Berks Spring Assault 3! Warhammer 40K Tournament

Berks Spring Assault 3:  

April 21, 2012

Date: April 21, 2012

Time: Registration 9:00am-9:45am

Location: Riveredge Banquet Center, 2017 Bernville Rd, Reading PA 19601

Warhammer 40,0000 tournament: 1000 points. 4 rounds of Warhammer 40K,  Catered Lunch is included.

Entry Fee: $45.   Pre-registration discounted price: $40 if pre-registered by April 10th, 2012.

Berks-PA Gaming Club Elite members get an additional $5 discount with club member card shown.

We are planning on being able to host 70 players, but can expand to more if needed.  Based upon last year's attendance, that could happen.

Tournament Packet Available for download by clicking here:  Berks Spring Assault 3 Rules Packet

We here are Berks-PA Gaming Club will be hosting our third round of Berks Spring Assault.  Each year this event grows and becomes even more of a fun party than the previous year.

Sportsmanship will be key to scoring this year, as much as last year. Details will be posted once we finalize all tournament information. One thing we pride ourselves on, especially with this tournamaent is having FUN! Sportsmanship is a MAJOR part of overall scoring.

Armies do NOT need to be painted, but having painted armies will help as Appearance will be minor part of overall scoring.   Appearance will be scored by tournament judges on a very simple scale.

1,000 point Warhammer 40K armies from all Standard Codecies.   Currently, IMPERIAL ARMOR AND CHAPTER APPROVED LISTS ARE NOT PERMITTED (Please see below)
We want you to come and have fun and enjoy yourself.  This is the perfect environment for new players as well as veterans trying out new lists or new armies.     If you are not sure of a list or have a special request, pitch it to us, and we may approve if if it is theme and fluff based and not so much a power-gamer list.     
***DUE TO THE LOGISTICAL DIFFICULTIES IN SUPPORTING IMPERIAL ARMOR AND CHAPTER APPROVED UNITS, THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED AT bERKS SPRING ASSAULT.    ONLY THE FOLLOWING (and current versions) CODEX BOOKS WILL BE ALLOWED:
* Black Templars
* Blood Angels
* Chaos Daemons
* Chaos Space Marines
* Dark Angels
* Dark Eldar
* Eldar
* Grey Knights
* Imperial Guard
* Necrons
* Orks
* Sisters of Battle (*White Dwarf Version)
* Space Marines
* Space Wolves
* Tau Empire
* Tyranids
***If you want to use special models or custom "counts as" models, please have them WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), and make sure that they are clearly able to be distinguished amongst other models.   If you are not sure, contact the tournament organizer and submit a picture so we can approve or disallow your model.

ALL Games will be played on 4' x 4' tables, so expect a lot of bloody action! This is Berks Spring ASSAULT!

You will need Six (6) copies of your army list: 1 for the Tournament Ogranizer, 1 for you , and 1 copy for each of your opponents. If your list is not legal, you will lose points, be asked to leave, or have your scores adjusted as we see fit.

You will need a copy of the 40K rule book, your codex, all dice and templates and rules associated with your army.   If you do not have these we will make sure that some are available for purchase from one of our vendors.

We will play 2 rounds, break for lunch and play 2 more games.

Lunch will be included with your entry fee.  If you have special dietary needs or are a vegan, please contact us directly so that we can make special arrangements.   Catering will be done on site.

We will have 13 prizes available: Best overall, (1, 2, 3, 4), Best Sportsman (1, 2, 3), Best Appearance (1, 2, 3).  Best Youngblood (under 16), Best Youngblood Sportsman, and a special award:  Player's Choice for best overall army and theme.

We will also recognize Army Domination by best in each codex with a minor prize from one of our sponsors.  This will be by codex, not by lumping all space marines into one category.    You paid for a seperate codex, so we feel that you should be rewarded by codex.

We will do our best to operate on a tight schedule this year.   Last year's event went pretty smoothly, and with more space we are hoping for better transition of movement.

There is a Quality Inn attatched to the Banquet Facility and we are right down the road from the Reading Municipal Airport, and there is a Holiday Inn Express there for those travelling from out of town.

We are going to have around or over 20 sponsors this year and are dilligently working on more swag to hand out to our participants this year.    Almost all of our sponsors from last year have returned and are offering even better support as our event continues to grow.


FORCE ORGANIZATION CHART will be modified as follows:

* 1-2 HQ   (up to 3 for space wolves)

* 2-6Troops

* 0-2 Elites

* 0-2 Fast Attack

* 0-2 Heavy Support

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We will again be hosting our Annual Golden Grot Painting competition.    Categories will be listed officially soon but we are looking at:  Individual Model, Squad, Vehicle/large creature, and Open Category (anything goes).    Winner in each category will receive a small trophy and prize.   Models do NOT have to be Warahmmer 40K, but can be from any game system.   This is just a chance for you to show off your hobby.   The only limitation is that they can not be in your current army list, because they will be on display until round 3.

