Guild Ball: Brewers Cup - Falconers sighted!

We had a double event this weekend. Steve Margetson, who works as a game designer at Steamforged Games, was invited by our excellent LFGS Outland to give a talk. Also, he would join us Norwegians on Sunday for the Brewer's Cup hosted at Brygg. Our first international Guild Ball visitor ever, I think. Also, he brought Falconers, making this the first ever tournament for that guild.

I had met him once before at BonesCon, nice to see him again, such a nice guy!

We talked for a couple of hours about GB game design, the future, and got a spoiler - Horizon will only be worth 1 VP. Local pundit Stig was giddy with excitement, that man loves his spoilers. :D

Brewers Cup

I brought my now pretty much fixed Fishermen lineup to the tournament.

Captains: Corsair, Shark
Mascot: Tentacles
Squaddies: Angel, Greyscales, Hag, Jac, Sakana, Siren
Union: Gutter ( while it lasts... :D )

Looks like you can learn to brew beer here, this must be tested at some point

I had spent some time looking at Falconers in case I was lucky to get a game. Corsair seems like the better pick, Falconers are fragile, and Corsair and Jac can tank better than the Shark lineup.

Pub opens, I go for one of my summertime favorites, Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc, game on!

Match 1: Corsair vs Theron

Gaspard has been away for a couple of months, nice to see him back!

I don't like Shark into Hunters, so it's going to be Corsair. I pick Angel for the first turn goal threat. He picks all the damage dealers including the new Veteran Minx. Jac gets scrum control duty.

Fishermen: Corsair, Tentacles, Angel, Hag, Jac, Gutter
Hunters: Theron, Fahad, Hearne, Veteran Minx, Seenah, Zarola

First round, Hag grabs the ball and passes it to Angel. Corsair pulls in Theron and he and Gutter get him down to 5 health. Angel scores as the last activation, and moves up to engage the bear. I had forgotten about the automatic 2" push so that was not a great idea.

Next round, my first activation is to put Angel on 6 defense, to make the Hunters spend as much influence as possible on her. She has already scored so she is not so important now.

Gutter takes out Theron, then Shark waddles up and starts beating on Zarola. I lose Angel. Jac resets the scrum, moving out Hearne and the Bear and leaving Minx and Zarola engaged.

Corsair takes out Zarola and Minx, and then everyone piles up on Hearne after Hag pulls him into the crowdout. Hearne goes down. Fishermen win 12-2.

I think having more control maybe makes for a better Hunters lineup than going pure beater like this list.

Match 2: Shark vs Tapper

Corsair is not happy with Tapper and all the Tough Hide, and Esters ignores a drag and has good control. So I drop Shark, even if I am not receiving. Next beer on tap: Brooklyn Lager.


Fishermen: Shark, Tentacles, Greyscales, Hag, Sakana, Siren
Brewers: Tapper, Scum, Friday, Hooper, Spigot, Veteran Decimate

Shark kicks, Hooper grabs the ball, passes it to Spigot, Shark does Shark things, goal! A good start. Since I saw a goal run I went for it immediately, even if it meant Shark would almost certainly die.

Shark survives the first round, for some reason. Friday is holding the ball but I can get to her with Greyscales, so Fredrik is forced to use Friday to take out Shark. Sakana gets the ball and kicks it away so that Siren can get it. Decimate pushes Sakana off the table. Score is 4-4.

Fredrik was really nice to give me a takeback after I head miscalculated the dice when Sakana was trying to get the ball - I thought I did not get a critical dodge, but I had forgotten Anatomical Precision for some reason. Maybe the beer was getting to me. Great sport!

The ball is passed around the pitch until it ends up with Greyscales, who scores. Shark is then able to zoom up the pitch and get hold of the ball again, making it 12-4.

Finally, I got revenge! I am pretty sure the last time I beat Fredrik was last year, I think he had at least 5 straight wins against me.

