The Potters Guild

Whilst half of NZ was off enjoying the OTC I was over here with another GB tournament to come second in. Or did I?

I was fired up(!) by news of the Potters Guild in the very English sounding town of Stoke-on-Trent. A group of 12-16 players who meet to play every month. Very welcoming and down to earth(enware). Would I do well or would I clay down and die? I'll stop this now.

 

I loved that these guys have picked a club theme and stuck with it. From their mats to terrain and club accessories the Potters Guild is a theme that thrives.

 

I've got a solid lock on the (repainted)  roster I like, but it's now expanded up to 10. A coin toss between Cosset and vGraves but to be honest neither was likely to be used. Personally I think 9 is plenty, greedy Hobbitses.

This was my first experience with the new organised play rules and I have to say I'm a fan of the drafting process. Picking Captains first followed by the rest of the team works on both a fluff and mechanics level and seemed to really speed up the drafting process. We also employed a rather unique way of placing terrain. The kicking team would place two pieces and scatter them as per a goal kick, then the receiving team would do the same. Made each table different each time whilst still giving the kicking team a terrain advantage.

Game 1 - Kevin Smith (Butchers)

 

David Cameron vs Kevin Smith. There's a celebrity death match that we'd all be keen to see I'm sure. And with that line I may have gotten this blog picked up by the security services so my apologies for that.

Kev brought Fillet along with Princess, Shank, vOx, Boiler and Brisket. In response I felt that Brainpan and Memory would be little more than fodder and so I replaced them with Casket as a damage sponge.

I tag a first turn goal with Mist, who slides back down the pitch on his knees to the jeers of the opposing crowd. Is it me or do these two cards come up together more often than I'd expect?

 

I also manage to puppet master Fillet into a crowd of Morticians and bled her down to 6 health. Next to Casket. Oooooo.

 

Things go downhill for my opponent when Shank misses a goal and Obulus manages to finish out the game with a tap-in. Fillet? Yeah she's in Casket's coffin.

Final Score: 12-0

Lesson learned: I hadn't appreciated vOx's combination of "whirling chains" and "get stuck in". Talk about a tarpit. Treat that guy with respect. 

Game 2 - Joshua Niemcysk (Masons)

 

I haven't played against Masons in a while but I remember being wary/terrified of Hammer so I was happy to see that Josh brought Honour. How tough can that lady be?

This game so nearly went pearshaped quickly.

Despite receiving the ball, Flint's first activation very nearly led to a goal thanks to "Where'd they go" getting round Unpredictable Movement. Luckily he missed the tackle and in response Memory slices and dices him, immune to his charms.

 

Between two countercharging models, Linked, and Superior Strategy these guy have almost as many tricks up their sleeve as the Morticians. My lack of experience against them meant that my clock ticked down and I clocked out at 8 points (thanks to a Mist goal and having taken out Flint and Honour). In return my opponent had scored and taken out Mist and Graves1, all with Honour.

 

Luckily, in a truly heroic move, Mist returns to the pitch in time to collect the ball and sprint half the width before booting it to Obulus for a game winning goal.

Final Score: A rather sphincter tightening 12-9

Lesson learned: There is no range limit on 'Linked', and the Masons player can potentially have 12 INF worth of actions in one go.

Game 3 - Greg Day (Brewers)

 

Greg had made his way up from the South coast, hot on the tail of placing fourth of 116 at Venegeance two weeks earlier. We've played before when he nearly took me apart with hittyfish so I was apprehensive at the idea of facing his Brewers. He took Tappyboy along with Scum, Hooper, Spigod1, Stoker and Avarisse&Greede. I again swapped out Brainpan&Memory for Casket as a damage sponge, less vulnerable to KD than Memory and far sturdier than Brainpan.

He kicks off with Tapper and I spend a great deal of effort to avoid him charging Obulus with Tapper with Ghostly visage and Unpredictable Movement. However I score too early with Mist and once he has the ball back he uses a couple of passes to dodge Tapper into melee with the Ferryman. Oops. I end up KD'd and heavily damaged.

Obulus makes a run for it and hides behind Graves, Ghast, Casket and a building. Safe? Maybe. Effective? Not really. 

Mist does a lot of the heavy lifting, scoring again and hanging out near the goal to avoid the scrum in my half. Casket goes down, struggles to his feet and gets taken down for good. Dirge is a crumpled heap of feathers and Graves and Ghast aren't looking good. Can Obulus step up and save the day? 

 

Between his Legendary play, Puppet Master and Dodges, Obulus moves 25" in two back-to-back activations to get the ball to Mist for a tap-in snapshot. Legen...wait for it....

Final Score: 12-3

Lesson learned: Don't just assume that Brewers will rely on charges. They can dodge too! Casket has gone well up in my estimation, being critical in two games so far even if he costs an INF over B&M

Game 4 - Adam Coxon (Alchemists)

 

Adam had some lovely painted Alchemists with a slew of options open to him. He took Midas (ok), Naja (fine) Vitriol (typical), Harry (expected), Mercury (meh) and vKatalyst (f*#k I hate that guy this is so unfair, he's going to ruin my day isn't he).

I kick to him and expect a Vitriol goal that doesn't come. Instead he passes down the line to Midas and his pet monstrosity. Unfortunately he's so wary of staying out of Puppet Master range that Midas is too far away to score and the first turn ends 0-0. 

 

 

I tag goals with Midas and Obulus (requiring a Puppet Mastered pass from Naha, thanks Ms Snake). All whilst playing a merry dance around vKatalyst who misses a 'witness me' on Mist by 1 point, though he still goes down to poison. Midas scores and earns the ire of my crowd. 8-6 at this point with Obulus tottering about 3" from vKatalyst.

 

Mist returns to the pitch and spends the Vengeance token on Midas for momentous shenanigans before sprinting headlong at Katalyst and lobbing the ball over his head into the goal. How I love that man.

Final Score: 12-6

Lesson Learned: vKatalyst is still scary but perhaps the best strategy is to aim for two goals/one takeout which would scare the Alchemist player off using witness me. 

Afterthoughts

 

Well that's a turn up for the books! Managed to do better than second! Snagged myself a shiny patch/certificate/dice along with a pack of Chibi captain cards. Chibi Obulus is finally mine. Though having finally won something, is it time for me to retire the Morts? 

These guys seem like a very welcoming bunch and meet regularly so expect more reports from their monthly events :D

Until next time my dears.

..dary.