The Hillbilly’s Monthly Romp

The fourth weekend of March saw the inaugural Hillbilly’s Monthly Romp, which was a 4 round burn at Castle Hill RSL, and saw a good mix of Hills locals and competitive Sydney regulars. Running this myself, the goal is to have a regular go-to competitive event with low entry cost. The regularity opens up an opportunity to try new things, gauge growth, and with the alternating Saturdays/Sundays, hopefully gives most people a chance to get amongst it.

I’ve also gone with a bit of a different approach, primarily using 3D printed terrain which is relatively cheap and easy to produce, meaning sets can be handed out as prizes, giving more punters access to their own terrain. Alongside the 3D printed terrain is a few tables of asymmetrical ITD maps, which have proven (in my opinion) to be quite interesting and enjoyable.

As for the results; after much talk hidden behind always being the bridesmaid TO and never the bride player, the win was taken by the one and only Jay Song, leveraging his Phobos Commsman to perform roughly 7 actions per activation, and going undefeated against a fierce field. I’ve reached out to Jay for some words on his win:

Congrats on your win at the Hillbilly's Romp! Considering you're typically the one running things for others to play, it's good to see you've still got what it takes when you get a shot.

You've been big on the Phobos lately, in spite of the meta being mostly unfavourable towards elites. What turned you on to them?

• Thank you for a great event. I was told by someone a little while ago I am focusing on running events because I can’t win anything anymore but just wanted to prove that it is coincidental not consequential.

  As we do, we care a lot about this game. We build, and share our opinions on/offline and at one point I realised we as a cohort are past what is currently the meta and now building the meta. As the new rules of Bheta Decima before the balance dataslate was revealed I saw that the elites actually have some good play in this killzone. I delved myself into reading rules for Phobos and found out that everyone was missing out on what they can achieve. Much like Inquisitorial Agents in an even more convoluted way Phobos can lock your opponent in a lose/lose scenario with more wounds on a 3+ save. I knew I had a high chance seeing Liam and Sam bringing less economic teams to the tournament.

Following on from that, it does seem that Phobos might have the most play out of elites currently due to their action manipulation. Even still, there's a broader question about whether elites need something more. Do you have any thoughts, perhaps coming from what Phobos can do that others can't?

• Phobos survives the elite scrutiny because they have a ridiculous strategic ploy and an ability called Vanguard and Omniscramble but in return, they get garbage tactical ploys. This combined with their fashion bolters make them a more unique team different to other elites who focus on might and tactical prowess. Phobos can afford to be out-activated if the maps are considered to be fair, as the minelayer can always secure the far objectives, and that can be combined with their action economy.

  I think for the other space marines to play on the same level with the other teams Track Target as a guard or even overwatch action should be universally available to all space marines. It will complicate many other rules but the current overwatch rule is the core Issue in my opinion

I know you're big on giving new teams a run; will you be sticking with Phobos in the near future, or perhaps shift to one of the newer teams coming out soon?

• I need to check the buffed Hearthkyn and really excited for Hearnkyns. With the upcoming collectors market GT, knowing half the tables are Bheta Decima I will probably stick to Phobos knowing that Phobos on loot on BD is unstoppable.

Following Jay in second place is a familiar face in Sam Clarke, risking the (previously) less-than-reliable Reanimation of the Hierotek Circle, and dropping just the one game against Jay’s sneaky marines.

Coming through in third, with his tried-and-true Kommandos, was Matthew Hatton. Beating out a classic Ork nemesis in Intercession, piloted by up and comer Clinton, Matt also took out Aidan’s scrappy Blooded team, and went 50/50 in Kommando mirror matches against CH locals, getting up against John but falling to Keefer.

At the end of the day, half of the 12 player field finished with 2 wins from 4 matches, with a heap of close scores and great games. This is a great result, and shows the fierce contest which has taken hold in the scene, with longer term regulars and plucky newer players really pushing the average level of play higher.

Outside of the top 3, other prize winners were:

• Best Painted - Mikey Hood

• Best Sportsperson - Galen Austin

• Best Overall - Clinton Slater

The Hillbilly’s Monthly Romp will, as the name suggests, continue monthly! Following feedback from the participants, and with respect to the goal of the series, the Romp will be 3 rounds moving forward. This will allow for more relaxed round times as well as a shorter, less stressful day. I’m hoping it can be a decent foundation for both new and experienced players to test themselves.

