The 11th Foundation Of Vengeance: Dedication

After almost a month away from the FLGS I finally got back to Evolution and got a game in. This was the first test drive of the slightly overhauled webway list. To test the new list out I challenged the head honcho of Dark Future Games, Old School Terminator. We have not had a game in a while and he had mentioned he was taking Deathwing back. I was intrigued due to the fact I have not played a Dark Angels, let alone a Deathwing, since they updated the FAQ. This game proved to be very fun and very challenging. Having an entire army of Terminators across the board is pretty intimidating, especially when they all have thunder hammers, storm shields and one equipped with cyclone missile launchers.

I was starting to second guess my list changes. I did not have a lot of power weapons in the list and it really relies on an overwhelming number of attacks in close combat to get the job done. It has a nice amount of shooting and since most of it is poison it can deal with large targets well. Heavily armored targets not so much.

I will have a battle report next time. Needless to say it was close and the variable game length thwarted my plans slightly, but it was mostly a good opponent and a thick ass army that lead to the webway list getting its 2^nd defeat. It can be kind of scary looking across the table at an entire army of Terminators with thunder hammer, storm shields and one cyclone launcher per squad. You can loose the faith, as it were, in your list and even your plans and abilities when faced with a tough opponent. Faith is not the 11^th Foundation Of Vengeance though. Faith has no place in vengeance. Dedication does though.

When you are dedicated to a cause or an idea you are almost totally committed to that idea or cause. If you start second guessing yourself and have doubt you can be your own worst enemy. Besides good lists and good strategy a large portion of playing 40K is psychological. Granted its only really hardcore in tournaments. There can be a psychological aspect in friendly games, but it is usually takes the form of friendly smack talk. Going into a game with prizes and street cred on the line is a completely different animal. Players can get very intense and its easy to get disillusioned with a game or even the hobby when this happens. This hobby malaise can be brought back to the FLGS and really affect everybody.

There has been a pretty bad malaise hitting the FLGS this summer. People are loosing motivation and dedication to the hobby. I myself have fallen victim to it. I have not painted in almost 4 months and I have lots of half assembled models. Combine this with the fact I am an hour away from my FLGS now and its bad mojo. There is a light though showing thru the gloom. I have had 2 losses with my webway list in a row, but both games were close, competitive and above all they were fun. I am feeling the motivation coming back. I thought a new army would cure it completely, but it did not. I am still going to build DA orks, but I just had to re dedicate myself to the Dark Eldar.

This is another thing that can really sap the dedication out of a player. If you are an army hopper, buying a new army when it comes out because its the power flavor of the moment, it can be rough. You really have to play an army for a while to gain a feel for it and win with it. Sure some armies are more powerful than others on paper, but the real power comes form the person commanding it. A seasoned general who knows his army in and out and has dedicated lots of time to the army will win way more often than somebody who is building and playing the flavor of the moment.

You must be dedicated and see things thru. This is the 11^th Foundation Of Vengeance. I have my beast master pack almost built and I am shy on wyches. I plan on having a hobby night tonight at my lair to get an inventory on what I need to complete the webway list model wise. I may have some pictures up.

Until then.

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls....... ...........WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!