Just returned from Feast of Blades

Got back into town from Feast of Blades early this morning and what a great trip! Had an absolute blast in Denver moving models, chucking dice and drinking some awesome micro-brew beers. But, since I haven't updated this blog in months, I should probably start from the beginning.

 

The road paved with luck and paint

I had been interested in attending Feast of Blades since I first heard about it in March. I was tempted to buy a ticket as soon as they became available, but with real life creeping in I initially decided to pass. Then, out of the blue one of the local judges said he had a free ticket to Feast and I jumped on it. I was entered in the Open GT which read as:

The 40k Open harkens back to the "Golden Age," of Games Workshop GT's. This event is 60% battle points and fully 40% soft scores (including points for army theme). If you are the kind of person who just wants to have fun meeting new people with beautiful armies while getting in a good game then the open GT is for you. Just to be clear, this event isn't for win-at-all-cost-competitive-play it is about the hobby and having a great weekend enjoying the game, the 'winner,' of this tournament will be a very well-rounded hobbyist. (You must purchase a "40k Open GT pass," to play in this event)

which sounded perfect for me. So I wrangled up a 2,000 point list to take, no surprise it was a Nurgle-themed Chaos Space Marine list.

Molitor's Marauders

HQ

185 pts Chaos Lord Mark of Nurgle, Blight Grenades, Melta Bombs, Chaos Bike, The Burning Brand of Skalathrax, Power Maul, Sigil of Corruption, Ichor Blood

340 pts Daemon Prince Daemon of Nurgle, Power Armour, Wings, Psyker lvl 3, The Black Mace

Troops

177 pts Plague Marines x5, Flamer x2, Rhino with Havoc Launcher

187 pts Plague Marines x5, Meltagun x2, Rhino with Havoc Launcher

197 pts Plague Marines x5, Plasma gun x2, Rhino with Havoc Launcher

Fast Attack

201 pts Chaos Bikers x6 Mark of Nurgle, Meltagun x2, Power Sword on Champion

170 pts Heldrake Baleflamer

170 pts Heldrake Baleflamer


Heavy

237 pts Obliterators x3, Mark of Nurgle, Veterans of the Long War

135 pts Maulerfiend Lasher Tendrils

And so, though I'd had some Plasma gun carrying Plague Marines painted, I wasn't planning on using the champion with the Power Fist for this event and wasn't happy with the rough paint jobs I had previously done on my Rhinos. I got busy painting on the days leading up to the event, and got the Rhinos to match the Predator tanks I had been using pretty closely. Likewise the Plague Marines all looked like they belonged with the previously painted Plasma gun wielders. I sprayed the matte coat on the Rhinos a scant 4 hours before I'd have to leave for the airport to Denver.

 

Game 1 Taudar Shenanigans

So I'd looked at the mobi site Feast of Blades put out with the missions they were using, and was a bit disappointed they were using missions straight out of the book for the Open GT. I'd cased the hall set-up when I arrived Friday night and knew there were going to be some tables with very little line-of-sight blocking terrain, which would be awful when faced against shooty armies. Well, as luck had it, I had to play Purge the Alien against an Eldar/Tau WAAC list. My opponent was a nice, friendly guy (heck he even let me borrow some gel superglue to fix my only travel casualty to Denver, which was one of my Heldrake's necks that had come off) but the list he was running was mean as hell. He won the roll to go first and wrecked a Rhino, killed 3 bikes, and put a wound on an Obliterator in Turn 1. When time was called on this game, my Nurgle forces were all but decimated. Both Heldrakes downed from his Aegis' Quad-gun, the Daemon Prince taken out by volume of fire, and the bikes wiped after destroying a wave serpent. He won by more than 4 kill points so that counted as a massacre for him giving him top points for the round and me 0. Of course, I later learned he was doubling the amount of shots his missile drones were firing in all his games on Day 1. I doubt he was intentionally cheating, but I know I would have done more damage to him had he been firing only the 12 shots he should have had with those drones and not the 24 shots he was doing. Oh well, live and learn.

