Whispers of the Drakwald Forest

 That's my fourth event over with and Im beginning to feel like I know what I'm doing. I came fourth out of 14 which I'm very happy with, I never expect to do well so knowing I was very close to getting an award is quite a boost. I'm not sure how I would have reacted if I found out I'd won something at the time, I'm not very good at social stuff.

My army.

General of the Empire[308 pts]

Full plate armour, Shield, General, Griffon, The White Cloak, Sword of Justice

Grand Master[277 pts]

Pegasus, Dragon Slaying Sword, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Talisman of Protection

Wizard Lord[272 pts]

Hand weapon, Wizard [Level 4 Wizard], Empire Warhorse, Armour of Tarnus, Wizard's Familiar, Lore Familiar, Elementalism

Captain of the Empire[132 pts]

Shield, Brace of pistols, Battle Standard Bearer [Monster Hunter's Tapestry], Twice-Blessed Armour

Priest of Sigmar[66 pts]

Additional hand weapon, Heavy armour, On foot

Core Units [668 pts]

28 Veteran State Troops[289 pts]

Hand weapons, Light armour, Shields, Veteran Sergeant, Standard bearer [Griffon Standard], Musician

10 State Troops[60 pts]

Hand weapons, Light armour, Shields, Detachment

12 Empire Knights[319 pts]

Lances, Shields, Heavy armour, Barding, Drilled, Preceptor, Standard bearer [War Banner], Musician

Special Units [537 pts]

4 Demigryph Knights[311 pts]

Lances, Shields, Full plate armour, Barding, Demigryph Preceptor (champion) [Witch Hunter's Ward], Standard bearer [Icon of Morr]

2 x 5 Empire Road Wardens[113 pts]

Brace of pistols, Heavy armour, Feigned Flight, Vanguard, Captain [Repeater pistol]

Rare Units [140 pts]

Empire War Wagon[140 pts]

Game one - Empire

My opponent was great. He was fully kitted out as an empire soldier complete with sword and Gal Maraz with a colour scheme that matched his army, the closest I get to that is wearing a red and yellow shirt.

His army I described as being either death or glory and I went in fully expecting the death to be mine. He had two cannons, mortars and helblasters backed up by three demigryphs including the general. Everything else was handgunners, two blocks of great swords, a couple of engineers and a wizard.

I decided that the best course of action was to run as fast as possible up the board then charge. My demigryphs went up the left flank and declared a charge on the hand gunners who, thanks to the terror banner, fled off the board. Unfortunately they panicked the block of great swords behind them who also fled off the board. With that my demis had completed their role in the game. In the centre my knights were almost wiped out by the helblasters with the remaining models fleeing back to safety. Their sacrifice did get the wizard up the field to summon an elemental spirit who rampaged through the empire lines for a couple of turns and along with the road wardens shooting caused the centre to panic off the field.

While all this was going on my general was able to charge into the demigryph unit and challenge his counter part. It was a swift bloody battle the sword of justice cutting down the demigryph on the charge.

The right flank consisted of my grand master facing down a unit of hand gunners and the second block of great swords, a far cry from the mighty monsters I'd brought him to slay. As expected he changed and wiped out the hand gunners then braced to accept the charge of the great swords. He was able to hold on for a few rounds of combat and by that point the battle was won. With a combined charge from the war wagon, general and knights the great swords were wiped out leaving the table clear of enemies.

It was a good battle and of course I was happy to get a win but it felt kind of bad with how it went down. I would have been happy to call it earlier but I don't think they like you doing that in tournaments.

Game two - Skaven

Due to winning my first game as well as I did I now had to fight someone who also did really well. Unfortunately for me they won through skill eventually going on to win first place in the tournament.

The two objects here were king of the hill and baggage train. 100 points for holding the centre each turn and a bonus of 250 for destroying the baggage train.

On the left flank my knights and road wardens were facing off against two hell pit abominations. 

The centre was held by the state troops and war wagon facing two units of clan rats each with a rattling gun (along with a third from the storm vermin) and plague priests with a plague furnace. These were supported by two plague claw catapults and units of giant rats.

The right flank was held by my demigryphs and the grand master who quickly flew across to battle the hellpits. Across from them was a screaming bell with a level four gray seer, 20 storm vermin, a chieftain bsb and a warlord with the fellblade. That didn't seem like a fight I could win. Due to Skaven trickery the screaming bell was able to charge the demigryphs but using their counter charge I did some damage back. In the end the demis fled from combat twice before being wiped out but doing that took a 1000 point unit out of the game for a few turns which was well worth it. 

