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So I spent this weekend at GenghisCon, one of the biggest gamers? conventions in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:State><st1:place>Colorado</st1:place></st1:State>. It was an interesting affair, to say the least. It was the first time I?ve played in a tournament that was attached to a non-wargaming event, and the crowd was?erm?.diverse. If I never see another guy dressed up like a freakin? vampire, it?ll be too soon.

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There was also this guy who was dressed as?I dunno? A tree? A bush? A freak in leaves?

 

 

At any rate, the tournament was the second day of the convention. I was a little disappointed, as it was being held at the same time as the Flames of War tournament. I?d have liked to go watch a few games of FoW, but the call to battle was too strong for 40k.

 

Call me conceited or arrogant or whatever, but before the tournament, it occurred to me that I couldn?t remember the last time I failed to place in the top ten of a large tournament with my Dark Eldar. If I took the same list as I always take, I could pretty much predict the same results. With that in mind, three days before the tournament, I made some radical changes in my army list (accompanied by some radical painting at one in the morning). I decided to use the Webway Portal, which I have never, ever done before with any degree of success. I also decided I would not play any practice games, even up to the open gaming the night before the tournament. I would go in with a WWP list, and I would go in cold.

 

The list I selected was:

 

 

Archon (167)

Power Weapon

Reaver Jetbike

Shadow Field

Combat Drugs

Tormentor Helm

Plasma Grenades

 

Haemonculus (90)

Destructor

Webway Portal

 

10 Wyches (228)

Plasma Grenades

Wych Weapons

Succubus w/ Agonizer and Splinter Pistol

Raider with Disintigrator

 

10 Raider Squad (166)

Splinter Cannon and Blaster

Sybarite w/ Poison Blades and Splinter Pistol

Raider w/ Disintigrator

 

10 Raider Squad (176)

Splinter Cannon and Blaster

Sybarite w/ Agonizer and Splinter Pistol

Raider w/ Dark Lance

 

10 Warriors (100)

2 Dark Lances

 

10 Warriors (156)

2 Dark Lances

Sybarite w/ Webway Portal and Splinter Rifle

 

6 Reaver Jetbikes (213)

2 Blasters

Succubus w/ Agonizer, Tormentor Helm, and Plasma Grenades

 

6 Reaver Jetbikes (213)

2 Blasters

Succubus w/ Agonizer, Tormentor Helm, and Plasma Grenades

 

3 Disintigrator Ravager (120)

3 Disintigrator Ravager (120)

 

Total: 1749

 

Before the tournament, I walked around with some buddies, and we made a pact: if the armies were all like the armies we were already seeing, and our first two games were a total drag, we wouldn?t even stay for the third game. The pre-tournament displays of army composition were just plain balls. No other way to describe it. It?s what people will likely be seeing at the new no-comp Grand Tournaments this year, and why said tournaments will suck. Even people I know and have gamed with before took armies that, if I didn?t know them and know they?re great guys, I would think were total dicks. It was a disappointment. (As it turns out, as we went on the lunchtime ?army painting tour,? the composition as a whole wasn?t nearly as bad as I thought, and those armies which put us off so much before the tournament were actually the subject of a lot of conversations. I milled around by a couple of the worst offenders to hear what people were saying about the armies as they walked around. Surprisingly, there were very few positive comments, and a lot of really, really negative ones?even about an army that was exquisitely converted and pure cheese. People dug the painting, and talked about how badly they?d clobber the comp/sports scores if they had to play it. It was a lovely kind of vindication that perhaps the powergamers aren?t going to take over the game after all.)

 

As it also turns out, I lucked out and drew three absolutely awesome opponents. One of the better tournament experiences I?ve ever had, and I had probably the best game of any wargame I?ve played in years against my round 3 opponent. But we?ll get there in a sec.

 

ROUND ONE: vs. Grey Knights (Nate Viele)

 

I had gamed with Nate the night before in a ridiculous and entertaining Kill Team game that saw about ten Space Marine armies try to stop a Tau team, two Necron teams, an Eldar Team, and my Dark Eldar team from stealing an artifact and running off the table with it. It quickly devolved into a free-for-all, with Marines wiping each other out and the Tau player and I ganging up on the stragglers. I came *this close* to winning, but Wyches vs. Bolters = ouch. Nate seemed like a good guy, so I was looking forward to the game.

 

I thought for sure I?d smoke his army early, and we could go to the bar. Ha ha ha, he fooled me.

