Agent's Clash - April 25 - Nemesis Tournament
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| My Stab-Ladz |
My deck is built using cards from Countdown to Cataclysm (C2C) and Wrack and Ruin (WR). The strategy behind the deck is to dish out chip damage to weaken my opponent’s fighters before finishing them off with the Stab-Ladz. Additionally, the deck is capable of continuing to deal damage and potentially score objectives even if all of my fighters are taken out.
Link to my Stabby Deck
Game 1 vs Seamus' Dread Pageant
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| My Dread Pageant |
My first game of the day was against Seamus and his Dread Pageant—a warband that inspires and improves as I apply chip damage through my Krule Stab, which I also need to trigger my own inspiration.
I set my fighters up as far forward as possible, while Seamus positioned Glisette and Slaakslash up front, with Hadzu and Vasiliac placed deeper in his territory.
In Round 1, I managed to inspire all my fighters by moving next to the Dread Pageant and giving them a Krule Stab, which also allowed me to score Bloodied and Bruised. Annoyingly, Slaakslash, who had already taken 3 wounds, used a push to move into an edge hex, preventing me from scoring Stay Close. This would become a recurring theme throughout the day (more on that in the conclusion).
Seamus scored 5 glory from Supremacy, Take and Hold: Treasure Token 4—which Vasiliac was camping on—and a surge I’ve since forgotten.
In Round 2, I lost Jagz and Hurrk but managed to kill Hadzu and Slaakslash, while also wounding Vasiliac. Losing Jagz allowed me to score Collateral Damage. In the end phase, I scored Stay Close and Loaded for Bear, though I was still trailing in glory.
In the final round, I attempted to kill Glisette but failed. Daggok was made Vulnerable by Vasiliac, so I retreated to the neutral territory Treasure token, scoring Shocking Assault. However, I was ultimately pushed off that token. In the final Power Step of the round, I finished off Vasiliac with Total Collapse.
The game ended 14–14. Neither of us had a fighter on a Treasure token, but I won due to having more fighters (and therefore more Bounty) remaining on the battlefield.
A great game, which I managed to snatch at the end.
Game 2 vs Axel's Pandemonium
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| My Pandemonium |
I know Axel from our local club scene, but I had never actually played him before.
Once we had set up the board and our miniatures, I realised it was going to be a tough game in terms of engaging and inspiring my fighters. Axel had positioned his fighters deep within his territory, with Ephilim themselves placed on an edge hex at the very back of the board.
I immediately went on the offensive. Daggok moved up next to Apo’trax and inspired by stabbing the Starefish. After that, I had no real option other than to move Hurrk through a Stagger hex to get adjacent to Flamespooler. Hurrk failed his Krule Stab, and Flamespooler promptly charged away. Spawnmaw then charged in, which gave me the opportunity to move up with Grakk and eventually Jagz. By the end of Round 1, I had inspired everyone except Hurrk and had injured a few of Axel’s daemons. We both scored a handful of objectives and were essentially tied on glory.
The second and third rounds saw both of us trading blows and steadily wearing down each other’s fighters. There weren’t many standout moments—aside from Axel killing Daggok with a raised Apo’trax. As we moved into the final turns of the game, I was standing on Treasure Token 4 while Axel held Token 1. The game ended with both of us on 15 glory, but I won thanks to holding the more valuable Treasure tokens.
It had been neck and neck throughout, and Axel played very well.
Game 3 vs Imogen's Thricefold Discord
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| My Discord |
I know Imogen from our local club scene, and she’s an extremely capable player.
The game began with Vashtiss charging onto the central Treasure token in neutral territory, pushing back Hurrk but not injuring him. I then began moving my fighters into contact with Vashtiss to start “stabbing.” Imogen used Sidestep to push Vexmor in behind Vashtiss and attacked Grakk, causing 3 damage. Using Confusion, I swapped the positions of Vashtiss and Vexmor so I could start laying the damage onto the indolent daemon. By the end of the round, I had managed to wound Vexmor four times. However, Daggok had been left vulnerable, even with Great Fortitude, and Grakk was dead. Imogen then used Commanding Stride and Eldritch Enmity to push both Vexmor and Vashtiss away from my fighters—and away from each other.
