Cry HavocMaking Mistakes

We all make mistakes. The key to playing a solid game is to play your strategy while committing a minimal amount of mistakes. Sticking to your strategy is an issue that will be the centerpiece of a future installment of Cry Havoc. Let’s address the concept of play mistakes and how to avoid them.
Simply put: a play mistake is when you commit an error during your game. This error could be skipping your movement phase and going right on to the shooting phase or forgetting to move all of your assaulting units. Errors can have a large impact on the outcome of your game. Here are a couple of ways that you can reduce the amount of mistakes you commit during a game:

1) Know your Army! If you are familiar with your army’s rules and wargear you are less likely to forget or misplay something during the course of a game. For example, I constantly forget that Thunder Hammers reduce a wounded opponents Initiative to 1 for the next Assault Phase. While this may seem like a small omission it becomes quite a large error if you’re fighting Mephiston or a Trygon.
2) Pay attention and think your choices through. I once read if you don’t know where to move one of your units – don’t move it anywhere. When you do move your forces think those choices through. If you get your Dire Avengers out of that Wave Serpent and use Bladestorm how many of those terminators will you kill? By quickly running the possibly outcomes of your choices through your head you can minimize your surprise at your opponents reactions.
3) Learn from your mistakes. If you make a mistake try to remember it and use the experience to your advantage in your next game. I know that’s easier said than done because as I pointed out before I always forget about my Thunder Hammers – funny for someone who’s played the Salamanders for the last 5 years. Talk to your opponent after the game, ask for and offer constructive criticism about what could have been differently.
4) Keep your eyes on the prize. You don’t need to table your opponent to win. By paying close attention to your mission parameters and staying focused on the path to victory you can avoid some mistakes that are borne from not identifying the best choice for the situation.
5) Know your enemy. Know your opponent’s army and what it is capable of doing. Ever lost a game before the 1st turn? It can happen if you play against a foe with a lot of Infiltrators and you decided to keep your entire army in Reserve. Surprises like that occur when you’re not aware of what you’re up against.

While it’s true that you can play a game without making any mistakes and not win, you are definitely more likely to lose if you commit numerous errors during the game. Please post your thoughts and comments.

Be-WAAAGH! the Ides of MarchA Snake Eyes Gaming Warhammer 40,000 Tournament

When: Sat. March 26th
11:30 am - 8:30 pm

Where: Legions Games
1130 Perry Highway
Pittsburgh, PA 15237

What: 1850 point, 3 round Warhammer 40,000 tournament.

Cost: $10 per player to participate. All entry fees will be added to the $100 Games Workshop prize support and awarded to the winners in the form of Legions store credit.
Rules:

• Bring a legal 1850 point Warhammer 40K list from any current Games Workshop codex.
• No painting requirement or paint score. Although there will be an award given to the best painted army.
• Forge World: Special Characters form Imperial Armour 8, 9, & 10 are permitted – you must bring the rules with you. (No super-heavy vehicles or gargantuan creatures).
• All models must be WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). Since this is a Games Workshop tournament, GW and Forgeworld miniatures only.
• Army lists will be collected and reviewed.
• If you aren’t sure of a rule or have a question about something during a game – ask! Multiple judges will be available at all times.
• Pre-registration is not required.

Gamesday Table 2 Update

So now that its starting to warm up its time to get cracking on the other tables.

If anyone has a question about tools/techniques or advice building your own board please e-mail astro-telepathica@atlanticbb.net

First things first, draw the layout.

Place your prefab objects to see if things will fit how you want.

So far so good..

The carving and filler worked really well for the river

A nice imposing centerpiece always looks good

A wider shot

The earthen works need some love but i ran out of mastic.

adding a better angle to the hill

There's the long edge deployment zone for our Ork forces.

And the deployment for our guard.

FEED ME SEYMOUR FEED ME!

March Madness @ Gatehouse Games

Come One Come all...

This Friday at Gatehouse games we will be taking sign-ups for the March Madness League.  This will be a double-elimination league.  The point value for the games will be 1200 points using the standard force organization chart.

