Warzone: Atomic Empire Tournament Report - Best Nids / GSC
May 21, 2019 13:21:01 GMT
nidzy, No One, and 3 more like this
Post by FTGTEvan on May 21, 2019 13:21:01 GMT
Last weekend I attended the second annual Warzone: Atomic Empire GT in Durham, NC. You can find the Tournament pack and missions here. Missions were played from the back to front (Aggressive Recon first, Take Everything II last). Leading up to the event, life has been crazy busy, and I hadn't played a game since early February. As a result, my list building honestly had focused more on ease of play or cool models I wanted to show off. From those motivations, I came up with my list, which I wouldn't have considered terribly good:
GSC - Cult of the Bladed Cog - Battalion:
Patriarch: Warlord - Single Minded Obsession, Familiar
Jackal Alphus
13 Neophytes: 2 Mining Lasers, Grenade Launcher
10 Neophytes: Seismic Cannon
10 Neophytes: Grenade Launcher
Sanctus: Silencer Sniper Rifle
Tyranids - Hive Fleet Kraken - Battalion:
Swarmlord
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2 Devourers, MRC, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
Malanthrope
3x 3 Rippers
Deathleaper
Tyranids - Hive Fleet Kraken - Spearhead:
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2 Devourers, MRC, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2 Devourers, MRC, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
Carnifex: 4 Deathspitters, Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, Bone Mace Tail
Carnifex: 4 Deathspitters, Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, Bone Mace Tail
Mawloc
Round 1
My opponent was Dean from Field of Fire, running Genestealer Cult (4AE Broodsurge Battalion and mixed Brigade). We rolled up Frontline Assault deployment and Dean was deploying first. This was my first time using the GSC portion of my list and I made a mistake in choosing to put the Neophytes underground, reasoning they would just die to the ambush. As a result, Dean was instead able to ambush on top of my characters and kill the all the GSC characters and Deathleaper, and surround Swarmlord. I did my best to claw my way back in, but ran out of time to flip objectives. The game ended in a 24-11 Loss.
Round 2
My opponent was Mark Poole, running an AdMech list that included the Servitor Maniple. His list had one big unit of Robots and 2 Icarus Dunecrawlers, 5 units of Vanguard with a Arquebus, Cawl, a Drill with some priests, and CP spent for an Assassin (Culexus). We rolled Hammer and Anvil and I again had to deploy second, but got to choose the side with a big mountain at the front of my deployment zone to hide behind. I was unable to wipe out his Vanguard screen turn 1, so ended up waiting until turn 3 to drop my Patriarch with the Amulet so he could get a charge on the Kastelans. I was able to stall him on my right flank with a Neophyte speedbump, while on my left I pushed forward with a Flyrant and Neophytes, with Swarmlord and the Patriarch getting into the mix in the center. The mission had 3 Relics which you scored points based on moving into your opponent's half of the table. I was able to move two of them across the middle and keep the third in place, earning me a minor victory, 23-8.
Round 3
My last opponent of Saturday was Mitch with his awesomely converted and beautifully painted Orks using Mechanicus and Skitarii bits. The mission was simply points destroyed, with a secondary of table quarter control. He had a single Brigade with 3 Big Meks with Shokk Attack Guns, a Warboss with a Klaw, and a Wartrike, 60 Grots, 3 Deffkoptas, a Gorkanaut, a Morkanaut, a FW Lifta Droppa, some Tankbustas and Kommandos, and a Wazzbomb Blasta Jet. I again was deploying second, on Spearhead Assault deployment, and again had a decent Line of Sight blocker in the middle front of my deployment zone. I deployed all my Flyrants and Swarmlord clumped around the Malanthrope. Mitch moved up the jet and Heavies aggressively, keeping the rest of the army back. Shooting plinked some wounds on a Flyrant and Swarmlord, and killed a Carnifex. In the bottom of the turn I jumped a Flyrant and Malanthrope on the Jet (which I also damaged with psychics and shooting) and another Flyrant and Swarmlord on the Lifta Droppa, killing both. The two Warbosses and the big stompy things traded blows with my Tyrants and the Patriarch for a couple turns in the middle of the board, but eventually the Flyrants won out, with two emerging relatively intact. Meanwhile the Neophytes and Mawloc had been working on the Grots and peeled them away enough for the surviving Flyrants to jump on the Big Meks. At the end of the game he had a couple Kommandos in my backfield fighting some Rippers and that was it, resulting in a 26-6 victory for me.
