Monday, June 23, 2014

Bugeater 2nd Day

So going into Day 2, myself and 1 other person are 4-0.  I cannot remember my opponents name, but he had 5 Imperial Knights, and from what I heard, he had been stomping people left and right.  As the tournament was set to begin at 9:45am, I sat diligently waiting at my table.  And I waited.... and waited.... and waited.... 10:10am rolls around and my opponent is a no show.  So I get paired up against another Matt. 

Game 5 vs Matt's Astra Militarum/ Imperial Knights

So I didn't get to play 5 Knights like I was supposed to, only 1.  But he also brought around 100 Guardsmen, 2 Punishers, 2 Chimeras, a Deathstrike Missile, Defense Line, and a couple Hydras.  The list looked very formidable on the tabletop.  However, my opponent Matt was new to the game and had only started playing.  Also, he had not been performing very well at the tournament.

*NOTE*  I was very displeased with being paired up against Matt.  Not with Tim, or anyone in particular.  I was looking forward to playing 5 Knights and another player that was 4-0.  Matt was not the best player, but his opponent also did not show up and he was set to play the Ringer.  Because the round was already almost 30mins in by the time we got paired, he was the only logical choice.

This game was fairly one sided.  My first turn was fantastic and I blew up quite a bit of his vehicles and Guardsmen.  It was a very laid back game that I did not cast any Psychic Powers in and let him kill things hat would otherwise not have died.  He seemed to have fun and I pointed out some rules in his book that he was unaware of, and was very appreciative of such.  In the end, we called it Turn 3 with him killing my Beasts for a point (Scouring) and killing the Baron for 2 more.

Win for Dark Eldar 15-3

So after 5 games, I was sitting "pretty" at 5-0 even though after the last game I did not feel I earned the record.  Tim initially was planning on having me and Mat Root play again as no one else in the tournament had more points than him with 1 loss.  However, if that were to happen, then 3 other rematches would have taken place, so Tim voted against it.  To be honest I think it was the right move.  To have 4 rematches with so much on the line would have been bad.  And as you will see worked out how Tim thought it would.

Game 6 vs CJ's Imperial Knights w/ Tau and Inquistorial Allies

CJ was a member of our C-State Domination team.  He had a beautifully painted army with tons of conversions.  His army included: 3 Knights, Buffmander w/ 3 x2 Missile Pod suits w/ x2 Shield Drones, x7 Fire Warriors, Coteaz, 3 Plasma Servitors, and a Chimera w/ some Henchmen.  A very tough list on paper and on the tabletop.

This game would go badly for me at the beginning.  CJ would win the roll off for first turn and take it.  I decided to roll on Telepathy for Puppet Master, Hallucinate, or even Invisibility.  I figured 2 rolls on Telepathy, and 1 roll on Eldar for Doom.  I grabbed Hallucinate then got stuck with Dominate and Guide (as I felt Executioner was no good HA!).  I would also fail to Seize.

CJ's first turn would see him shake a Ravager, blow a Venom, and blow a Serpent.  I would respond by committing my Wraithknight to one of his Knights and my Beasts to the middle Knight to contest the objective.  I used the destroyed Venom's Warriors to contest the other objective.  I cast Hallucinate on the middle IK and he.... DENIES IT! Great...   I shoot some Venoms at Coteaz who dies and kills some of the other Henchmen.  They would fail their LD check but stay on the board.  I shoot all of my Anti-Tank at the IK in front of my Wraithknight. I do 3 HPs and charge.  My Wraithknight destroys his IK.  In the ensuing explosion, the blast doesn't scatter and the Str. D hits my Knight and CJ rolls a 6.... Killing him.... Instantly.... Awesome... In CC, my Beasts do nothing and his IK Stomps some Beasts.

His second turn sees him kill a Ravager, blow the Scatter Laser off my other Serpent, shake my other Ravager, and kill another Venom.  (His Tau contingent was bossmode.)  In CC, I do nothing with the Farseer and he proceeds to kill more Beasts.  He gets 3 Stomps.  Rolls a 6 and kills 4 Beasts, then moves the next Blast over the Farseer and the Baron, Stomps them and rolls a 6... Kills them instantly.. Awesome... and then stomps 3 more Beasts and rolls another 6 killing more of them.  So this turn pretty much sealed the deal for CJ.  My turn 2 I do very minimal damage.

I call the game my turn 3 as I have no hopes of coming back shake CJ's hand.  CJ was an awesome opponent and took beating my ass with class.  He was apologetic for how bad the game went.  I laughed and shrugged as it didnt matter.

Mega loss for Dark Eldar! (2-15?)

The thing that kills me with the game is that I had no control over what happened.  I couldnt control him getting First Turn, Denying Hallucinate, Stomping my army to death, and Str. D-ing my own Knight.  Frustrating, but again I couldnt do anything about it.  I am glad that CJ isn't one of "those guys" and is a great player.

