The Earth is Flat!

Okay after upsetting everyone yesterday by posting my opinion that there was a large disparity between the strongest and the weakest of the Masters 40k lists, today I turn my attention to the Fantasy lists.


These can be found here.

The TO this year decided to use the ETC restrictions for the Fantasy competition. I applaud him using hard caps as it removes the subjective part of the equation, though the ETC restrictions are towards the harder end of caps I like to play under.

So what does this mean? Well a couple of things.

Firstly, the lists are far more even in strength than was evident in the 40k mix. I think that there are approximately ten lists of similar strength and six lists that are grading weaker from there. That's good for a Masters event.

Secondly, the ETC restrictions reward very defensive builds. The ETC is probably the most overtly defensive event in the world with teams trying to score on average 13 points per game. As a result builds are designed not to give up points and that is pretty reflective in the stronger builds here. This is compounded by the de-fanging of the magic phase by limiting the effect of "big magic".

I expect that a lot of games between the top players will fall in the 7-13 point range.

For my own list I decided to go more aggressive. Normally under ETC restrictions I should be using a Bell list. This allows me to pour my points into the unit and if threatened in the last couple of turns, present my rear and rely on Unbreakable.

However that doesn't strike me as a great deal of fun - nor would that style of list give me the opportunity to push for big wins. Masters events are normally won by Battle Point scores sub-80BPs. This is because all players have theoretically earned their place at the table AND all lists are designed to be as strong as possible within the restrictions.

Therefore there is two ways to approach it - look for 6 wins or 4 big wins plus moderate losses.

For this event, I haven't played a lot of players so I'll be trying to chance my arm (where appropriate) rather than try and grind an overall result. That gives me the best opportunity to be in the mix - and if I'm attending then I aim to be contending! The target I'm looking for is 72 Battle Points which works out at 12 per game. How I get there is going to be the interesting part.

Looking at all the lists and taking into account what I know of the players, I'm picking the following podium:

1. Joe Dixon (WoC)
2. Antony Kitson (Ogres)
3. Mal Patel (Lizards)

Someone Call Greenpeace!!!!!

The lists are up for the NZ Masters and I ran my eye over the 40k lists this morning. You can find them here.

All I can say is “I’m astounded”. These guys plead for No-Comp and then come up with this.

This is going to be like watching a Norwegian Hunting Party on a Baby-Seal Clubbing Expedition. Of the lists posted, only three are what I would call competitive no-comp lists (Note: Hagen Kerr’s IG is missing – but given his desire to be loved I’m not expecting competitive).

There are three truly competitive lists there:

• Charlie St. Clair’s Space Wolves
• Doug Sainsbury’s Grey Knights
• Jack Dunn’s Dark Eldar

If these three do not all finish in the Top 5 then call me a stegosaurus.

So you know that people will turn up with lists like these then what do you bring?

Well, not Tyranids. Not Chaos. And not Eldar.

I’m guessing after this weekend that a lot of people aren’t going to be as keen on No-Comp as they were before.

Racked!!!

Last week I wondered into my local café to pick up one of the many fixes I pour into my body.


It has recently changed hands, previously being a café cum specialty chocolate shop. On the wall they had a shelf that they had used to display chocolate blocks and my thought processes suggested it would be great for wargaming figures. When I ask them where they got it they indicated that they were getting rid of it as it was no use in the café. Spotting my opportunity I offered them $100 for it and on Saturday I picked it up.

Here it is on the wall of the Dunn-geon carrying its new “product”.

I’m really happy with it as it lets me rack up about 4-5 Fantasy army and have the units available for games.