The Northern Beaches GT

This past weekend, on the 6th and 7th of April, came the first Northern Suburbs GT, organised by the aforementioned Jay Song at the Friendly Local Game Store Decked Out Gaming. Running over two days, the first Australian tournament with a top cut, the first to run a mix of ITD and BD, and a subsidised Golden Ticket to the World finals on the line, this second Sydney GT for 2024 promised to be a great competitive event for the community. With our 3 prior- Golden Ticket holders also amongst the roster, there was always going to be an intense battle to finish high enough for the big prize.

I caught up with Jay for a quick word on running the GT:

• I had some good fun running a golden ticket event with all the rules I would want to play in myself. I hope everyone enjoyed what I would consider the fairest tournament we have had so far.
  I would also like to add I understand being the fairest does not mean everyone may agree or be happy with the decisions. Many people timed out and those may feel 105 minutes or a hardstop may be a little short or harsh but it also isn't fair to the more proficient players those can play faster ashould also be recognised. After all this is a tournament.

Day 1 had the field split into two pods, a Bheta Decima pod and an Into The Dark pod, with each group alternating between the different terrain sets, playing two of the pod’s namesake and one of the other (ie. BD pod plays 2x BD and 1x ITD). Three rounds were played, with the top four from each pod qualifying for the top cut going into day two.

Going into day 2, there was a drop from the top 8, with Allan being unable to make it, meaning the two in positions 9 and 10 (Brucey and myself) would play off to rejoin the top cut. In short, I managed to take the win in the redemption round - you can see more on my experience below. Outside of the top 8, players would be competing for Best of the Rest.

For the 3 rounds on day 2, the map being played would be determined by the person with the highest score in the previous round having to switch. I feel like this was a good approach in trying to balance the play on the separate boards, and in the end was a good experience.

Completing an undefeated run, and securing the gold in yet another GT, was Liam with his Hunter Clade:

Another GT, another Gold - it seems you're having a hard time collecting the different medals, though it's probably not a bad problem to have. Well done on the great finish!

You've swung back to your previous flame Hunter Clade, and it appears to have paid off. Was this a decision based on the tournament/terrain format? Were you predicting the team would have good flex into both ITD and BD?

• The little toasters certainly didn't disappoint, the Ruststalkers love leaping over barricades and across gantries of their home turf on forge world beta decima. Over on the Gallowdark the Clade enjoys the free mission actions of the servo skull, and a well placed forward deploy can place an infiltrator to threaten enemy mid points.

Your run of major tournaments lately has been particularly successful, with gold in the past two GTs, as well as topping a recent league, all with different teams. Is there any particular practice/preparation you would contribute this to? Would you have any advice for others wanting to do well at a tournament?

• With a golden ticket secured and a place in the Aussie WTC team, I hope to spend the rest of the year wiping the dust of my Skittles to bring them in line with Novitiates so that no matter what the next two Dataslates bring I'll have a choice of teams to bring to the international scene.

As far as jumping into the tournament scene goes, find players that truly challenge you and elevate each other, a crab bucket helps no crustacean.

Did you have any concerns coming into the GT, perhaps particular opponents/matchups or related to the ITD/BD split?

• I would be lying to say I hadn't considered all of the top cut and what they were bringing to the table. Pathfinders, Heirotech, and Warp Coven are certainly able to run rampant on BD if allowed to leverage their movement. For the most part I concerned myself with playing my team to the best of my abilities and not overwhelm myself on what opponents I might have to contend with.

Thank you again for the chance to share my thoughts with the kill team community at large, hope to see everyone at the many upcoming Sydney tournaments and the fantastic community spots throughout ❤️

Coming in second place, with a draw to myself on day 1, and a final round loss in the decider to Liam’s Hunter Clade, was Sam running Hierotek:

With Bheta Decima making up 50% of the tournament, how do you feel it fits in a competitive setting, especially following the recent changes?

