BrianMcG: The Northern Grand Tournament: Six Battle reports from the Dead Meta Gaming event

Ste, Andy and I headed up to the North-east to represent the Wardens of the North-West at Dead Meta Gaming's Northern Grand Tournament, hosted by the famous comedy double act of Alan and Aaron.

After a slight error in booking the wrong hotel (2.5 miles away isn't so bad, but everyone else was staying at the other one on the doorstep of the venue) we got to PRO TECH GAMES a new venue for the event in good time after a hearty breakfast...

Prize support featured a Crown for the Winner, Best in Faction Slates, and other prizes including some from Yecats Miniatures

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WARDENS OF THE NORTH-WEST MEDIA CONTENT

YOUTUBE @WotNW

TWITCH wotnw

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I decided to run Nights Watch for the event, as hadn't used them for a good while and tried to help myself by just running one commander for both in Jon Snow, with one and aggressive list and one more defensive.

LIST 1: AGGRESIVE

Ranger Hunters with Jon Snow (C)

Ghost

Sworn Brothers with Benjen Stark

Veterans of the Watch with Watch Captain

 Sworn Brothers with Cotter Pyke 

NCU's

Aemon & Othell Yarwyck

LIST 2: DEFENSIVE

Veterans of the Watch with Jon Snow (C)

Shadow Tower Spearmen with Watch Captain

Builder Scorpion Crew with Stake Modifications

Conscripts with Dolorous Edd & Satin the Steward 

NCU's

 Othell Yarwyck, Qhorin Halfhand, Samwell Tarly & Gilly 

GAME 1

NICK "Nickk88" KARASEK

Scenario: A Clash of Kings

HOUSE STARK

I've played Nick a few times, and always lost but he had a fairly average Stark force with all 3 wolves and no Tully Cavaliers, so I felt quite confident my aggressive list could deal with it especially with Jon in Ranger Hunters

Stark Sworn Swords with Maege Mormont (C)

Stark Bowmen with Robb Stark

House Mormon She-Bears with Rickon Stark & Osha

House Bolton Cutthroats with Bran and Hodor

Grey Wind

Shaggydog

Summer

NCU's

Lyanna Mormont & Tycho Nestoris

RANDOM TERRAIN & DEPLOYMENT

Only 3 pieces of terrain, 2 x Bogs and a wood

STARKS: Summer, Cutthroats with Bran, Mormonts with

Rickon, Shaggydog, Bowmen with Robb,

Sworn Swords with Maege, Greywind

NIGHTS WATCH: Ghost, Jon's Rangers, Cotters Sworn Brothers,

Veterans, Benjen's Sworn Brothers

Opening Card Hand

ROUND 1

I started by taking Aemon on the Letters, for two cards and making Summer vulnerable. Nick took the Horses to advance his bowmen, before I put Othell on the wall on Swords to deny a free bowman shot and used his attacks to kills Summer... first blood to me!!!

Jon Snow and his Rangers were targeted by the Crowns

but passed their panic check

Nick then pointed out that Othell on the wall gets 3 attacks plus one per rank. I had stated he got six shots (which he does against a full unit but Summer only counts as one rank). So we re-rolled the attack, and he survived on two wounds, which were subsequently healed by Nick taking the bags... So no first blood to me!!!

I had moved up pretty evenly but kept troops out of Bow range on my right

ROUND 2

Good job I did!!! As the Bowmen had moved up into range, and first activation got a shot in off the swords. My "veterans" failed the panic check for three after they fluffed the saves failing five from seven hits...

I had Aemon quickly take the bags healing back six

Fortunately, the Bowmen had switched targets and after shooting into Benjens Brothers, shooting on activation and then when I ended a move in range

And another failed panic was included...

I played Stand United Brothers to bolster at expense of Cotters brothers

The tactics board

Benjen's brothers had charged into Greywind but failed to kill it...

and took 3 wounds from 4 hits! I was subsequently flanked by Maege and her Sworn Swords, wiping out my unit and securing the objective there

Jon Snow then failed a 2+ charge into Hodor's Cutthroats!!!