That's The Sound of Hopes Being Built Up

More Chaos Legions rumours courtesy of Warseer:

• There will be 3 Chaos codexes - Legions, Renegades and Daemons

• Daemons will appear in the Legion codex but not those awful lesser things they are now...not sure about Greater Daemons... 
• if you are doing a Legion list its based on "Black Legion(or the generic list)" or one of the others

• legions - whats there ?, lots 

• world eaters with bolt guns you say... yeah there there

• Expect very powerful characters here (they are 10 Millenia old)... my favorite is the overpowered red angel... now he IS angry

• There are Havoc's for marked legions

• Each Legion will get something unique to them, from force organization to individual units to HQs, for example Night Lords and World Eaters can only have 1 Heavy Support but get other bonuses

• In some ways picking a Legion will restrict you, there are a lot of Chaos characters already in fluff so expect most to return, plus a few new faces

• 6th Ed codex will be hardback

• Lot of inspiration from the 3.5 codex, with Warsmiths, Dark Apostles and the Alpha Legion rules (well lets say they have a dual command structure)

OK. I'm getting really excited about this now. It's a little known secret that I'm not a big fan of the current piece of Gav Thorpe shit.

Looks like they are channeling Pete Haines!

Skaven Dice

I recently had some Skaven Dice made for me and had a few extra produced in case anybody else wanted some. They are Chessex 16mm dice with the universal Skaven symbol instead of "6"

Happy to let them go to fellow rat brethren at my cost plus postage in lots of 10.

Let me know if you are interested by dropping me an email at pete@thefieldsofblood.com

Forgeworld Vermin Lord

Finally I finished painting the Vermin Lord I bought earlier in the year. Here are some photos of him.

More Fantasy News

Okay first the new Mangler Squigs:

And courtesy of Warseer the big news is confirmation of Vampire Counts:

- they are coming January (100% now)



- mortis engine/coven throne (unsure if this is final name) - plastic kit. apparently HUGE. we may be talking arachnarok base for this thing...(edit: thinking a bit more about it, it will probably be a chariot base like the sphinxes; but i think these things will be bigger than your average chariot from what ive heard)

- wraith riders/black knights - confirmed dual plastic cav kit

- monstrous infantry unit (unsure of name) - plastic kit. has option for wings. adding the wings is probably a unit option and may not be a completely separate unit.

- new finecast krell model


- black coach is indeed getting finecasted

New Beastmen Monsters from GW

Not the greatest pictures but here are the new Beastmen Monsters from Games Workshop.

Cyclops

Gorgan

These two come together in a box like the Stonehorn/Thundertusk, are plastic and priced GBP 33 - guessing $95 NZD.

Jabberslythe

This is Finecast and priced at GBP 41 - I'm guessing $120 NZD.

The pictures look like they come from White Dwarf and that is consistent with the rumoured December release date.

NZ Fantasy Masters - Meet the Contenders - Part Three

Now the final part and here’s where the smokies are!



Tim Lind – ranked #21 and holder of the Empire Icon
I really like Empire armies especially under ETC comp. Now I’m hoping Tim is more original than most Empire players “My army is Nuln-themed, except it has been joined by an Arch-Lector and his crew of flagellants”.

Solid tournament year from Tim to date and if he can make the top half of the Masters at first run then I think he should be really happy.
Prediction: Thinking that a top half finish will be a stretch particularly given the modified Line of sight rules

Henry Poor – ranked #23

Another first time Masters participant. Henry steered the Greenskins into 2nd at Fluffycon. The opposing armies will be harder here and it will be interesting to see if he can improve on his other mid-table results.
Prediction: Form says bottom half but I know he will be the neutrals’ favourite.



Ryan Simister – ranked #66 but 2009 NZ Masters Champion

Unheralded in 2009, Ryan swept to the trophy in one of the tightest finisher yet. Last year he crashed to earth as we saw how difficult it was to defend the trophy. He’ll go back to his Lizards this year and we’ll see exactly how cold-blooded he is (see what I did there?)!

Prediction: No form going into the event. I’m going to predict he’ll crash and burn again (as much to wind him up as anything).



Joe Dixon – ranked #67878987 and owner of nothing.

Harry’s little brother – and fighting to get out of his shadow. Ask him late at night and you’ll get “Hates him, I do”. Joe jets in from overseas (no not Nelson) to give an international flavour to the event. He tells me he hasn’t played since august but I know that he and Harry sit up every night on Vassal playing e-Warhammer. Should Joe and I get drawn against each other Joe will hide in a corner happy to take yet another 10-10 draw.

