First 8th edition tournament summary

So when I go to tournaments I usually don't do full reports because I'd rather just play and concentrate on the game then worry about filming. So I'll just give you a brief overview of what went down on Saturday at Glimpses of Wonder and Warfare.

Game 1 vs Tau: The Scouring

He had 2 stormsurges and 3 hammerheads..and not much else.  We rolled and the 4pt objective was on my side and I went first.  I jumped 30 shootas to the area on the right, killed a unit of Firewarriors for first blood and shooting and assault took down the first stormsurge by 7 wounds and a couple wounds on Longstrike.  Not too bad. He wiped out the shoota boys quite easily and put a couple wounds on the tanks.  Next turn I just poured the firepower and knocked down the stormsurge some more.  He then moved up a bit and used what he could to do damage to another unit of boys. That small unit then jumped and assaulted some pathfinders.  I jumped the last unit and killed stormsurge and assaulted the 2nd.  Near the end Zhadsnark moved up and tried to finish the last 4 wounds on the stormsurge but he made all his invul saves.  I held the 4pt, and he had 3 objectives for a 5-7 minor loss.  I didn't have much left on the board!

Game 2 vs Salamanders, No mercy.

Varied marine list.  Couple libbies, 4 melta in a drop pod (I surrounded the tanks), bike command squad and chaplain, a couple razorbacks, and lascannons, but the most deadly thing there was 4 Centurions with Heavy Bolters and Hurricane Bolters - OH MY!  They had to die.  First turn I jumped the shoota boys, killed one in shooting..and then failed the charge!  That unit didn't last long. Next turn I jumped another unit took out the apothecary and librarian.  It took a couple turns to finish off the centurions, and zhadsnark mowed through the command squad despite the storm shields (a turn of complete whiff with thunderhammers helped).  Again, not much left at the end.

With first blood and warlord I scored a 120-45 major victory.

Game 3 vs demons, secure and control.

He had a ton of seekers of slannesh, brimstones, 15 thousand sons terminators and Magnus. I ended up with first turn yet again!  I jumped the shootas over and tried for first blood on the brimstones to no effect.  I also took 2 wounds of magnus after some re-rolling 1's and a command point for another save.  I should have gone for the seekers. But the seekers spent half the game doing nothing but killing boys so that was quite nice. He then dropped all the terminator and flew magnus right in my face, wiping out most of a unit of boys in shooting but opted to charge mostly another unit so there wasn't much damage in combat.  I then jumped the remaining big unit out of combat to assault the smaller unit of termies, locking them up until they died in turn 5.  The other bigger unit stayed locked in for most of the game.  Zhadnark did a TON of damage to the termies all by himself.  Magnus was able to kill off most of my characters but I kept hounding him getting him down to 2 wounds at the end of the game.  It ended on turn 5 or I probably would have killed magnus and taken my objective from the 3 remaining termies.

Result in a 0-8 major loss.

Yep 1-2 that day, and with a bit of better play it probably would have been 1-1-1.  My biggest errors were not attacking magus with the deffrolla! Totally forgot to attack with my tanks at all while he was locking them in combat. GRRR!! Even the Kill tank is pretty bad ass in combat and can do mortal wounds on the charge!

Despite losing most of my army every game none of them felt like I never stood a change. They were all excellent games and could have gone my way with a bit better play and/or remembering my rules.

On to the next project!

After finishing my Fist of Medusa Strike force (which isn't as competitive as I had hoped!) it's time to decide what to work on next.

First option is to move from the Medusa to a strait up Gladius.  It would require a lot more models, and a lot more Evil Sunz Scarlet.  I think that's not the way I want to go.

Second option is to build up the army I put aside for the Iron Hands - Space Wolves. This would mean adding more Wulfen and Thunderwolves to the stuff I already have.  And lots more Drop Pods. 

Third option and probably the easiest to paint is a making a Lion's Blade force to add to my existing Ravenwing...based largely on the winning LVO army from last year.

