40k Pics from Kublacon

Yesterday we went to Kublacon to play 40k.  It was a fun day even though for me it was a disapointing showing for my Templar.  I'll do another post tomorrow to go over the action.

For now here's a handful of pics.

A Deff Dread in the painting competition.

A Battlwaong in the painting competition.

This is an all female IG army made of Necromunda Escher (my pick for Players  Choice).

This Bad Moon Ork army was incredible, and ended up winning best painted army (or Players Choice, I can't remember).

His cool new Dread.

A very cool bike army.

Liam's Army with newly touched up tanks.

There were a number of nice bug armies, this caught my eye.

There were also a number of Nurgle themed Chaos.

And of course other nicely done marines.

A good number of BA, this one was unique.

Also a few Spacewolves.  I wish I could make a display base this cool.

Here are a few random pics I got of some buddies games.  The first one here is Han's Chaos Daemon's fighting off some BA.  He would go on to Tie points for Best Overall with a Witchhunter's player.

Here we have Jason's bug doing a mad conga line to score a victory against Chaos.  Of the 5 of us Jason was the only one how pulled off a win in Mission 2, while the other 4 of us all Tied!

Here's a couple shot of Liam's first game against a Pedro Imperial Fist list in game 1.

This game was with Patrick's Nurgle Chaos Marines against a Vulkan list.  Patrick would go on to win the Best General (Overall Battle Points) of the day!

As I mentioned I had fun and I glad my friends did well.  I have some gripes about the missions and am confused about my Paint Score, not to mention some painful Reserve rolls fresh in the memory... but I'll cover that in another day or so.

Kublacon this Sat

So I've decided I'm going to stay with Templar over orks for the next two tournaments I have on the calendar, starting with Kublacon this Sat.  I think I could craft a more 'winning' ork army (more troops, less KP) but I've got two motivations to stick with Templar. 

1) Far less painting to do, and I am curious to see how they score in the painting catagory.
2) I've been playing them most of the tournaments this year.  While I think I still have my 'ork chops' I think I'm far more comfortable with what my Templar can/can't handle.

I think the challenge still remains, as it did when deciding for 'Ard boyz, in that Templar will have some real issues with the new SWs and BAs which are (not surprisingly) out in force right now.

Last year I took orks to Kubla and had two massacres and a major victory to come in 3rd in Generalship (56 out of 60, the top two had 3 Massacres).  With my decent Comp score (17 out of 22), good paint score (12 out or 16) and  sportsman score (27 out of 33) I landed 2nd overall.

I do not think I'll see a repeat of last year.  I really have a hard time pulling out massacres with this army.  Of the tournament games this year the army is basically 8-0-1 (I have Anthony's IG to thank/blame for the tie), but most of those wins are minor victories.  I think I've only had one Massacre, so even if I can be really 'winning' I'll be hard pressed to break 40 points on generalship.  I could get slammed in Comp for running an all pod army, even though I would argue it is themed.  And painting is a real mystery to me.  I felt like 12 was about right for my orks.  They were all painted and cohesive and looked like and army, but certainly are not the worlds greatest paint jobs.  I think my Templar are in about the same boat, but I've heard everything from 'black and white is easy to paint' to 'they look way better than your orks' so who knows.  Sportsman is probably the only category I expect to land the same this year.

So in the end my goal is to get 100 overall points.  That would probably put me in the top 10 which would be a real achievement.  It's not like there were good prizes last year, and it is a GW GT, so it really is just a fun day to game with new people and see how you stack against your bud's scores.

As for the list I'm just going to run the same 1850 list I used back in March for this tournament.
http://www.thepreferredenemy.com/2010/03/1850-tournament-report.html

Emperor's Champion, AACNMTO
Marshal, Terminator Armor, TH/SS, Adamantite Mantle
Reclusiarch, CombiMelta, Melta bombs
Dread Melta, HF, Armor in Drop Pod w/ Deathwind
Dread Melta, HF, Armor in Drop Pod w/ Deathwind
6 Initiates, Melta, PF, 2 Neophytes in Drop Pod w/ Deathwind
7 Initiates, Melta, PF, 2 Neophytes in Drop Pod w/ Deathwind
7 Initiates, Melta, PF, 2 Neophytes in Drop Pod w/ Deathwind
8 Initiates, Melta, PF, 2 Neophytes in Drop Pod w/ Deathwind
Landspeeder MM/HF
Landspeeder MM/HF
Landspeeder MM/HF

It feels so... small after 'Ard boyz orks.  A decent 4 troops but a pretty heavy 18 kp will make those big wins hard to pull off this time around.

Ork Buggy Conversion

So after getting done with 'Ard Boyz I had put a 'what if' list together that included 6 buggies.  Of course I don't need 6 buggies for anything but 'Ard boyz (I think) but I was thinking of maybe running 2x2 in some 2k lists.