Prediction: Top 5. Let’s not kid ourselves


Peter Dunn - ranked #5578967873270654444444 and falling!

Too old, too slow! Crowd favourite.


Phil Comins – ranked even lower than me!

Another international jetsetter flying in for the event. Not sure he’s played a game of 8th

Prediction: Golden Daemon is fourth door down on the left

NZ Fantasy Masters - Meet the Contenders - Part Two

Continuing on with the field:
Daryl Painter – ranked #11 and holder of the Dwarf icon

I’d like to give Daryl the benefit of the doubt, I really would. Unfortunately investigators show he is a Serial Dwarfer. I suppose it could be worse….hey, let’s not kid ourselves, it couldn’t. Beware this man took Dwarfs to five tournaments in the last twelve months. Imagine how many innocent lives he has shattered.

Prediction: All Dwarfs gravitate to the centre.


Jeremy Brown – ranked #12

I don’t know Jeremy but I know he plays VC. That means he either has a Twilight fetish or he’s like a giant squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that looks like fun (see comments re Basil and VCs above). I’m hoping he likes Twilight.

Prediction: Depends on his list but if net-list Vamps then 7th to 11th

Antony Kitson – ranked #15 and holder of the Brets Icon.
Hands up who thinks Antony will bring Brets? Anyone with arm extended is wrong. I’m guessing he’ll bring either Dark Elves or possibly borrow an army from elsewhere. The Brets were good – but that was when we were worried about the Y2K bug and sub-prime was TV3.

So why will Antony bring Dark Elves? To right the blot on his copybook when he let some visiting Englishman slip past him in the last round of the 1st Masters. Watch it Mal, he won’t let it happen again.
Prediction: Top 3. Worse case he’ll finish 6th.

Glen Tibbles – ranked #16 and holder of the Beastmen icon
So which Glen Tibbles will turn up? The cranky old man that strikes fear into any whippersnapper or the faithful old hound that rolls on his back and let’s you scratch his tummy. Rumour has it that Glen is breaking out the Tomb Kings for this event so hopefully it’s the former rather than the later. I’m expecting lots of Monsters regardless.

Prediction: Honestly don’t know. Could push the top five or fall into the bottom three.

Nick Irvine – ranked #17 and holder of the Wood Elf icon

I’m not fooled by Nick’s five year façade in dominating sports scores. I know that inside that body is a WAAC gamers waiting for the opportunity to rip somebody’s face off. Sadly Nick, this isn’t it. I could make all sorts of derogatory comments about Wood Elves but being the only VC player ever to lose to Beastmen, I’m too smart for that.

Prediction: Soft scores won’t save you here Nick.

NZ Fantasy Masters - Meet the Contenders - Part One

Okay so the invitations for the 4th NZ Masters for Warhammer Fantasy have been released. Time to indulge in some smack talk.


So without further ado here’s my take on the field:

Mal Patel – ranked #1 and holder of the Lizardmen icon.

The man who bills himself as Team Andy Joyce’s token ethnic, Mal has had a great year……winning pretty much all the major events in New Zealand and representing at the ETC. Mal finished 4th at last year’s Masters and there’s only one of that year’s Top Three turning up at this event.

Let’s say it would be a major surprise if mal uses anything other than Lizards but given his new found love of the ETC he is shifting from his comfy carnosaur couch to a one trick pony where he pushes 1200 points of characters in with a big block of saurus and shouts “All aboard the Funbus”. Buffed up by Beast magic he pushes it forward and smacks it into the nearest target with all the finesse of a rutting rhinoceros.

Prediction: There or thereabouts. Biggest weakness is if there is a bar onsite.



Daniel Butler – ranked #3 but sadly holds no icon (that looks a scab to pick)
The poster boy for Tronhammer and being honest, what else is there to do in Hamilton? This year’s “Next Big Thing” has come from nowhere to sit at #3. However, I bet he has those little doubts that nag at him in the wee small hours of the night – “Am I only here because I play Daemons?”

Prediction: He’d have to be very disappointed if he didn’t make the Top 5 and really how hard can it be to Point ‘n Click?


