I didn't leave the Free Folk at home, its just that we were playing at Justplay Games in Liverpool, https://justplaygames.uk/our ASOIF home venue. 12 players made the event, with a few Covid drop outs...
It turned out there were 6 of us Justplay regulars, 5 Dead Meta Gaming crew https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcfcIRK1X4-CpHawMorK4jA from the North East, and Carlo who games heavily in the North East but is actually from Liverpool. Really grateful they made the 3.5hr trip down...
The battle reports are shorter due to the 1.5hr time limit per game, which was a bit tight for my liking. Sooner do a 3 game event at 2hrs each as I like to play chilled, but I get the standard format was used.
I had two lists of a similar ilk...
2 NCU's: Ygritte and Craster
Mance in Trappers, 2 x Spearwives, 2 x Raiders with leader, 1 x Raider with jarl, Mammoth
3 NCU's: Ygritte, Craster & Lady Val
Mance in Spearwives, Spearwives, 2 x Raiders with leader, 1 x Raider with jarl, Mammoth
Game 1 v Jeri from Dead Meta crew using Baratheon's
R'hllor list with Kings Men with Stannis (C), 2 x R'hllor Faithful with Red Priestesses, Wardens
NCU's Melisandre, Axell and Roose Bolton
I went with my 2 NCU's list as I don't do the tactics board control that well and prefer boots in the snow so to speak...
We played Fire & Blood which was ok as we started 12" apart so less time to get panicked. I set up 2 Weirwood trees which Jeri countered with 2 corpse piles in my half, as he chose sides...
Jeri set up as you look left to right with Wardens, R'hllor Faithful, Stannis Kings men and R'hllor faithful, with my set up left to right Raiders, Spearwives, Raiders, Mammoth and Spearwives, with Trappers and Mance in the rear...
I opted to go second, and Jeri worked his way down the tactics board to concentrate on panic, which caused me to use Ygritte to heal and influence my right spearwives, allowing them increased movement and ignoring rough & hindering. As the panic continued to devastate my left hand raiders (outside Mance's bubble), I used horses to move 6" upon the right...
And activated the Spearwives to launch a volley after a 2" shift and flank the R'hllor unit. I should also point out Stannis failed a morale when Mel used her ability, hence his minus 5 men below. As you can see, the Raider on the left were suffering...
What happened next was purely down to both Jeri and I both being aggressive and up for a scrap. I marched up my right side Raiders, tempting Jeri to charge with Stannis and his King Men. He duly obliged, despite having weakened himself and after his attacks I used Diversion tactics to move my other spearwives up, allowing them to activate, shift, chuck spears and charge, greatly reducing the unit. Of course, the Rhllor faithful couldnt help but flank my spearwives, although they badly fluffed their attack, allowing me to use my second Diversion tactics to move the Mammoth up and allowing it to charge in, boosted by the Raid leader for 7 dice on 3+ and trample Stannis under foot. Stannisbane the mammoth is back!!! In fairness, Jeri had also failed a second morale check from Stannis in those series of attacks...
I also used regroup and reform, in a perfect starter hand for this scenario...
R
I also moved Mance's Trappers up for leadership and also charged in with the lone left hand raider before he got killed...
And all in turn 1... AWESOMELY BLOODY!!!
I took the swords and laid into the right Faithful, then the panic came into play as Jeri retreated his forces to let it work...
The state of play end of Turn 2 with Mammoth doing fine, 2 spearwives, 3 Raiders and Mance and 8 trappers left...
Turn 3 started with a Mammoth failed panic, and trampled the Spearwives and Raiders (killing them) but didnt not the Spearwives!!!
They healed up, then failed a Rhllor panic so badly they died!!! Or was this for Mance later after he had helped finish of the Rhllor faithful???
I played Endless horde and brought on spearwives, who rear charged the held up Faithful who were engaged with trappers, killing them but losing Mance to more panic as game went into turn 4. The Wardens managed a charge on the Mammoth but it held. It was then NCU panicked and trampled away, doing 3 wounds on wardens as it pivoted... And leaving the Wardens to be rear charged by the spearwives who wiped them out...
