Hey everyone, two Age of Sigmar events this weekend to report on, 9,660 miles apart – the Bendigo Bush Bash Bonanza in Victoria, Australia and the Dragon Fall GT, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA.  In this post, I cover the Bush Bash Bonanza event packs, the results, the awards, top lists and all the coverage of the events. The Dragon Fall GT post will be up in the next day or so.

As always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming.  Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive.  Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

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Bendigo Bush Bash Bonanza

The Bendigo Bush Bash Bonanza was hosted by my favourite Australian wargaming club from the bush, Measured Gaming.  Check out the club profile on the site for all the details about the club.

The Bush Bash was 5 rounds, 2,000 points, GHB18, Malign Sorcery (but not Firestorm).  Check out the full pack.

There was also some fun swag to be had simply by turning up.

One of the goodies in the goodie bags for Bendigo’s Bush Bash Bonanza!
CC: @MeasuredGaming_ pic.twitter.com/oMHFRss2QV

— Joel McGrath (@JoelMcGrathMG) October 8, 2018

Realms and Malign Sorcery House Rules

The Bush Bash operated under a number of house rules relating to Malign Sorcery and the realms.  These were:

1. Battles will be taken place in the realm of Bogans. This realm has one rule. If you table your opponent by turn 3 it is customary to go to the bar and buy them a drink.

2. Picking a realm while writing a list will allow you access to the command ability(s), artefacts AND will unlock the spells for that particular realm.

3. All wizards in your army will know the realmsphere magic spell from your realm.

4. Wizards may pick ONE additional spell from the realm lore OR your allegiances lore. Eg. A necromancer may know one spell from the Legions of Nagash battletome, while another knows one spell from the Shyish lore.

5. When submitting your army list, make sure to add in the realm spells you will be using. As these are house rules you will not be able to do it on warscroll builder.

The Scenarios

The scenarios were announced on the day and were:

1. Places of Arcane Power
2. Better Part of Valour
3. Relocating Orb
4. Total Commitment
5. Focal Points

Bush Bash Results and Awards

Jesse Perkins took out the event with his Daughters of Khaine, as well as picking up best painted.  Luke Ingram got best sports.

Bush Bash Top Age of Sigmar Lists

The top five at the Bush Bash were:

1. Jesse Perkins – Daughters of Khaine (HaggNar Temple Nest)
2. Joel McGrath – Hosts of Slaanesh (Seekers)
3. Lachie Mulcahy – Daughters of Khaine (Khailebron)
4. Mathew Tyrrell – Legion of Blood (VLOZD)
5. Corey Ford – Blades of Khorne (Council of Blood)

Their lists for the top 5 are below. Check out all the lists here and the list review show from the Measured Gaming lads (@PlasticCraic, @vlossr, @SpookyLukeMG and @JoelMcGrathMG).

First – Jesse Perkins – Daughters of Khaine

Second – Joel McGrath – Hosts of Slaanesh

Third – Lachie Mulcahy – Daughters of Khaine

Fourth – Mathew Tyrrell – Legion of Blood

Fifth – Corey Ford – Khorne

Bush Bash Pictures and Coverage

Finally, I’ve collected a number of photos off various people from Twitter.  If there are any more pictures or epic stories that should be recorded for posterity, please get in touch 🙂

 

 

 

 

So this weekend marked the finale of the official Games Workshop Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament season with the Grand Final held at Warhammer World in Nottingham. Just short of 80 players from across the UK and as far afield as the US met in battle.  Each having qualified at one of the three Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament heats held through 2017 and 2018.

In this post, I cover the Grand Tournament pack, the results and lists where I can get them.  Games Workshop don’t formally publish results and lists (with these usually only being due on the day).

