Monday, April 9, 2012

April Assault thoughts

My flgs this april is hosting another large tournament with 30+ people (hopefully) sign up over at crossroad games you can buy tickets online. It is a 1500 point tourney standard codexes allowed with a very strict comp system which can be found in our forums.

I made a blood angel force and played a game vs creative twilight and I had no idea that the comp system existed. I found out that my army was very illegal and I would not be able to use it in the tourney. Fine... so i went home and started thinking of lists and almost everyone for blood angels had its balls cut out. These guys like the "hobby aspect" tournaments and as such all spam is unplayable literally you cant play if you have more then 2 of anything except troops.

I have been spending my time trying to come up with lists that have a decent chance of winning despite my comp setback. If you dont know already, both my orks and blood angels lack a ton of variety and I never built them for the "hobby". My armies were designed to win and play that way as you can see from my record.

I did play once with my neutered blood angels list against ming last week. It did not go very well at all, bad dice, and a shitty list. I held on and tried to win but no luck I ended up losing to him...the first time in many many years (3+). He joins the ranks of the very few who have beaten me in 5th edition. I was very happy for him because he has come a long way in his play skill. After playing with him and winning the doubles tournament last month he seems to finally understand that he needs to play aggressive with his death stars and pick proper targets.

April Assault has left a bad taste in my mouth already and I dont even know if I want to play in it. I have never played a game in my life just for the fun of it. Sports, video games, bets between friends, everything is always about being the best I can be. It is not in my blood to sit back and have fun and not care about the result. Anyone who has played against me should know that already ;)

"hobby event" wtf is that...

14 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your current woes. What BA list are you thinking about going with?

    Totally OT, but if you've got the time, I'd like to get your thoughts on how Orks handle GKs.

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  2. The BA list I ran was:
    Libby: jp, rage, shield
    3x priest: 2x jp, 3x pw
    Baal Pred: AssC, Hvy Bolters
    Pred: LasC, AutoC
    10 Man ASQD: 2x melta, TH
    10 Man ASQD: 2x melta, TH
    5 Man ASQD: Melta, InfP
    RZR Las/Plas
    5 Man ASQD: Melta, InfP
    RZR Las/Plas

    That is off the top of my head I dont completely remember it all.

    As for orks are concerned vs GKs... For almost the past 2 years now I have played 80% of my games with Blood Angels and have had limited experiences with my orks going against them.

    However the games I have played, the orks did quite well. Orks dont suffer at the hand of everyone using a power weapon like other armies do. It is like fighting against more expensive marines. Paladins can be a problem if you dont engage them right. Nob squads tend to get torn apart by them. I try to bait the paladins into combat with something and then mop them up with 2-3 kan squads and/or Ghaz with his waagah. However if I do not have a choice I will have Ghaz tank the paladins for a full turn with his 2+ invuln and soften them up and follow up with a nob squad.

    I tend to have problems with heavy mech armies that can out maneuver me and pick me off while I get there. Storm Boyz are my only solid squad that can catch anything and hold them till the rest of my army arrives.

    All of this revolves around my core 3 pronged strategy where I hit you first with the storm boyz and nobz (sometimes death koptas too), then comes in the boyz next to break holes in your lines, then the kans mop up the opponents army.

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  3. A couple quick questions about your list so I can get a better feel for it. Why the hammers instead of fists on the jump squads? Why power weapons instead of claws on the priests? Off the top of my head it seems like 3 priests at 1500 is too much. I play with 4 at 2500 points and do fine most games. If you went with flamerbacks instead of lasplas, traded hammers for fists, and dropped one priest you could fit in a landspeeder and scout squad. This would net you a back field objective holder that could still contribute(snipers and missile launcher) and a multi melta while also giving you more bodies and more armor. The flamer backs would make good mobile cover/LOS blocker for your jump squads. I'm not sure if that fits in your comp rules or your playstyle, but maybe it will be helpful to you nonetheless.

    As far as GK vs Orks: First, thanks for you input. I'm familiar with Orks and have used your blog as a template to start building my green tide. On the other hand I have played GK since they were DH so I'm very familiar with them. Thrakka + Kans vs Paladins seems viable, but still strikes me as an uphill battle. Am I wrong? I agree that power weapons don't have that much of an impact. Have you had much experience dealing with purifiers? Storm Bolters, Purifying Flame, and 2 attacks base appear to be the perfect counter to the green tide.

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  4. I always screen my boyz with my wall of kans and break the kans off right as I get my 6 inch fleet. My boyz always have cover moving up the board. Ming plays with his list around here known as Kantor's Kastle. Pedro Kantor has a 12 inch radius inspiring presence giving all his guys +1 attack. Yah his squads hurt more in combat and he is stubborn but hidden PKs in a 30 man blob win every time. The same happens vs GKs. On top of all that...because you include Ghaz you now have an 18 inch threat range meaning most of the time you will only get shot at once and after that you are in combat.

