Yesterday we had the long discussed KT tournament. All in all we had some tough games and some tough lists. The format was swiss pairings, double elimination. We had ten players. Here's what I brought:
2x Hive Guard
3x Warriors+Barbed Strangler
One Hive Guard had Scout, the other FNP. The warrior with the BS had Stealth. The army had 5 models and 14 wounds.
My first match was against a Space Marines player. He had 5 Terminators with Storm Bolters and one with a power weapon. No matter how many shots I poured into him he just kept advancing. Finally I started to force some 1s and dropped enough just as they approached my lines, taking out a Warrior in the process. They failed their Leadership test and I won.
Round two saw me against IG. The player had brought thirty something guys with three mortars. He deployed out of LoS and started shooting the mortars at me right away. I had the Barbed Strangler Warrior up high and managed to get a few that way, but the Hive Guard really shined in this mission. I was able to take out his Mortar squads efficiently thus removing my biggest threats. All that remained were the flashlights. Even then I just couldn't take them out fast enough with their cover saves (they piled into area terrain). I thought the Barbed Strangler would be king but with cover it hardly mattered. The timer ran out and I won due to having killed more points.
Round three was the final round, me against the other undefeated player. He brought Orks. His list had three Lootas, one Deffkopta and the rest Shoota Boyz. This was the toughest match of them all. My dice were with me in the beginning when I dropped two of the Lootas and a mess of Boyz, but once again I just couldn't kill them fast enough. For me the game came down to a set of rolls. He had two Boyz in the open and I hit both with my Hive Guard but rolled double 1s for wounds. Then I defeated his Kopta in CC with my Warrior, and to catch it just had to roll anything but a 1. Of course, you can guess what I rolled. Time ran out and he took the win. I ended second.
Now that I think about it, it's unfair to say that the game came down to a few rolls on my part. I made one little mistake not getting my Hive Guard behind some terrain (trusting to T6) when I should have just moved. My opponent also rolled poorly on his to wound rolls, had he done better it wouldn't have been very close at all. He played very well and had a good combo of numbers, toughness and volume of fire.
I had a lot of fun and in a bit of confession, it was my first tournament after 13 years in this hobby. I hope it's not the last as I had a lot of fun trying to stay on top of my game.
Showing posts with label Kill-Team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kill-Team. Show all posts
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Upcoming Kill-Team Tournament
So my LGS is hosting a Kill-Team tournament next week. The owner wanted to to KT because we have a lot of new players and he wants everyone to be able to participate. After careful playtesting we came up with some other restrictions for the tournament. Here is our FAQ/Format restrictions. It's pretty much set in stone at this point but I would still appreciate feedback for future events.
General:
Nothing with an armor value may be chosen.
Nothing with greater than three wounds may be chosen.
No unique units may be chosen (such as Marbo or Deathleaper)
Universal Special Rules must be chosen during army building (they must be on your roster).
You may not assign the following Universal Special Rules to your models (if they already come with it, that's fine): Swarms and Turbo-Boosters.
In the interest of time, models that are all going the same general direction may share the same "Run" roll, though the controlling player does not have to do so. If you do this, you must declare which models are going to share the roll before rolling.
All "specialists" (the three models with the bonus Universal Special Rule) must be clearly distinct. This can be something simple like a piece of colored tape on the base.
When splitting fire, you must declare all targets simultaneously. For example, if I have a Heavy Bolter, I can't fire the first shot and see if it kills its target before I declare the next target with the second shot. I have to state how many shots are going at each target at the same time.
Q: Do squads have to deploy together and then move off separately, or do they deploy individually just like they were their own units?
Since each model is its own unit, they don't have to start off in coherency.
Q: How do things like Orders and Exarch powers work, and other "benefits the squad" type rules?
Powers affect only models that stay within 2" of the character granting the upgrade power.
Q: Reserves aren't used in the KT scenario. What about a unit that must start in reserve such as a drop pod?
If a unit must enter via reserves, it deploys normally at the start of the game.
Q: When half the Kill-Team is gone, what if there is no model remaining on the table with a LD value?
Use the "standard" leadership of the army. Space Marines would be an 8, IG and Orks would be a 7, Eldar would be an 8 and so on. (This point is moot as vehicles are not allowed in this tournament.)
Q: What if your last models are fearless?
They still have to take the leadership test. It's not a morale test.
Q: If one of the models has the Stubborn rule, does that affect the roll to determine if you lose?
No, Stubborn only affects Morale tests, and the final roll is a Leadership test.
Q: Since you can split fire, can you assault a different model than one you shot at?
No. You can only assault models that you shot at.