 

Game 2 Angry Robots with Angry Traitors

This time, Nurgle's forces were facing a Necron force with a contingent of Khorne Chaos Marines. I didn't get any photos of this match as it was a slug-fest from the get-go and was the game I had the most fun in on Day 1. We were playing the Relic with Vanguard Strike deployment. I had first Turn and went in hot with my Plague Marines. I had possession of the Relic by Turn 2 and the Necrons had sent their scarabs to lock-down my Flamer Plague Marines. My Daemon Prince handily destroyed the Khorne lord on a steed in close combat, but was shot to pieces the following turn and my Meltagun Plague Marines responded by blowing up an Annihilation Barge. The battle raged on my side of the field as I did everything I could to get the Relic holder away from the Necron onslaught. In the end, time was called not more than 5 seconds after the Necrons wiped the Plague Marine squad holding the Relic. With nobody controlling the ancient artifact, time was called and an incredible game was determined a draw.

 

Game 3 Daemon Hunters Hunt Some Daemons

The next game was the Scouring with Hammer and Anvil deployment. I was faced with an awesomely painted Grey Knights army and when we revealed the points of the Objectives it was obvious I was going to have to push my opponent's side of the board. But with the number of Daemons in my army against Grey knights, that wasn't going to be easy. And indeed it wasn's. I rolled the Chaos Space Marine Warlord trait which allowed 1 of my Plague Marine units to have the Infiltrate rule and I got my Flamer unit to start in jogging distance of my opponent's 3 point Objective. The Bolters and flames did their job wiping a small squad off the Objecive, netting me First Blood. But the Grey Knight monstrous creature behind them quickly rolled down and got in close combat with the Plague Marines, wiping out all but one. I wasn't too worried as I had my Daemon Prince a short distance away and my next turn got him into close combat. Unfortunately, I rolled a 1 with my Daemon weapon and even with the re-rolls given by Veterans of the Long War I only caused 2 wounds and he passed his Toughness test. He then quickly ended the Princes unnatural existence. He had enough Skyfire to take down one of my Heldrakes quickly and a Pen caused the other to lose its Baleflamer. His Terminators Outflanked next to my Plasma gun Plague Marines and even with my Bikes close by I couldn't wipe the Terminators. In the end I only controlled one 3 point Objective while my opponent had the 4 point Objective and a 2 point Objective, and Day 1 ended with 2 losses.

 

Purity Seals & Paint Scores

All was not lost in the day, however, as I had managed to get the Purity Seal achievement of wiping an entire enemy Unit in a single turn (really, really easy to do when Heldrakes Vector Strike and burninate 3-man squads of Eldar jetbikes) as well as the achievement for having a close combat last 4 player turns. Feast of Blades is the first tournament I've attended with an achievement system, and they award some incredible looking ribbons with them. More tournaments should have a system like this in place as it allows you to try for goals beyond just winning the book missions. I was awarded 34 points out 40 for my armies' paint-job. Not bad for having painted half the army a few days before game day. The points I didn't get were for not having a decorated display board and not having extreme conversions on my models.

Game 4 Robots vs. Rust

The first game on Sunday started against a pure Necron force. We were playing Emperor's Will with Vanguard Strike Deployment on a board with likely the most line-of-sight blocking terrain in the whole GT. My opponent and I both placed our single Objective markers deep into our respective deployment zones. The Necrons infiltrated some guys on my side of the board, but they mostly just hung out. I didn't Deep Strike my Obiliterators this game, and I really should have, as they spent several turns just trudging along the field trying to get a view of something to shoot at. The major battles were in the middle of the board where my Daemon Prince intercepted some Canoptic Wraiths in a combat that lasted for more than half the game and where my Meltagun Plague Marines and Bikes tried for many turns to destroy the Necron Monolith. Eventually, both those skirmishes ended in my favor, but the losses for Chaos were heavy. All my bikes were destroyed, all but 2 of my Meltagun Plagure Marine squad (including the Meltaguns) were toast, my Heldrakes were both down as was the Maulerfiend (he just loves to get focused and exploded in Turn 1). But I still had control of my Objective as did my opponent. In the end I couldn't make the charge I needed with the Daemon Prince to try and pull off the warriors holding his Objective and my Plasma gun Plague Marines were just in range for Linebreaker. Another Draw game ended for the mission known for Draw games.

