Two Tournie Highlights

Just wrapped up an intense 7 game weekend split between 2 different tournies. Friday night saw the final two games played of my local gaming clubs 6 game, 1250 point tournie that we had started last February (we meet once a month). Though not an 'official' tournie I'm overjoyed to announce that my beloved Grey Knights took top spot going undefeated with 5 wins and a draw.

The final two games to decide top spot was between Necrons and Space Marines. Strangely enough, both games started with me basically losing my personal morale test during game turn one. The first game was against John's Necrons. John was leading the tournie with me a close second at 4 points back. It was the Capture and Control scenario. In my turn one fire phase I unleashed 36 storm bolter, 9 psycannon, 3 lascannon and 3 heavy bolter shots at his army. I dropped a pitiful 3 Warriors and 2 Destroyers of which all except one Warrior came back. In his firing phase he took out 5 GK's, 2 GKT's and immobilized my LR. EPIC morale failure on my part as basically I had lost nearly a third of my force. What really hurt was losing the mobility on my LR. My plan had been to set up a gun line with the two GK squads and Dread to protect my objective and then do a late game LR/GKT squad rush to contest his. Fortunately for me John smelled blood after his first turn success and advanced (and kept advancing) all his units including both his Troop choices. This left his home objective open. My shooting improved as I took out an entire Destroyer unit and knocked another down to one model. John made a critical mistake by leaving his Lord with rez orb between two Warrior units but not within 2" of either. Trying to always be a good sportsman I pointed this out to him as I knew this had been an inadvertent mistake on his part. Being an equally good sportsman he declined my offer of letting him attach the Lord to either unit. I felt a bit bad when I then charged him with my Dread and squashed him like a bug. My GK's charged and took out one of the Warrior units and the depleted GKT's brought his unit of Immortals to below half strength where they failed their morale test and routed for the rest of the game. As our game was running late we knew that we could only get to turn 5 and John had advanced his last Warrior unit too far ahead to get back to his home objective to eke out a draw. His last chance was a flanking unit of Wraiths that could come in and contest but they had to deal with my GKT's first to get there. He got the charge in but failed to wound with the GKT's wiping them out in return giving me the victory. Quite frankly, I didn't really earn it with John making a few poor choices which cost him in the end.

Archie and his Space Marines had also won his game 5 so it seemed whoever won this match-up would take top honors. My mouth drooled as it was the Annihilation scenario as this was my favorite and Archie's army fielded a Pred and 4 hb Razorbacks. Nice juicy targets for my Dread and LR lascannons. I took first turn with my first priority to take out his Pred which I failed badly to do. Too my utter dismay, Archie immediately popped my LR into oblivion. Second EPIC personal morale failure. I felt a bit better as my Dread gained revenge and took out the Pred in turn two. Even though the Dread survived I rolled beans for him the rest of the game as he couldn't hit a thing. Enter my new level of respect for good 'ol psycannons. The three I had in my army proceeded to stun, shake, weapon destroy, immobilize and finally wreck 3 out 4 of the razorbacks by turn 3. Archie also made a forlorn attack with a 5-man Assault Squad on one of my 9-man GK squads giving me another kill point. At this point he would have had to wipe out my entire army to gain more kill points so victory was in the bag.

I tell ya, I was trying hard not to show the school boy elation I was feeling inside when Lee the organizer declared me the victor with my fellow club members giving me a hearty round of applause in response.

good job brother, nice to see that GK can still punch above their weight, any chance on a run down of the other games?

Something was going wonky while I was typing so I made the first post before I had finished for fear of losing what I had. Added a bit more to it and will give some highlights in another post on my 2nd tournie.

Very nice... I have to say lately the mvps of my games have been psycannon models not the lascannon ones.

Sounds like you really took it to them!

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't sell your victories short Brother, you earned them. You gave John more than a fair opportunity to correct his mistake, and beat Archie fair and square.

Now go and jump around your house and celebrate!!!!

Congats! One thing you have to keep in mind is, no matter how powerful a force is, it can only perform based on what it's general orders it to do. So with with John, he failed to put everything where it was supposed to be and you capitalized on his mistakes. That's how real battles work. As with any other games requiring strategy, it's all about luring out an opponent or taking advantage of mistakes and capitalizing. It isn't your fault he messed up. You just didn't make the type of mistakes he did which led to a victory.

Congratulations Brother!!! Nice work

Is your 1250 pt list in the army list section? curious to see what exactly you had for my own education

Congrats Brother. I havent gotten much chance to use my little army yet, But im excited to know we compete!

Haha nice work, of course you where victorious though, the emperor was with you!

