The results are in from the NOVA 2012 GT and Tony Kopach has pulled out another undefeated NOVA GT tournament win. If you haven’t seen the spectacular final game between Tony and runner up Nick Nanavati, you should absolutely go and watch it. You can catch the 11th Company’s recording here. This was an amazingly close, well-played match between two great players. What was even more interesting about it, though, was the nature of the armies on the table. In a huge change from what we saw in 5th, the finals featured a knock-down, drag-out slugfest between two all-foot armies. Tony ran Space wolves with guard allies, and Nick ran foot daemons that featured the new White Dwarf Updated screamers and flamers heavily. In this, the first part of our NOVA 2012 review and recap, we’ve got the army lists of 2012 GT finalists Tony Kopach and Nick Nanavati for your viewing pleasure.
Note: these lists are from observation and may not be exact, but as best we can tell, they’re damn close.
WINNER – Tony Kopach 2012 NOVA Open List – Space Wolves with Guard Allies:
HQ1: Njal
HQ(Guard): Primaris Psyker
Elites1: Wolf Guard x4, 4x Terminator Armor, 4x Powerfist
Elites2: Lone Wolf, Terminator Armor, Stormshield, Chainfist
Elites3: Lone Wolf, Terminator Armor, Stormshield, Chainfist
Troops1: Grey Hunters x10, 2x Plasma, Banner
Troops2: Grey Hunters x10, 2x Plasma, Banner
Troops3: Grey Hunters x10, 2x Plasma, Banner
Troops4: Grey Hunters x10, 2x Melta, Banner
Troops5: Grey Hunters x5, Flamer
Troops(Guard):
Platoon Command Squad
Infantry Squad, Power Weapon (Axe)
Infantry Squad, Power Weapon (Axe)
Infantry Squad, Power Weapon (Axe)
Infantry Squad, Power Weapon (Axe)
Infantry Squad
H.Support1: Long Fangs x5, 4x Missile Launchers
H.Support2: Long Fangs x5, 4x Missile Launchers
Notes: The 5 infantry squads would blob up and then depend on Njal and the Primaris psyker to give them major buffs. This culminated in the final game where for several turns Tony had a blob of ~50 guardsmen who all had rerolls to hit from Njal’s Prescience, 4++ invulnerable saves from Njal’s Forewarning, and Feel No Pain from the Primaris Psyker’s Endurance. That’s on top of And They Shall Know No Fear and re-rolls on Morale checks, both conferred by Njal. Suffice it to say, that guard blob was njasty. But, in my opinion, the best part of Tony’s list design is that the massive guard blob and the two surprisingly effective Lone Wolves made such fantastic distractions from the 45 grey hunters he had running around. Tony’s gameplay was simple and brutally effective: The blob and lone wolves charged up the middle and created a distraction, while his Grey Hunters scooted out onto objectives/quarters, locked them down, killed what needed killing, and won him the game.
RUNNER UP – Nick Nanavati 2012 NOVA Open GT List – Chaos Daemons:
HQ1: Fateweaver
Elites1: Flamers x6, pyrocaster
Elites2: Flamers x6, pyrocaster
Elites3: Flamers x6, pyrocaster
Troops1: Plaguebearers x5, Icon
Troops2: Plaguebearers x5, Icon
Troops3: Plaguebearers x5
Troops4: Plaguebearers x5
F. Attack1: Screamers x5
F. Attack2: Screamers x5
F. Attack3: Screamers x5
H.Support1: Daemon Prince, Wings, Iron Hide, Unholy Might, Breath of Chaos, Mark of Slaanesh, Aura of Acquiesence, Soporific Musk.
H.Support2: Daemon Prince, Wings, Iron Hide, Unholy Might, Breath of Chaos, Mark of Slaanesh, Aura of Acquiesence, Soporific Musk.
Notes: Nick’s list takes advantage of the amazing new Screamers and Flamers, which have breathed new life into a codex hit quite hard by the AP3 power sword nerf. He piloted the list incredibly well, and took advantage of his army’s incredible mobility to deep strike conservatively, land safely, then bring his forces to bear exactly where he needed them to be.
Both lists were incredibly well suited to the NOVA format which featured table quarters heavily, so 100% of their armies were able to score quarters and objectives. Enjoy the coverage, (great job 11th Company!) and please let us know if we’ve screwed up anything in the lists!