Awesome game, and a brutal win for Mance and his FreeFolk in a very close game (9 VP's to 7 VP's. I only had my Mammoth alive of my deployed units, having not brought on the Jarl's raiders. Fair play to Jeri, losing Mance first turn after having failed 2 panic checks was hard to overcome but he re-grouped and hit back hard...
Game 2 Aaron Targaryen's
Got to face another of the Dead Meta Team in round 2, Aaron the head honcho running the much lamented Mother of Dragons
Aarons List was as follows:
Stomrcrow Archers with Daenerys, MoD
3 Dragons
3 NCU's: Illyrio, Tycho and Varys
I ran the 3 NCU's: Ygritte, Craster & Lady Val
Mance in Spearwives, Spearwives, 2 x Raiders with leader, 1 x Raider with jarl, Mammoth
Logic was allow a bit of manouverability with Val but playing Feast of Crows wasnt gonna help
Aaron set up with Stormcrows on my left and dragons spread out...
I setup Mance Spearwives, raiders, Spearwives, Raiders, Mammoth, with Jarl raider off board...
Turn 1 was all manouver and a wee bit of elephant bait for Drogon...
I was activating first, so used Ygritte on swords to destroy the palisade and Ygritte influenced the Mance wives there, threatening a charge on the archers.
On Table 1, NW v Baratheons was going on and some Champions of the Stag got shot by Builder Crossbows. Went well for the Watch!!!
Meanwhile, Viserion moved on horses to block Mance and his wives charge into Daenerys, so the Mance Spearwives chucked spears and charged in, killing the lizard. Mance then got his by Rhaegal and badly hurt and the other Spearwives got shot but regroup and refom helped.
Turn 3 would see Rhaegal drop Mance to two models, but I went all in with Spearwives javlins and charge planned. Sadly, I didnt wound with the spear throws, except to panic Mance off the board, roll a 1 on the charge and although I caused 3 wounds, it would easily be healed...
Meanwhile, Drogon was playing with his lunch...
As Stannis bane was savagely mauled in its hind quarters
it panicked into the adjacent stakes and died!!!
The Raiders destroyed the stakes....
I got my Jarls raiders on and into the Stormcrows rear...
But they retreated as the Dragons did what dragons do...
I managed to keep going into Turn 4
But shooting and dragons easily overwhelmed the remaining forces I had. A crushing defeat at the hands of Aaron and his Mother of Dragons, despite it only being 4 VPs to 3 VPs as he wiped my force out.
I managed to kill a dragon at least but it wasn't easy as my dice weren't great and his cards were good for protecting Daenerys. Aaron's fun to play and knows his force and I'd played another Aaron before up at Justplay with Starks... Well, you can read what happened here... http://brianmcgonigle.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-four-game-song-of-ice-and-fire.html Simply puts, Dragons are tough, so why would they not be tough to beat and I didn't cry about getting eaten!!! Besides, next door the NW Othell list was losing to Baratheons... Oh wait, what, happenned??? A roll of 6required for Conscripts to save the day for the Watch. Well played that man...
Game 3 James, Targaryen's again but this time a really tough army, not a few big snakes. Grey Worm led Unsullied, 4 big blocks and 2 NCU's, so I was well out activating him. I kept 3 NCU list as was playing Dance with Dragons and felt manouvering would be useful...
3 NCU's: Ygritte, Craster & Lady Val
Mance in Spearwives, Spearwives, 2 x Raiders with leader, 1 x Raider with jarl, Mammoth
James ran Unsullied Swordmasters with Greyworm (C), Swordmasters with Bronn, Pikemen with Belwas, Unsullied Pikemen. NCU Tycho and Illyrio. And they looked awesome!!
Blurry James was another Dead Meta man and was studying my Spearwives or Mammoth card. With 3 objectives and commander scoring +1 on them, I split my forces to gang up on the Targs and avoid Greyworm. There was a big gap in James's lines though...
James went first and took the letters, I countered with horses to advance up spearwives with influence from Ygritte. The Targaryens advanced on all 3 objectives, and I held off before using Val to get the spearwives further up then march through the stakes before Craster healed them up ready to go first in Turn 2.
TURN 2
Popping Ygritte on swords while using influence on the Raider with Leader on right, saw me shift into the rear, throw spears and charge in...
No set for charge and the Unsullied Pikemen were badly mauled...
