Post by gdnerd on Oct 23, 2017 2:02:38 GMT
As promised on my post on the trollbloods Facebook group, here's my report of the first annual SoCal open.
I flew in to San Diego after work Friday and between a delayed connecting flight and my uber driver getting slightly lost, I got settled into my hotel room around 12:30. Not exactly what I had originally planned but I settled in and tried to get as much sleep as I could but unfortunately only ended up sleeping for like 5 hours or so. I don't know why this is such a recurring theme in my tournament travel experiences - I guess I just don't travel particularly well. Thankfully sleep deprivation doesn't really change the quality of my play unless I'm on short clock. Anyways, here's the lists I settled upon:
Trollblood - Doom2
Theme: The Power of Dhunia
3 / 3 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia - WB: +27
- Dire Troll Mauler - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 15)
- Dire Troll Mauler - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 12)
- Earthborn Dire Troll - PC: 14
- Earthborn Dire Troll - PC: 14
- Mulg the Ancient - PC: 22
- Troll Axer - PC: 10
Janissa Stonetide - PC: 0
Troll Whelps - 5 Whelps: 0
Troll Whelps - 5 Whelps: 0
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
- Stone Scribe Elder - PC: 3
Trollblood - Gunnbjorn
Theme: The Power of Dhunia
3 / 3 Free Cards 74 / 75 Army
Captain Gunnbjorn - WB: +28
- Trollkin Runebearer - PC: 0
- Mountain King - PC: 36 (Battlegroup Points Used: 28)
- Dire Troll Bomber - PC: 19
- Dozer & Smigg - PC: 18
- Troll Axer - PC: 10
Janissa Stonetide - PC: 0
Northkin Shaman - PC: 0
Troll Whelps - 5 Whelps: 4
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes - Leader & 3 Grunts: 6
- Stone Scribe Elder - PC: 3
Dhunian Knot - Leader & 2 Grunts: 6
As you can see I haven't really made any changes since CID went live. I didn't have the time to test Madrak1 or Grim1 which I am both excited for and I'm playing these lists at I5 next week. Unfortunately I didn't settle on the runebearer change in gunny here in time for I5 though, I've settled on it actually being quite valuable in getting work done.
Round 1 - Cryx (Outlast II)
Round 1 started off versus Matt Zelus, who was rocking Denny1 in Satyxis theme and I believe Coven in Dark Host. I dropped Doomy and he chose Denny1 Satyxis. I won the roll off and positioned one clump of heavies around Mulg and my earthborns on the flank where they could get speed from rough terrain and later armor once they engaged. The earthborns ended up being too tempting a target and parasites and crippling grasps them. Unfortunately he placed Denny within 16 of Mulg. Rather than play a honest game I pull the trigger. Mauler throws a Satyxis into another, doom2 primal shocks another, feats and rushed Mulg. The axer rushes itself and threshers a couple more. Mulg goes in and despite screwing up target ordering requiring a third overtake attack, Denny1 goes pop. I also took a couple free strikes not realizing the Satyxis whips had crit knockdown (thought it was just the horns) but thankfully my ignorance wasn't punished. I have to admit it feels quite gratifying to top of 2 cryx.
Round 2 - Grymkin (Breakdown)
Round 2 found myself paired with the excellent Michael Scherer. He had Dreamer and I believe Heretic. I immediately dropped Gunnbjorn, he dropped Dreamer and his arcana were Ruin and the terrain making one. I won the roll off and chose to go first. I try and get a free Kariana Rose with Dozer and Smiggs but even with lucky shot I don't get the necessary scatter. He sets up a artifice bunker with all of his heavies and a rattler in it with all 3 crabbits defending it. He decides to save incorporeal for turn 2 and sit on a hill with elusive and 2 transfers. Again I decide to refuse to play a real game and pull the trigger. Unfortunately I was unable to cast guided fire because I had to cast rush snipe on the bomber to play around ruin. The mountain king spikes a bit too hard onto Dreamer and he transfers to the crabbit I charged killing it. IMO I think this was a mistake because if he let me kill the crabbit he would have gained another transfer. I think he thought the bomber was pow 15. Ultimately I kill her with my final attack and I get to take a long lunch break in search of some real food.