* Another category this year will be BEST CLUB TABLE.    We are inviting all of the participating gaming clubs to assist in supporting the event by 'sponsoring' some tables.    To sponsor a table, all your club needs to do is agree to bring terrain to cover 2-4 tables.   Show off your club's goods, put up club banners and flags, participate in the event.    By helping out, we can fill 35 tables with everyone chipping in a little bit.   Some clubs did this last year and it was a great help.   This year we will offer a prize to the best presented table by attending clubs.

We will also be having our Basket-Raffles, as that was a big hit last year.    Raffle tickets will be available for a variety of prizes donated from our sponsors as well as club members.    Last year some of the bigger prizes were a Baneblade tank, and a 1000 points of Grey Knights, and an Imperial Guard Battleforce.    Look for similar fun prizes this year

More details to come, so check back on this page often.

Schedule of Events for Berks Spring Assault 3:

• 9:00am Registration till 9:45am.
• 10:00am - 11:30am Round 1 games (90 minutes to play)
• 11:30  Break for 30 min.
• 12:00pm - 1:30pm  Round 2 games.
• 1:30pm - 2:30pm  Lunch Break
• 2:30pm - 4:00pm  Round 3games
• 4:00pm - 4:30pm  Break for 30 min
• 4:30pm - 6:00pm  Round 4 games
• 6:00pm - 6:30pm Raffles/drawings
• 6:30pm  Final awards and prizes.

PRE-REGISTRATION OPEN UNTIL APRIL 10TH.    Discounted rate is $40.    AFTER April 10 (11:59pm) price goes up to $45, same at the door.  Seating: 70 slots (though if we sell out, I may be able to fit more).

Pre-Register on PayPal sending payments to this email:  BianconeGlobal@comcast.net  Or you may make arrangements to pay me in person.



CURRENT LIST OF SPONSORS:

* KR Multi Case
* Showcase Comics & Games
* RAR Studios
* Noobhammer.com podcast
* 1-Up Collectibles
* Chapter House Studios
* The War Store http://www.thewarstore.com/
* Gale Force Nine
* HazeKnight  Custom Pre-Made Wargame terrain
* Terran Scapes
* Mechanicon Grand Tournament Series
* Iron Halo.net
* Secret Weapon Miniatures
* Red Dragon Terrain
* Northeast Gamers Hub
* Linglestown Paintball
* Spikey Bitz
* FTW Games (Richmond, VA)
* Litko accessories: http://www.litko.net/
* Dream Pod 9:   (makers of Heavy Gear game)
* Turn-8 podcast http://www.turn-8.com/
* Hooters of Reading (Wyomissing).

Preaprin' for 'ard boyz: Warhammer 40K style

Okay folks, lets see some lists. Sure, some want to keep it secret, but those who know me know pretty much what i'm bringin' anyway. The Orks of Waaagh! Karnage are out to cause mayhem. Win, Lose, Draw, we are out to give all of our opponents a fight.

I did not go with any "cheezy" Battlewagons, as I don't own any and didn't feel like going with one. I am using models all from my normal collection and everything is painted and based, even though in 'ard boyz, they don't need to be.


HQ1: Warboss Gnarsh: Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, cybork body, bosspole, kombi-shoota/skorcha
HQ2: Big Mek: Xox Grotsmasha: Kustom Force Field, 'eavy armor, cybork body

TROOPS:
* Alfa Skwad: 30 orks: sluggas & choppas, Nob w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole
* Beta Skwad: 30 orks: shootas, 2 x rokkits, 1 x big shoota, Nob w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole
* Grots: 15 gretchin & runtherder, squighound (G.O.D. "Grots Of Doom"..black squad)
* Grots II: 15 Gretchin & runtherder, squighound (Blue Squad)
* Nobs mob: 10 Nobs: ALL have cybork bodies: Painboy, 2 x Power Klaws (one with bosspole), 2 x Big choppas, 1 x kombi-skorcha, Waaagh! Banner
----Trukk: Reinforced Ram & Grot Riggers (big shoota)

ELITES:
* 10 x Lootas: (1 is mek), Deffguns and 1 Mek w/ Kustom Megablasta
* Karnage Kommandos: 13 x Kommandos, 2 x Burnas, AND Boss Snikrot

FAST ATTACK:
* Red Storm: 20 x Stormboyz (sluggas & choppas), Jump Infantry: 1 is Nob (Da Red Baron) w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole
* White Storm: 20 x Stormboyz (sluggas & choppas), Jump Infantry: 1 is Nob (Chubby Chekkaz) w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole.
* Deffkoptas Squadron: 4 x Deffkoptas: twin-linked big shootas. 1 x Twin-linked Rokkit launchas, 1 x big bomb, 1 x buzzsaw

HEAVY SUPPORT:
* 3 x Killa Kanz, all with Rokkit Launchas

Warhammer 40K Battle Report: Imperial Guard vs. Orks

Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report




A Fall of Masuda campaign battle report:

Round 2: Cadian 17th vs. Da Red Finga (Orks).