I then lost three Rangers when the cutthroats charged me, which I felt relived about.

(I did roll a few sixes on armour). Ghost was brought up to protect my flank, and Summer went for him... Ghost took two wound.

END OF ROUND 2

STARKS 2 VP's (1 unit, 1 objective)

NIGHTS WATCH 1 VP (1 objective)

Shaggydog had moved up to protect the archers but I was on the back foot going in to Round 3

I took the Swords and had the Rangers cut down the Cutthroats to 3 men. I opted not to retreated. As hope to use quickfire later. Sadly, Nick had other ideas and struck back using Sustained Assault for rerolls and highest attack dice. At least he didn't have critical blow!!!

I activated Jon and the Rangers, killing Bran and his unit and moving into the Mormonts flank and shooting

Ghost activated immediately after but only managed one wound on Summer...

Othell on the wall did manage to snipe Summer on my next activation

Cotter Pykes Sworn Brothers were losing ground against the Mormon She Bears, "bear-ly" surviving their attack...

But then dying to Assault orders...

My Veterans did Shaggydog for three 3 wounds. Just what Nick could have wished for, as he would now attack with seven dice!!! Maege moved over into the flank of my Veterans from the horses.

Before charging into them

Shaggydog then mauled my Veterans futher, but the mutt did die to counterstrike so the re was that. But with Nick first activation, my forces looked doomed...

BOARD END OF ROUND 3

END OF ROUND 3

STARKS 4 VP's (2 units, 2 objectives)

NIGHST WATCH 5 VP's (3 units, 2 objectives)

ROUND 5

The She Bears charged in and slaughtered Jon and his Rangers

I had Aemon take the Swords, healing up and turning to attack the Sworn Swords

Sadly, dropping a rank only made them better with battle Scars and I lost three Veterans to shooting.

I was defeated, but decided ot take Rickon with me, so I sped off of the left objective with Ghost and flanked the She Bears... I nearly succeeded, dropping the unit to Rickon alone.

Alas. with healing from the bags and Support of bear Island card, the rejuvenated She Bears finished me off. Maege had already killed the last Veteran...

END OF ROUND 4 (and Game)

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

NIGHST WATCH 5 VP's (3 units, 2 objectives)

Board End of Game

A crushing defeat on the Nights Watch, aided and abetted by some very bad dice. Still, I enjoyed the game, learned a lot about my own units and in fairness, Nick played really well with Maege's cards being a relatively unknown factor for me. Sustained assault and Support of Bear Island were played at critical times, and Tycho helped but I simply got out played and being unable to kill Greywind on the charge was pretty gutting early on. That held me in place for Maege to Swift reposition and flank me. Jon failing a 2+ charge was uninspiring as well. Yeah, round 2 was simply a disaster!!!

GAME 2

ADAM "The Harbinator" Harbinson

Scenario: A Dance with Dragons

FREE FOLK

Adam is great fun to play against, we always have a good laugh with plenty of banter.

True to form, he was telling me he wasn't worried about my Scorpion as it

would be dead by Round 2 I felt I had to take the Scorpion

(as his other list had Varamyr, Borroqs Boar and Shadowcat anyway)

and he did choose his MAG list.

Mag the Mighty - Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg (C)

Savage Giant

Giant Spear Thrower

 Varamyr Sixskins - Master Skinchanger 

NCU's

Lady Val & Ygritte 

(I was running my 4 NCU list)

I do like this list, it's just a bit quirky and potentially hard. Not sure against Giants mind...

RANDOM TERRAIN & DEPLOYMENT

Wall, Hedge, Palisade and Corpse pile

FREEFOLK: Giant, Spear thrower, Varamyr, Giant, MAG, Spear Thrower

NIGHTS WATCH: Jon's Veterans, Scorpion, Conscripts, Shadow Tower Spearmen

ROUND's 1 & 2

I had Quorin take the Swords, but failed to hit Varamyr with sixes from the Scorpion. Varmyr marched up in response. I took the Letters and put a put a panic token on Varamyr, figuring he may get a hit from Scorpion and with it being Vicious, panic was best. Anyway, Adam had Ygritte crown zap my Conscripts but I passed my morale, before having Othell take the bags and shoot Varamyr (four shots, NOT six)

I did a wound and then with the corpse pile, he very nearly succumbed to the panic re-roll. Sadly, he just passed...

