Da Dakkajet - 4 games in

So after reading the rules in the latest WD, and seeing all the pics, I knew that I could not pass up on this ork flyer. The model and painting opportunities alone were enough to convince me to drop the 50 spot for it. 


So I got my box last Saturday, and hurriedly put it together, as there was a tournament the next weekend and I wanted to try it out. Then I began reading the internet articles about how terrible or overcosted the flyers were, before they had even playtested it! Well, I had to see for myself.


Over the past 72 hours, I have played 4 games with it, 3 of which were in a tournament setting, where Boss Grimgor's Deff Komp'ny pulled 1-0-2 and tied for 3rd overall with BoxerSaint. I played against Pariah Stevo's Venomspam Dark Eldar, Skimmerspam Craftworld Eldar, Space Wolves, and BoxerSaint's Imperial Guard. Needless to say, the Orks faced some stiff competition, and a great test of the Dakka Jet's ability/durability. 


In all 4 games, it died only once, falling to Long Fang missiles,and it made an impact in every game. It knocked out venoms, shut down wave serpents/fire prisms, killed razorbacks and saved my objective from being overrun by Gunnery Sergeant Harker and his outflanking band of misfits. I have fallen in love with this plane. It fulfills so many different roles that the Orks currently haqve trouble filling. The list I took - 


Boss Grimgor Skulskraga - Ghazghkul Thraka
8 Nobz - 2 Klaws, 2 Big Choppas, Waaagh Banner, Bosspoles, Cybork Bodies, all different equip.
Painboy
Wagon - Deffrolla, Grot Riggers, Red Paint, Armored Plates


Big mek - KFF, Eavy Armor
19 Shoota Boys - Nob w/ BP/PK, big shoota

Wagon - Deffrolla, Grot Riggers, Red Paint, Armored Plates



20 Shoota Boys - Nob w/ BP/PK, 2x big shoota

Wagon - Deffrolla, Grot Riggers, Red Paint, Armored Plates



10 Grotz


3x9 Lootaz


Dakkajet - 3x Supa Shootas, Red Paint, Fighta Ace


I ran the Dakkajet in tandem with the wagons every game, giving the wagon rush some desperately needed shooting, while gaining the 4+ Cover save from the KFF, making for a very survivable AV10. It also became a fire magnet, taking shots away from my wagons, which is always a good thing. It also deflects fire from your lootaz, allowing you to have some serious firepower throughout the game.


Orks have very little in the way of mobile firepower, save buggies, and this thing has it in spades. Including it's 13" move, this thing has an effective range of 43", layin out 9 twin linked shots. And oh what fun it is when you Waaagh, doubling the shot output! Even when facing AV12, this thing is worth every penny, as with that many shots, you are still going to glance, and at minimum shut down their shooting for a turn. Even my opponents were surprised at how well the dakka jet performed.


As for the other two variants, I have not tested them out yet, so I cannot fairly attest to their ability, but I will have to give them a go in the near future.


This lil plane has earned a spot in my WAAAGH!!! and if you play Orks, then I heavily suggest you at least give this thing a try, you won't be disappointed!

Have any stories about the new flyers of your own? Tell us about them below!

Maul In the Maul Prep Tourney

Well Bear Cubs, I played in a Maul in the Mall Prep tourney this morning, and did I have a blast! For those of you who don't know, the Maul in the Mall is an annual tournament put on by Dicehead Games of Cleveland that I have been going to since 2004. It is a lot of fun, and really what got me into playing in big events/tourneys across the state. Anyway, this year's Maul is March 24, and will be at Bradley Square Mall in Cleveland, TN. It's an 1850pt tourney, and should be a blast. If you live in the area, or even if you don't, you should come on down and meet Da Deff Komp'ny Krew.


Anyways, today was a dry run, where we tried out all the MITM missions, which can be found HERE. I have been tinkering around with my Space Wolves, and have come up with a list that I am very happy with. Having never played in an 1850pt tourney before (MITM is usually 2000) I was slightly nervous about how my list building would fare.





