The Wasted Warrior

The bore of court life...

2012-01-21T12:13:00.001-08:00

Sitting on his throne of trophies Goethe sighed as he drank the last of his wine, here he was in his own keep surrounded by his court of sleeping concubines and retainers. Surrounded by wealth and success should of been more fulfilling but Goethe found civilian life even if it was a high born position menial at best. The tricks and schemes of the royal court were but a child's game compared to the raids on villages the heat of battle and the glory of riches won over blood and sweat.

As he looked down into his cup he saw the last few ruby red drops of wine almost the color of blood. Or has it been that long that he has forgotten what blood even looks like... he deftly grabbed his dagger pristine as reflective as a mirror and stared at it as if in a hypnotic daze. He stabbed the dagger into his palm and laughed as the blood gushed onto his blade. "Now that is what a blade SHOULD look like!" he said to no one in particular and looked at the blade no longer pristine but covered in his own blood. It all became clear to him in an instant he shot up out of his throne and shouted "prepare the fleet! we sail!". One of his retainers stood up as if to question his authority but before a word left his lips Goethe threw his dagger at quicksilver speed into the elf who hit the floor screaming. With a smile Goethe declared loudly "HE will lead the assault! Strap him onto the hull of the ship and make sure he is still alive when you do it!".

Without question his guards jumped up and grabbed the dark elf from the floor dragging his body away to carry out their master's orders. It was all falling into place now, no more political scheming and avoiding an assassin's blade. This mundane existence was over Goethe belonged on the seas raiding and pillaging feeding his vain glory for more. Goethe was on his way to lead his armies back to war against the lesser species. Goethe was alive again.

Well it's been quite some time hasn't it? Recently it seems a bug has been going around.. the Games Workshop bug. It seems out of nowhere a bunch of like minded individuals want to start playing both 40k and Warhammer Fantasy. I had always enjoyed playing Fantasy and just when 8th edition hit my group stopped playing any Games Workshop game and we started playing other skirmish games.

I'm not complaining the others games are a lot of fun but sometimes you just want to play on a platoon/massive army level with a bunch of random strangers. So with that said I am bringing back both my Fantasy army and I am starting/finishing my Dark Eldar army for 40k.

With Fantasy my dark elves can easily hit 2500 with the addition of a handful of troops that need to be painted. While my Dark Eldar I had 1000 points roughly assembled into a themed Wych Cult list. I hope to flesh out all of the cults up to 1k and just pick and choose units when I need them.

Don't worry everybody this doesn't mean that I am JUST going back to playing these two game systems I will still play: Warmachine/Hordes, Dark Age, Pulp City, Infinity, AE WWII, Secrets of the Third Reich, AE Bounty, Hell Dorado etc. It will just mean during the week I will most likely be playing a GW game and on the weekends the skirmish games.

In other news my group is thinking about recording our gaming sessions and making battle reports to put up on YouTube. So hopefully we can bring our group to that next level of gaming. Till then folks! stay tuned!

Santiago Ortega Overview and Tactics

2011-12-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

The eldest of the Ortega clan Santiago is a hot headed gunslinger who would rather shoot first then shoot some more rather than ask questions. Though the other members of his family may specialize in all forms of combat be it dueling, sniping or demolition. Santiago prefers to end all arguments with a bullet or two from his trusty peacebringers. Despite his hot headed nature no Guild agent will argue with Santiago's method of getting results.

When first looking at Santiago's stat line you notice his abilities almost make him identical to the Convict Gunslinger. Though initially he may seem "worse" due to his lower starting Cb of 5 and his average stats for a 7ss character his abilities make him a frightening proposition for your enemies to face.

Abilities:

Bulletproof 1:

This ability means that whenever Santiago takes damage from a ranged strike (gun icon) he gains armor 1, which reduces the damage by one to a minimum of one damage. Though this particular ability may not pop up as often unless you are facing another Guild player, any ability which mitigates damage is worth looking into.

Companion (Family):

The Companion ability allows models with the same key word (in this case Family) to activate simultaneously if they are within 6" of each other. Mind you that you can "chain" the Companion ability off other models so not everyone has to be within that initial 6". So if you space out your Family members you can cover a wide area to cover all your bases, it should also be noted that you DO NOT need line of sight to activate this ability.

If there are any groupings of models that can alpha strike it is the Ortega family, all of their members (minus the Latigos) can chain companion and activate all at once or in small strike force. This ability is extremely useful because it will allow you to activate two or more models on your activation before your enemy can react. This can lead to a lot of dead models quickly, the trick is not to overextend yourself and use this ability wisely. Otherwise you will be out activated and eliminated without a proper response.

Hard to Kill:

As long as Santiago has 2 or more wounds he cannot be killed by damage, instead it would reduce him to 1 wound and must be damaged again to die. It is important to note if Santiago takes wounds either by a spell or ability Hard to Kill will NOT activate and save his life. Also if he is "killed" via an effect Hard to Kill will also not help.

With that said this ability is great if your opponent does not have the resources to land an extra strike against Santiago. That one extra turn to live or that one extra activation it will cause your opponent to lose is always a life saver either to the rest of your models or for Santiago himself.

"Is That All You Got?!":

While Santiago is at 4 or less his wounds his Peacebringer strikes gain +2cb and an additional damage flip. This is the sole reason why some Guild players will purposely damage their own Santiago in order to get this massive bonus.

This is one of the abilities that makes Santiago different from the Convict Gunslinger, making him not only more accurate but also jumping up his damage potential. Along with "Wade In" this ability encourages a player to use Santiago aggressively and into the thickest of fights.

Stubborn:

Whenever Santiago is targeted by a duel and he is the defender he automatically gets +2 Wp, which is interesting because it does not state ONLY in duels that use his Wp. Now this may seem like something trivial but you never know when you may need this.

If an opponent manages to get past Santiago's boosted 8 Wp it usually means they had to burn a high card to even compete. Since most Wp duels tend to be spells that means they will have to "play their hand" before you decide if you will cheat high or not.

Weapon, Peacebringer: Paired.

Not much to say here Santiago's weapons of choice are paired and come with a decent damage spread without applying any triggers.

Actions:

Wade In:

While Santiago has 4 or less wounds remaining he gets an extra walk action in his activation. This is another effect that encourages Santiago to stay wounded during a battle, giving him an extra walk makes him extremely mobile as he gets into position.

I have even used this ability to attempt to "walk" out of combat after all if you fail it is a free effect. If you happen to succeed you can re-position Santiago to get a better fire lane, use Rapid Fire or Leadstorm.

Rapid Fire [Peacebringer]:

Discard a card and make three ranged strikes actions against a single target with your Peacebringers. Mind you this ability takes (2) actions to activate so you must either be in place before hand or have the target wander into range of your guns.

If you happen to have "Wade In" active you can simply make the free walk into range and proceed to send the target to the grave. With paired weapons there is not much that can escape Santiago's ranged strikes for long. On average you will get two very reliable hits on an enemy you may not even get to fire all three ranged strikes, but as long as you get rid of your target that is all that matters.

Triggers:

Critical Strike:

Whenever Santiago hits his target with his Peacebringers he gets an extra +1 Dg per Ram suited card in the total. Mind you that Santiago comes with a built in Rams suit on his Peacebringers so if he decides to use this trigger his minimum damage output is 3/4/6 on his weapon. If you actually manage to HIT with a Rams suited card the damage gets +2 making it a 4/5/7 damage flip.

Trigger Happy:

If you hit your enemy with a Masks suited card, after damaging your opponent automatically make a Peacebringer strike against the same model. This does not count as one of your ranged strikes so in essence it is a "free" attack. Also note that this ability can keep triggering as long as you hit with a Masks suited card.

One of my favorite triggers in the game the ability to continually whittle down your opponent even if it is minimum damage is nothing to scoff at. I will even purposely cheat "down" in order to make use of the Masks suited card for Trigger Happy to go off.

Spells:

Shrug Off:

End one effect or remove a counter that is not a wound or something carried by this model per Rams suit in the total. This is only 0 action available to Santiago in addition unless you are attempting to mill your deck of low cards that may be coming you need at least a 6+ of Rams in order for this spell to go off.

This ability doesn't get much use but it is one of the few spells that is exclusive to Guild/Family members. If Santiago becomes target of a negative spell effect this is a great way to scrub it off.

Just A Flesh Wound:

Needing at least an 8+ Rams suited card Santiago can make a healing flip, this spell is great when Santiago is facing imminent death. Or when he is down to 1 wound he can make a healing flip in order to have Hard to Kill be active again.

If i decide to use this ability it is usually when Santiago is heavily wounded, I make sure to take my free walk via Wade In. Make a strike (if I fear i may lose the benefits of Is that All You Got?!) then cast this spell to heal Santiago.

Leadstorm:

This spell takes 2 actions and at least an 10+ of any suit to go off, it is considered a Ranged Strike spell so you cannot cast this if Santiago is engaged in combat. When it is cast all models within a pulse of 6" must test against their defense against the total or take 4 damage.

Another good option to use your Wade In by getting into the middle of enemy lines (but not engaged in melee) unleash this spell and watch your enemy either burn his entire hand or watch his guys take damage. Note since this is indiscriminate if any of YOUR models are in range they will also get hurt by this attack.

But the best thing about this spell is that because it is considered a Pulse it can go through walls and it can also go infinitely upward. So if you have an enemy who thinks he is safe behind a building or in terrain he is wrong. Also because it does not specifically "target" a model they will not gain the benefit of cover nor will you be at a negative when casting this spell. Though you may still have to randomize when that Pulse hits combat with multiple models (haven't cleared this up yet).

With that my review of Santiago and his abilities are done, I always refer to him as a Convict Gunslinger Plus. His damage output is higher due to Critical Strike but he also has a few tricks that make him distinctive and worthwhile addition to the force. When I play with Santiago sometimes I even bring out the Convict Gunslinger for back up. Though they are fishing for the same suited cards when going for Trigger Happy. I noticed that I tend to cycle through my deck so quickly that they manage to pop up again in the same turn.

The only place that the Convict Gunslinger has Santiago beat is when engaged in melee, if Santiago has a weakness it is if an enemy locks him up in melee. With a measly 3cb on his Peacebringer Blade you do not want him getting stuck in combat with anything remotely good at melee.

Fresh to death. Tournament/Learning Experience with Nicodem

2011-10-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

The sound of a lullaby was on the lips of the two "children" as they approached the well giggling and playing catch with the head of a villager. Pandora strode through her sorrows who spun around her and her cohorts like wisps of wind through fog. Their minds intent on finding more villagers to slaughter and to poison their water source and be rid of them once and for all.

Nicodem viewed the oncoming neverborn through the eyes of his trusty vulture who squawked their arrival before flying out to his master. The two villagers who accompanied Nicodem looked uneasily over their shoulders at their company. The night had obscured any details from his undead minions making the villagers suspicious about Nicodem's intentions but couldn't quite put their fingers on why. After all who was going to ask why this representative from the guild came to dig up the bodies of the dead to take them back to the morgue...

The mission was "poison the well" attacker has 4 crates they must use a 1 interact in order to "drop" poison into a well. Defender must make sure that happens scoring +1vp for every crate NOT in the well. Seeing as Nicodem is not quite the most mobile of masters I decided to defend the well.

Format of tournament: Accumulation
Limits: Fixed master, 13/25ss MUST come from the master's starter box.
Pandora 7ss
Candy
Babe Kade
Sorrow x3
Schemes: Hold Out and Kill Protege (Punk Zombie)

vs

Nicodem 3ss
Vulture
Desperate Mercenaries x2
Crooked Man
Punk Zombie x3
Schemes: Grudge (Baby Kade) and Frame For Murder (Crooked Man)

Whispers were carried through the air making both of the villagers nervous but to Nicodem they merely proved an annoyance as he scanned the horizon. As if on cue Pandora and her woes came strolling into view, their eyes showing a mixture of surprise and hate for the ressurectionist master. With a shriek the sorrows whirled around their wards working their foul magics on the minds of their enemies.

Both of the villagers angered by the sight of the neverborn charged recklessly towards them firing their pistols as they went. But soon that impetuous charge turned into a rout as one of the villagers ran away crying, blood pouring from her eyes and mouth. The second villager met a more grisly end at the hands of the child killer Baby Kade who even now was carving his initials in the dying villager to mark his kill.

With the simple orders of protect the well at all costs the punk zombies cordoned an avenue of attack for the neverborn. The Nippon born zombies began cutting into their flesh carving ancient rituals of power that sent the sorrows away in a gasp never to be seen again. Without their sorrows for once the malifaux natives looked unsure about the outcome of battle but they still had fight left in them.

Pandora and her woes redoubled their efforts, focusing her power in a single mental blast the last villager was filled with self loathing slitting her own throat and falling to the ground quite dead. Next the rotting miner was targeted by Pandora who dispelled the magics binding him to Nicodem's will, making him collapse in a ruined heap of rotten flesh and broken bones. Candy on the other hand was less successful, she was more focused on lugging around the crate full of poison rather than focusing on her foul magics.

With no witnesses around Nicodem casually waved his hand and the dead female villager rose to her feet like a marionette being pulled up by the strings. With a whisper from her master the freshly risen villager opened her mouth and a voice poured out "come here child it's mama... come here". For a moment candy fell for a spell and walked towards the female believing her to be a long lost mother she never knew. Dropping her crate to run faster candy went arms wide open towards the women not noticing an old mine shaft candy went head first into the ditch making a bloody mess of her porcelain face. If she regretted the decision it will never be known as a swift katana strike from a zombie sent what was left of her down the mine shaft in pieces.

Baby kade plotted his next move in a small copse of trees readying his butcher's knife he hid in his teddy bear. What he did not notice was the ground behind him belch forward an undead monstrosity made up of several human corpses. Soon the looming form of the flesh construct was over the kade's shoulder who slowly turned around. Putting his knife away quickly baby kade looked like a misplaced child "are you my daddy?" the killer said with practiced eased. For a moment the flesh construct stood still glancing down at this small misplaced child on the battlefield. With unnatural speed the behemoth swung his meat hook and caught kade right underneath the chin in one swift movement. A grin still on his face the flesh construct dragged the twitching corpse of the infamous baby kade along the ground looking for fresh prey.

With all her minions dead and their essence being used to fuel more of the ressurectionist's magics Pandora vowed revenge and vanished in into a green mist. Nicodem allowed himself a rare smile as he reached into his coat and retrieved his pocket clock.. "right on time..." he said to no one in particular as his minions gathered the dead and loaded them into the wagon.

Ressurs 8 vs Neverborn 0

I always worry when going against Pandora especially on how mobile she can be as she is sending my minions running for the hills. Winning the choice whether to be attacker or defender was a big deal as I could sit and camp around the well forcing 3 non insignificant models to come towards me. Pandora lacked her mobility because her pushes would of made her drop the crate she was carrying. Because she is such a "damage dealer" there were turns where she couldn't move far without lowering her offensive power.

On Nicodem Rigor Mortis is worth it's weight in gold, I cast it only once or twice in this game but it has proved useful in pinning a model and denying my opponent an activation. As the game grinds on I can usually out activate my opponent and see what they are doing way before I decide to commit my forces. Being a master of undead reanimator is a great spell since I can craft my crew pending on what I need at the moment. It will always give me the right tools for the job all I need is corpse counters and Nicodem is set.

Did I mention how much I love punk zombies? With bolster undead up paired katanas hit at cb 9! With a very good damage spread of 2/4/5 it is relatively easy to get the rot trigger off and do moderate damage. Though I have always used "Slice and Dice" to great effect my new favorite spell is "Self Mutilate". It gives the Punk Zombie a relatively far range and since it does wounds it bypasses armor the enemy may possess.

Nino Ortega Overview and Tactics

2011-10-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

The youngest family member of Ortega clan is Nino (pronounced knee-nyo) Ortega feared for his infamous Repeating Rifle and his sharp eye. It is said whatever is in Nino's telescopic sights has mere seconds to immediately regret that decision. Nino is the premier hunter and sniper of Guild, wherever you see Guild presence you will see (or maybe you won't) Nino Ortega in a good field of fire covering his employers.

Nino is one of the few staple models that just about every Guild player has owned one way or another. His abilities craft him to be one long range killer whether it is through one deadly shot or a fusillade of bullets as he goes trigger happy on an enemy. This is all balanced by any enemy that gets near Nino will usually carve him up like a Thanksgiving turkey, so remember folks guard your Ninos! (see what I did there).

Looking over the stat card nothing jumps at you that would really catch your eye about a 7 soul stone model. His wounds are about average with like models of his soul stone cost but after moving onto his combat stats you notice the following: first a very pitiful Rifle Butt attack, if you EVER have to use this you are in real trouble! But then you notice his very impressive Repeating Rifle. With a stock CB of 7 a decent damage spread of 2/3/5 and it's long range of 16" you can understand why Nino is seen as a very potent long range threat.

Abilities:
Companion (Family):

As with most Family members Nino comes equipped with Companion (Family) this ability just like all other Companion abilities lets you activate models simultaneously. Where this ability differs rather why it is so powerful in the hands of the Ortega Family is because all of their Unique members have this ability. Which means most if not ALL of your force can activate performing the famed "alpha strike" against the enemy, if you so choose.

The hardest part about this ability for most people is gauging WHEN is the right time to unleash the fury of the Ortega Family on an enemy. At first some people tend to use all of their Ortegas at the same time, the problem is a double sided blade. On one hand you get free reign when attacking your enemies models. On the flip side once you are done with activations your opponent can dictate the flow of battle if you did not effectively cripple them.

Hunter:
This ability lets Nino "see" 6" into obscuring terrain features in addition he ignores the negative flip for firing into said terrain. It is quite a useful ability especially since his Repeating Rifle has an enormous range of 16". There are few places the enemy can hide from Nino with this ability though he still needs to worry about Blocking terrain or Obscuring Effects it does narrow down what he has to worry about when compared to other models.

Scout:
Being a sniper means sometimes you must traverse difficult ground in order to get the best fields of fire. Thankfully with Scout Nino does not take any penalties for doing so, though he still take a movement penalty when Climbing he can traverse bogs and forests without a care in the world as he gets into position to lend some supporting fire.

Stubborn:
Whenever Nino is a defender in a duel he automatically gains +2 WP, this ability is better than what the Death Marshals receive simply because it applies to ANY duel as long as Nino is defending. This is a staple on most of the Ortega Family members and for good reason, when facing Neverborn who use a lot of WP tricks it pays off to learn a thing or two.

Even if you aren't facing Neverborn there are a few crews that rely on WP spells in order to do work, with this ability you force your opponent to cheat high and/or burn a soul stone in order to make sure there is no way Nino can compete. Against most minions though they will probably not try and target Nino with many WP duels seeing as his Df is a lot lower. Though this will in no way effect the game at all the way it is written it can honestly be ANY duel even if it does not require you to use your WP trait.

Triggers:

Headshot:

If you manage to hit an enemy with a Crows suited card your opponent has two choices he can either discard 2 cards or soul stones (if the model has the use soul stone ability), if he does not the targeted model dies! This is a great Trigger to have namely because off the top of my head there are very few models with a "kill" ability and most of those are melee oriented. While Nino is still on the table the enemy is sure to always keep two cards in his hand to prevent this ability. Even if the enemy has the cards to throw away to prevent his model from dying you limit his options for later in the turn.

Because of Nino's high CB stat with his Repeating Rifle between this trigger and Trigger Happy having the right suited cards will always keep your opponent guessing. Even if it is not a high card due to Nino's CB just about ANY suited card will ensure a hit from the get go. Also it has been clarified with "kill" effects even if a model heals via "Slow to Die" or another like ability it would not matter due to the "kill" effect.

Trigger Happy:

When you hit an enemy with a Masks suited card, after damaging the defender Nino automatically makes another Repeating Rifle strike against the same target.This is the one of the reasons I keep around a Mask suited card in my hand even if it isn't that high. In most cases due to Nino's high CB on his Repeating Rifle your enemy will usually have to cheat first. After he is done cheating even if you are a negative for damage cheat with a mask to get "Trigger Happy" off, because two strikes at minimum of 2 damage a piece is better than one spotty shot.

One of the usual tricks that I pull on my opponents is attempting to draw out his cards in order to limit his future options or set up "my shot". This requires that you have two mid cards one of the Crows suit and another of the Masks suit. In a duel where you have to cheat first make sure you cheat with the Mask suited card in order to make your opponent think you want to get Trigger Happy off. Usually this will lead to your opponent cheating with a much higher card just to ensure that you will not get it off. Now with your second action you follow up by cheating with the Crows suited card in your hand. This means on average your opponent discards/uses a total of three cards in order to avoid getting killed or he is done for because he doesn't have enough cards to discard to ignore the kill effect.

Spells:
In My Sights:

Needing an 8+ of any suit this spell can be cast against a target in it's range without a resist flip, it gives your Repeating Rifle strikes +2 Cb. Making his already formidable 7 Cb to an astounding 9 Cb, in most cases this number will be so high that most minions (and some masters) will not be able to dodge the attack without the use of high cards. If you are not casting this Spell on your target EVERY turn something must be going wrong or you cast his other 0 spells for good reason.

Shrug Off:

Needing a 6+ of any suit Nino can discard a counter or an effect on himself, if you use a Ram suited card you can discard/end two counters or effects. This Spell does not get used often unless the situation demands it, most often you will be casting "In My Sights" or "Where'd He Go?!" before this spell even gets considered. That does not mean this Spell is useless, far from it actually. Rather this Spell can do some very interesting things to help Nino in the long run, namely remove insignificant or knock off any other type of ill effects.

Where'd He Go?!

This Spell can be used to help Nino get out of trouble should the enemy come knocking at his door step... and trust me they will! Needing an 8+ of Masks this allows Nino to leave melee without fear of being locked down or worse attacked when disengaging from close combat. It should be noted that this Spell lasts until the end of Nino's NEXT activation so just in case the enemy tries to lock you down simply walk out from combat cast "In My Sights" and shoot the attacker in the face.

In closing Nino is one of my favorite minions to use, when I need some ranged support Nino Ortega is always on the top of the list. His ability to cover large areas of the board make the enemy think twice about charging straight into the teeth of the Guild gun line. Even if you are not planning to take him with any other Family members he is still a solid choice. Now if you DO happen to take him with Family his alpha strike capabilities increase and that is never a bad thing to have when you need it.

As always feel free to leave comments and criticisms so that I can update anything that I may have missed or that has been cleared up on the boards. I am also working on a small report for a tournament I went to over the weekend. Updates hopefully within a week!

Guild Austringer Overview and Tactics

2011-10-06T16:14:00.001-07:00

The enemies of the Guild think they can hide from the long arm of the law, but they are wrong. For those that seek refuge in the shadows or foul magics they will be brought to justice either through sword, bullet or bayou raptor. Who knew that a hunting Raptor could flourish in the Malifaux environment as much as he does.

Guild Austringers are one of my favorite minions to play with, I will admit that when I first saw the stats for the model I wasn't that impressed looking at the damage being 1/3/4. But as time went on I noticed the whole sled full of abilities they bring to the table and the different type of Ranged Strikes they bring to Guild.

Looking over the Guild Austringer card all his stats look pretty basic for a 5 soul stone model but there are two things which stick out the most. With both a Willpower and Combat value of 7 it makes it one of the highest stats for such a low cost model. Though his damage output isn't great you will see that his opponents most often have to cheat first regardless of what the Austringer flips. This consistency means that even if it is a wound at a time the Austringer WILL get the job done one way or another.

In addition a Willpower of 7 is nothing to be scoffed out, there are many factions out there that focus solely on Willpower duels to do their dirty work. With a Willpower of 7 means most tests can be passed with a flip of a 5 or a 6. If you happen to have a Governors Proxy around this Willpower goes through the roof with a 9! Out of all the minions available to Guild the Austringer has the easiest time passing Morale/Willpower duels due to his natural high stat.

Abilities:

Bayou Raptor:

This ability gives the Austringer a bonus to attack and damage flips when you are facing Gremlins or Silurids. Pending on your local store this ability may or may not be useful at all I see it as more of a bonus more than anything. But when you do get to use this ability it makes the Austringer THAT much more useful.

