On Saturday the 23rd July Muppet Mania VI was held at Good Games Sydney by the Infernal Muppets club. It was a high quality field with 5 of the 14 players being members of the Australian ETC team that leaves in a couple of weeks. I travelled down from Newcastle with my mate Simon, who is ranked 7th in the country (but not going to Switzerland) and there were a few other players from the Top 50 as well. The tournament followed the ETC rules and army restrictions.

In the first game I came up against Shane Thomson, one of the ETC players.

Dwarfs
General: Robert Hughes
(RL) Runelord, Octavia Hellhammer [268 points]
- Ro Stone, Ro Resistence, Ro Preservation
- M Ro Balance, Ro Spellbreaking

(BSB) BSB, Fozzy Inchnail [165 points]
- Ro Fire, M Ro Gromril, M Ro Spite

(T) Thane, Exivious Stromnatt [99 points]
- GW, Ro Stone, M Ro Challenge

(Sh) 29 Warriors HW/Sh [286 points]
- Full Command

(Gw) 25 Warriors GW [265 points]
- Standard + Muso

(LB R) 20 Longbeard Rangers [315 points]
- Standard + Muso
- Ro Determination

(IB) 24 Ironbreakers [372 points]
- Full Command
- Ro Determination, Ancestor Rune

(H) 19 Hammerers [234 points]
- Muso

(G) Grudgethrower [145 points]
- Ro Penetrating, Ro Scattering
- 3 crew, Engineer

(O) Organ Gun [120 points]
- 3 crew

Total: 2399 points

My list is a slight variation of one I have been playing for some time. I swapped in the Organ gun and 4 more Hammerers instead of a Gyrocopter that I had been using. The list is designed to work like this - The Longbeard Rangers and HW/Sh Warriors work together (usually with the gyro) to project a heap of force along the left table edge and try to break his widest unit and start wheeling right. This is helped with the M Ro Challenge Thane. One unit pursues (usually the Gyro) whilst the others reform towards my right. The Ironbreakers move up slightly on their own in the middle and tempt some charges and hold with their magic banners, whilst the GW Warriors countercharge. The Hammerers anchor the flank in the middle of my deployment zone and reform to be 10 wide and face right, covering a bigger area.

Bretonnians
General: Shane Thomson
(G) General, Lord on Pegasus [263 points]
- Sword of Strife, Tress of Isolde, Virue of Heroism

(L) Lord [153 points]
- Warhorse, Lance, Morning Star, Shield
- Dragon Helm

(BSB) BSB, Paladin [104 points]
- Warhorse
- Sword of Might, Enchanted Shield

(D1) Damsel, Beasts Magic [140 points]
- Warhorse, Level 2 upgrade, Dispel Scroll

(D2) Damsel, Beasts Magic [155 points]
- Warhorse, Level 2 Upgrade, Silver Mirror

(KotR) 6 Knights of the Realm [168 points]
- Full Command

(KotR2) 6 Knights of the Realm [168 points]
- Full Command

(KE) 13 Knights Errant [296 points]
- Full Command
- Standard of Discipline

(KE2) 13 Knights Errant [296 points]
- Full Command
- Banner of Swiftness

(B1) 14 Peasant Bowmen [94 points]
- Muso, Braziers

(B2) 14 Peasant Bowmen [94 points]
- Muso, Braziers

(B3) 14 Peasant Bowmen [94 points]
- Muso, Braziers

(PK) 3 Pegasus Knights [195 points]
- Full Command

(T1) Trebuchet [90 points]

(T2) Trebuchet [90 points]

Total: 2400 points

Deployment

With only 6 deployments before scouts, my forces are assembled on the battlefield the quickest. The Shield Warriors are on my left flank with the Challenge Thane within. The Cannon takes a bead upon the Trebuchets and the Great Weapon Warriors are to the right with the Grudgethrower behind it. The Ironbreakers take up a central position with the BSB in their unit and the Organ Gun behind. The Hammerers occupy my right flank with my Runelord on the right corner. Once Shanes forces are down, my Longbeard Rangers take up the extreme left Flank, slightly in front of the Shield Warriors.

Shane places a unit of Knights of the Realm off to each side and his main Errant Lances are directly opposite my troops. His BSB and one Damsel are in the one on my left (KE2) and his Lord and the other Damsel are in the right one (KE). The Trebuchets are sheltering behind a forest, but that's OK by me as I have no BS shooting. His Pegasus Knights are on my extreme right, but I'm not too concerned as I think I have that area covered with my Stubborn Hammerers and the Organ Gun. His General is sheltering behind the house.

Turn 1 - Dwarfs

The units on my left flank start to wheel around the annoying rock formation whilst the GW Warriors and Ironbreakers do a little bit of realigning in the centre. The Hammerers reform to go 10 wide, but fail their Swift Reform roll twice and have to stay where they are. (The idea here is to lock up that flank with a wide, Stubborn unit and focus the rest of my battleline against his main thrust.

The Organ Gun is out of range, but the other shooting is pretty successful. The Cannon destroys a Trebuchet and the Grudgethrower scores a direct hit on his Lords Errant unit. The Damsel in the second row passes her Look out M'Lady and 2 or 3 knights go down after blessings are rolled.