Round 3 - Skorne (Standoff)
Round 3 saw me against Hal Jenson who was running Zaadesh2 and Makeda2 single ferox. I chose Doom2 and he chose Zaadesh. I won the roll off. Once again I run hard and project a ton of threat. He positions as best he can considering. I go into the tank for a while on an assassination run before realizing the sentry I need to smite/kill has IR up and instead I position for a turn 3 play. He feats and kills a mauler, I turn around and throw the sentry out of the way with my other mauler then Mulg lands on a 1 camp Zaadesh and that is that.
Round 4 Retribution (Outlast II)
Final round put me against Todd Ensley with standard Issyria and a Kaelyssa dawn guard brew. He wins the roll off and goes first. What proceeds is a long and grueling game. We each crush a flank and Kaelyssa gets a scenario advantage while I acquire a pretty inexorable attrition advantage. A part of this is he forgot to attack with a number of sentinels he charged with that we forgot until it was too late to cleanly roll back. Todd feels not great about his odds and goes for an assassination and falls short. I turn around and kill him with 1:29 on my clock left and become the first SoCal Open winner and secure a spot in next years LVO Masters Finals.
All in all I feel pretty good about how my tournament went. I demonstrated sufficient experience to get reliable assassinations off, even with Gunnbjorn who is by far my less well versed Warlock. Still on the fence about whether to swap the runebearer into Doom2, I'll probably try it out along with madrak and grim. I have I5 and perhaps WMW with a bit of luck on byes to close out my first year of serious competitive warmachine but even still I'm pretty happy with my performance as is. I'm looking forward for the quiet period from mid November to February where I can tinker in preparation for a hopefully more successful 2018.
Also as a shameless self plug I have joined the cast of the revived Dominate For Two podcast on Muse on Minis. Outside of my grousing of the weird stuff I see troll players playing we try and talk about useful ways for thinking about the game as a competitive player and hopefully people can glean some bits of wisdom from it. You can check it out here:
museonminis.com/category/frontpage-podcasts/dominate-for-two/
I flew in to San Diego after work Friday and between a delayed connecting flight and my uber driver getting slightly lost, I got settled into my hotel room around 12:30. Not exactly what I had originally planned but I settled in and tried to get as much sleep as I could but unfortunately only ended up sleeping for like 5 hours or so. I don't know why this is such a recurring theme in my tournament travel experiences - I guess I just don't travel particularly well. Thankfully sleep deprivation doesn't really change the quality of my play unless I'm on short clock. Anyways, here's the lists I settled upon:
Trollblood - Doom2
Theme: The Power of Dhunia
3 / 3 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia - WB: +27
- Dire Troll Mauler - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 15)
- Dire Troll Mauler - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 12)
- Earthborn Dire Troll - PC: 14
- Earthborn Dire Troll - PC: 14
- Mulg the Ancient - PC: 22
- Troll Axer - PC: 10
Janissa Stonetide - PC: 0
Troll Whelps - 5 Whelps: 0
Troll Whelps - 5 Whelps: 0
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
- Stone Scribe Elder - PC: 3
Trollblood - Gunnbjorn
Theme: The Power of Dhunia
3 / 3 Free Cards 74 / 75 Army
Captain Gunnbjorn - WB: +28
- Trollkin Runebearer - PC: 0
- Mountain King - PC: 36 (Battlegroup Points Used: 28)
- Dire Troll Bomber - PC: 19
- Dozer & Smigg - PC: 18
- Troll Axer - PC: 10
Janissa Stonetide - PC: 0
Northkin Shaman - PC: 0
Troll Whelps - 5 Whelps: 4
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes - Leader & 3 Grunts: 6
- Stone Scribe Elder - PC: 3
Dhunian Knot - Leader & 2 Grunts: 6
As you can see I haven't really made any changes since CID went live. I didn't have the time to test Madrak1 or Grim1 which I am both excited for and I'm playing these lists at I5 next week. Unfortunately I didn't settle on the runebearer change in gunny here in time for I5 though, I've settled on it actually being quite valuable in getting work done.
