The sudden death of competitive 40k

So it's looking like the major events are going back to the hobby centric theme for their GTs. Unrestricted 40k is pretty much a thing of the past. Personally I think a lot of the attitude behind is to do what's easiest. It is disconcerting though. I would love to see the restrictions lifted on sources so we can play 40k as intended rather than harking back to the boring past. In truth allies have been around for a long long time it's just now basically every army has access.

It's funny as only a few years ago there was a major grass roots movement to bring back competitive 40k and like I said it appears to me most organizers are doing what's best for them.

Here is what the NOVA TO said today:

"The more sources you have, the more options you have, the less competitive the game gets."

Lulz

Why we should ban wave serpents at the local level

First off they are way too good and they are very spammable. I remember when I first read the totally bs eldar codex and thinking "wait wud ???" To me the wave serpent is the main offender in a totally horrendous codex. Write a letter and send it to corporate - let them know exactly how you feel about it.

/semi serious sarcasm

Serpent spam came into vogue with the release of 7th edition and the new tighter ally matrix - Tau and eldar are no longer battle brothers - which never really made any sense to me.

Imperial Armor Volume XIII

I have to say this is one of my favorite books from Forge World and it was a long time coming — basically everything Chaos from Forge World in one book. I can't wait to break out a lot of my favorite toys. I will be doing a short series of articles highlighting the units not reviewed by others such as the Greater Brass Scorpion of Khorne. This is your go to book for Chaos. I've noticed a lot of the standout units were missed — I'm talking about the through and through Chaos Space Marine units that Daemon players just seem not to understand.

New Tyranid Monstrous Creature - The Toxicrene

Latest Blood Angels Rumors

The big story this weekend is that Blood Angels are next for 40k, and Tycho/ Death Company will play a major part in their release.

Sources on BoLS and Dakka are reporting the following, but remember these are very much just rumors at this time!
No new model, but you will get:

DLC1: Dataslate Tycho. $20

DLC2: Dataslate Death Company Tycho $25.

John Wick

I'm going to see the movie today - it's gotten some fantastic reviews.

40k What If * Ferrus vs. Fulgrim

40k What If - Where Angels Fear to Tread.  An alternative view of the Climax of the Dropzone Massacre

P O I S O N

Your cruel device

Your blood like ice

One look could kill

My pain

Your thrill

I want to love you

I better not touch

I want to hold you

My senses say stop

I want to kiss you

I want it too much

I want to taste you

Your lips are like venomous poison

You're poison running through my veins

You're poison

I want to break these chains

Your mouth

So hot

Your web

I'm caught

Your skin

So wet and slick

Black lace on cold sweat

I hear you calling

Needles and pins

I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name

Don't want to touch you

You're under my skin

I want to kiss you

Your lips are venomous poison

You're poison running through my brain

You're poison

I got to break these chains

Poison

One look could kill

My pain

Your thrill

I want to love you

I better not touch

I want to hold you

My senses scream stop

I want to kiss you

I want it too much

I want to taste you

Your lips are like venomous poison

You're poison running through my veins

You're poison

I gotta break these chains

Poison

Running deep inside my veins

Burning deep inside my brain

Poison

What will the new Blood Angels codex bring ?

It's very interesting now that GW has shut down the rumor mill. I really don't know what to believe. On one end of the spectrum I've heard that Blood Angels will get the Grey Knights treatment - only a codex and no new units. This goes hand in hand with the current dumbing down conspiracy theory propagating the Internet. On the other hand I've heard Mephiston with a 350 point Lord of War with psychic Mastery Level 5 - S8 - T8 base. The new Space Wolves are no joke and GW can still dish out the love... For example did you know that Wolf Claws are now +1S - Shred - Rending... It seems to me that the developers know exactly where each race will stack on the overall power level and they are going out of their to develop the new codices such that there is nothing broken due to incompetent writing. In probability Blood Angels will fall somewhere in between the two extreme rumors I've posted above. I think that Mephiston and Sanguinor will be independent characters — overcharged engines will be an upgrade for Rhinos and possibly Baal predators. Hopefully Dante will swing his Axe Mortalis again at initiative and it's still AP2. I think assault Marines will still be a troop choice since Jervis Johnson introduced that back in the PDF codex. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but not holding my breath either. Who knows ?

THE BLACK RAGE
During the epic battle, Sanguinius came face-to-face with a new nightmare known as Ka'bandha, a Greater Daemon of Khorne. During the battle that ensued, Sanguinius was sorely wounded and temporarily incapacitated. He witnessed Ka'bandha slaughter 500 of his sons with a single blow of his mighty axe. The psychic backlash of the deaths of so many of his sons blasted Sanguinius into unconsciousness. With the fall of their Primarch and the slaughtering of their brethren, the Blood Angels Legion was consumed by a black rage that drove them into a berserker's fury as they charged into the daemonic horde and in their madness they smashed the horde of daemons asunder. Yet the brutal violence of the daemon Ka'Bahnda had unleashed something dark within the psyche of the Space Marines, a thirst for blood that would not be slaked until every taint of Chaos had been erased from the planet. Even the mighty Kyriss was banished back to the Immaterium. Only when the planet was cleansed did the rage of the Blood Angels finally subside. Though Signus had been freed from its thrall to the Forces of Chaos, the cost of victory was far higher than any could have wished. The berserker rage the Blood Angels had experienced had left a brooding shadow on their souls that would manifest in the centuries to come as the great curse (later known as the Black Rage) that would afflict the Blood Angels and their later Successors.

