007 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Last weekend I attended the Dallas Open GT, a 5 round event, and my first GT ever. This was the first year of existence for the event, and it was professionally run with only one small issue with the BCP app that the staff got fixed quickly. Being my first big event I set the reasonable goal of being the top Dark Angel player, with only two other DA players out of the 70+ at the event. Here's what I brought: AzraelTalonmaster- Heavenfall relic bladeCompany Ancient-bolterScouts- 5Scouts- 5Scouts- 5Hellblasters-8Hellblasters-7Aggressors-3OutriderSammael- SableclawInceptor- 6- plasma exterminatorRavenwing Bike squad- 3, with 3 chainswords and 1 flamerDark Shroud- heavy bolter Round 1 was against a Deathguard list with: Chaos Lord 2x Nurgle Demon Prince 3x 5 Plague Marines Foul Blightspawn 3x Foetid Bloat Drones 3x Plagueburst Crawlers 3x 3 Nurglings Feculant Gnarlmaw Deployment was Hammer and Anvil. I castled up in a corner and kept everything near my shroud, waiting for his forces to close in. I had no problem destroying his bloat drones and the marines. The PBC's were a little tougher, especially with the -1 miasma, but I still brought one down. Between that and killing more most turns I finished with a win, 24-22. My opponent's PBC's just couldn't do much when I have the -1 affecting nearly my whole army. Round 2 was against an Astra Militarum list with: Tallarn Shadowsword Cadian Company Commander 2x Primaris Psykers 2x 8 Roughriders 6 Roughriders 2x Astropaths Platoon Commander 30 Conscripts 5x 9 Infantry Squads 6x Basilisks Hydra Deployment was Frontline Assault. He kept the SS in reserve, so I deployed more aggressively, near the front center of my zone. I went first and early on I was murdering infantry, easily got Big Game Hunter points, and even got Sammy & Talon Master in melee against his tanks. The tide shifted a bit when he brought in all his reserves, but it wasn't enough. I kept my Inceptors in reserve until the SS came out to play, and knocked it down a few tiers. His Roughriders didn't do much but helped him hold more objectives than me for a few turns, leading to a 24-23 point victory for me. Round 3 was against a Drukhari list with: Haemonculus Urien 3x 5 Wracks 10 Grotesques Archon 3x Ravagers Tantalus Raider Lelith Hesperax Succubus 9 Wyches 10 Wyches 5 Wyches Deployment was Vanguard. I castled up really well and chose to go second. First turn my opponent, a top player from Austin, moves his Tantalus around and takes pot shots at hellblasters, causing no damage. I saw my opportunity so moved towards it with most of my army, and deepstriked my inceptors in my deployment zone for max firepower, resulting in me killing the Tantalus and Raider. As the game progressed my opponent deepstriked in the Ravagers, and moved his Grotesques up the board. It took some sacrafices but I was able to kill all his characters except the Archon, and for my opponent's first time the Grotesques were eliminated. It sure took a lot to get them, even with plasma. Ultimately it was just a hair too little, as his Ravagers had free reign. Maybe I should have dedicated some shots against them instead of the Grots, but its a hard call. I ended up with a 24-25 point loss. Super close, would have won if we finished on turn 5, but we made it all 6 rounds. Round 4 was against an Ork list with: 3x Big Mek Warboss on bike 2x 30 boyz 29 boyz 2x painboyz 30 storm boyz Dakkajet 3x weird boyz 6x Mek gunz, kustom mega kannons Deployment was Dawn of War. I went first and killed half of the Kannons immediately. Respect Ork shooting! Most of my list was in the middle of the board, with a hellblaster squad and Sammy / Talon Master on a flank. He lined up fairly well spaced across the board, which I was hoping for, so as the game progressed I could fall back to the flank and kite out some of his list. Between Da Jump and stormboyz he got a few units in melee early on, mostly against scouts and my bikes holding an objective, which was fine as it allowed more time for my guns to blow orks away. He was taking huge numbers of casualties, with me easily maxing out Reaper and nearly Headhunter, but unfortunately we only made it to turn 4, so my opponent who had got 3 Recon and 3 Behind Enemy Lines points edged me out, 18-19. I had selected his Warboss for Kingslayer, and my opponent wisely ran him behind cover after I killed all the boyz around him, and that cost me. One more turn and I would have killed lots more and nearly tabled him. Oh well. Round 5 was against an Emperors Children list with: 2x Chaos Lord Slaanesh Demon Prince Exalted Champion 3x 10 Noise Marines 3x Rhinos 3x 3 Obliterators Deployment was Search and Destroy. I chose to go second, and my opponent was unable to kill anything his first turn, which meant he lost out on an Old School point for first blood. In return I took a few wounds off a rhino that was peeking out behind a wall. He the moved two squads in rhinos up, and brought in 2 oblit squad, but didn't do much against the Shroud and Azrael combo. In return I killed one oblit squad thru auspex! And blew up one rhino and killed some marines. He brought in the last oblit squad, and was able to get his prince and lord with jumpack in melee. Azrael went down but not without bringing the prince to 2 wounds after using Only in Death Does Duty End. Next few turns killed both easily, other rhino and marines down. We went to six turns, killing his third Rhino hiding in the back (ie tabling him) and holding all 3 objectives. A decisive win for the Dark Angels, 27-17. With that I finished 3-2, good enough for 20th out of 71 players and top Dark Angel player for the tournament. Keys to victory were knowing when to castle up hard or deploy more aggressively, knowing when to go first or second when I have the choice, and keeping the Dark Shroud out of sight as much as possible during deployment. The tournament organizers provided a cool laser etched glass for each best in faction player. Additionally I won a raffle they held two months ago for early entrants- the prize was a fully painted and magnetized Warhound Titan painted to colors of my choice by a local pro painter! (I chose Legio Gryphonicus) For the Lion! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/rboyes/IMG_1042.