Freakshow at ITC Gen Con - Now with pics!

Freaking for Fun and Profit

We all know Freakshow lists are fun in casual games, where detachments aren't limited and more unusual strategies have a better chance of working.  From the get-go, one of the most common accusations by the anti-Freakshow detractors has been that leadership shenanigan lists can't hold up under competitive pressures.  

Now I'm not the best competitive player in the world.  I enjoy that style of play, but I'm fairly shortsighted and direct with my strategies, and find myself getting led around by the nose when up against smarter people than me.  I also lack experience against several armies that never get played in my local area, which is a critical flaw for a competitive player.  

However, with two ITC events scheduled within a short distance of me inside of a short time period, I decided it might be a good time to see how well I could do with a Freakshow in a tournament setting.  

List Building



Since Freakshows began for me with the True Kin, I wanted to keep my list Dark Eldar primary (at least according for ITC purposes).  In order to get my army fully painted before the competition, I had to make a list quite a while in advance.  Unfortunately for me, that necessitated committing to a force well before the ITC made their last round of voting on rules changes.  Here's what I wound up with.

Corsair Fleet Raiding Detachment
Corsair Prince (Void Sabre, Jetbike, Shadowfield, Wild Psyker, Mask of Secrets)
Corsair Void Dreamer (Mastercrafted Witchstaff, Jetpack, Shimmershield, ML3)
Corsair Clouddancers x3 (Scatter Lasers x3)
Corsair Clouddancers x3 (Scatter Lasers x3)
Corsair Clouddancers x3 (Scatter Lasers x3)

Grotesquerie
Grotesques x4 (Aberration w/Scissorhand, Raider w/Dark Lance, Shock Prow, Aethersails)
Grotesques x9 (Aberration w/Scissorhand)
Haemonculus (Scissorhand, Vexator Mask) - During the first event, the Haemonculus had a Webway Portal and no Vexator Mask

Eldar Seer Council
Farseer Skyrunner (Singing Spear)
Farseer Skyrunner (Singing Spear, Spirit Stone of Anathlan) - During the first tournament, the Farseer didn't have the Spirit Stone
Warlock Skyrunner x7 (Singing Spear x7)

Disposition of Forces

The Warlocks went with Runes of Battle, the Void Dreamer on Aethermancy, and the Princess chose Sanctic Daemonology.  One of the Farseers rolled Telepathy, the other Runes of Fate (during the second event, the seer with the stone rolled Fate). The Void Dreamer paired up with the nine man grotesque squad, so as to give them an Invulnerable save and greater mobility.

The TOs of the tournaments I attended differed on a key question ("Do Corsair psykers select their powers as written, or must they roll randomly?") During the first tournament, where I was forced to roll them, I took a Webway Portal in case none of the psykers generated a mobility enhancement power, to ensure the grots wouldn't have to footslog.


First Tournament, ITC GenCon

Game 1, (Space Wolves)
CAD
Rune Priest (Melta Bombs)
Blood Claws x5 (Meltagun, Drop Pod)
Blood Claws x5 (Flamer, Drop Pod)
Blood Claws x5 (Flamer, Drop Pod)
Long Fangs x3 (Missile Launcher x3)
Whirlwind Squadron (Whirlwind x3)

Company of the Great Wolf
Rune Priest (ML2)
Wolf Lord (Fellclaw's Teeth, Pelt of the Balewolf, Thunderwolf)
Dreadnought (Blizzard Shield, Fenrisian Great Axe, Venerable, Drop Pod)
Dreadnought (Blizzard Shield, Fenrisian Great Axe, Venerable, Drop Pod)
Wolf Scouts x5 (Meltagun)
Blood Claws x5 (Drop Pod)
Thunderwolf Cavalry x3 (Frost Sword, Storm Shield, Pack Leader with TH/SS)

Analysis:
I made a grievous tactical error.  After receiving second turn, I decided to place my scatterbikes and seer council in reserve, dramatically overestimating the damage that the units arriving by Drop Pod would be able to do to me.  

The initial drop (consisting of blood claws and a single dread) was lackluster.  The Bloodclaws were swiftly overrun by the two squads of grotesques (the sole casualty was the raider).  However, in the second turn the dread who had arrived first swept in to tie up the grot bomb, basically until the end of time.  I can't quite recall who struck the killing blow, but I managed to eke out its hull points (I think the Void Dreamer may have done the work).

The TWC ran up the board largely unopposed, just in time to charge the grotbomb that had just freed itself from the clutches of the dread.  (My Void Dreamer did get one turn in to cast the second dread into Ongoing Reserves via Webway Maze; it's long trek back to the relevant part of the board wasn't completed by the time we hit time limit.)

The scattered line of pods, blood claws, and scouts that were arranged up the board were devoured in a frenzy by the smaller grotesque unit, who did their best impression of a frankenstein-y, drug crazed Pac-man.

Scatbikes came in mid-game, tearing the whirlwinds apart and scoring maelstrom objectives.

Result: Turn 4 forfeit, 10-1 victory.


