NOVA 2018 Recap

NOVA was, as always, a blast. It was a couple weeks ago at this point, but I am already looking forward to next year and have it marked on my calendar. This year, as well as playing in the 40k GT for a sixth time, I also had the pleasure of playing in the Invitational for a third time. I am going to (somewhat) briefly run through my nine game over the course of the convention and give some highlights.

The army I took to the GT

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 72: The Week Before NOVA

What is up Everyone? In this episode, Evan and Chandler come together to talk about Evan's last minute preparations for the NOVA Invitational as well the GT.  The guys start off talking about the Daunting Challenge that is Nick Nanavati.  Evan talks about his thoughts on his list and the challenges it will face against Nick's list.  They then break down the scouring system that NOVA has gone with this year, the round by round missions, and the challenges that his list will face in each mission.  They also break down the scoring for the Primary, the Secondary, and the Tertiary and their thoughts on which ones work well for his list.  We also break down Evan's lists and talk about the strengths of both lists in each of the tournaments.

Tyranids, Gene Stealers, and Blood Angels! Hopefully Evan has a great showing.

Return to ATC - Team and List Building

It's ATC Time again! It's 4am and I'll be hitting the road very shortly to head down to Chattanooga for my second time at ATC, American Team Championship, starting today. For those who don't know, ATC is (primarily) a 40k event where teams of five players face off in five 1on1 games. I lead a team last year and had a blast, and while most of the team roster has changed this year, I'm still super excited to be leading my team into a field of over 70 opposing teams - that's over 350 players!

Warzone: Atomic Empire Recap

Weekend before last I played in Warzone: Atomic Empire, in Durham, NC. I got to play five great games against five awesome opponents, and spoiler, I managed to win my group for the first time in my tournament career.

Warzone: Atomic Empire was a two-day, five-round event based on the Warzone: Atlanta concept of total hobby, and put together and run by some great players and ambassadors of the game in the Southeast, lead by Mike Twitchell and Horton Doughton.

Warzone: Atomic Empire - Evan's Tyranids 2.0

Lists have been submitted for Warzone: Atomic Empire, which is just over a week away now. As I went through in my last post, I was weighing a handful of variations of list, and eventually settled on one, fairly similar to the List Doctor list I got from Matt Root.

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 67: The FAQ is Here and we build Tyranids

What is up Everyone? May the Fourth be with you, and this week Evan and Bryan get together to talk about a little thing that dropped:  THE FAQ!  IT IS FINALLY HERE and after some shock, awe, and getting into the nitty gritty of the FAQ and what it means for our lists.  The guys talk about some of the big changes to how the lists are built.  The guys talk about the debates on what Nid lists have the punch to do the work to win.  The guys break down the big changes that the bugs have faced, how their lists are changing, and how what was old, just might be new and refreshed.  The guys talk also talk about some changes that may come out of the FAQ that may be an unintended consequence.  Back and better than ever, and with a FAQ to help us get in the flow.

Remember, Hit like a truck; Die like a Mazda.

Consulting a List Doctor: Competitive List Building - Evan's Tyranids 1.5

As I mentioned in my last post, I reached out to Nick and Matt at the Brown Magic for some List Doctor assistance. I opted to have them each construct a list from scratch, given nothing other than the Warzone: Atomic Empire packet and my desire that they be Tyranid lists, bringing in GSC and Guard if desired.

Warzone: Atomic Empire - List Building and Prep Game

With under a month to go until Warzone: Atomic Empire, James and I managed to get our first test game in last weekend. Both of us are flailing a little in terms of list builds post FAQ so we are both sort of defaulting back to things we have mostly painted that might work out ok.

Competitive List Building and Bat Rep - Evan's Tyranids 1.3

Building off my last list-building post, this post is going to go over the changes I made from the last version of my Tyranid list to the one I used last week in a game against James and his Poxwalker bomb list, and review how that game went. This is also likely the final version of the list before the impending March Balance FAQ, which I'm nervous could impact the future of the list.

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 64: Crazy List Building

What is up Everyone? This week Chandler, Evan, and Bryan are talking about crazy list designs and where there place in list building lies.  We talk about how these lists come up, how we should approach the lists, what can we take from crazy list building.  Evan and Bryan bring some key points on what to do with certain lists and where the lists should be played.  We then jump into some of the crazy Nid lists and some fun lists that we have come up with.  How do we feel about Sporocysts?  How many is too many Tyrants?  Are outflanking Primaris Marines worth their costs?  What happens when you confuse the rules?  All of these have played into the crazy lists at one point or another, and the guys discuss where that happy valley lies.

The True question of 40k life:  What is list?  Correct Answer:  42

Competitive List Building - Evan's Tyranids 1.2

On our first podcast of 2018, Bryan mentioned an idea I really liked: keeping a changelog of his lists as he begins his Year of the Tyranids (hence the title). As someone with more responsibilities than game time (assuming that's most everyone), I tend to have more lists than games with said lists. My thought in shamelessly stealing Bryan's idea, is to do a bit of a post series documenting this changelog publicly for each army I embark on. I won't inundate these posts with every single list I consider and debate, but just those that actually see the table, and maybe the first thought revision following the last game.

Warzone Atlanta 2017 Army - henceforth referred to as List 0.3

As the first of its kind, this post will also include some backtracking to show where I have come from.

2018, the Year of Tyranids!

