KrystalKeep Combat Patrol, and a fond farewell....

So,
this weekend marked the final yearly 'Combat Patrol' tournament at the KrystalKeep.
As usual, Jim Williams ran a fast, furious and funtastic event full of much cursing, screaming, gnashing of tzeentch (and smiles).
Many a brave soldier(xenos, infidel, traitor)died yesterday, only to rise again shortly thereafter to wage the war eternal in the 40k 'oonivers'.
Final standings showed how strong, balanced and fair players and scenarios were, with a 4 way split for 1st!
Edge T[ML]-Tau
John W-Orks
Stephen (?)-Orks
Nick S-Orks

I had a blast, as is usual for Jim's events (and events that have been run for years up at the Keep).
But alas, this marks an end.

December 30th, the store will be closing for the last time.

Rick, Raj and the others who have contributed to the store, with their heart and souls, have finally had enough.
The economy, coupled with other major, and minor, factors beyond their control have taken their toll.
KrystalKeep has kept its doors open throughout the most trying of economic times, worse than any I have seen personally.

I moved to Ohio 3 years ago. I greatly feared the loss of my hobby and friends due to a new environment.
I should never have feared.
I discovered the Keep, and moved in...and quickly realized I had found a new 'home' in more ways than one.
The staff became friends, the players became friends, and within 6 months I not only felt as though I had regained the 'old' guard, but had gained an even better crowd!
I fell in love with the community all over again.
I wanted to share that particular anecdote, not to make the changes coming about me...but to emphasize the impact the Keep has had on a great deal of people.

A club, a forum, an arena AND a place where 'everybody knows your name'.
EVERYONE I know, who frequented the place (and there were many in my 3 years of attendance) saw KrystalKeep as a 'home away from home'. A place to leave behind the trials and tribulations of life, sit down with a mental 'pint', and just be.
I have known few places with this sense of family attached to such a business, and doubt I will know many more.

I know I'm going to miss all the weekends, all the events and all the 'BS' sessions over our little 'toy soldiers'.
All these things that were made so much more satisfying due to the environment within which they were set.

I want to wish the guys who ran our little home all the best luck in their future endeavors, thank them from the bottom of my heart for providing all the joy they did.
I wish to thank all the players who accepted me from the git-go, and all the heart they put into their play, and their friendships.
And I wish to thank all those who sacrificed their personal time, effort and heart to run the events that kept us all in the loop!

a hearty salute to the end of an era, and now....


"Dice Down, gentlemen...Dice Down"

A Farewell to 2011

As we draw 2011 to a close let's reflect a bit on some of the things that happened this year. There has been quite a lot actually. Some of the things that stick in my mind are...The introduction of Finecast or Failcast depending on your point of view...The death of DaemonHunters and the rebirth of Grey Knights...The re-emergence of Dark Eldar on to the table top...The information quarantine (which Yakface destroyed single handed)...and Necrons, my beloved Necrons got a new codex!

So what can we expect next year? Well it sounds like 6th edition will be the big ticket next year but besides that there is rumors of Tau, Chaos Space Marines/Renegades, Eldar possibly make an appearance and I'm sure there will be a marine codex in there also-go figure. As it is it sounds like there will be plenty to keep everyone busy! Also if you haven't heard already but GW will be making an appearance in our area with a store in the Cincinnati area!

Martial Law has two final events that members are attending for 2011, both are this Saturday with Epic Loot wrapping up their Iron Builder competition with the 2000 point Christmas Carnage tournament and at the Krystal Keeps combat patrol as a last hurrah to one of our favorite stores. They will be missed.

Other than that we here at Martial Law hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday this year because we want to see you battling with us next year! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Necrons; First Game After Thoughts

Well I've played my first game with the new Necron Codex and I must say I'm pleased so far. Of course it's one game but this is going to be my first impressions and we'll just have to see if they change as I play more games. I played Necrons back in 4th it was my first 40k army so all the new choices and combinations really excited me. Problem was I couldn't decide where to start. So I went back to what worked for me before and started there. I realize that lists in one codex edition don't always work with new editions and that was not my intent.
My first game was against HoD's Imperial Fist army. He used a lot of long range weaponry to out distance me in shooting while running Lysander/terminate deathstar down my throat. You can read the full report in the battle reports section of the forum.

This was my 2000 pt. List:

Nemesor & Vangard
Trazyn
5 Crypteks w/ 5 eldritch lances, solar pulse
1 Cryptek w/ abyssal staff, veil
9 Immortals w/ gauss blasters
10 Warriors
9 Warriors
6 Wraiths w/ 3 whip coils, 2 particle casters
5 Wraiths w/ 3 whip coils, 1 particle caster
5 Scarab Swarms
1 Monolith
2 Canoptek Spiders
1 Annihilation Barge

Nemesor-He did pretty good absorbing enemy fire and the orb definitely came into play. Unfortunately I forgot about his tactics abilities but I could have used them on many occasions. I like him and will use him some more.

Vargard-Can't say much about him he didn't really do much. His attacks were saved by the Terminators storm shields and he always attack first so no bonus' there. His Ghostwalk Mantel came in very handy.

Crypteks-I like them and the options they bring. They certainly bring a different element to the Necrons. The eldritch lances were very
effective. Can't wait to use some of the other options.

