Monday, October 8, 2012

Skulltaker Takes Queen

I think the Predator is going to be jealous of Khorne's new hood ornament!

This past weekend, the Battle for Salvation GT presented me with six memorable games, and plenty of opportunities for legendary duels such as the one depicted above.  As always, the event was run professionally, and everyone I spoke with had a great time.  There were 62 players in the event, and there were some fantastic looking armies.  Both Tyranids and Daemons appeared to be well represented, which was refreshing.  It's good to see more variety at an event, as it gave the impression that 40k is no longer a mono-build or power-codex only game. 

I must once again stress one of my favorite elements of the Battle for Salvation event:  between each gaming table, there is an area to place gaming aids, books, and your army display board.  As tiring as a marathon weekend of gaming can be, having to crouch under a table to access models can be a real chore.  I know it sounds simple, but the BFS crew wins my respect by addressing player-comfort.  

The meta environment, while not precisely codex-specific, seemed to have a strong anti-infantry shooting element.  Aside from Deathleaper's flesh hooks, the army I brought had no ranged attacks whatsoever.  This is the list I wound-up running:

2000 Pts - Tyranids Roster -

HQ: Hive Tyrant (265 pts)
   w/ Lash Whip & Bonesword; Scything Talon; Old Adversary; Regeneration; Toxin Sacs; Armoured Shell

   Tyrant Guard Brood X 2 (130 pts)
   w/ Rending Claws; Lash Whip

Elite: Deathleaper (140 pts)
  
Elite: Ymgarl Genestealer Brood X 5 (115 pts)
  
Troops: Genestealer Brood X 16 (270 pts)
      1 Broodlord

Troops: Genestealer Brood X 16 (270 pts)
      1 Broodlord

Troops: Genestealer Brood X 16 (270 pts)
      1 Broodlord

Troops: Genestealer Brood X 16 (270 pts)
      1 Broodlord

Troops: Genestealer Brood X 16 (270 pts)
      1 Broodlord

I think this photo sums up more than half of my games:


Running headlong into a gun-line, in hopes of having enough alien bodies left to eat some face, can be something of a risk/reward experience.  I often only had about %20 of my models left by the time I reached assault, but that was often enough to do some damage.  The end result, was a 3 win, 3 loss record.    

Only now, after the ordeal of playing six games in a weekend, do I feel somewhat familiar with the new edition of the game.  I had only played four games of sixth edition before this GT, only two games with the Tyranid codex, and no games with this army list at all.  The Battle for Salvation was a learning experience, and not an entirely unsuccessful planetary invasion.  Just like the movies.

My opponents over the weekend were fantastic people, and I would love to play any one of them again.  The comments section on blog posts, as well as forums, truly provides a skewed vision of our community.  I am thankful to have been reminded how much fun our hobby can be, when shared with great people.

In closing, I would again like to express my support for the Battle for Salvation GT, and crew in general.  I cannot recommend their event more strongly. 

5 comments:

  1. Love the army in pictures, hate that I didn't get to see it, loved getting to see you there!

    I shot maybe 12 times all event long, and all those shots were with fleshborers. I think if I hadn't had 60 gargoyles and parasite with invuls/fnp to cross board ASAP, I would have lost significantly more models, and seen opponents focus significantly more fire upon Swarmlord/Tervigons. As it was, it worked out! It's an interesting edition, in that while there is more anti-infantry shooting abounding, there's also less tanks ... which means our bugs can in general do more damage to the opponents presented to us, if we can figure out how to get them there.

    Cheers again, Dan.

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  2. Thanks Mike!

    Your army looks great in person. While I would like to think I'll get to play you at some point, it's safe to say the only time that would happen is round one of a GT...

    I have yet to run the parasite, but it seems like fun. Glad you are happy with your new army!

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  3. Dan, it was great to see you again! Your Aliens were beautiful, and your soundtrack scared the shit out of me as I was admiring them...you got me!

    Hope to see you again soon!

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  4. Loving the Alien Queen. I'd suggest a game sometime against my Aliens inspired force (http://needmoretanks.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/lets-go-round-again.html) but as that's only a 500 point combat patrol I would get massacred... then again, that'd fit the fluff :oP

    I'll take an allied inquisitor so I can nuke the site from orbit... only way to be sure ;o)

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  5. Thank you for the kind words, Bob!

    In hindsight, I probably should have set up a booth to "Take a picture of yourself being assaulted by a face-hugger", charged $1 a photo, and donated the proceeds to the Salvation Army fund you guys support. You know, alien face-rape for charity.

    Thanks again for running such a great GT, and I am glad to have brought some fear to your October event!

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