Memorable Tournaments

Ok...so I've been to well a LOT of tournaments over the years.

Here's the one's I can think of off the top of my head (hope I got the years right) along with my best memories of the event:

1999 - Chicago - Eldar

Crushing Marines - and not able to hang with IG back in 3rd edition. My "cherry popper" tourney. Got a rude awakening as to the interpretations of comp back in the day. Think I went 4 and 2.

2000 - Baltimore - Dark Angels (1st Best Sportsman)

Great tournament - met a lot of fun folks - even though I went by myself. Most memorable game was against a young guy who I thought would be not so fun - but turned out to be a grand game - lots of whooping and hollering. Was 500 overall 2 w/2 L/ 2T. Shocked when they called me for overall sportsmanship - which was actually my goal and couldn't have been happier. Still look at my Space Wolf drinking horn trophy and smile.

2000 - Chicago - Dark Angels

Fun tournament - about .500 overall. Played my buddy Sabote there for the first time. Also met Adam Catt who had a full Dark Angel Battle force for his army.

2001 - Chicago - Space Wolves

So/so tournament - think I went .500 'sh. Remember being shocked by a warlock killing my dread and then having the rest of the Eldar mug me. I remember playing some guy named Dennis from Chicago who had a marvelous sculpted Space Wolf Army. Also remember $10 beers in the hotel. Average showing.

2001 - Dallas - Dark Angels

Brought the DA back again. Biggest memory was my buddy Dunger not sleeping all night and getting the lowest sportsmanship score overall at the tourney. I think I went 5 and 1 - wound up in 10th overall.

2004 - Atlanta - Nurgle (2nd Place Best Sportsman)

My buddy Dunger and I both went - I got second and he got 3rd in Sportsmanship. Got to play Troy Clifton's beautiful Space Wolf Army. Also played Wai Lam's Eldar. Dung got beat by Joe Johnson's Grey Knights! Fun tourney. 2 wins and 3 draws.

2004 - Detroit - Nurgle

Went with my buddies Doug and Dunger - fun trip. Good tournament. Biggest memory was facing off against and Eldar Cheese army full of star cannons in a mission that brought me in piece meal. I managed to Deep Strike some Termies into the Eldar line and had them go amoke on them. Won a game I thought I had zero chance against. 3 wins 2 draws

2005 Chicago - Nurgle

Back to Chi town this year - started off smoking my first two opponents. Then Dunger puts the Vietnamese curse on me and (accurately) predicts a draw and 2 losses for my next games. Played some fun guys - remember a fellow named Bobby Riggins from Texas who stills says hi to me when we meet at tourneys now.

2006 - Chicago - Nurgle (3rd Place Best Sportsman)

Ouch - a rough one for me - 2 wins - 3 losses - but some memorable games. Played Steve Turner (Green Blow Fly online) who's still a good buddy of mine to this day - who beat me. Played Monte Kerr from BOLS who I still count as a gaming bud who beat me despite suffering some early game loss (Battle cannon scattering onto Dante on turn one). Got to play the great Marc Parker - who I call a friend and I believe is the best player in the hobby still - he smoked me. Managed to pick up a couple wins at the end. GW messed up the sportsmanship and gave 3rd to wrong guy - I got a bunch of goodies.

Baltimore 2007 - Eldar (1st Place Best Sportsman)

Ok - my best tournament showing thus far. Met Fritz from Way of Saim-Hann and played in the Apocalypse game where he got the Head Hunter award and I got the Go-Getter award. We then played in game one of the GT. Great guy that I call a gaming buddy still today. Got a rematch against Monte Kerr and taught him the strength of 4th Ed Harlequins (we not got to get in a rubber match), Got to play Pete Elias in one of the hardest fought games I've ever had in a GT - he got slight victory but we both scored a lot of points, then Scott Walsh - a buddy from the Wrecking Crew in the last round. Took sixth overall and got Best Sportsmanship. Best memory was seeing how Dunger was doing after game three and his opponent had been giving him Vodka the whole game. He was one loaded fella! Wound up in 6th place overall.

Adepticon 2008 - Eldar

Gladiator - got to meet Shawn Kemp - a previous GT winner and all around good guy - one of my most fun tourney opponents. Almost made some guy cry who was running a Demon Hunter/Guard combo when I killed his Baneblade. Warhound Titans are bad news. Middle of pack showing.