Not too bad a start.

Turn 1 - Bretonnians

Shane moves his BSBs Errant unit up, carefully making sure to keep about 15" from my Sh Warriors and Rangers. The Lords Errant unit moves up a little bit further, but still fairly cautiously. Shanes left flank moves a little more aggressively and starts to wheel towards my right flank. His third unit of Bowmen move up to where about half of the unit can see my Hammerers.

Shane rolls double 1 for magic and doesn't bother with a magic phase.

The Bretonnian shooting is rather impressive. His remaining Trebuchet kills 11 Ironbreakers, effectively crippling that unit in my mind. His 3 units of Bowmen manage to kill about 3 Hammerers (only about half of the B3 unit can see them).

Turn 2 - Dwarfs

After taking the Trebuchet hit killing 11 (and possibly some bow shots killing a couple more?) I now picture the Ironbreakers as combat ineffective. With the 4+ Stubborn and 1D6 Breaktest Banner and the BSB they could perhaps have absorbed the Errant Unit(s) charge long enough for a Hammerer and GW Warrior countercharge, but I decide to pop the BSB over to the Hammerers and move the Ironbreakers off towards the flank. They Swift Reform to face to right a bit more and move back 2" The Hammerers reform to 5 wide and move 2" to their left. The Sh Warriors and the GW Warriors move back 2"

The Organ Gun scores a 4 against the Lords unit. I reroll and get a Misfire, but luckily it can shoot again next turn. The Cannon can no longer see the second Trebuchet, so it shoots at the KE hitting 2 and killing 1 after another Blessing save. The Grudgethrower should possibly have shot at the Trebuchet, but I fired at the KE2 instead. Once again the other Damsel makes her Look out M'Lady save and 2 or 3 Knights are de-saddled.

Turn 2 - Bretonnians

The Bretonnian right flank continues to make it's way towards my flank, but I am rather pleased that the Peg Knights have decided to alight upon the hill. The KE unit moves straight forward ominously. To my surprise the KE2 move off towards the middle of the battlefield and I realise that my LB R and Sh Warriors are in real danger of being isolated and useless (I'm beginning to hate that rock). The Bretonnian General shuffles his Pegasus forward and reigns him in next to the house.

In the Magic Phase Shane rolls 11 Power Dice. Wyssans Wildform is cast upon the KE2 unit with Irresistable Force on 3 dice. A couple of the KE are killed by Strength 10 hits, the rest are saved by the Blessing of the Lady. The Damsel survives.

The Bretonnian Trebuchet Misfires and one crew member is killed. It can't shoot until Bret Turn 4. The Bowmen unleash their arrows upon the Hammerers, with each unit chipping in a copule of kills and the Hammerers are down to about 15 plus the BSB and General.

Turn 3 - Dwarfs

With my opponent starting to control the battlefield I attempt a desperate charge by the Sh Warriors towards the KE2 flank. I'm pretty sure from memory I needed an 11. I miss, but I think it was worth it anyway, and they trot forward 4". The LB Rangers wheel to face the KoTR. The Hammerers continue their attempt to distract the 2 KE units from my Ironbreakers and GW Warriors and show their flank to the second KoTR unit too (come on Shane Charge them!). The Ironbreakers continue their move towards the flank in a hope of protecting the Organ Gun if the Peg Knights live or the KoTR go that way. The GW Warriors move back 2".

The Grudgethrower Misfires and can't shoot this turn or next (and therefore probably won't shoot again the way things are looking). The Cannon shoots at the KE and the cannonball sticks in the ground even with the reroll. The Organ gun does much better, scoring 6 hits on the Peg Knights, killing 2 and panicking the unit away.

Turn 3 - Bretonnians

The Peg Knight champion fails to rally and continues to flee.

The Bretonnian General looks set to throw his men into combat so the Thane in the Sh Warriors issues him a Challenge. The Pegasus easily guides his rider into the large shieldwall unit. The two unit of Errant Knights slam into the GW Warriors and things are looking grim in my centre.

In other moves, the unit of KoTR back away from the LB Rangers and the KoTR move off towards the Organ Gun to seek revenge.

The Bowmen kill a few more Hammerers and they are down to about 7.

In Combat againt the Sh Warriors the Lord (with his +2 Attacks) issues a Challenge. My Challenge Thane lives up to his name. I think the Lord managed to hit about 4 times. One of the Wounds is a 6 and my Thane goes down to Killing Blow (I thought that the Virtue of Heroism was only for Large Targets - I really need to become more familiar with all the FAQs). I really should have accepted with my Champion I think. His 4+ save and a Parry would have been just as good as the Thanes 3+ save. The Warriors unit wins by 2, but the General sticks around.

In the middle, the Errant Knights dish out plenty of pain and I think about 3 or 4 go down between the two units. The GW Warriors need Insane Courage with a reroll and fail both attempts. The KE2 pursue off the table, whilst the Lord and KE slam into the hapless Grudgethrower crew. (The Lord and the Damsel have about 4 Knights left with them at this stage).

