So I just got back from the Semi-Finals...

Scooter, Damien, Leigh and I all caravaned up to The Aventurer's Guild in Harrisburg, Pa to take part in the 'ard Boyz Semi-Finals tourney.

Here's my list:

Flesh Tearers
HQ
Reclusiarch	Power Fist	145
Librarian	Blood Lance Shield of Sanginus	100
Troops
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Paired Lightning Claw Flamer Flamer	230
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Power Fist Melta Melta	235
Assault Squad, 9	Sgt Cost Power Fist Remove jump packs Melta Gun Rhino Searchlight	223
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Power Fist Flamer Flamer	225
Elites
Sanguinary Priests, 2	Jump pack Power Weapon for Jump Priest	140
Assault Terminators, 7	Lightning Claws x2 Thunder Hammers x 5 Land Raider Crusader Multi-Melta	565
Furioso Dreadnaught, 1	Librarian Dreadnought Wings of Sanguinous Might of Heroes	175
Fast Attack
Attack Bike, 1	Multi-Melta	50
Attack Bike, 1	Multi-Melta	50
Attack Bike, 1	Multi-Melta	50
Heavy Support
Vindicator, 1	Siege Shield Searchlight	156
Vindicator, 1	Siege Shield Searchlight	156
Points Summary:
HQ:	245
Troops:	913
Elites:	880
Fast Attack:	150
Heavy Support:	312
Total:	2500

My first opponent, Kier, was using a two Land Raider Crusader Blood Angels list with a crap ton of Typhoons, two units of missile devs, Asteroth with a jump squad, and a multi-melta dread in a pod. I had first turn, and set up with an aggressive position with my Vindicators, LRC, Attack Bikes, Libby Dread, and I had this all backed up by my PA Libby in the Rhino with Shield of Sanginius. I kept my double melta assault squad in reserve to DS with the Sanguniary Priest with the jump pack, and my other jump assaults to reserve in on the long table edge near my placed objective. Essentially, my plan was a basic pincer move. I would herd my enemy from his corner, down to where my reserves would be coming on, and we would meet in the middle. This plan worked almost perfectly.

I could tell that this opponent was not as familiar with the Blood Angles codex as he would have liked. He didn't know that Vindies were fast, and how the Psychic powers worked. I advanced into his lines, and he was hesitant to strike against me, holding Astaroth and his squad back. One of his LRCs was immobilized the first turn, and while his fire neutralized the Vindies with stuns and shakings, he kept pouring fire into them, letting everything else into close contact with troops. My Terminators ended up killing his Devs, Astaroth, and his squad, while my attack bikes and LRC pummeled his Land Speeders into submission. He did pop my Librarian dread first thing with his podded dread, but, for the most part, I kept everything intact and functioning. What did not work on my end was meltas vs his second LRC. It happened to be parked near an objective, and cost me the Massacre. Major Win, with three points.

Second game had me playing against Trevor, an Iron Fist Leagueer, who was also using an Asteroth BA list. 3 Storm Ravens, Death Company, DC Dreads, Furiosos, Lemartes, a partridge in a pear tree... I won the toss to got first or second, and I went second, keeping everything in reserve. As I began to trickle in on the second turn, I ended up with my double melta squad DSing onto a Storm Raven (Yes, I know, even with DoA), but beyond that, I got about a third of the force in. I pulled them onto the extreme right flank, hoping to mitigate the left-most storm raven and a libby furioso. It was very touch and go at first, with my casualties mounting quickly. But the tide turned with Trevor moved a Storm Raven near the board's edge to get a rear shot against my Vindie, and ended up killing it. The next turn, I surrounded its base, and wrecked it. Since he had to deploy, and there was nowhere else to go... There went a DC dread and the only other scoring troop in the game. I killed off about 500-600 points in one blow. From there, I mopped up. Trevor was jovial throughout, and a great opponent. He ended up giving me the Massacre, and two bonus points were earned in addition.

That placed me in a very good position to take one of the top three spots. I ended up facing Damien Greene, who I played in the last 'ard Boyz as well. It was a hard fought, and fantastic game. Damien and I fought tooth and nail the entire time, and shook hands at the end. He was running a Kahn bike list, with three Twin-linked AC Dreads, an Inquisitor with Tarot, three bike squads, three thunderfire cannons, two inquisitorial melta storm troopers in rhinos, and two landspeeder typhoon squadrons. He castled center, and I came in from my side deployment, all in at once. I defeated myself. I thought I could take out his melta storm troopers in the rhinos, but it was all for naught. They popped both my vindicators in the second turn. It turned that area into a parking lot. After that, I got bogged down in assault, which Khan left over and over with his hit and run. It was frustrating as all hell. His thunderfires kept pinging me to death. Over six weary turns, he killed all but 310 points of my list, where I didn't even get quite through half of his. My TH/SS terminators were rockstars, though. They survived almost until the last turn, and ended up chasing Khan and his squad off, earning me my one lonely point for this round.

Total Score: 43 points, Damien took first, Logan Payne took second, and Scooter scoot, scoot, scooted into third.

Of Tournaments and (Little Tiny) Men

Games Workshop has posted their final revisions for the 'ard Boyz Scenarios, which can be found here.

So, what do I think about them? They're clearly slanted towards assault based armies. Considering I'm taking Blood Angels, I'm strangely okay with that. I've made plans for all three missions, which I will not reveal until later, for obvious reasons. Bwah-ha-hah.

Also of note, I am strongly considering the Nova Open. The internet buzz seems fairly positive, and the Tournament Organizer's dedication to balance in both scenario and prize support seems dead on. I've invited my teammates from Team Banzai; let's see if they want to play along.

