Tabletop Tactics League - First Games

 

With the Tabletop Tactics League underway, I've gotten my first two games in. A couple of other Dicks have also played, and some are even getting in games against non-Dick players. It's great to see people playing, and interesting to see how the League rankings look this early.

At time of writing, the number one spot in the League belongs to a player who has already played 9 games. There also appears to be quite a diverse selection of armies doing well. It will be interesting to see how things stand in a few months. Will participation have tailed off?

Game One - Dick Burton's Space Wolves

Space Wolves, Champions of Russ 2000 points

Arjac Rockfist

Canis Wolfborn, Warlord

Murderfang

Ragnar Blackmane

Wolf Guard Battle Leader on Thunderwolf, Relic Weapon, Storm Shield, Close Combat Weapon

Wolf Guard Pack Leader, Combi-Weapon, Power Weapon

Wolf Guard Pack Leader with Jump Pack, Combi-Weapon, Power Weapon

Wolf Guard Pack Leader with Jump Pack, Combi-Weapon, Thunder Hammer

10 Blood Claws, Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns

3 Bladeguard Veterans

5 Infiltrators, Helix Gauntlet, Infiltrator Comms Array

5 Skyclaws, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, 2 Meltaguns

5 Skyclaws, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, 2 Meltaguns

5 Wolf Guard Terminators, 2 Twin Lightning Claws, 2 Storm Shields, 2 Thunder Hammers, Assault Cannon, Power Fist

3 Thunderwolf Cavalry, Heirloom Weapons, Storm Shields

3 Thunderwolf Cavalry, Heirloom Weapons, Storm Shields

Predator Annihilator, Hunter Killer Missile, Storm Bolter, 2 Lascannons

Repulsor Executioner, Heavy Laser Destroyer, Icarus Rocket Pod, Ironhail Heavy Stubber

Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought, Fenrisian Great Axe, Blizzard Shield, Storm Bolter

Mark wants to stick to the spirit of things and give the Champions of Russ Detachment a whirl. This requires taking plenty of Characters and making certain decisions in order to complete the Sagas as he has done in his list. Often though, that means one saving throw can be the difference between a Character killing a target and the Bodyguard doing the job instead.

However, Mark's list is built well to just play a normal game of 40K and consider the Sagas as gravy. Decent ranged weapons on the armour, fast moving assault elements and Meltas to crack transports. The Infiltrators keep the home objective secure from Deep Strike.It's a solid looking list.

Our Mission was Crucible of Battle, Targets of Opportunity, and Purge the Foe. So, the Primary rewards us for killing units and holding objectives, while we have 3 cards for Secondaries each turn.

It was a hard fight, with some key saves on my part allowing me to run away with the Primary. Also sacrificing the Warp Hunter and the Wratihseer helped hold up a unit of Thunderwolves until late in the game. Mark did max his Secondaries, so he was a Battle Ready bonus away from a score in the mid 80s.

I learnt that 4 Wound models are actually quite annoying for my list to shift, as I have a lot of d6 or 2-3 Damage weapons. I was mostly able to keep away from the combat threats though, and brought the two tanks down in the first battle round.

Game Two - Dick Harris' Necrons

Necrons, Awakened Dynasty 1990 points

Chronomancer

Hexmark Destroyer

Orikan the Diviner

Overlord, Resurrection Orb, Veil of Darkness

Technomancer

Transcendant C'tan

10 Immortals, Tesla Carbines

10 Immortals, Tesla Carbines

10 Immortals, Gauss Blasters

Annihilation Barge, Gauss Cannon, Twin Tesla Destructor

5 Deathmarks

Doomsday Ark

Doomsday Ark

Monolith, Gauss Flux Arcs

George has played a lot of variations of Necrons over the years, and wanted to move away from Wraith blocks. He also wanted to try out a lesser run Detachment in the Awakened Dynasty and give Orikan a run out. The cherry on the list is the Monolith. Is it good?

Our mission was Dawn of War, Sweep and Clear, and Priority Targets. Objectives are sticky, allowing us a lot of freedom of movement and Priority Targets really rewards dominance in the end game. I chose Fixed Secondaries as an experiment for this one. I normally snap decide on Tactical, but with Necrons often being hard to shift I didn't want to risk having to have key units out of the fight to score points. 

