StillCon '11 Wrap Up

Alrighty, so the Fantasy tournament at StillCon was a pretty cool time. My first impression was "Wow this is much smaller than I was expecting." I guess I didn't notice, or they edited it on their website, but the max for the Fantasy tourney was only 15 people. However, there were all of 7 of us (5 competitors, 1 TO, 1 judge). Evidently it was a better turn out than last year (2 people), so hey maybe next year there will be another 300% growth in players.

There were only 3 tables set up (talking to the TO before hand, he knew it was going to be a small turn out), all of them set up pretty similarly. One peice about 6" in from each corner with 1 big/medium sized piece dead-center, or 2 smaller ones dead-center.

Being that we only had 5 people there signed up, the TO and judge took alternating turns to play the TO's army so someone wouldn't have a complete bye. I don't know if they received max points playing the "bye" army, as I was one of two that did not play him. What I do know is that he took a fantastically painted Skaven army, and ended up going 2-1 on the day, oops!

The army breakdown was 2 Skaven, 2 Lizardmen, 1 Dark Elf, and 1 Chaos ****ing Dwarf army. What?!?!?! I'd thought Chaos Dwarves were the stuff of legends, myths you hear about, tales sown far and wide across the 7 internets to scare Fantasy players. When was the last time you could say you heard of a tournament where Chaos Dwarves made up 16.67% of the damn thing? Never, that's when.

I ended up taking 2nd place, going 2-1-0 with a major loss, major victory, and massacre. Played against Dark Elves (Meeting Engagement), Chaos Dwarves (Dawn Attack), and Lizardmen (Blood and Glory) respectively. I think I did pretty well all things considered. The Dark Elf player ended up winning the entire thing, and pretty much sat back on his board edge and shot me until I got to him. There were 3 things I wish I had done in that game:

1. Placed my Chameleons better, one group managed to take his Sorc down to 1 wound late in the game. Had I killed her, I may have been able to pull out a win. I ended up losing like 460-175 VP. As it was, he pretty much deployed in groups and protected his vulnerable targets. I ended up shooting at his forward most group of Crossbowmen. I should have placed them on the flank of his Black Guard so he'd have to waste a turn reforming if he wanted to try to charge me. Or tried to blow up his Shades.

2. Charged/Flamed/Whatever'd his small unit of shades, would have given me some extra points.

3. Been more patient. I kept pressing the issue with Throne of Vines, and he kept dispelling it. In what proved to be my biggest mistake, I finally got Throne off with Irresistible Force, but had already used my Cupped Hands. Had it not IF'ed, he had little to no dispel dice, and I had like 5 left to use on a Regrowth on a unit of 12 Saurus I had just that turn charged his ~12-15 Black Guard with. So my IF roll came up Power Drain, FML. So my Saurus proceed to get cut down, and I give up a 250 point block (+victory points for banners etc.). Had it gone on another turn or two I had that Black Guard squad in combat again, had wiped 1 of 2 Hydras, and was probably going to sweep that entire flank. I also didn't cast Dwellers as much as I should have (once maybe?), especially when you consider he used his dispel scroll on something turn 1.

I did end up learning from my loss and I exceeded my expectations, can't ask for a whole lot more than that can you?

Now it's time to go prime some Lizardmen before the OKC Thunder game tonight!

Down but Not Out

Apologies for the lack of posts since, well, forever. Nursing school owns me.

Fortunately, I am going to be able to make it to StillCon 2011.

The thing that sucks is that I will only be able to make it for one day this year, instead of two like I planned. I will be playing in the 2000 point WHFB tournament on Sunday, and will miss the 40k tournament Saturday. Having done a couple tournaments now, I know what to expect. The rub is that I've been playing Fantasy for all of 3 months with just under a dozen games under my belt (never playing any other mission than the standard 12" deployment). That and I'm not super solid on the rules like in 40k. Oh and I've played against or watched games with approximately 9 of the 14 armies.

Having said that I still think I will do well, though not as well as I did last year in 40k. I believe in setting realistic goals, and hopefully surprising the hell out of myself. The goal this year is to win one of the three games. Totally do-able.

I have play tested this army and it has done well. The only thing that was disappointing to me was how Light performed for me. I'm sure most of it is user error and not being 100% solid on all the mechanics. It's something I intend to try again sometime. That said, Life is incredibly easy to use, completely point-and-click. Let's do it:

Lords

Slann

General, BSB, Standard of Discipline, Cupped Hands of the Old Ones, Focus of Mystery (Life), The Becalming Cognition, Focused Rumination

Core

3 blocks of 20 Saurus Warriors

Full Command

Special

Temple Guard x 20

Full Command, Banner of Eternal Flame

2 groups of 5 Chameleon Skinks

Rare

2 sets of 2 Salamanders

1 with 1 extra handler (to be placed on the flank with the most targets as an added insurance policy)

Total: 2000 Points on the nose.

