Warhammer Underworlds wednesday 8th of april

 Roight, time to put the fun deck of Benelux Clash aside, and start getting "back into" my Shadeborn to prepare for Maastricht.

 

And I immediatly started with a big mistake, but more on that in a moment... 

 

But, we got two games in, normally next week two more and then I guess it'll have to do for the gruelling time schedule of the Maastricht Open. 

 

The first game was against Peter and his Thorns of the Briar Queen, running Deadly Synergies with Edge of the Knife. 

 

Both warbands geployed, and we where off for some dicerolling and hopefully ghostbusting! 

 

And this is where I made the mistake.  Sylarc immediatly charged deep, wounding Vaclav, and about to ping the Queen with Dark Lamprey.  Which is something I don't do normally against the Thorns.  My normal plan is to try and take out 3 or 4 of the little ghosts immediatly in round 1 because neither the Queen nor her right hand man are a big thread and only go to 3 wounds inspired...

 

But it had been a while, and I fell in my regular pattern of immediatly taking out his leader, then Commanding Stride'ing back with Slythael.  It doesn't look much, but it will come back to haunt me as these are an undead warband that doesn't raise back.

 

Sylarc became the center of attention far off in enemy territory, as Drusylla took out The Silenced.

 

And my brave crossbow aelf soon fell as well to the swarming of the Thornqueen's servants.

 

The ghosts where driven into a corner, so normally in round 2 I should be able to start mopping them up while containing them in that corner.

 

And so round 1 ended, a 7 to 10 lead for the Thorns on the board, but that wasn't something I was worried about.

 

But in round 2's early activations, a dramatical roll happened.  Slythael hit The Ever-Hanged with 2 hits, one becoming a crit due to Raging Slayers.  But Peter rolled a double crit in return, and the ghost remained on this plane of existence, and that meant they would be able to start breaking out, and they managed to bring down Slythael in return.

 

Which they duly did, with Valyssa becoming the target so he could make some passive scorings in the process.

 

Vaclav was taken out however, and eventually the Ever-Hanged as well, but this was to little to late as two of the ghosts had now escaped the boxed in status of the board, and it was 10-16 at this point for the ghosts.  Here, my early mistake and the double crit save came to haunt me, as this meant I know lacked bodies to charge out and take out his remaining ghosts...

 

 I dispatched the Exhumed early in the round, but I was in to close a spot now to be able to get to them all in the remaining activations.

 

 While Drusylla managed to take over the Aqua token, even though the ghost survived the attack, his own ghost also snuck on the token at my side, and I didn't score any of my big hitters in the end as there was just one body to much on the table in the final round.  The Shadeborn as such lost 15 to 19, the initial mistake having cost me.  That freaky save prevented rectifying the situation, but not sticking to my initial plan is what actually cost me the game!

 

For the second game tonight, more flying tablecloths lined up against me, as Lady Harrow's Mournflight came forward, using the Realmstone Raiders and Hunting Grounds deck combination, piloted by Thibaud.

 

Both warbands deployed, Thibaud using the Locust generic scroll (Dark Majesty) for the banshees, and he had brought scenery to dress up his side of the board as well!

 

The regular flurry of my opening charges and moves ensued, and the Lady Harrow herself was immediatly taken out.

 

As the Shadeborn infiltrated into his half, the banshees prepared to counter attack those that disturbed their haunted mansion in Embergard.

 

 And Valyssa soon found herself beleaguered near the side of the field, and the first round ended at an 8 to 8 score.

 

 However, she slipped off while being vunerable, and thanks to her Haymaker managed to take down The Screaming Maiden.

 

But Caitha swiftly punished her doing so, the knifewielding aelf falling to her attacks.

 

The Shadeborn decided to "pull the trigger" though, and Slythael finished off The Anguished One, meaning three aelves would be out for the hunt on Caitha in the final round, with a 15-11 score on the board at the moment.

 

 Wherever the banshee tried to go, there was an aelf waiting for her, and as all my survivors had reach there was no safe place for her to get to.

 

And it was Drusylla who dealt the final blow, chasing down the final banshee.

 

Sylarc moved himself on the Aqua Ghyranis token in the final activation, and with Annihilation out, it became a 24-14 victory for the Shadeborn.

 

So, that second game was more how it should be, as I got my targets back in order compared to the first one.  Next week, I'll be able to get in one or two more games to get back in the slaughter vibes of death by a thousand cuts, and then it's off to Maastricht! 

 

 

 

 

Live, Love, LARP

 Live, Love, LARP is a documentary made in 2017, in association with the Mystic Realms organisation and free to watch available on YouTube.

 

And this actually gave a good insight into the hobby, without stygmatising the participants as socially awkward people and the likes as often happens.

 

The documentary is split in various segments, of how the people live ordinary lives, and in their hobby live out extraordinary fantasies of adventure, questing but most importantly cameraderie.  It follows the journey of both regular participants and newer players, but also about the storytellers and how they craft the tales and settings for everyone to participate in.  Wether it is as a hero or a lowly NPC (the rat people where fantastic), and how to tailor for both young and old.

