Hello Westeros!
The SGF November tournament just happened last Sunday in Shanghai, and it was a blast once again!
This time I went in with Free Folks. I know, I know: “Boooooo! Sell-out!”
Well, I did buy them earlier this year and I like to change factions a bit during tournaments, so here was my chance! I played my first few games this month with them, trying Mag, Rattleshirt, Tormund and Mance commanders.
The 2 last ones were the ones I had the most success with, Tormund fitting my aggressive-Victarion-lover play style very well, and Mance being Mance, so I went with a list of both for the tournament. However, I am not a fan at all of duplicates and unit-spam, so I did NOT go for raider spam!
https://www.reddit.com/r/freefolk/comments/bqhyty/if_mance_rayder_made_it_to_episode_5/
Disclaimer: there are way less pictures than usual, for I was really focused on both games and beers, so apologies for that, will try to do better next time!
My lists
Both lists are quite similar, since I fell in love with 3 units which I really wanted to play, so didn’t have that much leeway: Mag, the chariot and the trappers. Well, the trappers turned out a bit disappointing this tournament, but the other two more than made up for it!
List 1: Tormund List
Tormund commander in Thenns, Borroq in Raiders, Spearwife Matriarch in Trappers, Chariot, Mag the Mighty, NCUs: Craster, Val and Mance.
The overall idea of this list is to have 3 hard hitting melee units while hidden trapping the whole field. Mance NCU is there to get the card engine rolling, and get Endless Horde or Tormund’s Rush of Aggression quickly.
—
List 2: Mance List
Mance commander in Trappers, Tormund in Raiders, Thenns, Chariot, Mag the Mighty, NCUs: Craster, Val and Styr.
This list is a bit more focused on Mag, Styr influencing him if possible to bring him to 8 attacks, and Mance morale bubble making it harder for every unit to fail panic tests, focusing the healing on Mag exclusively.
Game 1: Tormund Giantsbane vs Tywin Lannister
The Winds of Winter
Brent’s List:
Tywin in Halberdiers, Sandor in Mountain’s Men, Red Cloaks, Knights of Casterly Rock, NCUs: Joffrey, Pycelle and the High Sparrow.
Brent is a relatively new player who got introduced to the game in our teaching event the month before, which we’ve been training hard this whole time like a pig for slaughtering… Well, the training paid off overall, as he’s improved tremendously and completely had me on the ropes!
I went with Tormund’s list, which I really wanted to play in order to show that Mance is not the only competitive commander. My Mance option was mostly to fight off Baratheons and Martells tactic board control, so I figured I might as well try to have fun with Tormund while I could!
The beginning of the game went quite smoothly, both of us moving forward, his Knights changing direction suddenly, forcing me to put my chariot on the opposite side (I wasn’t too keen to oppose them to each other… if I charge, they don’t die, if they charge, I die!).
My hand was full of counter charges, maneuvers and retreats, meaning I had to make a move, or would be stuck with the same hand for 3 rounds in a row… So I charged with the Chariots in the Mountain Men, who were nicely positioned in the middle of the battlefield. The charge was quite brutal, which was good for weakening the inevitable counter attack, which ended up making 4 wounds on my chariots, but allowed me to maneuver Mag forward. The giant charged, and the Mountain men were only 3 left. Good!
On the right, Tormund and his Thenns took control of the objective, originally planning to walk around the center for easier “Overrun”, but ended up facing Halberdiers and Knights, so decided to just chill on their objective and score.
Round 3…
My game plan: put the mission card “Have an unengaged unit in your opponent’s deployment zone and score 2 vps.”, use Val for a free maneuver with Tormund’s Thenns and march them in Brent’s deployment zone.
My round: completely forget about my game plan after focusing on the other side of the field, put Craster on a zone to heal 2 silly wounds on a 2 ranks unit and pick a so-so card, and discover that the board is now full with no space for Val.
…
RAAAAAAAH!!!!
I am still mad about it.