 

His army was:

Grandmaster

3 Grey Knight Terminators

10 Grey Knights

10 Grey Knights

5 Grey Knights

5 Grey Knights

Land Raider

 

 

The scenario was basically Escalation set-?em-up-and-knock-?em-down, looking to capture quarters for scenario bonus points. I split my two warrior teams, putting one on each side of my L-shaped deployment zone, each having a team of 10 Grey Knights to face. Turn one, I ate a few psycannon shells, but held, and then placed my first Webway Portal. Turn two, his troops started showing up, much to my dismay. The number of psycannons on the table had grown to six, and they were annoyingly accurate. On my turn two, Dark Eldar started spilling out of the portal. I lit up one Grey Knight squad, whittling them down to just four models, while I pulled the rest of the army to the severe right flank, staying out of psycannon range. I lost a Ravager on Turn 3, when the Terminators and the Grandmaster showed up, then watched poor Nate?s face fall when, on my Turn 3, all of the Terminators fell in one Ravager disintegrator salvo. Turn 4, Nate dropped both my Ravager and a Raider, so they formed a big wall across the middle of the table. With a lot of my firepower either dead or afraid to show its face because of all the psycannons, I made one last gamble for points. I sent the Wyches on a suicide mission to get rid of the remnants of the big Grey Knight squad, since it was worth about 350 points. They mopped up the marines with ease, then hunkered down in a crater, where they were promptly blow to smithereens by the rest of the Grey Knight army. I had seen enough. I pulled everything else back behind the flaming wall of Dark Eldar vehicles, and hid out of line of sight for turns 5 and 6. Not my finest moment, but it preserved the draw.

 

OUTCOME: 10-10 draw.

MVP: Wyches. Poor sacrificial lambs.

At lunch, I walked around to check out the armies. Here?s a selection of things that I saw (my camera sucks. Sue me. ):

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This really awesome Ravenwing variant, which I believe ended up winning Best Army.

 

I have a lot of money and don?t know what to do with it, so I send it to Forgeworld?

 

I normally think Necrons generally look like crap, but this was a cool idea:

 

These Necrons were all converted into Wraiths. Cool idea. Unfortunate army selection, and definitely the topic of the majority of negative conversations I heard all day: Not the best pic, but the army was Lord, two minimum size units of warriors, two units of three destroyers, a unit of scarabs, two Monoliths, and the Nightbringer?

 

Aaaggh! Bugs!

 

Iron Hands army with 9 landspeeders and 6 dreadnoughts. Another topic of a very heated discussion over lunch. I had to step in and defend the guy, though, because 1) he wasn?t there to defend himself, and 2) I?ve played with him before and I know him and he?s a nice guy and not a total cheeseball like he was being made out to be. If I didn?t know him, though, I probably would have joined in because the selection was? well. Anyway.

 

My Haemonculous and Webway Portals, just freshly constructed this week!

 

Then lunch was over, and it was on to Round 2?

 

ROUND TWO: vs. Khorne Space Marines (Dan M.)

 

Dan owns one of the local <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1:place>Denver</st1:place></st1:City> gaming stores, and he?s really quite a stellar guy. Just really genuinely nice. I wish I had been thinking about taking photos, but it slipped my mind, and I don?t have any snaps of it. From memory, his list was:

 

Khorne Lord on Bike

8 Berserkers

6 Marines Las/Plas

6 Marines Las/Plas

6 Marines Las/Plas

4 Khorne Bikes

4 Khorne Bikes

2 Obliterators

5 <st1:place>Chosen</st1:place> Terminators

Defiler

 

I hate Indirect Fire, and I think the rules for it are fcking ridiculous. So that Defiler had to die, and die soon. Again, I started the game with only the two Warriors squads on the table, but I added the Haemonculus for good measure. The mission was triangular deployment, and the point was to control more hills than your opponent. He deployed his entire army on or around these two dominating hills, so I was going to have to work hard to get rid of them.

