Strangeway Games Tournament Report (04/15)

Originally I had planned on going into details about the narrative portion of my games at Crucible.  I may still talk about some games but as I had some car issues I was always a bit of a floater on the various teams vying for supremacy that weekend.  I did have 3 great games, 2 of which were doubles match ups with our 1000 point lists.  I did manage to go 3-0 that weekend with the same list.  I won't lie that I was a bit disappointed not to get to field my Conclave of the Burning One...

...still, I did have a ton of fun and look forward to the next narrative event!

That said, there was a tournament at Strangeway Games this past weekend.  It was 1500 points, no Come the Apocalypse Allies, and no Unbound Lists.  I had learned quite a bit of my Tyranids and as such opted to field the doubles list with a few things to help get me to 1500 points.

Tyranid Combined Arms Detachment

HQ - Hive Tyrant (Wings, 2x TL Devourers w/ Brainleech Worms) - 230 points
HQ - Hive Tyrant (Wings, 2x TL Devourers w/ Brainleech Worms) - 230 points

Troop - 30x Termagants (TL Spinefists x30) - 120 points
Troop - Tervigon (Electroshock Grubs) - 205 points

Elite - 2x Venomthrope - 90 points
Elite - Zoanthrope - 50 points
Elite - Zoanthrope - 50 points

Heavy - 3x Biovores - 120 points

Formation - The First Curse (Genestealer Cult)

HQ - Patriarch (2x Genestealer Familiar, +1 Mastery Level) - 125 points
Elite  -20x Purestrain Genestealers - 280 points

1500 points on the nose.  I had toyed with different things to help me fill the last few points but opted to bring two Venomthropes to make it harder on my opponents to remove that necessary cover.  I was not sure how The First Curse formation would work but was confident I could at least have fun.

Upon arriving to Strangeway, it was different than the previous tournaments as only Skip and Blake were present (rather than 7-8 dudes ready to roll some dice).  People slowly started trickling in and while it initially looked like the tournament wouldn't make, we ended up with a total of 6 people ready to roll some dice.

Game 1 - Ynari Eldar

Game 1 I had the pleasure of playing against Darren, a guy I had met playing Frostgrave at a friend's house.  He brought an Ynari list that was focused mostly on Dark Eldar and Harlequin troops.  There was a single Eldar Autarch in the list (for Reserve manipulation I suspect).  The list was predicated on getting off some timely Soul Burst actions and having multiple units unload poison.  As a Tyranid player, this could work really well as I had no metal bawkses for me to hide my units.  I did however have two Flyrants and Psyker superiority.

The mission was Crusade (?  D3 + 2 Objectives).  I rolled a 3 for my Genestealers deployment and opted to deploy them near a Skyshield Landing pad so I could minimize any losses until I used Return to the Shadows.  Darren won the roll to deploy/go first and I failed to seize the initiative.

I deployed in such a way that all my units at the very least received a 3+ Cover Save (2+ in ruins).  Darren fired some pot shots first turn but other than losing about 4 Genestealers, was no worse for wear.  I pushed up my Flyrants and managed to take out both of the Venoms he had pushed up for pot shots.  I managed to pin both the units but also had my first chance to see Soulburst in action.  He managed to put 2 wounds on my Flyrant in my turn but his turn was next.

On his turn, Darren was unlucky and managed to only get one of his two "death squads" in.  One was a full unit of 7 Harlequins with Fusion Pistols and Harlequin Kisses.  In the unit was an Archon with a typical 2+ Shadowfield and a kitted out Autarch (Fusion Gun, Banshee Mask, Power Sword, etc).  The other "death squad" didn't come in and consisted of an Archon court with Slyth and Medusae and an Archon as well (with a Webway Portal).

Still, between the remaining warriors and the Harlequin shots, I lost my Warlord to a good amount of 6's rolled.  Darren was in disbelief but it was a good amount of focus fire that brought him down.  He turbo boosted some units around but that was it.  He did run his Harlequin unit and left his Warlord off on a far edge within the movement arc of my Flyrant.

 

On my turn I pushed my Flyrant up and used some Psychic Shriek shenanigans with my Genestealers.  I knew I could not charge but I could still push up and threaten some of the remaining units.  I shot my Flyrant at the Harlequin squad and hit with all my hits and wounded 10 times.  Darren passed all but two LOS rolls.  His Warlord had to make two saves.  One a 5.  The other...a 1.  Strength 6 meant he got insta-gibbed.

