CelestiCon Demon Skull 2014 Battle Report

Tournaments are a whirlwind. New faces, new rules, lots of dice, and some pretty nasty lists. Beer helps, but it is definitely a mentally draining endeavor. That being said, I can't imagine a better tournament than the CelestiCon Demon Skull. Run by the awesome Doc Dragon, the 37-man event had the perfect mix of beautiful armies and great players. I had talked about some list ideas in a previous post,  and I made some changes the night before. Conversations with my gaming buddies made me realize that my original lists, while fun and narrative-based, would have some tactical issues on the field. So, Loki and crew left the sniper rifles at home and grabbed their avenger shuri-cats on the way out the door. Maugun Ra, having nothing better to do on Labor Day (he is really gloomy at barbecues), decided to join the fun.

The Army

Loki and his Corsairs

The List

Game One

Lost, 0-10

The Demon Skull was a three round, BAO style missions event. Points were awarded for generalship, painting, and sportsmanship. My first game was against Jamie and his Farsight/Shadowsun deathstar with two Riptides list in an Emperor's Will mission. The game started with night fighting, and those cover saves were life savers for the fishmen. Fifteen (!!!) S6 AP2 suncannon shots ended up with only one melted drone. The Tau were cagey at first, but eventually Farsight and gang swept across the board to take out Maugun Ra in a blaze of plasma fire. My favorite moment was my Crimson Hunter crashing and burning into a Riptide, taking out his last wound. The game ended in Turn Five with a 10-0 win for Jamie. This was the first time I played against the Farsight deathstar, and Jamie played it really well. Very telling, as he would end the tournament winning Best General! This also made me feel better about getting my ass handed to me.

"You think this is bad, try the subways on T'au!"

Rooftop Part-ay!!!

Lunch Break

Joe 10, Hunger 0

Spicy Italian and the Champagne of Beers

Game Two

Won, 6-1

Jeff is an awesome guy, and he was playing a really fun Space Wolf army. The list was Njal Stormcaller, ten Terminators, Blood Claws in a Stormwolf, and a Grey Hunter drop pod. The mission was The Relic. Half of his army dropped in on Turn One, only to be pretty badly beat up by mighty, mighty shuri-cat shots. All of the Termies and Njal were knocked out by Turn Two. The game hinged on a fight between my Wraithknight, Loki, Maugan Ra and the Dire Avengers against Jeff's Blood Claws. The Corsairs took the day, and gunned down the remaining Grey Hunters on the next turn to capture the Relic. Good guys took this one, 6-1. Jeff was a great opponent, and I hope to see him across the table again.

In the lush jungles of Fenris

Wraithknight Smash!!!

Game Three

Lost, 0-10

Wow...

One of the best parts about tournaments is seeing really beautiful armies. It makes everything better, even being tabled in Turn Four. The mission was Purge the Alien. Izzy's dual Riptide and dual Skyray list was expertly used to completely annihilate Loki and his... Ok, can we look at Izzy's Tau again?

Wow... again

Awesome army played by a great guy. It felt like getting punched in the face by Princess Leia, in the slave costume. Fitting that they won Best Painted.

Final Results

1-2 and Best Sportsman

Woot!

I won something! I am all about the experience of the game. Above winning, losing, and forging the narrative, 40k is about having fun rolling dice and playing with awesome models. I am really glad that my opponents enjoyed themselves, and that I didn't nerd rage over Feel No Pain rolls on a Riptide. Would I make changes to my list for next time? Yes. Am I going to run a Seerstar? No. Will I go out and buy a Riptide kit just to build it so I can drunkenly smash it with a sledgehammer and cry? You'll have to wait and see.

Until next time!