Basil Moskovis – ranked #5 and unlike Daniel he has an icon – for Vampire Counts

Rumour has it that the hardest thing for both basil and his opponents will be staying awake during the games. Unless he springs a surprise Basil will be bringing a Ghoul horde with massive Grave Guard bunker. If you like champagne Warhammer you won’t be watching Basil’s games! Let’s just say if any games vary outside 12-8 I’ll be very surprised. The question Basil needs to ask himself is whether 65-72 points out of 120 is enough to win the event.

Prediction: I’d bet my house he finishes between 4th and 6th


Thomas van Roekel – ranked #6

So what can I say about Thomas? Well the big question is whether he will bring Dwarfs or High Elves. Or will he panic and fall back on his Lizards. I’m guessing that he will err on safety first and pick the Lizards. But is that the right decision? Well anything is better than ruining 6 people’s weekends by playing Dwarfs. The brave decision is to take High Elves and to be honest if he did that should scare a lot of people.

Prediction: Lizards top third. High Elves, pretty much the same. Dwarfs? Who cares!


James Page – ranked #9
The man with the famous name. I think the most obvious line here is “Well Toto, we’re not in Kansas” and James will find this mudpuddle a little bit deeper than the one in Tauranga. Speaking of which I have real misgiving about people from Tauranga given that they elected Winston Peters as their MP at multiple elections. Suggests something not right with the place…..so up to James to prove they don’t all have six fingers.

Prediction: Never liked Led Zep so James will need to be on top of his game to impress the audience.

NZ Masters - Warhammer Fantasy

Just like Charlie gave a run-through of the participants in the 40k Masters i'm looking to do the same for Fantasy.

I am just waiting for Phil Wu (TO) to confirm the final field as I don't want to offend anyone (unknowingly at least!).

What I will say is that it is a very open field and we'll have to all be on our game to stop Mal Patel's Lizards from continuing their recent domination. However I suspect that more than one person will be working on tactics to remove Mal's 1500 point Saurus Fun-Bus.

I also expect to fight out my traditional 10-10 draw with Joe Dixon at some point.

Rhellion's Review of the Skaven Book (Podcast)

Brad Schwandt (Rhellion) appeared recently on Ohiohammer, a US based podcast.

He gives a review of the Skaven Book and I think does an excellent job - I suspect coloured by the fact that so many of our views are aligned.

You can check it out on here or by downloading it from iTunes. It is Episode 10 and Brad's content starts around the three hour mark.

Masters 40k entrant breakdown

Hi hi!

So we're now less than a month out from the 40k masters, so I figured we'd look at a break down of the field with a quick summary.

I assure you any jibes are tongue-in-cheek and come from a place of love with a well established friendship ;)



Hayden Korach: Hayden qualified after playing Eldar better than anyone else for yet another year. A large amount of his success has come from people chain shooting their inadequate amounts of ranged anti tank at a fortuned avatar all day long, but with a fair bit of anti psyker stuff floating around this weekend, it will be interesting to see how it pans out. That being said, Hayden recently had been looking at dropping the avatar and chunking his army out with a huge amount of s6 anti infantry firepower, so it will be interesting to see how he goes.

Matthew Robinson: No disrespect to Matthew, but I have no idea who he is. I've never played against him, and I've never heard anyone talk about having played against him. I don't actually understand his inclusion, as he's ranked 42nd, and has a season high of 19th at battlecry with his dark angels. *shrug* - it will be an interesting weekend for Matthew.

Daniel Hayden: Daniel has consistently played the pants off everyone hes come across all year, and year after year keeps improving. Daniel is the new Boy-Wonder on campus, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he brings to Masters. Dan has been running the Swarmlord, a brace of Trygons and a brace of Tervigons along with 3 units of Hive Guard and a bunch of chaff to fill out. It will be interesting to see if he brings the same list or an adaptation of it, or if he is working on something new. Hopefully he doesn't join Team Disappoint, more on this later.

