Lightning Strykes

Gencon Photos Part 2

2010-08-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

Lots of cool photos from the dealer's area of Gencon. Mostly photos of miniatures at Privateer's booth, but this first photo has nothing to do with Warmachine. I ended up spending quite a bit of time at the Mayfair booth playing demos and earning my Knight of Catan ribbon on Saturday so I could earn that 50% off coupon (bought Histories of Catan: Struggle for Rome; great game!). At the edge of the Mayfair booth, before you got to the Catan University roped-off section, there was this. An electronic version of Catan, with touch control commands. Very cool!

Next, more photos of from the Privateer booth...

I have my Warpwolf Stalker put together, and he is quite the beast! Primed too. Someday hopefully it will see some paint. So being a Circle player, I took this photo above for future reference.

...and then the Stone Keeper, which I picked up on Thursday and had put together to use Friday during Iron Arena (more on that in a future post).

Unit of Skinwalkers, which I also picked up. Man, do I love these guys! Also put them together and used them Friday for IA. I will be getting the blisters later to fill them out to their maximum unit allotment.

Loved the paint job on Laris in the P3 paint competition. My photo does no justice to the actual model. None at all.

And then the impressive Gunnbjorn. One odd trend I noticed in person is how dark the studio models look. Lots of dark tones and shadows and recesses. In the photos they look just right, and when I take photos of my own paint jobs, they all look super bright, so I have to wonder if the studio guys paint darker so they show up better in photos. Just wondering...

And last, one of the Feral Warpwolves submitted for the P3 competition. Loved the look of this one!

Next post, my photos and comments about Iron Arena that will wrap up what little Gencon coverage I have. Until next time...

Red.

Gencon Photos

2010-08-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some miscellaneous photos I took while I was at Gencon this year. A few shots I liked from the miniatures gallery at the PP booth, and then a couple of scenario tables in the minis hall.

First, above, here's eNemo. I wish I could paint as well as some of these people do. Go get 'em old man!

I was in the middle of painting my own Cyclone until I stopped abruptly to paint my Cryx, until I stopped them to paint my Circle (sigh). Anyway, I really liked the one above, so I snapped a shot of it.

Above, eCaine's battlegroup has a Grenadier in it, hooray! I have these two light jacks completed too (but not eCaine) and not nearly done as well.

Here is a shot of one of the terrain tables with the IK train set up. Looks awesome! We were told in no short order that until 6 p.m. only fully painted armies could play on these tables. Made me mad that throughout the day I witnessed a number of people with unpainted models on them. Who was in charge of this anyway? Phooey!

Apollyon! Yes, the very same one pictured in the last issue of No Quarter. I didn't hear whether or not anyone managed to beat the monstrous jack. There were a number who tried...

OK, so this is part one of my photos. A few more to show you as I get the time.

Red

Gencon: Reviewing the Ram

2010-08-12T04:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday, my fellow Warmachiners and I made what is becoming an annual tradition of eating lunch at the Ram. It's hard to beat a place that has menu items (and Beer!) named after characters in the Iron Kingdoms. They even make a special brew each year in honor of the con, and this year is was Primal Porter. The service is excellent (some of them even dress the part) and the ambiance is fantastic, as gaming banners are hanging everywhere, albeit some of them are showing their age, painfully. Yet somehow I seem to be underwhelmed by the experience.

I can't remember what I had eaten last year, or the name of the beer, but I remember being a little disappointed that the food and drink didn't stand out any more than it did. As far as taste went, it was just average, or even a little less than average. And whatever beer I tried last year had a bit of an odd aftertaste (I know it was a red lager, but I can't remember what they had named it). This year I did try the Primal Porter that they debuted, and it was pretty good. I like a dark beer, and this one was fairly smooth. (I should mention that I brew my own, and have become rather particular, and judgmental, about what I drink).

This year I tried one of their blackened cajun variety of burgers (I should have taken notes, because the name of it was amusing when I read it on the menu, but it escapes me now). I like spicy, robust food, and this was anything but. Completely bland. I've never had meat that I just couldn't taste. And even though I can't remember the name of it, this is two years that blandness has reigned. I'm not quite ready to say "no more" to what might be a trend, but it does seem to be an unfortunate coinicidence for them. Two strikes to say the least.

Am I suggesting you not go? Certainly not. You need to make your own opinion. The service is fantastic, and atmosphere is great... except that any number of places downtown Indianapolis are stepping up their "game" and I am willing to bet their food is better (like Champions across from the convention center. They have wonderful Scottish eggs, for example, and their food left quite an impression on me several years after the fact, even if they haven't reinvented their menu for the con).

By the way, I didn't pick up a tee shirt this year. I like the Trolls as a faction, and have even considered collecting an army of them. But sometimes the Troll artwork leaves me scratching my head.

Red

Triumph, Discordia, and Malice (not necessarily in that order)

2010-08-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Realizing, of course, that this blog is a little biased, here are some pictures I took at the Privateer booth this weekend of the new character warjacks. Apologies to the Menoth and Khador players out there. It seems the photos of your jacks were "disrupted" in transmission. The first in a series of Gencon 2010 photo posts, here are pictures of Triumph, Malice, and Discordia.

Triumph is an 11 point Defender. He can shoot stealthy models, which is cool, but is he worth the points? One point less than the Thunderhead, really? I'm not sure about that.

I am truly excited about Malice. Comes with a free soul token and can gain up to three, total. Plus it gets to take over an opponent's warjack. It costs 9 points (if I remember correctly).

Last, but not least, is Discordia. Difficult to see in this photo, is the metallic-looking chest plate. Discordia is a 10 point myrmidon with a 10 inch magical POW 14 spray attack, and can give +2 ARM to friendly models within 3".

I like the "Special Issue" distinctions listed on the new cards, which essentially tell us in whose theme force the jack can be used. Not all of the new jacks have them, but Triumph will fit in a Siege Theme force, and Discordia will fit in a Rahn Theme force.

More to come, as soon as I unpack some more...

Red

Gencon Day 1

2010-08-06T16:28:00.001-07:00

The first day of Gencon was a day of settling in and getting the lay of the land. We rolled into Indianapolis around 9:45, found a somewhat convenient parking place, and didn't do much except walk around and see what was where.

A couple of friends were playing in the 50 point tournament, which ended up taking most of the day. I wasn't planning on participating in the Iron Arena event until Friday, but I scoped out the miniatures room anyway, which was not in the Wabash like it has been in previous years. Instead, it was located in a large area behind the dealer's area. Walking around in it, I felt it was too noisy to game comfortably, and Friday I would find out that I was right. Later we checked into our hotel and found the view you see to your right.

I was only looking for a couple of things, both of which I found. The first was a tournament tray for my miniatures. I got to use it on Friday, and I love it. It fits perfectly in my miniatures bag. The other was the Tales and Legends deck expansion for the Smallworld boardgame (which if you haven't had the time to play, you need to do some day soon!).

The big excitement at the PP booth, of course, was the new character warjacks coming out in the next Warmachine book, and the blisters with metal bits, called an Upgrade Kit, to modify the plastic jack kits were available to purchase. I picked up the ones for the Cryx character helljack, Malice (a Reaper); the Retribution myrmidon, Discordia; and the Cygnar jack kit, Triumph (Defender). I also picked up the new Druid Wilder warlock attachment, the Stone Keeper unit attachment for the Shifting Stones, and a box of Skinwalkers.

We went to dinner at TGI Fridays and spent the rest of the time relaxing in our room and chatting about our games (I know, boring, but we were tired!). I did manage to put together my new Circle models so I could use them on Friday (but you'll have to wait for more on that later).

Red

Guardian Prime

2010-08-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

I still have a bit of touching up to do (some of the green mossy look to paint into the runes of his shoulder pad, etc.) but the Wold Guardian is mostly finished in time to take to Gencon. Hopefully I will be posting some updates from there over the weekend. If not, after I get back.

Red

#200 - Gencon and the Guardian

2010-08-02T17:56:00.001-07:00

I used to think it was silly to give names to miniatures. But the Wold Guardian has become such a favorite of mine, and I have put so much time into painting it and putting it together, that I felt it needed a name. With the tomb maiden's head on it, it began to take on a feminine aspect, and once I had the one arm painted and attached, "One-armed Sally" was born. No, she won't always have one arm, but understand that I don't normally paint like this. I like to put the entire model together first and then paint, even if it is sometimes impossible to get the brush "in there." I thought I would swap the ram fists of the Wold Guardian, because the pose looks so much better, but I couldn't stand the "I've got two lighthouses as arms" look to it. So I had to resign myself to the fact that I was going to have to paint this model in pieces and then put it together. This is the FIRST time I have ever done this, and now that I have picked up Wolf Lord Morraig, I see that I'm going to have to do a similar thing with him. Hopefully I can get the other arm of the Guardian finished and connected before I leave for Gencon, but that's pushing it. I'd like to have both Circle and Cryx with me to play, but more on that later.

Red

Got a Machine Head

2010-07-28T16:00:00.001-07:00

When I picked up the Wold Guardian I knew I would HAVE to do something about that crazy head. I considered my options... the Wold Watcher's head and Megalith's head were both a bit big (believe it or not), but even though it was meant to go on a machine-like body, I rather liked the look of the Tomb Maiden's head from the IK miniatures line. I ordered one and when I positioned it on the Wold Guardian's body, I knew I had found my answer.

So this is clearly a work in progress, but I like the look of it thus far.

Red.

Getting Stoned: more constructs done, still more to do...

2010-07-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

In today's painting update, I finished the unit of shifting stones, and am very close to finishing the Woldwatcher. All that's left to do is "green-ify" the runes on the Watcher (I know, silly me waits until the very end to do the things that I should have started with). Here's some more pictures...

One problem with repositioning the arms on the Watcher the way I did, is that their shoulder stones look off-kilter, as in one's higher than the other. Oh well, I can live with that. I also have Krueger fairly well along, but I won't have pictures of him until next week most likely.

Goals for this week: accomplished.

Goals for next week: finish pKrueger and the Woldwarden.

Red

Painting Circle, Construct Test Models

2010-07-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

I had a little bit of time today to work on some test models for my Circle army. I figured I'd do the traditional "gray stone" look for the constructs, and since there are many constructs in my list, I wanted to make sure I would like not only the look of the final piece before painting the other models, but also make sure that the process would be a relatively simple one. Fortunately for me, I was pleased on both counts...

First is one of the shifting stones...

With this model I also wanted to test what sort of flock I would use, as well as what color I would paint the base. I can't remember where I heard this tip, but someone on their blog somewhere had mentioned using P3 Mixing Medium as glue for the base, and it worked marvelously! I used a mixture of different stone ballast that I've collected over time followed by some static grass over the top.

Next model I tried was the Woldwyrd. Here's the front...

...and the Woldwyrd back...

So I liked the stone look and technique (a layering of three different shades of gray and some black washing) enough to try it on something a little larger. But with the Wolds I knew I would have to come up with an effective way of doing all the bundled branches. All I can say is Rucksack Tan and Bootstrap Leather are going to become my best friends as I work on my other models. I was quite pleased with how this all turned out.

Next up, painting the Woldwatcher!

Red

One the eve-eve of a new painting challenge

2010-07-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Many of you out there may be aware of the Hordes Battle Challenge put out there by Tabletop Gaming News. Since I am woefully behind on playing/painting my Circle models, I felt this was an opportune time to switch my focus to fury and splash some paint on my bare metal.

I mentioned this somewhere in a previous post, but once again, you can find the rules of the challenge here, and you can find my thread here. But if you are anything like me (someone who despises forums in general because of the way they are formatted/organized), you can also check my blog as I will be posting weekly updates here as well.

Here's the 20 points I have sitting on my painting table right now for the challenge...

pKrueger

Woldwatcher

Woldwarden

Woldwyrd

Shifting Stones

Sentry Stones + mannikins

Blackclad

I can't really speak to the playability of this list. When I begin to paint models for a faction, I usually chose those that I will use the most. This is why the Journeyman Warcaster was one of the first minis I finished for Cygnar, and why the Skarlock was one of the first done for Cryx. For Circle, I knew I was going to be using Shifting Stones frequently as well as the constructs. As I expand this list to 35 and then again to 50, I'll do another warlock (Baldur most likely).

I also picked up the Wold Guardian this week and as I expand my list further, I will include and paint the WG as well.

A couple of things about the Guardian...

1.) I want to get some other head to use on him, because I'm not "wild" about his given one. Maybe a Warden's head converted a bit.

2.) I am swapping the arms on it. It's difficult to tell on the box photo, but the arms are modeled so closely to the body that I won't be able to get in with a brush very well to paint the model. Since I don't consider myself that good of a hobbyist, and I like to put my minis together completely, prime, and then paint them, I needed to figure out something different with the Guardian. As it turns out, swapping the arms makes for a very nice pose, but it means the points of the ram fists face forward and the flat sides are to the back. It looks like two light houses strapped to his torso. But you know, I'm alright with that. I guess if any of you meet me at Gencon this year, try not to laugh too much, okay?

Red

Feeling Cryxie, the "token" review

2010-07-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

Since I've been playing Cryx lately, I decided to pick up the token set for the undead first. No offense to the other factions I play, as I will be picking up tokens for these too, but I wanted to try these out and see how they do. First, I should mention that I love shiny new accessories for my games, so even if I'm not entirely thrilled about these, I'll be picking some up for the other factions that I play anyway.

But for some of the rest of you out there who are skeptical (and let's face it, after the old Hordes tokens, who wouldn't be?) here are some pictures of the new Cryx tokens. I should also mention that in person these tokens look more neon green than they do in these shots. I don't know why this darker color of green came out. Looks more appropriate for Circle...

The focus tokens (below) have the faction symbol on them, and the best thing about these tokens are that they stack neatly. You get ten of them, which is fine unless you like to play Terminus, but then if you're looking for enough to fulfill his requirement, then no one else will want a token set with that much focus. Although it would be a major headache for a company, it would be very cool for consumers if we could purchase these tokens piecemeal.

The next tokens are the generic tokens, which have a white sticker on the back of them so that anything you write on them with a dry erase marker will show up better (I'm presuming). These are good to have because as I'll mention in a moment, you might need them when your other tokens run out. You get five of these generic tokens. Also pictured are the three Knockdown tokens you get.

The next photo below shows the spell tokens. You get four of the single circle tokens and four of the double circle, or "peanut" tokens as I have already begun to call them, that are for upkeep spells (these also have the white sticker on the back). These are meant for you to write the appropriate spell name on the token. Personally, I would have liked to see a few more non-upkeep spell tokens, but really, when are you going to have that many spell effects out on the table that require a token?

The next tokens shown below are the corpse tokens (depicted appropriately by tombstone shaped markers) and soul tokens. Again, I could question the quantity, but I won't waste too many words on that. Overall these look pretty good.

Next, the stand up tokens, Corrosion. At first thought I wished PP had done all of them this way, the tokens standing up, because it emphasizes them better on the table. These were my favorite when I opened the package. But then thinking on it a while longer, I began to change my opinion on that. These tokens take up a lot of room in my organizer box, and I'm not sure I want to see that many tokens all standing up, clogging up the table while I play. We'll see if that opinion changes once I've actually had a chance to play with them.

A couple more observations about these tokens... the base of them is a broken gear, but instead of looking characteristic for the game, they just look, I don't know, broken, as if they were damaged in shipping. So I give a thumbs down on the broken gear look. A second, albeit minor complaint, is that half of them don't stick well into their bases, as in they are too loose, and I will be gluing those together at some point. I don't know how many of these I will actually use in a given turn, but six of them came in the package.

My only major complaint about the tokens overall is that they look used. There are lots of little scratches all over the surface of them (these do not show up in the pictures I took). I would have expected them to be nice, bright, and shiny, the way my GF9 tokens STILL do. But oh well.

What it all boils down to, is that you need to have fun with your tokens. Below are the skull beads I thought looked cool and I purchased them to use as focus or corpse or soul tokens for my Cryxies. I like them so much I will most certainly continue to use them even though I have the new set. I also have tons of the old GF9 tokens that I will continue to use because they are simply some of the nicest tokens ever made by a company, and I like the soft, fuzzy backing on them.

The next few posts will most likely concern my painting challenge with my Circle models. More on that to come...

Red

I dub thee... Circle of Recryxnar

2010-07-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Menoth John (I'm loving Lost Hemisphere Radio!), since over the past year and half I too have picked up some new factions, I now join forces with all my Circle, Retribution, Cryx and Cygnar brothers in the Circle of Recryxnar! Or something like that.

In other (more important) news...

Just learned that the Collector's Box, a game store a few miles down the road from us in Huntington, IN, is running a Hordes: Genesis event! Although the deadline for painted 15-20 points in the Hordes Painting Challenge is August 15, I'm going to try my best to have my list painted by July 24 for Genesis. They are doing the smaller alternative list builds (for which I am thankful) 25, 35, 50 point rounds. Maybe not all, but at least some of my models will be painted!

Red

Blasted Heath recap, some thoughts on Venethrax, and other Summer stuff

2010-07-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Summer leagues are tough for us. I don't know if it's the "I'm off on vacation" syndrome or what exactly happens. All things considered, the fact that we had 8 people participate in Blasted Heath is pretty good for this time of the year. We had a couple of Mark I veterans return for the first time in a long while, and a few of us who have been constant throughout the past year and a half also participated.

We lost one player, who surprisingly sold all of his army since the Nightfall league finished, and that was a very sad tale for me because I always enjoyed playing against this person. But I won't dwell on the negatives of that right now.

Once again I played with Cryx for Blasted Heath, but I was no where near as successful as I was in Nightfall. Venethrax, I've found, is not as easy as some other casters, although he is very fun to play. I've yet to win a game with him, although I've had several close calls. One game (against Darius) even came down to one wound on Venethrax and one wound on Darius. Problem was I was parked a little too close to an Ironclad. Can you say, "Good night Venny?"

Venethrax tastes a little too much like Protectorate, a bit crispy around the edges. His feat, Charnel Flames, can really block up the middle of the table, but I never seemed to get the timing of it down, either feating too early, or forgetting about it all together.

He also feels like Protectorate a bit because of the Lamentation spell. Transitioning from his Lamentation to Dragon Slayer is tricky, because they're both upkeep spells with the range of "Self." The first couple of games I didn't even cast Lamentation, and indeed, against some casters I didn't need it. But in one game, when I decided to use it against McBain, he simply stepped back out of Venny's control to cast his spells, putting him further back on the table and making it harder for me to get him.

One other thing I've learned in building lists for Venethrax is to always take the Withershadow Combine to upkeep one of his spells (because Venny likes his focus!) and also to take a Skarlock to cast either Blood Rain or Hellfire (for additional spell damage to a target), or Soul Harvester.

Finding a target for Soul Harvester can be tricky. I've tried it on Blackbane's Ghost Raiders, but they don't cull souls if you're using their reanimation shtick. I've tried Bane Thralls, and whereas the Banes hit hard when they get to the enemy, they don't always hit their target very well. I had a game against Khador where my Banes got tied up with a unit of Kayazy assassins, and the Banes couldn't hit one to save their life, or UNlife. The following turn the Kayazy mini-feated and rushed Venethrax to deal the killing blow. Ugly.

Bile thralls might be a good target for Soul Harvester. To be honest, I never tried Biles with Venny after the first game of the league, because although Venny has Caustic Presence, models that do continuous corrosion damage are not necessarily an auto-include in Venny's lists, in my opinion. Now, if Venny could do corrosion like Feora does Fire, then I'd have a whole different position on that.

All of that doesn't matter much. In the end, I got a new caster painted, coordinated another league tour, and had a helluva lot of fun. I wasn't worried about getting a stamp for using three different casters. I always stuck with Venethrax, even though there were some ugly games with him. I was more worried about putting the new undead leader through his paces, and now I have a much better grasp of using him than when I started out.

Now, if only I could perfect my list with him to use the models I own. I know there are units out there that would better maximize Soul Harvester, but I don't currently have them.

Since Blasted Heath finished, I have completed putting together Mortenebra and Deryliss (which was no easy feat, let me tell you; and I get the feeling I'm going to be repairing that spidery wench more than I'd like). I played a couple of games with her, and she is a lot of fun, I must say!

Next project though, is my Circle army. With Hordes Primal Mark II on its way, I'm getting psyched for some Hordes action. And since I have none of my Circle painted, I thought getting involved with Tabletop Gaming News' painting challenge (you can find it here) would be a good motivator to getting more of my minis done. You can find my thread here.

So for the foreseeable future, perhaps no posts on Cygnar or Cryx, but more news on how my outings go with the Orboros clan.

Red

Venethrax, done!

2010-06-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

My conversion to the dark side is now complete. I played with my Cryx models in the last league, Nightfall, and I am using them again for Blasted Heath. Not to pat my own back or anything, but in Nightfall, I won the last five games I played (out of eight; I lost the first three). Needless to say I had a blast. I don't believe it has anything to do with Cryx being a better faction to play, it's because playing a different faction other than Cygnar has forced me to re-examine the WAY I play.

Right as Blasted Heath was about to begin, I picked up Venethrax. The Cryx book wasn't out yet, and I wasn't sure what he did. But damn, did he look COOL! He was obviously undead (all the models in my Cryx army are; which, yes, means no Skarre, or Satyxis, or Blood Gorgers, etc.), so it didn't really matter what kind of caster he was. I was anxious to give him a try.

Flash forward to the first league night. The outcome was not so good. I lost both games, though I should say that in my first game against Cygnar, and Kara Sloan, I almost had her. If her final shots had left any life on me (or unlife, as the case may be), then she was mine the next turn. So I can't feel too bad about that loss. I also had to contend with two Defenders and a full squad of long gunners parked behind a unit of Stormguard, so I ended up losing a LOT of my army.

The second game I played was a King of the Hill scenario against an Ashlynn-led Merc army (which almost won the game at the bottom of turn 3), a Sorscha led Khador army, and pThagrosh, who did end up winning the game in the end. Venethrax probably wasn't the best caster to use that scenario, but I was looking forward to going up against a Hordes army with him.

Anyway, I have a terrible track record using a new warcaster the first few times, so I don't feel too bad about losing the first couple. I've had the week to think about the games, and do some painting! Tonight is the start of our second league week, and I spent the past week finishing Venethrax. Since I haven't posted here in quite some time (apologies for that), here are some more pics, including one of a Deathripper that I finished during Nightfall...

After Blasted Heath is over, I will be working on some of my Circle models for the Hordes Challenge at Tabletop Gaming News. Anything to keep the momentum of painting going!

Hopefully more posts to come!

Red.

League play is awesome...but computer virus sucks!

2010-05-08T13:29:00.001-07:00

Sometimes life throws a boo-whackey at you. You do something pretty stupid, that you knew not to do, but did anyway. Well, for me that was not renewing my virus-protection subscription in a timely fashion. Stupid! Sure enough, a nasty, nasty one found its way onto my machine. And it has been about a month since I've had a computer at home. The decision came down to either fix it or get a new computer (in the end, we will end up doing both, methinks); the cost for either was about the same, and we opted for having the older machine fixed.

Not having a computer at home meant that I could not coordinate the Nightfall league as I would have hoped, so a big thank you goes out to our Press Ganger, Alan, for picking up the internet side of submitting game results and whatnot.

