Genocide Chronicles V Report

Main organiser of the event, Mr. Chronomancer being silly.

Before I start with the report let me explain what GC is all about and why I wanted to participate in it. To put it simply, it’s a team tournament competition similar to the European Team Championship (ETC). 

Teams consisting of four players (you can have as many substitutes as you want but only four people can play at each round) compete against each other and gain points depending on how well each individual player does. In the end the team with the most points win.

Simple enough, right? The trick here is that in every round, the pairing between the opposing players is not random but has to be determined by the Captain of each team. This bring an element of “rock-paper-scissors” to the game that I personally don’t like. I don’t think 40K was meant to be played like that. There is no point in making a balanced, good list if you get picked to play with an opponent that specifically made his list to counter yours. Furthermore, edit: in the ETC Special Characters are not allowed which is a folly in my opinion (will have to elaborate more about this on a different post or this one will become too long).

However none of this matters. The tournament was conceived as a means to bring different players together from all over Greece (there were teams from Patra and Larissa that had to travel from very far away to make it) and expand the 40K community. Competition takes a backseat here. Getting to know new people and celebrating the game is the main goal. So even if I didn’t agree with the format, I decided to give it a go. 

Once more, go to the Invulnerable blog for a very nice and extensive review (plus some awesome pictures) of the event. It’s definitely going to be more objective and all around than my post.

Our team consisted of Moskitokiller (Lewnidas, the Captain with his trusty Dark Eldar), Khorne (Odusseas with Imperial Guard), Doomsday (Charis with Eldar) and me with my “balanced” ork list (since I had to have a fully painted army). The name of our team was Imperial Seals the same as our Guild of course. Both Khorne and Doomsday were bring armies and lists very new to them and I had a bad feeling about it since they had very little experience with them.

First game we went against the team of Space Meraklides (there is a pun here but it’s very hard to explain to the Greek challenged amongst you!). Not really sure what happened during the pairing process but I ended up playing against IG (I told beforehand to Leonidas that I’d rather play against BA and DE from the lists I’ve seen). Imperial Guard against Orks can be scary at times but his list didn’t seem too bad for me.

My first opponent, Mr. Manthos. All pictures courtesy of the Invulnerable Blog. 

He had a company command with plasma guns in a Chimera, Marbo, various infantry squads on foot and a platoon command squad with four flamers, two veteran squads that were obviously going to get inside 2 Valkyries, 2 vanilla Russes and one Demolisher and two heavy weapon squads with lascannons. Nothing too scary actually. We were playing Spearhead with Capture and Control.

We rolled for first turn and I lost the roll. I was already thinking of deploying very defensively since I didn't want them Meltavets with Demolitions anywhere near my Battlewagons in the first turn. However he kept his flyers in reserve. "Interesting" I thought and pushed my vehicles as far as possible to the middle of the board.

On his first turn he managed a lucky penetrating hit with one of the Lascannon teams. Fortunately the Battlewagon was only immobilised and not destroyed (something that actually helped me in the course of the game). When my turn came I realised I had forgotten to deploy my Lootas. However my opponent was a gentleman and let me deploy them as I would have done in the deployment phase. What a good sport. Didn't do much on the first turn just rushed everything forward and managed to fix the immobilised result on the BW. 

On his second turn he moved the command squad near the Biker Nobs and opened fire. With a 3+ cover save they weren’t hurt that much. The other two Battlewagons remained intact as well. On my second turn the Nobs really shined. They multi-charged an infantry squad, the platoon command squad and the Demolisher and made short work of them. The boys on the left assaulted the command squad and their chimera and wiped them both out. Unfortunately the other boyz squad failed their charge due to a bad difficult terrain roll. I also managed to destroy the battlecannon off one of the Russes with a lucky glancing side armour shot from the Lootas. 