Immortals-Probably the best troop choice but I miss T5. They still absorbed a lot of fire power but I don't think I used them has effectively as I could have.

Warriors-still a staple in most lists. I don't think their effectiveness has changed that much even with the nerfing of their armor save and WBB. Where they were a higher priority before due to phase out I think now their priority is lower which makes survivability better. Of courses if you run big 20 man squads the priority level will go up.

Wraiths-Loved them before, Love them now. Even without RP they are still a hand full to deal with.

Scarabs-Impressive especially when combined with the Spiders. Didn't use them much before but probably be a staple now. For a small cost you can build them up with some spiders and they make a nice tar pit unit and will really mess up some vehicles.

Canoptek Spiders-Much better than last edition. Cheaper, more wounds, squadrons, new scarab creating rules. Combined with scarabs very nice. Oh and they have options now!

Monolith- Well first off I wouldn't recommend deep striking it unless you have a lot of open ground. I did but got real lucky on scatter. Another 1/4 inch and it would have been misshap city. With it not coming in till the third turn that could have ended any real threat it might pose. It's so big it can be problematic. 6th edition may change this. I like the change to the Gauss Flux Ark .

Annihilation Barge-The survivability was good even when I forgot to move it and it got assaulted by Lysander and his Terminators. They messed it up but didn't destroy it. It handled everything that shot at it. It's offensive abilities left me a little wanting. I got plenty of extra shots out of it but the marines made 90% of their saves. It did manage to destroy a rhino and I like that it is a skimmer.

Those are my first thoughts/impressions. Many more games need to be played. More things to try.

Warmonger out

Necrons at a HoD Glance

HoD here with my first impression of the new Necron codex. I've always liked the 'crons for the simple fact they reminded me of Terminator Arnold after his flesh melted off. Even the signiture "I'll be Back" statement.... they just changed pronouns. I'd also have to say that I've really anticipated this for sometime now, but Monger has been for even longer. It was his first army when he made the jump from Fantasy to 40k. Hell, if it weren't for him making that jump with the Crons and coercing me (and I say that loosely) to delve into it myself, I'd either still be shooting crossbows and blunderbuss or not playing at all. 

Thanks dude.

Anyway back to the codex...

Now first off, I'm not one of those master analysts or strategists, I'm usually a "fly by the seat of my pants" and "roll with the punches" type of player. Don't get me wrong, I usually have a basic plan on how to run my list, but I usually let the game dictate my play.

The threads in the internet promoted the fact that this will be an premiere shooting army, but it seems to me there has been a major push in the CC area. Wraiths and Flayed Ones, that was about it. In the hands of the right player though, these were deadly. Monger runs his "Wraithstorm" list with great effectiveness. Been many a game I had to contend with it... unfortunately it was usually on the losing end of the spectrum. Either they would collapse a flank or make me use valuable resourses so they couldn't....Bastards! You really couldn't even deck out a Lord for CC. Yeah, the Ctan Phase sword was nice and all, but with his crappy WS and I, he was little more than a Marine with a cool weapon.

But now there's the Royal Court, an array of Special Characters, additional wargear and weaponry at your disposal. Even the Warscythe got a "facelift" with it's +2 strength and 2D6 for armor penetration. The trade-off for no possible armor save is cool with me. The Scarabs are cooler with their Entrophic Strike. Reducing armor on vehicles is awesome. Imagne bringing all faces on a Land Raider to a more respectable level to deal with. What about rending for the Wraiths.... yeah, they lost turbo boosting, but a small price to pay.

The question I leave you is...

Is there a "Deathstar" in this codex to be reckoned with or is this just the same shooty army of old with some upgrades?

Martial Law Con Debut

HoD here with a rare front page post.

First off our first MLC Champion... EAP!

Makari took second and Wayno took the Single Model Painting Award with his Slaanesh Prince.

Yesterday (Oct. 15th) we ushered in our new yearly club event Martial Law Con with 12 members able to attend. 5 games, starting at 750 pts with the first mission and ending with 1750 pts with mission 5. Beer, food, comrodery and games... what more could a gamer ask for.

Pretzel brought the meat... and I'm not talking about gaming or what's in his pants, but huge Carfanga italian sausages and burgers.... mmm mmm good! With everyone else pitching in with various desserts, sides and BEER!

Great day of gaming... although I fell way short with my Imperial Fists.

HoD signing off.......

Martial Law invades YottaQuest

Hey guys Drkmorals here stealing some time on the front page when no one else is looking. Thought I would lay down a quick review and rundown of the event this Sunday. Both here and on my personal blog. (shameless plug at the end of the article.)  

Anyway this last Sunday I was invited to show up and hang out with fellow club members Sandman and Warmonger for the YottaQuest Lazy Sunday event. I had a pretty hectic week but I didn’t actually have any plans Sunday so this worked out perfect.  

Yottaquest is in cincinatti and you can check out the main website here. You can actually register for events through the website if you sign up for an account and clean simple process.  The lazy Sunday event is a free 1000 point tourney once a month. Yep free tourney how cool is that? With Store credit as prizes.

First place is 15

Best painted is 10

Best sportsman is 5

Honestly pretty good for a free event.