Round 1 - Cryx (Outlast II)
Round 1 started off versus Matt Zelus, who was rocking Denny1 in Satyxis theme and I believe Coven in Dark Host. I dropped Doomy and he chose Denny1 Satyxis. I won the roll off and positioned one clump of heavies around Mulg and my earthborns on the flank where they could get speed from rough terrain and later armor once they engaged. The earthborns ended up being too tempting a target and parasites and crippling grasps them. Unfortunately he placed Denny within 16 of Mulg. Rather than play a honest game I pull the trigger. Mauler throws a Satyxis into another, doom2 primal shocks another, feats and rushed Mulg. The axer rushes itself and threshers a couple more. Mulg goes in and despite screwing up target ordering requiring a third overtake attack, Denny1 goes pop. I also took a couple free strikes not realizing the Satyxis whips had crit knockdown (thought it was just the horns) but thankfully my ignorance wasn't punished. I have to admit it feels quite gratifying to top of 2 cryx.
Round 2 - Grymkin (Breakdown)
Round 2 found myself paired with the excellent Michael Scherer. He had Dreamer and I believe Heretic. I immediately dropped Gunnbjorn, he dropped Dreamer and his arcana were Ruin and the terrain making one. I won the roll off and chose to go first. I try and get a free Kariana Rose with Dozer and Smiggs but even with lucky shot I don't get the necessary scatter. He sets up a artifice bunker with all of his heavies and a rattler in it with all 3 crabbits defending it. He decides to save incorporeal for turn 2 and sit on a hill with elusive and 2 transfers. Again I decide to refuse to play a real game and pull the trigger. Unfortunately I was unable to cast guided fire because I had to cast rush snipe on the bomber to play around ruin. The mountain king spikes a bit too hard onto Dreamer and he transfers to the crabbit I charged killing it. IMO I think this was a mistake because if he let me kill the crabbit he would have gained another transfer. I think he thought the bomber was pow 15. Ultimately I kill her with my final attack and I get to take a long lunch break in search of some real food.
Round 3 - Skorne (Standoff)
Round 3 saw me against Hal Jenson who was running Zaadesh2 and Makeda2 single ferox. I chose Doom2 and he chose Zaadesh. I won the roll off. Once again I run hard and project a ton of threat. He positions as best he can considering. I go into the tank for a while on an assassination run before realizing the sentry I need to smite/kill has IR up and instead I position for a turn 3 play. He feats and kills a mauler, I turn around and throw the sentry out of the way with my other mauler then Mulg lands on a 1 camp Zaadesh and that is that.
Round 4 Retribution (Outlast II)
Final round put me against Todd Ensley with standard Issyria and a Kaelyssa dawn guard brew. He wins the roll off and goes first. What proceeds is a long and grueling game. We each crush a flank and Kaelyssa gets a scenario advantage while I acquire a pretty inexorable attrition advantage. A part of this is he forgot to attack with a number of sentinels he charged with that we forgot until it was too late to cleanly roll back. Todd feels not great about his odds and goes for an assassination and falls short. I turn around and kill him with 1:29 on my clock left and become the first SoCal Open winner and secure a spot in next years LVO Masters Finals.
All in all I feel pretty good about how my tournament went. I demonstrated sufficient experience to get reliable assassinations off, even with Gunnbjorn who is by far my less well versed Warlock. Still on the fence about whether to swap the runebearer into Doom2, I'll probably try it out along with madrak and grim. I have I5 and perhaps WMW with a bit of luck on byes to close out my first year of serious competitive warmachine but even still I'm pretty happy with my performance as is. I'm looking forward for the quiet period from mid November to February where I can tinker in preparation for a hopefully more successful 2018.
Also as a shameless self plug I have joined the cast of the revived Dominate For Two podcast on Muse on Minis. Outside of my grousing of the weird stuff I see troll players playing we try and talk about useful ways for thinking about the game as a competitive player and hopefully people can glean some bits of wisdom from it. You can check it out here:
museonminis.com/category/frontpage-podcasts/dominate-for-two/