Team Tourney - Doug, Chris, and Gimli and I teamed up. Fun tournament. Best memories was the shock and awe that Doug and I put on a couple of aggressive ork players when 2 squads of Harlequins rolled their middle in HTH. Also great game with a Chicago group that ran Ultra's.

Invitational - got to go to that based on Baltimore the year before. Had a series of great games/opponents - as hard as it gets. Got to play Shawn again in round 1, Played Mike Mutschler from Toledo team in round 2, and Allan ? (Blackmoor online) in round 3. Two wins and a minor loss to Blackmoor - fun tournament.

More to come on the rest shortly.....

Big Waagh 2008 - Eldar

Pretty good tourney. George Flowers did an outstanding job setting up a first year tournament. I did middle of the pack overall. Took Brian Crew - a great friend along - to his first tournament as a Blade and Bolter boy - the start his run to glory (he won the whole tourney in 2009). Played some good games. Victory against Marines - got beat by a tough Ork Nobz Biker list and another Eldar player. Top 25'sh overall.

Adepticon 2009 - Nurgle/Ultramarines

Back to Chi town for another Adepticon. Much better facility this year. Adepticon is probably the best run, big tourney around. Highly recommend you going.

Gladiator - I took a generic Nurgle Chaos list - no Forgeworld, no super-heavies - just a straight up Chaos list. Only non-Nurgly thing was a Lash Sorcerer. I ran into every kind of bad thing you can hit. Game one was against a nice guy running Chaos and a Warhound. My Dread gets into HTH with him - and takes him down! Major Victory for me! Game Two against a Demon List - Fateweaver and the FW Khorne Greater Demon (800 point Monster) - I basically tie it up and pull a big win! I'm rolling! Then I play against a Reaver Titan - the guy who got second. Umm...ouch! Game Four against a really nice guy playing Guard with a Marauder bomber. I pull a minor victory in a great game. Overal all around 30'th I think. Fun game.

Team Tourney - Brian, Matt, Gimli and I teamed up - Running Ultramarine Land Raider Spam. Fun tournament - with one exception. First round was against a group that ran mixed Guard, Marine, Demonhunter list - we all won. Unfortunately the second round was one of my least favorite tourney games ever - against a group that had a bad list - that I feel tried to cheat for the win. 1 team one 1 team lost - lowest sportsmanship scores I've ever given. The next game was a blast - against a Khorne/Chaos Demon list ran by some guys from MN - very tactical close match. Last game against a vanilla UM list - that we handled easily. Straight up middle of the pack.


Nationals - No invitational for me this year. Back to my Nurgle Chaos list. Played 3 fun games - against Marines, Chaos, and orks. 2 wins, 1 loss, - Middle of the pack overall. Enjoyed my second game against a fellow from Dallas also running Nurglish Chaos - with big laughs about my Lord wiffing with his Demon Weapon. Funny that my most memorable game was my loss!



Big Waagh 2009 - Eldar

Had high hopes for this one this year. Did well - but couldn't bring home the big points.

I played Mech Eldar - overall 4-1 record - 55'sh total battle points.

Game one - against foot slogging Eldar. Basically the opposite as my army. A real nice guy from Va, playing in his first tournament. His army struggled to deal with the speed and mobility I had with my army. I smacked him at range - but at the end missed the kill point objective by a Warlock who would not die (or break) and a war walker that I could do everything to but kill. Would up a 9 to 0 win for me - low points victory.

Game Two - Some bad assed dude from Ft Knox KY with a bunch of tough as nails Blood Angels faces off from me across the table. Yep - I finally get to play Bloodangel03 who was a pleasure to meet and I now call friend (yah -you betcha - vee is bote frum de Nord!). A good game that was closer than the final score indicates. He got too focused on killing me and forgot about the objectives. One of those games where I probably got beat up more than I gave back - but was able to win the day on the mission objectives. Eldar speed and mobility for the win - 15-0 victory.

Game Three - vs one of the Grand Adventures club guys (Ben ?) and Khorne Berserker based army. Ben was a great opponent and a fun guy to play. I made a tactical blunder by reserving my army - which seemed like a good idea at the beginning - but went south after turn 3. He moves forward two rounds - I come in and blast hell out of him on turn two. His dice rolled so badly. I asked him if he would like to borrow one of my blocks - which he did. The traitorous things failed to roll less than a three for him!
I was basically handled in the game - a zero to 15 loss for me. Well played Ben!

So - sitting at the end of day one with a 2-1 record - but a low battle point total of 24 points.