Anyway… due to this nonsense, round 3 was completely and utterly under Brent’s control: he had played the “Get 1vp and First player” mission, had destroyed my chariot with the Red Cloaks, and had more points at the end of the round. Borroq’s Raiders tried to avenge the chariots by taking the Red cloaks in the rear, but… failed charge. I had managed to stop his Knights in their tracks by charging them first with Mag, but the situation was getting critical.
Luckily for me, we reached round 4 and I now had the possibility to get back up. Of course I played the same mission he had just played, which put me back in the race…
Enraged by the Chariots’ destruction, Mag the Mighty kept punishing the Knights, who finally got destroyed by a Thenn charge from Tormund (and an abhorrent defense roll for the Knights). Sadly, no unit in sight for an Overrun, but it was a relief to get through them!
The Red Cloaks were intent on eliminating the huge monster, but barely scratched him, dealing him more wounds to morale than to his heavy skin. Stuck between the giant, raiders who finally charged them and trappers’ shooting, the Lannister terrors finally bit the dust. The Mountain’s Men tried to avenge them by destroying Borroq, without success, while the Halberdiers went into charging Tormund’s Thenns who were protecting Mag’s flank.
It was the end of the game, and the Free Folks had managed to best the lions!
Result: 5 to 3 for Tormund!
Game 2: Tormund Giantsbane vs Eddard Stark
Here We Stand
Alex’s List:
Eddard in Sworn Swords, Rickon & Osha in Sworn Swords, Stark Bowmen, Tully Cavaliers, Shaggydog, NCUs: Catelyn, Sansa & Arya.
Similarly to Brent, Alex is a relatively new player, who joined the last tournament and who’s been playing with us this whole month, getting every time better with the Starks! They may have
It still was a Tormund choice for me, as I was not facing either Martells nor Renly, and I had a feeling I would really need the surprise charges against the Tully cavaliers. As a matter of fact, I really did.
The scariest part of his list was obviously the Tully Cavaliers, who got deployed on the left flank. Speaking of deployment, we did not notice the 18” deployment zone until we checked around the other tables, so it was a further “Here We Stand” than normal.
In a very similar way to my previous game, I did not get Endless Horde, but a hand full of “After an enemy attacked” cards, meaning I had to move forward to hope to spend them. But with the Tullys and Shaggydog facing me, I was a cautious, and decided to bait him instead. My trappers moved forward, Mag being just behind but sufficiently far to avoid a full Cavaliers charge on him.
It didn’t fail, and Alex launched a flank charge on my Trappers with the Tully Cavaliers… Unfortunately for him, the charge didn’t kill them, making significant damage but not enough to surge forth and escape the incoming…
Counter-Assault. From Mag the Mighty. On the flank.
The result was a grand total of 9 wounds in one charge from the giant, without any possibility of retreat for the cavalry. And I was starting the next round.
Obviously, round 3 started with a free attack from the giant, which made him kill the Cavaliers, and allowed him to surge forth just in front of Shaggydog.
Alex had to make some tough decision, as my Thenns and chariot were also menacing Ned’s unit. Between the Ned and the wolf, he opted for the Ned, sacrificing the poor Shaggy to the giant’s wrath. The Warden of the North’s fury destroyed the Trappers, moving my way.
Now I’m not entirely sure how we ended up with this set-up, but in short, after taking care of the wolf, Mag, the chariot and my Raider’s unit all ended up on Ned, who had no choice but to retreat again, in my direction. But it was an objective game, and Mag had to stay on the top left quadrant to score, so I charged poor old Ned with the chariot. And Ned died. We did tell him to retreat to Winterfell, not to the Wall!
I had managed to get an Endless Horde on Round 4 (finally), but the Raiders coming in granting no points, it was more of a pressure tool than anything else.
On the right of the battlefield, Borroq’s unit went to regroup and reform with Tormund’s one, a decision that helped save the gruffy bear-lover two times, Borroq’s morale boosting the Thenns tremendously. In the end, the skinchanger died, but Tormund stayed alive!