But wow, Nightfall, what a blast! We had 12 people playing games throughout the three weeks, and on Tuesday nights, at our peak, we had four tables going at once! It was great seeing so many Jack-heads coming out to support and play the game.

For this league, I decided to set aside my Boys in Blue and try out some of the Cryx models I had been collecting and painting. What a refreshing change of pace! (as refreshing as undead can be, I suppose). The first few games I played (against Retribution, Mercs, and Cygnar) I lost, but they were each very close games and I knew I was oh-so-close to pulling out a win.

And then something happened.

I won my next game. And then the next. And the next. The last five games I played, I won, and that includes winning a King of the Hill scenario. Shocking!

I'm not entirely sure what happened. I don't believe it's because Cryx is any nastier than any other faction. I think it was because I began to look at the game strictly in terms of caster kill and how precisely to pull it off (in other words, my chess instincts took over). In the past year and a half that I've been playing Cygnar, I never really focused on how to pull off the caster kill. I had been collecting mostly melee models and putting them in my lists, mechanithralls and bane thralls, etc. At first I was dumbfounded having nothing with which to shoot at my opponent. It took me a little while to get accustomed to change in play styles, but I believe it really suited me.

Anyway, more on this later. First, for now, just a simple post to get back into the swing of things, and say, "No, I'm not dead... I'm undead!"

Red.

Crisis Averted

2010-03-30T05:06:00.000-07:00

With the new Nightfall league fast approaching, and seeing a renewed number of players coming out of the woodwork in our area but still seeing no Menoth, last week I panicked a bit. I'm not sure why, but I felt responsible somehow because I was playing factions that a lot of other players were playing. So I posted that I was going to invest in some Menoth models.

Trouble is, I don't really feel like playing Menoth. Oh, I still feel model envy whenever I see new stuff coming out for them. And I'm sure I will still feel the same sort of fear I used to feel whenever I played against them, but they are a faction (like Khador) that I don't want to play.

So I was out of sorts last week. Conflicted. I actually placed an order for some Menoth models. Looked over the warcasters to figure out which one I would go with. Created a couple of 35 pt lists. Bought a 2010 deck for them.

Fortunately, I came to my senses! (nothing against all you fiery Menoth heads out there)

A couple of people in our group spoke up. "Hey, I've got some Menoth models. I can play!"

Needless to say, I cancelled my order. Whew! More money I can save for Gencon, right? But then I was listening to the Iron Agenda, episode 77 I believe it was, and one of them brought up the term "faction whore." Wow, is that what I am becoming? I love my boys in blue, but recently I've been picking up Retribution because I'm a big fan of the elves (I'm not even sure how many points of Eldar I have for 40K). And last year I picked up some Cryx which I have been painting. For Hordes (because I felt the need to have a Hordes faction) I began collecting Circle. Trust me when I tell you that every fiber of my being was screaming "not another faction!"

It's a big relief to know that I am not going to be playing Menoth. And I look forward to (really?) seeing them across the table from me. For now, at least, crisis averted.

Red

Feeling the Urge to Burn

2010-03-24T02:29:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that Mk. II is finally starting to pick up again on a weekly basis (despite by cries of woe in this previous post). We had a couple of "new" players show up last night. Well, not really new, but players returning after a long hiatus of not playing.

In a discussion with my buddy Frank, I learned that one of the few Menoth players in our area had sold his models, and it became clear to me that in my search to become multi-factioned (I only wanted a second faction, but then found myself invested in Cryx, Trib, and Circle), I was looking in the wrong directions. We have tons of Cygnar (especially now because our two returning players that I mentioned are both Cygnar players), and tons of Khador. But what we don't have is Menoth players.

So now I am eagerly awaiting the Menite Forces book when it comes out in April. I am looking over the casters to see who I want to start with. I'm considering my options for trading to get what I need (I am not familiar with the Barter website, but it sounds like I might have to learn about it quickly). At this point I am willing to part with anything except my Cygnar.

Sometime in the coming months, don't be surprised if I start chanting "burn the heretics!"

Red

Commando Joe needs a knife...

2010-03-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

Just when I think Privateer has given me the absolute smallest piece that I've ever had to attach to a model, they manage to best themselves, causing me to make that palm imprint in my forehead a little bit deeper.

What is it this time?

Well, my trencher commandos came in. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time (at least before my pre-Cryx-dabbling days) you know I love trenchers. No big surprise that I was going to get a unit of commandos for my trencher-themed army when I heard about them (now, if I can only find a way to make painting those little buggers more fun!). So I made a plan that my weekend project would be 1) finish painting my Cyclone and 2) putting together the new commando unit.

How many pieces could there be? After all, the two units of trenchers that I already have were really simple. One piece of metal glued right to the base. The most there could be with these new guys is what, maybe an arm to attach? I've done that plenty of times before. No problem, right?

I am happy to report that I was right, mostly. Except that four of the models have this...

What is it? That little piece in the picture is the knife that is hooked on the trencher's shoulder pad. Gee thanks, PP. What other form of torture will you come up with next for us guys with big gorilla-like fingers? How about having us glue the spectacles to the forehead of a new sculpt of Pendrake? Uh, wait, that was a joke; forget I mentioned anything about that...

Red

Nitpicking... it comes from the heart

2010-03-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

These things happen in any game, and we notice them especially in the ones we love the most. Somewhere in between the fluff and the rules (and the case of a miniatures game, the model sculpts) things happen that just don't make sense. Just look at the Nomad in Mk I as an example. Every new player who saw one across the table was like, "It doesn't have reach? Really? I thought for sure that thing would have reach..."

Take the previews in issue #29 of No Quarter for another example. The Exemplar Seneschal has Pathfinder? Really? And Hunter? And gives other Exemplar Errants the Hunter ability too? It's not that I'm opposed to any of these abilities on a model or unit, but come on, look at that model for crying out loud! They are knights in heavy armor. Am I really supposed to expect that a knight of that variety will be dexterous enough to slip in and out of difficult terrain with ease? I'm speaking, of course, from a logical point of view.

And Privateer, how about this... if you mention in the fluff that something is uncommon in the game world, like the Vassal Mechanik, then why does it have a FA: 3? If something is meant to be rare, then shouldn't the FA represent that? I don't mean to pick on Menoth (OK, yes I do), but sincerely, if a Cygnar unit was described as "elite" or uncommon, then I would be confused if it had FA:3.

I don't know. Realize I'm becoming grognard-ish in my old age. This is a fantasy game, after all, and it is hard to make things "realistic" when you've got magic-wielding battle mages leading your army, and if tons-heavy warjacks can have Pathfinder (All Terrain in Mk I), then what's wrong with a man in heavy armor having it?

And really, where's the fun in being realistic? I'm beginning to sound like my brother, who was in the SCA, and who complained about the movie Braveheart because supposedly they wouldn't have had the level of technology to create crossbows in that time period. Or perhaps I'm confusing it with another movie; did Braveheart even have crossbows in it? It's been too long).

Anyway, just like our favorite television shows or movies, we nitpick the things we love because we want well-thought-out, immersive realms to dip our toes into. Me? I'm going to imagine in my head that your Seneschal is crashing through the woods, game rules be damned, because that's what makes sense in my head. And if you shoot my Trencher through all those trees and kill him dead, well then so be it...

Red

Khador for a Day

2010-03-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

Some folk will buy only the Force book for their faction, but I have always been the kind of player who drools over other faction models (one of the cool and frustrating things about Warmachine). Now I don't own any Khador models, and we have more Khador players in our area than you can shake a hand cannon at, but those doggone Tier lists just get my brain to clicking, and thus I find myself putting together lists that I would create if I DID in fact play Khador.

I have always loved those Greylords. Hands down my favorite unit in Khador. So when Legends came out and I discovered there was a Greylord warcaster, well let's just say Zerkova became my favorite of the all the Khador casters. So, if I were to get a Khador army, it would have to be a Zerkova list. So here we go...

Zerkova (+6 warjack points)

Juggernaut, 7 pts

Greylord Ternion #1, 4 pts

Greylord Ternion #2, 4 pts

Koldun Lord #1 and #2, 4 pts for both

Manhunter #1, 2 pts

That's a 15 point list. I wanted to go relatively cheap on the warjack, so I took the Juggernaut. Not to mention that it adheres to an "axe" theme I have going on. The Koldun Lord(s) could marshal a jack, but damn those Khador jacks are so big and expensive, and I know I'll need to preserve points for my troops, so more jacks will have to wait until later in the list. The manhunter, for me, has always been an exceptional model, and it too wields not one axe, but two! The only one who doesn't fit into this axe theme is Zerkova herself. Oh well!

For the 25 point jump I will add...

Doom Reaver unit #1, 6 pts

Greylord Escort, 2 pts

Manhunter #2, 2 pts

My buddy Airport likes his Doomreavers, and I've always been envious (not to mention scared) of them. So I had to add at least one unit in my Zerkova list. The new Ternion escort is pure sweetness. The ability to make the Doomreavers Tough and Silent makes this unit even scarier than they were before.

At 35 points I would add...

Doom Reaver unit #2, 6 pts

Greylord Escort, free, does not add to FA restrictions of list

Greylord Ternion #3, 4 pts

At 50 points, it's time to add another warjack. Maybe two. How about two Berserkers? I don't know how crazy that sounds to long time Khador players, but the Berserker is a characterful jack, and the "unstable" penalty it has just sounds like too much fun not to include. I might have the Koldun Lords marshal them. With three points left I guess I would toss in a full unit of battle mechaniks. Except that I wouldn't want those mechaniks in B2B trying to fix my 'Serker when it goes BOOM!

Another option might be to take only one Berserker and then include Fenris. That would leave 4 points left over, and then I could take a fourth unit of Ternions. Yeah, I like that better, except that I only have a Tier 3 list at 50 points. Tier 3 only benefits you if you have marshaled jacks (gain Advance Deploy), and Tier 4 is really essential (IMO) if Zerkova has all the jacks in her battle group (+2 SPD on the first turn, which is essential because man-oh-man are Khador jacks ever slow!)

So it's been fun being Khador for a day. Just because I don't play Khador doesn't mean I can't have fun with the book and learn a little bit about how my opponent might play against me. And who knows, maybe sometime down the road I'll invest in some more pewter. But first, I need to paint more of what I already have!

Red

No Gaming? At least there's time for painting...

2010-03-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm still waiting to get in some Mk. II action for 2010. It's been slow around here, or hectic, depending on your point of view. We did have a Resurgence event nearby in southern Huntington, but it happened to fall on the day of my son's birthday, which I sure wasn't going to miss. We've got another tournament coming up this Saturday, and I'm still figuring out if I can make that or not.

However, I did manage to complete the painting of at least one model, the Helldiver bonejack for my Cryx list. I had teased about this one in an earlier post, and I am just now finishing it. I have a number of upcoming models all in various degrees of paint (including some Precursor Knights), which I'll spotlight in future posts. For today though, here are some pictures...

Now, it's back to reading my new Khador Forces book. Gotta study up on the enemy!

Red.

Mk II and the gaming is ... Nada?

2010-02-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

The Mk II book came, and the splash was ... well, less than exciting, that is, if the response from our local community has been any indicator.

Now, to be fair, we do have two tournaments coming up in March. But there has been no Resurgence event, which would have been fun to do. Sure, we've had some one off games, people on our boards setting up a game here or there with others, but there's been no coordinated effort to get back to our weekly night. Typically the organized leagues brings 'em out, but there's been little word, other than speculation and rumor, as to what the 2010 leagues will entail and how they will operate in the coming year.

Now, I've been out of it for a while (the lack of blog posts should attest to that). I have almost no Mk II games under my belt save for a couple of small 15 point games I played back in December when I got the chance to put my Retribution on the table (two Kaelyssa lists; I got my butt trounced both times against Cygnar forces, imagine that). To put it mildly, I'm anxious to get my models back out on the table.

Somebody needs to light a fire...

Hence the return of the Tuesday Nite Fights!

I probably don't have many local readers (in the Northeast Indiana, Fort Wayne region anyway), but if you happen to be around on a Tuesday afternoon or evening, stop by Books, Comics & Things at Georgetown and maybe we can get in a game. To get ready for the coming tournament, I think the month of March will be dedicated to playing Steamroller scenarios. I've got a couple of flyers that I'm going to put up at the store, and hopefully we can get some of the old regulars back along with some new players.

Red

Cygnar Force book: a Quick Tour

2010-01-30T16:55:00.000-08:00

I've spent more than a little time this week going over the Forces of Cygnar book. The more I read through it, the more I KNOW this was a good move for PP. Forget all the logical reasons that have been touted in No Quarter, on various podcasts, in the Forums, about the convenience of putting the past 4 books together in faction specific tomes, but let's face it, it's just damn cool to see so much BLUE all at once together in a single volume. Sure, next year when more new stuff comes out, it will feel good, feel familiar, to have everyone back in one book, and we can sing Cum Ba Ya, but the selfishness in me this year revels in the segregation of it all. I'll almost be as excited in the following months when the other books come out because I know what's in store for all you fans of the other factions, and yes, I will be picking those books up too just to see what I'm going to have to go up against.

Let's take a quick tour of the book...

Pages 4-15: the new fluff. I'm not going to give anything away. But I will say that not only is Cygnar's new warcaster featured in some of it (expected) but a couple of hints/teasers of what is coming for other factions as well. My only complaint is that we don't get more of the story. If Privateer ever gets their act together on producing novels set in the IK, I will be all over that.

Page 16 begins the long section on Cygnar military. To be honest, this will probably be the last part of the book I read. It looks good, and I like the detailed breakdown of each of the armies (Cygnar's First Army, Second Army, etc.), but I am personally less interested in this. This section was also the last section I read in the Retribution Force book too.

Page 32 the Theme Forces start, and like I mentioned in an earlier post, every warcaster has one. I gave a preview of one of Nemo's theme forces in the last post as a taste. As someone who has been collecting a few Retribution models, I should mention that I am more interested in Cygnar theme lists because I own more multiple units. Trib theme armies I won't do for a while because I won't be buying more than one of each unit. But with Cygnar a theme force is more likely because I have two Sword Knight units, and two Trencher units.

Next comes the model stats and fluff. I really like how PP has organized the entire book. The first section, of course is warcasters, and they have each kind of model in its own chapter with a couple pages of intro material, so there are two pages on Cygnar's warcasters before you get to the actual entries of individual warcasters. Same with the warjacks, and then troops of Cygnar. Like the Trib Forces book, UA's and WA's are paginated next to their unit, which is handy. Solos are the last entries in the book. Also, it might be important to note that all of the Prime entries are repeated in the Force book. I wasn't expecting that. Hadn't really given much thought of it, to be honest, but thought it might bear mentioning. The new warcaster art in Prime Mk II follows in this book. The new art for Siege, pNemo, and Darius is stunning. And I wish the sculpt for Kara Sloan's model matched her artwork more. I'm not sure what to think of her hefting her rifle, Spitfire, in the air, but her artwork has her aiming the gun. The epics maintain their old artwork, as well as Kraye.

For those of you who may not have already heard, the models new to this book are: warcaster Kara Sloan, Firefly light warjack, Stormblade infantry Storm Gunner WA, Trencher Commando unit, Trencher Commando Scattergunner WA, Stormsmith Stormtower weapon crew unit, and the Trencher Master Gunner solo.

In the back there is a decent painting guide, 8 pages of it, followed by a Cygnar model gallery. Now, I didn't pay much attention to this at first, but later noticed the pictures of the new Lancer and Sentinel sculpts. Yes, they are coming. This might not be news to those people who frequent the Forums. I don't regularly, so it was surprising (and pleasing) to see these. I don't know if they will be a kit like the heavy jacks, but it certainly looks possible given the pictures.

This book is a beauty, and I look forward to reading about all those other factions, and your excitement about when those books come out in the next few months. Revel in it, this is a great time to be a Warmachine player!

Red

Nemo Theme Force: The Weathermen

2010-01-28T04:42:00.000-08:00

Along with my Cygnar codex... oh, erm, I mean Force book... I also picked up the new Nemo sculpt, which is a thing of beauty and is so much better than his old one. I'll try and post pictures when I get him fully built/primed, and then more when I get him painted (he's standing beside Caine right now on my craft table, awaiting some attention). I thought I'd take a moment to look at one of the many theme lists in the book.

eNemo and the Weathermen: Cygnar non-character warjacks, Thunderhead; field mechaniks and storm knight units; Journeyman Warcaster, Squire, Storm Knight solos, Stormsmith solos. So how would I put this together in tiers? Here's a go...

Tier One: army includes only the models listed above. Benefit: the FA of the Stormsmiths +1 for each heavy warjack I take. Also Stormsmith solos gain advance deployment.

eNemo +6
Thunderhead, 12 pts
Firefly #1, 5 pts
Stormsmiths x4, 4 pts
(this takes me to 15 pts, and I have to pay for the extra Stormsmith, as he is not free)

Tier Two: army includes two or more Firefly warjacks. Benefit: Firefly gains Advance Move.

add:
Firefly #2, 5 pts
Journeyman Warcaster, 3 pts
Squire, 2 pts
(this takes me to 25 pts)

Tier Three: army must include two or more stormguard units. Benefit: Stormsmith Stormtower is added free of cost and ignores FA restrictions.

add:
Stormguard x2, min units, 12 pts
Stormsmith Stormtower, free pts
(this takes me to 37 points, so I can't see a Tier 3 list at 35 pts, unless I take out JWC or the Squire)

Tier Four: Nemo's battle group includes two or more heavy warjacks. Benefit: friendly models/units can begin the game affected by Nemo's upkeep spells.

add:
Cyclone heavy warjack, 9 pts
Stormsmith Stormcaller #5, 1 pt (because I have 2 heavies)
Battle Mechanik crew chief and 3 grunts, 2 pts.
(this brings me to 50 pts).

I'm not sure how viable (i.e. competitive) this list might be, but it sounds cool.

Red.

Sweet Cygnus, Don't Call it a Codex!

2010-01-27T17:26:00.000-08:00

OK. I'm probably going to slip at some point and call it a codex. It's only natural for an old 40K gamer such as myself (who honestly doesn't have many 40K games under his belt). So, it wasn't supposed to be out until next week, but my FLGS got one copy of the Cygnar, uh, ummm, "Force" book in, and since I had pre-ordered it, that copy wound its way into my hands. Boy oh boy!

I'm not really prepared to do a full blown report on the book, but it is a beauty! The Theme lists! The new stuff! I just wanted to gush at the counter as I flipped through its pages. I was under the impression that only some of the warcasters would have theme lists, but by golly, every single one of 'em has a Theme list, including Kara Sloan, whose theme army is called the Gunslingers. One in particular I like is Siege's "Big Guns" which essentially is a Trencher theme list.

Other surprises are the Firefly light warjack, which serves as a Stormsmith in attempting either a Surge or Triangulation Stormcall. Suh-weeet! And the Trencher Master Gunner (which PP released a picture of on their website today). Looks like the Master Gunner is going to make trencher artillery more useful on the table. The couple of times I played with my trencher cannon I really liked it, so this might be an interesting piece to add.

Anyway, it's off to read through the new fluff and new entries. Gotta love days like today!

Red

Abel to do it? Caine 15 pt list

2010-01-22T05:02:00.000-08:00

As I work on painting my first 15 points of Cryx, I think about what my next round of Cygnar painting is going to be. It will definitely involve Lieutenant Allister Caine. I love the new sculpt and I have a bit of it already painted and washed. I haven't played Caine much and this will give me a chance to get to know this caster. And now that I have the Cyclone built, I will include that in the list as well. So what else?

I'm not sure how much sense it makes, but I'm adding a minimal unit of PKs. I've been wanting to paint my Precursors for some time, and actually started them last summer but didn't get very far. I don't want to have a list that doesn't have some kind of melee "punch" to it, and either the PKs or Stormguard give friendly models the ability to shoot through them. So Precursors it is.

Next, the Black 13th. I hear they are still awesome in Mk II. I haven't personally tried their Mk II version yet, but I need to get them painted so that I can play with them (all a part of my new year's goal of playing only painted models).

Lastly, Junior. I already have him painted. I know, I'm trying to include models that I don't have painted in these lists, so that I can build the number of total models painted, but I don't think I can take "squishy" Caine without my portable Arcane Shield thrower. I could use this opportunity to paint the alternate JWC sculpt, which I have. If I get to it, I might paint her too, but if I get pressed for it in a game, I will use my already painted one instead.

So here we have it: Caine Mk II, 15 point list to paint...

Lieutenant Allister Caine (new sculpt) +6
Cyclone heavy warjack 9 pts
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team 4 pts
Precursor Knights (min unit) 5 pts
Journeyman Warcaster 3 pts

Red

Storm's A'Coming... the Cyclone

2010-01-21T17:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture tour of Cygnar's new heavy warjack. From box to build.

Of course, here's the obligatory "box" shot. I had seen pictures of this on the net on various other sites, but I was surprised at just how bright the colors were on all the new boxes (including Cryx!). They really stand out nicely on the shelf at the store.

Here are all the pieces for the Cyclone. As I already have two Defenders and one Ironclad, this was the one I was most anxious to put together. I did not take pictures of the three stat cards that came with them, but I have to say they did NOT look good. When I bought the new sculpt of Caine, I was really impressed by the coating on his cards. I was looking forward to seeing the cards for the jacks, but they did not have the same coating on them, appeared to be of a thinner stock (but that could have been because of the lack of coating), a couple of them were gently scratched, and the print on the Cyclone's card was faded a bit, looking a bit cloudy. Not the usual quality I'm accostumed to with PP's products.

Not the greatest picture, I'll admit, but here's the two legs glued together. Because of the pistons (that look like antennae), it was more difficult to glue the torso on. That's hardly a complaint though. I was able to completely build this figure in one evening.

Here is a close up of the arm assembly. The gun doesn't stick out nearly as far as I thought it would. The pictures of it online made it seem a lot longer.

Once the legs were glued and drying, I put together the top of the jack.

A close up of the arms without the guns...

Almost done!

And here it is, completely done and ready to prime!

Red.

All Your Base... or Mine

2010-01-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

I feel like I'm a little behind on my painting goal for the new year, and I might be. I feel better this evening knowing that all of the initial Cryx models, The Bone Thugs, in my 15 point list have their bases completely finished. See the post I made previously if you want to see the basing in more detail.

It has taken me all week to sculpt and paint all the bases and I am happy that it's done and I can work on painting the other parts of the models. I figure if I get a little paint from the rest of the model on the base as I continue to work on them, it should be a relatively easy thing to touch up.

In the first photo, you can see the paint scheme a bit better that I am trying out. It consists of Thrall Flesh for the large plates of armor with a couple different kind of metallics. This is the Helldiver and is perhaps the model I have most completed. Yes, it seems to be suffering a bad bout of gingivitis, but I was trying to go for a more "bloody" look to contrast all the green glowing Cryxies that are out there. Plus, when it comes time to paint the mechanithralls, that bloody look might translate well to them. Don't know for sure until I try. I might very well go back and paint the Helldiver's face to match the "dirty" skeleton look I did on my Skarlock.

