The Tactical Squad

When last we left our hero, he was headed to bed the night before the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest World Championship Top 16 Elimination round… My nerves weren’t too bad walking into the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center.  I’d even started to consider the possibility that I could actually win this thing.  But before that could happen, the judges needed to do a deck check for all 16 players remaining in the tournament.  I suddenly became incredibly paranoid that I had written my deck list out incorrectly the day before.  They call one competitor over to discuss an irregularity in the deck - I never did discover what that problem was.  Then another player was pulled aside for a whispered conversation. When he came back to the group, he revealed that he had listed only 48 cards on the written list.  The minimum deck size is 50.  He had just forgotten to list two [whc mode=“short”]Promethium Mine[/whc], but I had heard multiple people reference that those cards were in his deck the day before.  It was an innocent mistake, but we were still waiting for a verdict to be made.  While we were waiting, we admired the tarot sized planet cards that were to be awarded to the Top 8 players and were being set up to be used at the top table for the live stream.  Thumbs up from the judges.  The offending player would be allowed to compete with his full deck. Then it was on to the games themselves.  As the sixth place finisher, I was paired against the 11th seed, Elliot Hedman, an extremely friendly player who preferred Netrunner to Conquest, but was determined to make the best of his opportunity.  It was going to be a Kith vs. Kith mirror match.  I’d split my Kith games the day before and thought I had a decent shot, particularly if my opponent was as inexperienced as he was saying.  As is often the case with the mirror match, a lot would come down to card draw. I started with initiative and had a pretty good opening hand.  None of the key cards, but plenty of units for command and some [whc mode=“short”]Kith’s Khymeramasters[/whc] to try to take the first planet, which was a tri-color.  I was able to secure first planet, though it cost more cards than I would have liked.  My draw didn’t help and I didn’t have much to play in round 2.  I wasn’t going to win very much in command, but I could potentially snipe first planet again and force a quick game.  Or I could shift to the long game, and commit to a planet to win a few cards and rebuild.  I had a lot of resources and a [whc mode=“short”]Klaivex Warleader[/whc] in hand, so I convinced myself that even if my opponent anticipated my move I could still power through.  But I didn’t think through what the situation would look like after he won command and drew up to a mitt full of a cards, backed up by a healthy pile of resources.  I realized that one two-shield card - which was all but certain - could derail my plan so I retreated by warlord and tried to even things up with a [whc mode=“short”]Warpstorm[/whc].  But I knew that my mistake had probably cost me my chance at advancing. Another Warpstorm and another Klaivex in headquarters face did not improve my chances and after opponent deployed an [whc mode=“short”]Archon’s Palace[/whc] and a [whc mode=“short”]Khymera Den[/whc], alongside of a 2-3 new units, I knew my road was over.  I made a last ditch effort to pull out some combat tricks but after a fourth deployment round of the same, I conceded. Elliot was very gracious in victory and obviously excited to be moving on.  I hope that I was able to offer him some sincere congratulations, but I continued to berate myself inside my head as I had been ever since the beginning of the second combat phase.  My first match of every day had been full of errors, but so far I had been lucky enough not to have it result in a loss.  But in Top 16, luck isn’t going to be enough anymore.  Seeing the balance of card draw after the first round, I still probably would have been in tough, but I could have at least made more of a match of it. I didn’t expect to be in the Top 16, but now that I was there, it was a crushing disappointment not to be able to go further.  It would have been one thing to go out in a hard fought game, but in this case I got in my own way.  After about 10 or 15 minutes I was able to quiet some of the screaming voices in my head and go over to congratulate Elliot properly and wish him luck in his next round.  Which left me about 10 minutes to decide whether to late enter the Android: Netrunner event - but that is a story for another time. Congratulations to Varun Khertapal for winning the event and all the 111 competitors that made their way to Minneapolis.  Despite my initial fears, everyone was pretty relaxed - at least externally, and were a pleasure to play again.  It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet and chat with so many great players from around the world.  I haven’t done a great job keeping up with the various names in the scene, but I hope to keep in touch more in the future. I’d like to thank Shane for convincing me to attend the World Championships, splitting a room with me and being my biggest cheerleader in Minnesota.  He had faith in me even when I insisted on downplaying my chances. I’d like to thank John and Victor, two other Toronto players who made the trip and offered plenty of invaluable advice and playtesting in the days leading up to the event.  Both of them had a good showings.  John finished 4th in the Worldeater tournament and Victor lost out on the tokens for top Tyranid player on secondary strength of schedule. I also have to thank the other members of The Tactical Squad.  Jon, Liz, Alex and Mark all provided on-going moral support throughout the event and provided words of encouragement when I was knocked out. And thanks to the entire Toronto Conquest community for maintaining a pretty vibrant scene despite so many competing games.  The Netrunner scene is dominant here, but I was thrilled to show that the Toronto Conquest scene is also one to contend with.  I hope to see you all at league on Thursday. And finally I’d like to thank the Fantasy Flight and Event Center staff for running such a top notch event.  It’s not easy hosting 100s of competitive gamers, but I had a great time and hope to return next year. While my Road to Worlds ends here, I will be writing up one more post about my experiences at the remainder of the World Championship week in Minnesota, including the Conquest Wrap-up event. While Travis is back from the Fantasy Flight Games World Championships in Minnesota, where he played in the Star Wars: Armada, Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Android: Netunner events, he still wants to share his last few updates here on The Tactical Squad blog.

