This weekend I went to my first ASOIAF Tournament in the UK. The Dance with Daventry was a great event and I had a swell time meeting other people in the community and had some really fun close games. Thank you to Graham for organising the event and I sure hope to make it to the next one. Now onto the games.
My List
- King’s Men (7) – Andrew Estermont (0)
- Baratheon Wardens (5)
- R’hllor Faithful (6)
- R’hllor Lightbringers (6)
- Stag Knights (8)
- Roose Bolton (4)
- Davos Seaworth (4)
I wanted to bring a varied list with all the goodies for Stannis’ loyalty. I brought Roose to help cause havoc with the R’hllor units, Andrew to get the most out of the King’s Men and Davos NCU because I can never make charges in my practice games.
Surprisingly Davos was less used for rerolls and was used frequently to remove orders like Lannister Supremacy. He is a versatile NCU that should be genuinely considered in every Stannis list. Speaking of Stannis my second list is exactly the same except the commander is switched for Heroes 1 Stannis.
Game 1 – Stannis Baratheon
- King’s Men (7) – Stannis Baratheon – the One True King (0)
- R’hllor Lightbringers (6) – Red Priestess (1)
- R’hllor Queen’s Men (7) – Master Warden (1)
- Stormcrow Mercenaries (5) – Davos Seaworth (0)
- Shyra Eroll (4)
- Alester Florent (4)
- Melisandre (5)
The only other Baratheon player, and we faced off in the first round. What are the chances? Colin taught me a lot about how to play Baratheons and a few things about some of the neat combos in list building. A Stormcrow Supply Aid Davos strategy was surprisingly effective at countering the self-destructive abilities of the Red Priestess and Melisandre. The tough choice only being do you take him as an attachment or as a NCU as he is great as both, this might be why he is the least winning Baratheon Commander on ASOIAF-Stats.com.
The game went along the lines of, both sides lost the Commander and his unit first, we bombard each other, and we see who cracks first. The resilience of the Queen’s Men was enough to prevent his army falling to my arrows whereas the extra buffs from the two red ladies resulted in plenty of fear on my side of the table. My only gambit was a flanking Stag Knights unit that ended up almost clearing the back field of units, a tie would have meant the knights killing the bowmen and leaving them with one wound; that pesky Red Priestess. Colin won and it was a spectacular game that was remarkably close.
Game 2 – Gregor Clegane Cavalry
- Lannister Guardsmen (5) – Gregor Clegane (0)
- Knights of Casterly Rock (8)
- Knights of Casterly Rock (8)
- Clegane Brigands (7)
- High Sparrow (4)
- Pycelle (4)
- Roose Bolton (4)
Paul brought a terrifying cavalry focused Lannister List, I was expecting his second list which focused on a Faith based army mixed with Red Cloaks and the Panzer Tank Solo that is The Mountain that Rides. However, when he placed the cavalry on the table it was safe to assume that I was very much beginning to write the Feast for Crows game off. Paul then informed me he was well renowned for having the worst dice in all of Age of Sigmar and throughout the game it became more apparent that this was an accurate title. In turn one, both of the cavalry units charged the R’hllor Faithful, they should have been wiped twice over but they still stood, two wounds left and heavy pockets filled with Faith Tokens.
Due to the over-extending gamble of the cavalry that didn’t pay off, the retaliation was in full effect, the results being an overwhelming defeat for the Lannister forces. It is a shame that a close fun game couldn’t have played out due to awful dice rolls. Paul did walk away with best painted as his army truly looked spectacular. One person said “The bases reminds me of the fields the butcher boy was slain in” its a shame the Lannister didn’t execute the same ferocity on the table.
Game 3 – Khal Drogo
- Khal Drogo’s Bloodriders (8) – Khal Drogo (0)
- Dothraki Screamers (6)
- Dothraki Screamers (6)
- Dothraki Outriders (6)
- Dothraki Outriders (6)
- Illyrio Mopatis (4)
- Daenerys Targaryen (4)
Daniel brought a simple list due to these games being some of his first, the starter plus two unit boxes was all he needed to get playing and thought three games in one day would be helpful. The crazy thing is, in the hands of anyone Khal Drogo with his Bloodriders can be one brutal force to reckon with. Whereas the other four units hardly scratched the rest of my army, Khal Drogo breezed through them all. It was all about scoring enough to end the game before Drogo ended my life.
The game ended on turn five with us both being on 11vps, ths turn six would ensue, resulting in us all remaining still on objectives to end the game with a tie. Little did Daniel know though I was holding out on activations since I was to be the one to activate last, I could make a charge with my untouched unit of Wardens into Drogo’s unit, and since I had more ranks, would take the objective off of Drogo, scoring me two points and Daniel only one. I needed a four or more with a Davos reroll in my pocket, I rolled a six and the game was mine. A close and super fun game with Daniel.
The best thing about the match was the after talk, discussing changes to the list, what we would do differently, practically prophesying a future rematch where we both have grown in our skill and armies.
At the end of the day I came in the middle of the board with two wins and one loss. Battlefield Hobbies was an awesome store to act as host for the event and Graham did a spectacular job with running the event, free lunch and swag came with your ticket which was fortunate as I had forgotten my ruler at home and we all got a free custom made one at the beginning of the day; it was meant to be.
Hopefully it isn’t too long before I play in a tournament again, especially one in Daventry.
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
