The Venue: As usual Dicehead's tables were entirely sufficient to the task. The terrain was alright and the place was in a mall, so food and such was not an issue. Could have used more chairs, and I'm never a fan of tables next to one another so that you are essentially sharing your standing space with the guy on the table behind you, but these are old gripes.
The Field: For a second time, we were about half of the available field. Obviously not a desirable state of affairs. Let's hope that more people show for the next one.
The Prizes: Amazing prize support as usual, they gave out 225 dollars of store credit for prizes, and everything was 20% off. Their were also plaques for the overall winner, the best painted and the most sportsmanlike.
The Scoring: 15
bp's for a win, 10 for a draw, 5 for a loss, up to 3 bonus points (and 2 negative bonus points) in each mission, for getting a unit in their deployment zone, killing their general and keeping your highest point unit alive, while the negative ones were for not taking a quarter and not destroying or reducing below half any enemy unit. On top of the
BP's their were a LOT of soft scores. Functionally a whole 4th games worth or more. You got some from your opponents, some from the organizer, etc.
Our lists:
My List:
Herald of Khorne w/Chariot, Icon
Herald of Khorne w/Chariot, Icon
Herald of Khorne w/Chariot, Icon
Herald of Khorne w/Chariot, Icon
6 Bloodletters
6 Bloodletters
6 Bloodletters
6 Bloodletters
5 Bloodletters
5 Bloodletters
5 Flesh Hounds w/render
5 Flesh Hounds w/render
5 Flesh Hounds w/render
2 Bloodcrushers
2 Bloodcrushers
2 Bloodcrushers
1 Daemon Prince w/Mark of Khorne, Iron Hide
1 Daemon Prince w/Mark of Khorne, Iron Hide
1 Daemon Prince w/Mark of Khorne, Iron Hide
My evaluation: I'm bringing a fluffy list, so sue me. It had to happen sometime. I imagine I'll find success vs. anything that doesn't like to fight and relies on shooting to keep out of it, failure vs. anything that can simply move away from me, and a good fight vs. anything that wants to take me in combat.
A's list:
Deceiver
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
5 Destroyers
5 Destroyers
5 Destroyers
2 Heavy Destroyers
2 Heavy Destroyers
2 Heavy Destroyers
(I may have made an error, he might have dropped 3 Destroyers instead of 3 Heavy D's, in which case he'd be 12 and 9 instead of 15 and 6. I didn't play him so I'm not certain)
Evaluation: A mean Necron list, it'll stuff Nidzilla and Trifalcon Eldar, and have trouble with twin-lash chaos and Drop Pod Fear the Darkness marines. Orks can also be a concern, as I discovered in the last round of the invitational. Overall though, this is an excellent list. I prefer the Immortal heavy variant, but this is the same basic idea, and superior in some ways.
B's list:
Eldrad
Avatar
10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Bladestorm
10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Bladestorm
6 Harlequins w/Shadowseer, troop leader w/ power weapon
6 Harlequins w/Shadowseer, troop leader w/ power weapon
6 Harlequins w/Shadowseer
1 Falcon w/all trimmings
1 Falcon w/all trimmings
1 Falcon w/all trimmings
(Some of the falcons were slightly upgunned, didn't get specifics)
Evaluation: Along with Nidzilla, one of the tournament scene's king lists for the past year. Reviewing it is sort of pointless, who
doesn't know how this list does? It's Trifalcon Eldar.
D's list:
Eldrad
Autarch w/banshee mask, other stuff
6 Fire Dragons
8 Harlequins
Dire Avengers w/Wave Serpent
Dire Avengers w/Wave Serpent
Pathfinders
Vyper
Holo-Falcon w/all trimmings
2 Vibro-cannon battery
My evaluation: Seems like a fine list, if not a recognized internet template for victory. I'm not crazy about Wave Serpents, but I've seen the Doom-Bladestorm combo take out enough units not to dismiss it out of hand. There isn't anything in here I'd sneer at (except the autarch on foot,
wtf?). but it doesn't seem like it has a k.o. pattern beyond the 8 man Harlequin squad going crazy with Hit & Run. Still, I guess not everything needs to be some sort of gimmicky death combo, and this army's soft scores (good painting) give it a lock on overall if its remotely near the top.
E's list:
HQ:
Warboss on bike, cybork body, attack squig, power claw, etc etc.