Fourth option is to build up the models I purchased earlier in the year - Tau and Necrons.  My idea is to run a Conoptek Harvest along side the Tau.

Last night I even created a first draft of the list:

CaD - Farsight Enclaves
HQ: Cadre Fireblade
Troop: XV8, TL Fusion
Troop: XV8, Flamer
Fast: 4 marker drones
Elite: Riptide, EWO
LoW: Stormsurge, EWO, Shield, TL Airburst frag

Optimized Stealth Cadre
3x Ghostkeel, Cyclic Ion Raker, EWO, Target lock, TL Burst cannon
3x Stealth, fusion
3x Stealth, fusion

Canoptek Harvest
Spider
6 Wraiths, whip coils
6 Scarabs

I would have to buy 2 Ghostkeels, the Stormsurge (which I want anyway) and a 2nd box of Wraiths.  Not a lot of boxes but a lot of money!  I'm looking for feedback on how this list would do in current ITC meta...extreme competitiveness.

Getting started on the models I already have!

The 5th option, and probably the one I would want to do most but be the least competitive, is getting Renegade Knights for my Ork army.

So that's where I'm at. I'm going to be working on the stuff I already have while I decide on where to spend money.

Battle Report: Age of Sigmar tournament

First I have to say the tournament was a bit of a letdown. There was suppose to be a big wind storm blow through Portland today but it was mostly a dud and it looks like that kept people away. Only 6 out of the 26 that signed up showed up.

We went ahead and played anyway, and it was still totally worth it.

Not to mention how happy I was with the way my army looked!

 
Game 1, mission 1 vs Chaos (mostly Nurgle)

A glotkin, plague drones, some Knights, and other misc gribblies.

The game was to hold objectives one in each deployment zone.  I ran up as Orcs are suppose to do and just got wiped out. However he couldn't get to my objective earning only a minor victory.



Game 2, mission 2 vs Death

Vampire on dragon and lots of crypt ghouls that come in on turn 1.

This was quite a bit of a different mission with earning points for objectives. having many units helped out and despite losing most of my army again I still ended up with a major victory simply by outscoring on the mission.

BTW crypt ghouls are very hard to kill.  But don't do a lot either...

Game 3, mission 6 vs Order

Lots of Elves shooting and a dragon.  So. many. bows.

Another one objective each.  I lost almost all my army with just the doom divers, grots and shaman left.  I did quite a bit more damage though this time mainly with the doom divers able to take out the general on dragon.  He made one mistake leaving his objective, and the game came down to a hawk rider vs my shaman..but he couldn't kill him giving me another major victory.

There was another destruction player, playing Ironjaws with about 15 Gore Gruntas and a Maw Crusha. It looked AWESOME on the table, for sure. But He went 1-2 to me 2-1 netting me the Destruction award.

So I learned A LOT today.

What worked:
1. Goblin netters. Holy crap these are awesome. it's amazing how much a -1 to hit really hurts. I am thinking about how to keep some near every combat, it seems to be the way to go.
2. Boys with shields (kinda).  The boys units with shields were quite a bit more survivable then the unit with 2 choppas.  They just simply get a re-roll in close combat (not shooting though, which they need) and made them fairly hard to kill. Using the Great Waggh! banner gave them the same re-roll 1's that the 2x choppa guys had so I don't see any reason to take 2x choppa guys in the future.  The -1 rend on such basic models is also pretty good.
3. Spider Riders. Still an awesome unit.  I ran them into things that they should have avoided but with Inspiring Presence and Bellowing Tyrant they are quite remarkable ..if used correctly. I was super aggressive and of course have no idea what I'm facing but careful use of these guys is well worth it. They are quite spendy at 80pts per 5 but worth it.
4. Doom Divers. Having more then one is the key, and they are basically twin-linked and when they do hit they do a lot of damage.
5. Destruction abilities.  Another holy crap moment.  Giving units a D6 move in the hero phase plus their normal movement is amazing.  Not only for longer threat range but to re-arrange everything if needed prior to moving.  I took bellowing Tyrant which gives one unit +1 to hit..and it's amazing.
6. Grots.  The massive unit of grots were just so fantastic, so many models that they take forever to chew through and with the netters they don't take anywhere near as much damage as you would think.

