Intro and Lists
It was a weekend full of games, and we were spending Sunday afternoon helping Rob dial in his Kingdoms of Men for the upcoming US Masters event. With the event in less than a month, things are pretty much locked in by this point for the attendees. For our rematch, he had the same list as before, which was the following:
As-before, I will give Rob his flowers. It is a very neat list, and while I think some things are likely to be tweaked with future balance updates, that's just gaming, and it is a very competent list with a lot going on.
The list plays hard into Cannons and Blizzard to pressure at range immediately in Round 1, and can also bring Rifles to bear if he don't go first. Chariots, Knights, and Light Cavalry all help to play the positional game, and we we have a second flying Baron now, around and seeking to do the same. The ASB now had the Trickster's Wand to to shut down heavy spellcasting, as the list has lots of ways to pick up and wizard foolish enough to try and power through the hex. It's a tough list and hard to engage well, but since I don't run multiple dragons or super-elite stuff generally, .
- Berserker Lord on Giant Brock. With my current collection, I kinda need his slot swaps, and so we’re taking him, and taking him over the Lord on Foot for the extra hitting power.
- Stone Priest, BC, Mindfog. The Stone Priest looks like a fine pick for exploring spells from the Arcane Library. Blizzard is up there for desired picks, so I’m trying to avoid it. We’ll try out Mindfog here, the thinking being that he can add Shattering to Ranger or Rifle volleys, which normally don’t have it.
- Warsmiths. We’re taking two, as we have a lot of Ironcraft units that want the support. They do bring a lot of buffs to my shooting units, so we’ll see how effective they are.
- Ironwatch Rifles, Fire-Oil. It’s an all-comers list, and Fire-Oils seems ok when one has the points. The Rifles are newcomers, and have Reload, so deployment and positioning will be very important, and we’ll try to give them a spot where they can have at least a few uninterrupted turns of shooting.
- Shieldbreaker Regiments. The build here is wonky, as all the early builds will likely be. A horde is hard to use with my current collection and slot demands, so we’re just taking regiments, trying to keep them apart, and a little back, in more of a secondary role. This should hopefully let them throw a dog or two, or get clean charges to clean up injured units.
- Ranger Regiments. An expensive but versatile unit! They seem to have high skill ceiling, so we’re taking them again and again and seeing what we can learn.
- Berserker Brock Riders, Boots. They hit very hard, so we’re taking them with the Boots, and will be trying to look for a good trade.
- Flame Belcher. A newcomer! The flamethrower looks like fun, but I’m not quite sure how to utilize it. Deploying nearer the Cannons to protect them better seems like a decent idea, so we’ll try that out here to start.
- Iron Belcher Cannons. Cannons can be quite strong, but we’re only taking two. I want to explore shooting more, but be sporting about it. We’ll see what trouble they can cause for my opponent.
Table and Terrain
We were out at Warpstone Games and Lounge in Greenfield, WI. I really do like their themed gaming tables, and we were supplenting their terrain with some of my own. We had Forests with Height 10, the blocking Buildings at Height 7, Hills with Height 3, obstacles as Height 2, and played the difficult terrain as Height 1.
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| Overview of the table. |
We were cycling through the various scenarios in his event packet, and we got Control this time. The board is split into six 2’x2’ squares. The middle one on your opponent’s side is worth 2 Points to you, everything else is worth one point. After some ties, I won the roll for sides. I was indecisive, so I was lazy here.
I won the roll for table sides, and did the unthinkable, asking for a switch. Sorry! Trying to parry some good-natured grumbling, I explained that I wanted the forest for my Scout Moves... and gave that plan away before we had even finished moving the dice and stuff over. Nuts.
Left-to-right for the Kingdoms of Men were Light Cavalry, Knights in reserve, Chariots, a flying Baron, Rifles, Rifles, Gods of War with the ASB, and then because I blabbed about Scouting (Rob Might have figured this out, but I might have been able to catch him out if I had kept my mouth shut), we have a bunch of Cannons in reserve with the Blizzard Wizard, Shield Wall in deep reserve, the more Rifles back out of shooting range and accounting for my Scout move, more Rifles, and Chariots. overall, the line wasn’t a wide as I have come to expect, though that is due to the reacting a bit to my potential Scouting moves.
Being a new army for me I am still at a bit of a loss with the Dwarfs. I went to all the trouble to swap sides, but if I want the woods, there is no great place to turtle up and push out from. Given the scenario, I wanted to think more about battle groups for the dwarfs, specifically for our Champions choices, so I try to embrace that here, and go wide, contrary to the usual Dwarven way.
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| Stuff in the left zones. |
On the left, we have a delaying contingent of Brocks and Ironguard, supported by the Stone Priest, with some Shieldbreakers in reserve.
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| Stuff in the center. |
Seeing the Dogs of War and Rifles come down early, I opt to try a shooting war, with the Flame Belcher, Cannons, and Ironwatch Rifles, ready to hop into the terrain to shoot from. This is supported by a Warsmith for the Elite and Radiance of Life Auras, and some Ironguard, in case things get too close.
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| Stuff on the right, with Scout moves! |
Having tipped my hand already, the Rangers get placed early, along with a Warsmith. I eventually reinforce this with some Shieldbreakers, and my last drop is the Berserker Lord out on the far flank, hoping to run up, come at things from a harder angle to avoid the enemy shooting, and hopefully brawl a bit.
Overall, I don’t think spreading out as the Dwarfs is a great plan, but it’s a new army, and I’m going to fail a lot while I figure things out, and we’ll take the opportunity to experiment and learn.
I Scout, and then manage to grab the first turn, and choose to kick things off.
Top of Round 1: Free Dwarfs
On the right, even with Scout, the Rangers don’t have shots, but do have Pathfinder. I don't have a non-blurry picture, but we'll catch up. They run ahead at the double, forgoing any shots this round, but aiming for shots or fights in the coming rounds, just to see what happens. The Warsmith keeps pace as he wisely did not start in the woods, and the Berserker Lord zips up the table edge as well, hoping to deal with the Chariots.
In the center, the Ironguard move up a bit. I want them nearby to interdict and protect my guns, but they are a little isolated right now and I am worried about Inspiration for them, as the bubble doesn’t quite reach. The Rifles hop into the terrain, as-planned, but with Reload, cannot shoot this round. They Cannons can though, and shoot into the Dogs of War. We hadn’t explicitly discussed it, but my opponent thought these were Height 1 difficult terrain, which I’ll accept. There’s a cover penalty, but I’ll land 5 damage in.
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| The Ironwatch take position amongst the rubble. |
I don’t know what to do with the Flame Belcher, but since War Machines can’t more at the double, we move them their maximum this round, and vaguely forward.
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| The dwarven left just tries to contain things. |
On the left, there is a ton of speed and pressure coming my way. The Brocks move up, but stay safe from the very speedy Light Cavalry. The Iron Guard move out, trying to peer around the woods, and the Shieldbreakers and the Stone Priest stay close, looking for ways to help.
Bottom of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men
On the left, the Kingdoms of Men press hard, though the woods complicate things slightly, as the units do not want to endter. The Light Cavalry zip ahead to block, and the Knights pull in behind them. The Chariots manage to get around the building to see stuff. They are Height 4, and the Barons are now Height 4 as well, so the duo is very cleverly hiding behind them.
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| The Kingdoms of Men aggressively move up, looking to break out. |
The Chariots miss their Bow Shots into the Flame Belcher, though some Rifles land 2 damage. The left unit of Rifles is Braced, and the Foot Guard plod ahead, using the terrain for cover.
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| Not much in the center. |
The Cannons can ignore the Blizzard Wizard, and all fire into the Rangers… and all miss. The duo of Rifles over here fire in and land 4 damage. Overall, this ranged phase has been very lucky for me, and I’ll happily take it!
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| Ranged damage out on the right. |
Out on the right, The Chariot moves in to threaten the Berserker Lord, and with Bows, plinks 3 damage onto him. The Blizzard Wizard throws into the Berserker Lord, over the hill with a cover penalty, hits thrice, blasts into 7 hits, and that turns into 3 more damage, leaving my Lord on 6 damage, and he is also Frozen now, meaning the Chariots are threatening him, but I cannot reach.
Top of Round 2: Free Dwarfs
Unfortunately, I forget all about Wild Charge on the Berserker Brock Lord. I am ok with using him a distraction, but I really should have tried a charge into the Chariots, but do not think of it. Instead, he repositions, getting back towards the Ranger contingent.
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| The Berzerker Lord excuses himself. |
The outer Rifles will have cover from one volley, so the Rangers both loose into the inner unit instead. The Warsmith has Radiance of Life to heal the one unit down to 3 damage, as well as provide an Elite Aura to them both. They’ll each land 7 damage into the regiment, and waver them. Meanwhile, the Shieldbreakers take point out here on the right.
In the center, the Ironguard inch up, just trying to gain a little extra ground so they can actually threaten a delaying charge before the speedier Dogs of War can threaten one into the Ironwatch Rifles.
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| The Dwarfs hold, and fire. |
The Ironwatch fire into an opposing Rifle regiment, I believe the one that braced, and a Cannon with a clear shot joins in here too. The Cannon contributes 2, and while I forget about Elite for them, the Ironwatch Rifles contribute a stunning 8 damage, and we’ll get a waver out here as well.
The Flamebelchers is very much screwed. It’s a brand new unit, and I have positioned it poorly. It cannot get away from the Chariots, or get same from them, so they bravely walk up and spew fire. The second Cannon has a clear shot here, but misses, and the Flame Belcher along deals 5 damage to the Chariots, though they hold.
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| Messy maneuvers on the left, but the Dwarfs get a waver! |
On the left, we get cheeky, grasping for any advantage we can. The Ironguard partially hide, and the Stone Priest actually does. While the Chariots can see the Ironguard, they can’t align.
Wary of the Knights, the Brocks move back and pivot, and the Shieldbreakers step up, with the Stone Priest granting them a Throwing Mastiff. They’ll roll a hot 4 damage into the Light Cavalry, and just able to spy their corner, the Stone Priest will contribute a Mindfog, and Shattering 2, which is enough to waver the troop, like I had been hoping. We had been hoping to brawl to a standstill out here, so ranged damage, wavers, and just slowing things down all help.
Bottom of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men
On the left, the wavering Light Cavalry will get Indomitable Will, but will fail the Headstrong check. This forces the Knights to try and extricate themselves from the traffic jam, and the manage to do so. The Light cavalry eventually back up, trying to draw the Dwarfs out. The Chariot charges the injured-but-defiant Flame Belcher, with the Height 4 Barons again using the Height 4 Chariot to block.
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| Chariots break through, and the Barons are poised, but the Knights are delayed. |
The Chariot are hindered, but are fighting a war machine. It is not guaranteed on 5's and 5's, but the crew does manage to break the Flame Belcher and overrun.
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| Lots of pressure coming into the Dwarf center. |
The other Baron tries the Indomitable Will trick on the wavering Rifles, but here too, the order is successful, but Headstrong failed. The one regiment shoots with penalties into my horde of Rifles, landing no hits.
The ASB tries Indomitable Will on the very damage Rifles out on the right, fails to land the order, but the Blizzard Wizard is successful, and these Rifles do manage to pass their Headstrong check, and prepare themselves.
Cannons roar, with a heavy volley targeting my injured Rangers, who start on 3 damage. The Trio of cannons land 3 damage Blizzard contributes 4 more , and the duo or Rifles land 17, to take them up to 17, and my Rangers break.
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| Rangers are ignobly shot off, and the Chariots are annoying. |
On the far right, the Chariots are able to run ahead at the double and pivot, frustratingly staying juuuust out of arc of my Berserker Lord.
Top of Round 3: Free Dwarfs
The Chariots are a headache. The Berserker Lord repositions to block them up. The Shieldbreakers get a dog from the Warsmith, and land 3 damage. The Warsmith’s pistol also lands 3, and a hot boxcars will have the Chariots wavering.
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| Trying to deal with the Chariots. |
The Rangers hold, and will shoot into the injured Rifles, taking them up to 20 damage, devastating and routing them at range, as is proper.
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| The Ironguard move up to block. |
Centrally, the Ironguard move up, to take a charge from the Dogs of War, who can't quite reach anything else yet. They get a Dog from the Warsmith, though lob it too far, and no hits land into the enemy horde. A Cannon lands 2 damage while the other misses, and the Dogs of War hold.
The Ironwatch Rifles shoot into the injured Rifle reigment opposing them, taking them up to 16 damage, where they will be devastated, but then found to be insane. Shucks.
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| More delaying moves from the Dwarfs. |
On the left, we are able to be very tenacious. The Shieldbreakers get granted a dog, and move up, pursuing the Light Cavalry and throwing. They land a few more damage, and we will get the waver again.
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| The Brocks crush the Chariots. |
With the overrun from the Chariots, the Berserker Brock Riders are able to catch the them in the flank, break them and then reform a bit. Also with he overrun, the Ironguard are able to spot a Baron, and charge him in the front. The Stone Priest helps with a Bane Chant, and the hindered Ironguard smack 5 damage onto the Baron, which will ground him, and gum up the Knights again.
Overall, we are scrapping pretty hard, and were able to deal with everything besides the second Baron out here.
Bottom of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men
On the left, the Light Cavalry again back up, trying to draw me out. The Knights pop their boots, and charge the Ironguard, landing 10 damage, with the Barron contributing a solid 5 as well. They will break the Guard, the Baron backs up, and after some considerations, the Knights sidestep, getting out of arc of the Brocks, but into arc of the Shieldbreakers.
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| The victorious Knights sidestep. |
The second Baron is free though, and will charge a dwarven Cannon, and pick it up. The victorious reform here puts the second Cannon, Warsmith, and Ironwatch Rifles all in arc.
The duo of Rifles on the left will fire into the Brocks, landing 6 damage, and all the cannons shoot here too, though they only contribute 6 damage as well. On 12 damage, the Fearless Berserker Brock Riders are still around!
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| The Baron threatens my shooting position. |
The Dogs of War leave the terrain, and charge the Ironguard, and the hindered charge results in no damage against the Def6 unit, and no damage means no test!
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| The Shieldbreakers endure heavy fire. |
The Blizzard Wizard and the duo of Rifles on the right fire into the Shieldbreakers, and will take them up to 12 damage, and waver them.The wavering Chariots are still around, but largely stuck, and my opponent is unable to help them.
Top of Round 4: Free Dwarfs
On the right, the Berserkers Lord fights the injured, wavering Chariots, and breaks them. The reforms options aren’t great way out here, so he just changes facing.
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| The Berserker Lord breaks the Chariots. |
The Shieldbreakers make their Headstrong roll, and press ahead, and are granted a Dog to throw. Since it always hits on 4’s, we throw into the Blizzard Wizard, I guess hoping for a waver? We might have had the inches into something else, and if so, it probably would have been better to focus our shooting efforts on one target. We’ll land 2, but she holds. The Rangers hold, and loose into a Cannon, and will find 6 damage, though I believe the Cannon holds as well.
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| The Ironwatch Rifles ... charge? |
In the center, the Ironwatch Rifles are threatened by the Baron. They hit on 4’s innately, so I choose to flank charge the injured Dogs of War, attempting to help the Ironguard. The Ironwatch are hindered, but the Stone Priest gives them a bane Chant, and they’ll land 8 damage, with the Ironguard knocking 4 more into the horde themselves. They are uninspired, and on 19 damage, will break.
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| Victory over the Dogs of War. |
In victory the Ironguard will change facing, but I think this probably should have been an overrun, to try and get more inches towards the enemy gunline. I need to remove unit strength. I believe the Ironwatch hold, and they probably should have done something else, to at least get out of the terrain.
The remaining Cannon fires a cannonball into the insane Riflemen, and will land some damage, devastate them a little more, and indeed pick them up.
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| Charges from the Dwarfs. |
The Brocks are able to charge the Baron by the building, and don't even need their boots. We’ll land 10 damage and will pick him up, and then reform to face the knights.
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| Reforms from the Dwarfs. The Knights hold. |
The Shieldbreakers flank charge the Knights, losing TC due to being hindered. The Bane Chant goes elsewhere, and some hot damage is done, I believe 12, which is about double what would be expected. I’m lucking out all over the place this game.
Bottom of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men
The Knight reform to fight the Shieldbreakers, landing 5 against them, but the Shieldbreakers are Inspired, and do hold on for me.
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| Some nice pick-ups for the Kingdoms of Men. |
The Light Cavalry make a long, daring charge into the Brocks. The humans and horses are hindered, but one damage makes it in, taking me up to 13, and the Brocks will break.
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| The Dwarfs take some incoming fire. |
The remaining Baron fights and breaks another Iron Belcher Cannon, and adjusts to face the center of the board.
The remaining Rifle regiment on the left firest into the Ironwatch, landing 3 damage. Two Cannons blast 6 damage onto the Ironbreakers in the center.
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| More casualties on the right for the Dwarfs. |
Blizzard manages 5 damage onto the Shieldbreakers out on the right, taking them up to 17 damage. They are devastated, and so can be routed.
This lets the two remaining Cannons fire cannonballs into the Rangers, landing 4 damage.
Top of Round 5: Free Dwarfs
The Dwarfs have done very well, but are unfortunately starting to run out of units! It’s Round 5 and the opposing Cannons have not yet left the deployment zone, so that’s a fair amount of US this should be stuck. If we can spread out a bit more, and remove a few more units, we might yet be able to cobble a win together here.
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| Positioning on the right. The Dwarfs are very few in number now. |
The Berserker Lord on the right doesn’t have a charge, but rushes ahead, all but demanding that the Shield Wall fight him. I’m on 6 damage, 3 is expected from the humans, and 9’s twice to break seems good, and I think I need to try and bully them.
The injured Rangers duck behind the hill, preserving their Unit Strength, along with the Warsmith. Hopefully the Berserkers Lord and the Rangers can wrest control of the top right, and the Warsmith can claim the bottom right for me.
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| The Dwarfs fail to touch the Baron, but waver the Light Cavalry again. |
In the center, the Baron is flying high, and eyeing the rear of my Ironwatch. They have Reload, so repositioning is a big deal - I can't just turn and shoot. I want to try and waver him, and let the Ironwatch do stuff elsewhere. The Ironguard are able to get within 12, so the plan is Dogs and a Pistol and Mindfog into him. But the Mastiff order fails, and the plan is immediately revised to try and pick up unit strength elsewhere.
Exposed, the Ironwatch Rifles hold, and fire into the remaining human rifles on the left, landing 5 damage, and do not waver them.
Instead of the Baron, the Warsmith targets the Light Cavalry. We get 4 hits, but only 1 damage, taking them up to 8 damage, and just waver them again.
Instead of Mindfog, the Stone Priest goes for Bane Chant, and the Shieldbreakers will knock another 5 damage onto the Knights, and break them. We’re in the woods, with no good way out though.
Bottom of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men
The perpetually-wavering Light Cavalry get Indomitable Will from the Baron, but fail the Headstrong check. They about-face to confront the Shieldbreakers.
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| Positioning on the left. |
The Baron descends into the rear of the Ironwatch Rifles, deals I think 18 damage (which does look to be the expected output. Rear charges are no joke!), and the Rifles are broken.
The Rifles on the left get Indomitable Will from the ASB just in case, and start moving out to the left to play the scenario.
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| The Ironwatch horde falls. |
The Cannons and Blizzard Wizard all fire into the rear of the Ironguard, taking them up to 15 damage, and while the elite defenders are wavering, they are still around.
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| The Humans push out to contest the right zones. |
Looking to play the scenario, the remaining Riflemen on the right move up at the double.
The Shield Wall get Indomitable Will from the Blizzard Wizard to help them hold and delay, and do charge the Berserker Brock Lord, and spike their dice, landing 5 damage, and taking my warlord up to 11. I hold, but this is now fight is pretty dicey, and I don’t know if I can win the grind against them.
Top of Round 6: Free Dwarfs
The Berserker Lord underperforms, and manages just 4 damage against the Shield Wall. I have indeed misplayed this. We’re playing up against infantry here, and I should have just moved up a bit and made use of my longer charge range, and stayed safe from combat until I was ready to pounce on my own terms.
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| Positioning on the right. |
The Rangers about-face to spy the nearby Riflemen, and they’ll loose into them after moving. They’ll land 3 damage, with the Warsmith’s pistol doing 2. The Rifles hold.
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| More scrums on the left. |
The Ironguard pass their Headstrong check, and out of ideas, they make a hindered charge into the Baron. In retrospect, I don’t like this. I should have run past him, and forced the cannons and such to try and shoot me off next turn. The Baron is untouched going into this, and this combat just feeds him another Dwarven unit.
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| The Light Cavalry finally fall, but it is not enough. |
The Warsmith rear charges the Light Cavalry. Unable to help anything else, the Stone Priest manages to Bane Chant the stout inventor. The Warsmith is out for blood apparently, and the four hits turn into 2 damage, and we’ll finally catch and break the Light Cavalry unit.
The Shieldbreakers are trying to hide by the building, and are granted a dog to throw. It deals 1 into the Riflemen, and on 6 damage, they hold.