Popping Tycho's Backing of the Iron bank, the Pikemen turned around and mauled the spearwives.
But with their rear exposed again, the radiers slammed in and James failed all 7 hits as needed sixes...
I surged forth towards the centre objective, my Spearwives were healed a bit by Craster and moved over there too as I attempted to hurt Bronns Swordmasters. James charged into the Raiders with the Retribution of the Dragon card on them, the Swordmasters going through the stakes to do so and losing a rank. It was sound enough idea.
Bronn had the objective but as I made a good few saves, I was feeling good as the Mammoth charged in the rear for 7 attacks on 3+.
Again, the rear attack made the difference as the Unsullied failed their panic and were wiped out...
With Greyworm wriggling along at 2", I turned everyone on Belwas, who had charged into Mance, who took the beating and then retreated....
At the end of turn 2, it was tied at 3 VP's each, but somehow (well, rear attacking) I had halved the Unsullied forces!!!
Turn 3 saw Belwas retreat as my activation supremacy allowed me to dictate the game but James held grimly on and Greyworm looked to chase down my raiders with the central objective. End of Turn 3 saw Belwas grimly hold on and Targs go into lead 6VP's to 3 VP's
I needed to keep Mance in it so had retreated rather than attack. Belwas wanted to retreat but had no where to go. I brought the Jarl's raider on to threaten another rear attack on Greyworm, with the mammoth electing to trample off that way too to free a raider charge on Belwas.
With raiders in front, spearwives in flank, Mance charged in for the coup de grace, seizing the objective. Then my army turned to hunt the last unit, who had turned to face and been charged by the Jarl...
The turn ended with us both tying on 8 VP's but time was called and the victory was mine having destroyed 24 points worth of Targaryens and losing none. I simply out activated and swamped the superior troops and it was all about the rear attacks. James fought to the death, and never gave up as one would expect of Unsullied, Belwas and Bronn. James dice were really bad at times, the Unsullied failed several morale checks and I still think this is technically a draw but another turn may well have put paid to the whole Targaryen force...
Game 4 Raymond "Mr Ray" with his Baratheons
Raymond is my oldest current protaganist at ASOIF and knows his Baratheons inside out. He was also the unlucky loser v NW I may have mentioned earlier, and then faced Mother of Dragons so he would be keen to kick my ass.
He was running
Axell Florent (C) in Kings Men
R'hllor Lightbringers with Davos, The Onion Knight
R'hllor Faithful
Queen's Men
NCU's: Alester Florent, Tycho Nestoris and Petyr Baelish
Playing the Game of Thrones scenario, I took my two NCU list for more board activations...
2 NCU's: Ygritte and Craster
Mance in Trappers, 2 x Spearwives, 2 x Raiders with leader, 1 x Raider with jarl, Mammoth
I kind of skipped the set up and board by accident, but I know I Ray went first and panicked the Mammoth for a few wounds on 3 units while I brought on Jarl's raiders behind Kings Men to really press the Baratheons. ( I was hoping for the Lightbringers but did some sterling work smacking the rear of the Kings Men
I failed a charge with the Spearwives to help out the Jarl as raymond popped Tycho early and went to town restoring the Kings Men as I sought to control the board with my other activations.
A bit blurry but you can see I'm moving up onto objectives on left, I've engaged the flank of the Queens Men on the centre with some raiders, the Mammoth is heading over to the Weirwood trees and I have lost both the Jarl and the Spearwives to the Kings Men and panic...
Clearer below at end of Turn 2 as Queens men were cut down and Faithful were setting up for Turn 3.
At the End of Turn 2 it was 3 VP's apiece...
In a frenetic turn 3 I finished off the Queens Men and held the central objective and the two le(having used Endless horde to resurrect a unit of spearwives) while Raymond held one with Axell, giving me a slight edge, although Mance and his trappers were wiped out.
Being down to one man, I charged my lone raiders off the centre objective to engage the Lighbringers, then was able to move the Spearwives up to collect it. Ray tried everything to kill the unit, and nearly succeeded as the mammoth trampled. I had 2 spearwives left in teh unit, and but Raymond rolled a 1 on the D3. Only the Raider leader was left in the Spearwives, having moved over with a Regroup and reform earlier but she scored the points I needed
It was a tough break for Ray, as time was called towards end of this round and with another round he'd have one. HAd he killed the spearwives, he'd have earned a point, and denied me one, which would have meant 8-8 (deja vu) but he'd have won on destroyed units...