Big Mek w/
SAG
Elites:
13 Lootaz
9 Tank bustas, not sure what upgrades
20!! Kommandos with Snikrot
Troops:
12 Trukk boyz w/ Nob, boss pole,
PK, trukk
12 Trukk boyz w/ Nob, boss pole,
PK, trukk
30 Shoota boyz w/ Nob, boss pole,
PK
Fast Attack:
Buggy with
TL rokkit
Buggy with
TL rokkit
Buggy with
TL rokkit
Heavy Support:
Battle Wagon, 'Ard Case, pie plate,
TL-big shootas
Looted Wagon, pie plate
Looted Wagon for tank bustas
F's list:
I'm unsure of F's list to the point that I won't even speculate. I didn't witness any of his games, and he was in the other car so I couldn't really hear how his list was put together. I think it was a fairly standard Nidzilla list. Good stuff.
The First Game:
The Mission: Cleanse II.
My Foe:
Space Marines (Ultramarines, in fact)
Chapter Master, fighty gear
Chaplain, fighty gear
Veteran Assault squad, jet packs, master crafted power fist sarge, furious charge
Veteran Assault squad, jet packs, master crafted power weapon sarge, furious charge
Tac Squad, las
plas
Tac Squad, las
plas
Tac Squad, las
plas
Tac Squad, las
plas
Devastator squad, missile launchers
Predator w/autocannon, heavy bolter sponsons
Predator w/twin linked lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons
Scout squad w/sniper rifles, missile launcher
Scout squad w/sniper rifles, missile launcher
Landspeeder
My assessment:
While not the min/maxed shooty death you think of when you think shooty space marine, I feel that this is a respectable list. He's got 2 counter attack elements, decent anti-vehicle with all the lascannons, and decent anti-horde with all the bolters, launchers and heavy bolters. They aren't going to be all that hot at this cleanse mission, but it's a decent stand and shoot list to try my list out verse. Stand and Shoot marines are one of the lists I feel like my Khornate daemons can really mangle, so I'm interested in seeing if that's true. Those armor 13 tanks have me a bit worried though.
The game:
He deploys in a pair of mutually supporting firepoints well back in his deployment zone, with the tanks in the middle. Stuff is pretty spread out to stop me from going unit to unit if I start massacre-ing, and he hasn't left any blind spots I can sneak an Icon in near him and be out of
LOS.
I split my army into armored (chariots, crushers, princes) and unarmored (letters, dogs) halves and try and get the armored half in first. I succeed with a 4, and breathe a sigh of relief. This could have been ugly if I got the wrong wave in. As it is, I'm deploying ten units of 4 t5 3+/5+ wounds apiece. I just drop them right in front of him. 3 units scatter back out of assault range, and one scatters to about 3 inches away from its target unit, but basically we are all set to go. I end my turn, declaring my belief that shooting phases are for sissies.
He opens up, has a pretty good shooting phase, blowing away 2 units of crushers and a Herald on chariot. He also launches charges with both veteran assault squads. One of those is something of a stalemate, as he puts 3 wounds on a herald who strikes back and kills 3 marines, and the other one is atrocious, as the bloodcrushers take one wound and cut down his whole squad, massacreing into charge range.
On my turn I charge his line with khornate chargers in 4 places, and some of the out or range guys rush in to help out my embattled Herald. From this point on the game is over. In truth, it was probably over before setup, but I'd never actually seen Marines go down this fast. Everywhere a khornate unit touched his units he died, which left him with less shooting to stop more charges. It was a cascading failure of epic proportions, worse than anything I've ever seen anywhere. Even genestealers don't go through a marine list as fast as these Khornate guys did. 8 man
tac squad charged by 2 Bloodcrushers and a Prince? Gone. It's like this everywhere, all the power weapons go through the Ultramarines like a chainsword through a deck of cards.
I sort of figured this would be the outcome, but actually seeing it is something else. This style Daemon list hits Marines like a sledgehammer. There are so many units that they can't possibly shoot everyone down, and all the ones that aren't dogs are utterly fatal to even the fiercest Space Marine.
(Funny things that happened during this game: the only Space Marine who walked away from this massacre was a
tac squd member who killed every Bloodletter that approached him, seriously this guy was Rambo. Another amusing thing was that there was a tower in his deployment zone, and we agreed that a 6 on a terrain role was needed to climb it. I sent my general (a herald on chariot) over to krump the scouts who were sitting up on top, and he rolled that six. There was a moment of silence, followed by chuckling, as we both realized that my guy had apparently driven a chariot up a tower wall.)
Player A's game:
Player A took on a 13th Company list, and as usual with assault lists the combination of Necron firepower and the Deceiver's ability to mangle enemy assault elements was decisive.
Player B's game:
B took on a Daemon list that was much less fluffy than mine, with a Soul Grinder, Lord of Change, Blood Thirster and other stuff. Apparently the other player was much more timid in his Deep Striking, and B was able to isolate and destroy the army in detail. He was enthusiastic about the fierceness of the Greater Daemons though, and apparently the Soul Grinder "phonebooked" a Falcon, but honestly, how often does Trifalcon Eldar lose a Cleanse mission?