Andrew Bartosh: Bartosh has produced pretty consistent results with his Chaos time and time again, and it's good to finally have him at one of these. That being said, when pushed quite hard he tends to roll over, and this is something he will need to overcome to do well at the event. His list historically has been quite generic, usually having a big unit of terminators, but this probably won't be enough to clinch it, with some almost certain losses in the match-up matrix.
Andrew has also been working on blood angels on and off, so he may toss the Chaos to run these. That being said, Hayden Korach is convinced that every time he loses with his new BA's he gives up and starts again, so perhaps he'll never finish them ;D

Mark Buttle: Mark got here with consistent results with his tyranids throughout the year, but is now looking to make this his first event with his new Eldar. They are looking fantastic, and did well at Armies on Parade, so I look forward to seeing them. He's working hard to finish them and I'm sure he'll get them finished to a point where he's happy with them. The alternative would be to join Team Disappoint, and he has too much self pride, and respect for his opponents to do this.

Henare Akari: Hen has been performing consistently all year long with his Chaos, but is now working on making the most out of the new Black Templar FAQ. Hen plays solidly and gives it everything right until dice down, so should perform quite well at this event.

Damien Avery: Damien performed awesomely all year, and plays a nid list and play style and focuses on board control. Damiens now working on GK's, but will be running his nids rather than joining Team Disappoint. He's improved all year long and on ability alone, is probably the best Tyranid player in the country now.



It's at this point I should probably explain Team Disappoint. Generally speaking, NZ tournaments mark on a mix of Painting, Sports, Comp and predominantly Battle scores. Historically, everyone at the masters has been running a decent enough looking army all year, so doesn't mark any painting, everyone get full sports because you don't make it to masters if you were a dick in the first place, and it has wound up being just Comp and Battle. That being said, this year is compless leaving just battle in the mix, which is fine - great even.
For the first time ever though, some people are looking at bringing partly, or completely unpainted armies and this really is a huge disappointment. There are many, many people out there (and many threads on the subject!) that find playing against an unpainted army absolutely no fun what so ever, for me it just seems disrespectful. In the past if I've just not been able to get a unit finished in time, at the very least I've managed to borrow a finished unit from someone else.

David Wilson: Right, back into the swing of things then. David Wilson is a hugely nice guy who has traveled to many tournaments and done fairly well with his Witchhunters. That being said, many people aren't a fan of the new WD list, and I can't say I really blame them, so he's moving on to Orks, triple battlewagons to be exact. That being said, Last I heard they were still in their shrink wrap, let alone not yet painted, so hopefully he doesn't become the captain of Team Disappoint ;)

Hagen Kerr: It's good to see ole Grandpa sneaking in the back door. Hagen runs a fairly typical mech guard list, but has a few variations that tend to be slightly less logical to some of us ;) I'm sure he will do well though and will be one of the few people who can give Doug a good run for his money.

Doug Sainsbury: For his first masters, Doug has broken the bank and purchased the national supply of Razorbacks. Doug performed exceptionally well all year long with smart objective based play and efficient mobile lists, usually using a lot of the ravenwing units. He's looking at running his next years tournament list, a fairly typical and extremely strong GK list. That being said, Doug can sometimes give up a bit early and be a bit doom and gloom, this could betray him at the event if he's not careful. The only thing that is certain is that Doug's list will change 900 times between this event and the week after, even IF he goes undefeated and cleans everyone up ;D

Jack Dunn: Historically I've backed Jack to win events, and this time is no different. The only thing that has changed is that this time Jack is also playing an incredibly competitive DE list that really plays to his strengths as a player. The 3 main challenges for Jack will be myself, Doug, and Hagen due to the match up. That being said, Jack is a much better player than all 3, and depending on terrain, mission, and the ever beloved first turn roll, Jack should have this event in the bag.

Charlie St. Clair: I'm still torn between running the orks and running the spacewolves. While the space wolves have the tools to fight their way out of any tough situation, I find myself doubting my own ability with them. That being said, the playing field has changed an awful lot since the last 2 times the Orks stomped all over the masters. Jacks style of DE can pop the vehicles and wipe out the numbers before I even get to imagine being close. I can't pop the razorbacks protecting Dougs purifiers before hand, so they can comfortably smash 30man boyz units and instakill meganobs while im forced to play defensively against an army that out shoots me by a lot. In the past though, the Orks have always come through and won games I really had no business winning, so I'm not sure I should doubt them.

