High Lords of Terra - Game 1: Tyranids vs Blood Angels

I know this, and the following, are 5th edition battle reports but hopefully it's still pertinent in terms of a learning exercise, etc. you just had to adapt it a bit within the 6th edition construct. I'll likely combine the final four battles into two posts of two each though.

The mission was an objective based mission with set objectives. Three along the table centre (lengthwise) 18" apart and two along the table centre (widthwise) in each deployment zone, 6" from the table edge. Deployment was pitched battle. Central objectives were worth one point each, objective in your DZ was worth zero to you, three to your opponent, and objective in your opponent's DZ was worth three to you, zero to opponent.

Game was against Jason Collins using Vince's Blood Angels. I won roll-off and elected to give first to Jason.

High Lords of Terra - Event Wrap-up & Thoughts

So the weekend is over and we're all done! 6th overall, tied 2nd in battle, 2nd in sports and middle of the pack for paint (around 7/10) and comp (6/10). Let's just focus on the 2nd in battle with Nids and laugh at everyone but Rohnan who beat me :P.

Anyway, to the event. Much better than two years ago re: paint, missions and comp. Paint score was much more transparent and consistent with other scores I've gotten over the years with the same army. Kudos to Alex there :). Comp was still amusing, clearly some misconceptions of what a good army is for some of the judges (which were not the TOs I believe but 'experts' not associated with the tournament) but the combined aspect ranked the armies in what was a rough appropriate order I felt. Missions were beyond better than they were last year (a reason I didn't attend) though still having a draw mission without a differentiating secondary was annoying. Either way, kudos there for improvements in that specifically and overall.

High Lords of Terra - Tyranids Day 1 Wrap-up

Ya, a 5th ed tournament. No one cares right? Well it's not even my last! Still have ATC in a MONTH grrr. Anyway, thought I'd whip out the Tyranids for one final hurrah and laugh at the people I beat :P. It was a comp tourney as well but I imagine I'll get a shitty comp score not befitting the state of Tyranids. I also got to use one of the massive new T-Fex/Tervigon models. Massive. Bigger than most vehicles. He looks cute though! Needs more ink...

Lords of Terra Mission Analysis

*exhales* this post isn't going to be pleasant. Send all young children away as I am dispensing with the fudgemuffin copyright and going full out! I'll probably swear once... Edit: I swore more than that. This post isn't just ranting I do analyse the missions and suggest changes but my gears were ground and angrypants Kirby came forth!

Okay so last year we went to Lords of Terra since it is a huge gathering of nerds for Australia (100+) and is decently local. It's a comped tourney (so fail) but it was good to get five games in against some new people. There were of course some major issues (my Tyranids getting 40% painting for example when half painted armies or armies with thick paint and no detailing scored higher; comp scores being...just bad with bad armies getting poor comp and decent armies getting good comp, etc.) but hey, I enjoyed myself and was going to enjoy going back there to play five more games, have a good time and ignore all the bullshit Australian gamers think is necessary to play 40k properly. 

Then I saw the missions (scroll down to end of first post).

Email in: Strongly competitive 1750 DE list - For Lords of Terra

"Hey Kirby,
I am a long time reader and occasionally chill on the chatbox; I am getting my DE together for Lords of Terra. They were my first 40k army so i was already onboard the bandwagon to make the new book my tournament army for the next year or 2.

Kabal of the Iron Blizzard
105 - Baron
130 - 2 Haemonculi: Liquifier Guns, Venom Blade (Ride with Wracks)

151 - 3 Trueborn: Blasters
Raider: Flicker Field
151 - 3 Trueborn: Blasters
Raider: Flicker Field

Lords of Terra: Looking back

Well now all the Battle Reports are done and I've had a few days to reflect upon the tournament let's see if my feelings are the same *self-analysis ensuing.* Yup. Great weekend and lots of fun with only the comp scene (which I knew going in) and my painting score being the major negatives. Unfortunately some individuals on wargamerAU didn't like my thoughts and my apparent tone. So let's set the field straight in case you couldn't read it the twenty other times it's been said:

I enjoyed Lords of Terra.

Overall thoughts on LoT!

Hey all, Vince here.