What didn't work:
1. boys.  SOOO fragile. And then you combine battle shock losses on top of it and once someone starts concentrating on them, the units just melt away.  They need to be immune to battleshock above 10 models. They also don't hit very hard unless they have buffs on them.
2. Big things. Orruk big things have almost no save so they don't last long.  And they are seriously expensive.


Going forward:
If I spend any effort on this army for future AoS tournaments, I will need to replace the basic boys with something better for the battleline requirements.  I think Ogres are the way to go there.  Also leadbelchers could add some better firepower. Something to consider.

Orruks going to a tournament!

The first post-general's handbook Age of Sigmar tournament is happening tomorrow at my FLGS.

Most of the last week I've spent finishing off the display board.  The snowshoe middle was done and I had to just to everything else.   It took way longer and was much more work then it should have been, mostly from dealing with the foam board warping from the PVA.

Just recycled the frame from my 40k Ork board.

I'm very much limited to the models I have. If I do expand the army I would love to add some Ogres to the list for some better punch in battleline units.

Anyway this is what I'm bringing:

Orruk Battlehost 
Destruction allegiance.

 Leader: Orruk Warboss:  Boss shield, choppa, great waagh! banner
Command trait: bellowing tyrant
Artifact: Talisman of protection

Leader: Orruk Great shaman

Battleline: 30x Orruks: Shield/choppa, Skull icon, drummer

Battleline: 30x Orruks: 2x choppa, skull icon, drummer
Battleline: 40 Grots spears/shields, gong basher, netters, bad moon icon

Behemoth: Mangler Squig

Artillery: doom diver
Artillery: doom diver

Other: Orruk chariot
Other: 20 spider riders, bows, bone drummer, icon

Sideboard:
Behemoth: Arachnarok spider
Artillery: Grot rock thrower
Others: Orruk Charriot

I don't expect to win any games, as the models are woefully under powered compared to other armies.  The whole scene is very new, especially around here. It's almost like a new game in fact..there is no meta yet.

It's also a potluck!  Tis' an amazing day. 

Ork Helicarrier takes the cake!

I built the helicarrier for a reason, a local club tournament that is one of the biggest deals around here, OFCC.  They also have a nice table competition and the Helicarrier blew everyone away landing me the prize of Fabricator General for the 2nd year in a row. It was the talk of the con.   Really can't complain about that!

Every one that played on it said it was great for gaming, with plenty enough and varied enough terrain.  Most people also made up their own special rules! Can you believe that?~?  It also survived the 9-10 games with only 1 gun barrel being broken off the gun. How's that for durability?

Anyway some pics of people playing their games on it.

Superfriends 3.5

Over the weekend was Storm of Silence 4, a major ITC tournament I was actually able to attend. I took my Superfriends 3.0 list and learned something very important.

I went 3-2, losing to ...wait for it..Eldar and Tau.  There wasn't much I could do against the Tau list but I could have beat the Eldar if I had played the aggressive CC game I should be playing.

The Wulfen only made it into close combat once out of 5 games. The other 4 they were shot of the board before they could do anything. Most of the time it took literally all of my opponents shooting to accomplish this.  The answer to this is a second unit of them!   I was thinking about dropping the Ravenwing entirely for a Librarius Conclave, but I might not need too.