From this point on the game pretty much went downhill.  I managed to spread my troops out to capture two more objectives giving me a total of 3 (thanks to Objective Secured).  My Genestealers were eliminated by the Court of the Archon but at best Darren had one objective with my Flyrant contesting the last objective in his deployment.  The result was a very hard fought win for the Tyranids.  Already 1-0, I had met my one objective for the day.

Game 2 - Necron CAD

Interestingly enough, there were a total of 6 armies that day, 4 of which were purple.  My second match was against Anthony and his Necrons.  He had come to the store thinking there was an Apocalypse game to play, not a tournament.  Still he built a list and refused to field a Decurion detachment.  In hindsight he mentioned wanting to field a Monolith to help manipulate his Warriors' movement.

Anthony won the roll to go first and deploy first and like the last time I played against him, I rolled a 6 to Seize (I had the Warlord trait giving me +1 to my Seize roll).  Again I rolled a 3 for my Genestealers and opted to deploy in my zone and simply Return to the Shadows.  Maelstrom Objectives would be the name of the game.

I pushed up Turn 1 but was unable to do much damage.  In his turn he pushed up and took some pot shots on my Flyrants but did little damage.

Turn 2 proved to be very pivotal.  I put 2 or so wounds on the Lychguard and whittled down some of the Warriors and Immortals in his deployment zone.  I also managed to roll a 6 for my Genestealers to deploy within 3 inches of a unit and charge.  80 attacks at Strength 5 with Rending and I needed every single one of them to take out the Lychguard.

Having drawn very bad Maelstrom cards, Anthony made a very bold move to deep strike into my deployment and capture an objective (of which he had 2 cards) and eliminate a unit in the same turn.

 

Anthony pulled to an even 3-3 tie but in my turn I managed to score 3 more cards and eliminate his Warlord putting him behind the 8 ball.  He did bring in his Doom Scythe but with only a small blast and some Tesla, he could only do a limited amount of wounds on my units.

By the end of the game I had amassed around 12 or 13 points to Anthony's 3.  Amazingly my Tyranids had gone 2-0.  At this point Skip (the store owner) mentioned that I was the only player who had gone 2-0 with everybody else going 1-1 at this point.  As I had sent half of the players to 1-1, it was up to a random roll to see who would be my third opponent.

Skip drew the lucky number.

Game 3 - Emperor's Children plus Renegade Knight

While I wish I had pictures of the game, Skip respectfully asked me to abstain from taking pictures of the game.  He is participating in an online painting contest where pictures of his army have to reported in a specific way and it evidently limits what other pictures can be taken.

Skip's army was a bit of a ringer army with a couple of Chaos Space Marine squads as well as a unit of Chosen with a whole lot of Plasma Guns...all units in Rhinos with a bit of a mini-death star with a Chaos Lord, a Dark Apostle, and another Chaos Lord.  The big hitter in his army was a Renegade Knight with AA, horde unit control, and the D-Chainsword.

With it being another Maelstrom mission and me making a new unit of gaunts every turn for four straight turns, the writing was on the wall.  I slowly took out every unit he had except his Renegade Knight.  We got to the point where only his Knight remained but I had trouble putting more than 3 hull points on him.  We were the last game going but by turn 4 I was ahead on Maelstrom something like 9-1.

Victory was assured.  I had surprisingly gone 3-0 for the day and won best overall.  I received a good prize and opted to buy a Start Collecting box of Skitari.  It would allow me the chance to field a unit of Skitarii Rangers in case I wanted to mix things up.  It also puts me on the road to a War Convo if I opted to ever go that way in the future.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoy playing with Skip and the gang out at Strangeway Games.  I know that I can be a bit intense and tend to really zone in when playing the game.  While I don't think of myself as an unpleasant player I can see where I can lead to games where it isn't fun.

Should I drink a beer before every game?  Should I take some shots?  Should I just relax?

I don't know.  I did listen to a podcast the other day where last year's ITC winner talked about how the games against the "mid level" players are the worst.  They're so concerned with trying to get ahead that they'll do everything to win.  I'd like to think that winning doesn't matter as much but once victory is within my sights, I can't help but focus on it at the expense of banter.