Blood Angels codex cover

Rant—Good versus Bad

I remember once when I was drawing a lot of negative comments on the internet. It got me down a bit and I wasn't sure how to handle it. I did some research and found an article on the Internet that discussed positive (+) energy versus negative (-) energy. The crux of the article was that enough + energy can outweigh - energy with the stipulation that the content of any + energy posted must be sincere and honest. So I gave it a try which meant I had to stop posting lots of - energy on the Internet. I stuck with it and slowly I could see a change taking place which was very encouraging and reinforced the concept. I began to change too—learning to focus on + thoughts versus - thoughts. It works a lot like karma if you know what that is...

From Buddhism - the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.

There is the old saying What comes around goes around. There is also a Wiccan philosophy which states bad things come back to you three time—so for every bad thing you do you'd hsve to do three good things to cancel out the bad. The term bad can be used interchangeably with evil too so keep that in mind.

So why'd I bring this up you might wonder. The Feast of Blades (FoB) national tournament was recently held approximately one week after BeakyCon4... Two completeky independent events. BeakyCon4 was flawless this year but FoB had some scandal with two players caught cheating around the time of the last round with both players facing off against each other in the final round for first place. One player had an illegal army which had been checked by the TOs prior to the event and the other player was caught using some loaded dice. The TOs let the player with the illegal list modify it and play on with no penalties incurred. The other player with the loaded dice immediately disqualified himself and posted a long apology on Facebook. Several days later the player caught with the illegal list then disqualified himself as well turning in his prize support.

Some parallels were drawn on the Internet between FoB and BeakyCon2 (took place back in 2012) since the player at FoB was caught using some loaded dice and we caught another player using a loaded dice at BeakyCon2. Upon further investigation conducted shortly after BeakyCon2 it was discovered the player using the loaded dice at BeakyCon2 had used the same dice in at least one previous game prior to being caught red handed which was not brought to our attention until the post investigation. So we then knew the dice cheater at BeakyCon2 was actually aware he was cheating and had not told the truth when asked about it during the tournament when questioned. The cover story was he had purchased some random dice from a bin at a local shop unaware there was a loaded dice. A similar excuse was given at FoB and this player was present at BeakyCon2 as well.

I'm not here to make any accusations versus the player with loaded dice at FoB and in fact he is a friend of mine and we both used to belong to the same gaming club. The FoB player has an excellent reputation and it's hard to believe he would knowingly use loaded dice.

In regards to the one loaded dice at BeakyCon2 it was discovered that player used it to seize the initiative (always rolled a 6), cover saves and for armor penetration... So while one loaded dice might not sound like much it can definitely be a huge advantage if rolled enough for key situations such as those I've mentioned. The player caught at BeakyCon2 was punished but there was some consensus on the Internet that the punishment was not sctrict enough - he was banned from BeakyCon (permaban) and I've been told he quit the hobby some time ago. It might also be worth noting the dice cheater at BeakyCon2 was playing on a mid table when caught versus the player at FoB whom was caught around the time of the final game and was playing for the top spot... Still cheating is cheating even if unintentional.

Needless to say the unfortunate incident at FoB opened some old wounds from BeakyCon2 which is why I'm writing. Some tried to use it as a means to exonerate the BeakyCon2 dice cheat but fortunately that was set straight for the record. I'm a bit miffed... In particular there was an article posted back in 2012 on the Blood of Kittens (BoK) blog about the dice cheating at BeakyCon2 which rankled me since the full story was not disclosed - at the time the general consensus was the punishment meted out at BeakyCon2 was mild in comparison to what should have been done. There was more support for BeakyCon2 this time though and the full story finally came out on a popular 40k forum, which in my mind is a good thing. I appreciate all the support too !

So something bad that occurs in one location can affect other who weren't there and that's my main point. You might think you're not affecting lots of people but that's not necessarily true and it is something that should always be considered. Also if cheating is not punished it could encourage a certain type of person it's oksy even if they're caught which is definitely a bad thing.