So here is Superfriends 3.5:

Great Wolf Detachment:
HQ: WGBL, Runic armor, thunderwolf, SS, Fist
HQ: Rune Priest, Bike, Level 2

Elite: 5 Wulfen, 3xTH/SS 2x Frost Claws
Elite: 5 Wulfen, 3xTH/SS 2x Frost Claws

Fast: Drop Pod
Fast: Drop Pod
Fast: Thunderwolf Cav x5, 5x SS, 1x Fist

Allied Detachment:
HQ: Sanguinary Priest, Bike

Troops: Tactical squad x5, Heavy Flamer, Combi-Melta, Drop Pod

Ravenwing Strike Force:
HQ: Sammael

Fast: Black Knights x4
Fast: Black Knights x4

Only one caster does not mean I'll get what I need, but it can't hurt to try.  Having the 2nd unit of Wulfen also come down turn 1 means a lot of hurt right where I need it the most. In both the games I lost if I had the 2nd unit, I would probably have tabled my opponent.

It's also a lot less money then my 4.0 list, and I'd rather put cash into modifying my Blood Angels into an Iron Hand Medusa Strike Force.

Another 1850 tournament list.

I went 3-2 at the Guardian Cup and placed 17th.  Missed out on best Ork though, which made me sad. But there were 4 Ork players, which isn't bad.

Anyway today I had another 3-round 1850 tournament using the ITC rules but not the ITC missions.  It used a modified maelstrom format.

I went 2-1 and took 3rd.  Pretty happy with the results and had a lot of fun.

This was my list:

Ork Horde detachment (primary)
HQ: Zhadsnark
HQ: Painboy, bike
HQ: Painboy

Troop: 15 warbikes, nob w/pk&bp
Troop: 13 warbikes, nob w/pk&bp
Troop: 3 warbikes

Combined Arms Detachment:
HQ: Warboss, bike, pk, lucky stick
HQ: Painboy, Bike

Troop: 30 slugga boys, 'eavy armor, nob w/pk&bp
Troop: 11 grots

Allied Detachment:
HQ: Chaos Lord, bike, pk, sigil, nurgle

Troop: 10 cultists

Fast: 4 Spawn, Nurgle

First, I have to say the CSM detachment continues to do very well. 

Second, the boys mob does not seem to do much. They didn't do anything in last week's league game, and didn't do anything today either. In fact, in the 2nd round (a win) I completely forgot to deploy the unit at all!!  Short answer: I need more bikes!!

And last, adding in the 2nd warboss to Zhadsnark's unit really makes a huge difference. Having another model to take challenges, and just the damage output from a S10 power fist backed up by the lucky stick is hard to deny.

I hope to be typing up some battle reports over the next few days.  

Off to the Guardian Cup!

I finally get to play in a full 2-day ITC format tournament and I'm very happy about it.

I've been playing my list and I'm pretty comfortable with it. I do wish I had a few more points here and there but I can't have everything.

Primary: CAD
HQ (warlord): Zhadsnark 'Da Rippa'
HQ: Painboy, bike

Troop: 15 bikers, nob w/pk&bp
Troop: 15 bikers, nob w/pk&bp

Formation: Ghazzy's bully boyz
5x Meganobz, 1xkillsaw
Battlewagon, ram, 2x big shoota
5x Meganobz, 1xkillsaw
Battlewagon, ram, 2x big shoota
5x Meganobz, 1xkillsaw
Battlewagon, ram, 2x big shoota

That's it. It is a super aggressive list that just wants to run over and punch you in the face.  I think I would run 1 big unit of bikes and 2 units of smaller ones but it's kinda late now - don't want to run a list I have not played.

Anyway that's it for this post.

We'll see how it goes.

Army list: Orks for 1850pts BAO/LVO

Today I played in a 3-round BAO/LVO style (Frontline Gaming) tournament. I was the only Ork player. Most people had Eldar or some flavor of Marines. LOTS of Knights.