Game Four - vs Bike based Marine Army - Willie from the Chattanooga group. Ok - I had five great games with five great opponents - this was my closest game of the tourney. We both had a unit that was worth two of the primary objectives in the mission if killed. After a great tactical and maneuver filled game - I managed to kill his with my last units shooting and keep mine alive, pulling out a 15 point Victory at the end. Was touch and go throughout. I hope to get to play Willie again - was a fun opponent who definitely earned my respect.

Game Five - I face up against another Blood Angel army - no - not Rob again - but Bob Cunningham from Kansas. Bob had a beautifully painted BA army. He had a lot of anti-horde - but his anti-armor was based around 3 attack bikes with MM. I was able to drop them at range - then focus around killing off the rest of his mobile forces. I put half my forces in reserve and half castled in the far board corner. It was a strategy that play out well - got him into the middle of the board - dropped his transports and then hammered at range. It was a close game though basically until turn four - when my shooting broke his army (finally). I was unable to get my farseer killed and wasn't going to touch Dante. Wound up with a 16 point victory.

A good tourney. Didn't like some of the ways they judged painting - which affected others - not me. But overall the guys from Huntsville are a good bunch. Hope they run this again.

That's it up until now!

EBAY

Got several armies up for sale on ebay if anyone is interested....

http://shop.ebay.com/aldochello/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

A competitive Dark Angel army????

Can it be? Maybe not as good as a vanilla list - but some hitting power with the Vets - back up by a Libby.....Hmmm......thoughts?

1850 Pts - Dark Angels Roster - Dark Angel 1850 - Anti-Mech Vets v2

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10#, 265 Pts)
9 Devastator Squad @ 265 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Lascannon (x2); Multi-Melta (x2)
1 Sergeant @ [18] Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Bolter (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10#, 225 Pts)
9 Devastator Squad @ 225 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [18] Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Bolter (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 325 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 325 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon; Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [48] Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Melta Bombs; Power Fist
1 Razorback @ [100] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Twin Linked Lascannon

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 320 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 320 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon; Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [43] Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Power Fist
1 Razorback @ [100] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Twin Linked Lascannon

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 310 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 310 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon; Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [33] Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Power Weapon
1 Razorback @ [100] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Twin Linked Lascannon

HQ: Librarian (1#, 120 Pts)
1 Librarian @ 120 Pts
...in Power Armour
1 ...in Power Armour @ [120] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Force Weapon; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Psychic Hood; Force Barrier; Hellfire
1 Psychic Hood @ [0] Pts

Elite: Company Veterans Squad (6#, 285 Pts)
5 Company Veterans Squad @ 285 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield (x5); Chainsword (x2); Power Fist (x2); Power Weapon (x1); Razorback
1 Razorback @ [70] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter; Extra Armor; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter

Total Roster Cost: 1850

Razorback Love

A take off on the Anti-Mech army - but with Mech itself.

Even more anti-armor shooting - but mobility to go along with it....inspired by a conversation with my buddy Sabote.

2000 Pts - Space Marines Roster - Ultramarines -Razorback Love

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10#, 270 Pts)
9 Devastator Squad @ 270 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Heavy Bolter (x2); Lascannon (x2)
1 Sergeant @ [23] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Signum
1 Signum @ [0] Pts

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10#, 230 Pts)
9 Devastator Squad @ 230 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [23] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Signum
1 Signum @ [0] Pts

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (6#, 190 Pts)
4 Devastator Squad @ 190 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x4); Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [23] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Signum
1 Signum @ [0] Pts
1 Razorback @ [40] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Heavy Bolter

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 300 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 300 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon; Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [48] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Fist
1 Razorback @ [90] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Extra Armor

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 295 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 295 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon; Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [48] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Fist
1 Razorback @ [85] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Hunter Killer Missile

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 295 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 295 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon; Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [43] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Power Weapon
1 Razorback @ [90] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Extra Armor

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 295 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 295 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon; Razorback
1 Sergeant @ [43] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Power Weapon
1 Razorback @ [90] Pts
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Extra Armor

HQ: Space Marine Librarian (1#, 125 Pts)
1 Space Marine Librarian @ 125 Pts
...in Terminator Armour; Null Zone; The Gate of Infinity
1 ...in Terminator Armour @ [125] Pts
Force Weapon; Psychic Hood
1 Psychic Hood @ [0] Pts
1 Terminator Armour @ [0] Pts

Total Roster Cost: 2000

Anti-Mech List

After reading about all the Mech lists that are so prevalent now in the tourney scene, I've been thinking about how to counter it. I think that Mech will suffer against a lot of high Strength and AP ranged weapons. I played around with this Marine list as a potential spoiler for the vehicle heavy lists of today. Think Combat squads for all 10 man marine units - Dev heavy weapons split equally between the combat squads. Open to your thoughts and suggestions.