Army Specific Questions:
Necrons: The Phase Out rule is not used.
Tau: If you buy a squad of pathfinders, you do not need to take their transport.
Eldar: The Skyleap Exarch power is not used.
We originally decided to take Troops only, but it was kind of dull and certain armies had major advantages over others. Then we decided to go with no vehicles after a couple rounds of telling games, one player took a Vendetta and no one could touch him. He simply moved away from everything, because he was so high up he had a clear LoS to everything. The best strategy for taking him out was to kill the troopers he had, so he just put half of them inside the Vendetta and that pretty much ended it.
We then made the armor restrictions to nothing with a total armor value of all three sides 33+. I took three dual cannon Vypers and was untouchable. I was putting out 18 S6 shots per turn. I won all my games, the worst damage I took was I lost a weapon.
Finally we settled on no vehicles but with the standard KT FOC. After our testing this proved to be the best.
I'm taking Eldar but I don't want to reveal my list ideas just yet! I've tried out a lot of combinations and I still want to try a few more.
General:
Nothing with an armor value may be chosen.
Nothing with greater than three wounds may be chosen.
No unique units may be chosen (such as Marbo or Deathleaper)
Universal Special Rules must be chosen during army building (they must be on your roster).
You may not assign the following Universal Special Rules to your models (if they already come with it, that's fine): Swarms and Turbo-Boosters.
In the interest of time, models that are all going the same general direction may share the same "Run" roll, though the controlling player does not have to do so. If you do this, you must declare which models are going to share the roll before rolling.
All "specialists" (the three models with the bonus Universal Special Rule) must be clearly distinct. This can be something simple like a piece of colored tape on the base.
When splitting fire, you must declare all targets simultaneously. For example, if I have a Heavy Bolter, I can't fire the first shot and see if it kills its target before I declare the next target with the second shot. I have to state how many shots are going at each target at the same time.
Q: Do squads have to deploy together and then move off separately, or do they deploy individually just like they were their own units?
Since each model is its own unit, they don't have to start off in coherency.
Q: How do things like Orders and Exarch powers work, and other "benefits the squad" type rules?
Powers affect only models that stay within 2" of the character granting the upgrade power.
Q: Reserves aren't used in the KT scenario. What about a unit that must start in reserve such as a drop pod?
If a unit must enter via reserves, it deploys normally at the start of the game.
Q: When half the Kill-Team is gone, what if there is no model remaining on the table with a LD value?
Use the "standard" leadership of the army. Space Marines would be an 8, IG and Orks would be a 7, Eldar would be an 8 and so on. (This point is moot as vehicles are not allowed in this tournament.)
Q: What if your last models are fearless?
They still have to take the leadership test. It's not a morale test.
Q: If one of the models has the Stubborn rule, does that affect the roll to determine if you lose?
No, Stubborn only affects Morale tests, and the final roll is a Leadership test.
Q: Since you can split fire, can you assault a different model than one you shot at?
No. You can only assault models that you shot at.
Army Specific Questions:
Necrons: The Phase Out rule is not used.
Tau: If you buy a squad of pathfinders, you do not need to take their transport.
Eldar: The Skyleap Exarch power is not used.
We originally decided to take Troops only, but it was kind of dull and certain armies had major advantages over others. Then we decided to go with no vehicles after a couple rounds of telling games, one player took a Vendetta and no one could touch him. He simply moved away from everything, because he was so high up he had a clear LoS to everything. The best strategy for taking him out was to kill the troopers he had, so he just put half of them inside the Vendetta and that pretty much ended it.
We then made the armor restrictions to nothing with a total armor value of all three sides 33+. I took three dual cannon Vypers and was untouchable. I was putting out 18 S6 shots per turn. I won all my games, the worst damage I took was I lost a weapon.
Finally we settled on no vehicles but with the standard KT FOC. After our testing this proved to be the best.
I'm taking Eldar but I don't want to reveal my list ideas just yet! I've tried out a lot of combinations and I still want to try a few more.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A Kill-Team Tournament and FAQ?
In a few months my local store owner will be hosting a Kill-Team tournament. We have a lot of brand new players in the area so the owner wants to make it Troops only. This will make it somewhat bland, but a single Vendetta won't dominate like it normally does. It's not the most competitive but it does allow the new guys to participate. This means we have to come up with some kind of FAQ because there's a lot of gray areas in KT.
I also want to point out that this isn't an argument about the merits of a KT tournament, it is what it is but we might as well clear up as many gray areas as possible.
As much as I love to stick to RAW (rules as written) KT is a different issue than standard 40k. In some cases I think you have to go with RAI (rules as intended).
