10 days ago was the Twin-Linked GT ran in Sacramento, CA by my very good friend Mark Broughton aka Omegaprime. The Twin-Linked GT is a team tournament where each player brings 1000 points and follows a strict set of Comp rules. (No duplicates, 0-2 for all slots shared by the team, point restrictions on each slot, etc.) Last year me and my partner Big Ray Barrera took 4th and took home the 2nd Best Sportmanship Award. This year our aspirations would be much lower as each of had not played for around 4-5 months. We wanted to have a good time and possibly take home a Sportsmanship Award if we were lucky! I also would be bringing the new DE codex which I had played zero games with!
Here are our lists.
Yeeman's DE
Archon, Webway Portal, Agonizer, Haywire Grenade
x6 Grotesques
x9 Mandrakes
x5 Warriors, Venom
x5 Warriors, Venom
x5 Warriors, Venom
Razorwing w/ Lances
x2 Beastmasters, x8 Khymera
Big Ray's Eldar
Autarch, Bike, Scorpion Sword, Reaper Launcher
x6 Bikes, x2 Cannons
x5 DAs, Serpent
x5 DAs, Serpent
x7 Spiders
Wraithknight
Overall pretty decent lists, especially the Eldar. My Dark Eldar was more of me wanting to use units like the Grotesques and Mandrakes and paint them up. Again, we did not have high hopes in winning many games and we settled on being happy with going 3-3. So onto our game!
A side bet me and Ray had was for the 3rd Objective marker of SWAG we got in our bags. We got only 3 Objective Markers to share for the 2 of us so we decided whoever played better throughout the 6 games, wins the last Marker. We would let our opponents decide who played better between us and keep our record to determine the winner!
Game 1 vs Dark Zoom Zoom
This game we played against Bike heavy Orks and Ravenwing bikers. We thought we would be in good shape as we have plenty of shooting and they need to come to us to deal real damage. Plus, we have lots of good melee units to challenge them as well. This game would be short and be a nice refresher for us. We became real comfortable again and nearly tabled our opponents. They could not handle the shooting nor the melee units we brought to the table. Plus, they scouted the Ravenwing up first turn and tried to seize (which was +1 from Warlord) and they failed which allowed us to get first turn charges.
MVP of this game were the Mandrakes. First turn they shot down a Land Speeder. Second turn ate hella shooting and killed another speeder. Third turn they shot and assault the Ork Warboss and killed him with Soul Blaze! Sammael fell victim to them turn 4 and an Ork Boyz Squad 11 strong fell victim to them turn 5. After turn 2 there was only 5 left because of Sammael's Plasma Cannon! They lived with 2 left to tell the tale of their deeds! They were great!
We achieved a full 20 point win. Our opponents voted I did more damage because of the Mandrakes alone! So I'm up 1-0 on Ray and our Team is 1-0 for the tourney!
Game 2 Vs No Chance Newbies
Our opponents brought Drop Pod Marines and Nids. Going into this game, we were worried and thought we were done for. Their lists were not only superior but they had first turn and we would be on our backfoot from the beginning.
Not knowing the experience level of our opponents, we assumed the worst. They podded in and took flight against the Grotesques. Everything poured into them. When the dust cleared I had 4 left standing all with a variety of wounds. Everything else would be unscathed. We took advantage of this and had the Grotesques Rampage through their army (literally!) and kill several units. By game's end, my 1000pts were decimated and I was left with a few Mandrakes, 1 Grotesque, a few Warriors, and a few Beasts. Big Ray had lost 3 bikes... That's it! We would pull a 20 against our opponents. The big downfall for our opponents was their target priority. If they knew a little better, we would have lost. I told Ray that if we used their lists against us, we would have won that game I feel.
MVP of this game was probably the Wraithknight. Instagibbed a Malanthrope Turn 1, the Hive Crone Turn 2, and wiped out several Marines. Our opponents determined that Ray won this game because he was unscathed! I took the brunt of their forces but Ray ended up doing a lot of the damage because all my stuff kept dying! So as a team we are 2-0 and I am 1-1 against Ray for the Marker!
Game 3 Vs. Wolf Brother 2nd Company
Our opponents reign from Reno, NV and are hardcore players. They play for keeps and Mike Bass was out for blood against me since the last time we played, he was wiped Turn 2 pretty much against me at BAO. They would run 3 Serpents, and a Wraithknight with 3 Razorbacks, a Thunderfire, and Khan with a command Squad.
Whenever you have Serpent on Serpent action, first turn is crucial. Lucky for me and Ray we had it and they failed to seize. We kill a serpent, another Jinks, the Thuderfire goes boom, and the Wraithknight takes a wound but makes his ID from our own Wraithknight. They respond by killing a Venom and a Serpent of ours. Turn 2 would be the deciding turn as our Reserves come in. The flier knocks out several bikes and a Razorback. The Grotesques would enter CC and crush the Command Squad. Venoms kill the Wraithknight and the Wolf Brother would be left picking up the pieces. We would play it out but their effort would not be enough.
Great opponents and tons of fun. Aside from the whistle blowing, getting drunk, taking Jell-O shots, and talking as much shit as possible between us the game was probably the most fun of the weekend! We would get a 20 in this game as well and end Day 1 with a perfect Battle Score!
Our MVP this game was probably the Serpents but our whole army contributed equally. We decided to call this game a tie between me and Ray as we both did well and if it came down to it, Ray could have it if we ended up tying by tournament's end! The cool thing is is that by day's end, we have perfect battle (only team thus far with it!) and we matched the win total we were shooting for and we still had 3 games left!
In the next couple of days I will get the rest of the games up and have my overall thoughts on the tournament!
