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2014/02/24 17:21:59
Subject: Jy2 Brings Necrons to the Las Vegas Open (LVO) GT - (Army Pics/Game Links on p.1, Game #4 on p.6)
y0disisray wrote: Really good game there I thought it was going to end a lot closer than what it did. It was sad to see kind of somewhat of a mirror match in only Round 4 but it is what it is.
Thanks. It's not that I don't like mirror-matches. It's more that 1) I didn't want to be the one to knock out another Necron player from the tournament and 2) I wanted to beat up on some Tau or Eldar, especially this deep into the tournament. I swear, they've been ducking me all tournament. LOL!!!
Mythra wrote: The White scars guy looks like the pilot from Firefly.
I usually get the "look like Anthony Michael Hall" then anything else. Even as we both got older we still look a lot alike.
Spoiler:
It doesn't help that I'm a goofball too.
BACK on topic, well done Jim! I was glad to see you pull out the win in the fairly reasonable mirror match. As you note it is hard to really out shoot necrons a lot but knowing that most of the weapons ranges are 24" can lead to some canny trickery. It's just making sure you can get the timing down right without getting shredded by Tesla! So great counter deploy to get off on the right foot that game.
Yeah I definitely see the resemblance between you and your brother from another mother. Haha.
So far in all my tournament experiences, I have not lost a mirror-matchup. I actually had high confidence going into this game, especially when I won the roll to go 2nd. But it proved to be a much tighter game than I thought, at least until the end. In any case, it was a great game and I am glad I got to meet Justin. He was a very nice guy and also a great necron player as well.
Xaereth wrote: Great game, Jim! Love reading about great players overcoming adversity and pulling off the win! It looked a little grim there for a while.
Loved riding in the elevator up to the gaming hall with you and Eric - didn't really expect you guys to get wasted in the morning before playing Day 2, after going undefeated on Day 1!
Thanks. My strategy was to deny my opponent his firepower and in that regards, I succeeded. Then it was just a numbers game with my wraiths against his and I definitely had the advantage there. I was actually confident before the game that I could take it, but my opponent ended up giving me a tougher fight than I had expected.
I also under-estimated the potency of the drink that I got. Then again, maybe I did that on purpose. Anyways, great to have met you. I was hoping to play against your army, but I guess it will have to be some other time.
That seemed like a daunting challenge with the different deployment and the alcohol that was playing keep away with your senses Way to grab that one Jim! Looks like the tournament is going really well from what you have shared with us so far, I hope that it continued to go well for you! I think that taking Necrons was the right choice. At first I did think that Daemons would be better, but I now understand the full extent of your skill with the Crons.
2014/02/24 21:44:16
Subject: Jy2 Brings Necrons to the Las Vegas Open (LVO) GT - (Army Pics/Game Links on p.1, Game #4 on p.6)
Nice win against the crons. When your wraiths started dying and his immortals didn't I knew it was gonna be tough. Also for future reference everclear is almost 100% pure alcohol. I think it like 97% or 194 proof...
2014/02/24 23:19:30
Subject: Jy2 Brings Necrons to the Las Vegas Open (LVO) GT - (Army Pics/Game Links on p.1, Game #4 on p.6)
Yep ;p. I spent some time dating a girl from Rutgers it was good for teaching me 3 things. How destructive everclear is and how to make a damn good and damn potent jungle/Jesus/whatever you want to call it juice, and how delicious yuengling is. Which speaking of which massachusettes is finally getting yuengling distributed to us!!!
2014/02/25 00:38:26
Subject: Jy2 Brings Necrons to the Las Vegas Open (LVO) GT - (Army Pics/Game Links on p.1, Game #4 on p.6)
Doing well in a tournament takes a number of factors:
1. Skills as a tactician.
2. Know your army.
3. Know your opponent's army.
4. Matchups.
5. Some good rolls.
So far, I've been blessed in this tournament.