The only problem is the old buggy models are kinda crap and I imagine at some point they will get an update  So looking at my junk box I have 3 unpainted old trukk models. 

A bit of chopping and some rokkit bits and we have:

I like it because it looks like a buggy should imho.  It still has a flimsy feel like the old buggies but it looks nice and fast.  Size wise I was able to cut out a bit of the length, and the width is still the old trukk size which isn't much bigger than the old buggy.  The wartrak (which I use as my current 3rd buggy) is a little thinner but about as long as the trukk.

 

Old Trukk, Converted Buggy, Old Buggy

I also got a couple of games with my drop pod Templar 1850 on Friday.  I had a fun game with Dave D's Wolves.  He had a 50 marine list with transport and I was really worried about it.  He had some deployment issues which helped me contest his objective with a flat out speeder and claim mine as the game ended on turn 5.  If the game had gone to turn 6 it would have easily been a draw.  If his deployment had been a bit better lots of CC marines are always going to be trouble for my podding Templar.

I also got in a game with Collins Chaos.  It turns out he left out about 250 pts (lash sorc and Dread) so the game could have gone very different (either way) with those pieces.  I still had a few reminders of 'oh ya don't do that' so it was still good practice for me.

There was one combat round that is worth mentioning only because of the amazing dice rolling.   He has a Daemon Prince and 6 Zerkers (one is champ with PW) in combat with the Emperor's Champ and one remaining Marine.  The EC makes and amazing 4 Invul saves and 3 2+ saves and the marine make 2 saves as well.  Meanwhile the EC kills off 3 zerkers, so already I'm feeling incredibly lucky.  BUT THEN he has to roll 3 fearless saves for both his prince and his zerkers and he loses a zerker (which is avg) but he fails all three saves for his prince (which already had a wound) to kill him.  I guess that EC making all his saves really scarred the bejebus out of him!

Anyway we all had fun and it was good to get back into the Podding Templar mindset before Kublacon this weekend.

'Ard Boyz 2010 Report Card

So like last year I'm going to run down the army I took and, for better or worse, grade each unit based on the usefulness to the games I played.

Ghaz
Grade: A-
Game 1: Beat up some Raiders, Helped down Meph in a turn, got routed in combat with Death Company (due to boyz sqaud taking a boat load of wounds)
Game 2: Got stuck in and helped clear the 1ksons (avoided being Spawned), and killed 1/2 a zerker squad
Game 3: Helped kill Vyper squad, cleaned up FD squad, and I think another serpent also

If you can get him stuck in he doesn't disappoint.  I know end of game 1 he could have been used better, and game 2 1ksons were not 'choice' targets, but oh well.  Add in his uber Waagh and it is hard to not want to field him in my type of list at anything over 1750.  He's just a monster and, to my surprise, lived all 3 games (though was routed in Game 1 I suppose).

Big Mek, KFF, Evy Armor, Cybork, PK
Grade: A
Game 1:  Kept stuff alive, ended up PKing a bunch of assault marines and lived!
Game 2:  Kept stuff alive, forgot to deploy with 'Ard Boyz, eventually killed noise marines before being killed by PWs (no cybork saves)
Game 3:  Kept stuff alive.  I didn't even bother to get out of the BW as I didn't need him risking life and limb.

So I tried the extra wargear out and it was pretty nice.  Getting the extra Klaw attacks with the Nob catches people off guard.  The evy armor/cybork is really mostly there to dissuade people from throwing lots of attacks at him (as they would rather kill lots of orks to win combat) but didn't really help him be survivable beyond that.  Still his KFF is immensely helpful and is another reason I'll always take him.  I just don't know if in lower points the extra 40 pts of war gear is worth it as 1 of the 3 games it was totally pointless.

13 Lootas
Grade: B-
Game 1: Shot at Stormraven for 3 turns to keep it from moving/firing but could never down it, then blew the Death Company Dread away, then died in assault to marines.
Game 2: Survived lots of fire for first two turns but only managed minor damage to some rhinos and dread before being routed.
Game 3: Was assaulted on turn 2 and kept War Walkers tied up for 7 rounds of combat.

I'd say game 1 was all about what Lootas do well.  Game 2 was meh, but they took so much shooting I can't complain.  Game 3 was a hilarious fluke, but in the end worked out better for me than my opponent.

Of any unit in my army this is the one whose grade would only be improved by taking more.  3 blocks of 13 would have been amazing, 3 blocks of 9 would have also been huge.  Hell even 2 blocks of 9, which I almost picked up last Friday to run, would have probably been a big improvement.  Of any thing that is coming out of this tournament it is an order placed for more lootas.