The store is located in a downtown type area with parking in the rear. This was my first time at Yottaquest but I will say I was impressed overall. The store itself is stocked well with 40k, Fantasy, and several other games. The store is popular and has a great turn out of regular players of various genre’s . The staff was friendly, engaging and knowledgeable.  It seemed important to them that the customer service was good and you enjoyed your visit to the store. (which honestly in any business can go a long way) The game room was in the back in almost a garage like area but it was fine all be it a little tight on space but still comfortable.

The tourney itself had 8 people show up to hang out and throw dice for the day.

There ended up being a nice spread of armies though.

1 IG

2 Necron

1 Orks

1 Space Wolves

1 Grey Knights

1 Blood Angels

1 Space Marines

The day itself was filled with many moments of nonsense and fun. Warmonger and sandman actually ended up being paired off round one and had a good back and forth battle. I know because I had given each of them their new club dice and when one person’s was rolling well for a turn they would loudly tell me they liked the dice… Then usually a short time later the opposite person would tell me the same thing lol.  Sandman ended up coming out on top of the battle but not to be out done Warmonger “accidently” threw away Sandman’s lunch. I am sure it was just a coincidence that it happened after his loss, however watching Sandman complain and panic a bit while searching for his burger, while Monger explained he thought the bag was empty was pretty priceless.

In round two I faced off against Sandman in what turned out to be a very solid game that went to turn 7. We ended up with a draw, a bloody knock down drag out draw but a draw none the less. There had been several times when it could have gone either way but the dice decided not.

Sandman and Myself tied for first place. Sandman ended up taking first place and I took best painted. Not to be left out Monger ended up with best sportsman. It was only after they announced that we had taken the spots that people noticed we had been wearing the same club shirt which was funny as well.  

Overall again I had a great time and would go back to the event in the future. I would recommend it to others as well if you’re in the area. I’ll be posting Bat reps of some type in to follow in the near future, and will bother Sandman to do the same. =P

Real quick want to point out that Warmonger does most his posting here, and in the Martial Law forums. Sandman has a personal blog 73rd Hellion Devildogs  that I encourage you to take a look at and bother him about some battle reports as well =P . You can find my ramblings here from time to time, as well as my personal site (shameless self plug earlier warned about) which I will proudly say went past 50,000 hits last week and we still aren’t a year old. (shameless self pat on back) I also can be found putting together the FTW Blog spotlight over on FTW as I again try to add some positive to the online community we are building. (shameless self plug again!!!) The point is feel free to track any of us down with comments, emails, feedbacks,  or questions about the local area, events  or hobby.

Ard' Boyz Semi-Finals Review

Well it's been about a week since the semi's so I guess I should put something on the board. There were 6 ML members that went to Games2die4 in Indianapolis that weekend along with a few other familiar faces. The Rusty Scaboards were there with 4 members attending. I had met two of them in the team tourney at Adepticon yearbefore last. 36 people in total were signed up for the event in which 32 showed. A good showing. I couldn't tell you now the break down of armies but I was surprised to see a Tyranid and Tau army in attendance.

The venue was nice. The owner "Jerry" had rented the empty store front beside his place so there was plenty of room to move around and what not. He was very nice and bent over backwards to make this an enjoyable event for the players, Thanks Jerry! The judges were very good and consistant.They were always available and were very good at explaining thier rulings. The store was located in a nice area with lots of stores (food, gas, ect.) easily accessable.

The over all tourney ran quite smooth after a bit of a late start. One of the Judges was in a car accident. Best wishes from ML, hope he's doing better! Other than that it was very good. I think the terrain could have been a little more abundent but they did actually have some true 5th edition LOS blocking terrain so not really all that bad.

It was a long day with the drive and the 2.5 hour games but it is someplace I would go to again. I took a few pics and HoD is going to post them for me, so if thier not up when you read this check back later. Check the Tournament Calander for final results.

WarMonger out!

Tournament Update VIII

September has alot to choose from and October is picking upsteam as we move closer to the end of this years tournament schedule. Our first annual club event (ML Con) is coming up in October, so between that and Ard Boyz the ML Krew is keeping pretty busy preparing.

September:

Ard' Boyz semi-finals...9/17 check GW website
Games Preserve...9/17 Bloomington, In
Eastside Games & Cards...9/17 Cincinnati, Oh
Boltgun Battles...9/24 Newark, Oh
Games Preserve...9/24 South Indy, In
Jac Games...9/24 Akron, Oh
Comic Shop Plus...9/25 Columbus, Oh

October:

Yotta Quest...10/2 Cincinnati, Oh
ML Con...10/15 Cincinnati, Oh
Comic Shop Plus...10/15 Columbus, Oh
Games Preserve...10/15 Bloomington, In
Ard' Boyz Finals...10/22 Locations ?

November:

Rock Con...11/4-6

Some Tourney Tips

Greetings and salutations boys and girls of wargaming land.  Drkmorals here, stealing few moments of the front page time to ramble on semi coherent like about a topic (usually related to 40k).





Today I want to talk about tourney prep, the customs and count downs leading up to the big morning before you plan to show up someplace get randomly matched up against opponents who will curse you the rest of the day for the epic defeat you plan on handing them in a nice 2 hr window of time. I know that in general we all know some things to be true like playing makes you better, knowing your army; you should at least be able to pretend you know the rules. But let’s take a few moments to talk about things that you may over look or possibly aren’t doing now to make you a better player the day of the event.