 

Turn 1, he turboboosts his bikes to an annoyingly close position, then blasts the crap out of my squad near the center of the table, whittling it down to just four. He advanced his general to the middle of the table, and advanced the Berserkers and Terminators toward the second Warrior squad, killing a couple. My turn 1, I drop both portals, do just about no damage, and hang around for the slaughter. Turn 2, his bikes charge my Haemonculus in the woods and kill her without losing a single bike, while the Berserkers and Terminators close in on the Warriors. On my Turn 2, he realizes the mistake of parking his general so close to my portal. I dump out a Raider squad on top of the Lord, while jetbikes assault both units of Khorne bikers. A Ravager salvo wipes out the Terminators, and the Archon/Jetbikes easily mulch the bikes in the trees. The other bikers didn?t do so well, as the Aspiring Champion stuck around to drop three of them on his own. In the center of the table, the Raider squad?s Sybarite put two wounds on the Chaos Lord with her Agonizer, and then the unthinkable happened: the Lord basically whiffed his attacks. Outnumbered 10 to 1, the Blood Frenzy worked against him, and he took three extra wounds, for which he rolled a 2, 2, and 1. Goodbye, Khorne Lord. Dan was slightly demoralized, but he kept on battling. He dropped a Ravager with Lascannon fire, and blew up a couple of bikes with Defiler fire. I pulled the bikes from the right flank to help out in the combat on the left, and once the Archon showed up, the Aspiring Champion quickly went down. I was able to deal with the Berserkers with the two Raider squads, and then one drew all the bullets and was wiped out, allowing the other to assault onto the hill. It was all over from there. Turn 5, he conceded, having only three marines and a Defiler left, while a good portion of my army was still advancing.

 

OUTCOME: 18-4 victory

MVP: Raider Squad Sybarite Jyl, who basically wiped out a Khorne Lord singlehandedly.

ROUND THREE: vs. Speed Freeks (Randy S.)

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Randy?s army was just plain awesome. I don?t know what he was calling them, but I called them Mudbugz, as all of the vehicles were covered in thick mud that looked very real. Highly converted, beautiful army, and a kick in the head to play against:

 

 

As I remember, the list was:

Warboss w/ big Nob retinue (Doc and Mek included) in Trukk

3 units of Trukk Boyz

1 unit of Shoota Boyz in a Trukk

2 Skorcha buggies

1 Shoota buggy

3 Zzap Gun Trukks

6 Warbike Outriders

 

This was Suicide Squad, which was funny, because before the game, Randy and I were having a huge laugh at the fact that we had the two fastest armies in the whole tournament, and the game should take about 15 minutes to finish. He nominated one Trukk Boyz squad; I nominated the Warrior squad carrying the portal, because they were sure to die.

 

Randy got Turn 1, and drove everything forward at a very scary rate of speed (except one Gun Trukk, which immobilized itself in terrain). The Warbike Outriders proceeded to wipe out the squad next to the Haemonculus, but failed to hurt her. The other Warrior squad survived?barely. My Turn 1, I drop both portals, and prepare. His Turn 2 is spent wiping out the rest of my Warriors, and trying to shoot a Haemy who was dodging bullets like it was her job. On my Turn 2, all hell broke loose. His entire army was in assault range, which is how he wanted it. I came shooting out of the portal with all but one Ravager and one squad of bikes. The bikes and the Archon jumped the Outriders, the Wyches went off to handle a Trukk Boyz squad (which was stupid, because I had forgotten that the squad with the Warboss wasn?t Skarboyz, but Nobz, and I could have used the Wyches over there), one Raider Squad went at the Warboss, and one went at the Trukk Boyz near my portal. Ravager fire thins out the Nobs somewhat, and I put down a couple of trukks as well. The Haemonculus fired her Destructor over the Outriders and killed a couple at AP2. Then, the assaults happened. The Wyches were held up by a few remaining Orks, while the Bikes made quick work of the Outriders. The Warriors killed the Dok and the Mek, as well as a couple of Nobs before the Warboss had enough and smacked them around a bit. But good leadership helped them stick around. The Trukk Boyz were not so lucky, and the Warriors beat them down. On the next turn, Skorcha fire took care of the Raider squad, while the other Raider squad was finally wiped out by the Warboss and two Nobs. On my turn, the Ravager and bikes came out of the portal. The Bikes destroyed two Buggies and destroyed the weapon on the third, while Ravager fire killed the last two Nobz. It was pretty much over from there. I finally killed the Warboss with the second bike squad, and he got some bonus points for getting his remaining Trukks into my deployment zone. At the end, I had beaten him by about 450 points, and picked up the win.

 

OUTCOME: 18-8 win.

MVP: Reaver Jetbike Squad, for getting rid of some exceptionally annoying Skorchas and then wiping out the Warboss.