My Scorpion activated and again targeted Varamyr. On activating , I gave the Scorpion "And Now his Watch is Ended", as I knew I'd be targeted by the Spear throwers and if I passed a panic, I would heal one.

Do you ever get one of those feelings????

Jon took the left objective, my Spearmen fearlessly went into the giants den...

Tactics Board End of Round 1

Nothing much happened in Round 2 (or I forgot to take pictures) but I did destroy the palisade, Varamyr took the right objective, and the Spear throwers and Scorpions all missed. Mag and the Savage giants bore down on my spearmen but didnt commit...

ROUND 3

Quorin on the horses influenced the spearmen (up to nine attacks with Watch captain)

They took the centre objective

Giants were all around...

After being shot by the Spear thrower, I failed my panic dropping the token. I couldn't just sit and take it so charged... so impulsive I know!!!

And my dice were looking up...

Two wounds on the beast and a failed panic put it on four wounds. And I healed up with Stand united Brothers and had the Conscripts take the objective. This was a happy moment as the my Spearmen were flanked and mauled by Mag. I did two wounds on Mag and had lashed out at the already wounded giant, doing a single wound. Not enough to kill it, but enough to give it nine attacks. I desperately tried to heal my troops but it smashed them!!!

END OF ROUND 3

FREE FOLK 3 VP's (1 unit, 2 objectives)

NIGHTS WATCH 3 VP's (3 objectives)

ROUND 4

Adam took the Swords and launched a spear attack wounding my Scorpion but I healed up off the bags. The wounded giant charged into my Conscripts, who had Supplied Aid to desperately try and keep the spearmen alive.

They were wiped out and Adam played Over run. But alas rolled a 1 and didn't get in

Mag was moved up by Val on the Horses, ready to go after my Veterans

But on activation, my Scorpion targeted Mag and finally got some sixes... given his already two wounds, the big guy died!!!

Adam responded by hitting my Scorpion again but I would pass the panic and heal up

I took Othell on the Crown to put a wound on Varamyr who was camped on the right objective

And Adam went and failed his panic check for another 3 wounds

My Veterans charged and killed the badly wounded giant, before being charged by the other giant under last of its kind card.

END OF ROUND 4

NIGHTS WATCH 7 VP's (3 units, 4 objectives)

FREE FOLK 5 VP's (2 units, 3 objectives)

ROUND 5

I took the swords and did three wounds on the savage giant, who then

activated and attacked back and killed me.

Adam healed the Giant, but the Scorpion did two more wounds. Othell did another, and with two wounds left, it fell to a panic failure. The death of the Giant came just as don't start another round was called.

END OF ROUND 5 (& GAME)

FREE FOLK 9 VP's (3 units, 6 objective)

NIGHTS WATCH 8 VP's (4 units, 4 objectives

A second defeat, a lot closer and a really cracking game. My Spearmen held the centre magnificently for a while but I was always up against it and Varamyr led a charmed life early on. Adam certainly gave me a chance when I dropped Mag and he failed two panic checks. The Scorpion would not fail a panic check and kept healing every time he passed which was hilarious after Adam's pre-game boast. A deserved win for Adam, and a really fun game...

GAME 3

STEVE "BALDYBUDD" BUDD

Scenario: A Feast for Crows

HOSUE BARATHEON

Steve had travelled down from Aberdeen with Nick (and Doug) and

the trio were at the Ribble Rumble last year, and again this year. Never played him,

but I don't like Baratheons. I opted for my Aggressive list as felt it was better suited

given the armour I'd need to crack, as below...

