Cancon arrived, and Cancon has departed again.
Overall impressions: Positive.
This post is probably going to end up a little verbose... but there are pictures. Onward...
Part of my objective in returning to Cancon (after 2 years off) was to diarize the event for those (amongst the Sydney crew) who hadn't been to Cancon or hadn't played the Epic stuff in a tournament before... and might find it perhaps interesting to participate in in the future.
Day 1...
I arrived quite early and got a park right across from the shack.
Right from the start i had a feeling that those 2 air con units weren't going to be able to cut it (and was sadly proven correct).
Definitely the right place...
So this was the Epic zone, we had 8 tables all up (16 players, including the TO playing)
This is the play area in the shack - about 2/3 of the available floor space - so sans the shops and 'bring and buy' zones (behind me).
Let the games begin...
First up I was up against a chap from Adelaide playing Tau. Only the second time I've played Tau before (the other time being my first game at my first Cancon - way back when).
This is the end of game situation i think (or close to).
Templars had a 2:1 loss - which is (generally) what I was aiming for *. The Tau were noticeably more shooty than any of the other factions (that i've played) which is of course 'their trick'.
It was an entertaining game and i learned some stuff along the way.
Everyone then got armies out for photos - except i did a quick run around the main stalls so missed out... oh well. Here are some pics i got...
Tyranids army. This went on win the tournament. I printed the ship for this player - so had added interest for me.
This Eldar army took out best painted. The airbrush work was super - looked better in real life too (as usual).
The Tau army from Game 1 - all in one shot...
Orks, i played these guys later (Game 4)...
Eldar, i also played these guys later (Game 3)...
... and, not going to post up everything.
* "which is (generally) what I was aiming for"... What?
I had no illusions about the tournament-worthiness of this army AND loadout. IMO it's very noncompetitive. An aim was to pack in as many 'iconic' or unique Templar units as feasible (Assault Termis, Sword Brethren, Neophytes, Deathstorm Drop Pods).
The way the tournament works is that for each game you get points for winning and less points for losing. The amount of points distributed is based on the difference of victory conditions (VC)...
if you win by 1 VC the points split is 8:4,
win by 2 VC the points split is 9:3,
...
win by 5 VC 12:0,
and a draws get you 6:6.
So my 'game level' strategy was aiming for a 3rd turn loss by as few VC's as possible. The army can't afford to stick around into turn 4, where they'll be substantially outnumbered and probably tabled (5:0).
My default plan was to drop all my stuff on the enemy Blitz as late as possible in the game and secure just that objective. They could have my Blitz and TakeAndHold objectives and bipity bopity boo 2:1 loss with as many 'loser points' as i was likely to get.
The army has so few formations capable of holding objectives, and once they're landed they're going to get shot up toot-sweet.... so aim for or engineering a 3rd turn loss was the plan.
Against the Thousand Sons the Blitz as a drop zone looked too hot to risk the drop (stupidly adding to my mistake). In the final game re Orks i ended up risking the BTS fly in even though the Blitz was well protected (less Flak, so less risk basically) and hoped to bump the defenders off.
My 'tournament level' strategy was to keep getting 8:4 losses and hope that other players ended up with higher margin loses which would scrape me through on points - with an ultimate goal of not getting the wooden spoon.
Viola!
Back to the games...
Next up i played another guy from Adelaide fielding Eldar (probably Biel Tan). Helped knowing a bit more about the army - at least their 'general dynamic' if not all the stats by rote.
I stuck with the same strategy and dumped all my AC troops on his blitz on turn 3. The Land Speeders provide a nice 'scout bubble' that helps stop the enemy being able to contesting the Blitz (having a wider Zone of Control).
The biggest risk with the plan is that the Lander gets shot up on the way in, takes a crit hit, blows up, and there goes my BTS as well as most of the troops capable of holding objectives. It's a bit risky but it didn't happen over the course of 6 games (though it has happened to me before on occasion :( and it's devastating).
Last up was a chap from Melbourne playing more Eldar - I think Sian-Hann due to the Hornets.
This was a bike and skimmer army - fast and not a lot of heavy units.
We ended up with a points draw!!
Which was frankly far more than i'd hoped to achieve.
I think i had Blitz and BTS vs Blitz and TakeAndHold at end of turn 4.
Games can only go to turn 4 (no optional turn 5).
