In this series, I’m sharing battle reports from my games with Team England Paddington at the Warmachine WTC 2025. If you missed the first game, you can check that report out here. If you missed the second game, you can check that report out here. If you missed the third game, you can check that report out here.
- Live stream links
- Psychology
- List selection
- Deployment
- Turn one
- Turn two
- Turn three
- Turn four
- Turn five
- Turn six
- Conclusions
| Team | USA Condor | England Paddington |
| Player | Justin Du | Jamie Perkins |
| Army | Infernals | Khymaera Shadowflame Shard |
| Player Order | Second | First |
Scenario: BEST LAID PLANS
USA Jackrabbits were a solid team, very dangerous, all three USA teams finished inside the top 10 which is exceptional. Even so, I don’t think anyone would argue with the statement that, of the 3 of them, Condor are the team to beat.
Both Jake and Justin were on the team that finished 3rd at the 2024 WTC, losing narrowly in the final to Australia. They came into the event very regularly selected on folks “favourites to win” team lists.
To my knowledge, England have never won a semi-final round at the WTC. This is as far as we’ve been.
Live stream links
This is one of the rounds we were on the excellently set up and hosted stream tables. You can see the full round video here: https://www.youtube.com/live/4mCx4YjesQc?si=-bQlyhxaICI3lyQ4
Additionally, you can see the raw feed of this specific game from start to finish here: https://youtu.be/OxggFI5hrdE?si=8cx9QZDWekKSJJVA
We lost the roll to determine match ups, because that’s apparently the theme of our starting rolls at this point. We send out Chris first, hoping to draw out some of the more problematic match ups.
They send out JVM’s Shadowflame Shard, and Brad Park’s Necrofactorium. We discuss this for a few moments and opt for Chris to take on Jake. This is a risky match up for Chris specifically but we reason this will help make the subsequent match ups better overall.
We send out Zilva’s Infernals and Golly’s Storm Legion for Brad to choose from. Condor opt for Brad to take on Golly.
They send out Brandon Owens’ Gravediggers and Blake Hooper’s Sea Raiders. We feel good about Golly playing against Necrofactorium, and Zilva is happy to take on either Gravediggers or Sea Raiders. The discussion moves over to Jacob and I. We expect Jacob is now unavoidably going to get Justin Du’s Infernals. This leaves me likely facing Blake’s Sea Raiders, which I’m happy with. Overall this would give us 3 positive match ups, 1 50/50, and 1 negative match up, which works for us, so we opt to have Zilva take on Brandon’s Gravediggers.
However, Condor don’t give Jacob the Infernals. They instead opt to have me face Justin’s Infernals and for Jacob to face Blake’s Sea Raiders. This is fantastic, because according to our projections we’ve now got 3 positive match ups (I’m favourable into either Sea Raiders or Infernals) and Jacob now has a playable 50/50 into Sea Raiders. Condor must’ve had that differently for their own projections. Time to see who’s right…
Psychology
I’ve been described before now as “the guy you see at tournaments walking around between rounds wearing his headphones and weighted blanket”. Most of the time, I’m fairly relaxed. At the WTC I’ve always found it hard to get into the right head space. That type of slightly nervous focus that makes people compete at their best whatever the vocation is.
Now, I know how silly this sounds. It’s very cheesy, and this is a toy soldier competition. I sometimes listen to specific types of music to help calibrate my mental state. I do this on the way to big tournaments. It’s not something I’ve done at the WTC and I wanted to see if it made a difference this year.
Most of the time I’d cycle between whatever songs happen to have the most emotional effect at a given time. On a purely mechanical level, you’re not looking to become so emotionally invested you forget you’re playing a game. At the same time, an appropriate level of emotional investment can slot you into your peak mental state you can only normally achieve in fight or flight situations.
I’m not a sport science expert and wouldn’t claim to be, I just know what works for me.
Add into this, I’m a sentimental person. I believe in manifestation. Practice and preparation puts you in the correct situations to benefit from a little bit of luck.
