For the second time in as many years, DOGC is NETT Champions! This year’s team was again captained by Anthony Ferraiolo, with Alex Buganski as 1st Lieutenant and Steve Sharnick as 2nd Lieutenant. Anthony switched to Cryx earlier this year, while Steve and Alex were both running Cygnar. The competition this year would be even more difficult than a year ago; not only does the event keep expanding to its’ largest size ever, it also was not part of Captain Con the best new convention in the North East, that garnered over 250 unique attendees playing Warmachine! Here is the lists and battle reports in the players own words…

Lists

Captain – Anthony Ferraiolo – Cryx

“I was comfortable in my lists, and had been playing them since Cause for Paws last month; I was thinking (in general) Denny vs Warmachine and G3 vs Hordes; creating enough matchup problems that my opponents could use their Team Feat and I would still be solid even in uphill battles.”

eDenny

Nightmare

Deathripper x2

Bane Calv (full)

Soul Hunters (full)

Satyxis Raiders (full) w/ UA

Blood Witches (full) w/ UA

eShade3

Harrower

Deathripper

Blackbanes (full)

Mech Thrall (min) w/ UA

Necrosurgeon

Soul Hunters (full)

Darrage Wrathe

Aiakos

Leviathan

Wraith Machine

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1st Lieutenant – Alex Buganski – Cygnar

“I was in the 2nd spot, the 1st Lt, and I went 3-2. Which while worse than last year I am still proud about my showing since I had five great games against five great players and the two games I lost were close. I was playing Cygnar and here are my two lists:”

ECaine

-Ol’Rowdy

-Squire

Lt. Allison Jakes

-Hunter

Reinholdt

Gorman

Eiryss2

Stormsmith

Boomhowlers

Aiyanna and Holt

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages w/ UA

Black 13th

EHaley

-Stormclad (bonded)

-Thorn

-Squire

Jr

Eiryss1

Anastasia

Nyss Hunters

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages w/ UA

Sliver Line StormGuard

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2nd Lieutenant – Steve “Red Steve” Sharnick

Steve was also playing Cygnar, he did not decide on his two lists until very near the start of the event! Here is what he finally decided to play:

Caine2

Captain Allister Caine – WJ: +5

– Squire

– Ol’ Rowdy – PC: 9

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator – PC: 1

Journeyman Warcaster – PC: 3

Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire – PC: 4

Thrall Warrior – PC: 0

Viktor Pendrake – PC: 2

Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord – PC: 2

Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist – PC: 2

Eiryss, Angel of Retribution – PC: 3

Rangers – Leader & Grunts: 5

Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers – Leader & 5 Grunts: 6

– Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer – Officer 2

Greygore Boomhowler & Co. – Boomhowler and 9 Grunts: 9

Horgenhold Forge Guard – Leader & 5 Grunts: 5

Kraye

Captain Jeremiah Kraye – WJ: +6

– Squire

– Minuteman – PC: 5

– Minuteman – PC: 5

– Stormwall – PC: 19

– Lightning Pod

Stormsmith Stormcaller – PC: 1

Stormsmith Stormcaller – PC: 1

Stormsmith Stormcaller – PC: 1

Journeyman Warcaster – PC: 3

Captain Arlan Strangewayes – PC: 2

Rangers – Leader & Grunts: 5

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt – Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4

Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers – Leader & 5 Grunts: 6

– Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer – Officer 2

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Round 1:  vs The Corpse Tokens

Scenario: Close quarters

Summaries:

Captain: vs Circle

“My opponent had pKrueger in his list pair, and I don’t recall his other Warlock, but I had no doubts on who I was getting dropped against me; I decided to go with Goreshade. He is who I prefer against Hordes most of the time anyway. The game plan was to get pressure on Krueger quickly, and get the Feat out as soon as possible so I didn’t have to worry about it late. Mostly the plan worked, and I was able to get up into his grill quickly as well as take out a stone with a Soul Hunter charge (meaning no more teleport!). After a piece trade, I felt I was ahead, and Krueger came forward to swing the tide with his Feat and went down to 1 Fury, casting Earth’s Blessing on himself to finish his turn. As a Circle player you would think I would know what that does. So I had Shade burn his Feat in attempt to assassinate Krueger. That obviously didn’t work (thanks to the Animus), fortuntaely when I realized that it wasn’t going to work, I was able to go into damage control. Luckily there was a rocky out clove I was able to keep Shade behind. Following turn Krueger went all in to try and capitalize on the error but Megalith (with Lightning Tendrils) couldn’t reach Goreshade over the impassable terrain. Having survived the failed counter assassination, Shade was able to charge in and finish the Warlock. I was fortunate to survive that one!”