A double-elimination league is a type of elimination competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two games or matches. 

A double-elimination tournament is broken into two sets of brackets, the Winners Bracket and Losers Bracket (W and L Brackets for short; also sometimes Upper Bracket and Lower Bracket, respectively). After the first round, the winners proceed into the W Bracket and the losers proceed into the L Bracket. The W Bracket is conducted in the same manner as a single-elimination tournament, except of course that the losers of each round "drop down" into the L Bracket.

you get the idea....

Friday Night @ Gatehouse Games will be the League night until a Champion is found.  A few rules:

• 3 colors and based/flock
• The League buy-in will be 10$ to be given to the store owner at sign-up.
• First round will be randomly seeded
• Scenarios will be provided every Friday till completion.
• First match on March 18th.
• Games will consist of 1200 point army's.
• You may change your army list from round to round.
• You may not switch armies from round to round.
• Prizes will be 70/30 split in store credit for 1st and 2nd.
• Consolation prizes for the bottom two.
• Judges from Club Snake Eyes will be on hand every Friday to help dispute rules.

If you are scheduled to play and you miss league night you have till next Wednesday to make up the match with your opponent.  The game MUST be played at the store. Failure to do so will result in a loss and movement to the lower bracket or elimination.

We will go over the rules and a sign-up will be posted starting this Friday.  Be there, or the kitten gets it....

 

BITZ, BITZ and MORE BITZ - Bitz Trade Day

When: Saturday, March 19th, 1:30PM - ??

Where: Gatehouse Games, Altoona, PA

What: A Bitz Trading Day at Gatehouse games with Club Snake Eyes. Bring your old, unwanted Bitz and trade for something useful with other traders

Cost: FREE




Rules:

• No whole models may be traded. Only bitz of models may be traded
• Trades are determined by the parties involved. The club as well as Gatehouse accept no responsibility for completed trades
• No money. Purchase of Bitz is prohibited on store premises
• Bring a list of what you are looking for or post in comments so people can bring what you are seacrhing for ahead of time.
• Have your bitz sorted, it will help with the trading

Cry HavocList Building

Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war

- attributed to the dramaturge Shakespire (fl. M2)

The first thing a player does when choosing an army, collecting a second army, or re-tooling their current army is build a list. Each player has their own ideas on how to successfully build an army list. The method I used to build my Space Wolves is the same method that I espouse to those that ask my assistance with their armies. Deathwolf's tenants of list building are as follows:

1. Collect What You Like. Warhammer is your hobby. That being said it takes a lot of time/work to assemble and paint your army. By choosing the models that you like you can make the process more enjoyable. Furthermore, playing with models that you enjoy will ensure that the game is still fun even when you're not winning. Let's face it, no one wins all the time. Sometimes we make a mistake or our dice are cursed and victory slips through our fingers. During games like that it's nice to have an army that you enjoy playing because even though you lost, you can still enjoyed the game.
2. Know Your Army. Learning how to play your army and knowing the limits of your units is incredibly important. Even "good" units aren't necessarily good at everything. For example, Walkers kill Thunderwolves. Surprisingly, it took me several months and numerous lost games to learn that lesson. I now rely on Long Fangs and Grey Hunters to take down Dreadnoughts and Defilers. By learning the strengths and weaknesses of the units available in your codex you can select a balanced army that contains the tools necessary to achieve victory.
3. Make Sure You Have Anti-Armor. Tanks and transports are everywhere. In order to have a chance you need to take weaponry that can handle units with an AV. One lascannon isn't anti-armor. You need to be able to reliably handle the enemy armor that you commonly face. Of course the flip side to this point is facing a horde army. Meltaguns and lascannon generally aren't much use against Tyranids or Orks. You need to have enough anti-armor weaponry to deal with enemy vehicles but not so much that your army won't be able to handle a foot army.
4. Play to Your Strengths. Each of us has a way that we enjoy playing the game. Some people will turn any list they build from any codex into a gun line, while others like to rush forward and get stuck in close combat. There are many different styles of play. Identify your style and build your list towards it. For example, I like the Imperial Guard valkyrie model. When the kit was released I bought three of them and made a 1000 point Imperial Guard list. Here was the catch, I'm not a big shooting phase type of player. I consistently misplayed my short-lived Imperial Guard army because it didn't conform to the style of play that I generally prefer. By creating a list that plays to your strengths you ensure that both you and your army are working in conjunction rather than at cross purposes.

