2k BatRep from Mega Gaming and Comics

 

Went to try out a new store that was hosting a tournament. After a long 2 hour drive we arrived at Mega Gaming and Comics. The tournament was packed out with 16 players, the table space was a bit cramped with tables right against one another. After the first round, the store was also hot due to the # of players packed near one another.

The store itself is nice, lots of comics all over, displayed nicely. Their gaming area was perhaps one of the top 3 best stocked gaming stores I have been in. They even had a selection of Forge World in 3 cases, sadly nothing that I was wanting or was willing to ask my wife to dip into the savings to let me get some resin fix that weekend.

The store manager was very nice, though this is the first tournament that I was charged tax for and the price was unusual, $12 instead of the usual $10 most charge. Some charge $15 but you usually bought pizza for lunch. The TO was a bit meek and shy, I had a sense he was really new at this and was still trying to figure out what worked and what did not. Two others from my area was there and well agreed that the TO could have organized the tournament better. I guess we are spoiled by some of the local stores here that have had reliable and regular organizers and know how they want to run things. Many of the players was very nice and welcomed us to the store, there was a few guys that I felt like looked at us like predators that just had invaders in their lair. Guess they was worried about being knocked off the hill and no longer king.

I had a few ideas of army lists and batted out what I thought would be great to bring to the table. After I kicked some heavy  handed lists to the side as I didn't want to go to a new place with a list that would give people a bad impression. So, I picked Orks as they was fun, well painted, a challenge and just enjoyable.

Of course I forgot the camera this time! So, sorry no pics....

My List:
Ghazghkull Thraka
Big Mek with KFF, Klaw and Cybork
15 Kommandos with Snikrot with 2 burnas
9 Kommandos with Nob with Klaw and 2 big Shootas
13 Grots with a Herder
20 Orks with 2 rocket launchers, Nob with Klaw and Bosspole
20 Orks (same as above)
18 Ard Boyz with Nob with Klaw and Bosspole
11 Trukk Boyz with Nob (same as above) with big shoota, red paint and ram
12 Trukk Boyz with Nob (same as above) with (same as the first Trukk unit and same upgrades)
3 Battlewagons, 2 with ram and 1 with a deathroller. Both with red and a single big shoota.

Game 1 was against Eldar.

I think his name was Devin or something like that. A nice guy and had this for a list:

Eldrad
Yuriel
Wraithlords (full squad)
Guardians in Wave Serpent
Harlequins in Wave Serpent
3 Wraith Lords with assorted Weapons
8 Jetbikes with two shurikin. Cannons

The main objective of the game was Kill Points for a Win or Loss. The table had a good bit of scenery on it including a large building down the middle. He won the dice off but I took first turn on a 6. This was a standard DOW game.

We had a good game and was close. I won by one kill point and had a few delays waiting to see what his battle plan was before I struck. Once I got the boyz into the fight I was plowing him down. I took my share of losses but that is how orks work. You can hurt me, but I have more things to hurt you.

At the end of the game he had one Wave Serpent, a surviving unit of Harlequins and about half of his Wraithguard unit.

Second game was against Grey Knights (forgot the guys name)

His list was this:
Librarian with several powers
Purifier Squad (full) with psycannons and the two blades
Two Strike Squads (full) with psycannons
3 Razorbacks with las/plas
3 Dreadnoughts with TL Autocannons with psybolt ammo
Inquisitor with several Crusaders (meat shield to give 4+ cover to the rest and then casts Stealth power to get a 3+ while they have a 3+ in the front).
2 Vindicare Assassin's (get into this later)

As we swap lists I see that he took two Vindicares. I point out this list is illegal. He pulls out the book and it does not show 0-1 for each FOC. That is because I missed the word <UNIQUE> in the profile. I was already starting to get hot, I did not remember the Unique rule, so I let it slide. I was uneasy and knew I was right. I still wonder if he just didn't read the codex or was just a cheat or power gamer. He was married to one of the store staff that was helping to run the event and was playing an army also. She interrupted the game several times telling him about her game, asking questions as we was playing and was to a point generally annoying to a point. She was nice enough but the social tact of keeping her mouth shut at times during the game did drag our game. I saw this a few times in the first and third round.

