Warhammer 40K Tabletop XXIII: I Do Not Like Green Tides and 'Hann

[Cheesegear]

So, we played out our team Apoc game today. This won't be quite as extensive a battle report as normal, since it's hard to keep track of 9k per side, difficult to get a decent photo with all the carnage and hard to remember to take pics as often as I should.

I don't care. Apocalypse is the best.

[Army Lists]

Except then both teams did it wrong.
As you've noticed, both teams seem to be focusing on Vehicles and Super-Heavies. I'm not surprised at all that you found the game lacklustre. With Lords of War and Str-D becoming a standard part of the game, the 'purpose' of Apocalypse has changed in 7th Ed. Apocalypse games are no longer for putting your biggest and scariest models on the table, because, well, you can do that anyway. Even in low point games. A 400-Point army can now consist of exactly one Knight. Didn't bring 400 Points worth of Melta weapons? Too bad. Stomp, Stomp, Stomp.

Apocalypse, in 7th, is all about the Formations and Strategic Assets. Because those are what makes Apocalypse special, now. Using broken Formations to completely gib your opponent's army. This is why, in the past, smart Apocalypse players generally limit Super-Heavy point allocation - especially those with Ranged Str-D. But, I don't know how that plays in 7th Ed., with Knights (and now Wraithknights) being a fixture in most people's competitive collections. I wont be playing my first Apocalypse/7 game until this June/July. But, still. It's good to know that too many Vehicles still makes the game boring.

Set Up was Dawn of War on a 12x4 table

wat
Should've been 8x6.

We bring back a shadowsword, a Gorkanaught and a Stormtalon (hey, it was either that or a Vindicator, I hadn't lost anything else!) for free and spend a point to bring back a Baneblade.

16:5 to spoiler
GG

Was it though? It seems like it was terrible and/or boring for the other team. Because, to me, the game was pretty much won during list creation. I have no idea if you planned it, or the other team just scrounged up whatever they could and put it on the board. I count four Formations on Team 1, and two on Team 2. Each team has an instance of the same Formation, and I'm pretty sure the ALF and Baronial Court cancel out. Leaving Team 1 holding the MFing Baneblade Formation (!) and a Linebreaker Squadron. I mean, the only thing that's missing is a Steel Host, and then you'd have all the best Vehicle Formations in your list.

I don't know. Apocalypse is meant to be the most fun game, because you can do anything you want, and you play with all your friends at the same table. I'm not saying it's anyone's 'fault', per se. But Apocalypse games take a long time - an entire day. I'm just saying that if I had been on the losing team, I wouldn't have had fun, like at all. The BatRep just looks like a curbstomp - and that's fine for the winners, not for the losers, though.

Did you pick teams beforehand, plan out your lists? Or did you just rock up on the day, pick your best friends, and hope your lists worked? Typically, when I play an Apoc game in-store (as opposed to in my house on the floor), I deliberately put myself on the team with more newbs/noobs in it, hopefully I can carry the team and make it a good game. But, that's me, IRL, where I have to deal with actual people that I'll probably see again next week. Online, though...I can tell people that their list is bad and that they should feel bad. Like most, I'm different IRL than I am online, but, I generally hope that my actual personality shines through online more than it doesn't.
...Unless I'm dealing with a certain poster, that person makes me mad.

Apoc is fun, but draining.

QFT.

This sort of spectacle should be a special occassion, and the introduction of superheavies and D-weapons into "normal" 40k has taken a lot of that magic away.

Yeah. But it's for the good of the game. ScreamerStars are still totally powerful, LychStars are infuriating. Twilight ThunderStars run roughshod over everything. What else are you supposed to do if not Str-D? Get GW to properly balance their game? Ninja, please. That's never going to happen.

Air superiority was huge here, and we were virtually unopposed, and this gave us a huge amount of leeway to simple run around doing whatever the hell we liked, especially against the knights, who only had 1 AA gun mounted on them.

I noticed.

Overall though much fun was had, though one of our opponents for a bit pouty towards the end (though were were removing his models continuously, and often without any saves).

I wouldn't blame him. I've been in those games before. Where I feel like "Why did I even show up?", and that's just in 1750/1850 games. I couldn't imagine how it would feel at the end of an Apoc game. Like you said, Apoc is draining, especially for the losing team. Somehow I'm yet to have a truly bad experience with Apocalypse. All of my gaming group friends who still play 40K still love playing Apocalypse, and Apoc games in store with 'randoms' are generally pretty good, providing the teams aren't b0rked - and that's simply a case of knowing who the best players/armies in the PUG are, and not putting them on the same team.