Snikrot and his 12 Kommandos w/ Burnas
Grade: D-
Game 1:  Had no real good targets, failed at doing anything in assault to Strormraven and wiped out by Death company dreadnought.
Game 2: Had no real good targets so spent time glancing up rhinos before getting shot to death.
Game 3: Had no real good target so assaulted warp spiders, killing off 1/3 before being routed away.

Dissappointment.  Of.  The.  Day.

Sure I've seen how effective these guys can be, but at 2500 it seems like they just had far less opportunity.  I think they have more effectiveness in lower point games, but I don't think I'll ever run more than the 9 man squad I've grown accustomed to using.   At this tournament I'd have rather dumped them completely and used more lootas, which would be more useful against any opponent (even if they did leave some infantry in the backfield).

4 Manz with 3 Combi Weapons
Grade A
Game 1: After hanging out with Ghaz beating up some LRs, one survived Meph's assault, to jump back in BW to hold objective
Game 2: Assaulted 1ksons, killed them off before last man took PF from Zerkers
Game 3: Helped kill alongside Ghaz, think I had one left still at end of game.

For their points they are nice solid pieces.  This was the first time I ran 4 and I'm glad I did.  When I run 3 they almost never survive for me, but 4 seemed to help so maybe that is the tipping point.  I could be tempted to use more if it wasn't for the fact that it means a lot of eggs in 1 basket (considering Ghaz's and BW's cost).

20 Shoota boyz
Grade: B
Game 1: Held objective, not much else
Game 2: Charged rhino and DP, put on some wounds and helped kill some noise marines.
Game 3: Absorbed fire, I think killed off guardians and serpent.  Would have died if we kept going.

They did their job.  They aren't really great for much other than objective squatting in this list as the big blocks of boys are doing most of the heavy lifting.  I think I should have put them in reserve rather than the big boyz blocks, but that's all I think I could have done that might have been more sound tactically.

30 Sluggas with Rokkits
Grade: C
Game 1: One squad fought with assault marines and eventually lost, the reserve squad came on, PK'd a LR and contested an objective (damn unkillable Stormraven!).
Game 2: One squad moved up and popped a rhino, reserve squad came up and took some pot shots at noise marines.
Game 3: One squad popped a serpent, the other squad took lots and lots of STR 6 shots.

I have a soft spot for my big blocks, but when you look at the end result it's usually 'not a lot of killing but lots of taking up shots.'  The rokkits were 'meh' at best.  Having the big foot print is nice and people waste a lot of time killing a few boys at a time which is also a plus.  Once again playing my reserves differently might have helped the usefulness, but overall I can't say they were disappointing.  They just do what they do.

But really for 250 pts could I do better?  For 290 pts is 20 boys (with PK nob) in a decked out BW better?  I think the answer is yes.  If point are tight going down to sub 200 pts for 25 boyz and Nob (no rokkits) is probably just as effective as what I ended up running if it means getting more fire support elsewhere.

19 Ard Boyz
Grade: A
Game 1: Fought with Assault marines, won, had a few boyz running around at the end of the game with no objective near them.
Game 2: After sleeping in late in the BW got out and finished off the DP and killed off HQ sorc before finally getting routed/killed by the Noise Marines.
Game 3: Immobilized a serpent, killed off Fire Dragons, loaded back into BW.

This is a unit I never used much before but going forward will probably always use.  The fact that they can hang around in combat and shrug off some of the vehicle explosions that go off every game is big, too big to ignore in fact.  I wish I could take more than one squad.

Deff Dread w/ 2 Scorchas, Armor, Riggers
Grade:  D
Game 1: Routed Assault unit, Immobilized LR, Meltad to death.
Game 2:  Took shots, eventually melta'd.
Game 3:  Out of position did nothing.

No real surprises here as I knew this was I 'it fill points and I like the model' call.  Game 1 he was moderately useful, but in every way should those points have gone to Kans or Lootas.

3 Rokkit Buggies
Grade: B
Game 1: Stunned a LR, took pot shots, 1 mobile but gunless buggie left
Game 2: Shot at rhinos (stunned/shaken/weapon destroyed... nothing great), 1 mobile but gunless buggie left
Game 3: Took shots but was out of range most of game, not a scratch on them at the end.

They soaked up shots with that KFF nearby and gave me some shooting options.  They were never horribly effective (would be nice to actually POP a few things) but they filled the roll well.  Again running 3 was new, and that meant the difference between 'dead' and 'cowering' at the end of two games.  For the points I think they are still a great unit.

