John Lennon
After my first game against Mani had been submitted to BCP, as I started to prepare for another game, a member of the event staff gave me a head’s up that some members of the stream chat thought my mid-game Calculated Feint move wasn’t possible because Calgar and Aggressors move 5”. This is relevant because the Stratagem allows models to normal move up to d6”, but the judge reminded me that a model couldn’t use this to move further than its Movement characteristic. I believe the judge was mostly trying to make me aware of internet chatter, and not steer me to a specific action. I recalled that Calgar specifically needed 6” to make it, as he was the closest model to the ruin I was trying to cross.
My immediate reaction was that I’d made a mistake when it had made a clear impact – we had spent time measuring that exact model’s movement. At that point, I immediately decided to concede. This is probably a decision I should have sat down and conferred with multiple organizers about, but I do not regret that this was my instinctive response, and even with the facts I know now I’d likely have made the same decision even with more time. At the time I was confident that 5” of movement for Calgar would not have reached the spot I needed him in.
Next, I called Mani over to let him know the situation and my decision. He had not been involved in the conversation in any way up to this point, and I had decided to concede before speaking to him. Based on his reaction, I genuinely believe he had no idea until I informed him, and I don’t think he played any role in the judge coming up to me to inform me of the rule.
I was kicking myself at the time, and because our game went so long I had to almost immediately move to a new stream table to start my first game in the loser’s bracket. I finished deploying before my opponent and cracked open my codex to review my unit rules. At this point I discovered that Calgar had a 6” Movement characteristic, not 5” as I had been told. I also realized I’d been moving Calgar all weekend because he wears Gravis armor, mostly I’d been too lazy to check that wasn’t the case. I had specifically chosen to forfeit because I believed Calgar could not have moved 6” with the Feint Stratagem. I strongly believe that 5” of Movement could have also taken the Aggressors to safety as well, but we cannot go back and 100% confirm that beyond a doubt. Calgar however, I could be sure of because we specifically measured 6” from him as the front model.
I alerted members of the event staff, who conferred and spoke with Mani. I was not part of that conversation and only know the outcome, which was that the staff decided not to reverse my forfeiture and I’d continue to play in the loser’s bracket. At that point I collected myself and played through the night and two more games with Mani, both free of drama, eventually finishing second to Mani. I’d like to congratulate Mani on his world championship and a trio of hard-fought games.
Mani Cheema
Note: Mani's statement also refers to another less prominent accusation about an issue with cards that was thrown at him, and mentions his opponent refuting it. You can see that comment from his opponent here. I can also confirm that nothing I’ve heard from anyone indicates that this card issue is anything other than an online rumour.
The Warhammer World Championship was one of the most fun and challenging events i have ever attended and it was great to play so many people from around the world. I feel very proud and honoured to be the first ever World Champ. It’s an incredible achievement and should be the happiest moment of my 40k career, but i am overwhelmingly sad and disheartened by all the negativity surrounding the final games between myself and John. I personally felt those 3 games were amongst the best games of 40k i have ever played and the 2 of us had a great time playing them. We had 1 small honest mistake across the 3 games where John unintentionally uses a stratagem incorrectly, and for some reason i was branded a bully and a cheat because of it.
It is comforting seeing many people who were at the event come out and say that i didn’t do anything wrong. The trolls continued making up stories saying i was stealing cards during one game and i appreciate Lachlan himself coming out to confirm its complete nonsense and he made no such comments. Though i have been defended by the refs, judges and even my opponents, the achievement now feels like it has been tainted and my reputation has been smashed to pieces. My confidence is currently shattered and i don’t really feel like playing competitive events at all anymore.
Now the online community has seen the devastation that false rumours can have on someone’s career and personal life i hope something can be put in place by streamers and forums to protect players from this kind of abuse moving forwards.
I want to thank all of my opponents, especially John for 3 incredible games of 40k and for being an incredible sportsman, as well as thanking all the judges, refs and GW for a great event. A big thanks also to Goonhammer for taking the time to try and clear up the situation for people online. I can only hope that the damage done is not irreversible.