Well, this is not the post I thought I’d be making at the end of the today. I made the Top 16!  I went 6-1 and finished 6th in Swiss.  Top 16 starts at 10am tomorrow morning and I’m playing for the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest World Championship title! I’m really kicking myself for not taking notes after each round.  I am happy to say that everyone I played against was extremely friendly and were a pleasure to play against.  My biggest fear about Worlds was that it was high profile enough that there would be players taking things so seriously that they were no longer having fun.  I’m glad that wasn’t the case. So, I’m back in my room now, having just ordered a steak to celebrate.  I feel terrible that I didn’t go out for the Cigars and Beers event hosted by the First Planet Podcast guys, but I’m exhausted after a 10 hour day of Conquest and I want to make sure that I get some rest before tomorrow.  I’m sure if I went I would have got caught up talking with folks and would have gotten home late. In the afternoon session I faced another Kith, a Nazdreg and two Ragnars.  I was happy to have a better result in my second Kith mirror of the day.  He got the Archon’s Palace out first turn, but I managed to still win some command and eventually reeled him back in for a victory. My match against Nazdreg was one of those matches that makes everyone hate Kith.  It was lopsided from the outset and the deck mostly played itself.  It’s not a knock against my opponent, but it was a case study in why Kith is such a strong deck. My last two matches were both against Ragnar.  Both were very challenging games, even though I went in to the tank far too long worrying about Kith being bloodied in the last turn of the first match-up.  I forgot that after I won planet 1, there would be no battle at planet 2. At 6-1 I was a lock for Top 16 so I was able breathe a huge sigh of relief after my last victory.  Reviewing the numbers after the fact, it looks like my strength of schedule was good enough that I would have made Top 16 even with a loss. The adrenaline is finally starting to fade. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a decent night’s sleep. Wish me luck for the morning! Travis is flying out to the FFG World Championships in Minnesota next week to play in the Star Wars: Armada, Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Android: Netunner events. Conquest is his primary focus and he is going to share some of his thoughts leading up to and during the event here on The Tactical Squad blog.

I am three rounds into the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest World Championships and we are on our lunch break.  Well, the rest of the field is grabbing lunch.  I ate earlier after a quick loss against another Kith deck in the second round.  I decided that I didn’t want to rush around during the break so ordered some food before the crowd. I’m currently sitting at 2-1.  My goal was not to be eliminated before lunch, so I’ve managed that, even if I would have felt a lot better at 3-0.  My strength of schedule isn’t looking great so far, so I’m going to focus on winning my remaining games.  I faced Cato in the first and third rounds and lost against Kith in the second.  I made a lot of mistakes in my first game and only one space mistake in the third.  I’m not sure there was much I could have done in the second round against my opponent’s hand.  I don’t want to take anything away from my opponent, because he played it perfectly, but it left with me no opening to claw my way back in. As for the other Toronto players, Victor and John are also sitting at 2-1.  I know that Jon is disappointed that he dropped his last game of the morning session, but I have faith that he can make his way through the afternoon. A few of my opponents and nearby players have recognized the Tactical Squad playmat and said nice things.  My second opponent said it was an honour to play someone from the podcast.  I corrected him; it was an honour to demolish someone from the podcast.  But no one has tried to claim the prize yet. Anyways, I don’t want to spend my entire break writing, so I’m going to head back over to the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center. PS.  The player who beat me yesterday in Armada went on to win the event, so I can say that my only lost in Armada came against the eventual World Champion. Travis is flying out to the FFG World Championships in Minnesota next week to play in the Star Wars: Armada, Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Android: Netunner events. Conquest is his primary focus and he is going to share some of his thoughts leading up to and during the event here on The Tactical Squad blog.