King's Men with Stannis Baratheon - The One True King (C)

R'hllor Queen's Men with Devan Seaworth

R'hllor Faithful with Justin Massey

R'hllor Lightbringers with Davos Seaworth

 Crownland Scouts with Dragonstone Noble 

NCU's

Patchface & Lord Varys

RANDOM TERRAIN AND DEPLOYMENT

Terrain: Stakes, Weirwood,Weirwood

BARATHEONS: Crownland Scouts, Queen's Men, R'hllor Faithful,

(R'hllor Lightbringers behind). Stannis's King's Men

NIGHTS WATCH: Ghost, Jon's Rangers, Veterans, Benjen Sworn Brothers,

Cotter Sworn Brothers

I was more spread out than I'd like but planned to leave centre

where Lightbringers would be covering and hit both flanks

ROUND 1

I had Aemon take Letters and add to my initial hand (2 x Shield)

After Steve took Horses, I had Othell take the Swords and shot down a Crownland Scout who was healed up from the bags later. But ghost took two wounds from Varys doing 3 hits on him when I took the swords

Ghost on half wounds already

I stuck to my plan and spread my forces, hanging back with the veterans

ROUND 2

Steve moved the R'hllor Faithful were moved up off of the Horses

I had Aemon take the bags and heal Ghost before Steve took the Letters

I sent Cotters Brothers over onto the right objective. And Steve marched his R'hllor Faithful right between my Veterans and Benjens unit...

Steve made a Reckless Heroism charge into Jon Snows unit with Devan, killing six. And then I then went and failed the panic check for another two dead.

I attacked back from the swords, but then used swift strike to move away before shooting into the Rh'llor. Ghost was poised to go after the crownland Scouts, but forgot they had tactical reposition and they moved close enough to get a charge in and kill my wolf

I charged Jon on activation into the Rhllor faithful

But the Lightbringers were able to get in bow range and shot me in the back

Had I not been vulnerable, Jon would have survived. As it was, not quite...

But that did allow watcher on the wall to be played, allowing Cotter Pyke to get close enough to charge the faithful in the flank and retrieve the objective from the corpse pile from Jon's demise. Sadly, that gave Stannis a corpse pile in range of him

END OF ROUND 2

BARATHEONS 4 VP's (2 units, 2 objectives)

NIGHTS WATCH 3 VP's (1 unit, 2 objectives)

BOARD END OF ROUND 2

I activated first and charged into Stannis, as I couldn't win sitting back and being shot by Lightbringers. I hit them first with Cotter Pyke, who lost some men when Steve took the Swords. But then Benjen went in the front.

Sadly, I didn't have Critical Blow or Precision...

With Weirwood around, Stannis was passing the panics and had Baratheon Conviction played twice...

And then there was my own armour saves when I got shot by the Lightbringers

That hurt rather a lot...

But having moved off of the Horses, the Queens Men were advancing hard. With the help of tactical reposition, they closed in.

Before Reckless heroism allowed them to flank Benjen

The Crownland Scouts took the left objective as the Baratheons had cut me in half for the second time

END OF ROUND 3

BARATHEONS 7 VP's (3 units, 4 objectives)

NIGHTS WATCH 3 VP's (1 unit, 2 objectives)

ROUND 4

Steve took the Swords, attacking Cotters Brothers after turning to face. I healed them up off of the bags with Aemon

Stannis attacked again!!!

Cotters unit was down to two men, so my veterans charged the Queens Men

I killed one and was decimate in return by the Lightbringers, dropping to a single rank with some truly shocking defence dice and three wounds from panic.

Devan's Queen's Men finished them off with ease, securing the objective

Cotter Pyke was left as the sole survivor, as the Baratheons took the victory...

BOARD END OF ROUND 4 (and GAME)

END OF ROUND 4 & GAME

BARATHEONS 11 VP's (4 units, 7 objectives)

NIGHTS WATCH 3 VP's (1 unit, 2 objectives)

Dice weren't great again but this heavy defeat was simply down to Steve's marching into the centre of my lines and me having to react to that move. It exposed my rear and split any mutual support and he took my army apart piecemeal after it. He was more mobile and used the horses to maximum effect. Stannis was always gonna be tough to bring down but two units of Sworn Brothers should have done better... Well played Steve