So here's a few things I think need clarification, questions that people have asked during some of our games, and I'd appreciate it if you can come up with more problems or solutions. These are just my first impressions, I haven't thought about them in depth yet and would appreciate as much input as possible.
1. Do squads have to deploy together and then move off separately, or do they deploy individually just like they were their own units?
Since each model is its own unit, they don't have to start off in coherency.
2. How do things like Orders and Exarch powers work, and other "benefits the squad" type rules?
RAW would suggest that since each model is its own unit it would only affect one guy. That makes upgrade characters kind of pointless (and defeats the purpose of Kill-Team, where it is supposed to be about individuality). A possible solution is to have the powers affect only models that stay within coherency of the character granting the upgrade power. That way you still get the benefit but trade off your flexibility and make yourself more vulnerable to blasts.
3. How do transports work?
Since each model is an individual unit, RAW would say that only one guy can be in it at a time. However, RAI would rule that it can fit as many guys as its normal capacity, and that you don't have to embark/disembark the whole squad at once.
4. How does the Doom's aura work?
Since each model is its own unit, each model has to make its own test. This might make the Doom too powerful (though he's always more powerful on paper) but I'm not sure how to balance it. Although in the last KT game I played with him my opponent simply meched up and the Doom couldn't do anything.
5. Reserves aren't used in the KT scenario. What about a unit that must start in reserve such as a drop pod?
Remember, Codex trumps expansion. So if it says that it MUST or MAY start in reserve, it can. Units that do not have that rule cannot go in reserve.
6. What about Ymgarl Stealers? Do they have to all go in the same terrain piece as a unit?
Each is its own unit, so you'd have to clarify in which terrain each individual model was hiding.
7. When half the Kill-Team is gone, what if there is no model remaining on the table with a LD value?
I would rule that you use the "standard" leadership of the army. Space Marines would be an 8, IG and Orks would be a 7, Eldar would be an 8 and so on.
8. What if your last models are fearless?
They still have to take the leadership test. It's not a morale test.
This is what I've come up with so far, some may seem obvious but others will likely require clarification if we're going to hold a tournament. If you've got any input, let me hear it! Whether you agree or disagree please provide your reasoning.
I also want to point out that this isn't an argument about the merits of a KT tournament, it is what it is but we might as well clear up as many gray areas as possible.
As much as I love to stick to RAW (rules as written) KT is a different issue than standard 40k. In some cases I think you have to go with RAI (rules as intended).
So here's a few things I think need clarification, questions that people have asked during some of our games, and I'd appreciate it if you can come up with more problems or solutions. These are just my first impressions, I haven't thought about them in depth yet and would appreciate as much input as possible.
1. Do squads have to deploy together and then move off separately, or do they deploy individually just like they were their own units?
Since each model is its own unit, they don't have to start off in coherency.
2. How do things like Orders and Exarch powers work, and other "benefits the squad" type rules?
RAW would suggest that since each model is its own unit it would only affect one guy. That makes upgrade characters kind of pointless (and defeats the purpose of Kill-Team, where it is supposed to be about individuality). A possible solution is to have the powers affect only models that stay within coherency of the character granting the upgrade power. That way you still get the benefit but trade off your flexibility and make yourself more vulnerable to blasts.
3. How do transports work?
Since each model is an individual unit, RAW would say that only one guy can be in it at a time. However, RAI would rule that it can fit as many guys as its normal capacity, and that you don't have to embark/disembark the whole squad at once.
4. How does the Doom's aura work?
Since each model is its own unit, each model has to make its own test. This might make the Doom too powerful (though he's always more powerful on paper) but I'm not sure how to balance it. Although in the last KT game I played with him my opponent simply meched up and the Doom couldn't do anything.
5. Reserves aren't used in the KT scenario. What about a unit that must start in reserve such as a drop pod?
Remember, Codex trumps expansion. So if it says that it MUST or MAY start in reserve, it can. Units that do not have that rule cannot go in reserve.
6. What about Ymgarl Stealers? Do they have to all go in the same terrain piece as a unit?
Each is its own unit, so you'd have to clarify in which terrain each individual model was hiding.
7. When half the Kill-Team is gone, what if there is no model remaining on the table with a LD value?
I would rule that you use the "standard" leadership of the army. Space Marines would be an 8, IG and Orks would be a 7, Eldar would be an 8 and so on.
8. What if your last models are fearless?
They still have to take the leadership test. It's not a morale test.
This is what I've come up with so far, some may seem obvious but others will likely require clarification if we're going to hold a tournament. If you've got any input, let me hear it! Whether you agree or disagree please provide your reasoning.
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