The game ended on an NCU battlefield occupation, each sending all our NCUs on the bottom right quadrant to prevent each other from scoring, meaning I managed to get 2 more points, putting the Free Folks on top!
Result: 8 to 7 for Tormund!
Game 3: Tormund Giantsbane vs Addam Marbrand
Game of Thrones
Davy’s List:
Addam in Warrior’s Sons, Champion of Faith in Warrior’s Sons, Knights of Casterly Rock, The Mountain that Rides, NCUs: Tyrion, Pycelle and the High Sparrow.
I’ve been facing Davy a lot recently, and he still improved in terms of positioning and control shenanigans, which is a joy to see! The sentence “Don’t charge Addam” often rings true against the monstrous juggernaut that is Addam in Warrior’s Sons. However and sadly for him… I brought a bigger juggernaut.
I still picked my Tormund list, even though the Endless Horde did not appear anytime, he had managed to prove its worth through his cards, and I did really like the list overall, so in we go with the Thunderfist for the last time!
I deployed most of my units on the left, and him on the right, so we basically shifted deployment zones from a north-south to an east-west perspective, which was pretty fun. His goal was to get the middle objective with Addam and one of the right ones with the Mountain, and mine was to get the 2 left ones with my Chariot and my Trappers, and contest the middle one with Mag.
Overall, I’d say mine was a success!
Addam went in for the middle objective, and Mag charged, contesting. Helped by the chariot on round 3 and after a total of 5-6 attacks over 2 rounds, the Lannister commander finally fell. Between Hardened, Faith and Pycelle’s Weakens, that was a tough bunker to crack! Mag’s Vicious ended up being very useful, denying the Warrior’s Sons’ more faith tokens and getting them to desperation time by time. The Chariot went on to control the central objective, while Mag was intent on keeping with his rampage.
The rest of the battlefield was in my control as well, this time managing to bring my first Endless Horde on round 3, and my second on round 4. One of the new units went on the left to control the lower objective, my trappers moving forward to the next, while the second one popped in on the Mountain’s flank, threatening him out of the objective. With these 2 moves, I managed to get far ahead in terms of points. And yes, the second unit was a Stark Sworn Swords unit, apparently Ned died again at the other table, but we all know he just wanted to kick some Lannister’s rear-end…
Tormund and the Thenns still did not get to do an Overrun, but had charged into the Knights, preventing them to wreck havoc in the Free Folks ranks, occupying them for the whole game, while Mag and the second Warrior’s Sons unit exchanged blow for blow after Addam’s demise. Not enough for either of them to destroy the other one unfortunately, and the game ended with a Free Folk battlefield domination!
Result: 10 to 4 for Tormund!
—
Conclusions
Aaaand the winner is… Greyjoy.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
Hmm. Sorry.
We both scored 3 victories, but sadly for me, he got 9 SP, and me 8. So Masha and his Greyjoys won the tournament, once again. And I couldn’t do anything about it! (well, I could have not forgotten Val, I think that was my biggest blunder of the day…)
Well, I did win Varamyr’s box, so not a bad ending, but I wish I had met Masha to see whether Greyjoys do die when drowning under furry men and monsters…
Another great tournament nonetheless, a real joy to see the level of the games growing every time, this was the overall consensus of the other games as well, players getting better and better and the games much tighter in terms of scoring! You can check the whole scores on Stats at the link below:
https://asoiaf-stats.com/tournament/5fb682b0-64b8-11ed-9ad8-c9eddd977435
(yes, we finally joined Stats for tournaments!)
Thanks to Bruce from SGF for the tournament, Brewdog for the tables, and everyone joining for making it fun!
I really enjoyed playing Tormund, he definitely made his way in my top 5 commanders, in a Victarion flavor with a twist. Sadly I never got to use his abilities, but his cards were decisive, a free charge from Mag is utterly devastating. So great month overall, I’m glad I finally decided to try Free Folks, they are a really fun faction to play!
Next tournament, I promised Alex: winter is coming!
Grob’
Chez Grob 