Turn 4 - Dwarfs

With no charges, the IBs and Hammerers turn to face the KE and the area where the KE2 will come back onto the field. The LB Rangers shuffle back so that they can get a charge on the Bretonnian General, on the off chance that he is still in combat with the SH Warriors next time around.

The Cannon shoots at the Trebuchet and an 8 is just a little too long (I stuffed up here. Instead of declaring 8 inches from the back of the Treb I said 5" from the front. Once the angle was taken into account an 8 overshot). The Organ Gun fires at the KoTR and manages to kill 2.

The Lord and his Knights manage to kill the Grudgethrower (only just though, with one of the horses killing the last crew member). The Pegasus Lord kills 2 of the Sh Warriors and they take off a wound in return. He fails Break Test and escapes, but takes a wound from difficult terrain as his Pegasus slams erratically into the building as his Lord flees the choppy throng of Dwarfs.

Turn 4 - Bretonnians

The Bretonnian General rallies, but the Peg Knight continues charging headlong towards the right table edge.

The KoTR on my right charge the OG and should make short work of it.

The KE2 unit returns to the table, but doesn't move far. The KoTR on the left back away from the LB Rangers. The KE reform to face the Ironbreakers and Hammerers.

The Damsel in the KE2 unit casts Savage Beast of Horros on the Lord in the KE unit. It is cast with IF. The casting Damsel fails to wound herself with the strength 6 hit, but he other Damsel cops a wound.

The Hammerers cop a couple more wounds form the Bowmen.

The Orgun Gun crew are destroyed and the unit reforms to face the Ironbreakers.

Turn 5 - Dwarfs

The Sh Warriors charge the Bretonnian Bowmen on the left, but they flee, resulting in a failed charge.

The Longbeard Rangers move up closer to the KoTR and the Ironbreakers move up to 1" away from the KE. I can't remember why they didn't charge. I think it was to let the Hammerers get out of the way (KE overrun from IBs might have had them hitting the Hammerers? Not sure) and probably swayed by the fact the Lord had Horros augmenting his skills.

I have a tough choice here. Do I shoot at the Trebuchet with my Cannon or grapeshot the KE2? I go with the Trebuchet as a chance to get some points and to protect my characters in the Hammerers, who are down to about 6 or 7 models plus characters. I make the same mistake as last time and an 8 sees the cannonball fall harmlessly past the machine and crew.

Turn 5 - Bretonnians

The Peg Knight once again fails to rally, but flees to within an inch or two of the table edge. If he rallies next turn i am going to scream!

The KE2 and the KoTR charge into the Ironbreakers. (I'm not sure exactly of the formation here. It may have been the KE2 into the front. The result was the same anyway).

The General on the Pegasus goes back to analysing the houses interior decor through the back window and the other Bretonnian Lord leads his unit off to hide behind the hill and get out of the Hammerers charge arc. "Brave, brave Sir Robin, bravely ran away..."

Units B2 and B3 open up on the Hammerers and their arrows reduce them to 4. The Trebuchet then lands a stone directly on the Runelord and my General goes down!

The two units of Knights inflict several casualties and the Ironbreakers return 1 or 2 wounds on the KE2. The unit is down quite a lot in CR, but I roll a 4 for the Ancestor Rune and they pass their Stubborn Break Test. The KoTR then perform a Combat Reform, taking them 4 wide and out of the Hammerers charge arc 🙁

Turn 6 - Dwarfs

My LB Rangers and Sh Warriors are out of the action. The remaining Hammerers and BSB attempt to put the Hill between themselves and the Trebuchet.

The Cannon lines up the Trebuchet for the third time in a row. This time I announce the more effective 8" from the back of the model shot at. I roll a 10.

The Ironbreakers and the Knights continue to rain blows on each other. One of the KoTR goes down. The Ironbreakers pass their Break Test on a single D6 thanks to the Ro Determination.

Turn 6 - Bretonnians

The Pegasus Knight rallies after fleeing for 3 turns and just staying on the table.

There are no charges. The Damsel leaves the KE unit so that she doesn't blow them up in the magic phase.

Wyssans Wildform is cast on the BSB and KE2.

The Trebuchet lines up my BSB and scores another direct hit. The BSB fails his 4+ Ward Save and suffers 5 wounds. He's gooone, although 2 Hammerers remain.

The Ironbreakers are finally destroyed and it's game over.

The Finish

I end up with 90 points from a single Trebuchet. All the other units are above 25% of their starting strength (several by 1 model) which is what's required to avoid gicing up half of the units' points. The Bretonnians have scored 1701 and it's a 20 - 0 win to Shane.

He played really well and beat me pretty much without his General, one KoTR unit and after losing a Trebuchet without it getting to fire. My main mistakes were starting too far forward with my Ironbreakers and GW Warriors. The GW Warriors were always going to start drifting back towards my table edge to entice a charge on an exposed Ironbreakers, but they should really have started back between the Cannon and Grudgethrower. I also should have used the Ro Challenge in turn 2 on the KE2. They needed something like 16 to reach the Sh Warriors, but they could have done it and it certainly would have left them stranded a little bit and at least away from my middle units even if they did fail.