Solar Auxilia

A How To Guide • Playing White Scars • Part 2

The first article I discussed which units I use for my core:

Chapter Master
Librarian
Command Squad

Bike Squad w. Attack Bike
Bike Squad w. Attack Bike
Bike Squad w. Attack Bike

Seems small overall and it is but the army hits like a ton of bricks. I also touched on what I use as my second source to complete the build which is Space Wolves—Champions of Fenris formation from the new supplement:

Wolf Lord (Thunderwolf mount)
Rune Priest (Bike)
Iron Priest (Thunderwolf mount)
Iron Priest (Thunderwolf mount)

This totals around 1850 points which is what we see for most of the major events. At 2000 points you can squeeze in a Wolf Priest which is another force multiplier with preferred enemy, fearless and a 6+ FNP to back up the apothecary from the command squad.

How to Play the Army
I learned the hard way and it was quite the painful process. You want your entire army on the table - nothing is held in reserve. I typically deploy right up on the edge of my deployment zone so I can go straight at my opponent's army. If there is some line of sight (LoS) blocking terrain I'll use it... No need to to take any incoming enemy fire power the first turn if it's not necessary. My favorite Warlord trait is Master of Ambush from the rulebook tactical traits - you can infiltrate up to three squads and it can really increase the potency of your first turn alpha or beta strike since you'll be able to rapid fire the twin linked bolters.

The army is actually fairly easy to play if you're comfortable with an aggressive style. Go straight towards the enemy, shoot then charge them. Hit and run out of close combat during your opponent's player turn then repeat... It's brutal. The army works very well versus the competitive armies such as eldar, Tau and Necrons. Of course eldsr are the biggest challenge but they can be beat using the dragnet... Position your bike units such that the Wave Serpents can't evade them for more than a turn. They will be jinking versus the grav guns which really cuts down on the amount of fire power they can effectively bring to bare. Of course Wraithknights really fear the grav guns too which is very helpful. Once you are in range to charge the Wave Serpents you can take control of the game. The toughest challenge I've had is versus dark eldar since they are so fast but they can be beaten too plus BeaStar is gone bye bye.

If you read my batreps here they help a lot to illustrate my basic strategies and tactics.

A How To Guide • Playing White Scars • Part 1

I'm sure there are lots of ways to win with White Scars... They have some really fantastic rules:

— S5 Hammer of Wrath (HoW)
— Skilled Rider
— Hit and Run (H&R)
— +1 Save when jinking

These are four very advantageous rules. First the S5 HoW is great for popping Wave Serpents and second you'll never lose a biker due to steering into a tree. H&R is simply phenomal... I'm sure there are lots of dark Eldar players hating on losing the Baron and for good reason. Finally most of the time you'll have a 3+ save since most weapons which ignore cover have a high AP (e.g., serpent shield) so you'll still get your 3+ armor save.

Khan
If you take the Khan then your army can scout and outflank. I started off with Khan on Moondrakken - he is great to learn how to play White Scars and gives you access to the command squad. Over time I stopped using Khan as having gained experience I don't feel I need him plus the points are better invested in a Librarian which also gives you access to the command squad. Bikes can turbo boost which equates to covering a lot of ground fast so the scout move is actually not all that important - especially since you can't assault the first turn with any unit that scouts. Outflanking is really good for the right list such as rhinos and scouts in land speeder Storms. I play a pure biker army though and what I've found is that you need to start with all your squads on the table — otherwise you are very susceptible to an alpha strike and if your reserves come in piecemeal they'll get picked off as well.

Librarian
I run mine on a bike with a force axe, Melta bombs and the relic Indominitus Armor for the 2+ save which one player turn grants a 2++ invulnerable save. Mine is a Level 2 psyker which combined with Admantium Will (i.e., Chapter Master with Shield Eternal) is fantastic for denying enemy maledictions — I also run a Rune Priest with my Space Wolf allies. The Rune Priest has a special rule Ward which adds +1 to your Deny the Witch rolls so often you'll be able to roll a 3+ to deny the witch if you attach your Chapter Master, Librarian and Rune Priest to the same unit (i.e., command squad). They all have access to a 2+ armor save which makes your BikeStar that much harder to kill... Remember that a 2+ armor save is twice as good as a 3+ armor save !

The Librarian is a jack of all trades and can add a lot of support to your army. The force axe is an excellent means of sniping big hard to kill behemoths including warbosses, Riptides and even Wraithknights. I choose my psychic lore depending upon which army I'm facing. Insta-Gizz (aka Invisibility) is the most sought after if you can roll it up but it's not all that reliable since it requires two warp charges to cast. Psychic Shriek is the Primaris power from the same lore (Telepathy) and is great for sniping tough to reach enemy units like Guardian Jetbikes and Path Finders. Biomancy can be good but is more situational - this lore is a mixed bag as there are some good spells (Endurance, Iron Arm and Life Leech) but also some bad ones such as Warp Speed since it doesn't do much for a biker using an unwieldy weapon. I like Pyromancy too which is great versus horde armies such as Orks and Tyranids. Spells chosen from Pyromancy only require one warp charge so they are very reliable. The combination of the Librarian and Rune Priest buffs your psychic mastery level up to four total which is quite good versus a lot of armies such as Necrons and Tau.

