Feast of Blades here I come!

Howdy folks! Once again, I have had the fortune to travel to the Feast of Blades to compete in one of the major events in these United States. I'll be missing a class, which will force me to write a 10-page paper I would otherwise have avoided, but I see the Feast as worth it.

Why is it worth going, you ask? Well for me, I think I'll always try to go, barring real life complications. I'll discuss that and more in a minute, after the break!

I also feel like this is the proper time to discuss my overall results for GTs in the past year, as this marks a year from my first 6th edition event.

Perhaps I'll even let you know what list I've submitted!

NOVA Battle Reports - Grey Knights/Tau Rock the Open and Invitational (pictures too!)

Howdy, folks! I went to the Nova a couple weekends back, in order to compete in both the Open and Invitational. I took pictures in the order I played my games, which means that this report will actually be a bit convoluted, as the Invitational games were spread out around the Open games.
My list was kind of a hodge-podge thing, taking as many points of Tau Allies as I had in my Primary Grey Knights. I'll tell you more about it after the brea

Nova Open/Invitational List and Thoughts

Howdy folks. By the time you read this, it will already be Thursday, and the Invitational will be imminent (we begin at 5:45 pm). I will be flying out of Denver, CO at 6:45 am, which means waking up sometime in the 3 am range. Nevertheless, it will be a great trip. Ironically, most people who would normally read this won't see it until they're back, as they'll also be at the Nova!

But, I promised a list. Here it is:

NOVA Open/Invitational Here I Come!

Hey y'all. Not much to say, other than the fact that I've (finally) shelled the requisite money out for both a plane ticket and registration fees for the NOVA! A couple details after jumping.

Bugeater GT 2013 Tournament Report w/ Pictures!

Howdy, folks! Long one here for you today, as I delve into the six games that I played last weekend at the Bugeater GT in Omaha, Nebraska! I took my Grey Knights once again, with the goal of winning the tournament, but also to explore the strengths and weaknesses of Storm Ravens. You can see my post detailing exactly why I decided to test this instead of taking IG allies right here.

That said, I still very much wanted to win the tournament, and have actually come close a couple other times. Those times are chronicled elsewhere on this blog, and I'll link you to them after the jump.

The Storm Raven Experiment at Bugeater GT Edit: Pictures up!

Well folks, it's about time for me to head on down to the 3rd Annual Bugeater GT in Omaha, Nebraska. I'll be taking my Grey Knights, though without allies of any kind. Despite the rumors I spread about taking IG as allies (I still think that my list is pretty good), I'll instead be taking something that makes my current list a little um, different, looking.

To be clear, I had already re-painted a few IG squads in anticipation of Bugeater - I wasn't lying about taking them.

Read on for info on the list I'll be taking, general Storm Raven thoughts, and an intriguing email that made me change my mind...

Dark Eldar in 6th: Not What "General Knowledge" Suggests

My Dark Eldar, who are sitting on a shelf right now.

Today let's talk about something everyone seems to 'know' but has no real solution to: namely, that Dark Eldar suck in 6th, and don't belong in a competitive setting as anything other than a "spoiler army."

I'm actually of the opinion that Dark Eldar have been *buffed* in many ways this edition, with the exception of one fatal weakness: Fliers. With the advent of the new Eldar book coming out in the next couple days, we might just see a return to power for the DEldar. :)

Adepticon 2013 Fantasy Championships GT Report (with pictures!)

Howdy, folks! Today we travel to a strange alternate universe, where models come on square bases, and there is an entire phase specifically devoted to Psyker powers. This land, called Warhammer Fantasy, is actually quite fun to mess around with, and I've had a Dark Elf army for quite some time now, though I've admittedly only really dabbled in the game, as my first love is 40k.

The short version of the long story for me at Adepticon is that I had wanted to play in the 40k Team Tournament, but was unable to for various reasons (mostly, tickets sold out ridiculously fast), and instead was faced with the option of either playing nothing on Saturday/Sunday, or dragging my Fantasy army over to Chicago.

While this might seem like a no-brainer to most of you, I assure you, for me it was a dilemma as I hadn't played Fantasy for over a year and a half.

With that, let's jump on over to my list and the grizzly details and my inevitable 5 rounds of failure (or... lackthereof?)

Xaereth 2009 Tournament Results

Today I'm continuing with my whole "in the past" Tournament Results series, which takes up my first 'full' year of gaming - 2009.

While this might seem like a sort of 'bragging' post to some, I guess I see it as a guide for me in the future, to remember a few of the great games and tournaments I've been to. Nothing worse than forgetting good experiences, and this is my attempt to stave it off.

Don't read it unless you don't want to, though I do welcome comments, nostalgia included :)

For those interested, there's a TL;DR at the bottom, like in my 2008 post.

This year's story begins directly after winning the 'Ard Boyz Semi Finals in 2008, and selling enough of my winnings to begin my Green Chaos army, Berserkers included...

Xaereth 2008 Tournament Results

Howdy Folks. I'm actually doing this so as to keep my own records straight. I've been in this hobby "hardcore" for about 5 years now, and want to make sure I don't lose or forget my own stuff.

So, for those who actually care or want to remember the 'old days', you can see the various tournament results for the year I'm posting, along with any battle report links to them.

**please note**

I'm not trying to brag or anything, just want an easy resource for myself in later years when it's even more jumbled in my brain.

So, let's get it started for 2008. There's a TL;DR at the bottom if interested.

Board Control: Finding Value in Doing Nothing (pictures included!)