What type of things do you mean you might ask? Silly Drkmorals I am already planning to wear my lucky roll 6’s pair of boxer shorts what else could I possibly need? Well while we are all glad you are not going commando (and we are hoping those lucky shorts are clean) there is a bit more that you can do.

TIP 1

While it’s easy to get caught up in the rush to prepare and you might even be painting up to the wire depending on the event you are going to trying to get your new shiny codex or whatever flavor of counts as SW army you are playing at the moment table top ready.. Believe it or not, getting some sleep and not being tired will make you a better player. You are far less likely to over look something or make a better call if you aren’t trying to remember what turn it is out because of lack of sleep. Not to mention you will prob enjoy yourself far more if you aren’t looking forward going home and catching some zzz’s before the event even starts.

TIP 2

Tip 2 is actually a couple small tips put together. Bring some cash, or a snack and something to drink. It is easy to lose track of the fact you aren’t eating or drinking enough during the day while you are wrapped up in trying to get through your rounds quickly and crush your enemies. Having a granola bar to snack on, while you are sipping some water is a huge deal in making you not lag those last rounds. I say bring money too because some places don’t allow outside food and drink but they offer a selection of snacks to choose from.

TIP 3

Wear comfy broke in shoes. Don’t wear your work boots wear something you don’t mind standing in the entire time. You are going to be on your feet a ton during the day. Also I would suggest when you get a chance to sit to make it a habit to do so. Its easy to not notice how much your standing and if you’re not used to it you will be beat and sore at the end of the day.

TIP 4

Not all tourney’s are created equal, so when deciding what army/list you plan on bringing it might be a good idea to take a look at the missions. The missions might be designed so that your normal list is at a disadvantage or so that if you swap one unit out during this event you will be much better off. Remember the game is about playing the mission!!! Some events favor troop heavy armies while others are really balanced. Some events throw some crazy rules in one of the rounds. (tourney organizers seems to like to randomly add night fight to things?)

TIP 5

Not everyone plays this game exactly the same so before your game starts ask some questions and talk with your new opponent. Make sure you guys are on the same page about things. Discuss how the terrain will be played to make sure you don’t “assume” something is area terrain or a building only to find out your opponent “assumed” that was just some difficult terrain. You both will be able to make better choices and it will be a smoother faster game.

TIP 6

Have fun!!! Did you come with the sole intent of winning and if you don’t your day is a horrible waste of time? Do the rest of us a favor and stay home then. You need to come in with the right frame of mind. By all means come to compete, come to bring the pain, and play a solid game. However if things aren’t going your way, don’t be a jerk face about it. Sometimes the dice aren’t breaking your way, and all you can do is laugh.

That’s all for now boys and girls I have some more in depth tips to consider and several other articles planned for the future. In the meantime have any tourney tips to share? Habits before you play game one? Do you have a lucky charm or secret way you carry your dice? Feel free to share and comment away! Remember it’s a dice game so you can always fall back on good old plan “ROLL 6’s” although it’s not a reliable plan, I suppose it’s a plan. =P

Good Luck...

...to all those playing in 'Ard Boyz this day.

I found myself strangely un-motivated, until the past week. Then I stepped back and decided to just have fun.
After a furor of list building and angst driven culling of silt in lists, I have gotten righteously 'pumped'; and am looking forward to throwing many dice (mostly on the table, but perhaps occasionally at opponents).

Have fun all!

Tournament Update VII

As we move towards the end of the year the tournament choices are thinning. July was outstanding with 7 local tourneys available. I also think more will pop up as we progress thru the Ard Boyz rounds. I've seen several different posts on various forums of TO's waiting to see if they advance to the semi's or finals. As these players get knocked out of the running I'm confident that more will pop up and we'll finish the year strong!

As always if you have info about an upcoming tournament let us know!



August:

Ard' Boyz...8/13 call your local FGS
Yotta Quest...8/21 Cincinnati, Oh
Nova Open...8/25-28
Games Preserve...8/27 Bloomington, In
Wizards Keep...8/27 Muncie, In

September:

Ard' Boyz Semi-finals...9/17 Locations ?
Games Preserve...9/17 Bloomington, In
Boltgun Battles...9/24 Newark, Oh
Games Preserve...9/24 Indy South. In
Jac Games...9/24 Akron, Oh
Comic Shop Plus...9/25 Columbus, Oh

October:

Comic Shop Plus...10/15 Columbus, Oh
Games Preserve...10/15 Bloomington, In
Ard' Boyz Finals...10/22 Location ?

Hammer and Thumb...(40k application and rumination)

So, I was an artilleryman. It was our job to apply saturating fire from long range when called to do so. Sometimes this was going to be called on a target that was unaware and static, but as often as not it was going to be called on a target that was in motion. In order to pin that enemy down, friendly PBIs had to engage the enemy to keep them in place. We were the hammer, they were the thumb. Sometimes, the thumb got bloodied. It is a decision that has been made in warfare since the dawn of indirect artillery/aircraft bombing. It’s a decision not made lightly, but made of necessity. (note; though I was active duty during at least 2 military actions and 1 war, I was fortunate enough to never have to lay a quadrant/deflection or pull a lanyard on a live enemy, but we were trained to operate with these expectations).