BikeXander
This is the stock Chapter Master on a bike with artificer armor, the Shield Eternal and either a power fist or thunderhammer. BikeXander is greatly feared and for good reason—currently he is the Eternal Warrior of choice. There's really not much to say since it's all been said. The Chapter Master is must take as the hub of BikeStar.

Command Squad
Here is how I run mine:

Bikes - 4x Grav Gun - 4x Stormshield - 3x meltabomb - thunderhammer - Chapter banner
Apothecary

This is a super squad and can do it all - Mobile, shooty and quite choppy as well... Especially with all the characters attached. Note that the chapter banner allows any unit within 12" to re roll failed morale checks which will help prevent your bikers from running off the table. I move mine up the table as fast as possible to keep them away from their own table edge. You really don't want to lose an expensive unit to failed morale check when they fall back. The meltabombs are anti Knight and Monstrous Creatures... They make them go BOOM real quick. Combined with the characters they are just as good in mėlee as when they are shooting if not actually better. Like BikeXander there's not much to say that hasn't already been said else where.

You can split off characters as the game progresses to tackle weak units although I'll say be careful as you certainly don't want to lose one of your bosses to a lucky enemy Overwatch. it's best to split off versus small eneny units that can't muster a lot of shooting during Overwatch. It's always best to hit a big eneny unit with full force whenever possible.

Biker Squads
My army is all grav gun, twin linked boltguns and multi-meltas. Boltguns suppress horde while the grav guns take down nasty units such as Wraithknights and vehicles. The attack bikes add survivability too since they have two wounds.

Here is my typical build:

4x biker - 2x grav gun
Sergeant - combi-melta - meltabombs
Attack Bike - multi-melta

I like to run three of these squads and they are the core of your army. Six per squad makes them more survivable plus they hit harder.


Next Up
I'll discuss strategies and tactics.

What comes around goes around - or beware what you ask for

There is a new trend dumbing down the new codices which started with Tyranids. There is a lot less new units being released and if there's no pre existing model it's gone. People complain about codex creep all the time but really it's not happening anymore for the most part. So people now complain about every perceived nerf... You've got to complain about something, right? Even if it's the exact opposite what you used to complain about (see definition of hypocrite). I'm sure Necrons will be no different but at least they have official models for all their special characters. I don't think you can really blame GW in that regard after the Chapterhouse fiasco either. Personally I'm curious to see what will become of Blood Angels and I don't think they can be any worse off. Space Wolves were the real winners with great rules and a lot of new units compared to the last few. Grey Knights and Dark Eldar didn't get any anything new I'm aware of off the top of my head. Look for nerfs to Mind Shackle Scarabs and Telsa for Necrons. Going back to Tyranids they did get a few new units such as the Crone but overall it's mostly a disappointment. Orks got the Gorkanaut but that's about it really. The characters that have been re released as Lords of War is my biggest disappointment and sorry there is no way you can compare Draigo or Logan Grimnar to a Revenant Titan or Transcendental C'Tan - so silly ! Imperial Knights are just fine though for whatever reason.



Here are the new units I can think of off the top of my head starting with Tyranids (not including Forge World):

Tyranids:
— Crone
— Monstrous creature that shoots plasma (big disappointment)

Astra Militarum:
— Scions
— Taurox
— Wyvern
— Lost a lot of their tanks and Sly Marbo

Imperial Knights:
— Imperial Knights

Orks:
— Gorkanaut (another big disappointment)
— Can't use Ghazskull since he's a Lord of War

Space Wolves:
— Harald Deathwolf
— Storm Claw
— Storm Fang
— Can't use Logan Grimnar since he's a Lord of War

Grey Knights:
— Nothing
— Can't use Draigo since he's a Lord of War

Dark Eldar:
— Nothing
— No Vect since there is no official model in production


Deathstars are very few and far between now - when was the last time you saw Jetseer council or ScreamerStar. BeaStar is dead as a door nail now that the Baron had been deep sixed. So things are definitely changing and it would seem GW has responded to what people have been asking for after all this time.

Are Terminators Still Viable

I had a very intense discussion with several fellow gamers this past weekend regarding terminators and whether or not they are still competitive. To be honest I don't see them that much anymore in any army lists for top players at major events like the BAO or NOVA. Not that long ago they were still quite popular back in fifth edition then with the major overhaul to the 40k ruleset (i.e., sixth edition) terminators slowly started to disappear. In fact I rarely see any Deathwing or Draigowing armies even at local RTTs. It's not like Space Marines aren't popular either so what happened ?