1st Lt.: vs Cygnar

“I was playing a local CT player, Ben Adams. He had Siege in his list pair, so I knew I was getting him; I decided I would counter with eCaine. I also knew there would be a lot of killing in this contest so I wanted to make sure that I was threatening his flag and controlling the wall in the center with Rowdy and the Hunter. Both of our units of Boomhowlers were deployed next each other on my left with his gun mages there as well, I would be relying on Heightened Reflexes and 4+ tough to save me (which it did). My Gun Mages and Black 13th were on the right across from his Storm Blades. First turn he ran and so did I but I was able to snipe out Boomhowler with the Hunter; thank god for 14″ and AD! He moved up and killed some of my Gun Mages and put Fox Hole on his Stormblades. I countered by using Ryan of the B13th along with Gorman for some nice AOE damage to take out the unit; then my Boomhowlers killed his. We continued to kill each other but he was losing out on attrition and while we were both starting to score points. He used Siege to Force Hammer Rowdy away from the flag that I had ran to control, dropping him to two focus and I took the opportunity to assassinate as we were both on our flags and he was too close not to try. I went with Jakes, Jr and Hunter to kill his JR to drop Arcane Shield, then two Gun Mages, Watts and Caine teamed up to kill Siege with the help of my Feat. I was the first one done but both Steve and Ant looked to be in good shape.”

2nd LT: vs Skorne

“I was facing Makeda2; in her list was a Titan, savage, Molik Karn, Cetrati, Nihilators, Hakkaar, and support. I decided to drop eCaine figuring he was best in this matchup due to ability to super solo and high damage output on demand. I was able to get first turn and jam up the board. A big Moment in the game was when Gorman survived a CMA from a pair of Cetrati after he successfully blinded some of them to slow them from getting to my zone. The blind bomb allowed Caine and Rowdy to clear off most of the remaining unit. After Gorman survived the CMA, he was able to blind the Titan and Karn for two consecutive turns. Once the piece trade happened and the blind bomb helped me hold up and clear the zone, I set the line of engagement so Boomhowler was able to Rage Howl and hold the line so that Caine could continue killing stuff while dominating the flag. Eventually I was able to kill the Cyclops which allowed, Caine to Feat and RFP Molik Karn leaving Makeda with no transfer target, so I was able to finish off Makeda.”

Round 2: vs Granite State Irregulars

Scenario: Fire Support

Captain: vs Cygnar

“Originally we agreed to Team Feat before this round to swap Steve and I to get me into the matchup with the Troll player who was boasting a rough matchup for Steve in the 3rd spot. My opposing Captain was Ben Cort, I lost the die roll, and still decided to use our Team Feat as planned (which in hindsight was a silly thing to do, as they would obviously have to Feat back), and Ben astutely counter Feated to swap the matchups back.

So Ben and I would re-match; honestly I didn’t have a great matchup for what I knew he would drop, which was eHaley. Last time we played I was list locked into Goreshade3, and this time I had a choice. I opted to go with Denny2, figuring I would get up field and faster with Denny2 and use my Wraith ability to stop the assassination. Well, the first part of the plan was easy, run at the opposing army and hope the opposing dice cooperated. Unfortunately I lost a bit more than I wanted to, but I was able to force Haley to Feat, allowing me to Counter Feat and full camp. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get as much in the Feat as I wanted, so my Incoporeal was not able to save me from the assassination. Good news is I was able to keep the game going long enough that both of my Teammates had won before my game was over, so that part of the plan went off without a hitch! Thanks to my teammates for carrying me through to round 3, and grats to Ben for handing me my first (and only) loss ever in NETT.”