Player D's game:
D took on some Iron Warriors, a battle of two well-painted lists. Despite all the Obliterators and the Lash Prince the Harlequins got into the
IW lines, and that was apparently that. A fierce fight, but ultimately a win for D.
Player E's game:
E's Orks took on some Nids, which I'd seen around but which were apparently being lent to the person using them by the other Daemon player. In a battle of 2 Hordes in a cleanse mission the winner is he who puts the inevitable scrum in the opponent's zone, and E was able to do that.
Player F's game:
F took on some
IG. They only got 3 rounds in, but basically the
IG just stood and shot, so they were only in their own quarter. F had been rushing, and was therefore in all quarters.
Round 2:
Well, unfortunately, we had all won our games, and we were half the tournaments, so we all ended up facing off with each other. We've got to bring less people to these small tournaments, or some of us need to start losing to locals. Driving hours to play the guys you see each week is dumb.
The Mission:
Secure and Control, Gamma
The enemy:
Player D's Eldar!
My assessment: I loathe Eldar, and a teammate's Eldar is what skunked me out of the Gastonia tournament. (though that was B in round 3). I simply don't have anything in my list to handle skimmers, and he's got 4 (Vyper, 2 Wave Serpents and a Holo-falcon). This means that in round 6 he's going to stick them all in the center and double-score with the Vyper and falcon, and I can't do a thing about it. If I kill everyone else though, I might be bale to have more points than he.
I win the role and give him first turn, since that steals a shooting phase and I'm not going to be able to attack the skimmers before they get moving without a shooting phase. He basically marches into the middle. Eldrad holding the center, with Fire Dragons and Dire Avengers on one side, Dire Avengers and the Vibro Cannons on the other, Snipers infiltrated ahead and Harlequins dancing around in front. Gah, that 8 man unit is going to be a pain.
I divide my army into Heralds, Crushers and Hounds vs. Letters and Princes. I want the Princes protected from the early pain so that they can punch the skimmers once he starts fortressing in the center. Also, the Hounds are pretty cool things to have running about on turn 2, the ability to lock up everything is pretty key. My watchword vs. Eldar is that they are only permitted one shooting phase with their infantry.
My Deep Strikes go pretty well, I get him surrounded by my forces, though I lose a Hound unit.
As he's starting his shooting phase he asks me "What's most dangerous, what should I shoot?" Lying through my teeth I reply..."The Hounds". So he duly vaporizes my remaining Hounds, which lets my Crushers survive to charge. That basically means he's not going to have any infantry left very soon (though, probably the Hounds would have done the same thing...and wouldn't have had to dread the
DT tests...maybe I inadvertently gave him good advice? That'd ruin my rep.) His Harlequins (who are Not Fortuned, because he's out of his mind) rush out and massacre one of my Heralds...but he gets cute and tries a double-charge, which permits one of my other Heralds to swing on his unit. Heralds of Khorne hit Harlies on 3's and wound on 2's...you shouldn't give them free assault phases. Though, I was just going to charge him anyway...its arguable either way.
So, for my turn, I bring in a bunch of letters (5 units, to be precise), and a Daemon Prince, and assault all over. I put a new Herald into the Harlies who are fighting one already, and another one attacks Eldrad (mainly to shut down the dang psychic powers) Elsewhere a surviving Blood Crusher charges one of his units of Dire Avengers and an undamaged pair charges another. This goes about like you'd expect, with the Eldar getting the worst of it. One of his units actually breaks and gets massacred, which surprises me as I'm so used to the avatar that I just sort of thought Eldar were fearless. In the battle with the Harlies my guys lose one of our heralds, but kill enough to win combat. His remaining 3 Heralds Hit and Run out.
He doesn't have much he can get up to, but he dooms some letters and shoots them down with his skimmers. He sends the Harlequins in to rescue Eldrad (who perils himself a wound), they fail to do this with some substandard rolling and on my next turn the Letters are charging in a bunch of places. My general herald rides up to his autarch, suffers through the power weapon plinking and beheads the dude with one shot, consolidating into his Fire Dragons. The Daemon Prince punches a Wave Serpent and it falls from the sky.
The remainder of the game goes bout like you'd expect, with us eventually drowning the Fortuned Eldrad in khornate daemons and getting him through sheer volume, while his remaining skimmers box it up in the center. I never did send someone to kill the dang vibro cannons, and they reap a fierce harvest on my Letters. The big surprise of the game is that on the last round my guys rush his skimmers in the center and bust them all. First punch to the falcon is a glancing 5:5, settling it down for everyone else to tear open. I end up with around 4 units remaining on the center, to his one artillery unit hanging out on a corner. I beat an Eldar list!
