For those of you familiar with my previous antics Octoskull and Snig's Zombie Horde, here is another tale of Themed Warband Daring (tm).
Epic night last night, and i really wanted to play a fun theme vs. Epic Tordek build so that i could win a repaint. Knowing that Epic Tordek would see play at least once by another, i chose to create and play Epic Firestorm. Bonded Fire Summoner x2, Huge Fire Elemental x2, Large Fire Elemental x2, Medium Fire Elemental. First round both summoners summon 3x Small Fire Elemental and the second round they each summon 2x Medium Fire Elemental.
1st Matchup (loss) - Couatl, Tordek, Dwarf Champion, Warpriest of Moradin, Warforged Bodyguard, Ulmo Lightbringer, Cleric of Order, Sacred Watcher x2.
Map: Field of Ruin.
Like i said, somebody was going to be playing Epic Tordek. I did my best to plug up holes and force Tordek to work his way through my strongest guys first. I gunned for the Couatl and made it the first casualty. I even managed to get Tordek to make his morale save, although at a plus 18 or 19, but still, i hurt him that much. The player has a bad habit of overlooking text and not announcing things when he does them, and this caused me to route a figure that would otherwise not have, and it wasn't brought to my attention until 2 rounds later. I may have had a better chance at winning this match, but it may have changed nothing more than me killing ulmo and a bodyguard. Live and Learn (and give one's self a PITN).
2nd Matchup (win) - Storm Archer, Cleric of Garl Glittergold, Lion of Talisid, Huge Fire Elemental, Large Air Elemental, Crow Shaman, Warbound Impaler.
Map: Dragondown Grotto.
I *hate* this map against archers and ballistas. The kid is new to the game, but learning it quite well. He still makes some mistakes though. He sent his Crow Shaman to gave VP in the center of the map. His Huge Fire also headed there to take on the Huge Fire i sent through the center (the other i sent along the border). He sent his Warbound to deal with my border fires, which didn't go well for him. He moved onto the Zone of Death to attack my HFE, and it allowed me to route him. However, i had moved a SFE behind it to attack his Lion and that SFE kept the HFE from routing, so it sat there for 3 rounds until he finally passed morale. I ate up his Crow, Lion, Large Air, and Cleric, leaving wounded but rallied HFE and Warbound and untouched Storm when they called time. Luckily i had victory every round, and was able to keep him from getting victory every round and i won on points. Not a glorious win, but the longer you stay in the fire ... 
3rd Matchup (loss) - Dracolich, Cadaver Collector, Grim Necromancer x2 (Sacred Watcher x2), Destrachan, Night Hag.
Map: Field of Ruin.
I figured i would stall the Draco while killing the Cadaver quickly. It didn't happen quite like that. I was able to get rid of his Cadaver with some ease. In fact, it never hit my HFEs. But one got Enfeebled. I also took a chance to send SFEs Necro hunting to make the Watchers go *pop*, but it didn't quite workout and left the summoner a little more vulnerable than i would have liked. I also made a stupid mistake that allowed his Draco to base one of the summoners after breathing to clear out all his bodyguards. Luckily all his summons and requires commander figs were gone at that point 
. By the time i brought the HFEs to bear on the Draco, it was simply too late in the game. Killing all my summons and 5 rounds of victory just was too much for me to battle against.
So there it is. The most fire that can be brought to the table. I think i did reasonably well. I wasn't sure i would be able to win a game, and i half expected to face Bahamut and thus lose a summoner while trying to keep it close enough to offer Immune Cold. With the current viable Epic options, i didn't figure on seeing a lot of variety, so i feel my matchups were reasonable neutral (Tordek of course isn't, but whatever). Knowing the other figures better would have helped me against he Tordek band, and may have let me win. Not stopping the HFE from routing would have given me an easier win in game 2. Going after the Dracolich earlier in game 3 would have made that game closer i think. One nice thing about playing these themed bands is that i get to see goofy things in action, i learn a hell of a lot about strategy as i am often playing from behind, and i get to see all the goof faces people make when they are confused by what they are seeing before them.