Mission: Blitzkrieg (Ork as attackers). Terrain: Ruins.

Points: Orks: 1200: 1050 + 150 Mercenaries, Imperial Guard: 1150: 1000 + 150 Mercenaries (Orks)

Looking to press their advantage around the mountainous region where they had made their base, the Imperial Guard forces of the Cadian 17th are looking to purge the immediate area of evil and filth.

3 Objectives set out. Deployment is spearhead, so objectives were center of board and center of line from corner to corner on non-deployment zone sides.

Orks have pressed on into the ruins and region to the East. Colonel Colwyn Dray saw the incoming threat of “Da Red Fingaz”. Scouts had been watching them and their continued harassment of loyal imperial forces. More importantly was how the information on the Red Orks whereabouts came from.

Unlikely allies, spies or mercenaries, depending upon one’s point of view. A unit of what can be termed as “commandos” arrived with a message from their “Warlord”. The message, while crude, was legible and detailed locations, forces and equipment of a ‘rival’ ork clan. The message had one final part to it:

“Help is on itz way to help you fight da Red Orks. For Da Emporror…..Warlord Krogg”

Uncertain exactly what that meant, the first part of the message was clear, Ork forces were on their way with the intention to strike. Colonel Dray figured to cut them off half way. Selecting a strategic section of one of the ruined city sections, Gunships were dispatched to help channel and guide the outriders of the incoming Ork force.

Relying more upon stronger defenses, Col. Dray selected a counter-strike team to help him with this mission. A lone sentinel scout walker was set forth to outflank, while sappers and a recon team of the 501st had scouted ahead and affixed bombs and booby traps to key locations within the ruined city.

Commissar Vilken Mortimer joined the Colonel and took command of the Infantry Platoon consisting of 3 squads and Lt. Ozgood Derg. Derg and Mortimer would combine the squads with Mortimer holding the units together in one strong regiment and Lt. Derg would help usher the other supporting forces through the ruined city.

Ork turn 1: Ork scout forces led through the ruined city streets with two squads of Deffkoptas zooming through the streets. They found no Cadian forces to fight, as the Colonel held all of his units back in reserve. The Ork units crept up towards the back side of the Cadian deployment zone in hopes of denying room and space for battletanks and the large unit of men to deploy.

IG turn 1: Seeing the ‘dirty trick’ employed by the Orks, Col. Dray was ready to counter every move of the Orks. A veteran of the Pillars Of Hatred, the Colonel had become a wise tactician. Of the roaming scout sentinels he dispatched, one of them arrived early.

• In Blitzkrieg missions, only Fast units can deploy, everything else goes into reserve. Also, any fast units in reserve may arrive on turn one on a roll of a 4+ on a D6.

The Scout Sentinel arrived on the Eastern Flank, behind a trio of Ork Defcoptas. The driver opened fire with his multilaser, damaging one of the walkers. He then brought his walking machine into an assault with the Deffkoptas, that were not armed with a buzzsaw, and thus no way to damage the walker.

Ork turn 2: Two massive units of Ork boyz made their arrival from the far North. They would simply just start moving as far as they could. The Ork Deffkoptas tied up in the assault remain locked up, as they were unable to pull away with their “hit and run” skill at this time.


Cadian Turn 2: Commissar Mortimer arrives with his triple combined squad of 30 men. The Punisher tank and heavy weapons team also arrived. The Punisher tank opened fire with its Gatling cannon and took out the two roaming, rocket-armed deffkoptas. As for Commissar Mortimer, his units added their numbers to the fight and took down the remaining deffkoptas that were engaged with the Sentinel Walker. Despite Ork attempts at sabotage, the Punisher remained un-hindered in its duty.



Ork turn 3: More orks forces arrive, all the orks can do at this point is run and move. Big Mek Arrives with unit of grots and a Shokk Attack Gun in the North West.


Cadian turn 3: A Leman Russ Battletank also arrives and lends its firepower to the fight. Combining fire with the Punisher tank, they cause some casualties on the orks. The Commissar takes his unit North and West, the Sentinel trying to draw fire from the orks. Heavy weapons teams lay down supporting fire with Heavy Bolters. Ork units seem wary to enter any buildings for fear of booby traps (and they are correct in assuming that).


