Round 4
Orks vs Eldar
Eldar list:
Jetbike Autarch, Mandiblater, Laser Lance, Fusion Gun
Farseer, Doom, Runes of Witnessing
4 Guardian Jetbikes, 1 Shuricannon, Warlock, Destructor, Singing Spear
4 Guardian Jetbikes, 1 Shuricannon, Warlock, Destructor, Singing Spear
4 Guardian Jetbikes, 1 Shuricannon, Warlock, Destructor, Singing Spear
4 Guardian Jetbikes, 1 Shuricannon, Warlock, Destructor, Singing Spear
6 Harlequins, Shadowseer, 6 Harlequin's Kisses
6 Harlequins, Shadowseer, 6 Harlequin's Kisses
6 Harlequins, Shadowseer, 6 Harlequin's Kisses
Falcon, Scatter Laser, Shuricannon, HF, SS, VE, SE
Falcon, Scatter Laser, Shuricannon, HF, SS, VE, SE
Falcon, Scatter Laser, Shuricannon, HF, SS, VE, SE
Mission: Hold At All Costs
Mission has table quarter deployment, with 12” buffer from the center/24” enemy buffer. The mission featured the Short Handed rule, or rather the “screw the superheavies” rule, which allowed the opponent to choose one of your units to be held in reserve until turn 4, at which point it automatically arrives on any table edge. Primary Objective is Victory Points with Table Quarter Objective (Rulebook p86, 1000 VP for enemy deployment quarter, 500 each for adjacent quarters.) Secondary was most scoring units. Tertiary was 1601 VP or more (which could be done because of the table quarter VP's above) Tactical points for having a scoring unit in your enemies deployment zone, and +1 if the Short Handed Unit is dead at the end of the game. Remember that last one.
So there I am. Going into the final round of the Adepticon Gladiator in a three way tie for first place with full points. Visions of Forge World Battlewagons dancing in my head. Knowing that my Stompa was probably going to be pushed to reserve for three long turns, but also knowing that if they did push it into reserves, their chances of being able to kill it and get that tactical point were really low. I had received a ruling from the judges that my Burna boys could bundle with the Stompa in reserves, per the FAQ, so their repair rolls would be right where they should be. Top three at this point were me, Bill Kim and his stealer shock, and I think another Ork army. Alas, I drew the Eldar, who had dropped a couple tactical points throughout the day. And off to reserve went the Stompa.
This Eldar army was rough. I had never been a fan of the guardian jetbike squad, so I have to say I maybe underestimated them. I certainly never fought an army with 4 squads like this before. The key nastiness of these units are the versatility and price in points. With the warlock, they have the S9 anti-vehicle shot, the move and fire heavy flamer, the 3 S6, 8 S4 Shuri barrage, the ability to turbo boost, and the Eldar jetbike always move in assault rule. All this for 156 points. I'm not sure how I would have played the first half of the game differently, but the forces I did have on the board were whittled down pretty far by the time that the Stompa and Snikrot (who also didn't show up until turn 4, the git) finally arrived. What was worse, Brian had gone first, which gave him 4 turns to arrange his forces for the arrival of the Stompa, which had basically allowed him to place a falcon and harlies in the far reaches of the board.
The rest can be summed up in three words: holofields holofields holofields. I put 2 dozen glances at least on those falcons , but just couldn't get the rolls to drop the skimmers. In the sixth turn with only the Stompa and the Burna boys left as scoring units, I made what I though was a heroic move. I moved the Stompa near a skorcha buggy that had been immobilized in an early turn. The Burnas got out and fixed it, which gave me a third scoring unit. I then forced a seventh turn. If I could just keep these units alive, and maybe drop a couple falcons on my turn, I might just pull it off. Alas it was not to be. A scatter laser shot caught the buggy at an extreme angle, 1 hit, 1 glance, 6 blows it up. Sigh. More glancing hits on falcons, but only one finally destroyed. But which one? Hey! It's the one that came from reserve, so I end up with the +2 tactical points as the Stompa ends the game alive and well in the enemy deployment zone. Hats off to Brian for a pretty flawlessly played game on his part. He didn't make any mistakes or give me any opportunities. I think it was about the worst mission/match up possible for me, but no whining. It was a real pleasure to play on this high level, and I'm glad to say I felt like I held my own with these top players. I'll be seeing you guys again.
Result: 31-2 point win for the Eldar
But what's that? 31? Alas not 32 for poor Brian, as he did not get the one tactical bonus point for killing the Stompa. As the tournament was decided, in the words of the judges at the awards ceremony, by one point, it was the survival of my Stompa which pushed the Eldar out of a tie for first, and into the comfortable ignominy of second place. I'm not saying Bill Kim owes me one of those Forge World Battlewagons or anything but......seriously, big gratz to Bill for winning his second Adepticon Gladiator.
Interestingly, I talked to Bill (so many Bill's in our hobby, I'm just going to start going by Biz) after the tournament and he said that had he drew me, he would not have put the Stompa in reserve, and would have come for it with the stealer shock. I agree that this would totally have been the right tactical call for him to make. Too bad, that would have been a really cool game. I would love to hear about the list of the Ork player he fought in the last round, and an account of that game.
End Result: 98 Total Points for 14th place out of 145 players. I am really pleased with how I did in this tournament. It was really exciting to be in the hunt for the big prize, though it stings a little that even though I was so close, I still didn't make the top 10 for a future Invitational slot. Guess I'll just have hit some more tournaments!
No comments:
Post a Comment