I didn't take any video batreps, because I wanted to just play. Sometimes I like shrugging off my YouTube duties :)

Anyway this post is just the list I took:

Primary Detachment: Ork Horde
HQ(warlord): Warboss, PK, Bosspole, 'eavy armor, Da Lucky Stick

HQ: Painboy
HQ: Painboy

Troop: 30 'ard slugga boys, nob w/PK&BP
Troop: 18 'ard shoota boys, nob w/PK&BP
Troop: 10 Grots

Elite: 5 Meganobz
Dedicated: Battlewagon, ram, kannon

Heavy: 12 Lootas, 1x mek
Heavy: 4 Lobbas, 2x ammo runts (due to points)
Heavy: Battlewagon, ram, kannon

Secondary Detachment: Allied
HQ: Mek, KFF, 'eavy armor, pk, bosspole

Troop: 10 grots

Heavy: 3 Tracktor kannon, 3x ammo runt

1849pts


I dropped the bikes in favor of the meganobz.  Meganobz are pretty much an universal troubleshooter, there is very little out there they can't deal with.  I didn't really want to take battlewagons but in any sort of competitive environment but Meganobz are your ace in the hole.  The KFF really helps with that first turn or 2 of keeping the wagons moving...if needed.

Orks don't have a lot to deal with Centurions, especially when supported by Draigo.  So taking on a Centurion Star really depends on the Battlewagon surviving and delivering the Meganobz package.

Painboys make all the difference in the world against Dreadknights and Helldrakes.  And almost everything else.

A single Knight does not stand much of a chance against Meganobz, but will usually kill the nobs at the same time with stomps and/or when it dies.  An Adamantine Lance is just too much to deal with though.

The Tracktor kannons are pretty much an auto-include both for the ability to bring down flyers, FMC's and the very, very low price. They are a HUGE threat.

I was thinking about the Stompa until I realized how easily it could be brought down by a Knight (or 3) so it stayed at home.

I can't say enough about Meganobz, especially when supported by Da Lucky Stick and a painboy. 

Now only if you could take mega armor on the painboy...

1250pt Tau tournament list

Yay! I got permission to head on down to Ancient Wonders for a 1250pt tournament.  Just for fun, no entry fee and no prizes.  Love playing there though, I've always had good games.

Just paring down my current list. I'm surprised how much of it I was actually able to get in.

HQ (60): Cadre Fireblade

Troop (125): 11 Firewarriors; Shas'ui w/Markerlight, blacksun filter
Troop (159): 6 Firewarriors, carbines; Devilfish with SMS, disruption pod
Troop (129): 17 Kroot, sniper rounds; 2 kroot hounds

Elite (94): 2x XV8 each with flamer and TL-Plasma

Fast (87): 7x Pathfinders, Sash'ui
Fast (195) 3x Piranha, 3x Fusion blasters, 3x disruption pods
 (Ya it's an expensive unit)

Heavy (170): 2x XV88, 2x HYMP, 2x Velocity tracker
Heavy (131): Skyray, disruption pod, blacksun filter

Fortification (100): Aegis w/quad-gun

1250 exactly

I have a lot of skyfire for 1250pts. I'm thinking someone might try to get in 1 or 2 flyers, as most armies can't deal with them at that points level.  Tau can.

The Piranhas are expensive. However it does give me 2 units.  Because they are taking fusion blasters, there is no reason to keep the gun drones attached. They will detach right away, and try to sneak up for contesting or other shenanigans, and if they die, it's irrelevant.

Pretty happy with this. We'll see how it goes.

Getting close to finishing cleaning up Farsight. He's not as perfect as I originally though, but it's still a very good casting.

OMG Tau!

It's finally happening for real! New Tau codex!

I spent all day Saturday at a tournament (see below) and got home tired and sore only to find Tau pics online! OMG I'm so happy..and broke at the same time lol.

I went 3-0-1 with my usual gunline Ork/Tau list.  Not bad at all.  I'm pouring over rumors trying to figure out some broken Ork/Tau or SM/Tau combos. I'm sure there is something fun I can do there.. only time will tell!

April 6th. 

Road to the Bay Area Open..ends here.

I am completely heartbroken. I wont be able to attend the Bay Area Open after getting news my car has a blown head gasket.  The money I saved for the trip now has to go to either repair or a temporary car.

I'm still working on getting my Orks completed, as I want to be fully painted for league play.

I'll have to try again next year.

