The Move is Over... Need Some Gaming!

So as some of you know, I recently moved to Colorado from California.  I am finally settled in and need to do some gaming!  I have heard from Adam Tricola over at www.rumorsofheresy.blogspot.com that Gryphon Games is the place to go for gaming.  I think I will start my search there.

To all my gaming friends out in California, keep gaming and I will see you guys soon!  To my canine companions in Reno, keep HOWLING! and giving the guys in Sacramento fits!  Hope to see you all at the LVO.

At the very least, I will be attending the Bugeater GT in Omaha, Nebraska for sure.  Wish you gusy the best and keep in touch.

I will try and get some games in the next couple of weeks and sharing my thoughts.  Will atleast take some pictures of the game stores I attend and let you know my intial impressions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Twin-Linked GT Results and Post Tournament Thoughts

So 10 days ago the inaugaral Twin-Linked GT took place.  It was a full weekend of gaming, fun, and friendly banter.  I teamed up with my buddy Big Ray Barrera.  Our lists can be seen below:

Yeeman's Dark Eldar

Baron

x8 Harlequins, Shadowseer, x6 Kisses

x5 Warriors, Venom
x5 Warriors, Venom
x5 Warriors, Venom

x5 Masters, Fiend, x5 Khymera, x6 Flock

Ravager, Nightshields

Big Ray's Eldar

Spiritseer

x9 Wraithguard
x5 Dire Avengers, Serpent w/ TL-Scatter, Cannon
x5 Dire Avengers, Serpent w/ TL-Scatter, Cannon

Wraithknight

Yeeman's and Big Ray's Twin-Linked GT army

I will give brief run downs of our games and highlights from each.  I will be stealing pictures from various sources as I never take any pictures anytime.  Something that will change next year for sure!

James Van Houten's IG in Game 1

 

Game 1 vs IG/Space Marines

They had first turn and we were staring down 6 Chimeras, 3 Rhinos, a Manticore and many Guardsman.  Fortunately for us, their first turn was minimal and it went down hill from there.  Beasts made a 12'' charge Turn 1 into a Chapter master and his Bikes and elminated them.  The Beasts then proceeded to multicharge 3 Chimeras and annhilate their army.  Bad target priority for our opponents 2nd turn sealed their doom.  Word of Advice:  Do not shoot the Wraithknight with 6 Chimeras and all of your Heavy Weapon Teams.  It will not end well for you.  

Game 2 vs Farsight Tau/ Tyranids

This was against two very good local players, Paul McKelvey and Alex Hein.  They were running the pretty standard builds you would expect.  3 Suit Troops, Broadsides, a Barracuda (awesome by the way), Flyrant, Tervigon, Doom, HELLA Gaunts!  They won first turn and the damage they had was minimal.  Our turn saw us ground the flier and then see Alex make 5 FnP saves to keep him alive with 1 wound of which our Wraithknight had to charge in and take care of instead of craging 8'' into Braodsides.  The other highlight was the Beasts failing an 8'' charge into the Broadsides as well.  The game would go downhill from there.  Having all of their Reserves come in and they proceed to kill us unit by unit.  The whole game we were always a wound or model short of killing a unit.  The Broadsides would hold the Wraithknight in combat for 5 ROUNDS!  it was rediculous.  In the end we would lose the game.

Game 3 vs Orks/Orks

That's one large Ork Horde!

This game was against John Johnston and Scott Anderson.  In short, they brought 201 Orks to the table.  They wanted to see how many each team could kill in the game and total for each round.  In short, we tabled them Round 4.  We did not keep the record as a 6 Dreadnought list tabled them turn 3, but our record of 98 Orks killed in 1 turn did hold for the entire tournament.

We finished the day 2-1 and with a total of 45/60 Battle Points.  We are still in contention, but it will be an uphill battle, and there were Wolves on the horizon....

Game 4 vs Tau/Necrons

Our opponents brought as optimized list as you could to the Twin-Linked tournament.  Tau had a Buffmander, Riptide, 3 Broadsides with max Drones, 2 Fire Warrior Teams, and a large Kroot squad.  Necrons had a Destroyer Lord with 6 Wraiths,  2 Night Scythes with Warriors, 10 Immortals, and an Annhilation Barge.  2 awesome lists that would be tough to crack.