In 40k, we have the viewpoint of gods. We see every aspect of the field, and the enemy, from on high…with little in the way of ‘fog’ (aside from dice uncertainties/human unpredictability) to disrupt our decisions. We DON’T have (even with vaunted IG arty) the ability to engage the enemy with no chance of reprisal. Our ranges are intentionally shortened to prevent this stand-off kind of engagement from being the totality of our gaming experience. Yet the concept of ‘Hammer and Thumb’ still applies.
In this case, it is the act of holding, baiting or manipulating an enemy into position in order to deliver a devastating strike.

As weird as it sounds, in our gaming example, the Thumb is as (or more) important than the hammer. In 40k, the thumb is often not expected to live but instead provide opportunities to apply the Hammer such that the sacrifice will further our cause far more than the loss of the unit costs us.
(I’m not listing Hammers and Thumbs, but application. Units such as THSS termies/Rampaging Carnifex Broods/IG Arty squadrons speak for themselves, as do all other ‘dexes heavy hitters).

Thumbs:
Units that cannot be ignored, cannot be simply swept off the table at a whim and can threaten on their own. Look at resilient scoring units, fast threatening units or outflanking/infiltrating units. Squad(ron)s of this nature can be used to influence disposition, deployment and movement of the enemy. Though not an exhaustive or restrictive list, I usually find these to be my best Thumbs.

-Resilient Scoring Units (ignore us at your peril). Mounted squads with large numbers/high toughness/solid saving throws. You cannot ignore them, they might grab an objective late game. You cannot just paste them, they have speed AND innate survivability. They will often survive your initial assault long enough to hold you down for the cavalry, or at least fall back/die in such a way as to leave you over-extended. If you have them, use them. IG have them, it’s called a platoon in chimeras. What they lack in T/Saves they make up for in spam. Marines have them, it’s called the Tactical Squad and rhino. Obviously there are others, but these are just indicative examples…find your parallels. These units can be held back and thrown out for late game grabbing, but applying a squad or two early creates a ‘must deal’ situation.
Threaten objectives or clog movement lanes. Block LOS with their cans. Pull assault elements forward with them as bait. Make a wall that cannot be side-stepped or ignored.

-Fast Threatening Units (you can’t guess where we’ll be). Tank killers, movement blockers and vehicles of all sorts. They may not be able to score, but they can contest. They don’t always have ‘major doom’ written all over them, but they will interfere with your opponent’s plans. Generally we’re looking for interference units here. Look for things that can threaten nearly all transports. Crack a can, and you slow your opposite number’s ability to respond, and keep his units at arm’s length for longer firepower attention. This is generally the true throw-away thumb. It does its job and you don’t care anymore. Great if it lives, but a valk dropped melta-vet squad cracking a Land Raider isn’t expected to last longer than it takes to expose the termies. It’s job is done. It has held the enemy baddy at bay and slowed it. Speeders, Piranha and such all perform the quick immobilize/expose/block role. TWC are generally considered hammers, and rightfully so. But they are GREAT thumbs! They usually survive their ‘sacrifice’, can threaten a greater portion of the battlefield, and serve a dual role.
Remember though, your Thumb (in this role) is quite literally a tool. Do not grow attached. Weigh interference vs your personal attachment to the unit. Use these units with a focus on blocking or holding units in place with little concern for their long term survival.

-Outflanking/Infiltrating units (you can’t guess where we’ll come from). These are Thumbs of a different sort. Units that serve this role are there to influence your opponent’s deployment/early moves. Drop Podded units, Mawlocs/Stealers and scouting elements are your friend. No matter how much your opponent may seem un-flustered by their appearance in your list, he WILL be considering where they will be when he deploys or takes his first moves. Anything that influences this gives you greater understanding of where he will be in the developing turns of the game. These units will give you greater control over what you do in your own development. These units serve their purpose early game, and what occurs after that is up to you and how you capitalize on their influence.
All of them have potential to shoehorn the enemy into less favorable deployment and less than optimal early movement. Of the Thumbs, these also have the potential for greater survival into the mid-game.
Use these units for early game manipulation, placing your opponent in the un-enviable position of deploying without regard for where they may pop, or let you have an easier time predicting where they will end up early.

Nearly all of these units require ‘spamming’ to be effective. A singleton of a unit will only make your opponent tweak a little. Doubling or tripling (or more in the case of scoring units) is necessary to influence your opponent’s deployment/responses. A single squad in a chimera does not a wall make. A single Land Speeder does not a true block make (etc, ad nauseum). You can’t ‘throw away’ something you cannot replace (either with a repeat unit, or a unit with similar functionality).
Always look toward manipulating your counterpart’s early game actions and you will have your first step toward victory.

Tourney's what is your POV

Greetings and Salutations Drkmorals here dropping some random thoughts on my new family of Battle Brothers and sharing a bit of the group blog burden so Monger doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting.. (Go ahead and have a cool drink Monger I got this today.) I normally post my written picture filled nonsense over on my site. The Emperor's Codex (blatant self promotion.) but I plan on helping out here as well from now on. Although I haven't really worked out a schedule of how often yet..

Today I wanted to take  minute of your time to talk about Tournaments. I don't want to talk about missions, tactics or the usual cut throat stack cheese and spam up to bring the pain that ML normally dabbles in. No I want to talk about the tourney experience and how your personal view of it may be totally different from mine or anyone else's when you go to an event. What do you mean Drkmorals? Well I am glad you asked random person I made up...