    But everything boils down to my 3 phase strategy and overloading them with targets. They cant take out each wave before the next arrives and if they don't focus down the kans before they arrive then the game will be over. If it is an objective game I also have grots in the back doing their thing for 40 points as well so I can jam my boyz down my opponents throat.

    My only regrets with my orks was switching to BAs at Ard Boyz Finals after stomping both qualifying rounds.

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  5. I read all your Ork tacticas after deciding to moonlight in Orks and I look forward to giving your 3-prong method a shot(if I can ever find a decent deal on BTown). So basically you're telling me that while GK's seem to be the rock to Ork scissors on paper that's not actually the case in the real world or atleast as real as it gets with little plastic toys on a 6X4 table.

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  6. As a piece of back story for me and my orks is when I started playing and winning tournaments back in late 3rd and early 4th edition I built my army over time to what I wanted it to be. In 4th with the last codex I used the op 10 man bike squad which shot and then charged and got to shoot again before i10 into combat. This time around it is all about the kans and ghaz. Everything I did was built for this one list and strategy. You may have the list but it will take time to learn how everything works and fits together. Trust me when I say that 9 kans in any list are op as fuck and don't ever take stormboyz unless you have 20 of them. Stormboyz catch so many people with their ability to make it into combat on turn 1 (esp in pitched battle). On top of all that you can bait people into Ghaz ult because it can be cast ANY time ie in response to him chesting las cannons or making a squad fearless right before a morale check. Good luck with your orks and let me know how it goes!

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  7. Thanks for the advice man, I look forward to seeing what you decide to do with your BA in this upcoming event. It will be awhile before I get to really delve into Orks since I'm dabbling with a BA jump list right now, but I'll definitely let you know when I get started.

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  8. A "hobby event" takes all aspects of the hobby into account. In order to win the whole thing, you need to be a good strategist, a skilled painter, a fluffy list builder, and a fun opponent to play.

    You didn't want that. The lists you are proudly undefeated with scored badly on the comp system, you admit they lack variety, and you only wanted to win the Best General prizes. Which you did. So why complain about a bad taste in your mouth? By your own admission, winning is all that matters to you, and you won. Right?

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  9. All of this was from prior to the event. I could care less now about how they designed the event. Now that I did win all 3 events there is talk of removing best general from our next event. This is to punish all of those who have low comp and high battle points and still walk away with prizes.

    This wont be the first time I have won an event and people complain around here. When every month we have a tourney and I am almost always walking away with 1st they complain. I am over it...complain all you want only real way to stop me is to beat me.

    If they remove best general I WILL spend much more time painting and getting a max comp list together that I like and more then likely walk away with another victory.

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  10. It's not a punishment at all. It's an attempt to realign the goals of the event. You seriously don't think it's a dick move to show up and play only one aspect of the event? yes, it's your right to do so when you pay your $25, but you might want to consider how your tone and attitude affect the people you play against. Will you win many games if your attitude causes people to not bother playing you?
    You might not intend it that way, but the tone of all your April Assault related posts makes you sound completely terrible.
    And for the record, the players at the shop don't complain that you win. They complain that you do so with no grace whatsoever, limited imagination, and a complete disregard for your opponents.

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  11. You only have one bike list that you always play...where is your imagination? I only own what you see me play for my orks for the most part I don't have much more then 2500 points total of orks.

    It is hard to be graceful while smashing someones face in. Oh shit ghaz walked through your army let me apologize for you. This game is a war game not some fuzzy ponies fairy tale land. Maybe "My Little Pony" action figures would suit you better rhino. Maybe tournaments are not your thing rhino you dot seem to do too well in them. Try just doing campaigns and painting competitions instead and you can focus on the fluff.

    I know all of my opponents had great games this tournament. Heck I had close games in both the second and third round.

    I know you complained about me getting paired against a new player round 1 rhino. The funny part was you lost to him in the last round. You showed up to play for the fluff and that was your choice. Hope you had a great day because I sure did. Nice people, great games, great opponents...are you going to complain about all the new people who came with not finished armies?

    I play to win plain and simple. The fluff is cool to read and enjoy in my own time. When there is a game on the line I don't fool around or let dumb things happen just for fun. I will always have a group of people to play just like me. Every game that I play with them is a challenge and exciting.

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    1. Well, I haven't run bikers in over a year, so that doesn't hold true. :)

      That being said, I owe you an apology. My comments were inappropriate and way over the line of decent conduct.
      I've been irritable and cranky the last several weeks, and you became the unfortunate target of my undeserved wrath.

      I'm sorry, and sincerely apologize.

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  12. Rhino it is fine i love bantering with my fellow club mates! <3

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    1. Banter is one thing, but I crossed the line to insulting and mean, and that's not who I am. I may be opinionated, but I'm not harsh.

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