On the road again... Jawaballs gets thumped hard.


Well, not really. I drove a couple hours out to Scranton, PA this past weekend for a small tournament at Unknown Comics and Games. Fritz was supposed to come with me, but had to bail, so I went lone wolf again. Based on what Autarch Andrew had to say about the competition around there, I will not be telling the truth if I said my expectations were low. Without getting too optimistic, I considered myself a favorite to win. :) Was I ever wrong!

I played three games. I will give a summary of all three here.

Game One:
Vs Vanilla marines, lots of tacticals and some small assault squads in razorbacks, and one big one with a chaplain, also two vindicators and a dakka pred.

The objective was victory points and to kill the troops.

The missions were a little different here. The goal over all was to amass various point totals for completing objectives. In this case, I had to kill all of his troops. (35 marines and 10 scouts) ick... Other objectives were to wipe him off the table, and something else, I forget.

I thought I would still pull it off though. He deployed 25 of them in one building... so I dropped two pods next to it and popped smoke on my dreads, letting their assault do the trick. It mattered not though. Both dreads were destroyed by a single las cannon shot each. One shot each hit, penned, I failed smoke, then he rolled a 5 twice for the destroyed result... each. It was going to be one of those days. If just one of those dreads had gotten into that building the game would have gone very differently. None of his marines had fists.

So that was about how it went... I dropped my other dread near another 10 man squad on the other side of the table, but on his turn his chaplain led assault squad came in and assaulted the dread... tieing it up for a couple turns. By the time I dealt with them and got into grips with the tactical squad the game was over. It ended with victory points about even, and neither of us picking up the other objectives.

Game Two:
Capture the bases.
vs Tau.

I smiled when I saw the army I was about to play... Tau?? Sweet. He had two fish, 4 squads of fire warriors with two of them with the fish. 2 squads of suits one of them being his commander, 2 squads of pathfinders, one big squad of 4 pirhana, a squads of three twin linked rail gun suits in the back, and maybe some more...

The objective was to capture the enemy base. The secondary objective was to mass kill points. You got a max of 5 points, one for each KP.

This game had a nice quirk in that there was weird weather. You randomly rolled each turn to determine the result. One of them, which you needed a 2 to get, was Warp Storm. Once warp storm was in play, I got to roll a die for each of his squads that were on the table, and on a 1 or 2 he had to take d6 Str 4 wounds. Muahaha my eyes lit up when I saw this. He deployed his entire army and I only had two tactical squads out. He failed to roll a 1 or 2 for my two squads... but then it was my turn... enter the legendary Jawaballs ability to roll 1 and 2... I no joke did it for every one of his squads. By the end of the warp storm, his two pathfinder squads were running off the table, fire warriors were laying dead all over, and even his commander suffered a wound!

But that would be the only luck for me this game. I still had to capture his base and I went first. It was defended by cover, impassable terrain, immobilized fish, 3 rail gun suits and his 4 pirhana, along with some fire warriors hiding nearby to pop out and rapid fire if they had to. I was dropping my pods as close as I could and trying to hide from the fusion and rail guns. I almost managed to get in and wipe out his suits. I had one dread land safely. It got out and hid behind a rock, but in range to assault next turn. Next turn, another landed in a perfect spot, got out and hid as best it could. My one behind the rock came out and laid the hurt on the pirhana, who he had used to stop me from getting my pods near his suits. I destroyed one and forced all the drones to disembark. Then I assaulted the drones... but unfortunately they all died, my glimmer of hope of being locked in combat for a turn ended with my dread sitting in the open facing 3 fusion guns and 3 TL Rail Guns. On his turn he whacked both dreads. I realize now that I should have assaulted the pirhanas instad of the drones. I hit 6 times, which would have hit the ships as easily as the drones since they moved less then 12 and I needed 4s. 6 penetrations would have wiped out those ships. I would have been left in the open, but the railguns would only have killed one of the dreads, leaving my other to assault the suits and wiping out all of his base defenders. Then I would have assaulted his fire warriors with one of my bikes and claimed his base with the other. (Any model could claim the base in this game.) Instead after taking out my dreads his ships then killed my bikes.

I stopped his attempt to take my base cold, and at the end of the game, he was not actually holding his own. I was successful at taking it away from him since nothing was within 3, but it did not matter. He did not need to be holding it, he only had to stop me from taking it.

The game ended in my second draw of the day.

But I still had a chance. I needed a big win in game three.

I played thousand sons.

he had 3 squads of 7 T-sons, a squad of plague marines, a squad of 3 oblits, 2 vindicators with upgrades, a winged prince and Arihman. Each of his tsons had a caster. This game was a blood bath. The objectives were to claim loot counters with points being given for each one held, and to wipe out each others heavy support. At the end of the game, neither of us were holding an objective since all of our troops were dead, but all of our heavies were still functional. I scored zero points while he got 5 for killing my captain.