I won the dice toss, I setup, he setup everything in a castle of sorts. Dreads, layered by Las/Plas Razorbacaks turned sideways, then a Purifier squad in a long line, then the Strikes (the other in reserve), the Warband in front this game was standard 12" pitched battle with objectives in an X pattern.

There wasn't much to talk about this game, it was a cluster f*** from the start. I lost half my stuff first round, the other half the second round. I was getting shot apart the entire time. I lost the game as by the end I had little left. Oddly he was bitching it was such a pain to remove all my orks, but I guess he was expecting to roll over everyone he played. I heard he did this to the other two games with little to no issues.

Round 3 vs Blood Angels (John)

This guy was really a great guy. When he parked next to us as we waited for the store to open he came over, introduced himself and talked to us. A very nice guy and a good player, those guys I like to see at tournaments.


His List:
Mestiphon
Librarian in Terminator Armor
Terminator Squad with assorted close combat weapons
2 Storm Ravens with las/melta weapons.
Death Company Dread with Blood Talons
3 TL Lascannon Razorbacks with 5 man assault squads inside with power weapon and a melta
2 Baal Predators with heavy bolter sponsons

He won the dice toss, took his spearhead quarter and setup. I held all in reserve. He moved about for two turns until I could come on in Turn 2. 2 Wagons (Gazzies and one of the boyz) and the KFF Truckk hit the table. Snikrot jumped out of a side spot and tried to take down a Razorback. Damm fast vehicles. He ran forward....perfect....I raced forward, jumped out, piled into his Razorback and slowly starting on turn 3 I was  milling down his army.

He ended up winning the match but with only 2 table quarters to my 1. VP holding was based on total VPs in the space, not just scoring. One more round Mephiston would have died (only had one wound left) and he just barely beat me on VPs by 6 points for that quarter. It was a close loss and a good fight.

Two losses and one win. I have done better, still that illegal list annoyed me, I would have no doubt lost to a superior codex and a very cheesed out build, but to cheat (either on purpose or not) just ate into a loss even more so.

We plan to go back again, perhaps when it gets cooler as those close quarters and heat just makes the experience less than happy,

First Finecast Purchase and Review

Today I picked up Inquisitor Kotaez to see how the new Finecast product line was.

Packaging: The clam shell design is way better than the cardboard and plastic held in place with glue. When I worked for GW we often had packages come apart due to the glue. Plus it was easy to shoplift them in retail stores as you could pop open the blister right on the peg and drop everything into your hand and pocket it before anyone knows. To open a clam shell, you have to make some effort and noise to open it. Thus making theft much harder and helping retailers on shrink. What was nice was the insert with a nice photo of the product painted up. Plus, on the peg they look 10 times more appealing than the older cardboard blisters.

Model: It was still on the sprue frame when I opened mine. No extra bases like they used to slip you before. The main resin model was fairly easy to snip off and start to clean up.

It was easier to remove flash and mold lines than the old metal one. Be warned, the resin is softer and easier to ruin if you don't take your time. I had one small imperfect mold spot on the wrist of one arm. Looks like an air bubble formed in the mold. Wasn't bad and not very obvious, I just tend to spot these things easier than others.

The eagle was the worst of the flash, there was a crystal crusted in the eagle that I had to remove with a knife to flick it loose. Not sure what it was, perhaps Resin powder that didn't melt or something.

I had to clean up the cube joint sections where the arms go but amazing enough, a drop of super glue and done after a few moments of holding it in place. That alone was a sanity saver. I don't recall all the times I put together metal models and i could not get to metal parts to glue together unless I used zip kicker.

The detail was excellent....I am not sure if the resin perhaps sits better in the mold than metal but it seemed to give some extra depth to the model. Perhaps it was the cream color of the resin that let you pick out the detail compared to the old white metal they used that made it hard to see detail at times.

The model was very light, perhaps lighter than a plastic model. That alone has some perks. Less weight makes it easier to carry an army about made of plastic and resin than metal and plastic.

The finished model.....once the weather gets better I plan to primer him and start painting!

There is some perks in quality and easy to put the model together over the metal guy. You just need to take your time with them and clean them. Plus you will need to retrain your mind to look for a different kind of flash. I think this is a good move by GW as it offers several perks to the gaming community.

