Yesterday, Six-Deucer and I threw our hat in and participated in the 2,000 point teams tournament MC'd by Dante of Warsound, and hosted by Gabi at Olympic Cards and Comics (OCC). We met up at OCC a little after 10:00, as dice were supposed to drop around 11:00 hours.
Last November, Six and I had participated in the same teams' tournament; two very new, very green 40K players. Some label such players as "baby seals". He sported an IG list, while I played Blood Angels. Over the course of our three games, Six and I managed to win one of the three. We took away some valuable lessons and experiences from that tournament, that has since helped us with our game play.
This year, we were determined to improve our performance and most importantly HAVE FUN. I think it is important to accentuate that last goal because over the course of the teams we faced-off against yesterday, they were a blast.
Six and I ran lists that better complimented one another this year: He ran a Straken IG army with lots of Chimera(s) and two Vendettas', whereas I actually brought a Jump Pack (JP) Death Company (DC) and DC dreadnought led by Astorath the Grim, a landspeeder, and a Baal Predator with Flamestorm cannon. In fact here are our lists:
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| Six's IG List |
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| Gone's BA List |
As you can see, my job would be relatively easy: Reserve the Baal, deploy speeder behind Chimera(s), deploy Storm Raven in such a way as to get cover moving flat out. Point at enemy. Shoot. Six would attempt to obstruct line of sight of any enemy target(s) we didn't want the DC gobbling. The Baal Predator did a splendid job threatening the enemy's flanks. Unfortunately, objective claim(s) would have to rest solely on Six, since my troop choices are not allowed to claim/ hold objective(s).
This being my first time playing Death Company, I was pleasantly surprised with their performance. I had three marines equipped with power weapons, a fourth with a hammer, and then one DC with a chainsword (wound soaker). The power weapons seemed too redundant on paper, but, those power weapon wounds were pivotal in two of our three games. In fact, I'll perform a quick synopsis of each of our games to give you an idea of what we faced:
Game 1: Versus Grey Knights and Space Marines
Two very fun, and gracious opponents: George and Zen (later I discovered that Zen runs The Seattle Heart of Fire Tournament TSHFT). Had I known that prior to facing off against him I would have probably been very intimidated. Zen showed up lacking an opponent, and Jancoran called his buddy, George, at the 11th hour to fill in. Zen and Jancoran took a few minutes to cobble together a list of Grey Knights for George to play (his first time playing the new Grey Knights). All of that aside, both men were fun to play against. Zen was very easy going, and a generous opponent. I didn't exaggerate when I stated that all of our opponents were fun, cool dudes. If I had to rate one opponent as the best in terms of attitude and demeanor, then Zen would be the man. Did I mention that Zen's Space Marines were marvelous to look at? That man can paint!
Back to game one. We were able to manage a victory due to kill points, while holding a central objective that awarded our team an additional four kill points.
My MVP for this game was my Death Company. After a lucky melta shot blew up Vulkan's Land Raider, my Death Company assaulted Vulkan and his squad. The DC managed to wipe out the squad before they had the opportunity to swing in assault, which resulted in Vulcan failing a morale check and running off of the board.
Six's MVP was Straken: He and his unit held the central objective and earned us the additional kill points. Over all this was a fun game, but we weren't actually able to finish it due to time. This left our opponent's forces largely on or near their board edge due to the Officer of the Fleet detaining their reserve rolls.
Game 2: Versus Blood Angels and Space Marines
This time Six and I faced off against two very fun, and challenging opponents: The twins (Guys, I apologize for not remembering your names'). These fellows had a beautifully painted army- Blood Angels in theme. We faced off against a Mephiston driven mech list that included three Vindicators, lots of Typhoon speeders, and Las/Plas Razorbacks!
Ouch.
Even with the 4++ cover save for moving flat out, my Storm Raven was punished and wrecked at the bottom of first turn. Unfortunately, this placed my Death Company in a precarious position that allowed our opponents to screen them for the rest of the game. My Baal Predator came in around turn three, and on the side where my DC sat. I would have preferred to outflank on the opposite board edge, where a lonely Razorback filled with troops sat holding an objective.
Oh, did I mention this was an objective grab mission? One objective in each corner of the table, with the final objective placed in the center.
With four of my five units neutralized or screened, that left a huge burden on Six to make things happen in this game. Unfortunately, he was up to his eyeballs in space marines for most of the game. My MVP in this game was my little old Landspeeder. With it's trusty heavy flamer, that little Landspeeder wrecked a Vindicator and stopped a second from shooting. Amazing!
Astorath managed to sharpen his Executioner's Axe on a Landspeeder Squadron- downing them both. Unfortunately, it was too little too late in the top of the fourth. Next turn he was able to make it to our opponent's left side of the board and that objective marker (held by the Razorback and troop choice). Unfortunately, Astorath was a smidge too (less than an inch) away from assaulting the troops that were forced to pile of the Razorback after it had been wrecked in our shooting phase). As they stood between Astorath and the Objective, that left them firmly in control of said objective.
