Ok. Here goes my maiden tournament report. I hadn't realised how difficult it would be to remember the details of so many games!! Apologies to my opponents if I've managed to get anything wrong.

My army:

Treeman Ancient - Annoyance of Nettlings, Cluster of Radiants

Spellsinger - Level 2 wizard, Glamourweave Kindred, Dispel Scroll, Ranu's Heartstone, Elven Steed

Branchwraith - Level 1 wizard

Treeman

2x3 Treekin

3x12 Dryads (one with Branch Nymph)

2x10 Dryads

6 Wild Riders - Standard Bearer, War Banner

(for pic see http://archive.hamptongc.com/drupal/node/740)

Game 1 – Aaron Gruneklee’s Dwarves

This was a grudge match. Despite having known Aaron throughout my whole Warhammer-playing career (as limited as that might be) we had never played. So I geared myself up to take on his slayer list. It was a fun game – we were both combat-oriented so the armies closed quickly. For a while it was looking good - the poor naked Dwarfies couldn’t really stand up to the nasty trees and I was slowly wading through his army. There was one scary moment when Long Drong and his slayer pirates brought 30 pistol shots to bear on the treeman, but thankfully his toughess stood him in good stead and he only took one wound. However, in the last turn everything went pear-shaped. The treeman ancient broke from combat and was fleeing at the end of the game, and the slayer pirates began wreaking havoc on my right flank. In the end it was a minor loss: 12-8

Game 2 – Matt Strange’s Lizardmen

Having very limited experience against Lizards I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this game. I was a little worried about the Slaan’s magic, having only 5 dispel dice in my pool. Thankfully Matt rolled mostly close-combat spells, which reduced his power to hurt me from long range. Nevertheless I closed as quickly as I could, and he obliged by moving towards me as well. I was thus able to charge with most of my units in my second turn. The Treeman Ancient and some of his treekin buddies made short work of the Slaan and his retinue of Saurus warriors, breaking the unit and running it down. Matt’s large unit of Saurus were stuck behind a forest which had sung itself in front of them, and his Kroxigor were trapped behind the Saurus and never got into the game. In the end we had to stop after the third turn due to Matt developing a migraine, at which point I was well and truly in the control. What would have happened had we played the game out is up in the air – the Wood Elves looked to be on their way to a massacre, but if he had managed to extricate the Saurus and Kroxigor and get them into combat then he might have been able to salvage the game. Win: 17-3

Game 3 – Pete Spiller’s Sylvanians

I don’t have as great a record against Sylvanians as I do against Vampire Counts, and I knew Pete to be an excellent general, so I went into this game with some trepidation. I took my usual tack against Undead – gunning for the characters and trying to avoid getting bogged down fighting piles of zombies. Unfortunately Pete’s general was on a dragon, so not only was he dangerous, he was mobile as well. I tried to position myself to charge him with a treeman, but due to my stupidity in not reading my spells properly I had to charge with the treekin instead, leaving the treeman open to a flank charge from a unit of zombies. Unsurprisingly the treekin could not take the vampire, and got themselves run down. The dragon proceeded to cause great havoc on the right flank. Thankfully on the left flank the wild riders and a unit of dryads managed to take down the black knights, while the treeman ancient cut the unit of grave guard down to half strength. This salvaged me enough points to avoid a massacre. Loss: 5-15
 
Game 4 - Zol Urban's Tomb Kings
 
Another game against an unfamiliar army. Still, I had played one game against Tomb Kings in the leadup to the tournament, so I at least knew enough to avoid allowing the catapault to get a bead on my treemen. They therefore deployed behind a hill, like pansy elves, before running into the carefully placed forest. The first combat of note was Zol's chariot unit (with the Tomb King) charging a unit of treekin on my right flank. They broke and got run down, but the treeman ancient ran back to avenge them, and the spellsinger obligingly Call of the Hunt-ed him into the flank of the unit. With the second unit of treekin closing on their flank, and a unit of dryads scooting across to help out too, the future looked grim for the King and his retinue. Elsewhere the treeman was gunning for the catapault, and dryads were cleaning up the archers and facing off with the Ushabti. The Wild Riders were hiding behind a building until the archers were dead and it was safe to emerge. The Wood Elves definitely had the upper hand, but in the last turn Zol managed to magically charge the treeman in the rear with a unit of skellies, at which point he promptly failed his stubborn break test and fled off the table. In the same turn the Ancient killed the Tomb King, but also failed his leadership test and took 5 wounds from the king's curse!! Those two leaderships tests cost me a bucketload of points, but the woodies were still able to come away with a narrow win: 12-8.
 