Fifth Edition Space Marines
The release of the fifth edition Space Marine codex by Mat Ward saw the introduction of the all inconclusive 3++ invulnerable save for the stormshield... Prior to that the stormshield conferred only a 4++ invulnerable save in assault. Eventually the old Dark Angels codex got an FAQ upgrading their stormshield to be the equivalent of the vanilla Space Marine version - Deathwing then became an extremely popular army and was quite competitive. The 3++ invulnerable save coupled with a 2+ armor save was seemingly invincible. We are talking about basically a horde style terminator army all with stormshields, thunderhammers and some cyclone missile launchers liberally sprinkled in as well. The cyclone missile launcher gained an extra shot in fifth edition as well... It was a golden era for the ever ubiquitous terminator. Only Draigo has access to a stormshield for Grey Knights but I clearly remember attending tournaments where close to half the armies were either Deathwing or Draigowing.

So like I said what happened? I think I've got a good answer and its multi part so please bare with me if you're interested. First let's take a look at what happened following the release of sixth edition.

Sixth Edition
This edition saw a major change to the game in terms of the overall superiority of shooting over assault plus broken squads under 50 percent can now regroup so the inability for terminators to sweeping advance is a huge disadvantage whereas before it was not... For example it's quite possible for a squad of terminators to launch an assault on Fire Warriors, survive Overwatch, win combat then the real kicker - the Fire Warriors successfully break then regroup next turn and are shooting your terminators.

Sixth edition exacerbated all the inherent weaknesses of terminators and that's part of the problem. Terminators can deep strike - it used to be really good but situational. If you take shooty terminators that doesn't help much either as there are much better choices for the points such as Devastator Centurions or Obilterators. You can spend more points to mount them in a land raider chassis but that's not really an ideal investment either.

Points per Model
Terminators are still expensive points-wise which is another part of the problem. While Loganwing was very cool it was never all that competitive even with Arjac thrown into the mix - the army never could level enough wholesale damage to make it competitive at the top tier. Let's be honest - Thunderwolves have a lot more going for them along with a 3++ save, two wounds and are so much more mobile. White Scars bikers also bring this home too.

The bottom line is the fundamental dynamics of the game have drastically changed which is why you don't see terminators at the top anymore. Sure you could be very imaginative and come up with a totally off the wall army list but at any major event I doubt it could ever win more than half the games. I would even go so far as to say there isn't really any place for terminators in a truly competitive army that has a shot at winning first place. It's just the way it is now.

Seventh Edition
The new edition has not changed anything in regards to making terminators viable again. Seventh edition overall Is a maintenance release to properly include escalation (Lords of War) and refine fortifications. There have definitely been some big changes that better balance the game and bring it more in line with Fantasy but still there is no love for terminators. It will require a new codex with a specific set of new rules to bring terminators back to the forefront again.

Conclusion
Not all that long ago you could take two heavy weapons per five terminators like Paladins. Spamming assault cannons was highly effective too. This is one thing that could possibly bring them back in line as a truly competitive unit. Terminators are slow and there are other units that are much more mobile and shooty that cost less or equal points per model. A squad of five terminators with stormshields and thunderhammers is not a major threat and can be focus fired off the table. Grav weapons are the new hotness and can quickly shred any unit with a 2+ save. Truly great units come and go... That's part of the game and you must deal with it. Hopefully one day they will shine again. Here's to hoping for the best.

And so it begins again ...

Thunder and Lightning • White Scars and Space Wolves • V3.0

So I have been steadily working on my new Super Friends army list. I have decided to run White Scars as the primary and they are still a CAD for the objective secured troops. I have a good deal of experience now and love the army—in many ways it reminds me of my old Blood Angels. Space Marine biker armies are as good as ever, you really can't go wrong if you know what you're doing. Here is my core list:

Chapter Master - Bike - Artificer Armor - Shield Eternal - Power Fist - Digital Weapons

Librarian - Level 2 Psyker - Bike - Indominitus Armor - Force Axe - Meltabombs

Command Squad - Bikes - 4x Stormshield - 4x Grav Gun - 3x Meltabombs - Thunderhammer
Apothecary

3x Biker - 2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi-Grav - Meltabombs
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta

3x Biker - 2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi-Grav - Meltabombs
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta

3x Biker - 2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi-Grav - Meltabombs
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta


Here is what I'm planning to currently bring for the Space Wolves contingent using the Champions of Fenris detachment:

Wolf Lord - Thunderwolf Mount - Runic Armor - Stormshield - Power Fist - Fell Claw

Rune Priest - Level 2 Psyker - Bike - Runic Armor - Force Axe (Ward) - Meltabombs

Iron Priest - Thunderwolf Mount - Cyberwolf

Iron Priest - Thunderwolf Mount - Cyber Wolf

I'd love to include a Wolf Priest but there's no points left. There is lots of redundancy built into the overall list and I love having two psykers... Sure psychic heavy armies can still shut them down but that's not most armies.

AD 40k • new gaming club

Here is the cover art for the new club AD 40k by none other than Goatboy ! We are currently planning to bring two teams to ATC 2015 next year.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/AD40k/

The club is focused on the hobby aspect of Warhammer 40k including art, painting and modeling as well as attending competitive tournaments.