The second photo, although of terrible quality, shows all of the based models, most of which are unpainted. There's a little bit of painting done here and there, and some are painted more than others, but many are still primer gray. I will be painting ALL ten of my Bane Thralls at once (a lesson I learned when painting only the minimum unit of Trenchers last year). I will expand them up to the 10 man unit when I go up to 25 points, and then I will be closer to having the 25 point list painted by completing the full unit now. I also realize that eventually I will need to paint more Scrap Thralls, but for now, when my Necrotech makes a build scrap thrall skill check and succeeds, I'll just have to put out primered models. Good thing is, they don't look like they'd take very long to paint, but I could be entirely wrong about that.

The next pictures I post should be of finished models. Most likely those will be the Skarlock and the Helldiver (again), since I am closest to being finished with those. Hopefully by the end of this week.

Red

Big Fingers vs. Teeny Tiny Parts

2010-01-16T17:05:00.001-08:00

So I got sucked into collecting Retribution models because their infantry just looks so freaking awesome. I almost have all my models put together, and after I get my Cryx list finished (and then probably a few more Cygnar models painted), I'll begin painting my angry elves. I finally finished gluing Adeptis Rahn together and let me tell you, I have put together some awfully challenging models before (Tharn Bloodtrackers, I'm looking at you) but few have given me the fits that Adeptis Rahn has. Why? Those damn vents on the back. Why oh why did you sculpt the two smallest vents separatedly Privateer? I have such big hands and these two little pieces are so, soooooo small. I had to get out my tweezers and fumble around for days (and several attempts at adding glue, only for it to dry and then I had to carve it off, and then add it again) before finally, finally getting those damn vents on. Whew, but it's done! Time to primer...

Red

Bone Thugs, some works in progress

2010-01-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

My first 15 points of Cryx painted models are all sitting on my table at once; I'm painting them as if they were one big unit. We'll question the wisdom of that, and how successful an idea that is later. Here are a couple initial pictures of my Cryx, works in progress of course...

Could this be the first model in a "pink" army? Somehow the pink magic trail from the "skull in hand" of my Skarlock (and what Cryx player would begin without a Skarlock?) seemed to fit the look of the model. I'm not sure if this will translate to any of the rest of my models or not. The look of the bone came out really well, in my opinion. It still needs to be lightened a bit, but I started out with Menoth base with Gryphonne Sepia wash from GW, and then went over it with Menoth base (again) and when I'm done I'll use Menoth highlight for the final touches. It reminds me of some of the "dirty bones" we used to look at in my archaeology labs years ago.

Then I had the idea to take this look to the bases of the army. I had originally planned on making the bases look like a roiling mist (sculpted from putty), with white and light gray paints, but then I decided to paint them to match the bone look of the Skarlock, and this is how Gaspy's base turned out...

More to come!

Red

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend...

2010-01-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

Seems a little silly to say this, but I am sad to report that this afternoon I opened (probably my all-time favorite) pot of paint, Chestnut Ink, and found it to be dried out. Not gummy or gluey or any other gelatinous consistency that might be saved in some fashion, but dried to a shiny hard shelaque.

Sniff, sniff.

This ink was the single most important element of creating the "leather" look on the coats of my trenchers and Stryker and a number of other models. Now I will have to experiment with other methods. I keep hoping that GW will come to their senses and make some more...

Red

Caine (new) and pGaspy

2010-01-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this isn't really even work in progress, not really. I got the new Caine sculpt put together and primed. I am also in the process of priming the 15 point Cryx list that I mentioned in the last post (it's supposed to be very cold here in northern Indiana, but I discovered that my garage, for some reason, is of a mild temp, so I am tempting fate and seeing if I can primer some of these minis). For my Cryx models, I am trying to create a base that looks like roiling mist, which is the green stuff on Gaspy's model. For the Cryx models I have already primed, I'm going to use the P3 gray putty and paint right over it (not sure how well that's going to work). Here's some pics...

Red.

New Directions in Twenty Ten

2010-01-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

For at least part of this year, the name of this blog should probably be something like "Necrotite Stricken" or "Krueger's Tendrils", or maybe something else, because 2010 is the year that I truly branch out to play (and paint!) some of these other models I've been collecting.

My goal(s) for the new year are...

1. Paint 15 pt lists for my four factions: Cygnar, Cryx, Retribution, and Circle.
2. Play in more Steamroller events.
3. Make it to Gencon for all four days.
4. Try my best to play only-painted models.

With Cygnar, my main faction, I'd like to paint a new 15 pt list and not rely on those few models I've already done. This means new warcasters that I'm not used to playing. With the resculpts of Caine (which is beautiful; I am in the process of putting him together now) and Nemo, I'm thinking these two are perfect choices for changing my style of play and adding more to my list of already painted Swan models (time to put Stryker and Haley away for a little while).

Yesterday I was looking over my Cryx models, trying to figure out a 15 pt list to put together and paint (partially for Khador Red's paint challenge; please remember that I am unofficially doing this, and am not among the "actual" list of participants). The appeal of Cryx for me are the skeletons and zombies. So I probably won't be playing Skarre, or Satyxis, or anything else that isn't skeletal or zombie like). What this means is Bane Thralls and Mechanithralls and Pistol Wraiths and all manner of bonejacks, and on and on. This means my first Warcaster will be Asphyxious.

So here's the 15 pt Cryx list that I plan on painting in the next couple of months...

pGaspy (+6 pts)
Deathripper, 4 pts
Helldiver, 3 pts
Slayer, 6 pts
Skarlock Thrall, 2 pts
Bane Thralls (min), 5 pts
Necrotech and 1 Scrap Thrall, 1 pt

If I'm going to have at least a couple of bonejacks and (later) a second helljack (I have a Reaper waiting in the wings) then I figured a necrotech in the list would come in real handy. Perhaps even a second one in the future. The scrap thralls are also skeletal looking, fit the "bone" theme, and look like a lot of fun to play (and in Mk II can be chosen as solo models without the necrotech if I understand correctly).

Competitive? I'm not sure. Not worried about it, to be honest. There are probably better helljacks than a Slayer, but what the heck, I like the look of the model, and in Mk II it seems that everything has a chance to be effective if used properly (not to mention I have one put together, primed, and ready to paint). Veteran Cryxies might question my choice of Bane Thralls instead of Knights, but I like the look of the B-thralls more, and if I get a unit of them painted, maybe I can paint and use Goreshade more easily sometime down the road. And the Helldiver? What's not to like about a light jack that can burrow itself into the ground. I might pick up another one of these down the line.

Now, what do I end up doing for Circle and Retribution 15 pt lists? We'll have to wait until the second half of 2010 to see. Time to get the paint brushes back out!

Red.

The Devouring - No this isn't about Druids...

2010-01-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

Oh my! Picked up my copy of Prime Mk II and it is a beauty! Also grabbed the latest ish of No Quarter. Between the two I've been doing a lot reading. Devouring the books actually. The new artwork is amazing. The full color goodness of the rulebook just blows me away. It's too bad I have to wait two more weeks to get the cards.

All in time. Must learn patience.

But that's hard to do when I know the Cyclone is soon to be released as well. Excellent battle report in NQ this time around, with my favorite warcaster, Stryker, in the mix. My head's going to be buried in the book this weekend methinks. I've tried not to read up on Mk II too much because I played in a tournament in Huntington before the close of the year. But that's behind us now, and now I can begin to fill my head with everything that is the new edition and not get confused from one system to another.

What I'm looking for now is painting motivation. I haven't done any painting in several months. What to do, what to do? Well, while trying to get back on the blogging scene, I was perusing some blogs on the IABN site...some that I had not seen before... and I noticed that Alex over at Khador Red is having a painting challenge. It's a little too late to toss my hat in the ring, but I thought I might try and keep up the best I can and post updates of my progress here on Strykes. Problem is, I have become too diverse. I almost hate to say that I now have models for four different factions. I'd love to continue painting more of my Cygnar, but there's also new Retribution models to do, not to mention Circle and Cryx models that I picked up some time ago. I'm really open to anything at this point, because with Mk II, everything is new again! We'll see what happens. Stay tuned!

Red

Angry Elves, Angry Rats, and Angry Wolves… oh my!

2009-12-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

Man, have I missed my hobby!

In the past month I’ve managed to pull off a feat that I’ve seldom been able to accomplish, and that’s to keep myself focused enough to attain a big goal, which in November was to complete my novel for NaNoWriMo. The lamps on my craft table were dimmed. The paint caps securely tightened. My brushes and modeling knives stored. No reading. No constructing. No painting.

Gulp! No…gaming.

Every last spare moment I had was devoted to writing. And I discovered I loved it. I need to do more of it. But I am glad that I am once again able to return to miniature gaming and modeling. Oh, how I’ve missed it.

Mark II is on the horizon and I can’t wait. I know that at one time I was critical of the Retribution myrmidons (and I still am a bit), but I’ve fallen in love with the angry elves. They’ll never match the devotion I have for my blue boys of the Cygnus, but I’ve spent the past week madly putting together my unit of Sentinels and Mage Hunters. Glee, I tell you, with glee! I have an unnatural fondness for the Sentinels that in part comes from the fact that Cygnar has no weaponmasters. I have also settled on a paint scheme for my elves, and I have painted the top half of a Chimera, and the shoulder pads of my Phoenix. My warcasters of choice (starting out) are Garryth and Kaelyssa. I can't wait to put them out on the table.

Now, I have a sort of heretical confession to make.

In an attempt to expand my gaming horizons, I have pulled out some of my old GW Space Wolves. The new codex and new models lured me in. You want to know why my first Hordes faction was Circle? It was due to my love of the wolves, i.e. Space Wolves. And I was chomping at the bit when I heard their new codex was primed and ready to release.

But it doesn’t stop there. No.

I got a look at the new Skaven models and codex for Warhammer Fantasy Battles. And this is where my lack of gaming for a month or more turns into pure silliness. Once upon a time I played Wood Elves, and had a huge collection of models for WFB. But since I hardly ever played, I got rid of my army. Now a unit of skavenslaves and clanrats sit on my painting table. I must be crazy.

As I’ve put together this vast array of miniatures in the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a good opportunity to compare models. What I’ve discovered is that Privateer makes some damn fine models. Some of the best out there. My Canis Wolfborn model for my Space Wolves army is still not complete. He has been the biggest pain to put together. I would rather build the hardest Privateer model than have to finish Canis. Oh, I will finish him, but it won’t be fun. Is he hard to put together? The joins in the metal are terribly matched and don’t fit well, and the amount of flash hanging off the models has me raising my fists in the air and threatening the gaming gods. I look at the wolf Canis is riding on and compare it to the Warpwolves of Circle (which are some of my favorite pieces) and they simply don’t compare. The sculpt of Canis’ wolf is unnaturally bad (the fur looks like the same spiky pattern over and over and over again).

Now, on the other hand, the new plastic skaven miniatures are beautiful. I don’t know really how much I’ll ever play WFB, and I won’t invest a ton of money in it (shush, those of you who are laughing out there), but I know there are at least one or two groups locally I can meet up with that’ll help me get up to speed on the latest edition. Somehow I get the feeling that WFB will call to me more than 40K. Don't know why, precisely, just a feeling.

I guess my ulterior motive here is to learn strategy from other games and see what I can carry over to Warmachine, because WM for me is still the superior miniatures game. Bring on Mark II!

Red

Strykes Again!

2009-12-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

...and we're back!

That was a long month. Long but fun. Anyone wondering if they can write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, I would encourage you to try NaNoWriMo next year. You can find my NaNo profile here. I made a lot of new friends locally who are also passionate about writing and we all helped each other succeed in making it to the final word count. From here I will be revising and editing my book in December and January, and then, well, who knows where I'll take it from there. Perhaps nowhere. It was extremely gratifying just to say "I did it!"

And as for the blog and playing Warmachine? Well I can hardly contain my excitement over Mark II, so expect plenty of content in the coming months. So many new announcements recently that I haven't had the chance to comment about! I've also been dipping my toes into the Warhammer 40K and WFB pool, and there will be some commentary about that, and how it compares to my favorite game. So stay tuned!

Red

The Lightning Will Strike Again...Promise!

2009-11-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems the lull of waiting for Mark II has fully enveloped me. We're at the end of our League, the final week, and the last hurrah for 2009 and the old Mark I, and my blogging motivation has waned to the wee recesses of my life. Sorry about that.

But I did want to inform the readers out there that November is NaNoWriMo (or for the uninitiated, National Novel Writers Month). If you're interested you can check out their website here. I am putting aside all of my various interests and hobbies and pasttimes so that I can participate in this, and today was the first day. As you might imagine, it is a challenging month to try and write a complete (50,000 word) book. So if you were wondering what happened to Red at the end of October (doing plot notes and character sketches) and throughout the month of November, it's because I'm tucked quietly away, being obsessed with my writing. My NaNo profile can be found here. And if you happen to be a NaNo too, send me a buddy request!

See everyone in December!

Red

Long Lost Update

2009-10-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

The final Call to Arms league is slow going this time. Participation is down, which is to be expected I suppose, given the imminent release of Mk II, and perhaps lack of desire to continue with Mark I. My own schedule has been thrown topsy-turvy, and I have only been able to get in one game so far; we are in week three of our league if that tells you anything. I was able to get in a 500 point game in week 2, when I noticed I had left most of my unit cards at home somewhere, so had to put together an all-beast Kaya list, which was a lot of fun. Mark brought a Xerxes list and I got subsequently trounced. Oh well.

On the modelling front, I have been primering like crazy. I want to get all of my Circle models and what Retribution models I have, all primed, so I can spend my winter months painting. The only place I have to prime is in my garage, and it will quickly become too cold in there to do it, so the rush is on!

The new pictures of the Caine sculpt and the Cyclone heavy cygnar warjack are posted on PP's front page, and all I can say is woo hoo! The anticipation of some Mark II Cygnar is almost unbearable, and I can't wait to paint the Cyclone. It is an awesome model.

I also love the idea of multiple sculpts of warcasters, and Caine's new one is sweet. I hear that pNemo is getting a resculpt as well, and that one is probably the warcaster (of Cygnar) who is most in need of one. His old model is sorely lacking in the quality the rest of the models have (remember I'm talking pNemo here; eNemo is freakin' awesome in the aesthetics dept), so I am eager to see what's in store for the old man's new look.

Still have the last Schism post to write and post. Until next time...

Red

Schism me this, part three...

2009-10-06T18:08:00.001-07:00

So, as previously stated I was originally going to take my Circle models to the Schism event this past Saturday, but the closer the date got, and the more I began to read the Mark II Cygnar rules, the more I wanted to field the boys in blue again. Any ambitions of playing the tree huggers quickly vanished. I spent Friday night and Saturday morning finalizing the three lists I’d need to take, but this time refitting them for Cygnar. The warcasters I was most comfortable with using were Stryker, Haley, and Siege, and I tried to plan my lists accordingly.

Round One:

I showed up to the FLGS right on time and four people were already there and paired up. Lesson to me: show up a little early! Being the odd person (you may indeed interpret that however you wish), I was waiting either the end of one of the games so that I could cycle in, or wait for a sixth opponent to show up and begin our first round late. An odd number of players is not impossible to accomodate given that in the cycle of defending and attacking, people are constantly switching tables anyway.

As it happened, a sixth participant did show up and I got to play against a Vlad-led Khador list (not again!) and my designated first “A” list was my Siege list. The last time I used Siege I had beaten Airport’s Vlad army, and I knew once again I would have to strike during a time when Vlad was low on focus and did not have Wind Wall up.

Here’s my list…

Markus Siege Brisbane
Defender
Lancer
Squire
Reinholdt
Journeyman WC
Hunter
Stormsmith (1)
Black 13th
Precursor Knights (7) w/ UA
Trenchers (6) w/ UA

I really like this list as it has a smaller model count and only comes in at 24 VPs. As it would turn out, VPs would not be as important in this event though.

Here's a picture of Siege, the Squire, an inert Hunter (JWC had been taken out) surrounded by the Great Bears and MoW. Not a pretty end-game scenario...

My Precursors got into the thick of it as fast as I could get them, but were initially picked off by Widowmakers and then got engaged with the Kodiak. The Black 13th in turn picked off the Widowmakers but then got charged by the Great Bears, and, well, that was that. In the meantime I was able to get Siege, Reinholdt, and Squire close to center where Vlad was in my control range, popped off Higher Ground to elevate Vlad into my LOS, and gave him a double shot of rockets. It’s only now that I realize what went wrong. I forgot to use Siege’s feat (now I'm slapping my head in V-8 fashion). Of course Vlad lived through the barrage, and next turn Siege was besieged from the rear by the Great Bears…

This was my first tournament with timed rounds, however, and 10 minutes is hardly any time to move 750 points about on the table (I believe hardcore is 7 minutes and Steamroller either 12 or 14, right?). It was fast and furious and a boat-load of fun. I don’t feel too bad about missing Siege’s feat. My brain was a blur. The rationale, I believe, for having only 10 minutes is because the games themselves were not timed. Each of us played to completion, so timing the rounds kept things moving quickly.

Next, we broke for lunch while the judges examined the candidates for the painting contest. The only model I had to submit was Carvolo, and I don’t even have him detailed. Although he is based, he is still pretty roughly painted. If I had won the contest I would have cried foul because there was better painting there. But I felt I had to submit something just to say I did it, you know? In the end Tyler’s Gorman di Wulfe won best painted model.

Left to right, the painting competition entries... Brun, Molik Karn, Gorman, Piper, and Midwinter. (please ignore the looming fleshy bits in the corner)

Next post, round two (the last round I would play).

Red

Schism me this, part two

2009-10-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

If anyone out there was wondering how I might have fared with my Circle list at the Schism event today, I have but one confession: I reneged. I've been reading up on my Cygnar rules in Mark II so much that I was itching to play them. Plus I feel more comfortable playing them, especially in a tournament setting, so I chose the boys in blue over the tree huggers.

Details to follow (hopefully) but I can summarize it like this... I played two rounds; first against Khador and the second against Circle. One of my lists was using Siege, and the other one I used Stryker. I won one game and lost one. I'll let you guess which one was which, but let me tell you, the outcome surprised me.

I didn't do well enough to get a medal, but I did win the "Spirit" award for being such a nice guy. Honestly, that means more to me than anything else I could have gotten. Winning is great, but I'd rather meet new people and have a lot of fun. Mission accomplished today on that!

More to come...

Red

Remember the Ugly Duckling?

2009-10-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

...It turned into a beautiful swan. And speaking of ugly ducklings, err swans, I found the Mk II typos for Cygnar on the forums. I do lurk on the forums occasionally, it's just that I'd rather post here and then complain about how I can't find anything on them. =)

As I figured in the last post, the trencher rifle grenadier's POW on the bayonet is wrong. I rather like my creative explanation, though.

If any Cygnar players are interested in catching up on the Mark II typos and clarifications, you can find them here.

Red

The Gilette Mach 3 of Bayonets

2009-10-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

Since Privateer has been so nice to make available the Mark II rules and stats for download, I've been analyzing the changes in some of my favorite models.

Then suddenly I noticed that the bayonet on the trencher rifle grenadier is a POW 4 weapon.

Huh.

The normal trencher infantry has POW 3 bayonets. The trencher officer and sharpshooter has bayonet POW 3. So what makes the rifle grenadier so special? Perhaps it's House Shyeel arcantrics with power field honed blade edges stolen by an elite unit of rangers and then given to the rifle grenadiers to bolster their melee attacks. Or maybe to give them closer shaves.

Yeah that's it, or it's a typo. Any other Cygnaran out there notice this?

Red

Mark II Trencher Rifle Grenadier field allowance, huh?

2009-09-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm making my first "real" Mark II lists for Cygnar now that I have the rules and "cards" printed, and I noticed something possibly amiss in the Grenade Porter's info (I don't know why PP decided to change the name, only making it more confusing for me to distinguish it from the light warjack; what was wrong with the name "grenade porter" anyway?).

It says the grenade porter is FA:2, but then under cost it says up to 2 additional grenadiers for 1 point apiece. Does this mean that the field allowance is actually 3? Or does this mean you can have up to 3 grenadiers per group, and the FA refers to 2 groups (i.e. you can field up to 6 total grenade porters by placing 3 in each unit of trenchers if you have two units of trenchers)? I guess now that I write it out, the latter makes more sense given the new group-FA rules, which is the case with groups of Scrap Thralls or Brute Thralls for Cryx.

Nevermind, I think I got it all figured out now! Guess I'm going to have to buy some more grenade porters, errr, rifle grenadiers that is...

Red

Talking 'Bout Some Re-tri-bu-shunnnn...

2009-09-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Although my plan was not to invest heavily in Retribution at Gencon this year (for that I would take my money to the FLGS that I support), I did pick up Kaelyssa and a Chimera light myrmidon. Both of them are put together and are primered now...

I wasn't sure which warcaster to go with first because each one of them looked and sounded cool (well, I'm not too keen on Vyros's look, but I love his game stats). Kaelyssa was the one that spoke to me most, and although some people have commented on those huge thigh guards, I think they're rather cool.

But what to do about a color scheme? I did NOT want to do the white with teal energy veins, so I sat on the idea for a while and thought about it. Then it came to me when I went back and looked at the cover of my Gencon book. Two tones of gray, kakhi, and some type of orangy-red (which would serve as my energy "glow" effect). I know, it's not very "camo" for woods setting, but maybe these are sun dwelling elves on the outskirts in a desert. I haven't actually started to paint them yet, but at least I have an idea now...

Then my FLGS (finally) got the heavy myrm models in. Boy are these sweet! I know I was critical of them when the images were first released, but these things are hulking beauties, and the plastic is spectacular to work with. I finished building the Phoenix in one evening. Here's a picture of the parts after pulling them out of the box. (kudos to g'daybloke at Lost Hemisphere for beating me to the punch this morning...)

The first shot here is without any glue. The pieces fit well together, but every other picture, step by step below, had to be done with glued parts. First are the two legs attached to the hip segment. Also notice the new textured base (it will someday be covered with flock of some sort, but for the time being it looks nice).

Next in the building process came the torso and ever-fashionable codpiece...

...then the knee pieces and the right arm. I had to consult the picture of the Manticore online for the knee caps, because they confused me. They look like another shin/boot, and I tested the fit several times to make sure I was positioning them right. I'm still not sure I like the aesthetics of this part of the sculpt.

Next the left arm begins to take shape, and the arc node vanes in the back. The arc node vanes are NOT glued in and are just sitting in the slots. I know a lot of people out there paint various parts of their model first and then glue everything together, but generally I like to assemble the model and then paint it. Sure, there will be tight spaces in which to get the brush in, but I figure those are places better left dark and that the casual observer won't see on the table. There have been a couple of times where I have not permanently attached parts to a model so that I could better get in and paint in between. The first was my trencher sharpshooter (I blue tacked him to the base so that I could paint under him and around the sandbags). The other was the Thunderhead, blue tacking the back coil (as suggested in No Quarter long ago) so I could better paint in and around the smaller coils.

Next is the fully assembled Pheonix, with sword arm and oh-so-tiny left hand attached...

