Well, it's AdeptiCon week ... one of the more enjoyable hobby times of the year.
I'm playing in the Singles for the first time in a while, but rather half-heartedly ... haven't had time to really build out an army I want, and don't feel comfortable forcing opponents into the slow tedium of facing my 6th Nids ... so I'll be using an army cobbled together from old guard models and borrowed bits and bobs.
Singles list will be Khanderstorm ... Khan + 3 Tfires + 3 Stormtalons + Guard, basically. Should be enjoyable and fun, with limited expectations ... hoping to have a good time primarily :)
In the team tournament, we had a grand plan to go as "3 TO's and a 3PO," with me, Kopach, Neil Gilstrap of 11th Co GT/Podcast, and Ed Miller of BFS GT. Ed had to drop for his daughter's grad, so we picked up a sub and cobbled together the requisite models for the list we're bringing (double guard, sm, da), and are also looking to go and have a fun time. Look for us in the lists ... playing us = receiving some cool shwag :)
If anyone wants to get together and BS over a beer or anything else at AdeptiCon this year, let me know via e-mail, here, or wherever! I'll be road-tripping in again on Wednesday, and hitting up the Lombard Giordano's on Wed PM with a host of various celebs and goobers.
Cya'll there!
OH - GET YOUR WEEKEND BADGE TODAY IF YOU HAVEN'T: THEY GO UP BY $5 TOMORROW!
Current Singles Iteration:
Korsarro Khan - 160
Librarian w/ Gate, Null - 100
Lord Commissar - 70
5 Tactical Marines w/ Combi-Melta - 100
5 Tactical Marines w/ Combi-Melta - 100
Platoon Command Squad - 30
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Platoon Command Squad - 30
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Infantry Squad w/ Melta, Power Axe - 65
Storm Talon w/ TL Assault Cannon, Skyhammer - 125
Storm Talon w/ TL Assault Cannon, Skyhammer - 125
Storm Talon w/ TL Assault Cannon, Skyhammer - 125
Thunderfire Cannon - 100
Thunderfire Cannon - 100
Thunderfire Cannon - 100
Monday, April 15, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
NOVA Countdown Updated! Skytide Tau
Special thanks to Austin Sincock, of http://23lines.blogspot.com/
Alongside playing Thunderstorm SM lists, I've been fiddling w/ a Tau baseline of 3 Skyrays (stock), and 3 Riptides (heavy burst cannon, twin fusion blaster though leaning back toward SMS, and interceptor).
Coupled w/ a ton of Kroot, Pathfinders, and double Ethereal, I've been really enjoying the tactical flexibility, durability, and functionality of the list.
What about ya'll?
That's it!
140 days to NOVA ... and getting quite excited!
Alongside playing Thunderstorm SM lists, I've been fiddling w/ a Tau baseline of 3 Skyrays (stock), and 3 Riptides (heavy burst cannon, twin fusion blaster though leaning back toward SMS, and interceptor).
Coupled w/ a ton of Kroot, Pathfinders, and double Ethereal, I've been really enjoying the tactical flexibility, durability, and functionality of the list.
What about ya'll?
That's it!
140 days to NOVA ... and getting quite excited!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Why or Why Not Forgeworld?
So the "major" GT scene is split this year on the issue of Forgeworld. Events like NOVA, 11th Co, BFS, AdeptiCon are going without it for their GT's ... events like BAO, WGC, FOB are going with it.
The most important thing to lead off with is this:
There is no correct answer to this question.
There are valid and invalid reasons for holding each position, certainly, and that's mostly what I'll ponder about ... but there are no correct or incorrect answers to the simple question: Should FW be allowed in your GT.
No matter what you do, the internet punditocracy is going to have its own thoughts about whether you should or shouldn't.
With regard to NOVA, it was a fairly large internal discussion with a lot of back and forth ... here's what pushed us to having FW be in the Trios and Narrative, but not the GT or Invitational:
1. Evidence came out over the year from UK testers that was fairly definitive as to the subject of playtesting - FW isn't playtested, or even involved in the balancing/playtesting process (such as / whatever it is).