On March 16th is the Guardian Cup 5, so I'll probably be playing that instead.   Same points level, so I can use my BaO list.

Road to the Bay Area Open 6

Hey progress is not going as much as I would have liked. I was expecting to be done by now, but not even close!

I still have at least 9 sets of arms to paint, paint the slugga arm and touch up the big mek, finish the defkopta (rider is done though) and rebase my Tau units.  Sigh.

At least some of that is optional. I don't *have* to rebase my Tau. I have 14 total sets of arms to paint, but only need 9 for the BaO.

While waiting for primer to dry, I broke out my first box of Savage Orcs and put 6 of them together. They are super easy to assemble but painting them is going to be booring...lots of bone and wood.

Anyway, pic.

Road to the Bay Aera Open 5

Hey things are coming along just fine.

Finished 13 sets of arms so far (14 to go), finished and primed the defkopta.   I'll be working on those, I want them all done.

I also picked up a "new" camera. We'll see how it works out.

I keep thinking I need to practice, but I realized I've been playing the same list for 2 years. I think I've done enough practicing.  Just need to work out ideas to counter certain lists (like flamers and helldrakes), but I'm pretty sure I got that down.

The only thing that worries me is the Dark Angels dakka banner.. I really don't know what I can do against 30+ bikes putting out 4 TL shots each...just hope for good dice I guess :)

Here is a pic with the new camera of the built defkopta.

That's it for now!

Road to the Bay Area Open 2

First step is getting done 6 of my Blood Axe Firewarriors.  So far, so good. Getting them to a minimum standard first and then moving on to more detail

Oh, also found out the first tax filing date has been pushed back from the 22nd to the 30th. Which means I probably won't be getting my tax refund in time to order, build and paint the HQ and broadsides.  If that's the case, I'll have to re-base some models to match the Orks.

After the Firewarriors are done, I need to make a precise to-do list.  So far I know I need to touch up and paint a choppa arm for the Big Mek (since I won't be taking the burna), paint 23 sets of arms and 2 big shoota boys on the tan squad, and another big shoota for the black squad.  Other "would be nice" things includes adding more detail to the deffkopters.  I might buy and build another Eldar bike so I have 3 of them ..if only I had time.

The move has really put a damper on everything I wanted to do. It looks like this year I'll be stuck with a mediocre paint score.  Really wanted more for my first major tournament try.

I'm baaaackkk..Road to the Bay Area Open

So it's a new year. Holiday bullshit is over.  Move is (mostly) done.  Football season winding down.  Time to jump back into the hobby with both feet and get my shit done for the BAO!

Still plan on going, depending on how the cash goes.  I can't do 100% for sure yet.

1750pts.  Book missions.  7 games in 2 days.  Weeeee!

Anyway on to the list:

Primary Detachment:

HQ (90): Big Mek: KFF, Bosspole

Troop (200): 25 Shoota boys, 2x big shoota, Nob with powerklaw and bosspole
Troop (235): 30 Shoota boys, 3x Big shoota, Nob with powerklaw and bosspole
Troop (195): 30 Shoota boys, 3x Big shoota

Elite (150): 10 Lootas
Elite (150): 10 Lootas
Elite (150): 10 Lootas

Fast Attack (130): 3x Deffkoptas, 1x Buzzsaw

Heavy (84): 3x Lobba, 3x ammo runts

Fortification: Aegis defense line; quad gun

Allied Detachment:

HQ (76): Shas'el; TL Missile pod, Blacksun filter, hard-wired target lock

Troop (60): 6x Firewarriors

Heavy (160): 2x XV88, 2x targeting array

1750 exactly

I am going to try to paint up new Tau units to match my Ork army instead of just taking what I have.  Time and money may get in the way.

I have a lot of nit-picky stuff to do, like paint 23 sets of arms.  Time to get working!

Army all done and ready to go!

I actually finished everything I needed to do.  Surprised myself, really.