I'll probably run the wolves because they're something new, and enjoy the school of hard knocks learning with them, but realistically I expect a new name to be engraved on the trophy this year - we shall see.

That being said, I could just join team disappoint and go out and buy a bunch of shrink wrapped boxes then just prod them around the table, why bother to even clip them off the sprues, that's all this game is really about right ;)?

Well, that's pretty much it. There are a few notable exclusions from the field this year, which is a little bit perplexing - but ours is not to reason why.

- Charlie

No.....After You!

On Thursday evening I managed to get a game in against Locky and the Daemon list that he has recently been running amok with (if the reports from other recent opponents are to be believed).


Locky’s list was built around strong character selections – Bloodthirster, Level 2 with Shadow on chariot, Herald with Siren Song in Daemonette block and a BSB in a block of Plaguebearers. This was backed up with a block of six Fiends, a single Fiend and two units of Furies. The game ended up as a very big win to the Rats with just the unharmed Thirster and 3 Furies left.

When we sat down and de-briefed after the game I suggested that the game was heavily slanted in my favour when, after winning the roll for First Turn, Locky gave it to me. This allowed me to dictate the pace of the game and pressure parts of his army before Locky could implement the full court press that Daemons are renowned for.

The whole go-first or go-last is a real conundrum that is driven by your army and tactics and that of your opponent. I’m guessing about 90% of people choose to go first when that is not necessarily their best option.

To me it is a key consideration in building a list as I will either seek to maximise my changes of going first (reducing drops) or accept I’m likely to be going second and therefore include more drops and more diverters. More drops let me control the deployment process by not betraying my hand too early – thereby potentially minimising the immediate effect of going second. More diverters let me establish roadblocks that again minimise that effect by stalling and annoying combat blocks.

I’m not sure that people give this area of the game the necessary thought it deserves. For me, list composition should factor in strategies so that you are not exposed whether you go first or second.

Review - BaneLegion's Flint-Fang

Last week I decided to order one of the new BaneLegions models produced by Maelstrom Games. I had previously purchased one of their BaneLords miniatures – their Verminkind Standard Bearer – and I was very happy with the model. I felt that it painted up well and so was keen to see what the larger models looked like.


So introducing Flint-Fang. I purchased the model as an alternative to my twin-maw blind wyrm and my recently sourced Forgeworld Brood Horror. And you never know when you’ll need three Hell Pit Abominations.

I ordered the model last Tuesday evening and it arrived in my letterbox just after five days later. That is astoundingly fast given Wellington is 12,000 miles from Mansfield. It came very well packaged in full colour box with various parts separated into two crush proof bags and packed out with bubble wrap.

The resin is certainly harder than that of either Citadel Finecast or Forgeworld. It is a dark greenish grey in colour. There was minimal flash but there were quite a few pouring lugs that needed to be removed. This was easily done with a set of clippers and a craft knife.

Mould lines were minimal – a very small one on the tail and a more visible one through the rib-cage. Again they were easily removed with a knife. One small criticism is that whereas GW have become masters at concealing mould lines on their most recent models, here the ribcage mould line was very visible and definitely required removal.

After lugs, flash and mould lines were removed I had a dry run at putting the model together. It comprises body, two arms, two heads, tail and four spikes with ears. There were a couple of gaps between the heads and torso (similar to what you get with Forgeworld) but these can be easily filled with the new Liquid Green Stuff.

Overall I’m very happy with the model and it will certainly provide an alternative to my current HPA. Expect it to hit the painting table in the next few weeks and I’ll get some pictures up shortly.

Urge all Fantasy players to check out the range at http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk/

Skynet in action?

These things don’t take long do they?


On the day of its release a copy of the new Codex: Necrons was available on the net.

Wonder f this istheir first step to world domination....making their manual more widely available. Cue Skynet jokes....

