40K - Army Selection at FoB NZGT

The audience for this missive are the attendees at the upcoming FoB NZGT. 

This event is very much billed as a hobby event where the winner will be the best all round hobbyist. So what does that mean? 

To win the event you will need to score highly in each of the four categories - Battle, Army Presentation, Sportsmanship and Army Selection. Battle is scored on table, Presentation via a checklist, Sports has a default setting and then there is Army Selection. This will be scored by me....so yep, purely subjective. 

SHOOTING FROM THE HIP

I have said that to score well for Army Selection you need to bring an army that maximizes the enjoyment of both you and your opponent. The army should be themed - in line with what I expect an army in the 41st Millennium to be, representative of its faction’s distinctive traits - and should avoid spamming of the best units/load outs in the Codex. Notice, I said Codex...singular. Any army will always score better if it drawn from a single codex versus one from multiple sources. 

Army Selection scoring is not en vogue in these days of entitlement. However, FoB NZGT has been clearly positioned as a hobby event and given the size of the field it is unlikely that you will win the event without scoring well in all four categories. Is that fair? Hell Yeah! This event does what it says on the tin. 

Last year I think that there was some doubt that I would follow through on my directives on how to get a good Selection scores. Although I made it clear what my expectations were if you wanted to score high, I received lists that were very strong. In a number of cases, I contacted people and told them that they would score low. They opted not to change their lists but after the event one of those contacted complained that he had scored so low!

So be warned - The same Sheriff is in town in 2020. By all means bring a strong list but don’t be surprised if you score less than those that don’t. Also check the Players Pack, a good Selection score does make a difference. The event still provides a lovely trophy - “Bloodthirster” - for the person who scores highest in Battle Points. 

Now I am not going to provide indicative scoring for your lists prior to the event. However I will provide a guide by scoring the list I am taking to Call to Arms which is also 1500 points. 

Harlequins 

Masque: Soaring Spite

HQ

Troupe Master - Warlord, Skystrider, Caress, Fusion Pistol

Shadowseer 

Elite

Solitaire - Cegorach’s Rose

Troops

Troupe- 5 Players, 4x Fusion, 3x Caress

Troupe - 5 Players, 4x Fusion, 3x Caress

Troupe - 5 Players, 4x Fusion, 2x Caress 

Troupe - 5 Players, 4x Fusion, 2x Caress

Fast Attack 

Skyweavers- 5x, Haywire & Glaive 

Skyweavers - 2x, 2x Haywire, 1x Glaive

Dedicated Transport 

4x Starweavers - 2x Shuriken Cannon

So the army scores well because:

• Harlequins

• Single Detachment

• Single Faction

• Single Masque

• Lots of Troops

Loses points because: 

• Lots of Fusion 

• Hard hitting Solitaire

Overall I would score this as probably a “6” on the “Crimes Against Pete Army Selection Scale” with the possibility of being a 7 depending on what else turns up. 

Remember the scale is 1-10 and I tend to use the lot! 

My final thought is that while last year there might have been gripes over specific individual scores, there was general acceptance that there weren’t many (any?) lists more than +/- 1 point from where they should be or deserving higher scores RELATIVE to their peers.