BeakyCon4 Top Ten final results (and a few pictures)

The final day saw some very exciting games on the top tables. Remy Colin was the only player with four wins going into the final fifth round. Marc Tomlinson and Lance Neumann drew in the fourth game then bounced back the final round to claim first and second place respectively. There was a Tyranid army in the top five going into the last round but he dropped out to forfeit. Eldar were the king with Dark Eldar right behind them... A great send off for Dark Eldar !

Top Ten (win-loss path, final overall scores & club)

01. W-W-D-W-W • Marc Tomlinson (75) * Orlando Hereticus
Eldar-Dark Eldar

02. W-W-D-W-W • Lance Naumann (70) * Skull & Bones
Dark Eldar

03. L-W-W-W-L • Shane Ragland (67) * Orlando Hereticus
Necrons-Imperial Knights

04. W-W-W-W-L • Remy Colin (64) * Orlando Hereticus
Necrons

05. W-W-L-L-W • Jon Geiger (64) * Orlando Hereticus
Space Marines-Astra Militarum-Imperial Knight

06. L-W-W-L-W • Dave Ozawa (62) * Orlando Hereticus
Tau Empire-Imperial Knights

07. W-L-W-W-D • Luis Alcala (57) * Paradox 40k
Orks

08. W-W-L-W-W • Raoul Lopez (54) * Paradox 40k
Tau Empire

09. W-W-L-L-W • Shaun Roy (52) * Orlando Hereticus
Necrons-Tau Empire

10. L-D-W-W-W • Teddy Woody (49) * 40k Wrecking Crew
Space Marines-Astra Militarum

Thanks to everyone who came out ! A big thanks to Brad Bitler and Chris Winans who were my other two TOS.

Chip Boyd from Torrent of Fire did an excellent job supporting us and his tournament app is highly recommended - this was by the smoothest run BeakyCon yet.


Finally a big thanks to Anthem Games for all your wonderful support !!! Stephen and Jennifer Tkalec are awesome people !!!

Pictures

The Great Brass Scorpion laying waste to Gorguinius' hordes !!!

Contemptor Mortis Dreadnaught Talon lowering the power shields on the Stompa !!!

Horus and Justrearin command squad tactical redeployment following elimination of Ork bikers !!!

Gorguinius and his killer posse ready to counter assault !!!

Marc Parker's Green Tide versus Juan De La Nuez'... Rolling over 1000 attacks !!!

BeakyCon4 final results

Five rounds... Remy Colin playing playing pure Necrons was the last player with all wins going into the final fifth round. Marc Tomlinson (Eldar) and Lance Neumann (Dark Eldar) faced off in the fourth round and drew. Marc went on to win first place beating Remy in a close game and is the new Warmaster. Lance bested Lance formation in the last round to take second place. The top four armies were as follows:

1. Eldar
2. Dark Eldar
3. Lance Formation - Necron allies
4. Necrons

Green Tide Orks did well too - there were three Green Tides and they all had to play each other - Luis Alcala was the top Ork player.

This was my favorite BeakyCon by far. Torrent of Fire is awesome and I highly recommend to all TOs. The staff at Anthem Games was simply fantastic.

30k on the Rise - Should you play ?

This is a guest article by a good friend of mine here in Florida ...

 

Hey guys! This is Ismael aka DietOfLiquor (it's my tag for everything so you may have seen me on a random forums or games) and there is a subtle article I wanted to bring up. Not long ago there was an article up on Bell of Lost Souls about 30k or 40k as a whole. If you haven't read it then you can do so here:

BoLS 30k Article

Let’s start off with 40k!

While it is overall a fantastic article to give the reader I believe it lacks actual in depth information for both systems. It was meant to be a quick article, but I wanted to give more than just a quick synopsis as both systems are fairly amazing at what they do. 40k as we know has been around for a while and is still ever expanding as games workshop continues with supplements. As of right now we do have 14 armies released. But what was missing was the variability of gameplay. Sure, 14 armies, but there are actually more! Space marine codex alone gives more variety. Supplements such as militarum tempestus and legion of the damned gives more variability. Even Forgeworld with their IA books give even more chapters! If you include it all there are over 40 different published rule set armies and play styles! (And I think I’m still missing some). That's not including the induction of formations into the fray. And with that, 40k has such an expansive background to where you're able to play out specific battles and create campaigns for yourself! And Black Library books give us even more with fluff. All in all it is an amazing system that GW has offered the gamers. 