What all that waffle is building up to is, before most of the rounds at the WTC I listened to one specific piece of music. There were others in rotation. I had a whole playlist for the train ride from Copenhagen to Ronneby. At the WTC itself this was the one that had the most impact for me: https://youtu.be/SssZgd8wUPY?si=xvtQp6q-URUy2Cuv
I watched the first series on television and thought it was excellent, if very over the top, entertainment. For the guys competing I completely got how each week the competition meant everything to them. I emotionally connected with the characters and the music. This did it for me.
However, this is where that sentimentality comes in. We’re about to play USA Condor. The top contending American team. It didn’t feel “right” to use a piece of music that “belongs” to Americans. So, for the one round, I changed the song. It needed to be something closer to home.
Back in 2012, I attended Templecon. At the time, one of the biggest Warmachine tournament conventions in the USA. I qualified for and then won the convention masters event on the Sunday. During that event I did the same thing with my headphones between rounds (yes, I’ve been doing this a long time). It’s music I used there, from my proudest Warmachine win, that I pull out for this moment. I listen to every second before we begin the pairing process (disclaimer, I played the music only on my phone, but the video I’ll link to shows the movie scene it comes from for added context) (additional disclaimer, this video contains swearing and boxing violence): https://youtu.be/YgAD4MViXZk?si=FnxrLmFwsdxc9GjO
I’m a mancunian, it was cool to see an Oasis track in a big movie. Anyhow, we ball.
List selection
I know Justin will drop Zaateroth and she’s commonly seen as a drop into everything bar Necrofactorium. I’ve had Zilva run the US style of Infernals list for me and, in practice, my Kyrrax list is fairly effective against it.
Justin’s List: Zaateroth, The Weaver of Shadows
13 Soul Stalker
4 Eilish Garrity, the Dark Seeker
4 Great Princess Regna Gravnoy
3 Foreboder
4 Hermit of Henge Hold
4 Lord Roget D’Vyaros
3 Lynda the Forgotten
3 Saxon Orrik
3 The Wretch 1
3 The Wretch 2
5 Umbral Guardian
5 Valin Hauke, the Fallen Knight
4 Cultist Band 1
3 Master Preceptor Orin Midwinter
4 Cultist Band 2
5 Dark Sentinels 1
5 Dark Sentinels 2
5 Dark Sentinels 3
6 Griever Swarm
7 Howlers 1
7 Howlers 2COMMAND CARDS
Blessing of the Gods
Duck and Cover!
Hit & Run
Lucky Penny
Sapper
TOTAL POINTS 100/100
Deployment
That’s way more bodies than Shyryss wants anything to do with. Plus it all hits very hard. Even the cheaper Dark Sentinel units hit at MAT 8 and POW 15 thanks to gang.
I don’t “need” Silence of Death in this match up since the armour levels of Justin’s list aren’t too high. I instead opt for Carnivore to help me with that troublesome +3 DEF feat turn. Additionally I rack Execration of Blackest Night.
The idea is, while the general MAT level of Zaateroth’s army are quite good at 7s and 8s, they don’t have any ways of pushing beyond that unless it’s horrors spending essence to boost attack rolls. With an army with so many warrior models without boostable hit rolls Execration is potentially a very powerful spell since it effectively makes my DEF 13 and 14 models into DEF 15 and 16 models. Hitting 6s and 7s is fairly consistent. Hitting 8s and 9s is much less so.
Being Best Laid Plans, this is one scenario I really want to go first on. Additionally, Infernals prefer to go first since they can get one of their summoned horrors onto the battlefield before their opposition gets a turn. On any other scenario, we predicted it as 60:40 odds in my favour if I go first, and 50:50 odds if I go second. On Best Laid Plans that’s more like 65:35 going first and 45:55 going second.
I win the starting roll and opt to go first. Phew.
I deploy fairly symmetrically with Kyrrax and the Vypex in the centre, flanked on either side by Death Dealer units, then the Wyverns, and on the furthest edges are my Talon Lashers. Quick Fangs get to advance deploy and sit ahead of the Wyverns and Lashers.
Justin also deploys centrally but doesn’t opt for symmetry. Instead both his Howler units are to my right, opposite the 40mm unit objectives. His Grievers are to my left, opposite the cashes. Dark Sentinel units are scattered throughout the lineup and Justin keeps his battlegroup and key solos central to the army.
