Rogue Trader Tournament, 01/12/02: Introduction
If you've read my earlier article on Rogue Trader Tournaments (RTT), you'll know that I was pleased overall with how I did, but I could have done better. I didn't have to wait long to get my chance. Dream Wizards, in Rockville, Maryland, hosted another RTT on January 12, 2002, and I was there with the goal of winning one of the prizes: Best Army, Best Sportsmanship, Best Painting, whatever. While experimenting with army lists (like I did in the last RTT) is fun, sometimes the competitive urge overcomes me and I get in the mood to show people what my Fighting Tigers and I are capable of. 

Rise of the Redhead
For tournaments, I prefer a well-rounded army that can shoot, fight in hand-to-hand, take out tanks, take some casualties, and--most importantly--move. In the last tournament, I used a Bike-heavy army;this time, I wanted something a bit more "mainstream." Specifically, I wanted an army that would be more competitive on the field and would score higher in the Composition category. 

At the same time, I wanted to do something fun. A lot of people like to play the same list, using the same units, over and over again; not me. People who are familiar with my army tell me that they really enjoy playing against "the Redhead," Raja Khandar Madu,(below) one of the two Chapter Masters who rule the Fighting Tigers. I really like her too, so I decided to bring her along.

One of the problems with the Redhead, alas, is how expensive she is: she's a full-blown Force Commander with a whole slew of wargear and an accompanying Command Squad. Plus, I usually don't bring her for anything less than a 2000-point battle, and the RTT had a limit of 1500.

The answer, of course, was to power her down for the event. Accordingly, the following list reflects Khandar Madu before she assumed command of half the Chapter, back when she was an up-and-coming kshatriya, or captain.  Here then, is Strikeforce: Khandar, at exactly 1500 points.
 

Assessing the army
Reading through the list, you may wonder why so many Veteran Sergeants. For "fluff," or background, reasons. Fighting Tigers revere wisdom and experience, so many squads are led by a Veteran Sergeant. Perhaps a tad inefficient, but I like the snazzy wargear they can have (especially those bolter-flamers!) and I REALLY like the Leadership 9. One squad (Tactical Squad Gupta) does not have a Veteran Sergeant as it is led by Khandar Madu. Though she is an Independent Character, she will be staying with that squad.

I was extremely pleased with how this list turned out. In trying to adhere to the RTT Composition standards, I had to cut out a lot of "extras" (such as pintle-mounted storm bolters for the Rhinos and a hunter-killer missile for the Predator) that I had been routinely adding to my lists. The result was a lean, efficient force with plenty of mobility, able to fight against tanks or infantry, that could absorb a lot of casualties.

So how did it do?

Related Pages
Other Rogue Trader Tournaments
 

Like what you've seen? Then vote for the Jungle in the "Top 100 40K Sites"

© Copyright Kenton Kilgore, January 2002
 

Top