Saturday 15 January 2022

A Song of Dice and Figures IV , a four game event at Justplay

 Great start to the New Year with a great event down at Justplay

11 players showed up, and I was running my Greyjoys in preparation for the Always Winter GT in Stirling on 21st/22nd of January and trying to win a game with them... (Five losses so far)

My two lists were more fluff orientated, as below:

LIST 1

• Ironborn Trappers with Asha Greyjoy - The Kraken's Daughter (C) & Qarl - Asha's Champion • House Harlaw Reapers with Warsworn • Ironborn Reavers with Warsworn • Ironborn Reavers • Ironborn Bowmen • Ironborn Bowmen with Reaver Captain NCU's: Rodrik Harlaw, Tristifer Botley LIST 2

• Blacktyde Chosen with Victarion Greyjoy - The Iron Captain (C) • Ironborn Reavers with Nute The Barber • Ironborn Reavers • Ironborn Reavers • Ironborn Reavers • Ironborn Bowmen NCU's: Wendamyr ,Aeron Greyjoy

GAME 1

Stephen Connor (Psychoste) HOUSE STARK

As luck would have it, I got drawn against Ste in the first game, our resident unbeaten in our league (9 from 9) Stark player. I figure as I'd given him a lift down he'd go easy on me though...

Ste's force consisted of 

• Eddard's Honor Guard with Eddard Stark - Lord of Winterfell (C) • House Tully Sworn Shields with Mormont Veteran • House Tully Cavaliers with Glory Seeker • Stark Bowmen NCU's • Catelyn Stark, Petyr Baelish, Tycho Nestoris
The Scenario was Feast for Crows and set up as below, with 2 Weirwoods, woods and stakes on my left

Ste set up with Cavaliers on my centre-left, Bowmen, Sworns Shields and Honour guard on my right

I though about keeping the bowmen with captain on board, but prospect of shooting Eddard in rear was too tempting. Set up left to right:Reavers with Warsworn, Trappers with Asha and Qarl, Bowmen,
Reavers and Harlaw Reapers with Warsworn on my


Ste (Stats handle PsychoSte) telepathically linking the dice...


                                                                               TURN 1

Nothing strange Turn 1 as we both advanced. Did have a fun and friendly argument regarding his bowmen shooting out of the woods and stating I couldn't return fire. The wording of cover is clear

• COVER: When tracing Line of Sight for Ranged Attacks, Line of Sight may not be traced through this terrain piece by units not inside this terrain piece.

If you drive through a tunnel, you go in one end and out the other. Shooting into is not the same as shooting through!!! Plenty of analogies used to differentiate between into and through and plenty of opinions to the contrary. But just before threat of Ste getting a taxi home, it was pointed out that I could still see edge of unit to shoot back (around) the trees. Still bollocks interpretation, never had that issue at Ribble Rumble (but then I did rule about that before hand). Kinda academic anyway as I shot the Tully Sworn shields next turn anyway...


TURN 2

Going first I took the horse and brought the Bowmen on behind Eddard. Ste brought Eddard unit back to face them, figuring he had a card activation. I took a 4+ charge to flank them with Asha and the Trappers. Qarl assassinated the Mormont Veteran!!!


The Trappers scored half their attacks, but the Sworn Shields order blocked them all


Still, gave the Stark bowmen a good shot...


But that could wait as the Honor Guard charged the bowmen...


They melted and created an easy 2 VP's for Ste and Eddard...


So on the right things weren't great, so I seized initiative and made  second 4+ charge to get stuck into the Tully Cavaliers...  And the dice weren't good for the cavalry!!!


Ste popped Tycho early as he couldnt risk further attacks with Sundering...


My other Reavers crossed the corpse pile and got stuck into the front of the Sworn Shield doign a single wound...


My dice rolls were better than of late too...


The Cavaliers attack back on the right reduced my Reavers to half sadly...

Board End of Turn 2


END OF TURN 2

HOUSE STARK 3 VP's               (2 objective, 1 unit destroyed)

HOUSE GREYJOY 1 VP                                        (1 Objective)



TURN 3

Ste activated of the Swords, wiping out the Reavers on my left and dropping a corpse pile behind his bowmen...


Eddard left his corpse pile to hit the Harlaw Reapers, hard, with a card activation Fury of the Fallen  charge


But they passed their morale check and got to heal a bit...Seeing this, Eddard retreated back onto his corpse pile when he activated. The Sworn shields held up well for the most part, and rather than take the Trappers in the rear, Ste played the scenario and sent the Cavaliers over to seize the left objective.