On his third turn the he focused most of his fire on the failed-charge boys and kill all but the nob and a single boy (in my next turn they charged a vanilla Russ and destroyed it, dying in the ensuing explosion!). My nobs advanced towards his lines and multi-charged the infantry squads holding his objective. The now functioning battlewagon that had stayed behind rammed the Vendetta and he failed his dodge roll so the Deff Rolla flattened it to the ground. The boyz hoped outside and assaulted the meltavets. The other battlewagon tanked shocked the Lascannon heavy weapon team squad and killed all of them with the Deff Rolla hits. All of the Lootas focused their fire on the remaining Vendetta and managed to bring it down. 

We had to stop the game at that point. It was obvious that I would have won even if it was just the third turn. Even if Marbo arrived on the fourth turn and killed the Grots holding my own objective, the boyz of the repaired BW would have enough time to go back and destroy him. If we played five or six turns I would have probably tabled him. He was a slow player I must admit and that probably cost me a few points but he was such a good sport regarding everything else that I cannot hold that against him.

Here is the table with the results from the first round:

I did well but unfortunately the rest of the team didn’t (we had a penalty for an unpainted army as well) so we lost the first round. One the second round we were playing against a very good team and I got to play against Mandragoras. He has brutalised my Blood Angels more than a couple of times in other tournaments so I know this was going to be a tough match to win. We were playing Pitched Battle with Kill Points.

He had the Baron riding with a bunch of Helions, Trueborns in Venoms, 3 Ravagers and Wyches in Raiders. He went first thanks to the Baron (such an awesome character, I think he is a must have for every DE list) so I had to deploy very offensively with my Biker Nobs hiding behind a wall of Battlewagons. On his first turn he didn’t manage to kill any of my vehicles but totally killed a unit of Lootas. 

On my first turn I simply moved everything forward, with the Bikers turbo boosting. Lootas managed to immobilise one Venom and Stun another. Not much but I didn’t have that many options really. Second turn he moved his Helions and one Raider with Wyches  towards my Lootas. He shot most of his dark light weapons on the Biker Nobs and that’s when his dice rolls started to go downhill. After a plethora of S8 hits he didn’t even manage to kill a single nob. My Lootas took a lot of wounds so I was forced to get them to the ground. 

My second turn and the Nobs did a very potent multi-charge and managed to destroy 2 Venoms and also decimate a Trueborn Squad. To add insult to injury, a single Trueborn remained and passed his Leadership check so on my opponents turn the nobs and biker boss would still remain in close combat and not get shot. I wasn’t sure if I should charge 20 boys headlong into 15 Helions plus the Baron but I did so anyway. It didn’t go very well obviously so I only had 5 boyz and the Nob by the end of the battle. I did managed to destroy the Wyche’s raider though (multi-charged the nob into it). He used hit and run and detached the Helions from combat moving towards my poor Grots.

On his turn he did a grave mistake. He charged the Helions into the Grots. He made short work of them of course but in doing so he called the wrath of the Dice Gods on him. Such hubris would not go unpunished. The result? He charged 10 Wyches into the remaining 6 orks and didn’t kill a single one of them. Not even one wound. I killed a few in return and made them break and run away. His other Wych squad didn’t reach my other Boyz squad because of a bad difficult terrain roll (and me interpreting the rules of Grabbin’ Klaw wrongly unfortunately) so they would receive the charge next turn. That’s the price you have to pay when slaughtering innocent Gretchin.

I think he really hates my Orks now. All pictures courtesy of the Invulnerable Blog.

On my turn I charged the remaining boyz squad on Helions straight out of their Battlewagons and wiped the pointy eared buggers out. The other boyz charged the remaining Wyches and broke them pretty easily. Nobz multi-charged a few vehicles and killed a couple. At this point we had to finish our game but it was clear that I had won. Again, if we went on for five or six turn I could have tabled him but to be fair his rolls were abysmal at many instances (don’t invoke the wrath of the Dice Gods, that’s the Aesop’s fable here). 

The other guys from the team didn’t do very well on this round so we tied with the last team. We had the option to forfeit the last game in our favour (there were 7 teams so every round one went without an opponent) and get 60 points out of the maximum of 80 possible. Leonidas wanted to continue though and so we did. 