3 Killa Kans w/ KMB
Grade: B
Game 1:  Ineffective shooting at LRs, killed in combat with marines (damn your PF) but killed 1/2 a squad.
Game 2: Soaked up fire (thanks KFF) and popped the dread in turn 5.  Survived unscathed.
Game 3: A few pot shots, largely out of place against mobile eldar, but survived unscathed.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Kans overall.  I mean I love them, but they just never kill a lot.  They do eat up LOTS of shots with the KFF, and they do make people worry.  The KMB was pointless, but I know the few times it has helped against MCs and Oblits makes it worth the extra points.  Really though I think I should cut the KMB for rokkits if it means getting more in the list.  I have a feeling with Kans its a 'Get More or Take None' kind of a thing.

2 Battlewagons w/ Deffrolla, Red Paint, Grot Riggers, Armor Plates, BS
Grade: B
Game 1: 1 immobilized a rhino and lived as a bunker for my last MAN.  The other was popped early.
Game 2: Both delivered their payload (granted later than I like) and one survived and destroyed a rhino.
Game 3: Again both delivered payload.  I think one stunned a Serpant.  One was popped.

The deffrolla is frightening but didn't do nearly as well as I hoped.  I was never immobilized so the Grot riggers did nothing (though I still think they are needed) and Armor helped.  The BS is a 'wound' but the Red paint for me was forgotten for the most part when it would have mattered a whole one time (that it turned out not to matter much).

However what really counts the most is how many shots they suck up with the KFF.  Also the fact that the KFF range is made almost twice as big since you measure from the hull is huge as well.  All that makes for a great peice overall.

Overall Army Grade: B+
The army overall worked like I thought it would and felt comfortable to use.  I never felt like I walked into a situation where I couldn't predictably see what the outcome would be in the end (with the exception of the War Walkers and the Lootas).

That said if I could do it over (and money weren't an issue) I think that would have served me better would have been:

Ghaz
Big Mek, KFF, Armor, Cybork, PK
9 Lootas
9 Lootas
9 Lootas
4 Manz, 3 Combi, in BW w/ Armor, Deffrolla, Riggers, BS
18 Ard Boyz, Nob PK/Pole (in 2nd BW with Mek)
19 Shootas w/ 2 BS, Nob PK/Pole
25 Sluggas, Nob PK/Pole
25 Sluggas, Nob PK/Pole
3 Buggies w/ Rokkits
3 Buggies w/ Rokkits
BW w/ Armor, Deffrolla, Riggers, BS
3 Kans w/ Rokkits
3 Kans w/ Rokkits

Basically take out Snikrot and Kommandos, the Rokkits in the squad, the dread, a few boys, and downgrade KMBs to Rokkits on Kans.

You gain a two smaller squads for 3 loota squads, 3 more buggies, and another 3 kans with Rokkits.  I think this list would have provided a LOT more shooting capability but lost nearly nothing in its assault capability or staying power.

Of course I wasn't planning on buying 3 more loota boxes, 3 buggies (with that horrible kit), and a Kans box just for one game.  We'll see what I pick up over the next year though.  I know I want at least a few more lootas, I think I'd like to try my hand at converting the old ork trukks to buggies, and the new kans are pretty sweet.  :)

Ard Boyz 2010 Prelim Results

Showed up for a fun day at 'Ard Boyz yesterday and was not disapointed.  24 players came out but I can't say there was a ton of variety.  There were several Chaos, ork, BA, Nids, IG, rounded out by 1 Tau, 1 Spacewolf, and 1 Eldar.  There were no Vanilla marines which was a little suprising.  Several non represented codex which wasn't too surprising either (Daemons, Necron, DE, BT, DA, GK, WH).  It just clearly shows what people think the balance of good armies is right now.

I settled on an Ork list and fought off the urge to make last minute purchases to make the list 'better' since who knows if it would have helped.

Ghaz
Big Mek, PK, Evy Armor, Cybork, KFF
12 Kommandos w/ 2 Burnas, Snikrot
13 Lootas
4 Manz, 3 combis in Battlewagon w/ Deffrolla, BS, Armor, Grot Riggers, Red Paint
19 Shoota boyz w/ 2 BS, Nob PK/Bosspole
29 Slugga boyz w/ 3 Rokkits, Nob PK/Bosspole
29 Slugga boyz w/ 3 Rokkits, Nob PK/Bosspole
18 Ard Boyz, Nob PK/Bosspole
Deff Dread w/ 2 scorcha, Armor, Grot Riggers
3 Warbuggies w/ Rokkits
3 Killa Kans w/ KMB
Battlewagon w/ Deffrolla, BS, Armor, Grot Riggers, Red Paint, Stikkbomb Chukka

I felt the list had enough troops (with only one objective mission), a good amount of choppy, and lots of tank killing options though I knew the shooting would apply pressure most of it would be rather ineffective.