They Seized on us (a theme for day 2) and proceeded to shoot the shit out of us.  Turn 2 they focused all of their firpower into the beasts (literally) and kill them all but the Baron.  Harlequins looked at the 2.5 Wraiths and a full wound Destroyer Lord, chraged them, and BAM!  They all died.  Harlequins did not lose a model... This would be their highlight.  Unfortunately for our opponents, we would turn the tide round 3 with some key rolls on their fliers and pinning their army in their Deployment Zone.  Some key LD fails on their part would seal their fate and we would grab 5/6 objectives and win with full points!

Game vs IG/Dark Eldar

Oade's Middle Finger IG



Shot Down Mind's Dark Eldar



HOWLLLLLLLLLL!  The Wolf Brothers 1st Company enter the ring.  They are undefeated at this point and had been blasting armies apart with their Earth Shaker Cannons and Heavy Field Artillery.  The 50+ Guardsman would go to the grinder as they are meant to be, while the Dark Eldar flew around in their 3 Venoms and the Beasts lead the way with their claws, eating any remnants of an army that survived the first couple turns.

Me telling the Wolf Brothers it is going to suck WHEN they Seize on us...

The mission having 3 Relics on the field seemed like an advantage and them placing theirs in a corner started out ok.  We put ours in the same corner and hope we could just get to theirs and tie them up.  We have first turn and set up for an all out bullrush.  They deploy their artillery in the opposite corner to avoid the rush.  So we get ready to move on the first turn but Mike Oade decides to try and Seize... remeber that theme I said was Day 2.... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  I yell... They seize, and there is No Night Fighting.... YAY!

We survive the first barrage pretty well.  The game was a bloodbath.  We cause their Earthshakers to flee off the table, but being able to re-roll a dice (tournament theme using poker chips) they re-roll and succeed!  Damn you!  Death is everywhere and the game going into Turn 5 is a draw.  Shot Down Mind's Beast Pack is staring down the 3 Dire Avengers holding our Relic.  The Baron in the Beast Pack is holding theirs.  Instead of the guaranteed tie, he go for it.  Needing 6'' for the charge and unable to move mor than 6'' without droppig the Relic he rolls.... double 3's!  he makes it by the skin of his teeth and ends up moping the floor with the Avengers!  We lose but get almost a full point loss!

The best game of the tournament by far!  Hell of a game and a shitload of fun!  I thought the game was ovwer when we failed to take first turn.  We dug in, clawed our way through and made it as tough as we could.  Great game!  We laughed and hollered throughout the game.  Appreciate it fellas!

So after our second loss we know we are out of contention for overall, but with the plethora of prizes out there to win, we know we are still in contention of multiple prizes!

Game 6 vs Eldar/Chaos Space Marines

Our last game would be against some guys from  Redding.  They recognized us from NorCon and knew about how we went up there took names!  Eldar had a Seer, 3 Serpents, and 3 Lance War Walkers.  The CSM player had a tooled out Prince, Hell Drake, Spawn, 2 Oblits, and lots of Cultists.

We would go first... But remember that theme I have been preaching about?  They roll to seize... and yeah you guessed it... Succeed.  Luckily for us, Ruins were a plenty and we had master of Ruins for a Warlord trait.  The damage was minimal.  The Beasts bore the brunt of it and lived to still wreak some havoc.  We would systematically destroy them unit by unit.  But there were soem highlights!

His Nurgle Prince absorbed 35 wounds in one turn.  Literally our whole army shot him and he made 35 saves.  The Prince then decides to charge the Wraithknight... Overwatch happens and the Wraithknight sends the Prince back to the Warp!  Awesome!  The very next turn, the Knight shoots up at the Helldrake... 6 to hit!  5 to Pen!  Failed Invuln.... 6 blows it up!  our opponents were cheering for us and made it a hell of a game.  Very fun game and a great way to end the tournament!  Very glad we got to end the tournament with a very fun game and some great guys! 

Overall we would finish 4th for the tournament and win 2nd Best Sportsman!  The Wolf Brothers, HOWL!  would come in first after dominating the last round!  Great job!  Here is what we won:



Backside of our Dice Bag



Frontside of our Dice Bag

Our Certificates for our awards

Part of our SWAG Bags.. Those our sweet Objective Markers!

My thoughts overall for the tournament:

Venue: A

Great Escape Games always has plenty of space and the quality of terrain is superb.  There was tables to place our armies on so we weren't cramped.  it wasn't very hot or very cold.  Overall great place to hold a tournament.