• Bheta Decima is a lot of fun, but I don't think it's particularly balanced. Boards 1-3 work reasonably well if you have teams that are good on BD, but otherwise it's pretty miserable. This tournament worked well because everyone brought teams that would work on both ITD and BD, but BD is such a miserable experience for some teams, I can see it being hard to balance into the regular competitive scene. Let's say for instance you are a Breachers player - Breachers are great on Open and ITD and terrible on BD. You won't want to have a tournament decider on BD as it's an enormous advantage to most opponents. There's a risk of BD making events too rock, paper, scisscors so I think it's usage needs to be well considered first.

This GT was the first Australian event with a top cut, and it definitely made for an interesting atmosphere. What are your thoughts on the format, and do you think it can/should be used for GTs moving forward?

• I really enjoyed the top cut format and thought it worked well. It meant that to get a podium place, you had to beat other good players. I have a curse of getting to the final round and losing to the tournament champ, and the top cut format guarantees a podium for the loser of the final which i think makes a lot of sense (every other GT we've had the loser of the final - twice me - has dropped out of the podium positions which is silly). I would like to see this in other 2 day events but you'll need to be quite careful around pods and perhaps use seeding to distribute the top players across them.

  Coming out of the stress of a major tournament, where do you like to chill out and play some more casual Kill Team? How do you approach casual games to make them more relaxing?

• My casual games are normally at Castle Hil RSL, Decked out or Chatswood RSL - sadly not all 3 each week. I also play in the regular leagues which i treat very casually, and like to vary up the teams i play. That being said, i don't find competitive play particularly stressful. I played a lot of sport when I was younger, and I make sure i'm dialed in to the competitive games i'm playing but competing isn't a foriegn or stressful experience. In a casual game, my opponent and I will talk more about different strategies etc during the game (rather than just after) and i'll do some more YOLO plays then I typically would, but that's about it. I also like to vary up the teams I play more in casual games, and play some teams I wouldn't take to a tournament.

Finishing in third place, with just a single loss to Sam’s Hierotek, was Aleksa with Pathfinders:

Now that we have some tournament-level Bheta Decima under our belts, do you think there may be additional changes required for it to continue being used competitively?

• Add scatter terrain, reduce cost of climbs, and then maybe its alright.

You brought Pathfinders to a setting with 50% ITD and I heard you had been practicing with them leading up to the GT. Do you have any advice for other Pathfinder players with regards to running them effectively in the Gallowdark?

• Markerlight guard is amazing, abuse your leaders free mission action and the forward deploy not having the usual limitations

Did you have an MVP across the GT who consistently performed or stood out in some other way?

• The marksman pathfinder and the recon dron are by far the two best operatvies on the team. Marksman kills everything, recon kills stuff and makes someone else kill everyone.

And finally, perhaps the most important result of the tournament - Christine with her Warp Coven finishing in fourth and securing the Golden Ticket!

Huge congrats on finishing in fourth and earning the Golden Ticket! I know you were keen to go, so you must be very happy.

• I am thank you very much

Going into the tournament with the Golden Ticket on the line, was there any particular preparation you did to give yourself the best chance?

• This is the first competition I've been to with BD, sat down played about 4 games just to get a feel for the wizards on the new map. I also spent a lot of time thinking of new spell interactions into various match ups. Intersession is no longer a problem match which is a nice feeling, always having your double shoot ploy, the extra wounds off arcane robes plus your relentless spell carrying over turning points, puts a lot of the the issues with elites behind them.

How did you feel about the power level of Warp Coven following the recent buffs? Do you think they might have what it takes to compete at the top level?

• The new buffs make them feel fun to play however I think there are a still a few inherent issues with the team that I think will always keep them out of the top bracket. They are still very vulnerable to APL modification and with no way to modify their own (out side of specific free actions) and weakness is very exploitable. There are a few others but that is a real big one.

We've got some newer players coming up in the scene and making for tough competition. What do you think they're doing right, and what advice do you have for people wanting to improve and do well in tournaments?

• I think players have the right mindset to try focus on points team and not kill team however learning how to achieve those goals seems to be just a step beyond their reach. Learning how to push threat appropriately, safely while still playing the point is a difficult thing to balance, and once you find that centre you're good at kill team.

