I have been debating as to whether or not to make this post, but I felt it was unfair to not follow up to my previous post.
Late last month CapnMoe and I had the privilege of attending a charity 40k tournament that was hosted by a few friends of ours known as Gateway Gamers.
This event consisted of 1000 point army lists and the only entry fee was to bring a toy for donation.
There were numerous door prizes for all players at no extra cost and all game boards were cut in half, so each game was on a 4'x4' area.
I believe there were about 30 people that showed up total, most of which were fellow gamers that we have had the pleasure of playing with for the past few years, so it was a very casual atmosphere.
I had only ever played Tau once before, and decided to bring them to this event to get some more practice in.
My List:
Commander - Puretide Engram Chip, Command and Control Node, Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite
6 Firewarriors
6 Firewarriors
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Stimulant Injector
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Stimulant Injector
3 Broadsides - High Yield Missile Pods, Smart Missile Systems
Aegis Defense Line with a Quad Cannon
I have played in many tournaments throughout my gaming career, but this one would turn out to be different in so many ways.
It would contain both the best and worst gaming experiences of my life.
The day started off with me being hung over, which was totally my fault.
I was miserable.
1st game was against Necrons.
His list was...interesting.
He had an Overload on a Barge, with Mindshackle, Scythe, and numerous other upgrades.
1 Ghost Ark full of Warriors
1 Ghost Ark full of Crypteks
1 unit of Warriors on foot.
1 Scythe with a Unit of Deathmarks in it.
And a unit of Immortals.
 |
| He forgot his other Ark for display purposes... |
His list seemed casual.
More fun than competitive.
I was wrong and underestimated it greatly.
Also I was too hungover to realize what was going on...
Also I was too hungover to realize what was going on...
I don't remember the game but it was Dawn of War deployment. He deployed and went first.
Everything he had moved forward into cover and he started to whittle down my units with massive amounts of shooting.
My turn was extremely lack luster. His Overlord had moved into the middle of the board by himself so I put all of my focus into taking him out as soon as possible. Sadly he was left with 1 wound remaining.
The Overlord ended up getting into assault with one of my Riptides, mind-shackled it, and he killed himself.
I did manage to kill his Overlord eventually.
I moved my Commander from the Broadsides to the other Riptide and started gaining ground.
I moved my Commander from the Broadsides to the other Riptide and started gaining ground.
In the end he clearly had the board advantage, but I only lost by a few points.
My opponent was a really nice guy, and he knew that I wasn't feeling well.
He was a really good sport and we talked for a bit after the game about his list and other things.
He was a really good sport and we talked for a bit after the game about his list and other things.
Game 2 would be the complete opposite.
I was paired up against a Tyranid player, and immediately a friend of mine named Jeff warned me about him.
I went to lunch before this game and I stuffed myself with pasta and bread so I was feeling much better.
I went to lunch before this game and I stuffed myself with pasta and bread so I was feeling much better.
My opponent was running a Flyrant, 2 Tervigons, a unit of 3 Guard, 2 units of Gants and 1 unit of Genestealers.
With Monster Hunter on my Broadsides from the Commander I wasn't too worried.
Game was Kill Points Primary with Troops units being worth double points.
With his Tervigons cranking out small units, I was just going to castle up and let him come to me.
I took out most of his Genestealers on turn 1 from broadsides, and put a few more wounds on his Flyrant from the Riptides.
I'm not sure if he was greatly upset about that, but on his 1st turn he took the game to a dark place...
It first started with the Gants.
They were all painted differently and he kept moving them in large hordes.
I made sure to keep asking him which units were which, for scoring purposes, and I could tell he was trying to "merge" them together.
Then he started arguing about placing templates.
(He stated that if you place a blast template over a model, the template has to be placed over the center of the model.)
Then every rule had to be verified in the book, every option had to be checked and then verified by a judge, everything I did was questioned, etc...others around me started to notice.
(He did not believe that Broadsides had Supporting Fire, and then argued with me that Broadsides and Riptides cannot fire more than one weapon per turn.)
To make matters worse, he was the kind of guy that would cheer really loud when he had a good dice roll, then made a scene when he didn't.
The longer the game went on, the worse it got and by the end of turn 3 I didn't care anymore.
I have never quit in the middle of a game before, but this guy was pushing it.
He was extremely arrogant and stated many times that he had played Tau multiple times before, yet he kept asking me questions about my units.
Then when I would tell him, he would look me in the face and say "Prove it."
I swallowed my pride and just finished up the game as I was solidly winning.
Game ends.
Then the arguing started again.
Random Gants started appearing, the number of units came into question again, etc...
I also forgot to mention that this was the type of guy that when he didn't get his way he would just start being louder and louder until the other person conceded.
Finally I just conceded.
He wasn't worth my time.
I look up and there are a handful of people watching in awe.
I also see Jeff say "I told you so." which made me laugh as apparently Jeff played against him in the 1st game.
At this point, I really didn't want to play anymore.
I decided that I would just focus on my strategies in my last game and at least use it as a learning opportunity.
I would find a way to get through it.
Then I met my last opponent.
He was a 9-10 year old boy, who was actually a son of another friend of ours.
This was his first tournament, but he had been playing for a few years previously with his dad.
It was apparent that he felt awkward being around people much older than him.
He was running Necrons with an Overlord in a command barge, 2 units of Warriors in Ghost Arks, 2 Annihilation Barges and a unit of Warriors on foot.