 

I voted Randy as my favorite opponent, favorite theme, and best painted. I just plain dug that army, and he was a solid cat to play against.

 

So, at the end of the day, I was 2-0-1, and ended up coming in 7^th place out of 57. Not bad at all, considering I was brand new to the portal. I also placed above many of the powergamer lists everyone was so annoyed with all day, which felt pretty awesome. I also got to get in three great games, one of which will go down as my favorite game ever. Definitely an excellent gaming experience all the way around.

 

I may have given the Webway Portal a bad rap all this time. It?s not a bad way to play at all. I still prefer my other list better, but this is certainly a viable alternative.

Actually, looking back on my notes, that last game was only a 16-8 win. My bad.

great report. Awesome photos. Congrats on the top ten placing. DE are an army that I personally love the rules for and always have a hard game against. Too bad most of the models are outdated.

Excellent report Xtapl, a great read I really enjoyed, thanks! Nice pics by the way.

The last game really seems like a blast, just curious, did he have 7 Nobz..? Wow...

It's the unit in the lower right of the picture. I know for sure he had a doc and a mek, so it was 7 nobz, it appears.

Wow sounds like a great tourny experience. Thanks for the batreps!

i think it was great that you brought a list that you didn't playtest to a tournament. i think that brings a whole new challenge to the army and let you try out things you haven't before. great report n pics

Well, I had been doing so much WWP badmouthing, I figured it was my turn to put up or shut up.

Fortunately it worked out. Could have been disastrous...

My guess is that the green shaggy guy in the first picture is the Jolly Green Giant. Why someone would dress like him for a convention is beyond me...

Nice bat-rep.

I am curious, who/what army won the tourney? My guess is the Blood Angel drop podder.

I am also curious, since WWP is not your normal style, what does your normal DE army list look like.

Thanks in advance,

Darrian

Great report, xtapl. Congrats on doing a good job, and proving yet again that Dark Eldar are indeed viable.

Do you know/remember what place the genestealer army came in at? Or know how well it worked? I'm running a similar list, and having mixed results... wondering if it's just my crappy tactics/rolling, the other armies around here, or if the list is actually viably competetive... because when I do win, it is usually by the skin of my teeth.

And was he using that hive tyrant as a broodlord? I count 70 genestealers in that picture, so I can only figure he was running broods of 10 and 11 with scuttlers and EC, and a broodlord with a retinue... or 4 broods of 12, and 2 broods of 11, and a tyrant. It looks like the tyrant has scytals and rending claws though, so thats why I was wondering if it was standing in as a very large broodlord.

Xtapl, you are the man.  Nice pics and write ups!  Kudos to you for Cavalier Spirit!

By the way the Iron hands army is mine.  I have the list posted up in the army forum. I call them Iron Lions.  I had put out all my figs I painted for the army, but I was only playing 5 dreads and 6 speeders, the tourney was only 1750.  I have 6 dreads and 9 speeders painted though, I wanted to display them all because they were all painted, and...  I like a little presence attack.  I think it was ultimately a mistake, it gave people the wrong idea.

I was thinking of starting a new thread but why not add here.  I went 3-0 in the tourney but lost on softscores, in fact I think at least 3 people went 3-0 in the tourney and the overall champion was a guy who went 2-1, but got picked by all his opponents for everything, it gave me pause.  What do you dakkites think?

Xtapl, playing and beating the Mud Flap Orc army!  With Dark Eldar! I simultaneously Envy and Salute you! <you know how much I like DE, heh>

<Claps>

...that must have been a blast, and a challenge at the same time.  I wondered who you played.  Well done.  I was kind of surprised when you didn't win the whole thing.

Darrian,

I am curious, who/what army won the tourney? My guess is the Blood Angel drop podder.

The awards fairly wacky punctuated by two incredible events:

A Lost and the Damned army won the overall award with a 2-0-1 record, I saw the army's vehicles, they were nice he had a good standard basilisk with silver and red paint I liked, but wasn't the best looking army there.  The army is not pictured in Xtapl's photos, it was not exceptional.

AND

The extreme Necron Wraith Army Xtapl spoke about and is pictured above won best army

???

I was there I saw it happen.  I have no idea how.

Posted By Augustus on 02/27/2006 4:22 PM

I was thinking of starting a new thread but why not add here.  I went 3-0 in the tourney but lost on softscores, in fact I think at least 3 people went 3-0 in the tourney and the overall champion was a guy who went 2-1, but got picked by all his opponents for everything, it gave me pause.  What do you dakkites think?