Hey everyone,

BC is back in action with an update to my "What army should I play" post a couple weeks ago. If you are a podcast listener or you are adept at reading the title of this blog post, it's all Tyranids in 2018!

So before we get too deep in to this let's talk about the game plan. As part of my 2018 goal I want to play in four RTTs and my usual GT, the Renegade Open. I don't see much time for more than that.

Dear Community, What army should I play in 2018?

Hey everyone, BC here.

Man it's been a long time since I did a blog post. I should do this more (ed. note: we all should); if anything it keeps me accountable to the hobby.

So as 2018 draws near, I want to be a better player (don't we all?). With my schedule and family and work commitments, my calendar is pretty tight for going to tourneys so I need to make the best bang for my buck. I will do that by playing one army this year and doing my best to get good with it. Too often I will play an army for a few games then get shiny model syndrome and switch armies.

This is where you come in faithful reader(s), I need your help picking my army for 2018. The list will change throughout the course of the year but I want to keep the faction the same throughout the year. So without further fanfare here are the choices in no particular order:

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 61: Local Tournaments and Tyranid Strategy

What is up Everyone? Evan and Ron do a duet on local tournaments and some Tyranid strategies.  Ron is list building and trying to figure how to build his bugs, what he likes and doesn't like, and what hive fleet to use when he knows the meta.  Evan talks about the tournament he went to recently in Gate City, VA put on by Ricky Addington where he had a good weekend and lost to The Paul Murphy.  Both Paul and Ricky are part of the Forge the Narrative podcast.  Evan also goes down some key strategies, when to use certain stratagems, and gives an overall view of one of the many ways to play bugs in 8th edition.  It is a quick duet, so enjoy the show.

The bugs are coming out to play!

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 60: Warzone: Atlanta and Renegade Open Recaps

What is up Everyone? Evan, Bryan, and Chandler work their way into a healthy discussion about the most recent tournaments they went to:  The Renegade Open and Warzone:  Atlanta.  Bryan starts the night off by going through his list, talking about some of the fun moments and crucial decisions he made, and the overall feel of one of the top tournaments in the Midwest.  Dave and Puck really know how to setup a fun and challenging event.  Chandler and Evan then breakdown their round by round games as they discuss some of the challenges that happened with the missions, some of the fun aspects of the opponents and games they played, and then talk about some of the finer moments of the tournament.  This is one of the Biggest Warhammer 40k Parties in the Nation and the men and women from the General Staff do a hell of a job putting it all together.

We've got a fever, and the only cure, is more Tournaments!

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 59: TYRANID CODEX REVIEW: Part 1

What is up Everyone? Evan, Bryan, and Chandler join forces to start the epic Tyranid Codex Review.  It is almost Thanksgiving, and the Nid Players are Thankful for a great bounty of possible options in this new codex.  The guys sit down to start off this review by going through the Hive Fleet adaptations, the Stratagems, and to start the discussion on what we think of the Warlord Traits and some fun synergies.  We also start to discuss possible list building, because there has been a ton of list being sent over the FTGT Communication Array.  Bryan is finishing up some painting for Renegade, Evan and Chandler are both back from Warzone, but the only thing on the collective Hive Mind are the New and Improved Bugs.

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY SPORELORD!

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 57: Warzone Atlanta Mission Pack and Tournament Prep

What is up Everyone? Bryan, Evan, and Chandler sit down to break down the Mission Pack for Warzone Atlanta.  With the Tournament less than a month away, the guys go through from the setup, to what can be rerolled, and each mission.  The missions are discussed about the scoring, some of the things we like and don't like, and our thoughts on challenges that could pop up in the mission.  Bryan talks about the Death Guard that will be making their way to the Renegade Open and his thoughts on Distraction Units and where and how to use them.  A fun podcast breaking down missions, just like we have done in the past.

The Missions for Warzone are out, and the boys break them down while talking a little strategy.

Facing The Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 55: Kill Team Event and NOVA Prep

What is up Everyone? Evan, Bryan, Ron, and Chandler come together for that special time of the year:  Tournament Season.  One of our listeners asked us to give him some list ideas for a Kill Team Event going on this weekend.  The Boys put their collective brains together to give a few list ideas, some thoughts on Kill Team Events, and what are some armies that could do especially well.  We then get right into NOVA.  Evan and Ron are representing the Grey Tide this year and talk about their lists (SURPRISE - They're taking NIDS!).  They also talk about the tournament, some of the neat events this year, and of course we round out our podcast with some wishful Nid thinking.

Kill Team: CHECK.  NOVA: DOUBLE CHECK.  Hands Across America: CHECK!

NOVA Bound: 2017

It's been a pretty quiet year on the blog, but as far as my first and biggest event of the year, NOVA, not much has changed this year. We're in the home stretch, and I feel like I'm still a ways away in terms of preparation; business as usual.

8th Ed Tactica: Combat Moves

Hey Everyone! Today I want to go over some tactics for my favorite part of the game of 40k: combat.  In this article, I'm going to go over the three moves involved in an assault, as well as some tactics for getting the most out of your assaults (or minimizing your opponent's impact in theirs). The moves and positioning involved in the combat phase is an area where the streamlined rules of 8th Edition actually generate an incredible depth of complexity. The changes to the rules in this phase are mostly pretty subtle, so I regularly see them being read or done wrong. Interestingly, using 7th edition movements is usually legal in 8th edition, but rarely the best option.

The strength of Hormagaunts lies in Pile-in and Consolidation