Local 1750 Tourney at the Battleforge.

So, over at the other Gaming Store that I play at (not the Rusty Scabbard), the Battleforge, I'm part of a Warhammer 40k league that holds monthly tournaments. The league got set up some time back in May of 2011 I believe and the first tournament being held in June. So far, it's been a blast!

We've had 4 events, with this past Saturday marking the 4th.

Our first tournament was 2500 points, and I ended up in a tie for 1st place with Mike Hoskins. Our second tournament was 1500, where I pulled down 3rd, and last month we fought with 2250 and I pulled down 4th. Each month we've had around 20 players or so, and with the awe inspiring terrain and tables hosted by Mike (Owner of Battleforge, not Hoskins) and set up by Tim (the guy who runs the place) the events have truly been incredible.

This past Saturday was the latest event, and while we didn't have 20 players this time, we had a lot of fun. 1750 points, started at noon, and promised to be fun. Now, with my Imperial Guard, I have a core 1000 point list that I use as the basis for building a list. At 1750 I just scaled it up a bit and went with one of my standard builds.

CHQ, 2 flamers.
Platoon HQ, 2 flamers.
2 Line squads, grenade lanchers.
2 Autocannon squads.
2 Veteran Squads, triple melta.
2 Vendetta for the Vet Squads to ride around in.
2 Squadrons of paired Leman Russ Battle Tanks.
1 Squadron of paired Leman Russ Demolishers.

There you have it folks, Duncan's average 1750 list.

My first game was against a player new to 40k, and new to the Imperial Guard. Now, I know we were all new at one time, and while I tried to help my opponent through the game and show him his errors and coached him on some moves that would put me on the wrong foot, it didn't quite work out to well and we called the game at the end of Turn 3. There wasn't really a point to continuing, he had 1 Ogryn, and a Al'Raheem left. Not Al'Raheem's platoon, or command squad, Al'Raheem, all on his own.

My buddy James was using his bare bones list of Space Wolves and playing on the table beside me. Fun note, the table he was playing on was named Kendall Holler. Another table was named Wooten Moor. That was a very kind nod of the head from Tim towards James and myself, and made both of us rather happy.

James was fighting one of the regulars at the store, who also played Space Wolves. And the two of them fought to a draw, a very hard fought draw, but a draw non the less.

Round two, I fought space wolves (noticing a theme?), and pulled out the massacre on a very hilly table. Vince, my opponent in that game, and I had a long talk during the game and after. See, there's a large contingent of players at Battleforge who aren't into list optimization, and build lists more designed for fluff and because they like the way things look and play.

More power to them! Playing that way is exactly what I love about this game! That said, I also love Tanks, the Leman Russ especially, and because hey, I'm a tread head at heart, I use them. Sure they aren't the most point effective, and the interwebs scoffs at them, but I love em and will never stop using them. But Vince was wondering about why we build our lists as pared down as we do, how we come up with some of the stuff we do in games, and what makes our crew so vicious on the table.

No, we aren't WAAC players, but we play as hard as we can, and we have been playing as hard as possible against one another for a long time. And as everyone knows, if you continue playing against tougher caliber of opponents, you will start becoming a better player yourself. And Vince was wanting some tips and tricks, so I happily obliged him. Hopefully he an I can get together this coming weekend and play a game or two and see how some of the ideas I gave him worked out.

Full points again for me, and James got full points against his opponent's Gray Knights.

Round 3? You guessed it. James and I faced off in another of the endless series of Duncan's IG vs James' Wolves.

It was hard, it was very hard. It ended on turn 5, and oh god, am I glad it did. If we had 1 more turn it would have ended up with James massacring me. As it was, we pulled the bare bones of a Draw because of the scenario rules, and I maintained my hold on First place. James managed second place, and there was a 3 way tie for third.

With my winnings I picked up Scibor's Scifi Archangel, and bought myself Scibor's Templar SF Knight #2.

I think the Templar knight, once properly cleaned of crosses, will make a marvelous Iron Warrior warsmith.

Iron Within, Iron Without.