Zero Comp: Reece Robbins's SoCal Smackdown Report

The Zero Comp team went to Los Angeles this past weekend to attend the SoCal Smackdown GT. I won best general at this event last year, earning my Golden Ticket and wanted to go and take another crack at it! As with last year, this time around it was held as a part of a large, non-electronic gaming convention and there was a ton of cool stuff to see and do.

There has been a change of management with the organizing party, and so things got a bit confused and there was a lot to criticize with the event. We were expecting a turnout of between 20-30 players, but when we got there, there was only 11….6 of whom were the Zero Comp team! Haha, so that meant 55% of the field were guys I play all the time.

So that was a bit of a bummer. The terrain was also a big bummer as you will see in the videos. There was a lot of it, but none of it LOS blocking. The TO, Adam, told me that GW lagged in getting them terrain and so they had to make do with what they had. The players moved stuff around to make it a bit more fair.

We played a mix of Adepticon 2010 and 2011 missions, which made for odd scoring. The 2011 missions are a marked improvement over the 2010 missions, IMO, and so that part of it was also a bit off. There was also a bit of confusion on the judge’s part as to what the missions’ rules meant, etc. They had never played them and it showed. There were also no rules judges present. Luckily all the guys playing in the tournament were really laid back and 9 of the 11 were what I would consider expert level players, so we pretty much regulated ourselves and it went fine. That could have easily been a major setback though.

My last critique of the event was that the paint judging seemed a bit inconsistent. An Eldar army that was predominantly painted only to a 3 color standard (he was finishing models between rounds! Haha) scored higher than a very nice, fully painted Grey Knights army that had several layers of low light and highlight.

Now for the good stuff!

The TO’s were totally open to suggestions and want to improve. They also know that not everything was perfect and want to make changes to appease the often fickle 40K crowd. Cool. The first step in improving a system is to acknowledge problems.

Secondly, the caliber of players present was VERY high. 5 of 5 of my games were brutally hard, which is just the way I prefer things to be! I can honestly say that only at Adpeticon have I had as tough of competition. The small field meant that you were going to play the tough games, so it was actually very challenging despite the small field. In a typical tournament, especially a GT, you get 1-2 easy games, particularly in the first rounds.

All that said, would I go next year or recommend another gamer to make the trip? Yes I would. The TO’s want to improve, they are willing to listen, and another GT is only a good thing, IMO. The more, the better and so long as things can improve, I will support the event, as will the Zero Comp team.

So, without further ado, here is the footage I took of the event and the corresponding army lists. Also, we tease each other a lot in the videos and there is a fair bit of adult language, so be aware of that. The teasing is all in good fun between friends, and as Mark Twain said: nothing gets your point across like a good expletive!

Game 1

Mission: Pitched Battle, Primary: Kill Points, Secondary: Destroy all Troops, Tertiary: Victory points

Bonus: Destroy FA, Destroy Heavy, Destroy the Elites

Sooooo….kill everything dead!

Opponent: ChristianA

Coteaz

Libby: Shroud, Might, Shrouding, Warp Rift

Techmarine: Rad, Psychotroke, Servo Skull x 3

Ven Psyfilmen

3 x warriors with meltas, 6 x psykers, Chimera, Searchlight

3 x Warriors with meltas

6 x Death Cults, 3 x Crusaders, Chimera, Searchlight

Psyfilmen

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJJ3jp17hU&feature=channel_video_title

Game 2

Mission: Dawn of War. Primary: Seize Ground, Secondary: Elimination, Tertiary: Victory Points

Bonus: Scoring unit within 3” of center, Most expensive unit lives, all HQs survive

Opponent: White925

Sorcerer: MoS, Lash

Greater Daemon

Plague Marines x 7: Champ, Fist, M.Gun x 2, Fist, Combi-Melta, Rhino

Plague Marines x 6: Champ, Fist, M.Gun x 2, Fist, Combi-Melta, Rhino

Oblits x 3

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0WM9QxAN2A&feature=channel_video_title

Game 3

Mission: Spearhead. Primary: Objectives, Secondary: Table Quarters, Tertiary: Victory Points

Bonus: Opponent has no Objectives, secondary objective achieved with only scoring units, opponent has fewer than 4 units at game’s end

Opponent: Italiaplaya

Fateweaver

Herald of Tzeentch: Charriot, Bolt, Master of Sorcery, We are Legion

Bloodcrushers x 6: Fury, Icon, Instrument

Fiends x 6

Plaguebearers x 5: Instrument

Plaguebearers x 6

Seekers x 14

Daemon Prince: Flight, MoT, Bolt, Gaze

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nrHX1jGAFc&feature=channel_video_title

Game 4

Mission: Pitched Battle/ Primary: Destroy half of your opponent’s army, rounding up, Secondary: Objectives, Tertiary: Have the most units in your opponent’s deployment zone at game’s end.

Opponent: Grimgob

Ghaz

Big Mek: KFF, Klaw, Cybork

Lootas x 15

Lootas x 5

Nobs x 8: Full diversified, 2 klaws

Shoota Boyz x 18: Nob, Klaw, Bosspole, Rokkit

Grots x 19: Runtherd

Deff Kopta: Rokkit, Buzz Saw

Battlewagon: Red Paint, Kannon, Boarding Plank, Grot Riggers, Deff Rolla

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIi84wmagtI&feature=channel_video_title

Game 5

Mission: Pitched Battle. Primary: Destroy designated enemy unit, Secondary: Kill Points, Tertiary: Seize Ground

Opponent: Mortetvie

Eldrad

Yriel

Fire Dragons x 5

Wave Serpent: Stones, Shuriken Cannon

Fire Dragons x 5

Wave Serpent: Stones, Shuriken Cannon

Harlies x 8: Shadowseer, Kisses x 8

Wraithguard x 10: Warlock, Spiritseer, enhance

Dires x 5

War Walkers x 3: Scatter lasers x 6

Falcon: Stones, Holofields, Scatter Laser

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iZ9WBX_NKs&feature=channel_video_title

So I came out on top and earned a Golden Ticket at the SoCal Smackdown again! Sweet! It was fun and I look forward to a much improved event next year with a larger attendance.

Download Rambo movie

Buy Mrs Miracle movie

The Monolith Monsters dvd

Zero Comp: Reece Robbins’s SoCal Smackdown Report