40kGT Final - Results

Phew! Well the final is done and congrats to Josh Roberts on 1^st place with beast-star.

Food For Thought: How Far is Too Far?

How far would you go to win a game? This is the excellent question that Spicerack asks over on 40k War Zone.

This is an easy one for me. Cheating is too far. Everything else with in the rules is fair game on one condition - that both players are truly playing to win based on the rules.

I enjoy 40k most when I'm trying to win, so I like competitive play. Sure, I enjoy those epic moments when something cinematic happens and I will never forget my first tournament playing with a fully painted army. But nothing beats crafting a list and pushing as hard as you can to win (this includes pre-game prep too). The winning bit doesn't actually matter to me as much, and placing in a tournament is a measure of my development as a competitive gamer. For me the fun bit is trying as hard as I can to see how good I can get.

There is a fantastic book by Sirlin called 'Playing to Win' (free on his own website). One of the fundamental points of the book asks players to look at what holds us back as gamers from playing by the game's rules, contrasting this against players who use a self imposed set of rules (e.g. I only play with X army, that would never happen in the fluff, claiming that something's not fair because they didn't make the effort to learn the rules properly, etc.) and then judging others for not following their definition of winning.

For me it's really important to agree what kind/style of game I'm going to play with my opponent before the game starts. If it's a relaxed, low-powered game than that's cool (although I still enjoy hardcore more!). If it's an experimental 'I don't know if this is good or terrible but I want to give it a go' game then great. My favourite is still a 'no-holds-barred no-mercy given none asked hardcore' game. I'll add here that all of these can be done in a polite and non-confrontational way!

I will play anything really (still a strong preference for hardcore), but I want to avoid a situation where players do not agree on what 'winning' is, resulting is neither player having a good time.

Competitive tournaments should be an environment where everyone has a common definition of winning (as defined by the basic game rules or tournament variations). In this situation we should be applauding anyone who earns their win fair and square. And then keep on trying to beat them next time!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that nobody really wins if you're not playing the same game. So check first!

40kGT Heat 2 Results

Last weekend I attended my second tournament of the year, Heat 2 of the 40kGT in Brighton. Having managed to place in the top ten in July at another tournament at Brighton I was hoping that my refined list would help me into the top half to qualify for the national finals in March.

My list was:

1650pts Space Wolves and Imperial Guard 40kUK GT Heat 2 List

Rune Priest, Jaws, Living Lightning
(IG) Company Command Squad, Master of Ordinance

4x 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), plasma gun
2x 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), melta gun
(IG) Platoon;
Platoon Command Squad, 2x flamer
2x Infantry Squad
2x 1 Sabre Defence Platform, lascannon (IA 2 2nd Ed)

3x 2 Hyperios Missile Launchers (IA Aeronautica)
(IG) Vendetta [130pts]

(IG) Heavy Quad Launcher Battery (3 guns with 9 crew) (IA 2 2nd Ed)

1650pts

Further list analysis here.

DAY 1

Game 1: Crusade vs Daemons.

Screamers, beasts and drones were all over me on turn 2, but I was winning when we timed out. However, the TO came over and gave us extra time into lunch to get turn 5 in. Timing is critical when diving onto objectives, and I'd already sacrificed a turn of shooting to get into position because I could tell we weren't going to get turn 5 in within time. Result = loss. Quite frustrated at that, but there was really nothing I could do. Oh well!

Game 2: Relic vs IG & Ultramarines

Tigerius and his grav-toting biker friends accompanied a full commissar led blob which mostly hid under his skyshield shooting lascannons. I managed to take out 75% of the enemy with minimal significant loss. Anything of his that got close to the relic died. Manticore and 3 vendettas didn't last long either! Good game.

Game 3: Scouring vs Daemons & CSM

I made a big mistake keeping all my razors off the board. Then I messed up my psychic powers, positioning and target priority all game. Didn't play well at all, lost fair and square. I don't usually make that many mistakes, and I paid for it!


DAY 2

Well after a disappointing first day I wasn't holding out much hope for getting a top half finish to qualify for the finals. I needed two more wins and a draw to guarantee a place, but one of the games was killpoints (always a hard one with MSU lists) and I'd found out on Saturday that I'd be playing against Tau/Eldar in Emperor's Will next...

Game 4 Emperor's Will vs Tau & Eldar

Going second, I deployed out of range for most of the enemy and only lost a thudd first turn. I couldn't stop one of the riptides and broadside units contesting my objective, but he only had one troops choice left to claim his and I flamed the kroot off and then scored it for myself with the PCS.

Things got a bit difficult at this point, as he'd apparently asked if there was anything in the vendetta when it came on. Unfortunately I don't remember this at all (having declared the unit embarked at deployment), but came in on the extreme right flank out of range from the broadsides and the fusion gun, so only the single remaining riptide's ion cannon had the chance to shoot. I also took out the single skyray that turn, eliminating his only skyfire unit.

Could he have fired a load of shots from the two broadside units and bought it down? Sure. But that fire wouldn't have been going elsewhere, particularly the thudds, so it may have worked out that I'd have been able to kill the last unit of kroot anyway, drawing objectives but then winning by killing the ethereal (secondaries at the GT don't count towards the result, but instead contributed towards tournament points). Who knows, but it was unfortunate to have the misunderstanding spoil an otherwise mostly amicable game.

Game 5: Purge vs CSM & Daemons

After introducing myself I said that this would probably be my opponent's easiest win of the tournament, as my list offers a 'target rich' environment with over 20 killpoints available. Comparing this to the compact 10 offered by the 4 FMC, 2 helldrakes and handful of cultists, marines in a rhino and plaguebearers, it wasn't looking good. Throw in hammer and anvil deployment and a huge (10"+) LOS blocking terrain for the FMCs to hide behind and getting siezed, things went from grim to grimmer! Oh, and one daemon prince got warp tether...

A couple of key lucky dice rolls helped keep me in the fight early on though, when I exploded the first helldrake with a sabre lascannon and the rhino with a MoO barrage hit. By the end of the game I'd also killed the other 'drake and three of the daemon princes, but had somehow only managed to lose a hyperios unit, 3 razors and a hunter squad!

Best game of the weekend by far, laughing all the way through, with an unexpected win to boot!

Game 6: Big Guns vs Eldar

2 wraithknights, Eldrad and reapers in a bastion and 3 DAVU waveserpents. Joy! Fortress of redemption (ruin) in the middle for the wraithknights to hide behind? Yep. Piloted by an ETC player? Excellent. Bring it on!