Organization:  B

We had a late start on Saturday because the guys from Reno had to come donw the mountains through the snow. On sunday some mis-information was put up which made some people come in 20-30 min late.  Some people were paired up multiple times, but it was settled quickly.  Pairings were up promptly and mission packets were handed out ahead of time.

Prize Support:  A

With a $90 entry fee, the prize support did not disappoint.  The winners of the event shared a $250 gift card, won dice bags, and got certificates.  Top 4 got prizes, 3 paint awards, 3 SPortsmanship awards, and a low man on the totem pole award was handed out as well.  Not to mention, various raffle prizes were handed out throughout the tournament on both days.

Missions:  B

Most of the missions had a lot of flare and created a different environement.  The only thing I do not like is having missions that kill my models via large blast barrages.  Seeing as how we have to fight 2000pts worth of armeis I would prefer not having to fight against the missions as well.  The two missions that did kill your army did not effect us too much, but I would rather not die to the mission and the players I am fighting.

Price Point:  B

I think $90 is quite a bit for a tournament.  I know it is split for the two players and the prize support made up for the fact it was $90. I think only playing with 1000pts and the fact i have a partner I need to rely on is why paying that high amount of money is a little unsettling.

Experience: A

Overall, a very very fun weekend of gaming.  Me and Ray had a frickin' BLAST!  The whole tournament from start to finish was awesome.  All of our opponents were great and we had no hiccups on rules or missions.  Friday- Sunday resulted in one of the best gaming weekends of my life.  I know my buddy Ray echoes my thoughts as well. 

I want to thank all of my opponents and Mark aka Omegaprime for a great weekend.  I had a ton of fun and cannot wait for next year.  the new season of the Twin-Linked Tournament series starts up in February and can't wait!  Thanks again!

Inaugural Twin-Linked GT THIS Weekend!

So this weekend will be the first ever Twin-Linked GT.  Those that have followed this blog for the last year or so know that the Twin-Linked tournament held at great Escape Games in Sacramento, CA is a bi-monthly Team Tournament run by fellow Sac City Punisher Omegaprime.  This coming weekend, instead of running a 6th Team Tournament, Omegaprime has decided to run a 2 Day GT event that follows the same format as his regular tournament.  The GT however features MUCH more prize support, swag bags, Friday night gaming and fun, and a multitude of other things.  Something I am very much looking forward to and have been for the entire year!

I will again be teaming up with my buddy Big Ray Barrera and we will be bringing the PAIN!  Our lists are below:

Yeeman's Dark Eldar

Baron

x8 Harlequins, Shadowseer, x6 Kisses

x5 Warriors, Venom
x5 Warriors, Venom
x5 Warriors, Venom

x5 Masters, Fiend, x5 Khymera, x6 Flock

Ravager, Nightshields



Big Ray's Eldar

Spiritseer

x9 Wraithguard
x5 Dire Avengers, Serpent w/ TL-Scatter, Cannon
x5 Dire Avengers, Serpent w/ TL-Scatter, Cannon

Wraithknight

So I am sure the initial reaction is WTF!?!?!?!? HARLEQUINS!?!?!?!?!?  Breath slowly, take a coupel deep breaths and relax.  I am freaking out just like you are!  Ever since we submitted our lists, I have been goign back and forth!  I am unsure how they will perform.  I predict very much feast or famine.  I am sure in atleast 1 or 2 games they will be MVPs.  The other games.... Just die or do nothing.  I do think in this format, they can do some work.  I think they put out enough attacks (4) on the charge and high enough WS (5) to reliably hit and Rend with theb est of them.  We plan on using them as bodyguards for the Wraithguard.  Ignoring Cover when moving allows them to be fast while remaining hidden with a 2+ Cover save standard.

The rest of the list is pretty standard.  3 Venoms, Beasts, and a Ravager for me is pretty standard and will do work, like always.  We went with the Wraithguard to get a hard, tough to crack troop.  5 man squads are good, but 9 Wraithguard gvie us soem Strength 10 and a nice objective holder when need be.  2 Serpents and a Wraithknight will offer great support for our assault elements. 

I wil predict us going 5-1.  i like our lists and both of us are competent generals.  The big X Factor is the Harlequins.  I have officially played 1 game with Harlequins before and they got shot off the board before doing anything.  We have a practice game set up for tomorrow so hopefully I can get the much needed practice.  Wish us luck and I will report on the games next week!

As a note, 25% of the army lists submitted have Tau in them!  So it looks like, every table will have atleast 1000 points of Tau on it at the least.  it's going to be great killing a bunch of Blue Communists!

YEE!