Weekend Tournament Round-Up 12

BABY I’M BACK

It’s been awhile but the long hiatus is over. What better way to start than with another tournament round-up! This time I was at Langden Games in Ipswich. It’s a cosy little store tucked away in the rather quiet city and also the furthest East I’ve ever travelled in England.

As I hadn’t played Shadespire (or should I say Underworlds? 😏) in 3 weeks, I decided to treat myself and go back to using my Skaven for this one. It had been 5 weeks since I last used my favourite little rats plus it would make up for all that torturous time with the Sepulchral Guard…

Either way, the tournament had 6 entrants thanks to the TO joining in as a spare. What was even better was that they were happy to change the tournament scoring to fully follow a Grand Clash system (wins, losses, then glory differential). It may sound like a small thing but it’s just nice to have consistently scored events as someone who regularly goes to Grand Clashes.

Round 1

Darrel was my first opponent with his converted Steelheart’s Champions.

Game 1 started with a cautious approach by myself as I was trying to figure out what style my opponent was using. Winning board placement, I placed square on and await. With aggressive placement by the Stormcast, I had a good idea of what I was facing. Biding my time, I struck at the end of phase 1 and killed Brightshield with Skritch. Phase 2 had me endure the counter attack of the Stormcast. With Obryn and Steelheart breaking off from each other, I was able to avoid the attacks and kill Sevrin. Going into phase 3, eventually Obryn fell and I won 15/2.

Game 2 started with me winning board again. Going for the same boards, I played a little more defensively. Festering Skaven died to a charge but then Krrk countered and failed his attack against Steelheart. Skritch moved in and whiffed. Then Obryn did the same. With 1 glory a piece, we moved into phase 2. I was able to kill Brightshield but at the loss of Krrk and Lurking Skaven. Using Ready for Action I had Skritch run away and then used Illusory Fighter to do the same with Hungering Skaven. In phase, we were unable to kill each other so I did the best I could to force a draw and win by holding an objective. Sadly the Stormcast were able to score Swift Advance and so I lost 4/5.

Game 3 had me winning deployment once again. Going first I moved Lurking Skaven out of harm’s way. Sevrin then used Hidden Paths to get next to Skritch and Festering Skaven. I played confusing to inspire both of my rats. He then played Mighty Swing, to which I responded with Great Concussion, pushing Sevrin out of range and into the corner. Skritch then spent 2 activations to kill the trapped Stormcast. With the rest of the rats out of range, the Champions moved up. Phase 2 had Brightshield fall and then Obryn shared her fate in phase 3, ending up with a 16/4 win to me.

A tough set of games against a strong opponent, I was just able to use my movement, positioning and sneaky ploys to get the edge.

Round 2

For my second round I was facing off against Mark and his Chosen Axes. We had met before previously at Wayland Games where he came second so it was great that we finally got to play each other.

Winning deployment, I made sure the Fyre Slayers had no back line deployment. Forcing them forwards was beneficial to me, even if they were playing aggressively. We played cautiously as the Fyre Slayers spread out over the objectives. With my attacks and Great Concussion, I was able to neuter objective play for phase 1 and we both scored 1 glory apiece. Going into phase 2, Skritch started off with a stunty kill to score Skritch is the Greatest and Advancing Strike. I then lost Krrk while killing another dwarf but still had a sizeable lead by the bottom of 2. Surviving a charge from Grimnir, I danced around a bit but was unable to get another kill and scored a single glory which resulted in a close 9/4 win to me.

Game 2 had me win deployment again so boards remained the same. Given first turn, I again moved my Lurking Skaven out of charge range. I played cautiously until Krrk charged up and scored 1 glory with Change of Tactics, he wounded a dwarf but the enemy healed up with Urgold Boon. He took 2 wounds in return so I played Deathly Fortitude to keep my 2nd in command alive as only Maelgrim was in range to attack him. Skritch then made a sneak attack with Hidden Paths yet failed. Going into phase 2, I had to deal with an inspired Grimnir. Krrk attacked and killed Vol but Skritch was now at risk of being axed.

Evaluating the risks, I first played Time Trap to move Skritch 5 hexes away. I then played Ready for Action to move him another 5. SPEED. Skritch was safe but now I had to endure the penalties of Time Trap. Tefk moved next to Krrk and then attacked but my Krrk lived via bravery and the ability to roll crits. Krrk attacked back and pushed the stunty away. Phase 3 had Grimnir charged into Krrk. Sadly he couldn’t hit my noble warrior, until he was pulled down by the madness of Maelgrim. Still, Skritch avenged him and had killed the other Fyre Slayer. Grimnir was alive but alone. He was too tough to kill so I just ignored him and ended up with a 12/5 win.

Round 3

Finally I was playing against a lovely green Spiteclaw’s Swarm, commanded by Dan.

Game 1 had me win board again and I deployed aggressively to counter my opponent’s defensive setup. Krrk started of by killing a clan rat to score a single glory. The enemy Skritch charged at onto one of my objectives but I saved my Hungering Skaven with Quick Thinker. I then used Illusory Fighter to put my damage 4 Skritch next to his, killing him and scoring Victorious Duel and Precise Use of Force. Phase 2 had Skritch and Krrk going on a murder spree with phase 3 starting off to the death of the enemy Krrk via Skritch. In the end I won 20/4.

Game 2 had me win deployment again. Dan placed his Skritch aggressively so I did the honourable thing and hid mine. Phase 1 was a slow one until Skritch was able to get a single kill. Taking the lead, I pushed further up in Phase 2. It ended with Skritch going in for the kill against Skritch but I missed. Going first in phase 3, I killed the adjacent clan rat to the enemy Skritch. The other Skritch retaliated with a crit and a hit, things did not look good. Until I rolled 2 crits to defend. The enemy Skritch attacked again with Ready for Action and knocked my leader down to 2 wounds and then buffed up with Acrobatic to have 3 defence dice while on guard. However I don’t believe in odds, what I believe in is rolling a single crit to hit and beating out 3 defence dice. With Skritch killing Skritch again, my leader stood triumphant.

With his own Acrobatic and on guard, I was charged by the enemy Krrk. Instead of using Quick Thinker to avoid harm, I moved Lurking Skaven into contact. Now I had 3 defence dice, on guard and supported with Tethered Spirit! My opponent rolled a crit and a hit. I failed my defence rolls and rolled for Tethered Spirit but I was too greedy with the crits and they turned on me, leaving my Skritch dead. The enemy Krrk stood triumphant in his victory, until Hungering Skaven charged and stabbed him in the knees. He didn’t do any damage but it was the thought that counts. Plus he scored me Change of Tactics. Still, the dust settled and the enemy Krrk stood alone while surrounded by 4 other enemy rats. I took the second game 17/6.

Post Tournament

Having won all my games with only a single loss and a glory differential of +63, I had won!

After 3 awesome sets of games, it was great to get back into Shadespire after such a long break. Everyone at the event was a blast to play with as well as chat and it was also ran very smoothly. If you’re ever in the area or interested in attending a Underworlds tournament, then choosing Langden Games (here’s their webstore page) would be a great decision.

So until next time, always ask yourself if you can roll crits. Or, if you can break into a Nightvault 😉