Weapons:

Raptor:

This weapon can ignore cover modifiers and line of sight. This is the Austringer's "bread and butter" as they call it. No matter where your opponent tries to hide they will not gain ANY benefit from it. If you are within 12" there is no way to hide from his attacks because it ignores modifiers the Austringer does not take the penalty for shooting into obscuring terrain OR obscuring effects.

Think of this ability as "hunter plus" except better since it's bonus does is not strictly against enemies hiding in obscuring terrain. With this weapon you can can attack models that are in obscuring effects also, this ability is so rare you can count the amount of models that have it on one hand. You can safely park the Austringer behind a wall or building that makes the enemy have to take detours to get to him, all the while you can spam out those Raptor strikes.

Triggers:

Critical Strike [Raptor]:

This trigger gives the Austringer +1 DG when he hits with a Rams suited card. Though he does not have a Rams suit on his Raptor this ability actually comes up fairly often. With the incredibly high CB of 7 even low Ram suited cards means you have a chance to get this off consistently. With Critical Strike you make his Raptor strikes a little bit beefier to a 2/4/5 damage flip.

Distract:

When you hit with a Mask suited card you can trigger this ability, instead of doing damage you put the opponents top three cards from his discard pile onto the top of their deck in any order. This of course is one of those triggers that depends heavily on the situation. If your opponent has been tossing out low cards this puts them back into his deck forcing him to cheat when it may become important.

I have to admit when I first saw this ability I did not think much of it, yes it does have its uses though limited. If your opponent is out of cards you can set up a nasty strike by having the Austringer get his Distract trigger before another minion or even your master finishes the job. It does no damage but with some proper planning it can be used to give you a slight edge especially when there is a black joker in your opponents discard pile.

If you want to be especially devious you can attack your own models purely to fetch some good cards out of your discard pile. Since it does no damage just make sure you have a Mask suit card in your hand. Cheat to get the trigger off against any of your models all the good cards you cheated with can go right on top of your deck. Next you "Deliver Orders" and make the model use up cards. Talk about recycling!

Actions:

Quick Retreat:

If you are in an enemy's melee range you can use this action in order to be pushed up to 4" in any direction. The Austringer is through and through a model that wants to make as many ranged strikes as possible. How would the enemy stop it from shooting? Hope to tie it up in combat... Thanks to this ability you never have to worry about your Austringer getting bogged down in combat. Sure it will eat up one of his actions but seeing as he only has Bash for melee damage it's not much of a loss.

How can you not heap praise on this ability is beyond me, there is no negative to doing this. Even if you do not plan to attack once you get out of combat you can merely just walk away and go about your business. If you have other models that want to engage the enemy in melee or with ranged strikes this frees up the Austringer to do as he pleases.

Hunting Raptor:

As a (2) action the Austringer can make a Raptor Strike with a range of 18", making it one of the longest Ranged weapons in the game. Need to find how far your enemy is? Use this to start gauging where to set up your gun line. Yes this may not be used as much later in the game in the first turn or two it is great even if it only does a wound to the enemy.

If you happen to run two Austringers you can use one to "range" the enemy to see if the other will be able to use his actions to make double strikes on the enemy. Since it benefits from just about all the abilities that effect his regular Raptor strikes there is not negative to this ability, failing that an enemy gives you slow or you used Quick Retreat.

Spells:

Deliver Orders:

Target a friendly model within 24" on a 6+ of any suit you can activate the model right after the Austringer finishes his activation. This makes the Austringer lend to the Alpha Strike that Guild tend to have by activating model after model before the enemy can react. Seeing as this is the Austringers ONLY 0 ability you cannot go wrong with this spell at all. Mix that with the range of the spell that CANNOT be beat by anything in the game, you have VERY far reach with it.

If you want to be extra mean and you run two Austringers you can Issue Orders to the next Austringer followed by Issue Orders to a third model to finish off anything you started before it could retaliate. Sometimes I will Issue Orders to any model to mill my own deck, this will make your opponent think you have a "big plan" for the model. You can even bluff your opponent and say "damn don't have the cards to cheat hope I flip high". Remember folks when it comes to cards its not what you have its what your opponent THINKS you have.

In closing the Austringer is one of the best psychological and reliable weapons in the Guild arsenal. If you hide an Austringer or two in a building that your opponent must get past they will constantly be attacked by something they cannot easily get to. Even if it is a wound at a time it is demoralizing to the enemy when they are "fighting" something there is no clear way to harm.

Fresh to the grave...

2011-10-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that I am tremendous fan of anything zombie, I even collect random zombie miniatures JUST because. When we first started playing Malifaux I let everyone pick their factions first just to get them into the game. Hey it worked! Even though I "settled" for Guild which is one of the more interesting factions for me to play since it is a play style different to what i'm used to (close combat junkie). I have always been interested in the master of zombies Nicodem, when the Dead Justice box was revealed as Wyrd's Nightmare Edition for Gen Con everything fell into place.

My brilliant plan was to use the Dead Justice box as both Ressurectionists and Guild with a few models switched here and there I would have a workable crew. Along with the Nicodem box I would have a nice foot in the door for a Ressur crew. Just an odd purchase here and there and a gaggle of Mindless Zombies and I would be all set!

Fast forward a bit after heavy promoting of Malifaux with the rest of my crew it finally caught in a big way at our local game store. So much so that somebody in our crew who recently received Henchman status is throwing a "starter box" tourney for Malifaux. The rules are fixed master with at least 13 soul stones coming solely from the box in order to make it a challenge to veterans and keep it relatively scaled for the newer people.

So far I have only had two practice games with Nicodem both games were won/lost based solely on the "special event" that happened. But aside from that I am using my knowledge of the game more than the models abilities themselves. This weekend I should be able to get a few more games in to practice for the tournament.

Now to get down to business the tournament is set for October 22nd about two weeks time from now my initial painting schedule includes 11 models plus any "extra" models that I can summon. So I am roughly looking at about 20 or so models, can it be done? I hope so! WIP shots as well as other articles and pictures are soon to follow stay tuned.

Samael Hopkins Overview and Tactics

2011-09-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

Samael Hopkins is the right hand man of Sonnia Criid and her witch hunters, tracking down rogue magic users and bringing them to justice. Where ever the enemies of the Guild hide they cannot hide for long as Samael Hopkins is on their trail. Seen as some what of a glass hammer Samael is a powerful piece to the Guild arsenal but fragile under the prolonged attentions from the enemy.

Looking over Samael's profile there is nothing in his base stats that would suggest or signify his soul stone cost. All of his stats are average when compared 4-5 soul stone model, the only real thing of note are his weapons weighing both in at cb 6 and his 9 wounds. Just comparing numbers this is where the "glass" part of the hammer is defined.

For such a high soul stone cost model his Defense of 4 means just about every model in the game has good odds at hitting Samael. Coupled with lack of Armor or any other defensive buff means that Samael when not IF Samael gets hit he is going to be hurting. Another lack luster stat for a model of his cost is his paltry Willpower 5, means you may not want to face any Neverborn players or someone slinging the Obey spell.

Abilities:

Arcane Hunter:

This ability gives Samael +2 CB and +1 Dg to any model he attacks with CA 6 or more. Most 6-8 soul stone minions and even a few masters have at least a CA of 6 so are very scared to be in Samael's iron sights. When targeting said models he becomes CB 8, now just about every spell caster in the game is not known for their high Defense. So when you attack with a CB of 8 unless they have some sort of trick protecting them you are almost guaranteed to hit.

Do no underestimate the the +1 dg either seeing as the minimum damage with this ability and his base Colt .45 damage is going to be 4. Again if you are hitting a spell caster they do not tend to have a lot of wounds when compared to other like models. So when you hit, it is going to shave off a third to half of their life in one go.

Hunter:

When hunting down your prey what better ability to have than "Hunter", this gives you the ability to ignore cover penalties when targeting an enemy in obscuring terrain. On top of this you can also see an additional 3" (total of 6") into obscuring terrain. Perfect for when an enemy is attempting to hide in terrain from Samael.

Though I wouldn't recommend it seeing as Samaels shooting potential is higher than his melee potential but he can also see into obscuring terrain and charge his target. Like I said I would not recommend this BUT it should be noted that you can do this so it's always an option should the need be dire.

Scout:

With this ability Samael is able to ignore severe terrain penalties when moving through terrain. Coupled with the above ability it gives you plenty of options when hunting down models or keeping out of line of sight of an enemy till you are ready to strike. This ability is pretty straight forward there are no "tricks' behind it, but it is a very useful ability when playing in most environments.

Weapon, Huntin' Tools:

When an enemy is wounded by this weapon they will recieve a -2 Walk until the start closing phase. Honestly this ability just doesn't seem to have much use, if you are in combat which isn't a great idea in most instances. The chances of an enemy walking away aren't very high, even if the enemy isn't proficient in melee they don't need to be. They can just wail on Samael and force a few wounds of opportunity on him.

The only good thing about this ability is that it is NOT a trigger so it's a "free" weapon ability that doesn't interfere with any other choices. If the enemy for some reason wants to walk out of combat they will be doing it with -2 Wk. But seeing as they may be held in combat by Samael's Cb of 6 I rather just attack him against his Df of 4...

Actions:

Rapid Fire [Colt .45]:

For the cost of a discarded card you are able to make three separate Ranged Strikes against the same target. Some people may see this as overkill but it virtually guarantees anything that is fired upon will probably not get back up.. or at the very least will be very hurt and will have to limp away or get finished off by another Guild minion.

With Samael's CB of 6 he shouldn't have a problem hitting most targets with some average flips on his duels. At the very least because he shoots 3 separate times the odds should play in your favor either forcing your opponent to burn high cards to cheat and avoid getting hit, or eventually your deck giving you a high card.

Triggers:

Critical Strike: Huntin' Tools

On the rare occasion that Samael finds himself in a tight spot fending for his life, he always has his trusty Huntin' Tools. Since it is already a Ghosted Suit Samael gets +1 Dmg to all his melee strikes with Huntin' Tools. If he manages to hit with a Ram suited card his minimum damage hops up to a respectable 4 Dmg.

The only "bad" thing about Critical Strike is that usually you see this ability on models that tend to focus more in melee than in shooting. On Samael it is sort of an oddity because you do not want Samael in combat where he is at his weakest. When all is said and done this ability will be used mostly on the defensive unless you are desperate and it all comes down to Samael. On the plus side Arcane Hunter will also work in melee so if anything good can be salvaged of the situation it does give incentive to actually fight when trapped in melee rather than try and run away.

Drain Magic:

After you hit an enemy with a Huntin' Tools strike with a Crows suited card, the controller of the model must discard 1 card. There are times when an ability does not have to do damage in order to be effective, yes it would depend on the situation but it is a nifty option to have up your sleeve.

Again I repeat though melee is not Samael's forte he isn't totally defenseless in a fight, he just better eliminate his opponent before they take a swing at him. This ability reduces an opponents options and anything that limits your opponent be it area denial through card control is a good thing for you.

Ricochet:

After you damage a defender with your Colt .45 and it was with a Mask suited card, another defender within 3" takes a 1/2/4 flip. Always a good thing to remember since it is Samael's only trigger for his Colt .45, with the advent of a few lists with tend to group exclusively this trigger isn't half bad even if it's purpose is only to spread damage out among models.

On a side note looking at the V2 card I am not sure if all flips are considered damage flips or not, I have to check the other cards that are currently in print that have "like" abilities. But it does not say it is a "damage flip" so I take it that the enemy does not get "hard to wound". Again I am unsure if this was cleared up, but it is worth asking.

Spells:

Flaming Bullets:

This is Samael's one and only 0 action/spell and one of his most necessary if he decides (why wouldn't he?) to use his Colt .45 for ranged strikes. On a 9+ of any suit it gives Samael +2 Dg when using ranged strikes until his next activation. When this spell is successfully cast it means that Samael's Colt .45 strikes do a minimum of 5 Dg.

You keep a 9+ in your hand solely for this spell and an additional card to discard for Rapid Fire, no model can withstand three Ranged Strikes with the minimum damage output of 15 if all three hit. If you target a model with Ca of 6 or better your Cb becomes 8 and your damage output with this spell becomes 6/7/8.

Flaming Bullets is the spell that defines the "hammer" part we were talking about earlier, with this spell the damage hits ridiculous levels in worst case scenarios. Now if you actually have the right cards and you can modify your damage flips the damage can one shot most enemy minions without Armor.

Arrest:

You need at least a 5+ Crows suited card in order to pull this spell off, it goes against Willpower and will force your opponent to discard 1 card when taking a Walk or Charge action till the end of the game. Alternatively your opponent can discard 2 cards in order to make this effect go away and cancel Arrest. This is one of those specific situation spells that I am not too convinced if it is worth using a high Crows suited card in order to pull off.

Yes you can make your opponent discard a card to make a move, but usually they only need to move once to be within striking distance when using Ranged Strikes. A melee oriented model would charge straight at Samael and only have to discard 1 card. Your opponent may play off to your gamble and discard 2 cards to end Arrest but it is unlikely it will be two "good" cards unless this is cast late in the round.

Snare:

Is a short ranged spell that needs a minimum of a 9+ Crows suit to cast and it goes against Defense. If the model fails to resist you place a 50mm marker touching the defending models base, until the model wins a Cb>15 Duel at the start of it's activation it may not move or be moved out of base contact with the marker.

Like Arrest this spell doesn't seem that useful at a glance but as always one should not disregard things at first sight. Being able to ground a low Defense model with a Cb of just 4-5 means the opponent is going to have to waste a high card just to get them out being Snared. Again it is one of those spells that is going to depend heavily on play style and if you are willing to risk very specific cards in order to get this off and ground your opponent.

Looking over the ability from a different perspective there may be an occasion where you would want to Snare your own models. Now hear me out there are a couple of minions you may want from being Lured away from their positions. Namely models who are good with Ranged Strikes yes this seems some what a desperate tactic but at the same time pending on the list you are facing it may seem like a viable option. Do not want to be Lured while Staking a Claim or holding an important position on the board? Get Snared to the spot and just prepare for what may come your way.

With that I know fully completed the Witch Hunters Guild box, as always I am sure that I probably missed something or need something clarified feel free to comment and correct me. The whole reason that I do these articles is to help out the community who seem to think Guild as a "simple" faction. The articles I present is to help enrich the older Guild players with a fresh look on tactics, or give a rundown for the newer players who are unaware of certain rules interactions.

Not sure which Overview and Tactics I will do next as always I am open to suggestions, if you have any questions feel free to ask them I am always available through one form of media or another. Till then folks have a great weekend!

Witchling Stalkers Overview and Tactics

2011-09-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

The Witchling Stalker the ever vigilant foot soldiers of the Guild, once they were illegal magic users who were brought to justice. Their sentence was a life of servitude hunting down their own kind where ever they may be. The Witchling Stalker is one of the most versatile minions that the Guild has to offer due to a combination of it's abilities.

A quick look at the Witchling Stalkers stat card reveals that he is about average with most four soul stone models when looking at straight numbers. The only really big departure would be the CA and DF of the model at 5, while it may not seem like much you always have to remember that even if you are losing 1 point difference in totals can make or break certain weapons by causing negative flips to damage.

The Witchling Stalker comes equipped with both a melee and ranged weapon making them useful in any occasion. Truth be told Witchling Stalkers tend to roam the field to hunt down their targets and lock them in combat where they excel. They are excellent either alone or in packs as they torpedo towards the enemy causing as much damage as possible before hopefully exploding.

Abilities:
Hunter:

Though the Witchling isn't very proficient with their pistol it doesn't mean they are absolute rubbish either. With this ability they can see 6" into and within obscuring terrain, in addition they ignore the penalties for shooting into such terrain.

But do not think that this ability is ONLY for shooting, remember that you have to be able to SEE your target in order to charge them. This ability allows you to see 6" into terrain so you could charge a target who is hanging back believing they are safe.

Immolating Demise:

If you are going out, why not go out with a bang? This is a pulse that does 2 damage to everything within 2". This is a pretty straight forward ability your Witchling Stalker should be near or in combat causing as much damage as possible. This makes your enemy hesitate slightly about engaging the Witchling Stalker knowing that if they kill them it will be a hollow victory.

The great thing about pulses is how indiscriminate they are in the mayhem they cause, they can ignore attacking a defender directly and taking such tests. You can run them into swirling combats and watch as they chain explode of each other hurting everything in range. Harmless? Pitiful? Expose Fears? No need to worry since you aren't targeting them there is no need to test and it just becomes straight damage.

It needs to be said that Immolating Demise is useless against Bearskin and Friekorps armor along with a few odd minions here and there. But for the most part just think of this ability as a useful little ability that can be handy in a pinch and you will do fine. Always remember that this ability is just as deadly to you as your enemy so give your Witchiling Stalkers some room to operate when they are low on wounds.

Magic Resistant 2

This ability gives the Witchling Armor +2 against spells and spell effects that cause damage, this usually comes in the form of Arcanists but there are a few models here and there do have direct damage spells.

Remember that spells that cause Wounds will still get through Magic Resistant only because Wounds are different from Damage. I tend to use this ability to mitigate damage when casting Sonnia's Flame Burst into a combat that the Witchling Stalker is involved in. Safe in the knowledge that if I manage to actually hit my own Witchling Stalker he will survive the blasts (most times). All else fails you can be assured he will be down to 1 wound left and you can freely fire into combat after the Witchling Stalker activated, just to force him to Immolating Demise and hurt his enemies further.

Scout

This ability allows this minion to ignore severe movement penalties, this ability shines in the example above with Hunter. If you can see your enemy through severe/obscuring terrain you can charge with no problem of slowing down.

I am a big fan of options in any situation, so if you have models that are more mobile or can take a short cut through severe terrain that is a great thing to have. Not many models in the Guild crew have the ability to ignore severe terrain penalties when moving and STILL be a combat effective model.

Weapon,Shattered Runed Blade
Magical, everything after this comes second to this ability in my eyes. With the advent of spirits into the world of Malifaux having a magical weapon is the be all and end all when facing such minions. The ability to do full damage from your weapon that already has an impressive damage profile due to Critical Strike means you can send Spirits packing back to where they came from compliments of the Shattered Runed Blade stamped across their heads.

For the sake of a complete review of the weapon it also has the ability to curb some spell casting abilities. Anyone hit by this weapon must discard a card before claiming a target of their spell, I believe this does not effect spells that do NOT have a target. This effect lasts until the end of their NEXT activation, so the ability will go onto the next turn if they have already activated. But hey when all else fails... it's already a magical weapon and what more can you ask for?

Actions:
Disrupt Magic

The only (0) action that is available to the Witchlings, it is something that always keep in mind. Since it IS your only 0 ability I would get into the habit of activating this even if you do not think you will be in range of any enemy spells. The reasoning behind this is because it will get you into the habit of doing it often and hopefully never forgetting to use this ability when it might actually matter.

Another good reason to keep activating this action is you never know when you may be pushed, pulled, moved or placed close to an enemy. This could be via a Lure or another like ability, if the enemy brings you close to their lines via a spell they are going to have a harder time trying to cast the spell as long as the Witchling Stalker is alive.

Triggers:
Critical Strike
As always one of the trade mark abilities of the Guild, it is all about damage where the Witchling Stalker is at his deadliest... melee range. Making his average weapon damage of 2/3/5 instantly into a whopping 3/4/6! If you are lucky enough to "hit" with Rams suited card the damage jumps to an astounding 4/5/7.

With a relatively high CB on the Shattered Runed Blade you should not have many problems hitting most opponents on a straight or initial flip. Giving you the slight edge and possibly making them cheat first reducing their options for later on in the turn.

Drain Magic
This trigger goes off when you hit on a Crows suit, it makes your opponent discard a card from their hand. Though this doesn't seem as outright devastating as Critical Strike that doesn't mean this ability is useless. There are certain situations where doing damage is secondary to draining out your opponents hand. Some may even cheat JUST not to get hit and discard the card simply out of spite, but hey this plays to your advantage.

For example lets say you are facing good old Jack Daw, well first off all you have a magical weapon so you are able to "wound" him. Even if you do "wound" him he can discard to stay alive.. well think about when just about EVERY hit he is discarding two cards just to keep Jack Daw alive? Soon that 10 soul stone model becomes a liability for your opponent where he thought it was a power piece.

Reducing an enemies hand size means they have less options, even if they toss "garbage" cards think about a Witchling Stalker attacking someone solely to make them discard cards. Your enemy will laugh throwing out those cards thinking he is safe. Now apply his lack of hand with abilities such as Nino's Head Shot or the Executioner's Decapitate where the opponent must discard 2 cards/soul stones or instantly die? Mind you it has been clarified that even if the enemy tries to heal via Slow To Die and burning a soul stone it will do nothing and he will STILL die.

Reflect Magic
When this model is targeted with a spell that uses WP or DF if you manage to successfully resist with a Tomes suit you automatically toss the spell back at your opponent. While it is neat to get off every now and then it's not something that is reliable as most models that can cast spells either have a really high CA or use soul stones to make sure it is beyond your reach to beat the total.

This trigger is a neat little bonus if you actually do manage to have the cards and the circumstances are right. Just not something I would hinge a battle plan on unless it was absolutely necessary or you get lucky and manage to get the right card on the initial flip.

Spells:
Dispel Magic
At first glance this spell doesn't seem all that attractive because as a new player you may not fully know what is considered an "effect". Hell most gamers still do not fully comprehend what is considered an effect (myself included). But I have found a very good use for the spell pending on your local meta game.

You only need a 7 or better of any suit to cast this spell on any friendly model even models that are Immune To Influence since it targets DF. Effects have been generally termed as anything that is put on a model that it did not start with. How does this become practical application? Well imagine you are facing a Hamelin player and he is going "Insignificant" happy on your models. All you have to do is cast this spell and no more being Insignificant you can now strike at Hamelin and his crew without incident. Or at the very least you gain a turn where your other models can do some damage or roam about the board.

You can also make certain models discard Body Part, Blood, Eye or Scrap counters with this spell, may not seem like a good thing to do but when you consider some Master or certain Minions require those counters to operate it may be a viable strategy. Also I believe since Tokens are considered "ongoing effects" you MAY be able to take off Blight, Burning and Poison counters, which increases the spells uses.

With that it completes my review of Witchling Stalkers i'm sure that I may have missed something or that there could be a correction here or there. Feel free to add your comments/criticisms or your own thoughts of what you think the Witchling Stalkers can do. I hope to post something new at least once every 8 days if not sooner. I have a pile of painted miniatures that still need to be photographed, but with classes starting I may not get the opportunity.

As always, stay classy everyone.

Sonnia Cridd Overview and Tactics

2011-08-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

Decided to write a tactics article on Sonnia Cridd one of my favorite Guild masters for Malifaux, the epitome of a fiery inquisitor chasing down magic users and giving them a dose of Guild justice. Sonnia is tasked with hunting down the illegal use of magic, in particular she has quite a grudge against the Arcanist faction. Because of this she has a leg up when facing the Arcanist faction, but as I will explain in this article that isn't the only faction she is good against.

Taking a look at her stat the two stats that stick out the most are her Willpower and Casting at 7. Seeing as she is a casting master and uses willpower to resist most spells these are both good starting stats. An average walk, defense and wounds round out the rest she isn't the most vulnerable of spell casters but she is close.

At a glance her weapons do not seem all that impressive for doing lots of damage but that's fine she has some nifty triggers/abilities that help her to a degree. It should also be noted that her runed blade has a 2" reach which I have found to be quite nifty. You can stay out of most opponents melee range forcing them to either leave combat or move closer to get an attack in, either way you are winning because they have to dump an AP.

Abilities:

Advanced Counterspell:

So far I believe Sonnia is the only model with this ability, which states if ANY model or Sonnia is targeted by a spell you may discard a Tomes suit or any 2 cards in order to negate the spell before it is even cast. Since it could be any model within 3" you can even do this to enemy models, why? do I hear you ask? Because enemy models tend to have certain spells that augment either their own or another models abilities.

