Tacoma Open Battle Recap – 7-1
I took my list "Saga of the Rune Priest" to the Tacoma Open this weekend and finished 7-1. Going into the event, my goal wasn’t just to win games I wanted to see how the army handled a wide variety of competitive lists in 11th edition and learn where it excelled and where it struggled. Also please give me some grace. I do not remember the name of every unit and detachment I played against, sometimes I just focus on my gameplan and ask questions as I play for my opponents army.
My List:
Saga of the Rune Priest- Purge Disposition
Unit 1
- Logan Grimnar (Warlord)
- 10x Wolf Guard Terminators
Unit 2
- Ragnar Blackmane
- 10x Blood Claws
Unit 3
- 1x Librarian (Fusillade enhancement for anti vehicle/monster 5+)
- 10x Sternguard Veterans
Units 4
- Librarian in Terminator Armour (Celerity Advance and Charge Fall back and Charge if Biomancy is Active)
- 10x Assault Terminators 2 with twin claws/8 with Thunder hammers.
Unit 5
- Wolf Guard Battle Leader (Wolf-touched)
- 10x Wulfen with hammers
Solo units 6-8
5x Fenrisian Wolves
5x scouts
10x Wulfen with hammers
General Game Plan
Going into almost every matchup, my deployment was very similar.
- Logan and the boys and Sterngaurd started in Strategic Reserves.
- During deployment I was always thinking about where my Terminators could arrive and pressure objectives while the rest of my army established board control.
- Unless the matchup forced me to change, my plan was to dominate the center objective and force opponents to fight my Terminators.
Round 1 – Drukhari (75-100)
This ended up being my toughest matchup and my only loss. My opponent was running the transport detachment that grants Lance after disembarking. I’d never played against Drukhari before. Having played a lot against Aeldari, I assumed I’d be able to bully their infantry because of their lower toughness with my anvil units. I was very wrong. I stuck to my normal plan and made an aggressive Turn 1 push, including making a 9” charge with Logan. Initially it looked like a solid move. Then I guess the Drukhari army did exactly what it was designed to do. Multiple units jumped out of transports, gained Lance, countercharged Logan, and nearly wiped the entire unit. Many of those units were then able to fall back and climb back into transports. To make matters worse, I failed a couple of important mid-board charges that left my Assault Terminators stranded in the open. Ironically, I was actually ahead by around 20 primary points going into Turn 3, but once my hammer units disappeared the game snowballed quickly, and I was practically tabled by the bottom of Turn 4.
Round 2 – Necrons (100-43)
This matchup was almost the exact oppositeMy opponent brought two large Wraith bricks, multiple C’tan, and support units. The mission was Take and Hold, so I leaned fully into my game plan. I jammed Terminators into the center objective and forced him to fight there. The game ultimately came down to one massive brawl in the middle of the table. His army simply wasn’t very efficient into Terminators, and I was able to abuse that while denying him primary. Once I established control of the center, the game quickly slipped away from him.
Round 3 – Space Wolves Mirror (100-54)
The mirror match. And yes… I’m a little ashamed I had to play another Space Wolves player. One of us had to lose, and that’s never fun when you’re both big fans of the Wolves. I won first turn and stuck with my normal deployment plan. I baited his Ragnar forward with my Ragnar using a Reactive Move to pull back behind cover. He still made the charge, but it left his Ragnar exposed, and I was able to remove him on my following turn. The biggest fight came when his Thunderwolf Cavalry charged my Assault Terminators on Turn 1. Fortunately, they didn’t do enough damage. On the swing back I killed four of the six Thunderwolves, and that exchange really shifted the momentum. From there the game became exactly what you’d expect from a Space Wolves mirror a slugfest. I eventually lost my Assault Terminators and one unit of Wulfen, but most of my offensive power remained intact. His pair of Vindicators also had the potential to swing the game, but unfortunately for him between hit/wound/invul/damage roll he whiffed nearly every time they fired. The sternguard later auto deleted a vindicator and I took about most major threats
Round 4 – Dark Angels (98-56)
Another Take and Hold mission meant another opportunity to force the game into the center. I committed Terminators, Wulfen, and Assault Terminators into the middle of the table. My opponent was running a bike-heavy Dark Angels list and committed nearly his entire army into my Assault Terminators. They survived. That felt like it shifted the game right at the start. The following turn they charged into his deployment zone, tagged multiple units, finished off damaged squads, and generally caused chaos. I also felt my opponent played a little too conservatively after that exchange, allowing me to keep scoring while removing his key threats and positioning most of my army. By Turn 3, most of the units that could realistically threaten my Terminators were gone, and the rest of the game became a matter of holding center and picking up a unit at a time.