My opponent had already qualified in Heat 1 and was standing in to even out the numbers. Had this not been the case he may have focused a little more but we ended up with a friendly game and a win to me. Result!


Conclusion

After a dire first day, I somehow managed to pull three wins out of the bag day 2, placing 8th out of 45 against some very strong competition. Really happy with the result, and managed to qualify which was my main goal this year. Thanks to all my opponents and the GT crew for their efforts. Good times!

List-Fu: Space Wolves and Imperial Guard for 40kGT Heat 2

Do I need this?

So I've been analysing my games at Brighton and thinking more about the list. There is one particular unit that on further reflection I don't think I've betting the most out of – the plasma Company Command Squad (CCS) in the chimera. This unit fills the compulsory HQ slot, provides mobile high strength, low AP shooting and orders. The multi-laser and heavy flamer are really a bonus and the chimera adds to the light mech saturation.

What I've found is that I tend to use the CCS in a backfield role, keeping within 12” of my heavy quad launchers (aka thudd guns), usually giving them the Fire On My Target order and forcing successful cover saves to be re-rolled for the target enemy unit. I also like the option to try a Bring It Down for re-rolls to hit with the thudds if an MC or vehicle is sitting in the middle of a bunch of infantry when the rune priest is off using Perfect Timing elsewhere.

CCS (centre) between thudds (left) and where the fight will be (forward right)

However, I think that the unit is a bit conflicted in where it wants to be. With orders I want to hold back, but the plasmas and a transport mean that I want to push forward to get into rapid fire range. I don't think I'm really getting the most out of the unit in every game so I've started to think if there is a better way to spend the 100pts from the plasmas and chimera.

Hiding from Tau

So what do I need to add to the list?

Reviewing my games leading up to and at the tournament, I've noticed that in certain match-ups I want to be extremely defensive, at least for the first couple of turns before setting up late game objective grabs. For example, in my game against Sharon's extreme shooting Farsight Tau with Tau allies and my fourth game against Steve's Forge World Sisters and Imperial Guard I wanted to stay out of sight to minimise early casualties. In the face of an enemy that I know can out-shoot me I don't see this as a bad thing to do (especially if they get first turn), but I want to be able to do more damage whilst conserving my mobility and scoring units.

Tau castle sans bubblewrap

I also want to be able to punish anybody castling against me. In my last game at Brighton against Jeff's Tau, he deployed his vehicles in the extreme far corner behind a ruin and wisely kept all his squishy foot targets in reserve to avoid my thudds. I'd like to be able to threaten this sort of enemy deployment with a high strength pie-plate to force the decision between clumping to make the most of cover or spreading out to minimise blast casualties. I can already do this vs infantry with the horrendously efficient thudds, but I'd like to do the same against vehicles and multi-wound targets with T4 or below.

The answer is of course long range barrage, and I've started to dream of a second allied heavy support slot to allow me to take a manticore. This is not exactly breaking new ground, but with prescience these can be devastating. I suppose I could force myself to spend 50pts on the third thudd gun instead. Oh, well...

FW - Converting these guys for the Commander and MoO

But wait! Perhaps there is another way outside of the IG heavy support slot? Two options spring to mind – Marbo and the Master of Ordinance (MoO). I could fit in either with a bit of tweaking, and both provide a high strength, ordinance and barrage-like effect. I have considered the Pskyer Battle Squad (PBS), but I'm not sure that I want to rely on Ld9 psychic powers and deny the witch attempts on top of scatter and cover rolls.

Scratch-built las-sabres - not perfect but ok for now

So Marbo or the MoO+something else? I've said before that I'd like to add lascannon sabres at 1750 points and above for better punch vs AV13 at range. I could 'upgrade' a couple of hyperios for 30pts extra. I think this is a better deal than Marbo thanks to orders effecting the sabres and more turns shooting with the MoO (even if significantly less accurate), so I'll go with this and drop a couple of flamers from the Platoon Command Squad to cover the shortfall (still leaves them with two).

This leaves me with:

1650pts Space Wolves and Imperial Guard 40kUK GT Heat 2 List

Rune Priest, Jaws, Living Lightning
(IG) Company Command Squad, Master of Ordinance

4x 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), plasma gun
2x 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), melta gun
(IG) Platoon;
Platoon Command Squad, 2x flamer
2x Infantry Squad
2x 1 Sabre Defence Platform, lascannon, searchlight (IA Aeronautica)

3x 2 Hyperios Missile Launchers (IA Aeronautica)
(IG) Vendetta [130pts]

(IG) Heavy Quad Launcher Battery (3 guns with 9 crew) (IA 2 2nd Ed)

1650pts

So I've lost three plasma guns, a chimera, a couple of hyperios and a couple of flamers, but gained 4 more S5 AP5 barrage blasts, two scoring las-sabres and an unpredictable S9 AP3 ordinance barrage large blast. This gives me more threat and punch at range, while hiding if required, and judging on how I'm playing the lists, I think I'll get more use out of this than what I've lost.

I've moved the Hyperios back to Fast Attack, as the GT have ruled that as the IA Aeronautica and IA12 units have different names, they are actually different units and one does not replace the other. This is excellent news, and I can definitely see the logic (especially when it helps me out!).

Another one of these then! Note this was not an in-game shot...

I was going to wait until the new Space Marine codex dropped, but from the rumours (which pretty much turned out to be correct!) I couldn't spot anything that made me want to swap the puppies out for marines just yet (although Tigerius and the initial Tactical doctrine every turn got very close...). I've had a couple of games with the revised list (managed a win vs a serpent spam list in relic and a win vs an Iron Hand drop pod army with 4 ironclad dreads in a 3 objective Crusade) and it already seems better suited to how I want to play the army, so I'm happy so far. The heat is only three weeks away now, so we'll see if this list is up to scratch soon enough...

Any thoughts or comments welcome!

ETC 2013 Results

Just found the results! Congrats to Team Germany for the win, and Team Ireland in 5th, Team England in 6th, Team Wales in 16th, Team Scotland in 19th, and Team Northern Ireland in 29th.

List-Fu: Space Wolves and Imperial Guard 1650pts (Part 2)

Lining up for Best Painted just for the photo!

I thought I'd do a quick review the army (original list here) having played it up to and at the recent Brighton Singles tournament, plus throw in a few photos of my models for good measure. I may do a unit-by-unit breakdown in a later post too if I can find the time!