GAME 4

SHANE "ANKERMAN" ANKERS

Scenario: Honed & Ready

NEUTRALS

Shane normally runs Baratheons but given the lesson I'd just received

from Steve I was glad to see I would be facing Neutrals. I again opted for my Aggressive

list, as I don't think its bad and is the better of the two for objective holding against a

lightly armoured force as below

Bloody Mummer Skirmishers with Vargo Hoat (C)

Golden Company Crossbowmen with Biter

Stormcrow Dervishes with Rorge

Bloody Mummer Zorse Riders with Glory Seeker

NCU's

Lord Varys & Jaqen H'ghar

Random Terrain & Deployment

TERRAIN: Woods, Weirwood, Stakes, Wall, Corpse pile

NEUTRALS: Zorse Riders, Dervishes, Vargo's Skirmishers,

GC Crossbowmen, Zorse Riders

NIGHTS WATCH: Veterans, Cotter's Brothers, Jon's Rangers, Ghost, Benjen's Brothers

ROUND 1

I had Aemon take the Letters and weaken the Crossbows. I had two For the Watch and two fire that Burns against the Cold

Shane took the horses, so I had Othell take the bags to prevent healing

Othell caused 3 wounds on the left Zorses...

BOARD END OF ROUND 1

I was hanging back a bit to avoid the Zorses getting around me

ROUND 2

Taking the Swords, Shane had the Crossbows shoot down Ghost...

So I used Cotter to charge into the Dervishes over the Stakes.

I didnt do well and then Vargo charged in with his Mummer Skirmishers

So I moved Jon up and his rangers shot into the Dervishes

The Zorse Riders hitting my flank finished off the unit

I should have rolled better...

As the Zorse Riders sped off, I had a flank charge into the Mummer skirmisher with the Veterans

It was a 2+, and I used For the Watch to re-roll after the first 1...

END OF ROUND 2

NEUTRALS 2 VP's (2 units)

NIGHTS WATCH 0 VP's

Board End of Round 2

My forces were totally dissected again

ROUND 3

I was surrounded again and two units down. I activated Jon's Rangers to shoot the GC Crossbowmen. I did this to attach The fire that burns but I failed the morale check

The Stormcrows charged in over the stakes and took a lot of damage, while I lost two men

I healed up off of the bags

I was flanked by Vargo's Skirmishers but Shane couldn't assassinate me as I had activated and so I wasn't weakened. I did drop quite a few Ranger though, but had a rear charge into the Mummers

Unfortunately the with disrupt I need 4+ and despite the re-rolls, could only manage one hit

Jon and his Rangers were cut down by the Zorse Riders...

And the second unit of Zorse riders went into the flank of my veterans. To my dismay, I lost all abilities (disrupt, counterstrike, relentless) and was cut down to three men.

Before the panic in the flank and with Weirwood. I failed and died

Fortunately, the Fire that Burns against the cold allowed me a re-roll

With my army in tatters, the Watcher in the wall allowed Benjen to go after the

Zorses in my rear deployment. And dropped them to one wound!!!

And they failed the panic!!! Alas, Iron resolve meant no wounds

BOARD END OF ROUND 3

END OF ROUND 3

NEUTRALS 3 VP's (3 units)

NIGHST WATCH 1 VP (1 objective)

ROUND 4

I threw a panic check from the Crown and Iron Resolve stopped any wounds again!!!

Shane retreated the Zorses out as his forces closed in. I did manage to finish off a Zorse unit with Othell

END OF ROUND 4

NEUTRALS 5 VP's (4 units, 1 objective)

NIGHST WATCH 2 VP's (1 unit, objective)

ROUND 5

I charged the Zorse riders again and cut them down toa single model again

The Dervishes flanked me as a result of me not destroying the Zorses

I made five out of seven 5+ saves

But I was Vulnerable so I lost five before the panic

They then retreated out and bounced back in with Issue Commands and wiped me out

END OF ROUND 5 (& Game)

NEUTRALS 7 VP's (5 units, 2 objectives)

NIGHTS WATCH 2 VP's (2 objectives)

Shane laughed all the way through that game, at my dice, at my antics, and at his ability to totally outmaneuver and easily outplay me. The double one charge hurt so bad, and damn if those Zorse riders totally neutered my army. A disastrous first day, but at least I would be facing Johnny Bone and his Boltons in the morning...

