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| Well, the local Rogue Trader Tournament took place
this past weekend and it was another stellar effort by the Pittsburgh Iron Legion gaming
club. In the days preceding the RTT I tweaked my army list and touched up a few models. The final army list that I used can be viewed here. The major change was increasing the size of the jetbike squad from 5 to 6 models. My son, Douglas, and I arrived at the tournament early so that we could help with setting up the battlefields and socialize with some of our gamer friends. Jack Ramsey, the only other Dark Eldar player, was there along with a mix of 40 gamers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The format for the tournament was a total of 4 games with a 90 minute time limit for each. Initial opponent pairings were done at random for the first game. After the first game opponent pairings were based upon results of previous battles so that players with similar battle records would face each other. Tournament scoring was based upon painting, army composition, sportsmanship and battle results. There was no pub quiz at this event (hoorah!!) My opponents in the tournament fielded two marine armies (Dark Angel and Space Wolves), a CSM World Eater's army, and Jack Ramsey's Raider-based Dark Eldar army. What are the odds that the only two Dark Eldar armies would face off against each other :) After the first game there was a one hour lunch break during which time the judges evaluated painting and composition for each army. Tournament participants also got to vote for the Player's Choice award for the army that they felt had the best overall painting, conversions, and detailing. During the lunch break, several players stopped by to compliment me on the painting and detailing of my army. It was gratifying to know that fellow gamers appreciated the time and energy that I put into making my army look good on the battlefield. The remaining three games took place during the afternoon followed by the awards ceremony. I had hoped to win either the Player's Choice or Best Painted awards for my army's painting and detailing. There was some tough competition in these categories however, and a very impressive Iyanden Eldar army won both of them. Ironically, the Iyanden army was on the table next to mine during the judging so everybody had a chance to compare them side by side. On a positive note I ended up taking second place in overall tournament scoring followed by Jack Ramsey (who won the Best Tactician award) in third place. It turned out to be good performance for the only two Dark Eldar armies in the tournament! I was surprised by how well I did in overall scoring because I really brought the army to the RTT more to showcase it than to compete for the overall championship. My primarily ground-based Dark Eldar army list actually performed quite well on the battlefield. I was impressed by the resilience of the large warrior squads and the ability of my jetbikes to fulfill their tactical role in each battle. |