6th Annual Japan Open Warmachine/ Hordes Team Tournament

Welcome, welcome, welcome! I know you have all been as excited as I about the tournament, and finally... finally it is here!!!  That's right, once again, the Rumble Round the Ramparts, the Clash at the Castle... Last weekend, 22 players for 7 teams assembled from all corners of Japan... well, almost all corners... from Kyushu, Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Okayama and Fukuyama at least!  A mighty battle reigned, but at the end, only one team stood above all others!  We were expecting a typhoon to blow through and disrupt everything, but in the end, the weather was amazing... sadly, due to the warning of the typhoon, the sports festival at my poliwog's kindergarten was moved from Saturday straight on to Sunday.  NOOOOOOOO!!!!  Kindergarten sports festivals only last half a day, but half a day was two rounds of a three round tournament, and that means that I had to withdraw from my team, and our fearless alternate, The Kid, took my place.  Thanks, Kid!  Good luck!  I managed to arrive perfectly in the down time between round 2 and 3, and since we had only 7 teams, one team each round had a by round, and I managed to catch a game with the guys stuck with the pass.

And now, let's take a look at our teams!

Team 0.3 Ton (Saijo) 

Our good buddies out of one of the suburbs of Hiroshima City, this team is made up of classmates from the local university.  These guys are some of the loyal members of our sister group, the Saijo Gaming Club.

Beru, with his Cygnar army, using Captain Allister Caine and Commander Coleman Stryker

Ryosangata, with his Retribution army, using Issyria and Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard

Tetsu, with his Mercenary army, using Ashlynn d'Elyse and General Ossrum

Band of Heroes (Osaka)

The Osaka Troll trifecta returns!  Three amazing players, with amazingly painted armies, have banded together to make sure everyone knows the power of the Trollbloods!  Since players on a team cannot use the exact same caster, the Band of Heroes members each use a different incarnation of Doomshaper!

Daizo, with his Trollblood army, using Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia and Captain Gunbjorn

Genki, with his Trollblood army, using Madrak, Great Chieftan and Doomshaper, Dire Prophet

Tabibito, with his Trollblood army, using Grim Angus and Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls

Dhunholy Alliance (Fukuyama)

My intrepid team.  Sorry for not making it to the fight, but luckily The Kid from the Saijo gaming group was there, just waiting for a team to jump into!  He fought bravely for the Dhunholy Alliance!


DTB, with his Trollblood army, using Kolgrima, Winter Witch and Madrak, Great Chieftan

Sarge, with his Cryx army, using Goreshade the Cursed and Asphyxious the Hellbringer

The Kid, with his Convergence army using Forge Master Syntherion and Axis the Harmonic Enforcer

Eternal Journeymen (Tokyo)

This year only one team made it from Tokyo!  We were glad to see them, especially since Mitchell is one of my favorite people to play against OF ALL TIME!!!  Good luck, boys, and thanks for coming all the way to Fukuyama... it's a long trip!

Aoichiro, with his Convergence army, using Aurum Locke and Eminent Configurator Orion

Mitchell, with his Cephalyx army, using Cognifex Cyphon and Exulon Thexus

Yamazaki, with his Legion army, using Fyanna, Torment of Everblight and Anamag

Signs and Portents (Hiro-saka) 

A mix of two Osaka players with the strongest player from Saijo, Signs and Portents is the team to beat at the tourney this year!  These are very, very good players who make very few mistakes, and know your army better than you know it yourself!

Rantei, with his Skorne army, using Dominar Rasheth and Makeda & the Exalted Court

Kimtaku, with his Cryx army, using The Witch Coven of Garlghast and Wraith Witch Deneghra

Vladamir, with his Khador army, using Old Witch 2 and Vladimir, the Dark Champion

Team Kyushu (Kyushu)

Another team from far far away, the Kyushu team is made up of great veteran player and a couple of newer additions to the gaming world.  We were happy to have them, and hope the new guys had fun and stick with it!


