Maelstrom IX Disjunction... the TO's report

Maelstrom IX 'Disjunction' was held over the weekend 11/12 June.

32 players from both Wellington and all the way from the deepest darkest Palmerston North (or thereabouts, Levin is just a suburb of Palmy, amiright??) descended like a horde of... umm... wargamers to the local primary school hall to battle it out over 5 rounds.

The players pack, if you have not read it, is located here.

The armies that participated can be found also here.

Breakdown of armies attending
Imperial Knights: 2
Adepta Sororitas: 1
Astra Militarum: 2
SM: Grey Knights: 1
SM: Space Wolves: 1
SM: Blood Angel/BA successor: 2
SM: Dark Angel Ravenwing: 1
SM: Iron Hands: 2
SM: Imperial/Crimson Fists: 2
SM: White Scars: 2
Chaos Daemons: 2
Chaos Space Marines: 2
Khorne Daemonkin: 1
Necrons: 1
Dark Eldar: 1
Craft(y)world Eldar: 3
Tau: 2
Tyranid: 2
Orks: 2

So a 50/50 spread between the Holy Defenders of the Imperium and <insert Chaos/Xenos> scum.

Here are some photos from the event

Day 1 Round 1

Fantastic Ork-themed table

WTF are these old fishing line weights? JUST KIDDING... 

Monsty Tyranids Flying Circus

Imperial Knights getting confused about who is the enemy (tip: Not Imperial Space Marines!)

Non-crafty Eldar... lovely paint job!

A great table that was brought along

Aquila winner Sam Whitt's crazy Death Co

John Murrie's BLOODTHIRSTER

That's a nice looking Guard army if I do say so myself

2nd Place army... doing sneaky Xenos 'stuff'

Somethingorother is about to Get Real

Mighty Ape Hobbies supplied me with a copy of Imperial Knight: Renegade, which was raffled off with all money raised from this being donated to the Wellington City Mission.

The lucky, lucky ba,,,, winner - Brendan Dee

All I can say is...

The final results

And here is a picture of the prize winners

What went well

• Getting 32 40k players to a tournament in Wellington was a good result I think. Great support from the community, especially the core cadre of people that make the trip down from Palmerston North/Levin/Kapiti. Great stuff
• Getting some of the old warhorses of the local 40k community out and playing again - the comp aspect appeared to appeal, and they all seemed to have a good time
• Everyone attending appeared to embrace the 'just take one army' ethos, at least I didn't hear anyone complain they couldn't take their White Scar/Raven Guard/Tau/Eldar combo.
• Missions were good... the scoring appeared much more variable.
• After getting my head around the fact that 30 minutes to turn around the scores/next round matchups was different with 32 people as opposed to 20-odd, things got easier for me (second game started 15mins later than scheduled...)
• No dramas, minimal questions... and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

What will I change

• The scoresheet. Round 1 is always a challenge with the multiple VP's but I could actually make it easier for the players... so I will. Next time. 
• Comp scoring - in hindsight I think the penalty for the 3x Detachment/Formation might be too harsh. Nobody took 4 Detachments/Formations so.. maybe... ditch it?

Big thanks goes to Peter Dunn who supplied all the tables, plus cloths, and three tables worth of terrain. And for being the independent person that drew the raffle winner. Thanks too to all those that helped set up. who brought terrain, and helped pack up. These are probably the least fun aspects of a tournament weekend but having people able and willing help out really means a lot.

Call to Arms, run by the Wellington Warlords, is next in the Wellington calendar. The next tournament I will be running is Warpstorm IX on 29/30 October at the same location as Maelstrom (players pack, points etc. TBA).

Maelstrom IX... update number... err... yeah.

Firstly, something arrived in the mail this week!! 

Oooooohhh.... shiney!! 

Thanks again to Mighty Ape for supplying such a neat kit.

Secondly, I've had a couple of queries regarding the draft GW FAQs that are up on the GW Facebook page, and whether I would be using them at Maelstrom IX.

Nice piccy of Ulrik the Slayer there... that reminds me... I need to be putting Space Wolves together...

The answer is... no. They are currently draft FAQ so I am quite comfortable to wait for them to be refined and published as 'official' before they are used. If they are  made 'official' prior to 30 May (which happens to be 4 days before lists must be in for checking i.e. 3 June) they will be used at the tournament.