As always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming.  Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive.  Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

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AoS Grand Tournament Grand Final 2018 Pack

The Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament Grand Final for 2018 was fought over six randomly selected scenarios from the 18 Pitched Battle battleplans.  The scenarios were drawn at the start of the tournament.  Realm rules (including spells), realmscape features and Malign Sorcery were all in play.   So the rounds were:

1. Total Commitment – Realm of Fire – Clouds of Smoke and Steam
2. Shifting Objectives – Realm of Life – Lifesprings
3. Duality of Death – Realm of Metal – Metallic Hinterlands
4. Knife to the Heart – Realm of Shadow – Perpetual Dark
5. Better Part of Valour – Realm of Death – Eternal War
6. Border War – Realm of Light – Gleaming Vista

In terms of scoring, there is always a strong element of painting and sports scores in the overall results.  The scoring system was:

• major victory – 6 points
• minor victory – 4 points
• draw – 2 points
• loss – 0 points
• 1 point for each favourite game vote
• 1 point for each favourite army vote

At the end of the event, you selected two of your opponents to receive favourite game (who you liked playing) votes, and two of your opponents to receive favourite army (what you liked the look of) votes.

Kill points earned was the tiebreaker.  Summoned units did not count towards the total points value of enemy units destroyed and you get the full 2,000 points if you wipe out the enemy.

You can read the full pack and 2018 update for AoS2 for more details.

AoS Grand Tournament Grand Final Results

With massive thanks to WHTV Dan, the final results were:

1. Ben Savva – Daughters of Khaine
2. Robert Sedgeman – Nighthaunt
3. Terry Pike – Nurgle
4. Gary Percival – Sacrosanct Chamber
5. Steve Curtis – Death (Nagash)
6. Nick Thompson-  Daughters of Khaine (Snakes)
7. Chris Myhill – Order
8. Dan Bradshaw – Idoneth Deepkin
9. Tony Moore – Nagash
10. Colin Cochrane – Daughters of Khaine (horde)

Based on gaming score alone, the top 5 would have been:

1. Ben Savva – Daughters of Khaine
2. Robert Sedgeman – Death
3. Gary Percival – Sacrosanct Chamber
4. Nick Thompson – Order
5. Chris Myhill – Order

Ben took out the event with the same Daughters of Khaine list that he has been running for months, and that won the recent Angelcore event in London.

Terry Pike’s list. A stunning army. Witherstave on the bell GUO.

Gary Percival’s “Seqs bomb” list. You can check out Gary’s Masterclass Interview on KO (in AoS1) here.

Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals

Leaders
Lord-Arcanum (180)
– General
– Trait: We Cannot Fail 
– Spell: Azyrite Halo
Knight-Vexillor (120)
– Pennant of the Stormbringer
Gavriel Sureheart (100)
Lord-Castellant (100)
– Artefact: God-forged Blade 

Battleline
20 x Sequitors (400)
– Stormsmite Mauls and Soulshields
5 x Sequitors (120)
– Stormsmite Mauls and Soulshields
5 x Sequitors (120)
– Stormsmite Mauls and Soulshields

Units
10 x Evocators (400)
5 x Evocators (200)
5 x Evocators (200)

Total: 1940 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 1
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 142

Steve Curtis, who also won favourite opponent, ran the following Death list with vile transference, orb and overwhelming dread on Nagash.

Tony Moore, regular tournament winner and UK masters attendee, came in 9th with the following list.  You can check out Tony’s Masterclass interview here.

• Allegiance: Grand Host of Nagash
• Nagash Supreme Lord Of The Undead (800) – General – Lores of the Dead Spell 1: Fading Vigour (Deathmages) – Lores of the Dead Spell 2: Amethystine Pinions (Vampires) – Lores of the Dead Spell 3: Vile Transference (Vampires)
• Necromancer (110) – Lore of the Deathmages: Overwhelming Dread
• Vampire Lord (140) – Mount: Nightmare – Artefact: Balefire Lantern – Lore of the Vampires: Amaranthine Orb
• 40 x Skeleton Warriors (280) – Ancient Spears
• 5 x Dire Wolves (60)
• 5 x Dire Wolves (60)
• 30 x Grimghast Reapers (360)
• Umbral Spellportal (60)
• Prismatic Palisade (30)
• Total: 1900 / 2000 Extra Command Points: 2 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 116

I’ll add more of the top lists, as and when I get them.

The full results are:

AoSGT Grand Final Painting

The painting results were split between Oscar and his amazing Stormcast and Terry Pike from Facehammer‘s sublime Nurgle.  For more of Oscar’s army, check out his Showcase on the site.  For more on Terry’s, check out his Twitter feed and the ProPainted Podcast’s website for more pictures of the armies.

