The question of whether or not Orks are a “top tier” army has been the subject of some debate amongst 40k players on the internet lately, particularly on Dakka (view the current thread here). The thread mostly consists of poster Frank Fugger offering an insightful analysis of the army while fighting off a horde of nerd-raging knuckle-draggers. There are a few exceptions however (Primarch and Mahu, most notably).
At the risk of coming late to the dead horse beatdown, I’ll throw in my two cents since both sides aren’t really debating the viability of Orks, but the competitive nature of 40k armies and the tournament scene. It should also be be noted that Stelek has chimed in on the issue, and in fact has been asserting that Orks are one of the least competitive armies in 5th edition 40k for quite some time (view article here). More recently, he has commented on the same Dakka thread, posting highlights of the conversation (link).
The release of the Ork codex represented a significant shift in game design from previous army releases in late 4th edition, most notably Chaos Space Marines. Prior to the Ork codex release, it was mostly trash with the exception of a few very specific builds that relied on favorable rock-paper-scissor matchmaking to perform well in a competitive setting. Afterwards, they managed to catch up with codex creep and perform on a level above pretty much everyone else.
Again, no pictures, sorry. Details are also a little spotty. For the TLDR crowd: Kris won.
Game 2: Dan (Chaos Troopzilla) vs. Kris (Vulkan bikers)
Kris and I came to the tournament together and with only 3 players in the tournament it was inevitable that we’d play each other. So, we sucked it up and made the most of it.
Kris’s list is dead-hard and I knew I was fighting an uphill battle from the get-go because his list could only potentially yield 26 kill points, whereas mine yields 36. More importantly, each of his Troop units are fast and pack a ridiculous amount of anti-tank, and we both knew he could afford to send units on suicide missions if it meant taking out my heavy and elite choices.
His list was as follows:
Vulkan
Captain – Bike, combi-flamer, relic blade
5 Assault Terminators – Thunder hammer and storm shield, Land Raider Redeemer w/ multi-melta
5 Assault Terminators – Thunder hammer and storm shield (in LRR)
5 Space Marine Bikers (Troops) – Meltagun x2, combi-melta, Attack Bike with multi-melta
5 Space Marine Bikers (Troops) – Meltagun x2, combi-melta, Attack Bike with multi-melta
5 Space Marine Bikers (Troops) – Meltagun x2, combi-melta, Attack Bike with multi-melta
5 Space Marine Bikers (Troops) – Meltagun x2, Attack Bike with multi-melta
5 Space Marine Bikers (Troops) – Meltagun x2, Attack Bike with multi-melta
2 Land Speeders – Multi-melta, heavy flamer
2 Land Speeders – Multi-melta, heavy flamer
Game 1: Dan (Chaos Troopzilla) vs. Zach (Battlewagon Orks)
My first opponent was Zach, a fellow Dakka-ite, who was running Battlewagon Orks led by Ghazghkull using a fairly standard configuration. His army was roughly as follows:
Ghazghkull (in Battlewagon with Nobs)
Mekboy – KFF (in Battlewagon with Nobs)
12 Lootas (in Battlewagon)
12 Lootas (in Battlewagon)
Nob Squad – Mega armor, kombi-flamers, power klaws, Trukk
Battlewagon – Boarding plank, big shoota x2
Battlewagon – Boarding plank, big shoota x2
Battlewagon – Boarding plank, big shoota x2
We used the round 1 scenario, Land Grab (modified Capture and Control + Annihilation), and deployed directly across from one another on the left half of the board. I kept my objectives as close together as possible, knowing that I could easily castle them with the huge volume of vehicles I was fielding. Zach set one objective across from me and the other on the opposite side of the board.
So, as mentioned in my previous post, Kris and I took a drive down to New Jersey on Saturday to participate in round 1 of the 2009 ‘Ard Boyz tournament at Maplewood Hobby.
