Overview of the Rookie Rumble 2016.

Last Saturday, I took part in the 2nd  Rookie Rumble - WH40K 2016 Tournament hosted by the FLGS known as GR.  This was my third overall tournament I took part in and the second singles tournament I took part in.  A year has gone by and I have added more experiences under my belt.

Prior to the tournament, I had set-up at least 5 practice sessions with Luminator and Farseer G.  The results did pay off.  I made changes to my list and got rid of dead weights in the army.  Although my list is still a typical CAD army and is still lower the power level of most "Decurion" style formation armies.  

This year, Cmdr Ryanbo was not allowed to participate having becoming one of the top 8 in last year's final tournament.  Think of it as a ladder or league where only the top can compete.



The Tournament itself.
Format is exactly the same as last year's rookie rumble.  Same Maelstrom missions, same number of objective markers, same table size, same points and breaks were given between the games.
The only difference is that this time we actually get to place the objective markers.  
 

 First round – Eldar Harlequins (Shadowseer JY)

JY as I am told is a relatively experienced player and very nice person to game with.  I was not familiar with his army and so adopted the conservative approach and deployed my units within cover.  Throughout the game he extremely patient and explained to me what each unit could do and sometime repeating it when I forgot.   Since both of us were late, we didn't have the opportunity of playing the game fully and had to end at around turn 5.  At the end of it, I manage to secure a minor victory over him.  I attribute some of these to good dice rolls on my part and bad dice rolls on his part.  Overall, I was fortunate as Harlequins was not ranked high on the power tier compared to other factions.   

Second round – Mantis Warriors Space Marines (Cmdr WK)

WK was part of our gaming group and took part in the Badab War Campaign early last year.  This is his first tournament and he brought with him a triple dreadnought list.  Captain on bike with command squad accompanied by Scouts.   I have experienced Drop Pod Alpha Strike list quite often and knew what to expect.  My deployment was to essentially to deny him alpha strike capability and minimize my own casualties.   This game was hard fought, we both inflicted heavy casualties on each other and the game could have swung either way.   Our cards were equally bad and neither of us got to capitalize on it.    In a way, the dice rolls favored neither of us.  Both of us got bad dice rolls but at end of the turn 5.  Variable game length decided that game will end when I had slight lead, resulting in a minor victory for me.

Third round – Tau Empire (Cmdr YA)

YA is a long-time veteran but has mostly been painting and not playing.  Unlike the previous two list, he is using a hunter contingent cadre with formation special rules.   This means his list is significantly higher on the power tier even though he isn't using the storm surge.  He also managed to seized the initiative, allowing him to pick off my units that had the ability to punch back.  The game was pretty one sided.  I could not get over there to lay the hurt and would lose many units.  Needless to say, I lost this game pretty badly.

Since I am in no position to actually score or win.  My plan was to not get tabled by the end of the game and entice him to close ranks so that he will be within reach of my weapons.  The plan kind of worked, I also managed to tarpit his Riptide for 4 Turns.  That is 4 turns of the Riptide not being able to bring its devastating weapons to bear on my units.

RESULTS OF THE TOURNAMENT

This year, Farseer G cliched the top spot.  After many tournaments and being matched up with some of the strongest list and players in the competitive scene.  Farseer G finally clawed his way to the top.   The only true competition this tournament was Overseer A.   He is by far the player with the most playing experience playing competitive games and had one of the strongest list.

This year however, we see Archon RC take the top spot for best painted.  Having previously won Australia's Golden Daemon, it is no surprise.   It looks like this trend is going to stay since RC no longer works for the other FLGS known as Titan Games, which at the time of writing this article has already closed down. 

Conclusion

I enjoyed myself immensely, even though for my 3rd match I could not do anything against the Tau.  For the first time, I actually managed to score 2/3 score in a tournament.  I was fortunate to be paired up against mid tier list and friendly players.   My preparation prior to the tournament also paid off as I learn to focus more on the mission rather than fighting my opponent head on.  Just because you are within the power to do something, does not mean you should.  Depending on circumstances, sometimes it is better to divert your resources elsewhere where it will do more good.

The TO has also mentioned that this will be the last Rookie Rumble that they are organizing.  In the future, minimal points format is at least 1500.  I was sadden to hear this of course, as I am just starting to grasp the 1000 point bracket.   Looks like I will have my work cut out for me.