Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts – Tournament Season Begins – Any Bets?
Goatboy here again and today I want to talk about the upcoming tournament season. This is the last hurrah for 5th (even though I think 6th will be more of a clean up then a rebuild) and all our codex thoughts should be fairly locked in. So the question I ask and hope to answer is – what codex do you think will be the best choice for those thinking about spending their time in the “competitive” kiddie pool of 40k. So with that in mind let’s look at how events have evolved.
The Missions
First of all most events have adopted some kind of 3 mission design. Whether it is the locked nature of the Nova, Adepticon’s best out of 3 style, or even our own Battle Point mixture they all resolve around trying to win 3 different missions. This involves using the books basic missions to create a style of event that makes you constantly think throughout each turn at every action. I enjoy these events as they give me options to out play my opponent not just on dice rolls but on the constant pull and tug of a battle where you have to look past kicking the enemy in his no no place.
Building a Better Mousetrap
So with that in mind you have to create a list that helps you compete in all of these missions. First of all you will need troops. So any army list has to have either troops that will help you compete offensively or they are extremely difficult to remove. This can be due to their size, special abilities, or just plain cost effectiveness. So with troops being the only option to win 2 out of the 3 normal mission parameters you need to have decent options at the troop level.
From there you need to have options to move. Getting around the table to complete the options is the only way to win as many missions as you can. You can use different types of boxes, fast moving units, or just teleportation tricks to complete this goal. No matter what – you have to move to win a game.
So with movement being extremely important I also think you need to have an army that doesn’t need to go first to win. Events have started to push bigger and bigger terrain pieces. Gone are the days of open tables and boring set ups that just encourage games of “I will fire 5 missiles at that tank…” X 3. This creates an interesting element of denying your opponent options during their turn. Creating an army that doesn’t need the first turn will allow you to either mitigate your opponents initial salvo or just get an option to outplay your opponent without any dice rolls. Lately all of my lists don’t need to go first because all long ranged options either can move and fire or I have other tricks to bring their damage to bear.
Now finally we get into the nuts and bolts of this design. The important factor in any army is the ability to get built on all points levels. Your army needs to have a solid core that will be able to spin and spiral out into different point levels and still be effective. In fact the core is the most important factor of any army you hope to bring throughout these yearly events.
Who’s on Top?
So with that in mind what army is the best option out there? I think it still falls into the hands of Space Wolves. They are an extremely broad army with good options at every choice and they easily fit into every point level with efficient troop choices as well as extremely offensive options. In fact I expect Space Wolves to win Adepticon again this year as people have gotten all the model options as well as the shiny glimmer of the Grey Knights wears off and they find issues fitting their army into lower points costs. Plus dice rolls are going to be much more important to Grey Knights then Wolves as the Fenris boys have a lot more they can sacrifice in order to complete missions.
In the coming weeks I will be talking about different lists that might work within this shell of tournament thought. This isn’t just another love fest for the Space Wolves as I think there are other lists that will do just as well. They fit these options of having decent troop choices, effective board control, and ways to win all the missions. This will post up after I get finished with the Bay Area Open this weekend and I plan on bring Space Wolves to the 1750 event.