My 8 scratch built Hyperios Launchers

 
I had a bit of a nervous few days a couple of weeks before the event when I found out that Forge World had released alternative rules for the hyperios launchers in IA12. I've seen some FW units been nerfed to oblivion on a whim, and what made it worse was that I'd nearly finished scratch-building and painting 8 of the things! In the end, the TO ruled that only the latest issued rules for the hyperios should be used based on some Facebook evidence showing that FW had said the same thing. Fair enough, but this was a pity, as it removes twin-linking as standard and I did notice a slight drop in reliability over the course of the tournament. It could have been worse, however, as their FOC slot moved to heavy support! Thankfully I had all these slots free so it didn't matter and could just shift them across, but this could have royally messed up the list so I got away fairly lightly I think! I knew there was a risk in going for Forge World, and it's good to know I wasn't being paranoid...

Forge World Heavy Quad Launchers, Maxmini heads on Cadian bodies

So after IA12 adjustments and a very productive few weeks I was had the following all painted up to a reasonable standard, plus 6 custom objectives for extra soft scores!

4 of my 6 custom objectives. The other two are wolf claws from the Canis model

 
1650pts Space Wolves and Imperial Guard

100pts Rune Priest, Jaws, Living Lightning (Warlord)
150pts Company Command Squad, Chimera (Heavy Flamer), 3 plasma guns

4x 125pts 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), plasma gun
2x 120pts 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), melta gun
150pts Platoon; Platoon Command Squad, 4 flamers; 2x Infantry Squads (no upgrades)

130pts Vendetta (PCS goes here)

2x 105pts 3 Hyperios Missile Launchers (Forge World)
70pts 2 Hyperios Missile Launchers (Forge World)
100pts 2 Heavy Quad Launchers (Forge World)

1650pts

Company Command Chimera (I've since done the searchlight with lense-flare etc.)

Overall, the army is performing really well and has all the tools I think I need at 1650pts. I'm not looking to change anything and want to continue to practice with the army. Going to 1850pts I would still definitely add Forge World las-cannon sabres for more puch vs AV13 at range and additional anti-flier, maybe a third heavy quad launcher. I would also playtest an aegis defense line, as this offers good cover for my artillery and backfield units, but at the cost of limiting my transport's maneuverability and making deployment more predictable. With the increase of ignores cover weapons (see Tau and Eldar), I'm not sure that the aegis is as useful as it was!

Command and Platoon Squads. Cadian bodies with Maxmini heads again

Leading up to the weekend I'd played with the list against Iyanden twin-Wraithknight Eldar, wraithwing Necrons with triple anni-barges, new footdar Eldar and Imperial Fists mech with double vindicators. At the tournament I played Farsight Tau with Tau allies, Zandrek Necrons, Fateweaver Chaos Daemons, Forge World Sisters with Imperial Guard powerblob and las-sabre allies, venom-spam and beast-deathstar Dark Eldar with Eldar allies and pure Tau. That's a fair spread! That's 10 games, and I'm 6:3:1 (w/d/l) with the single loss against the new Tau in Purge the Alien, my toughest mission.

Vendetta. Bonus points if anyone can name the DVD in the background

That's doing pretty well, but I know there is room for improvement! I'm not using the vendetta to it's full potential yet, and I've made a couple of less-than-optimal decisions with my target priority/psychic power choice with the heavy quad launchers/rune priest (e.g. choosing juicy targets protected by multi-level ruins or going for ignores cover rather than prescience shooting behind an aegis). I'm usually pretty good at remembering not to block the hyperios' line of sight with razorbacks, but I still did this once at the tournament. I'm also trying to speed up my gameplay, as I think I could have turned two of the three draws into wins if we hadn't timed out. I'm getting there though, and this will come through getting more games in on the clock and getting to know the army better.

Another shot of my Hyperios, just because I can

I've yet to test the list against flier heavy armies, but with the 8 hyperios launchers and the vendetta I have a reasonable amount of anti-flier at 1650pts. I'm looking forward to testing this, as there are both scythewing and multiple helldrake lists kicking about at the club. Similarly, I'd like to get some games in against some proper hoard armies, like Orks and Tyranids. I've been really impressed with the heavy quad launchers so far, particularly with prescience or ignores cover. The damage output for 100pts is stupendous and in combination with the small arms, flamers and heavy bolters should cover anti-hoard reasonably well.

Still lots to do, but they're getting there

What I have found so far is that there are no easy wins against tournament level opponents with the list. Instead I think I have had a fighting chance against pretty much anything, and that's exactly what I want from a balanced list. Knowing how to fight my opponents is one of the big keys here, so for now it's more games and more recon!

Brighton Singles Tournament - Day One Update

Tau Castle - Joy!

I return undefeated! I have to say this is thanks to a mix of strategy, luck and opponent's mistakes, but that's the game, right? Three great games so far and a lot of fun.

Three perfect aggressive deep strikes into my backfield - ouch!

So I'm 2-1-0 going into day two, just like the GT last year. Today saw me draw game one against a brutal Farsight Tau and Tau allies list in Big Guns/Vanguard, win Crusade/Hammer and Anvil against Zandreck/Oberon veiling Necrons, and win The Relic/Dawn of War against Fateweaver Demons (could have very easily been a draw).

Razorwall around The Relic

Definitely still need to speed up, and I'm expecting a hammering tomorrow, but we will see!

Brighton Singles this weekend!

1650pts SW&IG

So, the July Brighton Singles is this weekend and I'm ready for war!

I've been able to get all my models assembled and painted to a decent enough standard (actually I'm really pleased with the IG and hyperios launchers so far - hobby articles are on the way!), and I'm packed and ready to go.

Rules, FAQs and accessories

All the lists have been submitted and having had a look through everyone is bringing tough armies. Out of 43 players, there are a large number or Tau, plus a strong showing from Eldar, Chaos Marines, Necrons, Imperial Guard and Space Wolves. There are a good number of well ranked players attending too, so I'm really looking forward to some hardcore games!

This is my first tournament of the year and second ever 'competitive' event, so I'm approaching this tournament as a learning experience and as practice for the GT in October. I know I need to get faster playing, particularly making decisions, and this will be a good test of my army against a wider range of armies and players than I'm used to. Time to put some theory into practice!