Game 5 Bugs, Bugs, Everywhere

I ended up playing Game 5 on the exact table I'd played Game 4 on, so lots of buildings blocking line-of-sight. This game was Crusade with Hammer & Anvil deployment. It took my opponent quite a bit of time to deploy as he had a large model count to get on the board with his Tyranids. We both had 2 Objectives on our side of the board and 1 in the middle. I was planning to attack aggressively so didn't leave any of my 3 Troop Units holding my 2 back Objectives. Instead the entire army pushed towards the waves of bugs. The Maulerfiend was quickly made a wreck and my Daemon Prince once again rolled a 1 on his Daemon weapon and fell to a large horde of biting, clawing, xenos. The Doom of Malan'tai showed up and killed a few bikes (including both Meltaguns) but was quickly shot down with Bolter fire and plasma. My Flamer Plague Marines held the middle Objective for many turns, and it was lucky when they controlled the Objective it was found to be a Grav Wave Generator. Combined with the wrecked Rhino and Maulerfiend around the Objective none of the Trygon Primes could make the charge distance. I was really sweating it as the time was counting down and I had lost all but 2 Bikes and my Chaos Lord. The Plasma gun Plague Marines bit it quickly after and the Obliterators were taken down in close combat. The Flamers were able to burn enough Hormagaunts to keep them from the lone Objective I had. And in the last 2 minutes of the game my Heldrakes went into Hover mode and cleared the 2 broods of Termagants off my opponent's controlled Objectives, giving me my first and only win of the weekend and one of the most fun games of the weekend for me.

Game 6 The Imperial Guard and their Big Guns

Game 6 was Big Guns Never Tire with Dawn of War deployment. I won the roll for table sides so got to place 3 Objectives to my opponent's 2. I placed the Objectives conservatively as close to my board edge as I could, all a foot away from each other. Not the most honorable placement, but who said Chaos was honorable? I chose to Deep Strike my Obliterators and kept the majority of my Units close to my Objectives. The Bikes, however, were deployed away from the rest. My opponent went first and fired all he had range to at the Maulerfiend, which between cover and Invuln saves didn't take a scratch, he did however cause a pen on one of the Rhinos and scored First Blood. My Daemon Prince rolled for Iron Arm and became extremely powerful with +3 Strength and Toughness. Only 1 Heldrake came in on Turn 2 but was intercepted by the IG Quad-gun and driven into the dust before it could do anything. My Obliterators mis-happed on the Deep Strike and my opponent placed him on the right corner of my table edge. I sent the Maulerfiend out to one of the IG tanks and had the Obliterators fire their Lascannons at another, penning and blowing it up. The Maulerfiend charged another tank and drove its Power Fists straight through it, resulting in metal shards littering the battlefield. The Maulerfiend was blown to pieces in Turn 3 and more of my Bikes were brought low. I had my Warlord close to my enemies' line and roasted 9 of the 10 with the Burning Brand of Skalathrax, finishing them with the last 2 Bikers. The 2nd Heldrake had come on and roasted all but 2 of the IG Warlord's unit. The Daemon Prince charged a Unit of Sentinels and destroyed 2, leaving the third out of range to retaliate. On the Guard's turn their Quad-gun penned the Heldrake, destroying the Baleflamer. 2 Vendettas had arrived earlier and riddled my Warlord with shots. In revenge the Heldrake flew off the board, Vector Striking the IG Warlord and carrying him into the abyss. The Daemon Prince finished the last Sentinel and moved on towards one of the Objectives my opponent held. The IG cleared off the Meltagun marines from one of my Objectives, while the Daemon Prince cast Nurgle's Rot on the infantry holding an Objective, then finished them off in close combat. When time ran out, both armies controlled 2 Objectives resulting in my third draw of the tournament.

Closing Thoughts

Well, it was a lot of fun playing at Feast of Blades. I placed 29th out of 46 (and would have placed higher if I'd not suffered that massacre in Game 1). My SoS score was the highest in the Open GT (126 while the next highest was 109, so I had the luck of playing some mean lists) and I got a few cool Purity Seals as well as a commendable paint score. I bought some exploded vehicle markers from Spikey Bits and got some Chaos markers handed to me from another vendor (sorry, I can't remember which one). It was a weekend of pure fun. I don't know if I'll make the trip to Denver again, but I'm glad I made it this year, now I've just got to repair the 2 tanks, and 6 infantry that suffered damage from the return trip. Until next time.