BLACKOUT 2018 Report

So this past weekend was the excellent BLACKOUT 2018 Age of Sigmar matched play event held in Cardiff, Wales. BLACKOUT 2018 was the first large independent UK event to use the realmscape rules for Age of Sigmar Second Edition. You’ll find the pack, results, top lists and pictures below.

For more event coverage, check out my event coverage page, the Age of Sigmar second edition event packs page, the events calendar and the tournament list archive.

Finally, before we get to the event, the site is partnered with Dark Fantastic Mills, producers and purveyors of amazing 3D printed terrain and you can use the code “aos shorts” to get 10% off. The terrain is super light so shipping worldwide is surprisingly cheap. DFM not only does amazing terrain, but also custom objective markers and trophies.

BLACKOUT 2018

BLACKOUT is run every year by the great Chris Tomlin, formerly of the Black Sun podcast. This year it was held in sunny, sunny Cardiff at Firestorm Games. Firestorm is a great location for events, being a large games store with massive dedicated area for gaming, including streaming the top table, while Cardiff always seems to be carnage on a night out if you like that sort of thing.

BLACKOUT 2018 Event Pack

The event was played at 2,000 points, over five rounds, with battleplans announced at the start of each round and randomly selected from the 18 Matched Play battleplans. The battleplans and realms used were:

Round 1 – Shifting Objectives – Aqshy
Round 2 – Places of Arcane Power – Ulgu
Round 3 – Scorched Earth – Chamon
Round 4 – Total Commitment – Ghyran
Round 5 – Border War – Shyish

Realmscape features, realm commands and realm spells from the Core Book and Malign Sorcery were also in play (although Chris pre-selected the realmscape features for each round):

Shyish – Feature: Eternal War – “Add 1 to the Bravery characteristic of all units“
Aqshy – Feature: Burning Skies – “In the movement phase, if an enemy unit can fly and moves more than 6″, roll a dice. On a 4+ the enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound. On a 6+ it suffers D3 mortal wounds instead.“
Chamon – Feature: Rust Plague – “At the start of your hero phase, roll a dice. On a 6+, pick an enemy unit that is in cover. Subtract 1 from save rolls made for that unit for the rest of the battle.“
Ghyran – Feature: Lifesprings – “Before the battle begins, each player picks a HERO from their army. Add 1 to the Wounds characteristic of the heroes that are picked.“
Ulgu – Feature: Shrouded Lands – “This realmscape feature has no effect on the battle“

The first tiebreaker for gameplay results was Best Sports votes, with kill points only being used as a second tiebreaker. Kill points of summoned units counted for the tiebreaker (but not for the results of individual games).

Like all of Chris’ events, the event also has a high expectation that players will bring fully painted and cohesive armies (with large penalties if you don’t). You can check out the full pack here.

BLACKOUT 2018 Results and Awards

The BLACKOUT 2018 results were:

First: Ben Johnson (@BenJohnson0013)
Second: Simon Froley (@simonwarhammer)
Third: Ady (McWalter (@adymc2650)
Best in Order (based on KPs): Tony Moore (@thecountmoore)
Best in Chaos: Kane Holloway
Best in Death: Ben Johnson (@BenJohnson0013)
Best in Destruction: Ian Spink (@kanamorf)
Best Sports (gaming TPs as tiebreaker): Brook MacRae (in a dice-off from Chris Mills @fluffhammer)
Best Army – First: Aaron Bailey (@forestreveries)
Best Army – Second: Paul Buckler (@WarhammerGC)
Best Army – Third: Tim Fisher (@timfisher22)
Judges’ Choice Best Army: Aaron Bailey (@forestreveries)
The James Hayday “Only Way is Up” Award (Wooden Spoon): Paul Buckler (@WarhammerGC)

You can find the full results here or check out the placings and allegiances below.

BLACKOUT 2018 – Best Painted

The standard of painting is always high at Chris’ events and this year was no exception. I highly recommend checking out the ProPainted podcast for all of its coverage of the painting side of UK events.

The armies nominated for Best Painted at BLACKOUT 2018 were: