Back from Bayou Battles 2012

Bayou Battles is over. This was the first time that I was able to attend this Texas based tournament, and I must say I had a blast. I saw some usual faces that attend the the fantasy GT circuit as well as a host of new people, and armies I hadn't seen before. The way they scored their tournament was Overall, Comp, Sports, and Army. It's been a while since I've been to a tournament that put that much focus on sports and comp. It was a welcome change. Their inclusion of comp didn't seem to stop the over all winner as he had a large number of battle points and didn't do so well in the comp department with an ogre kingdoms army.

The results are up here.


The venue was at a large hotel with an open floor plan situated right off the interstate. They had a bar in the hotel, but it was very expensive. I payed 7 dollars for a Micalob Ultra; you can buy a six pack for the same price. Luckily my roommate and I thought ahead and bought a case of beer each for the weekend. The room was accommodating and had enough tables and space between them for everyone.

The tournament was ran smoothly without any hick ups, and they were good about starting games on time. They held a raffle in which 30 people probably walked away with product on top of the 15 or so awards they did at the end of the tournament. I prefer events that pay out mildly to a greater number of people than ones that pay out a lot to a select few. This keeps the competitiveness of the event down as people aren't gunning for a boat load of new product. Saturday night there was also a 'beer and pretzel' event called the Giant Bash. I didn't participate as I had forgotten completely to pack my giant, but I did watch a bit of it and it looked like tons of fun. Next year if I'm able to attend Bayou Battles the giant will definitely be on my things to pack list.

Now to complain! :p I'm not completely happy with my paint score. Now I know that T.O.s only have a minute or so to walk past and judge the army. I also understand that art is subjective, and that everyone will view the same piece of art work differently. My dark elves are chalked full of conversions, both kit bashed and green stuffed. Every banner has a free hand design on it as well as my movement trays, and every shield has individual freehand runes. The layering and highlighting is smooth and I had a display board that matched the basing of my army. There was an army there with no free hand that was dipped that got a better score than me. I guess you win some and lose some. As an artist I prefer realism and I try to work that into my models. When I set out to paint an army I imagine the fantasy army as a real entity and pick my color pallet from there. I guess my affinity to realism has made a lot of my armies rather drab. I did notice that the armies that did better in the paint department were full of bright colors. If I go back to BB I'll have to keep that in mind.

Overall I had a great time and got to meet some new people and see some new armies. If I have the time free in the future this is an event I'd go back to.

Off to Bayou Battles 2012

I just put the finishing touches on my new display board for my Dark Elves. I've been to a couple of fantasy GT's now, but this will be my first ever Texas GT, and my first time attending Bayou Battles. I didn't have a whole lot of time to paint any new units up or anything so My list is very much the same incarnation I've taken for the past year or so.

Dark Elves
2,499

Dreadlord: Pegasus, Pendant of Kahlith, Crown of Command, Dragonhelm, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Great Weapon, 288

Supreme Sorceress: Level 4, Sacrificial Dagger, Iron Curse Icon, Talisman of Preservation, Lore of Metal, 335

Death Hag: Cauldron of Blood, Battle Standard Bearer, 225

20x Repeater Crossbowmen: Shields, Musician, Standard, 235
20x Repeater Crossbowmen: Shields, Musician, Standard, 235
38x Spearmen: Shields, Full Command, 281
5x Harpies: 55
5x Harpies: 55
20x Black Guard: Full Command, Whip of Agony, Banner of Eternal Flame, 330
5x Shades: Additional Hand Weapons, 85
2x Bolt Throwers: 200
Hydra: 175

I plan on abstaining from sobriety the whole weekend so wish me luck.