Well, I went 6-0 at a tournament (See my batrep a little lower) and scored 13th out of 16 because people were tanking me on my soft scores.

My guess is that the green shaggy guy in the first picture is the Jolly Green Giant. Why someone would dress like him for a convention is beyond me...

Well it could be he was showing a little respect for the man who did that voice, since he died in late January 2006.

Or he could have been dressed up for some type of forest giant for a d&d convention. . .

or he could just be a wierdo, I personally would have asked him, but then again, I am a rude bastard like that. . .

Actually I am the one who won Genghis Con with the Lost and the Damned army. I did win only 2 and tie 1, but as said earlier I won because of Sporstsmanship, Comp, and Painting. I don't know what Augustus means by not exceptional. I want to know if he means paint job or army list. Paint Job I'll admit its not exceptional on the individual basis, but as a whole with 120 models I feel it is exceptional. And as for Army List, I undestand most people feel Lost and the Damned are not powerful in the least, but when I get tougness 4, 2 attacks and 2 powerfists per squad at the points I pay, than I have to say that they are one of the best armies out there.

Dave

I have seen Darkness' (Dave's) Lost and The Damned up close and personal in a tournament here in Orlando and it wiped the floor against my Dark Eldar and I have won Atlanta Best General GT 2004 so I do have a head for tactics. Getting overall means overall. I have seen people go 5-0 in Grand Tournaments or curshed the competition but their sportsmanship or painting was not up to par. Overall means you are the best of the best in all catagories and sometimes we do get screwed over by a score or 2 but the fact is if you have a good time playing and so does your opponent win or lose, your soft scores are generally represented. In short to be the overall winner you have to have true balance to your army and you. Darkness is one of those players who is one who is damn good at all aspects of this hobby from the modeling standpoint to the sportsmanship and right down to his tactics that I have seen him employ.

Agustus I think I remember your army I think it was the IG army with the Valkarie in Atlanta 2004 GT and it looked real nice, was that you?

The top ten spots were only separated by 12 points, I believe. So the difference between first and tenth was probably literally two people thinking your army was over the top, or that you weren't a fantastic sportsman. Maybe even one.

Whether you agree with it or don't, people *will* find a way to let you know if they don't think you or your army was fun to play against. I guarantee that, even in this new "no-comp" GT environment, people will be locked out of the top spots based on the few player-scored categories still left. Suddenly, your painting just isn't as good as it used was when the opponent could vote for something besides painting. Watch and see.

@Darkness: I think Augustus was referring to the painting. I would have to agree. It was nice, but didn't really stand out to me in any way. In fact, I didn't even remember it until someone reminded me who won overall. But congrats on the win. Nice to see a non-Marine army pick up the trophy.

@Augustus: I thought I was in pretty decent contention to win it all, too. I went 2-0-1, had perfect painting scores, and perfect sportsmanship. I think it probably came down to battle points; I didn't get max bonus points in every scenario. I was out of the top spot by 8 points, I think, which is two games worth of scenario points, and a best opponent vote or two. But I still felt pretty good about my finish, considering it was the first time I'd ever tried out the list.

And, yes, I was *amazed* that I beat Randy. His army was ROCK SOLID.

Excellent report. Very impressive to do so well with a list you hadn't used before. The list I would have thought would give you the easiest time gave you the hardest though. Very suprising.

But the tone of the report just makes me happy that comp is almost dead (at least out here). Though I will miss the flabbergasted look on people's face when they whine about my army list, and I reply with my standard "3 things you did that cost you the game".

Then I zero their sports HAHA!

(no I don't)

Yeah a very nice job on the coverage. i think i played on the table next to you in the final game, you played against speed freeks with crazy monster truck tires.

i brought DeathGuard and placed 9th...but i lost a game to one of my friends in the second round..(i hate getting matched up against people i play daily.) but it was definatly alotta fun. ur army looked nice, i thought there were lots of nice paint jobs there. and I enjoyed the latd army.

Nah. I gave up whining weeks ago. Now, I've decided I'm going for straight to-the-guy's-face mockery.

"You brought *that*? Jeezus, you're a gimp. Maybe you could learn to play the game without your crutches, then come back and talk to the big boys, okay? I'm just letting you know now that I'm going to place higher than you, and I'm going to do it without your Siren Prince. What a fcking baby. Can't win a game without your precious Siren Prince, can you? You sissy little girl."