2000 Pts - Space Marines Roster - Ultramarines - Shoot 'em Up 2k

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10#, 270 Pts)
9 Devastator Squad @ 270 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Heavy Bolter (x2); Lascannon (x2)
1 Sergeant @ [23] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Signum
1 Signum @ [0] Pts

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10#, 230 Pts)
9 Devastator Squad @ 230 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [23] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Signum
1 Signum @ [0] Pts

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10#, 230 Pts)
9 Devastator Squad @ 230 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x5); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [23] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Signum
1 Signum @ [0] Pts

Troops: Tactical Squad (10#, 215 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 215 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [53] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Power Fist

Troops: Tactical Squad (10#, 215 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 215 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [53] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Power Fist

Troops: Tactical Squad (10#, 215 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 215 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [53] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Power Fist

Troops: Tactical Squad (10#, 205 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad @ 205 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [43] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Power Weapon

HQ: Space Marine Captain (1#, 115 Pts)
1 Space Marine Captain @ 115 Pts
...in Power Armour
1 ...in Power Armour @ [115] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Iron Halo; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Power Sword (x1)

Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squad (1#, 50 Pts)
1 Attack Bike Squad @ 50 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x1)
1 Space Marine Bike @ [0] Pts

Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squad (1#, 50 Pts)
1 Attack Bike Squad @ 50 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x1)
1 Space Marine Bike @ [0] Pts

Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squad (1#, 50 Pts)
1 Attack Bike Squad @ 50 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta (x1)
1 Space Marine Bike @ [0] Pts

Troops: Scout Squad (5#, 75 Pts)
4 Scout Squad @ 75 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Sniper Rifle (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [10] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Sniper Rifle

Troops: Scout Squad (5#, 80 Pts)
4 Scout Squad @ 80 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Sniper Rifle (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [15] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Melta Bombs; Sniper Rifle

Total Roster Cost: 2000

2000 pt Team Game

Last Thursday had the good fortune to play on a big 3 on 3 game - almost an Apocalypse game - with 6K points per side.

Team 1 - Sabote, MajorSinn, and Gimli - all running Marines

Team 2 - Myself, MephistonsRage, and Little Gimli - running Eldar, Night Lords, and Khorne respectively.

The mission was objectives - with 5 being placed. We used the Apocalypse setup, with team 2 going first. Our battle plan was for the Nightlords to take the Right side, Khorne up the middle, and Eldar mobility to fly around and take what was needed. The first few rounds were brutal for Team 2 - with the Khorne force taking a beating. MajorSinn ate most of the firepower from Team 2 - but stayed strong in the middle. Turns 3 and 4 wound up being a lot of hand to hand. Sabote plays Marines very well (was overall at the Waagh with them) and did a masterful job of avoiding the HTH until he had the odds favorable for him. At the end - the Marines managed to swarm the three contested objectives. Fate favors Team 1 as they manage to drop a Prism, Rhino and Farseer who were all contesting the objective in the middle. Gimli's Marines manage to contest two others. Marines hold 2 objects to zero for Team 2.

Thoughts on the game and army: The Eldar speed and agility continues to impress me. I do have some growing concerns about the ability to hit the enemy hard though. I like and respect Fritz's Turn 5 tactics from Way of Saim-Hann - but I'm finding that unless you go second, if you don't thin the enemy out - they are usually going to win. I also need to refine my tactics with the Falcon and Fire Dragons. Dragons are a sacrificial unit - if deployed correctly they will either kill the vehicle you target 0r hurt/cripple a unit you shoot at. I need to focus them more on threats than I have been - perhaps be more agressive with them. In the game above - I sent them to support the Night Lords (who FORGOT to cover their objective - but that's another issue). I should have kept them over on the left flank and used them to kill one of the two Landraiders Gimli used to contest the objectives at the end. I'm also undecided on the banshee's I'm running and wondering if a second dragon squad might work better. That removes my HTH unit - but gives me a second "sure kill" unit. In today's Mech army world - I'm thinking that may be better.