Thursday marked the first day of official World Championship events for me.  The Star Wars: Armada event was scheduled to start at noon, but I had a bye in the first round courtesy of my victory at the Canadian Nationals.  So, our usual readers may have to bear with me for a moment as I divert briefly into Armada talk. I was very nervous about the Armada event.  It is not my primary event and I don’t spend as much time strategizing or practicing as I do for other games.  And with the first round bye, that meant I would be matched up against other winning players in the second round.  I didn’t want to embarrass either the Toronto scene or Canada in general by crashing and burning. Thankfully I was able to pull off a victory in my first actual match of the day.  Ironically it was against the player from New Mexico who had actually travelled to participate in the Canadian Nationals.  I made a few mistakes, but I felt pretty good about my performance, even if was low margin victory that only netted me only 6 out of a possible 10 points for the round. But a win moved me further up in the standings, so I was facing even stiffer competition.  Unfortunately I didn’t write down the name of my opponent in the third round, but he was very friendly - even after having a long day at the X-Wing event the day before.  He had actually made top 16, but was eliminated early enough Thursday morning to be able to play in the Armada event.  I ended up with a full loss in that match.  There were a couple key mistakes that would likely have turned the course of the battle, but I didn’t feel terrible about my performance.  And my opponent was such a pleasure to play against, that I still ended the day feeling great. I ended up with 15 out of a possible 30 points for the day, so it removed most of the anguish from the decision to drop from day 2 of the Armada event to play in the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest main event tomorrow. Now I’m just waiting for room service to bring me my burger before I head back to the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center for a couple more hours of Conquest theorycrafting and deck tweaking before we get down to business in the morning.  Many people have been talking about how the field with be bringing a lot of anti-Kith to the event to deal with the prevalence of Kith players, but even knowing that, there are still some top players coming over to the dark side and switching to Kith at the last minute.  I think I may swap a few cards around, but I’m locked in to Dark Eldar. Also, I want to take a moment to congratulate John Gobeil, a local Toronto Conquest player, for his 5th place finish in the Worldeater event today and his shiny new Broadside playmat. Travis is flying out to the FFG World Championships in Minnesota next week to play in the Star Wars: Armada, Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Android: Netunner events. Conquest is his primary focus and he is going to share some of his thoughts leading up to and during the event here on The Tactical Squad blog.

Our one year anniversary special! On today’s episode we: Strategize playing against Packmaster Kith Talk about growing your Conquest community Recap one year of podcasting glory and MORE!

I woke up this morning in the Radisson Hotel Roseville in the lovely state of Minnesota.  It’s grey and threatening rain, but that didn’t stop us from heading over to the Fantasy Flight Games first thing after a complementary brunch at the hotel.  We had to wait to let the X-Wing players register first, as their event starts today, but it didn’t take long before we had our passes and a few tokens to use in FFG’s league play.  Basically if you find another player with a stripe for their game on their badge, you can challenge them to a game, putting up one of your tokens as bounty.  It sounds like fun, but I’m not sure when I won’t be in another event so that I can participate. The first disappointment of the day was learning that the Hard Wired draft packs did not arrive, so the Android drafts today have to use one of the older sets.  That definitely dampened the enthusiasm everyone had starting the day.  But so far we’ve met the Australian Conquest champion, netrunner players from France and the UK, and Victor even brokered a trade with Quinns from Shut Up & Sit Down. I’m looking forward to the afternoon. Travis is flying out to the FFG World Championships in Minnesota next week to play in the Star Wars: Armada, Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Android: Netunner events. Conquest is his primary focus and he is going to share some of his thoughts leading up to and during the event here on The Tactical Squad blog.