One of the interesting things the FAQ has clarified is that in the BRB it states in bold that 'only one grenade (of any type) can be thrown by a unit per phase'. Assault (fight) is a phase therefore assault units/units mobbing vehicles with melta/krak grenades can only use the one grenade per unit. So I guess we were all playing it wrong! 

Maelstrom IX Update... rules clarification for Death from the Skies and a sponsor announement

A quick update today!

Death from the Skies
Death from the Skies will be released by GW prior to the cutoff date outlined in the Players Pack. While it probably adds complexity, its use fits within the constraints of the players pack.

So:

• The onus is on those who what to bring flyers to purchase a copy of the rules (making sure they are available at any time during the game for reference), and explain how they work to their opponent prior to the game.
• All other composition rules and restrictions from the Players Pack remain in effect (Allies, Formations/Detachments)
• The Dogfight/Duel subphase rules will not be in play

Sponsorship

I am pleased to announce that Mighty Ape are providing sponsorship for Maelstrom IX!

(See the updated Maelstrom IX announcement)

What the team at Mighty Ape have done is provide me with a copy of Imperial Knights: Renegade - how awesome is that.

To give anyone attending a chance to win this amazing box set, I am going to raffle it off at Maelstrom IX. All proceeds of the raffle will be donated to the Wellington City Mission. Tickets will be $2 each, with a maximum of 20 can be purchased per person.

The resurrection of... Tjalfe Helmreaver

Enthused and inspired by the return of the Wulfen - and also the Deathwatch Overkill models - and given that it's Easter... I made a decision to resurrect an old Wolf Guard Battle Leader that I had 'killed off' in my army background fluff many years ago (after one too many thumpings at the hands of Angor Bok, a well known local Iron Warrior despot).

A quick purchase of some bits and pieces from BitsandKits (a Dren Redblade model, and a Wulfen head), a bit of a kitbash with things like the Space Wolf accessory sprue, Krom Dragongaze's axe, and a tiny bit of green stuff and voila! 

Here is the original piece of artwork that inspired me

I could not for the life of me find a copy of this image on the internet... my search skills rolled a '1'

Here is Tjalfe back in the day(<2008)

Nice 'stache

Suffice to say he's risen from his sus-an slumber and the effects of the Canis Helix are a bit more pronounced...

"I am a bit annoyed that I got hit on the head by that bad man, by jingoes"

"I got axe for you!"

Loving the dynamics of the Dren Redblade model

In actual games of 40k I intend to give him the Black Death if I have the points, otherwise Bolt Pistol + fancy CCW and a very angry streak will see me through I'm sure!

At last, I painted something

Remember this?  December 2014

And this?? March 2015

Frustrated at my complete lack of progress on any painting front, and given it's a long weekend, I sat down yesterday and (after doing my best impression of modern parenting i.e. 'watch a movie and let me play with my dolls please') proceeded to immerse myself in paints and brushes and haphazard eyesight.

And after several hours of slow progress (how much f#%&-ing detail is on these models, seriously), and 12 months (!!!) after the last post on the topic, I have produced Grey Knight Librarian Appolyon:

"Throw me my brewski Sam! Hurry! I've got some daemons to administer holy hops on!"

Fiddly...

Note I haven't gone down the silver route, I always preferred the dark scheme that appeared in the old Index Astartes article way back when. I originally used Vallejo German Grey but being a simple soul and only wanting to use GW paints for consistency/availability/loyalty/whatever I switched to Eshin Grey as my basecoat - a lot lighter but I am ok with this.

Olde Skool Grey Knight colour scheme

Might take some more (better) photos when it's daylight... and after he's had a bit of a varnish.

Progress, YEAH!

Army composition at Maelstrom IX: Disjunction

I have attended 40k competitions almost since the Dark Ages (ok... so since 2nd Ed.). One of the great things that 3rd Ed. (and 4th and 5th Ed.) did to the competitive scene was to evolve the entire game into something reasonably simplified (without losing all of its complexity) by getting rid of all sorts of overly complicated rules (you only have to look at some of the 2nd Ed. datacards, weapons profiles or Wargear Cards to get a feel for this). It also put some structure around the formation of an army i.e. 1-2 HQ, 2+ Troops etc. 