Mech Eldar

I'm really digging Mech Eldar! I made the decision to swap over from my Death Guard shortly before the Waagh, and did reasonably well (4-1 on the Tourney) but a little short on points. I found myself - all but one game where I got smoked due to good playing on my opponents part and poor playing on mind - being able to deny my opponent objectives - and able to get 2 of the objectives and struggling for the others.

Here's how it wound up:

Game one vs. Foot Slogging Eldar 9-0 total points. I could not kill either 1 remaining warlock or 1 disabled war walker for an additional 6 points.

Game two vs Blood Angels 15-0 - speed and mobility carried the day here - but it was a hard fought match.

Game three vs Khorne - 0-20 points - got smoked. Bad tactics here on my part kept me from pulling much.

Game Four vs Bike Marines 15-5 game for me - good tactical hard fought game. Much closer than end score showed.

Game Five vs Blood Angels 16-0 game for me - another good hard game - speed and mobility ruled the day.

By Day Two of the tournament - I was starting to hit stride more with the army and "feeling" better playing it. I did feel as if I was missing something though.

After discussing the list with my good friend Sabote (who won the Overall at the Waagh with Space Marines - but also plays a hard Eldar list), he suggested that I have a lot of small units - but lacked a big "Punch-In" (free kudo's to 40K Radio) unit. So tweaking things a little. Thinking about dropping Falcons for all Wave Serpents - and going with a bigger squad of Banshee's. Fortune and Doom going with them to make it even better. I'll be playtesting several builds soon and will update on results.

Big Waagh 2009

Two awesome tournaments:

Doubles - GBF and I went 2-0-1 - good enough to tie for 3rd place overall. I ran Ultramarines, GBF his Blood Angel's.

Game one - against Eldar/Ravenwing - a local guy from Nashville who's name I should know and forgot, who was playing with his son. A great game, good players - and a lot of fun. 20 point win for us.

Game two - against Eldar/Guard combo - tough as nails army from Arkansas I believe. The mission went in our favor - as we deployed first - basically right by the objective we need to be the first to enter. Then we castled ours. My Librarian manned up and gave his all to give us the primary objective. Our armies held all the secondary's objectives. and beat up on the enemy. 18 point win for us.

Game three - against a couple guys from the Hogs of War club in Arkansas. A great army - well built, painted, and played - Traitor Guard and Twin Lash Chaos. There was a reason they were also playing for the big enchilada in the last round. Tough mission for us. GBF focused on obtaining the objectives they had for us. We both focused on kill points - after getting the shite beat out of us - we managed to hold on and maintain a draw at the end. These were the same guys Gimli and I played last year in a good game. Enjoyable folks - hard armies. Was fitting and proper that we shared third place with them at the end.

Doubles tourney was a blast yet again!


Big Waaagh GT - I played Mech Eldar - overall 4-1 record - 55'sh total battle points.

Game one - against foot slogging Eldar. Basically the opposite as my army. A real nice guy from Va, playing in his first tournament. His army struggled to deal with the speed and mobility I had with my army. I smacked him at range - but at the end missed the kill point objective by a Warlock who would not die (or break) and a war walker that I could do everything to but kill. Would up a 9 to 0 win for me - low points victory.

Game Two - Some bad assed dude from Ft Knox KY with a bunch of tough as nails Blood Angels faces off from me across the table. Yep - I finally get to play Bloodangel03 who was a pleasure to meet and I now call friend (yah -you betcha - vee is bote frum de Nord!). A good game that was closer than the final score indicates. Rob got too focused on killing me and forgot about the objectives. One of those games where I probably got beat up more than I gave back - but was able to win the day on the mission objectives. Eldar speed and mobility for the win - 15-0 victory.

Game Three - vs one of the GA Guys (Ben ?) and Khorne Berserker based army. Ben was a great opponent and a fun guy to play. I made a tactical blunder by reserving my army - which seemed like a good idea at the beginning - but went south after turn 3. He moves forward two rounds - I come in and blast hell out of him on turn two. His dice rolled so badly. I asked him if he would like to borrow one of my blocks - which he did. The traitorous things failed to roll less than a three for him!
I was basically handled in the game - a zero to 15 loss for me. Well played Ben!

So - sitting at the end of day one with a 2-1 record - but a low battle point total of 24 points.