So LoT is finished. Overall it was a great tourney which I really enjoyed. I hadn't played in a largish tourney like this in a while which made it even better to get 5 great games in against people I couldn't usually play :D I finished with 3 wins against SW, CSM and Eldar, 1 draw against Nids and 1 loss against Eldar which I was mightily proud of my beloved Death Guard, I hadn't thought they'd perform as admirably as they did! I came in 7th overall which was another surprise.

So onto the positives. There are many indeed.

LoT Battle Report: Round 5: Space Wolves v Tyranids

Ya check that board out. Cover you say? Sure if you can swim! Luckily my opponent, Eddie Duncan (top bloke) and I decided to be really generous with our cover saves...i.e. anything within the river gets a 4+. We prob should of made it shooting down the river doesn't give you a 4+ but oh well. What's really annoying is 2 semi-decent boards behind us and to the side of us...weren't used =/. Anyway, Eddie's army was bloody nice looking and I got some tips on how to use the GW snow flock :P. His army consisted of 2x LR (one Redeemer, one Godhammer), 5 combat WG in TDA, 10x BC, 2x 10x GH, RP w/Lightning & Hurricane, 2x Vindie & a Dreadie w/PC. Issues for me instantly arise with 2x LR but I should be able to out-shoot him and if we ever hit combat and my Tervigons keep on pooping I can swarm him.

LoT Battle Report: Round 4: Blood Angels v Tyranids

So here we are with Round 4. Moving through these rather quickly! Our game started a bit late due to us all walking around to look at opponent's armies and then me running back to my car to get my water bottle (which wasn't there...) not knowing the games had already started. Woops! So I played against Matthew Robbins and his Blood Angels who has some nice conversions and an easy paint job (apparently it takes him 2 hours to do a tank...curse him!). His list was something like...2x10 tacs w/double plas, 3x SP (2 w/JP, all w/a combat weapon), 2x5 ASM in AC RBacks w/Flamer & PWeapon Sarge, 10 man ASM w/double IP & PFist, Libby w/JP, Rage & Sword, 2 MM ABs, a Pred & a Furioso Dread in Pod. Not a bad list with a lot of FNP bodies out there which could be problematic but not much which can hurt my T6. This btw, is the game for all the naysayers of T-Fexes.

LoT Battle Report: Rounds 2/3: Eldar & Loganwing v Tyranids

So there are like...no pictures for these games. I got two pics from Round 2 of game 2 so this is going to be quick. Round 2 was against Tim Neal's Eldar who eventually placed 5th (Vince also played him). Game was pitched battle with primary objective as Kill Points and secondary as table quarters. He won roll off and gave me deployment. With the rather significant lack of cover on this board for vehicles or MCs he was at a distinct advantage with his 48" range. This forced me to deploy roughly in the middle but closer to the left to try and grab as much cover as possible from the large building. He then deployed most of his army as far as possible from me to force me to run through open ground to get to him. In hindsight I should of deployed in the middle but weighted to the right. This would of allowed me to use the building as cover as I advanced rather than moving towards it for cover. Mistake 1 and we'll blame tiredness yes :P? Here are two pics from turn 2:

LoT Battle Report: Round 1: CSM v Tyranids

So Round 1 was against Ben Medbury who ended up placing 6th. His army was nicely painted and had some very nice custom banners. Army list was something like 2x2 Oblits, 3x10 CSM in Rhinos (2 were melta, 1 flamer w/Pfist), Dread, Kharn, Zerkers w/Pfist in LR. The first mission was all about getting into your enemy’s deployment zone with the secondary objective being 3 objectives up the midline of the board. I was a wee bit nervous entering the game having my first tournament game in…well yonks and knowing all of you would accept nothing less than 5 wins 0 losses and a plethora of headless corpses as I rage against comp… So to the battle (you can click on all of the pictures to get a bigger picture btw).

He won the roll off and decided to go first deploying his Oblits in opposite corners on top of buildings and his mech forces in the middle of the field where he could control the objectives and move in either direction if I refuse flanked. I refuse flanked to give him limited options on his far Oblits but needing to move into midfield for objectives would give him the range needed regardless. I deployed around a trench like thing to gain as much cover as possible with my Tyrant holding the center line as much as possible. Raveners were deep striking.

