A couple of weekends ago, I was invited by a good friend of mine to a laid back, casual tournament at his place. The idea was that we could bring the lists we usually wouldn’t because of their relative strength, going full out, but at our own pace and in a far more laid back atmosphere.
It was a great time to be had, and while it certainly wasn’t a serious tournament it was good practice! All four of us learned valuable lessons about our armies strengths and weaknesses.
All lists were to be made at 75 power level, and that was for a good reason; Instead of objectives, kill-points were to be used, and having everyone have the same power level made it trivial to figure out who was winning. Mind you, every game ended in a concession around turn 4 because of both time constraints, and the fact most of us in the losing scenario could not turn the game around quick enough to bring it to contest.
The first match up was between an Ultramarine player, named Chris, and Ty’s lethal Tank Company. This match was mostly a blowout; the Tanks proved too much for the Ultramarines, consisting of mostly primaris and therefore a low model count list, and by turn 3 the game had been easily decided in a most violent of ways.
I was up in the second bracket, with my 75 PL of Vostroyan Siege troops, vs Conrad’s Ork Horde. With 45 Guardsmen to his 90+ boys, I was in for a right slapping unless my artillery killed enough. To try and ensure this, I brought an Emperor’s Wrath Artillery Company from the Vigilus Defiant book.
This match was a closer one than the previous, but a timely Da Jump into a folding flank rolled me up like an old newspaper. My artillery did a number of big casualties, including a flyer and a Battlewagon, but the ITC building rules rendered the hordes of Orks immune to shooting until they got too close to deal with. This might have been a consequence of using too much urban terrain, and was something we are considering altering in the future, but it did allow melee armies to stand a chance.
After a break for dinner, the Finals began. Ty’s tanks now faced the Waaagh.
The Orks had the pick of the deployment, and made the best use of it, allowing for turn 2 charges. 80+ Boyz in close combat all across the line rendered the Leman Russes vulnerable, and after a brutal couple of close combat rounds, Ty conceded, acknowledging that while he could continue to the bitter end, firing only overwatch due to retreating made victory a far off and distant goal. In the end, the vast Ork Waaagh was too much for all 3 opponents….
Conrad, having bested his 3 opponents through tactics and good old Ork numbers, had won what we called Ty’s Rough and Tumble Suburban Rumble! A good time was had by all, and a new respect for Ork mass melee was gained by all of us. We learned many lessons, chief of which was we could have done with starting a little earlier, as we only ended our games at midnight! But, given the distance between all the participants, this hurdle might be quite difficult to overcome. In the end, this sort of thing is a testament to how fun small, at home tournaments can be, and while no replacement for the real thing…is still dang fun!
We had so much fun, we have decided that each of us will host a mini-tournament, each with our own twists and objectives! More on that when my turn comes up.
But until then, Ave Imperator, and Happy War-gaming, wherever you might be!
Not by Strength, By Guile 