A Chinork transport Copter had arrived behind the Cadian lines. At first, Colonel Dray thought he was being outflanked himself, his command squad arriving in a Vendetta Gunship. They had landed prior to the battle starting, and it was his reinforcements, the Ork Mercenaries from Warlord Krogg. The leader, a Noble ork, or “Nob” as they are called, named Moosh, led the troops around the southwest towards the ruined building where Da Red Finga Orks were clinging to an objective in the ruins.

Ork turn 4: Ork warboss finally arrives with a contingent of troops. All other orks continue to move and run, but are doing such slowly in the runined land scape. (Terrible running rolls by Ed..) Orks to the Northeast had a solid hold on the objective there. Cadian forces had secured one in the center of the field of battle and were making a screen against incoming orks. To the southwest, one more objective lay and a mob of orks had entered the ruins and set off the booby traps, taking a couple casualties. Despite the heavy volume of fire directed at them, the orks were able to hold up and keep that objective somewhat secure.

Cadian turn 4: The arrival of Ork mercenaries bearing shootas was a strange one for the Cadian forces to endure. However, Colonel Dray finally arrived with his command squad and reassured his men that the orks were indeed in their employ and the perfect counter-strike unit to the fungus born filth that was already entrenched in the southwest ruins. The colonel figured that if he had to, he had enough flamers and heavy flamers available to flush out all of the orks after the fight was won.

Tanks continued to pour fire into ork mobs to the North, hoping to thin them out a bit. Heavy bolter teams also attempted to thin out the gretchin mob that was screening the Big Mek. The Sentinel Walker moved into the central ruins, detonating their own booby trap to allow Cadian Forces to enter safely and claim the middle objective.

Ork turn 5: Ork mobs in the north continued to close in on Cadian forces. They had the Northeast objective secured. The warboss was urging his men forward, pushing south into the central ruins where the second objective lay, firmly in the hands of Lt. Derg and the remnants of a veteran flame squad that was on the move. In the Northwest, The Big Mek and gretchin mob had separated, with the whittled-down grots leaving because the Ork did not want to chance the Big Mek having to take a break test.

The orks in the southwest ruin were about to be engaged by the mercenary orks, who were looking to assault them and pull them off the 3rd objective. They were preparing to be assaulted.

Cadian turn 5: Playing the war game tactically, Colonel Dray issued some orders to his men. Commissar Mortimer moved his large unit of troops to screen the Infantry command squad of Lt. Derg. The goal was to prepare to hold out against a combined ork assault long enough for the Cadian troops to maintain the central objective while the other forces pushed Da Red Finga troops off the southwest objective, thus securing a win for the Cadians, 2-1. Lasguns and Flamers opened fire into the orks, taking out a few, but still two mobs of about 15-20 Orks each yet, and the Warboss.

Fire support from the Battle tanks was lackluster, the Orks finally managing to sabotage the Punisher tank as a grot oiler managed to disable the guns for this turn. Colonel Dray ordered his own squad, the Autocannon crew in particular to “fire on my target” and they targeted the Ork Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun. Wounds from this weapon would cause successful armor or cover saves to be rerolled. The veterans in the command squad fired, scored two hits and two wounds. The Mek made one save and failed another, as he was still behind the gretchin mob. Thanks to the Colonel’s order, the Mek had to reroll his successful save, and promptly failed it, and thus he was taken down with autocannon fire.

The Ork Mercenaries from Warlord Krogg stormed the ruins to the southwest. They fired their guns and assaulted the Red Finga Orks inside, but lost a few of their own in the process. Though they now outnumbered the Red Finga Orks, they remained locked in combat.

****Game ended on turn 5, both armies in control of 1 objective marker*****

Had the game gone to turn 6, Da Red Finga for some reason think they had a shot at winning this. The Cadian 17th disagree for the following reasons:

• A 30 man, stubborn unit with commissar was in range of being assaulted by orks. While they would have died, I think that the unit would have passed leadership and kept their ground, thus tying up orks from the Northeast objective, or at least leaving them just away from the middle objective.

• Central Objective was held by 2 units and the 30 man mob was screening them (above)

• One more turn for the assault in the southwest ruins had the heavy weapons teams joining the assault in a battle where the Ork Mercs of the Cadian 17th already outnumbered the orks of the Red Finga. I think the Cadian 17th could have forced a morale check for Da Red Finger and chased them off of that objective, giving the Cadians a 2-1 win.

This battle going to turn 7 may not have held out so well for the Cadians. As it was, it lasted 5 turns and resulted in a draw. Both armies lost the territories they were looking to keep the enemy off of, and no one gained a territory.

• Colonel Dray however, gained some battle experience and as such, part of this campaign, earned some new skills and gained +1 to his Weapon skill, giving him a WS of 5.

Lamenters Battle Report

Lamenters Battle Report:   In our local game club:  the Berks-PA Gaming Club, we are finishing our a rather lengthy campaign, called the False Hope Crusade.