Game 5 - Dene Murphy's Empire
 
If I was unfamiliar with Tomb Kings, Empire was a completely unknown quantity. In particular I had little idea how the Steam Tank worked, but Dean obligingly explained the rules to me at the start of the game. I therefore concocted a new battle plan - avoid contact with the Steam Tank as much as possible!! My army split into two flanks - some treekin, dryads and the wild riders took on his knights and archers on the left flank, while the two treemen and the remaining dryads and treekin headed down the right. Results were mixed on the left flank - the spell singer nearly wiped out one unit of knights with Fury of the Forest, as they were conveniently within 6 inches of a forest. The Wild Riders also took out the archers, although they suffered a few casualties as the archers stood and shot. However the blazing sun knights with the general were more than a match for the treekin and dryads in their path, although the woodies did manage to get them down to half strength. On the right flank both treemen charged a unit of swordsmen, one in the flank. Unfortunately they were completely inept, causing 4 wounds between them over 2 rounds of combat. In the second round the steam tank charged the Ancient and inflicted a number of wounds, but it was immaterial as he failed his stubborn break test and was run down. The other treeman also failed, and was destroyed as he ran into a nearby enemy unit. Again, leadership tests were costing me large numbers of points. In the end the game was only saved due to an oversight on Dene's part, in which he left the flank of that same swordsmen unit exposed to the wild riders, who broke the unit and in the process captured the objective. This turned a defeat into a very minor win: 11-9.
 
Game 6 - Greg Johnson's Skaven
 
Despite all attempts to avoid the matchup, Greg and I again had to face off in a tournament. Last time that happened Greg had come away with a minor win, and given that I was also completely unfamiliar with Skaven I was in full expectation of again registering a loss. Greg gave me the first turn, and the woodies followed a very cunning plan of running at the enemy as fast as possible - effectively redeploying 10 inches forward. The treemen then proceeded to tree-surf their way to within 6 inches of Greg's battle line, which allowed them to strangleroot a ratling gun. Greg then charged the treeman with censer-bearers, and turned the warpfire thrower on the Ancient. Unfortunately it managed to shoot itself instead and was destroyed. He also had bad luck with his second ratling gun, which tried to shoot at the treeman in combat, but instead shot sideways into a unit of clan rats. To compound the woe the Grey Seer miscast twice, which didn't do any damage but effectively neutralised his magic. The treeman proceeded to beat the censer-bearers in combat, cancelling their frenzy, but they passed their break test and held. In my turn I (probably unwisely) charged the wild riders into a unit of skaven slaves, who promptly fled from the charge, panicking another unit of slaves as they fled. However the failed charge of the wild riders left them perilously close to copping a flank charge from some giant rats - they were only just out of line of sight. The Ancient charged the Grey Seer's unit, but had to spend a couple of rounds of combat beating up the champion and hero before he could get at the general. Unfortuantely when he did get to hit the Grey Seer he became completely incompetent and only caused 1 wound. He then failed his break test and was run down. Thankfully the dryad unit which the Grey Seer pursued into was able to finish the job and kill the general. By this point the battlefield was a mess of charges and counter-charges but when the dust settled most of the ratties were dead or fleeing. The not-so-ancient treeman had for once stayed the course of the battle, and in the process picked up 3 standards, of which he was most proud. Win: 18-2.

Thankfully my biggest win was in the last round, allowing me to gain points without having to pay for it by playing any more of the top armies. In the end I wound up in 6th place, far and away my best tournament result. Most importantly, I had regained my position as highest ranked lady warhammer player, and in the process gained some excellent bragging rights over my unfortunate husband. Most satisfactory :-)