And last, here is the start of my vengeful little battlegroup, pictured so you can see the size differences. I figured whatever caster I ended up with, a light and a heavy arc node should be the first myrmidons I should take. I can't overstate how nice the new plastic is to work with. And it actually has a heft to it that I wasn't expecting. No, nothing like metal, to be sure, but it does have a noticeable weight to it, and the level of detail it can support startled me. These are awesome models and I can't wait to see what plastics are in the pipeline for my beloved Cygnar.

Red

Schism me this...

2009-09-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

The final tourney for the year (and for Mark I) in the Fort Wayne area is a Schism event. Our two local PG's Alan and Jason managed to acquire a Schism kit recently, and the tourney is scheduled for Oct 3. Just the basic eight slots, and I believe only four or five are filled so far.

This is a new format for me, so here's the chant (in case you're curious)...

It's a defend the table type tournament. You win and you get to stay and defend the table using the same, albeit slightly depleted list against a new opponent. Lose and you rotate to another table, using another list (out of the three) you brought. Each of your three lists must have a different warcaster/warlock, and no list can repeat a character model.

This is mixed tournament, both Warmachine and Hordes, and I really, really, really want to take Circle. The problem? I've hardly had a chance to play my Circle army. Maybe five games tops. With this I have to bring three different warlocks, and I really only have experience playing with Kaya and Morvahna. My third choice will probably be Krueger.

So what do I do? I'm thinking of creating three lists that are very similar to each other, that cover a lot basics, nothing fancy, swapping out the warlock. Is it painfully obvious that I'm not expecting to win? (Which brings back memories of my first tournament last September when I had only played the game a couple of times). That tournament was a headache but it was a learning experience. This one will be too. At least this time I know the game a bit better than I did a year ago, and it comes down to my learning what the models can do.

There is an award for best painted character (non-caster/lock) miniature. I'm not sure what I can do in the next week or so, but Circle doesn't have many character models. Primal introduced Lord of the Feast (which I have) but I'm not planning on using him. Evolution had no character models for Circle, and Metamorphosis has Megalith (yes, he's in one of my lists), and Morraig (but he's not available yet). I could include Pendrake, but I don't really feel like painting him quite yet. So I guess Megalith will be my painting emphasis of the next week or so. Nothing else will be done, but c'est la vie.

Red

If Nostradamus were alive today, would anyone know who he is?

2009-09-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

If anyone asks why I choose to maintain a blog rather than post on the PP forums, it's because of the Doomsayers. Apparently they reproduce in vast numbers like rabbits, because they're everywhere.

I'm a parent of one, and by profession a teacher to many. I hate whining. I hear it all the time, and it seems to me there's too much whining on the boards. Drives me nuts. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to read the forums.

The latest outbreak of doomsaying, of course, is a result of the final Mark II changes. Cygnar players are crying foul again, as I'm sure is happening in other factions as well. I endured reading through the long postings of criticism because I didn't have time to read all the card info on the pdf, and I wanted to see what changes were made in a relatively quick amount of time. So I got wind of the changes but had to eat a big ole side-helping of bellyaching with it.

Perhaps this is because a lot of people out there foolishly began to play Mark II with the field test rules exclusively after the field test date was over. There were Mark II leagues, people loved the FT rules so much.

Me? I knew there would probably be changes to the FT afterwards, I just wasn't sure how many or how widespread they would be. What I did NOT want to have to do was learn Mark II and then RE-learn the game again in January after the final changes are made. I wanted to play in the final Call to Arms, as well as other events to round out the year, all of which were going to use Mark I rules.

It doesn't bother me so much that the Gun Mages' range has been shortened (or whatever else it is that they're complaining about). I can learn the Mark II rules and abilities/stats of my models feeling confident that they're not going to change (much) at least until the errata begins to roll. But that's a topic for another post.

Play the game, people. Doomsaying = whining, and whiners never win. And they certainly don't play like they got a pair.

Red

The Flames Are Hot Down Here

2009-09-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Lust, people. I can't think of a better way to describe it. Of course, I'm speaking of the Mark II downloads - yes, the finalized content without the fru fru and kewl artwork - that PP's made available on their website. It took forever to download, and I was keeping my fingers crossed and praying to Morrow that their site would not crash while in the middle of my downloading it. If there's any reason for my soul to inhabit the down below it's lust for this game, pure and simple. I've never said that (or thought it even) about any other game in my life. When I die, inter my remains in a warjack, please. And make sure it's got a golden swan on the shield.

So what are you waiting for? Have ya gotten yours yet? Go get some Mark II.

I only wish I didn't have a Mark I tournament and league coming up. Man is it going to be hard to focus...

Red

The Cruelest Month

2009-09-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I knew September was going to be busy, but wow, I never thought I'd be swept away so badly that I'd neglect my dear blog in such a fashion.

I'm trying to get my forest sections of terrain ready to paint this week so they will be ready for our first league week coming up. The first week of Call to Arms #3 has happened (we're not starting ours until week 4). I had a devil of a time finding the dispatch! It wasn't on the previous bookmark I had, and it wasn't under the URL given in the most recent issue of No Quarter. It wasn't linked on Privateer's front page (although it might be now, but it wasn't earlier this week when I looked). Here's the link if you're curious...

http://sites.privateerpress.com/dispatch/2009/

And I am happy to say that I'll be able to re-use the sandbag walls I made earlier this year, plus my efforts of making forests will not go to waste either (according to the terrain list posted).

I've been priming a lot of my Circle models so that I can use them and play them in the upcoming Schism tourney on Oct 3, plus in the league as well. No big plans there in the painting department, just trying to get my two warp wolves done. Maybe Kaya as well.

Much of my other free time will be spent pouring over my copy of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. I know it's not PP related, but Paizo has been one of my favorite game publishers for quite a while. I have almost every issue of Dragon and Dungeon magazines printed during their tenure, and I've followed their endeavors with Pathfinder very closely ever since they lost the rights to produce the magazines. I hope I can get a Pathfinder RPG campaign going sometime this fall, but the Call to Arms league comes first.

Oh, and I'm also bummed that the new Retribution stuff hasn't made it to my FLGS yet. Drat!

More on these things later.

Red

Weekend Edition #1

2009-09-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

Occasionally in some of the old blogs I used to maintain I would offer a smattering of different things all under the label of “weekend edition,” and since we’ve got the long holiday weekend, and since I haven’t posted in several days, and since I have a whole bunch of little things to talk about, I figured it was time to bring back the "Edition" and put everything in one big posting. So here goes…

Not enough gaming going on…
It’s been a good start to the school year for me (at work) but my schedule, now that summer vacation is done, has been a mess. I never know when or if I can make it over to the LGS, and several plans that I’ve had with friends to play Warmachine have fallen through because of last minute familial chaos (my apologies to those of you out there that I’ve had to ditch at the last minute). The final league of 2009 will bring some stability (because saying “it’s league night” seems to have more gravity at home than “hey, it’s game night") and I’m very much looking forward to the start of it all again.

Can’t see the forest for the…
I’ve been obsessing lately on Orboros, studying what my models can (or can’t) do, which brings me to the topic of forests. My goal before we enter the next round of the CtA League is to have a number of pieces of forest terrain done (keeping my fingers crossed that we will need forests!). I’m using balsa planks for the base, and I have some tree kits that I’ve picked up, so we’ll have to see how it all comes together (six trees that I have to put together myself for the same price as one pre-made tree is a deal I’m willing to make). I’ll be reporting here more about how that little project comes together in the next couple of weeks.

500 vs. 750…

My gaming bud Airport had an idea for a mixed Warmachine vs Hordes match. He’s been very frustrated as of late playing his Khador against any Hordes army, and he wants to try a 750 point Khador list against a 500 point Circle list. I don’t mind an experimental handicap in a casual game, so that’s fine with me, though I should point out that if I lose no one could blame me for it, but if I should win then I'll look like a strategic genius (and Airport will never play against Hordes ever again, I fear). There's something tactically that the both of us are missing when battling against Hordes armies. If Hordes was really as off-balance as he and I feel, then why aren't they more present in the National tourneys?

Needless to say I’ve been doing some heavy list theorizing for this upcoming match. I had a really dominant showing with Morvahna last time out, but I’m not sure I want to play her again so soon. Although I really love Kaya as a warlock (she’s one of the reasons I got into Circle), she’s tricksy to use and I haven’t had a great deal of luck with her. I don’t yet own Kromac (I think he would be great fun to take against Khador), and although I do have Mohsar, he’s more of a Hordes vs. Hordes warlock (the “no channeling spells” part of his feat is the only part usuable against WM forces and that’s pretty limiting IMO). A warbeast heavy force with Mohsar in the lead casting his pillar of salt is very tempting though! Then there’s Baldur, but one of our local PGs likes to use him quite a bit, so I'm hesistant to make a go with him. Then there’s always…

Come the Stormwrath...

I finally picked up Krueger. I haven’t put him together yet, although that’s on the agenda for things to get done this weekend. I’m going to try and make some storm ravager templates for his feat in the coming days. Obviously his whole “lightning” and “storm” theme appeals to this Cygnar player (especially considering the name of my blog). I know several people have cried “broken” in the same sentence that the name “Krueger” is uttered, but he might just do the trick against an overwhelming number of Khador. Not sure yet. Too many decisions to think about. Anyway, that game will be played either this week or next. I’ll try to get pictures and post a report of it afterwards.

Do you like it standing up or lying down?

Keep in mind that I’ve only been modeling and painting WM for a year, so when I say that “I broke my first miniature,” many might say “Really? Just your first?” There was no good excuse for it really. I was moving my Cygnar trays out and putting my Circle trays in (to my Army Transport case), and seeing my Warcaster tray, I grabbed my dear fully-painted Haley to better slobber all over her and SNAP, off came her arm and spear. I’m still a bit in shock over it. She’s standing on my hobby table with these bright metallic nubs (elbows, people, elbows!) where her arms used to be connected.

This got me thinking about a question that has plagued me in the past concerning miniature trays… is there any difference having your miniatures lying down or standing up? My ‘casters are all lying down flat, pretty snug in the tray. I think the snugness might have been one of the reasons Haley’s arm broke off. I also have some trays with miniatures standing up (my Sword Knights and my Bloodtrackers for instance), and they tend to bounce around a little bit more. Standing up I can get a few more miniatures in per tray, but the tray needs to be deeper to accommodate the height, so I’m not sure I’m saving room (in total volume) inside my Army Transport case by doing it that way. So what do you do? Lay them down or stand them up? Which do you like better and why?

Aura vs Pulse.

I was reading the forums the other day and noticed something about the Druids of Orboros Counter Magic spell being a pulse. My irritation is not because I don’t understand the concepts of these two things. If you tell me that Haley’s TB is a pulse (which it is, I know), I understand the game implications of that compared to what it would be if it were (hypothetically) an aura. The thing is, I can’t find anything about it in the rules. Can someone please tell me what page this is on in any of the rule books? I know every game has errata that needs to be fixed, but this seems to be an important game concept, and for it not to have appeared in the rules somewhere seems like an important oversight. I don’t care what’s online or on the forums. Get it in print, i.e. hard copy. (And if it is in print, and I missed it, sorry for the rant; please direct me to the correct page and I will be happy). There’s been too many different rules books published for this not to have appeared somewhere, and I hope Mk II fixes it (I can’t find it in a glossary anywhere either).

Casting the Pod.

My oh my! The Fell Callers hung up their mics and a slew of other podcasts have hit the scene. I don’t mean to make any enemies here - because Fell Calls was the first Warmachine related podcast I ever listened to – but the boys peaked some time ago and I’ve felt they’ve been drifting ever since. I will miss them, surely, but I think it was time for the show to take a bow. In every endeavor there comes a time to make a graceful exit before things get ugly, and I’m happy for the years they gave us and that they were able to go out in somewhat the same style they emerged. Good on ya for that boys!

In listening to the other new podcasts though, there seems to be a habit in the first episode or so of trying to legitimize the effort, to say “here’s why we’re doing this,” and “here’s what’s new and different about our show.” Let me tell you something, if you put together a thought-provoking product with good model/list analysis and strategies, a show that’s fun to listen to, and in which I can tell you’re just as zealous about WM/H as I am, I will be back week after week. Don’t waste your time telling me “why” I should listen to it, just do it and I will be there. Promise.

With that said, I think the guys at Focus and Fury are off to a good start. The overseas podcasts, like Boosted Damage, need to work on their volume levels. One of the fellows sounds like he’s mumbling into the mic and the other one’s voice comes blasting through the speakers. Find an even volume, please. This was one of the reasons why I quit listening to This Week in Wargaming (maybe they have fixed all that now, I can’t say).

I do wish more of you podcasters would mind the coarse language. I like to listen to podcasts in my car, and much of the time I have my son riding with me, which means I can’t listen to some of your shows. Take a note from the D6Generation podcast and get rid of the bad language. The “explicit” tag is NOT a badge of honor, gents.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Red

Deliverance of Pain

2009-08-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

...or friends don't let friends play Orboros...

This sort of thing hasn’t ever really happened to me playing Warmahordes, creating a killer list that my opponent hates. I’ve never even felt this way with Haley in my Cygnar army, although I’ve come close. You see Airport and I played a 500 point game last night, My Circle against his Khador, and I decided to use Morvahna for the first time. I’ve been wanting to practice with my Circle models so I can use them in the final Call to Arms league, before the Hordes Mark II field test happens next year, and even though she was on my side, I have to say Morvahna is a real beyotch!

Throughout the game, the pain was evident on Airport’s face. We are both of the opinion that Warmachine factions are at a deficit when going against Hordes, and our game last night did not prove that opinion wrong. When I was coming up with my list, I figured that all my troops would throw themselves against all that Khador armor and go SQUISH. But I didn’t count on how devastating Morvahna’s Regrowth spell was going to be. Here’s what I had…

Morvahna
Warpwolf
Woldwyrd
Wolves of Orboros unit (8) w/ UA
Warwolf
Tharn Bloodtrackers (8)
Druids of Orboros

The plan was simple. The Wolves were out front with Regrowth on them; Bloodtrackers are to one side to act as a flanking force. Morvahna is centered in the middle of the Druids, keeping them close in order to use Revivify, and they are tucked behind the unit of Wolves. Woldwyrd to one side of Morvahna, Warpwolf on the other.

If I remember correctly, Airport had…

Sorscha
Devastator
Iron Fang Pikemen, full unit w/ UA
Great Bears
Greylords Ternion
Koldun Lord
Alten Ashley

I wanted to practice some of the Steamroller scenarios, so I let Airport choose which one we’d play, and he picked Ridgeline Raiders. As you might predict, it came down to a big snarl of spear-wielding Wolves against the IFP on the centerline ridge. Wolves are going to go ka-plowey against IFP normally, but with Morv’s ability to bring the previous round’s casualties back, the IFP saw their numbers slowly dwindle down to nothing. Airport would concede the game because he only had the Great Bears and Sorscha left (normally this would still scare the crap out of me). The only models I had lost were my Bloodtrackers. Both my Warpwolf and Woldwyrd still had full health. At the end, the Devastator finished off the remainder of my Bloodtrackers leaving a charge lane for my Warpwolf. Next turn the Warpwolf charged in and pretty much shredded the heavy warjack. Two solid hits with claw attacks and then the throat ripper chain attack doesn’t leave a whole lot left, even if it’s against Khador armor.

Some tactical observations…

I know the Warwolf has Kneel, but keeping it back behind the unit of Wolves and then getting that flank attack is particularly nice (at a 750 point level I might take all three!). Airport had deployed Alten on the opposite side of the table from where my Beasts were, and eventually the Wolves unit spread out enough that they engaged him with a spear attack (and missed) but then the Warwolf hit him with a flank attack and took him out with one chomp. Very nice combo.

Going back to the eternal Warmachine vs Hordes debate: unless you scrub the roll, a Warpwolf should almost always disable or wreck a jack. I don’t play to be a bastard, and no matter what I did last night, that’s what I felt like. Morvahna didn’t even use her feat, which is a damn ugly ability; it would have only added insult to injury.

Speaking of feats, let’s talk a moment about Sorscha’s. Airport wanted to use it, but she was stuck behind her IFP. Initially there was no line of sight except to the Warpwolf and the Woldwyrd. That was the first time I’d ever seen her army work against her like that. It was the first time that I actually wanted her to use her feat. Strange to say, but I was rooting for her. Yes, that’s how bad I felt playing this list.

The woldwyrd had gotten in close enough, behind the unit of Wolves, where he could start picking off Greylords. Plus, Morvahna and her Druids, by the end were close enough that the Druids’ Counter Magic spell covered every opposing magic slinging model.

This is definitely a list to save for the League, but don’t worry Airport, I won’t be using Morvahna against you for a little while, unless it’s to try out a completely different list build. I’m not sure I could handle the guilt.

Red

The Lord of Wolves!

2009-08-23T16:19:00.001-07:00

I went looking for something else, but much to my surprise, on Privateer's front page, was news of Lord Morraig's release along with these ultra-cool pics! This was one model I was worried about, because it's not too often that I'm unimpressed with the artwork in the Warmachine or Hordes books, but let's just say with Morraig I was just not "feeling it." This is one instance where the sculpt is so much better than the artwork (although the wolf does look a bit rodent-like from this view). Thank you PP! I can't wait for this one!

Red

Getting Furious

2009-08-23T09:32:00.001-07:00

We have a couple of big events coming this Fall... our pressgangers (we have two in the area that I know of), Alan and Jason, have gotten their hands on a Metamorphosis Schism kit, and the format looks like it will be great fun. It is scheduled for Saturday October 3, the weekend before the start of the final league this year, which like last time, will run the last five weeks of the league window. What a great way to send Mark I off with a bang!

And to finish this year out, I'm going to be switching focus for fury. Before the Hordes Mark II fieldtest occurs next year, I'd like to really put my Circle force through its paces, and also see how much I can get painted. The Schism event and the upcoming league will give me ample motivation. Don't worry Airport, this doesn't mean I've forgotten about our Landmark battles. I'll still be painting my boys in blue. I've still got a lot of work to do on my Precursors! (and more trenchers still to paint).

In the coming months I'll be posting more material concerning Orboros, to try to get my head straight about warlock tactics, how fury differs from focus, and generating sample lists. I'll be starting with my favorite warlocks, Kaya, Baldur, Morvahna, and Mohsar. Oh yes, Mohsar. I might try to paint my Circle models in a desert theme just to match him. Maybe.

I've been in a building phase this week, trying to complete the last Circle models that I've had tucked in my cabinet all summer (thanks for the second warpwolf, Airport!). I haven't changed my painting/priming/building sidebar much lately because there's a lot of bare metal on my table. To give a quick run down, I finished putting together the Gencon models for Retribution, Kaelyssa and a Chimera light myrmidon. Kaya Moonhunter and Laris are finally coming together along with a second woldwatcher, a unit of Wolves, and I finally got the cables on the back of my Cryx Brute Thrall attached to its arms (what a supreme pain!).

Still more Gencon coverage to come. Stay tuned!

Red

Tour of Duty, Revealed!

2009-08-22T10:25:00.001-07:00

Okay, so this was probably the single best time I had at Gencon this year.

Leading up to the date of the convention, I had asked around in a few places, looked all over the internet and the PP forums (a terrible place to have to look for anything; really guys, is a new search feature going to be added to the forums anytime soon?), but all anyone could tell me about the Tour of Duty format was that it was a 350 point list. Was it Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw? Was it whatever I wanted to include in my force so long as it came to 350 points? The Gencon event listing said that four people would play. Did that mean it was four people all playing against each other? Or that it was a two on two, then the two winners would play each other, sort like a mini-tournament? (this seemed unlikely because it was only listed as a single hour event, but one never knows if someone doesn’t inform you, right?)

I went into this with a lot of questions. I knew I wanted only to take what few painted Cygnar I had, so I came up with an assortment of both Mangled Metal and normal 350 point lists with a little bit of everything.

So, in case you were wondering, here’s the scoop. Here’s Tour of Duty…

Yes, it’s 350 points, whatever jacks/beasts, units, solos you want to include in your list from your faction; if you wish to take a Mangled Metal list, that’s fine, but if you want units and solos, that’s fine too. It’s you against three other opponents, deployed on 10” corners of the 4’ x 4’ table. It’s one hour to get in as much carnage and mayhem as you can. It’s both casual and competitive.

It’s casual in that there is no tense tournament atmosphere. Our judge informed me that this was a perfect format for new players to try. Indeed there was a table set up just down from ours that had three pre-teens and the guy in the Caine costume (see two posts ago for a picture of him). We jokingly referred to it as “Caine’s Childcare Service.” Seriously though, I was really happy to see younger people playing the game. I hope that Mark II brings even more of them to the scene.

But it was also competitive in that the victory points you scored in the session got added to a pool of points for your faction won throughout the entire con, and then on Sunday a faction winner would be declared (since I wasn’t there on Sunday I did not hear which faction that was, bummer; if anyone out there knows, I would be interested to find out).

I could have plopped Haley out on the table, but not knowing any better, I succumbed to the “play it nice” mode of thinking instead of “crush the opposition” style. Because Tour of Duty does have a bit of competition in it though, the others I played against were of the latter frame of mind. I will know better next time!

My opposition in the one event I played was two Reclaimer-led Menoth lists (lots and lots of troops, no jacks, you guys did know we were playing Warmachine right?).

Menites to the left of me!

Bastions to the right of me!

Honestly, I didn’t know that 350 points could afford anyone that many models on the table; my force looked downright puny with Stryker, an Ironclad, a minimal unit of Trenchers and a Grenadier. The fourth player was using a Khador force led by the Old Witch. Now, I have never played against the Old Witch before, and I am glad in retrospect that I sat across from this guy on the diagonal, because Scrapjack tore into the adjacent Menoth troops like nothing I’ve ever seen before. When I see casters like the Reclaimer and the Old Witch, I begin to understand why some Cygnar players complain that Stryker is not a competitive caster. Be that as it may, he’s still fun to play and play against. People don’t groan and roll their eyes when they see him across the table, and that’s alright in my book.

Scrapjack reign of terror on the TFG!

The Menoth player adjacent to me (on the same side of the table; I clarify that because I was surrounded by Menites) was Thomas Riley, a cop from Boston, and he had some fully painted Bastions, which I had never played against. I won’t go over every detail of the game, namely because I can’t remember everything, but will say that it was fun to send my Arcane Shielded fully-focused Ironclad into the thick of those Bastions and start wailing away on them. Unfortunately it was too close to the end of the session and I did not finish them off and get the victory points for them. Thomas and I had a chance to chat quite a bit, and he is a really nice guy and fun to play against. Once again, even though I did not play very well in terms of VP’s won, the Warmachine community proves itself to be one of the best out there. During Gencon I got to meet interesting people from all around the country (or the world!) and have a wonderful time playing my favorite game.

Had I had more time to hang out at the convention, I would have spent a lot more of it playing Tour of Duty. Next year, count on it!

Red

There's an Angel Over my Shoulder!

2009-08-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

...a Serra Angel, that is. Apparently, by the look on my face, the experience left me feeling constipated, ha!