I have been working on my Lamenters for a while off and on now and finally have enough models with paint on them that I would be able to field a 1000 point list of Lamenters fully using the Blood Angels codex.   This would be my first time ever using them as Blood Angels, as I was using a combined force with Salamanders and running them as normal Codex Space Marines.

With the Berks-PA Gaming Club hosting a large tournament in May (I'm the head Tournament Organizer), we kept the game to a simple 1000 points and randomly selected one of the missions from last year's event.   The mission selected was "Messengers".

In a spearhead deployment (table quarters), your mission is to get your three messengers, which each are like individual 1-model units, to escape across your opponents table edge.    Their statistics are simple:  ST:3  BS:3, I:3, AT: 1, W: 2, and a 5+ Invlunerable save.

My list build was nothing really extravagant, and I pretty much have a rule of thumb that I try not to field models unless they have some kind of paint on them.  It's just a personal preference.


HQ:  Captain with Powersword, Stormbolter, and Melta bombs
Elite:  Sanguinary Priest with Power Weapon
Troops:  Tactical Squad, 10 space marines with Missle Launcher, Plasma Gun, Sgt with Powerfist, Rhino w/ extra stormbolter
Troops:  5-man sniper squad, camo cloaks, 1 missle launcher, SGT w/melta bomb
Troops:  10-man Assault squad, 2 x flamers, SGT w/Power Fist  ***Land Raider Crusader (Twin-linked Assault Cannons, sponson mounted Hurricane Bolters, Multi Melta)

In an attempt to be the first to carry on a special message on to local arriviung Inquisition commanders, the Lamenters find themselves competing against another Astartes chapter, the Space Wolves.

The Wolves under Berek's command are a cagey sort, and made short work of the Lamenter's messengers, subsequently gunning them down. Deployed (in a most un-fluffy) cookie-cutter formation, three squads of space wolf troops armed with a melta gun and combi-melta all in Rhinos spread out.

The space wolves were smart and ran a rhino as a screen down the western flank. The Lamenters had seized the initiative on the space wolves, and made an attempt to run their messengers North along the Eastern flank.

A tactical squad in a fast Rhino lead the spearhead, and towards the center, a Land Raider Crusader fully loaded with a 10-man Assault squad, Sanguinary Priest and Captain Xavier Raymond looked to hold down any opposition in the middle, looking to bring their multi melta to bear upon the lighter armored Rhinos.

The “Lone Wolf” of the Space Wolves continued to charge at the Lamenter messengers. Several units opened fire into him, including the 5-man scout sniper squad. Defying the odds, the Lone Wolf managed to catch up and finish off one of the messengers, another one fell to enemy fire.

The Long Fang squad armed with six missle launchers, and their ability to split their fire between different targets proved to be a constant thorn in the Lamenters side. Eventually they or a melta gun found purchase on the Lamenters Rhino, causing it to explode. The tactical squad inside had already disembarked with their Rhino haven been stunned the turn prior. They successfully managed to gun down the Lone wolf, but would take a few casualties. The last Lamenter Messenger was trying to run around the screen of yellow armored bodies to freedom, but would fall to concentrated fire from the pintle mounted stormbolters mounted on the rhinos.

As the space wolf rhinos closed in for the kill, the Land raider Crusader opened fire with its twin-linked assault cannons, causing the Space Wolf rhino to explode and take a few of the troops inside with it. The Lamenters tactical squad would be wrapped up in an assault with the Space Wolves and eventually would take out one of their squads, but themselves would fall to the second Rhino squad.

As the Space Wolves continued to move their trio of messengers south ward down the Western Flank, the Lamenter sniper scouts with a missle launcher failed to do any harm to the Rhino running a screen. The Land Raider Crusader “Bloodheart” made a u-turn and started churning in the direction of the running messengers. Rumbling its way through forests, river, and rocks, the lumbering beast of a machine delivered its cargo where it needed to go.

In a lucky round of shooting, The land raider along with the scouts managed to pick apart the Rhino running the screen for the Messengers and this slowed it up enough for the Land Raider Crusader to catch up to it. Assault ramp dropping down and the Assault squad inside, led by Captain Xavier Raymond charged the offending tank. Brother Sergeant Dutch of the assault squad managed to score a critical hit with his power fist, wrecking the drive wheels of the Rhino. This forced the Space Wolves to clamber out the opposite side door, as Lamenter troops were crowded around the rear and side of the Rhino. Because the troops had gotten stuck on their emergency disembarking, they were entangled and counted as being pinned.