As I said before, those are my basic tenets of list building. I know other people approach the subject differently and we could all benefit from your ideas. Please post your thoughts and comments.

The End of Tarus IV

The campaign for Tarus IV has ended.  With the loss of the southern drop-site and no further inroads to the capital, Imperial commanders made one last ditch effort.

Take volunteers to drop into the heavily defended capital and destroy or disable as many shield generators as possible, with this done they can bomb the capital from orbit and re-take whats left and rebuild.

Without hesitation company commanders from the Angels Sanguine and Black Templar's stepped forward with Harald Deathwolf's great company to take up the task of dropping their forces into the city.  Oaths of the moment were taken and their forces made way to the launch bays.

The order was given as well for the ground troops:

+++ Tactical withdraw to dropsite omega ETR 5 hours, FAILURE TO WITHDRAW WILL BE MET WITH EXTERMINATION +++

The front lines receded to the northern drop site as imperial troops were evacuated off the planet from orbital landers and transports. During the retreat many units were felled by the chain axes of Khorne and fast moving artillery units of the Blood Pact assisted the world eaters in their frenzied attacks.

Meanwhile at the the Angels of Death were fast approaching the capital city from orbit:

Even Harald Deathwolf made a special appearance:

The forces of the renegade thousand suns guarding the outposts were overwhelmed but with great cost to the Imperial forces.  They knew this could be a one way trip.  Out of the 70 marines that dropped into the capital less than 20 of their brethren made it back, wounded or otherwise.

The heavily damaged thunderhawk was able to escape with:
Harald Deathwolf

Arjac Rockfist

1 Wolf-guard

1 Black Templar's Chaplin

1 Disabled Dreadnought flown in by storm-raven.

Several Black Templar's (who abandoned their jet-bikes)

+++A more complete list to follow+++

At the dropsite the combined forces of the world eaters and blood pact were able to disable a scout titan awaiting its orbital lander and Kharn himself lead his world-eaters through an lightly defended gate, 

***
Kharn and his boys roll up to the gate in an unmarked APC rhino
Private Jenkins: Uhh *voice cracks* excuse me sir i can't let you onto the base without proper identification.

Kharn: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD...

Private Jenkins: one moment while i check the roster here....

Kharn: *primes his plasma pistol*

Private Jenkins: lets see here, nope I'm not seeing a *BLAM!*

 ***

taking the defenders completely by surprise: 

After the dust settled the imperial forces successfully disabled all 3 generators protecting the capital city however the dropsite evacuation turned from tactical withdraw to rout to massacre in short order.

Orders were given to consign the loyalist forces to the emperors peace as an bombardment began to fall....

Heretical Thoughts: The Legend of the Purple Tau

Once again, the Tau of the Vior'La sept have proven themselves combat masters at the art of hand to hand. Over the past year since I have been running my Tau, they have defeated the following in close combat - mostly with drones:

Necron Lord

Space Marine Commander

Terminator Squad

Harald Deathwolf

The body count for these vicious hand to hand combatants continues to increase and our drones are especially adept at hand to hand combat. But why are they as good in hand to hand as this and of course, the most obvious question I hear - "Why are my Tau Purple?". Well read on and find out.