I did pause today and wondered if the "Blister Sisters" still worked for GW. They was actual sisters that GW paid to work in their warehouse and they helped assemble blister packs....met the long ago when I had a tour of the GW warehouse in Baltimore when I worked for GW some years ago.

Taking a Chance

After talking to my wife the other night, I am going to try to submit some submissions to Black Library. They are holding an open window and no doubt they are going to get flooded with submissions. I have always loved the 40k fluff and have found many people enjoying how I have been a storyteller from role playing games and other fiction I have written in the past. This has always been a fancied dream of mine and would be nice to see your name in print. My wife is going to help be my editor as my grammar sucks for the most part and is always good to have a second set of eyes to catch mistakes you would miss.

I am working on a few write ups now, figure I will review them soon once I get the outlines jotted down and select 2-3 to be my short story submissions. My goal is to build 2-3 good works instead of too many multiple submissions that some writers do, to them machine gun as many as you can out and hope one hits. I prefer the sniper approach, line up the shot, make sure it is a good one and fire away.

Figure I may post some teasers and such soon to let anyone that cares to read my blog drop in their thoughts and input before I submit my ideas. I value outside opinion and readers here would be in the pulse of the hobby and would be one the the ultimate test points to see if you like it or not. Never know, maybe one will make it into a future book.

Batrep: Darkside Comics tournament (May 14th)

Well, Friday the 13th struck late for me on Saturday during the tournament. Some blunders on my part and some poor list choices added to me walking away with one draw and 2 losses. We had a great turnout of about 12-14 players I think, several new faces. Sadly, I did not get to play a single one. I ended up playing Smoogie (a regular at Darkside), Chris (my friend I went to the store with) and Brian (Darkside Owner and ringer due to someone leaving).

My list was this at 2500:
Shraken in Command squad with Bodyguards x2, 4 Melta Guns, Astropath and Chimera
Psyker Battle Squad with Chimera
3 Chimeras with Vet squads, two had 3 plasma guns and one had 3 melta guns
Another Vet squad with 3 melta guns in a Vendetta
Squadron of 2 Executioner tanks with Plasma Sponsons and Heavy Flamers
Squadron of 2 Leman Russ tanks, both had lascannons, one had heavy bolters on the side
Manticore

Game 1 vs Smoogie (Biker Marine List)

He had Librarian on Bike, Captain on bike with some wargear, lots of bike core troop squadrons with attack bikes. Lots of melta with flamers and plasma if I recall. 65 bikes from what I recall.

He won the dice toss, took  his pyramid side (that is what I call corner to corner down the middle and 12" back as your deployment). His side was packed with bikes. We had a chaos table with fair amount of scenery on it. I setup in a defensive line on the other side. This was a capture and control mission with 5 objectives on the table. 2 near me, two near him and one off to our side. I figured his plan was simple, tear me up quickly, then flee back to grab what he could and prevent me from taking much.

Prayed for a 6. Didn't get it. His first turn was, you guessed it! Turbo Boost! Zoom!

My turn, moved some, shot a few bikes, killed a few.

Then Turn 2 happened. He got near me.....at this point it was a game of hit and run. He would go after my vehicles, killing some, I would hammer his bike squadrons. He would fall back when Shraken or the Ogryns threatened to assault but still got to shoot the snot out of him.

By turn 4 it was wrap up as the clock was ticking. I was able to take two objectives. He turbo boosted most of his stuff on 3. I was able to contest one and I was able to kill 2 out of 3 leftover units guarding one objective. The other two was firmly held going to ground after a turbo boost...2+ ack!

In retrospect, I should have hit the one unit with the psyker weaken resolve and lowered their LD. Kicking him off the objective for a minor win. Instead we ended up with a draw. He got one bonus point and I picked up two bonus points. All in all, I did well vs what could have been a nasty game, He only had two full squads left to survive the game I know I wiped out 3 and killed both characters.


Second Game vs Chris (Space Wolves)

Drive 90 miles and play your best friend that lives down the road! Whoo! Chris drew his last game against a Grey Knights list and had one bonus point if I recall. Luck has it we usually play every other tournament or we get someone else local that drove long distance to get there.