END OF TURN 3

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

HOUSE GREYJOY         2 VP's                        (2 Objectives)


Turn 4

I took the swords and had the Trappers attack, with Qarl auto wounding and chipping away. The bowmen shot my flank, and I then activated and attacked...


With Reavers activating and hitting on 2's now with Sundering , the Sworn Shields came apart!!!


I flanked with Reapers, wiping them out but Ste had the game in the bag with his objective control


END OF TURN 4 and Game

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

HOUSE GREYJOY                  4 VP's                      (3 objectives, 1 Unit)

I should not have deployed bowmen for outflank, should have started them on. Starks have too many movement shenanigans to counter it and it gifted Ste objectives point for Eddard. Comfortable win for Ste, but I'd performed better than my previous two Greyjoy efforts against him and his Starks (tabled twice!!!)


GAME 2

Dom Murphy (Dom76) - NIGHT's WATCH

Dom Murphy is another local of Liverpool area we met at last event in Justplay and he brought a rather friendly, six activation Nights Watch list for the match in round 2 where we would be playing Honed and Ready. I stuck with my Asha list

Sworn Brothers with Jon Snow - 998th Lord Commander (C) Ranger Vanguards with Fortune Seeker Builder Crossbowmen with Pypar - Monkey Veterans of the Watch with Bronn - The Sellsword NCU's Aemon & Lord Varys
Scenery was left to right: stakes, Weirwood, corpse pile, bog

Dom kept Ranger Vanguards off board to outflank in Turn 2 (as he chose to go second turn 1)

He deployed Bronn and Veterans on my leftleft, Crossbows central, Jon and Sworn Bros right.

I countered with Reavers left, Reavers with Warsworn, Harlaw Reapers with Warsworn, Bowmen and Trappers far right... 


TURN 1

I took the letters for better to use Rodrik with 5 cards. The Bulder Crossbowmen moved up off horses


The Builders marched up onto the centre objective...


I then applied pressure for Turn 2...


And  a wee bit more!!!


Board, End of Turn 1

I'd lost 2 reavers to the Crossbows when Aemon too the swords and planned to brave the bolts!!!


Tactics Board End of Turn 1



TURN 2 

Varys took the Horses for the Vanguards to come on... And I forgot about Tristifer's MAIN ability!!! (Once per game, at the start of the round, you can select one zone that cannot be claimed that round)


Unsurprisingly, they came onto threaten Asha and the Trappers. 


They activated and turned to face. I thought this might encourage them to go for the bowmen, but alas, no...


In they charged...


7 dice on 4+'s due to disrupt with my nets, well, that's worth a picture. Not a single hit, but Dom did have his charge re-roll thankfully and got a few hits in but not much, and Asha easily passed morale...


I took a flank shot with my bowmen...


And thanks to those rerolls the dice came up trumps with six hits...


Alas, Dom saved 3...


but lost a rank due to failed panic. I charged in with the Reapers, who lost a mere two men on the "Ready; Aim; Release!!!" Order despite the rerolls for short range...


I leathered them, and they retreated from melee with Pypar. They then healed, but were charged by the Reavers with the Warsworn, leaving two men.  who were then hit by "We do not sow activation". Proper pile on in the centre!!!


With Bronn and the Veterans sitting it out I was content to do the same with my Reavers. Jon too sat on the objective... Board at end of Turn 2


END OF TURN 2

HOUSE GREYJOY 5 VP's (4 Objectives, 1 unit)

THE NIGHT's WATCH 3 VP's (3 objectives)


TURN 3

I activated first in turn 3, seizing the horses with Tristifer to bring on my outflanking archers...


The Night's watch were now outnumbered two units to one, and Dom turned to face the bowmen.


I snatched the swords to give the Trappers an attack


And with Qarl auto-wounding, the Vanguards dropped...


They healed up...


But got cut down again...


Meanwhile, Jon Snow and his Sworn brothers were being shot front and rear...


The vanguards healed up again...


Jon got shot again...


END OF TURN 3

HOUSE GREYJOY 9 VP's (8 objectives, 1 unit)

THE NIGHT's WATCH 6 VP's (6 Objectives)

Board end of Turn 3


Tristifer selected swords and bags if Aemon took them would result in tokens being dished out. So Dom took the crown and healed anyway. I had Tristifer take the swords


And had Asha and the Trappers attack, with Qarl delivering the coup de grace...