Tau are not normally hand to hand beasts, but lets take a look at the most common hand to hand combatants that I use - Gun Drones. Without going into actual stats, realize the drones have the same initiative as a Marine so we are attacking at the same time or better than most armies. Our strength and toughness is the same as a guard and the weapon skill is poor, but I have not hesitated to charge others with them. Also, I do not gang up a lot of drones. At best, I have 8 drones total onthe board so why have they been effective? It all has to do with timing. Prior to assaults, it never hurts to soak units with a lot of shooting to whittle them down. They will lose to a full guard mob or full terminator squad. However, when enough shooting has been applied, it is possible to drop individual models in hand to hand - of course dice rolling helps. I have been successful in lining up drone charges after about 2/3 of a unit in shooting. All of the models above, except Harald have been dropped by the drones as they were individual models. If they would have had squads attached, I would have lost. Its always about timing and when to charge and when not to charge, when to shoot and when not to shoot. Future articles will get into phase break down, but suffice it to say, my drones have become a terror for people and a running joke that people do not take for granted and are now being targeted instead of ignored.

Now, why are my Tau purple? Well, when I originally envisioned my Tau I was looking for them to be fighting on an alien jungle world where many of the plants have a purplish hue with the ground being similar. Therefore, the camo scheme would be in different shades of purple. However, the main reason is that my wife likes the color purple and that is easily the best way to start another army. If your significant other is asking about how much money you spend on your hobby, all you need to do is say "I was thinking about you and started to paint this army in your favorite color" Works every time, well for the 1 time I have tried it, it worked. I don't know that the Nurgle color would have went over as well.

Heretic

"Know this! What comes to pass is no longer war! It is endless sacrifice in His name. Blood for the Blood God . . . Let the Universe Drown in it!" - Crull, Warlord of the World Eaters

Heretical Thoughts: Tournament Etiquette, Part Three

So , our group finally had a chance to play in a tournament rather than run a tournament at Legions Games in Pittsburgh. Great tournament, that was eventually won by our own Harry the Deathwolf. Congratulations to him and soundly beating me in the last game. During the tournament yesterday, there were many things that I wanted to bring up and discuss as they really pertain to what we have been discussing.

1. It is ok to start with models off the table. After looking at your opponents list, try and determine what he is going to do prior to deploying. This is especially important if your opponent is going first and actually deploys on the table. Don't think about how you are going to deploy, watch how he deploys and try to determine what he is going to do then react with your deployment. If it means leaving models off the table to counter a later threat do it.

2. Though you may be losing, do not give up. There were a few instances of this yesterday where people called it on turn 4 and depending on how the scoring is going, it can cost points to the person you are playing by allowing them to not obtain all the bonus points which can be critical for actually winning events. I have seen enough draws and / or changes from massacres to major or even minor victories by a few different dice rolls.

3. When your opponent does not deploy anything on the table because of your list, don't think your list is what's keeping him off the table and think that you have already won the game. There are tactics involved with keeping models off the table and even many armies that work better by doing so.

4. Pay attention to the meta at the store you are going to play at. If it is a store you regularly play at, then keep in mind what most people play and build an all comers list. There will always be an army that you did not expect and sometimes pairings can influence the final standings because it ends up being the one army that you couldn't beat.

5. When playing your games, make sure you don't make a mistake. It is one thing to lose because of matchups and dice rolling, but to tactically make a mistake is a different thing entirely. I'm not talking about not realizing what a unit does in the opponents army, but more along the lines of forgetting to move something, shoot something, assault something or even shot selection. You must continue to focus while playing and keep in mind how to win the mission - not how to necessarily kill the opponent. Unless it is a victory point or kill point mission, all other missions involve doing something other than killing the opponent to actually win. Keep that in mind.

Overall, all of these items came up at some point in time yesterday as we played. Everyone seemed to have a great time and a big thanks to the Judge and the store for having the event and allowing us to play. The spread of armies was great as I do not believe out of the 29 people that played there were more than 3 of the same armies in the tournament. We hope to see everyone there for our next tournament on March 26th.

Death to the False Emperor

Heretic

Board updates - Its cold outside

Work on the board has slowed down a bit due to the freezing weather. However the lighting is nearly complete, water effects doesn't like to dry when its really cold so here it is. just some finishing touches and on to the next one.