Victory!

     HUZZAH! I've won my first 40K tournament! I'm so very excited, and I'd really like to share that experience with everyone, even though it might not be a very big deal to most, I'm just about on cloud nine and I gotta do a little boasting.

     I headed out to my CLGS on Saturday to see if I could get a game or two in. Most of the day was spent helping a friend learn 40K with his spanking new Sisters army. Later in the afternoon, a married couple asked if anyone wanted to play a team game against them so they could practice for a local tourney. One of the regulars, Dan, said he'd be willing to give it a go and asked me to team up with him. I brought my Orks, and he pulled together a list from his fairly new Chaos Demons army. We each had 1250 and a shared force organization, so 1 HQ, 1-3 troops, 0-1 fast attack, 0-1 elite, and 0-1 heavy support. Floating between the two players was the extra fast attack, elite, and heavy support. While I can't speak to Dan's specific list, here's a run-down of mine:

HQ

     Warboss: Bike, Power Klaw, Attack Squig

Troops

     Nobz (6): Bikes, Power Klaws (2), Big Choppas (3), Waaagh Banner, Boss Pole, 

                     Shoota/Skorcha. Painboy

     Boyz/Boyz' Nob (21): Big Shoota (2), Choppa/Slugga (18), Power Klaw, Boss Pole

Elite

     Kommandos (6) & Snikrot: Burna (2), Choppa/Slugga (4)

     Lootas (8)

Heavy Support

     Deff Dread: Dreadnought CCW (4)

Fast Attack

     Deff Kopta (3): Twin Linked Rokkit Launcha (3)

Total Points: 1246

     After a good game, which we ended up winning, Dan asked if I would be interested in entering the tournament. I had nothing to do the next day, so I agreed. I met him the next morning and we headed out to the tournament location.

     We had three rounds, each with only an hour and a half to play, and two 15-20 minute breaks between. Each round had different objectives, and actually they just used some of the Adepticon missions from the team tournament this year. Here's how our games ended up (roughly):

Round 1 - Victory

     Space Marines (10th Company themed) and Eldar (Mech/Eldrad)

     Points: 8 out of possible 10

Round 2 - Victory
     Space Wolves and Chaos Space Marines
     Points: 29 out of possible 30

Round 3 - Victory
     Imperial Guard and Orks
     Points: 28 out of possible 30

     I might be off on the total possible points there, but it was pretty close. I must say, all of the competitors that we played were top notch sportsmen. I've heard people talk about how cool people are, even in most competitive environments, but I didn't really believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. The few rules issues we had were handled pretty quickly and fairly. I think everyone enjoyed the games. Most of the games seemed much closer than the points portray, and I think the gab between us and second seemed hard to believe. We didn't field the most power-gaming combinations. I think my Nob bikers were the most min/max thing we had, but we had some great rolls go our way, and that made all the difference.

     The cherry on top was that my Warboss was selected as the "Best Painted Unit" which really put a smile on my face. I was super happy about that because I'm a hobbyist first, or at least it's really starting to seem that way.

     I can't say enough how much fun it was playing those games and meeting those awesome gamers. There was a real sense of enjoyment there and I gotta thank the organizers, the players, the store, and my teammate for a fantastic event.