We had originally planned to attend the tournament at Time Warp Comics, also in Jersey, however they (along with many other stores) had deferred the tournament until Sunday due to the simultaneous release of the new Magic: The Gathering expansion. (Earth to GW: don’t schedule major events that coincide with major events of much larger, directly competing hobbies.) Our second choice was Dark Tower (again, NJ), but they moved the tournament to a local comic convention which included a $45 entry fee, despite GW providing prize support and explicitly stating there would be no charge to participate. We also briefly considered going to Brothers Grim in Long Island, where we attend tournaments every other month, however summer weekend traffic to LI is just too brutal.
Maplewood was choice #4. We had known in advance that turnout was going to be poor, but this was a little silly. Only 3 players showed up, including Kris and myself. Talk about easy pickings. Free passes to the semi-finals and everybody takes home loot. We decided that the only fair way to determine placings would be to conduct a round-robin tournament in which we each played the other two participants once over the course of 3 rounds (sitting out for one of them).
Perhaps as a result of the Grand Tournament season being canceled, there has been a marked increase in the frequency of local 40k tournaments in the New York area over the past year. But even preceding the slew of local competitions the players in our club (Battle for Salvation) had really begun to step up their game, bringing leaner and meaner lists with firmer handling of the rules and better application of tactics. When we aren’t matched against each other we tend to take home trophies.
There have been a number of times when we’ve played one another only to knock ourselves out of the running, the most famous example of which was when I played all three rounds against fellow club members (none of us ended up placing). To avoid this at ‘Ard Boyz, our club decided to split up amongst 3 different hosting locations.
Matt, James, and Bobby (playing Chaos, SM, and IG) went East to play in CT, where they took home 1st, 3rd, and 4th place, respectively. Matt tells me that the guy who placed 3rd can’t make it to the semi-finals, so that means Bobby is in.
Charlie went solo over the Tappan Zee to Toywiz where he captured 3rd with his Space Marines (+ Grey Knight allies).
Kris and I went to Maplewood Hobby, also in Jersey. I took 1st and he took 2nd (of 3 total, lol).
Overall, every single player from our club who went to the tournament is going to the second round. I guess we’ve all been eating our Wheaties.
So, the purpose of this post? I am proud of our club members and they all deserve accolades for their performance, even if it is still only the first round. Tonight is our weekly gaming night at the Salvation Army, so I’m sure there will be lots of stories to share.
Over the holiday weekend I managed to get the first 2 of 3 planned practice games in with my Troopzilla list in preparation for the ‘Ard Boyz tournament on Saturday. I would have liked to get more in, but real life has been calling and my fiancé will kick my ass if I don’t answer (we all need a good ass-kicking from time to time).
On Friday morning, Charlie brought his boards over to my apartment and we squared off against each other in the Drawn and Quartered mission slated for game 3 of the upcoming tournament. The scenario is a modified version of Capture and Control using Spearhead deployment and kill points as a secondary objective to determine the extent of victory (massacre/major/minor). I can’t help but think that the title of the scenario is a good-humored jab at the writers of Capture and Control, which is frequently referred to as the “draw” mission. The modifications are great though, and it is hands-down my favorite of the first round.
I played my Troopzilla list with some slight modifications, swapping out extra armor and heavy flamers for twin-linked lascannons on both Chaos Dreadnoughts and trimming some fat from the CSM units.
Charlie’s army used the Space Marine codex as its primary, but made heavy use of Daemonhunters allies. He was rocking the following list (roughly):
If you’re even remotely into the Warhammer 40k tournament scene then you already know that the 2009 ‘Ard Boyz Tournament is less than two weeks away. And you probably already know that the locations, rules, and scenarios have already been posted.
Last year I did fairly well in the tournament, taking 1st place out of 40 in the preliminaries with a very balanced Space Marine + Grey Knights allies army. I spent a lot of time running practice games and preparing…which led to complete 40k burnout. I didn’t play again until the second round and I ended up making a lot of foolish mistakes which I chalk up to being rusty (one of which cost me a win in game #2).
All in all, I had a blast. I love playing big games and I didn’t run across a single jerkoff at either location.