Game 1: Mike's Blood Angels
Astorath the Grim
Mephiston
Sanguinary Priest
Sanguinary Priest w/ Stormbolter
10 Assault Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, PF in LRC w/ MM
10 Assault Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, PF in LRC w/ MM
10 Assault Marines w/ 2 Flamer, PW, Hand Flamer, Melta Bombs in LR
9 Deathcompany
Death Company Dread w/ Talons
Storm Raven

This was the mission w/ 5 objectives which we pretty much put in far corners and the last in a somewhat central spot.  I got to go first and deployed.  I kept one unit of boyz in reserve.  Mike basically stacked in his 3 LR variants with Meph walking behind them and the Raven right behind picking up a cover save.

 End of Turn 1

In the 5 turns of playing it was positively bloody.  I could just not down the Stormraven but I kepted it stunned and in the backfield most of the game which meant he had a big point sink in the back.  Snikrot had 0 targets so I figured I'd throw him at the Raven but he couldn't do squat.  His dread jumped down and finished them off in one turn, but then had 36 Loota shots blow him off the table.

In the end I made him come to me because I knew I couldn't pop the Raiders from range.  Meph got over to charge Ghaz and the Manz who were trying to pop LRs and he killed 3 of the Manz (damn str 10) before taking 6 Ws to Klaws.  Had we ended on the top of 5 I had 4 objectives to his none.  On the bottom of 5 he was able to get his troops over to contest one, and his Strom Raven flew in to contest another due to my laziness in creating a buffer.  Either way 2-3 objectives was still a Major win, so I can't kick myself too much, but I picked up 0 bonus points but he had picked up 3.  17-3, not a bad start.

Game 2: James Chaos Marines
Prince w/ Wings, MoT, Warptime, WoC
Sorcerer w/ MoS, Lash, Plasma Pistol
Dreadnought w/ Plasma Cannon, HF
9 Noise Marines w/ 7 Sonic Blaseters and one BlastMaster, Champ w/ PW, Doom Siren, Sonic Blaster, Melta Bombs in Rhino w/ Havoc Launchers
10 Plague Marines w/ 2 Plasmaguns, Champ w/ PF, Combi Flamer in Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher
9 1ksons, Aspiring Sorc  w/ Melta Bombs, Gift of Chaos in Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher
10 Khorne Zerkers, Champ w/ PF in Rhino w/ Havoc Launchers
5 Chosen w/ 3 Meltas, 2 Flamers in Rhino w/ Hacvoc Launchers
5 Chosen w/ 3 Meltas, 2 Flamers in Rhino w/ Hacvoc Launchers

10 Havocs w/ 2 Meltaguns, 2 Flamers, Champ w/ IoK, PF, Combi Flamer in Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher

I found the army unuaual but James assured me that having all of the ruinous powers working together was really paying off for him in games so I looked forward to seeing it in action.  However just looking at bother are forces and I straight away knew we'd be playing for a tie.

I set up first and picked the corener of my liking and again kept one squad of boys in reserve.  He set up with everything on his table with Chosen rhinos positioned in such a way to give cover to multiple other rhinos.

He stole the initiative!  7 Havoc Launchers later and my Lootas were reduced to 7 but they stuck around.

The next few turns proceeded with us trading shots and me popping a few rhinos and him killing off handfuls of boyz.  Finally when Snikrot came in I figured I had to make my move so I prepared to call the Waagh.

Unfortunately in my haste I forgot to deploy my Ard Boyz from their wagon.  This left one side of my assault underwhelming and unsopported.  As because of the way things worked out Ghaz and the Manz had to go after 1ksons, not their choice target.

About here is where the Ard Boyz apparently enjoyed the comfort of the BW instead of Assaulting.

Snikrot assualted two rhinos and beat them up good, but it would take another two turns and some help from another squad before I could pop them.  Ghaz and the Manz traded kills with the 1ksons.  He tried to eventually Spawn Ghaz which would have been hilarious but he needed a 6 and couldn't close it.  Eventaully Ghaz would finish off the 1ksons but also be assaulted by the zerkers who would finish off the Manz.

The other side of combat didn't go great where it could have been a little better for me had I managed the early assault.  In the end I think it worked out in my favor still, but I think it would have been better.

With the minutes winding down and it being the bottom of the 5th I said 'look, I just want to shoot your dread and finish this combat and we'll call it a game.'  With agreement I popped the dread and Ghaz brought the Zerkers to 1/2.

In the end I had killed his DP, Sorcerer, 1ksons, a Chosen squad, his Dread, and gotten 1/2 pts for his Noise Marines, Zerkers, and other Chosen squad.  I had also popped or debilitated most of his rhinos.  VP for me 1407.

He had killd my KFF mek, Snik's Kommandos, the Lootas, the Manz, the Shoota boyz, the ard Boyz, and got 1/2 points for my Wagon and 1/2 for my buggies.  His VP 1197.

