Longtime Dakkanaut
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I didn't bring a camera...but I imagine there are many many pictures of Adepticon around, so everyone can believe me when I say that the overall quality of armies I saw was absolutely amazing.
Further, we can take as read that the organization was stellar and my opponents polite and skilled. I didn't play a single jerk.
Anyway, on to my Gladiator experience:
My list:
Decepticrons 2k
Deceiver
10 Warriors
11 Warriors
8 Immortals
8 Immortals
8 Immortals
3 Destroyers
3 Destroyers
3 Destroyers
1 Heavy Destroyer
1 Heavy Destroyer
1 Heavy Destroyer
My assessment: Not much to say about this list that I haven't already said. I'm confident in it, I think it's top-tier, and I figure I've got a 1 in 2 chance vs. any 40k list that doesn't use Apocalypse stuff, with the twin exceptions of dual-lash Chaos and Drop pod marines. Those 2 lists distress me. Other than that though, I've got the firepower to stop an Ork rush, the glancing power to put down falcons, the Deceiver to stuff a blitz list and the general high leadership, armor and toughness to win shooting competitions with SAFH lists. I've brought my best, let's see how it measures up.
I'm borrowing my buddy (Player A)'s orange painted Necrons for all the parts of my army that come in from reserve in Escalation, so we have blue infantry and orange jetbikes/Deceiver. I think it looks neat, and I get some compliments.
Game #1:
Opponent: Tau
Shas'O w/Fusion Blaster, Multi-Tracker, missile pod and plasma rifle
Shas'el w/Plasma rifle, missile pod, multi tracker and targeting array
2 x 6 Fire Warriors
2 x 8 Fire Warriors
6 Fire Warriors w/Devilfish
10 Kroot Warriors w/4 Kroot hounds
Piranha w/Fusion blaster, targeting array
Piranha w/Fusion blaster, targeting array
6 gun drones
2 Xv8's w/plasma rifle, missile pod, multi-tracker
2 Xv8's w/plasma rifle, missile pod, multi-tracker
3 Xv8's w/burst cannon, missilep od, multi-tracker, 2 shield drones
Hammerhead w/SMS, Decoy launcher, Multi-tracker, Target launcher, Flechette launcher
I just...I feel ashamed. I rolled up with this competitive death and destruction list, and here's my old friend, Mech Tau, ready for another boxing round. Only, I've got an AK. I've got my enemy so far out-listed that this won't even be a game. I mean..Kroot hounds? Crisis Suits with Burst cannons? Crisis Suits with no devilfish? I feel like I ought to break out the Flayed Ones and Wraiths. My list fights evenly with the very best skimmer lists....and this is a pale shadow thereof.
The Mission:
triangle-corners deployment, secure and control, w/escalation. Bonus points for winning by > 200 VP's and destroying all troop choices.
The game:
I put as many tokens as I can on one flank and line up my warriors opposite them. The Immortals go more towards the middle, ready to blast any enemies which appear. His infantry huddles in the terrain across from us. He gets the first turn, opens fire and kills an Immortal, which doesn't get back up. I advance and blast down 2 of his units. He responds on his turn, and his tanks show up, so he knocks down a few more guys...half of whom stand back up. We shoot down a Hammerhead, and my Deceiver comes on, along with a Heavy D and a Destroyer unit. The remainder of his forces come on, and he makes his move.
He sends the Crisis Suits, en-masse, at the flank with the 3 objectives and focuses fire on the Warriors. He nearly gets all of one unit down. I'm impressed, he's done the best that is possible, getting me to commit my round 2 stuff to the worthless middle and placing his best units against my worst on the valuable flank. Then my destroyers and heavy destroyers come in and I send them to that flank, they blast away most of his crisis suits and the risen warriors lock the rest into an assault that the tau won't win.
The remainder of the game is just my units outshooting his, and ultimately the Deceiver is able to get to the Fire Warriors and make sure I get the make all troops non-scoring objective.
My opponent fought well, but couldn't overcome the list disparity. He is part of a club though, and I mark down that club shirt as a warning sign of a skilled opponent. I get maximum points for this round, and look forward with anticipation and dread to facing an Apocalypse monster that slaughtered some other player.