Total Roster Cost: 1850
 
Arjac Rockfist
8 Grey Hunters Pack
...Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Meltagun
...Drop Pod

Lone Wolf in Terminator Armour
...Combi-Meltagun, Chain Fist


4 Wolf Guard in Power Armour
...Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist
4x5 Grey Hunters Pack
...Meltagun
...Razorback
......Lascannon and TL Plasmagun

Rune Priest in Power Armour
...Chooser of the Slain
3x6 Long Fangs Pack
...Lascannon x2, Missile Launcher x3


The tournament was a Power Armored affair, with only 2 armies not rollin with the 3+. The army breakdown was;


Space Wolves - 4
Grey Knights - 1
Imperial Guard - 1
Eldar - 1
Blood Angels - 1
Chaos Space Marines - 1
Dark Angels (DW) - 1


As it all played out, I played Space Wolves in every round, going 2-0-1 and tying the Grey Knight player for 2nd, with the Guard taking the top spot. Overall, the list played well, and I will be using the basic format in my 2000pt list from here on out. 


On a somewhat unrelated note - I Has Thunderwolves!!!11!!11!!! Picked up a box of TWC and Fenrisian Wolves while at Dicehead, so I will be doing a model breakdown/painting overview later on. Till next time, Peace!

Knowing is Half the Battle!!! Part 1 of 4: Know ThyRules!!!

Wow. Sorry for the long dead period. To make a long story short: Mid-terms, Spring Break, Last-minute 13.5 hour drive to Naples, FL, Second degree sunburn, PC burned out, Now have crappy rent-a-mac from School that won't play flash:( , It's a Mac! :'''''( , joined and helped start Unbroken Gaming Club, currently handling t-shirt orders, car is leaking oil, won the Bash at the Barn tournament with my Orks( Waaagh!!!), just pledged to finish 2000pts of DE in 2 months, taxes and fafsa still not done, and i still need a job!!! Anyhow back to the action.

Today I want to start a 4 part series based on what I think is a major reason people do badly in competive play. Most people are pretty competent individuals. So why do some people constantly win top tournements, while other, equally competent players never seem to hit their stride. The answer: MISTAKES!!! How do we prevent ourselves from making mistakes? By become Knowlegable about the game we play. There are many different aspects to this. Today we will cover the first aspect. Know ThyRules!!!

Know the basic rules: This is one of those things you shouldn't think you would have to mention, but it is often overlooked, especially with "veteran" gamers. Many so-called vets fail to really learn the new rules after a new edition releases and often confuse rules between editions.  Do you remember the first time you played a game of chess and someone castled their king? How about taking a pawn en passant?

The Wookie let's Chuck Norris win.

A player must ask himself, 'How do I expect to master a game I do not know the rules of?'
When my brother-in-law first started playing, he lost alot.  He has always played his tau really well, but his tactics are very min-maxed. He would always try some caculated gamble only to realize too late that the rule didn't work quite like he thought. This would often result in a game losing failure. Being knowlegable about the rules is the only way to make tatical desicions on the fly and come out on top.

"What do you mean,  'The popular vote doesn't count'"

Examples: Do you still have to make last man standing checks? What happens if a squads transport is destroyed and they can't disembark out of the exit points? If a squad deep strikes into a multi-floored ruin, where is it placed? Can a vehicle drive through a ruin? Do jump infantry squads take dangerous terrian tests when leaving difficult terrain. How fast is cruising speed? Can you make saves off dangerous terrian tests. Can fearless models fail leadership tests?  I think you got the hint. If you don't know any of the above questions, look them up. One of the biggest weaknesses most players have is that they would rather ask 'that rules guy' or post a rules question on a forum instead of looking it up. Sadly, " That's what it said on Warseer" doesn't hold up well in a rules argument at a tournament. Don't be afraid to crack open the BBOR. You might learn something. Another way to familiarize yourself with the rules is to surf online rules forums for other peoples rules questions.

That's it for now. What are some ways you find to keep up-to-date and fresh on the rules? Tune in next time for Part 2: Know Thyself!!!

Tournament Results: A learning experience

                            I love going down to Dicehead Games for two reasons. One, the players there are really cool guys. Second, the caliber of gamers that you play is top notch. When I loose a game down there, I see what I did wrong in a big way. I can see what I did and learn to change how I play. So, as I tell you how  me and The Griz did in the tournament, The main theme will be "What I did wrong," and "What I should have done..."

Note: I am assuming if your reading this, that you read my previous post with our army lists in them. I suggest you read if before you continue on.

