Standish Standoff Results are in...Ultras Done Good!

The Standoff is a New England event - in Maine, and it was held this past weekend.  40 Players (the event sold out), and about 12 hours of time from door opens to prizes awarded.  3-game format, 1750 points with composition, and scenario chosen from Creative Twilight's website. 

Overall, it is a good model for other 40K groups to follow.

If anyone had any doubt locally about the fun and variety of gaming, all they needed to do was come by the event.  Every player seemed to have something completely different.  I hope someone organizing the event grabbed a picture of every army tray and can provide some analysis and maybe a summary of the coolest, complex lists they saw.  I really cannot comment much more, since other than taking some shots of some of my favorite armies, and those of my 3 worthy opponents, I can't comment too much further there.  That said, here are some photos of my favorites I spotted before Round 1:

A beautifully painted IG army themed for the Red Star and Commissars: 

A nicely done Dark Angels army:

The "Harrowed" up from Boston:

Shiny's Ultramarines 2nd Company including Sicarius:

For me the event is all about seeing what everyone else does with this hobby, and catching up with old acquaintances.  Overall, I just wish I'd had more social time!  If there had been a pub closer, I would have considered meeting a bunch of player there after the awards were handed out.

As for the games, all three were different and posed their own challenges. 

In Game 1 I was paired with a guy named Jon from Framingham, MA, who travelled up with the Dorka Morka club. Jon had a really nice space marine army (iron hand chapter tactics), which was constructed around a Space Marine terminator captain.  The game started off looking pretty daunting, and his list was something I might have run, and is nearly identical to lists I've used (sans the Captain!).  He placed 2 of the three objectives,  so my strategy was to keep mine, and take one of his, and create a kill point gap in the process.  It worked pretty well, and after a nail biter of a game, Third Company came out on top and I advanced to Round 2 with 26 points...

Here is game 1 right after deployment:

Here is a closer shot of the woods where the toughest fighting would occur:

Game 2.  As luck would have it, my Nemesis, Ripped Dragon, also scored 26 points in Round 1.  There are 40 gamers from New England, and for the second time in my life I met Ripped in a Tournament!  Ripped's list is something pretty interesting...on first blush it looks like an Imperial Guard Blob with an Aegis and Manticore.  Then you see the details...the best IG General providing his buffs, a squad of crazed convicts, some air support, and then there is Tigurius with 5 scouts and a Contemptor Mortis Dreadnaught...So now you have a large blob that is essentially fearless, and well defended while it picks you apart. 

In that game I got to place 2 of the three objectives.  At the end, we both had an objective, but he had me on kill points.  We split the point in a close game that really hinged on a bad dice roll.  Interestingly, the game almost did not happen.  The TO tried to have us swap opponents with a lower ranked table, but we argued that we really needed to fight it out.  As it was, Ripped earned less points than me from any opponent of the day (He finished third overall out of 40!)

Here we are with deployment ongoing:

And here is my vehicle investments on fire...I still owned the third objective, but not for long...

Game 3 was against a strong but low-model count Nurgle list that I'd played against in the past, and it was the sort of list I'd designed my tactics and overall strategy around.  It was a fun game, and tactically, everything worked well or close to as designed.  I pulled in a strong win, and the day ended with a dice roll concerning whether I'd get 5 points for a tertiary goal or 3.  I won that dice roll, and started packing my stuff.  In game, I was able to address the flying demon prince, the bugs, and pretty much pounded the Nurgle to green paste.  I wish I'd had more pictures of this game.  Overall, the real fight was between the Sternguard and the core of the Nurgle army.  Eventually the Sternguard were gone from the table but they'd done a lot of damage as planned, sealing the win.

Overall, with all the soft scores, I finished 17th out of 40.  On just battle points, I was 16th, but only 6 points from being in the top 10.

So here is a parting shot -

Overall, it a lot of fun and inspiring.  I came out amazed and excited about the great variety in the hobby, and have some ideas on participating in the painting competition for the April Assault when Crossroads puts on their large springtime 40K event.

For my list - the MVP of course was Tigurius, who was a key support player in every game, until his untimely disappearance into the warp in Round 3 on the last turn.  The weakest unit based on the matchups I had was the Stalker.  It did nothing in Round 1, lost its weapon system in Round 2, and lost its weapon system again in Round 3!  A few of my my 3rd Company Ultramarines have earned some ribbons...