 

This documentary as such also takes a look at the immense creativity the people showcase, and the skills they learned to make their costumes and props to go on their adventures.  Sewing, leatherworking, all that sort of skills that come in handy in regular life, but also social skills, working along with others, and being able to put the stress of every day's ratrace to the side for some good old relaxation!

 

A very intresting documentary for certain, and worth the 1hr20 it runs to have a watch! 

 

 

Helsmiths of Hashut Infernal Cohort with Spears

 Painted up for the Golden Hat XLV over on Chaos Dwarfs Online, the theme was infantry units.

 

And as such the perfect opportunity to start working on that Age of Sigmar force (as I'm liking round based game better then square based game...).

 

The unit was painted up as the rest of my refreshed collection, keeping to the blue and gold colourscheme.  But I did opt for a bit of a connection to my beloved "main game", Warhammer Underworlds.  I put the rune of the Blood of the Bull warband on there, hinting at this being either the doomed expedition into the Spitewood, OR a new force to raze the place to the ground.

 

The demon essence reservoirs I kept with the fiery theme of before, as I don't like the official ghostly green GW used for that.  I'm an old schooler after all.

 

But as such, that's the second unit of the Spearhead force done, which is a bit of my unofficial goal to get painted over the course of these various CDO challenges, meaning the next unit will be the Bombard.

 

Check back then! 

 

Of course, as expected it didn't win any of the top spots, as there is a LOT of talent in the CDO community. 

 

But as I said, I am joining these always with the olympic though, and if something gets picked up left or right so much the greater! 

 

 

Fantasy Anime League Spring 2026 edition

 So, it is time for another round of FAL, and time to select the anime's I'm guessing will do well this season!

 

The first week has begun, and my team is ready to do another throw for glory.

 

Now recent editions have been going really well, so I once more hope to end within the top 20% of this seasonal contest.  To that end, my main line anime I picked is the third season of Dr Stone.  Which is an anime I actually should start watching myself soon...

 

Tsugai of the Underworld is a new fantasy series, so that got my pick as well, while Ascendence of the Bookworm season 4 looks like a sure shot series, this fantasy is just bloody good and I hope it carries on it's momentum.

 

I rounded out my 5 anime starting line-up with two series that will also start running in the opening week, with the fourth season of Welcome to Demon School and the lighter hearted Farming Life in Another World season 2.

 

I really aimed for the Fantasy / Sequel combination with the line up... 

 

... and continued that trend for my bench, with Wistoria's wand and Sword season 2 and the comedic The Barbarian's Bride, which is a new series.

 

The only non-Fantasy I banked on this edition is Liar Game, a psycholigical thriller series that debuts during this season. 

 

Will it have been a smart choice to go mainly into a single genre for the season?  Maybe, but in general fantasy series tend to be running well the past year or two, after all the isekai before them.  So this might skyrocket like crazy... or come down burning like a big ball of flames cast at level 20!

 

Let's see how it goes! 

Knives of the Crone

 The second warband for Warhammer Underworlds to be completed this year, and of course, as mentioned in the quarterly overview last week, I'm sticking to aelves alone.

 

Okay, bar of course the Blood of the Bull...

 

And this time, I went for perhaps one of the most complex to master of the Aelven warbands: the Knives of the Crone.  While their bounty and wounds mirror their rivals from Myari's Purifiers all the way back to Beastgrave, where the Lumineth are baseline easy to master, these are... well... far more complex with their Prophecy table.

 

And to add some more layer even to them when I'll take them along this year, I will field them with Realmstone Raiders and Reckless Fury, for even more tracking shennanigans!  

 

I went for a purple and red clothing and armour, to give some old school Dark Elves meets Daughters of Khaine vibe.  To add contrast to their dark cloaks and raven feathers, I went for a light blueish gray for their hairs.

 

While opinions on the sculpts are divided, I must say I like them, and they look better when painted up (which was the same with Kamandora for that matter on the paintjobs I've seen on those) and they do emit that visciousness that comes with the army and fluff for certain.

 

Now to see how they play, as I'll be starting to try them out one of these weeks for certain! 

 

 

Warhammer Underworlds tournament report: Benelux Clash IV

 The second of three Golden Ticket tournaments here in Belgium (the previous been Mines of Alost IV, and Into the Under-Ekeren IV being the next one currently), it was time for some Underworlds tournament play!

 

Now, as I won Mines of Alost, there was no pressure at all today, and as such I opted to take a lesser played (but still aelven) warband and a deck I only started to try out recently.

 

So Myari's Purifiers took to the Spitewood, using a deck of Emberstone Sentinels together with Hunting Grounds.  The goal?  Some relaxed playing, ending somewhere in the midfield, and preferably playing some other people then the usual "high table" opponents.  There where 14 players at the event this day, so that's once more a nice turn-out, now to hope that one of our community can get the ticket so I don't have to go to Barcelona all alone lol.  If I end around place 7 with a 3-2, I'll be a happy camper.