So with us being under 375 VP of each other a draw.  I was not shocked.  I'm still kicking myself for not deploying my Ard Boyz when I had meant to do so, but in the end I still don't know if it would have mattered.

He picked up a VP for having more troops in one table quarter, so the game rounded out 10-11.

At this point I know I'm out baring a miracle.  Still I manage to get on table 4 so if I can pull out a full Masacre and every other table can fail...

Game 3:  Jason's Eldar
I've played Jason's IG before and we've gotten to hang out a bit at most other tournaments so I was happy to play him in game 3 as I knew it would be fun > uber competition.

Farseer w/ Doom and Runes
Autarch
5 Firedragons in Serpant w/ Stones, Shuriken Cannon and TL Shuriken Cannon
5 Firedragons in Serpant w/ Stones, Shuriken Cannon and TL Shuriken Cannon
9 Dire Avengers in Serpant w/ Stones, Shuriken Cannon and TL ML
9 Dire Avengers in Serpant w/ Stones, Shuriken Cannon and TL ML
10 Storm Gaurdians w/ 2 Flamers, Warlock w/ Embolden in Serpant w/ Stones, Shuriken Cannon and TL Lances
10 Storm Gaurdians w/ 2 Flamers, Warlock w/ Embolden in Serpant w/ Stones, Shuriken Cannon and TL Lances
10 Warp Spiders
3 Vipers w/ Scatter Laser and Shuriken Cannon
3 War Walkers w/ ML, Scatter Laser
Fire Prism w/ Stones, TL Shuriken Catapults, Prism Cannon
Fire Prism w/ Stones, TL Shuriken Catapults, Prism Cannon

So I'm looking at his list I think I have a chance.  He's got a potential 40+ KPs to my 22.  He wins roll off and wants to go 2nd.  I set up with cover, but he then sets everything in reserve.  Clearly his plan is to deny as many rounds of shooting at units to avoid giving up KPs.  I spend two turns moving everything forward trying to stay central so I can go wherever I'm needed.

 That tall building is the center, really.

 
Turn 2 and he gets under 1/2 the army which is surpring because he got them on 3+.  He moves one prism and two serps around for some shooting and the Vypers closest to my central force also laying down fire.  It was pretty much all ineffective (some dead boyz).

  You know what comes next... or do you?

For the comedy gold of the day his War Walker actually outflanked right next to my lootas.  After only being able to kill two of them in shooting he charged them.  I figured 'oh well they're dead, would have been nice to shoot at skimmers'.  He figured 'one maybe two rounds of combat and I'll free up these walkers to flank his army. 
 
Except at the end of turn 5 when we called the game I still had 3 Lootas tying up his 3 Walkers.  Every round was total fail for him and fearless/LD rolls from me.  It was the weirdest/hilarious/shocking thing I think either of us had seen all day.  I think both of us didn't think it was one of those 'this is a game changer' things, so we both just laughed as every round of combat went by in disbelief.
 
I'm not sure what else to say about this match.  I was on him quickly with my forces and his shooting was really REALLY dismal.  Sadly when Sniky came in he didn't have lots of options as Jason was a little cornered but had also spread out his Warp Spiders to block a lot of entry options for me.  Snik came in and killed 1/2 the spiders but some DA were able to jump in and help clean them off the table.  There were lots of exploding Eldar vehicles that did indeed inflict casualties on the boyz but it didn't really seem to matter as I had boyz to spare and each explosion brought bit KPs so it was worth it.
 
We called it toward the end of his 5 when he said he said he wasn't going to be able to close the gap at all (and there was only about 10 minutes left).  I had lost Snikrot (1kp), a BW (3kp) and a Slugga squad (1kp).  In theory had we finished the whole round he could have possible popped the rest of my shootas, and maybe picked up something like the Dread if his shooting could finally switch to 'effective'.
 
On the other side I had killed his Vypers (3 kp), both Dragons and their Serpants (8 kp), and a Gaurdian squad with their Seapant (4).  Had we gone another round I might have pulled down a little more, but again I don't think the gap would have varied much.  So in the end I got the Masacre, and I also pulled down all 4 Battle Point Modifiers and he got 1.  24-1.
 
So while I still managed my biggest point scoring round it was not enough to place.  The guys on table 1 had enough to carry them in to 1st and 3rd, with a gent on table 2 getting a Masacre for 2nd place.  Table 3 had a guy tie with my for points. 
 
So in the end it looked like:
1st Nids 62 pts
2nd Orks (lots and lots of boyz with Ghaz) 56 pts
3rd Chaos (PMs and Lash and Oblits) 52 pts
4th My Orks at 51 pts
Tied 4th Nids 51 pts
 
There was someone else with 50 pts and Liam was right biehind him with 47 pts with his Chaos.
 