Freefolk 9 VP's Baratheons 7 VP's ( Again, technically a draw to my mind)
A great game and harsh on Raymond. He whipped my Jarl's unit and the Spearwives with Axell and Kings Men and super healing by end of Turn 2 before the Lightbringers killed Mance and his 8 Trappers in one round of shooting as I'd used them to save the Spearwives with regroup and reform. He did err in not finishing off the Spearwives in turn 3 with queens men, instead trying to reduce contesting Raiders. But my extra troops really won me the game as with 5 objectives,my 7 units v his 4, the Baratheons let me take the left objectives unopposed...
First thing to mention was it was a great event and I had 4 great games!!! Even Aaron's Dragons werent that bad, as I did kill one with my rock and sticks!!!Well done to Paul and the Justplay lads for putting it together. Second was I won 3 games, all on snow tables and lost on grass. That cannot be coincidence!!! Thirdly, a special mention to Carlo and his ASOIF-Stats App thing. I am a technophobe, hence the words and pictures. I generally hate Apps!!! I went mad at car park for the event as I had brought change and it took me 5 attempts to pay by bloody card. But the tourney tracker worked well and I had even got the hang of it by end of Game 3(Cheers Greg and Ray for your patience and understanding and for my opponents who filled them in and allowed me to confirm). The point was, yeah, use it if you can, highly recommended.
And finally, a big shout out to all the Dead Meta Guys that came down, as its a long drive and you really made the event for us, with themed T-shirts, lovely armies and right attitude to playing the game. We hope you all enjoyed it and we'll certainly return the compliment when Gav gets an event on up at Gaming Figures... https://www.gamingfigures.com/
THE BIG PICTURE!!!
The wonderful participants with 5 Dead Meta guys on the left , James, Adam, Jeri, Aaron, and Adam), 5 Justplay centre (Me looking in pain, Ste, Aden, cheery Greg and Mr Ray), then Carlo who flits between the two groups (well, you've been once so it counts) who is smiling happily and indicating how many games he won (or was it lost??). And our very own Commander of the Watch, standing apart and looking down upon us all from his high horse (wall)? Colin...
Paul took another picture by which time my pain had faded but I couldn't find a smile. Greg was still happy...
By picture 3 only Greg was still weirdly excitable, Ray has wondered off and Ste is getting ready to pounce. And the Redcar lads wanna get home before dark...
Colin, Throne-Taker winner with 4 well earned wins, especially against Raymonds Baratheons. Did I mention he need a six on the dice to charge conscripts in and win the game with the last throw of the dice. (well technically not, as his conscripts had to kill some old dude
This things glows all neon and madly. Its certainly unique, and probably a bit mad, just like our Kolco...
There is a summary from Carlo and Mickey on Tourney Ground Podcast Vlogcast thingy here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGNflhYWMvA at -16:15 from end, which was very complimentary about the event, Justplay and also my blog. Cheers Mickey, although ALL dice rolls are important!!!
Also, the results and standings are here... ASOIAF Stats (asoiaf-stats.com)
Other Events:
The lads at Imps Gaming in Lincoln have a few lined up, nice venue as been there twice: A Song of Ice and Fire Ticket - Aug 2021 (imps-gaming.com) I cant make the August one sadly, but November is hopefully doable... A Song of Ice and Fire Ticket - Nov 2021 (imps-gaming.com)
Cant believe I've omitted the biggest ASOIF event in the UK... A Song of Ice and Fire UK GT | LGT 2021 (lgtpresents.co.uk) Two day event in London run by Chris Eustace. I cannot go sadly, but a few of the Justplay regulars are...
Gavin up at Gaming Figures in Redcar will doubtless run a few too Gaming Figures
As hopefull will Entoyment down in Poole, who organise the awesome Beachhead exhibition. Homepage - Entoyment Wargaming and Hobby Centre
All the above venues support the game and sell A Song of Ice and Fire Miniatures. Check them out, or pop in and visit if you are in the area...
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