An example would be Nino's "in my sights" spell that gives him +2cb, a Belle/Lilitu trying to cast "Lure". The spell that is not as obvious would be a Freikorps Librarian trying to heal itself while on "slow to die". Of course like any discard effects you want to be sure not to throw away cards recklessly JUST because you can. You have to measure if the enemy spell is worth stopping right now or worth taking a chance over and attempt to resist.

Dispelling TOO many spells means your control hand/options are very limited, even if you have a horrible hand there is no reason to "tell" your opponent about it by chucking cards left and right. Also if your opponent has any "discard or kill" effects I usually stick to being conservative with my counter spell.

Magic Resistant 2:

This ability doesn't get used often seeing as most people are scared Sonnia will just counter spell anything thrown near here. But it is nifty to have in case you want to "weather" the storm of random spells doing damage to her, armor 2 versus magical attacks is always a good thing in my book.

Magic Seeker:

To my knowledge there are no minions with a CA of 7 or more, so this ability will default to going against other faction's leaders. What it does is allow you target models with CA of 7 or more without needs line of sight. This ability will probably not come in too often but it is always worth remembering. Because the more options you have available to you the better your chances of winning.

Weapon, Runed Blade:

With the rise of spirits that started in the "Rise of Powers" book it is a great thing to have a magical weapon such as the runed blade. But that is no the only bonus when attacking models with a CA of 6 or more you gain a positive flip to your attack. Any model wounded by this weapon regardless of their respective CA cannot cast spells till the end of the turn. Seeing as most models have AT LEAST one spell worth casting it is good to remember if you hit someone with this weapon they will not be able to utilize it.

Actions:

Casting Expert:

Standard action that gives Sonnia an extra AP that can only be used for casting. I use this ability even if I do not have any cards that can cast a spell. Simply to cycle through my deck on occasion the spell goes off and actually causes damage or does something useful so it's worth using even if it is to throw up a random flame wall the first turn or two.

Confiscated Lore:

Discard a soul stone in order to gain Tomes to your casting and a +1 while you are at it, making your CA stat an 8. Great for turns when you are standing still and you are preparing to unleash a torrent of spells. Just about any card will cast your spells with this action, though it is always good to have a few high cards in order to widen to gap and gain positive flips (flame burst i'm looking at you).

Nullify Magic:

If you are surrounded by enemy spell casters this isn't a bad ability, but in all honesty it is better to go out in a blaze of glory/spell casting rather than go on the defensive. It isn't a bad action by any means but when it is in competition with Confiscated Lore and Inferno it usually means you will rarely if ever use this. Besides your loyal Witchling Stalkers ALSO have this ability, though not at double negative flips just one negative flip is good enough to stop most spell casting in its tracks.

Triggers:

Explosive Burst:

You will automatically get this trigger if you manage to cast the spell, the only thing you have to do is make sure to case at least moderate damage. Since you need to cause blast damage in order to use this trigger. What it does is lets you place the additional blast markers up to 2" away from the initial blast giving you a wider spread than usual. This means that Sonnia can carpet bomb a wider area than most and can effect more models which is ALWAYS a good thing since only a portion of the enemy model's base needs to be contacted in order to take damage.

Absorb Magic:

When using your runed blade this trigger automatically goes off, all you have to do it hit and your opponent must discard a card and an additional card if you manage to hit with a Ram suited card. In addition Sonnia draws a card and heals one wound, making it worth cheating a card to draw a new one at the very least. Though you only heal one wound never think it does not add up over time, it may just save you and at the very least you won't have to worry about "Black Blood" from any Nephilim.

Dissemble:

You will need to hit with a Tomes suit in order to make use of this trigger, in addition it can ONLY be used against constructs but that's not bad considering you can kill them in a single hit. This trigger can be used with both your runed blade and pistol making it versatile if nothing else, the enemy can avoid the kill effect by discarding cards. But either get your opponent when he has very few or no cards and I believe its worth burning a stone to get an add flip to your attack in order to kill any 8+ soul stone construct.

If you couple this with Absorb magic you can eat your opponents hand putting you in the perfect place to do some real damage to your opponents crew. Like I said before having options in a game means you have ways of winning. Depleting your enemies control hands means they have less options when it may matter and can be catastrophic.

Reflect Magic:

To further augment Sonnia's anti magic scheme there is this trigger which goes against your Willpower and/or Defense. If you manage to resist a spell with a Tomes suited card, the spell is cast on the attacker instead of Sonnia. This is almost as effective as a counter spell pending on what type of spell is being flung at her. It is quite funny if something tries to "lure" you and instead they make their way towards you and YOU strike them causing them damage and they can no longer cast.

Spells:

Inferno:

One of my favorite spells this spell does so much for Sonnia, do you want the enemy to avoid an objective you are standing on? Are you sending Sonnia into a group of enemies for maximum damage when she dies? Are you trying to bring about your Avatar? Or if she is away from friendly models cast it for the fun of it in case your enemy is thinking about drawing you in close or going to you. Nothing like a solid deterrent to keep the enemy second guessing himself if he has a melee oriented force.

When Sonnia is down to 1-2 wounds left I just cast Inferno and wade into combat where her 2" runed blade reach locks down models. Most models will not dare to hit her when she has inferno up and if they try and leave you can always keep them in combat wasting their AP. If you are out of stones and very desperate to do tons of damage all you have to do is cast Inferno and walk Sonnia into the midst of a clump of enemies. Proceed to fire into combat (if Sonnia is in melee) or at Sonnia to make her die and cause 6 damage to everything within 3".

Flame Burst:

A fairly straight forward ranged spell that causes plenty of blasts, as mentioned above when you trigger Explosive Burst you can cover a large area! I would be tempted to burn a soul stone for the additional flip simply to make the total higher and thus more likely being able to cheat damage.

I tend to throw this spell into a combat where I send my Witchling Stalkers, mainly because if it hits a Witchling I can cheat their defense down creating a larger gap for success. If I actually manage to hit the enemy it is business as usual, don't be afraid to hit your own witchling stalker. After all if you damage them enough to kill them they will explode and cause more damage to your enemy. If you aren't looking to kill them and they are down to 1 wound, you can always cast Violation of Magic and create a brand new one.

Flame Wall:

A nice spell that creates some nice mobile/dangerous cover for Sonnia and her minions, only needing a 6+ Tomes to cast. Flame Wall can be used to funnel enemy minions who do not have flight/float into a position of your choice. Mind you that they will have to go out of their way using up AP to get to there destination. As I said above in a pinch you can hide behind it in order to avoid/curb any ranged nastiness coming your way.

My only word of caution is be careful of any enemies that can push your models around, as they may be thrown into a Flame Wall and take damage. Conversely if YOU have any models that can push models around feel free to cast a Flame Wall near the enemy and throw them in for an extra 3 damage. If you are desperate to achieve "Eye for an Eye" scheme feel free to make your models walk back and forward through the Flame Wall.

Violation of Magic:

Sonnia's signature spell as a witch hunter, she finds magic users and turns them into her minions... no literally she does! With a relatively high cast of 17 Sonnia would need at least a 10+ of Tomes in order to even cast this spell. Forbidden Lore usually gets used the same turn that Sonnia is using Violation of Magic unless she has high Tomes or lots of soul stones to burn.

I tend to use this spell more on my own minions than on enemies unless they have a high CA, main reason is you do not have to worry about the resist duel. Since you can always cheat down or decide to "tie" the score between friendly models you can leave a 1 wound model into a fresh Witchling Stalker ready to do Sonnia's bidding. If you "recycle" your Witchling Stalkers they will do 2 damage to your enemy on their way out and when they come in will already be engaged with the enemy and ready for a strike.

Any minion who is down to one wound is a possible Witchiling in the making, even at minimum cast enemies with WP 5 or lower would have to spend some premium cards in order to avoid being turned. Also a nice thing about the spell is that it causes wounds not damage which is a big but subtle difference. Though you will do the same amount of wounds to a spirit, against other targets you can bypass armor and magical protection because it causes wounds NOT damage. Which is always a good thing to remember not only with this spell but in general.

Well that is all for now folks, if I made any mistakes feel free to correct me. If you have any ideas/tactics that I did not go over feel free to leave a comment. As always thank you for reading!

Strike Force: Lucius army list tactics

2011-08-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Being relatively new Lucius player I remember playing Lucius for the first time though my list was rather rubbish on second glance and even though I won my match I saw the great potential in Lucius. Here goes a leader that makes his crew run like a welled oiled machine but only BETTER, manipulating his crew to higher feats.

With that goal in mind I looked at his very short list of available minions at his disposable:

Ryle, Guild Guard, Guild Guard Captain, Austringer, Guild Hounds and the Lawyer. With the limited selection (at the time) I went with the following:

Guild Crew - 35 - Scrap

Lucius -- 4 Cache

Governor's Proxy [2ss]

Guild Austringer [5ss]

Guild Guard [4ss]

Guild Guard Captain [7ss]

Ryle, Guild Pawn [8ss]

Lucius- you usually run up Lucius first turn and cast "Reinforcements" to move any model 4" in front of him. My two favorites are either the Captain (since he is slow) or the Austringer for positioning. "Advanced Training" to give all models in the 8" aura +2 cb, followed by an "Issue Command" on your Austringer makes it a healthy 9cb strike... Let that sink in.. how many non master models can dodge a 9cb strike BEFORE any flips?

With Lucius you should be get into a good position and start spamming out "Issue Command" as many times as possible. Hopefully to make strikes just so you get more mileage out of "Advanced Training", all else fails use it to get better positioning on an enemy by moving around your models who have not yet activated.

Governors Proxy- I use this model solely because its higher CA of 5 with suited ram, that means he casts Lucius' signature spell "Issue Command" on a 9+. An added bonus is the +2wp he gives friendly Guild models, yes it does come with a downside... Do not fail a morale duel while within line of sight of this model. Honestly I have only ever lost a total of one model due to this, smart positioning can largely avoid this. If you see a terrifying enemy and you do not want to waste high cards passing the duel, simply walk your proxy out of line of sight.

Austringers- I will admit when they first were introduced I looked at their damage spread and thought nothing of t hem... But after playing Guild for a while I noticed their other skills which make them worth their weight in gold. Their best skill is their attack which ignores line of sight AND cover... this is VERY big in a game like malifaux where more terrain is encouraged.

I can't hammer in the fact enough to cast "Issue Command" on the Austringers of all the models in your crew. Just hide them in a building that only has one entrance and start harassing enemy models. Regardless of actual damage caused your enemy will be so frustrated he will go out of his way JUST to get rid of them. Park them close to an objective where they cannot be attacked directly and the enemy HAS to go after them or lose his crew one way or another..

Did I mention how useful "Deliver Orders" is? It is a 24" set up for an alpha strike and it is the Austringers only 0 action so don't feel bad about using it just to "burn" a card. If it actually goes through you keep going with your momentum. I tend to "Deliver Orders" to another Austringer who is hiding in same room.

Guild Guard- Tend to be the fodder I send to actually get the objectives, one always stays next to Lucius so that he benefits from his "Secret Service" rule. Also the Guardsmen hit harder under "Issue Command/Advanced Training" in addition they have critical strike. Armor tends to keep them around longer annoying your opponent to no end.

Guild Guard Captain- he has companion (master) to even further your alpha strike if that is a valid option during the turn. I never actually use his pistol as most times I rather move/protect Lucius at all costs. He is actually pretty hand in a melee fight with "Hard to Wound:1" and armor he can withstand quite a few hits. In addition he has access to critical strike with a ghosted ram, which means when he hits the enemy with a ram suited card he will do minimum 4 damage.

He has two decent 0 actions, one of them lending the idea of alpha striking even more so and the other giving all friendly nearby Guild models a bonus to their morale duels. I tend to use his alpha strike set up more than I use the morale duels 0 action but that is more personal preference than anything else.

Ryle- the beast from the east... or from somewhere else equally imposing! Ryle has always been a great model to have, yes even if I cannot "Issue Command"! His gatling gun has made swiss cheese out of just about everything I point it at without even intending to kill the victim. I tend to "cheat down" just to tie things up and pull off the "fully automatic" trigger, which tends to work in my favor most times. His close combat abilities are nothing to be scoffed at, just because his ranged weapon is a great doesn't mean he can't hold his own in close combat. In fact his damage output in close combat is VERY high. If he catches an enemy with a ram suit card and hits them for severe damage, say hello to 8 damage.

"Socially Repressed" is a great movement ability for Ryle, need to escape combat? Attack enemies who thought they were safe from your gun? The applications for this ability are great, simply because its "closest living model". If you are facing undead or constructs just move one of YOUR models in a way where the push away is favorable to you. This ability gives Ryle a 28" threat range with his gatling gun.. yup you just did that.

This post will be edited heavily in the next coming weeks as I go even more depth of all the tricks you can do with Lucius and his minions. Till then good sirs.

last edited: 08/20/11

A glance at the humble Guild Guard...

2011-08-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

This is a response to someone on the Wyrd Miniatures forum for the game Malifaux asking on opinions of the minions in disposal of the Guild faction. Thought it was a fair assessment of the model and did not want it buried under a bunch of non helpful topics. So I decided to post it here on my blog, I am going to attempt to have a running series of thoughts on each model so stay tuned..

Cost- In the battle for 3-4 soul stone range of models the humble guardsmen has no abilities that stick out at first glance. But after playing almost exclusively with them in lists I noticed quite a few things...

Melee- Has a nice cb of 6 for his melee attack and has the ability to critical strike (the guild 'calling card' in my eyes). Though the damage output is about average for a model of his cost before critical strike at 2/3/4. On average he will have a +1-2 to hit his enemies so something must be said about being consistent.

Shooting- the pistol is on the barely average at cb 4, the trigger "halt" isn't all that great but is a nice bonus since its free due to ghosted suit. The real advantage of the guard pistol is the positive flip for damage. Meaning on a hit you will usually be at a neutral flip that you can cheat, at the worst will just be at just a negative 1 flip after hard to to wound.

Spells- Menace/Cordon I honestly don't use these that often, not that I don't think they are great spells rather I always find my Guard can do better things. With that said feel free to correct my theoryfaux.

Menace- the objective is to pin an enemy in place so they cannot engage you in hand to hand. Bonus you get a walk towards them but hopefully out of their melee range. The reality... unless you are picking on low WP models you are going to have to keep a high card in your hand. Risky at best it is still a gamble, never try on a master unless they have no cards/stones.

Cordon- a nice ability to keep non flying/floating models away from objectives or important models. At the very least it will make the lead guardsmen the first model he HAS to kill to get past/break up cordon. As a bonus it is not an opposed duel so you don't need to worry about what your opponent is holding for this spell.

Talents- Raise Alarm and Patrol again mind the theoryfaux as I do not generally use these abilities though I am always tempted to use Raise Alarm...

Raise Alarm- useful if you have a lead guardsmen that needs help and he isn't doing anything better. In theory you could catapult a guardsmen using Lucius' reinforcements spell then use this ability to give most of your crew a free 3" movement.

Patrol- it might as well ALSO be a an (all) action because the guardsmen do not have any 0 abilities. It doesn't seem as useful to me seeing as guild has plenty of other ways to gain companion without sacrificing actions. It can be useful but there are more effective ways of doing this so I usually do not use patrol.

Armor 1- at first armor 1 doesn't seem like much. But in reality this is the small but important difference when it comes to this model and his other 3-4ss buddies.The ability to take just 1 more hit or take some of the strongest (not insane) hits out there and still keep kickin' is great.

For example he gets slugged for 6 damage armor knocks one off so he is barely hanging in there ready for next round. This forces your opponent into some tough decisions. Does he want to take the strikes from the guild guard in order to activate something else first? OR is he going to waste an AP or more trying to clear out the threat of a model on it's last leg?

Either way its a win because it forces the opponent to rearrange the order of his operations. Since I main Sonnia having that 1 wound left means that the guild guard gets turned into Witchling Stalkers more than my enemies. Free models are always a good thing (not withstanding slaughter scheme) so it doubles versatility. In fact I always start with Guardsmen over Witchling Stalkers purely for this reason unless the board is covered in terrain in which Scout is king.

Verdict- a surprisingly versatile and survivable model, the Guild Guard is a staple in my crew regardless if I use Sonnia or Lucius. Whether he pulls duty as the front line against the terrors of Malifaux or as a sacrificial lamb the Guild Guard is not afraid (most times) of doing his duty.

Road to Power Gencon Tournament! Game 4

2011-08-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

The fourth and final game of the tournament was in sight as I drew Yamizero from the Wyrd Boards. Really nice guy so I ask him if he would rather fight Sonnia or Lucius as I only had two masters on me. He said "whichever is fine" to which I responded "it's late and I don't feel like thinking I will play Lucius".

The mission was shared Contain Power

His list:
Lady Justice -- 8 Cache
Scales of Justice [2ss]
Lucius [10ss]
Death Marshal [4ss]
Death Marshal [4ss]
Death Marshal [4ss]
Judge [7ss]

his schemes were: bodyguard? and eye for an eye
I took: eye for an eye and something else I couldn't remember from the top of my head

Going into the game I know that Lady Justice is ALL types of beat stick and the Judge can also tear everything in my crew except for the Captain if he manages to get off "blades and bullets" on anyone.

There was a general advance on both sides I moved up an Austringer and tried to see the range between us with a "fake strike". See that I need an additional move which I believe either Governors Proxy or Lucius issue commands the Austringer to get closer so that his issue command strikes WOULD be in range. I believe I either softened up Judge or a random Death Marshal on my right flank.

Second turn I found perfect ranging for my Austringers between general AP/issue command I got lucky against the judge (I believe I got a red joker + severe/moderate) along with weakening a right most left Death Marshal. On the left Ryle was in charge of taking care of two Death Marshals.

Lady Justice makes the assassination run on Lucius even with my "highest authority" ability Lady Justice was consistently hitting Lucius due to his "sword style" and a few stones. I knew that attempting to dodge the attacks using soul stones would be a wash so I gambled that I could "slow to die/heal" Lucius. The gambling part came in because my deck was relatively thin and I still hadn't drawn the black joker. Luckily for me it worked out and Lucius survived the onslaught.

Forgot the order of things but I remember having the Guild Guard Captain hitting Lady Justice a few times bringing her to low life before Lucius took care of her himself when she ran out of stones. Ryle pulped one of the Death Marshals in hand to hand (red joker damage here) and shot the other one to death.

At this point around turn 5-6? he only had Lucius left who was holding up an Austringer and Guild Guard. I sent over Lucius to personally fight the imposter Lucius. Which was actually very hard to do seeing as "highest authority" kept most of my attacks missed and I was out of stones. But eventually the true Lucius prevailed it was at this point I noticed I had most of my crew.

Before I started slaughtering my crew Yami and I did some quick math and figured that all of my models could just slaughter each other to get "eye for an eye" so we shaved a few mins and said "I accomplished it". So in the end the the game scored 8-2 win for me, Yami getting points for ALSO taking eye for an eye.

All in all I think I did pretty well in this tournament, if it wasn't domination I probably would of scored "higher" due to getting a total of 26 or so scheme points with 2 wins 1 tie and 1 loss. I'd like to thank all my opponents for keeping things fast (finished all 6 turns in all but 1 game) and being very friendly. Met a lot of the people from the Wyrd boards so all in all a great experience. My only "complaint" was I had wished there were "terrain/table features" I feel it adds that little extra to every game.

With the tournament done I picked up Perdita and her totem just to see what they would play like. I have also realized that I would really like to start Ramos as I always thought he was a cool master but never had the chance to play with him. Guild will always be my "tournament" faction seeing as I have the most models for them but I also wanted a fun master to play with.

More pictures of randomness later this week, till then folks!

Road to Power Gencon Tournament! Game 3

2011-08-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Rolling into my third game the mission was Shared Supply Wagon, due to our table we asked the TO what would the Supply Wagon do. He said it would go around terrain and squeeze through the two very narrow doors to reach the center of the table. Looking at the set up of the table I knew I just had to take my Lucius list. With some much line of sight blocking terrain the Austringers would carry the day for me (even more so than usual).

I took my Lucius list that I took in the first match while my opponent took Neverborn.. Pandora to be exact:

Pandora -- 5 Cache
Primordial Magic [2ss]
Candy [8ss]
Coppelius [9ss]
Insidious Madness [4ss]
Sorrow [3ss]
Sorrow [3ss]
Sorrow [3ss]
Sorrow [3ss]

His schemes were: Kill Protege (Ryle) and Grudge (Guild Guard Captain)
my schemes: Hold Out and Raid?

Following the scheme that has been going on all tournament my hands were largely garbage except for a card. On the other hand because my hand was full of low cards my deck was chock full of great cards. Starting the match I knew of the nasty things that Pandora was fully capable of so taking a cue from all the anti-tactica on Pandora I started picking off her totems/sorrows first.

I caught an insanely great break when I moved Ryle to pull a flanking move. With my shooting expert I managed to tag Coppelius, cheating to a lower ram just to get my trigger off. It was tie so as I flipped the cards a red joker came up... needless to say it was a string of severe/moderate flips that finished Coppelius in one hit! Of course soon there after Candy, Pandora and a few Sorrows decided to play with Ryle and his two Guardsmen buddies... They didn't last very long under their less than tender caresses.

Towards turn 4 I remembered that I could attack the wagon, I proceeded to move up my Guild Guard Captain and attack it with multiple Issue Commands and his regular AP. By this point my opponent only had Candy and Pandora alive. While I still had both Austringers, Captain, Lucius and my totem. I soon took care of the Candy problem when Pandora decided to walk into the room and started doing damage to everyone via failed WP checks with the self mutilate spell.

Lucius went to have a friendly chat with Candy and put her to bed for good, used casting expert to run my Guard Captain away from Pandora. With that turn 6 rolled around and there was no way for Pandora to kill my Captain who was running as fast as his pudgy legs could take him. I believe maybe one of the Austringers died by this point, after I reminded my opponent that he could not hurt my wagon at all with just Pandora.

Match ended with an 8-2 victory for Lucius and his Austringers... uh I mean Guild!

Post Game Thoughts:
-Ryle it was more luck than anything else, getting the red joker for damage when I already triggered "fully automatic". That alone would of killed him but for that turn I used just about every severe on Coppelius... you know "just to be sure".
-Austringers + LOS block buildings = win. There was no real "tactic" here per se, I just moved my Austringers into the best position and pecked at his guys till they went away.
-Lucius for once actually got his gloves dirty and killed Candy with a red joker I believe. Yes it is a special moment seeing as Lucius usually doesn't attack things directly.
-My cards did great, like I said before the theme for this tournament was drawing MAYBE two cards of 10+ while the rest of my hand was garbage. Luckily for me all the right cards came out when I needed them to.
-Pandora + crew. I can see how Pandora is very nasty, the only real damage I sustained came from these two models and yes I feared them VERY much.

Road to Power Gencon Tournament! Game 2

2011-08-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

For my second game in the tournament I was lucky/unlucky enough to draw one of my own group as an opponent. I have played against Jon's Ressers many times in particular Seamus and his belles so I was very familiar with the play style. I cut a break to Jon and I asked him if he wanted to face Sonnia over Lucius because I KNOW how much he hates Lucius.

The mission was Shared Turf War and the lists were:

Jon:
Seamus, The Mad-Hatter -- 6 Cache
Copycat Killer [2ss]
Canine Remains [2ss]
Canine Remains [2ss]
Datsue-Ba [7ss]
Madame Sybelle [6ss]
Rotten Belles [4ss]
Rotten Belles [4ss]
Rotten Belles [4ss]
Schemes: Army of the dead and ?

Sonnia Criid -- 5 Cache
Governor's Proxy [2ss]
Convict Gunslinger [6ss]
Guild Guard [4ss]
Judge [7ss]
Nino Ortega [7ss]
Witchling Stalker [4ss]
Witchling Stalker [4ss]
Schemes: Subjugate and +2 soul stones (for a total of 7)

Since we were on a sewer board we said that the non tiled sewer parts were treated as severe terrain.