Commander_Farsight wrote: That seemed like a daunting challenge with the different deployment and the alcohol that was playing keep away with your senses Way to grab that one Jim! Looks like the tournament is going really well from what you have shared with us so far, I hope that it continued to go well for you! I think that taking Necrons was the right choice. At first I did think that Daemons would be better, but I now understand the full extent of your skill with the Crons.
Thanks.
Necrons are my best army and in a tournament as large as this one, I wanted to bring my best army. Daemons are good also, but sometimes, they have problems with consistency. But Daemons are an army that, when the dice goes their way, there isn't anybody they can't beat. Not even the seer council can stand up to a Daemon army firing on all cylinders.
Chancetragedy wrote: Nice win against the crons. When your wraiths started dying and his immortals didn't I knew it was gonna be tough. Also for future reference everclear is almost 100% pure alcohol. I think it like 97% or 194 proof...
No wonder.
I really don't know my alcohol too well....but actually, that might be a good thing.
Doing well in a tournament takes a number of factors:
1. Skills as a tactician.
2. Know your army.
3. Know your opponent's army.
4. Matchups.
5. Some good rolls.
So far, I've been blessed in this tournament.
You forgot the most important rule.... Playing the mission.
I would also add sticking to your plan. A lot of people will get flustered when things go bad and break away from what their list is designed to do.
TK - 2012 40K GT Record 18-5
4th in 2nd bracket Feast of Blades 2012 (IG/SoB); 4th Overall Midwest Massacre (IG/SW); 5th Overall Indy Open (IG); Final 16 Adepticon Open (IG)
TK - 2013 40K GT Record 24-4
Best General Indy Open (Crons/CSM)
Top 5! Bugeater GT (TauDar)
Final 4 Nova Invitational (Eldau)
Best Overall Midwest Massacre (Crons/CSM)
Doing well in a tournament takes a number of factors:
1. Skills as a tactician.
2. Know your army.
3. Know your opponent's army.
4. Matchups.
5. Some good rolls.
So far, I've been blessed in this tournament.
You forgot the most important rule.... Playing the mission.
I would also add sticking to your plan. A lot of people will get flustered when things go bad and break away from what their list is designed to do.
That's a good one, though I'd probably group that under "skills as a tactician". A characteristic of a good general is that he knows what he needs to do in order to win, and that is usually to play the mission and not get distracted.
My game #5 opponent was another White Scars player and a very good player indeed....Eric Hoerger. He is a very successful tournament player, placing high consistently in many tournaments, including events such as the NovaOpen and Adepticon. He is also another GT winner as well, winning the St. Valentine's Day Massacre 2 years ago (ironically, he did it with wraithwing Necrons). Eric was also my roommate for this trip!
I actually didn't want to play against Eric for several reasons (and no, it wasn't because we were roommates):
1. I've actually played against Eric before at the ATC in what was a very close game:
I kind of wanted to play against someone whom I haven't played against before.
2. I just played against another very similar White Scars army in the tournament already. I kind of wanted to play against a different army.
3. I wanted to beat up on Eldar or Tau, especially this late in the tournament when I know that they are going to be commandeered by a very good general.
But alas, we don't always get what we want. That's too bad....because now my Necrons are going to have to add another biker army to their resume of roadkill in their quest for the LVO Championships. Muhahahaha....
1750 Pure Necrons (My list)
Destroyer Lord - 2+, Mindshackle Scarabs, ResOrb
Destroyer Lord - 2+, Mindshackle Scarabs, ResOrb
5x Immortals - Gauss Blasters, Night Scythe
5x Immortals - Gauss Blasters, Night Scythe
5x Warriors - Night Scythe
Aaarghh! I'm going 1st! I guess it was bound to happen. I went 2nd in my first 4 games. Now in the game where I arguably need it the most, I am going 1st.