Is your list already on the site somewhere?

My 1250 point list was:
B-C w/psycannon, 4 x GKT's w/'cinnie
2 x 9 man GK squads w/'cinnie and psycannon
Dread w/tllc and heavy flamer
LR

The next morning I had to be up at the crack of dawn for the first of a two day, 5-game, 1850 point tournie. Giddy from the night before and excited about the upcoming event I barely slept a wink. I'm just going to touch on the highlights as more importantly I had a real eye-opener on where my attitude was going in regards to winning and losing.

As luck would have it, I drew my buddy James the first game and went up against his Chaos Space Marines. Losing to me the first few times we played he finally turned the tables on me in our previous game, after which he proudly proclaimed he finally figured out how to beat Grey Knights. The scenario was my favorite Annihilation. The last game we played together he managed to take out my LR and Dread very early and it went downhill from there. This game was the opposite with me taking his Vindicator and LR out early on. In the end I had 6 kill points to his 1. A funny (yet frustating) footnote is in the 3 games I've played against James' Chaos army, his bike-mounted Chaos Lord with Daemonweapon and Mark of Tzeentch has ravaged my Grey Knights every time. I kid you not when I say I have hit that pesky beast at least 12-13 times with lascannon shots and he has made every single Invulnerable save. The extra bonus to this game was being able to light heartedly razz him about his 'figuring out how to beat my Grey Knights' for the rest of the weekend.

Game two was the ultimate showdown. Grey Knights vs. Chaos Daemons. Annihilation scenario again. I was pumped for this one. And nervous too. My opponent Dan surprisingly had no Soulgrinders and only 1 Prince, the Nurgle one. 'Big Fats' as he fondly called him. What he lacked in big things he made up in numbers. There was a lot of Daemons and I knew I was in tough. I guess I was so jacked for this one I made a major blunder right off the bat. I stupidly took the first turn which cost me one round of shooting. I also placed my forces in the table quarter with the most terrain to inhibit close deep-striking. This unfortunately lead to my LR's and Dread impeding the fire lanes of my infantry and me having to constantly move the vehicles and losing the extra shots. He had no deep-strike mishaps and his army moved inexorably forward. The missed round of firing and screwed up fire lanes showed as I wasn't able to concentrate my fire and wipe out a unit or two a turn like I wanted to. I was able though to lay 2 or 3 devasting 'cinnie attacks that wiped out entire units. His numbers eventually started to tell and it became an epic close combat slugfest. Brothers, I was oh so close. On both turns 5 and 6 I was leading by 1 kill point but the dice roll just wouldn't end the game. Fate cruelly decreed a turn 7. All I had left was 1 LR , my GM at 1 wound and two GKT's. He still had four nearly full units and 'Big Fats' with two wounds left. My GM and ret died to the man against a unit of Bloodletters, a unit of Plague Bearers and a Herald leading three Bloodcrushers. In the end he won 7 kill points to my 6. Though on the losing side (much to my dismay) it turned out to be a great battle and we couldn't ask for a more epic finish. On a lighter note: for three turns in a row my surviving LR race around the full 12' inches with 5 Flyers of Tzeentch in tow, trying each turn to whittle them down with heavy bolters. It was quite a hilarious sight. Dan had an excellent handle on how to play Daemons. So much so that he eventually ended up winnig Best General at the end of the tournie.

In the break between games 2 and 3 the day and lack of sleep started to kick in. For some reason I was over-contemplating how close I had come to beating the Daemons and it really started to rankle me that the game hadn't ended on turn 5 or 6. The stupid mistakes I had made at the beginning bugged me as well. I was actually starting to feel sorry for myself. In game 3 I was up against Necrons and I'm sad to say I was the one who phased out. Mentally. Wether due to fatigue or the last match taking it out of me (or both) I went on to play the worst game of my life. A comatose sloth could of given me a run for my money. It was a capture and control scenario and by turn 4 my units were so out of position I decided to play for a draw. It looked like it would definitely end in a draw as my opponent was tentavive in the first 4 turns and hadn't threatened my home objective. Turn 5 he came alive though and pushed his units forward with the Deceiver leading the way. To my irritation every single psycannon shot of mine failed to wound him but storm bolter and lascannon ones did enabling him to still use his Invulnerable save to shrug of most of the hits. Like last game we rolled for and got a turn 6. The Deceiver munched through a unit of Grey Knights and consolidated towards my objective with only my Dread between him and another GK squad defending the marker. Like the last game we rolled and there was to be another frickin' turn 7. My psycannon shots once again missed or failed to wound the Deceiver and he shrugged off all the other hits. He munched my Dread and fortuitously rolled a '6' for consolidation and moved within 3" of my objective to contest. Game over. Necron win. The worst part was that like a movie I had seen before I knew exactly how the last few turns were going to unfold and because my units were so out of position I was helpless to stop it.