The game started out very cat and mouse style as all approaches were very cautious besides Nino taking residence by a small fence. Once I felt I had a good defensive line I started letting loose with every gun/spell at my disposal. This forced Jon and his ressers to take action. The Canine Remains were used to burn out my activation's followed by Datsue-Ba turning them into ghosts. Then he sent Datsue-Ba and an Onyro (from Canine Remains) towards Nino using the buildings on my left as cover.

A nice little close up of Jon's army as it shambles its way towards my troops... or just lures them to their death...

Never having used the Judge before I didn't want to commit him into an attack only to be chopped down for no real gain. So I looked over his card and noticed the "Judged" spell... the first thing I noticed is that it doesn't have the ranged icon for a spell. It was at this point that I made Jon's life hell as I spam cast it against his spirits and undead.

Nino did his best to severely injure any models that did not have cover and continued to get trigger happy off a few times reducing belles to a handful of wounds. When Nino's shenanigans were cut short due to getting jumped by Datsue-Ba and her Onryo friend. I cast "Judged" to get their health low enough for Sonnia to turn them into Witchling Stalkers... needless to say even after I killed a few of my own guys I still ran out of Witchling Stalker miniatures!

It was toward the end of turn 4 that time was being called to finish the round, Seamus moved up to deal with a few things himself but other than that there was no clear winner. So we sent the only models available to try and tie up the objective which resulted in a tie. I believe he had Bodyguard? as his second scheme and I actually managed to get Subjugate off!

Post Game Thoughts:
Not sure what I would of done differently, maybe not waste a turn having Nino set up, since it meant one less turn he was shooting. But even with that minor set back he still did his job. Also at some point in the game I had two Witchling Stalkers who were hunting down the Copy Cat Killer, yes they killed him but they probably would of been better off just running around the objective till the end game... c'est la vie.

Much later on (about 5:30am) me and Jon talked about his performance in the tournament and our game in general. We came to the conclusion that he really needed to paint up another master with a few extra minions. The fact that he didn't have much variation in his lists and could not adapt to the mission hurt him somewhat. Coupled with the fact that he didn't read a lot of counter tactics for other forces meant he went into most games blind as to what his opponent could do.

Road to Power Gencon Tournament! Game 1

2011-08-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone I am just about recovered from my Gen Con Indy trip so I will be logging my experiences from the best of my memory. There was a whole day where I thought I had lost my camera (that's what drinking and being out till 6am will do to you) but other than that I have a few pictures of every game.

I can't quite remember everyone's name so if anyone can remember contact me and I will give proper credit. Would like to take the chance to thank everyone that I met for being great. I know that I saw a ton of forum members and people that read my blog, it means a lot to me! so thanks everyone!

Onto the first game it was "Plant the Evidence" against Arcanist he took:
Rasputina w/ 8 soul stones
Essence of Power
Coryphee x2
Silent One
Cassandra
His Schemes: Sabotage and can't remember the second

I ran my usual Lucius list:
Lucius w/ 4 soul stones
Governor's Proxy
Guild Guard Captain
Guild Guard x2
Guild Austringer x2
Ryle

My schemes Stake a Claim and Raid I believe.

Going into the game I knew that my mobility will be helpful but his crew was also extremely mobile and hit very hard when it got where it needed to be. I had a good grasp on what Rasputina could do so as always it came down to my austringers to force him onto my terms.

First couple of turns Cassandra ran all over the table and tagged the left most building in my deployment for "Sabotage". I learned just how nasty Coryphee/Duet were when they carved up Ryle like he was not even there. Rasputina sent a few blasts around the corner using her totem as an ice mirror before it zipped back via link. I quickly learned to avoid the little corner peering trick but it did limit my options.

My Austringers yet again were king in this game, one hid in the top floor of the right building sending his raptor to do evil things. In one occasion I even took out Cassandra in one shot! As I cheated to a ram to trigger my critical strike, flipped red joker + severe = 9 damage in one hit to Cassandra. Needless to say her days as a show girl were no more after that!

Mid way through the game Rasputina kept creating ice walls to block me from my objective. But clever use of Lucius' "reinforcements" spell meant I just placed my models over the wall and looked through any gaps to "issue command". But it was too little to late and the game ended with my opponent being a point or two ahead of me.

Things that I learned:
Coryphees- ouch! Very resilient against shooting i'm starting to think I will include some in my Ramos crew when i start him up. Mobility plus all the tricks they bring can help out Ramos in my missions.
Cassandra- Very fast and she WOULD of survived the austringer (or maybe not get hit at all) but she used her other action to finish off Ryle. Her teleport like abilities with showgirls means she can come in "fresh" and do all sorts of nastiness to your crew.
Lucius- I don't believe I used ANY soul stones in this game or at the very least JUST one in order to have my totem successfully cast issue command. Since he never was in any immediate danger and all the initiative flips that I lost were all due to very high cards i'm not quite sure what I would of done differently.

Villains! Assemble!

2011-08-01T23:09:00.000-07:00

Well maybe not villains really just aliens bent on conquering the planet earth... but hey who am I to judge? Sorry that I have not been able to post a lot guys I was busy painting miniatures for Gen Con which is a scant few days away, I didn't want to leave everyone high and dry so instead of resting on my laurels I am going to post a few quick pictures of everything I have done.

First up for today.. er tonight is my Ulthar Supremes (that is the term for all heros/villains) for Pulp City!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to take individual pictures of 1-2 guys but I didn't have the time. Promise if anyone asks for close ups I will snap some when I come back from Gen Con. Till then folks I have to make this entry quite short as I continue snapping pictures and packing stuff away!

Stay in line maggots! The Drill Sergeant has arrived!

2011-07-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Sort of keeping my promise of updating twice a day here is my second update! Yes I know technically I am a day late but since I haven't gone to sleep yet it counts! I kept the Drill Sarge relatively simple seeing as he is a guardsmen/totem going with the somewhat theme that higher ups have more liberty in their style of dress.

In game the Drill Sarge dutifully follows whoever I link him to, providing a shooting buff to anyone near him. In addition when coupled with Lucius he is handy to have in a tight spot if I need to sacrifice him to Lucius.

The miniature painted up rather quickly didn't have any major problems, then again I have painted almost 100 miniatures in the past month or so. I would imagine after painting that many table top quality miniatures time just flies by eh? I should be able to post something tomorrow though not too sure what it will be just yet! Then the almighty weekend arrives... but we shall see. Till then folks!

A challenger appears.. Vega... Uh I mean Lucius!

2011-07-14T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone I am a day late on my update today, I will actually make up for it later tonight and post another picture so don't worry. Well here is Lucius who I among others in the community always thought looked quite like Vega from street fighter. You have to admit that they do have a striking similarity:

Vega actually being one my favorite characters in Street Fighter despite my utter lack of skill in actually playing the game. I decided I would close the gap and paint Lucius in more or less the same manner. I will continue to blame my camera and horrible den like lighting in my house. I really do have to fix one or the other quite soon, rest assured i'm working on it.

I am quite happy how he came out actually, I also found him in game to be incredibly efficient/effective. Never one to dirty his own hands Lucius makes the Guild work like a well oiled machine. If you want increased hitting power? Lucius has it handled. Need more mobility? No problem, Lucius commands guardsmen to new and greater heights. I am still at a loss to say who is my favorite master between Lucius and Sonnia because the play styles are so different. I would almost make a comparison with Warmachine/Hordes where even in the same faction a "caster" can change the whole play style even if some of the units overlap.

In other news as of yesterday I finished painting 23 miniatures yesterday, all of them for Dark Age. I am amazed how fast I painted the whole Skarrd crew, mainly because I am not as experienced with white primer but it was all I had at the moment. They look like a bunch of crazed post apocalyptic styled cannibals, all different colored clothes, shades of skin tone topped off with a mish mash of weapons and armor.

With that said I better get back to work, another update will be up later today so stay tuned!

*Edit think I took much clearer pictures! Hurrah for progress!

Burn the house down.. with Sonnia Crid

2011-07-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

Keeping to my promise.. well sort of by a few hours but regardless here is my Sonnia Crid for my guild crew. I really have to either create a better environment to take better photos or a new camera. I am leaning towards a newer camera, my old beat up canon is really showing it's age. But onto the miniature this is the second time I repaint this particular mini and I have to say I am very happy of how it came out.

In game Sonnia is quite literally a fiery inquisitor hunting down those that make use of illegal magic. Flinging fireballs, creating walls of fire and surrounding herself with an inferno she is quite good in all ranges. Lets not mention her signature spell "violation of magic" that if it kills a miniature it comes back as one of her minions!

Even as I type this late entry my hands are full of paint as I keep trucking through the night finishing off miniatures. Though I am making incredible progress I would like to keep working as hard as I can so that I can have spare time to add random details (and base of course!) to my miniatures.

I should have some Infinity Yu Jing soon as my order makes its way to me via Warstore! Till then folks!

The Judge...

2011-07-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

As promised here is another picture of something I have been working on, the Judge of the Guild faction I received as part of a bartertown trade. The miniature was actually quite fun to paint very dynamic and intimidating, all I have to do now is learn how to play with him. Well that and either upgrade my camera or stop dropping/damaging it, but that can wait for another day.

I am currently taking a break from Malifaux miniatures in order to paint up my Skarrd force for Dark Age. A post apocalyptic game that pits scavengers, zealots, aliens and mutants in a fight to the death for resources! Based on Brom's art work he did for a card game, it is a post apoc game with a slight twist.

Well I better get my butt back to painting I have about three weeks left to paint a ton of pewter. Wish me luck! and yes there will be another picture post tomorrow as promised!

Comfort weight Wolverine... Uh I mean Executioner!

2011-07-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late update folks I have been painting/converting like a man possessed! Of course gearing up for the greatest convention of the whole year.. GEN CON! Here is an old miniature that I repainted for my Guild crew. Nick named "comfort weight wolverine" don't let his huge claws scare you... well unless you are the enemy. He is quite handy in hand to hand and is hard to kill off for good.

As always my miniatures are in perpetual WIP till I finish off their bases... yes yes I know I HAVE ordered the flock and hopefully I can post an "army pic" by the end of the month.

I plan to post a picture of a painted model everyday this week, lets see if I can keep up with my promises. Till then!

Cap'n "Calamity" Cash AKA Guild Guard Captain

2011-06-23T16:56:00.001-07:00

As promised another update in a short time period.. well short for me I have been painting up a storm getting ready for Gen Con. Yes my annual trip to the promised lands, where women are cheaper than beer. The place where you can game all day and go out during the night and spend less than 25% of what you would spend in NYC... Needless to say its an amazing time!

With that said I am more of a table top painter than an actual gamer so I tend to paint whatever is on my desk at the moment. Introducing the Guild Guard Captain, named after my friend Cash due to the slight resemblance. I really DO have to get that flock to finish off the bases, I always feel that its that little extra work on the bases that catches peoples eyes and make the miniature that much better.

Well have to keep it short have over 50+ miniatures to finish in the span of 5 or so weeks... love the pressure as one "army" is needs to be purchased and converted.. yup! Till then folks! till then!

Ryle, Guild Pawn

2011-06-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

I have to admit the first time I heard of Ryle, I wasn't all that impressed with the miniature or his rules. But since he came with the Lucius box set I figured what the hell let me paint him first as he would be the least used miniature... Boy was I wrong! Not only was he a great miniature to paint up but once I put him on the table top he has been a terror for anyone I face.

Then again who wouldn't be afraid of a hulking half dead cyborg with a mini gun? His incredible mobility coupled with his threat range means he is one mean customer. But I will save all my tactical thoughts for when I write up an article on Ryle. For now enjoy the pictures!

Stormblades, Libra Sensei

2011-05-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

Though I promised a tournament report last week a funny thing happened, I decided to go out drinking the night before celebrating who knows what and totally missed my tournament. Though I believe my chances in the tournament would of been as good as running the four minute mile on time... I still wanted to go guess I will have to wait till next time.

On the bright side of things I have been busy washing, assembling, priming and painting quite a few miniatures. Though the weather has been thwarting my attempts at a good priming for the most part I have a good handful to tide me over.

Here is Stormblades, another Ulthar for my Pulp City villain team in time for the Gen Con tournament. Following the same formula i did for my other Ulthars on the team he painted up rather quickly.

My next update should have a few pictures of my Guild crew for the skirmish game Malifaux. Though I have some new models I am working on for that game I have a bunch that need to be stripped and painted for the tournament on June 11th. Till then viewers!

Gemini X

2011-05-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Onto my second work in progress I have on the painting table I present Gemini X, another villain from Pulp City line. The miniature despite being relatively small had some nice detail work on it. I have four more miniatures that need to be done in to fill out my Ulthar team for the Pulp City tournament at Gen Con. All I need now is some green flock, add some static grass and a few touch ups and I think the miniatures will be just great!

I have a few other projects on the painting table this week including a few Dark Age miniatures I hope to be posting sometime this week. I also have A Game of Thrones LCG Regionals this weekend, which I believe will be tough. Mainly because I do not have many cards for the game so it will definitely be an uphill battle, but as always it will be an experience worth writing about.. i hope.

Gorgoroth, Taurus Captain

2011-05-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

Finally fulfilling my pledge of posting more pictures of my work even if it is a work in progress here is Gorgoroth. The miniature is from Pulp City it is one of their Villains from the Ulthar faction. Though there is still some work to go along with basing/flocking the model looks just about right I would like to believe.

On my painting table I have a few other Ulthars that I am preparing to paint for the Pulp City tournament at Gen Con. As is my personal tradition whenever I attend a tournament (for skirmish games) I like to paint up new miniatures or play something different. It helps motivate me paint the pile of miniatures I have laying around the house and it changes up my play style slightly.

With that being said I have more than my fair share of miniatures to keep me busy, I hope I can get everything finished. Usually i'm still up late painting miniatures for the next day's tournament, I vowed this year to be different so I can actually go out and explore Indianapolis during the night! Till next time readers!

More Reinforcements!

2011-04-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

As I have been working on my Blood Angels commission in between squads I had started to pick up random minis simply to get a few more things painted on my computer desk. I decided to take a quick picture of my work in progress Infantry squad for my Genestealer Cult army. Though they no longer have a real codex... Thank you Games Workshop for dropping the "Eye of Terror" codex and not bringing back the "Lost and Damned" army list..

I would like to think that eventually when I do get back to playing 40k one day that I would use my Genestealer Cult as an Imperial Guard army. Here are 10 miniatures as you can tell these miniatures are from the Rogue Trader era, I have to admit I have a fetish for older metal/pewter models.

As far as painting goes, I did the standard blues and purples that Genestealer Cults are known to wear. Quick dry brush for the base as they are fighting in ruined cities and they are ready for the table top.! I really should start cataloging the army and putting it up on the site. Hmm a project screams to be done..

Other projects are chugging along, returning back to school has had me busy doing paper work most of my days. I may have said it before but I have a fully based and painted Mercenary Warmachine Army I was surprised at the speed it was assembled and painted. Every now and then I go back and add a few details to make a few things eye catching.

As the months pass my group's annual trip to Indiana to attend Gen Con looms near, this year more so than the others I have a gaggle of games to attend. Between Infinity, AE WWII, AE Bounty, Hell Dorado, Dark Age, Malifaux and a ton of other skirmish games. Not quite sure when I am going to have the opportunity to play them all but I hope I can post more of my work and thoughts as the weeks go by. Stay tuned.

Steamroller 2/20/11 @ Maplewood Hobby

2011-02-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

With only about a month of playing the game me and a couple of friends decided to sign up for an upcoming Steamroller tournament at our semi-local gaming store.

my list:

Magnus the Traitor

Nomad

Renegade

Steelhead Riflemen (min unit)

Steelhead Halberdiers (max unit)

Steelhead Cavalry (min unit)

Kell Bailioch

Gorman De Wulfe

Stannis Brocker

I knew that Magnus was probably not the best caster for my list, but I wanted to go with a painted army and I couldn't get everything I wanted in time for a Mc Bain list. Also I was more familiar with Magnus all my games thus far were with Magnus. So I picked a list that I was pretty familiar with even if it was not optimized.

First round I faced Brain who had:

Epic Captain Allister Caine

Gun Mages (max unit?)

Black 13

Rangers (min unit)

Cyclone

Hunter

Reinholdt

Gun Mage Captain Adept

Squire

the mission was three control points in the middle of the board, after first turn one of them would disappear.

I knew right off the bat that I would have to spring forward and attempt to control a point before Brain can move his ever so shooty force to deal with my infantry. Didn't kill much on his side but the high point was landing an obliterator shot right on Reinholdt's head.

Though my infantry was chewed up by blatantly being thrown in the face of a firing line that isn't what lost me the game... What lost me the game was not reading the mission, for some reason I believed that jacks could not cold an objective. Had I known I would of moved my renegade up to the objective and won the mission. But alas and YET again I fail to read the mission properly and because of it completely fail. On the upside Magnus survived the battle!

Second Round I faced off against Steve who had:

Epic Wraith Witch Deneghra

Death Ripper x2?

Defiler? tell you the truth I really couldn't tell the difference.

Reaper

Withershadow Combine

Necrotech with Scrap Thralls (max)

Wrong Eye & Snap Jaw

Bullsnapper

the mission was odd, it was to have only your models in a small area of control on your opponents side. what made it odd was that the opposing faction's box was only a short walk away from your own.

He started the game very aggressively by running his three light jacks right in front of my army, I retaliated by sending as much firepower as possible into them. Crippling most of their abilities and giving me the slight advantage in knowing that he wouldn't be slinging spells from afar. If Deneghra wanted to do anything she would have to come in close.

Soon enough he popped Deneghra's feat freezing all my guys into place as he paraded his gators through my lines. The Reaper wiped out the Nomad pretty easily after using all its focus allotment leaving it a wreck. During the round Stannis proved to be the true leader of my force making himself some nice gator shoes out of the Bull Snapper.

My retalitory strike didn't do much wiped out 2/3rds of the Withershadow combine backed away from the deadly reaper. Moved Magnus to behind the lines overseeing any progress with the Renegade (who had snipe by the way) in tow. During his turn he attempted a run at my Magnus, he used Deneghra to charge and teleport Stannis my dice were rolling hot and I managed to hit her with defensive strike for a few boxes.

Next he charged with Snapjaw at Magnus dealing a healthy seven to eight damage, admittedly he charged in with only one fury on him and used up all his fury getting that much damage. Horrible rolls really screwed up his attempt especially missing with most of his charge attacks then barely rolling Magnus' armor.

When my turn rolled around I knew I had to make my attempt on Deneghra or as a last ditch effort pop my feat and run Magnus away from Snapjaw while sending my renegade to tie it up in combat. I charged a halberdier not in combat against Deneghra hoping for a lucky hit, didn't work, I was hoping that I would be able to send the lone surviving calvary against Deneghra running past Snapjaw (that didn't work he died). Stannis walked back towards Deneghra and was lucky enough to roll high for a hit easily putting a few more boxes of damage on Deneghra. To end my run my Renegade stood stationary and launched his obliterator into combat, I knew the chances of hitting Deneghra were none but I knew with a 4" AOE it couldn't scatter that far off target.

I wasn't wrong it scattered slightly, landing on the halberdier in the combat who somehow survived the ordeal! Deneghra was caught in the blast I boosted the damage and checkmate Deneghra was done for.

Third round I was paired against James?:

Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff

Beast 09

Kayazy Assassins w/ Underboss UA

Great Bears of Gallowswood

Saxxon Orrik

War dog

Winter Guard infantry w/ Officer & Standard UA and Rocketeer WA

Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich

mission was get to opposing armies flag with a unit to gain control points. I knew that I wouldn't be able to accomplish it lol.

Though I knew going in that I would be horribly beat by Kayazy Assassins and their crazy shenanigans my opponent was a very understanding and experienced player that was patient with me. The rocketeers kept launching shots at my infantry, when I braved the large hill in the center of the table the Kayazy Assassins dealt with most of the Halberdiers.

Small victory was when a lone Rifleman decided to take vengeance and killed Kovnik with one shot! Huzzah for aiming! of course in return he was bludgeoned to death by the Winter Guard but whatever. Also when two Assassins came barreling at Magnus who was camping his focus, failed to do any damage. In return Magnus took out an assassin and popped his feat to retreat into a forest away from the Assassins.

The Khador player proceeded to chase around Magnus with Beast 09 but scored twice on my counter and won the game. Over all it was a very enjoyable game even if I was getting beat my opponent was a very nice guy so I walked away with the moral victory of Magnus living to see another day.

Round 4 I was paired against Hoj:

Epic Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia

Mulg the Ancient

Earthborn Dire Troll

Dire Troll Mauler

Trollkin Champions (max unit)

the mission was two circle control areas on opposite ends in the middle of the table.

This game was pretty quick seeing as I knew fully well what Hoj's list was capable of, having played it the night before in a few practice games. Hoj knew that his list needed to stay relatively packed together in order to deliver a killing blow. So I left Magnus far behind the lines to counter attack anything Hoj would throw at me.

I ran up the sacrificial Halberdiers into one of the control areas while sending all my Riflemen towards the flank taking a few pot shots at the Mauler. Hoj responded by bounding the Earthborn towards the halberds killing four and engaging the rest, while the mauler took a few swipes at the Riflemen.

In response my Halberdiers combined their attacks damaging the Earhborn, who was then run down by the Cavalry charge! All I can say is OUCH until that point I haven't use my Calvary usually they run around making the enemy worried and are dealt with harshly. But when you have them flanking Halberdiers I never imagined taking out an Earthborn that quickly. The Riflemen continued to plink at the Mauler, though I can see Hoj was heavily discouraged at this point after all I just took out a third of his main hitting power.

Next round the Mauler and Mulg finished up most of the two Riflemen units and stayed in a control area. I attempted to make a small attempt at assassination on Hoarluk, knowing he would be hiding behind his champions. Since he camped one fury I decided to start with Gorman throwing an acid bomb on Hoarluk and his Champions that were packed tightly. I manged to hit a lot of them and rolled high enough to cause a fair bit of damage. Hoarluk transferred the damage to one of his beasts.

Seeing the opportunity I launched the Renegade's obliterator at the Champions boosting damage against Hoarluk. Rolling high even for the blast damage Hoarluck was standing on just a breath of life and all of his Champions were either knocked down (due to tough) or severely damaged. With a lot of them being effected by corrosion next turn, Hoj called the game noting that I would score the second point needed for the objective win seeing as the last few Riflemen jumped into his control zone to stop him from scoring.

End of the day:

I had a great four games and I am finally getting a good grasp of the game, I have to thank Ibodger program on my phone for referencing any rules quandary I had before asking a question to the judge. Whats next for the mercs? Well I have just finished painting Mc Bain and I am attempting to making two different armies one for Magnus and one for Mc Bain.

There were rumors of a new merc caster modeled after Don Quixote and will be a steel head caster, this had me quite excited as I tend to run a lot of steel head infantry and who doesn't love the story of Don Quixote?! I have am also in negotiations to start my second army, Retribution of Scryah. Namely because I like playing armies that are not seen often. Hopefully next update will be a few pics!

The Price of War II: Mercs vs Skorne 25pts

2011-02-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Had another game of Warmachine last weekend this time I pit my Mercenaries against Cash' Skorne army. I used the same army I did last time while Cash used the Skorne army with the following:

Lord Assassin Morghul
Cyclops Savage
Titan Gladiator
Cataphract Arcuarii (min unit)
Praetorian Karax (max unit?)
Hakaar the Destroyer
Farrow Razorback Crew

I had a very rough idea of what the Skorne was capable of having glanced in their general direction a few times when deciding which army to play. I knew that Morghul was quite good at the assassination game (as befits his title of course). So my rough battle plan was to tempt Morghul to come forward and pounce.

The first turn or two it was a stand off with my army advancing forward in a crescent formation while my Halberdiers ran as fast as they could to right flank of the Skorne Army. The Skorne army decided to wait around for my army to arrive as it slowly advanced it's shield wall. A few pot shots from my riflemen managed to knock out some Karax.