So, having played in and run a few tournaments along the way, and seeing where 7th Ed. is at the moment (with the reasonably unfettered ability to pick whatever you want), I started having some discussions and general reminiscing with some of the regular (and not so regular) attendees about ye olde dayes - and how it would be nice to have an opportunity to play using those sorts of armies.

The outcome of all this was the players pack for Maelstrom IX: Disjunction. The restrictions that I put in the pack were:

Armies must:

• Consist of 1500 points or less
• Be Battle-forged (no Unbound armies)
• Be sourced from a single parent Codex (e.g. Space Marines: Salamanders Chapter Tactics; Imperial Knights)

No allies of any sort are allowed apart from the following exceptions:

• Adepta Sororitas and Inquisition and/or Officio Assassinorium
• Grey Knights and Inquisition
• Astra Militarum and Militarum Tempestus
• Militarum Tempestus and Inquisition
• Craftworld Eldar and Harlequins
• Dark Eldar and Harlequins
• Tyranids and Genestealer Cult
• Cult Mechanicus and Skitarii
• Space Marines (any Chapter Tactics) and Kill Team Cassius

Armies may only be constructed utilising any of the following options:

1 Combined Arms Detachment
OR

0-4 unique Codex Detachments or Formations presented in a Dataslate* (for any army that does not have Codex Detachment or Formation options, e.g. Adepta Sororitas this includes taking a CAD + allied detachment/formations)

AND

0-1 Lord of War/Gargantuan Creature (and only if listed in the army’s parent Codex, e.g. Logan Grimnar, Ork Stompas, Tau Stormsurge etc**. The exception to this is Codex: Imperial Knights – there is no restriction to LoW from this Codex, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to take them!.

* Each specific Codex Detachment and Dataslate Formation is considered unique (0-1) and may not be duplicated. Remember you can only source from a single parent Codex with the above exceptions.

 For example, if you took a Space Marine Gladius Strike force consisting of a Demi-Company, Librarius Conclave, and a 10th Company Task Force, this would count as 4x Unique Codex Detachments or Formations (i.e. 1 Detachment and 3 Formations).

** So no allied Imperial Knights… even if compulsory in a Formation

Armies may not include:

• Allies of any sort that are not outlined above
• Fortifications
• Apocalypse/Planetstrike/CityFight/Escalation/Spearhead/Stronghold Assault/etc. supplements (excluding Codex updates/Formation options from Warzone supplements). Note that you are allowed to use the Lords of War Warlord traits from Warhammer 40,000: Escalation
• Apocalypse Formations
• Forge World army lists/formations/detachments
• Forge World units (it is completely appropriate to use FW models as proxies for core rules models, as long as they are not too divergent)
• Material or army lists from the Horus Heresy books (using HH models in your 40k army is acceptable, as long as they are not used as proxies for something else)
• No Rules or Army Lists marked as ‘Trial’ or ‘Optional’

People who have been playing 40k for a while will recognise the nod to the 3rd/4th/5th Codexes + allies. There is also a small composition score towards the overall score (worth just over 15% of the total), with maximum points for someone that takes a CAD only. So it will be interesting to see what people come up with...

See here for a quick batrep using the composition and missions from the Players Pack (thanks Ryan and Gareth)

The feedback so far has been pretty positive - apart from a couple of people who don't like these sorts of restrictions to how they want to play the game (and were unlikely to attend anyway in my view) - and that's fine. This is aimed at my target audience (and anyone else who wants to play something different).

Already 11+ people have either registered or noted their intention to play, and with it only being sent out this week and nearly 3mths to go I am reasonably happy with that.

Maelstrom IX - Disjunction 11th/12th June 2016

I am very pleased to confirm that the ninth Maelstrom tournament will be held on the weekend of 11th/12th June 2016 at Cashmere Avenue School, Khandallah, Wellington.

It will be 5 rounds of 40k, with armies of 1500pts. Earlybird entry cost for Maelstrom is $30 up until 30 April 2016, after which the cost is $40.

You can download the players pack here.

I'd like to thank Mighty Ape for sponsoring this event as well, an announcement will be out shortly. You can track this tournament and others here!

Any updates or news will be posted on this blog.