As a result, CJ ended up winning the entire Tournament and claiming the Sweepstakes Champion title.  With my 1 loss, I earned the Tournament Champion Title and 3rd place in the tournament.  I got a gift card to the Game Shoppe and used it to buy a 2nd Wraithknight.  Matt Bess placed 13th and Omegaprime placed 12th overall but he achieved 5th for Tournament points.  Team C-State Domination also won the Bugeater Cup for the 40k side of things as well!

I have some pictures of the Bets Painted armies and of the awards everyone won!  I will also post my overall impressions of the tournament as well.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The Bugeater GT Recap Day 1

So about 10 days ago myself, Omegaprime, and Fat Ninja Hodor Matt Bess set off on our annual trek to Omaha, Nebraska for the Bugeater GT.  Unlike last year we could encounter some road conditions in the Doe variety and some vehicle problems would ensue.  However, we would persevere and make to Omaha at 2AM Friday morning.

The original plan was to have me and Omegaprime hit up the Team Tournament but we needed to take care of truck and hit up other game stores in Omaha.  We would unload our stuff in preparation for the next day or carnage.

DAY 1 Games

Game #1 vs Josh Dunn

Josh had brought an Inquisitor Primary  army with Coteaz, a bunch of Henchman squads toting Death Cultists, Crusdaers, and Priests accompanied with a Landraider and some Psybacks.  He also brought Crimson Fists allies with some Plasma Cannon Devastators, a Redeemer, and some Scouts.

Our table had a ton of terrain which made it very difficult for me to deploy, but it didnt matter as Josh would Seize on me and grab First Blood with a Venom death.  I would then kill his Redeemer with the Wraithknight who would then die to the TH/SS Termies inside.  The Baron would die and Josh would grab Linebreaker as well but it would not save him.  I would win this game 13-7. 

As an aside, Josh turned out staying in our same hotel so we all went out together and grabbed food and chilled for the weekend.  Josh is an awesome dude and really fun to chill with.

Game #2 vs Adam Pedersen

Adam was playing CSM.  Nurgle Bike Lord with 8 Burgle bikers, a Predator, Helldrake, 30 or 40 CSM, some Havocs, 3 Oblit, and some cultists with an ADL. 

This game would go rather quickly for me. I would have first turn and would pummel Adam's army with 2 turns of shooting and wipe his Bikes with the Beasts.  Highlight of the match for Adam was killing my 5 Wound Knight with Twin-Linked Plasma Guns from his Oblits.  I would win 15-2.

Game #3 vs Brad Townsend aka Hulksmash

Brad would bring Greyknights with Inquistor Allies.  Coteaz, 4 Psybacks, 2 Solodins, 2 TA Psycannon Inquisitors, 2 Storm Ravens, and 3 Dreadknight with Teleporters and Incinerators.I knew this would be a tough test simply because Brad is a great player.  Plus, he has a plethora of 2+ Armor Saves and the Storm Ravens are never fun for me.  And he had first turn.

 I would deny him a lot of his first turn shooting by deploying near my table edge so he couldnt get his choice targets with the Incinerators.  No damage from him first turn and I would return fire with dealing 3 Wounds to one Knight (he was a MFer... Seriously) and kill two of his 2 of his 4 Psybacks to get First Blood.  Over the course of the game my stuff would die and his stuff would die.  That 1 Wound Knight would live til Turn 5 until he actually failed that last save, it took a long time to finish him off.  The game would go on (much to HulkSmash's displeasure) I would also learn that a 5th objective was in the middle and Hulky was controlling it, at that I thought I had lost.  The Baron pulled through and Hit and Run out of CC to kill 1 squad of Henchmen off an objective to seal the deal.  I would win 7-6.

I would have to say, this was probably my most enjoyable tournament game I have had.  Things I have read online about Brad all had been positive.  I am glad what I read was true and this game turned out to be such fun.  Outside of him unintentionally yelling at a 16 year old kid and that kid crying and running away, he is a stand up guy!  It felt like a Beer and Pretzel game with competitive banter (Lot of this!) with someone ive known for a long time.  Appreciate the game Brad!

Game #4 vs Matt Root

Matt Root has won the Bugeater GT the last 2 years.  I figured he would be the one to bring Skyblight and I was right.  He had just gotten done handing Omegaprime his first loss of the tournament (and his only!).  He brought 3 Tyrants, 2 Crones, 2 Harpies, Venomthrope, 3 individual Biovores, a Bastions, some Warriors Gargoyles, ad some regular Gaunts. 

By was this going to be a tough match up.  This list is the reason I brought the ADL and the Wraithknight. I really hope they pull their weight!  I win the roll off and take first turn.  I deploy at my 24'' line (Hammer and Anvil Deployment) equally and ready to attack everything.  He deploys the Venomthrope in the Bastions and stacks literally) his MCs behind the Bastion and in Area Terrain to get a 3+ Cover Save.  After some bickering from him on placement we go. 

