discuss the current meta and what we learned from the Duelcon 40K GT.
GT and Team Tournament. We used our standard BAO format, the same as at
Comikaze. It is a combination of 3 book missions played simultaneously with all
three book bonus points. Whoever earns more points, wins. It’s a really simple
system that has proven to be easy to learn, flexible, and popular. Results and
pictures of the event can be found here.
Duel Con. We had a large amount of Cron Air armies this go around, definitely
the most represented list at the event. Cron Air has a really big advantage
against most of the armies out there currently having an overwhelming amount of
Flyers that are each an individual unit. Interestingly, few folks took
advantage of the AA options Forgeworld allows. A few Hydra Support platforms,
Sabres, Hyperios defense platforms, etc. and that would have certainly put the kybosh
on a Cron Air list. A Quad Gun and a few flyers would serve nearly as well.
the Cron Air lists against each other! Haha, apparently the pairing gods have a
sense of humor! (And we have no control over pairings, just to be explicit). And
for those of you thinking Chaos will provide some respite from Flyer Nation,
from what we’ve read…not really. We could be wrong of course, but everything we’ve
seen is that the Dragon really isn’t going to spell doom to other flyers (seems
to be much better vs. Infantry) and Flakk missiles, at least as they are
defined in the BRB, only have Skyfire, not Interceptor. So, Flyers will come on
and look to destroy them first before they fire.
Josh Dearth’s Nids dfeated Dave Fay’s Cron Air with his 2 Dakkafexes and 3
Tervigons. Board control and twin-linked rate of fire are excellent tools when facing
an Air Force. Also, Flying Monstrous creatures can be quite good as well. We
also had Brian Marino with his Mech Dark Eldar list fighting for all the
marbles in the finals. He had defeated Shane Irons’ Cron Air army the round
prior. With a beneficial Warlord trait (-1 to reserve rolls) and first turn
Night Fighting, Brian was able to play to objectives and win the game. In the
finals against Allen Campbell’s Cron Air/Horde Ork list, he put up a great
fight but lost a tight game (6-5) to Allen who took it all! I found it very
interesting to see another essentially 5th ed Dark Eldar list
kicking butt. At Comikaze we had several Dark Eldar players doing great, and
here we had another stand-out DE list. It would appear so far, that they have
made the transition to 6th very well.
powerful combos, and one that we’ve seen doing well in other events. Fuegan17,
a member of our team, won the local Feast of Blades qualifier with an Ork/Cron
combo. The Orks provide durable, cheap, reliable scoring units, and great
support units in Lootas, Dakkajets, etc. while the Crons provide the killing
power. I think this is a combo we’ll be seeing a lot of.
We had a Hades Breaching Drill, a Vulture with Punisher Cannons (AWESOME model!),
Storm Eagle, and an Ork Gun Wagon. Nothing was overpowering at all. I’m not
saying there isn’t room for some abuses there, but people bring what they have
painted to tournaments, and this was no different. Once again, FW’s impact on
the event was underwhelming. Had I not asked people what they thought about it
being there, most folks wouldn’t have even noticed.
the 6th ed meta unroll. It is such a more complex and multi-faceted
game now, I love it! I hope we see folks get away from the rinse and repeat
Cron Air lists (and 2 of the 5 Cron players said they were selling theirs as
they didn’t like playing them that much) and take advantage of the incredible
variety 6th allows. The great thing is that now not only can you
build a truly unique army, but it can be effective on the table top as well!
tournament goers and it was awesome to see them get the bug and get excited for
their next event.