1a. The game is increasingly balanced for all levels of play, with each new updated codex ... lending more credence to NOT including (in the more competitive formats of the GT and Invitational) non-tested/balanced rules.
2. None of us could remember ever really playing pick-up games at local game stores, social game nights, or local GW's where anyone - especially casual players - was even routinely aware of FW, much less interested in playing with FW rules. The push to use them was coming almost exclusively [at least on our radar] from more tournament-savvy people (though not exclusively from competitive minded people).
3. MOST gamers, even those who advocated FW heavily, weren't even aware of the existence of half or more of the units they wanted to legalize. As a result, many of the arguments about balance fixated on Sabres, Boarding Flyers (w/e their name is, I always forget), etc., and they consistently wound up stammering when faced with units like Quad Guns, or the (can't remember his name) Shrouding/Disordered + Nullzone/Divination 160 point libby, etc.
4. Arguments about "balancing" flyer-heavy armies were rendered somewhat pointless by the broad lack of consistent tournament-wining success by flyer-heavy armies.
There were a number of arguments for and against exclusive of those, but those seemed to consistently crop up more commonly.
On a personal level, I don't care all that much ... the only thing that gets to me is the lack of open, blatant admission of desire on the part of those who are really pushing hard for FW. There are plenty of players who want to use their cool FW models ... but they've been pushing to legalize FW for years, long before 6th edition.
Truth: Fifth edition was very vehicle-heavy
Truth: FW doesn't have all that much that's dramatically or meaningfully better than stock standard codices in terms of anti-vehicle
Truth: Fifth edition didn't have allies, and MOST of the really powerful FW stuff is IG
Truth: Now that MOST of the armies in the game can ally with IG in some way, the more powerful FW units are now more broadly available
Truth: Sixth edition is more infantry-heavy, and more flyer-heavy.
Truth: Forgeworld units - especially IG (see above) - are quite exceptional at killing flyers and infantry (Especially mass infantry, see: quad gun) ...
None of these factors are considered on a regular basis by truly casual or majority gamers. They are considered by power gamers ... by meta-reacting gamers ... by people who want to bring the most powerful army possible to the table.
I'm often one of these guys ... and there's NOTHING WRONG with admitting that you want to use FW b/c it gives you powerful answers to big infantry formations, and to flyers.
That component of the argument didn't really impact any decision making on our part ... BUT I see a ton of people out there trying to come up with all kinds of oblique ways to argue for FW, when at the heart of it for a LOT of them it's simply that FW gives them a lot of potent options, and they want to use them.
It's always a hot button issue to discuss, but what really is the motivator?
One of our local more prominent competitive gamers wants to go to WGC this year. He really wants to take a bunch of sabres, vultures, and quad guns. I could almost swear he's more excited to go to WGC as a direct result of FW legality. BUT his reason is not b/c he thinks FW is cool ... but b/c he believes most poeple wont' be taking FW, and doing so himself gives him a huge natural advantage over them.
Food for thought and discussion ... acknowledging (and don't go at me on this one, please) that there's NOTHING wrong with legalizing FW at a tournament, and it's totally just a tourney-by-tourney decision ... what are the REAL reasons it's being pushed by so many more players this edition who are loud and vocal on the internet (many of whom are known competitors)? Is it being pushed so much more b/c suddenly GW has done something or made some big announcement that it's meant to be included in most types of games ...? OR is it that the shift in the meta of 6th edition + allies inclusion now aligns the powerful units OF forgeworld with a much larger # of players ... all of whom naturally have a conscious or subconsious inclination to try and get whatever boost up they can within a brand new gaming environment?
There's nothing wrong with any answer ... but there is something wrong with judging people for it ... so try to keep discussion focused on trying to figure out WHY people want it so much all of a sudden ... and not on whether you think they're smart or good or wrong or right as a result.
The most important thing to lead off with is this:
There is no correct answer to this question.
There are valid and invalid reasons for holding each position, certainly, and that's mostly what I'll ponder about ... but there are no correct or incorrect answers to the simple question: Should FW be allowed in your GT.
No matter what you do, the internet punditocracy is going to have its own thoughts about whether you should or shouldn't.