Turn one
Current Score Justin 0 – Jamie 0
Kyrrax puts Carnivore on my right hand side Wyvern and Vortex of Destruction on himself. Everything runs forward as fast as possible to project as much forward threat as I’m able to.
Justin hesitates at the start of his turn as he checks how far I’m able to reach. He summons a Desolator, casts Rights of Torment on Zaateroth, and Scything Touch onto the Desolator. Then the army spreads out to ensure there’s even coverage of the objectives without giving me any easy charge targets.
We roll to see which objective disappears, for the first time in recorded history, it’s not the 50mms! Instead, the 40mm objectives to my right leave play.
Turn two
Jamie
Current Score Justin 0 – Jamie 0
I upkeep Carnivore and Vortex. I shift my whole army to my left. My entire left flank of units sits on the cashes. This won’t give me a huge amount of points but it should ward off Justin from even trying to contest this flank.
I make a small mistake here which is moving my Wyverns in the wrong order. This bunches them together in the centre but also gives me a higher concentration of hitting power directly opposite the two 50mm objectives while neither of them is at risk of attack. I’m also in a position to score that 50mm objective with one of the Wyverns.
My right hand units also run to the left while remaining far enough forward to project long charging threat ranges onto Justin’s side of the table.
Going first is a big advantage and I can’t take my foot off the pedal now that I’ve reached the centre of the table first. If I step back too far, Justin will be able to get his models onto the 50mm objectives without needing to be protected by Zaateroth’s feat. That would be very bad. Instead, I want him to need to feat just to get onto the objectives at all.
Justin
Current Score Justin 0 – Jamie 0
You can hear Justin early on in this turn remark “there’s not a lot of room to move”. I’m actively trying to give him no space at all, but also give him nothing to charge at.
He moves his Soulstalker up behind a small obstruction that’s just large enough to shield it from charges while also scoring his 50mm objective.
Justin moves the Grievers up a little bit to threaten the cashes but doesn’t take any shots. He mainly wants to make it take me as long as possible to hunt down the Grievers so he doesn’t leave them within any of my charge ranges.
He summons another Desolator and moves the rest of his army up to support the Soulstalker. He ends up pivoting a little bit around to my right hand side where I’ve evacuated the table space. This puts us more on an angle where the two 50mm objectives are on a direct line between the bulk of our forces.
Justin doesn’t feat. I confirm this after he moves onto his next activation and he confirms he did not intend to feat this turn.
The Desolators make me pause for thought a bit and I spend some of Justin’s turn refreshing myself on what they do. Boostable sprays are a good answer to high DEF warrior models. Additionally those sprays lower the ARM of anything living they hit, so they’ll improve the hitting power of his army against anything they hit that they don’t kill.
A unit of Cultists runs to contest my 50mm objective so I only score my objective terrain this turn.
Turn three
Jamie
Current Score Justin 2 – Jamie 1
Now the armies are locked into the scenario, it’s time to implement the next stage of the plan.
I upkeep Carnivore but drop Vortex. I shift the Wyverns up a little more so both are contesting my 50mm objective, both are base to base with each other. I move Kyrrax so that he’s base to base with both Wyverns, now forming a flat triangle, and then have him cast Execration of Blackest Night. This is further bolstered by a small obstruction just to the left of the triangle preventing attack from that side.
On the far left I run all my units up and onto the cashes. My Quick Fangs engage most of the Grievers with Lashers and Death Dealers behind them. One of my Lashers scores Justin’s cashe.
My right hand Death Dealers charge in and kill the three Cultists contesting my 50mm, while positioning themselves to now contest Justin’s 50mm with their sidesteps.
The rest of my support wheels around further to the left to get behind the bulk of my forces. I’m especially careful to position the Vypex. It needs to be protected enough to preserve my access to Hunter’s Mark, but not so far back as it can’t help clear my lines if it needs to. Those POW 17 Impalers can get serious work done in a pinch.