Clearly your FAQ was updated mid tourney.
If you had brought your laptop you would know. 

I really want to highlight that I don't have a requirement as the type of person that should be playing at the event. I hear this often from other players and it doesn't make sense to me and I don't think its healthy for our hobby. I read the uber competitive blogs or talk with people who are upset because you should know your rules inside and out before going. You should know all the codex's and the FAQ's and are angry when people haven't read or studied them prior to a event. While I think a general rules knowledge is important as well as knowing how your codex works. I really don't expect anything beyond that from anyone. In fact I will argue that going to tourneys as a newer player will teach you the rules and other codex's faster than anything else. Trial by fire so to speak. If you don't know the other armies rules that only will hurt your score or ability and I don't understand why that upsets people. If you are a newer player and we match up I will go out of my way to teach you while playing and try to get you to have a good time, to me it only can help the hobby to grow the player base and encourage our newer players.

If Flashgitz makes your day better  go ahead and
run the them I say!!!

Also if you want to bring your uber master class painted fluffy army to have a blast and you don't care if its a good list or not. Then all the power to you, I ain't mad at you. Have a great time and enjoy your day of gaming. This also doesn't upset me at all and I have talked with people that get upset about this as well saying he didn't bring a tourney army or his list is horrible why would he bring that. This just might be his fishing day so to speak. I think the argument is these guys ruin the field jumping players up in rank when they could have fought a tougher first round, but who cares since first round is random. Also normally the good players rise to top of events regardless by round 3. Anyone who goes to several events knows again its the player not the army or match ups that is consistent with doing well. You can get lucky and get three or more match ups in your favor but it doesn't happen very often and the game we play can be paper, rock, scissors anyway nothing you can do about it.

What I am really saying is Don't be a Hater. We all started someplace and what gives any of us the right to tell anyone else how to enjoy their hobby or spend their day of R and R. I am not saying everyone gets a pass the WAAC player who cheats.. yeah your still a Jerk face and no one likes you.. and the guy who loses one round and goes home.. Feel free to request the TO ban him. I am just saying in general stand back and give your fellow gamer's at the event the benefit of the doubt, a little slack, and maybe try to look from another POV before you complain about someone. Our community only gets better if we make it better and any of us can step up to help out another gamer at any time. I show up to compete and for the challenge but if you come for any other reason I dont' mind, in fact I encourage you to come out and make a day of it.

Tournament Update VI

July is full of stuff to do this year! We are absolutely spoiled for choices. Get out there and participate in one of these great events. With the choices available there should be something that gets your attention. Show your support for the area stores and the TO's that take the time to hold these tournaments.

The rest of the year is a little lite as of right now for the local scene, there will be more to pop up! time to start searching the Web Ways again. As always I'll post them when I see them. Hope to see you out there. I know I'll be out there...somewhere?


July:

Sci-Fi City Tournament...7/2 Cincinnati, Oh
Cookville Battle Barn...7/7 Cookville, Tn
Buckeye Battles...7/8-10 Columbus, Oh
CAG Slam...7/10 Cincinnati, Oh
Dicehead Games Maul at the Mall...7/23 Cleveland, Tn
K-Town Throwdown II...7/23 Kokomo, In
Krystal Keep Tournament...7/23 Kettering, Oh
Yotta Quest RTT...7/23 Cincinnati, Oh
Epic Loot RTT... 7/30 Centerville, Oh

August:

Ard' Boyz...8/13 Locations ?
Nova Open...8/25-28 Washington, DC

September:

Eastside Games & Cards...9/17 Cincinnati, Oh
Ard' Boyz semi-finals...9/17 Locations ?
Boltgun Battles...9/24 Columbus, Oh
Comic Shop Plus...9/25 Columbus, Oh

2011 Tournament Update V

As we move thru this year there is still plenty of tournaments out there to attend. August is a little lite but that maybe due to Ard Boyz. As always if you have information on a tournament or additional info on one listed let us know. You can comment on the blog page or enter the forum section and post it in the tournament calander section.



June:

The Sage's Shop RTT...6/4 W. Lafayette, In
Games2Die4 RTT...6/4 Avon, In
Eastside Games & Cards 6/18 Cincinnati, Oh
Orgins...6/22-26 Columbus, Oh
JAC Games...6/25 Akron, Oh


July:

Sci-Fi City Tournament...7/2 Cincinnati, Oh
Cookville Battle Barn...7/7 Cookville, Tn
Buckeye Battles...7/8-10 Columbus, Oh
CAG Slam...7/10 Cincinnati, Oh
Eastside Games & Cards...7/16 Cincinnati, Oh
Dicehead Games RTT...7/23 Cleveland, Tn
K-Town Throwdown II...7/23 Kokomo, In
Epic Loot RTT...7/30 Centerville, Oh

August:

Ard Boyz...8/13 Locations ?
Nova Open...8/25-28 Washington D.C.

Martial Law Storms CAG Bash

This past weekend brought around the annual 40k Tourney at CAG Bash in Cincinnati. Martial Law was represented by 7 members battling for the top spots. There was something like 26 total attendies for the 4ok tourney. Attendence was down a little (usually around 40ish) do to a number of factors this year but a good time was had by all!