Round 2:
Opponent's list: Space Marines:
Epistolary in terminator armor w/4 man Terminator command squad.
Inquisitor Lord w/Acolyte, Warrior, Chirugeon, Chirugeon, 2 Heavy bolter gun servitor's...Inq. Lord has Liber Heresius
Callidus Assassin
Ven Dreadnaught in a drop pod
Devastator Squad w/ 4 heavy bolters, tank hunters
8 man Las/Plas tac squad w/ power fist sarge
10 man Las/Plas tac squad w/ power fist sarge
Landspeeder w/Assault cannon
Landspeeder w/Assault cannon
Landspeeder w/Assault cannon
Predator Destructor w/autocannon, 2 heavy bolter sponsons
Predator Annihilator w/twin linked lascannon, 2 lascannon sponsons
Vindicator
Huh, now this is a more competitive list. I still feel like I"ve got the edge though, with all the vehicles. If I can get first turn I ought to be able to do unkind things to all those points, then just outshoot the Las/plas units and send the Deceiver in for a finishing blow.
The mission:
Primary: Hold the center for the most turns, there are glass beads that are used to count this
Secondary: Vp's
Tertiary: Table quarters
Right from the get go, this game goes south. He uses his Liber Heresius to choose deployment zones, and fearlessely deploys for a first turn game. He then wins the roll to go first, and focuses his fire properly on my shootiest units. I'm on the back foot initially, and he's done something else really smart.
He's deep striking his dreadnaught, callidus and terminator command squad. I can't afford to send Big D away from my army until I've got all the hand to hand teleporters down (mostly the terminators and dread, crons can handle the callidus), so I have to hunker down around the objective. No problem, though, I can still just outshoot him, right?
Nope, for the only time in all of my 11 games at Adepticon my dice utterly fail me. The third and fourth round I can't make an armor save or a WBB, and my shooting is miserable. I am at least able to crump the Ven Dread when it drops, and pop all his speeders, but the Terminators steadfastly refuse to land, so the Deceiver can't go mess him up.
Abetted by miserable armor saves (I lose an entire 8 man Immortal squad to the Ven Dread's assault cannon + heavy flamer fire...) I'm being shot off the table. I am, however, winning the primary objective. as he doesn't dare advance in the face of the Deceiver.
The last exciting thing happens when his Terminators come in...but he lands them far away and just uses them to fire assault cannons. He's going for phase out, as its too late to get the primary, but he isn't fails to make it as the game draws to a close.
I get the primary, he gets the secondary (being up on VP's) and while the tertiary initially appears contested (as his terminators got boo'd by the Deceiver on the last round) he wins it because one warrior has his foot on the wrong side of the line.
I get 16 points, he gets 15...We are a bit glum as we realize we've knocked each other out of contention. I mark his club shirt, for Cold Steel Mercenaries, as another sign of a dangerous foe. I'm beginning to get the impression that the fish are bigger in this big bowl than I'm used to. Still haven't faced any apocalypse monsters though.
Round 3:
Space Wolves:
Terminator Wolf Lord w/4 Wolf Guard in a Drop Pod...2 assault cannons, 2 pairs of lightning claws
Terminator Rune priest w/4 Wolf Guard in a Drop Pod...2 assault cannons, 2 pairs of lightning claws
Venerable Dreadnaught in a Drop Pod
8 Grey Hunters w/3 power fists, and a meltaguns in a Drop Pod
10 Blood Claws w/3 power fists, and a meltagun in a drop pod
10 Blood Claws w/3 power fists, and a meltagun in a drop pod
Dreadnaught in a Drop Pod
Land Speeder
4 Wolf Scotus with a Meltagun
Ugh...I loathe space wolves in drop pods. Any one of their units which so much as brushes mine will obliterate it, and the pods protect them from my firepower to a considerable extent. Deceiver will be busy this game.
To make things worse, my foe is one I recognize. He used to live nearby, and he's beaten me down with this list before.
The mission:
Deployment in corners
Primary is cleanse w/weighting by glass beads
secondary is VP's
tertiary is kill enemy highest point HQ.
