What Does a Tournament Record Mean? Is it OK to Lose Due to Something Besides Dice? Propping Yourself Up on the Internets ... OH and some BFS Lists

So, here's a heck of an intro:

I've never lost a singles tournament game, anywhere, ever.

It's true.  SARCASM WARNING - By my stupendous awesomeness at 40k I've never lost a tournament game against another player.  At AdeptiCon Team 2010 my partner and I lost my 4th round team game.  That's my only loss of any sort at a tournament.


What does this mean?

Nothing.  I'm just lucky.  The law of averages says there are plenty of players out there as good as me, or better than me, and they all will beat me a good # of the times we play together.  WE haven't even all played together.

At the Battle for Salvation GT last year, I played Simon Leen, Jeff Frederickson, Bill McFadden, Alex Fennell, and Andrew Sutton (among others).  All of these players would independently qualify for the NOVA Invitational.  I beat them all.  Many of them I beat on lucky dice rolls or things going my way.  They were all my peers or perhaps better.

You will  NEVER hear me EVER claim to be a SUPERLATIVE at anything, b/c I'd be flat out wrong.  I'm a very good 40k player, I'm comfortable with that, and I don't really wish to be anything else.  I feel NO ONE ELSE should seek to be, either.

I see a  constantly increasing occurrence of a strange internet phenomenon ... or maybe not so strange ... of people propping themselves up as skilled / elite 40k players, sharing oodles of advice on how to play and what to do and what lists to bring ... and then when they lose, blowing up with excuses and perhaps less than cordial reasons why on the internet.

Here is all I kinda want to add as a thought ...
While Warhammer 40k does involve rolling dice to determine many of the outcomes, there are significant components of the game that are either not dice based, or involve mechanics that can mitigate the impact of dice.  If you choose to play a list that does not account for the mitigation of "bad luck," or that does not focus on components of the game OUTSIDE of the dice (i.e. using clever movement and pacing, avoiding overcommittal early on, taking advantage of LOS blockage with "survivors" or entire units, etc.), you are periodically going to face games against your peers where your dice absolutely blow.

Please, for the love of mary, stop blaming the dice.  We've all had crappy dice games aplenty, many of them playing the "usual suspects" at our local gaming stores or in our house-bound gaming groups.  The people we typically beat that lead to us having a "firm" self-opinion and posting on blogs about how great we are or trying to teach people ... well, we beat them with or without bad dice b/c they often aren't as good as us.  If they were, and beat you all the time, you'd think you weren't so hot comparatively.

Either way, the point here is - when you lose to bad dice, it is almost always still your fault, and your opponent's fault.  It's not the fault of Lady Luck.  Your opponent was in a position to beat you if your dice weren't "to the odds," or you took a list and/or played in a way that left you extremely vulnerable to poor odds, etc.

This also has relevance to HOW to build a list for tournament play ... taking a pure MSU list that presumes it will get even marginal odds over the course of a game is all well and good, but it is often the type of list that will win "unless my dice suck."  Well, that's a bad list in a lot of senses, for tournament play ... b/c in a longer-game-set tournament, chances are your luck is going to suck at some points and be great at some points (and thus we get the averages).  If your list can't survive through the crappy luck games ... well, that's not really luck's fault.

I know I'm rambling some here, but to bring it all home ... I'll be attending and competing at the Battle for Salvation GT again this year.  I think I'm bringing Grey Knights this time around, and my list will be or be based off one of the lists that follows.  Because this is a great, tough event ... I'm sure I'll face some peers while I'm there, and it's going to be anybody's game.  Best believe if I DO lose, even if it's to "a single roll of the dice," it's going to e credited to my opponent being a peer, or being superior.  I'll analyze any mistakes I make (And will do my best not to make any), I'll be sad for any bad dice rolls, but if a bad dice roll is all it takes to screw me, it's b/c my opponent was right there with me every step of the way.  If I'm counting on a single roll  of a 3+ to let me win by going to Turn 6 ... he's just as much counting on a single roll of a 1-2 to let him win by stopping at 5.

Be magnanimous in defeat, build your lists to be less susceptible to odds, and when you lose ... and you WILL lose ... for WHATEVER reason ... give credit for it where due, befriend your opponent (because that's all either of you will really deeply remember about the game), and try not to be a douchecanoe starting internet flamewars across the web over it after the fact.

Great example, btw, is Sandwyrm from The Back 40k.  He was caught off guard by the height and quantity of LOS blocking terrain at the NOVA, and had some games that came down to very close calls as he fought his way to 4-4.  That said, here's a perfect quote in light of all that from him:
"So all I did was trade a good list that I knew well for a mediocre one that I didn't because I was insecure. My fault."