Lords of Terra: Final Thoughts Part 2 (comp & paint)

So, painting and comp. Here’s where Lords of Terra annoyed me. Again, I knew this coming in but there are things which really stood out as poor IMO but I still had a good time. Kyle got a lower comp score than me. Kyle will be the first to admit his list was worse than mine (I think I got tied 7^th lowest comp?) and I’ve already mentioned MarksmenCypher from Warseer getting a similar comp score to me with virtually no shooting in his force. We talked about this and both agreed he deserved a lot higher because his army could not compete in the shooting phase. Same with Kyle’s outside of his Long Fangs. Basic understanding of 40k please if you are going to subjectively ‘nerf’ individuals' chances to get prizes. Oh also, Vince’s list got lower comp than me. Oh, Tri-Las Preds are good now are they? Vince & I thought we'd meet up in the last round as our scores were similar and he was hoping we didn't because my list was better...and he got lower comp? Let’s look at what comp should be if you really want to encourage non-optimised lists in a tournament setting on a 5 scale basis.

Lords of Terra: Final Thoughts Part 1

Well here I am back typing away on the blog. Gee it was nice to get a weekend away from you lot :P. I finished with 2 wins, 2 draws and a loss. Not bad considering first 5 games on the table-top with most of this army, one mission was an auto-draw against a terrible matchup for me and I faced 3 Land Raiders ^^. Could of been better but still finished top 15/10 on Battle Points iirc (30th with all the soft scores). 

So I’m going to put my thoughts down on paper here about Lords of Terra. For the most part it wasn’t too bad. I knew I was going to get whacked around the head with the comp stick but I’ll take a look at the big picture. What really irked me though (and which may sour this post although I hope not) was the awards ‘ceremony.’ It felt like a beauty pageant and I can’t really say I feel like the I actually played in a Warhammer 40,000 tournament. Yes hobby (i.e. paint) and sportsmanship are part of the game and if you can ‘handicap’ yourself with a good comp score and still win, great. But let’s get a few things straightened out. First, 40k is a game with a very real hobby aspect. That said, having two armies across from each other which are painted and on terrain is light years better than primed armies crowding around ketchup bottles. However, this has no bearing on tournament results. Again, I knew this coming in so fine but the way the awards were handed out it came across like “who cares who wins games?” Yes it’s a game of toy soldiers so getting to emo about losing & winning is a bit silly but it’s still a game. The two guys who won I think deserved the wins but the way it was handled and received…well you can see why there isn’t much respect for the Australian tournament scene.

Here we go again...

Well I've had about 9-10 hours sleep but still feel like I've been hit by a truck ^^ but better than yesterday. First impressions of Lords of Terra aren't too bad. Terrain was so-so, some boards had good terrain (first game and 3rd game) and some boards had crap terrain (2nd board; friend also played on one with no terrain). Vince said his terrain was good for all games so a tick in that direction. Games all started and finished mostly on time (I think overall it was a bit late) and everyone got a couple free resin bases so yay for that. Unfortunately a few people didn't show so both Vince & Kyle got free 20 points byes (20 points is max per battle). Vince was able to get a random game in against someone but Kyle had to stand around for 3 hours at the end of the day waiting for us which sucks.

I also didn't take many pics I'm afraid. Blame the fact that my brain switched off around noon (especially after a terrible lunch). I've got most turns from my first game against Ben (great game and great guy, you can see his quote on the top of the page :)), and one pic of game 2 with none from game 3 (I'll try and take a pic of the board today so you can at least have a visual). Game one was against a Mech CSM w/Oblit back-up and looked like it was going to be a draw until my Gants began to overrun Ben's lines and the game went to T7. His army was also pretty nice with some really cool conversions.

We're off to see the Wizard!...

Well just gluing some half-painted Gants together and then we are off. Hopefully the guest authors will post something this weekend and I might be able to get some posts down after we get home about what happened at Lords of Terra but don't count on it! Someone was up late last night painting. So I'm heading into this tournament with minimal sleep and no practice with this army on the actual tabletop which is unfortunate but what can you do. Hopefully we'll go and all have a blast :).