Armies are as follows:

• Adepta Sororitas
• Astra Militarum (Death Korps of Kreig, Elysian Drop Troops)
• Blood Angels (Lamenters)
• Chaos Space Marines (Black Legion, Crimson Slaughter)
• Chaos Daemons
• Dark Eldar
• Eldar (Iyanden)
• Grey Knights
• Imperial Knights
• Inquisition
• Militarum Tempestus
• Officio Assassinorum
• Necrons
• Orks (Ghazghukull)
• Space Marines(Iron Hands, Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, White Scars, Raven Guard, Salamanders, The    Red Scorpions, The Carcharodons, The Howling Griffons, Marines Errant, The Raptors, The Exorcists, The Mantis Warriors, The Executioners, The Angels Revenant, The Red Hunters, The Star Phantoms, The Minotaurs, The Sons of Medusa, The Novamarines, The Fire Hawks, The Astral Claws)
• Space Wolves (Champions of Fenris)
• Tau Empire (Farsight Enclave)
• Tyranids

 However, everyone does know that there are balancing issues within the game itself and to play fluffy these days (I’m talking to you Deathwing players), there just is not that much hope for some armies to make a fun and enjoyable environment. I myself was an avid Tau player and was the first army I ever picked up back in 4th edition because I was a mecha fan, however truth be told, they killed 40k for me for a bit as well as trying to make my old deathwing force work again. So for now I’m holding out for my next other love, Blood Angels. Even with the balancing issues, the game is still highly enjoyable and has a large array of beautiful models and play styles that just make it the game you love. Also, forging your own narrative for your own army is amazing!

Now to 30k!

One word - PRIMARCHS !

No really, The Horus Heresy, or 30k as it has been dubbed, was just released a few years ago. And already we have a rich system that is bringing itself to par with Warhammer 40k. Again, rich background, more amazing stories and probably the best models I've ever seen. It currently has 19 playable armies in the universe. I haven't tried against 40k codices yet, but have heard the games were very fun and always a nail biter to the very end. But it's only 19 as of right now! There are still 6 unreleased legions and still the possibility of Forgeworld releasing more flavor of their own when it comes to chaos daemons! This is what we have so far:

• Emperor’s Children
• Death Guard
• World Eaters
• Sons of Horus
• Iron Warriors
• Iron Hands
• Raven Guard
• Night Lords
• Salamanders
• Alpha Legion
• Word Bearers
• Imperial Fists
• Adeptus Mechanicus
• Solar Auxilla
• Titan Legio

That’s just it for now. But as stated in the BoLS article you can include these 40k armies into your gaming as they existed during the Heresy:

• Orks (always fun to beat up on !!! )
• Eldar
• Dark Eldar
• Chaos Daemons

But we still have White Scars, Ultramarines, Blood Angels, Thousand Sons, Dark Angels and Space Wolves to look forward to in the coming years. Not only that but the possibility of assassins coming in, a new unmarked legion that’s kept in the dark right now, and maybe Adeptus Custodes. There’s so much room for them to expand upon. The books for the Horus Heresy are amazing and I cannot recommend them enough. But what separates 30k from 40k? Everything. This game literally has the perfect balance internally. The units are all the same, but guaranteed you will probably never see an all win list. I like to call this game rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock from the variety of lists you can see on the table. Sure it might seem some units are over-costed, but they’re not. Besides, what’s better than power armor on power armor action? Blood and treachery? 30k provides, what I think, one of the most unique environments that ForgeWorld has to offer to gamers and hobbyists alike. Although it is more expensive than regular 40k to a point, it is broad. Every legion has its own Rite of War (as well as book Rite Of Wars for generic legions), much like that of Chapter Tactics for Space Marines, but way more in depth and adds so much to your list building. And, each legion also has its own special rules that bring its own uniqueness to the table. But what else is there? A brand new campaign system that we’ll be seeing in Book IV conquest is something we’ve all been dying for from GW for regular 40k, the difference is ForgeWorld is beating them to the punch. Force Organization Charts are also what makes this game what it is. There are multiple FoC’s to play from, each taking, removing, and playing around with the slots allotted to the gamer. One example is the Leviathan FoC that lets you bring 3 Lords of war and an allied detachment! Pretty strong and looks like it’d be fun to play with one day (When I get the money for a reaver and two warhounds).

In Closure

Honestly it’s up to the gamer in which system they choose, but I do support 30k to its fullest. The model’s are amazing, you can dual use the army if you decide to go for a legion and use it in regular 40k as counts as Space Marines (Or whatever army you want to use). Almost all the vehicles are also in IA2, and soon IA13 if you wish to go the power armored chaos route. If you have a local gaming group, I would definitely begin a whisper or two about it and see what everyone thinks. Even start up a group fund for house armies! 

Army List Validation for Large Events

DEFINITION
1
a : to make legally valid : ratify
b : to grant official sanction to by marking
c : to confirm the validity of (an election); also : to declare (a person) elected
2
a : to support or corroborate on a sound or authoritative basis
b : to recognize, establish, or illustrate the worthiness or legitimacy

PREFACE
This article is intended to demonstrate the benefits of validating army lists well in advance for large competitive style tournaments. It's not the intent to say this is necessary and some events don't. The logistics are very intensive in terms of the time and resources required so obviously it's much more feasible for smaller events (128 players or less) than a really big event that may actually have several tournaments over the course of a weekend.