Then I made a fatal mistake, believing that Magnus' feat "hit and run" could be used to advance my army unload with all my firepower/weapons and then slink back... Unfortunately I was unaware that "battle group" meant only Magnus himself and the jacks under his control were allowed to use the feat... To say this had disastrous results would be an understatement to say the least. All of my units were prime to getting viciously mauled is just about right to describe what happened.

With such a set back most people would of thrown in the towel but in the spirit of learning from my mistakes I kept in the gaming. I even had a few funny moments mixed in ala "trench spade" from a Rifleman hurting the Cyclops. Though all good things come to an end, when Magnus was dragged by the Arcuraii then finished off by Morghul.

All in all it was a good game and even if I was beat to a pulp a learned a few good lessons.. namely:

Battle group - I guess it's my fault, I tend not to read the rulebook much and learn in the way of someone showing me a demo. I will not say brag and say this sole misunderstanding cost me "the win" or the game. But rather knowing the subtle difference of what "battle group" to army was could of led me NOT to do anything rash like I had done. Live and learn.

Gorman - Actually using him this time was great actually, though he only lobbed two of his grenades they did well on both occasions.

Jacks - While researching other Mercenary casters I noticed that Drake Mcbain was also someone I would be interested in testing out. I realize now that Magnus would better be served by a slightly different army. Nothing major just a subtle change here and there, not quite finished with list yet but for now I will remain playing the same army at 25pts.

Spells - Seeing as Magnus can upkeep spells without spending focus I should of just put Blur on him. It would of defintely helped him against the Arcuarii trying to reel him in with their harpoons. I am also considering giving the Nomad "Iron Aggression" while giving the Renegade "Temper Metal" or "Snipe".

The price of war. Mercs vs Menoth 25pts

2011-02-01T23:33:00.000-08:00

Having just started wamachine and hordes with the group, I decided to go against Hoj's Menoth list in a 25 point straight battle with my Mercenaries.

Menoth:

Harbinger of Menoth

Hierophant

Vigilant

Bastions (minimum)

Avatar of Menoth

Sensachal of the Wall

Choir (minimum)

Mercs:

Magnus the Traitor

Steelhead Riflemen (minimum)

Steelhead Halberdiers (maximum)

Renegade

Nomad

*Gorman De Wulfe

* though he is supposed to be in my army since I was using proxies I completely forgot all about him and he did nothing this battle.

Pre-game thoughts:

I know that between the bastions "sanguine bond" and the harbinger's "martyrdom" ability that it would take a massive amount of damage to wipe out the bastions. My best chance to do this would be to constantly stack damage against them hoping that Hoj would keep using the "martyrdom" ability and ping himself to death.

the only terrain worth noting was a brick wall dead center of the board all other terrain were in places we didn't even think to go.

deployment: left to right from my point of view

mercs: riflemen, nomad (magnus behind), renegade, halberdiers and rifelmen

menoth: avatar (choir behind), sensachel, bastions, vigilant, harbinger (heirophant behind)

turn 1:

Mercs: due to tier 2, I was able to edge my steelhead units with advance deploy which gave them a running to start to get into position. With their actual movement setting up a defense roughly eight or so inches away from the center wall. Magus cast Snipe on leftmost riflemen and Temper Metal on the Nomad.

Menoth:

Everything ran forward, the choir singing a hymn to keep the avatar safe from non-magical ranged attacks. As the avatar went on the left flank closer to the wall waiting for my jacks to pop their heads up. Everything else in the Menoth force bore to my right side flank hoping to bottle neck my forces and win the game of attrition.

Turn 2:

Mercs: Magnus casts Iron Aggression on the Renegade, I move it forward and attempt to drop the obliterator on the bastions. Needing only a 5+ to hit on 2d6 I don't boost and regret it as it scatters, luckily for me some lucky rolling and I do a good amount of damage to a bastion caught in the blast (who of course spreads damage to his unit).

Nomad charges at Avatar (I put three focus on itself and the Renegade) and manage to do some really good damage though I do not knock out any of it's systems. The rightmost riflemen take a couple of pot shots at the bastions which at this point have about two or three boxes of life left each.

Menoth: Choir gives Avatar hymn that negates non magical ranged attackes, as it generated all four focus. Proceeded to dismantle my Nomad leaving it with it's left arm (buckler) and it's movement all other systems were knocked down.

Harbinger casts spell on bastions that give them extra movement for a charge, they butcher the three riflemen they reach making the other three run away (two of them were killed with free strikes) leaving one close to my deployment.

turn 3:

Renegade with three focus charges into a bastion which he pastes since the Menoth player was hesitant to keep "sanguine bonding" the same guy when I had critical shred and boosted attack rolls from spell. Halberdiers charge into Bastions causing a good number of wounds, at this point most of them were at one life and Harbinger kept using her martyrdom ability.

Not expecting much out of the Nomad I roll for the buckler first and manage to roll high enough to knock out the Avatar's sword arm! If that wasn't amazing enough I hit and damaged it with the other arm also! Six point Nomad against eleven point Avatar... not bad at all! The lone rifleman rallies and stays put.

Harbinger moves up casts cataclysm on a few on the Halberdiers in combat with the Bastions, wipes out a fair few, then heals a few wounds with focus. The Bastions split their attacks between the Halberdiers and the Renegade which loses both of it's arms. The rest of the Halberdiers are gone by the end of the Bastion's activation. Avatar crushed life out of Nomad but only had a few damage boxes left open.

turn 4:

Combined ranged attack from the Sniping Riflemen knock out the Avatar with ease and they sit guarding the left flank. Magnus moves to the middle of the field to protect the Riflemen from any danger, lets loose with his scattergun hurting the Bastions (which Harbinger used martyrdom ability quite a few times) and sit on my focus. The Renegade all but done for also manages a hit for a little of damage and again Harbinger uses the martyrdom ability. Lone Rifleman near my deployment moves up confident the Bastions would not waste time trying to kill him.

Paladin of the wall finishes off the poor Renegade which frees up the Bastions, unfortunately for them they have no line of sight to Magnus. One of them tries to walk up to Magnus and swing but fails to hit, the rest move closer to combat if it continues past this turn. Harbinger decides this is the moment for assassination run, walks up 3-4" from Magnus and casts a boosted Cataclysm (boy I really hate that spell..) does 8-9 damage, spurred on by success he casts it again boosting damage leaving Magnus with 1 life.

Turn 5:

Hit the Bastion in base with Magnus with the mekanikal arm knocking him down Harbinger using martyrdom (but of course). Foe cleaver attack also was martyred, I didn't realize this at first but I could of just used Arcantrik Bolt boosted and have done major damage to Harbinger (who was only armor 14). Instead I kept hitting the downed Bastion till eventually the Menoth player just said screw it. Magnus attempted a regular arcantrik bolt but failed to hit since I had no focus to boost.

Lone Rifleman pulled off a miracle shot managing to hit the Harbinger and doing a few points of damage. Time for the check mate the Sniping Riflemen walked forward and let loose with a combined ranged attack against the Harbinger rolling bang on what I needed. Didn't need to roll for damage as the minimum pow 17 dealt the Harbinger the last three wounds it had.

Post Game:

I knew going in what the Harbinger and Bastions were trying to do so my rough battle plan was to cause enough wounds early on and hope that martyrdom would cause enough damage one turn that an assassination run would be possible.

We were both new to Warmachine and though he had an upper hand according to all the veterans at the store. The Menoth player received more tips on how to play rather than myself... figure that out? lol Even when I finished my game and told them the results the veterans looked stumped and asked what the Menoth player did wrong.

Though I can see the uses for Magnus' feat I am still unsure as to when to use it precisely, it isn't something that does damage or restricts enemy movement. It gives me a repositioning move that can be very helpful just not quite sure when it would of been useful in this game.

The Harbinger used her feat to pin a few of my Halberdiers from supporting their friends in combat against the Bastions. It also managed to put some damage on the Renegade on Nomad but other than that not much else.

Adventures in Real Space IV

2011-01-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

Though our groups fate for Adepticon is still unclear Cash and I had a game to continue testing the lists. This time we used the Haemonculus coven to help bolster my Wych cult list, Cash on his end brought up a Blood Angels list he cooked up with the models he had available.

From what I remember Cash brought:

Commander w/ powersword and plasma pistol

Chaplain w/ terminator armor

Honor Guard/Retinue? x5 w/ apothecary, melta gun and a sanguary priest

Terminators x5 w/ cyclone missile launchers x2 and sanguary priest

Assault Marines x10 w/ melta gun, sarge w/ power fist in drop pod

Tactical Marines x10 w/ melta gun, sarge w/ powerfist in rhino

Landspeeder x2 w/ heavy bolter and assault cannons

My lists:

Succubus w/ shardnet & impaler

Wyches x10 w/ hydra gauntlets x2, hekatrix w/ venom blade in raider w/ chain snares

Wyches x10 w/ razorflails x2, hekatrix w/ venom blade in raider w/ chain snares

Wyches x9 w/ shardnet & impaler, hekatrix w/ venom blade in raider w/ chain snares

Incubi x5 w/ klavex in venom w/ splinter cannon x2

Reavers x3 w/ heatlance

Haemonculus w/ liquifier and venom blade

Grotesques x4 w/ liquifier and abberation w/ venom blade in raider

Wracks x10 w/ liquifier x2, acothyst w/ venom blade in raider

Wracks x9 w/ liquifier,acothyst w/ venom blade in raider

Talos w/ tl liquifier gun and stinger pod

We decided on two objectives and kill points as much as a loathe that especially in a kill point heavy army. I decided to give Cash the first turn seeing as he had a few units that could deploy via reserve and I would gain little to nothing by going first. I was worried about the land speeders matching my mobility and for the most part putting out more deadly fire power than my raiders but "acceptable casualties" was the name of the game.

I rolled a 1 for combat drugs giving me Hypex (run moves are 3d6 pick the highest) with a comment that all of the combat drugs are actually quite useful in the new codex.

Deployment/Battlefield:

The board in general had little to no line of sight blocking terrain Cash deployed both Rhinos behind a building gaining some cover with the land speeder squadrons guarding their flanks. I deployed everything on my right side leaving both reaver jetbike units (and inadvertently a wrack unit) in reserve.

objectives were about 20 or so inches apart from the center of the table.

Turn: 1

First turn was pretty uneventful both land speeder squadrons managed to immobilize two raiders (one wrack and one wych), both blood angel rhinos gunned for the objective on my right where my attack was heading. A drop pod landed near the left most objective near some ruins and used their low run roll to try and get into said ruins.

The Dark Eldar zoom with one Wych raider as far forward as possible hoping to avoid any incoming fire by going straight at the enemy. The incubi and their venom head to deal with the drop pod squad in the ruins stopping to let loose with the splinter cannons knocking out a marine or two. The rest of the raiders tried their best and failed either stunning and shaking the rhinos instead of destroying them.

The Wych squad on foot (their raider immobilized) ran up the right flank hoping to draw the marines out of their transports so that the rest of my forces can attack. The walking Wrack squad marched up the center also hoping that cash would take the bait.

Turn 2:

Cash consolidated his position on the leftmost objective by using the homing beacon on the drop pod to guide the terminators and other drop pod around the objective. Not much movement other than the land speeders repositioning themselves for better shots. To my amazement both squadrons focused on the foot squads instead of the transports.

Between a squadron and the terminators they reduced the Wrack unit to a single wrack and haemonculus that were sent running. The other squadron focused on the walking wych unit killing a handful but thanks to "hit the ground" two remained alive.

On my turn one of the jet bike units came in and predictably turbo boosted over the assault squad in the ruins killing 2-3 of them. The venom unloaded the incubi by the second assault squad tagging another marine I believe. The succubus raider prepared to strike in the next turn hoping that eventually the dark lances would leave their mark on the two rhinos. Unfortunately dark lances failed again shaking or stunning vehicles I believe one unit lost it's storm bolter and became immobile.

There was a moment where I had high hopes for grotesques piling out of their raider and hosing the terminators with liquifiers only to have the rolls for AP be lousy. Completely forgetting about the sanguary priests ability all my attacks bounced off either terminator armor or feel no pain. The return attacks had me losing the combat by 4 or 5 I knew in that moment that if the grotesques broke from combat that I would be in a VERY bad spot. Luckily for me they rolled bang on for their leadership test and stayed in the fight.

The only other assault was the incubi versus the assault marines they managed to do quite well butchering most of the squad leaving only a marine and his sarge who crushed an incubi with his powerfist. No retreat meant the rest of the marines died as hid behind a drop pod hoping to avoid the attention of the land speeders.

Turns: 3-4

Cash finally destroyed the Sucubbus raider killing a handful in the explosion and finishing off the rest with random fire from the two rhinos leaving the Succubus with one wound. The land speeders which I essentially ignored at this point didn't cause me any more major problems.

I caught a break and finally popped both rhinos spilling out the squads, the tactical marines were showered with the twin linked liquifier from the talos killing most of them before a wych squad charged them and finished the job. The next turn the honor guard would be showered in splinter fire and liquifier fire and charged from everything on the right flank wiping them out.

The chaplain and terminators facing off against the grotesques had their fates sealed when the incubi charged the squad and took out all the terminators in one round of combat. Over two or three rounds of combat the incubi only lost a member while the grotesques lost the haemonculus and had several wounds among them.

I managed to take down one of the squadrons of speeders and that is when Cash called the game.

What was left alive:

Cash:

Drop Pods x2

Landspeeder x2

Myself:

Succubus (1 wound left)

Wych x2 w/ raider (immobile)

Wych x7 w/ raider

Incubi x2-3 w/ venom

Raider from destroyed wych squad (immobile)

Wracks x10 w/ raider

Grotesques x4 w/ raider

Reavers x3

Reavers x2 (running away)

Talos

thoughts on game:

With Dark Eldar I have noticed that the first two turns never quite go to plan, but ever the ork player "acceptable casualties" has always been my motto. Presenting my opponent with too many choice targets and using my speed and mobility had me carrying the day.

Though I did put a lot of weight on my force since it is the army I have the most experience with (did I mention I forgot to deploy a wrack unit?) I am learning the capabilities of every unit. For example when I first started using the bikes I did horrible with them. But since the unit looks so cool I just knew there was a way of playing with them (without using grav talons) and now they tend to be my most destructive unit.

Though Cash said he didn't hope to win the game by any measure, I know he was quite confident till turn 3 rolled around. He doesn't give himself much credit when playing 40k sure it is true he has never defeated me in a game of 40k he is actually quite the tactician in skirmish games.

In other news I have finally received the resin desert bases for the Dark Eldar I can't wait to start putting everything together and playing at the local GW with my 1k list. Hopefully I will have a few pictures up by next week if not earlier.

Small Update

2010-12-26T00:56:00.000-08:00

Just a general "not dead" update I actually have been very busy despite lack of updates. So will just do a quick breakdown on current events:

-Warseer "Tale of 40k painters": Orks-

I have been slacking off the last month and didn't accomplish the 150pts for the month, I primed a few burna boys and lootas that should keep me relatively busy though. I figure that the burna boys would be evil suns and the lootas will be well who else? Death Skulls of course!

After that is done not quite sure what else I should paint though I imagine something point heavy in order to catch up to the rest of the group. As far as the work that I have done I am pretty happy on how the orks are turning out.

-Dark Eldar-

Desert resin bases that were ordered finally shipped and I honestly cannot wait till I have them to being properly assembling my army. Color scheme wise i'm not quite sure what I would like, maybe something with bleached bone?

Gaming with the dark eldar has proven good so far, Cash and Jon played against Mike using his chimera guard. That game went downhill very quickly for the dark eldar players as they decided to get into a shooting match with guard... that obviously did not end well. Highlights include Mike only using about 1k of his 2k points to fend of BOTH dark eldar armies... ouch.

In the second match up it was Jon and I against Mike using the same list, in the second match I encouraged Jon to be more aggressive and guess what? it worked! At the end of the game it was a minor victory for the dark eldar (on objectives), units wise we beat the stuffing out of Mike. Ever the good guard player he made sure to whittle our scoring units the best he could.

-Attack of the LCG's-

Lately I have been hankering to play more card/board games than I ever have, this is at least partly attributed by the fact that board games keep going up in both content and production value. The inclusion of LCG (living card games) has also brought me back into the fold of card games, the concept of an LCG is that "packs" are not randomized but fixed. So all you have to do is go online and see i you need the cards ALL the cards you need come in a set.

This cuts down on the rush to find the power rare at the same time makes it more economical for the casual "card flopper". Games like Call of Cthulu, A Game of Thrones and Ascenion: Godslayer have all gotten a firm grip of nostalgia in me. Hopefully soon I can write an in depth review of each of the games in their own right. Till then folks enjoy the holidays!

Adventures in Real Space III

2010-11-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we did another play test this time it was Me and Cash vs Jon our other team mate using his ork army. Full lists since quite a few things were changed since last play test:

Jon's Orks:

Big Mek w/ burna, kustom force field and eavy armor x2

Ork Boyz x26-28? w/ rokkits x2 Nob w/ powerklaw & bosspole x5

Killa Kanz x9 (3x3) w/ big shootas

Deffkopta x3 (1x3)

Cash's list:

Duke Slicius

Trueborn x9 packed w/ venom carbines & splinter carbines in raider w/ flickerfield

Warriors x10 w/ blaster, sybarite w/ blast pistol in raider w/ flickerfield

My list:

Succubus w/ shardnet & impaler

Wyches x10 w/ hydra gauntlets x2, hekatrix w/ venom blade in raider w/ chain snares

Wyches x10 w/ razorflails x2, hekatrix w/ venom blade in raider w/ chain snares

Wyches x9 w/ shardnet & impaler, hekatrix w/ venom blade in raider w/ chain snares

Incubi x5 in venom w/ splinter cannon x2

Reavers x3 w/ heatlance

We played with 3 objectives one in the center, one just outside deployment on our left and jon put his on our right side outside of his deployment. Jon won the roll for deployment and deployed his forces evenly across the board.

Being sneaky Dark Eldar players we decided instantly to deploy our forces near our objective on our left castling up/hiding behind a LOS blocking building. I left both my reaver units in reserve as I didn't think they would be much use in the first turn anyway. Combat drugs (thanks to the Duke) was re-roll wounds and a free pain point. Both were very useful but I picked the free pain point reasoning that it would give me a benefit both in combat and versus shooting.

Pre-Game Thoughts:

I know that Jon has playing orks for quite some time so he is a competent ork general, I on the other hand have been playing orks LONGER than jon so I knew full well the capabilities of orks and their tactics. Though I am still a novice in playing Dark Eldar (about 2-3 months in 1998 and the games now) I have always been a "close combat junkie" and wyches so i've heard do that quite well.

The plan was to zip around from building to building in our deployment zone taking dark lance pot shots from our raiders to knock out the killa kanz before they got too close. Seeing as we had absolutely no one of taking them out in close combat. Cash would use his splinter rifles to thin out the hordes to manageable levels and I would counter assault/pick on weak isolated units.

Turn 1:

Jon advances whole army a few big shootas let loose on a few raiders that could not hide sufficiently stunning one of my wych raiders. Everything on our right flank ran seeing as it had little to no hope of actually getting into the fight.

Our raiders shifted slightly and let loose against the killa kanz though many of the shots were deflected by the kustom force field 1-2 kanz went down for good along with a few boyz.

Turn 2:

One ork mob sits on our right flank objective everything else on that side of the board again makes the long trudge. The death koptas are camping around some ruins on our right deployment flank I believe they stun the same wych raider as last turn. A warrior unit raider is downed near our objective.

Both of my reavers come in, I turbo boost one killing off a deff kopta and gaining another pain token, the second reaver unit rapid fires another kopta to death. Cash unleashes his army bringing down one of the units of orks to 10 models and knocking out a further kan.

One of my wych units (hydra gauntlets) picks a fight with a unit of orks in a building, after wounds/no retreat 15 or so orks are sent to meet mork/gork in the sky in exchange for 1 wych. While both reaver units use their assault move to get behind cover or limit LOS.

Turn 3:

Most of the ork unit (barring the one sitting on an objective far right) are in range so rather shoot their rokkits/big shootas than run. The foot slogging warrior squad near our objective takes the brunt of the fire bringing them down to 5 models passing their LD test with casual ease. Killa Kan/Kopta fire kills off 2 (including the heatlance) of the jetbikes on the right flank who also passes his LD test. Another warrior unit loses its raider and decide to sell their lives dearly (under threat of death by the Duke I assume) against the horde of oncoming orks...

A lone killa kan that was near the ork unit in combat with wyches is frustrated to see he can't even get into combat due to positioning of the units. In the ongoing combat my wyches show how much of a tarpit they can be killing only a handful of orks in exchange for a casualty or two.

Deciding to break out of our initial castle Cash sends the Duke's entourage and a warrior unit along with a unit of wyches (razorflails) towards the center of our deployment. A few pot shots nets another pair killa kanz (now there are units of 1,1,2 in that order across the board) though my wych raiders are infamous across the stars for missing or failing to damage ANY kanz. The full 3 man reaver unit turbo boosts over a large ork unit netting a casualty or two and going into the ork back field hoping to contest an objective late in the game or be a clever distraction.

Assault sees my Incubi charging into the ork/wych combat foolishly losing 2 of their number for lack of plasma grenades but tip combat heavily in favor of the dark eldar and running down the orks. I had to make a rough decision I knew that the lone killa kan would reach one of the units and wreck them, so I made the decision to send the unit of wyches to their doom. I used their consolidate move to surround the killa kan, he would either have to assault them or go all the way around the building to avoid them. The lone bike charged into the the last kopta to no effect (forgot about the ccw/pistol this combat lasted till turn 5 anyway..).

Turn 4:

Distraction works Jon sends a near full strength mob to deal with bikes, shooting and assault barely kills off the unit. The killa kan assaults the wyches (hydra gauntlets) and deals no wounds, for the rest of the game the killa kan only manages to kill 1 wych, I pass LD test so I won't mention them again.

Pot shots ring out along the dark eldar line but few connect against the kanz, splinter rifles/cannons take a few orks out in the center line. The mob of 10 orks goes to ground ignoring most of the fire aimed at it loses an ork or two. There will be no stopping of the two ork mobs and unit of 2 killa kanz, so I decide to be proactive and go I send the unit of wyches (razorflails) after a mob in the center.

The wyches do quite well against the mob and thanks to the free combat drug pain token come out with only a casualty or two. They easily win combat by a good margin I think only about 11-15? orks were left in the mob after "no retreat".

Turn 5:

Ork shooting manages to gun down both the Duke's raider and another raider full of warriors, resulting explosion kills a few warriors but trueborn are unaffected thanks to the Duke's combat drugs. Most raiders are this point are down with only three raiders (succubus/wych unit, warrior and incubi) staying near our objective and out of harm's way.

Jon thought for a moment if he wanted to help out the squad fighting the wyches, but the temptation of eliminating the Duke was too great and he did a double charge with his large ork unit. In combat a few models on both sides died including the Big Mek that was with the ork mob, but Jon still won by two and chased off both the warriors and the Duke who rolled horribly for leadership and ran right off the board edge.

A lone Killa Kan near our objective charged a warrior unit hiding behind their wrecked raider. Thankfully it only killed 1 warrior so they passed their leadership and got ready to stall the killa kan for a turn or two. Razorflail wyches get down to work and yet again beat the orks with minimal casualties, win combat by a good measure and run down the survivors gaining them another pain token.

Cash couldn't do much with only a unit of 2 on our objective and a squad stuck in combat dealing with the killa kan I knew I had to take a few gambles. I attempt to fire a few dark lances but apparently the crew decided to take the day off and the shots did no damage what so ever. Right onto close combat I decide to throw the wyches into the unit that just killed the Duke, combat again goes in my favor mainly due to all my Hekatrix packing venom blades. Yet again no retreat kills off a handful of orks but they are still locked in combat.

Turn 6:

Final turn of the game Jon charges the mob of 10 or so orks into the surviving warrior squad on our objective easily steam rolling the warriors and move deeper into cover. The lone Killa Kan stays locked in combat with the warriors. At one point possibly last turn the jetbike killed the deff kopta and went towards the center of the board was gunned down by pistols for his bravado.