Standish Standoff - Last Minute Prep

Tomorrow is the Standish Standoff - the bigger of two major 40K events hosted at Crossroad Games - my FLGS in Standish, Maine.

The last time I checked there were still 3 slots open for a possible field of 40.  Undoubtedly there might be some last minute cancellations, so if you are on the sidelines and have the day free, cmon over!  Registration will begin about 9 AM, pub quiz around 10 AM, and round 1 at 11 AM.  There is a fairly good painting competition as well, so bring a camera! 

Just as a disclaimer, I stake no claim to any success or issue of the event.  Frankly, I've been a non-participant in the running of these events since being a judge in the first one.  My only effort towards the event is just trying to publisize it via my blog when I can, because I really want to see the event reach its goal.  I did not help with the event rubric, terrain, nothing.  The only thing I did do was buy some new models and paint from Crossroads for improvements to the visual nature of my own list.

Tonight will be some last minute prep work - I need to create some game sheets to help me select and use all of the added abilities that 6th edition brings.  I need to print some list copies to provide my opponents and judges.  I need to pack up for easy travel.  And maybe if there is time finish additional details on the models to be used for the day. 

Overall, I'm playing what I've basically been using - a Tigurius-led 3rd Company strike force.  It is not bad, and depending on the wide variety of expected opponents, it should work well. 

One last decision is to scenic base the tray for the day, or not. Less than 2% of your score is for having a scenic display board, so right now it is the last thing on my mind. 

It will be interesting to see how the venue can handle the event.  Beginning this afternoon they'll place terain for 20 tables. 

Besides keeping after my own games, I have an interest in seeing what will happen at the top of the heap for rounds 2 and 3.  One interesting thing about this event is that there is a huge variety of ways to score - and it will be interesting to see how that will be handled to determine pairings and the overall winner(s).  We also do not know what the day's Tournament Director will select as missions, or how complex they will be. 

All for now, Have a Great Weekend!

 
   

     

Standish Standoff - November 23rd! And More!

Well, I bought some of the last tickets for the event.  I hope it sells out!  I have a draft list in mind and need to finalize it soon. 

I'll try to post it around a bit and without succumbing to a net-list, I'll try to have 3rd Company put on a good showing.  It probably won't be much different from my other recent lists, Tigurius led, plus some tactical squads and such.  Won't give any surprises here...

To get ready for the event, I'm dabbling in upgrading some models and freshening up some paint work.  I don't think I'll go off on a bender and get some new models just for the event.  The worse part of the work is coming up with a new "scenic base", and wondering how my overall painting core will go.

The event has a very strict rubric (composition) requirement.  I'll likely score maximum on my composition score. 

If you have NOT yet signed up - see the links at Creative Twilight and jump on board! 

http://creativetwilight.com/standish-standoff-3-reminder/



My nerd-fantasy is that those guys that used to be feared as the Stone Cold Mercs (sorry if I misspelled the group's name) would be at the event, I'd always wanted to be paired vs Ragnar (I know he is out there in the tournament scene) or the others at an event.  Heck, I'd be excited to play against one of the Specters! Usually in something this big, I get paired vs a local guy, and the games are all great. Maybe someday I'll be asked to join a group or team. My only other option is to start a named group of my own.   

Overall, I hope to have a good newsy article here on the blog after the event. 

Lastly, this is a week to talk about drinkin'.

So, here is my thing for the week - sometimes when I'm in New Hampshire, I get to this place:



http://www.maykellys.com/

It is the best Irish restaurant and pub in that area, and well worth the drive.  On the weekend there is an awesome local band "4 feet 2 Shoes" that is not to be missed. 

On this visit, dinner started in the pub with a Guinness, followed by the Irish Mixed Grill as dinner, and then Whiskeys.  And more Guinness.

The Irish Mixed Grill includes steak tips, Irish sausages, black and white pudding, and such, and I had served on the side (had to ask for it) a mustard and Jamison dipping sauce.  The black and white pudding is a kind of sausage btw...overall the food was awesome! 

The best whiskey of the evening was Connemara Whiskey - it was smooth, and after visiting that region of Ireland earlier this year, I can say it captured that vision exactly.  I'm off to find some for the cabinet!

http://www.connemarawhiskey.com/

Ultramarines roll out the New Tech - Much to the Chagrin of the Regimental Commander of the 555th

Ultramarines Third Company  Captain Fabian was amused to find himself on a rocky knoll, looking out across the maneuver field.  Standing near him was the Regimental Commander of the Triple Nickle "555th" Regiment of the Imperial Guard.  Across the training area, other units watched and waited. 