Game Four - vs Bike based Marine Army - Willie from the Chattanooga group. Ok - I had five great games with five great opponents - this was my closest game of the tourney. We both had a unit that was worth two of the primary objectives in the mission if killed. After a great tactical and maneuver filled game - I managed to kill his with my last units shooting and keep mine alive, pulling out a 15 point Victory at the end. Was touch and go throughout. I hope to get to play Willie again - was a fun opponent who definitely earned my respect.

Game Five - I face up against another Blood Angel army - no - not Rob again - but Bob Cunningham from Kansas. Bob had a beautifully painted BA army. He had a lot of anti-horde - but his anti-armor was based around 3 attack bikes with MM. I was able to drop them at range - then focus around killing off the rest of his mobile forces. I put half my forces in reserve and half castled in the far board corner. It was a strategy that play out well - got him into the middle of the board - dropped his transports and then hammered at range. It was a close game though basically until turn four - when my shooting broke his army (finally). I was unable to get my farseer killed and wasn't going to touch Dante. Wound up with a 16 point victory.

Don't know where I wound up overall - suspect middle of the pack - but still a fun and enjoyable tournament - as good as any I've ever been to - if not the best.

Next year will be even better!

The Big Waagh 2009

Well - it's that time again - less than 1 month until the Big Waagh. I'm thinking about taking my Eldar again. Haven't played them much in 5th - but think the mobility and firepower combination they can bring will give me better odds at winning big.

Here's the preliminary list:

1850 Pts - Eldar Roster - Biel Tann 1850 - Waagh list

HQ: Farseer (1#, 145 Pts)
1 Farseer @ 145 Pts
Psyker; Doom ; Fortune ; Fleet; Ghost Helm (GH); Rune Armour (RAmr); Runes of Warding (RofWard); Spirit Stones (P:SpStn); Shuriken Pistol (Sp); Witchblade (WB)

HQ: Autarch (1#, 120 Pts)
1 Autarch @ 120 Pts
Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Fleet; Independent Character; Master Strategist; Forceshield (FShld); Mandiblaster (Mb); S-Hawk Wings (SHW); Power Weapon; Shuriken Pistol (Sp); Fusion Gun (Fg); Haywire Grenades (HayG); Plasma Grenades (PG)

Troops: Guardian Jetbike Squadron (6#, 152 Pts)
6 Guardian Jetbike Squadron @ 152 Pts
Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Turbo-boosters; Eldar Jetbike (EJB); Shuriken Cannon (SCan) (x2); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat) (x4)

Troops: Guardian Jetbike Squadron (6#, 152 Pts)
6 Guardian Jetbike Squadron @ 152 Pts
Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Turbo-boosters; Eldar Jetbike (EJB); Shuriken Cannon (SCan) (x2); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat) (x4)

Troops: Dire Avengers (10#, 310 Pts)
8 Dire Avengers @ 310 Pts
Fleet; Avenger S-Catapult (ASC)
1 Dire Avenger Exarch @ [54] Pts
Fleet; Bladestorm (BS); Power Weapon; Shimmershield (Sshld)
1 Shimmershield @ [0] Pts
1 Wave Serpent @ [160] Pts
Energy Field (Wave Serpent); Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Star Engines (SE); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat); TL Bright Lances (TL-BL)

Heavy Support: Falcon (1#, 180 Pts)
1 Falcon @ 180 Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Star Engines (SE); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat); Pulse Laser (PL)

Heavy Support: Falcon (1#, 180 Pts)
1 Falcon @ 180 Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Star Engines (SE); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat); Pulse Laser (PL)

Heavy Support: Fire Prism (1#, 150 Pts)
1 Fire Prism @ 150 Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat); Prism Cannon (PC)

Elite: Fire Dragons (6#, 136 Pts)
5 Fire Dragons @ 136 Pts
Fleet; Fusion Gun (Fg); Melta Bombs
1 Fire Dragon Exarch @ [56] Pts
Fleet; Tank Hunters; Crack Shot (CS); Firepike; Melta Bombs

Elite: Howling Banshees (6#, 118 Pts)
5 Howling Banshees @ 118 Pts
Fleet; Banshee Mask (BM); Power Weapon; Shuriken Pistol (Sp)
1 Howling Banshee Exarch @ [38] Pts
Fleet; Banshee Mask (BM); Shuriken Pistol (Sp); Executioner (Ex)

Fast Attack: Vyper Squadron (1#, 85 Pts)
1 Vyper Squadron @ 85 Pts
1 Vyper @ [85] Pts
Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Bright Lance (BL); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat)

Fast Attack: Vyper Squadron (1#, 60 Pts)
1 Vyper Squadron @ 60 Pts
1 Vyper @ [60] Pts
Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat)

Fast Attack: Vyper Squadron (1#, 60 Pts)
1 Vyper Squadron @ 60 Pts
1 Vyper @ [60] Pts
Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat)

Total Roster Cost: 1848

Concept Guard Army

Have been playing around with an idea for a combined DemonHunter / Guard army.