With regard to NOVA, it was a fairly large internal discussion with a lot of back and forth ... here's what pushed us to having FW be in the Trios and Narrative, but not the GT or Invitational:
1. Evidence came out over the year from UK testers that was fairly definitive as to the subject of playtesting - FW isn't playtested, or even involved in the balancing/playtesting process (such as / whatever it is).
1a. The game is increasingly balanced for all levels of play, with each new updated codex ... lending more credence to NOT including (in the more competitive formats of the GT and Invitational) non-tested/balanced rules.
2. None of us could remember ever really playing pick-up games at local game stores, social game nights, or local GW's where anyone - especially casual players - was even routinely aware of FW, much less interested in playing with FW rules. The push to use them was coming almost exclusively [at least on our radar] from more tournament-savvy people (though not exclusively from competitive minded people).
3. MOST gamers, even those who advocated FW heavily, weren't even aware of the existence of half or more of the units they wanted to legalize. As a result, many of the arguments about balance fixated on Sabres, Boarding Flyers (w/e their name is, I always forget), etc., and they consistently wound up stammering when faced with units like Quad Guns, or the (can't remember his name) Shrouding/Disordered + Nullzone/Divination 160 point libby, etc.
4. Arguments about "balancing" flyer-heavy armies were rendered somewhat pointless by the broad lack of consistent tournament-wining success by flyer-heavy armies.
There were a number of arguments for and against exclusive of those, but those seemed to consistently crop up more commonly.
On a personal level, I don't care all that much ... the only thing that gets to me is the lack of open, blatant admission of desire on the part of those who are really pushing hard for FW. There are plenty of players who want to use their cool FW models ... but they've been pushing to legalize FW for years, long before 6th edition.
Truth: Fifth edition was very vehicle-heavy
Truth: FW doesn't have all that much that's dramatically or meaningfully better than stock standard codices in terms of anti-vehicle
Truth: Fifth edition didn't have allies, and MOST of the really powerful FW stuff is IG
Truth: Now that MOST of the armies in the game can ally with IG in some way, the more powerful FW units are now more broadly available
Truth: Sixth edition is more infantry-heavy, and more flyer-heavy.
Truth: Forgeworld units - especially IG (see above) - are quite exceptional at killing flyers and infantry (Especially mass infantry, see: quad gun) ...
None of these factors are considered on a regular basis by truly casual or majority gamers. They are considered by power gamers ... by meta-reacting gamers ... by people who want to bring the most powerful army possible to the table.
I'm often one of these guys ... and there's NOTHING WRONG with admitting that you want to use FW b/c it gives you powerful answers to big infantry formations, and to flyers.
That component of the argument didn't really impact any decision making on our part ... BUT I see a ton of people out there trying to come up with all kinds of oblique ways to argue for FW, when at the heart of it for a LOT of them it's simply that FW gives them a lot of potent options, and they want to use them.
It's always a hot button issue to discuss, but what really is the motivator?
One of our local more prominent competitive gamers wants to go to WGC this year. He really wants to take a bunch of sabres, vultures, and quad guns. I could almost swear he's more excited to go to WGC as a direct result of FW legality. BUT his reason is not b/c he thinks FW is cool ... but b/c he believes most poeple wont' be taking FW, and doing so himself gives him a huge natural advantage over them.
Food for thought and discussion ... acknowledging (and don't go at me on this one, please) that there's NOTHING wrong with legalizing FW at a tournament, and it's totally just a tourney-by-tourney decision ... what are the REAL reasons it's being pushed by so many more players this edition who are loud and vocal on the internet (many of whom are known competitors)? Is it being pushed so much more b/c suddenly GW has done something or made some big announcement that it's meant to be included in most types of games ...? OR is it that the shift in the meta of 6th edition + allies inclusion now aligns the powerful units OF forgeworld with a much larger # of players ... all of whom naturally have a conscious or subconsious inclination to try and get whatever boost up they can within a brand new gaming environment?