Razorflail wyches win the combat against ork mob sustaining a casualty or two (down to 3 models both razorflails and the hekatrix) and the move towards the center of the board I was still undecided of what I would do with them.

Since it was established that my raider crew are horrible shots I decided to save the day in close combat, it involved a VERY risky plan but at this point we were going to lose so I pulled ALL of my tricks out of the bag. Succubus and her wych unit (shardnet) jumped the ork unit on our objective, easily winning combat and wiping out the orks .

My razorflail wyches take a big gamble move and fleet towards Jon's ork unit in his deployment, I took a big risk needing a 4+ to make it into combat due to difficult. Rolling exactly what I needed helped and went into combat, because Jon's mob was so large only about half of the unit was able to attack. My wyches did a good number of wounds on the orks and suffered no casualties! Including "no retreat" about 9 orks had died, but the genius of my plan came after combat was resolved. Thanks to the "piling in" rule Jon's unit was forced to move off the objective and towards combat. With that the game was over turning a defeat into a hard earned tie!

Observations:

Wych Weapons- I originally thought I would love the razorflail due to it's re-rolling hits AND wounds but for some reason every time I used them they underperformed. Maybe it was just bad luck but the hydra gauntlets did spectacular (shame about tying up a killa kan all game though..). The Shardnets made a nob down to 1 attack which he missed against the succubus I was pretty worried going into that fight but it needed to be done.

Venom Blades- In a 1,000 point games these have been pretty ace, sure everyone clamors for the agonizer since it can ignore saves and "feel no pain". But at only 5 points these have been indispensable to my army.

Reavers- Though they didn't do anything spectacular I still love these guys, the ability to turbo boost 36" followed by 6" in the assault phase to hide behind cover or in it makes these guys VERY dangerous. The only problem I had in this game is that I didn't have a safe place in the sea of green to land so I hesitated using these guys aggressively.

Incubi- WS5 rocks! Where as Wyches are the anvil in close combat being able to tarpit just about anything, the incubi are definitely the hammer. Though I wish I had the points to at least give them a squad leader I am stretching my points thin across the army as is. The venom was slightly impressive pumping out 12 shots a lot of fire does get directed at it. I learned WHY plasma grenades are so important in the games that I play they usually end up assaulting something in cover an losing a guy or two.

Other than that I think the playtest went VERY well from what I had originally expected, I knew that orks would give Dark Eldar a bit of a tough time due to the lack of template weapons. Sure you can thin down a few ork mobs but you really need a counter assault if you want your firing line to stay intact. My wyches did amazing even needing 5+s to wound, again "power from pain" saved so many wyches from an untimely demise.

Adventures in real space II

2010-11-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

Our second test game for our Dark Eldar was against:

Demon Prince of Slannesh w/ lash of submission and wings x2

Plague Marines 4x7? w/ assorted plasma/melta throughout squads champs w/ power fist

Obliterators 2x3

Khorne Berzekers x10? champ w/ power fist in land raider

Jon's list remained largely the same I believe he switched a raider unit for wracks in a raider and mandrakes being replaced with a truborn double splinter cannon unit possibly a venom in the mix.

My list just changed three kymeras for two voidwing flocks and haywire grenades for two wych units and archon gets them also.

again the cronos, reavers and beasts stay in reserve though we win the roll for deployment our opponent manages to seize the initiative.

quick overview:

4/6 Obliterators met their end in the first turn and after that become a non issue ineffectually gunning for raiders and either doing superficial damage or stunning them. But it wasn't before they managed to down a raider and scare off the wyches inside on the first turn.

Double lash princes supported each other by making units fall into dog pile traps, but were being slowly killed off by a torrent of dark lance/splinter cannon fire.

Grand melee between two units of plague marines try and take out a unit of wyches before some help arrives. This combat lasted 6-8 rounds of assault with no clear winner till the store closed and we rolled just to see what "would of happened". At which point the wyches lost due to lack of hitting power.

Game ended due to store closing around turn 5, both armies were pretty beat up at this point though my beasts NEVER came in from reserve. We didn't roll for a mission but we agreed if it was KP the opponent would of won, quarters would of been close and VP would of been a toss up.

Observations:

-Wyches are pretty solid in combat they can tarpit just about anything not packing powered weapons. If it wasn't for toughness 5 and feel no pain even against regular MEQs they would of done a great job.

-Shardnet & Impaler- have to give this a lot of credit, at first glance I didn't think it would be as useful as razor flails but I was wrong. Denying the opponent extra attacks adds to survivability of everyone in the unit, I can imagine adding a phantasm grenade launcher for defensive grenades. Park them in cover and watch even an ork charge falter till reinforcements come.

-Webway- though I can see great potential for this, in such small point lists I cannot afford to leave my team mate down 500+ points in the first two turns of the game so I will be dropping this wargear and re doing my list.

Adventures in real space.

2010-11-10T23:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry that I have been away for quite some time but between being laid off and Fallout: New Vegas all my "free" time turned into endless hours in front of my xbox instead of my computer/miniatures/etc. Despite this me and the crew here on Wasted Warrior were tempted by the new Dark Eldar coming out thought up of a plan. In April as you may (or not) know is Adepticon one of the bigger GW events, a few years back a few of us went as part of the team tournament and despite sleep deprivation we had TONS of fun.

Well fast forward a few years and a total redesign of the Dark Eldar line had everyone excited, so we raised the banner and decided that we should get out of retirement and participate. The road is paved with hard work, planning and may even call for an occasional update or two! After looking at the amazing models we went about creating our lists/theme and so forth.

Though we are still hammering down our "theme" and army lists are rough plan is to bring four Dark Eldar armies, two being part of a larger Kabal while one is a wych cult (mine) and the last a haemonculus cult. We are aiming for a desert/sand world theme, after all one look at the raiders and they scream Jabba the Hutt's desert skiffs!

Currently we are testing out our proposed lists before we make any final purchases, the funny thing about that is that all of the team members have had little to no experience with Dark Eldar. Aside from myself who played Dark Eldar when they first came out (1998 or so) I quickly sold them thinking that I would need to buy tons of raiders to make them effective. As it so happens I picked up Orks right after and it has been an obsession ever since.. but what can you say?

Our first test run of lists was me teamed up with Jon, though the game only got half way (we faced "That Guy") we did learn more of the rules and their subtle interactions than before. Im short we faced:

Eldrad

Avatar

Warp Spiders x6 w/ exarch

Fire Dragons x10 w/ exarch in wave serpent w/ scatter lasers

Dire Avengers x10 w/ exarch in wave serpent w/ tl bright lances

Dark Reapers x5 w/ exarch

Wraithlord w/ bright lance

Vibro Cannons x3

Jon:

Haemonculus w/ ID gauntlet

Mandrakes x7 w/ champ

*Warriors x9 w/ splinter cannon and champ in raider w/ chain snares

*Warriors x10 w/ splinter cannon and champ in raider w/ chain snares

Ravager x2 w/ night and flicker fields

*the warriors could have had blasters I don't recall them being used much/at all.

Myself:

Archon w/ venom blade, combat drugs, clone field and webway portal

Wych x7 w/ razorflail and champ w/ venom blade in raider

Wych x8 w/ shardnet and champ w/ venom blade in raider

Beastmaster x2 Khymera x8

Reavers x6 w/ heat lance x2 and champ

Cronos w/ soul siphon

Webway: Mandrakes, Cronos, Reavers and Kymera

Combat Drugs = +1 WS

The first turn and a half we were getting hammered as we failed ALL of our reserves rolls, the Eldar player getting first also didn't help as just about all of his weapons could down Raiders. Once our reserves came in though the game started to turn very quickly, I have to admit we were plagued with some horrible case of bad luck early on. But just as we managed to turn the corner the store was about to close so we called it a tie, constant rules disputes and unclear rules (thanks GW) slowed down the game.

Observations:

-Chain Snares rock I don't care what people say about them, Jon's weaponless raider ran over countless Eldar unlucky enough to be caught outside of their transports.

-Open topped isn't so bad! We learned that wrecked/destroyed vehicles subtract 1 from the strength of getting wounded. Now this may be old news to most people but coming from people that have never used open topped vehicles in the past or 5th ed in general thats BIG news for transports that have as much armor as a paper mache statue. On top of that fact it just so happened that every +1 added to roll for damage turned out better than the original result.

-Combat Drugs/+1WS just about anything you roll on the combat drugs table isn't bad, at first I was bummed I didn't get +1 str or attack but in retrospect. Hitting enemies on 3+ (most times) isn't that bad and actually helped me greatly in combat.

-Power from Pain is a great "free" ability given to Dark Eldar with the first pain point giving units what they really need some staying power on the field.

-Cronos was very nifty to have around between having a MEQ cutting flame template and bouncing around pain tokens it seems solid enough via webway.

The Internet Isn't Real, Kids...

2010-10-23T16:53:00.001-07:00

Cash Johnson one more time with a general malaise of updates for everyone. First, there are plans for an Adeptus Mechanicus Imperial Guard army afoot, mainly because I want a smaller guard army that still has badass looking models with lots of firepower. Second, I have been added to the roster for Team Megan's Law to travel to Adepticon in April for the 40k tournament (yay, Dark Eldar). Third, I hate younger players...

The day started off well enough with a 2,000 point game, my Flesh Tearers versus a friend's Tau. My list was fairly straight forward:

- Reclusiarch in Terminator Armour
- Furioso Dreadnought with Frag Cannon/Heavy Flamer in Drop Pod with Locator Beacon
- 8 Sternguard with Plasma Gun in Drop Pod
- 8 Sternguard with Plasma Gun in Drop Pod (again)
- 10 Assault Marines with 2 Meltaguns mounted in a Land Raider Redeemer
- 10 Assault Marines with 2 Meltaguns and Jump Packs
- 10 Tactical Marines with Missile Launcher and Plasma Gun
- 15 Death Company (8 Bolt Pistol/CC, 7 Boltgun/CC)

The mission was 4 objectives, 12" deployment. Long story short, 4 turns later I won 3-0 (called on account of not being able to dig me out in time). Sadly, it seemed one sided from the outset, as I deployed and went first, gunned everything I could towards the center objective while remaining camped on the two that were nearest to my deployment zone. While my opponent played valiantly, the three drop pods did their job of driving a spike into his front line Turn 1, then reinforcing the gap Turn 3 (murdering his Crisis Suits with rapid fire). All in all, a solid, decisive victory for Cash. I celebrated with Burger King.

Then the end of the day took a sour turn. A random kid came into the store, probably 14, and wanted a game. I decided to play him because I was the only one with 40k today, and its hard to hide an entire battle company in plain sight. He proceeded to tell me about his list: two Slaanesh Lash Princes, 3 squads of 3 Obliterators, and 3 Plague Marine squads with dual Meltagun in Possessed Rhinos, and how amazing and great his list was. I decided to teach him a lesson:

- Librarian in Terminator Armour, Blood Lance, Might of Heroes
- 5 Assault Terminators (2 Hammer/Shield)
- 2 Sanguinary Priests (1 Termie with Termies, 1 Standard in Sternguard)
- 8 Sternguard with a Plasma Gun in a Drop Pod
- 10 Tactical Marines, Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun
- 10 Assault Marines with 2 Meltaguns on foot
- 5 Tactical Marines with Plasma Pistol
- 3 Attack Bikes with Multi-Meltas
- 2 Dreadnoughts, Lascannon/Missile Launcher
- 5 Devastators, 4 Missile Launchers

In three turns (his dad came to pick him up XD) I murdered one Oblit squad in cover, one Daemon Prince (in a single Shooting Phase), and took 2 wounds off the other prince with bolters (hooray special ammunition wounding on a 2+). I would have killed the second prince in combat with the termies, plus destroyed two of his rhinos AND the squads inside them in the next turn if we were able to go to Turn 4 - four meltas at point blank range, plus ALL my shooting at the squads inside, plus charging whatever was left. I do so love those moments where everything falls apart in a single turn and you're left shrugging as an apology for all the sodomy that ensued, but proving myself right is just as fun.

I won the game regardless, simply because in his haste to destroy everything that I owned, he failed to remember the most important rule of 40k: missions that use objectives require you to BE ON objectives (it was Capture and Control). I camped both Dreads, the Devastators and the 10 man Tac Squad on my objective, while he parked a Rhino in front of his, only too far up to actually control it.

The reason he took the list, mind you, was the Internet said it was a great list and it was unstoppable. I was able to stop it pretty cold, and with a list that wasn't even broken to begin with. Which leads me to ask, why do people build lists they see on the net without even doing research? Obviously that list worked for someone else at some other time, so why do they think it will work for them at all? This kid thought 9 Plasma Cannons would be great against my footslog marines, yet he lost 2 Obliterators' remaining wounds from Gets Hot, and the rest from insta-splat missiles. Neither of his princes did anything useful with their Lashes, and he even failed a charge through cover to get at my termies, who would have delivered savage beatings to the wounded prince that remained in the next turn. He parked his Rhinos to "block" me from getting to his objective, despite the fact I had 4 Meltas within 3" of both, plus a third squad to charge the surviving passengers with.

So if you're reading this, and you think you saw a pretty good list elsewhere on the internet and you want to build it for your own, remember this: just because someone else is Billy Badass with it, doesn't mean you are either. An idiot with a loaded gun has just as much chance of shooting himself.

- Cash

Tale of 40k Gamers Month: 1

2010-10-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

So after years of my Rogue Trader/2nd ed Orks gathering dust in their bins I decided to join Warseer's "Tale of 40k Gamers". The rules are simple pledge any amount of points for an army you intend to start/finish over the course of a year. Every month you post 10% of your pledged total on Warseer with pictures showing your progress and completed models. You are allowed two "jokers" which are two excuses for not posting any work.

I have always admired the threads on Warseer and I thought what better motivation to get my Orks done then this? So my initial pledge is 1500pts I don't have any real plans to make a functional list as such. My army "theme" for lack of a better word is to paint up all the units as if they were different clans. Go with a very 2nd ed feel with the army certain clans belong to certain units and what not.

For my first 150 points I have painted the following:

Snakebite Kommandos x6 with Nob upgrade armed with 'Uge Choppa and Bosspole

Bad Moon Nob armed with Powerfist and Eavy Armor

Bad Moon 'Ard Boys x2

It took me awhile to get used to painting on white primer it is something I have never really given concentrated effort on. I am pleased on how the colors came out I can definitely change a few of my techniques but I am otherwise satisfied on how they came out. Not to sure what I am going to do for the next 150+pts but with an upcoming Malifaux Tournament and plenty of models to get done I will most likely start on some sort of character.

More Angry Space Knights

2010-09-17T23:41:00.001-07:00

WIP pictures of my rhinos and two test crusaders. The crusaders are from the Assault on Black Reach set. The sculpts are beautiful. I've pledged to paint about 200 points of Black Templar a month in A Tale of 40K Painters over at Warseer. The overall goal is a 2,000pt army within a year.

Angry Space Knights

2010-09-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the obnoxious size and quality of the pictures. My camera was lost in a drunken rage this past weekend, so these pictures had to be taken on my cell phone. Pictured above is a WIP Black Templar Rhino, one of two that will be in a 500 point list that I hope to have painted by the end of September.

This tank is the first model that I've painted in years. I'm not very happy with the highlights, but I am happy with the overall progress so far. I still need to finish the highlights, paint the details, and add some heraldry (crosses, scripture, etc). I would love to add some freehand design to the hull of the tank, but I'm afraid to ruin an otherwise acceptable tank with a bad attempt at art. Regardless, the second rhino will be a smoother operation.

The following is what I'll initially be playing/painting towards.

Emperor's Champion -- 140

Crusader Squad
5 initiates; 2 neophytes: 1 Meltagun, 1 Powerfist
- Rhino w/ Smoke Launchers -- 178

Crusader Squad
5 initiates; 2 neophytes: 1 Meltagun, 1 Powerfist
- Rhino w/ Smoke Launchers -- 178

Total: 496

One man crime wave... Seabolt!

2010-09-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

Name: Seabolt

Origin: Nature

Affiliation: None

Occupation: Villain

Special Abilities:

Water: Is immune to "water" effects and takes double damage from "fire" attacks.

Annoying: The enemy does not gain a charge bonus.

Molecular Manipulation (2): Seabolt can modify his agility or strength while negatively effecting the other stat.

Immune/Difficult Terrain: Seabolt is not slowed down/effected by difficult terrain.

Exclusive Actions:

Spray: An attack that can hit multiple enemies (because of Ray rule), regardless if an enemy takes damage or not models hit by this attack suffer a -2 to their shooting attacks. Since a good amount of heroes tend to favor ranged combat this is a good ability to hamper that, the fact that it can effect multiple opponents is a plus.

Drowning: A basic strike that costs 2 AP, if the enemy is damaged all of it's actions cost an additional AP. I still haven't used this ability but that doesn't mean I do not see it's merit. With molecular manipulation Seabolt can make his strength a mighty 6! Which means he can be a beast with a strike. The only downside is that since strength is not his trump trait he cannot re-roll the result.

Flux: One of my favorite powers to use with Seabolt, it makes him spectral (making him immune to strength based attacks) and gains blitzer (2) so all his move actions gain an extra 2". Mix this with the following power and you get an idea why Seabolt is so well liked among villain players...

Go With the Flow: This action allows Seabolt to move 8" in a straight line (10" if he has Flux on) anything that was within 2" of that line is hit with an opposed roll against their agility. For every model that is damaged you gain a +1 to the next person that is hit by this attack to a max of +3. If that wasn't enough anyone damaged can be placed anywhere along the line that he traveled!

This ability is great because it can effect a good number of models and Seabolt will gain bonuses against other targets in the effected area. It also gives Seabolt a measure of control by placing models he has damaged further away from their friends or closer to your own models.

Team Power:

Smokin' Wet: Seabolt can freely leave combat without consequence and in addition the 2" area around Seabolt counts as difficult.

It's not easy being a bulwark...

2010-09-06T13:54:00.001-07:00

Cash Johnson once again, this time with a somewhat-game-related subject, but not any game specifically. This post is more about my being a hardcore gamer, the difficulties of being non-neckbeard, and the work I put in trying to keep the local RT in business. It all started when I was about 9 or 10, and my cousin got me into AD&D - more accurately, I found out about it but wasn't allowed to play since I was a little kid and all. Not to be denied, however, I started doing research the best way I knew how at the time - I went to the electronic card catalog at the local library to find out everything I could, and wound up finding the original D&D books at another library. It was also around the same time I got into reading, having discovered there were interesting books outside of the realm of school - the Dragonlance and Ravenloft books specifically.

Then when I was in Fourth Grade, I convinced my parents to get me a copy of the Hero Quest board game, and my love of board games was further kindled. I also vaguely remember a game called Solarquest (which now goes for $168 on Amazon due to its rarity) that occupied much of my time as well. I also started getting into chess at that point, playing my dad every Sunday night at his prompting. So there I was, leaving elementary school, a nerd in training. Get to middle school and my gaming expansion changed - I learned about Rifts, Planescape, and Games Workshop (in its 2nd Edition at the time). While I couldn't afford to get into Warhammer 40,000 at the time, I was still able to follow along as best I could, while still playing in the world of AD&D to sate my gaming hunger. Years passed, games were played in earnest, and I left high school immersed in fantasy and science fiction, having read plenty of books in the meantime (none of which were ever for school).

So time advances even further now, in college, boxes of RPG books stored neatly in the back corner of my bedroom, when I finally have money to get into Warhammer 40,000 - 4th Edition, before everything became HURR SPESS MAREENS. I picked up the Battle for Macragge box set, since I needed the tiny rulebook, and decided to do Tyranids (though Orks have always been my first love) because they were way cooler looking than the Space Marines (and still are). The problem was, at the time, in-store gaming had pretty much died out at the RT I had been frequenting for eleven years by that point. People came in to buy GW, but already knew other people to play with and never came into the store to get games going anymore.

I can honestly say that I was the one to jump start in-store gaming at the RT again, and did it with a single printed flyer I had asked them to post behind the counter. I gave my e-mail address and asked other people to contact me as I wanted to play. It worked, and every weekend I could be found holding court with other gamers in a corner of the store. Then GW decided to create the 'Ard Boyz tournament, and the store was going to host it. Met more gamers, some who continued to come to the store after that for a while too. Games Workshop sales increased after the in-store gaming came back to life (thanks to my quasi-crew). We started playing during the week as well, and explaining the game to people who came in and were interested in what we were doing. We sold dozens of starter boxes to total strangers, helped new players buy models to match their styles, and continued holding court and talking shop. We enjoyed our privileged positions up until a little after the economy went to shit, and have been trying our hardest to keep the gaming community alive at the RT since.

But it's hard being a hardcore nerd in an economic climate such as this. Prices of minis have gone up. Prices of RPG books have gone up, and you can't just play with one or two books anymore either. Then there's the flooding of the gaming market - Games Workshop has a lot of competition now from other companies, and 40k has taken a backseat with a lot of people now that 8th Edition Fantasy is out and about. The biggest hurdle is trying to clean up the mess left by one of the recent ex-employees of the RT: he was a die hard Warmahordes fan and actually tried to sabotage Games Workshop sales (aka "the light bill") by converting everyone to play what he wanted (this is also the same guy who ruined Monsterpocalypse for the store).

The problem here is that GW is a collector's game - for people who enjoy building, converting, painting and playing a large scale game of total warfare. This worked great for the store over the years, as it was steady income outside of the December holiday season and kept people in the store. Now that Warmahordes is in the RT, it represents a double-edged threat to an already shaky market. First, it cuts into GW sales, which as I mentioned before has been the store's "light bill" for years. Second, The game itself is not sustainable in the long-term - once you own the minis you need, you're done buying. Because I have been going to the RT for 16 years of my life, I have grown quite attached to it, and as a CUSTOMER I think in terms of what is good for the store, not for me. I'd love to bring new games into the store, and the crew and I have tried on several occasions, but it's hard to convince a store to bring product in when they just brought another game in that has started to taper off already (they tried it with AT-43 and that was a MASSIVE failure for sales, everything went to eBay).

Right now, things are going okay at the store. The crew and I have managed to get a lot of people interested in Blood Bowl, with about 9 teams currently represented in the RT. Malifaux, Hell Dorado and Secrets of the Third Reich are next on the list, followed by Pulp City, AEWW2 and Infinity. There was a brief resurgence of Magic: The Gathering in the store as well, but that died out with the new sets that came out after M10. The main efforts at the moment are getting people in the store to play games, no matter what games they are - that's the only way to keep people buying products at the moment. We need to bring in other small, inexpensive games to offer options other than Warhammer and Warmahordes. We need to hold more in-store events and demo days. It's just hard when you're one of the few people who would actually take the initiative to do it, because you'd be all by yourself when the day is over.

- Cash

Ratty Reflections

2010-09-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson with another 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy blog. Well, the 'Ard Boyz didn't happen at the store, mainly because of (from what I'm told) the GW Rep screwing up royal and not signing us up to host it - we made a Blood Bowl day out of it instead, but still... we wanted to play! In any case, the Island of Blood starter box went on sale this weekend, and I happened to get free minis out of a friend's purchase. I only wanted the Rat Ogre, who became #13 of Clan Xymox, but he offered me the rest of the rats as well, which brought about a single notion in my mind - I had already sold off 5,000+ points in Skaven to begin with, so do I really want more of them again?

The answer was a resounding "hell yes!"

So I now bring your attention to my original Skaven plan, which has eluded me for some time, and can now be done from scratch. I've always loved Clan Skryre, simply because in a medieval styled world, they brought about the most advanced steampunk technology, powered by magical cocaine. Chemical weapons, flamethrowers, machineguns, sniper rifles, magic-laser cannons... who WOULDN'T want to play an army like that? The problem with the previous edition of the Skaven rules was an all-Skryre list relied solely on casters and Warp Lightning Cannons to do the most damage, with Jezzails sniping cavalry and monsters and solo characters. Okay, so the all-Skryre list STILL has that as a core, but the difference NOW is new spells, better shooting rules, and awesome new support weapons (I'm looking at you, Mortar Team). To add to the fun, more named characters to throw into a list - specifically speaking, Ikit Claw. A level three caster with a 3+ Armour save is BEAUTIFUL, not to mention Strength 6 with Ignores Armour in combat, plus a one-shot Warpfire Thrower for free, AND a Bound spell that can cause 10 Strength 5 hits?! Sure, he costs 395 points, but that's a fair price to pay for a cyborg-wizard-rat that exists solely to cause damage and destruction.