All this will be prep for the Team Tourney and Championships at Adepticon, which I'm really looking forward to participating in. Oh, I have plans within plans for the Team Tourney... Bwah-ha-haha-hah. All secret of course, I passed the reality check course at villains school, and I won't be monologuing my plans to you all.

Oh, and then there's Games Day as well. I'm attending on behalf of a gentleman in Chicago who can not make it to Baltimore,  but still wants the Games Day model. Oh, if I must. Since it's likely to be the last one in Baltimore, I think it'll be good to attend. I've heard rumors that next year it will be in Vegas, which would not offend me in the slightest. I did fairly well with craps last time I was out there, so I might have to add dice rolling to my rolling dice hobby. Games Day would be a lot better with cocktail waitresses, to be sure.

INAT FAQ

A good deal of ink seems to fly each year prior to Adepticon about one topic more than any other: the INAT FAQ. It is either viewed as the most comprehensive tournament FAQ ever produced, or reviled as a serious undermining of the rules system by which we play.

We've all come across that rule which is vague. It seems invariably that the rule that causes the most arguments is the one for which GW hasn't made an errata or clarification: Doom of Malanti's, Deff rollas (finally taken care of), the use of Descent of Angels for Storm Ravens with embarked squads, the Manticore's template scatter... Maybe those have come up in your games, maybe they haven't, but I guarantee you that in six months, these things will be gone over line by line by the FAQ council that Adepticon appoints.

But is that a good thing? Opponents have valid points. There are out and out rules changes in the INAT, no if, ands, or buts. This is not all from GW's canon. A group of people are putting thier own clarifications, changes and spins on the product that you've purchased. It's fan based, not offical. And there's the very valid sticking point. It's not official. Stelek, a well known opponent of the FAQ, articulated his views thusly: "You have no right to change the way the game is played."

Proponents are very quick to point out that even GW doesn't count its own FAQs as official, except for the errata. And GW's FAQs fall very short of answering questions that will come up in the higher levels of play, things that if answer one way or the other will determine who walks home with a pat on the back, and who walks home with a thousand dollars worth of prizes. Things like that can put real pressure on a judge to make the "right call", and no matter what call he chooses, the blood-crazed hounds of internet will savage him. The proponents value the transparency that the INAT brings; here's the call we made on this, it was put up months ago, please review it. At that point, there's no argument. There might be bad blood, or hurt feelings, but the matter is closed.

As for myself, I find the proponent's argument more measured. Having been to Adepticon but the once, I only found reason to call upon the FAQ one time. The judge came over and quickly applied the ruling needed with minimal fuss. I played seven tourney games under the FAQ, and really didn't have to consult it. Which made the sturm and drang over the FAQ seem wasted effort. Differences in play exist from person to person, region to region, and state to state. The INAT, or something like it, is needed at nationwide events to smooth out those differences. Is the INAT appropriate at every event, regional or otherwise? That depends on the payer base and the Tournament Organizer's call. The only reason I would be unlikely to use it at an event is player feed back.

As to the charge leveled that the organizers of Adepticon have no right to change or clarify the game to their liking, I would refer the gentleman to the gray box on top of page 2 in the 40k Rulebook, under "The Most Important Rule". The game designers want you to do with your game what you want, including making house rules and house clarifications if you see fit. The only difference with the INAT is its scope.

Possible 'ard Boy List #1 The Flesh Tearers

Wow, it certainly has been some time since I looked at this. Time to blow the dust off of it, and get back to regular posting now that school is winding down.

'ard Boy Season is upon us, and given my resounding lack of success from last year, I want to make up for it this year. I know that I'll be facing leaf blowers x 8000 if I go, so I'm thinking I need to make a list that combats that, rather than succumb to using my own Imperial Guard list. In that vein, I'm looking at two non-ig options I have that might make my inital run easier.



Flesh Tearers 4th Company Blood Angels

The Reclusiarch rides with the Termies, and the libby and the priest float where they're needed. This list is not subtle at all, and is meant to pound face. It's got psy defense, and can kill anything it gets it's hands on. The baal can scout or outflank, which ever is needed. The tac squad can combat squad in case an objective needs a baby sitter, a risk, but worth it.

HQ
Reclusiarch Power Fist 145
Librarian Unleash Rage Shield of Sanginus 100

Troops
Assault Squad, 10 Sgt Cost Paired Lightning Claws Flamer Flamer 230
Assault Squad, 10 Sgt Cost Powerfist Melta Melta 235
Assauly Squad, 9 Sgt Cost Powerfist Remove jump packs Melta Gun Rhino 222
Tactical Squad, 10 Sgt Cost Powerfist Melta Gun Lascannon Rhino 260

Elites
Sanguinary Priests, 1 50
Assault Terminators, 6 Lightning Claws x3 Thunder Hammers x 3 Land Raider Crusader Multi-Melta Extra Armor Search light 531
Furioso Dreadnaught, 1 Librarian Dreadnought Wings of Sanguinous Might of Heros 175


Fast Attack
Attack Bike, 2 Multi-Melta Multi-Melta 100
Baal Predator, 1 Extra Armor Heavy Bolter Sponsons Searchlight 161

Heavy Support
Vindicator, 1 145
Vindicator, 1 145

Points Summary:
HQ: 245
Troops: 947
Elites: 756
Fast Attack: 261
Heavy Support: 290
Total: 2499

I know that most IG players will be running with a Mysticx2 combo, so I'll want to avoid Deep Strike. I'm going to put the vindicators in front of the Land Raider to provide cover, and move agressively up a flank. Depending on the sight-lines afforded available to the mystics, etc, I may combat squad my melta assault squad to drop them on a flank. As long as they can avoid the mystics, they might be able to roll up a flank. Descent of Angels will make Deep Striking more attractive, and could combat the penalty for the Officer of the Fleet.