1st LT: vs Legion

“This game was against Greg Fournier; matchup would be eHaley vs eThags. I knew off the bat that I was going to go straight for scenario. I deployed my Nyss on my left and my Stormguard and ATGM on the right. We both ran and I took some pot shots. His second turn he brought his Raptors up, on my right, and tried to kill a few Stormguard. My turn I started with Haley and gave one Focus to each jack. I ran Thorn then Halely activated moved slightly forward, gave Dead Eye to the Mages and TK his Ravagore to face backwards and then Feated. My Nyss then ran engaging a few beasts and preventing him from getting to my flag. My Stormclad ran to the flag. My Gun Mages killed 4 Raptors (yay Dead Eye!), and then the Stormguard charged in killing the last one as well as put 13 points on the objective. Junior walked up and also shot the objective, killing it, and then Anastasia ran into contact with the flag giving me three points. With my feat up Greg wasn’t able to get much into contesting the flag even with the use of his feat.  On my turn I just used the ATGM to push the Angelius that he did position to contest  and then ran Haley to dominate the flag for the win. I then turned to Ant just to watch him lose, but fortunately Steve was well ahead closing out his game at the end of this round; on to round 3!”

2nd LT: vs Trolls

“I was facing Dave playing Trolls, and he opted not to go with the list I was more worried about, instead dropping Grim 2. He had a Bomber, Pyre, Fenns, Warders, Scatter Gunners, and other stuff I forget.. :). I dropped Kraye; opening up with Full Tilt on Stormwall, with Minutemen along side so they could both threaten the Fens and Bombers next turn, the rest of my force ran for position. Trolls opted not to drop a bunch of shots, but instead run to cover the board and be in the scenario.  In response I dropped covering fire with Stormwall and boosted a lot of shots into the Bomber and leave it with a couple of hit boxes. Then I had Ayiana Kiss the Fenns, and with a pod and Stormcalls do a number on the. I start pushing warders back with ATGM. Next turn I lose some Gun Mages and a Ranger, and the Minuteman as the Trolls crash my lines. Next Turn I finish off the Bomber and Warders, clear out the Fens, kill objective start so I can start scoring. He can’t respond, thus I win on scenario!”

Round 3: vs Team Muse

Scenario: Destruction

Captain: vs Cryx

“Seeing as I was not pulling my weight at all to this point in the day, and now I was facing one of the national champions from Australia at the helm of Team Muse, I knew I was time to kick it up a notch if we had any plans on repeating. My opponent (who just happens to be my new best friend in W/M) Aaron Wale, was playing eLiche2 and pDenny. I assumed I was going to get Liche as most often in the mirror that’s what my opponents have done. I was going with eDenny, I was right about Aaron choosing Liche; bad news was I lost the roll to go first. Liche’s opening moves were not very aggressive, so I took strong board position, and was able to run an Arc Node far enough forward to Hellmouth a Bane and catch Gorman. Following turn Liche layered his forces in, and prepared for impact, however he only was able to get about a half dozen models to the zone. On my turn, I crashed home, cleared the zone and Feated on the whole of the opposing Cryx force, and finished by scrapping the objective; three points to me. Aaron’s following turn he wasn’t able to do much but get the Hell Diver in the zone. I charged it with Denny and was able to use Dark Banishment to clear the zone again, winning the game on scenario. Glad to get a win in a contest like this! Having known Steve got Nigel out on the top of 2, we were on to the semi finals!”

1st LT: : vs Menoth

“I was playing John DeMaris from Muse and the matchup was High Reclaimer vs eHaley. This was a great game. His list was built for EHaley (thanks Keith) and with the amount of clouds he was getting down I was not getting much done. I had to feat first turn or face getting overrun and I used the opportunity to time bomb his stuff, kill the objective and get up quickly 3-0. I put John in the position that he had to kill my jacks and flood the zone to prevent me winning which he was able to do. He kept putting Knights Exemplar and Paladins in the zone and I was not able to kill all of them, or any of them for that matter. It came down to him up 4-3 with me only having Haley and the Squire left so I went for a wonky assassination that had almost a 000.2 % of working, which it didn’t, so John won on scenario. Thankfully Ant and Steve were able to pick up my slack so we still advanced.”

