Wow, it really has been since September 2015 since I have talked about Dark Angel tournament experiences.

Last time I wrote about the Dark Angels I was about to head to a six game tourney in Sacramento, called No Mercy GT. The event was pretty big with around 60 players using a highly modified ITC FAQ. It allowed for titan class models along with full army construction, it meant we saw Warlord Titans along with Wraithknight spam lists.

I modified my list accordingly taking a Imperial Knight, as it turns out it was a pretty good idea. I went 3-0 in the first day, but it was day two where everything fell apart. It started with being in a bad mood having to play Maelstrom Missions, which as I suspected was going to totally screw me over, by the end of turn three I was so far behind it was impossible for me to catch up. I lost leaving most my army intact with my opponent having around 8 models left. I totally lost it to say the least, I throwing a complete temper tantrum after the game. I just about dropped out of the tourney right then, in fact the TO had to convince to continue playing. I was a total cry baby I have to admit, regretted my behavior, at least I didn’t flip a table, only making the TO uncomfortable.

The funny thing is I usually have a fun time playing Maelstrom missions in casual play, especially for teaching games. As it was I played one more game and lost again– being in the wrong headspace and playing against a hard counter to my list did me in. Luckily, I didn’t have to play the 6th game– even in the best of moods that is usually when I turn into a pumpkin anyway.

As for the changes to my list I made for the event, I was very happy. Sammael is a great Warlord, for his trait and Eternal Warrior. It made me redesign my list away from Azrael and into pure Ravenwing. The experience at No Mercy help prepare me for another tourney I went to a month and half later. It was a little RTT at a simi-local shop in Santa Rosa, Funemonium. At this 16 person event I was able to go 3-0 and tie for 1st place! I went against Demi-Company, Stompa Orks, and Drop Skattarii. I performed really well and the list changes certainly helped, here is what it looked like.

TastyTaste’s Dark Angel Final Form ITC List 

As you can see I got rid of all the Tacticals and went full Ravenwing, not having Objective Secured didn’t seem to hurt as much as I expected. It means I could take advantage of reserve tricks from the Ravenwing Detachment as well. The MSU Bike units were also great with all that Melta flying around to take out transports. I also lucked out by not facing any new Tau as they were just a week old at the time. I know the things are really going to change with the lame White Scar relic and Tau Ignoring Cover easy mode. The ITC season is almost over with LVO being less than a month away, insanely enough I still have three more events to attend before then!

The first one is this Saturday in the international city known as Bakersfield, it will be my first time to the belly of California, but I am ready! The event is called Butchers of Bakersfield and is organized by Otto’s Video Games and More. It is going to be 50 person event with four rounds… well three rounds for 42 of the players. The Top 8 play in the fourth round. I will be using the same list I used at Funemonium. I am well aware this is race against time, as Tau players get more games it will be harder for Dark Angels to compete. I fully expect to lose every game against any Tau player, I suspect Tau will be changing the meta for the worse everywhere. Yes I know I am bias, but they are the dumbest army to play against in every edition.

After Bakersfield, I head up to Seattle for TSHFT, then another RTT at Funemonium, before heading to LVO on Super Bowl weekend. I am so glad I spent the Holiday just painting and not playing otherwise I would already be burnt out! I am just hoping I can hold on in one of these coming events with a top 1-3 placing, it will definitely take some luck, just hoping I will make some!