Five targets for Bring It Down, that all needed to be removed anyway, grants me a potential 16 points. The Six Characters, combined with a Stratagem to bring them back to life, gives me plenty of options for scoring, and again they will be leading units that need to be removed. The C'Tan serves double duty, scoring me both if it falls.

I was mostly able to pin the Necron's into their own half, which kept the Primary high for me. Again, this was aided by the Sweep and Clear rule. The Monolith did grab the Overlord and deposit him in position to score Deploy Teleport Homer. It also took me a couple of turns to destroy it, while suffering it's punishing firepower. 

This did show me that I can struggle to shift large-ish units of decent infantry, without putting a tonne of resources into them. Especially with Reanimate. The Wraithblades also struggled against the Annihilation Barge. Their Strength 7 and Damage 2 aren't great for dealing with vehicles.

Going Forward  

Two wins places me 53rd, at time of writing. Also, following the spirit of the rules, I am unable to make any changes to my list currently. I'm also happy with how the list performs'

However, the two Forge World units are on notice!

The Wraithseer costs the same as a Wraithlord, but trades the 2 Flamer and/or Shuriken Catapults for Destructor (a Heavy Flamer) and can only take 1 other weapon. The Lord also has better melee weapons. The Battleshock ability is quite niche, espcially compared to potentially gaining a Fate Die. When I get a loss, this is likely to be the first swap I make. Which is a shame, but it feels like the design rules disincentivise Forge World models for most factions.

The Warp Hunter is such a cool model. I love it. But, d3 shots isn't great, and Damage 3 makes it really unclear what the intended target is. I'm not sure what I would want in it's place though. 145 is a really awkward points value for Aeldari. Also, as I'm unclear as to the role this unit fulfills, I'm likewise unclear as to what needs to replace it.

The Scatter Laser Wave Serpent isn't enough shots to really hurt an Infantry unit. This should probably just be replaced with a Bright Lance for more consitancy in bringing down enemy armour.

The Wraithguard and Wraithblades have been illustrating why I was using units of ten. With only five in the unit, if the opponent engages them they do so seriously enough that the Spiritseer can never bring any back. This isn't a "bad" thing, just something I had noted a while ago and doesn't appear to have changed.

Everything else seems fine. Fuegan's flexibilty in Leading or not Leading is really good. Geoff is still Geoff. I'm happy with the majority of the list. It will be interesting to see if I feel the same way after picking up a couple of losses.

I can't wait to get some more games in, and continue to chart my progress. My wins have been really good, so I've got quite a buffer to keep my position strong, within my bracket. Still plenty of Dicks to play as well, before needing to either look for outside opponents or start having rematchs.

Are you playing in the League? How are your games going?

Dick Van Dice join the Tabletop Tactics League

 

Tabletop Tactics have started a Global Warhammer 40,000 League, using their updated App. This allows you to track your progress against others online (1601 players registered at time of writing leaving me at 196th with zero games played), while playing games against locals who are also in the League. 

After some discussion, several members of Dick Van Dice have decided to join, including myself. I'm going to track our progress to help the team organize games and talk about my own successes and failures as the League carries on.

The Rules  

The Tabletop Tactics League uses a tournament ladder system to determine its players’ rankings via submission of points scoring. The format follows the latest Core Rules publications, including all current Games Workshop FAQs and Balance Dataslates. Future game systems are planned to be added and will also follow the current rules and FAQs as outlined by the publisher. As seasons progress, we may implement our own FAQs for the League and any events run by Tabletop Tactics.