At least I now have some experience playing against the Scars. As a matter of fact, earlier in the tournament, I played against a similar White Scars army (Game #3 vs Dan). That experience should prove invaluable. However, Eric is also very familiar with Necrons as well. After all, he did win a GT with Wraithwing Necrons before. In terms of experience, Eric's actually got the advantage over me. I am still getting the feel for the White Scars whereas my opponent is an expert in both armies.
But still, my army is potentially a bad matchup for my opponent. Again, my wraiths don't care about grav-guns. My opponent doesn't have much in the way of AA firepower and he also doesn't have many weapons that can destroy my annihilation barges (though he's welcome to fire his grav-guns into my barges as opposed to my wraiths ). Also, we are playing Big Guns. While Eric has got 2 hard-to-kill, scoring thunderfires (TFC's), I've got 3 hard-to-kill, scoring annihilation barges. All I need do is to park them on top of objectives and then I wouldn't even care if his grav-guns immobilize them.
I forget to take a picture of Eric's deployment, but he basically deploys his large biker unit and 2 thunderfire cannons (TFC's) in the very corner behind a LOS-blocking terrain.
Eric is playing very differently from my previous Game #3 opponent. Whereas Dan deployed basically his entire army, Eric has the majority of his army in reserves, with 4 units of 5 bikers outflanking and the scouts walking on.
They then run. Annihilation barges (AB's) turbo-boost.
I leave 1 unit of wraiths slightly back to play free safety.
Space Marines 1
Spoiler:
Marines bide their time.
TFC's end up killing only 1 wraith.
Necrons 2
Spoiler:
Only 1 night scythe comes in. I move it behind the ruins in anticipation of my opponent's stormtalons.
My army advances.
My shooting puts 1W on his character and kills a biker. My opponent would roll well for his saves. As a matter of fact, his rolling would set the tone for the entire game.
Wraiths then run some more.
Space Marines 2
Spoiler:
1 unit of bikers would come in on the very corner of my deployment zone (and onto a Big Gun objective).
Both talons would come in.
Actually, his whole army would come in! We don't need Comms Relay when we are rolling like this!
His command squad prepares for the offensive.
Talon knocks down my barge by shooting it in the butt for First Blood. He also gets a point for taking out one of my Heavy Supports for Big Guns.
Shooting by his bikers take down 1 wraith and put 1W on another.
Stormtalon takes out another wraith (from a separate unit).
TFC's take down a 3rd wraith (or it might have been from the outflanking bikers).
His command squad then charges.
Disaster strikes! I rolling poorly, not getting even a single rend, and then fail the majority of my saves. He wipes out my wraithstar!
Eric then gets a good consolidation roll and spreads out, thus preventing my D-lord from being able to get back up!
Necrons 3
Spoiler:
Last turn was a huge blow, but I've still got plenty of gas left in the tank.
My 2nd wraithstar prepares to counter-assault.
Another 1 night scythe comes in.
Shooting takes down 3 bikers....
....as well as 1 stormtalon.
I then charge in with my wraiths. Again, another poor round of combat for my crons as they fail miserably in assault. Not a single rend and once again, my opponent's saves were golden. I only kill 1 biker and lose 2 wraiths in return.
His command squad then Hit-&-Runs out of combat.
Space Marines 3
Spoiler:
Wow! 1 round of bad combat I can take. 2 rounds and now I'm in the hole. Unless things turn around quickly, this isn't looking very good for my crons.
Stormtalon goes after my wraiths.
Eric has still got a lot of bikers left.
His command squad gets ready to bring the pain again.
His bikers in my deployment zone swarm an objective.
Shooting takes down the lone wraith by itself (I believe this is from the stormtalon).
Bikers and TFC's take out another 2 wraiths and put 1W on a 3rd.
Bikers turbo-boost.
They shoot and then assault my barge.
2 biker units assault into my wraiths.
Krak grenades bring it down to just 1 HP left.
I lose 1 wraith in combat. My Warlord is also reduced to just 1W remaining.