I was surprized by the the armies present, not what I was expecting to see. Daemons were everywhere, 4-5 people brought Daemons and 1st and 2nd place were taken by the nasty boogers. Grey Knights only had a showing of 2 I think. I was expecting many more. IG was also under represented. I believe Edge was only one playing them Saturday. Space Marines were a little light but the usual sprinkling of them (Space Wolves, Blood Angels & even Smurfs) made thier apperance. I was also surprized by how many Dark Eldar armies were in attendence (4 I think) and of course a Nid and Ork army or two was there. Tau was even represented by 2 players, one of which brought best painted. Over all a pretty nice bit of deversity in the forces present.

The terrain was provided by our very own Bealzebugg and Wayno who also helped set up and tear down the 40k event stuff along with Dickie and Methoderik. Nice Job guys the tables looked great. Big thanks to ML member Makari for running the event again this year. Makari had to give up his 2nd round Fantasy Ard' Boyz spot to manage the tournament, thats SOME kind of dedication. Hats off to you!

ML Members Placing:

Wayno..........2nd.....DaemonsDickie............3rd.....CSMWarmonger..7th.....DE
Edge..............8th.....IG
Koodoo.........12th....Orks
Methoderik..14th...Space Wolves
Mike Leon....15th...Blood Angels

2011 Tournament Update IV

Here is the latest update. As the local 2011 Tourney scene progress' there's still a lot to choose from. If you see something you like check our 2011 Tournament Calander in the forum for more info.



May:

Dicehead Games ATC Club Challenge...5/20-22 Cleveland,Tn
CAGBash...5/21 Cincinnati,Oh
Eastside Games & Cards...5/21 Cincinnati,Oh
The Game Preserve...5/21 Bloomington,In
CSP's Armed Forces Event...5/21 Columbus,Oh
JAC Games RTT...5/28 Akron, Oh

June:

The Sage's Shop RTT...6/4 W. Lafayette,In
Games2Die4 RTT...6/4 Avon, IN
Eastside Games & Cards...6/18 Cincinnati,Oh
Orgins...6/22-26 Columbus,Oh

July:

Cookville Battle Barn...7/7 Cookville,Tn
Buckeye Battles...7/9-11 Columbus,Oh
Eastside Games & Cards RTT...7/16 Cincinnati,Oh
Dicehead Games RTT...7/23 Cleveland,Tn

2011 Tournament Calander

Hey Everybody.

If you haven't noticed we've added a new forum catagory "2011 Tournament Calander". This section was implimented mainly for any guest that wants more info about any of the up coming tourney's listed in the tourney update section. It also shows what tournaments ML members have attended and their placements. Also as a reminder, the Emperor has decreed all guest forum catagories to be opened. So if you have a comment, info or suggestion... post it. We'd like to hear from you!

Wayno takes Last Hurrah of DBCC

                                         Attending ML members

This past weekend was the final D.B. Cooper Con as a ML event, with Wayno taking 1st and Best Painted with his Daemons. We've decided that an era has ended and another is beginning within Martial Law Gaming, and as such there will be no more DBCC as a club event. Dickie may continue the endeavor on his own. We will be holding the new "Martial Law Con" once a year starting this fall. Other highlights include:  

2nd Place "Dickie" with Chaos Army (Nurgle)

3rd Place "Warmonger" with Dark Eldar Army

4th Place " The Big Pretzel"  with Chaos Army

Top Kill Points; "BeazleBugge" with Imperial Guard Army

Congrats guys!

The Emperor has decreed...... access granted!

We'd like to hear from the visitors of the ML site... so access has been given to post on our open forums. Feel free to comment on Battle Reports, Tourneys, WIP or our Gallery. Enjoy!

2011 Tournament Update III

Here is the next three months worth of tourney's. As always when I see something new I'll post or update as needed. I'm also working on something to help provide the info for the tournaments in the vistors section so if you see something your interested in you won't have to hunt for it. More on that later.

April:

Adepticon...4/1-3 Chicago, Il
Pet Store Comics RTT...4/9 Louisville, Ky
DBCC...4/16 Cincinnati, Oh
Comic Shop Plus...4/23 Columbus, Oh
Gamers DMZ RTT...4/23 Kokomo, In

May:

Dicehead Games ATC Club Challenge...5/20-22 Cleveland, Tn
CAG Bash...5/21 Cincinnati, Oh
Eastside Games & Cards...5/21 Cincinnati, Oh
The Game Preserve RTT...5/21 Bloomington, In
CSP's Armed Forces Event...5/21 Columbus,Oh

June:

The Sage's Shop RTT...6/4 W. Lafayette, In
Games2Die4 RTT...6/4 Avon, In
Orgins...6/22-26 Columbus, Oh
Eastside Games & Cards RTT...6/18 Cincinnati, Oh

New Tactica Up

Edge has released his second tactics article. There's some good stuff on Space Marines in there! Click on the members forum section. This will allow guests to view the vistors section which not only includes the tactics articles but some other cool stuff. Check it out!

Martial Law invades CincyCon

CincyCon 40k Tourney has come and gone. We had 5 members attend finishing 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th along with Best Painted. I'm attaching a link below to Drkmorals blog. He attended and has a very nice right up and alot of pics. Enjoy!



http://emperorscodex.blogspot.com/2011/03/cincycon-2011.html

WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY!!!!!