Honestly, I'd love to include a Skink Priest on an Engine of the Gods, but at 2000 points it's kinda hard to squeeze in without dropping a block of Saurus (leaving me 3 groups that can fight with any sort of staying power). That and I won't be getting that model in from my FLGS until tomorrow at the earliest.

I have sort of tweaked it a bit, originally I loved the idea of have the Temple Guard block having a Razor Standard (-3 to opponents armor save) paired with Light to give me a Flaming Magic missile.

Initiative 10/ASF to eliminate those cringe-inducing re-rollable hits from High Elves and turn the Lizzie's weakness into a strength? Check.

Can deal with heavily armored/deathstar blocks? Check.

Flaming magic missile for the super lame Hydras/other Regen or Flammable creature? Check.

Seems like a match made in heaven, and probably is in point values over 2000 points or for people who know what the hell they're doing. Unfortunately the Banner costs 35 more points (2 Temple Guard, though not a big deal - I know) and the Razor Standard was also a bit overkill. Strength 5 is street sweeping whatever it's hitting anyway, and my Temple Guard have yet to come across something they couldn't at least have enough staying power to not get through a game.

The 2 small groups of Chameleons give me the flexibility of one maxed unit of 10, while being able to take out multiple targets if necessary. The Chameleon Brave is not worth the 6 points for 1 point better BS.

Anyways I've droned on for entirely too long, but I would be remiss without plugging Dethron's regular "column" Friday Night Internet Fight, every Friday. It's hilarious (and a good blog too!). Give it a read.

First Dinosaurz List (2000 points)

So I'm a jerk and I like "hard" lists, but this is my first attempt at one and will change over time (they always do). I like hand to hand and this is one thing this list does well, but its glaring weakness is not enough dakka. Anyways here it is:

Slann Mage-Priest

General, BSB, Sun Standard of Chotec, Cupped Hands of the Old ones, Becalming Cognition, Focused Rumination, Focus of Mystery (Life)

Temple Guard x 20

Full command, Banner of Eternal Flame

3 groups of 20 Saurus warriors
Full command

Chameleon Skins x 7

Full command (inasmuch as a Stalker can be considered full command)

2 groups of 2 Salamanders

1 extra handler per group (squad?)

I'm also unsure on the banners my Temple Guard and Slann are carrying, but that will get changed around as I play some more games. Other than that the only other thing I'm on the fence about is the Lore of Life, I really like what Speed of Light and a few other things do in Light, but life seems to be a more useful lore top to bottom. The only real drawback I see to Life is that it's incredibly easy to dispel things like Throne of vines. I really wish I could remember where I found an article talking about the virtues of Chameleon skinks, but basically what won me over to them instead of skink skirmishers is that they force shooting opponents to get at least -2 to their to hit roll for being skirmishers and for the chameleon special rule. If they're in hard cover that's -4. That and their ballistic skill is higher so I can get some extra wounds when moving and shooting.

Comments, advice, criticism?

Earthquakes, Dinosaurs, and Dark Eldar (Oh My!)

As some of you may know, I live in Norman, Oklahoma. We are pretty versed in the whole natural disasters thing, however, earthquakes isn't something Oklahomans are used to. Yesterday we had one rated either 4.5 or 5.1 depending on who you ask. Definitely an interesting day. At first I thought a truck had run into my apartment building, then I figured it was an earthquake moments later when I looked out my window and saw the other building moving too.

In other news, I've started my first step in building my Lizardmen army. Even though the iPhone camera quality is shotty at best, Sid approves of the Lizardmen battalion. I'm not quite through all the rules in the BRB (still have Special Rules and everything beyond that) but I do like the system. It's similar enough to 40k that I grasp things well without having to re-read, but it has that je ne se quoi of difference. Also for those of you who are strictly 40k players, go pick up a Fantasy BRB and flip through it! For someone who has played a geeky game or two, I wish every book could be this well done. The full color on every page is wonderful, the quality of the paper is good, hell even the ribbon that comes with it is a nice addition.

What's that? Complaining of me reviewing something that's months old? Well let's get behind the times again, only this time to the tune of weeks! I had a chance to flip through the new Dark Eldar codex today and I have to say they look wicked. Definitely not the army for me (as I like something not quite so fragile) but at a cursory glance I can say that I believe that they will indeed impact the meta game. If they can get up in your face they will rip you to shreds. Unfortunately for the IG parking lot, they have a number of ways to do so. I look forward to this shift, as my lack of long range options with CSM has left me bitter and cold.

