S30: Week 3: The Path of the Winner
Welcome, gamers, to the end of week three of San Diego’s Big 40k league! Unlike the gentleman’s game of previous seasons, Pod 1 is a bloody brawl with few able to keep their pretty uniforms clean. Hans Lieber's Chaos Knights are eating every chicken in this room, smashing his way to the top of the Pod this week and pushing Victor Campos’ Heretic Astartes from his barstool. However, Hans has to be nervous, bandaging himself up like Javioer Bardem in a west texas town, as he has a loss and a draw on his record. This keeps the saloon door open for many others in the Pod with 4-1 records and a swagger to step through. Jeremy Larson’s Astra Militarum or Dustin Lindgren’s Death Guard night be the hombres to do it as they are in third and fourth spot, respectively. And they’re the only ones left in the pod without a loss to their names.
Alex Ivanov’s Asuryani have followed the ancient Eldar Path of the Winner to remain at the top of Pod 2 for another week with a 3-0 record so far. There’s been a good amount of fist throwing below him with Juan Diego Vasquez’ Imperial Knights and Joe Bravo’s Ultramarines in second and third places. However, none of the action is enough to outmaneuver Alex’s waysight at this point. Greg Kellen’s Ork horde is battling it out with Justin Jones’ Emperor's Children for the top of Pod 3 with the Warboss holding the (massive) upper hand right now. Both have losses to their names which makes them vulnerable. The guns of Tony Baumayrr’s Astra Militarum may have the final say. Tony sits in third place now but stands ready to roll past the frontrunners without a loss to his name.
Hive Fleet Coop Guice’s Tyranids are dominating Pod 4 with three wins to his name and no losses. Coop’s Norn Emissary, surveying the battlefield, would observe losses all across the Pod with broken bones and wrecked tanks (crashed venoms) scattered everywhere. Coop accounts for 75% of the wins in the pod! While there are a lot of games to be played yet, it seems that few have the biological stamina to threaten his dominance. The stalemate atop Pod 5 continues with Sean Koch’s T'au and Jan Pferdekamper’s Adepta Sororitas glaring at each other over their twin n 2-0 records. One imagines them slowly reloading their weapons while not taking their eyes off each other.
Tri Le’s T'au are doing a great job nuking everyone else in Pod 6 from orbit with a 4-0 record and leaving very few points on the table. Keith Nyberg’s Chaos Demons stand in second place with two wins and not a loss to be found. Our two frontrunners are the only ones left in the Pod without losses so they’ll be the ones to beat. If either or both of them pick up a loss, it’ll open up the Pod for other punters with a loss to their names.
Devin Pamintuan’s T'au have fired all the shots they’ll fire in this league and stand at the top of Pod 7 with a 4-1 record. As is Tau custom, Devin has kept room in his empire for others to step forward (in the form of a loss on his record). Noah Whitehead’s Adeptus Custodes or Eric Halverson’s Adepta Sororitas, who stand in second and third right now, could bring the light of the Imperium to the top of the Pod if they can keep any more losses of their records. Eric is the only bruiser in the Pod without a loss to his name and will take the Pod if he can keep it that way.
It’s great to see so many Pods getting to (or close to) 50% completion at this stage in the league. I am working to get caught up on a bunch of league stuff. I updated the Pod winners on the leaderboard and will update the Final winners soon. I am putting the finishing touches on the fourth terrain set also. Stay tuned for that and remember, for every battle honour on the leaderboard, a thousand heroes die alone, unsung, and unremembered.