His recent post with the Gonzo journalist image topper is full of a lot of commentary that acknowledges some of the WHY behind losses (i.e. terrain, self, dice, whatever), but doesn't take credit away from his opponents in the process, and doesn't defend inappropriate choices or actions as being flawless and only upended by bad dice or bad opponents.  Hell of a good man for the approach, and everyone still knows he's a well above competent gamer.

When some of the guys out there promote themselves too much, the ego burst on loss is catastrophic and visible ... and you can't deal with it but to make up excuses, insult people, etc., and everyone ELSE is ready to jump on you for being imperfect.

This is how you can see some people go like 10-3 over a weekend, yet still be "upset."  What the heck?

Can we point at Blackmoor as a paragon of bright here also?  I think 10-3 is precisely what he went at the NOVA this year over the Invitational and GT, losing in the final round of the GT, and you know - he seems by all accounts to be quite happy about what he did, as he should be.  Mad props.

Anyway, here are some list variants and rationales I'm looking at for BFS:


1. Purifier Spam + My Standard Coteaz Core

Grand Master w/ Psycannon - 220
Inquisitor Coteaz - 100

(1/3) Venerable Dreadnaught w/ Multi-Melta, Twin-Linked Autocannon w/ Psybolt Ammo - 185
(2/3) 10 Purifiers w/ 2 Psycannons, 2 Incinerators, Hammer - 265
Rhino w/ Psybolt Ammo - 40
(3/3) 10 Purifiers w/ 2 Psycannons, 2 Incinerators, Hammer - 265
Rhino w/ Psybolt Ammo - 40

(1/6) 3 Acolytes w/ LP, CCW - 12
Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo - 50
(2/6) 3 Acolytes w/ LP, CCW - 12
Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo - 50
(3/6) 3 Acolytes w/ LP, CCW - 12
Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo - 50
(4/6) 3 Acolytes w/ LP, CCW - 12
Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo - 50
(5/6) 3 Acolytes w/ LP, CCW - 12
Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo - 50
(6/6) 8 Acolytes w/ LP, CCW; 2 Acolytes w/ Meltagun, CCW; Death Cult Assassin - 75
Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo - 50

(1/3) 5 Purgators w/ 2 Incinerators, 2 Psycannons - 140
Rhino w/ Psybolt Ammo - 40
(2/3) Dreadnaught w/ 2 Twin-Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammo - 135
(3/3) Dreadnaught w/ 2 Twin-Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammo - 135

In Kill Point missions, the Purifiers are going to probably stay together, and scout / outflank (optional)
In Objective Missions, they'll probably combat squad into 2 cannons / 3 swords in Rhino + 2 Incinerators / Hammer that can walk behind LOS terrain or hiijack a Psyback.

The Purgators are just an extra gunboat, and yet another unit that Coteaz or the Grand Master can "hop" to in order to give it just enough combat and LD boost to deal with any sort of MSU unit that gets close enough to eat up in combat.

Nominally, Coteaz and the Grand Master will deploy on foot with the 11 model Henchman squad of 8 acos, 2 acos with meltagun, and a death cult.  Together, this unit can expertly dissect most things for a couple of reasons; 1) the model count permits - even when charged - applying the independent characters to the enemy models I want to fight, instead of getting them based by high strength power weapons (though S7 and lower can be semi-tanked by the 3++ GM); 2) inherent casualties on the acos in combat + stubborn 10 leadership + ATKSNF will very often let me intentionally "draw" a combat on the turn I charge something scarier, and thus hide in combat until 2 full rounds are done; 3) double hammerhand turns S3 acos into S5 acos with 28 attacks on the charge, turns the deathcult into WS6 I6 S6, turns the GM into WS6 S6 I5, and turns Coteaz's hammer into master-crafted S10.

The Grand Master has a psycannon so that most/all of my units are still pumping out mobile firepower to help demech/mess with opponents.

The 3man acolyte squads are almost always going to be reserved and walking on ... their psybacks are there to provide fire support, and help move combat squadded purifiers around, and provide movement blocking against land raider lists, etc. etc.  They aren't there to explode with 3 hapless T3 5+ saving bodies inside.  I'm quite happy to Communion acos off the board even longer too.

Finally, the Psybolt Rhinos ... I could turn a couple of them into Psybacks, but this is bad for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I can't outflank 10 purifiers in a psyback ... but I can outflank them in a Rhino, and put 2 S5 shots into the side armor of chimeras, or into DE vehicles, or into trukks, or just into infantry ... and can also fire 4 psycannon shots out upon arrival (or fire 2 incinrators into a vehicle flank, or whatever).

The point of the Psybolt rhinos is to let me stay bunkered and firing as long as possible, and to scout or outflank full purifier squads, and keep them bunkered in KP missions ... these are all relevant, and it's trading a little bit of on-paper-optimization for a wider and more reliable series of choices in practice.

Ugh, this is a long post ... so more to come in time re: BFS list development.