Justin
Current Score Justin 3 – Jamie 5
Justin has to feat this turn. He’s no longer got a choice. I’m basically right on top of his army now. If he backs off he loses on scenario. If he doesn’t feat I’ll clean sweep through him next turn.
A second Soulstalker is summoned this turn. Just positions the two Desolators slightly to the left, ready to pivot around the obstruction nearest to his 50mm objective. The first Soulstalker remains in place behind it, scoring said objective.
The Howlers all come up in force, forming a solid wall just ahead of the scoring Soulstalker. Between them and the Dark Sentinels, they kill the Talon Death Dealers I’d sent in the previous turn.
After summoning the second Desolator, Zaateroth feats and shifts a little to her left to ensure the bulk of her army is between her and danger.
On the right, a Wretch walks to engage the Quick Fangs and fires a Fly’s Kiss at one. I didn’t realise until he rolled it that this spell, if it hits, would basically kill my entire Quick Fang unit. Thankfully it needed 8s and misses.
The Grievers disengage over to the far left and fire a combined ranged attack at one of the Quick Fangs, but miss.
Turn four
Jamie
Current Score Justin 5 – Jamie 6
The difficulty with Zaateroth’s feat turn isn’t so much the high DEF values, it’s what happens when you miss. Placing models 3” away not only makes them safe from further attacks, it can also set up very potent counter offensives in the following turn for the Infernals player as they bring models out of engagement.
I upkeep Carnivore. I send my right hand Talon Lashers in to clear the closest Dark Sentinels contesting my 50mm objective. I only use the charge attacks to ensure any hits generate kills. However I miss most of them. I send my right hand Wyvern in to attack the nearest Dark Sentinel. I miss a boosted attack and it moves away. I briefly consider a flame breath, then remember the Umbral Guardian perched at the side of the table waiting to jump in. I don’t shoot and instead reposition the Wyvern back behind the 50mm again.
I run all my remaining Quick Fangs into the Howlers and remaining Dark Sentinels. I use Acrobatics to ensure I gum up as much of Justin’s frontline as possible. It’s actually better for me here that I don’t bother making any charges or attacks. It keeps Justin’s army all in one place, fixed inside the range of Execration.
Speaking of which, Kyrrax goes next, casts Execration of Blackest Night, and pushes up a little bit to cover as much as possible.
On the far left I send my Lashers after the Grievers and kill 3 of them as well as the Wretch.
Only the objective terrain is scored this turn, but that’s fine, our armies are fully engaged and Zaateroth’s feat is about to expire.
Justin
Current Score Justin 6 – Jamie 7
The true test of the plan is here. How much can Justin take off me while I’m protected by Execration.
He takes some measurements between his Desolators and my Carnivore’d Wyvern. With a few Rights of Torment moves he can get one to charge it along with a Soulstalker.
He moves up some Dark Sentinels and attacks my Talon Lashers. He kills the one outside of Execration but misses against the others.
He moves up the first Desolator and attacks the remaining Talon Lashers while also applying Withering Humour to the Wyvern for -2 ARM.
The other Desolator charges in and deals decent damage. It has Scything Touch on it to help. Then, Justin does something I didn’t expect, and melee attacks a Talon Lasher, boosting the roll. He hits and kills it, then goes back to attacking the Wyvern.
Next, the Soulstalker comes in but doesn’t manage to get within 1”. This means he won’t get to hit me with his Coiled tail (if this attack hits, the rest of his attacks autohit), that’s big. As it is, he needs 8s to hit. He boosts the charge attack but only deals 7 damage. The issue is, because the Desolator attacked the Talon Lasher, he doesn’t have as much damage on the Wyvern as he could. Justin opts to buy attacks without boosting hit rolls because one unboosted damage roll can’t kill the Wyvern. He misses both and the Wyvern lives.
The other Soulstalker advances into the far left Quick Fangs and kills a pair. Dark Sentinels charge in and kill a few more that are outside the protective range of Execration.
The Howlers all miss their attacks. Excellent.
A few more attacks come in from solos but ultimately I’m left with 6 Quick Fangs and a heavily wounded but living Wyvern by the time Justin is done. His turn has been largely ineffective.