He uses the skimmer, who starts no the board, to push me back into my worthless quarter, and I move towards him for the first 2 turns, getting in position to take the drop.
On his round both blood claw packs, the Rune Priest unit and the Ven Dread drop, and he gets right up in my face. I focus my fire on the Terminators, and send the Deceiver into one pack of Blood Claws. This leaves one unit unattended to and I'm forced to sac and Immortal unit to them.
On his next round the remaining forces fall (except for the scouts), and my misdirect fails, leaving Big D still killing Blood Claws. Also his Dread kills a Heavy Destroyer and a drop pod shoots down the other, forcing the last to flee into the valuable quarter and cower behind a building.
I focus my fire and blast down his Blood Claws, preparing to receive another ruinous charge and lose another unit or so. His grey hunters kill another unit of Immortals and the Deceiver is able to break the Blood Claws.
He puts his power fists to work on the Deceiver during this time, and as soon as it goes down the game is totally over. I'm counting wounds and pondering...but the Dice Gods lend me their favor. Over the course of this game Deceiver takes 15 wounds and makes 11 saves, leaving him panting, but alive.
Essentially the game devolves into my retreating ever faster into my zone while the Deceiver runs amuck in his line. Either I'll phase out or the game will end. As things draw to a close he's got just the Dread left for scoring units, but its in my warriors, and Deceiveri s busy murdering his terminators and such.
I am forced to use my "hear no evil" mulligan to save a unit of warriors from Sweeping Advance, and the roll for extra turn comes up negative, leaving me with 20 Necrons at the end of turn 6. He's only got his Dreadnaught left for scoring units, so I win primary and secondary, but my one wound Deceiver and his last retinue terminator tie us up for the tertiary.
The game was an incredibly close one, and any of 5 or 6 rolls going the other way would have led to his victory. I got the primary and secondary though, so I get like 30 points for this one, enough to get me pretty high up the ladder for my final game.
Game 4:
Eldar:
Eldrad
Yriel
3 Jetbikes with a shuriken catapult
10 man Wraithguard unit
5 man Harly unit w/all trimmings
5 man Harly unit w/all trimmings
6 man Harly unit w/all trimmings
falcon w/all trimmings
falcon w/all trimmings
Deathspinnner
Well, here he is, my old friend Mech Eldar. Aside from an odd Iyanden bent this is a list I've faced many times. The Daethspinner is new though. Basically its a falcon that has an ordnance barrage pie plate that is s7, ap -. I resolve to treat it as a falcon.
The Mission: Table quarters w/extra points for winning by a lot and destroying enemy expensive units...Also, you get to choose one enemy unit that comes on the board on turn 4, from any board edge.
He wins the roll to choose sides, and picks a side, he selects my Deceiver as my shorthanded unit. I select his wraithguard.
He opts to go first (I think this is a mistake, as it seems like the Deceiver will follow his Wraithguard out wherever they go and slaughter them.)
He moves around, shelling my units with his pie plates. I walk doggedly into the center, preparing to contest all quarters. He sends out a falcon and all of a sudden my dice go on the craziest streak I had for my whole adepticon trip. The falcon goes down to the first warrior unit that fires at it, leaving Yriel and 2 harlies sitting there. They are promptly shot to death. The other 2 falcons tank shock through my army, and I make all my morale tests. One warrior unit fires on Eldrad's falcon, and down it goes, immobilized. An immortal unit then fires at it and it promptly is wrecked, leaving the Seer of Ulthwe and a shadowseer exposed to the guns of a Necron army. With the whole of my list left to shoot my opponent concedes. I score full points for this round.
So that was my gladiator. The next day I see the scores and I was 8th. It was a great tournament and I came out with zest and energy.
While I was playing in the Gladiator my team mates were also playing.
Player A did the Devastation tournament, and won 3 times with his Skyre list.
Another teammate brought more conventional crons to the Gladiator and went 2 and 2, with his losses being to a Stompa and a Mech Eldar list, and his wins being over a Dark Eldar list and a Space Marine list.
My last team mate played in the Apocalypse megabattle, and had a grand old time, although he disagreed with several things about the mission.
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