Red

Grandmaster Painting Competition and other photos

2009-08-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

I think my camera was trying to tell me something. It's difficult to take pictures of miniatures in a glass case, and of all the ones that I took, the photos of Cryx miniatures were the only ones that turned out, barely, and saying that is quite a stretch. Here's a couple of photos from the Grandmaster Painting competition. On Thursday the case was pretty bare with only a few to see, but as the convention continued, more and more models were brought out.

Ultra cool thing about being at Gencon? Each time I strolled around to the Privateer booth, Ron Kruzie was painting away. Most excellent!

One final, miscellaneous photo... I didn't catch his name, but a very cool Caine costume, and this guy wore it while playing Tour of Duty to boot.

More to come!

Red

Gencon 2009 Masters Photos

2009-08-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

The first couple of photos are random shots down the row as the Master's tourney was beginning on Thursday. There were five (or more) rows of tables similar to this (and this is only a view down half a row, as I was standing in the center aisle with another stretch similar to this behind me; see the second photo).

The next picture below is the deployment shot of my friend Mark who won his first round match against a fellow Khador player. Unfortunately, Mark got taken out in the second game by a Harby-led Menoth list. At least he was free to do other things at the con after that! He told me as I took this shot that it was the same list I had played against in our last League. Hmmm, I remember not doing so well against it...

This final picture is a close-up shot of a Cygnar army (eStryker) with two units of nicely painted Stormguard. I just wish my picture of them had turned out a little better. This picture was taken on Friday, second round of Master's, 750 point level. I wish I could be at the con today to see who made it to the Final round, and who came out on top...

Next year I plan on being there all four days. Here's keeping my fingers crossed!

Red

Creating a Retribution Theme Force

2009-08-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got the Retribution book in my hot little hands, I've been thinking a lot about the rules for Theme Forces. So I put together a short list to see how many points I would need to field a minimum theme but have covered all the requirements for all four tier levels. So here’s how putting together Vyros’s Dawnguard army works…

Vyros +6
Phoenix hvy, 10
Manticore hvy, 8
Sentinel unit 1 (min), 6
+ officer/standard, 2
Sentinel unit 2 (min), 6
+ officer/standard, free cost
Destor cav unit (min), 7
Destore thane, 4
Scyir x4, 2 pts each or 8 pts

The total should be 45 pts if I’ve done my math correctly (and often I don’t).

Tier 1 requirements are no character myrmidons and include Dawnguard units, Stormfall Archer units, Arcanist solos, or Dawnguard solos. Vyros must be the warcaster, of course, but the interesting thing about Theme forces is that they’re meant to be single warcaster lists, no matter what point level you’re playing. My benefit for meeting tier 1 is that Sentinel and Invictor units become FA:U, and more importantly Scyir solos FA is increased +1 for each Sentinel or Invictor unit included, which is why I have 4 of them in the list above. Cool, no?

Anyway, moving on… For any higher tier you must meet the requirements of the tiers below it. Tier 2 requires that I have two or more Sentinel units, so above I took two minimal sized units. If I were designing a 50 point list, I would probably bump one of those up to a maximum unit (or throw in a light myrmidon; the Griffon is 4 pts and the Gorgon is 5). I love Sentinels, so I don’t mind putting multiple units in a list. What can I say? Cygnar has no weapon masters, so give me lots of Sentinels please! My benefit then, is that I can add the officer & standard to the second unit free of cost and it ignores FA restrictions.

At tier 3 I need to include a Destor cav unit and at least one Destor thane solo, which gives me +1 to my starting game roll. At tier 4 I must have two or more heavy myrmidons, which allows me to extend my deployment zone by 2”.

As you can see, for 50 points (with a few points left over) I can meet all four levels of theme force requirements, which will give me some extra advantages to play with. Naturally, this only makes me wonder what’s in store for my home team, Cygnar. Stryker’s Storm theme list? Caine’s Gun Mage army? What sort of theme force will Kraye or Siege have? It makes my imagination run amok.

Red

The "BIG" Announcement

2009-08-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

So okay, most of us had this sussed out yesterday, but we were still curious enough to go listen - in case it turned out NOT to be true - to hear Privateer's big announcement that a new video game is in some stage of production. Other than have a screen shot that showed a hopping, "breathing" juggernaut, and a 3-D representation of Sorscha, there wasn't a lot to show. One of the video game developers mentioned having some preview shots perhaps in a month. My apologies for the sorry quality of the shots, but it was a very dim room, and using a flash only serves to illuminate the heads of the people in front of you...

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of video games. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe because I'm not particularly good at them. Maybe it's because I'd rather game face to face from someone across the table. Still, it was exciting to be on the scene for one of the famous Gencon announcements that all the game companies seem to have at some point in the weekend.

Reporting "news" has never been one of the goals for this blog, but what I can mention about the announcement, is that the developers described it as "similar" to a first-person shooter in its intensity. You the player are the warcaster, marshalling both your warjacks and units in a battle as if you were standing in the thick of it, at eye level. They very much want to produce the game correctly and at a high quality, with all Warmachine factions represented (it was suggested that Hordes might possibly someday in the light of our dreams be an expansion if the initial release was successful, at least that's according to the answer to one of the questions that someone in the audience asked).

As far as announcements go, for me, it was just "meh." Pictures of this were leaked months ago and Privateer tried to make it sound as if it was the initiative of the video game company to show what their platform could do, and as it turned out, this was not a lie, but Privateer had more of a hand in it than they let on, with ulterior goals and motives of making this a real honest-to-gosh video game, and of course something that is in line with Matt Wilson's vision.

There is much work still to be done with this, and they did not have much in the way of screen shots to show, which was a little disappointing. What did they want from the people in the room? (and btw there were so many who showed up for the announcement, that they had to break up the hour long session into two half-hour presentations). They wanted us to talk it up, because the people who really decide whether or not this game ever sees the sales rack are the marketers who will try to estimate public interest.

So, I can only give my honest opinion. If I was more into video games, I'd be very excited. What they were able to show looked awesome, with a lot of detail and texture. Some people in the audience who are more in the know about such things seemed to be worried about the level of detail interacting negatively on the computer screen in a MMO type battlefield, similar to the headaches some had with the Warhammer MMO. The juggernaut, in an effort to make it look more dynamic, heaved and puffed and looked like one of those robo-football players during the intermission NFL promos right before the commercials come on. If you ask me, it looked more organic and not very herky-jerky in its supposed mechanical-ness. The game will have both single player missions and online battles with other people. Honestly, I wish there was more to tell you. Perhaps in the second round there was more time to ask questions. The game developers spent a lot of time giving us their credentials, getting us to believe they were the right people to do this job. Not much time to ask questions at the end of a 30-minute schpiel.

My two cents. So, go talk it up. Or whatever.

Red.

Gencon: Put your walking shoes on!

2009-08-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a few years since I've been able to go to Gencon on opening day. I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking... that it would be a slow day? Heh, definitely not. I would say that it almost compares to the craziness that is Saturday.

I drove down Maryland, hoping to get my usual parking in the government garage. Wow, no such luck. As a matter of fact, as I drove along, many of the parking garages had their neon "FULL" signs on, and I was in a pickle as to where to go. I ended up not too far away, on Georgia (Indianapolis likes to name its streets after states, if you hadn't noticed) in one of the dreariest parking garages I've ever been in. I had to drive deep down into the bowels of the earth, to level 3, where there were huge standing pools of brackish water. If I were a LARPer, it would have been paradise. Perhaps the guys at True Dungeon should bring their set up to that garage.

On the walk to the convention center, I passed a HUGE line of those who still needed to register and pay entrance to the show. I remember the first year Gencon came to Indy, and people were complaining of the 2 to 4 hour wait. The Gencon staff attributed it to a failing computer system and promised that in the coming years the wait would not be as long. Well, here it is several years later, and I guess they're still going to blame a failing computer system or something. All I know is that if I ever forget to preregister, I may as well not even go. I am not a patient person, and if I had to have waited in that line, there would be some dead people by the time I got through it. A car drove by me as I was walking down the street, and someone hollered out at me to ask if the line behind me was the line to "get your badge" to which I nodded an affirmative. There was much cursing that came from the car as it drove away. I know fellas, I know.

The great thing about preregistering - and I hope they never change this - is that you just walk in. There's no preregister sign-in. Nothing. You've got your badge in the mail, you wear it, and you're good to go. When I walked into the center, the exhibition hall doors (known as the "dealer's area") had been open already for the past 10 minutes, and I made my way first to, of course, the Privateer booth where the line wrapped around and down the wall of the hall. I waited in line for about 45 minutes. I suppose if I had been a little more patient, later I could have just walked into the booth, gotten my book, and have been done with no wait in line at all. But my need for instant gratification would not be squelched by common sense.

The book, speaking of the book... Ah, Retribution. It is a very nice thing indeed. If this is the face of Mark II, I cannot wait. Almost everything I had hoped Privateer would do to improve the game has happened (I won't belabor those points again). But there was a surprise: Theme armies! Retribution has a number of theme army lists. And I was told that all of the factions would have rules for Theme armies. In short, your army can get additional perks and abilities for adhering to different levels (or "tiers") of a theme. For example, Kaelyssa can have a Mage Hunter unit FA:U if the rest of her force adheres to the theme listed. What a fabulous idea! I cannot wait to see what the other factions have in store for their theme lists.

After my wait in line, I met up with our local Press Ganger, Mingo, for lunch. The only reason I mention this is because it was a bit early for lunch, so we thought we could get in to the Ram with little to no waiting. Now, I have an admission to make. As many times as I've been to Indianapolis and to Gencon (and I used to live there in the early 90's) I've never been to the Ram. I had heard about it, but never been there. What an experience! As soon as I entered, my nose was assaulted by the smell of yeast and malt. It smelled just like my kitchen when I make my homebrew. I tried the Hefeweizen at the Ram, and I hate to admit it, but it was a bit skunky. Had I known they had something called Retribution Honey Brown, I would have eagerly gotten that instead. At the Ram, all their home brews on tap have been sponsored by Warmachine factions (at least, for the duration of the convention). Wherever you sit or walk, huge gaming banners adorn the place from just about every wall. The service was fabulous, and I plan on making my trip here an annual tradition (not to mention obtaining the new t-shirt they have each year...this year was dedicated to the Retribution of course!).

To wrap this up, I only managed to get through about two thirds of the dealer's hall. I walked through the Privateer game room where the tournaments were just getting started. But I wasn't able to stay long as I had to head home to pick up my son.

I will be posting a number of pictures here in the coming days, not all of them are Warmachine related. So stay tuned!

Oh, and I think I am in love. I think I have the Retribution bug.

More to come!

Red

Gen-khaaaaan!

2009-08-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

The end of summer vacation season has hit my household full tilt, as my family tries to make the most of the time off before the school year begins. Apologies for the infrequency of posts lately. Personally, for me, it all comes to a dramatic conclusion this weekend as Gencon invades Indianapolis once again. I am extremely lucky that I only live a couple hours north of Indy. Those rare years that I don’t make it down – I think there was one – I feel as if I’ve shirked my duty as a gamer in the Hoosier state.

As Thursday comes ever closer, I find that my plans are still as much in flux as they ever have been. First I was afraid that I did not have my convention badge, but then found it in a pile of mail the post office had held for me while I was away. Whew! I still don’t know if I’m going to get a room somewhere (there’s still some rooms available if you’re willing to get one NOT in downtown and don’t mind making the drive each day). I might just drive down from Fort Wayne each day, I don't know. I’m also not sure which days I’m going to go; I’ve got a 4-day badge, but I know I can’t be there Sunday, and I’m not sure logistically if I can make it Thursday. I’m not signed up for any events specifically, and my plan is to get a pocketful of generic tickets. So lots of things are still up in the air.

I can’t help but reflect back on the past year. It was last August that I decided to make a commitment to this game, paint my miniatures, and play the game in some organized or competitive fashion. I have participated in two tournaments, one league, and organized two leagues (with one more to come this fall). In so many ways, I still feel I don’t know this game at all (especially when I play against some of the gamers in our group, at least one of which is participating in the Master’s tournament), but I think back to the headaches I used to have in trying to comprehend everything a year ago, and I can’t help but be positive of the progress I’ve made, the people I’ve met, and the fun I’ve had playing, which is really what it’s all about, right?

So, looking on to year #2 (for me), I’d like to make a few goals for myself, perhaps fulfill some of those promises that I made last year…

1) I’m not quite through painting my 1000 points of Cygnar; I’m getting very close, but there’s some work still to do. I had wanted to have a 1000 painted points done by Gencon this year, but I’m just too slow a painter with family time that cuts into hobby time (which should not be misconstrued as a complaint!).

2) In the final Call to Arms league this year, I’d like to focus my attention to really learning how to play my Circle army and try to get 350-500 points painted.

3) Lastly, with all the excitement of Mark II in the new year, I’d like to re-divert my energies to my Cryx lists. I don’t really want to play them too much pre-Mark II and have to relearn all the fiddly little details when the new edition comes out, so I’m just going to sit on them, pick up a few miniatures that I know I’ll need for Mark II, like a necrotech and brute thrall, and start playing them more in January/February.

Of course, you’ll be hearing about all the details here.

If you are going to Gencon, I hope to see you there. I'll be the big red head with the Lightning Strykes minis bag. Give me a poke, say hello, and let’s sit down for a game!

Red

Roadmachine: Taking the Game Away from Home

2009-08-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

Talk about serendipity. I’ve been planning a trip with my family to Maine for the past several months. Then a while back I listened to the Iron Agenda podcast, episode 44, and discovered that Yann (Devilsquid on the PP forums) games at a store very close to where we were going to be, Portland, Maine (thanks for pimping your store, mate!). Thinking back to some of my favorite posts by CerealJohn (now MenothJohn at Lost Hemisphere) about taking his hobby on the road to visit other groups and stores, I felt I had to find a way to schedule some time during our vacation to get in a game away from home.

I mean, I love the guys at my LGS. They’re the ones who keep me coming back week after week. Every once in a while someone brings out models for a faction I didn’t know they had, like a couple of weeks ago with Shane’s Trolls, but experiencing how other people play the game around the country would certainly expand my own understanding of my favorite game. After all, there’s so much variety in this game, so many warcasters, units, and solos that I have never seen across the table from me at my LGS.

So I did a couple of things in preparation for my trip. I emailed Rob at the Game Geeks store and visited their website to see when their WM/H day was, and then contacted Devilsquid via the PP forums, and he replied that he would be able to meet me for a game. Excellent!

First of all, Game Geeks is a beautiful store. They have lots of table space, and beautifully painted miniatures and terrain that look out at you from shelves high and low and everywhere. Most the local game stores around me, sadly, do not have this (painted pieces on show, I mean; my current game store, Books Comics and Things, thankfully, has a lot of gaming space). Game Geeks was CLEAN, at least, from what I could tell from the couple of hours I was there. Some game stores suffer from a lack of cleanliness, and I feel this is one of the biggest detractions a store can have. I’m glad to say that Game Geeks did NOT fall into that category.

There were a few miniature games being played, Warhammer 40K, and Mordheim, which was good, as I had the feeling things were just getting started for the afternoon there. More people were coming in as I was leaving, so they must have a decent sized crowd. The place had a good vibe, good gaming energy, and if I lived nearby, I know I would become a regular myself.

I took my wife and son inside with me first to scope out the place. My wife had one of those moose caught in the headlight expressions on her face (she’s not a gamer, and moose, well, because we were in Maine), but I felt right at home. Once I knew I had the right place, I went back out to get my minis case out of the car. Then I met Yann, a friendly, towering guy, and he began to show me some beautifully converted Merc models. He was going to play his Steelhead Mercs list led by Bart, and I, trying to put together my woefully few painted miniatures, used one of my Stryker/Trenchers list. We played 500 pts, because I didn’t have a great deal of time, and I hoped to chat with Devilsquid for a while during/after the game. And let’s be honest, although I love this game, I also like meeting new people, and that’s the reason I took my Cygnar models with me in the first place.

The game in short? I got beat. No surprise there. But it was a great, fun game. I had never played against halberdiers before, or Stannis Brocker, and although I have played against Bart once in the past, I don’t think I was the victim of his Feat. Believe me, I’d have remembered it if it had ever been used against me! =)

So all my goals in this trip were achieved. Met and gamed against someone new. Check. Played against new models. Check. Had a great time. Definitely check.

I’d like to take the opportunity to publicly thank Yann for getting in a game with me; for him to set aside his own time to accommodate my strict vacation itinerary was, simply, awfully darn nice of him. And also to MenothJohn, because if it hadn’t been for his old blog, Getting Small, I wouldn’t have thought to try something like this (if I’m ever out in your part of the woods, John, I’ll be contacting you for a game!).

The Warmachine/Hordes community, by and large, is a great group to be a part of. Doesn’t matter whether it’s locally or on a larger scale. If you’ve got a trip planned anytime soon, why not check out their local gaming scene and see if you can’t get in a game?

Red

Making it Casual, Games that is

2009-07-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

Now that the second tour of Call to Arms is complete, the populace at our FLGS is looking kind of sparse on Tuesday nights. Part of that is probably due to summer time schedules, I’m sure, but it’s interesting to note the ebb and flow of our Warmachine gamers. Everyone needed some downtime after all that intense league action, I guess. Soon, though, everyone will be back to get in their practice games. Many in our group are going down to Gencon, and one of them is playing in the Master’s tournament (go get ‘em, Mark!) so a bit of a lull is to be expected.

I did get a good game in Tuesday evening against Shane’s Trollbloods. I hadn’t played against the axe-slinging Madrak in quite a while, and it was a 500 point battle with me playing Haley (you know, since I finally finished painting her, I wanted to give her a final “go” before putting her back in the case).

To be fair, the map was terrible for Trolls and better for Cygnar. We used CtA map #5 which had two buildings and two tilled fields, Trolls on the house side, and Swans on the field side. We did not play a scenario and just went for a basic caster kill. Off the top of my head, Trolls had a Mauler, a unit of Champions, Stone Scribes, a Chronicler, and two Impalers. I took a minimal unit of Trenchers, Journeyman w/ Hunter (big surprise!), Ironclad, Lancer, Squire, Strangewayes, and 1 Stormsmith.

Some basic things that I won’t dwell on too much (because they’re already an expected quantity in this type of game): Stormsmith not much good against Troll armor, check. Haley’s chain lightning not much good against Troll armor, check (although I did get a good chain going; I rolled a five and it bounced through the champion unit back into the stone scribe unit and killed one of them, so all was not lost). Haley using TB, check.

Conscious game-time switch of strategy… the Hunter is too useful against Trolls with their medium bases, so I did NOT use him as a sacrificial pawn this time, like I had discussed in recent posts. What I did is have Junior cast AS on the Ironclad and got the heavy stuck into the Troll champions instead. They would tangle for the entire rest of the game, the champions pinging his armor. I’ve always struggled against the Champions, and this ploy worked very well.

The game came down to… one of the Impalers was taken out by round 3; Haley had feated and Madrak, who had been screened by his other Impaler and the Mauler, had taken quite a bit of damage from the trencher’s CRA and the Hunter’s attack, but was not down yet (he negated some of the damage with his scroll).

Next came the funny bit. Troll turn #4, the Mauler picks up the second Impaler and throws him at Haley (question we had during the game, since the Impaler was engaged with the Lancer, does the throw get a freestrike from the Lancer? We played it like the Lancer would).

The Impaler then activates and rushes in to whack Haley for 8 points. The second attack would not succeed and Haley breathes a huge sigh of relief. Actually, I was rooting for the Impaler. It was hilarious to watch, and a classic move had it worked. Hey, this was a casual game, and this sort of stuff is what Warmachine is all about, what makes the game fun. How could I not root for the guy even though I was the one getting pounded on? The next turn, however, Haley pumps the Lancer for three focus and the Lancer finishes Madrak. Cygnar holds back another Trollblood incursion into blue and gold country.

In other business… I will be without my computer for about a week, but hopefully will have some interesting things to report, including pictures of Strangewayes that I haven’t yet taken, once I have everything back in working order. Until then…

Red

Hunter or Prey?

2009-07-20T19:24:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you have to call it quits. You've painted to the best of your current ability. Sure, you know there's improvements you'd like to make, but you tell yourself, there will always be improvements. I could work and work and work on my Hunter light warjack, and for the past week (plus) I've felt as if I did. Anyway, here's some pics, as promised...

Front

Left Angle

Left angle rear view

right angle rear view

So what's next? Mr. Strangewayes has been plaguing me all last week. I was able to get a fair amount complete on him, but then Haley and the Hunter distracted me. He's almost there, just some final details. I should have some shots of him later in the next couple of days.

Red

Bringing Up Junior

2009-07-20T08:53:00.001-07:00

Let’s talk a moment about Cygnar’s first auto-include, the Journeyman Warcaster. He was the first model I ever finished to completion for my army, that’s how much I thought of him. You see, I have developed a priority based paint schedule (and I wish it would stop changing constantly on me). I generally tend to paint first what I use the most, then what I want to use, and then what I think looks cool. Junior fell into the first category: finish painting him first, because regardless of which warcaster I use, I’m probably going to be playing him more than any other figure.

The evolution of the Journeyman has been an interesting trip. When I first began to use him, my thought was “I can assign a jack to him, how cool is that?” And so that’s what I did. At the time it was the Charger. But then I began to fall in love with the extra Arcane Shield that he offered. Add to the fact that the Charger was/is a focus hog, it didn’t take long for me to drop the jack from his control and begin to take him alone, as I had heard many a Cygnar player recommend this on the forums.

The additional Arcane Shield was nice, but all his stats were so low that I had to boost almost everything I did with him. There were times that I started to not even include him in my lists. Uh-oh, honeymoon was over.

Then I recently began to take an earnest look at my list building techniques and make plans for each and every thing in my list, and I began to like Junior all over again. I had to return to his roots and begin giving him a jack all over again. It couldn’t be a Charger, no, that wouldn’t work. Already tried and failed with that. How about a Hunter? With the extended control range, I could let that jack roam out 12”. Awesome.

Pairing him up with a Hunter gave me a something else. Opponents really don’t like Hunters. I don’t blame them. Seeing a Hunter out there makes them divert a plan to go after it. Other Cygnar players tell you to be careful, because the Hunter is squishy, and it is. But it’s such a psychological factor on the field that I have been using it my sacrificial pawn (although it’s an expensive pawn). I don’t worry about losing it anymore like I once did. Once the Hunter is taken out, typically by the end of turn three, Junior uses his focus to Arcane Shield the warcaster to buff him/her up even more.

Speaking of the Hunter, I just finished painting him this weekend. I should have pictures posted tomorrow.

Red

Haley, Set Defense, Finished Piece

2009-07-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

It's only taken me several months to get her done, because I'm such a slow painter. You might remember the topmost picture of Captain Victoria Haley (alternate pose) below when I posted it in April, basecoated for the tournament. Since then I've done washes and highlights. Finished pictures of her follow.

Next is the finished miniature, from the front. This was the first time I had used GW's Badab Black wash, and although at first I was worried about how it went on, I really like the look of it afterwards. It is considerably different from their old washes, and I REALLY like GW's old washes, so this was a bit of an experiment for me.