Breaking news - I've just found out that my first round opponent will be Sharon Reddy with Farsight Tau and Tau allies, playing Big Guns with Vanguard deployment. For those who don't follow the 40kGlobal podcast or the UK rankings, Sharon is a highly ranked long term Tau expert. Given the current strength of the codex and how well I expect the army to be played, this is going to be a very tough game.

Excellent...

Food For Thought: Simultaneous Tournament Theory on Whiskey & 40k

Whiskey & 40k

I've never run a tournament, but if I did, I'd look to NOVA as a template. In this post MVB gives us a peek into the level of thinking that goes into pairings at NOVA, with a clear explanation of the benefits of win-loss, win-path bracketed standings, why it is competitive and how it is also good for players.

List-Fu: Space Wolves and Imperial Guard, 1650pts and 1850pts

CoolMiniOrNot - HellDuck

Having umm'ed and ahh'ed for, I don't know, 6 months or so, I finally made up my mind what direction I want to take my Wolves+allies in, and the winner is - Imperial Guard! Thought long and hard about GK, Tau, and even moving to GK+Necrons. I was shakey about Forge World too for a number of reasons, but it is now decided, models have been ordered and are on their way!

So this is my list I'm currently looking at building for the Brighton Singles in July, at 1650pts. This also (currently, as they keep changing) meets all the comp rules too (although I would still run this list without the comp requirements). I have no hope of getting all the soft scores, but at least I will be well progressed for the 40kUK GT in October... 


1650pts Space Wolves and Imperial Guard

100pts Rune Priest, Jaws, Living Lightning (Warlord)
150pts Company Command Squad, Chimera (Heavy Flamer), 3 plasma guns

4x 125pts 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), plasma gun
2x 120pts 5 Grey Hunters, Razorback (Heavy Bolter), melta gun
150pts Platoon; Platoon Command Squad, 4 flamers; 2x Infantry Squads (no upgrades)

2x 140pts 4 Hyperios Missile Launchers (Forge World)
130pts Vendetta (PCS goes here)

100pts 2 Heavy Quad Launchers (Forge World)

1650pts


The RP will usually sit with the Quad's, making the most of Prescience and maybe the ignores cover power. This gives him effective toughness 7 due to the artillery rules, with 10 wounds to get through before he gets hit from direct fire (2x2 artillery, 6 crew). The idea is to hide this unit out of sight and pelt anti-infantry barrages at the enemy's backfield and densely packed formations. 2x4 S5 blasts with either re-rolls to hit or maybe ignores cover is very nice. I've been missing some kind of blast weapon when playing with SW+GK, and the Quads should force the enemy to spread out and even then they can't hide entirely thanks to the barrage rule.

The PCS will ride in the vendetta, and if they survive they can drop on a backfield objective and barbeque enemy troops. The vendetta shoots other fliers, vehicles and big gribblies until it gets shot down.

Further anti-air is provided by the two Hyperios units. These will probably sit on the flanks to try to get around any high midfield cover for enemy fliers, and unload their skyfire and interceptor krak missiles as soon as they are able. They also provide BS3 twin-linked goodness to try and get first blood at range, another thing my SW+GK combo struggles with.

The bare bones infantry squads reserve, come in and hit the dirt if they get shot at, boldly trying to hide out of line of sight as much as possible. I haven't, initially, given these guys any upgrades as their primary purpose is to score my rear objectives. If I'm shooting something, say with an autocannon, then I can get shot back, and these guys are too valuable to die/run off the board. I can always stick the RP in and blob up, but this is not my intention to start with. The CCS can also issue orders to rally these guys if they run, but the chances are they will be off the board before I get a chance to do so!

Finally there is the midfield element of the army, the MSU razor hunters and the plasma CCS in the chimera. These guys are to provide me with a decent force to push into the centre of the board (melta hunters first, plasma hunters next then CCS bringing up the rear). They can keep pushing forward if required or fall back to assist with objective taking, and have good mobility and a reasonable range of anti-infantry (from GEQ to TEQ) and anti-tank/MC thanks to the weapon load outs. I've also found that in numbers the razorbacks can offer a threat to AV10 rear armour fliers and also help a lot against helldrakes by offering my hunters somewhere to temporarily hide. An alternative, although probably rare, location for my RP is to join the hunters and try to Jaws a low initiative warlord or MC (say tervigons).

The CCS can give orders to itself for re-rolls to hit tanks/MCs, force re-rolls on enemy cover saves (nice with that much plasma), and can even issue orders to the quads or infantry if appropriate. I might cast prescience on them too, if in range and a priority rapid fire target shows up.

So overall that gives me 30 mobile scoring MEQs, 25 scoring GEQs (5 late game rear objective grabbers, 20 backfielders), and a fair range of close, mid and long range firepower to tackle infantry, vehicle/MC and flier targets, including some templates and barrage blasts. I have a reasonable change to take first blood and have a few good places to protect my warlord if required, whilst still contributing to the battle (something that can be a bit hit or miss with the SW+GK lists I've been running as prescience isn't great on small squads and getting out to shoot usually means getting killed the next turn!).

For 1850pts, I'd add 3x1 lascannon sabre defense platforms (again Forge World with interceptor and skyfire) and an aegis line for additional anti-tank/air, a few extra scoring bodies and some very good cheap cover for my backfield force.

It's taken me an age to find a balanced all-comers list with Wolves as primary. I wasn't kidding when I said it's taken me 6 months! The major problem was finding decent anti-air. The answer was Forge World (I don't think a vendetta squadron is a great use of points for this ally combo), but I wasn't comfortable initially as not all tournaments use FW and FW themselves have been known to suddenly change their rules without warning. However, the tournaments I'm interested in both short and long term (40KUK GT, Brighton, Walberton and in time Caledonian) traditionally allow Forge World. It also helped when I worked out how to scratch build 12 hyperios launchers for under £30 (hobby article to come)!

I think this list has the tools to take on most other armies and have a fighting chance. There are no threats that I think I don't have some sort of answer for, and I have most aspects in duplicate for some (limited) redundancy. I also have a reasonable amount of twin-linking or re-rolls available to help ease out the dice. It's still weaker against AV13/14 than I'd like (better at 1850pts), and any army focusing heavily on one aspect (e.g. mass heavy armour, hoards, large air force) will be a struggle. However, I'd prefer to play with a balanced list than overload one aspect and play paper/scissors/stone.

So any thoughts on the list? Any advice from IG veterans welcome!