In any case, some games have been ultra intense at Strangeway.  Others have been super fun.  Perhaps I really do need to offer other options where my opponent can go monster hunting or perhaps do a shooting gallery game.  If I concede to begin the game, does that remove any temptation of wanting to push for the W?

I plan on trying to go in to play in Apocalypse games in the future.  I think one is scheduled for the end of the month.  I'm also wanting to learn more Age of Sigmar at Strangeway as others are learning as well.

Saturday was a lot of fun.  I even got to leave in time to go enjoy an evening out with my wife at a nearby brewery.

I've considered giving away my own prizes for the best opponent I had.  Perhaps for the best tactician I faced.  Any ideas on what I should focus on in terms of giving away a prize?

Switching Gears

I remember after playing my first few games of 40K with my friend LaMonte that I noted "Marines were great but they seemed to lack something".  We often played with/against a friend of LaMonte's who had a pretty sizeable and very deadly Tau army.  We were still total n00bs but I learned the hard way about ranged weapons that would bypass my armor.

After finishing one of our games, we got to talking about all the other armies in 40K.  Rodney (our Tau buddy) brought up Necrons and how frustrating it could be to unload everything and still have them survive and stand right back up.  My interest was piqued.

Back then they still had their old codex with something like 8 entries.  People treated the Pariahs like...pariahs.  Nobody took Flayed Ones.  It was all Warriors, Monoliths, and Destroyers...with Immortals, Wraiths, and Destroyers for flavor.  (Oh yeah...and there were these star gods you could use as well...)  Still, the army looked cool.  For a novice painter, it was a dream come true.  Dry brush metal.  Hit a shoulder pads with some color.  Get awesome translucent rods for your guns to boot!


My how the Necrons have changed over the last 7 years.  They were unofficially my 2nd army and I remember always getting excited when I was able to add a new unit to the mix.  They've always been a very fun army to play and despite the changes to the fluff, I still find myself going back to them often for tournaments.

I'm rambling...so right, the point of the post!  I have been toying with all manner of armies but found myself wanting to play something different that could be fun.  Necrons are far from unpopular, but they seem to have been lost in a sea of Mongolian Spess Mahrinz, Pointy Eared Sissies, and Communist Fish.  Necrons are the original (lol and technically "only") decurion formation.  The one that started a lot of this formation madness!  But what about a different take on them?

As you may have guessed, I am really interested in using a C'Tan to see if I can use him well.  In general everybody thinks that the C'Tan shards are garbage due to their slow movement speed and inability to pick their powers (it is random every time you shoot...and you have to choose what you are shooting even before you shoot said weapon).  But I came across the Conclave of the Burning One formation from the Blood Angel campaign book.  It is pretty simple and it seemingly helps to solve some of the problems the C'Tan shard will suffer.  Hrmmm, I guess this is the list I am thinking of using:

Speak Softly, Carry a Big Voidreaper

Combined Arms Detachment - Necrons
HQ - Destroyer Lord (Phase Shifter, Resurrection Orb, Voidreaper, Warlord) - 190 points
HQ - Orikan the Diviner - 120 points
Troop - 5x Immortals - 85 points
Troop - 5x Immortals - 85 points
Troop - 5x Immortals - 85 points
Elite - 9x Lichguard (Hyperphase Sword, Dispersion Shield)

Formation - Canoptek Harvest
Heavy Support - Canoptek Spyder (Gloom Prism) - 60 points
Fast Attack - 6x Canoptek Wraiths (Whip Coils x3) - 249 points
Fast Attack - 3x Canoptek Scarabs - 60 points

Formation - Conclave of the Burning One
Elite - C'Tan Shard of the Nightbringer - 240 points
HQ - Cryptek (The Veil of Darkness) - 90 points
HQ - Cryptek (The Solar Staff, The God Shackle, Phase Shifter) - 115 points

So right off the bat this list screams assault.  I kept playing with lists that utilized the Decurion but mostly I found them to be a tax that didn't really help synergize with the rest of my army.  I did get a +1 to my Reanimation Protocols but nothing really seemed scary.  To make matters worse, I didn't even have ObSec to help me with objective based missions.

