The Assault Phase

Bold title for an article right? First let me say this, this is not going to tell you how to win with your army in particular, this is going to be about the general principles behind how you win a Warhammer Tournament.

 1) Winning Big- The nature of a tournament victory.

Before we get to deep into this topic you must understand the specific nature of a tournament and how it differs from a normal game, because winning a tournament is not about winning a game (at this point in the article, please click on link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OvpzForHyU , let the song play, continue reading and enjoy getting pumped my friends). Winning a tournament is about winning each game you play AND winning big. That might seam like something simple, but the fact that you have to win each game “big” is a truth that eluded me for a long time. When I was playing my beloved Chaos Marine / Emperors Children A.K.A The Purple People Eaters army, I did a lot of winning, BUT I won very few tournaments at Parker Banner Kent and Wayne. And after about a year of this I finally realized that minor victories weren’t getting me to the place I wanted to be. Was I winning? Yes. Did I come away with prize money? No.

            This is the first lesson in winning a 40K tournament. You have to realize that winning your game is not enough -you have to win big- because someone there IS winning big and if that someone is not you, then kiss first place good bye. Now this is not the only way to play in a tournament and it is most certainly not the only way to have fun. This is just the way I approach competitive environments in which I have a desire to win. This attitude of winning big can translate to most other areas of life as well, IF it is an area you want to be very successful at. I didn’t want to marry a girl I kinda liked I wanted to be crazy insane about my wife. I don’t want to make “B’s” in nursing school, I want first place! In fact I have told the people that I sit next to that I am “going to win this class” the girls look at me like I have a 3^rd eye, but the one other guy in the class heard me say that, gave me a glare and said “psssst…I’m winning this buddy”. I don’t like running, chess or World of Warcraft(anymore) and so I don’t care if I place top 10 or top 1000 in any race, chess match or guild run, but I like competitive Warhammer 40K and so I want to be number 1. This doesn’t mean that you have play like a jerk and freak out every time you roll a “1” on your 2+ invo save, it just means that when you think about tournament play you have to keep in mind the nature of a competitive tournament. So lesson 1 in winning a 40K tournament has to simply be a shift in your mental approach to the competition. Bring your -A- game, play to win big. This is the intro article, next we will get into specifics. But until I put that one up, here are some questions I have for you…

1)    How has your approach to tournament play changed sense you started the hobby?

2)    Look at you current view of your tournament play style; have you been playing to win OR to win big?

3)    Do you still view tournament matches like a casual pickup game?

Hello friends…long time no chat.

         Well this month is going to be fun for me, because as of right now I am going to get to come and play in the 40K team event. Because of that I have been thinking about how to best formulate a list and a few tactics that might come in handy when playing with a partner.
         When I was working for the school system here in charlotte I heard several people tell me over the years a simple and annoying solution to problems I would bring up at work. They would say, “well maybe you should think outside the box”, and I would say “well maybe I should kick you in the ear”….not out loud, but I said it all the same. And you know what, I came to a resolution when thinking about this supposed “box” I was being told about. And that’s that everything outside the box doesn’t matter, cause you have absolutely no control over it whatsoever. Not even a little bit. And if you think you do, then you my friend are living in a little place called Delusion, which I think is at the corner of Fantasy and NiceTry. But what does this have to do with 40k Joshua? I’m glad you asked Assaultphase readers. A team tournament is something in which there are a lot of elements that are going to be out side of your box. Who will you be paired with? What type of army will they have? Will they bring troops or all heavies? Should I bring assault units or my big guns? What if they all deep strike? Should I bring reserves? What if I roll all 1’s the whole day and a black warp tears down the fabric of time and space and all my dice get sucked into the time warp and then pop back out a second later BUT they’re all showing 6’s now! Is that CHEATING! IS IT!YOU KNOW THAT COUNTS! (then we all turn into orks)WAHHHHHG!
Sorry, all I am trying to say is, that when thinking about how to play in a game that already has a lot of random whosits and whatsits gallor, the best way to handle the unknown thing-a-ma-bobs is by keeping it simple.
          1) Stick to what you know. If you have a unit that you rock face with, use it.

          2) Make a balanced list, that way no matter who you are teamed up with you can complement their list to help their strengths AND you will be able to fill in where they are weak.