The idea is to base a little over 1/2 the army on Grey Knights. They will be highly mobile mounted in Valkyries. The guard will form a fire line - or basically a tough little nut in the middle of the board. Not a lot of stuff - but if you are going first - with the 24" turbo boost move from the valk's - you are looking at first turn assaults with Grey Knights.


Here's the list - feel free to post thoughts:

HQ

Company Command Squad - Commander and 4 Vets - 50 pts
Brother Captain and 4 Grey Knight Terminator retinue - 1 Incinerator and Sactuary power - 285 points

Elites

Grey Knight Terminators - Brother Captain and 4 Grey Knight Terminators - 1 Incinerator 260 pts.


Troops

Command Squad - 30 points
Infantry Squad (3 Total) Grenade Launchers, Missile Launchers - 210 points
Heavy Weapon Squad - 3 Heavy Bolters 75 Points
Grey Knight Squad - Justicair + 8 Grey Knights - 2 Incinerators - 270 points
Grey Knight Squad - Justicair + 8 Grey Knights - 2 Incinerators - 270 points

Fast Attack

Valkyrie Squadron (2) 200 points
Valkyrie Squadron (2) 200 points

Well - something I haven't done before. My first book review.

WARNING - Spoilers below! I'm doing a story by story overview.

Overall I really liked the book. A nice read, good stories. Fine authors.


Blood Games - Dan Abnett

This was an ok story. Not Dan A's best - but decent tale. Good insight into the Custodes and the feel for old earth prior to the invasion by Horus. Overall a B.

Wolf at the Door - Mike Lee

Mikes a local guy from here in Nash-vegas. Really like his work a lot. This is a great story - going back to Bulfwye - the wolf lord of the 13th company he used in the last Ragnar book. Glad to see him taking the reigns of the Wolves and hope to see more of his work with them. Might have made the Wolf's a little more powerful than reality - but hey - they are heros. The ending seemed a bit harsh and shocking - but still one of the better stories in the book. Solid A

Scions of the Storm - Anthony Reynolds

The Word Bearer tales by Mr. Reynolds have been a couple of my favorite reads in the 40K universe lately. Almost got me inspired to do a WB army for the game. An interesting view back to his characters before the fall. Cool insight to the fall of the WB's and the mental imparities of their primarch. I give this one a B+ overall.

The Voice - James Swallow

This tale takes us down the path of a group of Sisters of Battle - right before Horus attacks Terra. Interesting story - not a lot of insight into the Pre-Heresy world - other than the dialogue about wondering if it was all true. Apparently the plot was that a Sister used some pyschic manifestation to go back in time to attempt to stop the heresy. A little weak. Still good insight into the interactions of the sisters and decent read. I give it a B- overall.

Call of the Lion - Gav Thorpe

First - I like Gave Thorpe and I like most of his books. However, I'm not a fan of how he depicts the Dark Angels. Still this confusing vaguely hinted at schism in the ranks (we all know what happened on Caliban) - but no definate details. A good story - but doesn't add anything to the overall Heresy story. Was disappointed a little here. I give it a C.

The Last Church - Graham McNeil

A great little tale - off the beaten path of 40K stories. A lot of religious overtones and the first time that any author has taken a shot at giving you insight into the Emperor's personality. A fine tale - with a twist at the end. Much enjoyed - solid A. Graham continues to provide me a lot of enjoyment with his works!

After Desh'ea - Matthew Farrer

Ok - so I figured the last story would be kind of the filler - especially after the GM story above. Man was I wrong! I loved this one - my favorite of the book. It details Kharn's first meeting with Angron. WOW - good insight into the working of the Blood God's soon to be favorite primarch. A much different take on Kharn also - he was a good guy - before he became a traitor. Loved IT! A+ - Great job. I hadn't really been able to get into his books before - but may need to go back and try again after this one.

Overall an excellent read! Great book - can't wait for the Wolf and Thousand Son's stories coming soon!