The one thing I really wanted from the Decurion was the ability to field the Canoptek Harvest.  Even then, sometimes I thought that the Scarabs and Spyders were a bit of a tax.  But I realized that I could start to somewhat create a small Scarab Farm that would be really useful if I faced Battle Company lists and their assortment of vehicles.  Plus in this case, the Gloom Prism gives me a slightly better chance at denying some horrific Psychic power.  The Wraiths are pretty straight forward.  They're fast.  They get in your face.  They cause a real big stink, especially with Reanimation Protocols enabled.  I always ran them with a Destroyer Lord when possible and this time would be no different.  I did sacrifice a 2+ save in favor of the Voidreaper among other things.  Still digging the list.

So cool.  The whole idea of the Conclave formation is it forms a bit of a mini-deathstar.  By taking a God Shackle, I effectively remove the pain of small arms fire (though admittedly Eldar still laugh with their Rending-Lite attacks).  But suddenly gaining FNP also helps me weather some of that.  Not to mention going from 4 wounds to a whopping 8 wounds total.  I had thought about taking the Transcendent C'Tan but just found that Gaze of Death was too good to pass up.  Additionally, I gave one of my Crypteks the one off Veil of Darkness to help me with those aforementioned mobility issues.  If my opponents hide in their corner, "Surprize!  Butsekz!" may happen.

Okay.  So we have the Conclave acting as a deathstar.  We have the classic wraith mini-deathstar (really more of a really assaulty unit).  Do we need another?

Sure!  Why not!?

So with that in mind I decided to finally take some Lichguard with the sword n' board load out.  I originally had 10 but opted to eliminate one to help me better utilize some points.  By themselves, they are pretty hardy but I knew I wanted something else to help them.  Then along comes Mr. Orikan the Enabler.  Suddenly, these guys are next level good.  Their Reanimation Protocols go to 4+.  They re-roll failed saves of 1 (which is great considering they have a 3+/3++).  They are the anvil I will slowly march forward into my opponent's deployment zone.  They don't have great tools to deal with 2+ saves, but that is what the Wraiths and C'Tan are there to help with.  What's that you say?  Mr. Orikan has been training with Goku?

He sure has!  He may be a little shy but all it takes is that one roll and he goes super saiyan without needing to take a Perils of the Warp to activate it.  Plus now it is permanent for the rest of the game!

Though they may seem like a tax, I actually really like the Immortals I took in the list.  I had actually considered dropping stuff to perhaps try and fit 2 Night Scythes in (as it helps patch some of my aerial weaknesses and gives me rides to boot).  But for now I'm just gonna stick with the 3 squads of *OBSEC* units.

Pros: 
This list is basically a bunch of assaulty goodness.  It is relatively slow moving but has some tricks to get up the board.  Necrons are survivable as hell and have the ability to put the hurt on a lot of things.  This list even lets me have some ObSec units that normally would not have that ability in a Decurion.

Cons: 
Super low model count.  Pretty slow movement.  Generally ranged or template D could cause a problem.  Stomps could cause a problem (luckily nothing can stomp per the event rules).  There is next to no shooting in the list outside of some Immortals and the unreliable C'Tan powers.  Of course, Psykers may also do a number on them.

I definitely plan to playtest this.  About the only unit I need is a model for Orikan but I have a little over a month to get him, assemble him, and then paint him up.  I can easily proxy something for him in the mean time.  I am in the middle of stripping and repainting my Necrons but the scheme should be easy to carry out.

I hope to get a game in this week and give it a go against the practice mission Steve put up over on the  BeakyCon6 blog.

Potential 40K List 1 - Raven Guard

So wow, 3 posts in one day.  In all fairness I meant to start this blog back on Wednesday of this past week.  But instead held off until I had time today.  Before I had even had a chance to play my game on Saturday I had started toying with a Raven Guard list.  While the color scheme for Raven Guard is nice, I think I would go for a successor chapter to vary the coloring a bit.