Wait Lizardmen don't have much in the way of ranged shooting either?

Status Update & Tuck Fexas

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been busy with Nursing School (read: studying for Pharmacology) and playing a bit of League of Legends.

In other news the OU-Texas game is this weekend. UT eat your heart out. But in all seriousness condolences to anyone in and around Austin for the gunman on their campus.

I'll try to get something of substance up tomorrow or Sunday.

Boomer Sooner!

Long Time No Post

So yeah, Nursing school will melt your face, and your spare time. Not a ton of time to keep up with the blog (unless you're procrastinating doing some homework!)

40k has completely given me over to "other army envy." Especially since I'm like 0-10 against Tyranids since they've come out (even one game against a newbie). CSM have a lack of shooting and are a bit overcosted if you ask me. But I'm not here to complain about the problems with my army, I'm here to complain about something else!

For a few months now, I've had this sneaking suspicion that I'm going to get screwed over. Let me elaborate, you see today BoLS posted an article talking about the rumored to-be-released armies for next year. CSM is nowhere on that list. Nor have I heard any chatter/rumblings/news at all about them getting a new codex. It's also pretty widely accepted that GW is going to update every codex before they release a 6th edition of 40k. and it's anticipated that will only be 2-3 years away.

So what who cares? Well, what this means is that for the second codex in a row, the signs are pointing towards Codex Chaos Space Marines having the dubious honor of being one of the last few codices released in a lame duck edition AGAIN. I think everyone can agree that, for the majority, armies released before a new edition arrives are at a serious disadvantage (even when the codex shows foresight to new rules and changes for the new edition). And it's not really the design studio's fault, they do at least attempt to plan ahead a bit. But the meta game changes with each codex release, and as time goes on what's effective may be drastically different than what the designers had in mind. And like I said, it ain't for lack of trying. It's just something you cannot control for.

Why put so much stock into rumors? Because BoLS schedule rumors are pretty much spot on with few exceptions.

Don't take this the wrong way, there are absolutely other armies that are WAY more deserving of an update before CSM gets some update love, but being one of the very last updated armies again is going to seriously irritate me.

In other news, I'm apparently a masochist. Even though I'm still not done painting my Black Legion (but who finishes completely painting an army anyways?) I am going to take the leap into Warhammer Fantasy. Most of the regulars at my FLGS are getting into Fantasy. It's something I've been interested in for a while now. I like a lot of the story and lore, not as much as 40k, but I'm familiar with it enough since I played the Warhammer MMO for a few months. I think I'm going to play Lizardmen. The only other armies that interest me in the slightest are Skaven (didn't want to paint/build that many models) and Warriors of Chaos (I already got my evil Chaos fix for the most part). Unfortunately we already have people that play both those armies and I want something different (since we now have like 5 or so of us that play CSM at the FLGS). So far there aren't any multiples of any armies which is good. I enjoy that they are really strong in melee and in magic.

But of course, drawn like a moth to the flame, they are one of the last codices released from the last edition. BAH!

Thanks Tasty and I R Bad Blogger

A big thanks to Tastytaste of Blood of Kittens for posting my article on Tzeentch on his site.

I'm not going to lie, I've been a bit burned out on 40k lately. But this might be the spark that reignites my passion for 40k. Part of the problem is that my friend who I play the vast majority of my games against plays Blood Angels and I don't have enough pew pew in my CSM list(s) to take down all his Storm Ravens, Dreads, and possibly a Vindi or two.

I apologize to the few readers I have for not updating more regularly, however one thing I refuse to do is to "break" news that BoLS, YTTH, Warseer, etc. have already gotten to.

I would like to have this post not be completely fruitless, so I'll leave you with two blogs I read on a daily basis and that inspire me as to what this blog may one day accomplish.

The first is Blood of Kittens, which has some very unique things like the community pimp, 40k D-bag (because drama can be hilarious if you're far enough removed from it), but what drew me originally was the coverage of all the GT's around the country (and Canadia).

The second is Brent's Strictly Average. His posts are precise, intelligent, and pretty freaking funny. As a plus he lives roughly in the same geographic area I do. His e-mails with Ron of FTW was quite amusing, as well as his stalking of Jawaballs.

Lastly, something I listen to every day as I am a huge Pardon the Interruption fan is The Tony Kornheiser Show, if you like sports (even though it is WAY more an entertainment show than a sports show) I HIGHLY suggest giving it a listen a few times.