My first turn is rather devastating.  I blow his Bastion and his Venthrope along with it with one of my Ravagers.  His of his Biovores take wound from the Bastion (they were on the Battlements).  I then kill his Warlord Tyrant and a Crone.  I deal 3 wounds to another Tyrant and plink another wound off of another Tyrant.  Not too shabby!  I made sure to have all of my vehicles at the 22-24'' mark so he could Vector Strike anything of mine.  Though he tried valiantly to do so, I would not let him cheat by not passing straight over me or let him get within an inch of, both things he insistently tried to do and was rather angry he could not do.  I believe he blew up a couple Venoms and ended his turn. 

I would continue my rampage and kill anther Tyrant and the other Crone.  His lone wound Tyrant would live again and make plenty of 3+ Armors and 5+ Cover Saves which is quite annoying.  My Beasts would also massacre a Gargoyle squad.He would kill a squad of my Venom troops and call it a turn.

With time winding (yes this is Turn 3) we decided it would be last turn.  I would run clean up duty and kill his 3 Biovores, his other 2 Gargoyle Squads, his other Tyrant, and leave a Harpy with 1 wound left.  We would try to come back and grab some points which he did by getting Warlord (damn Smash Attacks!) and Linebreaker.  Counting up the Kill Points I had 11 to his 3 netting me 8 points.  I also had all 3 primaries for 14 total points.  He would get 4 with Warlord and Linebreaker.

I was very nervous for the game as having first turn pretty much clinched it for me.  Calling the Rules Judge over for every little things was annoying, but knowing the rules and actually having a Tournament FAQ to reference was nice.

Omegaprime finished the day 3-1 and Matt Bess finished 2-2 dropping his last 2 games of the day.  So at the end of the day I sat at 4-0.  Only one other player had that and he brought.... 5 KNIGHTS!  Yikes.... Stay tuned in the next couple of days to have me recap Day 2!

Sorry for the lack of pictures.  I literally have no excuse as I had my camera with me, just never remembered to take any.  Sorry!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Ready to Eat Me Some BUGS!

So this weekend is the 4th Annual Bugeater GT in Omaha, Nebraska.  This is probably the last 6th Edition GT and I am ready for it to go off with a bang!  Last year, I had the best overall tournament experience I could ask for.  I can only hope to have the same this year! 

New to the Bugeater GT this year is the Bugeater Cup.  A group can win 3 different cups.  One cup is for playing well (as a group) in he WHFB Tournament.  Another is to play well (again... as a group) in the 40k Tournament.  Then there is an Overall Cup for a group that does well in both.  You will forever have your group's name emblazoned on the trophy for glory and riches and all that jazz.  Seeing as how none of the people from Sac that are going play Fantasy, we were hoping to go for the 40k trophy.  However, talking with my buddy from Colorado, Adam Tricola from http://www.rumorsofheresy.blogspot.com/  he and some other buddies were willing to team up with us and some of them play Fantasy!  So we can now win any of the 3 cups!  Our team name?  Drum roll please.. Team C-State Domination.  Adam and his buddies reign from Colorado and my buddies and I reign from California.  Perfec name I think... We will dominate! (I hope...)

Next up, here are some pictures of finished models and my board.  Enjoy!


Up Close view of the corner piece... All glued and awaiting Drybrushing

Wood putty is painted grey... Awaiting the Wash



Washed!  First Coat



Up close of wash effect



Sanded, painted, and 1st coat of wash



Up close, needs another wash and drybrushing



Before I took it home to drybrush and add effects



1 finished spire



Finished Board!



My cart finished!  Wheels on the bottom, and two storage areas.  The bottom for my Army Transport Bags and the second level for Dice, Books, and extras.  Top is reserved for the display board.




 So obviously I missed some steps in there.  I will take some better lit pictures of my board, Omegaprime's, and Fat Ninja Hodor's.  They all look very impressive!


Finally, if you notice the models in the picture don't match my previous army connotations, you are right!   I made some changes.  No more Dragons or Batteries.  Going to to roll with the Wraithknight and the Defense Line.  I figure both fit rolls I need them to.  Defense Line kills that pesky Skyblight Formation and the Knight can dominate the Imperial Knight with shooting and CC.  Hopefully its a worthwhile change!

As an aside, me and Omegaprime will be playing in the Team Tournament they are holding on Friday.  Our team name for that will be The Walking Dead.  We will have over 60 models of Necrons with Orbs and either 29 Wraithguard with a Spiritseer or 18 Guard with a couple Wraithlords.  it will be a gametime decision what we run! 

Well wish us luck!  I will try and take pictures of all of my games!  We embark on the 22 hour drive to Omaha, Nebraska at 10:30pm tomorrow!