19 years of Gaming at Crossroads! A new gaming year begins!

It was a great weekend.  Can you believe I've been dabbling in Warhammer 40K at Crossroad Games now for 19 years? Dang! But it has been a fun 19 years!

This weekend included a 1500 point 40K tournament.  It was a good format, every game had a primary using maelstrom cards worth a maximum of 15 points, and ITC secondaries worth up to 12 points, so perfect games were capped at 27 points.  Each game was set for 2 hour rounds including deployment.  Only the deployment map was different for each game. 

My list was cobbled together (no time to try it out), but my theme was to use all of the painted death company marines in my collection (Battalion plus vanguard detachment, 9 CP):

Company Captain with JP/TH/SS/AW relic (all set to become death company)
Chaplain Lemartes
Mephiston, LOD, smite, shield, wings, quick
Death Company, 10, with Jump Packs, 2 PA, 3 PS, 1 PF, 1 TH
Death Company on Foot, 10
Death Company Dread, Blood Talons, melta, storm bolter, magna grapple
3 tactical squads, 5 ea, 1 flamer
Stormraven Gunship, TLLC/TLMM, HBs, 2 SSMLs

I ended up in 5th place, with 40 points total.  In my three games, the win versus lost was by just a single point.  Here are some thoughts on each game:

Game 1 VS NEW CODEX SPACEWOLVES!
My opponent only had the codex for about 24 hours at best.  He led with Njal, a character on wolf, 3 squads of grey hunters (5 ea), 1 blood claws pack (5), 6 or so wulfen with lots of TH/SS, and wold riders maxed on TH/SS, and a flyer.

The Wolfen and Wolf riders were the nastiest to deal with.  Probably 6 or more TH/SS in total, with multi-wound models to wreck your game.  Cinematic moment was when I got one grey hunter squad down to 1 model on turn 2, he used a strategem to turn that model into a character (a saga moment thing), who I then killed and got points for killing a character off a maelstrom card...Overall it was a great game, but the score was low, me losing 10-11.

Game 2 VS MIXED THOUSAND SONS-BLACK LEGION
This game was pretty fun all around, and we worked hard to squeeze in another turn to make sure we scored as high as we could.  IF ANYTHING, the format the TO used could cause these sorts of shenanigans as the game stops were kinda squishy.  After all, your standing for the day was based on total points earned for the day...I think my blood angels did really well in this game.  I captured alot of territory and kept the pressure on my opponent throughout.  IIRR I won about 14-13.  Best cinemagic moment was my death company captain Slamguinius taking out the enemy Defiler before any of the massed death company could swing. 

Game 3 VS BIG BUG TYRANIDS. 
My opponent used all large model tyranids, none of the small stuff.  One could fly, and he his it out of view during deployment.  I had a maelstrom card for decapitating strike, and my Stormraven somehow got within charge range of his hidden flying tyrant.  That set a tone for the game, as I lost the Stormraven on Turn 1 to a combination of Smites and assault.  I accounted very well in the bug hunt though, and we had a very competitive game.  Turn 6 my opponent was ahead by 1 point,  On turn 7 I had Lemartes jump onto an objective, and with another secondary point I was ahead by 1 point.  The Bugs went last, and popped Lemartes for a point and grabbed another objective for a point, so I lost by 1 point.   No real unique cinemagic moments.  I lost this game 16-17. 

At the end of the day we had a single model painting comp, jury by competitors instead of a store judge (which I hate as a format).  I only entered my Lemartes model (its is OK, not awesome).  Overall, the painting win went to The Shiny Rhino with his power sword raven guard sergeant.  It was painted in a very cool dark grey scheme - almost but not quite black, with his own custom basing.  Very nice.  Most of the other entries were either garish or unfinished. 

On the way out I bought a box of plasma inceptors...dont know if I will use them for Blood Angels or hold them back for Ultramarines.  We shall see!

In my list above the weakest performers were the Blood Angels tactical squads.  I used them to hold objectives or score other maelstrom points.  Overall they folded quickly or did not have the damage output of their brethren.  But for 65 points a squad plus one 9 point flamer, they were just the filler I needed to have a Battalion. 

The winner of the day was using a low model count Death Guard list, plague haulers...nasty stuff like that! Finished with 72 points...so had a great day. 

MING

Another Gaming Year Ends and the Next Begins

Well, long time readers, as you know, my gaming year goes August 16 to August 15, so another year has ended and my "record" for the year begins anew. 

This past year, while not the worst, certainly had its ups and downs. Finishing out the 2017-2018 year with 13 wins, 1 Draw, and 17 Losses is not that awesome, compared to say, 2014-2015, but it has been an interesting time!

Overall, I'll chalk this year's record to two major issue: (1) busy times mean less games; and (2) I'm outgunned again!

With those things in mind, I'll continue at least till December using my Blood Angels - Catachans combined arms teams.  I look (oath) to try and get some actual Catachan mortar teams and more Catachan infantry to make sure I can play more WYSIWYG, although I'm tempted to just swap the regimental key word to Cadian! Patience is important here, as we have yet to see the final codex releases for this year, and what they will mean to the overall game meta. Regardless, I just need more games under my belt!  The complexities of using all of the stratagems, etc., all boil down to practice makes perfect.  If I do anything, it will be to start upgrading to more Primaris marines and Dreadnoughts.  My own analysis does indeed confirm you get more bang for the buck - more wounds per point.  Every bit counts.  But who knows what I'll do in January!  Maybe bring back the guys in Blue? 

With emphasis on practice.  I bet I've said that a lot over the past 10 years of Warhammer 40K. 

I have maybe 3 games coming up this Saturday! It is Crossroad Games' store anniversary. 1500 points? Wish me luck as we go into the new year!

What are your own thoughts for 2018-2019? 

MING