2v2 1000 Point Tournament - Part 2 Some Tense Gaming

Moving into Game 2, this would be a very different vibe from the first one that we played. Not only were our opponents experienced, this would be my very first experience playing with someone who was quite notoriously known for fudging in the tournament scene. 

It took me quite awhile considering if I should release this piece because I don't want to cause fractures in the community. However, I thought it would be best to share my honest experience rather than keeping it mum. 

Game 2

We drew against Chris and Gavin for our next game. This was probably one of the draws that was the tougher of the lot especially since both of them has a lot of tournament experience.

Downside was there was some dodgy shenanigans going on. I'll explain.

Demons vs St Celestine, so much drama in this shot

So we had a few friends come and watch the game as they were going on. Some walked pass and started asking me to watch one of our opponents. Some silently watched. While others, caught sight of very dodgy measuring and voiced their concerns over WhatsApp.

This is basically an excerpt of the chat we had in one of our WhatsApp groups. And I quote:
[14:12, 3/12/2017] witness: His d weapon platform scatter 5"                    
[14:12, 3/12/2017] witness: Still manage to hit mauler                    
[14:13, 3/12/2017] witness: Which is preping to charge his team deathstar                    
[14:14, 3/12/2017] witness: That deathstar had no way to handle that mauler

Just one of the few infractions that occurred. I am very concerned when this tournament was meant to be a relaxed event. I was way more concerned when Chris didn't know the rule but confidently claims knowledge of a rule that benefited him, even when it was clearly not correct (which his partner would point out). This happened a number of times. I give him the benefit of doubt and still think he is a good person generally, but claiming knowledge of something when you clearly don't is misrepresentation. Thank goodness their team had another member. Gavin was quite honest with his rulings and provided the counterpoint to Chris. I lament playing against a gamer like Chris in a full-on competition 1v1 where you have to be 100% aware what's going on. Not only your own rules, his rules but also stay on point with the dice that are being rolled, the strange exceptions to the rules and measuring. This makes it quite stressful no?

I still harbour the hope that with the right coaching and with the community pointing this negative behaviour out to him, it will help him improve his own "gamer brand".

Angels & Demons working together to take on the Eldar and Imperials

That being said, it was still a game that helped me learn a whole heap about my own army and the armies opposite the table. I respect Gavin a lot for his honesty and willingness to own up to models which were not modelled properly - namely the jetbikes which were missing bases. He allowed both Daryl and me to decide to use whichever ruling that benefitted us since their models were incomplete. Just one of the few examples of good gamer etiquette.

Long distance shooting

The game went on and I continued to focus. Daryl didn't seem particularly perturbed that we were losing. I guess we were both quite determined to make a good stand but both felt that we may not get out of this alive. We made the best of what we had. 

Some action going on at our table

One of the biggest mistakes I made was probably being suckered into taking out the Wraithknight first. Looking back, I realised that pouring our alpha strike into the unit of jetbikes would have made more sense. The WK was at the most able to take out 3-4 models a turn while that unit of jetbikes was mowing through quite a large number of our units. It also contained their General which was worth another point.

A shot mid -table

Pesky jetbikes without supplied bases. This is a tournament right? 

What a showdown - demon vs angel

We eventually lost this game 9-16, a 5 point gap. Both Daryl and I were both pleased that we didn't get trampled into the ground. Although very stressed with everyone telling me to watch out for out of play actions and rulings, I still managed to learn a lot from this game. 

I just hoped at this point that our next game wouldn't be so stressful again as it was really taking the "fun" out of the afternoon.