There's nothing wrong with any answer ... but there is something wrong with judging people for it ... so try to keep discussion focused on trying to figure out WHY people want it so much all of a sudden ... and not on whether you think they're smart or good or wrong or right as a result.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
NOVA Format Amendment - Warlord Traits
Just a quick note for those playtesting / preparnig / etc. -
With the new Tau codex Warlord Table enabling re-rolls of certain results based upon what gear/abilities your Warlord has, we will probably revert the choice for Warlord Traits to the standard Rulebook approach. The reason for this is that while we believe rolling once while selecting 3 tables (book + rulebook inclusive) is more fair for a one-off tournament environment (aka not in leagues/seasons, or pick-up games), this new rule would force us to create a permutation for our permutation ... and that's getting too far from the basics of the game.
So, pending formalization, presume you will be handling Warlord Traits at NOVA exactly as the rulebook dictates.
With the new Tau codex Warlord Table enabling re-rolls of certain results based upon what gear/abilities your Warlord has, we will probably revert the choice for Warlord Traits to the standard Rulebook approach. The reason for this is that while we believe rolling once while selecting 3 tables (book + rulebook inclusive) is more fair for a one-off tournament environment (aka not in leagues/seasons, or pick-up games), this new rule would force us to create a permutation for our permutation ... and that's getting too far from the basics of the game.
So, pending formalization, presume you will be handling Warlord Traits at NOVA exactly as the rulebook dictates.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
NOVA Reminders - Discount Fading
Just a quick couple of reminders for all
First, hotel rooms are booking at an accelerated rate this year. It is important to remember, we give away
$2,000 CASH
To people who stay at the Hyatt Regency. This is also the cheapest hotel you can stay at within any reasonable distance, at $85/night for NOVA attendees.
You should book your rooms now even if you are simply considering it ... why?
The # of raffle tickets you get toward the 5 prizes - $1,000, $250, $250, $250, $250 - is directly proportional to how far in advance you book, and how many nights you stay.
SO ... if you book now, and end up attending, you get more raffle tickets. If you end up not going, just cancel your rooms more than 24 hours out.
Reserve rooms here
Additionally, vendors this year will be offering a special extra discount only on THURSDAY NIGHT of the Con. AKA, find a way to get there Thursday even if you're a local, to drop in on the early goings-on, early seminars, and get some sweet extra deals in the vendor hall.
The vendor hall is MUCH bigger this year, located in the fancy shmancy Regency level at the base of the Indie elevator. You'll be able to see all the vendors laid out from above.
The 40kGT is over 50% sold out at this point (130/256 sold). We've done this in 61 days of sales, vs. doing it in 156 days last year (more or less). Get your 40k GT ticket if you haven't yet. We usually experience a pretty hefty sales spike after AdeptiCon. Just a courtesy note ... considering past paces, this bodes toward a sellout (though obviously you still have time!).
Finally, Weekend Badges go UP in cost by $5 each on April 15. If you're going, grab one now.
First, hotel rooms are booking at an accelerated rate this year. It is important to remember, we give away
$2,000 CASH
To people who stay at the Hyatt Regency. This is also the cheapest hotel you can stay at within any reasonable distance, at $85/night for NOVA attendees.
You should book your rooms now even if you are simply considering it ... why?
The # of raffle tickets you get toward the 5 prizes - $1,000, $250, $250, $250, $250 - is directly proportional to how far in advance you book, and how many nights you stay.
SO ... if you book now, and end up attending, you get more raffle tickets. If you end up not going, just cancel your rooms more than 24 hours out.
Reserve rooms here
Additionally, vendors this year will be offering a special extra discount only on THURSDAY NIGHT of the Con. AKA, find a way to get there Thursday even if you're a local, to drop in on the early goings-on, early seminars, and get some sweet extra deals in the vendor hall.
The vendor hall is MUCH bigger this year, located in the fancy shmancy Regency level at the base of the Indie elevator. You'll be able to see all the vendors laid out from above.
The 40kGT is over 50% sold out at this point (130/256 sold). We've done this in 61 days of sales, vs. doing it in 156 days last year (more or less). Get your 40k GT ticket if you haven't yet. We usually experience a pretty hefty sales spike after AdeptiCon. Just a courtesy note ... considering past paces, this bodes toward a sellout (though obviously you still have time!).
Finally, Weekend Badges go UP in cost by $5 each on April 15. If you're going, grab one now.
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