I took pure Ravenwing to the Michigan GT! ... (pic heavy)

[Gabus]

So, after playing W40K forever, I finally decided to go to a tournament. The Michigan GT was held last weekend, and I had a blast.

 

The format was 1850 points, every formation is considered 0-1, (so no spamming formations) and superheavies were allowed. The event was 60 players. Each mission had maelstrom points, eternal war objective points, and secondary points. You calculated the difference in score, and added or subtracted the difference from 25 to earn your battle points.

 

I decided I was going to take a pure Ravenwing list. Mostly driving the decision was the fact that the DA was my oldest army and had "earned" the right to go, and partially because of what I had painted already. Little did I realize how well suited to the format it would be.

 

(the picture of my army is before I finished the display board.. please excuse the crudeness)

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Gabus447/Dark%20Angels/10676233_1060871173957895_960120497570768834_n_zpskaezfey2.jpg

 

I took:

 

Ravenwing Strike force

 

Sammael

6 man command squad (grenade launcher)

6 man bike squad, 2x melta. 1 attack bike +MM

3 man bike squad, 2x plasma

3 landspeeders, AC and HB (each a seperate choice)

2 landspeeders, MM and MM (each a seperate choice)

 

Ravenwing Attack Squadron

 

6 man bike squad, 2x melta. Vet sg w/ power sword. 1 attack bike + MM

1 landspeeder, AC and HB

 

Ravenwing Support Squadron

 

1 Darkshroud, AC

3 landspeeders, typhoon and HB

 

In all but one misson, I left the strike force in reserve, to come on automatically in turn 2, and only deployed the support squadron and the attack squadron. I combat squadded in every mission except the one with kill points, so for most games I had about 16 units, which was handy for the maelstrom points. 

 

SKIP TO THE END IF YOU JUST WANT THE SUMMARY!!

 

Game 1: Ravenwing vs Necrons

 

I was pleased to face a well painted necron force that, while a decurion, wasn't a bummer to face. All too often I play necrons and it is frustrating, but the mission and the player made for a really fun, tactical game. With a 19 point difference in score, I was off to the races, scoring 44 out of a possible 50 points. Ironically, this player won the best in faction for the Necrons, and played 3 out of the 4 guys I came to the tournament with!

 

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Gabus447/Necrons_zpsroqgoecj.jpg

 

Game 2: Ravenwing vs Crimson Slaughter w/ Daemons

 

High off my win from round 1, I faced off against the best counter for my army, in the mission I was least suited for. A rush style, hand to hand army, with helldrakes, in a kill point game. The army I faced off against was beautiful, and the guy knew his army, rules and capabilities inside and out. The hounds of khorne with the 2 heralds walked through my army 2 units at a time (he was a master at the combo charge) all while remaining grimoired, invisible, (with the help of Belakor) in range of the void shield generator, or at one point, all 3! Once the helldrakes entered play, it was an exercise in scraping together some of the maelstrom cards, or secondary objectives like linebreaker to mitigate the damage. Scored 18 out of 50 here, but learned a ton about staying focused on the mission when playing from behind. He also won best in faction for Chaos, so I consoled myself with the thought of getting beat by the best!

 

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Gabus447/Chaos_zps9e7day6s.jpg

 

Game 3: Ravenwing vs Adeptus Mechanicus/Space Wolves

 

Utterly exhausted at this point, I moved to the next table to play my 3rd round opponent. I was surprised at what an endurance test all day warhammer is! My next opponent had Adeptus Mechanicus as his primary, with a formation of thunderwolves, and a librarius conclave. (as I wandered the tables during paint judging, I saw the TW/conclave combination on many, many, tables) This mission was capturing table quarters, with maelstrom, and I knew I would have the upper hand against any army that was not as MSU, and mobile as mine. As his army was basically a deathstar, I was able to hug the edges of the table, and just feed him one small unit at a time, while I raked in the maelstrom points. My opponent was cagey though, and on turn 5 broke up the deathstar to contest every table quarter and shrink the victory gap. Unfortunately for him, the game did not end, and after seeing the inevitable destruction of his army, he conceeded rather than waste time playing out what we both knew was going to happen. In his defence, his dice were horrible all game long, it was really hot, and everyone was exhausted. Sweetheart of a guy, and we had a great chat after the game about our armies, and the tournament in general. 50 point win for me. 

