Post Tournament Musings

Well the LA Battle Bunker Mini-GT has come and gone.  I went a very average 1-1-1 with my win coming against Tau, and my loss and tie against Space Wolves.  Thanks to the Bunker for putting on a pretty fun (free) event and even provided us with (free) pizza.

I really got spoiled at the Sprue Posse Grand Prix, where they used standard book missions.  The missions at the Bunker were kind of wacky, but didn't stray too far from the regular missions.

Mission One: Plant the Flag
At the beginning of the game determine how many buildings (objectives) should be placed by rolling a D3 and adding 1.  Each player takes turns placing buildings, and then roll off to determine who sets up first.  After deployment roll another D6 to determine who starts the game.  An objective can be claimed any time during the movement phase by planting the flag with a non-embarked Troop choice.  The objective is held until an enemy Troop choice controls the building, and plants their own flag.

Not too bad, as you don't have to leave your Troop choice in the building in order to claim it at the end of the game.  We each planted a flag for the building in our respective deployment zones, and quickly planted flags in the other building closest to us.  Tie for me (2-2).

Mission Two: Hold the Hill
Place a hill in the center of the table.  Players deploy using pitched battle and cannot be within 18" of the hill.   Whoever has more Troop choices on the hill at the end of the game wins.

Great for close combat and resilient armies - terrible for the Tau army I played against.  I was fortunate enough to shoot his Troops off the objective before the assault phase in turn 6, but in case I didn't I had Wyches waiting to assault. Major victory for me (3-0) troops on the hill. 

Mission Three: Modified KP
HQ - 3 KP
Elites - 2 KP
Troops - 3 KP
Fast Attack - 1 KP
Heavy Support - 2 KP
Transports - 1 KP

Great.  My army gives up enough kill points as it is, but now Troops and HQ count for triple.  I got matched up with a Space Wolf player whose biggest unit was a biker squad (Fast Attack).  Regular KP missions are tough enough for me, but with modified KP missions like this it's very hard to pull out any sort of victory.  A sour note for this game is that my opponent started his Lone Wolf on the table in a Dawn of War set-up.  Assuming he was an HQ and worth 3 KP I poured all my Venoms into him, downing him during turn 2.  After the game my opponent told me he doesn't count for KP purposes.  It wasn't until I got home I realize the Lone Wolf was an Elite, and shouldn't have been on the table to start.  Oh well, I should have asked more questions from the get go.  Loss for me (8-18 KP).

My first round opponent captured first overall, while my third round opponent got second. 

This puts my record with the new Dark Eldar in tournaments at 7-7-1.  In the first few tournaments with Dark Eldar I was still experimenting with units and what worked, and what didn't.  Now, I have a great familiarity with my army list, but my mistakes are coming when faced with unfamiliarity with how to handle my opponents list.  My army list is giving me all the tools I need to succeed in tournaments, but my mistakes are still handicapping me.  I'll make another post within the next few days highlighting these mistakes and what I've learned from them.