Again, this is in preparation for BeakyCon.  1650 points, no Gargantuan, no Superheavies, ITC rules.  Here's the list I am thinking about:

Talon Strike Force
Core - Battle Demi-Company
HQ - Captain (The Armour of Shadows, Jump Pack) - 140 points
Troop - Tactical Squad x5 (1x Meltagun, Rhino) - 115 points
Troop - Tactical Squad x5 (1x Meltagun, Rhino) - 115 points
Troop - Tactical Squad x5 - 70 points
Fast Attack - Attack Bike Squad - 40 points
Heavy Support - Devastator Squad - 70 points

Auxiliary - Shadowstrike Kill Team
Troop - Scout Squad x5 (1x Meltabomb) - 60 points
Troop - Scout Squad x5 (1x Meltabomb) - 60 points
Elite - Vanguard Veteran Squad x10 (Jump Packs, PF/SS on Sergeant, 1x PF, 2x SS, 4x LC,  2x Power Sword, 1x Power Axe) - 315 points

Formation - Skyhammer Annihilation Force (Salamanders Chapter Tactics)
Fast Attack - Assault Squad x5 (Jump packs, 2x Flamer, Veteran Sergeant, 1x Combat Shield, 1x Power Sword) - 125 points
Fast Attack - Assault Squad x5 (Jump packs, Veteran Sergeant, 1x Combat Shield, 1x Power Axe) - 125 points - 115 points
Heavy Support - Devastator Squad x5 (Drop Pod, 3x Grav Cannon) - 210 points
Heavy Support - Devastator Squad x10 (Drop Pod, 4x Heavy Bolters) - 215 points

Not too fancy.  So I'm still not sure what to do with the Captain.  In theory I want to join him to something but don't want to deploy him solo.  He can't join the Skyhammer Assault Marines nor the Vanguard Veterans, so that means I could just put him in Cataphractii Terminator Armor, throw him in with a Devastator Squad, and call it a day.  For now I just am using a placeholder of 140 points.

I kept the Battle Demi-Company fairly simple.  I just need to "pay the tax" to get the other goodies.  I gave my Scout Sergeants Meltabombs in case they need it.  The real money maker are the Vanguard Veterans.  I went with a squad of 10 and then opted to give my Sergeant a Powerfist and Storm Shield to deal with various threats.  I have 2 Veterans with dual LC's.  One Veteran has a Powerfist and a SS.  The other only has a Power Axe (similar role for AP2).  Lastly I have 2 stock Vets with a Power Sword and that leaves me with 3x "regular" Veterans meant to carve up whomever they need.  My plans are to combat squad as needed and send one target to hunt elite or 2+ armor save targets.  The others will go for "squishier targets".

Because Assaulting from reserves is the thing, I continued with the Skyhammer Annihilation Force.  I opted for Salamanders Chapter tactics to give me re-rolls on Flamers but more specifically to mastercraft weapons.  I think that I might change this to Ultramarines as Doctrines are far more effective at getting me what I need on any given turn.

One Assault Squad is meant to deal with fodder units and things that will succumb to AP3 attacks.  I gave my Veteran Sergeant a Combat Shield to have a prayer in case he faces another opponent with AP3.  The other Squad has a Power Axe to deal with slightly tougher enemies.  I've considered giving them both Power Swords and Meltabombs instead however.  I had to pay the Veteran Sergeant upgrade for the added attack.

The real interesting portions of this list are the Devastators.  One squad is a static Grav Cannon Squad.  3x Grav Cannons in most situations are more than enough to wipe a unit or put enough wounds to make a stink.  The other unit I blatantly copied from Reece from Frontline Gaming.  The idea of pinning units using Heavy Bolters is huge, especially with so many assault units running around all over the place.  In an ideal world I combat squad and let half of my larger Devastator unit push up and harass while the Heavy Bolters find some cover and control the middle of the board.

Pros:
This list gives me the ability to tie up at least 3 units in assault (overwatch not with-standing).  It also lets me support by hurting 3 more units with pinning tests or at least denying overwatch.  It give me plenty of scoring bodies.  It provides some mobility on my ObSec units as well.

Cons:
While it can put a hurt on Tau and Eldar, it would suffer to other purely assault lists.  It has no air support.  But worst of all, it offers no real good answers to death stars.  Even Psyker Deathstars aren't shut down as I didn't drop a Culexus Assassin in the mix.  I don't know if it has enough offense to deal with the non-death star units and does not have enough units to feed said death star.

My next list will most likely be a play on the dreaded Iron Hands deathstar.  I have some Iron Hands sitting on the shelf so building it would be relatively easy.  Any thoughts?