EVENING OUT

The evening social event is always a good craic up in the north East. The Dead Meta lads are all a good laugh...

But I was too busy eating my ribs...

DAY 2

GAME 5

JOHNNY "JBone" BULL

Scenario: Dark Wings, Dark Words

HOUSE BOLTON

I've played Johnny a couple of times and always came out on top

We had spent the previous night out chatting about the game, our previous encounters and how we would cope with Dark Wings, Dark Words,

a seldom played tournament scenario

Cutthroats with Steelshanks Walton (C)

Cutthroats with Ramsay Snow & Reek

Bastard's Girls with Damon Dance-For-Me

Dreadfort Archers with Sour Alyn

 Flayed Men with Glory Seeker 

NCU's

Shae & Walda Frey

I opted for the Aggressive list again

RANDOM TERRAIN & DEPLOYMENT

BOLTON: Bastard Girls, Steelshanks Cutthroats, Archers, Cutthroats, Flayed Men

NIGHTS WATCH: Jon's Rangers, Ghost, Cotters Brothers, Veteran, Benjens Brothers

ROUND 1

MISSIONS

Score 2 VP off centre objective

Score 1 VP for each enemy engaged you out rank

I took the Horses first to move the Veterans up, while Johnny took Letters.

I used Othell on swords and dropped four Bastard girls who were healed up off bags.

I moved up quite quickly and took the centre and prepared to hit the Bolton hard on the left.

As I had played For the Watch on Jon when they had activated, so I could charge off of the Horses

Johnny's last action was to shoot with his archers, taking Critical blow from Sour Alyn.

Yeah, that's nine hits!!!

And I was Vulnerable from the Letters...

(I failed seven of nine straight away, but did make one)

And bloody well failed another panic...

The Fire that Burns was played...

And I did manage to pass the re-roll

BOARD END OF ROUND 1

END OF ROUND 1

NIGHTS WATCH 2 VP's ( 2 Mission)

BOLTONS 0 VP's

ROUND 2

Johnny has Shae take the Swords to shoot with the Dreadfort Archers, opting for Critical blow again

Johnny also put a panic on me form the generic pool that Boltons now have...

That was new to me!!!

Woohoo!!! With the Shields that guard the Realm of Men, I manged to make FIVE saves from seven hits, taking two wounds...

However, as you would expect, I failed the panic due to the corpse pile...

Still, not to worry as Aemon took the Horses and charged the Bastard Girls.

Or rather failed to!!! (Note the activation banner)

Despite charging off the horses, I mistakenly activated the unit and then activated Ghost and charged into the B'stard Girls killing four...

I think Johnny healed them from the Bags, so I had cotter use Reckless Heroism for one wound to charge Ramsays Cuthroats...

I scored seven hits...

And with Vulnerable, they took all seven wounds...

AND THEN IT DAWNED ON ME!!! If you didn't read it properly, yes, I charged Jon off of the Horses, but then I activated Ghost to hit the Bastard Girls. We had gone too far to go back, but it was a cock up. And it was my fault. So I had to say that Aemon on Horses was wasted activation, and the the failed charge and Ghost were actual activations. Sorted...

So Johnny activated the Bastard Girls, and attacked Ghost. I got four hits, and saved one...

With Vicious, and a Weirwood Johnny said need 3+. I said, well he still fails on a double one now anyway! True conversation, right before I rolled!!!

You really couldn't make this shit up....

Ah well, Othell on the Walls shot up Steelshank's unit

I dropped the unit with a failed panic...

which gave me panic tokens in short range

The Flayed men decided to get into the action but the corpse pile helped and Benjen's men held well

So Johnny resorted to tried and tested, taking Critical Blow again for eight hits from the Dreadfort Archers...

That destroyed my unit, due to another failed panic check...