Bottom of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men
The Shield Wall will break the Berserker Lord, and they ‘ll claim the far right zone, with a Cannon and the Blizzard Wizard further tipping the scales here against my Rangers.
The Riflemen run into the bottom right zone, and wrest control of it from the lone Warsmith.
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| The Kingdoms of Men take the right zones. |
The Baron fights the maimed Ironguard, and will obviously break them, controlling my center zone now.
Several Cannons control my opponent’s center zone for him.
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| The Kingdoms of Men take the center zones too. |
I think the Rifles and ASB wash against the Shieldbreakers and Warsmith for the top left zone, and the Bottom right zone is held by the Stone Priest.
It’s been a heck of a game, and we’ve put damage on just about everything, but the Dwarfs are simply out of units, and we don't roll up a Round 7 for any Hail-Mary plays to try and even things out a bit more.
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| Overview of the board. |
They've got more units, and are able to get them where they need to be! The Kingdoms of Men score a huge 5:1 victory against the Free Dwarf newcomers!
Game Conclusions
For a new army, and against Rob, I think we did well! We cobbled together a plan, had some good plays and a few lucky streaks, but in the end, just couldn’t quite pull it all together in the face of his numerical superiority. Still, we (and the dice) made him work for it, which made for some good practice and a great time.
Testing Conclusions
- Berserker Lord on Giant Brock. Up front, he was definitely misused this game! I forgot about Wild Charge, and was just inconsistently aggressive with him. A Def6 Lord can be brazen like that, but with Just Def4, I needed to be more mindful of the charge ranges and such. He can do work if your opponent gives up flanks, but after a few games, he feels like a bit more like a distraction carnifex overall, applying pressure and letting other units do stuff.
- Stone Priest, BC, Mindfog. I still think he’s the pick for exploring fancy spells. I took Mindfog to add in Shattering to ranged fights that didn’t have it to improve my chances of wavering things, and that worked out ok, like out on the left against the Light Cavalry. There are likely much better spell options, and I think I’d prefer the Flame Priest over him until I can find and settle on a good Arcane Library spell to take.
- Warsmiths. As-expected, they did good work supporting all my Ironcraft stuffs! Even the pistol shots proved valuable, as I could contribute at range while keeping things Inspired.
- Ironwatch Rifles, Fire-Oil. The list was all-comers, so the Fire-Oil was a bust. The item might not be in vogue right now, as the Abyssals in particular are in a bad spot. Still, the Rifles themselves did fine overall. Reload on the horde is indeed a bit tough to plan around, but this should get better with practice.
- Shieldbreaker Regiments. My guts says there are a few ways to run these, but with a lot of shooting, some versatile regiments are doing ok for me as a second line.
- Ranger Regiments. I gave away their game plan even before deployment, and struggled to use them efficiently. They found ways to be helpful, and they did ok, but
- Berserker Brock Riders, Boots. I’d say I used them well – they got a few charges in to make their points back, ate some cannonballs, and didn’t even need to use the Boots. Had they held against the Light Cavalry, I think the game result is much closer, but that charge did unfortunately pay off for my opponent. We’ve managed to protect them well in both games, so instead of projecting threat outward, having then as a second line almost seems to get better use out of them. We’ll play around with them some more.
- Flame Belcher. I was very unsure what to do with them this game. Not being able to move at the double is a big hinderance. Deploying with the Cannons seemed wise, but I think against monstrous fliers and such, that just gives some units a way to get in quicker against the guns. You don’t want these lingering all game doing nothing, so supporting the more mobile Rangers or Ironwatch, depending on the set-up might be a better choice, and we’ll try that sometime.
- Iron Belcher Cannons. My opponent approached these very cleverly, using the Chariots to block. I couldn’t really get shots into the monstrous fliers, and we did not really use Grapeshot, but they did fine overall, softening things up and securing a few routs for me.
Having so much shooting and a bit of a combined arms approach on either side was an amazingly a fun way to play, and the game was very dynamic with a lot of decision-trees. Cannons were mostly confined to long-range cannonballs here, and they still felt strong, but also a little more fair. Grapeshot is definitely the culprit for their imbalance, but I won't be sad if they get really overhauled in the future.
We were looking ahead afterwards, and there are only so many weekends in a year! We'll fit more practice games in if things change, but these might be our last prep games with Rob. Hopefully these gave him some things to think about, and we'll wish him the best at US Masters, coming up in just a few weeks!