NZ WHFB ETC Team Announced

The New Zealand team for the ETC 2012 in Poland is:


Dave Grant (Captain - 3rd cap)

John Matthews (3rd cap)

Chris Wilcox (3rd cap)

Mal Patal (2nd cap)

Dave Meachan (2nd cap)

Dan Butler (1st cap)

Locky Reid (1st cap)

Rowan Keating (1st cap)

Mark Skilton (Non-playing coach & reserve player - 2nd cap)
 
 
Out go the two Dixons and James (Kenny) Milner and in come Australia-based Oz Top 10 Player Rowan Keating, Locky Reid (Wellington) and Dan Butler (Hamilton).
 
And the appointment of Monty as non-playing Coach - great initiative and selfess testimony to Monty.
 
Good luck guys.

NZ 40k Masters (Melting Snowflakes)

So over the weekend the players pack was released for the 4th New Zealand Masters. This is the first year it will be held in Auckland (the previous three I ran in Wellington) and it is likely we’ll see some new faces participating.

Today I am going to look at the 40k Pack which is almost elegant in its simplicity. Here it is:

Army Restrictions: Standard codex, The New Necron codex is not permitted pls use the older one.

Missions: 6 Missions will be revealed on Tournament day.

Composition: Masters will not have a comp component.

Battle Points: (120 pts)
  Points will be scored as follows:
  
Win 15pts
Draw 7pts
Lost 0pts

Bonus of 1points will be scored by each player for each of the conditions below:-

• " Enemy General dead or falling back at end of the game;
• " Most expensive enemy unit destroyed, immobilized or falling back at end of the game;
• " Your General is neither dead nor falling back at the end of the game;
• " No enemy scoring units in your Deployment Zone;
• " You have at least one Troop Unit that counts as scoring (as per the Warhammer 40k   rulebook) at the end of the game.

Sportsmanship (30 pts of Total)

After every game each player will be asked to complete a sports score

Sheet rating their opponent’s. TO will check any irregularities that arises.

[0] your opponent more than occasionally displayed behaviour you would classify as border line cheating and was not what you expected to face at the tournament. Examples may include they employed a "rubber ruler", applied differing rules interpretation s to their sole advantage, stretched the rules when it suited etc. This score should be handed out only after careful consideration. Also this must be clarified with the T.O.

[3] Your opponent's behaviour clearly detracted from your ability to enjoy the game. They refused to resolve rules disputes amicably or displayed an unsavoury attitude throughout the game - whether too much gloating when winning or too much bitterness when things didn't go their way. PLEASE NOTE calling over a TO for a rules dispute is regarded as an amicable outcome and should not be punished.

[5] Your opponent gave you a decent amicable game or better. Your opponent was essentially in line with, or exceeded your expectations of another player's behaviour. Rules queries were decided amicably. Nothing they did detracted from your ability to enjoy the game, other than maybe having beaten you but you can hardly hold that against them...

So all very straightforward.

The Sports system is pretty much a copy of what I ran last year and I can say that for both Fantasy and 40k nobody scored other than the maximum. That is what you expect in a Masters event where the participants should know both the rules AND how to conduct themselves.

I’m not a big fan of running non-standard missions and keeping them secret until the day of the event. In my experience this tends to cut into game time as people have to dissect and digest the mission on the day (within the given game time) and also increases the chances that people will overlook a crucial aspect. Similarly unless you are incredibly good or lucky then it is unlikely that you will produce a suite of missions that create a level playing field for the armies that turn up. However if released before lists are submitted then people can cut their cloth accordingly and importantly can have no excuse that they were blindsided. This is definitely something that I would reconsider.

No Comp is great given the choir that has been singing for it over the past year. I’m really interested to see how it pans out – because I suspect a few people are in for a rude awakening. I’ll give a clue to some of the unique and beautiful snowflakes out there – it wasn’t Comp stopping you from winning events in the shark pool. Just remember – as this blog said earlier in the year – we wantt no tears. This is big boy pants time.