BOARD END OF ROUND 2

END OF ROUND 2

NIGHTS WATCH 3 VP's (1 unit, 2 Missions)

BOLTONS 3 VP's ( 3 units)

ROUND 3

MISSIONS

Unengaged unit in enemy deployment 2 VP's

Enemy kills friend, gain 2 VPs if you kill em

Johnny played Cruel methods, removing a panic and healing four. then taking the Swords, they shot and charged into Cotters flank

With Vulnerable and Panicked, I had six wounds... and I died. But I did have Watcher on the Wall so I was able to pivot and charge with Jon's rangers, and scored 2VPs from the mission for avenging Cotter.

I also sped off away from the Flayed Men into Johnny's deployment when I activated

END OF ROUND 3

NIGHTS WATCH 8 VP's (2 units, 6 Missions)

BOLTONS 4 VP's ( 4 units)

ROUND 4

Johnny had came up fast end of last round with the a march on his Flayed Men

He activated his Flayed Men and charged my fully rejuvenated Rangers

I lost seven Rangers

Aemon healed them a bit as I took the Swords and attacked back

which allowed me to attack and retreat and shoot

Three wounds was the result, but I was still unactivated

The Dreadfort Archers cut me down and the only hope I had was to kill the Flayed Men.

So I charged in in a blur...

But no re-rolls as I rolled a one

Johnny took the Crowns and zapped Jon and the two remaining Rangers

Engaged with the Flayed men meant Intimidating Presence and I need a seven or I fail with plus one wound. Yeah, the dice did me again!!!

BOARD END OF ROUND 4 (& Game)

END OF ROUND 4 (& GAME)

NIGHTS WATCH 8 VP's (2 units, 6 Missions)

BOLTONS 6 VP's ( 5 units, 1 Mission)

BOLTON WIN by tabling

JOHNNY'S BONE'S BOLTONS

"BEAUTIFUL BUT BAD ASS"

GAME 6

JAMES "James kira" KIRA

Scenario: A Game of Thrones

HOUSE GREYJOY

James is another DMG lad, my third this weekend and facing me from

twelfth spot as everyone in between had already beaten me. Always good games,

but James was slightly worse for wear having been out 'til 0200 with Andy and Ste...

James was running a solid Greyjoy infantry list.

Silenced Men with Baelor Blacktyde - Lord of Blacktyde (C)

Ironborn Reavers with Warsworn

Ironborn Reavers with Theon Greyjoy - Kinslayer

Ironborn Reavers with Drowned Prophet

Ironborn Trappers with Qarl - Asha's Champion

NCU's

 Erik Ironmaker, Balon Greyjoy & Aeron Greyjoy 

I had had enough of the Aggressive list, so took the Defensive

list to hold one half of the board and also felt James would opt for his Drowned Men list.

I hoped for a Wood so I could put it in my area for the Spearmen

RANDOM TERRAIN & DEPLOYMENT

TERRAIN: Wood, bog and Corpse pile (I placed Corpse pile, rather than wood first)

Not a good start...

GREYJOY: Reavers, Reavers, Silenced Men, Reavers, Trappers

NIGHTS WATCH: Spearmen, Conscripts, Scorpion, Veterans

ROUND 1

I put Quorin on the Letters, going up to six cards and giving Theon's Reavers a panic token

And a nice spread with two Light that Brings the Dawn...

We played through the tactics board quickly. After Letters, James took Swords to stop me shooting, so I took Horses to move it up, James took Crown but Conscripts passed panic. I shot off the bags with Othell

The Scorpion would advance to cover the centre and far right objective, I planned...

And Othell's shots all hit!!! Could this be a turn of the dice at last???

Four of Theons Reavers died

My Veterans marched up on the right and matched by Dagmar's Reavers

Our forces closed in, with Conscripts hanging back. The Spearmen would be hard pressed to hold the centre.

BOARD END OF ROUND 1

ROUND 2

Damphair took the Letters

I decided to be aggressive with my defensive unit!!!

I charged the Silenced Men over the bog, taking the centre objective

I only managed three hits...

And only killed one from that, but two died from panic

Fortunately, attacking off of the swords, James's dice came out in sympathy

with my own from the previous five games

My Captain's Relentless kicked in with six hits but James saved half of them

Activating Jon in the Veterans, I charged into Theon's depleted Reavers...