I’m sitting here at my computer on the Sunday night before worlds going over my checklist as I try to make sure everything is packed for the trip. After a disappointing finish in last Sunday’s tournament, I am bringing Kith with me. No more uncertainty on that score. Of course, now I’m debating last minute substitutions for that deck. I’ve finalized my Netrunner decks and I’m just deciding on the last few tweaks to Armada fleet. I still need to put together a deck for the Sunday wrap-up event for Conquest, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that Decree of Ruin might see an early release and I can play Starblaze. So that means the Conquest binder has to go in the luggage as well. I’ve got a couple prizes tucked away for any podcast listeners that track me down at the event. I have my alt art cards ready for potential trades or to get signed. I’m making sure all the relevant electronics have their batteries topped up and ensuring that I have all the necessary cables in my bags. I have my passport put aside as well as some US cash from my last trip to the states. I hope I’m ready. Travis is flying out to the FFG World Championships in Minnesota next week to play in the Star Wars: Armada, Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Android: Netunner events. Conquest is his primary focus and he is going to share some of his thoughts leading up to and during the event here on The Tactical Squad blog.

It’s time for another in my series of Warlord cycle re-reviews. Today we revisit the third War Pack, Gift of the Ethereals. When we first received this pack I think the members of the Squad were all very excited about getting to play with Aun’shi and exploring a new style of Tau deck. What I don’t think I realized was just how many cards in this pack would become commonly played in competitive decks. So without further delay lets get into the cards.

Tau

As usual, we start out with our signature squad of the pack. This time around we have [whc mode=‘short’]Aun’shi[/whc], a new leader for the scions of the greater good. While many were initially excited to bring Aun’shi to the table, he unfortunately hasn’t lived up to the my original hopes and expectations. His ability, while tremendously powerful, is difficult to use to its fullest without having the right support in play or holding the combo cards you need. Because of this it can take a very high level of finesse required to find success with this warlord.

Alongside this enigmatic leader we are also given a number of very powerful cards in his signature squad. Starting out with the signature event, Ethereal Wisdom, we get an interesting combo card that plays into the tricks that the Ethereal deck is building toward. It can be combined with Kauyon Strike or Ksi’m’yen Orbital City to help chase down enemy warlords or armies with unexpected units. Outside of the combo potential offered by gaining the Ethereal trait, the +1 ATK can put you over the edge when it comes to bloodying an opposing warlord or winning a battle in a pinch. The army unit that follows Aun’shi into battle is the Ethereal Envoy. At first glance this unit seems unexciting, but if you look deeper you will see that it is actually be a candidate for best signature army unit to date. The Ethereal trait opens up a number of powerful combos, but this unit offers a number of additional benefits. First, because it is a one cost, one command unit it occupies a very beneficial space on the cost curve of your deck. Additionally its HP of 3 means that not only is it an efficient command unit but it is actually fairly resilient, able to stick around as long as many commonly used combat units. Because the Envoys have the Ethereal trait you can spread them out to win command at any number of planets and then use Kauyon Strike to gather any number of them to a planet to participate in combat. Finally, when supported by Orbital City you can use this unit to truly abuse the effective power of attachments like Ion Rifle and Gun Drones. Next, Aun’shi comes with his signature attachment, Honor Blade. This card isn’t essential to a successful strategy, but it is powerful enough that I would only recommend using it for its shield icons in a dire situation. If you can get it out and onto your warlord in the early game you will likely gain a tremendous long term value. Honor Blade is definitely a target to dig for with the ability of Earth Caste Technician.

Finally, the signature squad is rounded out with Aun’shi’s Sanctum. Sanctum allows a unit coming from HQ to ready and attack in the first round of combat. It can help a ranged unit make multiple shots before the regular combat begins. And it can help mitigate the negative impact of exhaust effects from cards like Eldorath Starbane or Suppressive Fire. I definitely believe that Aun’shi is a warlord to look out for, though perhaps he not yet powerful enough to win on a consistent basis in high level play. If you’re interested in hearing some of my thoughts about how Aun’shi plays and seeing a deck list, check out my War Journal - Ethereals and Torture.

Space Marines

In this War Pack, Space Marines receive a mixed bag of cards. We get White Scars Bikers, the Space Marine’s warlord groupie. This unit is strong but may fall a bit short compares to some of the other choices it competes for deck space with. The faction already has staple 3 cost army units with cards like Blood Angels Veterans and Honored Librarian filling that space. That aside, the Bikers are still an excellent target for many Space Marine card abilities like Drop Pod Assault and Indomitable. It addition the Soldier trait makes it a prime choice for Colonel Straken. Space Marines were also given two events in this War Pack. The first, Know No Fear, unfortunately has a lacklustre ability that is not worth the steep cost of exhausting your warlord. However, the second event, Crushing Blow, has become a staple in many Marine decks. This card means that opponents playing again a deck including a large number of Space Marine units need to be much more cautious about letting units take damage. If caught unaware or helpless, Crushing Blow could cause an attack that didn’t seem overly threatening to become devastating.