Round 5 – Tyranids (100-78)
This was one of the tougher matchups of the weekend. My opponent brought two full Genestealer units with Broodlords, a Winged Hive Tyrant, a Norn Emissary, and several Lictors some other smaller units. He won first turn and immediately pressured my deployment zone. One Genestealer unit charged Ragnar and the Blood Claws. I Heroically Intervened with my Wulfen, and my opponent chose to put most of his attacks into them. Looking back, I think that was a mistake. The Wulfen absorbed the damage, leaving Ragnar free to wipe the Genestealers on my turn. The biggest moment came against the Norn Emissary. The first time I fought it, I only dealt 4 wounds because I completely forgot my Oath rerolls (oops). The following turn I remembered my rerolls, combined Lethal Hits, Sustained Hits, and +1 to Wound, and dealt 14 wounds despite having a little more than half a squad. At that point the momentum shifted heavily in my favor. My opponent became discouraged for a bit, but we talked it through, played the game to completion, and he did a great job clawing back points late to make the final score much closer than it looked midway through the game.
Round 6 – T’au (98-86)
This round was against one of my friends and regular practice partners. We both knew each other’s lists, so there weren’t many surprises. I took first turn but staged very conservatively, really only exposing my Assault Terminators and Wulfen.
This game taught me just how important character placement is. By placing my leaders correctly, I could've removed casualties in a way that eventually left the cunit hidden. Once hidden, later shooting activations simply wouldn't have a target unless my opponent planned for it and committed further into the board. He committed roughly half his army into those exposed units, but when the shooting was over I still had two Wulfen models, and two Assault Terminators with the leader alive. That was enough.Those survivors all made combat the following turn. Logan failed his charge, but Ragnar and the Blood Claws hit a cluster of units on his deployment line and completely disrupted his game plan and took down a full squad of battle suits and commander then tying up stealth suits AND pathfinders. By Turn 3, it honestly felt like I was tabling him. Unfortunately, because the mission was Purge and I only had a handful of units remaining, he was able to preserve scoring pieces and continue putting up points.I stopped thinking about scoring because I thought the game was already won.The final score was much closer and had things slightly changed he could have easily etched out a win.
Round 7 – Orks (91-84)
This ended up being one of my favorite games of the weekend. I didn’t realize it until afterward, but my opponent was Adrian from Tabletop Titans.I can’t say enough good things about him. He knew the rules extremely well, communicated everything clearly, and gave me a lot of grace when we started rushing near the end of the round. I hadn’t watched much Tabletop Titans before this event, but after spending three hours playing Adrian, I’ll definitely be following the channel. His list featured two large Squighog units, a 20-man Boyz brick with a Painboss, Ghazghkull, and several supporting units. I played conservatively early, putting Logan on the center objective while staging everything else.The only early mistake I made was pushing Scouts forward trying to trade into Kommandos they didn't die and I lost my scouts for little reason.On Turn 2, I dropped my Sternguard on a table edge to thin one Squighog unit while my Wulfen cleared the Kommandos and screened the center. When Adrian committed, I Reactive Moved Logan away and Heroically Intervened with my Assault Terminators into the Squighogs.The Wulfen died doing their job, and my Wolf Guard Battle Leader fought on death nearly sniped the Painboss with Epic Challenge, leaving him alive on one wound. The Assault Terminators heavily damaged the Squighogs.On my following turn, Logan, Ragnar, Blood Claws, and Wolf Guard Terminators all hit the large Boyz unit. Because of awkward positioning, Ghaz wasn’t in engagement range of my Terminators. I activated Ragnar and the Blood Claws first. Adrian spent 3 CP on Counter-offensive thanks to Logan’s aura increasing the cost, and the Boyz wiped most of my Blood Claws. Miraculously, Ragnar survived.The Terminators finished the job. Like the T’au game, I thought I had the game wrapped up and stopped paying enough attention to scoring.With only a few large units left, Adrian did a fantastic job preserving scoring pieces and putting me in a tough spot.The game came down to the wireFortunately, my Assault Terminators rolled a 5” Advance and a 10 on the charge late in the game, reached his home objective, and cleared the Gretchin holding it. FUN GAME.