My camera is fully charged and coming with me so some pretty battle reports (with no glaring errors I hope) will be upcoming over the next week or so. Hopefully from Vinsanity's too but I bet he forgot his camera. Doh. Wish us luck!

Kirby.

Countdown to Death (Guard)

Hey all, Vince here posting my Nurgle preeties before we venture to the tourney tomorrow!

Enjoy them all on my Warseer Log!

Or on my Photobucket Account!

Vince is back and has brought the Plague with him...

Posted by Vinsanity. Schedule posts please authors!

Hey all, Vinsanity here back from my cruise. Overall it wasn't too bad, went to New Caledonia islands and Vanuatu as well and it was quite nice, a welcome break from the chilly Winter in Sydney. I came down with Bronchitis just before I left unfortunately which was a bit lame but oh well, sort of getting over it now.

So, LoT is just 3 days away and I know that Kirby is a busy bee painting his termagaunts and gribbly monsters in time for the tourney. Go Kirbs go! Ive got a little bit to paint myself, but its nothing compared with what he is faced with :D Ive got 4 Rhinos, 1 Vindicator and 3 Obliterators (and also maybe a Daemon Prince if I want to paint up a new one) to finish before Friday...

Looks like I will succumb to Nurgle...

Hey all, vinsanity here. So we are about to go on a 10 day cruise and i've come to the realization that I won't be able to finish the Templars in time :( So it's going to have to be most likely my Death Guard army that I take to LoT.

So my task for you all is to give me suggestions on a solid 1750 Death Guard list which to take.

So far, I'm thinking a Winged Prince with warptime and mark, 2 x 7 PM units with 2 Meltas and fist in rhinos with dirge casters, 2 x 7 PM units with 2 PGs and rhinos with havoc launchers, dakka pred with havoc launcher, tri las pred, maybe some oblits...

So that's my situation, help me out and make me a nice list readers!

Final Templars List for LoT!

(kudos to DeadXCross on DeviantArt for the funny pic :P)

Hey all, Vinsanity here. So Ive come up with my final list (I hope) for LoT and now I need to get painting!

LoT Black Templars List - 1750

HQ

Emperors Champion - Accept Any Challenge, Crusader Seals 140

Elites

5 Sword Brethren Terminators - 2 Assault Cannons, Tank Hunters Skill 255

5 Sword Brethren Terminators - 2 Assault Cannons, Tank Hunters Skill 255

Troops

6 Initiates - bps, ccws, Meltagun, Powerfist, frags
3 Neophytes -bps, ccws, frags
Mounted in Rhino - Extra Armour, Smoke Launchers 218

8 Initiates - bps, ccws, Meltagun, Powerfist, frags
2 Neophytes -bps, ccws, frags
Mounted in Rhino - Extra Armour, Smoke Launchers 241

8 Initiates - bps, ccws, Meltagun, Powerfist, frags
2 Neophytes -bps, ccws, frags
Mounted in Rhino - Extra Armour, Smoke Launchers 241

Lords of Terra: Tyranids Take 3

Well, we've arrived at the painting stage. I'm finishing up the Libby on bike first today and all of my gants are undercoated, some will even be leaping! Rawr. I've decided I need more Gants though (having...52-53 depending how I count) but have also found myself one Ravener short. So unless I can find a single Ravener for sale cheaply (I'm not buying a box of the new ones for 50+ AUD) my list will be 3 Raveners rather than 4. Maybe I'll get a comp loving for this? Unlikely lol. I'm still waiting for a 3rd ed Carnifex to pop up as well to convert into my other Tyrannofex and am working on conversion ideas for the Tervigon (remember my limited modelling ability). So this gives me 40 pts to play with in my army list or I can drop the Raveners all together. My other models consist of quite a few Zoanthropes, Lictors, Hormaguants, Rippers and Genestealers so what modifications do we think I can do? Should I just take the punch in the gut and play with 3 Raveners and add some upgrades here and there (i.e. 2 more gants + onslaught) or drop the Raveners all together. Also, does anyone have a spare LW & BS MC sized? Here is my list without the Raveners: