Monday, November 14, 2011

Masters 40k entrant breakdown

Hi hi!

So we're now less than a month out from the 40k masters, so I figured we'd look at a break down of the field with a quick summary.

I assure you any jibes are tongue-in-cheek and come from a place of love with a well established friendship ;)



Hayden Korach: Hayden qualified after playing Eldar better than anyone else for yet another year. A large amount of his success has come from people chain shooting their inadequate amounts of ranged anti tank at a fortuned avatar all day long, but with a fair bit of anti psyker stuff floating around this weekend, it will be interesting to see how it pans out. That being said, Hayden recently had been looking at dropping the avatar and chunking his army out with a huge amount of s6 anti infantry firepower, so it will be interesting to see how he goes.

Matthew Robinson: No disrespect to Matthew, but I have no idea who he is. I've never played against him, and I've never heard anyone talk about having played against him. I don't actually understand his inclusion, as he's ranked 42nd, and has a season high of 19th at battlecry with his dark angels. *shrug* - it will be an interesting weekend for Matthew.

Daniel Hayden: Daniel has consistently played the pants off everyone hes come across all year, and year after year keeps improving. Daniel is the new Boy-Wonder on campus, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he brings to Masters. Dan has been running the Swarmlord, a brace of Trygons and a brace of Tervigons along with 3 units of Hive Guard and a bunch of chaff to fill out. It will be interesting to see if he brings the same list or an adaptation of it, or if he is working on something new. Hopefully he doesn't join Team Disappoint, more on this later.

Andrew Bartosh: Bartosh has produced pretty consistent results with his Chaos time and time again, and it's good to finally have him at one of these. That being said, when pushed quite hard he tends to roll over, and this is something he will need to overcome to do well at the event. His list historically has been quite generic, usually having a big unit of terminators, but this probably won't be enough to clinch it, with some almost certain losses in the match-up matrix.
Andrew has also been working on blood angels on and off, so he may toss the Chaos to run these. That being said, Hayden Korach is convinced that every time he loses with his new BA's he gives up and starts again, so perhaps he'll never finish them ;D

Mark Buttle: Mark got here with consistent results with his tyranids throughout the year, but is now looking to make this his first event with his new Eldar. They are looking fantastic, and did well at Armies on Parade, so I look forward to seeing them. He's working hard to finish them and I'm sure he'll get them finished to a point where he's happy with them. The alternative would be to join Team Disappoint, and he has too much self pride, and respect for his opponents to do this.

Henare Akari: Hen has been performing consistently all year long with his Chaos, but is now working on making the most out of the new Black Templar FAQ. Hen plays solidly and gives it everything right until dice down, so should perform quite well at this event.

Damien Avery: Damien performed awesomely all year, and plays a nid list and play style and focuses on board control. Damiens now working on GK's, but will be running his nids rather than joining Team Disappoint. He's improved all year long and on ability alone, is probably the best Tyranid player in the country now.



It's at this point I should probably explain Team Disappoint. Generally speaking, NZ tournaments mark on a mix of Painting, Sports, Comp and predominantly Battle scores. Historically, everyone at the masters has been running a decent enough looking army all year, so doesn't mark any painting, everyone get full sports because you don't make it to masters if you were a dick in the first place, and it has wound up being just Comp and Battle. That being said, this year is compless leaving just battle in the mix, which is fine - great even.
For the first time ever though, some people are looking at bringing partly, or completely unpainted armies and this really is a huge disappointment. There are many, many people out there (and many threads on the subject!) that find playing against an unpainted army absolutely no fun what so ever, for me it just seems disrespectful. In the past if I've just not been able to get a unit finished in time, at the very least I've managed to borrow a finished unit from someone else.

David Wilson: Right, back into the swing of things then. David Wilson is a hugely nice guy who has traveled to many tournaments and done fairly well with his Witchhunters. That being said, many people aren't a fan of the new WD list, and I can't say I really blame them, so he's moving on to Orks, triple battlewagons to be exact. That being said, Last I heard they were still in their shrink wrap, let alone not yet painted, so hopefully he doesn't become the captain of Team Disappoint ;)

Hagen Kerr: It's good to see ole Grandpa sneaking in the back door. Hagen runs a fairly typical mech guard list, but has a few variations that tend to be slightly less logical to some of us ;) I'm sure he will do well though and will be one of the few people who can give Doug a good run for his money.

Doug Sainsbury: For his first masters, Doug has broken the bank and purchased the national supply of Razorbacks. Doug performed exceptionally well all year long with smart objective based play and efficient mobile lists, usually using a lot of the ravenwing units. He's looking at running his next years tournament list, a fairly typical and extremely strong GK list. That being said, Doug can sometimes give up a bit early and be a bit doom and gloom, this could betray him at the event if he's not careful. The only thing that is certain is that Doug's list will change 900 times between this event and the week after, even IF he goes undefeated and cleans everyone up ;D

Jack Dunn: Historically I've backed Jack to win events, and this time is no different. The only thing that has changed is that this time Jack is also playing an incredibly competitive DE list that really plays to his strengths as a player. The 3 main challenges for Jack will be myself, Doug, and Hagen due to the match up. That being said, Jack is a much better player than all 3, and depending on terrain, mission, and the ever beloved first turn roll, Jack should have this event in the bag.

Charlie St. Clair: I'm still torn between running the orks and running the spacewolves. While the space wolves have the tools to fight their way out of any tough situation, I find myself doubting my own ability with them. That being said, the playing field has changed an awful lot since the last 2 times the Orks stomped all over the masters. Jacks style of DE can pop the vehicles and wipe out the numbers before I even get to imagine being close. I can't pop the razorbacks protecting Dougs purifiers before hand, so they can comfortably smash 30man boyz units and instakill meganobs while im forced to play defensively against an army that out shoots me by a lot. In the past though, the Orks have always come through and won games I really had no business winning, so I'm not sure I should doubt them.

I'll probably run the wolves because they're something new, and enjoy the school of hard knocks learning with them, but realistically I expect a new name to be engraved on the trophy this year - we shall see.

That being said, I could just join team disappoint and go out and buy a bunch of shrink wrapped boxes then just prod them around the table, why bother to even clip them off the sprues, that's all this game is really about right ;)?

Well, that's pretty much it. There are a few notable exclusions from the field this year, which is a little bit perplexing - but ours is not to reason why.

- Charlie

31 comments:

  1. Not enough Traitor Legions!

    Oh wait that's right Meteor Gav Thorpe hit the world and wiped them out

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  2. Peter, you are Chevy Chase in Community.

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  3. If I had any idea what you were talking about then I may/may not be insulted.

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  4. What a good call! I'll have to show him some Community then.

    The main thing you missed in my glowing endorsement was the fact that I've played a grand total of 2 games of 40k with the DE. Oh, and my army might look a little like Liquorice Allsorts

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  5. I know a couple of guys had to turn down the invites because they were out of town/had other plans for that weekend. You did however miss me off this list (Robert Power) and afaik David Foster is also attending. Potentially 3 Eldar armies is pretty cool.

    I'm very happy about no comp, but it definitely would be a shame to see unpainted armies there. Its the first time I've made it to Masters, but for me personally the army you qualify with should be the one you play. Like quite a few of the regular tournament players I have started another army (Dark Eldar for me) to replace my ageing Eldar. In general the DE codex is rated as more competitive than the Eldar codex, even if I go with the crazy 3 Beast/3 Talos WWP list I'm working on. Even ignoring the fact that I would need to work my ass off to get it done in time I couldn't justify taking it to a tournament against the top NZ players without putting it through its paces first.

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  6. I'm surprised at several of the names as well, and certainly a bit disappointed to hear that people ranked 42nd will be at the event when other higher ranked (and owners of a fancy icon) won't be. Still, it's up to Phil to put his stamp on the Masters, and No Comp is certainly an interesting way to go.

    With so many people joining Team Disappoint, I like Rob's idea of playing the army that qualified you. It would certainly help keep the event up to a certain painting standard.

    Wes

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  7. Grandpa is it? Why you young whippersnapper!!!

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  8. Ha, sorry Rob, I had included you and Fozzy in a few texts I've sent back and forth to people, but just copy/pasted from the cityguard thread, which is a bit incomplete :/!

    Will update tomorrow!

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  9. I dont think its fair to say that "Playing agianst an un-painted army is not fun at all." All a painted figure does (In my opionon, adds a great complament to a great game!)

    If someone brings an un painted squad, thats hardly a "disapointment". But thats just my opionon

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  10. Taking an unpainted army to an event - particularly a Masters event - would show an extreme lack of respect for the other competitors.

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  11. I'm with Hagen on this, It's been hashed out a lot before, so we don't need to go over it again but rather can draw the conclusion that while some are okay with it, it's a huge sign of disrespect to others an seriously impacts game enjoyment.

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  12. My copy of the players pack says:

    "Armies required to be painted:

    Reaching the pinnacle of each of your gaming systems ensures that you will have a suitably painted force to field. We would of course expect all armies attending Masters to be painted."

    Of course it doesn't go into detail what "painted" means, but one could safely assume >3 colours.

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  13. Just wondering how rank 42 gets in but #15 and Icon holder didn't? or was he unable to come? strange...

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  14. The whole system is a bit weird really. Someone like Glen Burfeild can win High Lords of Terra and come second at both CTA and NZ Masters last year and he doesn't even get a look in this year because two of those events don't make it into Rankings HQ.
    Yet Glen is consistently successful against the best people in Australasia.

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  15. You will find that the problem for Glen is that he plays Eldar and uses those damn Nightspinners, rather than he only entered just the one NZ 40k competition this year.

