Thursday 29 February 2024

Lannisters v Baratheons: A Game of Thrones

 So finally managed to get my postponed game in with Raymond "Mr Ray" Grieves who rocked up with his Newcastle top on after insisting we have the football on too...


With the new season update, I took the opportunity to go back to playing House Lannister, having not used them since version 1 (my first army). I decided to run Jamie as commander, as I always liked him. Unfortunately, not painted any Lannister units for two years, so no newer units available. (also had to use High Sparrow as stand in for Qyburn attachment)

The Warrior's Sons Jaime Lannister - The Kingslayer (C)

Poor Fellows

Poor Fellows

Knights of Casterly Rock

Pyromancers with Qyburn - Forbidden Knowledge NCU's

Cersei Lannister & Joffrey Baratheon


Raymond was more interested in the football than the game to start, but he had a tough Stannis R'hllor list with Mel...
Baratheon Sentinels with Stannis Baratheon - The One True King (C)
R'hllor Faithful withStag Knight Noble
R'hllor Lightbringers with Davos Seaworth - Onion Knight
R'hllor Queen's Men NCU's
Axell Florent, Melisandre with Selyse and Shireen
SCENARIO

A GAME OF THRONES
Terrain & Set up

Terrain: Wall, Corpse pile, Weirwood x 2

Baratheons: Queens Men, R'hllor Faithful, Sentinels with Stannis, Lightbringers

Lannisters: Poor Fellows, Pyromancers, Warrior Sons, Knights of Casterly Rock,
Poor Fellows




TURN 1

I had choice, and opted to go first having Joffrey take letters and adding cards while putting A Lannister pays his debts on the Casterly Rock Knights. I weakened the Lightbringers too. Ray moved up his lightbringers with the Horses, as I moved up both Poor Fellows, less aggressively on the right. I passed the crown bomb but lost a man to shooting from the swords.


I only lost one right side Poor Fellow to shooting and passed the panic. I was going for a left hook rather than my standard right, as Ray had set up heavily to my right. I kept Knights back as a threat to the Lightbringers, but felt the Warriors Sons and Pyromancers could hurt the Queens Men, despite their hard to kill reputation! Ray was looking to crush my right and hold the centre from his deployment.


TURN 2

After Ray took the Letters, I played Bribery on the Lightbringers and then took the bags to heal a wound on the Knights (from the panic jump last turn from Lightbringers) and remove the weakened. Ray used Test of Faith next activation on the Lightbringers but they failed their morale test due to the -1 because of Bribery, so didn't remove the Bribery.


A combination of Mel on the crown and Axell on the swords after I'd moved up to secure the right side objective hurt...


And the Poor Fellows there suffered


I had Jamie and the Warrior Sons take the centre, trying to bait Raymond in after I'd taken the horses to move up the Pyromancers


The Lightbringers activated and shot four Poor Fellows, but I passed the panic and kept the unit (and objective)


Raymond decided against going for a 6+ charge with Sentinels to try and finish them off (the Knights of Casterly Rock were unactivated) so moved them up to limit my cavalry options.


Ray only had the  Queens Men left while I had Pyromancers and Knights


I charged the Sentinels scoring six hits but a flurry of cards meant Ray only ended up three men down and my Knights ended up panicked and vulnerable.


The Queens Men didn't charged the Warrior Sons, moving up ready for next turn. I activated the Pyromancers, and opted to shift up and throw some Wildfire rather than drop back onto the near left side objective. I scored 4 hits, and the Queens men also failed a panic for another wound.


Tactics Board at the End of Turn 2


END OF TURN 2

HOUSE LANNISTER 3 VP's (3 objectives)

HOUSE BARATHEON 1 VP (1 objective)

TURN 3

I had Joffrey take the Sword


allowing the Pyromancers launch their flasks again at the Queens Men.


And all seven hit, incinerating them. 


Ok, so they spent a token to survive!!! Ha, and a second to survive after failing the panic check... That was better than expected...


And to rub salt in the wounds, they charged the Pyromancers and promptly failed the Horrific visage panic (Ray had forgotten they had that). So he expended Selyse and Shereen's "Necessary Sacrifices". The Queens Men killed five Pyromancers, who then activated and put the Queens Men down for good. That was an awesome exchange from my part...


I had surged forth away from the R'hllor faithful and then had Cersei take the horses...


Moving back to secure both left flank objectives.


The Lightbringers finished off my right side Poor Fellows, allowing me to gain benefits from A Lannister Always pays their debts


My Knights held well against the Sundering attacks of the Sentinels, but the Warriors Sons were absolutely mullered by the Faithful, dropping seven men...

Board at End of Turn 3


END OF TURN 3

HOUSE LANNISTER 6 VP's (1 unit, 5 Objectives)

HOUSE BARATHEON 3 VP's (1 unit, 2 objectives)

TURN 4

Raymond had Axell influence the Warriors Sons and then took the bags to heal up his Lightbringers (and deny it to me). So I took the swords and attacked with The Kingslayers Prowess card giving them sevens 2+  Precision attacks with re-rolls against a vulnerable opponent. 