Thanks to Warchief Baz for the photos of the Best Painted nominations.

You can find more pictures over on the Warhammer World Facebook page.

Social media coverage

As you would expect, the event was streamed all weekend on Games Workshop’s official Twitch channel.  So if you are a subscriber you can go back and watch the games.

However, what truly made the weekend for me following along at home, was all the epic Twitter coverage by the guys in attendance.  It just looked like everyone was having a blast.  So massive thanks to WHTV Dan, Rob Symes of the Honest Wargamer, Darren Watson, Ben Savva, Warchief Baz, the Pro Painted Podcast, Steve Wren, Kanamorf, Nico and countless others.

ITS TIME TO PLAY SOME WARHAMMER #GTFINAL pic.twitter.com/TIljdEKz7L

— 🎃🎃 EVIL WHTV DAN 🎃🎃 spooki boi (@CheekyBNOC) October 13, 2018

Hey everyone, its been a while.  I’m back with coverage of the Angelcore tournament run in London, UK, over the weekend.  22 players in a highly competitive tournament for both matched play and for painting, with 5 players from the UK top 20. The event was streamed throughout the weekend and the games have been hosted on YouTube – so check them out!

Congrats to Kieron (@Drats_hammer), Adam (@HadrielCaine), Matthew (@Skyel14) and everyone else involved in a great weekend.  Check out the host and sponsor – Magic Madhouse LDN.

For more reading, check out all my other event coverage, the Age of Sigmar Second Edition events packs page, the event calendar and the Age of Sigmar list archive.  I took a break for about 6 weeks but am now playing catch-up on event coverage, so expect a deluge over the coming weeks.

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Angelcore 2018

Angelcore 2018 was a 5 game, 2,000 point matched play tournament using Age of Sigmar Second Edition, the General’s Handbook 2018 and Malign Sorcery.  Firestorm allegiances and realm rules were in play, as well as one pre-determined realm spell.

• Round 1 – Focal Points –  Ghyran
• Round 2 – Better Part of Valour – Shyish
• Round 3 – Total Commitment – Aqshy
• Round 4 – Places of Arcane Power – Chamon
• Round 5 – Total Conquest – Hysh

Read the full pack.  The guys did a great job of covering all the practical things like hotels, transport, finding the venue etc.

Realm rules

The organisers picked the realmscape and realmsphere magic for each of the rounds (see the table below).  They also limited Shyish armies to just using the Soul-Force Sacrifice command ability, when playing a game in Shyish, rather than Honour the Dead.  Realm command abilities could not be used more than once per turn.

Secondary missions

Angelcore also ran secondary missions as a way of achieving differentiation in player scores.  With 30 points available for a major win, and 20 points available in secondary objectives each game, you definitely needed to keep an eye on picking up the secondary points.

Round draws

You can find the draws here:

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Angelcore 2018 Video Coverage

The guys did a great job of streaming the top games through the weekend on Twitch (Magic Madhouse on Twitch).  The commentary, sound and camera work were great for their first time streaming an Age of Sigmar event.

Round 1 walk around

https://t.co/1gGKylW0uD

— Kieron A (@Drats_hammer) October 6, 2018

Round 1

Watch AngelCore Age of Sigmar all weekend! from magicmadhouselondon on www.twitch.tvRound 2

Watch AngelCore Age of Sigmar all weekend! from magicmadhouselondon on www.twitch.tv

Round 3

Watch AngelCore Age of Sigmar all weekend! from magicmadhouselondon on www.twitch.tv

Round 4

Watch AngelCore Age of Sigmar all weekend! from magicmadhouselondon on www.twitch.tv

Round 5

Watch AngelCore Age of Sigmar all weekend! from magicmadhouselondon on www.twitch.tv

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Angelcore 2018 Results

So all the results are in:

• First – Ben Savva (Daughters of Khaine)
• Second – Laurie Hugget-Wilde (Sylvaneth)
• Third – James Warth (Sylvaneth)
• Fourth – Ben Murphy (Grand Host of Nagash)
• Fifth – Jack Armstrong (Hammerhal)