My last game was against the excellent dude from Spain, Ignii. We have played before in tournaments and I know he is a good sport and an all around nice guy. He had a somewhat unfocused Eldar list with a couple of jetbike troop squads, Falcon with 5 Fire Dragons, 2 Warlocks, Wave Serpent with Banshees, 2 x 5 Dark Reapers and a full squad of Dire Avengers in another Wave Serpent. We were playing Seize Ground with Dawn of War.

Mr. Ignii, a truly cool guy.All pictures courtesy of the Invulnerable Blog. 

I went first and pretty much zoomed everything as far as possible in the middle of the board. He then moved flat out his vehicles and turbo boosted his jetbikes very close to my nobz leaving them vulnerable to a multi-charge next turn. On my second turn I charged one of the boyz squads to the dire avengers killing them on the spot (even though the attached warlock managed to escape). The Biker Nobz did yet another multi-charge and killed the jetbikes and did some damage to the vehicle. 

On his turn I got lucky again. He shot the Fire Dragons at the Nobs but managed to roll three “1”s to wound! They also survived the charged from the Banshees (at that point everyone in the unit had 1 wound left) and also managed to break the girls and go after them (so they couldn’t regroup). In my turn I multi-charged  the Fire Dragons and their vehicle destroying it and still staying in combat with the one remaining Fire Dragon. The other boyz in their battlewagons had reached the Dark Reapers on the other side of the board and were ready to assault on the first chance. 

At that point I had almost tabled him by turn four and we agreed to wrap up the game as the outcome was obvious. It was a very good game, it’s always a pleasure to see Ignii. He also gave me some collectible Bloodbowl dice and I thank him very much for it. He is definitely a top class gentleman in my eyes!

These are the final scores from the tournament:

I did very well, finished second overall in Battle Points and third in Victory Points. To be honest, I played two easy games (no disrespect to my opponents who were excellent sports but this is how I see it) and was very lucky on my second game. Despite my good performance it feels somewhat empty for me.

The team didn’t go very well though. My fears were realised since playing with new armies is a recipe for disaster at a tournament. At the end of the day, it was a great event and I personally had a good time. I just hope we do better as a team next time. I’d like to thank Manos for helping us once more. These is the final rankings: 

162 - The Berks 

147 - Failed Chargers
130 - Knights of Saint Andrew
124 - Ταρατατζούμ
113 - Space Μερακλήδες
111 - Imperial Seals
096 - Red Corsairs

Congratulations to all the winners and I will see them next time.

Berks, the winning team. Their captain really looks like my friend Richardo from Portugal. 

Appendix A: Our Lists

Player 1: Λεωνίδας Φράγκος (Moskitokiller) - Captain

ARMY DESCRIPTION: Dark Eldar

1750 Pts - Dark Eldar Roster - DE_1750_Bar_3trbn_5wr_3rav_bst_2

HQ: Baron Sathonyx (1#, 105 pts)

1 Baron Sathonyx @ 105 pts ((C:DE, pg. 48); Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Independent Character; Hit & Run; Master of the Skies; Hellglaive; Splinter Pistol; Wychsuit; Bones of the Seer; Custom Skyboard; Twilight Shroud; Phantasm Grenade Launcher; Shadow Field; Splinter Pod x1)

Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 120 pts)

5 Kabalite Warriors @ 120 pts ((C:DE, pg. 89); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Splinter Rifle x4; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x1)

1 Raider ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Night Vision; Dark Lance x1)

Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 130 pts)

5 Kabalite Warriors @ 130 pts ((C:DE, pg. 89); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Splinter Rifle x4; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x1)

1 Raider ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Night Vision; Dark Lance x1; Flickerfield)

Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 130 pts)

5 Kabalite Warriors @ 130 pts ((C:DE, pg. 89); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Splinter Rifle x4; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x1)

1 Raider ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Night Vision; Dark Lance x1; Flickerfield)

Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 130 pts)

5 Kabalite Warriors @ 130 pts ((C:DE, pg. 89); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Splinter Rifle x4; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x1)

1 Raider ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Night Vision; Dark Lance x1; Flickerfield)

Troops: Kabalite Warriors (6#, 130 pts)