GAME 1: Orks and Blood Angels vs. Orks and Chaos Marines
            The first game was a pretty easy win for us. The guys were new to the game. I think they said they both had been playing for about six months. They were great guys and it was a very enjoyable game. The mission was Seize ground, Dawn of War. Like most new Ork/ Chaos players, they assume the best thing you can possibly do is get as close to the enemy as possible. They went first and  put a approx 30 man boyz squad and 10 Bezerkers with a Khorne Termy Lord in it on the middle of the field. We had everything come in on Turn 1. They ran every thing up. We assaulted there stuff on turn one. At the end of the day we were able to get the charge on every assault, which for ork and blood angels usually equals a win.

GAME 2: Orks and Blood Angels vs. Dark Eldar and Tyranids
               Our opponent luck ran out after the first game. The next two games were against two of the best teams at the tournament. This was a really well built list. basically there were 3 or 4  Large Genestealer squads all with Broodlords, and the Dark Eldar vehicles had the grenade launchers on them. The point was to get all this cumulative -1 Leadership stuff up in your grill, then drop in the Doom of Malantia and just wreak havoc. The Mission was Modified Kill Points, Pitched Battle. I seriously think we would have had a chance here, if it wasn't for bad rolls. The Griz loves to put his storm raven in reserve. It allows him to move flat out when it moves on, giving him the 4+ save and preventing it from getting shot down in his deployment zone. Sadly though, when you put a Stormraven, 10 Death company, a Master Reclusiarch, and a Death company dread on a single reserve roll, It was bound to happen eventually, and this game it did. He failed every. single. roll and it automatically came in on turn 5. Needless to say my orks were 'stealer chow by this point.
             "What we did wrong...." letting The Griz roll his own reserves. My Grots came in on turn 3. Just sayin'
              "What we should have done..." Hindsight's 20-20. And if the Raven would have come in we would be having an entirely different conversation. But it is safe to say, that against this opponent, getting shot down in our deployment zone wouldn't have been so bad if we could have kept the lootas alive to shoot down raiders. I guess in a KP mission mobility is not as much as an issue if you have fire power. It would have been best.

GAME 3: Orks and Blood Angels vs. Black Templar and Dark Eldar.
               We played our third game against two gamers we are very familiar with. I don't like using people names on blogs without their permission so we will  will refer to them as Sea and Youyou.  Sea and Youyou have given me more whoopin's than my momma has. The Griz and I played them second round in the last team tourney we went to. On turn 3 when the painting judge got to our table, he had to ask us what armies we were playing, cuz they weren't on the board anymore! Last singles tournament at The Barn, I and Sea played on the "final table" and he beat me to win the tourney...with Necrons!
                   Anyhow, I am happy to report that we have improved. At the end of the game we had a single Ork Loota on the board!!! YEAH IMPROVEMENT!!

"What We did wrong..."  We put everything on the board during deployment. I also did a horrible job ad judging their army. I thought it was gonna be assault oriented just because it had BT in it. What I didn't realize is that due to the new FAQ they can be shooty as hell, not to mention all of the DE 12 poison shots on each of about 5 venoms. So it was a desert table, we were going second, and staring at a incredibly powerful shooting army, and what do I do? Because of the last game, I put every single model on the board. For them, it was like a turkey shoot. Looking back, I really see how I played like a complete and utter noob. After one loss, I completely shut my brain off and didn't play to the level I am capable of .

"What We should have done.." Reserve EVERYTHING!. The game was Capture and control, Spearhead. Reserving everything would have robbed them of 2 rounds of shooting. Then we could have brought everything on the far left of our long board edge, shortening our drive. Instead of try to hold our objective, we would have put the lootas within range of it and let them shoot everything off of it, then making an all or nothing play for theirs.

THE BIG MISTAKE:  DEPLOYMENT:Griz and I have got to learn to read other people's list in order to discover what their play is. We are both very visual people and tend to dismiss our opponents list and assume we will figure it out once it hits the table. In fifth edition, deployment is one of the major tactical aspects of the game, and if you don't deploy correctly, it will loose you games, like it did for us.

CONCLUSION. The guys we played second round went to the "final table" were they won their game but only got 4 battle points. See and Youyou got 16 off of us and hence won the tournament.