On the left flank the road wardens did a great job of knocking wounds off of the hell pits before being wiped out and while one was able to get into my knights the grand master flew in to help. While there was no monster killing blow the first hell pit went down taking a few Knights with it. At this point I had the second hell pit ready to charge into the rear of the knights and a unit of giant rats sneaking round towards the baggage train. Sadly glory had to wait for the grand master who decided to over run into the giant rats killing enough to panic them off the board. He then turned to save the few remaining knights currently being torn apart by the hell pit. Charging in his monster slaying sword struck true and the beast was killed outright although I can't remember if any knights survived the encounter.

In the centre the state troops charged into the clan rats eventually pushing them off the hill and wiping them out. They then turned to face the plague priests ending up in a battle that would last until the end of the game where only the captain and priest were left standing. The war wagon charged the other unit of clan rats running them down then smashing into a plague claw catapult. Things were looking good, this is where my lack of rules knowledge comes in. I had left my state troops detachment to hold the hill. I'm not sure if the rattling guns would be able to see them where they were but knowing the giant rats were nearby I wanted them closer to the centre. I moved them sideways so they were just touching the hill meaning they could be seen which I didn't want. So what could I have done? Left them where they were, done a small wheel before moving sideways to get closer and stay in cover or pivot to be in a position to charge the giant rats? The rats had plenty of movement so could always get closer to the centre and with only 10 models one casualty and my troops couldn't hold an objective. I probably should have kept the troops in cover until help could arrive but as it went they were shot down by the rattling guns after failing a charge.

I can't remember what the general was doing all this time but I think he changed into the clan rats with the war wagon. He definitely went on to take out the baggage train and the other plage claw catapult. 

And here's where we ran out of time. My general was ready to charge into the flank of the plague priests, the grand master could go into the rear or into the giant rats and the war wagon was placed to charge one of the two remaining rattling guns. The down side was that the screaming bell and storm vermin had made their way back and that was a huge chunk of points. It was a loss but not a bad one. I'd gained plenty of points and if I'd held the centre with my state troops rather than going on a killing spree it could have went my way. Lessons for the future I guess.

Game three - wolves of the sea

I was looking forward to this one I'm planning on painting a wolves of the sea army. I wasn't sure what to expect he had two big units of marauders one with flails the other with sword and shield. A unit of 10 huscarls, 13 chaos warriors, 5 warhounds, two spawn and a giant. So some things to be concerned about but the big problems were level 3 wizard deamon prince and Galrauch the level 4 wizard chaos dragon. At least the grand master should have some fun.

The missions were strategic locations 4 and baggage train.

On the left flank a unit of road wardens and the war wagon faced off against the spawn and war hounds. Shooting the spawn didn't achieve much but a combined charge from the war wagon and general soon took care of them. The road wardens shot the dogs, the general flew towards the baggage train and the war wagon turned to face the fleeing marauders. Unfortunately they rallied in time to destroy the wagon and despite some shots from the road wardens they kept their points until the end of the game.

On the right flank my knights counter charged the huscarls where lances and full plate showed their worth against flails and dark hearts. The knights turned to face the centre but stayed on the flank to hold the objective. The chaos warriors had deployed in the woods on the right flank and taking advice from camping with Steve decided to hunker down with a step 2. The road wardens and wizard did their best with magic and lead but the warriors proved to tough and kept their points till the end of the game.

In the centre I deployed the grand master directly opposite the giant, charged in and killed it turn one. I can't remember what else he did this game but when I eventually got him lined up for a charge against Galrauch he died from the dragons chaos breath weapon. The 6 state troops also caught in the blast passed their toughness tests and continued to hold their objective throughout the game.

The deamon prince ended up in a back and fourth battle with the demigryphs which lasted,I think, the entire game.

The veteran state troops charged up the centre straight into the marauders. Thanks to the gryphon standard they were unstoppable. One unit fled towards the left flank and the waiting war wagon. The troops kept going forwards wiping out the other unit and taking the back objective.

With three of the objectives held by my troops and the enemy baggage train destroyed I won the day. Without the objective points I think there was less than 100 points in it but with the deamon prince and Galrauch still on the field I think it would be a tough fight to win.

So fourth place not too bad, I'm definitely improving. Sadly I never won best painted but the ogre army that won definitely deserved it, there were some really nice armies on display.

Sorry for the long post and lack of pictures I really need to work on that.

Thanks for reading.