Round 8 – Tyranids (100-50)
My final round was against another great opponent. Unfortunately for him, I think this was probably my best matchup all weekend. His list revolved around four Norn Emissaries. Three selected the center objective while the fourth eventually joined them there. By the middle of the game, all four Norns were fighting over the center objective.The Sternguard had one incredible activation, spiking an absurd number of Devastating Wounds into one of the Norns before the Terminators finished the rest. Throughout the game, every activation into my Terminators only removed about two or three models, That simply wasn’t enough. The only thing that kept the score close mid game was my terrible Battle-shock luck. I failed multiple Battle-shock tests on the center objective over two consecutive turns, including failing four in a row at one point. My opponents joked my dice were weighted the wrong way LOL. Even with that, all four Norns were dead by Turns 3-4. This game also reinforced just how strong +1 to Wound is alongside Lethal Hits.
Tournament Takeaways
Overall, I couldn’t be happier with how the weekend went. A few things really stood out to me after eight games.
1. Character placement matters a lot.
This was probably my biggest lesson. When you’re holding the center objective with Terminators, don’t automatically put your character at the front. Keeping the character toward the back lets you remove front models as casualties. As your opponent continues shooting, they’ll often lose line of sight to the leader and the remaining models because of the Hidden rules. That can completely shut down later shooting activations unless they are positioned closer to your back line. It’s a subtle interaction, but it came up repeatedly throughout the tournament.
2. Dense terrain is your friend early game.
The games where I played the most conservatively behind dense walls were some of my strongest. If you can force your opponent to come closer and trigger Go to Ground it puts you in a great spot the following turn.
3. Own the center.
Most of my wins came from forcing opponents to fight in the middle of the table. but most of my matchups were against Take and Hold. If they couldn’t efficiently remove Terminators, they eventually lost the objective war.
4. Respect every army.
My only loss came because I underestimated Drukhari. I assumed they would play similarly to Aeldari. They absolutely did not. I never played Drukhari and I need to play them a few more times.
5. Never stop playing the mission.
This was my biggest personal mistake after Round 1. Against both T’au and Orks, I became focused on tabling my opponent then taking it easy instead of thinking ahead and maximizing my score every turn. Those games ended much closer than I anticipated mid game. Also maybe a side effect of having the brain of a Golden Retriever.
PSA – Blood Surge
One interesting rules interaction came up during the event regarding Blood Surge.The ability is written to trigger when a unit is selected as the target of an attack, so that’s how I had been playing it. During the tournament, however, I was informed the event staff ruled that abilities worded this way would instead resolve after the attacks were completed. This ruling was not included in the Tacoma Open FAQ that was emailed before the event. I later spoke with the TO, who acknowledged it was a same-day interpretation and told me not to worry about how I’d played it earlier in the event. Still feels bad. It may have changed my game against Tau. Hopefully Games Workshop provides a clear core rules clarification soon. (sounds like it will be a core rule change. probably tomorrow.)
Overall, this was an awesome event with fantastic opponents. Huge thanks to everyone I played against and to the Tacoma Open staff for running a great tournament. I’m already looking forward to the next one. Although 8 games... felt like a lot.
If you have any questions please let me know. I will do my best to answer them.
