What is Oldhammer 40k? Tony Myers has the answer with this tournament review as well as steps for how to run you’re very own Oldhammer event.
Hello everyone!
Tony Myers from the Meta Mafia gaming club here with my very first article on frontlinegaming.org! As a long time reader of the great articles here I’m very excited to drop my two cents in the bucket.
This article will be both an event recap as well as a small piece about why we decided to run this style event. Not only that but we will give anyone that’s interested the link to the event page for the next one so that hopefully we can see a few of you all there at the next one!
So before I dive right into the recap of the event we ran a little while back in Sacramento California I want to talk about the type of event it was and why I think it’s important.
Our event is an “oldhammer” style event and is essentially a 5th edition style list build that’s using the current big rule book and ITC FAQ. That means none of the scary formations, no destroyer weapons, no super heavies, etc. Just a standard CAD and some dice to rolls to determine the winner.
It’s an alternative format to the standard ITC style and I think that’s part of what makes it interesting to the 40k community. Not only is it an opportunity to draw in those players that have been on the fence with competitive gaming, but maybe it brings back a few disgruntled people that have left the game in recent years, and even some new players. This is also an entry point for those either scared of the power gaming aspect that competitive play can be, or maybe a nostalgia trip for those of us that enjoyed fifth edition and it’s list building simplicity.
I really think this style of event is an important thing to have in any healthy 40k community, and contrary to some arguments of it battling with the standard ITC format, I think it actually complements it. Newer players, returning players, and disgruntled players can all get their feet wet again with this style event and are more likely to keep playing and maybe even dabble in the other standard style ITC events once they feel ready. Not only that, but it’s a great way for the competitive players to relax and maybe play some fun lists that have taken a back seat to the block of cheese armies they generally bring to other events. We saw things like dreadnaughts, and terminators being played for example. One guy even brought an entire Mordian Imperial Guard army to really bring the Oldhammer style!
We also let everyone that played give feedback throughout the day and also at the end in order to make adjustments for the next event. Only two rules adjustments were made for our next one on August 6th and I think that’s really good considering how different the event is to anything else.
So without further delay here is the tournament information and format
Location: great escape games – Sacramento, CA
Date: June 18, 2016
Rules:
– 1500 points
– Single CAD (Combined arms detachment)
– No formations
– No lord of wars (characters ok)
– No super heavies
– No gargantuans
– No Destroyer (D) weapons
– No flyers
– Flying monsterous creatures are considered to be gliding at all times.
– No forgeworld units or rules
– Armies without an HQ selection such as harlequins can build using the CAD perimeters without the HQ choices but must nominate one character in the army to be their warlord.
– Current Itc FAQ will be used for anything else, including the interim rules for the new psychic powers.
– First draft GW FAQ **will not be used**
Salamander melta spam in drop pods ended up being the overall winner. Vulkan with his army wide buffs and the master crafted weapons ended up being very very powerful in this event. Part of the reason was the low tau army count. With very few armies able to deal with the rapid insertion and armor popping melta, it proved to be the most dominate army there.
Our overall feedback from the event was really really good. Players seemed to enjoy the more relaxing style of games where they felt their units could actually all interact without being at a huge disadvantage when put against other more streamlined and min max style units. We saw terminators and dreadnaughts and land raiders, instead of formation based obsec heavy Gladius armies with min max units of tacticals in rhinos. Or khorne berserkers instead of cabal conclaves. The psychic phase was used sparingly instead of a game deciding phase. We also played with some really unique missions designed by the TO that were themed and told a story throughout the event. Also the next event will have new missions directly themed and influenced by the winning army from the first event. This lets the players impact their experience from each event and really gives something to work towards. (Editors note: Make sure to ping Tony for more info on those missions! I am curious about them as well.)
Anyone interested in attending our next event please feel free to call and sign up at the store, great escape games – (916) 927-0810, and/or visit our event pages.
Also, If anyone has any questions about the event or would like to get some tips on how to run a similar event in their area, please feel free to check out our club page and message me there.
Thanks everyone and I hope you all enjoyed the article and we look forward to seeing you all at the next oldhammer event!