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Player A and I are about to head up to the Big Waaargh.

We are playing CSM and Daemons in the team tourney, not terribly competitive lists in a field where we expect to see some fellows with 6 holo-tanks, and Necrons in the GT, sort of as a last hurrah for the Necron 4th edition experience. I've got my decepticrons and he's got his destroyer wing.

(I'm a bit late).

Good luck and let us know how it went.

Big Waaargh tourney report:

The Field:

I took an unofficial census, walking around and observing the players army choices. Eldar was the most predominant, and a bit of a surprise was that there was just one Nid player and Player A and I were the only Necrons players. I also spied just one Daemon player, which greatly surprised me.

Player A's results are at:

http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/40k-battle-reports/131888-big-waaagh-gt-report.html

My take: I was pleased by this field. Decepticrons are as much Eldar predators as any list, so a falcon rich environment pleased me. In particular there was no Drop Pod marines, so I might expect to go the whole tourney without getting Fear The Darkness in my face. There were twin-lash lists, so that was losses waiting to happen, but I was hoping that the Mech Eldar majority would crush them out of the winning bracket and I could duck them.

The Terrain:

There was a great balance of terrain vs. open space, I think they really got that right in this case. They had a few sparse boards, but also a few really cluttered one. Overall the terrain quantity was perfect. The terrain quality was unremarkable, but what can you expect at a GT? They had to fill hundreds of tables.

My take: I always hope for empty tables with Decepticrons, the old joke being that Necrons would be happier playing on the floor beneath the tables. So meh. I guess this one'll play a bit harder. Not like Eldar are likely to do much hiding behind terrain anyway.

The Missions:

The missions have an odd scoring structure, primary is 6 points, 2 secondaries are 5 points each, and tertiary is 4 points, for a total of 20 available points on each mission. It's difficult to get all 20 points, which helps to seperate out the competitive folks from the scrubs (atl usage...a player who doesn't play optimally), but frequently the missions are achievable by both participants. I saw several 20-15 results. I'd have been more pleased if each objective had given its full points to a player who achieved it, or half to both players if none or both had achieved it. Ah well, nit picking.

My take: I've got a decent army for achieving multiple objectives in 4th, where my jetbikes can score. Also, I tend to shoot or get shot off the board, so I'm not thinking that these missions will help or hurt me too much. Likely I'll simply blast my foes away, or phase out, and in either case the winner will simply shuffle about till they've jumped through all appropriate hoops.

The swiss:

I'll take a moment to state the only gripe I had with the tournament. They messed up the pairings, from first to last. You had people score 20's in the first round and play folks who had zeroes. You had people get scrubs all the way up the tournament, and others who had brutal matches every round. They actually had to move folks around towards the end, and it still wasn't quite on. This is a legitimate gripe, as the winners and losers of any given 40k tourney with a large and skilled field (disregarding the odd tournament where someone has the new hotness and crushes all before them, advancing the metagame) are determined by the matchups.

Let me emphasize though, that this was about the only thing they got wrong. I had my best tournament experience yet at the Big Waaargh, 5 great games, and a fitting end for the decepticrons.

My list:

Decepticrons:
Deceiver
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
6 Immortals
6 Immortals
7 Immortals
3 Destroyers
3 Destroyers
3 Destroyers
1 Heavy Destroyer
1 Heavy Destroyer
1 Heavy Destroyer

Game #1:

Opponent: Horde Orks!

Big Mek w/SAG
Big Mek w/KFF
20 Orks w/Shootas, PK Nob
20 Orks w/Shootas, PK Nob
20 Orks w/Sluggas, PK Nob
20 Orks w/Sluggas, PK Nob
Snikrot and his Kommandos
10 Lootas
10 Lootas
Looted wagon w/boomgun
Looted wagon w/boomgun
2 warbuggies w/twin linked rokkits
2 warbuggies w/twin linked rokkits

My take:
Guh, the successor to the Decepticrons, more or less. Snikrot and his accursed posse are my nemesii. The other player gave every indication of skill, and his list is basically the optimal one. I can take losing to lash chaos, as they are in their own brand of trouble vs. Mech Eldar, sort of a paper rock scissors setup, but Orks are just better than every dang buddy. Getting a skilled horde ork player in the first round is the height of bad luck.