Dom struck back with it shall not end but it was a last huzzah and they went down...


The bowmen continued to shoot up the Sworn Brothers...


Re-rolls in the rear certainly helps...


With the game overbar the shouting, the veterans charged my Reavers, doing enough to stop me scoring off the left objective...


END OF TURN 4 and GAME

HOUSE GREYJOY          13 VP's          (11 objectives, 2 units)

THE NIGHT's WATCH             8 VP's                                 (8 objectives)

This scenario certainly helped, as I could concentrate my forces while picking up objectives whereas Dom had to spread out to pick up points. The Trappers held and healed well, while the Builder Crossbowmen were overwhelmed by the Reavers and Reapers. And so finally I had my first win with Greyjoys...

GAME 3

Christopher Ainsworth (cainsworth89) HOUSE STARK

Chris beat me in the last game of the last Justplay event, robbing me of first place and taking it himself (ok, so beating me fair and square in reality). So I knew this would be tough and he had a tough Eddard list
• Eddard's Honor Guard with Eddard Stark - Lord of Winterfell (C) • House Tully Sworn Shields • Stark Bowmen • House Mormont She-Bears with Rickon Stark - Prince of Winterfell and Osha • House Umber Greataxes (7) NCU's Catelyn Stark & Tycho Nestoris I was facing this off with List 2, Victarion and the Reaver horde

TURN 1

We marked up units for the scenario which was FIre & Blood.With only 1.5hr per game, we got straight
to it and so missed set up pics.

So as you can see, we'd already engaged on my left...


I could bring extra unit around from my left, and that was my only real plan other than get stuck in


I managed to get the drop on the Greataxes on my right with Nute and his Reavers activating off Rush of Aggression


And when I brought Victarion and his Blacktyde Chosen up, the She-Bears charged in. While I dropped men, I attacked back off of We do Not Sow and decimated the Mormont unit. Nute was in trouble being flanked by the Honour Guard!!!


TURN 2

Again, part way in... Very messy on the board!!!


Nute's Reavers were in deep trouble and was wiped out, while the central tussle with the Blacktyde Chosen and the mormont She-Bears was finely balanced...


But Raiding call allowed me to bolster the Chosen from the bowmen as Eddard had advanced up from a surge forth...


And they lashed out in style...


Wiping out the unit and garnering a massive 5 VP's due to being marked, Rickon and Victarion marking them extra too. Oh, and rather than surge Forth, Victarion gets to charge (like a Mini-Mountain). The result was a much depleted Honour Guard!!!


Good card use allowed Eddard to retreat, and bring the Greataxes in to block the Reavers from charging. But I'd flanked the Sworn shields and was looking in a very good position to start Turn 3.


TURN 3

I was primed to charge the 3 men left in the Honour guard with Victarion. But start of turn, Swift reposition had been picked up by Chris and it literally saved the game for the Starks!!! He shifted 2" from the above picture, blocking me from a frontal charge. I tried a Wndamyr shift to see if could hit the flank, and though it was close, the consensus was against me. I didnt cry but wanted to. Instead, I hammered the bowmen. Chris, I have to say, then played a blinder. Playing Fury of the Fallen Honour guard after I had attacked the Stark bowmen, Eddard tried to charge the Ironborn Bowmen. They failed the charge. But then activated to charge in and clear them out, having marked them first.  Also, the Sworn Shields wiped out a unit of reavers...


END OF TURN 3

HOUSE STARK 5 VP's

HOUSE GREYJOY 5 VP's

TURN 4

It was a proper scrap, and very tense but to summarise, the Greataxes killed the marked reavers. I tried to finish off Eddard with a  flank charge, but fluffed it and lost that unit. I did kill the Stark bowmen after marking them up for an extra point, then flanked the Tully Sworn Shields with Assault Orders


And really that was it. The game ended with a swirling melee in the centre and it had been incrdibly swingy and close. 


END OF TURN 4

HOUSE STARK 13 VP's

HOUSE GREYJOY 8 VP's

Cracking first outing for Victarion, in probably the best scenario for the army I'd picked. Straight in an at em, as was Chris's list. I had him but for that perfectly timed pick up, and yea, Chris played a blinder. Catelyn allowed a reduced Honour Guard to run riot in my rear and recover from the loss of Rickon. Damn, but great game!!!

