Tyler began the next turn after winning priority and began casting to his heart's desire as my dispell attempts failed completely. He continued his aggressive push and we got to grips with combat. When it was my turn to have a go I tossed out some endless spells to add to his own on the board and dropped my eels and sharks, but due to some smart placing on Tyler's part, I had no chance of taking full advantage of High Tide with my powerful units, but they were in great position for turn three.
I took priority in turn three and put all my effort into capturing Tyler’s objective while I desperately clung to my own. It was all or nothing in this turn for me and I only had to kill a handful of skeletons with a unit of six eels. However, the dice gods were not in my favor and they failed their charge. Tyler then went all-in with his approaching horde of ghosts on my home objective easily dealing with the remaining defenders to take the win. Tyler, as you might expect, was a fantastic opponent and this game was a great way to begin the event despite a Major Loss.
I went into my second game against Michael and his Skaven. We were playing Shifting Objectives in Ulgu with the feature of Perpetual Darkness. The Realm Feature really hurt Michaels army as it meant he wasn’t maximizing his shooting into my aelves. I took the initial priority and moved up very aggressively to take control of the objectives once again reversing the tides. Michael responded by threating my army as he pushed forward toward the objectives in his turn.
The next turn saw me win priority and continued to hold the objectives as I dropped my eels and sharks from the Aethersea in his backline. The eels once again failed the charge, but the threat was enough to cause him to counter charge me in his half o the turn. However, my High Tide ability allowed me to decimate everything he threw against me much to his dismay. The next three turns saw me win priority each time and maintain my board control as I slowly picked away at his army. To Michaels credit, he played on to ultimately retake some of the objectives, but my lead was too far ahead by the time he was able to do so. Michael was a true gentleman of an opponent and we both played very relaxed with the goal of having fun. I walked into my next game with my first Major Win and hope in my heart.
The third game was Relocation Orb in Shyish using the feature Haunted Realm. I was paired against Blaine and his Beasts of Chaos force. I was excited to see my Endless Spells take advantage of the bonuses they would receive being in the realm of Shyish, but worried about the possible bravery issues I might face.
Blaine took the top of the first turn and as in the previous games, I reversed the tides with my Tidecaster Keshaani. This would be the only thing she would get to do as Blaine ambushed in as much of his force as he could while also taking the objective. By the time he was finished with his half of the turn, I did not have much left, but I pushed in to steal the objective regardless of my losses to keep the game close. Sadly my casters had both been killed so I was not able to get my Endless Spells out.
The top of two went to me and I deep struck in my eels and sharks to change my fortunes. I managed to put some pressure on Blaine, but not enough. Blaine quickly countered High Tide in his turn with his Endless Spell causing me to fight last. I tried to hang on as we went into turn three as I held onto priority, but it was nowhere near enough and I was tabled by the end of the three. Blaine played exceptionally well and picked apart my army with ease. It was still my favorite game of the entire event as Blaine had such a great attitude throughout the entire game and I look forward to playing him again to seek my revenge! Another Major Loss, but I was still having a great time!
Day two began with the fourth game of the event and I was playing Jeremy and his Night Haunt Force. We were in the lands of Ghur with Primal Violence being the feature and Total Conquest for the Scenario. We both had a Giant, provided by the event organizers, to take advantage of the Realm Rules. We didn’t take advantage of Giants as we got into the game, but it was nice to see them provided. I began the game with priority and I reversed the tides and decided to immediately strike his backline with me eels and sharks to hold him up in his deployment zone while I went after his weak flank. While my eels finally made their charge easily they managed a total of 3 wounds to the horde of ghosts it attacked. Jeremy did take the bait though and adjusted back to deal with the threat.
I held priority into turn two and my game plan had to quickly shift to holding him back in his deployment for as long as I possibly could. After he took his second turn it became clear I wouldn’t be able to do it for long as he put out the hurt and healed all of his dead. We played on to the end of time and had to talk out the last turn or so, but there was no doubt that despite my best efforts I wouldn’t be able to hold out until the end. Jeremy was positioned to take the win by turn five. It was another Major loss for me, but it was an enjoyable game where I made a new friend who I hope to see a regular at the Rend 4 events in the future.
My final game was against Bill and his Skaven force in the scenario Focal Points. We were playing the the realm of Aqshy with the feature of Burning Skies in effect. My trend of taking the top of one continued and I immediately reversed the tides for the final time of the event. I moved up to take the center objective while holding my own home objectives and waited for his counterpunch in hopes a hole in his backfield would open up. Bill kept one side locked down preventing any potential deep strike from that way, but a nice hole opened up on his opposite flank as he came after my army.
I kept the top of turn two and took advantage of the hole in his backline allowing me to capture one of his objectives to jump up on victory points. While I racked up the points he continued to wear away my army making it harder and harder for me to maintain control as the game went onward.
The game came down to the turn five where Bill had made great efforts to even up the score and have a chance to win it all with a final charge into my remaining few models clinging to my lone objective. His models failed the charge which ended the game in a draw, but as Bill has decimated my army he took the win leaving me with a Minor loss. Bill and I had a really enjoyable time together as we knew we had no shot of winning any of the top gaming awards and we rolled dice for the fun of it!
While I ended the event with only one win and four losses I had a great time rolling dice all weekend long. As I said above winning the event wasn’t a goal I had with the army I took, but the goal of having fun was achieved and I couldn’t be happier! I enjoyed playing my Idoneth list and really got a great grasp of its capability by the end of the final game. Although I am excited to get back to playing my Daughters of Khaine again for the next event I will be rolling dice. It was a truly great event and I look forward to the next time I get to play at one of the Rend 4 events. Happy Hobbying.
Chuck Moore