2nd LT: vs Khador

“This round I was paired against Nigel playing Khador and his Ocean’s 18 pSorcha vs eCaine. Nigel runs into position right away putting Sorscha behind wall on left side and his stuff up to woods on right. I put Heightened Reflexes on Boomhowlers move Caine up an inch or two and the rest of the force to the right further away from Scorcha then Magic Bullet a Gun Mage. Camp 2, and have Jr. put Arcane Shield on Caine. Had Ranger run to within 4” of Eiryss, I shoot him with Gun Mage and the subsequent Magic Bullet kills Eiryss. I felt pretty safe Sorscha could get up on attrition but not assassinate me; as with the wall and rough terrain in the way meant she needs to burn everything to actually try for it. Just didn’t seem like Nigel would go for it given the risk/reward of the situation. Turns out I was wrong, Nigel goes Boundless Charge on Sorscha and Behemoth, Wind Rush up, charges and pops Feat to get most of my army. Next he Power Boosted Behemoth who then charges his own Gorman to get max distance and in range of Caine, he hits twice, boosts one damage roll and does one non-boosted damage roll; does about 10 damage, failing to kill Caine. Fortunately, nothing else had Caine in range so the rest of his turn he spent killing random models. Caine shakes, feats and kills Sorscha… (ed. note: Nigel apparently hasn’t seen an assassination attempt he doesn’t like!).”

Round 4: vs Dark Omen Too

Scenario: Two Fronts

Captain: vs Khador

“Amazing that in the semi finals of NETT, two of the remaining three undfeated teams were both DOGC! Unfortunately we would be playing our own brethren in this round.

Shane and I have played a number of times leading up to NETT and Captain Con, so we were well versed in what this matchup would be. Shane, assessing the situation and knowing that he had not played his pVlad list yet on the day opted to go a different direction. He felt that even if he dropped his eSorscha, he might still lose the game; furthermore he believed his teammates were in VERY strong matchups with Alex against Meat Mountain, and a likely Lucant match for Steve; both ugly for Cygnar. So pVlad it was, he was gambling to ensure if his team won he would have his best list in the Finals; a well played and courageous decision by the captain. In Two Fronts, I did indeed drop Denny, and I was not able to get first turn this game either. With Conquest and Behemoth, my whole game plan was to win on scenario. Shane ran his army out as best he could to make sure scenario wasn’t a foregone conclusion; I also went up the board quickly. Used my pieces to pin the Khador force back and mostly  off their own zone. The objective was an unwitting ally for me keeping the Colossal at bay. Next turn, Shane did what he could to get into the zone with the IFP. It wasn’t enough, with Curse of Shadows, and my speedy units, I was able to clear the zone, killing Behemoth and Feat on most of his force to score 3. On the following turn, Shane ran Vlad to the zone with Malakov and a couple of remaining mechanics that were all not in the Feat. Denny came forward and dropped a Hellmouth to clear the Mechanics and was even able to one shot Malekov; for a quick end to the game. Now to see if Shane’s gambit would work, checking in on my teammates.”

1st LT: vs Trolls

“This match against our own teammates and I get our friend Stu playing Meat Mountain! I had a feeling this was coming. I was able to duck Stu the entire time I was in Ireland and was hoping that I wouldn’t have to play him especially since I wasn’t playing Stryker which sucked. But here we were, in round 4 and I needed to make the most of it. So little advice to Cygnar players, Meat Mountain suuuuucksss, and I would say our best options are Stryker and Siege. I played Haley because with Time Bomb, TK, my feat and Gun Mages it lets me delay the engagement and try to screw with him as much as posssible; which is what I did. Stu did exactly what I thought he would, one unit of Warders and Champs to each side and Mulg and the Axer in the middle with the stone behind them. So I used the Gun Mages one the left to push his Warders around and the Silver Line in front of them to deny charges. On the left I used the Nyss Hunters in full 10 man CRA to pick off a Warder coupled with Eiryss’ Death Bolt. I used Thorn to slow the Warders down and the Stormclad to kill them. Now this game probably goes well for me if I feat turn 2, I keep Anastasia and probably wipe the units on the right earlier but I FORGOT TO FEAT (yeah buddy)!! Well Stu made me pay, killed Anastasia, hurt Thorn and pretty much wiped out the Silver Line. I responded by Feating, and killing some stuff; unfortunately he killed more. I then killed Mulg and the stone but had left Haley open to Grissel and he got in there and killed me. But once again Ant and Steve cleaned up my mess.”