Astra Militarum

The first two War Packs in the Warlord cycle were both reasonably eventful for the Astra Militarum and this War Pack continues that trend. Mystic Warden arrives as a particularly interesting unit. While it has a fairly typical stat line for AM, its cost of 0 and its Forced Reaction mean that it plays very well into the many sacrifice focused abilities that the faction has available. In addition, it can be a hard to predict target for deployment with Staging Ground and if you have an opportunity to retreat and return the Warden to your HQ then the Forced Reaction won’t trigger. Even though the Mystic Warden isn’t a star card, or even really a staple for that matter, it is a useful for inclusion in many decks.

The second card that Militarum receive in the pack is To Arms!. This is a card that I would dare to say is possibly the one of the best non-signature cards in this War Pack and probably even one of the best cards Astra Militarum received all cycle. To Arms! provides a great efficiency opportunity to AM, allowing them to unexpectedly ready supports when needed and providing a two shields when necessary. This card’s Action can be particularly effective with Catachan Outpost, Staging Ground, and Formosan Black Ship. The faction’s last card is a second double shield card, Honorifica Imperialis. This card has a very strong effect, allowing you to be very aggressive against enemy warlords. Unfortunately, due to its cost of 2, it ends up being too slow. Most of the time an AM player would prefer to get another combat unit on the battlefield, I don’t think Honorifica plays into the Militarum battle plan well enough yet. If bigger non-vehicle units start becoming available to AM this may become a more favourable include.

Orks

Unfortunately our fungal green skinned friends they have not been given many power cards at this point the in the Warlord cycle. Even though that may be true the cards released in this War Pack are definitely at least interesting, if not useful. The first card given, Mekaniak Repair Krew, is an example of this. As an army unit it doesn’t really excel in either command or combat by itself, but its ability can allow you to more effectively utilize some of your powerful supports such as Tellyporta Pad and Kustom Field Generator. If supported by Nazdreg this unit could become a decent combat unit and is a good target for Hostile Environment Gear.

The next Ork card in the War Pack is the Goff Big Choppa. Armorbane is still one of the most powerful keywords in the game. Despite this fact, Big Choppa still has many of the same problems that Honorifica Imperialis does. However, unlike Astra Militarum, Orks have more large units that could effectively make use of this attachment. I don’t see this card being used often, but in an Ork Elite focused deck, or possibly other circumstances, the card will undoubtedly be very powerful. And rounding out the Ork cards in this pack is Ammo Depot. This card created a large amount of buzz when it first come out. Unfortunately, I have found that Ammo Depot suffers from many of the same problems that other alternate economy cards do. Being able to circumvent choke is good, but allowing your opponent to win more command unchallenged by relying less on the resources given by planets can dig you into a hole. In addition, if you are winning enough command or aren’t gaining enough resources Ammo Depot may end up being effectively useless. All of that said, if this card fills the right space in your deck it can be a very powerful ability, allowing you to more effectively play from behind or draw more army units to help build a large swarm.

Chaos

Opening up the War Pack for Chaos is another Nurgle Daemon, the Rotten Plaguebearers. This unit is quite unnassuming at first glance, but upon further examination it proves to be very versatile. Because the Plaguebearers deal damage as an Action they are able to activate during any action windows in any phase. This mean you can use them during deployment as a Deploy Action to try to destroy opposing command units or as a delay tactic. You are able to use this ability at the end of the command phase or the beginning of the combat phase to help counter or preempt early enemy abilities and attacks. Because the ability doesn’t specify a target beyond “unit” you are able to damage you own units to help power up Brutal, prime Ku’gath Plaguefather, or trigger other combos. It is worth remembering that when played with Zarathur, High Sorcerer the Plaguebearers instead do two damage due to Zarathur’s Reaction. This plays very well into the burn style of control often used in the High Sorcerer’s decks. Rotten Plaguebearers are definitely a great unit for inclusion in many Chaos decks.