 

• Best Death – Steve Curtis (Grand Host of Nagash)
• Best Destruction – Tom Loyn (Grand Alliance Destruction)
• Best Chaos – Marc Wilson (Grand Alliance Chaos)
• Best Order – Ben Savva (Daughters of Khaine)

 

• Best Painted – Adam Cunis
• Coolest Army – John Greene

 

• Best Sports – James Warth
• Spirit of Angelcore – Adam Cunis

 

 

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Top Angelcore 2018 Lists

The top five players at Angelcore 2018 were:

1. Ben Savva (Daughters of Khaine)
2. Laurie Hugget-Wilde (Sylvaneth)
3. James Warth (Sylvaneth)
4. Ben Murphy (Grand Host of Nagash)
5. Jack Armstrong (Hammerhal)

In terms of stats, the usual suspects were popular (although 4 palisades was a surprise).

Endless Spells

• Cogs – 5
• Palisade – 4
• Geminids – 4
• Shackles – 3
• Portal – 3
• Balewind – 2
• Swords – 1

Realms

• Shyish – 10
• Ghyran – 3
• Hysh – 3
• Ulgu – 3
• Aqshy – 2
• Ghur – 1

Grand Alliances

• Order – 10
• Death – 7
• Chaos – 3
• Destruction – 2

You can find all the lists here.

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Angelcore 2018 pictures

Now there was a tonne of social media coverage of the Angelcore 2018, so the below are just a potted summary of pictures from the across the weekend.  My apologies for any inadvertent omissions etc.

 

Adam’s army is amazing, but coherency… pic.twitter.com/dyKOyaF62e

— Matthew Hinton (@Skyel14) October 5, 2018

 

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

• Paul Buckler (@WarhammerGC) – Spiderfang
• Matt Lyons (@ProPainted) – Tzeentch
• Chris Mills (@fluffhammer) – Nighthaunt
• BenJohnson (@BenJohnson0013) – Nighthaunt
• John Greene (@GreeneJJ18) – Order
• Chris Lewis (@BinxHobby) – Fimir – Rob’s favourite conversion
• Ben Savaa (@theerstwood) – Daughters of Khaine
• Russ Veal (@Russ_Veal) – Nighthaunt
• Tim Fisher (@timfisher22) – Daughters pf Khaine – Matt Favourite Army
• Julian Maxime (@JulianMaxime) – Nurgle
• Michael Wilson  (@tzeentchmike) – Slaanesh
• Mike Burgess (@mikeburgess1) – Sylvaneth
• Aaron Bailey (@forestreveries) – Wraithfleet
• Danny Cashman (@dannycashman4) – Kharadron Overlords

You can see more of Tim’s army in this showcase on the site.

You can see more of Danny’s army in this showcase on the site.

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BLACKOUT 2018 Lists

You can read all the lists here.  Otherwise, the top three lists were:

Ady McWalter came third, but unfortunately his list was a bit hard to read in the list document.  He has kindly sent me his list:

• Allegiance: Chaos
• Archaon
• Harbinger of Decay with Crown of Conquest
• Lord of Blights with Gryph Feather Charm
• Lord of Blights
• 40 Marauders, Mark of Nurgle
• 40 Marauders, Mark of Nurgle
• 20 Marauders, Mark of Nurgle
• 3 Putrid Blightkings
• Plaguetouched Battalion

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BLACKOUT 2018 Pictures

So, slightly delayed thanks to the new FAQ dropping, but here is my recap of the Midwest Meltdown 2018.  While not there personally, all the coverage over Twitter and Facebook made it look like an absolute blast!  Domus as always did a stellar job catering for new and veteran players a like.  The US Midwest has a really strong scene at the moment with Detroit and Milwaukee leading the charge.   In this post, I cover the results, top lists and have lots of pictures from the event.

For more reading, check out the Midwest Meltdown preview post, all my other event coverage, the Age of Sigmar Second Edition events packs page, the event calendar and the Age of Sigmar list archive.

