BAO Tournament Results
Here are the results of the BAO
http://bloodofkittens.com/blog/2015/02/23/tits-tournaments-las-vegas-open-2015-top-lists/
Looking at the LVO lists, you see quite a diverse set, to the surprise of many. Only 1 eldar, no tau, and few knights. What can we learn from the winning lists? Is there more army variety than ever before because of allies like some hypothesize?
1st Place
The winner is a Tyranid list with 25 units (including 3 Flyrants, 10 spores, 6 lictors, 3 mawlocs) and a bastion for reserve control is quite a nightmare of a list. I give credit to the player for coming up with the list and for playing it well.
Personally, I always thought the 6th ed Tyranid codex was decent and could kick any of my codexes' asses thoroughly. Ignores cover from Tau and Eldar was rough on it, but it is for everyone else as well, so that isn't a fair comparison. Once the Rising Leviathan supplements hit, they were really good. Now with the Leviathan proper supplement, they're top tier and no one is going to dispute that.
Most Tyranid lists aren't easy to play (unlike most deathstars or spam lists). It helps when your army's top unit is an HQ and you can field dirt cheap troops (rippers, spores). This gives the army a lot of flexibility, although much of it is lost with synapse. Even termagants are decent considering they are only 40pts for a min squad for pretty much 3s across the board vs what I pay for grots at 35pts for 2s. Termagants have a chance to do something, while grots are objective holders and speed bumps only. It makes for a very versatile core to have cheap troop options and effective HQs.
2nd
The 2nd place list is the most surprising, but still follows a lot of the same principles as the Tyranid list. Threat overload and MSU. I didn't see how the list actually played, but I assume the command squad with 3 meltas in a pod dropped first turn along with the 7 man scout squad likely accompanied by Lysander and Mephiston. The scouts can combat squad into 3-6 units. Centurions and Thunderfire cannons we know are good. I've been warming up to Lascannon devs over plasma cannons (because I can't cast prescience inside a building) and have the bits ordered to build my own, so I'm not surprised by their inclusion. With the Imperial Fists, you get tank hunter which is so much better than furious charge for Devs that it isn't even a fair comparison.
It has alpha strike potential mixed with a fair number of bodies. Once again it takes the same principles above and uses them effectively to play the mission. I suspect with proper terrain coverage, line of site blocking, and mix of types this list can very effectively hide to limit damage. On a proper table it give you more strategic options. This list is designed to give the player as many strategic paths to maximize their skill.
3rd
In 3rd was an Eldar list with a Lynx sporting a pulsar, 4 wave serpents, some jetbikes, etc. I'm guessing that the Lynx sat on the skyshield while the farseer cast fortune on it. Maybe the power was denied or he didn't roll for it. I'm not sure why he lost. This is the most typical of the lists, but with a lynx instead of a couple of wraithknights. A list full of mostly broken lists in the hands of a great player will do well. The only thing to note here is that this list was the only one not to have any allies. Yes, the Eldar book is one of the few that can do that. Not much to see here, moving on.
4th
A Space Wolf and Astra Militarum list took 4th. This sported 6 pods, 3 medusas, a vendetta, and most strangely a single Rhino. It isn't a list I've seen before, but I can see why it is effective. Grey Hunters are good, Vendetta's are good, Medusa's are good. Common logic dictates that while 2 meltaguns are good (grey hunters), 3 are even better (AM vets). Freelance pods are quite silly. From the description of the player, it seems like he was a huge dick to play against. An outside the box list, but it's easy to see why it works.
5th
A daemon list came in 5th place that features Fateweaver, 4 heralds, 2 squads of horrors, 2 screamer squads, and a plague drone squad. Plenty of anti-armor, summoning, and durability are key here.
I just primed my drone squad and I'm curious as to how he used them, did the heralds attach, deepstrike, join later? Not a typical deathstar, but 28 T5 wounds with FNP is a bitch to remove. Considering they also have shrouded, can potentially get a 3++ (grimoire), or invisibility it's pretty obvious that it can work very well. They are upgraded with venom stings and the heralds are probably taking baleswords, so that's a lot of instant death attacks. My concern would be that the heralds are too slow.
6th
Surprisingly, yet not, in 6th was a Chaos Space Marine list with Daemon allies. Surprising because most people think CSM are bad, but not when you realize that the CSM detachment is 2 min units of cultists, 2 hell blades, a brass scorpion and a predator.
Ok, I'll admit the predator is very surprising and I'm very curious to see how it was used. He also has a daemon summoning CAD with 3 HoT and 3 squads of Pink horrors.
The horrors summon while the cultists sit on objectives and wait for the hellblades to mulch stuff with their 6 TL Str7 rending shots. I love the hellblade and would like to get at least one at some point. However, I still don't know what to make of that predator with destroyer blades. The real key is that the brass scorpion is pretty hot with the proper support. Super Heavies are good, news flash.
7th
7th places were White Scars and an Imperial Knight. Khan--good, Chapter Master kickass--good, command squad--good, bike squads with metla/grav--good, Sicaran--good, Imperial Knight--good. We've learned nothing.
8th
Rounding out 8th place is a Grey Knight and Red Scoprions list. Essentially Draigo, GK libby, Loth, and the centurions gate around and kill stuff while 3 dreadknights take care of the rest. Yawn. Deathstar + underpriced MC == win.
Summary
So what did we learn?
1) MSU is good
2) Deployment flexibility is key
a) This includes drop pods, which were featured in 3 of the top 4 lists.
3) Deathstars are still viable
4) Summoning units is good, pink horrors do it cheaply and effectively plus they're troops.
5) Wave Serpents, Centurions, Flyrants, IK are really good, duh
What didn't we see in the top 8
1) Single source lists -The Eldar list was the only one with a single detachment, but still had a fortification and FW super-heavy LoW.
2) Tau - I suspect the maelstom missions and line of site blocking terrain limited their effectiveness. Many of the players who jumped on Tau in 6th have since moved on. With Maelstrom the typical lists are too static to be effective at the highest levels.
3) Tactical marines - Bikes are better in every way, scouts are cheaper and present more options
4) Necrons - The codex was too new. Prepare to be sick of them in every tournament because GW doesn't playtest.
Does this change my opinion on the state of 40k? No, here's why:
Skill can trump a list, but only if you really know what you're doing. People often say that to discount when something is overpowered. However, the average player is well... average. Common advice I see for 40k players it to continually practice against good players, different lists, and scenarios. This isn't achievable for most players. Broken units are still broken when they make it easy for someone with no skill to win disproportionately. Even worse, they're boring to play and play against.
That's the major difference between what you're seeing here at a hard-core tournament and what you see at a local tournament or pick-up game. At the highest level, they know how to handle almost everything that comes at them. Most players don't. So maybe they aren't broke if you know the strategy and have seen it multiple times, but since that doesn't apply to most players, then it still qualifies as broken.
Changes
Even though no one in the top 8 used it, I still think BAO needs to remove the self-allying rule change. It does have a ripple effect on other tournaments that want to use the ATC format. The justification was that Tyranids needed the help: they didn't and they don't. Or that since the Space Marine codex can self-ally others should too. I'm not sure how someone can self-ally with the SM codex to take advantage of this particularly well.
I can tell that the nerf to invisibility changed the lists people would bring. I'm not sure their fix is the right answer, but anything to discourage deathstars is ok with me. It does make some units actually viable (like my seekers), but it makes too many units over the top.