So what's in the rest of my 2250 list on paper? Well, I based it on purchasing an Island of Blood for myself and repaying my friend the favor by giving him all the High Elves from it, so two starter boxes are factored in. As far as concept after that, I decided character-heavy would be the cheapest, and most powerful route for Skryre - lots of fancy gear and Magic items...

1. Ikit Claw - see above. 395 points.

2. Warlord (General) - Cleaver of Swift Slaying, Warpstone Armour, Talisman of Protection, Shield. 168 points.

3. Warlock Engineer (Lv 1) - Warplock Pistol, 2 Warpstone Tokens. 103 points.

4. Warlock Engineer - Warpmusket, Warlock Optics, Pipes of Piebald. Attached to Jezzail unit. 75 points.

5. Chieftain (BSB) - Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield, Banner of the Under-Empire. 97 points.

6. Chieftain - Ogre Blade, Seed of Rebirth, Heavy Armour, Shield. 97 points.

7. 2 Units of 30 Clanrats - Full Command, Hand Weapons, Light Armour, Shields, Poisoned Wind Mortar. 220 points each.

8. 1 Unit of 40 Clanrats - Full Command, Hand Weapons, Spears, Light Armour, Shields, Warpfire Thrower. 290 points.

9. 1 Unit of 25 Stormvermin - Full Command, Hand Weapons, Halberds, Heavy Armour, Shields, Warpfire Thrower. 295 points.

10. 1 Unit of 5 Jezzails - Sharpshooter. 110 points.

11. 2 Warp Lightning Cannons - 90 points each.

The plan is simple: shoot the living hell out of anything and everything I can. Lots of templates, maximum of five spells per turn, plus six rifles firing a turn (two at BS 4, one ignoring cover penalties) to take out larger targets quickly. The downside to a list like this is the lack of numbers. At only 111 models, plus Cannon crew, it needs to hit hard and hit fast in the first two turns to make any real difference - against swarm armies, this is INCREDIBLY vital. It will also require special dice to play - green dice for sure, with either marble or glitter finish, or else I risk insulting the Horned Rat. You may be asking why I don't take a Doomwheel at this point, and that answer is simple too: it is an uncontrollable chariot that would need to be doubled up to prevent being wasted early on, and the actual kit is a pain in the ass to build - the 'shiny toy' of the Skaven army book (as every new book has its shiny toy units).

Which brings us to the color scheme of the proposed army. When I think of any kind of magic, I think 'blue.' Perhaps it is a throwback memory to Magic: The Gathering, or maybe just the fact that I like blue, but that's how it is. At the same time, Skaven magic is 'green' because of their love of Chaos cocaine, so I went for a compromise - the cloth and uniforms will be Hawk Turquoise, but instead of using a blue wash, I plan to dirty the robes and such with Gryphonne Sepia (my ink of choice at the moment). Fur will be, for the most part, Dheneb Stone with Sepia wash over that as well (as evidenced by Clan Xymox). A lot of Dwarf Bronze will be used, with some Chainmail for accents, but primarily the Bronze color, which suits their style of mass-production better. Anything warpstone will, naturally, be Dark Angels Green with Scorpion Green drybrushing and edging. I also mixed a custom pink I call 'Rat-tail' which is perfect for Skaven, again washed in Sepia to muddy it up. I am thinking of using a yellow for the eyes with Rotting Flesh to highlight, but not sure yet - the Warlord and Engineers will definitely be using Scorpion Green for the eyes with another accent color.

Finally, what do I think of the Island of Blood models? Amazingly done (as you can see from Jonathan above in the picture). I appreciate the Warlock Engineer being all gunslinger, what with the halberd and giant backpack he's got on. The Rat Ogres are VERY nice, and the one with the blade arm would make a perfect Master-bred. I am thankful for both weapon teams, but none more than the Poisoned Wind Mortar - I love the WWI gas masks, and the fact they are plastic is even better, as much of my previous Skaven force was fragile pewter (and must always be handled with care else they break). The Warlord, however, is the best model of the Skaven half of the box (the Griffon being top prize) - the detail and pose of the Warlord is quite dynamic, and worthy of being my general. Now I just need to come up with moneys to get more rats. Probably sell my Empire. Silly man-things, thinking they can win.

- Cash

South Korean Superstar

2010-09-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

The release of Starcraft II signals a new dawn for computer gamers all over the world. The first Starcraft is one of the best RTS strategy games ever made and is the one which all others are compared against. The sequel does it's predecessor proud.

Just as a note before I discuss the game, in South Korea the top players are like movie stars. They play in packed stadiums where they are watched by adoring fans who follow on massive jumbotron like projectors. While the game is not quite on that level here in the states it is one of the best games available on the computer. The following will be a general overview of the game and will not go into strategy which will be discussed in a different article.

For those of you that don't know starcraft features three different races. The first are the terran who draw a similar comparison to the mobile infantry from Starship Troopers or the Imperial Guard for are warhammer followers. The second group are the zerg. This ailen race is pretty much a carbon copy of the bugs from Starship Troopers, and again for are Warhammer 40k followers they would be the Tyranids. The final group are the Protoss. They are a psionic wielding race who do not have a Starship Troopers reference, but they are similar to the Eldar in Warhammer 40k.

First, the greatest thing about starcraft is that there is no monthly fee, which annoys me with games like WOW or Eve. The game is played on Blizzards Battlenet server which always has over 1 million players on which makes it nice and easy to get a match. Now a big improvement over the first Starcraft is that now you are matched against players of the same skill level. The server is broken up into 5 different player levels ranging from bronze up to platinum. This makes for a much mor enjoyable gaming experience which allows new players to learn the game while not getting brutally masacred within the first 10 mins of the game.

The University of Florida is currently offering Starcraft as an honors level course. Who said college was no fun. The point of the course is to teach students about resource management. This is an interesting concept but seems more like it should be a club and not an honors level course.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/25626/

-Mikey H

A trip down memory lane.. and survivng at the end..

2010-09-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

The last time I really enjoyed playing card games was when I was playing Magic the Gathering and my Morphlings were still "legal" to play (1998-1999). Those were the good old days playing at the local

comic book store and the not so local game store Neutral Ground (R.I.P) in NYC. In particular I enjoyed playing in pre-release sealed deck tournaments. Where I believed things were more level among the players. It was down to luck and being a better player that would win you match.

Ever since I stopped playing Magic I swore off card games the same way someone swears off alcohol after a particularly nasty bender. It was during that time that I turned heavily towards miniature war gaming as a matter of fact. Warhammer 40k being the drug of choice at the time, it was not long after all my cards were put into shoe boxes and forgotten about just like an ex girlfriend forgotten out of mind and out of sight.

After many fruitful years of war gaming temptation struck again and I looked into card games. The first was Warlord Saga of the Storm a game that uses a d20 (always a plus!) the objective of the game was to kill the opposing Warlord all the while cutting through swathes of other characters. Though I didn't play very long in the game I do have to say I did have fun. Especially when I won a sealed deck tournament solely based on the fact that I didn't roll lower than a 17 for armor for Badu Lutalo!

Despite all of this I felt something was missing and I stopped collecting Warlord out of nowhere. I do have to admit I am quite the fickle creature but I digress. Next came VS. System which was a game about superheros not just any superheroes but those from the Marvel and DC universe.

At first just like any game it seemed fresh and innovative and like every gamer I collected obsessively. After stock piling a mess of cards I thought myself well enough to participate in one of their tournaments at Gen Con. It was right after the opposing players turn that I realized how much fun the game WASN'T. Now I understand that it was a tournament but I have never seen that many mirror matches in my life.

If you aren't familiar with the term "mirror match" it means that your opponent and/or many of the other players brought the EXACT same deck that you or someone you have faced has. Making for quite a boring/repetitive game especially if you have to face it three to four rounds of the tournament. It was right after I finished the tourney that I put my cards into my deck box and haven't touched them since.

Again maybe foolishly I swore off card games yet again and delved deeper into the realm of miniature gaming. In particular during that time I found that skirmish games were the niche where I had finally found the perfect balance of game. But I will save that for another post..

Fast forward to about a month ago where me and the group went on our annual trip to Indiana for Gen Con. It is a tradition that we usually pick up and invest in a new game to play during the year. I have to admit the salesmen are quite convincing in their sales pitch. This year while the group waded through the dealers hall (think a mix of a troll/asian market) we found two games that caught our attention.

The first was "The Spoils" a game that was part satire part fantasy/victorian/steam punk/etc yes those are quite a few parts. Having previously seen The Spoils a few years back I was relieved to see that they came back in force with a new set being released at the convention. It didn't take much convincing to split a starter with Mike along with a box of booster packs and all before knowing how to even play the game!

Once we started playing though everything went smooth the system is very intuitive and straight forward. The cards as mentioned above are hilarious and make many references to popular icons and culture. There are five factions that each play differently: Bankers, Arcanists, Rogues, Gearsmiths and Warlords. Each of the factions is trying to gain Influence over all the others in game you are trying to reduce your opponents Influence to zero.

Each faction has their certain play style and flavor in The Spoils a brief overview based on my findings are:

-Banker- Are good at card drawing and gaining influence, they also have a jack of all trades feel where they can get abilities other factions do but it comes at a high cost. Their story is that they are a bunch of cat people (for lack of a better word) that resurrect the dead to pay off their debts.

-Rogue- Uses the opponents discard pile against them, either through gaining abilities/stats on their characters or simply denying the enemy the chance to gain their cards back. They also sport loads of characters with higher speed, nifty because high speed characters resolve their damage before slower characters. They also boast cards that can take over an opponents characters.

-Warlord- Not very good at playing any "tricks" but what they do they excel in and that is beat down on their enemy. Sporting some of the higher strength characters they have one goal in mind and that is straight attack. Their items and actions support this by giving strength bonuses to their characters to end the game quick and decisively.

-Gearsmith- As their name would suggest have the most items/gear than any of the other factions, they also have the ability to spawn the most tokens (free characters). Along with the ability to look for certain cards (mainly items) which as any card player knows is an amazing ability getting the card you need when you need it. The Gearsmiths themselves are immature elves that talk in 'l33t' or 'net' speak as they say which is quite the novel idea.

-Arcanist- The faction that has the most "covert" characters (covert means the character can only be blocked by other characters with the covert skill), they excel in making the opponent discard and returning cards to its owners hand.

The second game that caught my eye was Call of Cthulhu by Fantasy Flight Games, if you are not familiar with Call of Cthulhu it is based on the short stories by a writer call H.P Lovecraft. I have always been a fan of Lovecraft and his stories so a card game revolving around the mythos had me sold. Set in roughly the 1920s Call of Cthulhu is a game of horror and survival, of crazed man men and monsters fighting against brave adventurers and archeologists all the while trying to stay sane from the sights that they have seen.

Call of Cthulhu is a "living card game" which means that unlike most card games it is not collectible, there is no randomization in the packs you receive. Every set has the exact same cards with the exact same multiples of said card. There is no blind buying, if you need a certain card just look up online what set has it and purchase just that set. Not only will you have the card you need but you also get a play set (2-3 copies of the card) also.

In Call of Cthulhu there are seven factions:

Agency - consists of government officials like police and investigators.
Miskatonic University- an academic group of researchers with great knowledge.
Syndicate- mobsters, journalists and hit men looking to further their ends.
Cthulhu- made up of cultists and monsters who follow the great Cthulu.
Hastur- followers of the "King in Yellow" made up of psychopaths and minions.
Yog Sothoth- learned scholars and cultists who summon trans dimensional beings.
Shub Niggurath- focuses on the many monsters that Shub Niggurath has spawned.

So after many years and false starts I have finally picked up two card games that I am really excited to play. Hopefully in the next coming posts I can post up some of my decks and tactics along with more in depth report on each game. Till then thanks for reading my trip along memory lane.

Xenobi, Miniature Kingpin

2010-09-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

Name: Xenobi

Origin: Nature

Affiliation: None

Occupation: Villain

Intro:

Xenobi is one of the many genetic creations that Mysterious Man has spawned to do his bidding. Part runt part side kick Xenobi tries to emulate his maker to varying degrees of success.

Special Abilities:

Molecular Manipulation (1): This special ability allows Xenobi during his activation to move 1 point of strength to his agility or vice versa until the end of the round. Quite useful when Xenobi already has an agility score of 6! Though his strength is only 3 it is his trump trait and along with molecular manipulation it becomes a respectable 4.

Exclusive Actions:

Punching Bag: If a friendly model takes damage and is within 2" a player may move the damage to Xenobi

Taunting: Xenobi chooses an opposing model that cannot move farther away than it initially was from Xenobi. In addition if that model tries to shoot at a model that isn't Xenobi it suffers a -1 penalty. This gives Xenobi a very limited movement manipulation ability that is good to have in a pinch.

Instant Mutation: One of Xenobi's signature abilities it allows him to add 1-6 points of strength to his roll when attacking. It comes at a price though, if you roll equal to or lower to the dice roll Xenobi takes that many points of damage at the end of the activation. This ability makes Xenobi one hell of a beat stick even if he might not survive the return attack from one very angry supreme.

Ka-Boom: This action gives Xenobi a ranged attacked with a small difference, in addition to possibly injuring an enemy supreme. Xenobi is also launched back d6 inches (the number he rolled for the opposed roll) directly back. Which helps him get away from anything too dangerous or make the enemy chase after him.

Team Power:

Little Kingpin- Once per game Xenobi can execute a friendly minion to better motivate it's associates. All minions with line of sight to the executed model receive a +1 to all opposed rolls until the end of the turn. Though I haven't really used this power all that often synergies of Xenobi, Gentleman and Tangent's "Analyze" power come to mind if you run quite a few minions +3 to the roll is nothing to scoff at.

Well, I got my rat ogre...

2010-09-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson with a double Blood Bowl report once more. It was a good day for the sport all around - we may have converted two more people to play the game, plus had two boards running at once in the store, which for a non-paying league is pretty impressive in this day and age. Plus the order was put in for my official Blood Bowl Minotaur so I can stop using the oversized Beastmen variant (sans arms) who has been dubbed "Buns of Tin" due to his posterior. But, I digress...

The first game was Clan Xymox against Drew's custom-sculpted Chaos Dwarves, who I must say were incredibly well made - he green-stuffed the crazy beards, used push pins for their crazy gourd-shaped helmets, and even went so far as to kitbash two Bull Centaurs from Marauder horses and Orks, with another generous helping of green stuff (he'd better post images of them on his own blog though, since I only go so far when kissing ass). At any rate, it was expected to be a high injury game on my part, seeing as how getting hit by Dwarves of any sort is not what I want to happen.

What followed, however, was an intense and tactical matchup of speed against staying power, both sides running the clock due to an inability to break armour on either side. Drew scored the first half, I scored the second, and the casualty pile was simply #7 missing next game with a Niggling Injury (one more and he's scrapped) and one dead Lineman (Blag Warptail II), who was immediately chopped up and used to add the finishing touches on my latest addition to Clan Xymox - my #13 Rat Ogre, Jonathan Brisby (bonus points to anyone who gets the ironic reference). With the record at 3 wins, 3 losses and my first draw, the team is taking a little longer than I would have liked to develop. Perhaps next season I will just start with Jonathan on the team and keep it at an even 11 players (instead of the spare Lineman at 12).

The Reikland Wrath suffered their first loss today against Jon's Khemri team, but this was due to spectacularly poor rolls at critical moments. Goretusk failed me for the first time today, failing his Wild Animals rolls on several occasions to lay down and take a nap for 3/4 of the game (though he caused his 5th casualty before doing so). Abrax the Twisted was concussed in the first half and still managed to get the MVP for the day, as his braining was the most action my team managed to perform. All three of my Warriors kept rolling Attacker and Both Down results, forcing me to use re-rolls I would have preferred to save for better moments. By the end of the 2-0 loss, the only positive result was Abrax's second MVP got him Foul Appearance, so at least opponents may think twice before touching him in the future. On the positive side, I still got 40,000 gold for the day, and spent it on 2 Assistant Coaches and 2 Cheerleaders, leaving me with another 100,000 in the Treasury in case I decide a fourth Warrior would do me well.

In all, these days are expected to happen every now and again. On the positive side, I did manage to get a double Sideline in the first game, knocking a Bull Centaur into the crowd, followed by a Cave Slave (Drew uses human prisoners instead of Hobgoblins), both by Bulk Irontail in two consecutive turns. I look forward to seeing how Jonathan Brisby works out, and whether or not I can ever get more experience on my three Warriors. Maybe next week, I tell myself...

- Cash

Hell Dorado - First Impressions

2010-08-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson with even more gaming bloggery, this time about a new game the rest of the crew picked up from GenCon - Hell Dorado. I was introduced to this via link by Drew, and was instantly impressed with the model sculpts, both in originality and detail (pic related). After looking at everything the game had in store, I decided on the Demons, as I like demons, and these are very nicely made. Drew picked me up the Demon starter box because I wasn't going.

So first we come to the actual starter box - pocket sized, cardboard army sleeve around the actual box to keep minis inside it, plush high quality foam inside. The minis themselves were all single cast pewter with the exception of the Wrath demon, who actually came with his own arm sprue containing three variants to put on him - bonus points for that little bit, I'm going with the hammer. Next we have the cards, double-sided and meant for dry erase markers and plastic sleeves, which is fine. Each card is clearly legible, good quality printing, and flows nicely.

The quick start rules, however, took the cake. A single 11x17 sheet, double-sided contains every rule you need to know to play the game as far as I am aware. Every action you can take is clearly explained, both ranged and close combat procedures laid out, using spells and officer abilities, status effects and special rules - everything is on this single sheet of paper. Then I start reading the rules...

First, the game requires a tape measure, metric or standard, and only 6d6, plus minis and terrain - incredibly simple. Second, instead of complicated charts and tables, or having to do addition and subtraction in your head, combat goes as follows - roll number of dice equal to your ability, target's defense is the number you need, apply damage as per your card's description. That's it. If you have a 6 or more in either CBT or SHS (Combat and Shooting Skill), you get to re-roll. Even better! Then I read that ranged attacks have no maximum range, just increased difficulty at longer distances. I was instantly sold on this game. On top of that, most things do not affect the die roll required, but the number of dice you get to roll, which is incredibly similar to the White Wolf system (which I also love). Simple rules, easy system. I like.

Which brings us to the army itself - the Demons. In the starter box, you receive Asaliah (a rebel angel summoner), a Damned one of Wrath, two Damned ones of Sloth, and Harborym (a summoned demon, or lemure). The way magic works for the Demons is the summoner summons a lemure, who acts as the physical manifestation of the spell - I get to move it around and trigger it when I feel like, not instantly. That alone is very awesome. Then Asaliah has the ability to summon and control multiple lemures at once, meaning I can have 2 spell manifestations running around the field at once. Even more awesome. Unfortunately, she can only cast a maximum of three summons a game. Not as awesome, but still awesome.

Then I read what her powers do - apparently all Satanist (meaning demons) models within 6" of her automatically regenerate 1 Life Point per turn just from being around her, and she can do a single big heal where ALL allies on the table receive 8 Life Points of healing... WHA?! So my choice to play Demons inadvertently gave me an awesome army right off the bat? I'm even further sold. On top of that, even the three demons the starter comes with aren't that bad. Both Sloths get Advance Deployment 4, meaning I can setup an additional 4" when placing them, and they each have 18 Life Points, which is more than Asaliah gets. Then my Wrath gets Fury, which means he doesn't lose CBT when Charging, and has a DEF of 4, meaning only a 4+ causes a success against him in combat (considering my Sloths have DEF 2, that's badass). I haven't even played a game of this yet and already love what I have to work with.

Thursday will be an interesting day as I will play my first game of Hell Dorado... after some more Blood Bowl.

- Cash

The Meteoric Rise to Not Bad

2010-08-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson once more with even more Blood Bowl sports news.

First, we have the full story on the Reikland Wrath, who are quickly becoming a team to talk about. In a stunning week's performance, they have brought their record to an impressive 3-0 against Ogres and Orcs. The success I have achieved with them in the league thus far is due to my paying fealty to the Chaos Gods - not only did I switch names around to better suit the four sacred numbers, but I made sure that all four numbered players were suitably marked and painted first before all others. It worked. The updated Reikland Wrath lineup after three games:

#1 Blag Dahlia, Team Captain, Warrior - 2 SPP
#2 Kurgan Scalptaker, Warrior - 2 SPP
#3 The Black Duke, Warrior - 2 SPP
#4 Goretusk, Minotaur - 8 SPP, Standard Skills + Claws (dedicated Can Opener)
#5 Abrax the Twisted, Beastman - 5 SPP (MVP on the first game he didn't get KO'd)
#6 Gorruk the Wild, Beastman of Slaanesh - 9 SPP, Horns, Guard
#7 Morgen Grimtusk, Beastman of Nurgle - 5 SPP, Horns
#8 Gathak Bloodhorn, Beastman of Khorne - 8 SPP, Horns, Juggernaut (dedicated Safety)
#9 Volus Raveneye, Beastman of Tzeentch - 4 SPP, Horns
#10 Karthax Ironhoof, Beastman - 6 SPP, Guard, Horns
#11 Kursk Two-Tongue, Beastman - 5 SPP, Horns (dedicated Passer, YES I SAID PASSER)
Additional Staff: Apothecary

So I can already hear gears grinding in the collective virtual head of the readers - why didn't Cash take Block on his Beastmen?! At least, that's what I hear from the old timers every time they see my roster sheet. Sure, Block was great back in the day, but this is a younger man's game now. What good is a skill that only increases my chances of taking a hit by 17% when I could double up on Guard and deny an entire line Assists so I always get two dice my favor when he hits me (because everyone hates a Push when they NEED a Knockdown)? As for Juggernaut, I only get the bonus from Horns on a Blitz anyway, and he IS the favored of Khorne. Obviously it's worked out well for him, having gotten four Casualties, so why not? Between Goretusk, Gorruk, Gathak and Karthax, plus always putting the three warriors on the line, that gives me a seven-man brick wall that still keeps the remaining four beastmen open and on the move. Just because we're Chaos doesn't mean we have to play like it... :D

I wish I could claim the same success with Clan Xymox, who got over their injury streak yesterday. In a series of unfortunate mishaps - Ogres, Orcs, and Khemri respectively - I had a Blitzer miss a game, followed by three Linemen miss a game (resulting in the firing of two of them for optimum performance), then a horrific series of "Miss This Game" while holding off against Tomb Guard. Clan Xymox now stands as follows with a 3-3 record:

#1 Squeak Twitchfoot, Team Captain, Gutter Runner - 13 SPP, Dodge, Leap
#2 Thrak the White, Thrower - 3 SPP, Pass, Sure Hands
#3 Bulk Irontail, Blitzer - 6 SPP, Block, Mighty Blow (seems fitting given his name)
#4 Queeg Blackfur, Blitzer - 0 SPP, Block
#5 Shiv Sneakpaw, Gutter Runner - 7 SPP, Dodge, Sure Hands, MV 8 (dedicated Handoff now)
#6 Titch Redeye, Gutter Runner - 19 SPP, Dodge, Leap, Agility 5 (only fails on a 1 now)
#7 Snag Longsnout, Lineman - 10 SPP, Shadowing (best skill ever for rats)
#8 Ignatz Vilepelt, Lineman - 7 SPP, Tackle (would be better with Shadowing)
#9 Toerag Shorthair II, Lineman - 0 SPP (former Journeyman, permanent Reserve box)
#10 Snog Gnawfang, Lineman - 2 SPP
#11 Blag Warptail II, Lineman - 0 SPP
#12 Nitz Dwarfstab, Lineman - 4 SPP
Additional Staff: Apothecary

I'm not going to lie, I was crushed after I played against Orcs and took a 3 "Miss Next Game" beating, despite the win. The only clear option was to fire #'s 9 and 11 for incompetence, keep Ignatz on the bench since he has a skill, then take a Journeyman and hire a new player, which only cost me 50,000 instead of the full hundred - I decided Loner was a one-game risk I could take against Khemri, and I was right. In a stunning Tomb Guard Blitz, the new #9 was sent careening down the pitch and into the injury pile, where the Apothecary saved him from dying, though now I have the rest of the team back in play, he will only come out when needed.

