Event Wrap-up: Little Egypt Wars

Team Snake Eyes was out in force this past weekend. There were 13 players at this Rogue Trader event, and 8 of those represented TSE! There were several players new to the area because of school and, for some reason; many of the traditional local players didn’t show up. We could easily expect an attendance level approaching 20 if all the stars align. Of the 13 armies, here is the breakdown:

2 Orks
4 Chaos Space Marines
1 Dark Eldar
1 Eldar
1 Tau
1 Tyranid
1 Black Templar Space Marine
2 Codex Space Marines (Ultramarines & Salamanders)

The Team Snake Eyes Results are as follows:

Marvin the Despoiler (Chaos SM) = 1 W / 1 L / 2nd turn bye
Ol’Seth (Eldar) = 1 L / 2 D’s
Guyver Blue (Ultramarines) = 2 L’s / 3rd turn bye
Chaplain Aerion (Black Templars) = 1 W / 1 L / 1 D – winner of best painted army & 2nd place overall
Chosen 1(Salamanders) = 1 D / 2 W’s = 1st place overall
Zephyr (Dark Eldar) = 1 draw / 2 wins
P.G. (Chaos SM) = 3 draws – winner of best sportsmanship
Genoside (Chaos SM) = 1st turn bye / 1 D / 1 L

As you can see, the odd number of players required the “bye” system of one player sitting out per round. I’m not sure how the bye’s were selected, but we were disappointed that only TSE members got byes. Numerically speaking, there were more of us, so this isn’t a veiled attempt at suggesting a shady deal. We just hate to spend money to attend an event and drive (1, 1, and 2 hours) to get to an event only to be told that we’ll be sitting out for a round. I’m not sure why the organizers don’t use a ringer to take care of this issue since the last few tournaments have had an odd number of players, but I’ll be putting that in my suggestions to the tournament organizer.

Also unusual at this tournament was the scoring. There were the traditional battle points with additional modifiers at the end which meant, for example, that you could earn a draw worth 7 points and a win worth 7 or 8. So the W/L/D doesn’t mean nearly as much as how BIG the W/L/D was in relation to the others. In addition to that, I think the two or three results were averaged to adjust the results so that the folks who received byes were on similar footing with those who did not. Again, this madness could be avoided with a ringer so total points could be calculated. Don’t get me wrong these comments are in the “suggestions for improvement” category, not criticisms. To my knowledge, all in attendance had a fantastic time and we’re all looking forward to returning.

I enjoyed all of my games, especially the rude wakeup call I received on behalf of Zephyr’s Dark Eldar army in the first turn. This was only my second game overall against the DE, and they were as bad as I remember. SO MUCH SHOOTING! It seemed like every other pointy eared freak had a dark lance or whatever their version of the plasma cannon was. Zephyr was an outstanding opponent, however, and he made sure I knew exactly what his army could do before he did it. He doesn’t know it yet, but Zephyr is going to be writing some Dark Eldar Codex review articles when the new book comes out. :)

Game 1 for me vs. Dark Eldar. I was told that Zephyr took a "fluffy" list. He would have won this game but a plasma cannon (whatever those things are called) scattered over his lord and insta-killed him. That lord was about to own Vulkan and a combat squad. That point swing (killed lord + my saved HQ) was enough for a draw. I didn't earn that draw, but I'm sure as heck glad I got it.

My game two against Chaos. I used those buildings to hide my speeders and dreads and effectively pulled his teeth (killed defiler + predators, popped troops out of transports) by the top of turn three. He was an awesome player who came to Carbondale, IL from Indiana. Quite the drive, we hope to see him again.

Game three against the Despoiler's Chaos Marines. Long story short, I went first and some productive shooting from my early turns. Highlight of this game is Marvin's Chaos Dreadnought surviving four turns of assault from not one, not two, but all three of my Dreadnoughts. Picuture above is of Vulkan about to give those Chaos Terminators a warm welcome.