          3) Attitude. I hate harping on this one, but there is going to be a lot of unknowns and crazy 40K Shenanigans in a team event, so don’t freak if the two heavy hitters in the event get paired together, crap happens. You might get paired with your nightmare bizaro-world teammate OR you might get the guy (or girl, I’m looking at you Mrs.Nid) of your dreams. Either way, the picking of your teammate is outside of your control (outside your box) so don’t freak y’all.

         4) Have fun trying for crazy combos you have never had the chance to get. I.E. the Tau player who gets paired up with the Ork Mob OR the Daemon player who is fighting WITH the Grey Knights! Weird….yes, possible…likely.
Either way, enjoy the day the best you can because Team events at this level of play don’t happen often. So savor battles, relish running hand in hand with your sworn enemy for the afternoon and……with your powers combine(the rest is up to you).

Josh

Coming up in May, several stores (hopefully in your local area) will be hosting the ‘Ard Boyz tournament.  The ‘Ard Boyz tournament is a very competitive tournament hosted in three parts for the right to be the best player in North America.

Preliminaries on May 15, 2010
Semifinals on June 12, 2010
Finals on July 17, 2010

The local store over here, Parker Banner Kent Wayne, will be one of the sites hosting the ‘Ard Boyz this year.  It is where I will be playing and helping make sure the event runs smoothly.  It also may take the place of our normal monthly 40K tournament in May.  Still to be decided on that.  Either way I hope to see as many of you at the store as I can.  So make sure you register early.

If you are in NC, but PBKW is not close to you, there are other locations across NC and beyond.

The Hobbit 910-864-3155 Rick/Fleiet/Al NC
Hobby Chest 910-353-4473 Dan NC
Rules of Engagement 252-652-6538 Ed NC
HTU Charlotte S: 704-509-5717 Liem NC
Hit Point Hobbies 910-692-8447 John/Breck/Chris NC
Game Connection 919-217-5795 Ron NC
Parker, Banner, Kent & Wayne 704-892-4263 Matt NC
All Fun & Games 919-233-7727 Mike NC

So what is all the hype about ‘Ard Boyz, and what do you need to know if you are planning to participate?

First, this tournament is 2500 points and the quality of paint job does not matter.  The event is all about skill with the game.

Second, the tournament is a GW sponsored event.  All models must follow the typical rules for Grand Tournaments and such sponsored by GW.  That is they need to be Games Workshop models from either the Fantasy or 40K line.  Unfortunately, even Lord of the Rings models by GW are not allowed (licensing restrictions).

Third, think long and hard about what it means to win the tournament.  What you are doing is winning the opportunity to compete in the Semifinals.  And you have to provide your own transportation.  The Semi-finals are unannounced where they will be at.  The finals will be in Chicago.

When you attend ‘Ard Boyz you want to prepare yourself to play any list and any type of player.  The armies will be heavy hitting, and the players will be both fun and challenging.  So put your big boy pants on and I’ll see you at the table.

Location: Parker Banner Kent Wayne, 8301 Magnolia Estates Dr, Cornelius, NC 28031
Time: April 24th.  Registration begins at 10am, games begin at 10:30am
Entry Fee: 10.00

This months tournament will be different than normal.  Be sure to read the details below!

Now for the details!
1776 Points (very bicentennial)

No Named Characters

FOC
1 HQ
4 Elites
4 Fast Attack
2 Heavy Support
3 Troops

Elite Units can hold objectives / Troops cannot hold objectives

Troops are without number (not transports)

Game ends at end of turn 5 on roll 1-3, automatically on 6

1st round – HQ Hunters!!! (pitch battle setup)

No more than 50% reserves

Killing opponents HQ 10pts

Wounding opponents HQ 5pts

HQ unwounded 10pts

HQ wounded 5pts

2nd round – Acid Atmosphere!!! (spearhead setup)

All AP weapons are -1 (ap 3 becomes ap 2)

5pts for every unit in opponents deployment zone (table quarter)

3rd round – Massive Battlefield!!! (dawn of war setup no sight penalty)

Open terrain is difficult terrain, difficult terrain is dangerous. Everything has FLEET.