Necrons 4
Spoiler:
I need a miracle this turn to try to get back in the game.
I decide to go after his troops on my objective in my deployment zone. Immortals disembark.
Since most of the units are in combat, I decide to go after his talon with my night scythe.
Barge moves back and takes a shot at his bikers.
Stormtalon crashes and burns.
I am flabbergasted. I put maybe about 15 wounds on his biker. He only loses 1!!!
This game just wasn't meant to be mine.
I lose my Warlord, who doesn't get back up, and 1 wraith. However, I actually win combat (I think by 1). As is characteristic of my opponent's dice all game, he rolls high, even for morale, and his command squad breaks. Fortunately for him, he doesn't roll high enough so that they run off the table (they are only about 1" from the table edge).
Space Marines 4
Spoiler:
Marines prepare to charge.
I don't expect my barge to survive.
His command squad auto-rallies and prepares to finish off the last of my wraiths.
Marines get another Big Gun VP.
No more wraiths.
Bikers shoot and then assault my immortals, killing 3.
They stay and then 2 gets back up.
Necrons 5
Spoiler:
This will be the last game turn due to time.
As the Relic is only secondary, I decide to ignore it and go after the Primary, Big Guns.
I admit defeat, but I am not going down without a fight. I disembark my immortals to deal with his bikers.
Warriors get off on another objective.
My last AB moves back onto another objective.
Shooting kills another 2 bikers. They stay.
In combat, Eric's bikers Hit-&-Run away from my immortals.
Space Marines 5
Spoiler:
My opponent leaves his bikes there to contest.
He's got his Big Gun objective here with scouts and the TFC.
Bikers go to contest another Big Gun objective.
I've got only 1 Big Gun objective. However, my opponent also gets +2 VP's for killing 2 of my Heavy Support choices.
Lastly, his command squad goes and grabs the Relic.
My opponent wins the Primary 5-3 and also takes the Secondary. He also gets all 3 bonus points. I only get 1-pt for Linebreaker. Space Marines take it 10-1 and repel the alien robots!
Eric played like a true champion this game. His strategy was solid and he played really smart. As for me, I don't think I really made any mistakes tactically. This game just wasn't meant to be mine. This game was almost a reversal of my Game #3 against Dan's White Scars. In that game, I had the dice and he did not. In this game, the shoe was on the foot. My opponent had the dice on his side instead and a couple of bad combats really turned the tide. Not much I could really do against that.
What lessons I will take from this game are:
1. White Scars are the real deal. They are definitely a top-tier army with the ability to win it all. I am actually glad that marines have at least one, probably two, strong tournament builds that can break the stranglehold of Tau and Eldar (and Necrons too!) at the top. These 2 battles gave me some very good experiences against a true Marine biker army.
2. In the future, I will probably play a little less aggressively against the Scars. In my 2 games, my shooting was actually under-utilized. In game #3, my opponent did a very good job of avoiding my shooting and in this game, my shooting just under-performed thanks to some good saves by my opponent. Nonetheless, one of the strengths of my army is to use my wraiths to tie down tough enemy units so that my shooting can take care of the rest. Well, that strategy just doesn't work against the Scars. With Hit-&-Run, I just can't tie them down in combat. The only thing I end up doing is to protect them from my shooting.
Overall, congrats to my roommate for a well played game against me and for his overall performance in the tournament as well.
I'd by lying if I said that I was happy with my performance in this tournament. I know, I know....4-1 and making it to Table #3 is a very respectable performance. However, I was actually somewhat disappointed. I honestly expected to be able to make it to Day #3 and the Top 8. There wasn't any army there that I was really concerned about or that I felt would have given me a lot of trouble. Tau is usually the army that gives my necrons the most trouble. However, other than Justin Cook, the winner of Nova 2013, no Tau player really made it that deep into the tournament. Then there was the seer council and beaststar Deldar. Depending on who went first, I think I have a decent chance against those armies. I also wouldn't mind playing against Gareth's 9 Thudd Gun IG. Whereas his army was a nightmare to most armies in the tournament, I don't think my army was one of them. As a matter of fact, I would have liked my chances against his Forgeworld-heavy army. But overall, there wasn't any army out there that made me really concerned.