Zaateroth runs far off to my right to ensure she’s out of range of reprisal.
Turn five
Jamie
Current Score Justin 6 – Jamie 8
All the defences are down, it’s time to clear the table.
Kyrrax casts Execration again and feats.
The Vypex charges in and kills the Desolator engaging my Wyvern. Belighul Enrages the Wyvern who then kills both the Soulstalker and the other Desolator.
My infantry, buffed by Kyrrax’s feat, then go to work on the Howlers and Dark Sentinels, removing the vast majority of the Sentinels while using Anatomical Precision to deal the odd point to the Howlers here or there.
This allows the remaining Death Dealers to charge in and use Finisher to remove more Howlers.
My other Wyvern kills the final Soulstalker.
My Lashers finish off the Grievers while returning to the main battle.
Justin
Current Score Justin 6 – Jamie 8
Justin has around 2 and a half minutes remaining.
Zaateroth runs off to my far right hand side to exit the engagement area.
Justin quickly activates his remaining models to clear his objective terrain, attacks some of the Death Dealers, and passes the turn back.
Turn six
Jamie
Current Score Justin 7 – Jamie 8
I upkeep Carnivore.
The Vypex kills the Forboder.
The Carnivore Wyvern advances and kills Valin, a Howler, and Eilish Garrity.
The second Wyvern advances and removes the remaining Howlers.
The Lashers walk into Justin’s objective terrain, killing the Dark Sentinels in there and damaging Lord Roget.
The remaining Quickfangs take out Regna Gravnoy.
Justin
Current Score Justin 7 – Jamie 10
Justin, with 27 seconds remaining, states that he activates nothing and ends his turn, granting a 12-7 win to me on scenario.
Conclusions
On discussion with Justin after the game, I ask how Condor rated the match going into the round. Justin says they’d rated it as “mildly green”, so slightly favourable for Justin. However, on seeing how it’s used, he’d now rate it as amber.
Justin was an exemplary opponent. Clearly very skilled and experienced at the game. Top level clean play and communication throughout the game. I got the drop on him here through a combination of a pre-prepared plan USA Condor hadn’t accounted for, combined with the starting roll and scenario on the table going in my favour. 1-0 England.
As my game ends I learn Chris’s McCoy lost to Jake’s Shyryss. Chris played the game how we practiced. He went for a harsh and early scenario push that almost came off. However Jake was able to hold on and slowly grind down Chris’ army through the following turns until Jake won by scenario. 1-1.
Jacob played a heavy attrition game with Blake where Ragemonger and Horruskh ground each other down in the early turns. Blake makes a gambit with Horruskh that doesn’t pay off and Jacob’s Ragemonger assassinates him in response. 2-1.
Golly is next. He’s doing well on attrition with Huxley up against Brad’s Khythos. On a turn where Huxley has activated and isn’t camping any focus, in a rush of blood to the head, Golly shoots at the last model in a Mechanithrall unit only for it to be Shield Guarded by another Mechanithrall unit, triggering vengeance. This eventually allows the moving unit to reach Huxley and get the assassination. 2-2.
Zilva, as always, is last to finish. I’m told things are looking good for him. Truth be told, my blood is up and I need to see it for myself. I don’t crowd the table but instead try to get a view of proceedings from about 10 feet away. I can’t stand still so I pace a little.
The rest of the team are sat on the edge of the stage, Chynna included. She warns them “if Zilva wins, Jamie might be about to express a real human emotion”.
Zilva has the bulk of his army still on the table, Zaateroth in a safe space, and most of Brandon’s Jakes army is already off the table. In the end Brandon clocks out and that side of my genes I get from my father, the kind of passionate football fan who yells at the television when his team scores, erupts as part of my reaction.
England wins 3-2. We’ve made the grand final at the World Team Championship, for the first time, ever.
The whole US team congratulates us. Hugs all around. Incredible sportsmanship from the Americans and honestly it meant a lot. They could see what it meant to us and we did our best to be humble and grateful in return.
As we depart for lunch, we learn Germany Wolpertinger defeated Poland Aard in the other semi-final. This is it, here we go.
The final battle report will be up this week!
Warmanchester 
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