The nine dice were due to Jon and also Quorin's influence...

In the centre, both the Spearmen and the Silenced Men had healed up fully...

My Spearmen got hit hard by a Reaver charge, failing the panic...

But their losses were replenished from the Conscripts and also Unyielding which meant I didn't lose the rank

My last activation was Othell hitting Theons Reavers with four shots

cutting them down when they fled in panic...

BOARD END OF ROUND 2

END OF ROUND 2

GREYJOYS 2 VP's (2 objectives)

NIGHTS WATCH 1 VP (1 unit)

ROUND 3

I took the Swords with Quorin, giving me nine attacks with the Spearmen who butchered Baelor and his Silenced Men, with James failing both his To the Last...

I had to apologise as I was a bit smug playing Take the Black to heal up my Spearmen and add Baelor (Asha stand-in) to my ranks

The tactics board filled up and after Qarl refused to charge my Veterans, I used Watcher on the Wall to turn and then charge them. I butchered them to a single rank, before Othell on the wall

delivered the coup de grace

In the centre, the Greyjoys decided the relentless Captain was too much and they retreated

END OF ROUND 3

GREYJOYS 3 VP's (3 objectives)

NIGHTS WATCH 4 VP's (3 units, 1 objective)

ROUND 4 & 5

Balon had brought on the Silenced Men last round. Going first, they charged my Scorpion

They failed to kill it, so I took the Swords and attacked back, killing four. James took the letters to win spot prize for the round while i brought the Conscripts around to take far objective, and my Veterans decimate the Silenced Men again, after I used Horses to retreat Scorpion and shoot them in the rear on activation. Meanwhile, the Reavers went into the flank of my Spearmen, who set for charge before the attack, and relentless after the attack. The Reavers were destroyed and we played through the round 5 as I simply went for objectives...

END OF ROUND 5

NIGHTS WATCH 10VP's ( 5 units, 5 objectives)

GREYJOYS 4 VP's (4 objectives)

James was really unlucky, particularly with failed panic checks on Baelor's Silenced Men, not passing a single to the last check and the Veterans charge into Qarl's trappers and ripping them apart. That being said, my Spearmen were phenomenal, as their Watch Captain and Set for Charge really actually worked. It was good to get a win, but pretty sure Andy and Ste's late night helped me...

FINAL STANDINGS

Despite losing his first game, Mickey "Masarath" Arnold became King of the North winning the Northern Grand Tournament and gaining the Crown of the North

Stephen "PsychoSte" Connor snotted Andy to come second, with Chris "chris-fnm" Baker taking third

Andy won three of the five spot prizes, claiming a Martell bag and ruler and also a Baratheon one

I also got a few prizes...

which I was pretty happy and embarrassed about

BEST IN FACTION: NIGHTS WATCH

(On account of being the only Nights Watch player)

WOODEN SPOON

"Last Place"

(Spoon, new dice and tray from Yecats)

MOST SPORTING OPPONENT

Well happy with this, £20 voucher at Pro-Tech

plus free entry to East Anglia Grand Tournament in June

(As of now, 4 spaces of 70 remain)

And also this, a Brotherhood Without Banners Starter set. It was supposed to be given to Most Sporting but the East Anglia ticket and gift Voucher were deemed sufficient. I got this for being a pillar of the community because someone, or two players said really nice things about me being a decent bloke and helping them out with travel. (i.e. I gave them a lift to the train station. I know who you are and thanks, but really wasn't any need. I don't drink and it is just saving you hassle)

And Andy gave me this cos I didn't have them. Legend!!!

With hindsight, lack of range was what did me in three of the five defeats, the Stark Bowmen, Lightbringer's and Dreadfort Archers really hurting my hard melee units. And I don't wanna talk about Zorse riders...

A big thanks to all my opponents, I really enjoyed the beatings and sorry to James for his dice luck. Alan and Aaron, great event and really hope to see you guys at more events, the tournament scene is not the same without Dead Meta Gaming and the fun bus you used to fill...

If you love a fun, friendly gaming atmosphere, get up to the North-East for their next event

EVENTS

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