The Lightbringers shot the Knights of Casterly Rock but only dropped a few as my armour was good, even with vulnerable re-rolls. 


Melisandre then took the Letters and panicked the the Warriors Sons, with me failing the panic and obliterating Jamie and his retinue!!!


Have to say, the Warriors Sons didn't perform as well as I had hoped


I took the horses again with Cersei, using a token to take Hear Me Roar from my deck. I then retreated the Knights a meagre seven inches from the Sentinels. However, as luck would have it the second half kicked off in the Blackburn/Newcastle game, so rather than launching the Sentinels after my Knights, ray had Axell take the crown and panic my Pyromancers. I was somewhat perplexed by this...


And they did fail and take a wound


Of course, this left my enhanced Knights ready to activate, and perfectly placed to charge the 5 remaining R'hllor Faithful...


With 10 dice hitting on 2+, the R'hllor died but did five hits back with Final Strike, dropping me to a single, wounded rank. Ray simply thought I'd already activated, being distracted...


Ray activated his Sentinels to chase after the Knights, but with my first activation I simply retreated my forces away, content to play out the remainder of the game avoiding engaging..


END OF GAME 

HOUSE LANNISTER 11 VP's (2 units, 9 objectives)

HOUSE BARATHEON 7 VP's (2 units, 5 objectives)


Well, it was really a hollow victory given Ray's error's but at least I know if Newcastle is on the telly I have a chance of beating his Baratheons. The Pyromancers were awesome, but the Poor Fellows and Warriors Sons aren't as resilient as I recall them being. Ray was unlucky to lose the Queens Men so quickly, although the Pyromancers and Warrior Son combo was my plan to end them. The Knights are good, but could have done with critical blow as I did roll quite a few sixes on my charge. Sending the Knights after the Lightbringers didn't come to fruition as Ray kept the Sentinels near them 

2024 EVENTS

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Battle of the Three Swords

(SOLD OUT)



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Leodis Games, Bagley Lane, Farsley, Leeds, UK



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BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS

Sunday 28th April

Unit 2 Fleetsbridge Business Centre, Upton Road BH17 7AF Poole, United Kingdom


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Gunman Airsoft - Eversley Alpha, The Welsh Drive, Eversley, Hook, UK


______________________________________________

2025

March 29th/30th 2025



THE 
ASOIF STATS INVITATIONAL


Friday 2 February 2024

Season 4: Starks v Freefolk, A Dance With Dragons

 So eager to try out new Stark combinations, Ste brought a motley collection of 

Mormonts, Umbers, Karstarks and Starks to face a Wildling invasion...

I took Mance of course with a whole host of Spearwives and Skinchangers as below


Free Folk Trappers with Mance Rayder - King Beyond the Wall (C)
Spearwives with Jarl - Advance Raid Leader
Spearwives with Skinchanger
Spearwives
Free Folk Raiders with Borroq - Boar Skinchanger
Borroq's Boar
Frozen Shore Hunters with Skinchanger

NCU's
Lady Val & Craster


THE WARDEN OF THE NORTH (West) 


Steven "PsychoSte" Connor

No Flayed Men or Tully Cavaliers...
House Karstark Spearmen with Maege Mormont (C)
House Umber Berserkers with Bronn - The Sellsword
House Mormont Bruisers with Rickon Stark & Osha
Shaggydog
Stark Outriders NCU's
Catelyn Stark, Arya Stark & Rodrik Cassel

TERRAIN & DEPLOYMENT

We rolled randomly for terrain and got: Palisade, wall, corpse pile, wall, hedge

STARKS: Shaggydog, Outriders, Bronns Umber Berserkers, Maege's Karstark Spears, 
Rickon's Mormont Bruisers

FREEFOLK: Spearwives with Skinchanger, Borroq's Boar behind, Borroq's Raiders,
Mance's Trappers, Frozen Shore Hunters with Skinchanger, Spearwives. (Jarl's Spearwives on outflank)


TURN 1

I let Ste take first activation, but brought on my Jarl's unit on my right straight away after deploying two eagles, and after Ste took the letters, I used Craster on the horses to snatch the objective on the right


The rest of Turn 1 saw Shaggydog seize the left and an early Arya token being spent, along with Outrider Tactical Reposition get Maege and her Karstark retinue on the centre. My outflanking spearwives then preceded to hinder my own movement.


With hindsight, I'd over deployed right, but I wanted to outnumber the Starks there. A unit on the left may have given Ste something more to think about.

TURN 2

After selecting the Wolf for the Berserkers and Bear for my Spearwives Skinchanger, I had Val take the Swords to allow my left side Spearwives and Skinchanger to throw and charge the Karstarks


And get out of Berserkers arc. The combination of poor throws, Corpse pile and 4+ to hit meant I only managed to kill two spearmen.