It pretty much went exactly how I thought it would.  I thought I could do well in the objective mission, would probably tie in round 2, and had a good chance of going for the Massacre in round 3.  Being 1 pt out of 3rd is great and painful at the same time.  There was not much I think I could have done to really bang out any one of those bonus Battle Points.  A few where I could not given them up... but not really get any for myself.
 
I'm also glad I didn't bring my podding BT.  Game 1 would have been close.  I could have popped LRs and then been charged.  I don't know that would have gone well.  Game 2 is kinda in the same boat.  Yes I would have popped rhinos but would I have been able to deal with all that chaos marines action.  Test games with Liam say 'NOT LIKELY.'  Eldar would have danced around my ass all game and destroyed me.  So orks were indeed the better call.
 
However now all I can do is think about what I would have changed to make the list better.  Not surprisingly some of the things I was wanting to buy at the last minute would have made the list better.  I'll cover that in my next post.

Ard Boyz Missions v2 posted

GW clarified the whole KP issue for mission 3 for deep striking units.  Pods are now worth 1 kp, though the Monolith is still 3 for it's ability to move units. /shrug

So pods become viable again for that mission.  Sadly I'm not sold on their ability to deal with BA and SW, in particularly at that point level.  So I think I'm still leaning orks.

2 days and closing...

Ard Boyz Practice: Orks vs Chaos

Collins came over last night for us to both practice for 'Ard Boyz.  I think both our lists suffer a little from 'this is what I have to make 2500 pt' syndrome, but that's not to say they can't be nasty.  I'm just not sure either can deal with some of the uber you can see at that point level.

Terminator Sorcerer, MoS, Lash
Sorcerer, MoS, Lash
6 Chosen, 4 melta in rhino w/ dozer
4 terminators, various upgrades, MoK, in Landraider
9 Khorne zerkers, Champ w/ fist, rhino
9 Noise marines, 5 Sonic blasters, Champ w/ Doom Siren, PW in rhino
8 Noise marines, 5 Sonic blasters, Champ in rhino
10 Marines, Melta, Lascannon, MoN
3 Oblits
Vindi, Daemonic Possession
TriLas Pred

vs

Ghaz
Big Mek, KFF, Evy Armor, Cybork, PK
12 kommandos, 2 burnas, Snikrot
13 Lootas
19 Shoota boyz, 2 BS, Nob PK/BP
29 Slugga boyz, 3 rokkits, Nob PK/BP
29 Slugga boyz, 3 rokkits, Nob PK/BP
18 'Ard boyz, Nob PK/BP
4 Manz, 3 combiguns in BW, Armor, Grot Riggers, Deffrolla, Red Paint
Dread, BS, Scorcha, Armor, Riggers
3 Rokkit Buggies
3 Kans, KMB
BW, Amor, Grot Riggers, Deffrolla, Red Paint, Stikk bomb Chucka

This was a fun game that was close the whole time and could have gone either way.  It seemed like we had some very polar rolling,  3s & 4s seemed to be on holiday.

In the end it came down to a noise marine squad, Vindicator, and 5 chosen shooting at 18 boyz.  The chosen were on an objective and the 18 boyz were conga lined across two objectives.  Ghaz, a BW, and lootas had cleaned out the other side of the field but with no scoring units they were just hanging out over there.  This final turn ended up being math hammer perfect with Dave killing 7 guys, and my 11 boyz held the two objectives.  Close enough where it could have gone either way though.

For me it was a good chance to get into the ork warboss mentality.  There were a few things I messed up/forgot/could have done better.

1) I got greedy thinking I would advance with a slugga squad to try to get a lucky glance with the rokkits on the LR.  Thing is they didn't (shockingly) and then I was close enough to be charged. DOH!

2) I started my Mek BW in cover, and rolled double 1s turn 1.  Great.  What's worse even with mek tools AND Grot riggers the BW didn't repair until turn 4.  Sure it is unlikely, but really that was an unnecessary risk I paid dearly for taking.

3) I charge a LR moving over 6 with two squads, hoping 12 Klaw attacks at Str 9 would do something.  I should have thought more about the math as NO it did not, and my two squads were both chargeable by zerkers (and routed/killed).  I would have been better to move them away and apart so that only one squad could be charged.

4) Sniky actually did great against Dave's marines, but we forgot they were Mark of Nurgle.  Had I know/Dave remembered I might have been better off going after rear armor vehicles.  Such is life.

5) I forgot I had red paint.  I would have been able to ram his LR turn 5 when I was 1/2 inch short.  It wasn't a game changer as I rammed/killed it turn 6, but still I need to remember that.

6) My lootas were not in the best position.  I have to remember that 48" range does not mean the whole table, and with 2 games being cornerish deployment I have to consider moving them to little more 'central' spot if I want to get shots out there.

