Path Of The Seer: Deployments And Unit Roles

Man its been a crappy week. I won't go into details, but sufficed to say its been rough. I did manage to get a

game in with Spellduckwrong and his mighty Mechdar Sunday. I was using the new list that was a collaborative effort between myself and Spellduckwrong.

In the spirit and trend that seems to be happening on the blog, reflections on tournament play and list building. I wanted to talk about an aspect of the game that i have been contemplating since my game Sunday. Deployment. I also want to talk about a units role in the battlefield. This goes hand in hand with deployment. Apologies to those looking forward to the Aspects of Khaine 2.0. With the Michigan GT only a couple weeks away both Spellduckwrong and I are in training. You generally get pretty good insight on things when you play a bunch of games in a short amount of time. So that said, lets get down to business.

In my game Sunday I was running the new GT list for the first time. I had several elements working in concert to form the main focus of the list. It was not a deathstar per say, but more of a tough fire base. The terrain was an approximation of what we can expect at the GT. This includes at least one terrain piece that is line of sight blocking. We had a hammer and anvil set up. We had a collection of hills and rocky formations in the corners and a fuel depot on the right center. The actual center of the board was fairly clear. The LOS blocker was on the left hand side of my deployment zone. Without even thinking about it I deployed my fire base unit collection in such a way that Spellduckwrong was able to hide a good portion of his wave serpents behind this terrain piece. I was only able to crack off a couple shots and he was able to avoid the full weight of fire I could bring to bear. His cover save was very good despite me having the first turn. If I had gone second his save would have been way better and I would not have been able to do anything.

As is I did manage to wound a couple of serpents. I was not able to kill them though. I made a very big tactical error in my deployment. I obscured my lines of fire and limited my ability to deal with the enemy army on my terms. I had no way to redeploy my army as I left Eldrad at home. This would not have done much good anyways as you can't redeploy a fortification with Eldrads ability. I should have deployed the fire base dead center. This gave me a good field of vision and would have forced Spellduckwrong to deploy differently.

When it comes down to it deployment sets the mood for the battle. Deploying poorly can mean you are playing a defensive game vs a game in which you are in control of what is happening on the battle field. You have to set up using the terrain to your advantage, both offensively and defensively. If we look at my battle Sundays an example we can see that setting up more centrally in my deployment zone would have opened lanes of fire and forced Spellduckwrongs flotilla of vehicles so possibly spread out more to take advantage of terrain for cover. There was not a lot of cover in his deployment zone to go around though and I could have picked off two or three vehicles with relative ease. I could have used my Wave Serpents to hit the vehicles in cover. The LOS blocking terrain would not have been a big deal.

Alternatively if I had went second I could have used the LOS blocker to my advantage and forced Spellduckwrong to move around it to get a clean shot. I could have used my other units to try and funnel his vehicles into a kill zone for my main fire base. This all goes hand in hand with your units abilities and what their job is on the battle field.

I had a unit of swooping hawks in my list. I had intended to use them as a fire support unit for my unit of Warp Spiders. Basically using the Spiders to pop vehicles on rear armor then hitting the unit that comes out with the swooping hawks. What the Lasblasters lake in strength they make up for in volume of fire. I was able to use them in this way once. It was effective, but not effective enough. In fact the survivors ended up holding an objective at the end of the game. The Swooping Hawks had a role and they were not fulfilling it. It could be I just was not using them correctly, which happens a lot to many players. I was not able to use them effectively. I was also not able to use my Fire Base to its max potential due to my deployment errors. I guess what I am getting at is you have to know the difference between a unit not fulfilling any purpose and you as the player not using it correctly. You cannot deploy a unit effectively to maximize its abilities if you don’t know its role. If it has no function or does not contribute to the whole then it doesn’t belong in the list. I have always said the Eldar are about synergy. If you have a weak link the whole Warhost breaks down

Ok there is my two cents. My list is getting tweaked and I am rolling it out Saturday at the Michigan GT Primer at Flatland Games in Wixom.

I would also like to mention that Pre registration for UCON is up and going. Save your spot for the Craftworld Open. I am also Running Firestorm Armada from 6 to 10 Friday and Flames Of War Saturday from 2 to 6. PG_Hick is running a Warmachine/Hordes Hardcore Saturday from 10 to 7.

Stay tuned for missions and tournament details.

Until next time.................................

