Well folks, with the Nova Open coming up in like 4 days, I've submitted both of the lists I'll be using- one for the Invitational, and one for the Open itself. I'll be taking Dark Eldar (Kabal of the Awesome Sauce) to their 3rd major event (which is actually just their 3 event total).
It's a pretty big deal event- I've wanted to go to it since before the last one took place. Now isn't the time to go over how awesome I think the format is, but... I'm quite excited to say the least. So, let's start out with the (grueling) schedule, and work our way to the lists I've submitted!
First, here's my schedule for the Event as a whole:
Thursday (Get there, Whiskey Challenge):
4:45 am: Wake up and finish preparations for leaving
7:20 am: Fly out of Denver
12:39 pm: Arrive at the D.C. Airport
6:30-10 pm: Whiskey Challenge, vs. the vile, incompetent fluffbunny Chumbalaya
Friday: (Invitational, 1750 points, 5 games)
6:30 am: Drag my groggy ass downstairs for Appearance judging
8:00 am: First game of the Nova Invitational starts
9:30 pm: Final games are over, prizes are handed out
Rest of the night: Drink some beers (maybe do the pub crawl for a little?)
Saturday: (Nova Open, 2000 points, first 4 games)
6:30 am: Drag my even groggier ass downstairs for Appearance judging again
8:00 am: First game of the Nova Open starts
7:30 pm: Final game of Day 1 ends
Sunday: (Nova Open, 2000 points, second 4 games)
8:00 am: Drag my groggy/burnt out ass downstairs to start my fifth game
7:00 pm: Final (8th) game of the Nova Open ends
8:15 pm: Prizes are awarded, hopefully my arms will be able to move in order to clap :-p
Afterward: Party with the rest of the 'left-over' players
Monday: (Getting home)
6:00 am: Fly out of the D.C. Airport
10:40 am: Arrive in Denver
Noon: Attend my (boring) literature class
Rest of the day: sleep and have nightmares about how many 1's I rolled over the course of the weekend
So, the recap is as follows:
14 total games
72 hours from when the Whiskey Challenge starts to when I end my final game
The maths on that tell me that I'll be playing a game every 5ish hours for 72 hours.
However, it also looks like I'll be able to get (potentially, at least) a full 8 hours sleep between each event.
Like that'll actually happen, lol :-p
Alright, here are the lists I submitted:
 |
| This picture was up on BoLS the other day- I'm famous! :-p |
Baron Sathonyx
Haemonculus
15x Hellions w/ Helliarch w/ Agonizer
3x Wracks // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
6x Reaver Jetbikes w/ 2x Heat Lances, Arena Champion
6x Reaver Jetbikes w/ 2x Heat Lances, Arena Champion
6x Reaver Jetbikes w/ 2x Heat Lances
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
and....
Nova Open (2000 Points) Dark Eldar:
Baron Sathonyx
Haemonculus
7x Incubi // Raider w/ Flickerfield, Grisly Trophies
18x Hellions w/ Helliarch w/ Agonizer
3x Wracks // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
5x Warriors w/ Blaster // Venom w/ 2x Splinter Cannons, Grisly Trophies
6x Reaver Jetbikes w/ 2x Heat Lances
6x Reaver Jetbikes w/ 2x Heat Lances
6x Reaver Jetbikes w/ 2x Heat Lances
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Notes:
- Pain Token Shenanigans
- Swapped out a Hellion for an Agonizer- we'll see if it's worth it
- Three Reaver squads instead of Two- we'll see how it works out as well
- For that matter, two Reaver squads in the Invitational have a squad leader, for lack of better places to spend the points. We'll see if the extra Ld. helps!
- Incubi are in the big list only- I'm starting to wonder if they're worth it, so I'll give them another 8 games to redeem themselves
- Opted for the 3rd Reaver squad instead of the Incubi simply because at 1750 there won't be as much stuff I need to close combat, and the players are (presumably) going to have excellent lists that include ~8 million vehicles, which Incubi typically don't do much against
Thoughts, predictions, etc:
Well, I've done well with this list thus far, despite not a lot of 'practice' games. Really, I've only lost 2 games in GT settings (out of a total 13), which isn't great really, but still not horrible (85% win rate at GT's).
Still, I haven't been to a tournament this big yet (BoLSCON was like 150ish?), and with this caliber of players saturating the field. I feel like if I'd played 13 games at the Nova instead of the other two GT's, my win rate would be closer to 50%. As such, I'm not entirely sure how to place myself.
I'm going to predict that for the Invitationals (against 31 of the best players in the game) I go 3-2, since I'm a cocky bastard. It would be a respectable record, and I certainly hope I go 5-0, but we'll just have to see. Maybe I'll melt down and be the only guy to go 0-5 :-p
In the Open, I predict I'll go 6-2, with a single loss on both days. Again, I hope this isn't the case, but I'm just not experienced enough with this army to think I have a great shot at winning the whole thing. Really, I don't know if any single army/player has a great shot at winning it. I do know that people will be taking lists that can kill 9 HB Razorbacks, since Senor Stelek seems not to care about who sees his list :-p (as well he shouldn't- I've always thought that a player's list shouldn't be 'meta-gameable'- it should simply let a skilled player win with it against whatever other list is out there).
In the Whiskey Challenge, I predict that Chumbalaya won't be able to kill a single model of mine, and in return, I'll turn him around and *edit* him. Honestly, it doesn't seem to be much of a challenge. It should be called the 'Whiskey Clubbing' instead, honestly. :-p
Will I have fun? I guess we'll see! I really hope so- it's always my goal in going to these things to have fun. My one concern is how fast the tournament has grown- will they be able to handle the logistics of a 256-person tournament, at the same time as Malifaux, Fantasy, etc? BoLSCON had some growth issues during it's 2nd year (and was admittedly better on their 3rd). I hope it runs smoothly- should be interesting to see.
What are your thoughts on the Nova? Are you going? If you are, what list are you taking?
Any other thoughts? Comments? Anger at me bringing Incubi instead of Blaster Trueborn?
Expect 14 batreps from this event, pictures and everything... eventually.
Oh yeah!
If you want updates of how I'm doing, I'm going to try posting a little blurb after every game on Twitter. I don't use my Twitter account hardly at all otherwise, but I just got a smart phone, so that'll hopefully change. If not twitter, I'll probably post some stuff directly to my blog as the day progresses. I think my screen name is actually Xaereth, so if you want to follow me- do it to it! I currently have 3 followers- who will be my 4th? :)
Alright, off to read some. School starts tomorrow (well, today, since this is going up in the morning).
No comments:
Post a Comment