We also get a second Nurgle card in this War Pack, Nurgling Bomb. This is another powerful and potentially versatile ability allowing you to not only rout or damage enemy units, but also effectively retreat your own units by routing them and powering up other units that may benefit from having damage. The catch to this card though is that its high cost puts it in competition with a number of other popular Chaos events. I definitely think this is a card worth considering for inclusion but players should be conscious of the resource investment and their over all game plan. Lastly we are given the very strange Throne of Vainglory. This fairly janky card is most certainly still developing its utility so I won’t comment on it much. At this point I don’t see the Throne being included in many decks, but maybe after Ba’ar Zul the Hate-Bound and other cards in Planetfall are released this may change.

Dark Eldar

In this War Pack Dark Eldar only really received one card worth discussing, the Sslyth Mercenary. The second card, Despise, has little utility in the game currently. When I first saw the Sslyth Mercenary I was generally unimpressed but remained open to the possibility that it could be effective, in part because of the way my understanding of Heretek Inventor evolved. That instinct proved correct and the Sslyth has turned out to be a very solid unit. While it is especially good for gaining an early game lead in command it can sometimes be a liability in the later game, turning on its owner or ending up as a dead card if your opponent has enough of a resource advantage. I often include two copies in any deck using Dark Eldar cards.

Eldar

Last, but certainly not least we have three cards for the Eldar. They receive one of the best cards released in the Warlord cycle, the Warlock Destructor. Without a doubt this army unit is very strong, filling out the underrepresented two cost slot for Eldar combat units. You are provided with a great degree of flexibility with your resources if you look at the Destructor’s Forced Reaction as a utility opposed to an upkeep. Often times I have found myself playing it out to a planet where I know there will be combat and making peace with its death before battle ends. Paying two for such a strong unit is one of the most cost effective contributions to a fight in the game. If you end up paying the upkeep once then you are breaking even as the Warlock Destructor would likely be worth three resources if it didn’t have its Forced Reaction. Even paying the upkeep over multiple turns can be worthwhile if you have the resources.

Eldar players also see their warlord groupie introduced in this pack but because of the wide availability of flexible and powerful three cost combat units in the faction the Eldritch Corsair isn’t worth giving much consideration. Finishing things off, Eldar continue to develop their control game with Foretell. When adding this to the other options Eldar have like Superiority, Nullify and Archon’s Terror this card provides Eldar players with one more way to shut out their opponent. The ability to cancel a battle ability can be game changing at the right time. With the extra bonus of drawing a card, this becomes a very solid include. I usually throw a single copy into any deck that includes Eldar.   So, in reflection, this was a major release for the game. Even though it has a large number of excellent cards I would say this is probably not the first pack a new player should buy. I do think it would be be  a good second purchase though. Seeing just how exciting a pack can be has me looking forward to how much this game will evolve in the coming Planetfall cycle. Until next time, may the Emperor protect!

I still can’t decide which deck I want to bring to Worlds. I’ve brought Kith to most high profile events I’ve played - including a top 8 finish at Canadian Nationals - so I know that she performs well for me. I’ve won a tournament with my Coteaz deck, but it’s always a bumpier trip through any event. There is a nagging voice in the back of my head telling me to move on from Kith. Not because it will increase my chances for a high finish.  It just feels like it’s time. That seems like a ridiculous reason in the face of a world championship event, but I can’t shake it. I tell myself that I’ll have a better shot at winning for top faction finish with Coteaz, even if I take a hit on my already slim odds at cracking the top 16.  That feels like a weak rationalization. So, on the eve of the last tournament before the big event, I make a last minute adjustment to my Astra Militarum deck, telling myself that my result tomorrow will determine who goes in my luggage for the trip to Minnesota. I’m hoping that at least it will be like flipping a coin and, finding myself unhappy with the outcome, I realize what I truly wanted to do all along. But I’m worried that it’s more likely that I just keep muttering to myself for the next week like I have for the past month, paralyzed by indecision and annoying everyone around me. Who knows, maybe I’ll luck into some big wins on Day 1 of Armada and all this agonizing will be for nothing. Travis is flying out to the FFG World Championships in Minnesota next week to play in the Star Wars: Armada, Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Android: Netunner events.  Conquest is his primary focus and he is going to share some of his thoughts leading up to and during the event here on The Tactical Squad blog.

The Tactical Squad is happy to release our second round coverage from thethe 2015 Canadian Nationals for Warhammer 40,000: Conquest that took place on September 4, 2015 at Fan Expo in Toronto. This time Jon joins Travis to provide commentary on the match between John playing Eldorath Starbane and Jon himself playing Aun’shi. We are still working on additional episodes, so please let us know if there are any ways we can make them better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFVH1Eq2Gj4