Game breaker in this one? Can Arihman shoot his psychic power shooting attack more then once per turn? In one turn he shot it three times at a dreadnought... blowing off two arms and immobilziing it. I didnt know it, but some one pointed out later that he can only use it once per turn. Any of you have any input on that with page numbers? Nothing like that freak caster sitting in a rhino and blasting away with that damn power. He did it three times in one turn, then twice more a turn in the next two turns. Can he even fit in a rhino? He looked pretty big. It didnt matter because I dont think I would have scored many more points any way, but I would like to know for next time.

So at the end of the day I finished 10th out of 16. I could have picked up 30 points in the last game, and 1st was only 20 points ahead of me... so 10th is a lot closer then you would think... but what is important is that I learned how to play the missions for this location. At Brothers Grim the missions are usually more in your face bloody. These missions were more subtle. Next time I go there, I will definitely change my list and include more tactical marines. I think that lots of troops actually is a big advantage there. The best part is that I took draws in my first two games which would pretty much eliminate me from contention in most of the tournaments I attend, but I still was in reach to win the whole thing, and needed only to score 20 out of 30 in the last game to win it all. Oh and they give out a crap load of store credit to the winner. 1st place got 150 bucks! Worth going for that alone. If you are within a couple hours of this place, I definitely suggest you make the trip.

Unknown Comics and Games is located at:

205 N. Washington Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503

I was impressed with the stylish and crisp design of the store itself, as well as its size. It is not wide, but it is long, and the products are well displayed... some on wire racks, some on nice open shelves. They are easy to find, look at and get to. A nice change from some of the cluttered, unorganized messes that you encounter on occasion.

The missions were fun and fair, and they used a minimum of comp and painting points. So if you are not a painter, you can show up and not be penalized too badly, and same for playing jacked out lists. (I scored two out of three comp points.)

John, who ran the tournament, was passionate and open to input. I didn't realize who the owner was until right before I left, I think is name was Jim, sorry man! I will edit this once I see my video. But it was cool because he was right in with the rest of us, talking and having fun. I had to actually ask him if he was the owner once I put it together.

They hold tournaments the first weekend of every month. There is not a lot of room, especially since there was also a Magic tournament going on at the same time as ours... but the venue can probably hold a 24 man tournament easily.


More to come...

Jawaballs

23 comments:

Drew K said...

I said and I quote the everyday competation is bleak but in tournaments only a few guys do better than me and thats what happen i was only two points from 4th place my paint score screwed me over lol.ya but as for the rules thing NO you can only cast one shooting power per turn i know this because i have tried mind war 3 times and the answer was always NO.but anyways fun tournament great people and hope to see you next time.

---Andrew

Akaleth said...

Ahriman's staff allows him to cast 3 psychic attacks per turn, which also applies to psychic attacks used in the shooting phase (which he has 3 of). I'm not sure if that allows him to cast the same attack more than once in the same turn, but he is definitely allowed to use up to 3 psychic attacks in the shooting phase depending on whether he used any other powers before then.

Bodacious said...

Ahriman's black staff (pg 51 C:CSM) allows him to make 3 psychic test in the same turn and one of those would be including his force weapon ability.

However, the CSM FAQ says: "Powers that are psychic shooting attack can only be used once per turn."

He could fire the bolt of change (strong shot) and then only fire the much weaker doombolt after that.

He is in power armor so can be embarked in a rhino.

Jawaballs said...

So he cannot shoot the same high power blast at my dread three times in one shooting phase? Grr, that tore me up.

Steven Beasley said...

No one can cast more than one Psychic Shooting Attack per turn. Sad that know one would have stopped him by game three, probably just tried it and got away with it. Sad really that people would stoop that low just to win. It is just a game after all.

litlamzetiv said...

@Beasley RE: "No one can cast more than one Psychic Shooting Attack per turn."

MC psykers can, but they're an exception--not the rule.

Steven Beasley said...

So correct. I should have said no infantry psyker. And who knows about the BA Dreadnought Librarian thing. He might be able to as well. We will have to wait and see.

Steven Beasley said...

yeah look at pg 50 of the BRB, it's pretty clear that even if you are allowed to take more than one psychic shooting attack it can't be the same one.

Longinus said...

He can use three shooting attacks per turn (dont know if he can use the same). pg 51 C:CSM it even allows him to use several powers that counts as firing a weapon in the same shooting phase(Must target the same unit)

Flekkzo said...

Assault Marines in Razorbacks. Did he do the switch-a-ro thing at the beginning? As I assume that he bought the Razorbacks for his Tacticals. I really wish that Assault Marines could take Razorbacks as dedicated :(

Sounds like a good experience, playing in a different place and all of a sudden having to deal with totally different lists. Maybe the internet überlists are a fallacy, maybe you can only win with them under certain circumstances. Think about that for a second:)

Reading the rules noone can use the same psychic shooting power twice. Ahriman's rules simply let him use more than one psychic shooting attack, not using the same one more than once. I found no rules to stop you from using non-shooting powers more than once in a turn.

So, pretty cut and dry, can't do that. You better spice up your list with that new codex (ooh the lovely point prices they got!) and go back and show them who's the boss :)

You should have insisted on a game with Autarch Andrew as well :)

Ryanjsmall said...