CONCEPTS: Comp

shx

Composition scoring, also known as 'comp', essentially seeks to control the composition of each player's army, for example by limiting the number of times a unit may be taken or banning certain models. It is seen by some tournament organisers (TO's) as a tool to try to restore balance to a game where particular army builds, units or tactics are dominating the tournament scene.

This CONCEPTS: posts looks at the pros and cons of comp for the purposes of competitive tournament gaming, followed by my personal opinion as to if or when it should be used. What I'm not going to talk about here is terrain, missions or FAQ's, as while these can have an impact on your army (if you choose to tailor your list to an event), I will not class these as comp for the purposes of this article. This is also not a discussion related to custom or specialist tournaments, as these are by definition individual by nature. What I'm looking to discuss here is comp for general tournament play.

Pros

1. Balance - In an environment where a particular type of unit is very strong, but where not every army has access to said unit, comp is seen as an easy way to remove the 'problem', restoring balance and making it much fairer for everybody else.
2. Variety - Encouraging a variety of armies/units/play styles is good for the game.
3. Playing the game 'as intended' - Similar to the rules as written (RAW) vs rules as intended (RAI) debate, it could be argued that the game designers never intended the 'broken' units to be so powerful, and that it's no big deal to fix the game with comp.

Cons

1. Shifts the 'broken' units/lists/armies away from the perceived problem area and into another. Players who spend the time improving their armies/game play are probably aware enough to adapt to the restrictions to a greater or lesser degree, so after a period of adjustment the game balance appears 'broken' again. The restrictions can also penalise some factions more than others, with some armies able to work around the limitations with minimal difficulty and others finding themselves severely hampered, which may not have been the intention of the original comp.
2. Subjective and often not open to debate. The TO usually sets the comp and players either accept it and attend the event or not and don't go.
3. Doesn't give players a chance to find their own solution to the 'problem', which may turn out to be not that great after all when something even better is found as the game progresses (a common fix).
4. Theme armies - It can also stop people playing with themed lists like all terminators, bikes etc.
5. National/international tournament standard - It's harder to run a consistent competitive environment when individual TO's restrictions placed on a game system.

Opinion

Whist I too want a well balanced gaming system, I think introducing comp needs to be handled with extreme care.

I look to how Wizards of the Coast handle the various Magic The Gathering formats banned/restricted lists as a comparison. There is a centralised rules system run by the game creators, who actively seek to provide a worldwide accepted professional tournament capable game system. Dominating a meta (and I choose my use of the word carefully here) in MTG is not enough to ban/restrict a card. Generally speaking, only when it becomes apparent that a particular card makes the game almost completely unplayable over an extended period of time do WotC begin to consider comp.

On the other hand we have Games Workshop, who have clearly stated that they are a model company first and actively discourage competitive play. They now mostly run tournaments from Warhammer World with, let's say, unusual scoring, effecting leaving independent TO's to themselves. I have found that comp at a independent 40k even tends to be on a much wider level than MTG, often changing the fundamental rules of the game (not just banning a single unit), such as banning or limiting allies/fliers, because they think that they are too powerful without, I suspect, the depth of consistent playtesting that a company with a developed competitive scene such as WotC provide.

I believe that all games have certain biases and imbalances, some by design and others by consequence. As such there will naturally be stronger and weaker choices, and these will change if new factors are introduced into the system (e.g. new models, units, or armies). In a competitive setting, the stronger choices are much more likely to be taken more frequently, as they are often strictly better. If there are limited strong choices, these can become predictable, in which case a counter can be prepared. This can provide it's own balancing factor. However, if the counter is in turn predictable, a counter-counter might be possible. Without going into a separate discussion into knowing your enemy, Yomi, metagaming, or any of that stuff, suffice to say that comp removes the possibility of the players finding their own solution to the perceived problem.

Sometimes, however, there is a problem. Some games companies work hard to maintain a level of internal balance, and only when absolutely necessary do they step in with comp. There also other model companies who write rules for their models, and for whatever reason (sales? ignorance?), change the balance over time and leave it up to us to play nicely or roll-off (good name for a blog there!). Without central leadership, its up to the community to agree its own way forward in the event of a problem.

Summary
Personally I think that variety is good for the enjoyment of any game, and perhaps this can be provided by the various custom tournaments available. However, to develop a consistant competitive tournament environment, i.e. one where we're all playing the same game and can build, practice with and play with the same armies and they work the same everywhere, I suggest we need consistency, not comp.

Further Reading
Sirlin, Playing to Win  (seminal internet book on competitive gaming, free)
Ideas for Army List Restriction at Blog Wars 6 on From the Fang (see comments for some very good points on comp)

2013 - Looking Ahead

shx

So this isn't exactly a New Year's post, but hey it's done now! So, what do I want for 2013? I have two primary goals - to develop and promote the blog primarily focused on improving competitive gameplay and to qualify for the 40kUK GT final in 2014. I might not make it, but hey, I'm going to give it a go. Focus!

GAMING
I *just* missed out on a place in the 40kUK GT final this year, going 2-2-2 in Heat 2 at what was my first proper competitive event (did I mention I went 2-2-0 in the first four games or that I would have won the second draw if I hadn't clarified a rule with the TO to make polite conversation, not realising I was within earshot of my opponent and so costing me the game?). What I really need is more experience playing at tournament level. Sadly, I'm unlikely to make it to more than one non-club tournament before October, but such is life. I'm intending to make it to the summer Brighton Warlords singles tournament, along with as many club events as possible. Realistically, I'm unlikely to be able to go to many more, so I will have to make the most of the games I can get locally and go from there.

There seems to be a growing base of players at the club (Walberton Wargamers) who are becoming interested in playing harder lists (perhaps due to my corrupting influence?), so I'm hoping to get more breadth and depth of experience this year in playing a wider range of tougher armies. I'm also hoping to be able to make it down to Brighton Warlords on a few club nights at some point during the year to see if I can get some games in against some different opponents, but we'll have to see how this goes as this is difficult logistically!

Walberton Wargamers

Although I'm usually reading and thinking about 40k, I don't tend to get to play as many games as I would like (a few a month if I'm lucky?) or have unlimited funds to pump into my army (mouths to feed come first), so I tend to plan my lists and purchases well in advance, keeping the core of my lists the same and experiment with different units around what I know works. This gives me a familiar base or control group for comparison, so I can focus on the different aspects in game and analyse their impact after. Leading up to a tournament, I will fix a list and play with it constantly for about 6-10 games against different opponents. This means I know what the army is, or isn't capable of, and gives me a chance to paint everything up (a slow process). As they say, don't innovate on race day!

