Tales from Tournaments and Pulling the Plug

Seventh edition is close to an end, and I’m finishing it just like it started, with flying monsters, tournament games and lots of beers.

This article will be two fold, with part one being why most of you are here : a tournament report. Part two will be a little more bloggy-feely and reflect upon the last few years of gaming.

Part 1 – Chaos Ludik

Chaos Ludik, for me, marks the last tournament I will play in 7th edition 40K. The event is 1500pts, and for it, I built and painted an army I’ve wanted to do for a while, the Flying Circus Daemons.

With the help of my Wobbly Modelers and sage advice from the world famous Goatboy, here’s the list I settled on :

Combined Arms Detachment

The Masque

10x Brimstone
10x Brimstone

Imperial Bunker & Escape Hatch

The Infernal Tetrad

Tzeentch DP, Wings, Impossible Robes, Level 3, 2x Greater, 1x Lesser. Ze Warlord

Nurgle DP, Wings, Level 3, 2x Greater

Slaanesh DP, Wings, Armor, Level 3, 2x Greater

Khorne DP, Wings, Armor of Scorn, 2x Greater, 1x Lesser

Unto the 3 games :

Game 1 – Innari/ Eldar

Game one I get to play versus Marc-André, that I’ve seen in countless tournaments around Quebec, but never faced. His list is a pretty classic Innari soulburst list, with the Avatar guy and a Lynx.

Let’s start by saying that I have played exactly 1 game versus Inari before that, versus Eric, and he tabled me before my turn 2. The whole Soulburst and Power from Death mechanics need some adaptation and thinking when you play.

I started the game with only brimstones on the board, because I didn’t feel like getting my princes D’ed out on turn one. It worked, only my Slaanesh Prince failed reserves until 4, which is quite a shame because I had grand plans for him and his Iron Arm/Lash of Despair combo. This prince not showing up, misunderstanding an item (and a pretty shitty one at that), and getting foiled by Power from Death teleporting Avatar guy proved a little too many misplays to pull out decent points for me. Scored 3 on tertiary objectives and nothing more, but it was a great game to get the tournament going and a good 1st run with the 4 big guys.

Game 2 – Double Cents Celestine

Round 2, I played Raphael and a nasty double centurion list. 1 Unit in a pod, one unit with celestine and friends in a bunker plus escape hatch. At 1500, this leaves room for only a few other units, which prved to be my strategy early one : Deal with the podding cents if possible, Ignore the big unit for as long as possible, kill everything else.

The plan worked pretty well, and the game ended in a weird note as Raphael wasn’t keeping track of turns and got caught on turn 5 without the chance to contest anything. 17 points for yours truly, as I couldn’t get Slay the Warlord and whatever else tertiary.

Game 3 – Innari Eldar

My second time this tournament versus the Soulburst Shenanigans, and lucky for me, a Kill Points Scenario! My opponent, Maxime G, is packing a nice tool for the matchup, 2 units of Dark Reapers, ready to rain on my parade. Or rain on my Deamon Princes, if you will.

Alas it was not to be for him, as everything went amaze-balls for me on turn one- killing 3 units of bikes with 3 psychic screams- and everything followed suit. It was still a pretty close game mission wise, as I would easily get Kps, but couldn’t score a maelstrom point to save my life. 11-10 result for yours truly, in one hard fought round for the finish.

Score-tallying later, and I ended up 3rd overall, and most importantly, Best Painted, which is really what I was aiming for.

Also, on Saturday, I played the Age of Sigmar Doubles with Kevin, against my will. Don’t get me wronng, I love playing Age of Sigmar, but lord-o-lord do I hate Kevin. This event was more of a context to pound beers while listening to Sun Daze by Dierks Bentley in between games. Great success, we ended with a 2-0-1 record with our draw versus the tournament’s Best Generals.

Part 2 – Pulling the Plug

This event also marked the end of tournaments for me.

Over the past month or so, I attended every event I commited to before opening the store, Adepticon, CHTT and now the Chaos Ludik. This has taken quite a toll, both on me and the rest of the store.

I’m a big believer in the philosophy of Ron Swanson : « Don’t half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing »


Rewind a couple of years, when 7th edition was brand new, and me and my friend Vignola played 4-5 games per weeks, play testing various armies for the NOVA Open, and I settle for the Flying Circus.

Here’s the army and here's NOVA 2014's recap

The NOVA Open would be the beginning of Max Dubois in the tournament scene and the crazy ride it’s been since.

From allowing me to travel and return with grand tales of airport misfortunes and chance encounters to the box of plaques, trophies and medals sitting in my closet, most importantly, I have made countless friends, with whom I drank countless beers.

Ludacriss ain’t got nothing on me, I got bros in different area codes.

So, for my tournament adieu, allow me to quote the immortal words of one of the greatest poet of the century, Rihana :

But now it's time to go
Curtains finally closin'
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it's over now
Go on and take a bow

Rest assured, tournaments may no longer be part of my future, this blog is. Writing makes me really happy, and I have no intention to stop, neither here or for the e-books. In fact, the trafic on here has been higher than ever for the last few months, so thanks a whole lot for the support, sharing and liking, much apreesh!

Until next time,

No excuses, hobby like a champion!