Built 2 big shootas and 1 extra shootaboy for the 30man nobless squad
Built and magnetized base for quad gun
Primed above

Drilled barrels and did mold lines on 22 sets of shoota arms. Pulled off slugga arms, cleaned up the model and glued on the shootas.

Farewell, slugga boys. It's been fun.

So for the lobbas I pulled the kannons off their bases and just glued on some tubes. Crude, but effective.  Someday I'll go back and magnetize everything.

Also had to adjust the list..realized that I had not paid for the targeting arrays.  Dropped a couple boys and a blacksun to get me back to 1999pts.

So off to bed, 5hrs of sleep and then time to go play with my little plastic toy soldiers all day.

Yay a tournament!

So I get to play in a 2k Nova-style tournament on Saturday (the boss gave me permission lol).  I have a lot of work to do between now and then however. I am going to take the slugga/choppa arms off my main unit and change them over to shootas (won't be painted obviously), build 3 more lobbas and then build a base for the quad gun.  In 2 days.

So this is the list. Very, very happy with it..which does not happen often lol.

Primary Detachment
HQ: Big Mek, KFF, Bosspole

Troop: 27 Shootas, 2x big shoota, Nob w/ PK&BP
Troop: 30 Shootas, 3x big shoota, Nob w/PK&BP
Troop: 30 Shootas, 3x big shoota

Elite: 10 Lootas
Elite: 10 Lootas
Elite: 10 Lootas

Fast: 3 deffkoptas, 3x TL Big shoota, 1x Buzzsaw
Fast: Dakkajet, extra supashootas, fighta ace

Heavy: 3 lobbas, 3x ammo runt
Heavy: 3 lobbas, 3x ammo runt

Fortification:
Aegis defense line: quad gun

Allied Detachment:
HQ: Sash'el, TL missile pods, target lock, HW blacksun filter

Troop: 6 Firewarriors

Heavy: 2x Broadside, team leader, targeting array, HW blacksun filter

1999pts

If I don't get the boys done I'll just have to run them as sluggas. We'll see.

Games Workshop has changed, for the better, and we should all celebrate.

How much change has GW gone through in such a short time?  For someone who borders on a GW fanboy even I had to admit that last year at this time it didn't look good for GW in the long haul.

Codex creep GK was domination the tournament scene.  Finecast continued with quality issues with GW apparently indifferent to the consumer about it.  No support for events/tournaments.  It's like they were rolling along on past success with complete apathy. Units in books without models.  Oh, and the international sales embargo.

Oh what 12 months can bring.

What sparked this post? Today's announcement of a brand-new White Dwarf.  The final bad apple has been plucked and a whole new life has been brought to the Games Workshop hobby.

Check it out here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=4200016

A whole new team. A whole new approach including featuring models painted by the community from email and Flickr. How cool is that?  Only time will tell if WD will return to past glory, but I'm hopeful.

So what else has happened to completely turn around my attitude towards GW?  A lot. Necrons brought non-power armor into the forefront of the competitive environment.  Timely and useful faq updates. More and more attendance by GW at events such as Adepticon and GenCon.

Then came 6th edition.  A whole new approach to 40k that to me is a wonderful game. With the latest round of faq and errata eliminating the deathstars and bringing the last little bit of balance to the game.  I always thought 5th edition was wonderful. It was, but 6th eclipses it by far.  Other then the challenge rules, I have no complaints about 6th. It is fast, fluid, cinematic and a whole lot of fun.  I think the challenge can be fixed really easy too, make it just like fantasy where unit champions can decline without penalty.

Still only rumors but the leaked release list includes some very interesting tidbits.  Mainly the idea that they will release small army lists in WD that can't play on their own but can be used as allies.  I consider that the ultimate win-win.  The company gets to sell more models, while the players and hobbyists get to try out new things, new models, new lists without the expense of a full sized army.  Specifically the older gamers with multiple armies that may not be buying as fast or as often as they once did, will be enticed into new purchases.  The final cherry on top is you'll never know for sure what you will come up against.   I honestly think 6th edition eliminates the "meta" entirely.