We are proud to have our very own ML member and tactician Edge to start his articles on tactics of 40k. We will be posting his articles every 2 weeks on Friday. Just click onto the forums and read them under the new forum section "40k Articles and Editorials". Enjoy... I know we will. So Click on over and read his debut article TODAY!

2011 Tournament Season Update ll

As the season continues there are plenty events already scheduled with more being added all the time. There should be something for everyone!

The next 3 months worth of tournament so far. More will be added as info is obtained.

March:

Krystal Keep...3/12 Kettering, Oh
Eastside Games & Cards...3/12 Cincinnati, Oh
CincyCon...3/19 Cincinnati, Oh
Comic Shop Plus...3/26 Columbus, Oh

April:

Adepticon...4/1-3 Chicago, Il
Yotta Quest RTT...4/2 Cincinnati, Oh
Pet shop comics...4/9 Louisvile, Ky
DBCooperCon...4/16 Cincinnati, Oh
Comic Shop Plus pre Ard Boyz...4/23 Columbus, Oh
Gamers DMZ RTT...4/23 Kokomo, In

May:

DiceHead Games ATC Club Championship...4/20-22 Cleveland, Tn
CAG Bash...4/21 Cincinnati, Oh
Eastside Games & Cards RTT...4/21 Cincinnat, Oh

Kentucky Con

Wayno's Kentucky Con was this past weekend. It's a small club tourney Wayno holds at his home in Kentucky. 8 members participated in the festivities with the The Big Guy and host pulling out the win with Daemons.

Food, gaming, beers.... you guessed it... a joyous weekend!

                                            Congrats again to Wayno!!!

2011 Tournament Season Update

Well January has come and gone with ML members attending two Tournaments. Makari placed 1st at the EGC RTT! Dickie took 1st at Yotta Quest and Warmonger got Best Painted. A good start to the year. February brings KYCon (a club event) which I think is the only tourney ML members are attending that I know of at this time.

Here is the revised 2011 schedule:

February:

Hive Fleet Indy RTT...2/5 Avon, In
Dicehead Games Team Tournament...2/5 Cleveland, Tn
KYCon Free For All...2/12 Ky
Game Preserve RTT...2/12 Greenwood, In
StoneRivers Tournament...2/12 Murfreesburo, Tn
Art of War RTT...2/13 Cincinnati, Oh
Comic Shop Plus...2/19 Columbus, Oh
Game Room RTT...2/26 Toledo, Oh
Game Room Team Tournament...2/27 Toledo, Oh

March:

Krystal Keep RTT...3/12 Kettering, Oh
Eastside Games & Cards Rtt...3/12 Cincinnati, Oh
CincyCon...3/19 Cincinnati, Oh
Comic Shop Plus RTT...3/26 Columbus, Oh

April:

Adepticon...4/1 thru 4/3 Chicago, Il
DBCoopercon...4/16 Cincinnati, Oh

COMING SOON!!! Tactics Made Easy with Edge

Every few weeks we will be posting a new article by our very own tactician, Edge. He will be dissecting tactics to make it easier to understand even for the newb. He'll be covering a wide range of subjects from objective taking to mini-maxing your units to achieve the most out of them. Edge is well versed in the Imperium's tactica but will also be discussing other armies too. Check back to preview his first article. I'll bet you will come away having learned something!

Martial Law Represents at Yotta Quest

The Yotta Quest RTT has come and gone. Martial Law had 5 members attend with a total of 17 players in all. The fighting was intense and competition was fierce but ML came and conquered with Dickie taking 1st and Warmonger taking best painted. The last round started off with Dickie and our newest member Makari battling for the top spot with Dickie ending up on top.

The final placement was:

1st Dickie
4th Edge
5th Makari
12th Warmonger
13th Brady

Congrats to everyone!

2011 Tournament Season revisited

This years events are stacking up quite nicely. So many in fact that I'm going to list the 1st quarters events for 2011 for easy reference and will continue to update them as needed.

January:

Eastside Games & Cards RTT...1/15 Cincinnati
Yotta Quest Post Holiday Throw Down...1/22 Cincinnati
Comic Shop Plus RTT...1/22 Columbus

February

Hive Fleet Indy RTT...2/5 Avon, Ind
Dicehead Games Team Tournament...2/5 Cleveland, Ten
KYCon Free For All...2/12 Ky
Game Preserve RTT...2/12 Greenwood, Ind
Comic Shop Plus...2/19 Columbus


March

Krystal Keep RTT...3/12 Kettering
Eastside Games & Cards...3/19 Cincinnati
CincyCon...3/19 Cincinnati
Comic Shop Plus...3/26 Columbus

2011 Tournament Season

Welcome All, The 2011 Tournament scene is upon us!

Well members and guests the 2011 tournament is here and picking up speed. The number of tournaments popping up is increasing after a slow first week. Already I've seen tournaments scheduled as far out as May. It's looking to be a good year from all indications!

I'd like to encourage all ML members to post any info or news they come across so all members may benefit. Hell post anything you want, I'd like to hear from everyone! I'm looking forward to seeing all you guys again at ths Spring DBCC event and hope to have a good representation at CAG bash.

To our guests that visit our home page and visitors section in the forum, I'd like to encourage comments. It's always good to hear from different people and their opinions and thoughts! I hope to be able to increase the postings and info on the home page maybe even have a monthly article set. We'll see how it goes.

Well good luck to everyone this year!

Warmonger