Round 4
My first opponent Sunday was Scott, who had Sisters (Celestine, 3x Sisters in Transports) and Knights (Valiant, Crusader, Armiger). The mission was 4 end game objectives as the Primary, where each one was worth points based on relative position (7pts for one in your opponent's zone, 1pt for the one in your own). For the first time I deployed first, with the option to go first or second. We had Vanguard deployment and I chose to go second. He killed a Carnifex on his turn and plinked a few wounds on a Flyrant, while moving his tanks up aggressively, with the two big Knights behind and toward my right (my Tyrants were all on the right). In my turn I blew up one tank and failed 3/4 charges on the occupants, leaving one standing. In the next turn he killed two Flyrants and a Carnifex. In return I did a bunch of wounds to Celestine and the Crusader, and then the Patriarch, Swarmlord, and surviving Flyrant killed the Valiant in combat. The Crusader wiffed his shots the next turn (being Horror'd and everyone near a Malanthrope), while Celestine and one Sister's tank wiped out the Neophytes I'd dropped in his backfield. The Mawloc burrowed and the Sanctus showed up and got a headshot on Celestine, who promptly resurrected. I killed the Crusader with Psychics and then Swarmlord and the Patriarch blew up the Repressor in the middle, which killed the Patriarch. The rest of the game was cleanup, with Swarmy and Flyrant rocketing across to the far side of the board to deal with the last tank and Helverin. The final score was a nice 31-8 Victory.
Round 5
Final game of the event, I was paired up against David and his Deathguard Vehicles (3 PBCs, 2 Leviathans, 1 Contemptor) with Ahriman and Daemon Prince support. We had a bit of an odd table with stepped hills all over, and Frontline Assault deployment (with me again going second). The mission was 6 Progressive Objectives (Point for Hold, Hold More, Hold 2+ More - scored starting top of your turn 2). I deployed defensively in the back corner while David had his Leviathans on overwatch in the center. He killed a Carnifex top of turn 1, and I killed some Nurglings in return. My Kraken Relic Flyrant was Swarmlord'd forward and touched a Plague Burst Crawler, then promptly died to the first thing that looked at him sideways. I managed to take out Ahriman and a Daemon Prince turn 2 between Carnifex dakka, Mawloc arrival, and a couple Sanctus shots. The stepped hills made it almost impossible to get a Deep Strike charge off on the Leviathans, so I instead settled for bad touching the PBCs and Contemptor, which went on for several turns, with him falling back and killing a monster or two in return with the Leviathans. I was able to keep him to just scoring a single point each turn, while I managed 3 points on turns 3 and 4 (and could have gotten 2 on turn 2 if I wasn't a maroon and walked off an objective turn 1 with my Jackal Alphus). I got aggressive with my Neophytes turn 4 trying to wrap the contemptor, but lost a bunch to overwatch and morale, and so, missed out on more points turn 5. The game ended there, with me getting a narrow win on primary and a loss on Secondary (kill a selected Battlefield Role - he chose troops, I chose Heavies). The final result was an 18-13 victory for me.
Roundup
I took what I thought was a sub-optimal list and managed a 4-1 record, placing 9th, best Tyranids, and (technically) winning my group (WZ events break everyone into 8-man groups after Day 1. I won my group but an Excel sorting issue showed me in a different group when the group winners were determined). I also managed to tie (with 11 others) for Best Sports with 5/5 Amazing Sports votes from my opponents, which was pretty flattering.
I'm still unpacking the experience and takeaways from the event. I really expected to go 2-3 with this list, and was hoping to go 3-2. So to do so well was a very pleasant surprise.
GSC - Cult of the Bladed Cog - Battalion:
Patriarch: Warlord - Single Minded Obsession, Familiar
Jackal Alphus
13 Neophytes: 2 Mining Lasers, Grenade Launcher
10 Neophytes: Seismic Cannon
10 Neophytes: Grenade Launcher
Sanctus: Silencer Sniper Rifle
Tyranids - Hive Fleet Kraken - Battalion:
Swarmlord
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2 Devourers, MRC, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
Malanthrope
3x 3 Rippers
Deathleaper
Tyranids - Hive Fleet Kraken - Spearhead:
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2 Devourers, MRC, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2 Devourers, MRC, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
Carnifex: 4 Deathspitters, Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, Bone Mace Tail
Carnifex: 4 Deathspitters, Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, Bone Mace Tail
Mawloc
Round 1
My opponent was Dean from Field of Fire, running Genestealer Cult (4AE Broodsurge Battalion and mixed Brigade). We rolled up Frontline Assault deployment and Dean was deploying first. This was my first time using the GSC portion of my list and I made a mistake in choosing to put the Neophytes underground, reasoning they would just die to the ambush. As a result, Dean was instead able to ambush on top of my characters and kill the all the GSC characters and Deathleaper, and surround Swarmlord. I did my best to claw my way back in, but ran out of time to flip objectives. The game ended in a 24-11 Loss.
Round 2
My opponent was Mark Poole, running an AdMech list that included the Servitor Maniple. His list had one big unit of Robots and 2 Icarus Dunecrawlers, 5 units of Vanguard with a Arquebus, Cawl, a Drill with some priests, and CP spent for an Assassin (Culexus). We rolled Hammer and Anvil and I again had to deploy second, but got to choose the side with a big mountain at the front of my deployment zone to hide behind. I was unable to wipe out his Vanguard screen turn 1, so ended up waiting until turn 3 to drop my Patriarch with the Amulet so he could get a charge on the Kastelans. I was able to stall him on my right flank with a Neophyte speedbump, while on my left I pushed forward with a Flyrant and Neophytes, with Swarmlord and the Patriarch getting into the mix in the center. The mission had 3 Relics which you scored points based on moving into your opponent's half of the table. I was able to move two of them across the middle and keep the third in place, earning me a minor victory, 23-8.