Overall the list did what it does.  The 5 objective mission works out pretty well for me.  With 5 scoring units and 3 of them being big enough to often take 2.  I also put one large squad in reserve as the diagonal deployment does limit the room I have to deploy, but allows me to come in across my whole table edge.  That worked out pretty well.

The dread was useless.  He can't shoot for shit (he didn't try) and he got jammed up behind other vehicles.   He got dealt with about turn 4 when Dave could basically 'get around to it.'  At GK it might be different with all the LOS cover, or if I can keep my damn KFF up and moving, but still I think he is the weakest part of the list.

Aside from that I'm feeling good about the orks.  Even if Drop Pods are ruled 1 kp I think I'm just feeling more comfortable with them.  They have a lot of tricks, and while they might not all be useful against all armies, DP BT have one trick only.  As we saw with the BA if that one trick doesn't work they're toast.

Damn Damn Damn

Closing in on days before 'Ard Boyz and I'm farther away from settling on a list, and even army, than I was a week ago.

Anthony came over Friday and just murdered Podding Templar with Blood Angels.  Twice.  Sure a few thing I now know I could have done different would have helped a little, but overall I just don't think I can compete with their raw CC power.  It really is the first time I've looked at two armies that should have similar 'feels' and thought the BT codex age was really showing through.

Beyond that the missions came out on Friday.  Of course the interwebz is all aflutter over mission 3 where anything that can potentially move over 6" in any phase is worth 3 kp.  There is online debate about if drop pods do or do not.
REASONS WHY THEY MIGHT
1) The turn Drop Pods deep strike they are said to be struck in combat 'as if they had moved at cruising speed.'  The though being that cuising speed means over 6".

REASONS WHY THEY MIGHT NOT
1) That rules states 'as if' not 'they have' moved at combat speed.
2) It has been argued that the mission means the unit can move on its own through consecutive phases.  Like a rhino can always move 12" but the tactical squad can only do so when boarded, so they are not.  Since the drop pod is immobile immediately upon landing it really has no movement.
3) Fluff wise this is about getting the fast moving units.  Its hard to imagine lumbering Monoliths and immobile Drop pods as 3 points.

So that's a big wonder for my podding Templar.  33 kp vs 51 kp.  33 would be managable, but there is still the issue of getting whooped by BA (and now I'm wondering about SW as well).

On the flip side there are my orks which up until a few weeks ago I thought would be my Ard Boyz choice.  Without changing a thing they are only 22 kp.  Damn.  Can they compete with BA and SW?  I think so.  At least I have the opportunity to shoot a few things.  Lootas will make Stormravens cry.  Ghaz will pwn anything (for at least two rounds).  The army is weaker against mech over all though, and I'm not sure how many people will really shy away just because of one mission.  I wouldn't call it a totally optimized army either, but I don't think it is uncompetitive in any way.

So we'll see.  They might get a FAQ out before the weekend like they did last year.  Collins is coming up tonight and we'll see how that works out for us.

3 more days and I'll have to show up with something.

Waiting for 'Ard Boyz Missions

I'm a little surprised the 'Ard boyz missions aren't yet up on the site.  Usually they put them up two weeks or so before hand, this year it looks like they want to get it up with just one week.

I suppose I understand, they want to keep people from building all out forces built around the missions.  I can't say I don't agree, but of course at the same time would like to 'tune up' my lists based around whatever wackiness they put out there.

I'm torn between armies again, which isn't surprising really.  It has been nice to know I was doing BT these last few tournaments because it got rid of this panic attack I normally go through before an event.  Now I'm going through all the same doubts for each of my proposed lists.

Does it have enough ability to keep scoring units alive?
Is it too many kill points?
Are there too many eggs in too few baskets?
Can it kill enough tanks consistently?
Can it deal with a large horde?
How will it handle the Uber units in the game?
How will the heavy terrain at the LGS affect this army?

Then comes the crazier thoughts associated with 'Ard Boyz as it is a new and higher point level:
Is this a good army, or just an army of 'what I have'?
If I could blow another $XX what could I get to make this more competitive?

And that is of course where the tuning the list comes in to play.  I have lists built around all 4 armies, but each one has needs ranging from 'could tweak this' to 'I would absolutely need to buy this'.

However it's kinda pointless until missions get posted so for now I'm just looking at army builder and wondering.

Well that is not ALL I'm doing, there just isn't much else going down right now.  I basically finished up the Terradons.  I left the riders off them to make it easy to airbrush them.  I also picked up Anthony's two drop pods and started getting them together.  If I go with Templar I'll go all out Drop pods, so borrowing a few will help me cut down the 'to buy list' considerably.

Hopefully we'll see those missions this weekend and next week will be the mad dash to 'Ard boyz.