I think it is going to be a very interesting Masters. I think it will all be about stopping Charlie and people should think about that in their list design. However I suspect very few will be able to grasp such “advanced” meta considerations and will take their normal list and tweak it slightly. On the Sunday evening they will sit there thinking one of two things; either “well I knew my list was sub-optimal so I didn’t expect to win” or “the dice, the missions, the Moon in June stuffed me”.

Don’t worry snowflakes “You are all winners just by reaching the Masters”!

Heaven help that you actually try to go out there and win the thing!

Seize the chances Guys. Do your very best!

Loaded Dice II - This Time It's The Golden Daemons

Last month I was speaking to the guy who had broken the story about the Australian gamer who had been caught using loaded dice at numerous 40k tournaments in Melbourne.


He told me to hold tight for Round 2 of the sorry tale. Well it has now broken across various forums/blogs. You can get a full rundown at http://chestofcolors.com/scandal-at-golden-demon-australia/

Not content with using crooked dice, the individual concerned has now alledgedly been exposed as having entered work commissioned from a Polish painter, Bohun as his own at the recent Golden Daemon painting competition at Games Day Australia.

Here are the photos of the entry and photos of the originally commissioned work*.

Games Day Australia Entry

Work Commissioned from Polish Painter Bohun

The Two Dreadnaughts Side by Side

Interestingly, the guy entered the event under a false name rather than his own. You draw your conclusions as to why he would do that.

From my point of view it is pretty hard to fathom why someone would feel motivated to go down such a route.

* Thanks to Chest of Colours where photos were lifted from

New Fantasy Plastic Coming Up

The rumours are that Games Workshop has completed eighteen new plastic single figure sprues for the various Fantasy armies.


These will be similar to the Warrior of Chaos and Vampire Counts figures released in the past few months.

I’m really hoping this is true as while I think some of the figures have been “patchy” – the Necromancer, for instance – they represent a really good addition to the range.

Personally I’m hoping that we’ll see the release of a couple of Skaven characters e.g. Chieftain with BSB option and a Plague Priest.

GW's Brave New World

I am wondering how Games Workshop’s new release policy is working out. Earlier this year the Company basically went into lockdown mode on new releases changing the way they approached this issue over the years.


In the past you initially had information released at Games Day and similar events about the projects the studio was working on. This was followed by a series of leaks/teasers around the net in the period 3-6 months prior to a release. This might be a “three-up”, an inclusion in a photo and general noise on the internet about the release. The month before there was a teaser in the White Dwarf followed by wall to wall coverage in the release month White Dwarf that came out to subscribers 2 weeks before release date. Finally the shop got a “black box” 3-4 weeks before so the staff could make and paint the models and acquaint themselves with the rules prior to release. All this was designed to create a buzz around the release.

This has all changed. Black boxes are gone, White Dwarf has no prior month teasers and its release is now delayed, with subscribers getting their copies AFTER the magazine’s release to the shops. The rationale given for this is that GW is looking to create an event around the monthly release day, so that if people want to see New Releases (hell, even know what the release is) they have to go into the shop.

The commercial reason for the change is supposedly twofold. Firstly, if people know what is coming out in advance then they restrain their purchases in the period leading up to the release. As a result GW believes their overall sales are dampened. Secondly, by creating an event they generate an excitement factor that leads to more impulse purchases as the customer is seduced by seeing something new and shiny. The expectation is that by addressing the first issue and introducing the second, this policy will lead to higher overall sales for GW.

It is going to be very interesting to see how this works out for them. I’m not convinced but will wait until the next set of financials to get a better handle.

I know from my own point of view the shift in policy has not really played out. I complained about the change in service conditions around my White Dwarf subscription and secured an extension of 12 months to my current sub and a GBP25 gift voucher. Against that my purchases direct from the GW shop since may have been restricted to Foundation Paints, GW Washes, the OK Army Book and Magic Cards plus the three Black Library books.

With the move to these types of restrictions plus the GW embargo of third parties supplying Southern Hemisphere customers my buying of their products is about 20% of previous years. Given that this is against a backdrop of two Warhammer armies I collect (TKs & OKs), from me at least some of their recent moves have destroyed a revenue stream.