In terms of what army I will be running, I will continue to use my Space Wolves as my primary army, but they need reinforcements! For a while now, I have been at a crossroads with where I want to take my Wolves for 6th. I've been really struggling to build a balanced list that can deal with fliers (not a surprise for Wolves), mech and hoards (this will sound familiar to some who read the same blogs I do), and I'm still not entirely convinced where to go. When 6th came out I was hoping that GW would feed in anti-air a little more readily than has proved to be the case, and now that my beloved puppies are the only faction without a flier, I am really feeling the lack of flakk missiles on my Long Fangs. Perhaps a campaign is called for, 'Flakk for Fangs'!

So where to take my Wolves for 6th? Having invested in a few Grey Knights as some quick and dirty MSU allies last year, and I could continue down this route, which I'm sure could give me some strong options that can deal with mech and hoards, and try to mitigate the damage dome from fliers through MSU and mass scoring bodies. Not sure one this one yet, but may be worth a go.

Cool Mini or Not - Tzardauker

On the other hand, I could bring in some flier support of my own (I now have a vendetta, not the one above!) and some scoring backfield fire support with Imperial Guard allies. I've been working on lists with Guard allies for months now, but there's a few things that just stop me committing.

For example, as they say 'two is one, one is none' (couldn't find who's law this was), I'm not entirely sure that one vendetta is really enough, as if it comes on first, against another flier heavy army there is a decent chance that it will just get shot down before it gets to contribute. It might be better to save the points entirely, in which case, why am I taking Guard instead of Grey Knights? OK, there are still a few advantages, but enough? There's always strong Forge World options (sabre defence platforms anyone?), but if tournaments suddenly decide to stop allowing these, that's a huge amount of wasted money...

Also, I'm really struggling to motivate myself at the thought of putting together 100 odd Guard miniatures unless I really love the models. I'm not a mass infantry fan by nature, generally preferring tanks, so I'm naturally reluctant to leap into such a massive project without being totally convinced that it's going to work on the tabletop, for my wallet and be fun to create. As much as I want to do develop my game, I know myself well enough to know that I will loose interest in playing Guard if I'm forcing the hobby side.

Getting the army second hand, pre-assembled but not painted, could save some time, but I have a very specific aesthetic in mind (see Hobby below), so this isn't really an option unless I just give up any hobby interest in the entire force, in which case I loose all joy in playing the army and will only be using them to increase my chances of winning - If you hadn't guessed by the name of the blog, I play wargaming for the total immersive experience, so if I ever gets to that point, I'll probably stop playing miniature games and go and play competitive MTG instead. It looks like if I go with Guard, it's going to be a slow grow project. I could always go for the Grey Knights for now, then build up the Guard as a primary with three Vendettas. This may be the long term option.

Forge World, Death Korps of Krieg

HOBBY
So if I do go Imperial Guard, very loosely, I'm working on something along the lines of that they're a bunch of renegade guard, still loyal to the emperor but on the run from the authorities for not carryout some merciless purging of civilians (work with me here!). The Space Wolves, having empathy with their moral stand and a history of defying the powers that be themselves (see first war of Armageddon), use the group as allies when the need arises.

Visually, the infantry will all have masks/cloaks/hoods and I'm thinking of mixing together various models from the Forgeworld Death Korps of Kreig, Armageddon Steel Legion, Chaos Cultists and Forgeworld Renegade conversion kits. Partly this is because I really don't like painting faces (!) but also because I like this aesthetic for a fringe group of desperados.

The colour scheme will be quite dark, with greys, blacks and brown, and I will use the same deep red and mid blue as my Wolves for isolated highlights and accent colours. As the group will struggle to get supplies, any weapons and vehicles will have a rugged look with plenty of battle damage and weathering (eventually!).

Sample of my Space Wolves - Need details!

If I don't go Guard, then I hope to get my Wolves and Grey Knights up to the next level, taking them from their current 3 colours (including an 6-8 stage armour build up from undercoat to highlight, mind!), basic faces and crushed slate basing to include details, better faces, perhaps some squad markings - basically using Brighton Warlord's tournament soft scoring system as guide, although I'll never get the WYSIWYG with all the Wolves!

2013 Banner

BLOG
Given a reliable internet connection, this is the year that I hope to get the blog moving. I've already made a number of cosmetic improvements early in the year with a new banner, various graphic improvements and the links bar at the top. I'm regularly updating the links along the side bar as I find new sites, and I've been trying to but failing to get LinkedIn to work too!

Now that I'm happy with how the site looks and typically able to produce regular posts, I will start popping my blogging head above the parapet and see if anyone is interested. Having just broken the 1000 hits mark with 0 followers in my first year, January and February saw a massive jump thanks to From the Fang adding me to the recommended reading list and a cheeky link in the Warhammer Forum Caledonian post. At the time of writing the blog's doubled it's hits to well over 2000 in two months and now has 7 followers (thanks From the Fang, atr_127, Skcuzzlebumm, Ven, Peter, David and Aseldi!). Now I know I have a way to go, but compared to the begninning of the year, it's a massive jump!

My aim now is to register with a selection of the usual blog promoters, such as Imperius Dominatus' UK Blogger's Network and House of Paincakes, as well as boldly ask my favourite blogs to add me to their recommended reading lists (if your blog is on the links list, I'm coming for you - you know who you are!). Hopefully a few of them might even say yes.

Site Snapshot, February 2013

In terms of content, I will continue to focus primarily on improving and competative play. I intend to continue this though the CONCEPTS: analysis articles (currently working on Comp, Netlisting, List Writing and Tools, amoungst others), the short Food For Thought posts and List-Fu army list analysis. I would like to get better at putting together battle reports too - but I find that the level of detail I want to put into these to make them more than a simple storytelling excersice is massively time consuming and also likely TL;DR. I make a habit of taking photos of all my games and I'm profecient with Photoshop enough that a graphic solution might be a possiblity. Something to work on perhaps...

To break up the more serious content, I also expect to throw in the occasional blog review, hobby images, random web comics and whatever else I'm interested in at the time. This might include the odd PC game and I've started playing MTG online for a distraction, so I may break into a post or two about mana curves and pauper decks if I can tear myself away from 40k for long enough, but the chances of this look fairly slim at the moment to be honest - so many CONCEPTS: articles I want to write first!