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| Yellow Hexes are Treasure tokens, circles are fighters |
In the second round, I managed to take out Vexmor, but I lost Daggok to Vile Temptations, after Great Fortitude was swapped for Driven by Pain just before I could complete the kill. I did manage to put some damage on Vashtiss, but it was healed with a Healing Potion, which would ultimately stop me scoring Wreckers. During my final two turns of the round, I put Jagz on Guard and pushed him onto a Treasure token, which I then delved. In the Power Step, I played Unstoppable on Hurrk and followed up with Fireproof. Imogen chose not to attack either of my fighters. On the final turn of the round, I moved Hurrk onto the only Treasure token in my territory. Delving it back into a feature, I was able to score Set Explosives.
Unfortunately, I entered the final round with two vulnerable fighters and no damage dealt to either Lascivyr or Vashtiss. My remaining fighters were quickly dispatched, and all I could do was use Focus to dig for objectives I could still score. In the End Phase, I picked up 5 glory with Stay Close, Spread Havoc, and Ploymaster. The game ended in an 18–15 loss.
I knew going into this match it would be a tough one. I think very highly of Imogen’s ability, and the Thricefold Discord are an excellent warband. Ultimately, Vexmor’s damage output was what destroyed me, and Imogen had me on the ropes for the whole game.
Game 4 vs Stephen's Beastgrabbaz
Game 4 saw me drawn against Stephen, a player I had never met or played before.
Stephen played the Beastgrabbaz aggressively. On his first turn, he charged in with Uglug to attack Daggok, also ending up adjacent to Grakk. He then used Reassuring Presence to move his minions—Rigg, Sham, and Dregg—up behind Uglug. For my first turn, I moved Hurrk adjacent to Rigg and Sham. With three fighters now in position, I began stabbing; both Daggok and Grakk inspired. Next, Snagz moved onto the Treasure token in neutral territory and delved it. Jagz then moved in next to Snagz. With all four of my fighters engaged, they spent the rest of the round stabbing away, until all but Borgit—who was still away from the brawl—were left vulnerable. In my fourth turn, Daggok killed Uglug.
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| Yellow Hexes are Treasure tokens, circles are fighters |
In Round 2, I continued to pick off the Beastgrabbaz one by one. By the end of the first Power Step in Round 3, all of Stephen’s fighters had been slain, while all of mine were still alive. In the final End Phase, I scored Wreckers, Alone in the Dark, and Stay Close. Due to the aggressive nature of the game, I struggled to score my surges, but the game ended 17–7—a solid win.
Stephen closed in too quickly on my fighters, which gave me the perfect opportunity to apply chip damage. He did suffer from some poor attack rolls, but Krule Stabb made sure his fighters were taken down swiftly, often before they could even attempt a second strike.
Game 5 vs Laura's Jaws of Itzl
Game 5 saw me face Laura—an opponent I’ve played at multiple tournaments, and someone with whom I have a roughly 1:1 win ratio.
The first hand of cards I drew wasn’t great, so I opted to mulligan and ended up drawing into Stay Close.
During setup, I positioned my fighters so that most of the Saurus warriors wouldn’t be able to charge me on the first turn. Laura placed her Venomites in an edge hex at the back of the board—this would ultimately cause me massive problems.
Laura gave me the first activation. I moved Grakk away from the Saurus and onto a Treasure token, placing him—and now all of the Stab-ladz—out of range of any charges. Ro-Tak then moved up onto another Treasure token. I used Sundered Realm, but failed to injure either Kro-Jaq or Ro-Tak.
I moved Jagz up and used Krule Stab, successfully injuring Ro-Tak. Ro-Tak counterattacked and drove Jagz back into a Stagger hex, but didn’t deal any damage. On my next turn, I moved Hurrk next to Ro-Tak and used Two Against One to push Jagz back adjacent to him. Both fighters used Krule Stab—Jagz wounded again, but Hurrk failed. Ro-Tak attacked once more but missed Jagz.
My final action of the round saw me move Daggok into position next to Ro-Tak. All three of my adjacent fighters used Krule Stab—and all three missed. Things were not going well. Kro-Jaq then charged Daggok, and I counter-charged with Grakk. Kro-Jaq missed.
I ended Round 1 with just 1 glory, scoring Spread Havoc for being the Underdog. Laura, meanwhile, was on 5.
I decided to keep my objectives: Stay Close, Low on Options, and Bloody and Bruised (which I had drawn into). I drew my Power cards and got five upgrades—fantastic, except I had no glory to play them, and no ploys to score Low on Options.
Laura won the roll-off for Round 2. Kro-Jaq attacked Daggok and dealt 3 wounds, leaving him vulnerable. He then used Duelist Speed to push away from my fighters.