This year, I’ve decided to try something new. I’m currently building a mechanized Imperial Guard army, so there’s really no leftover spending cash for tailoring my Salamanders for 2500 points. Instead, I’ve decided to use my Chaos monstrous creature list and fill out the Troop selections to make up the difference from the 1750 level. It’s not a powerful list by any means, but it’s a lot of fun to play (except against IG/Tau).
For 32 points, an allied (Daemon Hunters) Ordo Malleus Inquisitor and 2 Mystics is a no-brainer for most competitive Imperial Guard armies. This seemingly insignificant throw-away unit can make a properly outfitted army virtually unassailable via deep striking units. Because my Salamanders army is entirely reliant on the deep strike rules, figuring out how to overcome Mystics has become a chief concern, and Imperial Guard are hard enough to beat as it is.
The Inquisitor + Mystics combo is indeed powerful, but, like any strategy, it has weaknesses that can be exploited by a savvy opponent. As always, the first step to beating this tactic is to understand the rules that come into play.
Expect the Inquisition: Know the Mystic Rules
A single Mystic allows the inquisitorial unit to fire upon any unit which deep strikes within 4D6″ after it lands but before it takes any actions. Pretty pointless unless you take Warrior henchmen with special weapons.
The real nastiness is when you take 2 Mystics. Taking two allows any unit within 12″ of the unit containing the Mystics to fire on a unit deep striking within 4D6″ (of the Mystics’ unit). Keep them within a foot of a Leman Russ Executioner and anything landing near your army is deader than dead. It’s especially deadly because the shots are fired before you can use the Run rule to spread out.
The following army has really been my pride and joy since the end of 4th edition, though I’ve owned the models considerably longer than that. I started up a Salamanders list back in 3rd edition for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that I thought it would be fun to play with 3 Vindicators, and the chapter’s background support brutal, “up close and personal” combat tactics.
At some point during 4th edition I modified the list and made it fully mechanized because, hey, tanks are cool. Fully mechanized marines were garbage in 4th edition, so it became my non-competitive, “fun” army. Of course, that didn’t stop people from crying cheese the moment they saw me plunk 3 Vindicators down on the table. And yet no one ever complained about the retardedly overpowered combos I had in my Alpha Legion tournament list. Go figure.
I eventually took a long hiatus from Warhammer and returned after the new Chaos codex had been released and completely raped my favorite army. I didn’t find playing Lash all that interesting, so I made the conscious decision to make my Salamanders a competitive army, and to continue with the “in your face” play style.
The question of whether or not Orks are a “top tier” army has been the subject of some debate amongst 40k players on the internet lately, particularly on Dakka (view the current thread here). The thread mostly consists of poster Frank Fugger offering an insightful analysis of the army while fighting off a horde of nerd-raging knuckle-draggers. There are a few exceptions however (Primarch and Mahu, most notably).
Last year I did fairly well in the tournament, taking 1st place out of 40 in the preliminaries with a very balanced Space Marine + Grey Knights allies army. I spent a lot of time running practice games and preparing…which led to complete 40k burnout. I didn’t play again until the second round and I ended up making a lot of foolish mistakes which I chalk up to being rusty (one of which cost me a win in game #2).
For 32 points, an allied (Daemon Hunters) Ordo Malleus Inquisitor and 2 Mystics is a no-brainer for most competitive Imperial Guard armies. This seemingly insignificant throw-away unit can make a properly outfitted army virtually unassailable via deep striking units. Because my Salamanders army is entirely reliant on the deep strike rules, figuring out how to overcome Mystics has become a chief concern, and Imperial Guard are hard enough to beat as it is.
The following army has really been my pride and joy since the end of 4th edition, though I’ve owned the models considerably longer than that. I started up a Salamanders list back in 3rd edition for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that I thought it would be fun to play with 3 Vindicators, and the chapter’s background support brutal, “up close and personal” combat tactics.
TheKingElessar: ‘Well read’ is a meaningless phrase used to try and enhance your social status in the...
Danny Internets: Solid rebuttal as always, GBF. I would expect nothing less from Dakka’s own village idiot....
Kris: You really are a sad lonely man arent you.
Green7: When I hear someone spouting a lot of fancy talk I just know that the BS factor has just shot through the...