And they easily passed their  panic check


The Karstarks activated, did Hold the Line and killed five, before cutting down five more with their attack


But I did pass the panic! Just as well, as these "Southerners" are well hard


I had Craster swap out the Horses to deny the spearmen a retreat, healing two Spearwives, and another two from his once per game. Oh, and Regroup and reform card too. Ste looked to activate his two remaining NCU's but passed as I whipped out both Wildling Diplomacy cards early. (he wouldn't risk Shaggydog)


But even with the Bear appearing as my Skinchangers spearwives activated, Maege Mormont and the Karstarks were resolute. My Frozen Shore Hunters moved up in support, and as the Mormont Bruisers  threatened the Hunters, my right side Spearwives marched up to threaten them.


The Outriders made short work of the Bear when they charged its rear


As I brought up Borroq, to entice the Berserkers, his board went after Shaggydog, doing two wounds and seizing the objective


On the right, the Bruisers scored an impressive 7 hits with a critical blow.


But I made four saves, although lost a fourth  man to panic


The attack allowed my Spearwives on the right to move up with Diversion tactics before the Berserkers flanked the Boar, easily killing it and giving Shaggydog his objective back, before they dropped back to threaten the flank of the  Skinchangers Spearwives.


BOARD at END OF TURN 2


Tactics Board at End of Turn 2 (with two Stark NCU's passing)


STARKS 2 VP's (2 objectives)

FREEFOLK 1 VP (1 objective)

TURN 3

Rodrik on the Swords (giving out a vulnerable as he went) saw the Bruisers activate


And choosing critical blow, Ste rolled high and cut my Frozen shore Hunters down, before turnign to face the Spearwives


And despite the disrupt, some well aimed javelins, a thunderous charge and failed panic meant only Osha and Wittle Wickon were weft...


Unsurprisingly, Ste healed them so I had my Spearwives hack into the Spearmen again, dropping a rank and finally seizing the objective


I used both my NCU's to advance Mance's Trappers up into threat range and Borroqs Raider up to block the Spearwives flank from the Berserkers.


While the Karstarks and Lady of Bear Island ripped my spearwives apart again


Arya on the Letters was converted by Assault Orders to have the Bruisers attack the Spearwives


And choosing Critical blow seemed to be working for Ste, with 11 hits..


I saved 5, lost two more ladies to panic so had to use my second Regroup and Reform card, which I hoped to save for Mance...


The Northern Houses were whittling my forces down


And they totally decimated me after the Berserkers charged and Bruisers attacked again...


Tactics Board End of Turn 3


END OF TURN 3

STARKS 5 VP's (1 unit, 4 objectives)

FREEFOLK 2 VP's (2 objectives)

TURN 4

Activating first, I took the swords and had the Trappers shoot into the Bruisers. I managed to drop them down to 3 models, but failed my panic check on the spearwives and they died


Ste healed them up, but Mance's Raider's then activated and shot the Bruisers down to Osha and Rickon again. And they failed the panic check!!! 


In response, Maege activated. And we had a conundrum. So, the Karstark Spearmen have Hold the line, so did 3 hits on my Skinchanger and remaining spearwife, killing them. Ste wanted to declare a charge, but I argued that he began the activation engaged so could only attack or retreat. However, the activation step is ahead of the actual declare action stage. Anyway, rather than drag it out (or rely on Mr Ray's interpretation as he always sides with Ste in these discussions), we rolled for it and Ste won (further unbiased online interpretations suggest Ste was right anyway). And Borroq and his Raider was easily dispatched.


With three units dead and two objectives secured, Ste had the game. I could only retreat the remnants of my forces out of harm's way as both the Berserkers and Outriders tried long range charges (both failing by one inch)


END OF TURN 4 (and Game)

STARKS 10 VP's (4 units, 6 objectives and a Boar)

FREEFOLK 5 VP's (1 unit with Rickon, 3 objectives)

Board at End of Game


Well, that went bad from the start. I deployed poorly and Ste really didn't need to get out of first gear after that. I had planned to take the centre and right and defend, but Arya and the Tactical reposition put Steve in control on the centre and I couldn't reclaim it. And the Jarl's Spearwives just stopped my right moving in turn 1. Ste was pretty happy with his mish-mash, and there were some real tricky and nasty combinations in those Starks. good to be using the Skinchangers again, but I sold them short by having to go piecemeal at the superior Northern infantry and didn't get to see much of the Frozen Shore hunters. Plan on running the Great Walrus next time out, if I ever get my chariot back. Updates on the whole seem positive and looking forward to a few more games and some more events...

2024 EVENTS

--------------------------------------------------------
Battle of the Three Swords

(SOLD OUT)



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Duke's Gaming, Osborne Road, Pontypool, UK

______________________________________________________

ATHENA GAMES 

NORWICH Feb 25th


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SOLD OUT 

(Amazing event 2022& 2023, no surprise - Reserve list active)

THE WELSH GT 2024


-------------------------------------

Leodis Games, Bagley Lane, Farsley, Leeds, UK



----------------------------------------------------------------

BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS

Sunday 28th April

Unit 2 Fleetsbridge Business Centre, Upton Road BH17 7AF Poole, United Kingdom


---------------------------------------------------------------------


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gunman Airsoft - Eversley Alpha, The Welsh Drive, Eversley, Hook, UK


______________________________________________

2025

March 29th/30th 2025



THE 
ASOIF STATS INVITATIONAL