SUMMARY
Phew! That was a lot longer that I thought it would be! Lots to get on with and think about and so little time. Need to play some games too! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of year with the blog.

List-Fu: 1850pts Space Wolves and Grey Knights - Diffusion and Precision

40kUK GT Heat 2 Army

One of mine this time. This is an evolution of the list I took to the 40kUK GT, which I'll start with first to explain some of the thinking. The list below is really a slightly modified version to the one I actually took due to not completing two missile Fangs in time, but hey, you get the idea!

1850pts Space Wolves and Grey Knights, 40kUK GT Heat 2 (Slightly modified)

Rune Priest, Jaws, Storm Caller
Inquisitor

Dreadnought, 2xTwin-linked Autocannons
Dreadnought, 2xTwin-linked Autocannons
Dreadnought, 2xTwin-linked Autocannons

5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Knight Strike Squad, Psycannon, Razorback with Psybolt Ammo
5 Grey Knight Strike Squad, Psycannon, Razorback with Psybolt Ammo

6 Long Fangs, 5x Missile Launchers
6 Long Fangs, 5x Missile Launchers

1850pts

I still like this list a lot, but it has room for improvement. At first glance you might agree with Pete's pre-tournament passing comment of 'a bit 5th edition', but 3 games later I was on table 4 of 23, and then table 5 for the next game, so I think I did pretty well for my first competitive event!

Strengths for me are multiple mobile troops and cheap transports with guns, and psychic defense if I can roll more than a 4. What I knew I needed was better flier defense and more troops. It's also weak against long range AV13-14, particularly with decent side armour.

Whilst I love mobile flanking fire support units (the dreads), as these can take advantage of lines of sight and cover as the battle develops, with the advent of fliers and the change in vehicle rules these guys simply do not get a chance to fulfill their primary purpose against a flier army - i.e. shoot the fliers. Added to this, considering the maths, they are really inefficient at it, even with twin-linking (no surprise there). Put simply, they die before they get a chance to do much/any damage and are big expensive easy targets. Until I work out a better way of using them (even on a skyshield landing pad with a 4++ they won't last that much longer and this cripples their mobility), they're staying in the case. = (

I'd have never thought it, but next up on the chopping block are the Long Fangs. I will discuss this more in a dedicated post, but a big question I'm constantly asking myself when I write lists is 'can this role be fulfilled by a troop choice?'. I also found that at least once per game I was wasting a turn of shooting with one unit by blocking my own line of sight, but that's my fault entirely. Long range fire support is still required, but can be found through other means so we'll revisit this later. Fangs are out to make space for...

More troops. I have found that when playing 6th, especially with a MSU style army where your scoring troops are expected to do a lot of the heavy lifting, you get through a lot of them! In go 10 more GK SS with 2 more psycannons, taking the possible total of MSU units to 10, with the option to keep the GK SS in two larger squads if needed. I will also add in 6 Wolf Guard with combi-plasma's and melta bombs for land raider and bastion duties (and MCs as a last resort, although I don't intend to be getting into combat with these deliberately).

At this point I run into a dilemma. I think both Space Wolves and Grey Knights can struggle against fliers. Grey Knights do have access to the (weaker?) Storm Raven, personally I currently think that taking one of these with no reliable reserve manipulation can potentially be a bit of an expensive option. I've considered taking Coteaz and putting a minimum unit of henchmen in (in place of a unit of Strikes), but I'm not sure that this is a great option, especially when a vendetta or two can relatively easily ruin your day. Making the most of the GK upgrade options (psybolt ammo, hurricane bolters, keep the twin-linked assault cannons) gets pricey very quickly. That's a lot of points sitting off the board that might come on before the opponents fliers and get blown to bits before getting into a dogfight.

So what are the alternatives?

Although I don't like it, I think with this ally combination, the best I can do is build to the strengths of each codex, focus on the win conditions and consider the weaknesses of fliers.

In reverse order, the top-tier fliers (IMHO the vendetta, night-scythe, storm-raven, hell-drake) generally have limited access to weapons that can reliably and quickly take out AV14. Enter the bastion. Enough lascannons or twin-linked multi-meltas will do it, but at 75pts a pop, thats a price I'm willing to consider. Stormteks will also get nasty quickly, but that means they've taken the bait and disembarked with their troops ready for return fire next turn, and that's assuming that they can get close enough in the first place.

So how to use this ivory tower? I think it will fit quite well with my typical MSU strategy - By deploying everybody ready to push into midfield, it makes target priority harder for my opponent. With 10 similar units going forward with no obvious targets, some will survive to from my offensive wave. Any reduced units typically fall back to form my backfield objective sitters, and having a handy AV14 bunker with fire points, heavy bolters and a keg seems like a handy place to have.

Add to this that in some missions I will want to be protecting my warlord, and being able to cast powers from the relative safety of the tower seems like another good choice.

Having spent the points on the bastion, I'm going to drop another 35pts for the icarus lascannon. I have some decent mid-strength firepower spread throughout the list (plasma and psycannons), but a long range high strength shot with skyfire and interceptor is a reasonable choice in this context. And that's without the secret weapon...

I've been thinking a lot (I do a lot of thinking, I'd really like to do a lot more playing!) about how a lot of the stronger HQ choices are taken as force multipliers or tanks to greatly enhance their armies (e.g. buffed blobs, Fateweaver, destroyer lords, etc.). The common strategy is to hide or LoS! any overly threatening attack into the unit, then carry on buffing/tanking.

CNON - leprechaun studio

The previous GK FAQ introduced a note confirming that the vindicare assassin's player can always assign wounds. Add to this the usual spacial ammo (particularly the strip invulnerable saves one - I wonder how this interacts with the Dark Angel power fields?), AP1 and BS8 and things get interesting. I know that there will be others who will have used the combination of the vindicare in the bastion before (interested to hear from you if you have!), but I think the flexibility of the exodus rifle, emplaced heavy bolter and icarus lascannon, all the while with the AV14 or cover (with stealth) from the battlements seems worth a shot.