In addition, the following rules are in effect:

• Your gaming group may use different FAQ formats or rulings such as the WTC if desired. Note: You must still submit victory point scores in the correct format for the game system played i.e up to 90pts for Warhammer 40,000. 
• Should any rules change or be updated during a season of the League, changes will be used as soon as possible between matches. This includes the releases of new army books or supplements where appropriate.
• Once an Army Faction is chosen, it cannot be changed for that Season. No meta chasing to swap to the latest and greatest Faction here, you must command your army through thick and thin for the duration of a Season!
• Lists can be changed between games throughout the season. However, we recommend doing so only if the Player lost their previous Game, or if rules changes are released in the form of a balance or rules update. This should help prevent tailoring your list against a specific opponent.
• Rather than give a strict terrain requirement, we recommend creating a battlefield that you and your gaming group feel will be both balanced and narrative to play on. As a guideline you may use any of the Terrain Layouts from Games Workshop or other tournament format event packs if structure is desired.
• A maximum of 20 League games may be played outside of events in a season. These may be played at a destination of your choosing with your opponent, such as your home, club or local shop. Additionally, only a maximum of 3 games against the same opponent may be played.
• Official League Events, such as ones held at our venue, may be played in addition to your 20 games at home and also award cumulative ‘win in a row’ bonus points. For example, a Warhammer 40,000 event will award the first win +100pts, the second +200pts, the third +300pts and so on. The exact bonus points awarded will be outlined in your event packs as required. Note: Lists may not be changed during an official League Event.
• Missions for your chosen game system should be randomly determined. If you have played the same mission with an opponent previously in a League match, generate a new mission.
• Where possible, all games are to played out to completion. There is no time limit enforced on non event League games. As all victory points scored contribute to your overall League Ranking, we do not recommend conceding games. However, if one player wishes to concede due to the impossibility of scoring any more points, or other circumstance such as having to leave a game, they will still retain the existing victory points scored up to that point. Their opponent must then play out the rest of the game alone, scoring themselves points as per the mission rules until the game ends. The player must then still get their opponent’s verification in our app to submit the final scores.

League Rankings are determined by a player’s total Victory Points and are updated with every game played that season. Additionally, depending on your game system, bonus points are awarded at the end of each match played as outlined in your season’s rules.

That's the rules. Play games, submit results, try and face a variety of opponents. Factions are locked for the season and they recommend that you play the way they do in League videos; no changing your list until you lose a game. The goals being prove yourself as a faction champion, don't tailor your list for each game and don't chase the meta.

20 games is an interesting number. Dick Van Dice currently stands at 19 members. So, internally, playing each member once almost ends your League. If you only have a couple of friends that play, then not so much. Especially with the added limitation of 3 games against the same opponent. Not so great if you can't get people interested at your local club/shop. I get the spirit of the rule, to stop a couple of players colluding to fix results. But 3 is quite limiting if your only play is your best friend who comes over once a week, and you buy direct from the GW webstore due to having no local shop. Not sure what a good middle ground is, however.

13 Dicks have joined the league so far, allowing for a game and a half against each, or 1 game against each with room for more of the Dicks to register. I'm hoping that the group will use this opportunity to play more than their regular opponents and get to know each other more. A selection of us play during the Trollslayer's Open week on alternate Wednesdays and I'll help get people together on free weekends. The Incursion events won't count towards the League as they are staying at 1000 points for now. 

Here is my First List 

Tabletop Tactics list 1.0

Aeldari Strike Force (2000 points) Battle Host 

CHARACTERS 

Autarch Wayleaper (115 points) • Warlord • 1x Dragon fusion gun 1x Mandiblasters 1x Star glaive 

Death Jester (105 points) • 1x Jester’s blade 1x Shrieker cannon • Enhancement: Fate’s Messenger 

Farseer Skyrunner (90 points) • 1x Eldritch Storm 1x Shuriken pistol 1x Twin shuriken catapult 1x Witchblade 

Fuegan (115 points) • 1x Searsong 1x The Fire Axe 

Spiritseer (65 points) • 1x Shuriken pistol 1x Witch staff 

Spiritseer (65 points) • 1x Shuriken pistol 1x Witch staff 

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS 

Wave Serpent (120 points) • 1x Shuriken cannon 1x Twin shuriken cannon 1x Wraithbone hull 

Wave Serpent (120 points) • 1x Shuriken cannon 1x Twin scatter laser 1x Wraithbone hull 

OTHER DATASHEETS 

Falcon (140 points) • 1x Bright lance 1x Pulse laser 1x Twin shuriken catapult 1x Wraithbone hull 

Fire Dragons (85 points) • 1x Fire Dragon Exarch • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Firepike • 4x Fire Dragon • 4x Close combat weapon 4x Dragon fusion gun 