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  16. Glen is a little more cut and dry; he didn't play enough NZ events.
    There were people passed over for some reason though, e.g. Wes Barclay who is sitting in 13th with the Tau icon, and definitely wanted to come.
    Unfortunately it doesn't quite have the transparency as when Pete ran it previously, it's not so easy to discern.

    At a guess, I would say they have manually looked at the rankings for just this year, eliminated a few results, and probably included the doubles results from guardcon in their calculations.
    For obvious reasons, its a retarded idea to include doubles events in the rankings, but if thats the way people want to go, I hope someone tells Djokovic to sit down and shut up, because the Bryan Brothers collectively rock his singular world.

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  17. Needs more Traitor Legions.

    Personally I don't think there should be Wildcards. I think it should be Last Year's Winner plus the 11 next top ranked players.

    However I'm not running it this year so it is the TO's perjorative.

    I am running it next year and it will be changing back.

    Disclaimer - Having said all that I am taking advantage of a wildcard to play in Fantasy this year. Hypocrite? Hell yeah!

    Pete

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  18. Was hoping for an invite, but unfortunately could not make the last few tournaments up north and in Christchurch so dropped from 10th to 18th. Finally got a painted and based army together at long last also, which If I'd done earlier I would have kept a higher ranking. I'm in the fantasy buzz at the moment, 60 ghouls and 20 skeletons constructed so far. Painting has become a regular thing for me finally, I've vowed never to take an unfinished army to a tournament again.
    Ah well, I'll have to console myself with my best GK player pip for the moment heh :)
    Ryan

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  19. I never even knew I missed an invite until other players e mailed me.

    However at least I am the best ranked space marine player in New Zealand at the moment, which was my aim for this year.

    It would be nice to know the criteria to get an invite though!

    In the meantime I will have to settle for watching instead and building an even bigger army than the several companies I have so far.

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  20. I agree with Charlie that I purely didn't play in enough tournaments this year, though the ones I did attend worked out very well for me.

    I'm not sure how the selection worked out and Wes and Ryan not being included is a little alarming but I hope that the Wellington players who are going do us proud and take the top spots!

    I am also firmly with the participants who say that armies should be painted at least 3 colour table top quality, it is Masters after all!

    Hagen I would have just increased the Nightspinners to 3 just for you too ;)

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  21. Nah Glen. I'm pretty sure Charlie said you were shit so that's why you weren't invited

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  22. There's always some arsehole to blame ;)

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  23. thanks for the talk up Charlie :P
    I agree that the player selection method is a little strange, and that there are some people that should defs be on the list, but I still think it will be a very competitive tournament, and it's good to see that there are going to be a lot of solid lists this time...
    I would love to bring Jessica and her friends, but I get the feeling that she will meet a few people that she really just doesn't want to play with... Jack i'm looking at your DE :P The girls can hold their own against a lot of things, but I don't think I'm that confident bringing them against lists (and players) that will be there... If someone can convince me I would be keen to play them as they have behaved themselves quite nicely this year....

    Daniel McBleedy

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  24. What are you looking at bringing in their place El Bleedo?

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  25. Not 100% sure yet, but it looks like it will be a flavour of blangels that will make all Haydn's war walkers feel very useful indeed... :P

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  26. As I understand it

    Pete is 'Legend' aka 'Chevy Chase'
    Jack is 'Hype' thinks he's 'Community'
    Hagen is 'Community' aka 'Grand Dad' aka 'Steg Steak'
    Charlie 'Needs to read pack' aka 'worries about 3 colours'

    All of you should be worried about Jack who is ranked 516th. I've always heard that the greater the number the greater the threat ;)

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  27. All of those words on their own make sense, but the particular order you have chosen to place them in has produced an interestingly nonsensical result.

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  28. Well my army list has changed about 900 times since I first wrote it, and after playing this weekend it seems it will be changing another 900 times...

    As for the paintedness. This is a bit of an issue for me as i've spent a lot of money buying every razorback in the country and shipping in a few from Australia so I want the army to look good on the table. Should I then rush to finish an army for a tournament with no painting score and have it look average, or take my time on it and make it look pretty so I can claim those valuable painting points so I can podium?

    Doug.

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  29. Doug,

    I think Phil Wu has confirmed that if it isn't painted to at least tabletop quality then you can't use it.

    Pete

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  30. Cheers for the write up Charlie. I have just sent my eldar list in so I am now committed... But will defiantly make sure all of the painting is done to an acceptable table top standard by masters!! Matthew Robinson also plays eldar, he is one of the city guard members, and ran Guardcon this year. Still don't think it is enough to justify the entry but maybe he is more involved with the club or something??

    Looking forward to this!!

    -Mark

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  31. I'm busy painting furiously, Masters will see my army have 3 colours (hopefully) but no detailing. I just don't have the time and I really don't want to rush this army to get rubbish painting scores for next year.

    If it is deemed not to be tabletop quality then I guess i'll be playing cricket that weekend instead.


    Doug.

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