Here is the finished model from the back. You might notice that her coat is not a light as it was in the top basecoat picture. I used P3 Frostbite for the base, Citadel Chestnut ink over the top of it (yes, I still have a little bit of Chestnut ink, but it's almost gone!), followed by Vallejo Game Colour Beasty Brown (watered down to an almost-wash consistency). I used a similar scheme on my trenchers' coats to give them a leathery look, although the camera's flash isn't doing it justice.

I should have pictures of a couple more finished models to show in the coming days, so stay tuned!

Red

Liberation of Umbrey, Final Thoughts

2009-07-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

We concluded the last week of our Call to Arms league and I just posted the final results for our group. All in all it was a good tour this time around. We had eight players who regularly participated. Some of the pains endured during the last tour with organizing it for the first time were ironed out, and some new ones experienced.

I felt very frustrated by the fact that we didn't know what kind of terrain was needed until the very day it started (despite how much I might laud my quick and dirty felt terrain, I really would like to have some nice terrain on which to play). Privateer, I'm pleading that you do a better job of communicating tour #3 and give us time to get our materials ready. I tried looking on the forums for something, but was unable to find much, and the forum search function is Horrible (yes, with a capital "H").

Our local press ganger, Alan, and I have agreed that we need to spend some time working on some quality terrain. I'm thinking that forests tend to be a staple, so I'm going to work on some 4"x6" and 6"x8" forest sections with removable trees. Now that I have made that announcement public, there probably won't be any forests in the next tour. So much for advance planning.... We're also going to work to see if we can get at least 12 people involved in the next league, to get our community to grow a bit more and promote this great game of ours.

This is the third league I've participated in since beginning to play Warmachine. I really love the structured format and the scenario play. It is during league times that we really see the local players come out, as when we tell our spouses "gotta go, it's league night," it seems to offer more gravitas to the request than saying "I'm going to go hang out at the game store with the fellas" on a night of casual game play.

On a personal level I did better this time out than the other two leagues. I remember the first one, I played one game a week and had 11 points at the end of it. I scratched my head and wondered how in the world some people were getting 60 or more points. During this time I earned 41 points, played 11 games, and was very close competing for one of the medals (not that it's about winning medals; I'll keep running the league just for the fun of it).

Most of our players would not be unhappy to see the Hellhole scenario absent from the next Tour, however. Just a hint for next time in case the right people out there are reading. =)

Red

Revisiting the P3 Wet Palette

2009-07-14T18:52:00.001-07:00

Some time ago, I wrote a post about the P3 wet palette, here. I had just started to use it and I thought it was one of the coolest tools on my paint table. Now that my excitement has died down just a bit, I thought I'd take another look at it and see if it has met the same high praise I had of it then.

How often do I use it? That depends on what I'm painting, and what colors I'm using. Right now, for example, I have a unit of precursor knights that I'm working on, two warcasters, a solo, a light jack, and a heavy jack. All of them Cygnar, all of them the same general colors, so I am using my wet palette quite a bit. When I'm painting, say a mercenary model, like Rupert, or right now Reinholdt is on my table, I probably won't use it. Why? Well, I find that if I'm painting with colors I don't generally use a lot of, I can just dip my brush and wipe off the excess paint on a piece of paper. I quickly cap the paint and put it away before it has a chance to dry out.

How do I use it? This might seem like a question that deserves a "duh" sort of response, but in fact, it is something that deserves attention. I find that the P3 paints are rather thick, and when I know I'm going to be using Cyngar blue base, or Frostbite, or Cold Steel (the primary colors in my paint scheme), I will pour a bit into the wet palette, let it sit over night, and when I come back the next day, the paints have watered down to a consistency that is perfect (in my opinion anyway).

Some problems I've had with it? The paper is not porous enough. If I've poured some paint that I'm going use that day onto the wet palette page, the paper will dry up and the corners curl up after 10 to 15 minutes of painting. Trust me, it's not because I don't have enough water in it. I generally tend to put more water in the sponge than I should. And I always flip a new sheet of paper several times so that both sides of the paper are plenty wet, as a new, dry sheet will curl up due to the moisture the first time you put it in. I'm talking about the paper drying out and curling up. So this limits the amount of time I paint. I will generally work with colors in the palette for as long as I can, then I close it up and let it sit for a while while I use other colors, or inks, or washes. You get the idea. While the palette is closed for a while, the paper absorbs some of the moisture again and is good to go.

So after these several months of using, is it still worth it? I'd say yes. I use it as a paint prep tool, but some advance planning is necessary, that is, knowing what paints I'd like to use in the next day or so, and allowing it to sit in the palette to thin out. My all time favorite paint was the old Ral Partha paints. Believe it or not, I still have some that are good, and it's been what, 10 years or more that I've had some of them? Much of the new paints these days have way too glossy a look and are thick, and it doesn't matter if I'm talking Vallejo, or P3, or Citadel. So the wet palette, for me, is a necessary tool for my paints to have the proper consistency. If anyone else has used it, or have made one on their own, I'd love to hear more on how you like, and use yours.

Red

A Tale of Two Sealants

2009-07-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

I have spent months trying to find something I'm satisfied with, both product and process, and I've been bugging several friends several times over about how they seal their miniatures once they're finished painting them.

You see, I was once a silly person who believed that Testor's Dull Kote was the perfect sealant. Many paints out there go on a little too glossy for me (including Privateer's P3 paints), but I can live with all that after my models get a good spray of Dull Kote. But then I noticed a place on one of my trenchers where the paint and primer had rubbed off so that a twinkling of bare pewter shone through.

What, how could that be, I wondered? As it turns out, although Dull Kote does "seal" a model, it doesn't protect it, so that paint can and will eventually rub off (a warning I got from Airport). Gah!

So I quizzed various friends about how they sealed their models. One of them, Mingo, I bumped into at our local mega-department store. I had in my cart a can of Rustoleum Matte Crystal Clear and asked him if he had tried it, but he was unfamiliar with it. Crystal Clear boasts on the can that it is quick drying, and crossing my fingers I figured I'd give it a try. It took me a couple of months to be brave enough to spray it on a single trencher model. It was WAY too glossy, and despite claims of quick dryness, it took a good hour or two to dry enough to handle the model. I did NOT like it at all. Boo for Rustoleum! At Mingo's suggestion, I even sprayed Dull Kote on after the Crystal Clear, and although it did help, it was still too glossy for my tastes.

Next, I bugged Airport about the topic ... again. It think I bugged him three or four times all total, but this last time he suggested Krylon Matte Finish, which I easily found at a craft store. Hesistantly I tried it on a second trencher. This one too boasted of quick drying, and low and behold, it did! After several minutes the trencher was good to pick up and take inside. It did not have a glossy look. Cha-ching, now we have a satisfied customer!

In other miniature painting business, I have yet again re-organized my "to paint" list. With Gencon being only a month away, I'd like to put together some 350 point lists that are fully painted. So I have another light and heavy jack, another unit, and a number of solos on my table all in various stages of paint. Pictures of those are forthcoming as I get them done, however, part of me looks at it all and wonders if I'm being overly ambitious in my goals. Probably, but we'll see.

I don't plan on doing much at Gencon in the way of tournaments, but I do want to participate in the Tour of Duty, 350-point-whatever-it's-going-to-be. Last I checked there still hasn't been any news on whether it's going to be Mangled Metal, or just a general 350 point duel with whatever you want to put into it, so I will be taking several different lists just in case.

Red

It’s Cliché, but Third Time’s a Charm

2009-07-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

It feels like I lose a lot of games, and it’s true. In this final week of our Call to Arms league, I tried playing Siege – the first time for me in Mark I games, and used him three different times. My first two, I lost to two Hordes armies: the first Skorne, and the second, Trolls. More on those in a moment.

In the third game I used Siege against Khador, led by Vlad, which if you’ve read any of my recent posts, you know I’ve had a tough time against the Prince of Umbrey.

And. This. Time. I. Won.

I must apologize to my good friend Airport for my celebration after the game, my arms raised in triumph. It’s been a long, hard struggle finding a way to defeat Vlad, and this time it wasn’t a scenario win, but a good ol’ caster kill. So apologies, my friend, for cheering so after the game.

However, this story doesn’t begin there, and in fact it has a rather ugly beginning, because my first game was against Skorne…boo! I had really hoped to avoid playing them any more than I had already, but fortune was not smiling on me that night and as it happened I had to face the desert-dwelling uglies one more time. It was a beast heavy Makeda list. Two cannoneers, a bronzeback, and Molik Karn are the ones that stick out in my mind. Also a Krea and some pain givers. And, of course, two extollers (Mike always takes extollers now, and so would I if I played Skorne, but I do really, REALLY hate them).

I thought I had a good list (and I still do think so) but my only experience using Siege came in the Mark II field test, and some of the ways Siege worked in Mark II are different than in Mark I. My list…

Markus Siege Brisbane
Defender
Squire
GMCA
JWC
Hunter
Stormsmith x3
Black 13th
Long Gunners (8) with officer and standard
Precursors (8) with officer and standard
Reinholdt
Rupert Carvolo

746/750 pts, 26 VPs

Our scenario was Viva la Resistance, which required me to get my models into the center rectangle to win. Siege is a bit of a slow caster, with a speed of 5. He, along with other ranged shooty options, were going to advance behind the shield walled precursors. Slow, slow, slow. I can’t Arcane Shield the unit, and in order to maintain SW, they can only advance normally.

I did get the precursors into the center by the end of turn 2, but Mike would quickly wipe them out, as Makeda waded into them and claimed the scenario victory. In the end it would be one of the least painful losses I’ve suffered to Skorne, but I think I’m developing some sort of psychological curse when I play against them, in that whatever plan I had going into the game suddenly exits my brain, along with any small bit of rules knowledge and strategy.

My second game I played against Frank and his Trollbloods, led by Grissel. This was the first time I had gone up against her. His list had the usual Troll elements that I’ve come to expect… Champions + Hero, Kriels w/ all the accoutrements, stone bearers with elder, and long riders (other things I’m not remembering off the top of my head).

I used the same list as above, figuring what the hell, practice makes perfect. But my head was still spinning from the game against Skorne, and I made a mistake I swore I would never make again. I put the Black 13th behind a hedge row and subsequently got them pinned by a very fast moving unit of buffalo riders with reach. The riders were positioned close enough that I could not cross the hedge and get in between them, and I was outside of my 1/2 inch melee range, engaged but not engaging. Not sure of my options at that point, I tried to disengage, drawing the free strikes that killed them. More on this in a moment.

Siege would then be besieged on all sides. The long riders closed in from one flank, and the champion hero from the other. There was one humorous moment when, with nothing else to lose, my stormsmith charged the champion hero from behind, but as my luck would have it, lost the attack roll. Siege survived a fair amount of pounding but eventually fell.

Frank and I discussed the game afterwards. He instructed me on the fine art of “taking it.” He wondered why I had tried to disengage the Black 13th and gotten them killed. I told him I didn’t want them to just “stand there and do nothing.” But standing there and doing nothing would have occupied the long riders a bit longer, he said, and his riders wouldn’t have gotten the +2 bonus for the free strikes. I had not thought about that. He also pointed out to me Siege’s spell “Illumination” which could have eliminated the cover bonus the riders were getting, and then Siege could have cast Shockwave to push one of the riders out of the way, freeing one of the Black 13th to get a shot off.

Now, this is not an unknown tactic to me, but like I said, my brain was still spinning from my whomping from Skorne, and I just didn’t think of it. But discussing the game really helped. It put my mind back on track, and I would have a difficult time sleeping that night because all the possibilities came crashing back to preoccupy me. I began to think about my next game, against Airport and his Khador…

Thinking of my next game, I had wanted to change some things in my list. First of all, I find that Reinholdt is infinitely more useful with Siege than the Squire. I had taken both of them the first time and was constantly getting in the way of myself – move Reinholdt first, making sure then that Siege is in base to base with the gobber speculator but then where dose the Squire go, etc.? So in my new list I would get rid of the Squire.

The stormsmiths would also go, because an idea began to form in my mind: what if Siege had an arc node? What if I could Shockwave through a Lancer? It was an intriguing thought, so I added one. I would also have to downsize my precursor unit to a minimum of six, but still kept the officer and standard (kneel being very important and all). This time, I would would keep junior close to Siege and Arcane Shield him (ARM 20, yuck!), and he would still control the hunter. This time, however, I wouldn’t worry so much about preserving the hunter, instead using him as a piece placed out there as a distraction. It worked and held up the Airport’s IFP for at least a round (they quickly spear-chucked it).

Into the third turn I would have Siege close enough that Vlad – hiding behind his berserker – was in Siege’s control area. If you’ve ever used Siege, or played against him, you know the drill… Siege popped his feat, cast Foxhole so that Vlad was on the back edge of it, dropping the ‘zerker into the hole in front of him, and with Reinholdt’s reload trick, Siege popped Vlad with two boosted rockets.

I’m going to make sure that I finish painting Siege this week. Even though I played poorly with him in my first two games, I’m beginning to get a better feel for him and he deserves to be finished in a proper sort of way, painted, based, sealed and his card in a premium hard-plastic sleeve. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Red

Too Much of a Good Thing

2009-07-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

In print publications, there is something called a "special effect" (I try to tell my students every once in a while when I think of it), and like in movies, too many special effects can ruin the effect and purpose of what's being communicated; somewhere a balance needs to be struck.

What happened, I think, with the so-called "new" look of my blog last weekend, was simply too much of a good thing. If I had a difficult time reading and navigating my own links, then many others probably suffered too.

Sometimes going the simple route is the best, so I went back to the "old" look. It doesn't mean I won't stop playing around with the design, because that would be boring, but for now things are going back to the way it used to be.

Red

Style over Substance?

2009-07-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

As might be painfully obvious, I am toying with the look of my blog once again. It will take me a bit of time as I get things organized the way I like them. For example, I will need to adjust the dimensions of my header bar at the top. All these things will improve with time. Chalk it up to growing pains, or more precisely, my eternal search for "style" (or having too much time on my hands over the holiday weekend, yeah, that's probably it). =)

Red

Lancer Arm's Strong

2009-07-04T12:11:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted any completed pictures of paint jobs. And boy, there's nothing like some good close-up flash photography to reveal all those mistakes that I swear weren't there when I spent hours and hours going over it. =)

Anyway, I mentioned a little while ago that (in addition to my trenchers) I was going to be painting some more of my warjacks. And since I like to play with Stryker and Haley more often than the other casters, they certainly need to have some painted Lancers out on the field of battle. Here's some pictures of Lancer #1 (#2 is currently being worked on). The brown and blue paint scheme matches that of my trenchers (of course!) which I am carrying over to my whole army.

Forward facing

Side view

Shield close-up

Rear view, shield-side

Red

This Game Rated PG-13...for Smoking

2009-07-04T07:47:00.001-07:00

During the summer my wife and I get to catch up on some of our movie watching. I'm done teaching for the school year and my biological clock switches over to a more "normal" late hour (i.e. I don't fall asleep while watching the DVDs at night, wink, wink).

One of our recent rentals was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and being curious, I was reading the back of the disc cover, mainly because I like to know which actors and directors and producers and all that sort of thing have had a hand in making the movie. Also, being a bit of a writer, I like to see how well, or poorly, the description reads. And then I noticed the rating: PG-13. Now, I think it's "curious" these days how movie companies (or whomever, perhaps the ratings board) will tell you the reasons why the movie was rated the way it was. In the case of "Button" it was rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language, and, and...

Smoking.

This isn't a rant about my opinions on smoking, although I don't. It's too expensive, and it would seriously cut into my gaming budget.

But it got me to thinking how "curious" it is that a character who smokes in a movie now warrants a PG-13 rating. My goodness! How about my favorite game? How about my favorite faction?

Let's see, we've got Maxwell Finn with a fat stogie hanging out of his mouth while firing a honking huge machine gun, Arlan Strangewayes with a distinguished pipe which could blow up in his face at any time as he repairs his jacks out on the battlefield. And speaking of jacks? Well our beloved machines are smoke-bellowing bundles of goodness!

Is it time for the surgeon general to put a warning stamp on this game? I think so. Playing this game might encourage me to take up (another) habit.

Warmachine: rated PG-13... for smoking.

Have a happy 4th (for those in the States), and be careful out there.

Red

Rise and Fall of the Gun Mages

2009-07-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

My Cygnar force in this fourth week of our league looked considerably different from my usual list. That’s both good and bad. Good that I’m stretching my boundaries, trying to get comfortable with other list options. Bad that almost everything in my list has web-like synergies that extend to everything else in the list, so much that I had to make notes to keep it all sorted out.

I took eCaine as my warcaster this week. With his elite cadre being gun mages, I crammed every gun mage model that I have into my list. That means two units of gun mages – one of them with the officer attachment – and then the Black 13th and the GM Captain Adept. That’s a lot of shooty goodness. The officer attachment can marshal a jack, so I gave him a Hunter, which I thought would be funny, given the Captain can rune shot the Hunter's gun and give him similar arcane effects that the unit has. Scary, huh? A 14” armor piercing shot with the Thunderbolt ability to drive back your opponent, or how about a reflected shot?

Gun mages can be pretty squishy if you’ve got models that can beat their defense, so I knew I needed to put some kind of wall up in front of them. How about Precursors? Absolutely. I put a full unit of them in. With their ability to shield wall, and then kneel, so that they don’t block LOS of the ranged units behind them, this would be a lovely match.

As it would turn out, both of my games this week would be against Vlad-led Khador lists. Have I mentioned recently that Vlad is my nemesis? I thought so. This week, unfortunately, would not break the losing streak for me. We have three Khador players out of the eight participants in our league, so chances are good that I’m facing some kind of army in red from week to week (and speaking of red paint schemes, another player is using Skorne, and he’s gone undefeated in the league so far).

In the first game, my opponent played very aggressively with Vlad. Round two Vlad was in the thick of it, destroying Precursors left and right. Crazy. I never would have expected it, and with Blood of Kings up, I had no chance of touching him (CMA would be nice, I found myself thinking). Fenris flanked me and chewed up half of my gun mages, sending the rest fleeing from the table. They would rally in my next turn, but not in enough time to do anything.

Unintelligently, I cast Gatecrasher and blinked Caine into melee with Vlad, and for at least for an entire turn, Vlad and I traded blows with each other without doing much damage. He was rolling low dice (even with Blood of Kings up) and could never match Caine’s defense. I was rolling boosted attacks and damage with Caine’s pistols and only pinged Vlad a couple of times. Good lesson: when you have to spend focus to boost attack AND damage, you’re going to burn through your focus very quickly. Well, eventually, Vlad would roll superbly and take Caine out with a single blow. Caine might be a super solo, but he’s not THAT super.

There’s a lot of little things that I learned from this game though, like the fact that if AOE’s are out of range (i.e. the arcane inferno order), they automatically deviate. Yes, I was already aware of this rule, but for some reason I didn’t think of it during this game (too many gun mage synergies to keep in mind that basic rules began to slip). Also, the Journeyman needs to use Arcane Shield on Caine to buff his armor, and also needs to control a warjack (most of time, I don’t give one to Junior, but I think I’m going to start playing him differently). Lastly, elite cadre improves your Command stat by one; there’s at least once that I would have passed a check if I had remembered that. In the end, because of my mistake, what was left of BOTH my gun mage units went fleeing toward my table edge.

Some things I should have done, looking back in retrospect? First, how about Magic Bullet? Where was the use of this spell? This is one of Caine’s signature spells, and the ability to give a model a second ranged attack would have been handy, damn handy. Ah well, this is why it’s painful but necessary to get these first games with a new warcaster under your belt.

Second game was against my friend Airport. Again, it was against Vlad. He would win by scenario victory. We played the On the Move scenario, which has the progressing control points. He went first, and by the time the 3rd turn came around, he had advanced his winterguard to claim the first control point. I managed, on my next turn to get my precursors forward enough to claim the center control point; I couldn't run them because of the two tilled soil patches right in my way. On Airport's next turn, he advanced Vlad to claim the final control point. Game over.

My philosophy in this list was all wrong for this type of scenario. Yes, I was able to get my Precursors up to claim one of the points, but the intent was to hold back on the Gun Mage units so they could shoot at targets, instead of getting them up to claim control. I did have a good idea to shoot Thunderbolt rounds at the jacks to keep pushing them back and away (hoping to get that critical), and I was able to chew through (eventually) his unit of IFP and winterguard, but it wouldn’t be enough, as once a player has control of a point, it disappears and then the next point on the table becomes active. Shooting away the rest of his winterguard, after the fact, didn’t really do me any good (although it felt good in a spiteful sort of way). =)

In the end, I’m not sure I like eCaine. I guess I’m too used to playing Stryker; I’m accustomed to my caster having a supporting role, and Caine is anything but supporting. Sure, he’s got the Blur spell and a couple of other goodies he can dish out, like the forgotten Magic Bullet spell, but otherwise he’s very … well, selfish, in what he can do, in what he's meant to do. Correction: in what I used him for. Allocate too much focus to jacks, or cast spells, and you’re missing out on what Caine does best, and that’s shooting things.

As I always do, I go back over my list and look things over again, rethink the past game and consider new options. It’s one of the things that I enjoy about Warmachine, the thinking that comes afterwards. I find that there is more to Caine than I had first realized. Although I may not like him as well as some other casters, I want to give him yet another … “shot.”

Next week is our final week of the league and I’d like to get several games in. I’ve got several lists in mind, and eCaine will be leading one of them.

Red.

So that's what a Trencher's chest looks like...

2009-07-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

As part of my summertime motivation to paint minis, I put all my trenchers out on the paint table. I'm not playing them until they're all done. I mistakenly finished my minimum unit and then moved on to other things. I should have painted them all at once. So I'm not just painting the maximum unit, but the grenade porter, and Maxwell Finn, and the chain gun crew and the cannon crew.

In my game this week I used a list which contained mostly models I have hardly, if ever, used. More on that in a later post. Point is, I wasn't allowing myself to use my favorite Cygnar models, the trenchers, and now I'm working on them this week as much as I can stand (I have a second unit which I am saving for 1000 point games, but I'm not going to worry about them right now as they will have a slightly different paint scheme).

Anyway, after having painted a minimum unit, I knew that the trenchers had an armor chest plate (and from the pictures in No Quarter too), but the older models always had their rifles held in front of their chests and it was a portion that I was never able to paint. Now, with the lieutenant and weapon crew models, the chest plate and ammo bandoliers are easily seen and painted. I don't know why I'm excited about that. I'm sure the therapy bills to figure that out will cost more than some new pewter... heh. If Privateer ever does a resculpt on the trenchers, I know they will look awesome. The new cannon crewmen from Legends have a lot of amazing detail.

Red

Burning Down the House

2009-06-30T04:03:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, I went to a convention in Ohio (Origins) and found a table with wooden building and terrain kits on it. I bought some because they were offering some really good deals on the stuff. The company is called Flying Tricycle, and they still have a web presence here.

I don't really want to dwell on how long it's taken me to complete just the one building, and the smallest of the kits at that, but suffice to say that when I purchased it, I had dreams of using it for a Mordheim table, because that was the hot new minis game on the market (is it strange that I was never able to get into Mordheim or WHFB because of the square bases?). I still have some touch ups to do on this one (scorch marks and whatnot), but it's almost complete. Below are two views of it.