Howdy folks, Xaereth (surprisingly) here again with a few thoughts on playing the game better in this edition. Though I won't pretend to be the master (or even a master) at 6th edition, there are a few observations I've had that I wanted to pass on. Let me know if it makes sense or not :)

Now, we all hear people saying things like: "Man, such and such unit is so good! It almost always kills its points every time I play!"

While there is certainly value in pillaging an opponent's models in-game, a veteran player will tell you that there's much more to the game than simply being an efficient killer.

The truth of the matter is simple: whoever best meets the criteria stated for 'winning' in a given game actually wins the game. There's no caveat that says "whoever controls the most objectives in the game wins, unless you really skullf*** your opponent's forces while they just whimpered and took it, in which case, objectives don't actually matter and you straight-up win."

Seriously, just ask any 5th edition Eldar player.

Adepticon 2013 40k Championships Battle Reports, with pictures!

"What's this?" you ask. "Two posts in the same month?"

And to that, I respond... yes. Just barely. Don't get used to it.

(note: I started writing this shortly after Adepticon, but I'm busy enough that I only got about one report done each day. Hope it was worth the wait - took me a lot of hours!)

I recently got home from Adepticon, having played both the 40k and Fantasy Championships with very little experience in either of the respective games' editions. There was quite a bit learned, and I ended up doing pretty decent in both, though I'll make you either wait to the end or just impatiently scroll downward to find my results. 

To clarify, this post will only cover the 40k battle reports. I will hopefully get around to the fantasy ones as well, though I took far fewer pictures on those, as my battery went dead at the end of my 40k championships.

So! Let's begin with what I brought:

Does anyone still post about list design? Also, Adepticon

Well guys, only a short one today, since I'm just finally starting to poke my head in on the competitive (or any kind of) 40k scene again.

All the blogs I used to follow seem to mostly be dead, with very little talk of list design. I want to know what's been awesome lately, though I can't seem to find anything other than the occasional Goatboy chaos monster list. lol, much as I hate the guy, even Stelek stopped posting.

Wish I could post more content myself, I've been loving 6th, honestly. Grad school is a little more than a year  from completion, then maybe I'll get a job, or just enroll for another masters program (haha... but seriously).

Anyways, expect some sort of Adepticon writeup by the end of April, I'll be competing in a double-header, with the 40k Championships and the Fantasy Championships coming up, and intend to take pictures with my mostly out-of-date camera.

Seriously, link me to the blogs that have batreps and tactics/list articles, I want to see what's up!

Feast of Blades: I was there!

Wow, thought (hoped?) I was dead, right folks?  I'm sure you're thinking something along the lines of: "Can't he just be a decent human being and either delete this blog or post regularly?"

If that's the case and you actually thought something like that, then shame on you.  Seriously, that's really rude.

:-p

For those of you who care though, I recently started grad school, on top of full-time work.  So, full-time grad, full-time work, and a wifey.  No time for warhammer awesomeness lately, especially writing a blog about it.  Sadly :(

So, let's go ahead and get the

6th and the shift of ridiculousness, with a Bonus List at the end

Cool, so I'm back.  6th edition is here, and now so is my desire to actually talk about wargames via blogging, lol.

Anyways, as per usual, I'm just a tournament dude, trying to make sense of how this is all going to turn out.  I have some thoughts on it, so let's have a

Mirror match at WGC

...playing the waiting game right now. At least my army is painted :-p

Bugeater GT Tournament Report

Hey there folks!  How goes it?  I'm happy to report that I'm back from the Bugeater GT in one piece, after a harrowing 9-hour drive through Nebraska and Wyoming!

So, how did it go, you ask?  Did you pwn everyone in sight with your new mysterious army?

It's all a very exciting narrative of betrayal and failure, excitement and nerves.

All that in a minute, after the jump!

Zero blogging does not inactivity indicate

Lol tried to post this about a week ago. Blogger failed to post it apparently. Lame.

Hey folks, figured I'd give a (very) brief update. I'm still working on my new (and suddenly mysterious) army. What I originally thought would be a three-week project has unexpectedly become a two-week one, due to my sister's generous graduation gift of plane tickets for myself and the wifey to visit her in sunni(er) California for a week leading up to the Bugeater. Anyways, I'm committed right now to two tournaments in June: Bugeater in Omaha and WarBOLSCon in Austin. We shall see if I can scrounge enough money to go to the Nova again - it kind of hinges on if I can get an invitaional seat again to make it worth the enormous amount of money I'd have to shell out again.

Speaking of which - anyone going who has a floor space open? I'll happily pitch in for hotel fees, etc.

On that note, I'm headed off to paint some more. Nearly all done with infantry, now gotta focus on vehicles.
(Which means I'm not taking nids, :-o )

I'll have a little more time to post once the army is done, and I intend on taking pictures and doing batreps for both tournaments. Just... No real point in blogging when there are things that need done so I can actually play, right? :-)

Seriously though, super excited for Bugeater, last year was excellent, and looks like they've made some great adjustments for this year. Maybe I'll get a chance to throw down with Hulksmash this time instead of both of us getting owned by double lash, HAHA.

K, laters.

Back From Adepticon!

Well folks, I'm back from Adepticon, after what seems like aeons of inactivity with 40k.  I had a blast, and I figure I'll just give a brief recap on the tournament, and dive into my new army project :-p

(that's right, I finally have motivation to actually play some 5th edition again, and therefore rejoin the 40k community! lol)

Game 1 & 2 results at adepticon

3-0 win vs. His wolfstar for round 1.
2-1 win vs. His GK pally/terminator stars. Glad I took 2nd turn :-p

Two games remain. I'm assuming I get eliminated next round. Heh.