Day two to be continued...

Awesome reports Brother NF...don't be too hard on yourself, even a fatigued general can make mistakes. Looking at all the facts though, I'm doubly encouraged to know that our list (coz mine is very similar to yours) can really compete with practically everyone

Very nice reports, short but concise.

Sadly second guessing ones-self, and thinking too much of past failures can really really destroy your morale and lead to terrible games (or just situations irl) but I think you already realise that from your post!
The important thing to remember is your playing an army that is very tactical, and the smallest mistakes are often gamebreaking, especially with our lack of units.

Just out of interest whats your 1850 point list?

Also remember that unlike newer codex's we really don't have those 'iwin' creatures/characters we can chuck in our army for insane benefits or abilities/killing power.

Its a shame you didn't have a Stern, maybe using his reroll ability you could have forced a reroll on game continuation, I wonder if thats possible

My 1850 point list was:
GM w/psycannon and Hammerhand, 4 x GKT's w/incinerator
3 x 8 man GK squads w/'cinnie and psycannon (Justicars w/frags, mb's and targeters)
Dread w/tllc and 'cinnie
2 x LR's w/pintle-mounted storm bolter

Losing for a second time at the bottom of turn 7 really added to the self-pity I was feeling from my previous game. So much so that even though I was dead-dog tired I a hard time going to sleep. When I woke the next morning it was with a sense of pessimism, thinking I'd probably lose more games and end up dead last. I should have really been looking forward to the day.

Game 4 was against Ariel's (player name) Dark Eldar. Seize Ground scenario with 5 objectives. The hardest scenario for pure GK's with their limited amount of units. I had to ask my buddy James for the low-down on DE as I had never played them before. Seeing the 4 Raiders and Ravager with Dark Lances, James prophetically informed me to kiss my LR's goodbye and then hit them in hand-to-hand. With 5 objectives up for grabs and going up against 5 skimmers and a 7-man Jet Bike squad, I didn't fancy my chances and my morale dipped a bit lower. We rolled to place objectives and I won so I would be placing 3 out of the 5 markers. For some unexplained reason I had the feeling I was goint to win first turn so I placed the objectives evenly across one side with each 12" apart. Sure enough I won the roll and opted to place and move first. With the majority of objectives firmly in my zone he'd have to come to me to take them. Ariel failed to seize the initiative. He wisely had placed all his skimmers behind cover and away from my LR's and Dread's line of sight. For the second time this weekend my psycannons became game mvps. Each one always had line of sight and with the DE skimmers low, open-topped armor it was carnage. I believe by turn 3 all his skimmers were immobilized, wrecked or destroyed no further than 18" from his table edge. I also managed to inflict 2 casualties on Ariel's Jet Bike squad that would have threatened my open left flank. He failed morale and rolled an 11, exiting off the table edge. With flanks secure and Ariel having no transports, he had no choice but to foot slog his delicate infantry towards my gunline. Nothing he sent against me stood a chance though he gamely tried, hopping his units from terrain piece to terrain piece. By the end of the game he had less than 12 models left. It was one of those rare games where you felt bad at how much damage you were doing. The way I had been feeling earlier, and with such a crushing victory, you'd think I would have been ecstatic. Actually, I was feeling quite stupid and a little humble. From the beginning of the game right to the bitter end, Ariel had kept up the same cheerful attitude and never wavered no matter how bad things were getting for him. When most players would have conceded, Ariel unflinchingly picked up the die in order roll to see if the game would end on turn 5. I shook his hand an commended him on his attitude. He shrugged and said he was just happy to be here and playing. This was a real eye-opener for me and I realized how stupid my self-pity had been. Sure I lost 2 close ones but worse than that I was losing the ability to have fun.

Game 5 would test my new attitude...

Nice report Brother...and it's getting to play with people like your friend Ariel that makes you really enjoy our hobby

It's true that often times, people forget the golden rule of having fun and get so caught up w/ power games and statistics. Very good reminder for us all I guess

Very nice Breps Brother.
I like how you are always able to learn "life" lessons when you play in Tournies

I wouldn't bo to hard on your self, it is hard for anyone to stay positive when they have had very little sleep and are loosing . I commend you on remaining civil and not acting in an unsportsman manner despite your feelings and sitiuation

I would also like to give you a BIG "over the internet" high five for crushing the Dark Eldar!!!!!! I would have to say that the DE are my least favourite army to play against and it is great to hear that they were delt such a crushing defeat at the hands of your Knights!