Hai!  Yamanaka-desu! with his Mercenary army, using Magnus the Traitor and Ashlynn d'Elyse

Ryo, with his Khador army, using Koldun Kommander Zerkova and Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff

Zweifel, with his Cygnar army, using Major Prime Victoria Haley and Major Victoria Haley

Trick or Treat (Osaka)

Who let these Dread Rots in here???

Triple Grymkin!  Squee!  I love love love Grymkin armies, and I have been in love with Enzo's army since he showed up with it last year!  I was super excited to see it again!


Enzo, with his Grymkin army, using Zevanna Agha, the Fate Keeper and The Child

JC, with his Grymkin army, using The Wanderer and The Dreamer

NiwaNiwa, with his Grymkin army, using The King of Nothing and The Heritic

The Tables:
We had some really great tables set up this year... last year's tables were already amazing, but we got a couple more mats, a lot more terrain, and there were some amazing themed tables ready to turn into hellish battlescapes!  Twelve tables were prepared, nine of them as thematic masterpieces.  We tried to throw in some tactical importance as well when it came to choosing tables... some were fairly open terrain, while others were very hard to navigate.  Here are some of our favorites!

     The Beach -

Pretty neat, huh?  I love this new mat!  We toyed with the idea of making the ocean side of the map rough terrain, but in the end decided that that would be too much. 

     Farm Fields -

This is one of the super wide open ones.  Anyone with a colossal or a gargantuan probably would want to take this board.  There was some debate with the wheat field terrain pieces if they should be rough terrain or forests, but most of us decided to use it as a forest.  Just cause, you know... funny!

     Thornwood Hell -

Orgoth towers are always fun terrain.  Add a million forests and you've got a battle that's bound to get bogged down!

     Taiga Circle -

A little table dedicated to the Circle Oroboros, who did not make an appearance this year!  Those pesky ley lines were harnessed on the dais in the upper right corner, with a wizard's tower near the middle.

     Cityscape -

Nope, your eyes aren't tricking you, the board is tilted!  This mat was made before pre-measuring was allowed, so to make sure that you couldn't just eyeball distances, the mat was designed to be slightly off center.

After that, we had the four main warmachine faction tables (Cryx, Cygnar, Khador and Protectorate), and then three "basic" mats.  The most hated mat of the day?  Khador (of course, haha).

     Khador -

It was just too hard to maneuver around the positioning of the big gun in the back and the ammunition crates and extra shells.  So much hate!

Our Gracious Sponsors:
No tournament is complete without prizes.  And for us, we had some amazing gifts from several great companies!
    - Privateer Press  https://privateerpress.com/ 
          Privateer Press donated several models, templates, markers, and etc.

    - Broken Egg Games http://www.brokenegggames.com/ 
          This is an awesome company that makes incredible products.  They offered a massive discount
                and convention exclusive items TO EVERY PLAYER!!!  Amazing!

    - Discount Games Inc. https://www.discountgamesinc.com/ 
          Discount Games gave us gift certificates to the three members of the winning team!

    - Frozen Forge https://frozenforge.com/ 
          Frozen Forge also gave gift certificates for the three winning members!

Thank you so much to all of the sponsors!  The tourney wouldn't have been a success without you! 

Round 1 - 

And now, on to the gaming!  Yeah!  Here are the match-ups for the first round!

     0.3 Ton VS Eternal Journeymen
     Dhunholy Alliance VS Team Kyushu
     Trick or Treat VS Signs And Portents
     Band of Heroes takes the pass this round

This round, we used the "Pit 2" Scenerio.
Good games were had all around... Dhunholy Alliance, my poor team, managed to get three wins out of the round, even though I wasn't there, so good work, boys!  The Kid really jumped in with both feet!  DTB's battle was a long semi-bloody slog, where no units were fully destroyed on either side, and the only solo death WAS THE PATROL DOG!!!!  Hahahahahahahaha!

Winners for the round - Eternal Journeymen, Dhunholy Alliance, and Signs And Portents!

And Now For Something Completely Different:
No, no Monty Python today!  After the end of the first round, teams headed out to find themselves some rations to keep their energy up into the next round, and our intrepid TO Leland took a look at the armies to determine the prized Best Painted Army!  Some (but sadly, not all) of the armies up for the honor:

Rantei's Skorne -

Daizo's Trollbloods -

Mitchell's Cephalyx -

Enzo's Grymkin -

Genki's Trollbloods -

Vlad's Khador -

The Kid's Convergence -

That's all for now!  Tune in to find out who will take home the coveted Best Painter award!

