This last weekend in the normally tranquil Alamo a reenactment of sorts took place. No it wasn’t that famous battle nor was it Ozzy peeing all over the place, instead it was another reenactment that happens almost everywhere a certain Internet personality appears. This particular Internet personality known as Dashofpepper on DakkaDakka has made quite the name for himself by his intense personality and amazing ability to win so many events while only having played the game for a few years.
So it was not that big of surprise that at the Alamo 40k GT this year Dash took Best Overall with a “Venom” heavy list going 5-0 over the weekend. Before we get into Dash’s extra “tactical advantages” first take a look at the winning armies.
Will update with PDFs when made available.
Best Over All- DashofPepper
From the looks of the pictures and chatter Dash’s army looks to be…
Dark Eldar
HQ: Baron + Hemos
Elite: (3) Trueborn squads in Venoms
Troops: (5) Warrior squads in Venoms
(1) Wytche Squad in Raider
Fast Attack: Beast Squad mix
Heavy: (3) Ravagers
2nd Best Over All- Thomas (Goatboy) Reilly
Grey Knights
HQ: Libbie, Warp Rift (never used it should have been quicksilver), Shrouding, Sanctuary, Might of Titans
HQ: Crowe
Troops: GKT X 10, Thawn upgrade, Halberds X 6, Daemon Hammer X 2, Bro Banner, Psycannon X 2
Troops: Purifers X 7, Halberds X 4, Daemon Hammer X 1, Psycannon X 2, Rhino
Troops: Purifers X 7, Halberds X 4, Daemon Hammer X 1, Psycannon X 2, Rhino
Troops: Purifers X 7, Halberds X 4, Daemon Hammer X 1, Psycannon X 2, Rhino
Heavy: Dreadnought, TWL Autocannon X 2, Psybolt
Heavy: Dreadnought, TWL Autocannon X 2, Psybolt
Heavy: Dreadnought, TWL Autocannon X 2, Psybolt
Goatboy has some batreps on his site with pictures of his army check them out here.
http://goatboy40k.blogspot.com/2011/05/so-i-played-tournament-woohoo.html
Best General- Jon (Jwolf) Wolf
Imperial Guard
Not sure, but I was told it was similar to his Adepticon list with Straken hybrid IG army lots of foot slogging with a little Mech mixed in.
If you are interested in some pictures from the event, Dash took some and posted them on Dakkadakka for everyone to see here is the link…
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-11151-16623_Armies%20Of%20The%20Alamo%202011.html
The Alamo GT has always been about drinking beers (on tap $2 beers) and rolling dice. The scoring system and themed awards reflects the events jovial nature.
http://www.alamogt40k.com/scoring.php
It amazed me to see Dashofpepper even attending such an event. Having heard stories of 40k and Fantasy events past the Alamo is hardly the arena for the ultra competitive types.
What didn’t surprise me was the resultant message barrage I received about the piss poor opinions that formed from watching Dash. Like all classic WAAC players he deployed all the best tools to mess with his opponents heads. Start by bullying that easily intimidates younger opponents, move on to inane rules debates that slow play your way to victory, and follow that up with modeling for an advantage then using that advantage to gain extra benefits that were not intended in the rules. The funny (or sad) thing is the consistent pattern by Dash in all his travels. Since he seems to move around a lot pursing such a scorched earth policy has little consequence. I actually do give people benefit of the doubt on most things especially when I cannot see them first hand, but in the case of Dash there is just too much evidence to support his either insanity or tool behavior.
To give you an idea take a look at this opus. This is just one of many Dash stories.
What amazes me more is not so much the behavior on his part, but the fact that almost everyone talks shit about it after the fact.
The best way to get a person like Dash to stop is call him on it when it happens, even if it means refusing to play him. So what if he gets the win, is it worth the wasted 2-3 hours of your time? Dash is not in it for the prizes he just wants to act out whatever childhood trauma that forced him into such behavior. Most of us though don’t ever have to play Dash, but many of us do go to DakkaDakka which has become the Dashofpepper safe haven. This is the joy of paying extra money for the extra privilege. See DakkaDakka has a program where you get extra forums and your own special Dakka glee club for a price. So it doesn’t amaze me along when you combine Dash’s comment and thread count that second anyone calls sour grapes– that many descend to defend Dash’s honor. Is this nepotism for the Internet? Yippie?
Honestly, I don’t want to make this completely about Dash because no matter what others or I say, he has proven time and time again that his delusions include him being the victim/good guy in every situation. What I am curious about is how do you deal with the unapologetic WAAC player? When is enough is enough? Does it have to come to blows? I am just curious because the only WAAC player I have ever had to deal has been reformed (for the most part) over a very long process (calling him out every time the devil horns started appearing). We only gave him that opportunity because he was such a nice guy outside the game that we just had to try to help. With the case of Dash the only place where that is possible is over Dakkadakka and one can only hope…right?
If you want to follow the current adventures of DashofPepper check out this thread still developing over at Dakkadakka
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/362604.page