5 objective markers (1st player places first objective then alternate)

7pts per objective

Games will have a strict 2.5 hour time limit.  There will be 1 hour between the 1st and second game, 30 minutes between the 2nd and 3rd game.

You must have a clean written army list with you to show your opponent. It’s unfortunate that this needs to be reminded to people.

You can help us plan by preregistering at Parker Banner Kent and Wayne before the event.

Forum Link

I worked today but when that was over I went down to the Westin and checked in. Got a nice room, 18th floor, executive floor. Guess having a member status paid off. I unpacked everything and then headed to the battle bunker. It’s been a couple years and last I heard they were buying out the store next door to make room for more tables.

I chatted a bit with some folks and then with only 1.5 hours left until close decided to play a game with a guy who wanted to test his tourney army out. Steve was kind of newish. We only got one turn in because we spent most of the time talking about how to deploy against a daemon army. And then what to do after my first wave did a whopping to him.

He had an Orc army. But there was no focus. It was pretty conservative. After store close we were outside chatting about his list and display boards ironically.

Sitting in the bar now watching hockey and posting to the blog. The Chicago blackhawks are on fire this year.

   Following up on my previous article on the display board I have been building, I have had a few lessons learned since getting ready to start cutting holes.  Firstly, using foam board as the insert sounded like a good idea until I began to flock it.  The glue and paint causes the foam board to warp and no longer sat flat inside the frame.  So instead I went out and bought a sheet of hardboard.  I will update the materials list in the first post.

Hardboard worked out well.  I got circular saw bits large enough for the bases I was going to be putting in there.  Drew outlines of where the models would sit and cut out the holes.  The picture here is of the foam board, but as mentioned I did switch to using hardboard.

You can also see that here I started to add little things to make the display stand out.  Old ruin building corners were put on top of a hill and ledge where ultimately the Soul Grinders would be overlooking the force.  I was trying to get an ancient and corrupt ruined city feel.  Old rusted out lampposts, rubble and what remains of various walls.

Since I also wanted to make sure, should things shuffle around, that the models stay in place, I cut a piece of thin aluminum sheet metal to she same size as would be needed to fit within the frame.  This gave it a little extra weight, but was not too bad for me really.  Now the models magnetized bases would snap onto the sheet when inserted in their slot.

With the holes cut and the ledge placed I began by first painting the terrain.  Once all of that was completed I moved onto adding the sand and the burnt grass flock to the board.  Once dried, I like to seal my basing with a thin wash.  This not only helps build shadow but it becomes an extra layer to keep the sand from falling off.

The final product is a good looking board. I left the wood natural rather than paint or stain it.  The white and burnt carving look is a sharp contrast to the dark scene within.  I think a cherry stain would look nice, but I haven’t quite decided on it.

I’m not sure how well the Blue Scribes will do in a tournament like Adepticon. I’ve still been working on them none the less. Here i’ve done most painting and some inking. The blue horrors are done and I just need to do some highlights around the disk.

Dan Abnett, famed writer of such Black Library novels such as Gaunts Ghosts, Eisenhorn, and Horus Rising talks on the Ultramarines The Movie blog about writing the screen play.

Get more information by going to the Ultramarines The Movie official blog.

Ultramarines The Movie: Blog

Location: Parker Banner Kent Wayne, 8301 Magnolia Estates Dr, Cornelius, NC 28031
Time: December 5th.  Registration begins at 10am, games begin at 10:30am
Entry Fee: $5.00
1750 Point Lists

Prizes: (PBKW Store credit towards GW Merchandise)
1st place: $15+50% of pot.
2nd: $10+35% of pot.
3rd: $5+15% of pot.

Prizes will be rounded to nearest $5.00 increments for sake of organizers’ sanity.

Now for the details! Scoring will be our normal format with each game worth 20 points and 3 possible points for army appearance (painting and basing).  Certain missions will have secondary objectives that may change from tournament to tournament for a slight boost in points.

You can help us plan by preregistering at Parker Banner Kent and Wayne before the event.

Location: Parker Banner Kent Wayne, 8301 Magnolia Estates Dr, Cornelius, NC 28031
Bring that Kustom Bike or Buggy and take on all comers in a fast, furious and fun buggy race.