As for my roommate and Game #5 opponent, Eric Hoerger, he did extremely well. He went on to play Justin Adam's Chaos/Chaos army in Game #6, Adam Tricola's (Xaerath's) Beaststar Deldar in Game #7 and finally, the eventual winner of the LVO, Alex Fennell's Seer Council Deldar in a final Game #8. Overall, Eric ended his run as the Runner-Up to the LVO Champion. Very impressive for a guy who's only played his army maybe 5 games before the tournament.
As for me, I ended my run at the LVO 22nd overall. This was only the 2nd loss ever for my Necrons since 6th Edition came out. They are still a force to be reckoned with IMO. Too bad they failed to conquer the 40K universe this time around, but believe me when I say, "we'll be back...." In any case, now that my schedule was....ahem....clear on Sunday, I decided to give the Doubles Tournament a try. Several of the people who signed up for the Doubles Tournament didn't show so they had extra spaces still available. So I found myself another Necron player, Chuck, to be my partner. Ironically, Chuck also lost to Eric and his bikers just the game before mine (Game #4). We both fielded wraithwing Necrons so the doubles army is actually going to look a lot like our singles armies, only nastier because it is at 2K. Hahaha....
Coming up next....Team We'll Be Back in their 2nd attempt to conquer the universe!
This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2014/03/05 04:50:56
Please correct me if I'm wrong (Im away from the rulebook atm), but as far as i rememebr immobilized vehicles cannot score in Big Guns Never Tire, so therefore your pre-game assertion would be wrong.
2014/02/28 14:42:26
Subject: Jy2 Brings Necrons to the Las Vegas Open (LVO) GT - (Army Pics/Game Links on p.1, Game #5 on p.7)
JohnnyCage wrote: Please correct me if I'm wrong (Im away from the rulebook atm), but as far as i rememebr immobilized vehicles cannot score in Big Guns Never Tire, so therefore your pre-game assertion would be wrong.
You're right! I forgot about that.
Well, it's a good thing that my AB's didn't get immobilized on an objective then!
I don't see how the matchup favours the Necrons; With Mnemonic Protocols the Red Hunters won't really have a problem demolishing your fliers. Wraiths still take a ton of wounds from Grav guns, and can't tie up the bikes because they just hit and run; There is no effective way to deal with the RH Chapter Master.
Xaereth wrote: Quick question Jim: why do you say Wraiths don't care about Grav guns? They do, after all, still have a 3+ armor save to go with their 3++.
Are you just saying the wounds he causes are essentially the same as boltguns which do the same damage, only on a 4+?
He's probably very confident in making his 3+ saves.
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2014/02/28 19:02:43
Subject: Jy2 Brings Necrons to the Las Vegas Open (LVO) GT - (Army Pics/Game Links on p.1, Game #5 on p.7)
This will be fun.
I think the Necrons still have a advantage. With only 1 flyer to protect them, the Necrons rule the skies, and control the objectives.
Wraiths don't mind grav guns so much, since they still GET a save against them. The immortals would cry, but then again, their STR 5 guns wil also make bikers sad.
As long as the TFCs are on the field, you need to spread out, but thats not hard with wraiths.
Bedouin Dynasty: 10000 pts
The Silver Lances: 4000 pts
The Custodes Winter Watch 4000 pts
MajorStoffer wrote:
...
Sternguard though, those guys are all about kicking ass. They'd chew bubble gum as well, but bubble gum is heretical. Only tau chew gum.
.....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids 
.....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
3000
4000 
Cratfworld Alaitoc (
Order of the Red Mantle (
Ravenwing
Deathwing
4000 pts