Yea congrats vs the DE, everything I read tells me they are a pretty insane army, especially in more serious tournies!
Naturally playing GK you had good looks on your side, but those DK are sneaky.

Also great to hear about such a nice attitude from someone you crushed, nothing makes victory taste more bitter than an opponent who starts making excuses

My fifth and final game was against Necrons. It would be the third time facing 'crons in three days. Sheesh, how much 'we'll be back' can a man take? Since we had an odd number of players I was up against one of the Ringers. Sadly, I forgot his name but he was a cool guy. The scenario was Seize Ground with 3 objectives. We set up in opposite table quarters with the uncontested marker in the table quarter to my right. I left the Dread and a GK squad to cover my objective and aggressively moved the rest of my army towards the open marker. I was fortunate to take out his a/t Destroyer unit very quickly. Unlike the game against Necrons the day before, I was much more in control and actually thinking 1 to 2 turns ahead the entire game. By turn three I had my GM and ret, 2 GK squads and both my LR's in and around the objective. The next two turns saw him throwing everything he had at me and myself trying to repulse him. Unless I was out-classed in assault, I wouldn't have had any trouble holding against any other army. The problem was I couldn't entirely wipe out his units and they just kept coming back. There was a classic match between my GM an ret vs. his Necron Destroyer Lord and 3 supporting Destroyers. My GM Force-weaponed him to death twice. The first (and 2nd) time I'd ever been in a position to insta-kill with my GM's NFW.

Like I mentioned in my last post, this game would test my new-found attitude. On turn 4 I had placed one of my LR's to make a contesting turn 5 run against his home objective held by a single Warrior squad. If I was able to do this I would have the victory if the game happened to end on turn 5 as I was in control of my home objective and firmly contesting the third. Fate was against me here as the Warrior squad defending his objective managed a bunch of glances against my LR stunning it. I was still pretty confident though as the only model that was contesting the third objective was a Destroyer facing my now lone GM. Oh, how I wish I had master-crafted my GM's NFW. I rolled three 1's and a 2 to hit, followed by another sorrowful 1 to wound. Now, the only game I played this weekend where I wanted the game to continue was this one. Of course it was not to be as a 1 was rolled to end it. Once again, a victory snatched away that was so close. If I ever see that Dark Eldar player again I'm going to shake his hand. Though disappointed, I smiled and told my opponent about the other two close losses I had and we both a had a good chuckle about it. I felt a little better as we were putting our armies away when I realized by charging a few inches my scoring GK squad was actually not within 3" of the objective any more. Even if my GM had killed the Destroyer it would have still been a draw. Instead of being bummed again I just thought how fun, tense and action-packed the game had been and was pleased at how I tactically played the game.

It was a great game night and two-day tournie that saw highs and lows and more importantly a lesson learned. The two-day event had WH Fantasy, 40K, Blood Bowl and the Magic card game under one roof. Sadly, the turnout for 40K was a bit light with only 10 players (with 1 forgetting to show) but it was a pleasure to meet every one of the players. With the downer attitude I had for day 2 I'm glad I as was able to keep it under check and not outwardly show it. In this I must have been successful as to my utter shock I won Best Sporstman. Talk about irony.

Since I don't have any pics of me to show in the other part of the forum I thought I'd post the tournie result page here. Behold my aged ugly mug:

http://www.u2kr.com/U2KR1_40K.shtml

Again, great job on the batrep/life lesson
It is pretty awesome when the good old NFW insta kills works isn't it?!! Even if they do get back up...Twice!!!!
Those trophies look cool!! Congratulations!!!

Great work, even for an extra tired old codger like yourself j/k

Those are some seriously awesome trophies... I want one. I;ve always thought about moving to Canada. At least I already know the anthem from watching too much hockey. And I like Labatts.

Congratulations on the award Brother NF. I always thought "Best Sportsman" was one of the best awards to achieve coz it means your opponents really ENJOYED playing with you

I feel bad for getting to this so late; especially with how epic and inspiring your games have been Brother NF.

I have to say, taking a look at your experiences, I intend to try to change myself a bit and really enjoy the game over just gaining victory.

I have to say though Brother, I was clenching my jaws at how close that fight against Daemons was! Where I in your place, I don't think I could have been half as composed as you. Aside from all the neat tactics and entertaining skirmishes you have shown, I have truly learned a lesson about how to enjoy the game. For this, I thank you