I tried it out last weekend. Felt great. Mocked this guy's 5-man las/plas army into the dirt, then stomped all over it with my Dark Eldar army. It was awesome.

Whining gets you nowhere. The only thing that teaches the cheesemongers a lesson is to hit them where it hurts: in their win percentage.

******************************

Anyway, yeah, it was kind of weird that the Grey Knights gave me so much trouble. I think I let all the Psycannons psyche me out. If I had just gone balls out right at him, sure, he could have taken out a squad or two, or grounded a couple of skimmers, but something would have made it into combat, and then it would have been lights out. I played conservatively and paid for it. Live and learn.

Darkness writes:

Actually I am the one who won Genghis Con with the Lost and the Damned army. I did win only 2 and tie 1, but as said earlier I won because of Sporstsmanship, Comp, and Painting.

You won because of the goofy scoring system, and because my last opponent didnt like getting swept off the table in a cleanly game wher I outmaneuvered him.  I know I got perfect blocks from my first 2 opponents.  I got nocked out by a sore looser.

I don't know what Augustus means by not exceptional.

Let me elaborate.  No display board, certainly on the level, but average painting and army theme.  I did, and still do, complement you on your superb basilisk.  But I expect that at least from ranking competitors.

I want to know if he means paint job or army list.

I mean both.

Paint Job I'll admit its not exceptional on the individual basis, but as a whole with 120 models I feel it is exceptional.

Everyone thinks that about their finished army, kudos on a numbers army, and a lot of work, but that alone isn't exceptional.  Look at the genestealers.  At least they had a board.  I paint a new army at least every year.  A lot of regular winners at RTTs have been playing the exact same list for years...

And as for Army List, I undestand most people feel Lost and the Damned are not powerful in the least,

They are an average list, they have some great advantages, some disadvantages.  There are some good combos in the list but nothing beats smart play.  Grats on your 2 wins!

but when I get tougness 4, 2 attacks and 2 powerfists per squad at the points I pay, than I have to say that they are one of the best armies out there.

Obviously not, you couldn't even win 3 games in a row.  Assault numbers mean little to me.  I do have some frustration with the ranking system, so please bear that in mind as you read my comments.  You have my trophy because the last player I played was sour about winning 2 in a row and me sweeping him with a perfect 18 in round 3.  I could tell he was defeatist after the setup in that game.  It was a textbook game for me.  I said little other than cheerfully introducing myself and presenting my copy of the list when he quickly told me he had been to 7 GTs.  I didnt comment on that, but thought it was pretentious. Arrogant people have farther to fall.  I was looking forward to a good battle.  Unfortunately he fell prey to a classic half pincer, as we depoloyed he used a standard, strait line balanced deployment on a fairly sparse board and I placed everything I had on my extreme left flank, taking almost half of his army out of the game, as they had nothing accross from them to engage, and blocking terrain in the middle of the board.  It was my plan from the begining.  I couldnt believe it as we set up and he continued to deploy on my right flank where I had nothing.  To compound matters, I won the roll to go first, and after my first turn I could see his whole mood had changed as he realized the game was hopeless.  I had denied about half his army any effectiveness by setting up a classic denied flank.  He later claimed the game was all about who won the go first rule and his bad luck, but that simply wasnt the case. I politely agreed with him, to help his hurt pride, and said nothing, not even the post game comments I usually invite and offer. I never brag or talk trash at tournaments, its not my style.  By turn 3 I had destroyed his entire army except for a tac squad and an HQ and I had lost a single landspeeder.  It was so slanted I couldn't even get my suicide squad killed.  I don't know how he won 2 games with such oblivious deployment.  Afterward I suspect he zeroed me on army selection and fair play, even though I converted a WYSIWYG custom army with a background and the only rules question during the game was him asking me if he could assault out of a rhino in the same turn he disembarked.  I actually had to explain it to him turn 2 as he realized his HQ was out of the game from the settup. I played a very honest game with clean rules play, precise measurement, honest rolling, and got penalized by a bitter player.  Where is the justice in that?

Do you think it's fair that you won because my last opponent was upset that I beat him? I don't.  You went home with my trophy.  But it's not your fault.  It's the event organizer and the RTT scoring system. Composition points, and army selection points are pitty points for loosers, and that is all.  I think in the future I am going to tell my opponents what I think of comp before a game and offer to mark them perfect if they do the same and show me the sheet.  Otherwise I am marking them zero, because I am getting sick of bitter loosers, club cronies, people with fluffy lists and children concealing their unfair zeros after they loose a fair game.