While it seems a little greedy, the difference in kill points was about 190pt which qualified as a draw. If I had had 20 more points i would have secured a win... damn it... can't help but feel a little jibbed on that one.
Strategy wise, i'd been plinking away at his BTS all game with the aircraft (he failed to CAP first turn which freed my AC up enormously) and managed to wipe them out somehow during turn 3 - as well as dumping enough troops on the Blitz.
My strategy was capable of flexibility depending mainly on the army being played (this game was a stark contrast to Game 5, but more of that later) and the fortunes of the dice/situational.
There was the potential to throw the game at turn 3 (for a 'safer' conclusion) and moving off the Blitz or similar but after weighing up the remaining forces etc it was probably worth pressing on.
And that was the end of day 1. My knees were shot from leaning over the table constantly and wandering - mainly around the table but a couple of quick trips over to the other pavilions too.
Shopping-wise i was pretty well behaved....
Picked up another (battlefield-accessories) neoprene mat - similar to my current one but the green coloured version. Was cheaper than getting it online (plus they normally have 'out of stock' on their website), and definitely cheaper than the new (cigarbox) rug i picked up a month ago... damn it.
Also picked up a very cheap box of AT knights (same as what i got previously). So i'm potentially assembling an AT force... very slowly and apparently subconsciously. I didn't pick up the Warlord (they had three or four boxes there) so i don't know what's going on with that project :)
Day 1 was pretty tiring. The shack was fricken tropical as. Very unpleasant to be playing and i was sweating despite numerous sprays of BO basher and multiple tee-shirt changes (ended up buying a shirt from the stall just to have a fresh change). Fortunately i was able to get all my shirts washed overnight so i was good to go for spares the next day.
Can't understand why they didn't just open the doors and let the breeze clear the fug out. The air con was pretty ineffective... especially compared to the main halls which were substantially cooler. It was nicer being outside where it was hotter, than inside where it was stiflingly humid.
Anyway, that's nerd Cons for you...
Day 2...
Back again with great enthusiasm... got an even better parking spot. All manner of win!
Next up another Melbourne chap playing Orks.
yep...
the Templars...
actually...
won! a! fricken! game!
To be fair and transparent this was against the 2nd lowest ranking army of the tournament (and i was third)... but a win is and win and IMO it wasn't all entirely 'accidental'. Just a matter of a rare win in the rock-paper-scissors game.
Given i was expecting the previous Draw to be my best result, this was understandably exciting.
Next up was another Melbourne chap playing Chaos Thousand Sons.
We both had Strategy Rating 5 and both had spaceships wanting to come in on turn 3 (his had to - Slow and Steady rule). I won the roll and pushed him out to turn 4. I've never played TS before and there was a butt-tonne of AA which stifled the pre-drop AC harassment i could safely accomplish.
So i made a dumb mistake that led to a 3:1 Loss - which i probably could have reeled back to a 2:1 if i'd have been paying attention - which i wasn't.
I stood the Thunderhawk/Terminators and the Lander down to bring them on in turn 4. However, the TS already had enough objectives on turn 3 for a victory (derrrr).
The fly-in BTS on my side coupled with the copious Flak units on his side helped lead to that poor decision.... should have landed.
The Thunderhawk and Lander were the last formations to activate (most of his had shot overwatched at the drop pods) so i probably could have asked to rewind that decision as nothing else of importance had happened... but frankly i really couldn't be bother with dice by this stage and just wanted to go for a decent wander. Game 5 was a real flat point in enthusiasm.
As it turns out some people had dropped out after Game 4 and I possibly could have nominated to sit out... had i been around and not wandering. Oh well.
So we'd finished up within 45 minutes and i had 2 plus hours before game 6 was due to start. Did a couple of laps of the stalls, caught up with a local guy from Sydney and we got some food-truck lunch. Was ok.
After a changing into my last tee-shirt i sat outside under a pine tree for a while enjoying the breeze and fresh air.
I managed to find a way to keep just the markers etc that i need per game at hand. Folding dice tray. Having the entire marker box is overkill for the game-after-game same set of marker required - so just take extract what you need. Plus these trays are convenient as - folds up into the book bag.
Had a coffee that really worked wonders on the way back in.
Next and final game was a chap from Newcastle playing Orks.
As it turns out i was glad to have continued on as this turned out to be my most entertaining game of the tournament. Was still a loss (spoiler) - you'd perhaps think the prior victory would be the play-of-the-day - however this battle was brutal, exciting and thoroughly entertaining.