 

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Gabus447/Admech_zps2sbdvan4.jpg

 

Game 4: Ravenwing vs Daemonkin/daemons/chaos space marines

 

Sunday morning, rested and ready to go, I glanced at the posted standings, and saw I was #2 for the space marine players, and only 7 points behind the leader! Not bad for a rookie. (not #2 overall, just space marines, which made up 24 out of 60 players) The mission was in my favor as another one that favored a mobile army, and then I saw the list. Helldrake, Belakor, GUO, D-Thirster, Soulgrinder, and Hounds of Khorne. Uh Oh... The list was flier heavy, (i have no anti-air) fast, and good saves. I played it tough, managed to get the helldrake, and the soulgrinder. Even came close to getting the Thirster, but everything he touched disintergrated. He was as fast as I was, as MSU as I was, as tough as I was, but I couldn't fight in melee. Once again, i couldn't deal with the hounds. Poor guy had partied all night, and still wiped the floor with my army, I cant imagine how bad it would have been if he was sober! Despite his raging headache, he was super nice, super cool, and fun to play with. I lost, scoring only 15 points. All the other space marine players did well that round, and I slipped in the standings.

 

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Gabus447/Daemons_zpswuoqwra7.jpg

 

Round 5: Ravenwing vs Tau/ Eldar/ Harlequin/ Inquisition/ Assassin / stronghold assault/ Frankenstein

 

With the silly visions of winning my faction dashed, I was free to enjoy the last game. (i enjoyed all of them, but there was no pressure of any kind now) I drew a Frankenstein army. I had talked to the owner the day before, and he described it as his "Troll Flier" list. He was here to have fun, and the list would be annoying as hell. 3 crimson hunter formation, celuxus assassin, coteaz, some firewarriors, a bunker, solitaire, death jester, jetbikes, and to cap it off, a 5 man unit of Remoraz. I had never seen these before, and they are basically landspeeders that fly, hover, and put out about 30 bs5 str 5 twin-linked shots, that ignore cover with the markerlights. Anything they shoot at, dies. 

 

This game turned out to be the most fun of the weekend. The guy was pure fun, the mission was amazing, and our armies matched up surprisingly well. I had the advantage in MSU, in that I was able to score more maelstrom, and pick up the secondaries, he won the primary. In the end, I lost, but scored 22 points, for a near tie. 

 

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Gabus447/Tau_zps2wr2rcsd.jpg

 

With the games done, and the armies packed, the raffle and prizes at the end went swiftly. My team of guys who went there together scooped up best Orks, and best Astra Militarum, and even though I didn't get a prize, I scored the highest battle score, and paint score of my crew.

 

I scored 15th overall, with my battle and paint scores combined. I was 20th in battle points, and 10th in paint. As my first tournament I feel it was a respectable showing, and I met some great people. Although I have no frame of reference, I felt the event was well run, organized, on time, and well supported. If you are in the midwest next year, and looking for a tournament, come to the Michigan GT, I will be going to the next one!

[CarbonBased]

Congratulations on what sounded like a great weekend! I'd love to hit this next year, if my schedule permits.

[aura_enchanted]

so your saying youd go out with the space wolf player? how cute was he?

 

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRwpldQIZXKNuxqHjXUYVHs_2s5WBuqvF_urCa0JJpTDUEnNk2eFw

 

jokes aside here i think you had a solid showing

[dtse]

Awesome! Sounds like you had a great time wth great people which, ultimately is what it's about. Sometimes people forget that

 

Might I ask what made you decide to reserve the strike force every game?

[Brother dean]

Pffft... How many pounds is the army case? So much metal speeders.

[JJD]

It great to hear how much fun you had with your Raven Wing. your army looks great too. Any chance of a few more photos.