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

UCON Poster Design MKII

Well, this isn't technically about 40k, but it is about a flyer that is about a 40k event. SeerK needs a promotional piece for the Craftworld Open tourney at UCON this year and I'm helping him get that ball rolling. I figure I'll put the revised version up on here and hopefully get some artistic feedback. There are still things I want to do but won't be able to until the text is finalized. I want to put an effect over all of the letters so that the font has the same lighting effect as the Aquila on the screen, you know, to give it that "old timey" hologram look. Also, I am debating whether to crop out the bottom part of the console. Initially I liked it because it gave the viewing machine a little character, but now I'm wondering if it is worth the visual real estate. I don't know. What do you think?

As a side note, I have been working to compile the general consensus on Critical Mass in lists and will be publishing something soon once I get this iteration straight in my own head.

$10 Lessons at the Primer

Well, as the last post described, there was a local GT Primer I attended over the weekend. I ended up taking second after the dust settled on Round 3. My last game against Grey Knights was awesome. I couldn't even tell you when I had a closer game. The balance of power kept shifting oh so slightly back and forth every turn. Unfortunately, I really showed my lack of experience against Grey Knights (only my second game against them, unfortunately).
1) I learned, much to my dismay, that Storm Ravens have AV12 in the rear facing, not AV10 like I had intentionally maneuvered for.
2) More catastrophically, however, I learned that (and this one is burned into my mind forever now) that Dreadknights have Force weapons. Imagine my horror as my Wraithknight with 5 wounds left charges a Dreadknight on Turn 3 and then gets instant deathed on the first round of combat. Having the big guy around even one more turn could have swayed the battle, as my opponent only barely squeaked out a win on Primary Objectives at the bottom of Turn 7. We tied on Secondary and Tertiary.
At this point, you may be wondering why these were $10 lessons. The reason I say that is because first place was $20 and second place was $10 (there were only six of us at the tourney with only $5 entry). So, I firmly believe that I would have won the game if I hadn't allowed my Wraithknight to commit suicide. I'm not bitter however, I only lost $10, had an AMAZING last game, and learned some very critical lessons that will only help me in the future. Better to learn hard lessons like this at a tiny practice tournament than at the GT.
So in summary, I had fun, doubled my money, and was forcefully educated in some of the intricacies of 'dem Grey Knights.

Totally worth it.

War on the Morrow

Tomorrow, I attend a GT Primer tournament as part of the lead up to the Michigan GT at the end of this month. I have been poking and prodding my list, making changes when I start seeing trends, and trying to get in as many games with it against as many people/lists as possible.
I used to be in the crowd of people that would write a list and then take it to a tournament. I have been trying an experiment since the new Eldar codex has arrived at sticking with a list and honing it to a sharp edge. Once I have the list where I want it, and the requisite experience playing it, I will retire it for tournaments only and begin crafting a new list. I would love to have three or four very different and very brutal tournament lists that I can draw on based on where I will be playing. That's the goal anyway. Wish me luck.

List Building: Critical Mass?

One of the online dictionary definitions for critical mass are as follows:
"an amount necessary or sufficient to have a significant effect or to achieve a result."

I've been thinking quite a bit about army lists. Much of it probably has to do with the amount of tournaments I have been to recently, the upcoming Michigan GT, and the not so distant one at U-Con.
I've been pondering today about"critical mass" in a list. The other day I was playing against one of SeerK's experimental builds. After the game, one of my criticisms of the list was that I felt like it was unable to attain "critical mass". Now, unfortunately, I haven't distilled exactly what I think gives this critical mass, what it actually is, or even if that is the best term to describe it. I can, however, notice when it isn't there. It's absence tends be most glaring when facing an opponent that has a list that just seems to be a bunch of units running around doing something rather than a cohesive force. There is some interplay I can't quite put my finger on between units doing useful damage, units taking/holding important ground, and a general momentum towards mission victory.

Part of the impetus for writing this post is to kind of think "out loud" and maybe get some feedback from you.
Perhaps the phenomenon that eludes me is based off of the general ability to reliably swing the battle in a positive manner. The force required to do this may be what I am meaning by critical mass, but also the ability to keep it from swinging back easily. Anyone can have a really good turn, but a good player with a good list will nearly always be doing well overall through both good turns and bad ones.

So let's look at the generalities that a good list can do reliably.

1. It can deal sufficient catastrophic damage to the things that can deal catastrophic damage to it.

**For example, a tank list that is adept at removing the enemies anti-tank assets.

2. It can run a quality damage surplus. In that it deals more quality damage than it receives.

* I would define quality damage as either succeeding against a target with the right weapons (Lascannons that actually kill a tank, Flamers on weak support troops in cover, etc.) or significant damage to very important units of the enemies (generally just making something roll a lot of saves and forcing wounds. While it lacks in efficiency, if every wound is particularly valuable, it's worth it).