This was the lucky break the oft-cursed Lamenters needed, as they were able to pull around and draw a bead of fire into one of the messengers. Captain Raymond separated from his squad, climbing over the wrecked Rhino and pouring storm bolter fire into the Space Wolfs. Flamers from the assault squad directed at the first messenger singed it but also killed off the other two. As the Blood-Raged Assault squad charged in, the Sanguinary Priest bellowed his charge and the Lamenters hit the Space Wolves with a rage they had not expected.

The assault phase at the top of turn 6 saw the rest of the messengers killed off. The Lamenters won the assault but the space wolves would stick it out, and remain locked in combat through the remainder of the combat.

The game would end, all six messengers killed. Both teams lost a full squad and Rhino, the Lamenters Captain fell in battle, but the Space Wolves also lost their lone wolf and another Rhino. The victory points were so close this would have been a DRAW no matter how you scored it.
Still it was a fun game, and I was excited to get to try out my Lamenters as “Blood Angels” for the very first time.

Running A Tournament: Berks Spring Assault 2!

Well, Spring is upon us and I have been flooded with requests to run another version of 'Berks Spring Assault'.     This is now becoming our annual (2nd to be exact), main event for the Berks-PA Gaming Club, located Reading, PA, the heart of scenic Berks County.

I myself have been playing in a number of tournaments over the past few years, from Warhammer 40K Grand Tournament style events, Blood Bowl tournaments and smaller events at club days and Games Days and the like.    As our local club in Berks was growing, I wanted to bring the competititve 'feel' of the tournament scene to our local club.

The first event I held was Battle For Berks, held in January 2010.   We were limited on space and held it to just 14 participants, each playing 4 rounds of Warhammer 40,000 using 500 point armies on a limited force-organization chart.    We held a fund raiser for the club to help generate funds for prize support.    As such, we had a great turnout, great fun, and with such a small event, we even featured Themed battlefields, where each table had its own special quirk or rules.    Such fun ideas was the Ork Village that featured grot snipers hiding in buildings taking shots at those who ventured too near or inside.

With only 14 slots, I had to tell several folks not to attend.   Even after turning away 6 potential players, we still had 19 people show up, hoping that there would be some openings.     It was a good day of fun and we were even able to offer a Battleforce for 1st place prize.   

With the overwhelming success of this event, we moved onto Berks Spring Assault, and it just grew from there.    We went into an event, still new to the venue and I didn't realize how much hlep I was going to need for an event this size.   We held it in a hotel conferrence room, and found a way to fit in 20 tables, opening the event up to 40 players.    38 showed up on time, with a total of 45 players showing up later in the day.   

Admittedly there were a few technical difficulties.   We again held the fund raiser to support the event, and we undersold it (on purpose) to ensure a good turnout.   Our prize support was impressive and rivaled that of the local GT style events that were going on in the area.    For a fraction of the cost, we pulled it off, 4 games of Warhammer 40K played with 1000 point armies.    Yes, the computer program used for scoring broke down, yes, we ran into delays and problems with pairings, and yes, we ran into issues with lunch and were overcharged.

However, as frustrated as I was with the problems we were having, the staff helping me were incredible.  They helped save the day and make it all work.   And while I saw the problems for what they were, the players only saw it as a slight delay and didn't know all of the details.   In fact, the players used the time to enjoy a break and socialize with other players.   

We also featured a painting competition called the "Golden Grot" for our players and we held a raffle as well offering more prizes and helping generate for funds for our gaming club.     All in all, folks had a good time and many people went home with lots of prizes.

So....now what do we do?     We learned from our (my) mistakes last year and as I have been around the tournament scene locally in PA, several folks and clubs have been asking me if we are hosting Berks Spring Assault again.    When I heard the feedback from people, saying things like, "That was the most fun I ever had at a tournament" and similar comments, I started to get excited.    I knew that we were onto something special.

So, now we have created a committee for our game club.   We discussed options and ways to correct mistakes, how to imporve upon last year, and cut down time delays and the like.   And now we have Berks Spring Assault 2!  in the workings.     

I am looking at May 14, 2011 to hold our event.  We secured a Fire Company's old engine room and social quarters for our venue and have four times the space that we did last year.    We are using an amazing program called Tournament Overlord to run the scoring and rankings and it should eliminate all of the challenges we had last year in that department.    I have been agressively contacting potential sponsors and have had a LOT of success, with around 15 total sponsors now for our event.  Some of these sponsors make wargaming terrain and will be featured by having their own dedicated table featuring their own terrain and advertising and of course prizes for either the main table or the raffle-drawing.   Some of these companies are TerranScapes, Hazeknight.com, and Art of War Terrain, just to mention a few.

Not only will we have our main prize table, but we will have a chinese-auction style raffle.    The main prizes will be for Best Overall, (1st, 2nd, 3rd), Best Sportsman (1st, 2nd, 3rd), and Best Appearance (1st, 2nd, 3rd).  We will also feature a "Players' Choice" award for the best voted in theme, composition, and apperance as by their peers.   We will also feature two youngblood awards for Best overall (14 and under) and best youngblood in appearance (if appropriate).