Round 3
My last opponent of Saturday was Mitch with his awesomely converted and beautifully painted Orks using Mechanicus and Skitarii bits. The mission was simply points destroyed, with a secondary of table quarter control. He had a single Brigade with 3 Big Meks with Shokk Attack Guns, a Warboss with a Klaw, and a Wartrike, 60 Grots, 3 Deffkoptas, a Gorkanaut, a Morkanaut, a FW Lifta Droppa, some Tankbustas and Kommandos, and a Wazzbomb Blasta Jet. I again was deploying second, on Spearhead Assault deployment, and again had a decent Line of Sight blocker in the middle front of my deployment zone. I deployed all my Flyrants and Swarmlord clumped around the Malanthrope. Mitch moved up the jet and Heavies aggressively, keeping the rest of the army back. Shooting plinked some wounds on a Flyrant and Swarmlord, and killed a Carnifex. In the bottom of the turn I jumped a Flyrant and Malanthrope on the Jet (which I also damaged with psychics and shooting) and another Flyrant and Swarmlord on the Lifta Droppa, killing both. The two Warbosses and the big stompy things traded blows with my Tyrants and the Patriarch for a couple turns in the middle of the board, but eventually the Flyrants won out, with two emerging relatively intact. Meanwhile the Neophytes and Mawloc had been working on the Grots and peeled them away enough for the surviving Flyrants to jump on the Big Meks. At the end of the game he had a couple Kommandos in my backfield fighting some Rippers and that was it, resulting in a 26-6 victory for me.
Round 4
My first opponent Sunday was Scott, who had Sisters (Celestine, 3x Sisters in Transports) and Knights (Valiant, Crusader, Armiger). The mission was 4 end game objectives as the Primary, where each one was worth points based on relative position (7pts for one in your opponent's zone, 1pt for the one in your own). For the first time I deployed first, with the option to go first or second. We had Vanguard deployment and I chose to go second. He killed a Carnifex on his turn and plinked a few wounds on a Flyrant, while moving his tanks up aggressively, with the two big Knights behind and toward my right (my Tyrants were all on the right). In my turn I blew up one tank and failed 3/4 charges on the occupants, leaving one standing. In the next turn he killed two Flyrants and a Carnifex. In return I did a bunch of wounds to Celestine and the Crusader, and then the Patriarch, Swarmlord, and surviving Flyrant killed the Valiant in combat. The Crusader wiffed his shots the next turn (being Horror'd and everyone near a Malanthrope), while Celestine and one Sister's tank wiped out the Neophytes I'd dropped in his backfield. The Mawloc burrowed and the Sanctus showed up and got a headshot on Celestine, who promptly resurrected. I killed the Crusader with Psychics and then Swarmlord and the Patriarch blew up the Repressor in the middle, which killed the Patriarch. The rest of the game was cleanup, with Swarmy and Flyrant rocketing across to the far side of the board to deal with the last tank and Helverin. The final score was a nice 31-8 Victory.
Round 5
Final game of the event, I was paired up against David and his Deathguard Vehicles (3 PBCs, 2 Leviathans, 1 Contemptor) with Ahriman and Daemon Prince support. We had a bit of an odd table with stepped hills all over, and Frontline Assault deployment (with me again going second). The mission was 6 Progressive Objectives (Point for Hold, Hold More, Hold 2+ More - scored starting top of your turn 2). I deployed defensively in the back corner while David had his Leviathans on overwatch in the center. He killed a Carnifex top of turn 1, and I killed some Nurglings in return. My Kraken Relic Flyrant was Swarmlord'd forward and touched a Plague Burst Crawler, then promptly died to the first thing that looked at him sideways. I managed to take out Ahriman and a Daemon Prince turn 2 between Carnifex dakka, Mawloc arrival, and a couple Sanctus shots. The stepped hills made it almost impossible to get a Deep Strike charge off on the Leviathans, so I instead settled for bad touching the PBCs and Contemptor, which went on for several turns, with him falling back and killing a monster or two in return with the Leviathans. I was able to keep him to just scoring a single point each turn, while I managed 3 points on turns 3 and 4 (and could have gotten 2 on turn 2 if I wasn't a maroon and walked off an objective turn 1 with my Jackal Alphus). I got aggressive with my Neophytes turn 4 trying to wrap the contemptor, but lost a bunch to overwatch and morale, and so, missed out on more points turn 5. The game ended there, with me getting a narrow win on primary and a loss on Secondary (kill a selected Battlefield Role - he chose troops, I chose Heavies). The final result was an 18-13 victory for me.
Roundup
I took what I thought was a sub-optimal list and managed a 4-1 record, placing 9th, best Tyranids, and (technically) winning my group (WZ events break everyone into 8-man groups after Day 1. I won my group but an Excel sorting issue showed me in a different group when the group winners were determined). I also managed to tie (with 11 others) for Best Sports with 5/5 Amazing Sports votes from my opponents, which was pretty flattering.
I'm still unpacking the experience and takeaways from the event. I really expected to go 2-3 with this list, and was hoping to go 3-2. So to do so well was a very pleasant surprise.