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Midwest Meltdown 2018

As previously mentioned, the Meltdown Meltdown 2018 was 5 games of 2,000 points matched play using Age of Sigmar Second Edition, the General’s Handbook 2018 and Malign Sorcery.  Realm artefacts and Firestorm allegiances were in play.  5 battleplans were randomly selected, some realm of battle rules and secondary objectives were also in play.

Game 1
Gift of the Heavens
Shyish – Life Leeching
Secondary Obj = #52 – Blood on the Ground

Game 2
Better Part of Valour
Chamon – Rust Plague
Secondary Obj = #42 – Control 4 Obj (pg 319)

Game 3
Relocation Orb
Ghur – Reckless Agression
Secondary Obj = #66 – Slay the Enemy General

Game 4
Places of Arcane Power
Hysh – Speed of Light
Secondary Obj = #41 – Dominate – control at least 2 more obj than your opponent.

Game 5
Total Commitment
Ghyran – Seeds of Hope
Secondary Obj = #46 – Retake – Control an Obj that was held by your opp at the start of the turn.

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Midwest Meltdown 2018 Results

There were a lot of awards at stake at Meltdown, along with a significant number of substantial spot prizes awarded throughout the event (think an Eidolon etc).  But there could only be one winner, Mr Brad Schwandt (@Rhellion) himself rocking the big bad boy, Nagash.  As you may know, Rhellion is a top matched play gamer in the US and a member of the US playtest team.   You can check out my Masterclass interview with Rhellion for tips on improving your matched play performance.

The full awards for Midwest Meltdown 2018 were:

• Best Overall – Brad Schwandt (@Rhellion)
• Best Order – Kyle Western
• Best Destruction – Isaiah Ramczyk (@felvatar)
• Best Death – Brendan Melnick (@Hobby_Bear)
• Best Chaos – Jeremy Tucker (@BMT_Painting)
• Coolest Army – Aaron Schmidt (@horrorshowminis)
• Best Painted – Andrea Schwandt (@LuckySixes)
• Best Terrain Piece – Nick McKenna
• Best Sports – Brice and accompanying puppy (@MooseGeek_)

You can find the full results on Warscore or in a Google Sheet.

 The Coolest Army

Best Painted

 

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Top Midwest Meltdown Lists

The top five players at Midwest Meltdown 2018 were:

1. Brad Schwandt (Grand Host of Nagash)
2. Brendan Melnick (Grand Host of Nagash)
3. Kyle Western (Sylvaneth)
4. Jake L’Ecuyer (Grand Host of Nagash)
5. Jeremy Tucker (Maggotkin)

As you’ll see, it really was Nagash’s event (although Sylvaneth and Ironjawz were playing off on table 2 in the final round).

As well as the top 5 lists, you can find all the lists from the event here.

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Midwest Meltdown 2018 Stories

One of the best parts of attending Age of Sigmar tournaments is the number of stories that emerge from the build-up or on the table top.  I’ve collected a few here, but let me know of any other heroic deeds, grudges or acts of misfortune which need to be recorded for the annals of history.

• #Drakegate and the foundation of Team New Zealand’s Midwest Chapter
• Rhellion’s  Hand of Dust tally
  • King on Terrogheist
  • Frostlord on Stonehorn
  • Great Unclean One
  • Nagash
  • Nagash
• Rhellion dusting Nagash off the board turn 1 final game
• Rhellion won every roll for deployment and played 4 lists with the same drops (7)
• Sword of Judgment Megaboss gets 21 Mortal Wounds on a Stardrake
• Michael Kopack’s Purple Sun killed more than its points cost in 4 out of 5 games, with a full kill tally (excluding battleshock) of:
  • 2 fulminators
  • 1 gryph houn
  • 2 spirit hosts
  • 1 Lord executioner
  • 3 grave guard
  • 1 hexwrait
  • 1 blood thirster
  • 1 slaughter priest
  • 7 Marauders
  • 1 Vampire lord
  • Friendly fire: 7 skeletons

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Midwest Meltdown 2018 Pictures

Now there was a tonne of social media coverage of the Midwest Meltdown this year, so the below are just a potted summary of pictures from the across the weekend.  My apologies for any inadvertent omissions etc.