We will have somewhere around 12-15 items on the main prize table.   When someone wins an award,  based upon the order of seniority, they will get to choose their prize, after all awards are handed out.   Any prizes remaining will be thrown into "pot luck" for the raffle drawing.

To help generate funds for the club, we will feature another 10-15 items available for a Chinese Auction.   We will offer raffle tickets to everyone and those who purchase them can than put as many as they like into each individual basket for each item.    After the main awards are done, we will start pulling raffle tickets and offer more prizes for everyone.

We are also recognizing Army Domination awards by codex.   The Best player of each codex will be recognized for his/her accomplishments by overall scoring and will receive a certificate for Army Domination.   In addition to that, a local store that has expanded to table top games, The Last Level, has offered to give out $5 gift cards to coincide with the Army Domination awards.

And finally, we are hosting the Golden Grot competition once again.    However, since we are running a one-day event, we are limiting this to just one entry per player.  The model can be from anything and any game, and will again be voted on by their peers.   The top 3 winner will receive a Golden Grot Trophy and gift cards to another store, The Adventurer's Guild in Harrisburg, PA.  

This looks to be a rather amazing event, and we have expanded our seating to 60 players.    We are already 1/3 full and have 2 1/2 months to go until the date of the tournament.   Some of my committee members are suggesting we open this event up to 70 players.    We shall see.    All I can say is that we are doing our best to make this the BEST event in Berks county for wargmaing.

For a fraction of the cost of a GT tournament, folks can come out and play 4 games of Warhammer40K, hopefullyl against new players and armies that they have never faced before.   Lunch in included with the price of entry and we will have rather amazing prize support.   We have something special going on here and plan to keep taking it to the next level each and every year we can run every year!

Warhammer 40K Tournament: Berks Spring Assault 2!

Date: May 14th, 2011

Time: Registration 9:00am-9:45am

Location: Berkshire Heights Fire Company: 808 North Park Rd, Wyomissing, PA 19610

Warhammer 40,0000 tournament: 1000 points. 4 rounds of Warhammer 40K, Lunch included.

$30 entry fee, $25 if pre-registered.

Berks-PA Gaming Club Elite members get an additional $5 discount with club member card shown.

We here are Berks-PA Gaming Club will be hosting our second round of Berks Spring Assault. Last year was an amazing success, despite some issues on planning, as we were new to hosting tournaments. We have a bigger location, better support and lots of fun being planned this year.

Sportsmanship will be key to scoring this year, as much as last year. Details will be posted once we finalize all tournament information.

For now we can tell you this:

1,000 point Warhammer 40K armies from all standard codex and Chapter approved allowed

Games will be played on 4' x 4' tables, so expect a lot of bloody action! This is Berks Spring ASSAULT!

You will need Six (6) copies of your army list: 1 for the Tournament Ogranizer (me), 1 for you , and 1 copy for each of your opponents. If your list is not legal, you will lose points, be asked to leave, or have your scores adjusted as we see fit.

You will need a copy of the 40K rule book, your codex, all dice and templates and rules associated with your army.

We will play 2 rounds, break for lunch and play 2 more games.

Lunch will be included with your entry fee

We will have 9 prizes available: Best overall, (1, 2, 3), Best Sportsman (1, 2, 3), Best Appearance (1, 2, 3).
We will also recognize Army Domination by best in each codex with a minor prize from one of our sponsors.

We will operate on a much tighter schedule this year and NOT use the same problematic tournament program we had last year, so that things will run a lot smoother.

Last year we had 45 people show up, 38 were players. We will have the capablities to going to 50-60 players this year if needed. we are only 2 blocks away from where the tournament was held last year at the Country Inn & Suites hotel.

Waaagh! Karnage's Greatest Hits!

Waaagh! Karnage is the 'new' name for my Ork army, formerly known as Krogg's Karnage.    Being a player of fluff, my Warlord Krogg was captured during a campaign, but thanks to a massive hunt after I placed a bounty upon the captive Space Marine captain's head, I will get my warlord back in a prisoner exchange.

So, as I am in a stage of rebuilding my army and working up more fluff and background story, I thought it fun to recap some of the Karnage's most memorable events over the past 18-24 months....

Warlord Krogg helps me celebrate a 3rd place showing in the Freedom Alliance 40K tournament at the Adventurer's Guild in Harrisburg, PA

One of my most favorite vicotories was a 7-turn game that came down to the final turn.   A win over the Dark Angels: "Exiles of Calliban" run by my friend DJ.   In turn 1 of this battle, the Dark Angels shot out both ork trukks.  The Warboss's trukk with a load of 'ard boyz kareened 18 inches on the 'Ramshakle' Table...stopping after 13 inches, at terrain.   The following turn the orks moved forward on their turn 1, and laid into an assault, eventually pulling down the elusive Cypher (who managed to teleport out).

