1,000 Point Mini GT - A Quick Report

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to play in a 1,000 point Mini GT, with five games over one day.  I got to the store just around 10 a.m., and left at about 9 p.m.  The event was a blast, with 22 participants and a ton of fun to be had!  I had five good games, which I'll run through briefly.

My list:

Lysander
10 Man Tactical Squad with Heavy Bolter, Flamer
5 Man Tactical Squad
5 Man Terminator Assault Squad (3 Lightning Claws, 2 Thunder Hammer / Storm Shields)
1 Land Raider
2 Rhinos

Game One

My first opponent of the day was Spencer, who was playing Imperial Guard.  At 1,000 points, he wasn't messing around, and was there to beat face.  He had over 100 models, including two 40+ blobs with Commissars and Stracken, two Vendettas with three TL Lascannons each, and two other Lascannons.  So there were basically two giant stubborn or fearless blobs of troops, and (with orders) eight twin linked lascannons.  Frankly, my list didn't have the punch to take care of his, and although the game took some time, it was only because it took him thirty minutes to move his troops each turn.  I lost hard, and went down to the bottom of the pack.  Spencer would go on to win the entire tournament. 

Game Two

I felt better going into my second game.  My opponent, Jon, was a great guy, and brought a Tyranid list with a Trygon Prime, and Tervigon, the Doom of Malan'tal, and a Tyrant.  He also had some Gaunts, and could make more with the Tervigon.  The mission was objective based, but I felt good with my ability to crush the big bugs and cripple his army early.  In turn two, I charged his Trygon prime with my Terminators and Lysander, thinking he'd be easy money.  Sadly, I whiffed all my attacks, and then proceeded to fail my stubborn leadership ten and run away.  Whoops!  At the same time, I put twelve or so strength eight or nine wounds into the Doom, who made 3+ saves every time.  I did eventually rally, and come back to kill off two of the four big bugs, but because of the early loss of momentum ended up crashing hard.  Jon would go on to play Spencer at the top table in the final round, and would finish fifth overall.  My 0-2 start was not looking pretty.

Game Three

I ended up playing Bart, the TO, in round three, due to another play dropping out.  He had a Seer Council Elder list with some Prisms and Fire Dragons and Jetbikes.  Luckily, my dice got hot, dropping his transports early and knocking out his big guns.  There were two objectives, and at the end of the day I held one with the other contested, and ended up with a minor victory.

Game Four

I played Sean and his Tau in Game Four.  He had a ton of Fire Warriors, five Mech Suits of various types, and a Skyray.  We deployed in opposite corners, and were playing Kill Points.  I holed up my tactical squads in my corner building, and rushed my Land Raider at him, popping smoke.  He used Markerlights from his Fire Warriors to tap my Land Raider, and then blew it up.  The Terminators got out, but since the Fire Warriors had already shot, he couldn't take advantage.  In the next turn, the Terminators and Lysander split up, and got into his army, chewing them up.  While I couldn't pursue him after close combat, he was close to the board edge, and his units just ran off.  I ended up with a massacre.

Game Five

In the final game, I faced Todd and his Tyranids.  Todd was a fun opponent, and brought a Tyrant with two Tyrant Guard, three Hive Guard with Impaler Cannons, and four units of Genestealers with Broodlords.  I was a bit worried, but Todd didn't have much to deal with my Land Raider except in close combat.  Our mission had three objectives, all near the middle of the board.  The board had a ton of impassable terrain.  I moved my army up, and claimed one objective early.  At the beginning of the game, Todd moved his Tyrant and both Guard sets back, preferring to shoot.  He did manage to immobilize the Land Raider near the middle of the board, and Lysander and the Terminators got out to kill some Genestealers in the middle.  They killed the 'stealers, but unfortunately failed a lot of 2+ saves from shooting, causing Lysander to take one wound and the Terminators to die to a man. 

I still felt good going into close combat with his Tyrant, but the Tyrant did three wounds to Lysander, which the big yellow Terminator promptly failed, dying an wimpy death.  Fortunately for me, Todd had backed up so much to avoid combat with Lysander that he couldn't make it to the objectives that my Tactical Squads held, and had to settle for trying to beat my Land Raider to death instead.  I ended up with two of the three objectives, but had less Kill Points than Todd, and took a minor win.

Overall

This was a great tournament, and a ton of fun.  I ended up 3-2, and had fun the entire time.  Kudos to Bart for putting on such an innovative, fun tournament.