We had a discussion about the game afterwards. We agreed his main mistake was not using Friday to kill the ball. 5/1 is tricky to deal with for Fishermen, since my tackles are at 2. The worst option is Greyscales with a 21% per attack to get the ball. Shark has 32%. My best bet is Sakana, with 53% due to Anatomical Precision. Siren only gets one shot with her Seduction, however it has a 70% chance to land. If Friday is in cover or I am forced into crowd outs, it gets a lot worse.

I think the matchup is playable by either faction. Certainly the threat and flexibility of Veteran Decimate makes it a lot more even than it used to be.

Match 3

Last match I get Gaute playing Masons, and since we are the only two who are 2-0 this will be the last match. This matchup is list chicken. Corsair does not want Hammer, who outfights him, and Shark versus Honour is at best even. At least I am receiving. I drop Shark and get Hammer, which makes me happy. Another Blanc 1664, and off we go!

I blind Hammer and Shark lands the first turn goal. I am not able to get away from his threat range, though, so Shark gets boxed in.

Round 2, Mallet takes out Shark and Hammer drops Siren, so we are back at 4-4. I get the ball with Sakana and score again. Hammer hammers Sakana into the dirt.

Flint receives the ball but is engaged by Shark. He has to run out of my melee to reach the goal. I bonus time the parting blow and get a pretty lucky 5 hits (25% chance). This allows me to get the ball away from his guys and over to Greyscales.

Shark is taken out again, but now Gaute runs out of time. It's probably impossible for him to get 2 takeouts in time, but I do my goal run anyway since he cannot really get hold of the ball even if I miss. The final score is 12-8 to the Fishermen. Victory!

Post Mortem

Well, that went well! Both Fredrik and I were checking Longshanks in the bar afterwards. Damn it, but he is still ahead of me!

And Steve is now the #1 Falconer in the world!

Steve had time for a game afterwards - so I got my Falconers match, which I will post soon!

Guild Ball (#56): KTC March Match 4: Corsair vs Tapper

The currently top ranked Guild Ball player in Norway, Fredrik, was my last opponent. I think I have lost the last 4 or so games against him. Maybe I can reverse the trend today? He had just picked up Brewers. I considered dropping Shark, who I think is stronger against teams that like to bunch up. But, I wanted to see whether Corsair could actually deal with the Brewer scrum without A&G.

Fishermen

I changed my lineup to see whether Jac's pushing abilities could mess sufficiently with Tapper, or not. Gutter went out.


Corsair (Captain)
Tentacles (Mascot)
Angel
Hag
Jac
Siren

Brewers

Tapper
Scum
Friday
Hooper
Pintpot
Spigot

Round 1

I kick off, and again it is pretty perfect.


Corsair: 6, Tentacles: 0, Angel: 1, Hag: 0, Jac: 3, Siren: 3

I do drag in Hooper, the other interesting models have been anchored so I cannot drag them in.

I place Angel too close to the fight and she is taken out by a tooled up Scum. Siren finishes off Hooper after the rest of the team has beaten on him.

Round 2

Tapper moves in on Jac and has the hottest dice, soloing him - in cover and on full health! He lands the KD, the Commanding Aura, and with his last 4 attacks he needs 27 out of 28 dice to hit on 2+. I computed it afterwards and the odds were about 2% for that result. This really gave me huge problems, losing all of Jac's attacks meant that I was now losing the scrum.

Losing a bit of track of the games notes here since I am getting a bit tired.

Friday scores, and Angel scores, and first Hag and then Siren gets beaten up. Brewers take it, 6-12!

Taking out Tough Hide models really sucks without any access to damage buffs. Next time, I will drop Shark!

The end result of the tournament was 3-1 to me and Fredrik- but I won on strength of schedule. My very first tournament win in Guild Ball! The prize: Limited Rage (yay!) - and a gift card from Outland that I convert into a Shadespire starter. :D

It was a fun event, well organized by Stig, as always!

Guild Ball (#37): Shark vs Tapper

My old friend Tomas has not played in a while, but today he removed his Brewers from storage!

Fishermen

Just trying the same list as last time again.

Shark
Tentacles
Greyscales
Hag
Jax
Siren

Brewers

The starter, but swapping Stave for PintPot (good call against Shark...)


