Team FTGT Returns from ATC

The FTGT Team returned from its inaugural trip to ATC and I think we all had a blast, getting a bunch of games and not much sleep. For those who don't know, the ATC is the American Team Championship, and it's undoubtedly the biggest team event in the country. This year 58 teams of five made their way to Chatanooga to battle it out; that's 290 40k players!

Our team consisted of myself playing Tyranids, Chandler playing his Wolves, Andrew playing Eldar, James playing AdMech with a Knight, and Geoff from Canada rocking out his Blood Angels. None of us had been to the event before and while we all did our best to prepare and compete, we also really didn't have any solid expectations going in.

Obligatory awkward team selfie

For those who aren't familiar with the format, ATC is a team event where teams of five players compete in five individual, one-on-one games. Pairing of team members is done through a series of drops where each team simultaneously puts forward an initial list first (A). Each team then offers two counters (B and C) to the first dropped list (A). The first drop (A) then picks from the two opposing lists (B or C). This sets the first two matches. The process is repeated, setting the remaining three matches, with the last one being the two lists not picked getting matched against each other.

It sounds pretty complicated but isn't too bad once you wrap your head around it. Each game has a potential total of 20 points for the round; 10 points for the Primary mission, 6 points for the secondary, and 1 point each for Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker, First Blood, and tabling your opponent. Team scores are the added results from each player, and a team win is achieved with a +9 or better point differential.

So, on to the games!

Round 1 we were matched against Git Wrecked, whose lists consisted of a Guilliman Gunline, an Ynnari Troupes in Transports list, an Assassin Spam list, Magnus and 3 Knights, and a Commander and Drone Spam Tau list. The matchups ended up as:

• Andrew (Wraithknights) vs. Nic (Guilliman Gunline)
• Chandler (Wolves) vs. Michael (Ynnari Harlequins)
• Evan (Nids) vs. Daniel (Tau Commander and Drone Spam)
• Geoff (Dakka Dreads) vs. Jonathan (Magnus and Knights)
• James (AdMech) vs. Mark (Assassins)

The first round mission was No Mercy Primary, with Scouring Secondary. Geoff tabled his opponent on turn 6 and earned a 19 point victory. My opponent and I struggled to get the pace and didn't even finish our second turn, with me getting a minor 10-6 victory. Andrew, James, and Chandler all lost pretty strongly, only managing to scrape together 2 more points. In the end, we took a 31-64 loss for the round.

After lunch we came up against Warhammered for our second round. Their team had Stealth themed Tau list; a Warrior, Annihilation Barge, and Wraiths Necron list; a gunboat Dark Eldar list; Knights with Conscript wrapping; and a Tyranid and Cult list. Our pairings for this round were:

• Andrew vs. Jessica (Necrons)
• Chandler vs. Michael (Dark Eldar)
• Evan vs. Brock (Tau)
• Geoff vs. Patrick (Knights)
• James vs. Paul (Tyranids)

The round mission was the Relic, with Big Guns as the Secondary. Geoff again tabled his opponent, this time in turn 7. I probably would have done the same had we made it to turn 5 and beyond, but walked away with a 19-0 victory on turn 4. James managed a close loss, earning 8 points, and Chandler and Andrew both eked out a few points (5 total) to give us a winning Draw at 52-47. 

Round 3 we came up against Huckleberry, whose lists were Sisters and Scions with a Shadowsword, 4 Knights, 3 Storm Ravens with Death Company Tyranids with lots of medium bugs and Flyrants, and Tau with a couple Hammerheads, Broadside units, and a Stormsurge.  The pairings for this round were:

• Andrew vs. Mitch (Tyranids)
• Chandler vs. Aaron (Imperial Soup)
• Evan vs. Dan (Knights)
• Geoff vs. John (Blood Angels)
• James vs. Nick (Tau)

This round James lead the team with a 20 point win, while Geoff tabled his third opponent in a row with a 19 point win. Andrew also won with a narrow 9 point victory. Chandler managed 3 points from his game, while I brought up the rear this round, getting 0 points and getting tabled on turn 6. The team managed a winning Draw for a second round in a row, at 51-44. 

After round 3 we were done for the day and headed out to a late dinner and then back to the room before getting up bright and early for a 7am start the next day. 

After playing 40k all day, studying list matchups at night is hard work

We arrived bright and early the next day, matched up against the Rogue Traders. Their lists were a Wraith-based Ynnari army, a Crisis Suit heavy Tau list, a gunline Marine army, a shooty Wolf list plus some Wulfen, and a Strike squad and DakkaDread Grey Knight list. The pairings were: 

• Andrew vs. Matt (Wolves)
• Chandler vs. Jonathan (Marines)
• Evan vs. Scott (Grey Knights)
• Geoff vs. Ethan (Tau)
• James vs. Chris (Ynnari)

James once again lead the way for the team with a 20-0 victory. Geoff won, though didn't table his opponent, and earned 16 points for the team. I pulled out a 14-4 victory in my game. Chandler and Andrew didn't get any points, but they also didn't give up max points, which managed to net us our first win at 50-40. 

After a short break we were ready for round 5 against our friends from East Tennessee Adepticus II. Their lists were an Eldar army with Aspect Warriors and some Wraith Constructs; a Khorne Daemon list of Skarbrand, 3 Bloodthirsters, and 60 dogs; Stealth, Ghotskeel, and Commander focused Tau; gunline Dark Angels with a conscript blob; and a Seraphim heavy Sisters of Battle army.  The matchups were:

• Andrew vs. David (Tau)
• Chandler vs. Chris (Eldar)
• Evan vs. Dave (Khorne)
• Geoff vs. Shannon (Sisters)
• James vs. Nick

Geoff led the team again, tabling his opponent on turn 5 for a 20 point win. I managed an 18 point victory against Dave (from Beer for the Beer God) in what turned out to be a surprisingly tactical game for two rush assault armies. Chandler managed 6 points this round, James got 1, and Andrew didn't manage any after getting seized on by Tau and taking 36 wounds to his Wraithknights before getting to go. Our combined efforts resulted in a losing draw, with a score of 45-51.

For Round 6, the last round of the event, we drew Skull and Bones. Looking through their lists we knew we were pretty outmatched. Their lists were Ynnari Dark Reapers in Wave Serpents, Salamander Storm Ravens with Sisters backup, Dark Eldar gunship and jets with Harlequins, Horror and Chariot Herald spam, and tank Guard with a Shadowsword. We were pretty much at a loss to find any good matchups here, and ended up with these pairings:

• Andrew vs. Lance (DE/Harlequins)
• Chandler vs. Doug (Salamanders/Sisters)
• Evan vs. Rob (Guard)
• Geoff vs. Clark (Ynnari)
• James vs Mike (Daemons)

Hormagaunt Shenanigans

This round went about as expected. I lead the team with 7 points, having used the above pictured Hormagaunt shenanigans to tie up tanks that can't get away or fight back and win the secondary objective as a result. Geoff scraped together 3 points in his matchup while Andrew and James both got 1. The team ended up with a resounding 12-86 loss to end the event. 

To conclude, in our first year as a team, we went 1-2-3, which I think is totally respectable. I felt like we had a chance in each round except the last, and each of our team members potentially had a chance in each round as well. For myself, I was fairly happy with my 4-2 record for the weekend and I've already been tweaking the list for NOVA, which is coming up startlingly fast. ATC has already announced the dates for next year (July 14-15) and I'm fully planning on heading the team again.