechanics is new and fun. You can summon horrors at a cost, there is a gamble to be made. One would clearly be wrong. I’m getting a GW 40k feeling when thinking about them… 

Wait a minute, haven’t I seen this army before? It is identical to the one I faced in the first game. This is the last game of the day. So, there is some beauty in the symmetry. It is, however a different player piloting the army this time. Vlad beat the guards in the first game. So, there should be a reasonable chance in this game. Unfortunately, I suspect that this player is better than the first one I faced. Vlad is ready to face (again) the following list:

[Theme] Magnum Opus

[Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27]
– Retaliator [9]
– Vulcan [35]
– Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Thamarite Archon [8]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
Crucible Guard Rocketmen (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Rocketman Captain [4]
– Rocketman Gunner (1) [2]
Dragon’s Breath Rocket [5]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Recon II scenario. Gearhart wins the rolloff and decides to go first. Vlad picks the side with the lovely wall to lean on. Gearhart deploys with the Vulcan in the middle, the Rocketmen on the right flank, and the infantry on the left. The Archon also goes on the left, whilst everything else go in the middle. Vlad just deploys in standard formation. The picture below shows the end of deployment.

The first round is very much like most other first rounds. Gearhart advances everything. Vlad counters by doing the same. The two Gun Carriages advance and toe each of their zones. They also take pot shots. With no effect, except a few difficult terrain.

Round two starts off with the Vulcan, Infantry and Retaliator removing the Gun Carriage on the right flank. The Archon advances on the left flank and kills a few too many Rifle Corps. Gearhart also uses his Vitriloic Ingression Catapult on the Gun Carriage, so it can’t advance (actually he keeps on doing this for the whole game). Vlad pays back by having the Gun Carriage and Rifle Corps on the left flank kill the Archon back. On the right flank a Marauder, in combination with the Rifle Corps and Field Gun take out the Retaliator. The other Marauders move forward to bring them within charge range (under feat) of the Vulcan. Each player score a flag.

The third round sees the Infantry clear out most of the Rifle Corps on the right flank. The Vulcan moves forward and finish off a Marauder. On the right flank, the Rocketmen fly forward and remove the last of the Rifle Corps. Vlad is slightly annoyed by the progress, or rather lack of. He fills up the Marauders, but keeps his feat. The remaining shooting on the right flank and a Marauder kills the Vulcan. The last Marauder charges forward and puts itself with in easy charge range of Gearhart himself – and Vlad’s feat is still unused. So, Gearhart is in serious trouble. The Adjunct sprays some infantry of the board, and Joe moves to score. On the left flank the carriage and a Kapitan kill half the Rocketmen. They are quite difficult to get rid of. Scenario score is now 4-2 in Gearhart favour.

Fourth round. Gearhart needs to be creative or have a date with a fully loaded Marauder under feat. Unfortunately, he does. He moves the Rocketmen to contest Joe’s flag. Some solo to score his flag whilst contesting the zone, and Gearhart moves into the right zone… and here we go, a scenario score of 7-2. The picture below shows the terrible situation.

This was going pretty well. I really managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory! It is the details that makes you loose. If I had been thinking I would have placed the Marauder a fraction of an inch to the right with a toe in the zone (see top circle in the picture above). But, I (once again) got greedy and wanted to kill two Mechaniks instead of just one. Also, why would Joe stand next to a flag, and not have a foot in the zone? That was just sloppy. So, if I haven’t be greedy and watching positioning, and I would have won.

It was a fantastic tournament. I really like team-tournament. Nice opponents and team.

I went 1-4 in this tournament. It should probably have been 3-2 or even 4-1. It turns out that I need to concentrate more. The first game was fine. Not any huge mistakes. In the second game, against Skorne I got carried away when I though I had won. The third game agains Mercenaries, was 50/50. I could probably have won if I had been more cleaver in my last turn. Infernals was lost before I began. Finally, the last game was again an example of greed.

So, in sum: 1) Don’t be greedy; 2) Think positioning; 3) Watch scenario.

Wave goodbye Vlad

This was the end of Vlad and his fantastic Winter Guard Kommand. He almost went out with style. I really enjoy playing this list. It has almost everything it needs. It clearly needs a good second list for tournaments, but I can handle a surprisingly large array of opponents.

I will write-up my experiences with Winter Guard Kommand over a year and a half shortly. Until then:

For the Motherland!