‘Warhammer: The Old World’ – Can I Hold On In My Final Game In The Online Team Championship
Can I pull off a win in my final Warhammer: the Old World game in the WTCO? Read on…
Over the last month I’ve been lucky enough to get to take place in the World Team Championships Online (WTCO). Over five weeks, twelve 8-person teams from a host of countries are duking it out online. You can also find the event here on New Recruit. Many of the best players in the world are competing in this event which serves as something of a prelude for the World Team Championship Clash of Nations in person event in Spain this September.
For this event I’m playing with and helping to run the second US team in WTCO, effectively our B-team, we’ve got a mix of experienced players and a number who are new to team events (as I am). As a team event, and an online one, it’s quite different from anything I’ve played in before, but also a very interesting experience. I covered the first game I played, and lost here and my come back in the next games. Today, take a look at my final game in the event.
Round 5 Vs Papa_Nurgle
In Round 5 I faced Papa_Nurgle from the Free4All team (a mixed group of players from various countries). Now Papa was actually filling in for the original player who had something come up. So this while he is a VC player this isn’t his list or anything. I do want to give him major props for stepping up and filling in. The mission this go around was Strategic Objectives 2 and Special Feature.
Papa_Nurgle’s Vampire Counts
440 – Master Necromancer, Mortis Engine, Wizard Level 4, Necromancy, Sceptre Of De Noirot, Obsidian Lodestone, Talisman Of Protection
210 – Master Necromancer, General, Wizard Level 3, Necromancy, Skull Staff, Cloak Of Mist & Shadows
90 – Tomb Banshee
90 – Tomb Banshee
140 – Wight Lord, Battle Standard Bearer, Monster Hunter’s Tapestry, Burning Blade, Charmed Shield, Helm Of Commandment
436 – 29 Grave Guard, Shield, Implacable Defence, Seneschal, Obsidian Lodestone, Standard Bearer, Drakenhof Banner, Musician
60 – 20 Zombies
60 – 20 Zombies
45 – 3 Fell Bats
45 – 3 Fell Bats
192 – 6 Hexwraiths, Hellwraith
192 – 6 Hexwraiths, Hellwraith
As a reminder here is my list:
Abe’s Warriors of Chaos
420 – Daemon Princes, Light Armour, Fly (9), Mark of Nurgle, Extra Arm, General, Wizard Level 1, Battle Magic, Ogre Blade, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Favour of the Gods
213 – Exalted Champion, Shield, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Chaos Steed, Cackling Blade, Favour of the Gods
316 – Sorcerer Lord, Mark of Tzeentch, Chaos Steed, Wizard Level 4, Dark Magic, Spell Familiar, Infernal Puppet
285 – 7 Chaos Knights, Lance, Mark of Tzeentch, Champion, Standard Bearer, Totem Of Wrath, Musician
266 – 14 Forsaken, Forsaken by Slaanesh
91 – 7 Marauder Horsemen, Cavalry Spear, Skirmishers, Marauder Horsemaster
405 – Warpfire Dragons, Wizard Level 1, Battle Magic
Deployment and Openings
If you’ve been following along this is now my third time fighting VC in the event and each list has been pretty similar. So I think I’ve kind of figured things out a little bit. For deployment Papa built the usual VC wall in teh center between some of the terrain with Bats and Hexes on the flanks and characters in the rear. I put down my Forsaken on my right and the knights on the left so the I could push forward and avoid terrain (not in WTCO special features aren’t terrain). My warpfire was on the left to do some shooting and flanking (and also rolled fireball as it’s spell). Put the Prince and Wizard a little behind to to give them 360 incase the Hexes tried to jump my line or anything funny. The Horsemen guarded the rear and the objective.
I won the roll-off and let VC go first, they moved up a bit and healed. One important thing to note here is that neither Necromancer rolled up Spirit Leech so my LD was safer than normal. I’m not really worried about VC first turn and I like letting things develop so I can where they are going and how the Hexes might be moving. For my turn I pushed up my line and moved the Wizard into the Knights. I tired to protect my back field. The Warpy shot and did nothing and the Wizard left a unit of bats with 1 left.
The Gambit
For their second turn the VC moved up again and healed their bats. Both units of bats flew out front to get into blocking positions to slow down any charges I had. Spiritual Vortex went off but Unquiet Spirts only managed to take down a single Forsaken (2 of them, the first attack rolled 16 hits, but no wounds, that was scary). Papa also angled the Grave Guard so that if my knights pushed back the one unit of Zombies I’d be giving up a flank.
On my turn 2 I went for a big gambit. The Forsaken went into the Bats, knowing I should be able to kill them and overrun into the Zombies. My DP jumped up on the the hill in the middle of the VC line. There was just enough space for him to fit there and be out of the GG’s arc. This would open him to 3 screams and 2 magic missiles. But it also opened up all the VC backline. I killed some more bats with shooting and moved the rest of the line up.
I clenched really hard on the VC turn, but 3 screams and the magic missiles only did 1 single wound to my Prince leaving him alive. As a result the VC back line scattered and the hexes tried to move into better positions. My Forsaken killed a massive ton of zombies and then reformed.
Cracking The Line
With my gambit having paid off I was able to go to work busting the line open. The Forsaken, thanks to their reform, charged the Hexes in front of them, killed them and overan into the Zombies and out of the GG’s arc. My Knights killed the bats in front of them and went into the Zombies. My shooting blow up 4 of the 6 other Hexes. Meanwhile my DP, since all the characters had run away from him, jumped into the VC backline to trap the general. 
VC turn 4 saw the 2 remaining Hexes charge my lone wizard, only to die to him (they did make the Horsemen flee from terror first). The GG reformed in the center (they could have gone into my Knights, but since the Knights were going to farm a ton of comp from the Zombies this seemed like a bad move). The Knights killed a ton of Zombies and reformed to be narrowerr and the Forsaken killed their 6 Zombies and also reformed. VC magic failed heavily and my DP survived another 2 screams, though Papa was able to use the Mortis to block him from getting a charge on the general.
End Game
My turn 4 the Forsaken went into the flank of the GG and the Battle Lusted Knights went into the Zombies. In the back field the DP charged the Mortis. My Wizard also charged his front Banshee. My plan, and why I had reformed my Knights to be narrower, was for them to kill the Zombies and overrun into the general. I had the space to do it. However it wasn’t needed. Coming out of nowhere my Warpy got off a fireball that roasted the VC general alive.
At this point we were able to call the game. The lone unengaged Banshee crumbled and the Morits died to the DP. The rest of his units where in losing combats and crumbling and it was only my turn 4. Having lost nothing of my own I was able to score a 20-0 victory and clinch a final personal win for myself in the event. Overall going 4-1 was a good result for me. Another big thanks to Papa_Nurgle for filling in and playing a late night game (Germany Time). He was a great guy to play vs and the game was super fun. Now the total round doesn’t end till Friday so we won’t know results for a day or so, but for now I’m done.
Let us know how you would have played this game, down in the comments!