The game:

I played well, he played well, but the mission's objectives were in my favor. I also had a few lucky breaks, and he made one key mistake. He underestimated Necron CC, as folks will, and sent Snikrot in too centrally. At the games end the impossible had occurred, I'd achieved each and every objective, and beat him on VP's by 15. I took the full 20 out of this match, and he got 10. He was a skilled opponent, and a fun guy to play. In particular he didn't pull the typical Ork rubber movement. The game was an enjoyable one. In my eyes it redeemed the Decepticron's for their loss in table one at the end of the invitational to much the same list.

Round 2:

Opponent: Mech Eldar (sorta)

Maugan Ra
Dire Avengers in Wave Serpent
Dire Avengers in Wave Serpent
Fire Dragons in Wave Serpent
Fire Dragons in Wave Serpent
Dark Reapers (the shooty Heavy Support choice...can't quite recall the name)
Dark Reapers

My take:
Now here's more what I was figuring on in round 1. Eldar...with no holo-tanks or CC? This'll be a walkover. I'm figuring on taking all 20 points.

The game:

He played like the scrub his list made him out to be for the first bit...shot at Immortals instead of destroyers, spread his force out to engage Necrons from behind his swiftly burning skimmers. I got cocky and rushed up on him more than I should have, to make sure I got all the objectives. The turning point came when I sent the Deceiver to go get some Dark Reapers...but made a critical mistake. I didn't realize Maugan Ra could fleet. My foe had suckered me into his range. I figured his terminator armor would slow him down, but apparently he fleets just fine. He reached my lines in the top of the fourth. Now, I'm not sure if you've ever seen a Necron list go down when an IC with a power fist equivalent is in it, but it's faster than you'd think. I erred in my initial response to it, but my calculations said I'd narrowly avoid phase out. That's just precisely what happened. I was 2 above phase out at game's end, with Maugan Ra in a block of warriors. I had achieved every objective but one...since the Deceiver whiffed on killing a single Dire Avenger Exarch he wasn't able to massacre into the last table quarter, so I got 15 points and he got 5.

Round 3:

Twin-Lash chaos
Sorcerer on bike
Sorcerer on bike
6 noise marines
6 noise marines
10 CSM's
3 bikers
5 chosen
greater daemon
lesser daemons
3 oblits
3 oblits
2 oblits

My assessment:
I've got no chance. Just going to get massacred. A glance at the mission shows that I've got 5 points for getting my guy killed, and since I"m going to phase out I'll get that, but he'll get the full 20. Amusingly, this is a guy I caught slipping with trifalcon harlequins in the championship's last round at Adepticon. Payback's a tau, ain't it?

The game:
He plays properly, and obliterates me with his lashes and plasma cannons. I think I might have been able to turn things around on the last turn, but my phase out rolls didn't give me a single guy back up. I'd killed his oblits and the deceiver was looming over his surviving lasher, so I could have hid behind terrain while the Deceiver ate his army if I'd gotten one or two up. It'd have been a writhing, pitiful thing though, and I'm not sure I'd have gotten more than the 5 points I got for getting phased. Better to fall with dignity to your predator. I lost, 20-5, but that's just going to happen in this matchup. I probably should have played more conservatively. I think if I'd just hidden and not tried for the win I might have held a draw...worth thinking about.

Round 4:

Mech Eldar (mostly) (funny story about this, I'm originally matched up with a Mech Tau player who goes on to score really well in the tournament. Realizing I'm going to table him he goes to the judge and whines until he gets another opponent. In his own words "I"m shamelessly ducking you". One day, dude.)

Eldrad
Avatar
6 pathfinders
6 pathfinders
10 guardians w/bright lance
falcon w/lotsa guns
falcon w/lotsa guns
falcon w/lotsa guns
5 fire dragons
5 fire dragons
10 warp spiders

My take:
So falcons w/out Harlequins? Shouldn't be too tough, right? Plus a glance at the missions show that he's going to have to put Eldrad in a falcon, which will tear out the guts of his engine (though it also prevents me from running the Deceiver over his army, as the HQ's need to head to specific areas). Still, the player is a skilled one, and he's left a trail of tears through a dozen or so tournaments, so I resolve to take this army seriously.

