This weekend I attended a 1,000-point Age of Sigmar event in Inverness. I decided to take along Be’Lakor and his Legion of the First Prince. I shared my list last week and then very promptly played a practice game in which I was utterly crushed.
That was prescient.
Yeah, I didn’t do so well. 1K is always going to be swingy.
That said, I had a lot of fun. It was a great day, and it was nice to meet new people and play a lot of AoS. Everyone was friendly and positive throughout the day.
The Lists
Something that delighted me was the fact that among the 8 of us, there were no duplicate lists. Here’s what folk were using:
Flesh-Eater Courts
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Fyreslayers
Seraphon
Stormcast Eternals
Disciples of Tzeentch
Legion of the First Prince
Idoneth Deepkin
My Games
The day consisted of three games. I ended up fielding my Legion of the First Prince against the Seraphon, Flesh-Eater Courts and Maggotkin of Nurgle lists.
Game 1: LotFP Vs Seraphon
My first game saw me go up against the Seraphon. The scenario was The Mighty and Cunning. This is the scenario that sees players scoring bonus points for killing enemy GV units. This is the scenario that really scuppered me in the first round of From the Ashes, back in July. This time, I was a lot less worried. The Pink Horrors would be hard to move. The Flesh Hounds would die pretty quickly, but that’s ok. Summoned units would be a bit of a liability, so I’d likely focus on either horrors or Plaguebearers.
In the game itself, I discovered why Thunder Lizard lists are winning so many events. The battleline units are cheap and fast, and the dinosaurs are tough. Oh, man, they’re tough. My opponent was very cautious with his Skinks, keeping them as far from my Pink Horrors as he could, whilst still taking objectives. The shooting from the Bastilodon with Solar Engine had my bloodthirster significantly weakened by the time he could get into combat. When he did get in, he was further impaired by the damage reduction that the dinosaurs had. Be’Lakor tried to help but he’s just not amazing in combat and was also burned down by lasers. It did not help that these lasers were also doing bonus damage against summons.
I think that, in hindsight, I should have tried to use Be’Lakor’s ability to potentially shut units down. Turn 2 would have been ideal for this, but I was holding out for later. My summoning was also not great. I didn’t get it off in turn 1 and then used it later to take and hold an objective. In the context of the bigger battle, it was too little, too late.
One thing I did do well in this game, and which I have been trying to do more generally, was to make good use of the Redeploy command. In this case, I used the command, when that blood Bastilodon got too close, to move closer to and take the nearest objective. Getting better at using Redeploy is an ongoing goal, so I’m quite pleased with myself for this!
In the end, this was a pretty crushing defeat.
Game 2: LotFP Vs Flesh-Eater Courts
This game was against my most regular AoS opponent and used the Head on Collision scenario. This is a battleplan that I actually rather like. I’m used to fighting this army, though I’ve only fought this particular list once. This previous game did not go well.
This time, things went way better. Like, way better. For one, my opponent relies heavily on re-summoning dead units of ghouls. He can attempt this once per phase, spending a command point and passing a 4+ check on a D6. He didn’t roll well. That helped, especially when I completely forgot to attempt to summon in turn 1. He definitely remembered his own summoning, sending a small unit to hold a table quarter for his Grand Strategy and summoning a large unit behind my Pink Horrors in an attempt to take my objective from me. Thankfully, the Pinks, splitting into Blue and Brimstone Horrors, are a total tarpit and he just couldn’t take it, despite tying them up for the whole game.
My Hounds were brutally pulled apart by Crypt Ghouls, but otherwise I was able to really put out some decent damage, resist my opponent’s attacks, and grab objectives. A well-timed Proving Grounds denied my opponent some early points, too.
My favourite move of the game was when Be’Lakor summoned a group of 5 Pink Horrors (I wanted Plaguebearers, but there was no room to summon 10 models) who promptly charged an enemy character, taking my opponent’s high-value home objective.
This was a very comprehensive win for me, and suitable revenge for last week.
Game 1: LotFP Vs Maggotkin of Nurgle
I have a good handle on how Nurgle works. I love the Maggotkin as an army. With this in mind, I don’t know what possessed me into crashing Be’Lakor and the Bloodthirster into the Great Unclean One.
This proved to be the death of both of my Greater Daemons. Even if I had rolled better (oh, my rolls were bad, pals) and my opponent had flubbed more of his, I’d still have locked more than half my army into a long, drawn-out combat. Ultimately, losing both of my big, expensive characters by turn 3, meant no summoning, no board control, and no real chance to recover.
Utter silliness on my part.
I did do some things right. I delayed the inevitable a bit by locking down the Great Unclean One with Be’Lakor’s ability, but my rolls meant that I just didn’t capitalise on the opportunity. I also made good use of the proving grounds rule again to deny my opponent some early points.
This was my first time playing the battleplan, The Nidus Paths. I actually really liked it. I groaned a little bit inside when I saw the awkward setup, but actually it wasn’t that bad for deployment and I really like the teleporting from corner to corner. I never got a chance to use it myself, but my opponent did. It seems cool.
In the end, this was another very firm defeat for Be’Lakor’s boys.
The Venue
Our venue for the day was Ellerium Games in Inverness. It’s a shop I’ve been to a few times, but I’ve never attended an event there or played a game in the gaming area upstairs. It’s a small venue, but it was big enough for our event, and the staff were pleasant and accommodating. I’d definitely go to another event at the venue.
Of course, it was a bit of a trek for us, as it’s about 110 miles away. I could have done without being up at 6am and not getting home until 11pm (went for dinner in Inverness before heading home), but it was worth the effort and the travel.
The Winners
It came as no surprise to me that the Seraphon army that I played in my first game ultimately won the event. Not only was the army strong, but their player was gracious, friendly, and a lot of fun to play with. It’s nice when you can leave a table where you got drubbed and still appreciate the experience!
- 1st seraphon (top left)
- 2nd tzeentch (top right)
- 3rd fyreslayers (bot left)
- Best painted IDK (bot right)
I didn’t leave empty-handed, of course:
Oh, dear!
Final Thoughts
I had a good time.
That’s what this boils down to, ultimately. I met new people, all of whom were really lovely. I had some interesting conversations throughout the course of the day. And, of course, I got to play lots of Age of Sigmar.
What’s not to love?
The day was pretty well organised and the host was welcoming, as was the venue. I’d love to attend more events with the same people and will keep an eye out for any that are announced. It won’t always be possible to make down, as there is travel involved, but then I did choose to live in a bloody remote location!
My only slight regret was taking a largely unpainted army. Even without a painting requirement, I should have tried to take a painted force. It just feels better playing with a painted army, especially at an event where you want to give a good impression. This is pretty minor, though.
Great day. Much fun. Want more.
No Rerolls 
Good report, and I’m glad to read that you had fun. Would you tweak your army if you played this again, or do you think that the Legion just don’t play very well at 1000 points?
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I didn’t have enough on the table. I might ditch the Bloodthirster for some casters. He was the biggest underperformer.
That said, and as you suggest, I’ve never had results with Legion at 1k or 1.5k. I’ve won most of my games with them at 2k, though.
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