Tapper
Scum
Friday
Hooper
PintPot
Spigot


Friday kicks and it goes pretty wide.

Turn 1

Shark: 4, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 1, Hag: 2, Jac: 2, Siren: 3

I think not giving Greyscales 2 so he could run and dodge was a mistake. Hag did not need 2 influence here.

Shark has no problem retrieving it, though. Next time I should have Siren on the flank, so I don't have to go with Shark first, removing my turn 1 goal threat. The ball gets passed along the line, ending at Greyscales.

Round 2

I am 3 momentup up, and win the initiative.

Shark: 4, Tentacles: 1, Greyscales: 4, Hag: 0, Jac: 1, Siren: 3

Greyscales builds momentum off PintPot and scores. 4-0 to the Fishermen!

The ball is passed up the field, and Scum charges and Hamstrings Shark. Even so, he is able to Quick Time himself and grab the ball off Spigot.

Turn 3

Shark charges Tapper and bounces off him, scoring another goal! 8-0 to the Fishermen.

The ball is kicked out to Tapper who moves up and kicks it in. 8-4 to the Fishermen.

The ball is kicked out to Jac, who passes it to Greyscales, who I had been smart enough to give a single influence. He taps it in. 12-4 to the Fishermen!

Port Mortem

Tomas had not played against the Fishermen before, and he was unprepared for their extreme mobility. I think that the Brewers have to kill the ball, if they can, and force some brawling, because out-footballing the fish is not easy!

Guild Ball (#35): ClogCon 2017 Tapper vs Corsair

Last game at ClogCon! I have heard that Corsair is a drag (ha) to play against, so I asked Matthias to show me what it's all about.

Brewers

I have never used Veteran Spigot. Yes, I know it's a poor pick, but I wanted to see what the guy could do.

Tapper
Scum
Hooper
PintPot
Veteran Spigot
Stave

Fishermen

Corsair
Salt
Hag
Jac
Sakana
Avarisse & Greede (Union)

I get Field Dressing, Knee Slider and Who are Ya? as Plot cards.

Fortunately Guild Ball is not crushed under the iron heel of WADA.

Corsair kicks and it's on.

Turn 1

Tapper: 3, Scum: 1, Hooper: 2, PintPot: 2, Veteran Spigot: 1, Stave: 3

Tapper gets pulled in by Corsair and handed off to the Avarisse and Greede and Jac death pit. Salt moves up to be "annoying". I send the Otter to the bench. 1-0 to the Brewers.

Turn 2

Tapper: 0, Scum: 3, Hooper: 3, PintPot: 2, Veteran Spigot: 1, Stave: 3

Corsair wins the initiative. Tapper gets taken out immediately. PintPot goes in, but is taken out. 4-1 to the Fishermen.

Turn 3

I take out Sakana, and Hooper is taken out in return.

Spigot runs through the forest, kicks, scores, and Knee Sliders back to safety.

7-6 to the Brewers!

Turn 4

Tapper gets back in the mix. I take out Hag and Jac.

Turn 5

I win the initiative, and need just a single point to win. Tapper activates and punches Salt, taking him out with the last hit.




Poor little otter, he has fallen off his base!

Brewers win 12-6. I eked out a win in the end, but this felt decidedly uphill.

Post Mortem

I asked around on Facebook for advice.

Mainly the advice seems to be to block drags with high defense models (like Scum or Friday, possibly with Esters), or with models that ignore a Character Play (Esters and PintPot).

Tough hide models takes time to take out, and running everyone at Corsair is an option, to avoid have one model taken out with no retaliation.

Stave can break up the death pit.

Avarisse is pretty slow, so trying to move the melee out of his range is also an option.

Guild Ball (#34): ClogCon 2017 Veteran Rage vs Tapper - Missing Mist

Last day of BonesCon. Sandra and I play Union versus Brewers!

The Union

I have 6 painted Union models. These models are those models.

Veteran Rage
Strongbox
Benediction
Harry "The Hat"
Hemlocke
Mist

Brewers

Tapper
Scum
Friday
Hooper
Mash
Spigot


Tapper kicks and off we go.

