I present to you my interview with Dan Saye, the man with more passion for beards than anyone I've ever met! Naturally, he's playing the beardiest army of them all; Dispossessed.
Allegiance: Dispossessed
Warden King (General, Grudgebearer)
Warden King
Runelord (Ancestral Pickaxe)
Celestant-Prime (Ally)
10 Longbeards (Great Axes and Shields)
10 Longbeards (Great Axes and Shields)
40 Warriors (Runic Icon, Double-handed Axes and Shields)
30 Ironbreakers
20 Irondrakes
Dan: So, what's in my list? I wasn't able to confirm that I was going the night before I had to send lists in, and I'd mucked around with a list. And then I was like, "This seems like an OK thing", because I'd been working on a Gutbuster army for Cancon next year, and then I was just gonna take the same list I took to MOAB. But I thought I'd change it up.
Gabe: Ok, let's kick this off. Was Dispossessed what got you to Masters?
D: I literally only played Dispossessed. I mean, I played them from Cancon until now, and took them to pretty much every event I went to.
G: You weren't ever tempted to go… I mean, I know you love beards. You weren't ever tempted to go Fyreslayers or Overlords?
D: I have a small Fyreslayers army and a gigantic Overlords army. But, but I dunno, I really like the Dispossessed. The other two are fun to play but I just love the Dispossessed.
G: So, it's a very "Dwarf" problem to somehow control the board in movement. Is that a big issue for you?
D: Yes. So, that's why "pre-GHB17", I always took Bugman and Rangers. Or Miners. Or both. Because having something that can pop up is really important. GHB17 was really good in a number of ways for Dwarves, especially the Ancestral Pickaxe, which is pretty much the best artefact ever. Being able to drop a Hero and a unit means that I don't have to take rangers or miners. I can take maybe a stronger unit, which usually ends up being the Irondrakes because it pops up and blasts something into oblivion. Or a big unit of Warriors. People usually expect the Irondrakes, so when a unit of forty dwarfs pops up on an objective, it's like, "Come and have a go!".
G: Do you think the introduction of things like the Pickaxe, offset the loss of all the compendium units that have dissolved into the void?
D: Yes. Umm, I used to play with Grudge Throwers and Bolt Throwers, because I thought they were awesome and I loved the models. So, I was disappointed to lose those into the compendium. But at the same time, as much as I disliked losing it, I was excited for everything that I gain. Kinda like, "Ah yeah, that sucks", but I came at it with the attitude that I was lucky to have used that stuff for as long as I did. I had a good run. GHB17 came out in time for MOAB, so I got to get in a good spin with the dwarfs. The only problem is I will always be out-dropped now, because Dispossessed used to have an amazing Warscroll Battalion that is now redundant.
G: The unit of Ironbreakers. Is there a reason…
D: They're cheaper. I used to run two units of ten and they were a pain for my opponents to shift. Then, I ran one unit of twenty, and they were awful for my opponents to shift. Then I ran a unit of thirty at MOAB, and no one killed it. They're brutal. They ignore rend -1, re-roll armour saves, passing battleshock on 1-3, and then the Runic Icon on their banner is just annoying for opponent's magic. At MOAB, I played against a Tzeentch list, and it was an awesome game. But across my game, I stopped five spells out of six, to the point where he just stopped casting at them, because there was no point. My little banner wavers were exhausted by the end of it, just screaming "No magic for you!". But yeah, that blob gets an 80 point discount for running full strength, where a lot are only giving 40 to 60 points off.
G: And twenty Irondrakes? You didn't want to go two units of ten?
D: No, only because if I choose to use them with the Pickaxe, I can take all twenty with me. As well as that, I think people expect the twenty Irondrakes to be tunnelling, and of the seven games I've played post-GHB17, they've only gone tunnelling three times. A lot of opponents set up in preparation for Irondrakes to be the pop-up element, and sometimes deploy very conservatively. So, when a close combat unit like the Warriors or Breakers pops up instead, it catches them on the back foot. Irondrakes pop up and kill something, but they inevitably die. I can sack that unit and maybe a few others with it, but if a unit of Ironbreakers pops up, they spend the rest of the game, just not going anywhere. In scenarios such as Duality of Death, it means I can pop up a hero on an objective surrounded by a shield wall of near-impenetrable armour.
G: So, at no point did you write up a list for one of the other Dwarf armies you own and consider dropping it in?
D: What other army is.. Well, no, I would have considered taking another bearded army, but Dispossessed got me there, so it's the Year of the Beard. And there's this big joke that I only play bearded armies.
G: Yeah, I know a lot of the guys I've interviewed so far are kind of taking the armies that got them to Masters, as a bit of a poetic end to the year, I guess. There's a couple that are mixing it up, but a lot are sticking to what they owe Masters to.
D: And I actually think that's how Masters should be. Take the list that got you there. That's my plan at least.
G: Good stuff. And how about your decision to ally in the Prime? Was that an easy decision?
D: Not at all. That Prime used to be thirty Quarrellers, which is sixty shots a turn. You can buff them up and kick out a horrific amount of damage. But I went with the Prime, because not only does he give me another movement option when dropping in, but it keeps my opponent guessing about when and where he's gonna enter the game. Say you've got that big unit of Breakers or Drakes popping up, you can bring the Prime in to support them, or split threats and drop on the other side of the board. I used to have a Knight Heraldor in the list, but I think the Prime offers a lot more flexibility and Mortal Wound output. I did have to rejig the list a lot to fit him in without losing too many bodies.