 

 

  

My only mentionable contributions for today?  Giving pointers to my clubmates, sponsor a warband price for the organiser, and that little thing of providing a venue to play at, as the tournament takes place in our TSA clubhouse where I ran the bar for the first half of the day during the event.

 

 

 

Peter, the organiser, had also brought a whole videorecording setup to the event for table 1, and to that end you will see those games up on the YouTube channel in the near future.

 

My first game was against Quint and Zarbag's Gitz, running Pillage and Plunder combined with Nexus of Power.  It was supposed to be ran before the camera, but I declined the honour as I might be called to the bar during the round.  A closefought game, it came down to the penultimate activation where one of his few remaining grots, an archer, rolled a single crit against my 3 hits without crit.  This made the little guy survive the game, but also blocked my Iron Grasp and Supremacy for a final moment turn around.  It ended as a result at a 12-18 defeat, happens as it was a good fun game.

 

 For the second game, I faced a new attendant to the events, a young guy called Lars and he played well considering the big difference in experience.  It's a pity I botched up the picture as it where nicely painted tablecloths with an attitude facing me, aka the Headsmen's Curse with Blazing Assault and Wrack and Ruin.  But I managed to play around his big hitter, and took away a 19-9 win from the game.

 

Lunch break arrived, so Wouter became the camera man ad interim while the TO went to collect the pizza's, or some who went for sandwiches.

  

That also meant it was time for the voting of the painting competition, with the warbands all on display during the break.

 

 Foodies downed, it was back to the tables and now I faced Patrick, another person I never played before, and Ephilim's Pandemonium with Countdown to Cataclysm and Wrack and Ruin.  I managed to survive the multiple pings and was forced to leave my half to hunt for his leader.  Finally getting him in the second round, it remained a close affair and I dragged a 17-15 over the line in the end.

 

And that put us near the candidates for the Golden Ticket for some reason, facing Tom and his Ironsoul's Condemnors.  They beat me up good in the training games to the event,  so I had low expectations for this one.  But he kept missing his attacks and I kept rolling saves, and it became a very, vcry tense and close affair.  In the end, a missed attack decided the game, as Gwynneth survived and could flee away from Bahannar, resulting in a 13-14 defeat for the aelves.  This could have gone far far worse...

 

For the final game, it was time for the mirror match at last!  As it turned out, Wim had also brought Myari along, with the same deck combo of "not coming over the middle line" Hunting Grounds and Emberstone Sentinels!  One of the most fun games I played in recent times, I actually won this by having a single aelf fall, Ailenn, which meant I could score and ploy in enemy territory being the underdog (really, bring back the old rule for that, this is silly).   Sadly I forgot to take a picture, but at the end of the day I took a 14-9 win.

 

And so, as predicted, I ended 3-2 and between spot 5 to 8, 7th to be precise as the lowest of the group of people scoring 3-2's due to a low glroy differential.  But more importantly, 3 out of my 5 games was against people I never played before (Quint, Lars and Patrick)!  Didn't get to play my traditional opponent Joep though this day, seems if we both enter we usually end up facing off.

 

So that brings us to the full results of the Benelux Clash IV, the first one ran in Belgium:

 

1. Valentin Hornik - Kamandora's Blades: 5-0 diff +33

 

2. Quint van Druten - Zarbag's Gitz: 4-1 diff +20

 

3. Johan De Ryck - Headsmen's Curse: 3-2 diff +23

 

4. Tom Steylaerts - Ironsoul's Condemnors: 3-2 diff +14

5. Patrick Neven - Ephilim's Pandemonium: 3-2 diff +12

6. Joep Nijssen - Jaws of Itzl: 3-2 diff +10

 

7. Tomsche Murrath - Myari's Purifiers: 3-2 diff +10

 

8. Wim Bellemans - Myari's Purifiers: 2-3 diff +1

9.  Nico Van den Winckel - Zarbag's Gitz: 2-3 diff -1

 

 

10. Peter Vanden Bossche - Kamandora's Blades: 2-3 diff -12

11. Wouter Beckers - Xandire's Truthseekers: 2-3 diff -16

 

 

12. Gert D'Hollander - The Thricefold Discord: 2-3 diff -20

13. Lars D'Hollander - Headsmen's Curse: 1-4 diff -21

  

14. Dennis Wilms - Zikkit's Tunnelpack: 0-5 diff - 53

 

And of course there is that final price, the coveted Best Painted.  This was won by Nico for his excellent Zarbag's Gitz, before Gert with the Thricefold Discord and tom with Ironsoul's Condemnors.

 

And there we have it, another tournament in the bag and one I could sit back.  Next ones I'll be trying to play competitive again (the Maastricht Open and the Halle event), before Into the Under-Ekeren als a TO will put me back in the relaxed play seat as I have a gazillion things to do then that day.

 

Until the next one!