In all fairness to my foe, this was his first time playing vs. Daemons, and I rolled well on my invulnerable saves (though poorly on my "to hit" rolls). Still, bu-yah! I'm never playing Eldar again, just declaring Khornate victory for all time!
A's game:
A plays B, and Necrons slaughter trifalcon Eldar, as they do. Only dying to 1 in 9 glances is useless vs. a list that outputs 12 per round, and Harlequins can't catch jetbikers or survive the Deceiver's countercharge.
B's game:
See above
D's game:
See above
E's game:
E played F and got him, I don't have the details of the game, but apparently the Orks came out on top in the battle of the swarm with the Nidzilla list.
F's game:
See above
Round 3:
The mission, Seek and Destroy, Gamma
My Game:
B's Trifalcon Eldar! (2 round 3's in a row?
WTF?)
My assessment: There's simply no way to win this one if he plays correctly. Fortunately, he's not yet worked out the proper way to play this. Unfortunately it's a big enough list disparity that I've been tabled both other times I played this matchup. I'm probably going to see a repeat today. Frak! I've got 2 wins and he's got a win and a loss, why do I have to play this guy? 2 Tourneys in a row! Honestly.
He sets up in a piece of terrain, with the Dire Avengers on both sides, Eldrad and the Avatar in the middle, and the 3 Falcons just kind of sitting around nearby. He wins the roll to go first, and elects to make me go first.
I split my force into armored and unarmored halves, (crushers, princes and Heralds are armored) and choose to get the armored half. I joke that I ought to choose to get the unarmored half, since I'm overdue to roll a one or two. I roll the dice and promptly get a 2. Doh.
I drop the Wolves back behind some terrain, and then do the same for a Bloodletter unit, before I come to my senses and begin dumping the rest all around him. He's lost the Warp Spiders since crushing me at 2k, so he can annihilate one less unit. Dropping those units far should really hurt me though, as now I'm only surrounding him with ~5 units, instead of 10 as I'd prefer.
One his turn he moves all his falcons. I nearly jumped up and cheered. It seems that he thinks he doesn't need to get his Harlequins out after I've flubbed my deployment this badly. They should never have been in the Falcons to begin with, but the longer they stay there the longer I have to get in on his infantry mobs. Further, he's got the backs of 2 of his Falcons where my dogs might reach it, thereby blocking 2 of his units from coming out even in the next turn. I salivate at the prospects.
He makes another mistake in the move phase that is going to cost him, as his shifting about of the Dire Avengers to get good fire arcs has eliminated the chance for his Avatar to get into combat. They are simply in the way, and fleeting them will cost him their shots, so that's right out. This means his threats on my 5 letter squads are 2 units of bladestormers and the falcons weaponry. He manages to kill 3 units, but the 2 which remain have charge distance on his 2 Dire Avenger units.
They move up and charge in, while the hounds rush the Falcons. A bad fleet roll leaves on hound unit unable to block the full hatch of one falcon, so I'll be seeing 2 Harlequin units next round, rather than one. I get 2 Heralds, 2 Crushers and 1 Prince in, all of whom drop around the various combats. The dog units actually manage to tear a scatter laser off one of the Falcons, which is pretty cool.
His counterattack is pretty devastating, but critical mass has been reached, and he's never going to be able to get those Dire Avengers to fire again. The remainder of the game is fierce hand to hand combat wherever I can manage it, and ultimately I'm forced to use Eldrad/the Avatar as a bunker to hide from the Falcons guns. We get the avatar when he can't be fortuned (due to Eldrad being in battle), and we get the Harlequins by triple charging each unit, one at a time. The dogs are the real heroes of this game from my viewpoint, rolling up at just the right moments into each combat, and one packleader heroically made all 3 5+ saves to keep a combat locked on a critical round.
As the game rolls to an end Eldrad is dueling 2 Heralds of Khorne, while 3 Falcons drive around and cheer him on. I lose due to Falcon points (and in fact Eldrad is more points than both his foes), but its a morale victory to kill all those dang Eldar. Also, much like the previous battle's successes, it'll never be repeated, so why not enjoy it while I can? Most of all, I wasn't tabled, which is a big step up for this matchup.
A's game:
A played E, and got phased out. Snikrot came in on round 2, as he does. Details can be found in his batrep at:
http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/40k-battle-reports/123764-1-850-necrons-5-24-dicehead-tourney-report.html#post1165656
B's game: B crushed me
D's game: D put a beat down on some nids, same ones as E got in the first round.
E's game: See above
F's game: F battled the Daemons B had faced in his first round, and was able to see them off. I don't have any details about this game.
Tourney results:
D got best painted
A local got best sportsmen (the 13th company player)
E got Best Overall
All in all, an enjoyable tournament, if with a bit of a sparse field. I had a good time, got good data on the performance of the new Daemons, just about finished with my Khornish experiment.