His list: 3 Rune Priests, 4 Grey Hunter squads with meltas and power weapons with Rhinos. Three had 8 and one had 9. Several Wolf Guard to fill the Grey Hunter squads, two to the Scout Squads with power fists and combimeltas and one Terminator with Cyclone Launcher to one Long Fang squad., 3 Long Fang squads with 5 missiles, 2 Scout Squads with power weapon and melta gun. Last, a Typhoon speeder.

This mission was VP based and was in the Area 51 table. Desert table with little to no scenery  with a runway strip down it. Last time we played on this table, my IG dusted his Salamanders. Last time we played we was on a cityfight table and he clobbered me then. He won the dice toss, gave me first turn, I setup some nice fire lines. He holds one squad with a priest in reserve, the speeder and scouts. Then rolls a 6 to steal the first turn! Arg!

Game was pretty straight forward as we figured, luck of the dice and he had more of it. He got in good and pounded the crap out of me. A few immobile results slammed most of my Russ tanks making a firm believer in not taking squadrons. His scouts caused me enough problems to commit the reserved unit of Ogryn to help clean up the mess. the scouts was quick to deal with but had caused enough damage to be annoying to me. The Long Fangs was passing more cover saves than I could ever guess, hard to think that sometimes Chris rolls more 1's than binary at times, oh wait that is terminators!

Chris wiped the board and I left the table with a fat goose egg.

Game 3 vs Brian (Chaos)

He had Demon Prince of Nurgle with wings and warptime, rhino with Plague Marines, 2 Land Raiders, two units of zerkers, Abbadon, 2 units of Obliterators, 1 Unit of Terminators with 4 combi melta guns. Before anyone thinks this is illegal one of the Land Raiders was purchased with the Elites choice of the Terminators.I think he had some bikes also, but not sure now, didn't keep a list.

The mission was kill points with a 12" deployment. He won the roll off and it was news from the start. Anything that could move over 12" was worth 3 VPs, well hell, that is most of my army. HQs was worth 3 also, so I had a ton of kill points. Nothing nowhere near his.

Game went rather poorly for me, dice luck was bad and he had some amazing dice luck. When it was over, I think I blew up one Land Raider, killed one zerker squad and that was it,maybe something else, but not much....he had tons of points on me.

Things learned:
1) Squadrons SUCK. Say it with me! They SUCK! Immobile=DEAD. so on a pen a 4-6 is bad, that means 50% of the time your toast. Not worth the benefit to ignore stun to shaken results. Saw some players have ok luck with them, but not me...they was a curse from the start. I advise against even thinking about taking them.

2) Ogryns ROCK! Sure, they can die to instant death in some cases like STR 10 and Force Weapons, but damm they are intimidating and not to be under estimated with a psyker in the mist. He is tossing 2d6 STR 6 shots, then they dump another 12 to 15 shots (depending if your in the chimera or not) of STR 5 shots., It forces several armor saves that makes it very much worthwhile to consider. It is an investment but think about it as they have 3 wounds each, so 5 is 15 wounds, the vet squad only has 10, add the character, they have 12. Not too shabby with their stats also....

3) Pay attention, this cost me the first game for a minor win. Using the moral power for the pysker squad would have tilted the balance. Granted that game I failed TWO out of 4 rolls to use powers.

4) Game two taught me to go back to my old reliables, scouts and infiltrate. I could have harassed and done much better if I had Al'Rahem, Storm Troopers, Marbro and my other sneaky types slipping around back field.

5) Same for Game 3, it was hard for me to do much as he kept away from me and sent only select assault squads into the army.I needed the element of surprise to keep him off balance. Because I lacked this element he took me apart and kept his losses to a minimum.

Turn 1 his turbo boost

Smoogie. I didn't give him this name!

Line up boys!

Clearing some of the table about mid game. Of course he runs like a girlie. Told him later to paint his marines pink and call them the Panzies!

Shraken Unloads to kick butt!

One of the final objective battle grounds!

Chris

Damm that is an empty table!

About mid game, lots of stuff on fire or immobile.

Squadrons suck. Two immobile results.

Shraken dead but the Ogryn are about to avenge it! See that green chimera to the right?

Jump troops vs Vets, my shooting was bad, his was better.

Brian, master of Darkside

Cool Demon Prince Conversion eating my tank.

A cluster F***

Abbadon? Nobody said anything about fighting HIM!!!!

*guardsmen pees his pants*