Freedom Alliance Tournament really started to shape up a tourney-rivalry with my friend Anthony Gibbs and his battle sisters.   This game ended in an intense draw, but not only did my orks pop several of his tanks and transports, but the lone "Red Baron" of my stormboyz mob jumped around all by himself with his Big Choppa taking out 2 more tanks, including an Exorcist!

Mechanicon 2009:  Warlord Krogg faced off against a Tyranid Army.   Big nids.  He ended up besting a Carnifex in single combat and chased the sucker off.   My opponent kept running it away from the dreaded Ork Warlord.    At least this battle ended up in a tie.  Tyranids are one of the toughest opponents for me to figure out.


This battle was a 3000 point challenge by one of our club members who wanted to throw his Blood Angels against my orks.   It was a massive throwdown, with my Orks outnumbering him 5 to 1.   It was ugly and brutal and we dominated on almost all fronts.    One of my favorite highlights was my Deff Dread conversion, Skorponox, tearing apart a Land Raider.

Karnage vs. Hambali 501st Imperial Guard:   This was the first time I faced off against Ed, one of our Club Members and his very dangerous Mechanized Guard.    My orks laid waste to a lot of tanks and Guardsmen that day.  The highlight clearly was the Deff Dread "Da Noize" tearing apart a Chimera with rokkits and also killing 8 of the 10 veterans inside.   The dread than proceeded to assault the two lone guardsmen.   This photo ended up on Bell of Lost Souls as a "photo of the day".


My first time meeting local players that would become the Berks-PA Gaming Club was a fun day of fights and battle.  I took on Battle Sisters, Eldar, Chaos Daemons, and Chaos Space Marines that day and won each battle.   It was just more fun showing my models since I was the only Ork player at the time.   Clearly Skopronox, my deff dread made a name for itself, taking on a Chaos champion one on one and also laying waste to mobs of troops alongside the warboss. 

Mechanicon 2009:  This was one of my first times to a big event....my second GT style tournament ever.   I faced a great variety of opponents.   One of the most fun games I had was against a Chaos Player from NJ, and we had a blast.    My stormboyz and warboss wiped out  his Demon Princes and tore into his troops giving me one of my most memorable victories ever.

My first ever Apocalypse Battle was at the Adventurer's Guild in a massive 7 vs 7, each player with 3000 points, battle.   21,000 points per side.     Though our side technically lost, we had a lot of fun and the MVP for our side, the 'Attackers' was my Stompa:  Gorkzilla!    I have only gotten to use this thing twice and have yet to finish painting it, but it is a lot of fun to use!

Mechanicon 2010:  One of the toughest armies for me to face is Tyranids, especially Nid-Zilla lists using lots of big bugs.   This battle raged into a variant of Anihillation with bonus points on HQ choices.   Not only did I manage to pull out a draw, but in one turn I swung the battle 700+ battle points from a -396 to a +300+ for me in turn 4.   Warboss Atogg at the time claimed a Trygon and a Tervagaunt as kills.  This was a major Moral Victory for The Karnage.

Ah, my first time against Charlie "Darklance", known for his Dark Eldar. We were returning from an Apoc Game at the Adventurer's Guild and had a 1000 point throwdown of our own. We set up "winter" terrain and had a fun battle. In the end, My orks bested him and my Killa Kanz took out his Talos. I had joked I wanted to collect 3 Talos and convert them into Killa Kanz to join my deff dread Skorponox. This battle was the seed I needed to plant to make the fluff for that part of my army's story to work.

A local game that was a huge victory for the Karnage was against Edgar Blum and his tyranids. This was after my crushing loss to Tyranids at Mechanicon 2009. I really had not had much experience, but this time, I had an idea, and my orks charged a massive wall of nids and held them off to go on and win the game. Even better was the photo I got of my Ork warboss Krogg Satogg in the mix with Nids.

Cabin Fever 2010: My first game was against a Mechanized Guard player. Mission was table quarters and all of our units deep struck into the field of battle. This was unfortunate for him as my units were spread out and intercepted him every time something came into play. Warlord Krogg took down a Vendetta Gunship as well as an entire veteran Squad and chimera single-handedly with his Power Klaw. Yet another solid victory and one of my favorites.


Berks Club Days, 2011: The Eldar of Mark Van Horn were on a major winning streak, and Mark and I hadn't played in over a year. We played a match at 1850, and it was bad. Really bad for him. Infact, I wrote up a battle report, but this was such a one-sided domination by orks. The highlight was when the seer council failed to get past the grot screen and that was simultaneously assaulted by 30 orks and 20 stormboyz, for a whopping 140 attacks!