Fire Prism (180 points) • 1x Prism cannon 1x Shuriken cannon 1x Wraithbone hull

Rangers (55 points) • 5x Ranger • 5x Close combat weapon 5x Ranger long rifle 5x Shuriken pistol 

Warp Hunter (145 points) • 1x D-flail 1x Shuriken cannon 1x Wraithbone hull 

Windriders (80 points) • 3x Windrider • 3x Close combat weapon 3x Shuriken cannon 

Wraithblades (170 points) • 5x Wraithblade • 5x Forceshield 5x Ghostaxe 

Wraithguard (190 points) • 5x Wraithguard • 5x Close combat weapon 5x Wraithcannon 

Wraithseer (160 points) • 1x Destructor 1x Ghostspear 1x Wraithseer D-cannon 

Having to stick to to one faction meant that Craftworlds was the obvious choice. Especially with the Dataslate shaking the format up. Being able to alter the list, rather than being stuck like one would be in a tournament, allows me to experiment with Datasheets that I might not nornally take.

The Autarch is a standard choice as, even with the nerf to Phantasm, Command Points are key. This is my standard loadout for the Wayleaper, as while I have the other model I don't rate the Fusion Pistol it's equipped with.

Geoff Dester. I don't really intend on leaving Iyanden without him and am still surprised he avoided nerfs. I suppose the lower amount of Fate Dice means he can't be as crazy as often, but he is still really good.

The Skyrunner is to help mitigate that nerf. Plus Guide is still amazing and I'd rather have Windrunners than Guardian Defenders. Their mobility and in-built rerolls make the Shuriken Cannons deadly.

Feugan is here because he brings options. He can lead the Fire Dragons to make them better at killing, or he can go solo to keep some of the firepower while the other half does an action. He's also tasty in combat. Either way, he and the unit will deploy in the Falcon and often start in Reserve to maximise the surprise value of their threat. It's equiped to deal with similar threats and make life hostile for Vehicles and Monsters.

Two Spiritseers, one with Wraithguard and one with Wraithblades, in Wave Serpents to bully the middle of the table. I'm yet to use Serpents or Blades this edition. This is the closet to beef that the Eldar can deploy though.

The Fire Prism can hold the back line and has consistant and versatile firepower. No notes.

Rangers are a great utilty unit, not sure I can build a list that doesn't contain at least one squad. Especially when you are getting close to the point limit, at 55 points they are amongst the cheapest choices.

Finally, two Forge World units. The Wraithseer is arguably a worse Wraithlord although Devastating Wounds on the D-Cannon and Precision on the Ghostspear can make it a great finisher. The Warp Hunter is just great at Overwatch against harder targets like Vehicles and Terminators. Both can also cause targeted Battleshock (along with Geoff) which can disrupt plans and even steal Objectives.

Not appearing - Asurman and the Dire Avengers. I have used this unit a lot, so it's time to give them a break. I am also not running anything that can add Fate Dice to my pool. Let's get some games in and see how restrictive 6 dice is. 

Otherwise, the nerfs don't bother me. The change to Phantasm is fair, although I believe the issue was the timing of the Stratagem rather than the distance. Paying a CP to move 1" doesn't sound worth the resource to me. The change to Wraithguard is also fair, though it remains to be seen if the points hike was also needed.

Future Plans

I'm going to stick with the "no changes until you lose" rule, but will also follow the Tabletop Tactics habit of 'banking' a change. One loss doesn't mean the list should be thrown out, and an early loss wont always tell me what isn't working. It also gives me incentive to get my few remaining unpainted units painted - War Walkers and Corsairs. 

I have access to a lot of choices for changes, and completly rebuild the army from the ground up. I'd rather tinker and make adjustments. I can see the Wraithseer just straight swapping to a Wraithlord, and I have access to a choice of weaponry should I do so. 

I have had one non-League game with the list, against a Deathwing force. Alex was trialing a mono-Terminator list using the Inner Circle Task Force. Their lack of mobility was a massive issue, alongside the higher toughness values of my list. He's making some adjustments though, so a rematch is on the cards

 

Are you playing in their League? Get in touch and we can help you get some games in.