One of my initial worries painting the wood was how badly it might warp. I am pleased to say that it painted up quite well and did not warp at all. The paint scheme should be fairly obvious... a Cygnaran house on that's been blasted and gutted, being too close to the front battle lines and all.

Red

Heading back to Gencon

2009-06-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

When Gencon 2009 rolls around in another month and a half or so, it will be somewhat of an anniversary for me, because last year at the beginning of August I decided to get out all the Cygnar models I had purchased and tucked away and really begin to play Warmachine in earnest. I strolled about the Privateer rooms feeling a little envious. I wanted to be there playing the game. I made up my mind that the following year I would.

It's been a fun-filled year since then. I haven't painted nearly as much as I would have liked, but I joined the local community, have played in two tournaments and three Call to Arms tours, and most importantly made a lot of new friends. In the midst of my enthusiasm, I created a blog about the game and have made a lot of contacts all over the country. Hopefully you're going to be at Gencon too. I'd like to join you for a game!

At this point I am uncertain which days or how many days I will be there. I am pre-registered for all four days to maximize my flexibility. I will try to have some sort of identifying mark on my bag, or perhaps even have a t-shirt made. I'll have to think about that and see what I can come up with.

Here's my question (and there's always a question, isn't there)? Since I'm not quite comfortable playing in a Steamroller 4 tournament (neither of the tourneys I've played in have been SR4) and I really can't see myself playing in a Master's tournament or Hardcore (someday, maybe) it looks as if my option is a lot of what Privateer calls "Tour of Duty" events. Except for the fact that the listing says it's 350 points "Rage and Rivets," I don't know and can't seem to find out much about this event. It was played at last year's Gencon and Origins, that much I know. Does anyone know more about this? Is it strictly Mangled Metal or can I mix units and solos in my 350 point list? Are there other restrictions or limitations? I'd like to have a couple different lists prepared and painted, but I need to know what to work on. I certainly don't want to be carrying both of my bulky army cases around with me.

If anyone has more information on this, I appreciate a heads up. Thanks as always!

Red

List Tactics: Stryker

2009-06-25T04:29:00.000-07:00

I did something similar to this previously for the Mark II version of Siege in this post. Siege was going to be my warcaster of choice in the field test, as I had never used him in a game up to that point, and in fact I have not played him in any game since then, something I hope to rectify soon.

In rehashing past game tactics – what was successful, and what was not – I got to thinking that a series of articles about each Cygnar warcaster would be useful (for me, i.e. list building tactics, at least for the brief twinkling of time that Mark I is still good). I am certainly not the first to do this, so no kudos to me for originality, but since I commented earlier in this post that I needed to improve my list-making approach, I figured that writing these types of articles would be a good vehicle for me to ponder my army choices (much like CerealJohn used to do; man, do I miss his blog; the Haley Casts TB blog also started a good series of these types of strategy pieces that I always enjoyed reading). So, without further ado, I give you…

Commander Coleman Stryker: list building and other strategies

Invincibility: I have forgotten to use Styker’s feat more than any other caster’s feat. Most of the time when I do remember it, I either use it a round too early – before I commit myself fully to the attack – or a round too late, after I’m already in the thick of it and have taken casualties. The real key to this feat is making a conscious effort to plan for it instead of my typical, capricious “oh yeah, I better pop his feat before I forget” style of play.

I have a similar thought about Stryker’s feat as I do the Arcane Shield spell: it’s good, but I need to include models in the list that can really benefit from it, stuff that’s already high armored to make them even better, like Precursor Knights or any of the Storm units (Blades, Guard, Lances). I’ve used Arcane Shield before on trenchers or long gunners, but really, what’s the point? It’s only going to buff their relatively low armor a little bit and won’t stop anything that can hit hard. But shield-walled Precursors that have been arcane shielded on the turn that Styker uses Invincibility? That’s a near impossible unit to take out. Plan for the unit to make their charge and activate Stryker first and make sure to USE THAT FEAT on the turn they get engaged!

But don’t ignore the low-armored ranged units altogether. One of my favorite spells in Stryker’s arsenal of magic is Snipe. It doesn’t really matter what ranged attack unit you like to include in the list, take one of them with the intent to cast snipe on them first turn, and then commit a focus for upkeep every turn thereafter. Make sure to include the Squire in your list, and pull a focus from it the first round so that you can pump all seven focus into Snipe.

I’ve sniped trenchers to give them 17” range, long gunners for 21”, or how about the trencher cannon for 22”? Personally, I like to take trenchers because they are one higher RAT than the long gunners, and still have CRA with military rifles that have one better POW. Your opponents probably won’t expect it (since it’s a frequent tactic used with long gunners and gun mages) and then they will recoil in horror when they realize what you’ve done with trenchers of all things.

Now, the problem I’ve had with Snipe in the past is that I want to include too many long range units/models, and then I forget my plan. Which one had I meant to use Snipe on? If I flub that decision, I really can’t commit that much focus to cast it again in a later round because my focus must be used on other things.

Other spells? To be honest, I really don’t use Arcane Blast or Arcane Bolt very much. I don’t often play against models that can only be hit with magical attacks, at least that’s been the case in my group lately. Arcane Shield on the other hand, with Junior in list, gives you two units/models who can have buffed armor. As I said above concerning Stryker’s feat, use the spell on your higher armored units. Blur is a good choice, but it’s an upkeep spell too, so I can’t Blur the same unit I’ve Sniped (that would be sweet). I don’t use Blur a lot because I can only commit so much focus on upkeep spells each turn and still keep enough for allocation and other spells, namely to save Stryker’s remaining focus for…

Earthquake! Let’s face it, Stryker is not an assassination caster. Quicksilver, his sword, is okay, but it’s only POW 13, and Stryker’s MAT is only 6. His disruptor pistol is only POW 10 for crying out loud! I’ve tried to take out opposing warcasters with a fully focused Stryker, and failed. It’s only been recently that I’ve begun to really tune in to this Earthquake spell of his. Why haven’t I considered it more in the past? I have heard of so many things that ignore Knockdown that I never gave it much thought. It got to the point that somewhere deep down in my mind, I actually began to think – incorrectly – that everyone must be immune to Knockdown. Silly, silly, me. Then I began to take an earnest look at who I could actually use Earthquake on, and a whole new world was revealed to me!

What does this mean for list building? Lancers. I am embarrassed to admit how many Stryker lists I have made that did not have … one… single… lancer in them. Let me tell you, I am hanging my head in shame after that confession. I am now trying to paint both my lancers so that they can be auto-includes in any Stryker or Haley list that I make.

Another recent epiphany I’ve had is that Knockdown’ed units/models open line of sight to models behind them. I know, DUH! This is where my Sniped CRA unit comes in, but Stryker needs to have used his EQ spell first to knockdown whatever’s concealing the caster. Then another unit, like the Black 13th (or my trenchers in my last league game against the Privateers) can hopefully take down the opposing caster. There are other considerations in the list, like what heavy warjack to take (if I take one at all).

So using these ideas, here’s an incremental army list for Stryker…

Commander Coleman Stryker
Defender
Lancer
Squire
Strangewayes
Journeyman warcaster
Stormsmith

349/350 pts

Swap out the Defender for Ol’ Rowdy
Stormguard (6)
Trenchers (6)

499/500 pts

Add Lancer #2
Add Stormsmiths x2
Add Trenchers (3) to existing unit, plus officer & sharpshooter
Add Stormguard (2) to existing unit
Rupert Carvolo
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

750/750 pts

First, let me say that I’m not sure about the viability of any of these. This is all experimental (as such things always are). I should try them out and report back. Here’s the rationale (or “plan”) for the Stryker lists...

At 350 pts Stryker snipes the Defender for 7” on turn one, and the Lancer advances, hopefully without getting it engaged. Strangewayes is in the list to repair the jacks if needed, give the Lancer evasive action to make it harder to hit in ranged attacks, then lataer give the Defender high performance so it can fire and retreat if necessary. He could also give it Arcane Reinforcement to hit those magic exclusive targets. I have really enjoyed putting Strangewayes in my lists, and always consider him as an option; if you need to conserve points, don't forget the cheaper option of field mechanics. Anyway, Junior advances with the Lancer and Arcane Shields it. The stormsmith is there to pick off single targets or unit leaders or to disrupt a jack.

Second turn, see if Styker can arc an earthquake through the Lancer to knock something down, followed by a Defender ranged attack either on the felled target, or the target hiding behind it. Keep the Lancer unengaged as long as possible, rinse and repeat. Eventually, the Lancer needs to take the charge when the opportunity presents itself, and the Defender has a great melee weapon with the shock hammer. I discovered this week how much Mark I doesn’t like slam attacks, because I needed to slam my opponent and drive back all the models behind with my Lancer, but with the obligatory -2 you take on slams, I failed the roll. Stryker will have advanced and gotten close enough that he no longer needs to arc the earthquake anymore, but he will need LOS to his target which means moving a model to screen him after his attack.

This strategy basically remains the same at 500 and 750 points. At 500 points, the Defender is switched out for Ol’ Rowdy so I can benefit from his open fist and melee slam-and-bangness. This time the unit of trenchers becomes the target of Stryker’s 7” snipe on turn one. Trenchers should NOT be advanced deployed, and need to be played similar to long gunners. As stated above, they will get CRA with weapons at one better POW, and one better RAT at 17”. With the sergeant’s RAT of 6, along with an aiming bonus if you can get it, with the CRA added in, you have an effective RAT of 14 (12 without the aim). Your weapons will be at an effective POW of 17, which won’t take out a warcaster on a single turn, but it will sure soften him or her up a bit. The advantage with long gunners, as you well know, is that they will get the second shot. So much of the time, however, I find myself moving my LG’s that often I don’t get the second shot, which is why trenchers suit my style of play better. This time Junior will Arcane Shield the minimum unit of stormguard to make them ARM 18, and then make sure you’ve deployed the SG’s at center where they can advance up the table to tie up your enemy’s force.

At 750 points a second Lancer is added and they will take different flanking positions, one on each side, to give Stryker the best chances of getting Earthquake where he needs it. The trencher unit is increased in size by 3, adding the officer and sharpshooter for a CRA total of +11 if you can position your trenchers just so. Carvolo will be deployed in between the stormguard and the trenchers so that when he’s done piping for one unit he can later play a tune for the second. Lastly Eiryss is in the list to try and strip focus from jacks or casters or pick off unit leaders (similar in function to the stormsmiths only much, much better).

Swap out the components as you like. Don’t have stormguard? Use precursors instead or stormblades. If you prefer long gunners, swap out the trenchers for them. You’ll be able to put in a few more to crank up the CRA because LG’s are cheaper (if long gunners are supposed to be the elite shooting squad of the Iron Kingdoms, why do they only have a RAT of 4?).

Obviously the challenge to this is knowing what can be knocked down and what can’t. If you’re facing a Stryker list with two lancers, and you had the benefit of knowing this beforehand, you’ll probably be packing as many no-knockdown models as you can muster (a smart idea even if you don’t know who or what you’re facing).

As I said in the beginning, this is all fairly elementary to anyone who’s been playing the game for a while, and I appreciate you making it this far, but this has all been a chance for me to practice planning these strategies when I put a list together. Thanks for tagging along for the ride.

Red

She's Baaaack!

2009-06-24T03:01:00.001-07:00

Much to the irritation of my friends in our group, this week I brought out Haley. I’ve lost enough games during the past couple weeks of the league that I was done playing with the kid gloves on. There’s enough irritation on my end of it, dealing with opposing warcasters, that I didn’t care too much about the level of frustration I caused. Of course, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, Haley will go back into the tray again. I'm not a complete sadist.

Here was my list…

Cap’n Haley
Lancer
Thorn
Squire
Journeyman WC
Stormsmith x3
Long gunners 10 w/ UA
Trenchers 10 w/ UA & grenade porter
Marshaled grenadier light warjack
Eiryss
Rupert Carvolo

750/750 pts

I played two games last night. The first one was against a Shae led Privateers list with lots and lots of charging press gangers and sea dogs. The scenario we played was Cursed Ground, which meant that neither of us was getting many ranged shots off in the beginning. Fortunately, the curse would soon be lifted, as my trenchers and long gunners would have no trouble clearing away the ranks of privateers swarming my way. Stupid mistake on my part, late in the game, was leaving Haley open for a ranged attack from Holt and Shae, which would strip her of 14 points of health, leaving her with one left. My trencher squad would advance toward Shae on the following turn however, and with a CRA, take him out. Victory is mine!

My second game was against Khador, and another Vlad list. Vlad is quickly becoming my nemesis. It seems no matter what I do, I can’t take him out. I figured Haley would be my best bet, with the DEF debuff from temporal barrier, but Vlad is just too hard to take down. There was one moment, when Eiryss got a Disruptor bolt to hit Vlad, which gave me my best chance to get him, but I didn’t have much else in position to make a follow up attack because Vlad was hidden too far back behind too many troops.

Interestingly enough, Cursed Ground was the scenario we rolled on the second game, too, and it would be the Cygnar body count that would lift the curse this time. It was a long, drawn out slugfest, and at the very end of the game, Haley was the last one standing, that is, the last one of my army standing, which was not good for me. I forget what exactly took her out in the end. My brain hurt a little too much after that one, and the details are hazy. But it would turn out to be another in a long line of Khador wins.

Red goes 1-1 for the night.

Next week, time for a new warcaster.

Lots 'o Pans in the Fire

2009-06-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

A pot pourri of things for you today, my blog readers...

First of all, something which I am not going to shy away from... my natal day, i.e. birthday. I officially became an oldie-but-a-goodie this weekend, as I reached a milestone, watched another of my years burn away, the dial on my life flipping over to the big FOUR-OH. My wife wanted to know what I wanted to do, and I told her that I didn't want to sit around and pout about my age, but instead play some games, so that's what I did. Aaaand I had a blast, but I won't bore you with the details except to say that Shadows Over Camelot (boardgame) and Cutthroat Caverns (card game) are both very, very cool. Although not the express topic of this blog, I'd thought I'd throw out those couple of game recommendations in case any of you like to dabble in other games like I do. Definitely give them a try!

Painting. I've got the bulk of a 750 point force sitting on my painting table at the moment. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I am haphazard with my painting at best. Honestly, I haven't done any dedicated painting since the tourney in April, just a little bit here and there. I really need to get back into it. After playing some league games the past couple of weeks, I'm starting to develop the bug again to have a fully painted army out on the table. This includes finishing my full unit of trenchers with grenade porter and officer and sharpshooter, plus my full unit of long gunners with officer and standard. Motivation?

Well, a couple of things. One, I got a pack of premium card protectors. Only my fully painted models and units are getting one of these. My hope is that someday I can have only these kind of protectors out on the table for my games. It's kind of like a reward for my models that finally get completed. "Here, you deserve to have THIS protecting you now," sort of thing.

Two, I'm setting a goal for myself each week, even if it's only one model: "I want to include THIS in my list next week, so I better get to painting it." My goal for this week? Bases and firing arcs on my finished models, and getting my stormsmiths done. My stormsmiths irritated Airport enough in our game last week that I thought I really needed to get all three of them painted and done.

Three, I have finally begun painting forward firing arcs on my models. I know, there are some of you that don't like to do this, and some of you out there who do, but one of the guys in my group brought his finished eMadrak in and he had a firing arc painted onto the base, which is something our local meta doesn't do a lot of. But it looked good. Having it there leaves no question in either players' mind as to what is the front or back arc. I liked it so much I pushed myself to finally do it on my own models. Although not very noticeable, you might be able to see the blue front arc painted in the picture above of my Journeyman Warcaster (yes, you are correct, I did not paint his eyes... I hate painting eyes).

Also, I'm going to be updating my sidebars, which is something I haven't done in a while. They are woefully behind. Some of my painting projects are still the same, but there are a whole slew of new things I need to include, especially on my blogroll. I've been reading a lot of new (well, new for me) Warmachine and other wargaming blogs that I need to get out of my Favorites folder and onto my blogroll (although it may be handy for you too, I really use the links in my blogroll a LOT to navigate back and forth to keep up on all the stuff the rest of you are writing about).

One last thing, as promised last week, a picture of my board with terrain on it.

- Red

Table Update: Nearing Completion

2009-06-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

All right, so don't laugh now. The flocking on my table is complete. I know, it looks like an alien landscape with veins of green blood pumping through the land. Either that or the camouflage pattern in the next Starship Troopers sequel. The above picture doesn't really do it justice. Remember when I was crying "woe is me" earlier in this blog post when the texture of my table didn't quite turn out? Well, my plan was to try and blend in the rough brush strokes with flock. And this is how it turned out. It looks only slightly better in person.

And here is a more closeup version of the stripes of flock. Oh well. Live and learn. I might still play around with the flocking a bit more so that more of the table is covered. Tomorrow I'll try and set up some terrain and we'll see how it looks...

Red

Rollin' the Bones

2009-06-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Dice. Love 'em, hate 'em, gotta live and play with 'em.

Mine are a pretty Cygnar blue, with a cygnus crest on the "6" side. Thanks to Airport for discovering that Chessex makes custom dice. Woot!

Sometimes I roll spectacularly, and other times not, and that's when I hate my dice.

And then there are nights like last night, when I think my dice hate me back.

We are now in week 2 of our Call to Arms league (or week 5 of the 8-week cycle, for those of you counting). I showed up a little later for our game night than I usually do (others who had already gotten in a game or two were going home), and as it would turn out, Airport had Tuesday evening off for a change, so we got in another classic game. This time, however, I would put Big Blue back out on the table; no dabbling with the undead this time around. We played the Integrated Assault scenario, and the only thing I'll mention about the game specifically is that if I had gone first, if that decision had been mine to make, it would have served me better. As it turned out, Stryker's force lost ground and had to go home, with Vlad and the empire regaining their foothold on yet another critical Umbrey farmstead, because he was able to get units and jacks upfield to hold the line faster than me.

Yes, that means I lost the scenario victory (a great game to play though!).

But this is about dice, and the fact that last night, my dice hated me. What did I ever do to them? Not provide them with enough attention? Not take them out of the dice bag enough? Shower them with affection and cuddle with them? At some point did I say they looked fat?

If it was just a matter of consistently rolling low, I would not have minded. I would have switched out for others. But to roll LOW for attacks and damage, and then to roll HIGH for almost each and every stormcall check that my Stormsmiths made, well, Morrow must have been really pissed at ole Coleman and his trenchers last night, that's all I'm saying....

Red

Getting My Kicks on Route Sixty-Cryx

2009-06-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

It wasn’t about winning. It wasn’t about strategy. It WAS about getting some new models out on the table and seeing what they could and couldn’t do.

I played with my pDenny Cryx force for the first time yesterday, and who better to play against but Airport and his Vlad list. It was a 750 point battle, and to be honest, I’m not sure if he had pVlad or eVlad. But it was a lot of fun. Cryx plays so completely different from my Cygnar army that, win or lose, it was refreshing. (Heh, pDenny, sounds like she should be a rapper).

We didn’t get to finish our game, and for that, I won’t belabor this post with anything resembling a battle report with army lists and the like, although later I will mention at least ONE funny moment in the game.

It was a gray day, and as it would turn out, with impending rain. One of the store employees came upstairs and warned a few of us to roll up the windows in our cars. Airport figured he needed to truck out of there early to try and get his lawn mowed before the rain hit, and frankly so did I.

I forget what map we played on. I do know it was one of them that had several 4” warjack wrecks on it. There was a fair amount of open space in the middle of the table, which doesn’t happen too often with the Call to Arms maps, and we knew that the “big fight” was going to happen there if it occurred anywhere, what with my running zombies up field as fast as they could.

The scenario was Here Be Monsters, which benefited Airport more than me. He made his Berserker the “Monster” whereas I had to choose one of my bonejacks (the only helljack I had was Deathjack, and I couldn’t make a unique jack into the monster). Considering that the Monster on whomever’s side could only be damaged by the opposing monster, a battle between a deathripper and a ‘zerker, well, who do you think is going to come out on top of that one? I would have to get the first hit, and it would need to be a really good power attack, locking on so the subsequent attacks would be auto hits. Not that it couldn’t happen, cause I’ve seen lots of crazy things happen in this game, but such a thing would be highly unlikely.

Speaking of crazy things…

You’ve got to have a sense of humor in these games. If you’re one of those players who slam their dice (and miniatures; I’ve seen it happen) on the table, across the room, then you’re someone I don’t want to play with. It’s a game, and it’s just not worth it to get that mad. I don’t care what level you’re competing, at a tournament, local or national, hardcore, whatever. See, I made a mistake, at least, I think I made one (at least one) and I could've gotten mad about it. I sent Deathjack too far out, and up the side of the table, completely out of Denny’s control radius. At least I was smart enough to send him nearby my scrambling unit of mechanithralls.

Who was waiting for me on the other side of the table? Alexia and her risen. Each time I had faced off with her (a headache to be sure) I never had to contend with her taking control of my units. This time, I did. She commanded my mechanithralls to turn and attack DJ, and then sent her risen to back strike my mechanithralls. Here’s DJ almost completely surrounded by zombies and getting whomped on. Not a lot, cause they’re only zombies, but you get the idea.

I wish I had remembered to bring my camera and take a picture, because that was definitely a picture worthy moment. Now I could’ve gotten steamed about that, spouted “how dare you do that to my beloved deathjack!” and stormed away, but the scene was just… too… funny. I learned a valuable lesson. Mechanithralls are dumb, dumb, dumb. Next time I’ll know to include a necrosurgeon to give them a better command.

I will say, though, that if Khador hires Alexia, then they are only admitting to siding with the devil, and that they are an evil, evil empire. If Khador players are comfortable with that, then fine. I’m just saying… 8-)

Red

March of the Wolds

2009-06-12T19:00:00.001-07:00

It is with a fair amount of excitement that I reveal my converted and primed Megalith. I hated the fact that the arms were held upward as if shaking its fists, and fortunately the arms on the model are slotted. It was not a huge problem to cut another slot at a different angle and putty the arms on. I like my pose much better. The big surprise for me? The Megalith is a little shorter than the Woldwarden. It is a stockier model, but shorter (with its arms down anyway).

Yes, this means a third faction, if such things can really be called such. Technically, two Warmachine factions, and one Hordes faction. As it always happens with me, I fall in love with the miniatures. That's what drew me to Cygnar, and when it came time to choose a Hordes faction, I loved the look of the Circle. Although I haven't mentioned it much on the blog, I have played a few games with my Circle army, and I have a rough time wrapping my head around the Fury mechanic. When you hear about it, it doesn't sound like it would be that tough to make the switch from Focus to Fury, but believe me, there is quite a bit of adjustment.

Next, a model conversion I mentioned some time ago. I haven't yet finished the base coat yet, but considering that I was so excited about the Megalith, I had to take pictures of my Woldwarden...

When I put together my Warden, the torso didn't fit very well into the legs, and the whole thing tilted way too far forward, not to mention it was horribly bow-legged. I thought to myself, if there was a way to rock it back a bit, that would be perfect, but when I did, its foot stuck up in the air. I needed to put something underneath it. I thought about a stone or a rotted branch or something. Then I remembered I had a stormblade pose that I never use in my unit because I hate it so much, the stormblade arching back with the sword up in the air. When I put him face down, he fit perfectly under the Warden's foot, and the way he arches back, it looks like he's really getting stomped on! It was a perfect match! Now, I just need to work on finishing the paint job.