He deployed first and setup in a wedge formation with the HQ in the middle, Arks on both sides and barges on the edges. His foot Warriors were in a building in the back.
I castled up in my corner with the Firewarriors in extremely good cover.
Immediately I noticed the passion he had for the game.
He was telling me about painting, and modeling, which unit was his favorite, and on and on. He was truly just happy to be playing the game.
He knew all his Special Rules, and he knew all of mine.
We started and I seized the initiative.
Both Riptides Nova charged and both templates hit.
Immediately both Annihilation Barges and one Ghost Ark go up in smoke.
I felt horrible.
Even through all the bad luck he was still upbeat and was just having a good time.
Over the rest of the game I made sure to "forget" to some Nova Charges, forget to move or shoot certain units and try to shoot at his units that I knew I had no way of killing.
I wanted to make the game as close as possible, because honestly It was the best game I ever played in.
I didn't care if I won or lost and I completely forgot about the game before.
In the end I think it ended up being a tie on objectives and I may have won on secondaries.
When the game was over, he was the first one to offer a handshake and say good game.
I was utterly amazed that this 9 year old boy was more professional and adult than the 30 something year old guy I played the game before.
Turns out the guy I played in the first game ended up playing the Tyranids guy in the last game, so he also had some choice words about him as well.
A bunch of us sat for awhile and talked with the tournament hosts and most everyone agreed that the Tyranid player would not be allowed back at any events.
At the end of the day I walked away with a brand new Aegis Defense Line I won in the raffle and Capnmoe finished 1 point out of the top 3 thanks to a random rule dependency in another game.
Going into this tournament I was completely hung over, was using and army I had almost zero experience with and ended up playing against one of the worst opponents I have ever played against, but the last game made it all worth while and I look forward to playing him again soon.
It first started with the Gants.
They were all painted differently and he kept moving them in large hordes.
I made sure to keep asking him which units were which, for scoring purposes, and I could tell he was trying to "merge" them together.
Then he started arguing about placing templates.
(He stated that if you place a blast template over a model, the template has to be placed over the center of the model.)
Then every rule had to be verified in the book, every option had to be checked and then verified by a judge, everything I did was questioned, etc...others around me started to notice.
(He did not believe that Broadsides had Supporting Fire, and then argued with me that Broadsides and Riptides cannot fire more than one weapon per turn.)
To make matters worse, he was the kind of guy that would cheer really loud when he had a good dice roll, then made a scene when he didn't.
The longer the game went on, the worse it got and by the end of turn 3 I didn't care anymore.
I have never quit in the middle of a game before, but this guy was pushing it.
He was extremely arrogant and stated many times that he had played Tau multiple times before, yet he kept asking me questions about my units.
Then when I would tell him, he would look me in the face and say "Prove it."
I swallowed my pride and just finished up the game as I was solidly winning.
Game ends.
Then the arguing started again.
Random Gants started appearing, the number of units came into question again, etc...
I also forgot to mention that this was the type of guy that when he didn't get his way he would just start being louder and louder until the other person conceded.
Finally I just conceded.
He wasn't worth my time.
I look up and there are a handful of people watching in awe.
I also see Jeff say "I told you so." which made me laugh as apparently Jeff played against him in the 1st game.
At this point, I really didn't want to play anymore.
I decided that I would just focus on my strategies in my last game and at least use it as a learning opportunity.
I would find a way to get through it.
Then I met my last opponent.
He was a 9-10 year old boy, who was actually a son of another friend of ours.
This was his first tournament, but he had been playing for a few years previously with his dad.
It was apparent that he felt awkward being around people much older than him.
He was running Necrons with an Overlord in a command barge, 2 units of Warriors in Ghost Arks, 2 Annihilation Barges and a unit of Warriors on foot.
He deployed first and setup in a wedge formation with the HQ in the middle, Arks on both sides and barges on the edges. His foot Warriors were in a building in the back.
I castled up in my corner with the Firewarriors in extremely good cover.
Immediately I noticed the passion he had for the game.
He was telling me about painting, and modeling, which unit was his favorite, and on and on. He was truly just happy to be playing the game.
He knew all his Special Rules, and he knew all of mine.
We started and I seized the initiative.
Both Riptides Nova charged and both templates hit.
Immediately both Annihilation Barges and one Ghost Ark go up in smoke.
I felt horrible.
Even through all the bad luck he was still upbeat and was just having a good time.
Over the rest of the game I made sure to "forget" to some Nova Charges, forget to move or shoot certain units and try to shoot at his units that I knew I had no way of killing.
I wanted to make the game as close as possible, because honestly It was the best game I ever played in.
I didn't care if I won or lost and I completely forgot about the game before.
In the end I think it ended up being a tie on objectives and I may have won on secondaries.
When the game was over, he was the first one to offer a handshake and say good game.
I was utterly amazed that this 9 year old boy was more professional and adult than the 30 something year old guy I played the game before.
Turns out the guy I played in the first game ended up playing the Tyranids guy in the last game, so he also had some choice words about him as well.
A bunch of us sat for awhile and talked with the tournament hosts and most everyone agreed that the Tyranid player would not be allowed back at any events.
At the end of the day I walked away with a brand new Aegis Defense Line I won in the raffle and Capnmoe finished 1 point out of the top 3 thanks to a random rule dependency in another game.
Going into this tournament I was completely hung over, was using and army I had almost zero experience with and ended up playing against one of the worst opponents I have ever played against, but the last game made it all worth while and I look forward to playing him again soon.
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