Reflections on Michigan GT

I have been reflecting on the Michigan GT. I have basically taken a week off from 40k after the tournament to think about the new direction I want to take my list and recover from the cold I picked up over that weekend. I'm back up to 99% healthy.
I have been thinking about the Tau quite a bit and their role in the tournament. I don't think a Tau army took any of the top three spots, even though there was quite a bit of Tau out there. Steinerp did a good job doing the codex demographics over on his blog Aspects of the Void. Check it out.
Other than the legion of Riptides (I battled ten of them over the course of four opponents *sigh*) the running constant for the Tau was the buff commander suit. That little fellow was in all four lists doing about the exact same thing. Either joined to Riptides or Dark Reapers. Sprinkle in some Sky Rays and maybe a dash of Kroot and you had the basic core list everyone seemed to be running. Got kinda boring after awhile. So it would seem that slightly tailoring a list in order to just kill that bugger would do loads to help destroy these kinds of lists. Usually the whole thing was built around the one combo and the amount of damage it could do. I don't think that is a particularly sound plan for a six round tournament. Looks like the standings agree with me.
Also, I expected a ton of "Wave Serpent Spam" lists, as people tend to say with varying degrees of vitriol. As far as I know, I had the most Serpents at five. Strangely, there weren't even that many with four. Perhaps the actual spam version of that flavor of Eldar finally made its weaknesses apparent enough.
I have also decided to mostly retire my mechanized Eldar list from regular play. I will still probably take it to tournaments until I get a new one honed enough that I think I have a chance at winning with it. My new list won't have any Wave Serpents in it. Largely, because Wave Serpents have pretty much ruined my play experience. I've been heavily into mech-dar for a long time now, and I won a lot of games when Wave Serpents were considered to be over costed and sub par. Now that they are awesome, I look like "that guy", I see the fun drain out of my opponents' faces about turn 2 or 3, and I sound like everyone else running net lists throwing the caveat that they "have always played this list". So now I am on a quest to make a new killer tournament list that doesn't utilize a composition similar to what people expect tournament Eldar to look like.

Sounds like fun to me.

And as a last note, I want to say congratulations to the staff of the GT, it was a great event. There were a few hiccups which were to be expected for a first year event, but overall it was a ton of fun and I can't wait for next year.

Codename 40k Diva: The Aftermath Of The Michigan GT

Man what a weekend.   Six games over two days on the south side of Lansing.  I have to say it was good Gorham.   Bill Kim and CVinton, Chris Vinton of DFG, talked me off the ledge as it were and I continued.  Lets just say things went smoother after some Jack Daniels and later Some UV Blue.   I will now be known as the 40k Diva by many of the participants and staff.  I know CVinton plans on reminding me of my tantrum from now until eternity
times despite a rocky start by yours truly.  I went 2 and 4.  I actually almost did not continue past round one.  I was a big dummy and did not read the FAQ.  This cause some confusion on my part and I did not use my Wave Serpents properly.  Regardless I got mad at myself and rage quit.  My first game happened to be against the winner of best overall, Tim


I had some very good opponents.  One army in particular caught my eye.  My round 3 game was versus Jon Blowers and his Chaos Marine army.  He was using the old Obliterator models as his Plague Marines and all the other models in his force was converted and custom kit bashed.  I was a fan of his bikers.

I also had the pleasure of playing and meeting Ken Blakely from the 2nd Founding Podcast.  He kind of wrecked me.  Damn Riptides.  It was a good game though and some good conversation.

I want to say congrats to Craftworld Lansings own Autarch, Spellduckwrong, for making the top 10.  He had some very tough opponents.  He Had the Best General winner in the last round.  Jesse Zischke congrats on the Best General man.

I  placed 38th.  I did not leave empty handed though.  I won one of the oldest traditions in 40k.  The Pub Quiz.  I got a Space Marine Strike force for my encyclopedic knowledge of 40k.  Not to bad.  Now I have a bulk of what I need for my next project.  More on that later though.

on to UCON......



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


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

Michigan GT Countdown: Game On

With shower complete and coffee in hand, it is nearly time to head out.

Here's the list I'm taking today:

1842 pts --- Mechanized Eldar

Spirit Seer (Warlord)

6x Rangers

5x Wraithguard with Wraithcannons
-In Wave Serpent with TL Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holofields

5x Wraithguard with Wraithcannons
-In Wave Serpent with TL Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holofields

10x Guardian Defenders
-In Wave Serpent with TL Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holofields

10x Guardian Defenders
-In Wave Serpent with TL Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holofields

10x Storm Guardians with 2 Flamers
-In Wave Serpent with TL Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holofields

Night Spinner with Holofields and Spirit Stones

Wraithknight with two Heavy Wraithcannons

HQ 1
Elites 0
Fast 0
Troops 6
Heavy 2

This list has proven to be able to handle itself in nearly all situations as long as I am not being stupid. There's options for nearly any situation, and I can play this list as cagey or aggressive as I need to, which I feel is one of its main strengths. It has some rough match ups, but the feeling seems to be mutual with my opponent in those cases. The rough match ups generally tend be great games because they are so close though, so at least there's that.

Let's see if Fortune smiles on me.

Michigan GT Countdown: Tournament Eve

Tomorrow's the big day! I'm stoked for this as the Michigan GT will be the largest 40k event I've ever attended.

For objective markers, it seem Fate anticipated my laziness. While I was moving some models around in my hobby room, I found three Guardian weapons platforms that all had the shield/gun holder bit detached. I was about to toss them in a box with other models needing repair when I realized that they would make perfect objective markers! And they were already fully painted which was a deciding factor.

Well, after work today, it will be time to get everything packed up and ready to go for the morning, as well as get to bed a little earlier than usual.
I've noticed a trend lately, that the night before a tournament around 1 AM, I am woken up by something loud and stupid. Be it someone shooting off a ton of firecrackers in the street, a bat that decides to do a sonar opera outside of my bedroom window, or something similar. Perhaps I will actually get good sleep tonight.

Here's to hoping.

Michigan GT Countdown: 2 Days to Target

Last Wave Serpent is complete? Check. Now that that is out of the way, just objective markers remain. And maybe a few touch ups on some pewter models.
Maybe.
Also, I had some buttons made up for my army to use as tokens to keep track of effects. Including the one shown here for Spirit Mark, which I find endlessly amusing. This batch was all 2-1/4" diameter, though the guy who makes them can go down to 1-1/2", if I remember correctly, which I believe will be better for other types of general use tokens. I've always wanted a button maker, but never wanted one enough to drop the cash in order to buy one. So imagine my joy when I discover that someone I know has one.

~48 hours......

Michigan GT Countdown: 3 Days to Target

I finally "let go" and decided to just go with the list I have been honing for weeks now and so I know I won't have any more model issues to deal with due to last minute switch outs. No reason to make a last minute change and then regret it over the weekend.
I will have to rely on experience, average dice rolls, and Force weapon awareness.
It is slightly calming though, to just accept that I have prepared to the best of my ability and all that is left is to let the chips fall where they may.

I did not get my Wave Serpent done. I discovered that my school schedule for the week was the opposite of what I believed it to be. Plus side is, that I have all my work taken care of now and I can push it from my mind until after the GT.

Michigan GT Countdown: 4 Days to Target

At midnight tonight, it is only 96 hours until tourney day! My mission tonight is to get my Wave Serpent finished. I just have to tag a few little components, paint the jewels and canopy, attach the base nut, and high gloss the whole shebang. Should be totally doable. Next up will be making objective markers, which will probably be a goal for Wednesday.