Carolina Comics Tournament Highlights

Weekend before last I took my Necrons through the paces at their first tournament.  It was a small affair, only ten players, but the perfect opportunity to refine my approach to competitive play.

Game one was Capture and Control Spearhead against Chaos Space Marines.  Abbadon was hanging out with Terminators in a Land Raider, and he was by far the biggest threat to the army.  My plan from the beginning was to hold back the HBU 'Crons with the Overlord and Veil and jump on the objective in the latter third of the game. 

I had some issues with the Daemon Prince and Greater Daemon.  Never did kill that darn Greater Daemon!

Here I made my move.  Abbadon was forced to redeploy, as was a CSM squad.

I threw everything but the kitchen sink at that stupid Defiler, but as (bad) luck would have it, it was able to drop a pie plate on me.  It hit.  It wounded practically everyone..!  Luckily, the Rez Orb brought back half, so I had enough to hold off the counterattack.

The Destroyer Lord and Wraiths failed an unlucky break test earlier - here they're falling back.  The 10-strong Necrons are defending the Objective from the CSM in the tank.  Immortals are blasting away at 11 O'Clock, taking on another unit of Marines.

Ultimately, Abbadon and a single Terminator contested the objective the HBU and Overlord were on, but I'd held my objective handily.  I won a Major.

My deployment; I'm playing Blood Angels Drop Pods.  On the board were Scouting Baals, a combat-squadded Scouts Squad, and a Dreadnought Librarian.  

My opponent has three Furiosos in Pods, so the Scarabs are going to be vital to destroying them.  I have them behind the lines to farm for a few turns.

The Baal Predators set up on a flank... 

...and scout into the teeth of my HBU 'Cron squad.  I blast and assault two almost immediately, then take out the third in Round II.  Don't underestimate Gauss!

Double-Talon Dreads are scary - you simply can't let them get into a unit or the unit is done.  Deep-Striking buys a turn; here, I suffered the shooting then escaped through the Monolith portal.

More pods, more shooting.  Hit them hard before they can assault!

Here's later in the game.  Wraiths and Scarabs are destroying more Pods, Dreads, and units.

In the end, my opponent had one lone Marine and two Drop Pods left.  Had the game gone on, I would have cleansed the board of Marine filth without the loss of a single Kill Point.  As it was, that Marine on the objective cost me a Massacre and the opportunity to fight for first place on the top table in Round III.

In Dawn of War scenarios, I'll line the 20-strong HBU (Honkin' Big Unit) up on the 24" line, forcing my opponent's army back 18", then use Veil to redeploy out of the conga line.  Assuming I go first, of course... and that my opponent doesn't have something to tie up the entire unit with if they Seize!

My army moves on the board...

...against the Imperial Fists.

This turn was decisive.  The Mighty Mighty Carlos refused a flank so my army is shifting right, while trying to stay out of range of a sudden attack.  I want the Scarabs to lead the way and take out Rhinos, which they do...

...like so.  This game wasn't so kind to Carlos, who hadn't played Necrons before.  Suffice it to say, he didn't realize Scarabs had the range they do.

The Veil deposits the HBU for massed firepower.  I was careful to stay away from the board edge - I didn't want the Terminators to snag me in an assault!

Speaking of... run!

The game goes downhill in an uninteresting fashion after that.  I desperately wanted to try my hand at assaulting the Terminators, but I risked losing the game to do so.  Running away cements the win...

...so I ran, earning the Massacre due to the number of Kill Points I earned.  This mission was very unkind to the Mighty Mighty Carlos.

In the end, I earned 2nd place behind the Client Pimp in Question, who played his Grey Knight Space Marines against White Shield Mike's Dark Eldar on Table One to secure the day.  I believe he earned two Massacres and a Major to my 1 and 2, but I was happy enough with my performance.  I'm absolutely positive I earned the largest ration of Kill Points earned to given, so the day was quite successful.

Fun little event - great store!  Comics Asylum in Lawton Oklahoma, if you ever get up that way.