My first activation was a charge with Jagz, who looped around to get behind Kro-Jaq. I landed a hit for 2 damage (missing the crit Grievous), and pushed him into contact with three of my fighters. All three used Krule Stab—and all three failed again! I had Improvised Attack in hand, but with all those failed stabs, I chose not to play it, as I couldn’t finish Kro-Jaq and also missed out on scoring Bloody and Bruised.
Laura punished this with Total Collapse, killing Daggok and inspiring Kro-Jaq. I did at least score Collateral Damage.
Kro-Jaq then charged into Grakk and dealt 3 more wounds. I played Finkstealer to draw two Power cards, gaining two ploys. I discarded one to gain +1 Move in the next Activation phase. Hurrk used the move boost to charge the Venomites—but missed. I then played Improvised Attack, which also missed. Again, I couldn’t score Bloody and Bruised, and I had no way to reposition my fighters to score Stay Close.
So-Kar then charged and killed Grakk. For my third action, I put Jagz on Guard—I needed to keep at least someone alive. Laura moved onto a second objective, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
In my fourth activation, I used Focus and ditched my four upgrades along with Stay Close and Bloody and Bruised. I drew into some ploys, including Loaded for Bear. I ended Round 2 with 4 glory.
In Round 3, Laura killed Hurrk. I kept Jagz on Guard, using Desperate Defence and Fireproof in subsequent turns, along with Great Fortitude, just to keep him alive. Along the way, I discarded a ploy to score Low on Options and Shocking Assault. I finished the round by scoring Wreckers, bringing my total to 5 glory for the round and 9 overall.
Laura ended on 17. Another loss.
Laura played well. The Jaws of Itzl hit hard, and once again, my cards and dice just didn’t line up when I needed them to.
Final Placing
I finished the day with 3 wins and 2 losses and place 8th overall. I was also the highest placing Destruction warband, which was really pleasing as I won an Agents of Sigmar faction mug.
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| My Stab-Ladz with my Prize Cup! |
Conclusions
I really enjoyed playing the Stab-ladz. The Krule Stab ability is excellent and fantastic for bringing enemy fighters into one-shot range. However, the problem with the warband is that all the fighters have only four wounds. This may seem good at first, but once they’re up close and personal with the enemy, they can be quickly whittled down, especially when facing 3-damage fighters like Vexmor and Kro-Jaq.
It was my deck, however, that really struggled. The Wrack and Ruin End phase cards, Stay Close and Alone in the Dark, were frequently counterplayed by my opponents, and I probably held onto them longer than I should have. Many of my surges were also difficult to score. Low on Options would often be drawn early in the game and end up bricking my hand, since I didn’t have enough ploys in my discard pile. From Countdown to Cataclysm, Spread Havoc and Wreckers often ended up at the bottom of my deck, and I frequently couldn’t access them, particularly because I held onto Stay Close for too long.
In the end, I was scoring around 14 to 17 glory per game, which just wasn’t enough to be competitive.
Additionally, the upgrades from the deck weren’t that useful. They didn’t really improve my fighters’ damage output, which meant I struggled to take down fighters either adjacent or in edge hexes. I had hoped that the many ploys in my deck, which were meant to do additional ping damage, would work more often, but they didn’t.
That said, I did enjoy using both the warband and the deck, even though it was quite a "finky" combination. I suppose that’s appropriate, but it made things challenging for a tournament day.
Tournament Warbands
The tournament was attended by 31 players, including a couple of participants from last year’s World Championship. Several players from the Havant tournament that Harry and I had attended a few weeks earlier were also there. There were some newcomers to the game, as well as all the usual faces I’ve seen at tournaments over the past few years.
In terms of warbands, 21 different ones were represented, with Borgit's Beastgrabbaz being the most commonly played.
- The Grymwatch
- The Thricefold Discord
- Grandfather's Gardeners
- Khagra's Ravagers
- Jaws of Itzl
- Ironsoul's Condemnors
- Gorechosen of Dromm
- Daggok's Stab-ladz
- Zarbag's Gitz
- Myari's Purifiers
- Farstiders
- Hexbane's Hunters
- Cyreni's Razors
- Brethern of the Bolt
- The Skinnerkin
- The Crimson Court
- Kainan's Reapers
- Thorns of the Briar Queen
- Da Kunnin Krew
- Grinkrak's Looncourt
- Mollog's Mob
- Skritch Clawpack
Checkout my Warhammer Underworlds for more articles, including other tournament reviews.
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