This could a good business opportunity for the right people if they could offer this as a service such as how Torrent of Fire has developed a seamless system for pairings and results. There are large events (200+ players) that do validate army lists in advance such as the ATC so it's definitely possible.

Resources
If you run a large event and want to check army lists in advance you have to dedicate resources in order to get the task properly done. Ideally you need a team of veterans that are familiar as a whole with all the various codices and rules. This is more difficult now that there are so many sources for armies and new rules are more frequently released. There was a time not too long ago when it was possible for one person to be familiar with all of the rules but I don't really think it's possible any longer. Forge World adds yet another twist as they have multiple books with rules for the same units and their can be drastic differences between the various versions.

A good deal of time is required as well - there will always be some players that wait until the last second to submit their lists and it may require several attempts on their part to create a legal army list. You may have to even goad them to turn in their lists. While most people would not try to sneak one over there is always the potential for an unfair advantage to occur which if unchecked can potentially lead to public ridicule. My experience has been that there are always a few players that will require the most of your time and resources—in a way this can act as a distant early warning for who to watch during the event.

Deadline
If you do require army lists to be submitted in advance then there must be a deadline when they are due by for all attendees. A good rule of thumb is one month in advance of the actual event. This means that any new sources that are publicly released after the deadline are restricted from use. The deadline allows the player base time to familiarize themselves with all the rules which is a good thing. Personally I do not allow two codices for one army to be in use at the same time as it can potentially lead to unnecessary confusion... There will always be some people that want to use the older existing rules and those that want to use the new rules.

Stern Policy
If you do require army lists to be submitted in advance then you must adopt a stern policy. Everyone playing must turn in their lists on time. Ideally the overall goal is to create a system that's as fair as possible for everyone. If some players have more time to submit their lists then they gain an advantage. Let everyone know well in advance when is the deadline—as I said above there are always some that wait until the last second for whatever reason... e.g., were deathly sick, dog ate the list or they were away on an extremely important business trip with no access to contact you - you'll get all kinds of crazy excuses. Dock players points from their final overall score as a deterrent to entice everyone to submit on time.

Advantages
While it does require a lot of diligent work on your part to review every army list and make sure they are all kosher there are also lots of good reasons to make the effort. Here are a couple good reasons why.

No Big Surprises
- WORST CASE SCENARIO -
Joey (i.e., hypothetical player) brings an illegal army and its not discovered until one of the final rounds so what do you do? According to Murphy's Law Joey will have won every game up to the point in time when you finally realize there's a really good reason why. How do fairly compensate all the players that lost to Joey? You can't really and that's potentially a big problem—especially for you the tournament organizer (TO) since it'll more than likely make windfall on the Internet and there you are caught with your pants down (proverbially speaking of course)... What can you say? Even worse if Joey happens to be your friend - believe me when I say you'll have a lot of explaining and many to answer to do why his list slipped through the cracks. Sure you can disqualify Joey but there are going to be some sore people and some of them will probably speak out about it. People have cried about army lists being only five points or even less over the set limit. Of course it's Joey's fault but you're definitely responsible too. Believe me when I say you'll take a lot of the blame for letting it happen and you'll be the one stuck holding the bag. At worst it could cause your event to cease to exist and/or from then on there's always going to be a dark cloud over your head, neither of which you really want to happen.

                        

The best course of action is to automatically immediately disqualify (DQ) the player with the illegal list plus points for other players may have to be adjusted as a well... This is a nightmare in terms of logistics and It won't make everything right either which is the truly sad part. Preparation is ninety percent of being totally successful. Try your best not to let it ever happen.

People are fickle too - maybe people decide to let it go assuming it was just an honest mistake but I'd never count on it going down like that knowing how a lot of people will tend to react. So by validating army lists ahead of time you've potentially saved yourself a lot of grievance... win - win scenario !

Total Knowledge
If you properly validate all lists in a timely fashion then you know what everybody is bringing so it'll be that much easier to sort any questions regarding the rules rather than working on the fly and shooting from the hip. There's always going to some problems if you're not properly prepared in advance. These types of problems can ruin the event too. Ideally you want a highly controlled environment such that everything is known well in advance. This can be a big time saver too during the actual event.

What to Do if an Illegal List Goes Unchecked
Should this occur you need to have already set in place a well thought out contingency plan. If it's obvious it was intentional then you have no choice but to DQ the offender. You should also adjust points for their opponents and even award them some door prizes as a gesture of good will. Even if it's not obviously intentional you'll still need to take some action which could still result in the DQ, barring them from winning awards plus making them play on the lower tables from then on throughout the rest of the event. It's not fun but it's your responsibility—the worse thing you can do is attempt to sweep it under the proverbial carpet. If you're caught doing so it'll appear to everyone else you were in collusion with the guilty part. Why help them as they did nobody any favors.

                     

CONCLUSIONS
This article is intended to demonstrate the benefits of validating army lists well in advance for large competitive style tournaments. It's not the intent to say this is necessary. However doing so can bare fruit.

Chaos on the near horizon