3. Has enough resiliency built into the most important elements of the list as not to be crippled easily.

I think that a list that can reliably accomplish these three things should be able to attain a "critical mass".

What do you think? Am I close but missing it? Do you have a better term? General thoughts?

Awesome Exodite Army

I was hunting around for Eldar conversions and I stumbled unto a part of the BOLS lounge here.

There is some truly amazing stuff tucked away in the ten pages there. I love the style of this army, and the Autumnal color scheme is nearly unheard of in 40k, so it is visually refreshing in addition to being beautiful. I just thought I would share some pictures here, but there are many more on that thread.

Collabortive List Building

SeerK here.  Well we are three weeks away from the Michigan GT. I have been trying to hammer out a list

. I ran a guardian wall in a tournament a couple weeks ago and it did pretty well.......until I met up with Spellduckwrong and his Mechdar in round 3. Turns out a wall of 100 guardians does not fair well against Wave Serpents and shuriken weaponry. It was a very bloody fight to say the least.

Yesterday was an experiment day with a new list concept, which although on paper it appeared good, once again fell victim to Mechdar. On a side note we will not refer to Mech lists as “Serpent Spam”. This is mostly because a proper Mechdar list is balanced. It is not a “I am cramming as many Wave Serpents as I can into it” list. It is a well balanced list that is Mechanized.

That said it would seem that Eldar are the Meta in the tournament scene now. Every player I talk to and every podcast I listen to is talking about how to kill Wave Serpents. Truth be told I have been breaking it down and building my new list to kill mech. After my second GT experiment was wiped from existence by Spellduckwrong yesterday we sat down and made a collaborative list. We have been doing this quit a bit at the shop. Dreadbread has been doing some very non standard Tau lists that have been confusing people and doing very well.

So I wanted to talk a bit about building a list as a collaborative effort. Building a list by yourself is what most of us usually do. We make unit choices based on past experience and what we are trying to achieve in the mission we are playing. Alternatively we try to build a list that is an “all comers” type when we are going to tournaments. We may have the benefit of the missions before hand for big events to build our list around them. Smaller events you have to build to try and be a jack of all missions.

We all have had bad games and bad experiences against armies or with units within and outside our codex. The prejudices caused by these experiences can color how we build a list. If we build a list as a group in a collaborative effort we can overcome these unit and army prejudices. Getting another viewpoint allows you to see how the unit integrates into the army and its battle field role. It allows you to view it from a different angle. Having friends with different armies help build a list gives you insight on what its like to face said unit also allows you to see how opponents may try and deal with said unit. This allows you to counter the most common tactics to counter your unit or army.

Essentially a collaborative effort broadens our view and can give insight that you may not have thought of on your own. This is very important when building a list to take to a tournament. Not a big tournament player? Want to play but don't know what to expect? This is where collaborative list building also comes in.

All parts of the country have different metas, that is what armies and list builds are popular and most common. Right now for example Eldar Wave Serpent heavy lists and Daemon Flying Circus lists are popular with tournament players at the moment. Having an experienced tournament player or at least a player who goes to lots of tournaments can help you build a better list. You can build to the meta that is in that particular area or venue. You can build to break the meta.

More experienced players also can just give you good advice. Even if you have a good list games still come down to Generalship and dice. Math is a big portion of the game or at least probability. You can only math hammer so much. I do not put much stock in pure math hammer. The numbers may work on paper, but it does not mean you will win any games.

So be social and run your lists by your fellow gamers at the shop. I bet you will learn something and gain some insight on your own army. Next time Spellduckwrong and I will hopefully have our first Aspects of Khaine article up. We are tag teaming Khaines finest for 6^th edition.

I would also like to announce that after the Michigan GT this month , the 28^th and 29^th, UCON will be coming up November 22,23 and 24^th. We are getting the events planned. The Craftworld open 1850 RTT will be returning this year. PG_Hick has a nice Warmachine Tournament set up. We are trying to get a “Whos The Boss” tourney going as well. I have Firestorm Armada and Flames of War in the schedule also. I am trying to add Battletech as we speak. It should be a fun weekend so check out the convention at UCON's website. Convention Preregistration starts tomorrow and you must reserve your room at the Marriot by November 2nd.  you can do that at the Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti Marriot on Eaglecrest Website.  I hope to see you all there.  Missions for the tournaments will be coming in October.

Until next time.......

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