5 Kabalite Warriors @ 130 pts ((C:DE, pg. 89); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Splinter Rifle x4; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x1)

1 Raider ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Night Vision; Dark Lance x1; Flickerfield)

Elite: Kabalite Trueborn (4#, 146 pts)

3 Kabalite Trueborn @ 146 pts ((C:DE, pg. 88); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x3)

1 Venom ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 5 models; Night Vision; Flickerfield; Splinter Cannon x2)

Elite: Kabalite Trueborn (4#, 146 pts)

3 Kabalite Trueborn @ 146 pts ((C:DE, pg. 88); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x3)

1 Venom ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 5 models; Night Vision; Flickerfield; Splinter Cannon x2)

Elite: Kabalite Trueborn (4#, 146 pts)

3 Kabalite Trueborn @ 146 pts ((C:DE, pg. 88); Unit Type: Infantry; Fleet; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Kabalite Armour; Blaster x3)

1 Venom ((C:DE, pg. 91); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 5 models; Night Vision; Flickerfield; Splinter Cannon x2)

Heavy Support: Ravager (1#, 120 pts)

1 Ravager @ 120 pts ((C:DE, pg. 92); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Night Vision; Aerial Assault; Dark Lance x3; Grisly Trophies; Flickerfield)

Heavy Support: Ravager (1#, 115 pts)

1 Ravager @ 115 pts ((C:DE, pg. 92); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Night Vision; Aerial Assault; Dark Lance x3; Flickerfield)

Heavy Support: Ravager (1#, 115 pts)

1 Ravager @ 115 pts ((C:DE, pg. 92); Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast, Open-topped); Night Vision; Aerial Assault; Dark Lance x3; Flickerfield)

Fast Attack: Beastmasters (17#, 216 pts)

4 Beastmasters @ 216 pts ((C:DE, pg. 90); Unit Type: Beasts; Night Vision; Power from Pain; Wychsuit; Skyboard; Close Combat Weapon x4; Splinter Pod x4)

9 Khymerae (Night Vision; Invulnerable Save (4+))

4 Razorwing Flocks (Night Vision; Whirlwind of Blades)

Total Roster Cost: 1749

PLAYER 2: Οδυσσέας Χαραλαμπόπουλος (Khorne) 

ARMY DESCRIPTION: Imperial Guard

HQ 1: Company Command Squad (50), 2 Melta guns (20) [70] 

HQ 2: Lord Commissar (70), Power Weapon (10) [80] 

HQ 3: Ministorum Priest (45), Eviscerator (15) [60]

Troop 1.1: Platoon Command Squad [30] 

Troop 1.2: Infantry Squad (50), Power Weapon (10) [60] 

Troop 1.3: Infantry Squad (50), Power Weapon (10), Flamer (5) [65] 

Troop 1.4: Infantry Squad (50), Power Weapon (10), Flamer (5) [65] 

Troop 1.5: Heavy Weapon Squad (60), 3 Lascannons (45) [105] 

Troop 2: 10 Veterans (70), 3 Melta guns (30), 7 Shotguns (0) [100] in transport 1

Fast Attack 1: Devil Dog (120), Heavy Flamer (0) [120] 

Fast Attack 2: Devil Dog (120), Heavy Flamer (0) [120] 

Fast Attack 3: Devil Dog (120), Heavy Flamer (0) [120]

Heavy Support 1: Leman Russ Battle Tank [150] 

Heavy Support 2: 2 Medusa (135), Enclosed Crew Compartment (15) [300] 

Heavy Support 3: 2 Basilisks (125) [250]

Transport 1: Chimera (55), Heavy Flamer (0) [55]

Total Points: [1750pts]

PLAYER 3: Χάρης Πιτσίνης ( Doomsday)

ARMY DESCRIPTION : Eldar

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

HQ 1 Eldrad [210pts]

HQ 2 Farseer (55) / spirit stone (20) / doom (25) / guide (20) [120pts]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ELITE 8x howling banshees (128) / exarch (12) / executioner (10) / war shout (5) / acrobatic (5) [160pts] 