And last, a final look at the pair of Wolds together. Can't wait to get them on the table.

Red

Blankety-blank Skorne! aka List Building FAIL

2009-06-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

In a rare conversation about Warmachine with my wife (she's not a gamer, and the conversation was mostly me talking and her pretending to listen), I was trying to explain why I felt so frustrated about one of my games during this week's league. I had been playing against Skorne, and I have an awful, awful time against them. It's safe to say that I freaking hate them, to the point where I'm willing to say, "oh, you have Skorne? I think I'll take a forfeit on this game."

Anyway, I was trying to explain list building to my wife. She's played chess before, and chess is a way to easily describe game concepts to her. I told her that list building is like being able to choose different types and numbers of chess pieces. You MUST choose a king piece; now imagine if you could opt to have all the rest of your pieces be pawns; they're cheap because they're the weakest pieces, and because they're so cheap you can now afford two queens, which are expensive pieces. That's list building in Warmachine.

It's occurred to me lately that I'm too nice when I play WM. Most of the time, in simply looking to have a good time playing the game, I don't really think about my lists as much as I should. I don't go in having much of a plan. And I think that's my problem against Skorne. I need to think about my list, to strategize things like caster kill better, which I hardly do at all. I think I expect the end game strategy to just occur to me while I'm playing the game. That's not "playing like you've got a pair."

I played a Stryker list this week. Something familiar, something fun...

pStryker

Defender x2

Squire

Strangewayes

JWC

Stormsmith x2

LongGunners (8) w/ officer and standard

Stormguard (8)

Trencher cannon crew

Trenchers (6)

Carvolo

745/750 pts, 25 vps

All in all not a bad list. But I didn't plan it at all. Why didn't I take Ol' Rowdy? (something Mike, my opponent, asked me afterwards). It was a mistake to take two defenders. At one point in our game, I desperately wanted a jack that had an open fist because I had an opportunity to throw something at eMorghoul. I had no way to take out Morghoul at all, which became painfully obvious as the game progressed. Mike had taken two extollers (grrrr!) which meant his titan cannoneers shot at me with impugnity behind the two buildings in the center of our battlefield. I tried several options shooting his carax, once with the trencher cannon, which missed, and the deviation meant nothing because the carax don't take blast damage. This was also the first time I had played against Molik Karn who is simply a killing machine. You cannot do boosted damage against him because of Fate Ward. WTF? He was always there, killing and killing and killing. The nightmares! The therapy sessions!

I kid, of course. I mean, I do really hate the Skorne. It was a headache of a game, and not fun at all. But I walk away knowing that I need to think about my lists better. I spent the better part of an evening strategizing for my next encounter against them, and I'm still not sure if I have the answers, but I enjoyed building a couple of new lists. The thing is, I know that I need to have a plan going into a game. If it fails, at least I know I played it to my best and that did not happen Tuesday night.

The picture above... I was down to just a few models. I had placed Carvolo beside Stryker to protect from a flank attack I knew was coming. You can see the carax in the background who were about to make an attack against Stryker from the front. And yes, that is my Long Gunner standard, the last one standing against the line of carax. My defender, the gray blob even further back, was a disabled mess by this point.

Next time? My second game against Khador and Sorscha!

Red

Pretty? No. But quick and functional terrain

2009-06-10T03:54:00.000-07:00

The last tour, Retaliation of the Wilds, had a few terrain problems that were easily addressed. The sandbag walls and barbed wire placements were easily made, and everything else that we needed we already had. You can see pictures of some of the terrain I made, here.

Similarly, Liberation of Umbrey has some new types of terrain that left me scratching my head. Four inch jack wrecks? Tilled fields? One map with a river and a bridge? What to do, what to do?

Well, in the picture you can see the bridge I made, and (wincing) have not yet painted. It's not 6" wide, but it'll fit a large base across it. The river is part of what I'm beginning to call Red's Fine Felt Terrain (copyright pending). What I did was cut a long strip of blue felt, smooth it out on the 4x4 board, and voila, instant river.

For the tilled fields, I have some burnt-brown colored felt that I used to use as a Gorka Morka play mat; it was the perfect color for blasted desert. Even though it was just a piece of felt, several people commented on the choice of color, because the faux texture of it looked a lot like a field.

And the four inch wreck markers? Gray felt. One of the other players brought in a few wreck markers on cardstock, which looked great. We have some options there, and in the end, although it's not the prettiest terrain, we don't have problems putting miniatures on top of them since they're flat, and it's easy to tell what is what on the table.

Felt has become the duct tape of my tabletop. It'll fix anything!

Red

Liberation Starts Today!

2009-06-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

Call to Arms tour #2, Liberation of Umbrey, started today at our FLGS. It has been about a month since my last game of Warmachine and boy did it show. Silly mistakes left and right. My first game was against Skorne and I was completely dominated. My second game was against Khador. Highlights of both games are soon to come, probably tomorrow, along with a few pictures. One of my personal favorite moments, the turn before I lost the second game, found Stryker and the Squire up on a wall, in a tree, trying to line up a shot at an impossible-to-kill Sorscha.

Red

Joining the Ranks

2009-06-09T03:09:00.000-07:00

Not that this gives me any sort of legitimacy, mind you, but I am happy to announce that Lightning Strykes has become a contributing member of the Iron Agenda Blog network, or IABN for short (you can also find the banner link in the top right corner). Thanks to Dave and the rest at the Iron Agenda for putting together such a great resource and allowing me to be a small part of it!

Red

Horn Tooting

2009-06-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Don't know if he wants me to post this or not, but my good friend Airport, of Red Machine fame, created a new blog dedicated to his love of WWII gaming, including Gear Krieg and other alternate historical milieus. As this is also a mild interest of mine, I hope he keeps up with it.

Red

New Blog Banner

2009-06-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

I may still tinker around with it. Then, I need to figure out how to load it...

Red

Liberated League

2009-06-06T19:11:00.001-07:00

This Tuesday our Call to Arms league begins again. And once again, I am coordinating it.

There's something about organized play that gets my blood stirring. It's been too long since my last game, and I can't wait for it. Some people I've talked to are eager for it, and others not so. Some of them have been playing Warmachine or Hordes for so long that they've begun to move on to other games. That makes me sad. I'm still a fresh face (although you probably wouldn't say that to see me in person), and Warmachine is my beloved game. I just hope we have a good turnout. A couple of the award winners from last league tour won't be paricipating this time around (I don't think).

I have a small dilemma however. I want to put my Cryx on the table at some point soon to play them, but I don't yet have a way to transport them. I have two of Sabol's Army Transport cases for my Cygnar, but I'd have to get new trays for my Cryx army and swap out my Cygnar trays. I probably won't have new trays for a little while due to the cost. I need to look around for an alternative solution. If anyone has any ideas, I'm certainly open to suggestions. How do you carry your miniatures around on the cheap?

BUT, for the first week of the Tour, I have devised a Cygnar list. Man, was that ever fun. The new awards for this tour have got me rethinking some things, like, what caster(s) have I played before without missing their feat (e.g. Stryker). And I guess all my lists in the next five weeks will be 750 points. It's a good chance to get some practice with some epic casters. Typically I have a harder time with them. I need to sit down and strategize...

Red

Friday Night MonPoc!

2009-06-06T04:47:00.001-07:00

(Sorry. If you were hoping for a Warmachine post, check back soon. Our league starts this Tuesday, and I will have lots to post about that.)

This week it was time to switch back to my Terrasaurs. I used a new monster tonight, Rakadon. The quick and dirty results? Won the first game, lost the second. Both were very close.

I really believe I will be able to play well with the T-Saurs eventually, because the feel of their brawling game is the way I love to play this game. There are some nuances to Monpoc however, that I still need to wrap my head around before I’m very effective with the Terrasaurs. This basically comes down to knowing what your units can do.

Like the Raptix. I had plenty of them in my force, but I only used them for securing buildings. They give a flanking bonus for all other models that make an attack around them. What I should have done is Throw the opposing monster down the street to where my Raptix were, and then made my brawl attacks with my surrounding Pteradactix (had I thought to have them in the area backing up my Raptix).

My first opponent was playing the GUARD, which is one of the factions I am collecting, but I have yet to field them. It was Rakadon vs. the Laser Knight. Amazing that the ultra Laser Knight is so similar to the alpha form. The L.K.’s armor really is a pain, because all the times I could have been doing two points of damage by throwing him into a building, I’m suddenly only doing one! So I kept looking to combine power attack damage with hazard damage as much as I could. Thankfully, Rakadon also gets this ability, but only in its hyper form. This was a long game because both of us were whiffing rolls left and right, and neither one of us could make a successful hit. In the end Rakadon gets the win on this one, and another city suffers.

Second game was against the Planet Eaters. Rakadon vs. Xaxor. I had a tough time at the outset. Xaxor has a blast attack and my monster doesn’t. We were battling it out on the Road to Ruin map. With Xaxor’s jump ability and his blast attack, he could leap over the buildings on his side and then stand back and pound me until I finally managed to tromp my way through the buildings on my side to get to him. Eventually it would be the two of us bashing each other in the center street. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many rubble tokens on the table as I did after this game. Crushing buildings is fun!

While in the thick of it, I was finally starting to gain some ground on Xaxor, as we both lost our alpha forms at about the same time. But then I goofed my Throw power attack. I'm not talking about my dice roll, here. I completely forgot the direction the Throw could go. I had wanted to throw him six squares down from me onto a building, crushing one of his units, but I forgot that the direction is measured from the defender, not the attacker. Ooops. I threw him for six squares down the road onto… nothing.

Xaxor defeats Rakadon, and everything is right in the world, namely because the prize for the evening was Xaxor's mega form. If I had won, I would have traded him to Frank anyway.

I keep learning more and more about the game the more I play. That’s all good and natural. If I ever stop learning about a game, I’m likely to stop playing it.

So, what did I learn (this time around)?

Actions made by units in their activation, for one. It is action, singular, not plural, meaning only one for the whole activation, for all the units collectively, not one per model the way I was originally thinking. This is a very important thing to know, and I can’t believe I misunderstood that throughout my rules reading. I don't think I ever accidentally violated this rule in my previous games.

Two: buildings. What benefits can they give you when you secure them, beyond the simple gain a P-die during your power up phase? This is an aspect of the game I just haven’t gotten my head wrapped around yet. There’s so much to know and understand about what your own units can do, that I’m not paying much attention to the buildings other than slamming through them (but that’s a Terrasaur mindset for you).

Three: units can brawl buildings! How did this one ever get by me?

Once again I will textualize my praise for this game. It is simple in its basic rules set, but has loads of depth and complexity that reveals itself the more you play. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, I would heartily recommend that you do.

Red

Reign of the Mighty Ducks

2009-06-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

OK, so the first pictures of the Retribution have been leaked. I first saw a few of them on the Ghettokore blog. Then I went to PP's forum to look at the rest here.

First of all I really, really wanted to like these models. The cover art looked awesome. Based on that alone I was ready to pre-order them. I liked the concept sketches Privateer featured on their website. I even loved the first warcaster piccy. I don't mean to be a negative nancy here, but part of collecting and painting miniatures is a love for the models, and I have to admit, now that I see the ones for the Retribution, I... just... don't.

Some people on the forums have complained about the myrmidons' pointy pelvis. Others have made mention of the duck bill helmets. Others the paint scheme.

I don't believe it's the paint scheme necessarily, although I'll admit, I'm not particularly wild about it, or the duck bill, or the oddly protruding cod piece. I know, I could paint them differently. I think it's that the myrmidons don't appear to have the same level of detail as other faction jacks. Not the warcasters, because Kaelyssa looks incredible. I'm just speaking of the Retribution jacks.

But it's all okay. If you happen to like them, great. That's what makes this hobby so interesting. There's a little bit for everyone of different tastes. I'll stick with my boys in blue, and continue to dabble with the Cryxies, and keep on building my Circle beasties as I get more and more into Hordes. Let's face it, what I don't need is another faction to go gaa-gaa about.

Red

Maximum Undeath

2009-06-01T19:15:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is the picture of my Deathjack. The surprise of putting this model together? No pinning. Yes, I know, there are many out there that are choking over that. With this model, which took me a little over a month to build, I became super-putty man. Plus, I've grown to loathe pinning. I only do it when I absolutely must. I've heard horror stories about the massive arm assemblies on the Deathjack, but the more proficient I've become with putty, the more I've learned that it can be strong, strong stuff when mixed in the right proportion. No, no mathematical equation to figure out the mixture, just practice. A tad more of the blue hardener than the yellow epoxy. I like the Gale Force 9 putty, personally. With my zap-a-gap glue, the stuff is like cement.

Not to brag, but the pose, I think, is menacing. The head is attached at an angle, so as to look over and stare down the opponent. You can actually see the head in this pose, unlike the one on PP's picture. I like it a lot. Someday, hope to get to painting it.

What self-respecting Cryx list wouldn't have this bad boy in it?

Red

Been a long time, been a long time, been...

2009-06-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

Call to Arms Tour #2 is starting up next week at our FLGS. Once again I am coordinating it. Thank goodness for the league bringing all of us back together in organized fashion, because ordinarily, if left our own devices, we meet haphazardly, and the month of May has not been kind to me. For example, my mother has been in the hospital and I have spent the past four days with her. The gaming is unimportant. The league is unimportant. This blog is unimportant. As much a pain as it was taking her to the emergency room three times after she had been released by the doctors (frickety-fracking-no-good doctors), time spent with family cannot be replaced and those moments need to be cherished.

So yes, I have been away for about a week. Sorry for that. Now it's back to constructing models. Painting figures. Getting ready for the new Call to Arms next week. Another Monsterpocalypse organized event on Friday. Getting posts back up on the blog. And holy crap, Privateer has revamped their website and it looks incredible! Lots of things to be excited about...

Red

Dr. Everything'll Be All Right

2009-05-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

It's brain fever, I'm sure of it.

Cryx, for some reason, makes me want to get out every bonejack and skelly model I've been collecting recently and put a 1000 points on the table, even though I've yet to play a 1000 point game, ever; that large of a battle is a little intimidating for me. But despite that, here it is, my introduction to the Cryx world, in big ole 1K fashion.

Warwitch Deneghra, 76
Reaper, 113
Deathripper, 38
Nightwretch, 38
Stalker, 64
Skarlock, 16
Goreshade the Bastard, 80
Deathjack, 154
Deathripper, 38
Defiler, 45
Bane Lord Tartarus, 40
Necrotech, 9
Scrap Thralls (8), 40
Pistol Wraith x2, 66
Mechanithralls (10), 63
Brute Thrall, 18
Necrosurgeon, 31
Gorman Di Wulfe, 28
Gudrun the Wanderer, 37

1000/1000 pts, 33 VPs

A full unit of mechanithralls and the scrap thralls are there to run and tie up my opponent's pieces so that the rest of the army can get into position. Some Cryx players don't like Goreshade, but I think in a 1000 point game (or any size, really) his ability to pop out a unit of Bane thralls is beyond cool; I've seen that be the game breaker on a number of occasions. I also tried to allow my chance to collect a Cryx force be an opportunity to collect a couple of merc/minions. Gorman and Gudrun are a couple who will work for Cryx. Gorman will stand back in the ranks of the force until he spots his time, but Gudrun will be up front with the mechanithralls.

A few comments about my collecting and building a Cryx army thus far...

Bonejacks are not bad to work with all in all. A little bit of putty and glue, putting them together, and you can easily position them the way you'd like. What I don't have thus far is a Cankerworm. My helldiver (which is not included in the list above) was a difficult bonejack to create. Those two "digger" arms in the front put the whole model off balance, and for that I had to rest one of them down on the base, as if it's sliding on the earth on one ski. I know, it's kind of weird. I'm almost done painting it, and I will post pictures sometime soon. The stalker bonejack was also a tough one to do for similiar reasons, and I had to glue the points of it to the base instead of doing a "slotta-job" on it.

Tough to put together? The unit of bane thralls that I got for Goreshade's feat. Those bad boys with all the spindly parts can drive a man insane. Look fantastic? You bet. But I've lost some of my hair putting them together. For me they rank up there with Tharn bloodtrackers. Bane Lord Tartarus was also one mean SOB to put together. Each of the horns on his helmet comes separately? Really PP? Was that necessary? One of them already has fallen off, and I may leave him with just the one horn on the one side, you know, kind of like Venger from the old Dungeons and Dragons cartoon?

Now, that one model that I've actually enjoyed putting together has been the Helljack. I've only heard nightmares about constructing this model, but it actually hasn't been too bad. It's taken me the past month, month and a half to complete it, but if you take it slowly, it's one of the most impressive models that Privateer has made. At first, I wasn't very keen on it. The picture of it that Privateer has on its website is less than awe-inspiring. The pose is terrible, and the head of the jack blends in so much that you almost can't make it out. A little later, I will have pictures of my Helljack for you.

Sometime soon, I'm going to have to get some battles in. Next week we have the next Call to Arms tour starting up, and I am very much looking forward to it.

Whatever this madness is, I hope the doctor gives me a good prescription.

Red

Smoking too much Necrotite

2009-05-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

A lot of the Warmachine blogs that I read regularly have been talking about dabbling in new factions, like CerealJohn at Getting Small's recent alliance with Khador. I could name others, but I think I'll spare you the summary. Now I guess it's my turn. Back in October I had the opportunity to play against several different Cryx lists. I lost every time, but it was always with a sense of awe. "That model is so cool!" I would say each time I suffered a defeat. Their abilities were unlike anything else I had read about, and I knew my fall from grace would be soon in the coming as I entered my own dark conversion.

A month or two later I picked up the Cryx battlebox. I know the models in the box are not very competitive anymore, but I had an idea in mind. I wanted a "bone" army. Bonejacks, banes, anything skeletal. Deneghra was also my favorite caster, from a fluff standpoint, so the battlebox made sense. How could I not got with Haley's estranged sister?

If I was ever going to dangle my toes in another faction's pool, my goal would have been to get something that was almost completely opposite Cygnar, i.e. opposite from a good vs. evil standpoint. With Cryx, there was an ulterior motive, however, that I must confess. I wanted to learn how to beat them, and the best way I know how to do that is to "play with the enemy" and see what other people do against them. Of course, I love the models and believe that playing them will be a hoot. There are many motivations at work here.

But, I won't be creating a new blog like some other people have done (not that there's anything wrong with that, don't misunderstand me). If I play a Cryx list, I'm going to report about it here. And I'm certainly not abandoning my beloved boys in blue. But I thought I would introduce the topic of my turning to the darkside first, and then a little later, I'll be revealing some lists and at least one bonejack model that's been serving as a test piece for some painting I've been doing.

Cryx and Cygnar together. The world as we know it might just implode.

Red

Rage of the Regenerationist, a MonPoc post

2009-05-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

First, I'd like to set the scene...

Two monsters, both down to 3 health. Both in melee range of the other, but unable to get aligned, except that now my adjacent units are gone after my opponent's last monster activation, and I just lost two health and have one point left. We have both lost a form. I have no action dice in my pool to take a monster activation, so I have to take a unit activition. This means no power attacks that might potentially do more than one damage point. Again, he's at 3 health, and I'm at 1, next turn looking at him making the killing blow. Game over right? That's certainly what I thought.

Okay, let me fill in some of the gaps... I'm playing Yasheth, of the Lords of Cthul, "Mr. I can regenerate faster than you," against Terra Khan of the Terrasaurs, "Mr. I'm no slouch at regenerating either." I have lost my hyper form, and he has lost his alpha. Fortunately for me, I have a number of spitters and squix within range, circling Terra Khan. Not too shabby. Each unit activation I've taken recently, I've made a combined blast attack for a point of damage against Khan. Somehow I need to do more, else I lose the game.

Now, I haven't played Monsterpocalypse very much, so the rules and strategies come and go from my brain at strange intervals; you know how it goes when you're learning something new. Useful when they occur at the right time, sometimes the strategies occur too late to do anything about it after the fact.

I think to myself in this pivotal moment: I can make multiple attacks if I have the action dice for it, right? I have enough units on the table to make three fairly decent combined attacks, but do I have the action dice left to make it work?

This is where unit leaders really shine. I had at least one elite squix and one elite spitter in proximity to boost the grunts' blast attacks. So I begin to make my rolls. First combined blast attack hits. Khan is down a point; Yasheth, with his Leach ability, gains one and we're both now at two health. I make another roll for the second combined blast attack, and it hits; Khan is down to one health, and Yasheth bumps up to three (Leach again). I roll for the third combined blast attack and... hit! Game over.

One of the most exciting games I've ever played, and my heart was rushing.

This was the second game of the mini-tournament we held last night at the FLGS. With Yasheth I was able to pull out two wins to claim the prize, a Mega Ulgoth. Sweet!

I should point out that I have never played Yasheth before. I didn't plan on playing him tonight to be a bastard. I knew that Regeneration was his schtick, but I didn't realize how powerful Leach and Vampirism would be. He only has 5 health, but I would come to realize through game play, that his defense is pretty good at a 6/7 (and I played him in hyper form most of the second game, so DEF 7, plus I gotta love that ability to fly!).

My strategy was to keep Yasheth back and let the opposing monster come to me. While waiting for this to happen, I would demolish some of the buildings around me while I spawned my units and use them fairly aggressively (for Leach). It seemed to be a tactic that worked fairly well. In the first game, I played against the Martians, Phobos 7 (I think) who I noted to myself is NOT a flyer (this would be important). Phobos came charging down the river and Yasheth threw him into a building, trapping him around other buildings, got in adjacent to him with my units blocking him from getting out, and I had several turns where I pounded on him (with my squishy tentacles, ewww) for a point with combined unit attacks and then the next turn brawled him in the Monster activation for another point. It was a nickel and dime sort of game, but with Yasheth, that's what you have to do.

Monsterpocalypse is a fabulous game, and I am totally hooked on it. There's another event in two weeks that I plan on attending. I won't use Yasheth again, but perhaps I'll get out one of my other Cthul monsters, or switch to my Terrasaurs. I just got a Mega Rakadon that I'm eager to try out.

Red

Table Update: Making Lemonade

2009-05-19T17:02:00.001-07:00

So here's me, not complaining about my table anymore. You know, the whole "when life gives you lemons" deal. As it turned out, when I began to drybrush the board, it began to look okay. Okay for a mud field, but okay. I can work with that.

I tried sanding it the next day, like I said I would do, but white glue with sand in it is much like concrete when it dries, and it tore a couple of sheets of sandpaper to shreds. Really. No hyperbole. Here's a detail shot of the first layer of darker brown drybrushed paint.

Yeah, the glue strokes are still visible, but I figure when I get to flocking it, it will look fine. Here's a shot of the table after I had finished the first drybrushing...

Not too shabby all in all. I still need to give the sides another coat of black, and I want to give the board another drybrushing of a lighter shade of brown. Then it'll be time to flock it. I hope to be able to work on that step this weekend. More pictures and updates to come...

Red