It was unfortunate that we were not able to play this game to it's full conclusion. Though, it was looking dire for our team, we may have been able to pull a tie in a subsequent turn. I fault myself, really. I should have pushed my Storm Raven to the center of the table instead of the far side. This would have left them in a better position to assault troop choices, gain cover, and most importantly neutralize the Vindicators' pie-plates. Any scatters would have fell dangerously close to allied marines in the area. Alas, hindsight is 20/20, and I will file that lesson away for future reference.
This was by far my most challenging game, and its a shame that the twins don't live closer to OCC. I'd love to play against them in the future as I felt the ass-whoopin provided me with some very valuable lessons.
In conclusion, we lost our second game to two very deserved opponents.
Game 3: Versus Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Demons
We played against Team Boozenheimer, in a version of 'my base your base' where each base sat at an opposing corner of the game board. This was the first time that Six and I faced off against the spawns of Chaos- and a lash list! Man, first of all I have to say that this game I really noobed up. I kept getting my rules wrong, and our opponents were very patient and gracious throughout the whole game. My mind was elsewhere by this time (I had a little one feeling under the weather at home), and it seemed that all of my precious rules knowledge that I have worked so hard at acquiring (and retaining) fell away like a house of cards.
We won the dice roll to go first and our opponents reserved everything. This is where Six's Officer of the Fleet had the opportunity to shine- and he did. Our opponents forces came in largely piece-meal, giving Six and I the opportunity to focus-fire and neutralize specific units before reinforcements could arrive.
We focus-fired and whittled down the red dog lookin' things (I love those models- they are soo badass) to the point that once my dreadnought assaulted them, it was able to mop up and finish the unit off.
Death Company's overwhelming amount of power weapons were a blessing during this game. So many Chaos-Things with crappy invulnerable saves!
Death Company ripped apart some flying disc-man, then moved on to some demon things- each with two wounds. Their power weapon attacks forced invulnerable saves that whittled away wounds. Astorath made this job much easier due to his forcing an opponent to re-roll successful invulnerable saves made against his attacks.
I have to say, that the MVP for this battle was Strakken. I'll be damned if Six didn't launch him into assault against a bunch of Blood Letters, and he ruined them. It was incredible. Every time I see Strakken in action, it makes me want to play IG- he is so freakin cool!
Unfortunately, the TO called 10 minutes left of game time. We had just finished the bottom of turn four, and Six and I were up next. We desperately wanted to speed hammer through turn five, in order to grab the win. I had a landspeeder that could contest our opponent's base, while Six had enough to pummel the second horde of Blood Letters sitting on ours. After some gentlemanly debate with our opponents, we decided to roll off to see if the game would end at the bottom of four, or continue into five. The die roll ended the game for us- resulting in our second and subsequent loss. It was a little disheartening, however, I Space Marine'd Up and congratulated our opponents on a very fun, and well fought game.
Now one thing I have to say about these fellows: They had me in stitches most of the game. Two very fun and friendly guys whose gaming clan apparently play 40K in a bar up north! Man, talk about good times!
In Conclusion:
Game one went well for us. Six and I did a great job at the tasks we had agreed to when putting together our lists': He would hold and contest objectives, I run amok in our opponent's back field.
Game two unraveled largely when I lost my Storm Raven (and where I lost my Storm Raven). My DC were easily screened, and whittled down. My dreadnought was held up long enough for Mephiston to make an appearance, successfully roll Sanguine Sword, and ruin it.
Game three was one of those games where you kick ass. Take names. Kick ass. Chew bubble gum, then all of a sudden- troops go poof! Lets just say compulsory moves and jump packs equal a lot of dangerous terrain tests. Add to the fact that all of the 'ones' on my dice decided to take that specific opportunity to make an appearance, and you have a lot of dead Death Company. The inability to complete another turn (or more) removed our ability to win this game.
I had personal goals to at least win two games this year (and improve my stats from last), so that was disappointing. However, I chose to play an unconventional list for this tournament, which gave me a new-found respect for Death Company. One thing I will say is that I was much more confident in playing the game, and what to do this time around.
Awards:
So, with only twelve participants (and six teams), prize support was very generous. Each team won a little something, which was cool. Six and I tied Zen and George for 'best sportsman', however, since Zen and George placed second in the tournament we were awarded the honor! We each received 30 bucks of in-store credit
Fuggin' sweet!
I had not hoped to win anything due to our abysmal win/loss record, so this award was a very pleasant surprise for the both of us.
Thanks Gabi! Thanks Jeff!
So to re-cap:
- Best Overall: The twins (UltraMarines+Blood Angels)
- Best General: Jancoran and Scinister (Sisters of Battle + Dark Angel Deathwing)
- Best Paint: Zen and George Butler (Ultramarines+ Grey Knights)
- Best Sports: Six-Deucer, and Gonewild (Imperial Guard +Blood Angels)
This was a "For-Fun" tournament, and that is exactly what happened yesterday: Fun. All of our opponents were very cool, and very entertaining. If all tournaments were like this (and I'm not deluded enough to believe that they are), I would be throwin' my hat in to as many as I could allocate time off from work. Dante is a great event organizer, and Gabi of Olympic Cards and Comics is THE BEST shop owner and host hands down.