2nd LT: vs Convergence

“We had a weird list chicken at the start of this game with both of us playing a list the other wasn’t expecting. Matt ended up playing Iron Mother (and not Lucant) with Axium, Corollary, Mitigator, 7x Diffuser, min Reductor, and repair stuff (list on Captain Con episode of F2F).This was a match I was not looking forward to, seeing as we both counter guessed incorrectly, it ended up in an assassin duel. Basically I start well with my positioning, however a mistake cost me Boomhowler (after I changed my mind with Rowdy’s final spot). I had a chance to get Mother around turn 4, but I botched the activation order and turns out I was out of range with Caine; fortunately I was able to Gate Crash to safety with Caine; in retrospect I should have just jammed the lines. Same turn I had also successfully Black Oiled the Axiom which Alexia was blocking from getting into zone. Following turn Mother goes Feats, casts some spells and fires her gun. Then that nasty Diffuser group goes; I lose a lot but he doesn’t move Mother away, and luckily leaves Eiryss alive (but engaged in melee) and I still had a couple of Gun Mages and the Squire.. Caine took some damage that turn, and I was running out of pieces; so I feat and go for it. The remaining ATGM push a couple models and clear Eiryss; the Mage Hunter aims and clips Mother dropping the focus, and it’s go time with Caine. Needing 6 to hit missed a bunch attacks (oh dear), last damage roll needed a 6, get it and somehow we advance!!!”

Round 5: vs Team Ontario

Scenario: Incursion

Captain: vs Cryx

“My first game against Tim Banky, and I have to say he is not only a great player but a great part of the community and a real boon to the budding Canadian meta! We were playing mirror warcasters, and I was fairly certain he was going to run G3. I really didn’t want to the exact mirror match game, so I decided to zerg and go with eDenny. On the surface this seemed like a bad matchup as my Incorporeal would save me nothing; turns out that is exactly true! However, I was very concerned that my match was going to be pivotal in this championship bout, so I wasn’t about to tuck and run. Banky jammed his Kraken down my throat quick on the opening turn. However, I wasn’t able to get any charges on him in retaliation (thanks to his strong positioning), so I tried to keep my pieces ready to counter hard next turn. I opted not to Feat, which proved to be a pivotal decision as I felt I wasn’t going to get enough to warrant it, and could possibly die to assassination anyway. Next turn Kraken crashes home and cripples the Nightmare. and with most of the rest of his force out of real threat, he doesn’t do a ton of other damage, but closes ranks quickly. I follow up by Feating on my turn and catching nearly all of his army; the fact that everything had closed in meant that I also got to use the Feat offensively. So I did a ton of damage on this turn, cleared out all of the Soul Hunters save for one way in the back, (outside of Darrage Wrathe Command), and locked in the arc node; lastly putting a bunch of damage on Kraken. Bad news was I didn’t get Goreshade. However, I was able to lock enough in where next turn Banky couldn’t muster an assassination turn. The game started to turn back to me from this point on; next turn I finished off Kraken and Goreshade was forced to back off and regroup. Denny took position behind a nearby wall and was able to clear a bunch of models off the table leaving Shade mostly alone. This forced G3 to come forward and try to mount the comeback my himself; however he wasn’t enough and was overwhelmed next turn. Looking to my teammates it turned out we had already swept 3-0 to repeat as NETT Champions!!!”