Round 2 -

As the JOTC is a three round tournament, round 2 is mega important as it will determine who is going on to the championship game!  The match-ups for round 2!

     Dhunholy Alliance VS Signs And Portents
     Eternal Journeymen VS Band of Heroes
     0.3 Ton VS Team Kyushu
     Trick or Treat takes the pass this round

This round used the Mirage scenario, which is also one of my very favorites, though it can lead to a brutal and quick finish for teams that are not used to scenario play.  This scenario uses two circular zones and three... yes, that's right, THREE flags!!!
Dhunholy Alliance managed to scrape out another round victory, with DTB and The Kid wresting victory from the hands of our enemies.  Surprisingly, Sarge lost his game, but since it was a team effort, the Dhunholy Alliance was rocketed into the finals!  YES!!!

Winners for the round:  Dhunholy Alliance, Eternal Journeymen, and 0.3 Ton!

Round 3 -

Well, well, well... the whole last week before the tournament started, the Dhunholy Alliance was working out strategies, match-ups, anything to help us take our game to the very top.  Then, I was out, and it looked like all of out hard work went out the window... and then The Kid swooped in and saved the day, helping lead our team all the way to the championship table!  That's right, we're in the finals, baby!

     Championship: Dhunholy Alliance VS Eternal Journeymen
     Trick or Treat VS Band of Heroes
     0.3 Ton VS Signs And Portents
     Team Kyushu took the pass round this time

As the fates of all lay in the dice on the table, I had finally arrived in time to cheer my teammates on in their games.  I ALSO got to get a game in with Zweifel from Team Kyushu, a relatively new player who had a by this round.  He was a super nice guy, and we had a great game, but sadly for him, he was unaware of the AMAZING POWERS OF THE TESTAMENT OF MENOTH who walked through his front line and smashed Haley 3 in the face repeatedly until the submitted.  A big pile of souls reclaimed from his fallen comrades gave him so many shots at her that it was almost impossible that she would survive.  And she did not.  VICTORY!!!!

Winners of this round:  Trick or Treat, Signs And Portents, and.....
                                                                   and....
                                       and...

Results - 

Eternal Journeymen WINS!!!!!!!

Yes, the Tokyo team pulled out a victory over our very own Dhunholy Alliance!  In an amazing 2-1 victory, they really proved that they deserve to be the Team Champions of Japan!  In fact, only The Kid managed to pull out a victory for our team, so it was a GREAT thing that he was our alternate!  Good Work, Kid!  Thanks again!

Taking second place, DHUNHOLY ALLIANCE!!!

In fact, only The Kid managed to pull out a victory for our team, so it was a GREAT thing that he was our alternate!  Good Work, Kid!  Thanks again!  You all fought the good fight!

Arriving in third place, Signs And Portents!

Amazing work from this very strong team.  The second and third place standings all came down to points, and Signs And Portents has just too few to squeek out the second place spot.  A very strong showing from these guys... I know they'll be back with a vengence next year!

And finally... the winners of the Painting contest!

Taking Bronze - Rantei with his Skorne army!

Taking Silver - Mitchell with his Cephalyx army

 

Taking Gold - Vlad with his Khador army!  Congratulations on this great army, Vlad!

 

And finally, because I can never get enough of this army and how amazing it looks, the Commissarial award (this blog's best painted category), here are more shots of Enzo's great Grymkin army!

And with that, the 6th Annual Japan Open Team Championship is officially closed!  Thanks so much to everyone who came to take part, and especially to Leland for taking over the TO position.  It went great!  I can't wait to see everyone again next year!

AAR - Standoff SNAFU

Well, well, well... Spring has arrived in full force!  And with the warm breeze has come, for the first time... the information for the 6th Annual Japan Open Team Tournament!  We are officially getting underway, and here, in a Duty Log exclusive, is all the information you need to join us! That's right, it's almost time for the Crash at the Castle... the Rumble 'round the Ramparts...