I look forward to the day when we might meet in a match! I'll be looking for you.

xtapl writes:

The top ten spots were only separated by 12 points, I believe. So the difference between first and tenth was probably literally two people thinking your army was over the top, or that you weren't a fantastic sportsman. Maybe even one.

Yes and I know wich one.

Whether you agree with it or don't, people *will* find a way to let you know if they don't think you or your army was fun to play against. I guarantee that, even in this new "no-comp" GT environment, people will be locked out of the top spots based on the few player-scored categories still left. Suddenly, your painting just isn't as good as it used was when the opponent could vote for something besides painting. Watch and see.

I think youre absoultely right.

@Darkness: ... Nice to see a non-Marine army pick up the trophy.

Agreed if you had gone 3-0... My concerns aside, I pose the question, among all the 2-0-1 or 2-1-1 players who was really the best?  A lot of people went 2-1 in some combination but because one guy got better selections for army pic and favorite opponent he took home overall.  Thats basically arbitrary based on matchups.  Might as well call it "most lucky guy with pairings" instead of overall.  Thats why the awards should be peoples choice popular vote, sprotsman on opponent ratings, general for victory points/total points, and painting judged by the event judges.  Anything else is random or a popularity contest.

@Augustus: I thought I was in pretty decent contention to win it all, too. I went 2-0-1, had perfect painting scores, and perfect sportsmanship.

Im not surprised.  I have played you, I respect you, especially for taking what you did.  I honestly think that you going 2-0-1 with DE, a tricky army to play (controversy about competativeness aside) says a lot more than the same record with an artillery based LaTD army.

I think it probably came down to battle points; I didn't get max bonus points in every scenario. I was out of the top spot by 8 points, I think, which is two games worth of scenario points, and a best opponent vote or two. But I still felt pretty good about my finish, considering it was the first time I'd ever tried out the list.

Glad to see you sticking with it, despite all the DE critics... Heh.

And, yes, I was *amazed* that I beat Randy. His army was ROCK SOLID.

Every game I play against Randy I treasure, he may be the best sport I have ever met, he certainly is a hoot, and has a great attitude (and can play pretty well too).  I think that game of yours was the matchup of the event, at least that I heard of.

mauleed writes:

Very impressive to do so well with a list you hadn't used before. The list I would have thought would give you the easiest time gave you the hardest though. Very suprising.

I walked by that one too, I thought Xtapl had it in the bag on matchups and said as much.  But he reminded me about the bikes and the psycannons and I had to reconsider it...

But the tone of the report just makes me happy that comp is almost dead (at least out here).

Yea, I wish it was too.

Though I will miss the flabbergasted look on people's face when they whine about my army list, and I reply with my standard "3 things you did that cost you the game".

Like bad settup, bad army choice, and not paying attention to flankers? I played a game like that.

Then I zero their sports HAHA!

Bwa ha ha. I gave my last opponent a perfect score for painting sports and selection, he was the only army I played that was 100% complete, I even said as much and showed him.  He wouldnt even show me the sheet he filled out for me.  I even picked him as favorite army I played, because the first 2 I played werent done painting and basing theirs...

(no I don't)

Maybe we should start...

so angry!!!! god who cares....sure its a great hobby, maybe even the most rewarding in the world. But when it comes down to it, we're still a bunch of grown men playing toy soldiers! I am happy to move figs around the table, (obvious winning is still the objevtive) but im not bitter about anyones comp or whatever...i just think everyone should max everyone on everything....cuz unless you're a jackass... comp, theme, painting...they dont matter. Sportsman ship always does though...anyway we'll see you at adepticon and hopefully we'll play you in the finals. and we'll see how you do against the latd

Love ken

Posted By Augustus

Obviously not, you couldn't even win 3 games in a row. 

D, you've been to countless tournaments, so I'm not going to insult your intelligence here. Please don't try to insult ours. Games Workshop tournaments are absolutely *NOT* about who wins the most games, and you know it. You might not like it, but it's the reality that everyone who attends knows. It's a lot like figure skating: part of the score is if the judges like you. Figure skaters know that going in. When it comes down to it, you can only do so much yourself, and the rest is in the hands of the judges.