1st LT: vs Menoth

“My opponent, Chris, was running an interesting Feora list using four jacks including the Judicator. I got lucky that he had quite a bit of rough terrain on his side of the board, with two pieces of rough terrain off-centered from the center flag. I deployed as I normally do with my eCaine list, with the Boomhowlers on the left and Gun Mages on the right. He had two of his jacks on my right and his Vanquisher on my left. He ran and I ran to open the game; I tried to snipe out the Monolith Bearer in his Zealots unit but I failed to hit boosted 7s. The flag on the right disappeared and he tried to engage everything. He did serious damage to the Hunter but not the Boomhowlers as they stuck around with their 4+ tough. His Vanquisher was stuck in the rough terrain even with running and Escort. I started my turn by using Jakes to Energize the Hunter and move him to contact the flag since he couldn’t run because his movement was out; stupid Zealot grenades! I used the boomhowlers to engage the Vanquisher and prevent the movement of the Zealots to the flag, I love medium bases!! I used Eiryss to move within 5″ of all the other jacks and deny them focus and then shoot his Vanquisher for a little extra insurance. The Gun Mages took pot shots at the jacks and the Black 13th dropped a Mage Storm on some Zealots for next turn when they weren’t invulnerable. I moved Caine into a position behind a wall and close enough to move to the flag next turn; making it 1-0. With the Boomhowlers in the way having 4+ tough with Heightened Reflexes, and no Focus for the jacks, Chris couldn’t get anything to the flag; I went up 2-0 on his turn. Bad news was my Hunter was on fire and he died on my turn; that tough little jack. So on my turn I killed as many Zealots as I could, put Arcane Shield on Caine, blocked in the Vanquisher and moved Caine to the far flag scoring up to 4-0. At this point Chris had to go for an assassination but he couldn’t free up the Vanquisher, he was able to kill Eiryss and Feat focus back to his Judicator to shoot Caine but that only did a few points. I was on fire but even a box cars wouldn’t kill Caine, but the Vanquisher was able to move within four inches. So I used Aiyanna and Gorman for a -4 armor swing and feated with Caine to take the jack off the table and win on scenario with another domination. Just as I finished up Steve won with an assassination so it was time to break out the whiskey!!!”

2nd LT: vs Cygnar

“My Finals opponent was Dustin playing Cygnar; he ran Haley2 with StormWall, Squire, Rangers, Gun Mages, Storm Blades, Junior, Victor Pendrake, and some other stuff. Cygnar mirror match for me means Caine2. He runs stuff up on the opening turn; I run as well, put blur on the Gun Mages, Arcane Shield on Boomhowlers, Magic Bullet a Ranger to bounce off Stormwall into something but missed. Chris takes the dice, pops Feat, however Stormwall whiffs, and Boomies tough. Under feat I Black Oil my own Boomie to catch Stormwall, then Rage Howl. Caine cast Magic Bullet on himself twice and shoots Stormwall a bunch to bounce into Haley; does 8ish damage. Alexia grabbed a couple of Souls during the Feat, so she was loaded up for my counter next turn. He is able to get Haley to far flag to dominate next turn, and kill Alexia. Rowdy knocked down Gorman  who survived a non boosted pod and stormcall (his lucky day!!!). I decide to go for Magic Bullet assassination. I hit Haley with Jr somehow and do some damage, then Eyriss hits for a couple points. Unfortunately Gorman missed Black Oil on her which deviated onto a Stormblade. Caine charges my own Forge Guard and uses his Second shot into Stormwall with Magic Bullet, but just short of the 4”. After assessing and not wanting to blow the assassination, I realize I can shoot my own Stormblad that was black oiled. Magic Bullet myself again, buy a shot and this time get Haley with Magic Bullet Damage… let the drinking ensue!!!”

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What a weekend for DOGC at Captain Con, with 4 players qualifying for Masters, and Anthony ultimately winning; repeating as NETT Champions was the crowning achievement!!! Red Steve is MVP for this year’s run going undefeated leading the team to the title from the 2nd LT spot; and to the victors go the spoils and another year holding on to the historic trophy!!!

NETT Champions 2014 – Back to Back!!!