It started as a simple gesture.  Third Company had recently received a shipment of new vehicles to add to the forces of the Ultramarines.  Not only were there Flakk Misiles for the Devastators, in a large crate was a prototype, something really new.  A up-armored Rhino with Hunter and Stalker load outs - a mobile anti-aircraft / anti-skimmer tank.  As it was unpacked and the Techmarines and servitors went through starting up the machine's spirit, they were approached by some flight officers assigned to the 555th. 

The flight officers scoffed at the new tank.

Their Vendetta was better they claimed. 

That started the competition. 

Could a single Ultramarines armored vehicle fend off a Vendetta?

The trial started with the Stalker. 

After a few tests, a few resourceful Guardsmen drove their Chimera forward to provide cover for the hapless Techmarines working feverishly inside the vehicle. 

The results did not change much.

The Techmarines swapped out the modular weapon system and tried again.

Nope.

Even Guardsman Marbo was amused. 

The only observer who enjoyed the event more than the Imperial Guard Commander was Ultramarines Sergeant Tellion.  He'd used the time of the test observing Marbo...

Of course you cannot expect a simple 75 point armored vehicle to take down reliably a 130 point flying tank-killer.  But you can try...and not do so well.  Looks like when I'm in games where AV12 fliers may be involved...going to have to take two units that can accomplish that support role....

Yep, in 5 tests, the Stalker beat the Valkyrie 2 time, but only one of those was an actual destruction of the flier.  The Vendetta exploded the Stalker twice...

The Hunter did not beat the Valkyrie at all....it was destroyed or its Missile Launcher destroyed before it could harm the flyer. 

Captain Fabian wondered aloud if maybe that STC should have been left in the archives...

Tuesday Night is all Right - Another Beer-Adventure to Share with You

I don't know if you gamers took my advice about visiting Alligash Brewery on Riverside in Portland, ME, but here is another way to have a great time on a Tuesday night!  After all, Tuesdays are often game free...my local group does 40K on Wednesdays after all...

It ends up that the Shipyard Brewery, on Newbury Street in Portland, has an awesome thing for you and either your significant other or gamer buddies to enjoy - but it takes a bit of preparation.

Shipyard is an awesome brewery, after all, they make everything from Chamberlain Pale Ale to Smashed Pumpkin, and lots of others, usually about 12 styles at any one time.  Their Brewery in Portland is now 19 years old, at besides their own brands, they also make certain other brands under contract. 

So, what to do?

Call the brewery and get reservations for their FREE Tuesday night brewery tour.  It begins every Tuesday night approximately 5:30 PM.  Only about 10 or so lucky individuals can go at a time. 

The tour begins in a room that is best described as a chapel, it has pews and all.  After a short movie and some history of the brewery and its products, the tour guide takes you on a trip out back.

It's like Willi Wonka out there, but for beer! And yes, while I was off on the tour, that thought came to mind, about doing a movie for adults to that theme....

After a while, you return to the Brewery's tasting room, and you get to try something of each available brand, fresh and on tap.  Once you make a selection, they'll pour you a pint of your favorite from the trip, and then when you are done, you can stock up from their gift shop. 

Overall, it was a great trip, and afterwards, remember that Tuesdays are a great time to stop in a Portland restaurant or pub for a quiet time with your date...

Anyways, my favorite of the night was their Bluefin Stout.  Second was their cask-aged and rare ESB, and then the Smashed Pumpkin.  Frankly, all their beers are awesome, even the Smashed Blueberry (which surprisingly has a chocolate aftertaste). 

Interestingly, last weekend we visited another place on the Beer Trail - the Black Bear Microbrewery in Orono, Maine.  I'd drive to Orono again just for that experience!  Search them up and enjoy! 

My favorite was the Gear Head Ale...

In my next blog post I'll try to write about my search for a good 40K 1750 List for the upcoming Standish Standoff.  Have a great week!

Assault Armies are NOT Dead (and how I sort of got a lucky draw)

This battle report is about two things.  Fun scenarios, and assault units that kick your a$$...repeatedly...in a scenario that is just plain optimal for that. In fact, it is a scenario that would be a good way to train yourself on target priority, shooting, and assault.