You have my trophy because the last player I played was sour about winning 2 in a row and me sweeping him with a perfect 18 in round 3. 

No, he has "your" trophy because you disregard the fact that some people might not enjoy a game vs. six landspeeder and five dreadnoughts. You don't think your army selection should have anything to do with your placement in the tournament. If you had been standing by your army during the lunchtime walkaround like I was, you would know that it was so hostile I had to jump in and beat the dogs away with a stick. I could say he has "my" trophy because the scenarios hamstrung me for bonus points because my army isn't designed to completely wipe my opponent off the table. But the truth is, he has *HIS* trophy because he excelled in all phases of the game: didn't lose a game, had an above-average painted army, had an inoffensive army, and was a great sportsman. He earned it.

You went home with my trophy. 

Come on, D. You are above sour grapes.

Composition points, and army selection points are pitty points for loosers, and that is all. 

No, composition points are the self-policing measure that insures that players win games, not army book designers. Disregard an entire section of the scoring criteria if you want, but don't be upset that you don't win when you do.

Otherwise I am marking them zero, because I am getting sick of bitter loosers, club cronies, people with fluffy lists and children concealing their unfair zeros after they loose a fair game.

I am fully in agreement with you here. That's why I score painting and comp before the game, and right up front, in plain view, on the table. If someone's army composition is trash, they'll hear about it from me before we deploy a single model. Sure, it might color the game a little, but they colored the game before they left the house.

Thats why the awards should be peoples choice popular vote, sprotsman on opponent ratings, general for victory points/total points, and painting judged by the event judges. 

I could not agree with you more. They absolutely should abandon the "Overall" award immediately. It's the biggest source of controversy and contention, and causes nothing but problems. The guy who gets the most wins should get general, the guy with the best army should get best painted, the guy who was the best opponent should get best sportsmanship, and that should be the end of the fcking day. Absolutely spot on assessment here. I would concede that this sort of setup would eliminate the need for composition scoring entirely.

I have played you, I respect you, especially for taking what you did.  I honestly think that you going 2-0-1 with DE, a tricky army to play (controversy about competativeness aside) says a lot more than the same record with an artillery based LaTD army.

I respect you and your gaming abilities too. That's why I couldn't just let the dogs rip you to shreds over lunch. As for my placement vs. the overall winner, like I said before, I didn't get enough bonus points to make the top spot. Is my army harder to play with? Sure. But the same could be said about my army vs. 90% of the armies that showed up. I think only the Grey Knights player and the pure Sisters player may have had a rougher go of it than I did. But that's how my army is designed: to challenge my tabletop skills at every turn. There is no such thing as an easy victory for my Dark Eldar.

Glad to see you sticking with it, despite all the DE critics... Heh.

Hee... That's because the critics are talking out their necks. They have no idea what they're talking about.

Every game I play against Randy I treasure, he may be the best sport I have ever met, he certainly is a hoot, and has a great attitude (and can play pretty well too).

I had never met the guy before, but I can tell you this: Favorite. Opponent. EVER. Truthfully a fantastic guy.

I thought Xtapl had it in the bag on matchups and said as much.  But he reminded me about the bikes and the psycannons and I had to reconsider it...

The downside of relying on hammer units. If your list is based around multiple Jetbike units getting into combat, and your opponent is packing a dozen S6 heavy bolters that ignore invulnerable saves, you are, as they say, SCREWED.

 He wouldnt even show me the sheet he filled out for me. 

Here, you have perfect reason for being pis5ed off. If you're going to ding a guy, do it to his face. I totally agree.

3skullz wrote:
i just think everyone should max everyone on everything....cuz unless you're a jackass... comp, theme, painting...they dont matter.

Couldn't disagree with you more. People shouldn't max everyone on everything. People should score honestly, because let me tell you: for as much time as I spend converting and painting my armies, if Jackass Kid gets the same painting score as I do for slapping three colors and green flock on his models, I'm taking the guy who gave him that score outside and kicking the crap out of him...

@Augustus

I dont know why you would be still so bitter about all this, instead of congratulating a guy who had won with an army that not too many people see, who paints his army nice and seeing it on the table has a nice flow to it, lastly a great person to play against. He represents what is all about the hobby: Fun. Apparently you have forgotten what the most important rule in 40K is and your just obsessed with being the best there. I was at Megacon and I lost to overall by 2 points and the tournament wasnt swiss style. My biggest complaint was the poor quality of terrain and thats it.