GAME 4

John Wall (Johnw) - NIGHT's WATCH

Scenario: A Game of Thrones

So two defeats to Eddard led Starks, and I was facing another Jon Snow led Night's Watch. Could I make it two win's versus him and them? Jon's list was as below, adn was a nasty blend of healing and shooting but not worst I've seen:
• Ranger Hunters with Jon Snow - 998th Lord Commander (C) • Ghost • Builder Crossbowmen with Watch Captain • Conscripts • Conscripts NCU's: Aemon, Bowen Marsh & Tycho Nestoris I was running Victarion again, to go two for each

TURN 1

Below is pretty much the end of Turn 1. Nute led the charge and with Rush of aggression as both sides
moved up the field


Tactics board filled up quickly...


Blacktyde chosen had borne the brunt of teh crossbow shooting hence why Nute had rushed across the board.


I mean it looked good but they were very exposed...


Still, they'd taken them down a rank but at a cost of half their own...


And the Watch Captain retreated to set up for next turn rather than swing swords...

But Ghost had advanced up early onto the objective which I saw as an opportunity


TURN 2

Exact sequence is missing but I believe John took Swords and finished off Nute and his Reavers. I countered with Rush of Aggression (I'd picked up two in my inital hand but used it on the Reavers on my left to smash into Ghost. With Sundering, I scored 6 hits and John failed 4 saves, killing the wolf and allowing me to take the objective. Jon Snow moved up, and the conscripts by-passed the Reavers on my left. My centre Reavers destroyed the stakes on activating, and with me first next turn, having survived some more bolts, my Blacktyde chosen took the centre objective.


END OF TURN 2

NIGHT's WATCH 3 VP's(3 objectives)

HOUSE GREYJOY 5VP's (4 objectives, 1 unit)

TURN 3

I activated Damphair NCU, after using Wendamyr's token to shit 3", then used Assault orders to charge into the conscripts, badly mauling them. John healed them up, but I played assault order when Victarions unit activated and wiped them out...



Killing the unit also allowed me to be out of range of the Crossbowmen...


The game had swung heavily in my favour with that attack


John tried to close range but with my superior activation count, I moved my right hand Reavers off the objective to blcok a Jon Snow Ranger attack on it. I then moved the Ironborn bowmen onto it to secure it.


The Rangers did attack, cutting down several Reavers...


But my morale was up...


The unit survived with 3 men left as the Rangers fell back onto the objective...


John took the centre objective and I failed to deny him scoring from it...


END OF TURN 3 and Game

HOUSE GREYJOY 10 VP's (8 objectives, 2 units)

THE NIGHT's WATCH 6 VP's (5 objectives, 1 unit)


That was scary, and a good game for me based purely on the card draw. 5 of the 6 played (discarded one) were Victarion's cards. Getting the qick kill on Ghost gave me the upper hand, and the charge over to save the Blacktyde Chosen AND kill the conscripts worked a treat...


So with that, I'd had two wins and two defeats, winning and losing with both commanders. 1.5 hours aren't ideal, but understand the desire to get 4 games in. I finished 8th overall (as with 11 players, 4 players got auto wins) but that's not biggy, was just happy to get some practice in and get a few wins under my belt.

Below, we have a blurry (for the best) picture of the top 3. Raymond (Mr Ray) took top spot with four wins with his Baratheons. Colin (Kolco) took second with Targaryens, and Aden (Spykr) took a surprise third with Greyjoys (which is great, as Aden is less competitive than many in our group and has been plugging away without too many wins, so to come third was a great result)


Well played to all the competitors, no real issue (apart from the fecking Woods). John had left early but to put faces to names, from front left to right we have the following:

Chris Ainsworth (cainsworth89) - Front left STARK
Aden  (spykr) - Middle left GREYJOY
Brian McGonigle ie me (Bannockburn) - Back forehead and hair GREYJOY
Matthew Ainsworth (Otter) - Front mid left NIGHTs WATCH
Andy Robinson (Lord Robbo) - Middle blue mask GREYJOY
Colin Deane (Kolco) - Back centre TARGARYEN
David Anderson (DavidAnderson) - Front and centre, white mask BARATHEON
Raymond Grieves (Mr Ray) - Middle Centre and smiling BARATHEON
Stephen Connor (Psychoste) - second from right  STARK
Dom Murphy (Dom76) - Right - NIGHTs WATCH




Link to games and results on ASOIF-STATS  Justplay IV



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