First off to my opponent, I chalked this game up as a draw, because I was thinking back on how we were calculating points, and it may be that the 1 bonus point we gave you may have been miscalculated.  Regardless, you just pounded on me, and frankly, showed me what a great idea you had.  I saw you using that list again tonight vs. a Deathwatch army and it looked like you were heading for a win.... 

Scenario
Vengeance 1b (go pick it up at Creative Twilight),  There is a newer version, but the notebook at the store did not seem to have the newer version. 

The scenario I pretty complex.  4 mission points with which to get points. 

1.  Primary - every unit is a kill point at the beginning. For every point that unit provides the killing blow to (shooting or assault), its kill point value increases by 1.  An escalating point value cost for successful units?  Dang crazy.  Side with most kill points wins the mission. 15 pts.

2.  An objective in each deployment zone, old school.  Whomever controls the most, wins.  10 pts.

3.  Table quarters controlled by side with most number of scoring unit in a quarter. 5 point.

4.  Having units worth 3 or more KPs alive at the end of the game. 

Deployment
Pitched battle.

OPFOR
Tau with Necron Allies, 1750 Points.  With a Aegis Defense Line, Comm Array. His destroyer lord and Farsight both had 2+ saves. 

3rd Company
Same List as Prior Week - here is a good shot of the table and my army. 

Game Progress
OK, so lets do this rock-paper-scissors style! Unit KP values are provided in parens (  ) in best recalled order...only calling out units that put the killing, eliminating blow on another.  Anything else is just a lot of shooting and stuff.

Turn 1
Sternguard combat squad-A (1) Explodes Annihilation Barge (1) for plus 1
Necron Wraiths (1) with help from Destroyer Lord (1) eliminates Sternguard-B (1)
Tau fire warriors (1) eliminates Sternguard combat squad-A (2)

Score: 3rd Co = 1, Tau/Necrons = 3

Turn 2
Drop Pod (1) eliminates Tau Fire Warriors (2)
Attack Bikes (1) eliminates Ark (1)
Necron Wraiths (2) with help from Destroyer Lord (1) eliminate attack bikes (2)

Score: 3rd Co = 4, Tau/Necrons = 5

Turn 3
Necron Wraiths (3) with help from Destroyer Lord (1) eliminate Rhino (1)
Tau Suit (1) eliminates Tactical Combat Squad-A (1)

Score: 3rd Co = 4, Tau/Necrons = 7

Turn 4
Kroot squad (1) eliminates landspeeder typhoons (1)

Score: 3rd Co = 4, Tau/Necrons = 8

Turn 5
Tigurius (1) eliminates Wraiths (4) (Tac sergeant ties up the Destroyer in a challenge)
Stormtalon (1) eliminates necron warriors (1)
Tau commander eliminates Stormtalon (2) (by making it fire all weapons as gets hot)
Tau Tank (1) eliminates razorback (1)

Score: 3rd Co = 9, Tau/Necrons = 11

Game ends on turn 5
Here is a good shot of where all the units ended...

Vengeance (modified KPs): Tau/Necrons win Vengeance, 15 points.

Objectives: I have one objective to the opponent having none.  I'm holding it with one Tactical marine with a lascannon hiding in rubble. 1-0. 10 Points.

Table quarters:  I have 2 tactical squad remnants in one quarter and 1 single marine locked in combat with a Tau suit in another quarter.  The Kroot are in y table quarter, so I score that 2-0. 5 points.

Bonus points: As described above,  there were no units remaining with 3 or more KPs in value.  During the game we were treating the destroyer lord as having reached a value of 4, but from what I can recall, he rolled his attacks before the wraiths, so the wraiths ended up typically as landing the killing blow, and they were worth 4 points and he was less.  Regardless, the destroyer lord survived the game and actually assaulted a fleeing tactical unit + Tigurius, in part because if we'd gone to turn 6 there was a possibility I might have destroyed the destroyer instead.  Or died horribly.

At the end, all I had was (KP values indicated) Tigurius (2), Rhino (1), Rhino (1), one remaining devastator marine (1)hiding in one of the Rhinos, a single tactical marine (1) on an objective and one tactical marine (1)stuck in assault, and 4 tactical marines (1) with Tigurius,  and a drop pod (2). 