A few minor tweaks and there are enough points left over to bump the inquisitor up to a psyker to get divination (re-rolls to hit on a squad of strikes or perhaps the ignores cover for the vindicare?), leaving the rough list looking like this:

1850pts Space Wolves and Grey Knights 'Diffusion and Precision' (WIP)

Rune Priest, Jaws, Storm Caller
Inquisitor, Psyker

6 Wolf Guard, 6x Combi-Plasma, 4x Melta Bombs
Vindicare Assassin

5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Plasma Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Melta Gun, Razorback
5 Grey Hunters, Melta Gun, Razorback
10 Grey Knight Strike Squad, 2x Psycannon, Razorback with Psybolt Ammo
10 Grey Knight Strike Squad, 2x Psycannon, Razorback with Psybolt Ammo

Bastion, Icarus Lascannon

1848pts

Still vulnerable to fliers and later game objective grabs, but much better scoring presence, improved high AV threat and the sniper in the tower. Need to think about how I might move the units around the tower and make sure I'm not cancelling my own powers. Pesky allies of convenience.

Diffusion and precision. Something to work on I think.

Any comments welcome!

Dan Gilmore wins 3++Con with Chaos Daemons

3++Con Results

The 3++Con results are up over at, surprisingly, 3++! Chaos Daemons take the win with a very strong showing by Necrons after the first day. Congrats to Dan Gilmore!

2012 - Year in Review

shx

If 2011 was getting back into the hobby by collecting models and reading blogs after an extended absence (mainly due to other real life interests like drumming, ladies and beer, plus playing other good stuff like MTG, D&D and computer games), 2012 was about painting the army and playing some games! I set myself two goals for the year - play in my first ever tournament and finish painting an army up to a playable size. And I did. And then some.

TOURNAMENTS

Warhammer World

Siege of Sussex
A friendly GW run event at Warhammer World was a great way to try out tournament gaming. Having been collecting models and reading a lot of blogs for most of 2011 (most of which are linked on the right!), I knew that this was not what most would consider a hardcore competitive tournament, but I knew that would come in time. This was to get some experience, and I loved every minute of it.

Ready for Battle

I really enjoyed all my games and was surprised to return undefeated, having drawn my first game vs Imperial Guard (throwing away a win after I panicked and made a couple of stupid decisions when the 5 minute warning was given), drawing my second game versus the kings of the hill at the time Grey Knights and all but tabled my last opponent's Blood Angel jumper army in the last game. Good times.

Mike McVey's Diorama of the Emperor fighting Horus - Epic

Added to all this, visiting Warhammer World for the first time was just brilliant. Seeing the models from the White Dwarfs I used to gaze longingly at as a kid right in front of me was awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who can make it to go at least once to have a look around, and also to try a sample of Bugman's Beer (health/religion/wallet permitting!).

But I didn't stop there. Oh no. I wanted more! Between work and family comittments I managed to make it to two more tournaments, one at my local club Walberton Wargamers in August and the other was the 40kUK Heat 2 at Brighton Warlords in October.

Walberton Final vs Eldar

Walberton Wargarmers - Hello 6th Edition Tournament
With 6th Edition relatively fresh out of the box, we dived in with a no-comp 1750pts 3 game tournament. By rights I should have probably come second, but thanks to some erroneous rules reading by my opponent in the final relating to handling the Relic (he was a more experienced player than I was so I had no reason to question him!) I ended up winning the game, and so the tournament! I did feel bad, so was glad to accept his challenge to an informal rematch a couple of weeks later (he was flying to Japan so wouldn't be back for a while). I'm relieved to say I won that one too! Thanks to everyone at the club for a great day.

40kUK GT Heat 2 - The clam before the storm

40kUK Heat 2
The big one. I haven't made the time to do a write up of this one yet, but the quick version is I finished day one going 2:1:0, playing (and beating!) the reigning Masters Champion James Taylor in the first round random pairings. Nice way to start my first hardcore tournament! Second day went down hill, just missing out on a qualifying place, coming 26/46.

Standings After 3 Games

Anyway, I was looking for some hardcore games and I got them! I was very happy with my performance, reaching the heady heights of table 4 and playing against some very highly ranked players, including some of the English ETC team (reigning world champions). I had an amazing time and am really looking forward to attending more events at Brighton in the future.

HOBBY

Siege of Sussex 1500pts

I've always enjoyed painting and modelling, but I'd never managed to get round to fielding a full army of painted models. This was the year to do it! A bit of a confession here - As much as I enjoy the hobby side, I tend to find that I find myself choosing to do more relaxing activities (like reading blogs) in the evenings, so having tournaments to aim for really helps me focus on getting models finished.

I think another part of this is that I want to paint my models to the highest standard I can. I can do ok given enough time, but it takes a while. I don't mind lots of coats of dry brushing to build up the depth (my Wolves basic recipie includes undercoat, bascoat, ink (yes ink!), base drybrush x1 or x2 to get coverage, mid-tone drybrush, then highlight drybrush), as I don't really have to concentrate much. I also enjoy basing. It's the details that I struggle to get round to, especially faces. Need more practice and patience...

40kUK 1850pts

I built and painted a lot last year. There is still a long way to go before the army is as good as it can be, but I have to say I'm very pleased with the hobby progress I made and its great to be able to finally put down a cohesive force and think, yeah, it did that.

BLOG

2012 Banner

 
Of course there is my third unstated goal of the year - starting this blog!

Having made a small start around Easter, getting the basic format of the site sorted and figuring out what sort of content I wanted to produce, I then had to go without an internet connection for a few months! This coincided with preparation for the 40kUK, so I wasn't too gutted, but I managed to get started again in November and have managed to keep things moving along since.

I'm going to save most of the blog discussion for the 2013 - Looking Ahead post, but looking back at the content, I'm most pleased with the CONCEPTS: posts. I'm a huge fan of the work done on 3++ and YTTH covering both fundamental and advanced concepts and ideas within the game (if you know where to look!), and by writing these posts I hope to clarify in my own mind what I understand on each of the various topics.

Generally, having somewhere to record my nerdy thoughts is great and I find having the site as my own custom gaming resource is really handy! By the end of 2012 I just tipped 1000 hits (not all of these were me or search bots - I know it!), but things are already moving fast in 2013 so watch this space...
 
SUMMARY

Phew! There we go. 2012 was a big year for me in my gaming career, and I'm really pleased with all I've achieved. I've smashed my two major targets, playing in not one but three tournaments and painting and basing well over 2000pts worth of combined Space Wolves and Grey Knights to a decent standard. Plus I've really got a taste for tournament gaming and now have blogging fever!

Now I need to find more time and money to feed the habit...