The game:
We have a pretty good game. I lose on account of failing 3 ld 10 checks in the last round and a half, but there was crazy stuff going on all game. I think we both played relatively correctly. I had the opportunity to take 5 points of him at the end, he'd made a mistake relative to which building was an objective, and I was damn tempted to be a stickler on account of he'd pulled some ludicrously cheesy nonsense to win the team tournament. I gave him the points though, Atlanta is a case study in the sort of nonsense you get when you hold to grudges. It was a good game, and losing to Mech Eldar really sounded the bell for the Decepticrons. Come on guys, little self respect here?

Round 5:

Space Marines:

Biker librarian
Jump pack master
assault squad
assault squad
terminator squad
Dreadnought
tac squad
tac squad
tac squad
predator
whirlwind
whirlwind

My take:
This is actually the guy I played who beat my Mechagodzilla Necrons in the first round at Exterminatus. He commented at that point that he'd never lost to Necrons, and I promised him if I had a chance I'd show him some Crons who could beat his Space Marines. Looks like there's a silver lining in getting pasted. My list ought to obliterate this list.

The game:
We crush this list, the Deceiver kills a tac squad, a terminator squad, the dreadnought and the librarian. The remainder of my army handily outshoots him. He's got 2 whirlwinds and a Master left at the end of the game, basically because they are hiding behind a piece of terrain. He's a good sport about it and we spend the game shooting the stuff and talking about theoryhammer. To get the last 5 points I'd have needed to get into that building, but the Deceiver is too slow to get over there before the game ends, and my jetbikes will just get eaten up by the master. I get 15 points, and he gets nothing


So there it is, took Decepticrons and got 60 out of 100 points...a pitiful showing, leaving with a whimper. Guess that's it for my #1 spot on the circuit. I'm not too angry about it though..I got 5 great games out of it, not a single one I didn't enjoy, even my thrashing via Lash.

nice report. glad to see that you avenged your sm defeat from exter. What are you going to be playing with 5th ed?

Daemons! I believe there's a power list lurking somewhere in that 'dex.

I'm currently running:

Herald of Khorne, chariot, Icon
Herald of Khorne, chariot, Icon
Herald of Khorne, chariot, Icon
Herald of Khorne, chariot, Icon
2 Bloodcrushers
2 Bloodcrushers
2 Bloodcrushers
5 Pink Horrors w/changling, Bolt of Tzeentch
5 Pink Horrors, Bolt of Tzeentch
5 Pink Horrors, Bolt of Tzeentch
5 Pink Horrors, Bolt of Tzeentch
5 Pink Horrors, Bolt of Tzeentch
5 Pink Horrors, Bolt of Tzeentch
5 Flesh Hounds w/fury of Khorne
5 Flesh Hounds w/fury of Khorne
5 Flesh Hounds w/fury of Khorne
Soulgrinder w/Phlegm
Soulgrinder w/Phlegm
Soulgrinder w/Phlegm

I'm going to start them out at Maul in the Mall...though, that's still 4th, so they'll have a rocky landing.

Now that is a maxed FoC (+2 HQ even)

Thanks for the Waaargh report, well done despite how the points came out in the end. That tau guy though, I dunno :S

- Salvage

Boss_Salvage wrote: That tau guy though, I dunno :S

40kenthusiast wrote:Mech Eldar (mostly) (funny story about this, I'm originally matched up with a Mech Tau player who goes on to score really well in the tournament. Realizing I'm going to table him he goes to the judge and whines until he gets another opponent. In his own words "I"m shamelessly ducking you". One day, dude.)

Out of curiosity, are you referring to the Tau player that won 2nd place overall, and best sport in the team tournament? Or is the person in question some other Tau player?

see you at the Maul we are heading out on Friday. Are you guys coming up in the morning again or are you driving up the night before?

@WhiteDevil:

Seems likely, neh?

@warzonekos:

We are heading out in the morning, as we do, we'll have at least 3 and more likely 5 or so.

That is unfortunate 40kenthusiast. I would always welcome the opportunity to play someone of your caliber.

G

40kenthusiast wrote:@WhiteDevil:

Seems likely, neh?

I'll take that as a "yes". And I'll second GBF, I'll play you with any list you'd like to field, new or old.

see you there with coffee in hand. Should be three of us but we will see may be four.

Word. Player-A will be there as well, so you've got a shot at revenge. I think he's bringing his crons, but they let him down in the Waargh (he even did worse than I did) and the bugs are pretty well put away, so we may see him with yet another new list.

i read his report. the guys that he played were the same ones we had an issue with at the ard boyz semi at dicehead. I am glad to see it wasn't only me. I thought I was losing my touch as well as my hair

I do love reading these battle reports, even when I am one of the cheesy players in question, heh.

The seeding was a little screwed up but other than that the tournament was awesome. They insist that the seeding was only skewed for the 4th round but that really isn't the case. In the 2nd round players who maxed out (20 bps) were playing people who scored a zero in their first round.

This allows for the heavy hitters to take the head off of another creme puff.

In the 4th round I was set to play a good player who I had faced before and was anxious to play again. I was then switched to play another player I'd played before and we always have an 'interesting' game to say the least, heh.. Then I get switched to play yet another top tier player before finally being bounced to the necrons. I also applaud the tournament organizers for trying to fix and adjust things on Sunday. Seriously, it was a well run tournament and the terrain was great, and the missions were very creative and challenging. My only beef is with the seeding and how it shook out that a few people got a much easier run than I did. I played 3 or 4 of the best players in the country right now and don't regret doing so.

The falcons didn't get to do much other than run around and force him to make about 6 morale checks a turn. It did eventually pay off. I caught a break by dropping most of his destroyers by round 2 with the majority of them going down on round 1 and him suffering from some bad will be backs. I also made some pretty impressive saves with an non fortuned avatar in round 1 that allowed him to be a decent fire magnet until he was eventually murdered on round three, I think?

For the record the confusion for the objective building came from changing your mind THREE times. I would have just flown the falcon with the objective over to the right building instead and that is what we discussed. (that was left out of the report )

But...but...putting it in would have made me look worse! That's not why I write these! I'm some sort of 40k saint! Just read my reports, it's the world that's imperfect.

Fair enough, though I think the 18" movement restriction from the beer woulda taken the falcon out of tank shocking for more rounds if you had to go all the way over to the left. I certainly had enough luck of my own in the game that I'm not complaining. My favorite was the warp spiders and snipers deciding that they would just leave all of a sudden.

warzonekos wrote:i read his report. the guys that he played were the same ones we had an issue with at the ard boyz semi at dicehead. I am glad to see it wasn't only me. I thought I was losing my touch as well as my hair

Firstly, the guys Player-A played were not at the Semis at Dicehead, I was the only one from our group who made it there. What exactly did you have issue with there? I don't recall having any issues with anyone except for a lot of whining about the winner, who wasn't part of my club. I believe you are mistaken, but if not, some clarification is in order.

Just to let you guys know, the results are out at the Big Waaagh if anyone wants to go look. The top two were tau x2 and an eldar army with nine warwalkers (scored 90 battle points).

Hats off to Doug Johnson b.t.w. with that amazing eldar army, goregeous. I talked to him about the shading and what it took, but I think that's out of my league at the moment. Anyway, thanks to everyone that came, it was a wonderful, well run event.

What kind of tourney lets people "Shamelessly duck?" That kinda defeats the purpose of the whole thing doesn't it?
Not that it would be worth playing with "a shameless dog" like that anyway.

Do you wonder how you would have scored if you'd been able to pick and choose your opponents for the day?

Great reporting! even if I have had the "santa" factor of 40k enthusiast's battle reporting taken away

That specific situation with Scott came up because the battle points had gotten F'ed up. He had about 50-60 points or so at that point and I think his opponent had about 30-35 at that time. So he went to the Judges and said "hey, my points don't match up here, something isn't right."

Here is the question, if he was talking to someone he could table, and had done the same thing, people would be honoring it, but the rule works for the goose and the gander. Either he did the right thing by saying to the judges that he needed to fight someone that was closer to his point schedule (i.e. the rules of the Swiss system) or he shouldn't.

And just looking at it from the Big Waaagh's point of view, they matched it up wrong, he never should have been playing that army in the first place. Should they obey the rules for the "swiss" system, or stick Scott on a table with someone that is going to cause his army some problems, against the rules of the tournament?

I think the tournament was run very well personally, and if the most anyone can complain about is that the judges were forced to obey their own rules, then that's a fine compliment.

My 2 cents.

Prodigalson, you raise a good point. I think the real question then is whether or not he *would* have done the same thing if he was playing a person he thought he was going to table. I don't really know him, so can't say... but his supposed "ducking" comments do not really shed the best light on his intentions. Though, as I said, I don't know him - they could have been a joke to 40ke.