Turn 1

Veteran Rage: 1, Strongbox: 1, Benediction: 1, Harry "The Hat": 3, Hemlocke: 3, Mist: 3

I grab the ball and it ends up on a flanking Mist. Benediction gets poisoned.

Turn 2

Veteran Rage: 4, Strongbox: 1, Benediction: 2, Harry "The Hat": 1, Hemlocke: 0, Mist: 4

The plan is to build a momentum with Mist and score, and then see if I can get a quick kill with Rage.

Mist fails totally. I am surprised, when I see Stig's Mist she tends to land it pretty much all the time. Surely it is just a fluke.

Tapper overextends. I move Benediction in, Veteran Rage uses "My Gang", and Rage sends Tapper to the bench.

Turn 3

With Tapper out I think beating up more Brewers sounds just dandy.

Veteran Rage: 4, Strongbox: 0, Benediction: 1, Harry "The Hat": 4, Hemlocke: 0, Mist: 3

Spigot is taken out by Rage. Mist again fails to score.

Turn 4

The Brewers get the ball and it is kicked up the field! Friday kicks at the goal and scores! 4-4.

Friday is taken out in retaliation. The clock runs out. A handful of activations later the Union wins on the clock.

Post Mortem

WTF Mist? Really? I am so painting the limited edition Mist up and putting this freak on the shelf.

Guild Ball (#33): ClogCon 2017 Shark vs Tapper

My last game on Saturday is versus Sandra. I play Shark, she plays Tapper.

Fishermen

Again, just the box.

Shark
Salt
Angel
Greyscales
Kraken
Siren

Brewers

Tapper
Scum
Hooper
Mash
PintPot
Stoker


I get Knee Slider, Windback and Who are Ya?,  and Shark makes a great kick, Stoker will no be able to kick it to PintPot.

Turn 1

Stoker runs up, fires at Shark for 4 total damage holds on to the ball, which allows Shark to grab it and pass it Greyscales. I shake the burning condition.

Turn 2

The ball is passed to Shark, who scores. He gets ganged up on bad afterwards, leaving him on one health. I had forgotten my Knee Slider, which would probably have saved him.

Round 3

Both Salt and Shark are taken out. Greyscales retrieves the ball and scores another goal. 8-3 to the Fishermen!

Old man Greyscales is again able to get hold of the ball, and it's all over. 12-3 to the Fishermen!

Post Mortem

Mash never got control of the ball, which allowed Fish to just keep doing Fish things all game long. I am really starting to like this team!

Guild Ball (#31): ClogCon 2017 Match 3: Tapper Brewoff!

For the last match I meet Arne Peters who is also playing Brewers!

Draft

I get Sic'Em, which I am very happy about. I also get Field Dressing and Heroic Landing. I also get to receive, which is good for me!

I figured that this would be a mosh pit, so I took all the hardest hitting models I could find, plus Friday for a hard to kill model with goal threat. The only difference was that he took Stoker and I took PintPot. I think this makes me massively up in the mirror. PintPot bursts out such incredible damage over two turns, and is great for sending in and killing Spigot.

Overall game plan: Kill Tapper first.

Drunk Brewers

Tapper (Captain)
Scum (Mascot)
Friday
Hooper
PintPot
Spigot

Tipsy Brewers

Tapper (Captain)
Scum (Mascot)
Friday
Hooper
Spigot
Stoker

Turn 1

Tipsy Tapper first kicks, and then overextends into my lines. I get to pull him in and take him down to 11 health. Looking good!

Turn 2 

I go first. Drunk Tapper beats on Tipsy Tapper. Scum gets Sic'Em and goes total murderfurball. Tipsy Spigot also goes down. Friday runs up and scores. 8-0 to Drunk Brewers!

Turn 3

Tipsy Tapper returns and does a mighty charge, taking PintPot from 20 to 0 in one single activation! I then clean up and take out Stoker and Hooper. 12-2 to the Drunk Brewers!

Post Mortem

My opponent gave me an opportunity to get his Tapper early on, and with him gone the game is a snowball. We had a good time, Arne was super entusiastic about charging in Tapper for the PintPot kill!