G: And leading into Masters, is there an Achilles Heel, that you don't want to face?
D: Realistically, my army struggles with armies that are fast. One of my big losses has been against Seraphon, and on Turn One, they had pinned me on my deployment line, and I couldn't move forward. So yeah, fast armies, only because they don't really need to pin me down for very long to stop me from having the turns to get where I need to be. The thing is, I have the Rend and the damage to break it, but if an army has speed and enough disposable units to block my movement, then I can't move fast enough to get onto objectives. That's kind of the reason the Prime is in there, just in case someone is able to beat off the unit of dwarfs. Then a big ol' Prime is dropping in on them. So, I'm converting a White-Dwarf-crewed Mech Warrior to be my Prime, because I refuse to field beardless models.
G: Is that going to be fully painted by Masters?
D: It'll have to be! I got three weeks. I was planning on using all eleven weeks leading into CanCon for my Gutbusters, but it wasn't to be. I'm very keen for CanCon as well! Masters will be fun. The one drawback for Masters for me is that its going to be the majority of people who have been playing the tournament circuit for the last year, so there's not really going to be any surprises. In the same way that I'm not going to be surprising anyone with Dwarfs. And like, Liam has played Sylvaneth the whole time, so he'll be playing Sylvaneth. Its very predictable. The Masters that I'm looking forward to is wrapping up the year, and having some fun with the boys. It's been a pretty crazy year for competitive gaming, and I'm kind of looking forward to getting through Masters, and then mucking around with silly, little Gutbuster lists.
G: Leading into Master's, do you have a personal goal?
D: I'd love to win three. I'm expecting to get two. I play a second tier army very well, because they're all I've played, but I keep needing to create surprises for people. When I play Sylvaneth once, and they watch me delete a Spirit of Durthu, they don't make that mistake again. Going up against the best players in the country, I think two, but I'd love three. But I also know that everyone there has either played me or seen me play, and as soon as people figure out the army, it's very easy to counter all of those little abilities. So, umm, so that'll be a trick. The other problem is that my army has a lot of tricks up its sleeve, but I usually need to use all of them to win.
G: So, you kind of have to scrape all those one percents.
D: Yeah, like, I never win games before turn five. I think I've won a single game before turn five. I don't win early, I win late. It's not like I use one or two of my tricks and it works, I have to use every trick I have and then cross my fingers and hope it's enough. I know it's like 50% Order, but I'd love to play something other than Order.
G: If you had five bucks on it, but who are you betting on to win?
D: If I had to put five bucks on it, I'd vote for me. If you don't have a good tip, go for good odds, and I'm like 100:1 to win this thing. But if I had to pick someone else; Dan Brewer has been a Bridesmaid, never a bride. I'd love to see him up there, because he's very good at what he plays. I think a lot of people will just take a net list, which is fair enough because it's obviously super-competitive, but I'd love to see an unconventional, unoptimised list thats played incredibly well. But then it all comes down to the draw as well. Players #1 and #2 could play each other in the first round and knock each other out of contention with a bad result, you know? It's hard to call, but ultimately I'll go me. Only because no one else is playing Dwarfs and for that reason, they're garbage. If you don't have a beard, you're naturally inferior to people who do have beards. People message me to tell me that half of their army have beards, and I'm like "That's like telling me that half of your army brought weapons to the battle. Good for you, haha." Then, as of next season, if you're not horribly overweight, you're not doing it right.
G: Pot bellies or go home.
D: Yeah, but my favourite thing about the scene, is seeing all of these left-field lists starting to emerge and do well. Ones you don't hear about on Podcasts and stuff, just cool home-brew lists that people have put tons of thought into constructing and playing. Seeing Liam's FEC, Dan's Skaven, there's so many people I'm not giving credit to. Ash making Gordrakk work in his Ironjaws army. I love to see non-standard, non-"competitive" lists do well. I don't mind who wins, I just want to see a non-standard, non-netlist one do well.
G: Cos I know that was part of my inspiration for doing Pestilens is that no one else was playing them. They had a Battletome and they had enough support at the time to at least die fighting, but they just weren't even on the radar. I was talking to Brewer a bit, and it sounds like he might be trying out Pestilens next year, but my goal next year, I was like "I want to be the best Pestilens Player in Australia." How hard, could that be, right? I'm like the only one playing them. I could come in at 80th next year and still probably nab Best in Allegiance. Then I get a message from Brewer, and he says "Hey man, I'm playing Pestilens next year." and I'm like "Dammit", haha.
D: See, I'm the top Dispossessed play, but I think I'm also the only Dispossessed player.
G: Exactly, it's fool-proof!
D: My goal next year will be to be the best Gutbusters player next year, but we'll see how that goes. I'm running lots of Maneaters! The models are amazing. Will you be at CanCon?
G: Not sure yet. I'm currently... negotiating terms. I would love to, but we'll see. I'm sure it'll sell out, because a lot of people haven't signed up yet. Did you have anything else you wanted to add?
D: BEARDS!!
G: Ha, I guess that wraps it up, then.
D: Grow a beard!
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