Plus it was on my favourite ever Epic table.
With the sheer number of mobile troops he had on the board i was not able to really secure the objective uncontested (though i still managed to contest one, fortunately - though i think he wouldn't have got Defend the Flag anyway - because of broken formations).
So despite being a reasonably tough unit I decided to target the BTS and make that my strategy for the game. Early plinking helped lower shields. Then both my air assaults targeted him.
The Orks dropped a counter-Lander (first occurrence of this - no one else had air drop transports - during the tourney) and my own BTS managed to survive. Resulting in a massive blob of Marines and Orks slugging it out. So Awesome!!
The Gargant managed to retreat with 1dc remaining, which was disappointing... but he had 3 fires burning from crit hits. My Tactical formation hidden over near a TakeAndHold (left and just outside of the pic - that's their activation marker) took a pot shot at him but failed to finish him off.... down to the End of Turn rolls!
So a 2:1 Loss on the final dice roll of the game. Bloody exciting match.
Each game started out similarly and i had to work out whether just to stick to the default plan, perhaps alter my intended (1) objective (Blitz or BTS as appropriate), and occasionally adjust during the game where opportunities presented (or closed off).
Here we have the tournament results...
Second went to a guard army run by a Newcastle fella. Third to the Tau.
The points spread between most of the players was a dozen points so all relatively close.
I managed to get 3rd last, and as i avoided the wooden spoon i consider it a great result for the army. The Templars were never going to be pounding their way up the ladder, so managing the losses was always the name of the game.
Perhaps an alternate loadout of formations might provide some improved results but my feeling remains that it's not a tournament winning army : low activations, pricey, absence of macro and tk weapons, and slow around the table.
I think all my opponents were ok with the mechanics of the Templar units - although they were disclosed/explained during the game there weren't any insurmountable surprises amongst them ('the Deathstorm is effectively a stationary whirlwind', was the most in-depth explanation required).
It was a thematic army that operated as intended. Perhaps also with non-tournament games (scenarios) it might fair better.... but maybe not too. Overall, a successful experiment.
It was definitely something different (as was the Termi teleporters army a couple of years ago) to the normal tournament fare. Basically i wasn't going to win but i was going to piss the enemy off as much as possible before losing :) and hopefully provide them something of a challenge.
I managed to 'brief' battle report all of the games. By brief i mean that i didn't recall all the events and dice rolls, but did manage to record which formations went when, and some notes about the bigger events, such as who won engage actions.
The models did ok. 'Play handling' is obviously a bit rougher than 'hobby handling'.
I ended up gluing 6 models back together at the end of day 1... only 1 model on day 2 though.
It's a very brittle material even with paint on it, and doesn't take well to be scooped up in handfuls and treated rough.
The ship model carked it on day 1 too. The switch snapped off (on game 1), so i pulled it apart to fix it, and knocked out the mirror, then that got frosted with glue residue... bottom line it stayed at home for day 2.
So as a wrap up;
The players make the event easy, even if you start off not knowing anyone. Epic players are almost invariably fun, friendly and helpful. I played 6 people i'd never met before from around the country, which also put some faces to online user names.
The games were by-majority interesting, challenging and entertaining, plus i learned some stuff along the way. It didn't feel like a waste of time.
The event ended up being far more fun than i'd anticipated which definitely counts as a win. Was worth going.
[later: seriously?! you're not done with this mayhem yet?!]
All the units (models) that fought at Cancon have now been tagged with the Cancon Campaign colours (left).
For infantry one model per base has two dots side by side of these colours normally on their backpack - vehicles just wherever was conspicuous and flat - dots because i'm not drawing little shields on each of them.
Not sure how many other campaigns they'll end up doing but, just a fun thing to do.
The colours are of my own choosing, on the fluffy assumption that each campaign displayed on a cogitator battle map might have different colour blips for each campaign that a force is involved in.
[later: yeah yeah, just tying off loose ends...]
So this is a pic of the army i used (those little colour blips paid for themselves already).
Not sure how many other campaigns they'll end up doing but, just a fun thing to do.
The colours are of my own choosing, on the fluffy assumption that each campaign displayed on a cogitator battle map might have different colour blips for each campaign that a force is involved in.
[later: yeah yeah, just tying off loose ends...]
So this is a pic of the army i used (those little colour blips paid for themselves already).
Until next time...
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