TRANSPORT 

wave serpent (90) / spirit stone (10) / t.l. scatter laser (25) [125pts]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TROOP 1 6x dire avengers (72) / exarch (12) / bladestorm (15) [99pts] 

TRANSPORT 

wave serpent (90) / spirit stone (10) / t.l. bright lance (45) [145pts]

TROOP 2 6x dire avengers (72) / exarch (12) / bladestorm (15) [99pts] 

TRANSPORT 

wave serpent (90) / spirit stone (10) / t.l. bright lance (45) [145pts]

TROOP 3 6x dire avengers [72pts] 

TRANSPORT 

wave serpent (90) / spirit stone (10) / t.l. scatter laser (45) [125pts]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEAVY SUPPORT 1 wraithlord (90) / 2x flamers / scatter laser (20) / bright lance (40) [150pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 2 wraithlord (90) / 2x flamers / scatter laser (20) / bright lance (40) [150pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 3 wraithlord (90) / 2x flamers / scatter laser (20) / bright lance (40) [150pts]

--------------

PLAYER 4: Λευτέρης Γαβαλάς (the Antipope)

ARMY DESCRIPTION : Orks

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HQ1: Big Mek (35), Kustom Force Field (50) [85] 

HQ2: Warboss (60), Power Klaw (25), Cybork Body (10), Attack Squig (15), Warbike (40) [150]

Elite1: 5 Lootas [75] 

Elite2: 5 Lootas [75] 

Elite3: 5 Lootas [75]

Troops1: 5 Nobz (100), Warbikes (125), Bosspole (5), Waaagh! Banner (15), Power Klaw (25), Big Choppa (5), Painboy (30) [305] 

Troops2: 20 Ork Boys (120), Nob (10), Power Klaw (25), Boss Pole (5) [160] 

Troops3: 20 Ork Boys (120), Nob (10), Power Klaw (25), Boss Pole (5) [160] 

Troops4: 19 Ork Boys (114), Nob (10), Power Klaw (25), Boss Pole (5) [154] 

Troops5: 10 Gretchin, Runtherd [40]

Fast Attack1: Warbuggy (30), TL Rokkit (5) [35]

Heavy Support1: Battlewagon (90), Big Shoota (5), Boardin' Plank (5), Grabbin' Klaw (5), Red Paint Job (5), Armour Plates (10), Deff Rolla (10), Grot Riggers (5) [145] 

Heavy Support2: Battlewagon (90), Big Shoota (5), Boardin' Plank (5), Grabbin' Klaw (5), Red Paint Job (5), Armour Plates (10), Deff Rolla (10), Grot Riggers (5) [145] 

Heavy Support3: Battlewagon (90), Big Shoota (5), Boardin' Plank (5), Grabbin' Klaw (5), Red Paint Job (5), Armour Plates (10), Deff Rolla (10), Grot Riggers (5) [145]

Total : 1749

PLAYER 5: Πάιζάκης Σπύρος (Spirus_The_Fenrisian) 

ARMY DESCRIPTION: Space Wolves

HQ1: Logan Grimnar [275] 

HQ2: Ragnar Blackmane [240]

Troops 1: Wolf Guards Pack x 6 (108); Terminator Armor x5 (75); Frost Blades x4 (40); Storm Shield x3 (45); Cyclone Missile Launcher x1 (30) in transport 1 [298] 

Troops 2: Wolf Guards Pack x 6 (108); Combi-melta x5 (25); Cyclone missile Launcher x1 (30); Power weapon x3 (30) in transport 3 [193] 

Troops 3: Grey Hunters x 5 (75); Flamer x1 (free) in transport 2 [75]

Heavy support 1: Long Fangs x6 (90) Missile Launcher x5 (50) [140] 

Heavy support 2: Long Fangs x6 (90) Missile Launcher x5 (50) [140]

Transport 1: Land Raider Crusader (250) Extra Armor (15) Multi Melta (10) [275]. 

Transport 2: Razorback (40) Twin-Linked Lascannon (35) [75]. 

Transport 3: Drop Pod [35]

Appendix B:


The "No Special Characters" bit on the into was meant for the ETC and not for GC.