Oh ya, can't forget to mention the awesomeness that is Dark Vengeance.  For once, GW has put out a REAL starter set.  I've seen Macragge, Black Reach, Island of Blood, and none of them really qualified.  I looked through the book that came with Black Reach and I can't imagine a new player trying to figure out the game (basically it just had arrows pointing and referring to page numbers) and of course the fact that Island of Blood came with no stats at all..they had to release a pdf.

DV changed all that. There are missions that walk you through the rules adding more in each time. Heck there is even a *single player* scenario!!  Nicely made stat cards gives you all the information you need to get stared in 40k.  All this for the same price as Black Reach.  Don't forget the completely amazing models included in the set.  GW is still the king of models, especially plastics.

Did I mention every unit in the Necron codex has a model?  That is something new, and if the rumors hold then from now on every codex will have available every unit in it within a month or two. This may mean that some books are delayed, but that is a compromise I can live with.

There is no way to know what motivated this change.  Ultimately I have have to vote for the idea that sales were slumping, or at least flattening, and they realized the competition was coming on strong and they couldn't sit on their laurels any longer.  It really does come down to making money after all, and I will never berate them for that.

Edit: Totally forgot to mention the digital products!  If only they had them available for general computer use not just iSuck products.  maybe in time..

Not everything is perfect of course. The draconian clamp down on rumors.  Finecast still hasn't reached the quality it needs.  Price increases.   But overall I have to commend Games Workshop for the almost revolutionary way it has responded to complaints by it's customers and fixed a whole big chunk of it's issues, and in such a short amount of time.

I'm really looking forward to years of enjoyment with the current state of Warhammer 40k.  What's even better is the local people and community I play is huge, growing and simply amazing.  The Pacific Northwest is a huge gaming area.  There are about 12 active game stores around the Portland area alone, which means there has to be a lot of gamers out there spending money.

If you want to see what we do here, check out our club Ordo Fanaticus and it's forums.

Well that's enough for now.  I am still planning on hitting up the Bay Area Open next year, so subscribe to get updates on my plans for that over the next 6 months.

Tournament thoughts..6th edition and competitive play.

Quick reports on my tournament, I did pretty well going 2-1, getting best sports and more importantly getting to fight lists I had not seen before.

So the first thing I have to note is that IG can, in fact, put out enough firepower at 1500pts to kill off the nob bikers.  Having 2 Leman Russ tanks at 1500 is a challenge for me. I did get one to turn around so I could glance it out with Lootas and living lightning, and nobs killed another (different game) in assault.  The one game I lost was due to scoring Vendettas thanks to The Scouring rules. I did take one out, so that bring my flyer total to 8.  Didn't get any razorwings off the DE player though, I was too busy firing at scoring units.

(as it turns out it was Big Guns Never Tire so the flyers were scoring lol, but luckily my win held up due to secondary mission of objectives)

I still like the list, I liked the Space Wolves in there as well.  The Demolisher in the 2nd game really ruined my day, mainly because I read his list wrong and didn't realize it was a demolisher..sigh.  Stuff happens.  Be more through in your list reading boys and girls.

I might someday use a transport for the Space Wolves.

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General thoughts.

First, I've played in and watched a total of 3 6th ed local tournaments and the turnout has been disappointing.  Half of what usually shows up.  Not sure why.

Could be summer winding down, people getting ready for school and stuff.
Could be people don't like 6th
Could be people don't like the idea of a tournament where they have no idea what's showing up.

I think option c is more likely.  Just my guess.


The book missions provide some interesting twists, especially objectives and terrain that add quite a random factor to the game I'm not sure fits well with competitive play.  Luckily they didn't really effect my games at all.

Another thing, I was the only one there with a fortification, which was a bit of a surprise.

Fixed terrain with fortifications is quite interesting sometimes, having to fight around rocks and stuff to get the line set up.  I can't imagine trying to put a skyshield in some places.

I had a good time, got away from my kids for a couple hours and played 3 people I had never met before. Can't beat that.