We wanna join the tourney!

Japan Open Team Tournament:
     Date:  Sunday, October 7th, 2018
     Location:  Fukuyama Civic Center, behind Fukuyama Castle
     Time:  Doors open at 9, Registration at 9:15, First round begins at 10:00
     Players:  8 teams of 3 players each (24 participants total) will battle it out for the Championship.

     Cost:  4500 yen per team (1500 per person)  This amount will include the fee for renting the room, all mats, terrain and zones that will be used in the tournament (provided by the Fukuyama Gaming Club), as well as prizes and trophies.  After the tournament there will be a dinner party for those who wish to attend, more details on that to follow!  Also, there will be an open gaming day the day after the tournament at the same location (October 8th), which will cost 500 yen per person (you absolutely do not HAVE to come to the open day, but we'd love to see you there!).

     Armies:  This tournament will be played according to the 2018 Steamroller rules, so make sure you check that on the Privateer Press site to see what requirements for army creation are.  EACH PLAYER must bring 2 75 point lists from their corresponding Factions (team members do not need to field the same faction, but both lists for every player must be from the same faction).  These lists MUST be submitted by email to the Tournament Organizer by Midnight, Monday October 3rd, and each player must bring a written or printed list to be made avaliable for your opponents.  ALL MODELS IN BOTH LISTS MUST MUST MUST BE PAINTED AND BASED WITH FRONT ARCS MARKED AS PER THE HARDCORE RULE SET.  There will be no exceptions, unpainted models will forfeit the match, so PAINT YOUR MODELS!!!

     Teams:  This is a team tournament.  Teams will consist of 3 player.  Teams may assemble themselves, or, if a person needs help finding a team, we can assist them in finding teammates.  If you would like to participate and need help being place on a team, contact the tournament organizer.  There will be no geographical restrictions on teams so a team can include a player from Tokyo and a player from Fukuoka (for example).   TEAMMATES MAY NOT ASSIST EACH OTHER OR OFFER ADVICE WHILE BATTLES ARE IN PROGRESS.

     Prizes:  Trophies/medals will be awarded to each member of the top three teams, as determined by Steamroller 2018 criteria.  There will be additional prizes for "Best Painted" and "Best Sportsmanship", as well as a special prize for our most unlucky team.

     Contact: To register or make any inquiries, please contact the following people...
          Eric Perez - Tournament Organizer -vigilantecowboy@hotmail.com
          Daniel McCartney - English Coordinator - rodserling@hotmail.com

Working Hard or Hardly Working:
I am pleased to announce that finally... FINALLY... Sovereign Tristan and the remaining 4 Deliverer Skyhammers are FINISHED!  And because I wanted to be done DONE with Deliverers, I also finished the Delieverer Arms Master and the 2 grunts for my unfinished Deliverer Sunburst Crew, leaving the actual Sunburst itself as the final Deliverer model left for me to paint!
     Working Hard:  Sovereign Tristan Durant and 4 Deliverer Skyhammers

And with that, both of my warcasters for this year are complete!  Now, just a few solos left to have 2 fully painted lists.  With the Skyhammers finished, the Testament of Menoth's list is only a few models from completion!  The Champion of the Wall (mounted and unmounted), a Paladin solo, and 2 Choir members are all that's left to reach full paint!

Announcements:
The Fukuyama Gaming Club is meeting next on May 20!
Also, our buddies down at the Saijo Gaming Club in Hiroshima City will be meeting April 15.
But even more important, get your teams together and register for the 6th annual Japan Open!
 

The Winter Witch is come!

And with that, let's take a look at one of the epic battles that we had at the March meeting of the Fukuyama Gaming Club.  This month we had a standoff between one of the newest Trollblood warlocks, Kolgrima Stonetruth, the winter witch, and Sovereign Tristan Durant, who recently became a fully fledged warcaster for the Protectorate.  I had really high hopes for this battle...I'm super interested in all the new Northkin stuff that's coming out for the Trollbloods, so I was really happy to face this army, which also included the new Lookout models!  Tristan is also one of my favorite of the Protectorate warcasters as far as story goes... that whole "good guy trying to save as many as he can in a bad situation" kind of thing really calls to me.  Unfortunately...this was definitely not one of my great battles.  Not by a long shot.  As DTB said, "You were your own worst enemy."  Yeah, it was really.... not pretty... Well, you'll see.  We ended up with the Standoff scenario, and sadly, since DTB gets to add +1 to his starting roll due to his theme force, he won the starting roll and chose to go second.... NOOOO!!!  I like going second!  Dang!

