Comic Asylum Tournament, Game 1

Game 1: Daemons Vs. Eldar

Left Flank.  Dawn of War, 4 Objectives.  He set up his Pathfinders and brought the rest of his army on Turn 1, except his outflanking War Walkers.

Right Flank... soon not to be there!

I played Cory's Eldar in the first round.  Cory is a relatively new player, only having picked up the game about a year and a half ago.  This was his first tournament, and I gather he was a bit nervous.  I think it was a good one for him to break his teeth on, because it was a pretty chill event with players across the skill spectrum.

The high point of the day came when I introduced myself; I told him my name, and followed it up with, "...I have a blog, Strictly Average, so do you mind if I take pictures?"

He looked up then, "Oh you're that Brent - I read your stuff all the time!  I love your work."

I could have lost every game on the day and I still would have gone home happy - ah, recognition!

It's the Top of 2: the Eldar outflank and wipe out the Horrors and Herald on the right flank.

The Fiends move up... and hide!  The War Walkers are the real threat in Cody's army - they gotta go!

Things were going better on the left flank.  The Herald shoots down a Wave Serpent and attacks the Autarch and Dragons inside, tying them down.  The Fiends in the middle assault the Guardians.

Hiding!

Then I catch 'em!  It will take a bit of doing, but the War Walkers are neutralized as a threat for the rest of the game.

Here's a picture taken from the right flank.  The action is now on the left.

The Banshees jump out of the Wave Serpent and help out the Avengers... since the Banshees go first, they do a good job putting the Fiends in the box.

Here's something worth explaining.  My opponent emptied the Banshees from the Wave Serpent and moved within an inch of the Fiends.  He then moved into the Assault phase without charging; I stopped him, reminding him to move the Banshees in before working out the assault.  Cory surprised me, saying he didn't realize he could.  He was a bit confused on how the rule worked, so I explained he could assault as long as the unit disembarks prior to moving.  The Banshees moved in and helped wipe out the Fiends.

I'll admit, I'm curious how many opponents have failed to correct a relatively new player on such a basic mistake.  Did it ever come up before?  Did someone fail to correct this gap in Cory's rules knowledge?  He's only been playing a bit over a year, and that's not long enough for all the subtleties of the game to shake out.  I meant to ask, but forgot.

It's no fun to learn the game by getting spanked regularly, so in my area, it's common to play beginners in a lower gear, brining them up on solid game play long before we let them fly solo.  Most of us, anyway!  There are a few that just aren't good at backing off and playing training games, but that's cool: they'll avoid beginners, or actively help them out in a game against someone else.  Evil Homer did just that when I played Sam I Am a few weeks ago; working through a game like that, discussing the tactics and options, makes for an interesting lesson all around.  Good times.

On the left flank, I eventually brought down the three vehicles and cleared out the units before laying claim to the objectives.

On the right, I used Hit and Run to leave the combat with the last War Walker unit, then charged back in and picking up the Pathfinders.  The result was foreordained, so I won the game 2 objectives to 1.

Fun first game.  Cory was a good sport, and I have no doubt he'll do well in tournaments before long, if that's his goal.  Practice makes perfect and all that!