How did I go

Going into this one myself, with the newly-nerfed Fellgor, I did joke about being primarily concerned with taking out Best Painted (more on that later).
Day one was a mixed bag of highs and lows. First match against Mikey’s fabulous Blades of Khaine on diagonal ITD, I entered with a fair bit of confidence seeing as it was Capture on a map I was familiar with. While the Banshee parry-first ability can be a bit scary, and the Scorpion exarch can double-fight a goat to death pretty easily, I managed to take control of the big central room as well as push all the way up one of the flanks, securing my first win.
Second match was a nightmare manifest, being paired against Sam’s Hierotek Circle, on Bheta Decima, the mission being Loot. The only aspect I felt was in my favour is that it was BD Map 1, meaning all objectives bar one were on the ground floor - meaning limited climbing required - and there were three corridors to move through. Suffering but surviving a Cryptek alpha strike on one flank, I managed to challenge the central corridor, while also presenting threats elsewhere, meaning Sam was unable to run away with scoring. My Mangler did his thing and successfully killed the Cryptek twice, denying Escort Operative, and in the end I was very happy to pull a glorious Draw.
Match three for the day saw me back on ITD up against John’s Kommandos, playing Secure. Having deflated following my previous draw against Sam, John did a great job taking advantage of my mistakes, and I failed to prevent him taking 4 primaries TP1 and 2, putting me in a difficult position trying to fight my way back. Coming down to one final fight in TP4 which would have allowed me to flip a primary objective for the 2 point swing, my Shaman rolled two hits instead of three, failing to get the kill and leaving me with a one point loss.

After licking my wounds, we returned for Day two. Expecting to battle it out for Best of the Rest, we were presented with a single drop from the top 8, meaning those in 9th and 10th - myself and Brucey - would be playing off to join the top cut in what has been dubbed the Redemption Round. Returning to Bheta Decima, playing Capture against Brucey’s Kommandos, I went in resolved to not repeat my mistakes from round three. With one flank proving to be a very awkward distance for the goats’ lack of shooting, I setup to control my home objective, have consistent pressure in the middle, and fight over the side with the furnace. This paid off and I was able to grind away at the Orks, take control of the furnace, and then start pressuring the rest of the board with numbers advantage. Hitting the end of TP3, time was called and I took the win by 3 points.
Breaking back into the top 8, round five had me up against Rosario and his Elucidian Starstriders, play Loot (boo) on ITD (yay). My approach here was to focus my pressure through one of the contested rooms, while having enough bodies elsewhere to keep his attention split. TP2 saw a lot of back and forth with neither side giving much ground, but it was TP3 that I managed to capitalise on Ros leaving his home objective unattended, meaning I was able to charge my leader across the threshold and steal a valuable point uncontested. From there, I did enough to continue looting and pushing my tac-ops to finish with another 3 point win.
Final round for the tournament and I was playing the world champ Aleksa and his Pathfinders. This was Secure on ITD which was somewhat of a relief, as I wouldn’t have been too excited about Pathfinders on BD, but of course this was never going to be easy, especially with all the Pathfinder/ITD tech he had been talking about. The map had a big open room, which Aleksa slyly blocked off with barricades severely limiting my reach, plus a usual contested room and a corridor separating the two areas. I committed significant resources to the big room - with the gong, shaman, leader, and two grenades - and it was playing out pretty well, but I probably lost bodies just a little too quickly. to maintain presence. A tipping point was when I got a bit greedy with my leader, taking a shot when I thought he was safe, but it turned out that Aleksa had the movement to get up close and shoot him in the face. Despite making headway on the other side of the board, I lost control of my Recover Item and any ability to protect my home objective, and I was just slightly out of reach to flip his. Perhaps some more aggressive play through the other room and the corridor would have seen a different result, but in the end we finished equal on primaries, but went 4-6 on Tac Ops and I lost by 2.

Reaching the end of the tournament, I finished with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses. Given the win in the Redemption round returning me to the top 8, I landed in 5th. This is much better than I was expecting following my loss in the third round, though at the same time, going into the tournament I think I could have done better as well. Regardless, I’m pretty happy with how I played in some matches at least, and the tournament was a lot of fun.

So what was that about best painted? I won!