Hey Everyone

I remember reading up about psychic shooting attacks the other day. Forgive me i dont have the rulebook with me right now but im sure the wording in the rule book is you can "replace" the firing of a weapon with a psychic shooting attack. So if they can only shoot 1 weapon a turn then they can only use 1 psychic shooting attack per turn. Eg: Eldrad can use three psychic powers a turn but only has a pistol he can shoot so he can only use one psychic shooting attack and 2 other psychic powers and not use his pistol. Now does Ahriman's staff say he can use 3 psychic powers or specifically 3 "psychic shooting attacks" if it doesnt state 3 psychic shooting attacks then i would say he can only use the shooting one once and 2 others. Feel free to correct me if im wrong i am interested to know. As litlamzetiv said i think MC would be the only ones who can. my source is under the psykers part of the rule book under psychic shooting attacks.

--Ryan

Flekkzo said...

Ahriman is a super psycher, 10,000+ years old. With a really nifty staff. Think Gandalf but Evil. Evil in that misguided thinking he is doing the right thing supervillian type of evil.

Oh, ans his staff allows him to fire off multiple shooting attacks. But I and some others with me are thinking that it can not be the same one (which is what blew Mr. Jawaballs dreads up so bad).

Ryanjsmall said...

Wow 3 psychic shooting attacks. Ouch

Steven Beasley said...

Straight from the FAQ.

Q. Can Ahriman use the same power two or even three times during the same turn?
A. Powers that are psychic shooting attacks can only be used once per turn. Gift of Chaos can be used multiple times, as it is not a psychic shooting attack. The same is true for Warptime, but of course there is not point in using this power more than once per turn!

I hope this clears this up.

Teeef said...

As a novice who didn't realize till after turn four (thanks passing stranger) that my Wolves opponent's psychic could not use two Psychic Shooting Powers a turn – let alone the same twice – I am glad to hear your tale. Not because it screwed you but I don't feel so bad for having it happen to me. Turn 5 and 6 gave me the win and I don't think that would have happend if he was able to keep on with what he was doing.

Of course we hope our opponents know their rules and apply them fairly. Even without bad intent, in my limited experience, psychic powers are the most dis-remembered/misapplied rules. And even though it is my opponent's FAIL, it doesn't stop me from "what if'n" after the game when I find out they screwed up and/or cheated.

I wish GW would develop a pay subscription site for rules and each codex. Because an electronic file can be searched for keywords and it would be great to just type in "psychic shooting" and get all of the links to the rules and codex entries. They could even sell it with the codex as an upgrade that you register in the store so they can drive people to the stores to buy the Codex there instead of online. Sure a few Pirates might get access but those types are already stealing the codex and rules on-line now.

It might even make me add internet to my mobile.

Jawaballs said...

I think one of the best benefits of this blogging is that we all learn something. Next time we encounter this situation, we will be able to say in confidence.

Often times we are afraid to question our opponent in fear of being labeled a bad sports or in fear of 40k bullies... This is a great example of the right time to ask.

Steven Beasley said...

I agree with you. It's just too bad that it had to happen at a tournament. Friendly games it's no real big deal, but when you had to drive and pay money, you don't want to go away feeling cheated. Doesn't sound like you were which says a lot about your character.

Unknown said...

Compare Ahriman's rules (can use do three psychic tests per turn) to Eldrad's (can do three psychic tests in the one turn and can do the same test twice.)

It says clearly in Eldrad's that he can do it, but it does not say that Ahriman can do it in the CSM codex.
Hence, my argument is that Ahriman is not an exception to the rule like MCs and Eldrad because his rules do not state he is an exception like it does for MCs and Eldrad.

Jawaballs said...

Sometimes guys just make mistakes. It was not intentional. I know one tournament I was half way through game two when an observer pointed out that I was not moving my Death Company dreads towards the nearest model. Being the first time I used DC dreads, I totally spaced on the rule. It happens!

Jawaballs said...

Here is another question... what is the maximum squad size for Pirhana? Did my Tau opponent pull an accidental fast one by having 4 of them in a single squad? He definitely got good use of the large squad by hiding two of them at all times granting his squad cover saves and putting wounds on the ones that were hiding.

Steven Beasley said...

Piranha can have 5 in a squad. Just talked with my Tau friend.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Chris for the awesome feedback!

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and we look forward to seeing you in the future.

As for the Ahriman shenanigans I apologize. It's tough to observe every game. I generally ping pong all over the store answering rules questions.

Looks like it was just a misunderstanding with how it's printed in the CSM Codex.

God forbid Games Workshop could successfully explain 1 complex rule without releasing a paragraph long FAQ the following month explaining what they actually meant.

Can't wait to see the Nid Codex FAQ. Should be very entertaining.

- John -
Unknown Comics & Games

DLK said...

Youre welcome John, I hope I drummed up some busienss for you. You definitely have a top gaming shop. And it wasn't shenanigans. There is making mistakes, and there is cheating. I think he just made an error. Hopefully see you all soon! JB

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