My opponent still had all of his suits and their drones, all of his Kroot, the destroyer lord, and the Tau tank as well. 

It was awesome!  15 - 15 draw!!! (or 16 to 15 if I got the points wrong concerning the destroyer, or if one of his Tau ICs somehow had 3 KPs).  Again, it points out how difficult the mission can be without counters, or some clear way to keep control of the KPs.  In a tournament situation this would cause a lot of undue stress, or even players getting the count wrong to their advantage. 

Overall, the thing that was amazing, was how many dice a unit of wraiths and a single destroyer lord could eat all game long!  Other than a timely force weapon in assault to eliminate those wraiths by Tigurius, things would have been horribly worse!  I should have ignored them and just put the dice onto the suits or the other vehicles (or kroot if they'd arrived earlier), but being a Wednesday game I wanted to see if I could put that deathstar down.  The answer was...nope.  Had my opponent gotten his outflanking kroot earlier, or had just run them up behind the other deathstar, I probably could have been tabled.  In assault...in a game where assault is reportedly useless...

Crazy.

On the Maine Beer Trail

Time for a beer focused blog entry!

Fall is an awesome time for visiting and living in Maine (USA).  The weather is usually terrific, the leaves are changing, there are plenty of things to go see, and the brewers are especially active.

First off - Maine has over 30 locations that make and ell locally brewed beers.  To help you visit them all, there is a Maine Beer Trail guide, which lists and maps out the locations.  I picked up a checklist about 2 years ago, and my wife and I have had fun checking off locations as we travel around the state. You can find the NEW checklist at nearly any brew pub here.

Today we checked off two locations....

Our first stop was a location on the old list that is no apparently on the updated list - the Inn at Peaks Island.  The location is on an Island accessible via the Casco Bay Ferry system - the location is an old Inn and restaurant on Peaks Island about 400 feet uphill from the dock.  We drove to Portland and brought our bikes.  We rode down to the terminal, and after a short wait go on the boat for the island.  The ride to the island was good fun, and we met some people on the boat visiting Maine for the first time from Sacramento, California.  On arrival at the island, we rode our bikes on a trip to see the 5th Maine Regiment civil war museum, then the old WWII Fort (Battery Steel), and it was a lot of fun to ride around on shore road and off on the inland trails and gravel paths.  Eventually we ended up at the Inn, and got seated. 

The Inn is preparing to close for the Winter season, so some menu items are now limited.  It also ends up they had NO BEER BREWED ONSITE!!!! That was a surprise.  They certainly knew about the beer trail (each venue signs your sheet), and apparently were a venue featuring Shipyard Brewing products.  My Wife had a Carrabaset Ale, salad, and Lobster Bisque.  I had a Chamberlain Ale, Clam Chowder, and a blackened haddock sandwich with slaw.  The food was good, beer, good, but we were expecting a Inn-specific beer.  The waiter was confused as to whether they still brewed there or not.

We decided to hit another location on the list - we knew that there were a handful of breweries - not brew pubs - on the list, and decided to find where they were!  According to our guide, the breweries did not have Saturday tours or tastings.  Apparently the guide books were out of date on that information!  When we found the Allagash Brewery, the parking lot was fairly full!

The Allagash Brewery is a state-of-the-art brewery, and they ship beer all over the US, in kegs and bottles.  We strolled into the Brewery tasting room and was amazed to see a fairly large crowd, with every person in the room enjoying a flight of beer samplers.  In the back behind the taps was a glassed wall behind which you could see the brewing operations.  We strolled up to the bar and after a short discussion with a guy behind the bar, he brought us two flights of beer. 

Today they were offering tastings of Allagash White, House Beer, Curieux, and Hugh Malone.  When I told the bartender some white beers make me sneeze, he brought me a taste of a different ale, and then he later brought me a sour ale to taste.  So yeah, we tried 6 different beers.  Hugh Malone was by far our favorite.  It is made with local Maine Barley....mmmm good!

After what amounted to more than a pint of free beer, we made some purchases and headed home....happy, and in possession of an updated beer tail checklist.

That was our 11th place on the beer trail. 

We are sending in our checklist to the Maine Brewers Guild - in return they will send us some free swag...and then starting over on the new list!  We already have plans to hit three or so of the Portland area locations later this month.

All for now, happy gaming and happy beer-splorations!