Army List, Protectorate of Menoth:

Tristan's Guardians of the Temple

     Warcaster - Sovereign Tristan Durant
         Vanquisher
         Reckoner X 2
         Repenter
         Revenger
         Redeemer
         Temple Flameguard (Maximum)
           - Officer and Standard Bearer
         Daughers of the Flame
         Choir Of Menoth (Minimum)
         Phyrrus, Flameguard Hero

Okay, so first of all, we noticed after the game was completed that this is actually not a valid list... too many points... oops!  Not that it helped me, haha!  Phyrrus is floating in there for no good reason.  He just tagged along with the rest of the Flameguard.  Any-hoo, so this is a Guardians of the Temple theme list, it will give me Ambush for the Daughters of the Flame (who also have Acrobatics and Anatomical Precision, which will make them devestating in the backfield, especially against Trollkin since they can't make Tough rolls!).  Also, my Temple Flameguard will get Tough and cannot be knocked down in B2B.

Army List, Trollblood:

Kolgrima's Kriel Company

     Warlock - Kolgrima Stonetruth, the Winter Witch 
          Runebearer
          Glacier King
          Pyre Troll
          Scattergunners (Maximum)
            - Officer and Standard Bearer
           Pyg Lookouts (Maximum)
           Bushwackers (Maximum)
             - Officer and Moarter
           Sluggers (Minimum) X 2
           Pummler Crew
           Thumper Crew

Ahhh, nostalgia... this is a list that reminds me of a lot of DTB's old Mk. 2 lists (and my old lists, to be honest), which means LOTS OF DUDES!!!  This is a Kriel Company theme force, which gives DTB a +1 to his starting roll, and all of his warrior models can see through other friendly warrior models to draw line of sight and he can shoot through them and all kinds of stuff... something about being unable to accidentally shoot his own models, or something that sounds a bit cheatery to me...

Setup, Protectorate:

We fear no Witch!

I started by placing a skirmish line of the Temple Flameguard (and the illegal Phyrrus model) as far forward as they could go, with the Revenger on the right side of them to try and get my arc node as far into the field as it could go.  Behind the Flameguard were the three heavy 'jacks, the two remaining light 'jacks, Tristan next to the Vanquisher, and the Choir mixed in to get as much coverage as possible while still maintaining formation.

Setup, Trollblood:

Trolls are ready to go!

DTB started by banging down a GARGANTUAN right in the middle of the board... ugh!  In front of them went the Scattergunners in a skirmish line, with the Pummeler Crew on the right flank, and one unit of Sluggers between the heavy gun and the Gargantuan.  On the other side of the Scattergunners, Kolgrima set up next to her Pyre Troll and Trollsus.  Left of the flaming troll was the second set of Sluggers, and finally the Thumper Crew.

Advanced Deployment, Protectorate:
My Daughters of the Flame have advanced deployment, but since the theme force grants them Ambush, instead of normal deployement, you can choose to have them come onto the board from any table edge (except your opponent's deployment zone), in any of your maintainence phases.  So, I'll keep them back for now!

Advanced Deployment, Trollblood:

Pygs are speedy!

The Lookouts went right in front of the ice wall near the central rectangular zone, while the Bushwackers hid behind the forest on the left.  Mighty Pygs, out in front!  Have I mentioned lately that I love the new Lookout models?  They are DELIGHTFUL!  How can I actually try and take out that dude hanging out in the snowman?  Privateer Press really does a good job on their models...

Our Story:
The Northern Crusade has ended.  Tristan, in his new role as Sovereign, was sent to escort several unis of Flameguard from Lael back to the heart of the Protectorate.  As he and his forces passed through the last of a winter storm, they were ambushed by the Winter Witch, on one of her many patrols to protect her fellow Northkin and their territory.  As the standoff between the two leaders intensified, a skimrish between the two was the only possible outcome.


Round 1, Protectorate:

Get to the zone!

The Flameguard ran toward the edge of the zone and broke into 3 groups in B2B.  Phyrrus, ignorant of the fact that he shouldn't be there, ran to join the far right group.  The Revenger ran into the fog.  All of the other 'jacks ran to the edge of the zone, except the Vanquisher, who is S.L.O.W. and wasn't able to keep up, though he ran as far as he could.  The Choir moved up behind them and put passage on the Revenger, the Vanquisher, and both of the Reckoners.  Tristan moved up behind the Vanquisher and cast Inviolable Resolve on the Flameguard through the arc node on the Revenger.

Round 1, Trollblood:

Curse those troublesome Menites!

The Bushwackers took the lead by moving into the zone and taking 2 combined ranged attacks into the Revenger for 13 damage... Yikes!  Not a good start for me!  The Lookouts moved into the forest in the middle zone, while the Sluggers on the right ran forward.  The Pummeler Crew moved up and took a shot at the Flameguard, but missed... they were awfully far away!  The Scattergunners ran into the zone, and the second set of Sluggers also ran, as did the Thumper Crew.  Trollsus moved behind the wall, and put Harmonious Exaltation on Kolgrima.  The Glacier King used his Frozen Ground animus before charging the Vanquisher, which of course failed... the big frozen dummy!  Kolgrima cast Freezing Mist twice to make two cloud effects that would block line of sight to her troops and cause a -2 to attack rolls from living models that enter the cloud.  Cause it's cold... then she moved up behind the wall, before casting Vanish, letting her move in front of the wall before ending her turn.

Round 2, Protectorate:

Ohhhh, the horror... THE HORROR

Okay, this is where my defeat of myself began.  Turn one was a standard, strong turn.  Turn two is more of a ... well... you'll see.  The Temple Flameguard moved up a little and got into two large shield walls, and Phyrrus joined them.  Tristan moved forward and cast Manifest Destiny, giving an additional die on melee and damage rolls, drop the lowest die, to his whole battle group.  Then... FEAT!!!  Immediately, all his 'jacks gain 1 focus, and Tristan gets one focus from each of his 'jacks!  Yowza!  Using that extra focus, he cast Hand of the Creator on the Revenger to heal it for 3 points, and then cast Cleansing Fire at the Bushwackers, but missed.  The Choir moved up and put Battle on the Vanquisher, Redeemer, and both Reckoners.  Okay, so far, so good, right?  Well, this is where it all goes wrong...The Revenger moved to the edge of the zone... my poor sacrificial lamb... The Repenter used all three shots, and managed to knock down 1 Scattergunner and killed a Slugger... but I completely forgot about Manifest Destiny, and could have done so much more!  The Repenter flamed another Scattergunner, but even though it caught fire, it was tough and so was just knocked down.  The Vanquisher missed his shot against the Scattergunners because I forgot about Manifest Destiny again, while the Reckoner on the left did 10 damage on a shot to the Glacier King (again forgetting Manifest Destiny, so it could have been even better), and the right Reckoner completely pasted a poor little Pyg Bushwacker.  So, round 2, I paid for Manifest Destiny but didn't use it even a single time in six activations, didn't do anything useful with the Revenger except leave it out in the open to die, and FORGOT TO AMBUSH WITH THE DAUGHTERS!!!!  Nice!

Round 2, Trollblood:

The beatdown begins!

Okay!  So, there is a guy on fire, he's knocked down, and therefore cannot make a tough roll...all I need is a 3 or better to kill him off...DOUBLE ONES!  Haha, of course.
The Thumper Crew scooted up and took a shot at the Flameguard, killing two by pushing one through another before slamming into the Repenter.  But wait... if only I remembered my own rules!  And I quote "Inviolable Resolve - target model (ie, my Flameguard) cannot be moved by a push or a slam."  Wow.  So that's two spells that I spent the focus for but didn't remember to get any of the benefits for.  Sometimes I disappoint myself!  Oh well... I didn't remember at the time, so to the Creator of Man those two boys go!  The Scattergunners moved into the zone and opened fire!  They failed to kill the Standard Bearer, but did put 7 damage on the Redeemer.  The Glacier King aimed at the Repenter and did 6 damage, then reloaded and did another 10!  whaaa!  That's not good!  The Lookouts moved up to the very edge of the forest and opened fire, somehow managing to miss absolutely everything!

Look at this guy!

Yes!  Luck may be swinging my way!  The right Sluggers got three shots each and loaded them into the Revenger, but came away doing only about 4 damage!  The Bushwackers did 2 more CRA's (those are dangerous!), leaving 1 single damage point on the Revenger!  The Pyre Troll moved into the zone and finished off the poor Revenger that I sent off die for no appreciable gain.  At least he kept those guys busy instead of harrassing my other models.  The Pummeler took a shot at the left Reckoner, and missed!  It's an AOE, so it deviated back onto one of the left Sluggers and killed him!  Woot!  Kolgrima moved forward to the front edge of the zone and cast Freezing Mist two more times, trying to block line of sight and keep my guys from charging into her troops.  Then, she reached way down deep inside herself and FEAT!  In this feat she gets to push all enemy models in her control area 2" back and cannot make ranged attacks for one round (marked in this game by the lovely snowflake tokens DTB used!)  Trollsus and the other Sluggers moved forward, and that's 2 CP's to DTB!

Round 3, Protectorate:

No ranged attack for me this turn!

Okay...I'm not going to lie... last round, on both of our turns, I made a LOT of mistakes.  But that's okay!  Never give up!  I'm going to turn this game around, starting NOW!!!  First thing, Daughters Ambush onto the table!  I've got them staring down the backs of the Thumper Crew... not wanting to leave those poor Trolls any chance to notice their danger, they took the first activation.  One girl got into the backs of the Thumper Crew, and the others spread out into the Scattergunners.  Both Thumper grunts died horrible deaths (each Daughter gets 2 attacks), and 6 Scattergunners also fell.

Hey, did you hear something behind us?

The Flameguard charged, doing amazing work and dispatching the other 2 left Sluggers, 3 more Scattergunners, and one of the Lookouts (not the snowman, thank Menoth!).  Phyrrus walked into the Frozen Mist, for he fears no witchcraft, and killed another Lookout.  The Repenter brutally mauled another Scattergunner, while the Redeemer ran into the zone... gotta disrupt those zones or DTB will simply win on scenerio!  The Choir moved up and put Battle on the Vanquisher and the Reckoners.  The Right Reckoner FINALLY REMEMBERED THAT TRISTAN'S BATTLE GROUP CAN SEE THROUGH CLOUDS and charged the right Sluggers, taking out one and putting 10 damage on the Pyre Troll.  The other Reckoner watched his buddy go, remembered that he, too, can see through the clouds and followed his lead, charging another Slugger and putting 10 more damage on the Pyre Troll.  And.... BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!  Game Over!

Conclusion:
Victory for the Trollkin!

Though his forces were finally hitting their stride, Tristan had his Vanquisher vent a blast of steam, calling his forces back from the fighting.  He had no desire to risk any more of his troops to Kolgrima's magic.  His mission lay to the south, and he would gladly leave the north to its native kin.

Okay... so my main missteps -
     1) Spending lots of focus on spells and then not using the benefits of those spells
     2) Sacrificing my Revenger for no return
     3) Forgetting to Ambush with my murderous Daughters
     4) Most damning of all... spending all of the game staring at Kolgrima's Frozen Mist clouds thinking, aww, I can't shoot anything, I can't charge anything, what am I going to do when in reality, ALL of Tristan's battle group has True Sight, which ignores clouds for LOS and also ignores Stealth.
I roll my eyes at myself.  The good thing is, I learned a lot, and I mean, a LOT this game.  Next time I use Tristan, I guarentee I'll correct the problems and have a well oiled killing machine of an army, hungry for a win!

Thanks for the game, DTB!  Sorry you had to put up with my bumbling, but next time, I'll give you a run for your money!