Game 2 - Grey Knights (Space Wolf allies)
Nemesis Strike Force
Draigo
Librarian (Cuirass of Sacrifice)
Terminators x5 (Incinerator)
Dreadknight (Heavy Incinerator, Heavy Psycannon)
Purifiers x8 (Incinerator x2, Knight of the Flame)

The Wolves Unleashed Detachment
Wolf Guard Battle Leader (Terminator Armor, TH/SS)
Wolf Guard Battle Leader (Jump Pack, Power Fist, Armor of Russ)
Grey Hunters x5
Blood Claws x9
Dreadnought (Great Wolf Claw, Heavy Flamer, Helfrost Cannon)
Stormwolf (Helfrost Cannon, Lascannon, Multimeltas)
Skyclaws x5

Analysis:
Short edge deployment, The Relic Mission, and rolling Warp Blink all contributed to a good game, although the biggest factor for me by far was rolling the Divide to Conquer Warlord trait.  My opponent never succeeded on a single Reserve roll, only getting units to come in automatically.  The drip feed method of arrival meant my army could easily focus on a small number of units at a time.

The game started with the grotesques charge/Blinking forward to snatch the Relic (they would keep it for the duration of the game). The Dreads came up to meet them, although the scatterbikes arrived from Reserves and tore the Dreadnought apart from behind.

The Terminators and Skyclaws tried to come down in my half of the table, although the smaller grot squad and the seer council were both able to eliminate them swiftly.

At the very end, the Purifiers arrived on T4 to attack the grotesque bomb, which had been depleted enough from combat with other units that it was forced to retreat with the Relic, Warp Blink enabling it outpace the Purifiers.

Result: 11-0 Victory

Game 3 - Eldar
(Forgive me, I didn't get an army list from this gentleman, so this is only an approximation)



Eldar CAD
Scatterbikes, Farseer Skyrunner, Baharoth, Skathach Wraithknight

Eldar CAD
Scatterbikes, Farseer Skyrunner

Seer Council
Skyrunner Council

Analysis:
This game was a complete blowout.  My opponent stole the initiative, and his scatterbikes (outnumbering mine 2-1) decimated my own bikes.  The Skathach swept in, and even though I attempted to hold it up with the grotboat, it eliminated both the grotboat and the seer council in swift order.  (The seer council took heavy casualties from scatter shooting before it ever got a chance to cast a single psychic power.)

The enemy seer council hit my grotbomb, and although they weren't able to inflict much damage, my opponent kept Fortune up and used Baharoth to tank the wounds, keeping me from inflicting any real damage to the unit.  

This game ended in a 1-10 loss.

Game 4 - Dark Eldar (Eldar/Corsair Allies)
CAD
Lhaemean
Warriors x5 (Dual SC Venom)
Warriors x5 (Dual SC Venom)
Warriors x5 (Shredder, Dual SC Venom)
Warriors x5 (Shredder, Dual SC Venom)
Warriors x5 (Shredder, Dual SC Venom)
Warriors x5 (Shredder, Dual SC Venom)

CAD
Autarch (Banshee Mask, Scorpion Sword)
Windriders x3
Windriders x3
Hornet (Pulse Laser x2)
Hornet (Pulse Laser x2)
Wraithknight (Suncannon, Scattershield, Scatter Laser)

Allied Detachment
Corsair Prince (Shadowfield, Multiphasic Key Generator)
Cloud Dancers x3 (Splinter Cannon x3)
Hornet (Pulse Laser x2)
Hornet (Pulse Laser x2)
Warp Hunter (Kinetic Shroud, Void Burners, D Flail, Shuriken Catapult)

Analysis:
I put up a much better fight this time, but my opponent was just better than I was.  Getting turn 2 hurt, but not as badly as in the last game.

My grotbomb got the Warp Blink it needed, and as has become customary for this list, that caught my opponent by surprise, allowing me to catch two of the venoms, a warrior squad, and a bike squad unawares.  Unfortunately, after their little orgy of destruction was finished, the wraithknight got a hold of them, there were a couple of lucky stomp rolls, and that was all she wrote.  

The seer council took heavy losses from the other venoms, but the princess and two of the warlocks managed to hit back, leaving one immobilized and another dead along with its occupants, before being drowned by the splinterfire of the remaining warriors and their venom.

At that point, the fat lady began singing I had a couple scattered remaining units, in the form of the arrival of the four hornets from reserve.  The game ended with one of my scatterbike units desperately trying to steal a Maelstrom tie but ultimately losing out.

Result: 1-10 loss

Final game - Necrons
Decurion
Necron Lord
Warriors (large squad)
Warriors (large squad)
Lychguard
Immortals x10
Tomb Blades
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
Monolith
Tesseract Vault

Analysis:
This was the first game I felt like everyone did what they were supposed to do.  (Or maybe it was the first game I really understood how everyone was supposed to function.)

The Seer Council cleared half the board of warriors and then played hide and seek with the Tesseract Vault for half the game, (bouncing out to fire and use psychic powers, then hiding in LOS blocking terrain) ultimately destroying it with only a single casualty to themselves.  

The grotesques occupied the immortals and the lychguard for the bulk of the game, ultimately preventing them from damaging the bikes enough to keep them off of objectives.  

Although I never came near to tabling him (and if the game had gone longer than the five turns it did, I might have been in real danger of getting tabled myself), I did manage to secure Maelstrom handily, and keep in range of enough objectives to win the primary mission when time was called.

Overall Tournament Result: 6th place.  

Top 8 are considered top tables for ITC events and are awarded extra points, so I think that's a reasonable showing. Considering my serious lack of broader competitive experience, I feel like I did okay.

If any of my opponents are on the forums and happen to recognize these games, please feel free to correct me on anything I got wrong!