Adepticon 2009

Played in all three events - had a blast!

Gladiator - 2250 Chaos - all Nurgle except for 1 lash Sorcerer - no forgeworld - like taking a knife to a gunfight!

Game 1 - against a chaos Marine with Warhound titan. Night fight for all game. Deep struck oblits next to warhound - took out 1 arm weapon. Warhound runs away from Oblits (demon prince killed them bad) - but too close to dread. Dread assaults - lays the smack down and drops the warhound. Rest of his army breaks on the rock that Nurgle is - Max point win for me. Great opponent and good guy - had a blast.



Game 2 - deployment is short edge of table - playing against Angorroth the Undefeated and Fateweaver combo - along with 2 princes and a Grinder + several regular demons. Angorroth is hideous! 888 points - 8 wounds - fateweaver lets him reroll everything - unstoppable. I basically won this game by playing the objective and using Nurgle toughness. Good dude from Tampa as my opponent.



Game 3 - against the Reaver Titan my buddy Sabote also faced in 4th round. My only chance was to deep strike oblits in close to him - but the inquisitor with 2 mystics lets him nominate another unit to shoot - and that was the Reaver. Reaver has 9 5" D template shots - 3 at 3 seperate units. HIDEOUS and UNSTOPPABLE unless you have another one or are very lucky. I think the oblits were the only non-f'world thing that could stand up to them - but needed all good luck to work. Pulled a big fat ZERO.

(I played against the white Reaver in this pic)

Game 4 - Against Guard with a Marauder bomber. Great opponent and one of my funnest games of the entire tournament. Marauder is cool but not over the top. Nurgle was annihilating the guard - but so many to kill and so little time. I took primary - he got secondary - a minor win for me (I think). Was a great game.




Sabote coveres the team stuff below. Our 8 Landraider's looked impressive - but performed not so well. Missions played against our army a lot. Still had a lot of fun. Our team - from left to right: Gimli, Sabote, Corwindal, Aldonis. We were dead middle of the pack overall. Good on battle points and theme. Painting was shaky. We had a rough time our second game and had issues with our sportsmanship (which was otherwise perfect) - just bad karma I guess - we didn't gell - personally disappointed as Sportsmanship is something I really strive to do well on. But, sometimes you have to stand up to blatant cheating.



Saturday team games.

1st game- was against a witch hunter guard army we both won our games. Sabote was teamed with Aldonis and Corwindal and Gimli were together.

2nd game: was against Chaos. Corwindal and Aldonis lost- this is the game the guys had a non valid list. Gimli and Sabote drawed our opponents. We almost tabled them. But a lucky shot on their part at the end gave them a draw. Gimli killed Abadddon though

3rd game- Gimli/Aldonis played a chaos/demon list and lost. Corwindal and Sabote played a ork/nob army and pulled a draw out of the game.

4th game- Corwindal/Gimli won their game against a Marine army. Aldonis and Sabote won our game against a Marine army

40K Nationals: Great tournament - with an average showing from me. Ran pure Nurgle Deathguard.

Game 1 - against a Witch Hunter army a kid from MN ran - fun game - after I took the organ cannon gun off the big tank - I pretty well ran rough shod over his army. 28 point win.

Game 2 - against a Chaos army - nurgle and slaanesh - with two lash demon princes. My favorite opponent of all the games - cool guy from Dallas that I've invited to our forums and hope joins. We played a slap and tickle love fest shooting game for a few turns. Pivotable moment - Chaos lord with plague bringer charges 4 termies - if I drop them - I can continue in to the objective. Roll a 1 for attacks - take a wound - termies slice and dice me with claws and chainfists - then kill remaining 2 troops squads. I lose big. Fun game and great opponent. It's cool when the guy who wipes the floor with you is still one of your favorite opponents.

Game 3 - against an ork Horde. Well balanced and good ork army from a kid from Tampa Fl. We slug it out. Nurgle Marines in hth with even 30 orks are like a tar pit for the orks. 2 squads of plague marines in hth with 40 some orks for 3 rounds - and were still swatting at them at the end. We wound up with a draw. Oh yeah - in two rounds of combat - the same Chaos lord rolled 2 more ones for number of attacks. Dung'er - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take the curse from me!!!!

So 1-1-1 for me - I'm sure middle of the pack.

Best showing for me was Gladiator - 3-1 and was surprisingly a lot of fun and great challenges - except for the game vs the Reaver Titan - which is just overpowering.