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteySödes Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Well done, congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrath of Bruinen Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Great write-up as always 007, and congratulations on your placing. That war hound is phenomenal - a great prize to cap off a great weekend by the sounds of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kierdale Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Well done! :tu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interrogator Stobz Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Awesome work for the Sons of the Lion, well done and congratulations on the amazing prize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasper_Hawser Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hantheman Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Amazing! What's your rough guide for when to go first and when to go second then? It's brave to give up 1st turn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJD Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Wow that is one hell of a raffle prize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
007 Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Amazing! What's your rough guide for when to go first and when to go second then? It's brave to give up 1st turn! Really depends on terrain and your opponent. Here's what the terrain was like, each board was nearly identical, with the large terrain in the middle counting as ruins (not my army of course, just for reference): General rule of thumb, first is better if your opponent deploys in the open and you'll be able to shoot his units (as long as its with enough of your forces). If they deploy with most out of range or line of sight, then go second. With ITC and end of battle round scoring, going second will allow you to know exactly how many objectives or kills you need to get those extra primary points...its a huge advantage knowing where to focus your efforts. Also note with ITC's Old School secondary objective, first strike- by deploying out of sight (and going second) there's a good chance you can deny your opponent one of those 4 available points. I nearly always tried to deploy out of LOS. If my opponent did as well, then I would choose to go second, so they would have to move out first turn to get objectives, etc, wouldn't hurt me much in shooting, and leaving them open to my return fire from a much larger portion of my list relative to what they were able to shoot with. This worked well against the Dark Eldar, where my opponent sped into the open with the Tantalus which didn't do much except die on my turn 1. Against the Imperial Guard, I wanted to get in his face, so I deployed forward in the open but not very exposed due to the central terrain. He was likely concerned by my hellblasters, so the Shadowsword got put in reserve. I then choose to go first to seriously degrade his forces before he can shoot back. If I went second, I would not have been over exposed since he wouldn't be able to shoot much at me save the basilisks. My first turn, my infantry walk through the ruin's and begin engaging his tanks while my speeders mow down guardsmen. Against the Orks, I want to remove as much as possible before he gets too close, so naturally I choose first turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hantheman Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Amazing! What's your rough guide for when to go first and when to go second then? It's brave to give up 1st turn! Really depends on terrain and your opponent. Here's what the terrain was like, each board was nearly identical, with the large terrain in the middle counting as ruins (not my army of course, just for reference): General rule of thumb, first is better if your opponent deploys in the open and you'll be able to shoot his units (as long as its with enough of your forces). If they deploy with most out of range or line of sight, then go second. With ITC and end of battle round scoring, going second will allow you to know exactly how many objectives or kills you need to get those extra primary points...its a huge advantage knowing where to focus your efforts. Also note with ITC's Old School secondary objective, first strike- by deploying out of sight (and going second) there's a good chance you can deny your opponent one of those 4 available points. I nearly always tried to deploy out of LOS. If my opponent did as well, then I would choose to go second, so they would have to move out first turn to get objectives, etc, wouldn't hurt me much in shooting, and leaving them open to my return fire from a much larger portion of my list relative to what they were able to shoot with. This worked well against the Dark Eldar, where my opponent sped into the open with the Tantalus which didn't do much except die on my turn 1. Against the Imperial Guard, I wanted to get in his face, so I deployed forward in the open but not very exposed due to the central terrain. He was likely concerned by my hellblasters, so the Shadowsword got put in reserve. I then choose to go first to seriously degrade his forces before he can shoot back. If I went second, I would not have been over exposed since he wouldn't be able to shoot much at me save the basilisks. My first turn, my infantry walk through the ruin's and begin engaging his tanks while my speeders mow down guardsmen. Against the Orks, I want to remove as much as possible before he gets too close, so naturally I choose first turn. Great advice, thanks. I've got a 1.5k ITC torunament next week. I'll try and use your advice, although we have less LoS blocking terrain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Worsey Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Ditto, was wondering same question yesterday so thanks for following up. Will look to heed it when I play our local itc comp in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokugawa Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Well done! Are there any tweak of lists would you like to make next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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