Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi All,

So thought I would write something about Masters 09. For those not sure what it is, Masters is the New Zealand Invitational for the top 12 players from the year. Run by Pete Dunn in Wellington. This was its sophomore year. I managed to win last year with a tuned Eldar army so was afforded an auto berth to play.

Anyways, this will be a brief breakdown of each game, the length will vary dependant on how much I remember and wish to write. If I make any mistakes, my apologies. I will do my level best to be unbiased.

I had a conflict between my opening games of cricket for the season, but found the caliber of opponents was too high to miss.

Dave Foster and I flew down on Friday afternoon and were picked up by Charlie St. Clair whom was putting us up for the weekend. Mark Buttle, Jason Isaac and Haydn Korach [+gf] arrived soon after. We then got to mocking Haydn about him forcing his way to an invite through the unavailability of three other gamers. Did that make him a Master? The debate concluded he got in solely on his ability to make it an even number of players.
Mark then was forced to retell the story of how he let a guy fwap off in the same bed as him. Perhaps not the best thing to tell….anyone, ever.

We then were forced by Charlie to watch a tragic sport where only one player per team is allowed to use their hands. I assume it was a repeat from the Beijing Special Olympics.
They weren’t very good; only two points were scored the whole game. But after each point, their happy faces were good to see.

On to Saturday -

I have been working on my Tau for about a year. It ended up a case of biting off more than I could chew. White is actually not that difficult to paint. Problems and time consumption occurs when you go for extensive conversions, cleanliness and complicated basing. ;-)

With time quickly running out, I started refining down the list to include less and less models. The Nicassar were out.

My List;

Shas’el – AFP, MP, Fl, HWMT, Stim, HWDC + 2 Shield Drones
2 Fireknives [Plas + MP]
2 Fireknives [Plas + MP]
2 Heatwaves [TL Fl + MP]
10 FW
10 FW
10 Kroot + 10 Hounds
10 Kroot
5 Pathfinders + Dfish – Flechettes + Dis Pod
5 Pathfinders + Dfish – Flechettes + Dis Pod
2 Plasmasides + 2 Shield Drones
2 BASS + 2 Shield Drones
Hammerhead

84 Models
10 Markerlights



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Jason had been talking it up how he was to dodge me for the fifth tournament in a row. So his expression was magic when he drew me first round.

Game 1 – Modified Kill Points, Pitched Battle Deployment

Kill Points;
• Troops - 3 Kill Points
• Dedicated Transports and Tau Drones from vehicles - 1 Kill Point
• Fast Attack/Elites/Heavy Support - 2 Kill Points
• HQ - 1 Kill Point

Jason Isaac – Seer Council Eldar

Jas Had;

Farseer w. Fortune
Autarch w. Laser Lance
6 Warlocks w. assorted powers
6 Fire Dragons in a Serpent w. Shuricannons
8 DA in a Serpent w. EML
8 DA in a Serpent w. EML
10 Guardians w. EML
Fire Prism
Fire Prism
3 War Walkers w. 6 Scatter lasers.


I had real trouble downing the Serpents for the first four turns, found my Railguns were bouncing off. The Seer Council got distracted by a Devilfish on the right flank, instead of making a beeline directly towards the core of my army. Every single weapon targeted the council and followed by 20 Kroot charging, left the Autarch all by himself. He then took a missile pod to the face. We had a 6 round slow fight between the Broadsides and Fire Dragon, with the Dragons prevailing in the last turn. My luck again shifted with Missile Pods bringing down two Serpents, then a Railgun finishing another. One DA squad got brave and tried to nab some suits but it cost them their lives. The Shas’el began trimming down the guardians, but couldn’t force them to break. Game ended turn 5 with a win to me – 13Kps to 12kps!




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Game 2 – Stelek Mission, Spearhead Deployment


Jack Dunn – World Eaters

Jack had;

Daemon Prince w. Wings
Greater Daemon
8 Chosen in a Rhino
8 Berserkers in a Rhino
8 Berserkers in a Rhino
8 Berserkers in a Land Raider
Defiler
Predator

I chose the three rhinos, Land Raider and Daemon Prince as my kill points. Jack IIRC took the suicide suits, 2x Devilfish and both Kroot Units.

I have a decent army to stop a mech rush and getting first turn only helps this. Jack must have agreed as he kept everything off the board. This messed me up pretty bad. My first two turns were nothing.
Jack then brought everything on turn 2 with some perfect 4+ rolling. The only units left behind were the Greater Daemon and an empty Rhino.
The Chosen airballed their meltashots at my dfish, then were flamed and shot. The Rhino survived Railguns to run my Heatwaves off the board. Meanwhile, I managed to stun, then immobilze the Land Raider. Kroot arrived to claim an objective, so I had both ends. The game ended turn 5, I had zero KPs and two obj. Jack had 2 plus, by running out of the land raider, had the central obj to make it 3.
So a loss – 2 plays 5.