[SnakeChisler]

Thanks for taking the time to put a report together and glad you had a good time

 

It looks like the missions really helped

 

Personally don't see how kill points has any relevance at all in 7th 40k tho

[Prot]

Excellent little tournament report! Great looking army, and good for you for getting out there and putting it to the test.

 

That Belakor sure gets around doesn't he? So does that SW/RW deathstar list... personally I think allies are the biggest problem in the game, not a single unit, nor a type of weapon, it's allies. (just my opinion)

 

That's a great showing, and when I saw that picture of the daemonkin list with 2 baledrakes.... yikes that is THE counter to what you're rolling with. Daemons overall seem to get little respect but do very well at the competitive events!

 

Your army looks fantastic and more importantly you seem like a great guy to play. I'm glad your first experience was such a positive one. Grats on the finish!

[SnakeChisler]

Excellent little tournament report! Great looking army, and good for you for getting out there and putting it to the test.

 

That Belakor sure gets around doesn't he? So does that SW/RW deathstar list... personally I think allies are the biggest problem in the game, not a single unit, nor a type of weapon, it's allies. (just my opinion)

 

That's a great showing, and when I saw that picture of the daemonkin list with 2 baledrakes.... yikes that is THE counter to what you're rolling with. Daemons overall seem to get little respect but do very well at the competitive events!

 

Your army looks fantastic and more importantly you seem like a great guy to play. I'm glad your first experience was such a positive one. Grats on the finish!

 

Allies are only broken when it gets to the Tournament scene

 

 

For club games it adds a bit of fun and lets you get out of the Same Old Same Old rut

 

The game developer who came up with Invisibility must have been smoking something really strong and not been under much supervision when he came up with it. The single most broken Psychic power and the cause of so much angst, the crutch for every DeathStar out there.

 

GW will unfortunately not fix it and just let it lie till 8th which is a shame I like 7th it has been for the most part whats ignited our interest back in 40k with progressive missions and multiple ways of building an army 

[Prot]

 

Excellent little tournament report! Great looking army, and good for you for getting out there and putting it to the test.

 

That Belakor sure gets around doesn't he? So does that SW/RW deathstar list... personally I think allies are the biggest problem in the game, not a single unit, nor a type of weapon, it's allies. (just my opinion)

 

That's a great showing, and when I saw that picture of the daemonkin list with 2 baledrakes.... yikes that is THE counter to what you're rolling with. Daemons overall seem to get little respect but do very well at the competitive events!

 

Your army looks fantastic and more importantly you seem like a great guy to play. I'm glad your first experience was such a positive one. Grats on the finish!

 

Allies are only broken when it gets to the Tournament scene

 

 

For club games it adds a bit of fun and lets you get out of the Same Old Same Old rut

 

The game developer who came up with Invisibility must have been smoking something really strong and not been under much supervision when he came up with it. The single most broken Psychic power and the cause of so much angst, the crutch for every DeathStar out there.

 

GW will unfortunately not fix it and just let it lie till 8th which is a shame I like 7th it has been for the most part whats ignited our interest back in 40k with progressive missions and multiple ways of building an army 

 

 

This is the only further comment I'll make on this, because it's not the right thread for it....

 

I didn't say Allies can't be good. Their intent is clear, their ultimate usage isn't. For me allies is a case of the cure being worse than the disease. "The operation was a success... but the patient died" comes to mind. ;)

[SnakeChisler]

Agreed

 

I'd like to finish of with a smile ☺ coz seeing the Sons of Sam take on all comers & put on a show is good news indeed

[HandofAnubis]

Thats great. Sounds like a lot of fun. Do you have any regreats from using placing the RWSF in reserve as much as you did? Also di you outflank them or just come in through normal reserves? I will hoepfully be getting another game in this comming weekend an was planning to hol my RSWF in reserve if I think I can get away with it.

 

Great write up and pics as well. Your army looks great.

[Polythemus]

Thanks for posting. Great looking army, great result. first tourney is a two day event? Damn. and yes three games in one day can be grueling. Great pics and great work on the army.