Either way, I'd like to echo what several people have already said: It was a good tournament, definitely worth attending.

The mismatch issue was brought up after round 2 on day 1. Unfortunately, they didn't get it straightened out until round 4. No, I didn't run to the judges and whine. Lots of players were back and forth to the judges verifying their points and many tables got rearranged. When the judges asked Walter if he wanted to stay at my table of course he wanted to. When they asked me, I asked for my properly matched opponent. I already knew that would switch me to Pete Elias (a heavy hitter and perfectly capable of beating me). The day before I had requested that all points be re-checked and all pairings fixed. I asked for the same thing on day 2. Should they have fixed some of the games and left others improperly matched?
Yes, I did give Walter a wink and say I was ducking him. Rhubarb is fun at tournaments. He had already clearly stated several times that he would table me and that there was nothing i could do about it. Pretty arrogant; especially when you are talking to someone with a closet full of GT trophies. When an opponent begins their interaction with me that way at a GT I do the smart thing and agree with them.
For the 4th edition record I have played Necrons five times at various GT's. I got 'tabled' once years ago while playing my Deathwing. Since that loss, my 4th edition Tau phased out two Monolith armies, a Destroyer heavy army and a Nightbringer/Destroyer army. Necrons were a tough match for Tau in 4th, and Walter is a great player, but he might have gotten a surprise. He at least would have gotten a hell of a game.

Wow Scott it is good to see you defending yourself again... must be the Tau hate.

G

Yes, definitely good to see some replies to the "ducking" comments (arrogance in abundance down Warfan way).

Still waiting for some clarification of what "issues" you had at the Ard Boyz semis, warzonekos.

BTW,Scott, great game Friday vs. you and that Khorne guy! You almost got him to pull it out. Alas our Eldar Ulthwe consortium prevailed! (until 3rd round that is!)

Hats off to Doug Johnson b.t.w. with that amazing eldar army, goregeous.

Thanks, but it is Joe Johnson hehehe.

(arrogance in abundance down Warfan way).

Ouch Nurgle that hurts.....Whats with all the hate

As for the scoring issues the judges were not aware of it until the later rounds. I remember having a few discussions after the 1st days rounds with Scott and he didnt even seem to realize there was an issue so I wouldnt fault him to much heheh. As per his ducking comment I can see him saying that and laughing as he does but I would bet it was just his humor heh. I enjoyed the last game with Scott. The mission totally hosed me so I went in with a "lets have fun" attitude. I laughed for about 2 hours so it was worth it and I think Scott laughed for at least 45 mins of it hehehe.

Kudos go to the staff and tourney guys. I had 5 great games and the judges (and you too George) were great. One little Snafu with the scorring but that was fixed once they realized the problem. I am really looking forward to next years event!!!!

Ouch Nurgle that hurts.....Whats with all the hate

Statements like this:

I figured it would be a fairly easy game.

I'd say how I really feel about the guy, but the language would probably get me in trouble.

It was the silliest list I had ever seen.

these statements are made about my friends (which he did apologize for later) and it got me pretty riled up. That comment wasn't directed at you in particvular, just some people in the group that are not well liked. I won't elaborate, but know that I consider you and most of your group to be friends and look forward to the Exterminatus this year!

NP. Just direct comments like those at individuals and not groups. We dont want to get into group hate hehe.

especially when you are talking to someone with a closet full of GT trophies

Scott we all know this isnt true....you dont keep anything in the closet!!

"I figured it would be a fairly easy game."

... You've never looked across a table and thought (right or wrong) 'I've got this one' based purely on list match-ups? It has nothing to do with the person, but the strengths of your list vs. the other.


As for the rest, well, that was discussed in the other thread and is done with.. I thought anyway. Even if it's not, I'd rather not drag it back out now - maybe some grudge matches will happen at the Exterminatus. :p

Exactly. Looking forward to it, guys. I love the competition from the Atl region.

Yes, I have "thought" it plenty of times...just not expressed it out loud or in a forum. Especially when I haven't ever played against them. I run an atypical Eldar list that sports none of the "cheesy" things (except for maybe Eldrad?) and have played many people who (arrogantly?) thought it would be a "gimme".... and moved on to wipe them out.

As I said, I was riled up and apologize for my blanket statement about the group. Hope we all have fun, come October!

hehehe I think I just made the first round line up.........