Moving forward, Shadowing and Tackle will be the plan for Snag and Ignatz, as Wood Elves have now gotten into the league as well. I need to get some Casualties on Queeg since he's done practically nothing since game one. Nitz will be getting Guard at the first opportunity to make the Ratcage more effective when on defense. Right now, I have to make sure Titch doesn't have anything bad happen to him - I feel I am not paying enough homage to the Horned Rat by denying a 13th player into the fold, and he has punished me already with three muggings. Another 60k from winnings and the Rat Ogre will be purchased, I swear it.

- Cash

A Whole Different Game

2010-08-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson with the second Blood Bowl post in a row, this time all about Chaos. The pic kinda says it all about this new team and the match against Ogres - it was a struggle both ways.

This was a practice run for my team, as well as extra practice for Irvin to get better at planning his blocks, as well as running plays and the proper use of Gnoblars. What it turned into, however, was one of the best games I've played to date.

First of all, the reason I chose Chaos as a second team was because it is about as different from Skaven as I could get - it's much stronger, much tougher, and is great for stopping most advances once they hit my line. I also had plenty of Beastmen to use, so 7 Gors became the bulk of my team off the bat - I only had to proxy 3 Warriors and the Minotaur because I don't have the spare models to convert at the moment. Probably just going to pick up a 3 pack of Warriors from the store and save up for the Minotaur box, everything on 25mm bases.

Before I get into the gritty details, meet the Reikland Wrath:

#1 - Blag Dahlia, Team Captain, Warrior: Scored his first touchdown today
#2 - Kurgan Scalptaker, Warrior: 1 Casualty, Gnoblar at -1 AV
#3 - The Black Duke, Warrior
#4 - Goretusk, Minotaur: 1 Casualty, Ogre out for Remainder of Game, First Blood on First Play
#5 - Abrax the Twisted, Beastman
#6 - Gathak Bloodhorn, Beastman: 1 Casualty, Gnoblar at -1 AV
#7 - Karthax Ironhoof, Beastman
#8 - Morgen Grimtusk, Beastman
#9 - Volus Raveneye, Beastman (Chosen of Tzeentch)
#10 - Kursk Two-Tongue, Beastman
#11 - Gorruk the Wild, Beastman

I won the coin flip so I chose to Receive, had 2 FAME going in, with perfect weather, and a Quick Snap, plus the Kickoff was a Touchback, so I gave it to Blag because he was already on the line. First thing was first, and Goretusk proceeded to Blitz the Ogre tying Blag up, causing him to black out for the rest of the game - not too shabby for an opening play. While the rest of the line did their best to push the Ogres off of them, it still took the entire first half to score a single Touchdown, though four Gnoblars found out why they shouldn't have gotten in the way of Chaos (only two losing 1 Armour, but as this was exhibition, it didn't much matter, more of a pride issue for me). Five opposing players were down going into Turn 8 of the First Half (another two Gnoblars were KO'd on the last drive), which suited me fine - less Dodges to make and less Blocks to worry about.

The Second Half was where things didn't go to plan as I'd hoped. He got both Gnoblars back, who intended to show the Chaos Gods the power of the Great Maw. It was "just as planned" as the Kickoff landed just in front of his end zone AND I got an extra Re-Roll from Brilliant Coaching (yay Tzeentch). All I had to do was stop him from getting past my line, which I tried my best to do, but just not enough. His lonely Gnoblar in the backfield ran back, picked up the ball, then proceeded to run the entire length of the field while caged in formation, making two consecutive Dodges at the end of Turn 6 to score a Touchdown.

My Turn 7 saw the ball land in front of Morgen, who picked it up and ran to the line, while Blag and the Black Duke proceeded to open a hole to the right side, knocking down two Ogres. A quick blitz from Gorruk the Wild proceeded to KO another Gnoblar and open the right flank entirely and, two Go For It rolls later, was in a position to score if he could just get the ball. At the same time, Abrax and Gathak both shot through openings on the left flank, crossed the field, and made a total of three possible receivers. Meanwhile, creative blocking saw Morgen boxed in nicely by his own team, making a Blitz impossible against him. With the game-winning throw on the line, both Gnoblars and Ogres immediately fell back to flood the passing lanes with nothing but Interceptions.

Morgen snapped back and threw a Long Pass to Gorruk who jumped up, inches away from the ball... but what he didn't see was the little Gnoblar crawling up his loin cloth, kicking off his chest, and launching himself face first at the ball to make a stunning Turn 8 Interception that cost the Wrath the win (as we don't do overtime). It wasn't until the game was over that the Chaos team realized the little bastard that caught the ball was the same one who scored earlier in the half - he will be dealt with next time.

I have to say, Chaos was a completely different game. Instead of trying to engineer openings and use speed and skills to save the day, I can just plow forward when I get the ball. I don't have to worry about getting hit as much as with Skaven, since my armour is an 8 or 9 instead of a 7. Less chance of injury to me, more chance of causing damage to them. Chaos is definitely going to be added to the list of teams - now I just need a third...

- Cash

Blood Bowl Blues

2010-08-22T17:53:00.001-07:00

Cash Johnson once more with yet another gaming post, this time about the small Blood Bowl league we happen to be running amongst ourselves. As of this moment, we are five players, two of which have yet to actually play a game because they are lazy. The three active teams, however, are my Skaven, Jon's Khemri, and (another local from my end) Irvin's Ogres. We are still waiting on Drew's Chaos Dwarves and Hoj's Dwarves.

But I digress - it's time for the Skaven breakdown: 3 Gutter Runners, 1 Thrower, 2 Blitzers and 6 Linemen. I know I should have taken 13 players, but I'm holding out for either a 4th Gutter Runner or my 0-1 Rat Ogre (plus 3 re-rolls is always nice for a starting team). As it stands now, im 1 and 2 with Fan Factor 5, and 60,000 left in winnings (would have had more, but I had to replace a dead lineman in my first game).

So how does my team stack up? Well, outside of the league, I played two games before we started to get used to the rules (since I had never played before). Against Humans, I managed a 3-2 victory. Against Orcs, I got my ass pounded into the dirt by Black Orcs. In the league, however, I am actually a victim of luck more than poor coaching. The first win was against Ogres, my Team Captain able to break away with the ball to score the only point that game, and my linemen proceeded to injure Gnoblars simply as a matter of course. My first loss was to Khemri, as Tomb Guard are just mean and their Blitzers aren't any nicer - I did, however, break one Skeleton's ankle, so it wasn't a total loss. The second loss was today, victim of three lucky plays to my two normal plays - I stacked up a lot of Star Player Points all around, though.

Meet the team of Clan Xymox:

#1 - Squeak Twitchfoot, Team Captain, Gutter Runner: Dodge, Leap, 9 SPP (3 TDs)
#2 - Thrak the White, Thrower: Pass, Sure Hands, 0 SPP
#3 - Bulk Irontail, Blitzer: Block, 2 SPP (1 Casualty)
#4 - Queeg Blackfur, Blitzer: Block, 0 SPP
#5 - Shiv Sneakpaw, Gutter Runner: Dodge, 3 SPP (1 TD)
#6 - Titch Redeye, Gutter Runner: Dodge, Leap, 6 SPP (2 TDs)
#7 - Snag Longsnout, Lineman: Shadowing, 10 SPP (2 MVP)
#8 - Ignatz Vilepelt, Lineman: Tackle, 7 SPP (1 Casualty, 1 MVP)
#9 - Toerag Shorthair, Lineman: 0 SPP
#10 - Snog Gnawfang, Lineman: 2 SPP (1 Casualty)
#11 - Blag Warptail, Lineman: 0 SPP
#12 - Nitz Dwarfstab, Lineman: 4 SPP (2 Casualties)

Now, those of you who know how Skaven play in Blood Bowl are probably wondering how rats
managed to rack up five casualties against teams who are tougher than they are. Well, seeing how squishy Gnoblars are, my strategy is simple - the moment the rat with the ball gets further than they can catch in a single turn, I gang up on Gnoblars and roll my 3 Block Dice, occasionally getting the lucky 2 Dice Block against an Ogre to put him on his ass. I would have had two more casualties to my credit, but rocks thrown by my fans unfortunately don't count (2 in the same game, one Ogre suffering a Cracked Skull).

Right now I am saving up for a tasty Rat Ogre so I can concentrate more on moving the ball instead of minimizing damage done to me. Maybe if I could rack up some casualties with him, possibly take Piling On or Multiple Block - but I'm still 100k short and down my #4 Blitzer in my next game, which will cost me precious defense. Still, three Gutter Runners and a Thrower means I will always have someone on the ball after a kickoff, so I just need to concentrate on boxing out for the meanwhile.

Also thinking of putting a Chaos team together, just to have another fun team on the back burner for another league. Maybe the store league if they get that going this year. Who knows, they may be even better for me.

- Cash

Boreas

2010-08-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Having just returned from Gen Con Indy I bring a wealth of updates that I will post up, I see in my stead that Cash has been taking care of the site quite well. I will start things off by introducing my Pulp City Villain Team that I had used for the tournament at Gen Con along with some tactical thoughts.

Name: Boreas

Origin: Mystery

Affiliation: The Forgotten

Occupation: Villain

Intro:

Boreas is one of the minor gods that controls the wind, in fact if you have ever seen a map with an incarnation of a cloud blowing wind on a sailboat you have actually seen Boreas! As with all "Forgotten" they are all minor gods/entities that fell into obscurity and now they have come to Pulp City in order to make the population remember them.

Special Abilities:

Air- This is more of a subtype, against "Earth" supremes Boreas will both deal and take more damage.

Blend 1 - If Boreas is near a piece of scenery he gains +1 to his agility making him harder to hit with projectile attacks.

Flight 5- With the new flight rules whoever has a higher flight value compared to their opponent gains +1 to agility, strength and defense traits.

Immovable - Boreas will not suffer from knocked down condition

Immune/Whirlwind & Shot Down - Most supremes with flight have to worry if they fail their opposed roll while in flight they take extra damage when they fall. This ability means Boreas never has to worry about being "shot down".

Exclusive Actions:

-Echoes- A situational power that lets you move non-exclusive minions and citizens 4 inches, good if you want to cut down some of the enemies minions or get after some citizens that are running away for some agenda points.

-Gale- Gives Boreas to the "throw trump action" despite not having Strength as his trump trait, alternatively it can be used to attack an enemy supreme and if you cause damage you can move the supreme 4 inches in any direction they will take additional damage if they hit into a piece of scenery.

-Blood Wind- A power hated by many an opponent, it is a blast 3 radius any supremes taking damage cannot activate this round. Needless to say if you start the round with Blood Wind doing successful damage against an enemy their model sits there for a turn. It should be noted that only the target of the attack suffers a full opposed roll. Others caught in the blast only suffer attacks at 1/2 of Boreas' attack.

-Whirlwind- A good power to screen your beaters, any attacks directed to models within the aura are at -2 to their opposed rolls. Minions and citizens cannot move into or within the aura and the aura is treated as difficult terrain for everyone else.

Team Power: Host

Boreas has to inhabit a body which means he can always be attacked in close combat regardless of how many flight counters he has on him. If he has at least one flight counter he can freely leave close combat without penalty. He is also vulnerable to the Exorcism ability.

My Retribution

2010-08-09T19:13:00.001-07:00

Cash Johnson once again with a totally different report this time. After telling myself and others I would not get involved with Warmachine, I ended up getting involved with Warmachine - but only because a good friend decided to just give me a complete Retribution army. Every caster, 5 units, 6 solos, and one of each heavy Myrmidon: I pay him back over time when I get extra moneys. But I digress.

The problem with getting involved in a new game after being in GW mode for so long, and especially when you have a complete army at your disposal, is that you have too many new options to experiment with. I am proud to say, however, that after slogging through many lists, both theirs and mine, I have finally managed to score a victory with a list that works.

At 35 points I took Ravyn with a Hydra (punch battery), a full Mage Hunter Strike Force with Commander, a full unit of Dawnguard Invictors, Stormfall Archers, two Mage Hunter Assassins, and Narn. I went up against Khador, with Beast as the only 'Jack, and Epic Sorscha as caster, some snipers with sniper solo, some big guys with hammers, a mortar team, and Winter Guard with Command attachment. I let him setup first, because I had me a plan. As expected, he threw everything in the middle and the big hammer guys to one flank.

I, on the other hand, had an army with quite a bit of Advance Deployment so I placed the archers, Invictors, Hydra and Ravyn in the middle, screening her and he Hydra from view. Then he placed his snipers on the other flank, but still near the middle of the table. Good, thought I, as I placed my Strike Force opposite the big hammer guys, then put both Assassins and Narn to the extreme right side of the table, literally hugging the edge in one case.

Turn one, he moved up. Then I cast Snipe on the archers and moved them up. Unfortunately, they were a couple inches shy of his line so that was a flop. My three solos ran up the right side while my Strike Force advanced normally to the edge of the forested hill they were in. The rest of my turn was spent running the Invictors up, then moving the Hydra and Ravyn to follow.

Turn two, his snipers managed to kill my archers, but it took every shot to do it, allowing my killer trio to survive another turn - yes, he could have walked over and shot me, overruling my Stealth, but didnt. But more about that later on. My turn two consisted of casting Snipe on my Strike Force and unloading into the big hammer guys, killing one outright (they have 8 Damage each, and Armor 16, so it's kind of a big deal). The Invictors took out two of the Winter Guard with combined fire. Narn and the two assassins proceeded to run even more, getting across the table and in a position to sweep the back field.

Turn three saw several casualties on my end, his snipers managing to kill quite a few of my Invictors with this explodey-kill spell he was upkeeping on them since the first turn. Then he tried to shoot at my Strike Force with his Winter Guard and missed because they were in trees on a hill (yay, Defense 18). Then came my turn three. My Invictors, of which only 3 of the original 10 remained passed their Command Check, charged the Winter Guard and did no damage whatsoever. My Strike Force decided to go in for the kill and Charge the hammer guys, doing even more damage to two of them and killing a second. Narn and the twins kept running, this time behind the mortar team, which so far had missed its shots every turn. Ravyn started to disengage behind a wooded hill, and the Hydra charged into the Winter Guard, killing two of them.

Turn four was where things started going wrong for my opponent. The Winter Guard failed to kill the Invictors, the big hammer guys only killed two of the Strike Force, Beast was still behind the Winter Guard and unable to do anything about it, and Sorscha + her dog were advancing around the side. Then I struck - Narn killed the mortar team outright, both assassins moved into covering positions for next turn, a third hammer guy was killed, the Hydra turned slightly and punched two more Winter Guard into paste. Ravyn moved even more behind the hill, and the trap was one turn from being sprung...

Turn five saw another chunk of my Strike Force taken out, but still alive. Snipers killed another Strike Force member, the hammer guy missed again, the remainder of the Winter Guard finally won out against the remaining Invictors, Beast began to move up into the fray , and Sorscha kept moving with her dog to put as much of her own forces in the way of the sodomy that was to come. My turn began with one assassin murdering the last hammer bearer. Then Ravyn walked up, killed a sniper with a melee attack, fired at Beast, fired again at Beast with her normal ranged attack, then I remembered to pop my feat (stupid me). My Strike Force, however, did some mighty fine work, using Ravyn's feat against Beast, obliterating 4 of his 6 columns with 10+4d6 Damage per shot. My Hydra, now unengaged, walked over to the snipers and killed two.

Turn six saw everything come to an end (as the store was 10 minutes from closing). Sorscha cast Boundless Charge on Beast, who immediately used Thresher on the Strike Force, killing all but the Commander and three others. The snipers were useless now, missing everything they shot at. The Winter Guard were huddling in a small circle now, and missed with their shots. Then I went and the trap closed completely. The remainder of the Strike Force shot up Beast some more, then the assassin charged, then Narn struck the fatal killing blows against it. Ravyn cast Snipe on herself, then used her last focus to turn her only ranged shot into an AOE, which hit the Winter Guard and killed all six of them. The other assassin charged Sorscha's dog and killed it without difficulty. This left the Hydra to charge at Sorscha, who took a free strike from a sniper (no damage) and proceeded to pound 10 Damage out of her with a single punch.

The game ended there as we had to clean up, so we agreed that since I damaged his caster, and would have killed her had we gone into another turn (Hydra still in combat, assassin and Narn in charge range), I won. Impressions? Well, now that I have a fast moving, far shooting list, I need to test it against other armies. Now I just need to work on a solid melee list... I'm thinking Vyros and a lot of Sentinels...

- Cash

And the tie goes to...

2010-08-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson once more with a battle report from my WoC. Deciding the Northern Wastes were boring, my marauding horde ventured southward into Ogre Country for a good, old-fashioned brawl. At 1,000 points, I was skeptical about the punch I could bring against what has essentially become a higher-tier army with the 8th Edition rules, and rightly so. Now that Ogres get rank bonuses and two ranks of attacks, plus the new Fear rules, I knew I had my work cut out for me, and I was right.

My forces included a Level 2 Tzeentch Sorcerer as my General, thrown in with 10 Warriors with Paired Weapons and Standard as his bodyguard, 8 Khorne Marauder Horsemen with Flails and Standard, 7 Nurgle Marauder Horsemen with Hand Weapon/Shield/Light Armour and Full Command, two units of 6 Marauder Horsemen with Javelins and Musician (aka 'JavCav'), and 5 Khorne Knights with Ensorceled Weapons and Standard.

His forces, which were actually my models (as he wanted to learn Ogres before putting money into the game) were a Bruiser with Great Weapon and Heavy Armour, 6 Bulls with Paired Weapons/Champion/Standard, 6 Bulls with Ironfists/Champion/Standard, two sets of 2 Leadbelchers, and a Ninja Maneater with Cathayan Longsword (I love that model so much).

The Mission was Meeting Engagement - diagonal deployment, corner to corner. I got to deploy first, and everything made it on the board. This mission hurt me on the deployment, as I knew I couldn't get any charges off on Turn 1 - all my Fast Cavalry were able to use the Vanguard move, but my three normal units were deployed behind them to ensure I didn't get hosed later on deployment. The last thing I wanted was to get smacked by Ogres, so everything was well enough away from the front line to avoid taking unnecessary hits. As a result, my Khorne Marauders stayed back from the line as well, but the JavCav units were placed on the far flanks to take advantage of their free movement.

His deployment was center mass, the Bull units in front with Leadbelchers to the sides, the Maneater in the middle. My saving grace here was the random obstruction we rolled for the terrain - hooray wall! He was forced to deploy behind it, so his forces would either have to split up or concentrate on one side.

First turn went to me, so the JavCav did their regular movement and were already starting to wrap around. Everyone else just milled about waiting for the right moment to strike, but my Sorcerer and his unit moved up and cast his only useful spell - the Flickering Fire of Tzeentch. Two wounds hit one Ogre Bull and first blood was mine.

His first turn consisted of me misjudging my JavCav's movement by a quarter inch on both sides, and the Leadbelchers were able to get shots off. The first unit suffered two wounds from a misfire, and killed two of my own, while the second unit managed to get 8 shots into me, killing 4. Two Panic checks later and I was fine, though, but not pleased at the results. The rest of his movement was to split up his forces around the wall, with the Maneater staying far enough back to support.

Second turn was going to be my crowning achievement, but the Khorne Marauders failed to break the Bulls on the charge because of bad rolling. Only one Ogre fell to my flails and horses, and all 8 received a buzzsaw from 24 normal attacks, plus 3 stomps. The sorcerer failed to wound the two Leadbelchers in front of him. My right flank JavCav charged the Leadbelchers that shot at them, passed their Fear check, and managed to take the remaining wound off the one who misfired, but took another two wounds in turn, rolled a 9 on the Break check and fled. On the left flank, my two JavCav moved up and proceeded to bait the Leadbelchers by throwing pointy sticks at them - one hit, no wounds. Ogres 2, Chaos 0.

His second turn saw less action than mine. His two Leadbelchers charged my two JavCav, who immediately fled, giving him a failed charge move of 2". His two Bull units moved up further, as did the Maneater, and the lone Leadbelcher stayed still to reload his cannon. He failed a charge against my Warrior unit, moving 4" and bringing him within definite charge range of the Knights next turn.

Turn three was a lot better for me. My JavCav on the left rallied and stayed put, well away from both being shot and being charged. My sorcerer moved up again, cast another spell that put two wounds on a Leadbelcher (finally). My Khorne Knights got their charge in and a broad smile hit my face. A combined 20 attacks later and 4 Bulls were killed outright, with another 2 wounds on the Standard Bearer, with nothing hitting me back at all. He broke, he fled, I didn't get enough pursuit, but at least I managed to wreak vengeance. My Nurgle Marauders then decided to join in the fight against the Bulls that punked my Khorne Marauders and did remarkably better. Somehow they passed their Fear test, then proceeded to do four wounds, killing another Bull, but lost four in the process. Our Standards cancelled each other out, but he had the second rank, so I lost by 1, passed the Break check and was still standing. Ogres 2, Chaos 1.

His turn three did not go his way. His Bull unit rallied, and did nothing. His lone 'Belcher decided to move up and rejoin the fight, and the other two turned to go after my Warriors, killing 2 from cannon fire. Meanwhile, he lost yet another Bull in the ongoing melee (2 wounds), killed my last grunt and Standard Bearer for a total of +4 to his resolution, which I managed to actually roll a 3 for - Nurgle does not go down without a fight, so my lone Champion just sneezed at them. But the Maneater was able to get a charge off on my Knights' flank - which took 2 wounds to the 1 he dealt me, failed and Broke, was trampled under my hooves, and brought me into charge range against the other Bull unit next turn. Another broad smile appeared. Ogres 2, Chaos 2.

Turn four was my sweet revenge - the two JavCav got a flank charge against the Leadbelchers, and my Knights charged the rear of his last Bull unit, which contained his Bruiser. Naturally, the JavCav did nothing more than slap effortlessly into the Leadbelchers, as they were both crushed by heavy cannons. The Knights, however, mercilessly slaughtered another 3 Bulls, wounded the Champion, and only took 1 casualty in the process. His Bruiser then got swings back and killed a second Knight, but the damage was done, and only Insane Courage would save him... it didn't. In a single sweeping motion, the Knights managed to kill almost half the enemy forces and rout his General in the process, though they managed to get away. It tasted sweet for that moment, let me tell you. Ogres 2, Chaos 4.

His turn four was spent moving his remaining Bulls up, reloading his two Leadbelchers to the side, and moving to fire a single cannon at the rear of my Knights - no damage. Oh, and his General failed to rally yet again, fleeing another 10".

My turn five saw another spell do no damage against him after moving up the sorcerer and warriors. I forgot to turn the knights around, which actually may or may not have cost me the win. My lone Marauder Horseman charged the Leadbelcher in front of him and died valiantly. Ogres 3, Chaos 4.

His turn five saw another failed rally, this time taking his poor General off the field completely. There was much smiling again on my side of the table. His two Leadbelchers, however, managed to rake 14 shots into my warriors, killing 6, though they passed their Panic check.

Turn six had come at last, and it was down to my only charge, as the knights were not in range anymore. The warriors threw caution to the wind and went against the Leadbelchers, killing yet another Ogre, and taking no wounds back. Sadly he did not break.

His turn six saw his remaining two Bulls flank charge my sorcerer and kill him, plus the two guys that remained with him. Ogres 5, Chaos 4.

However, since Fantasy isn't played with Kill Points, we went to the points. In raw kills, I took out 752 while he killed 750. Both of us lost Generals, so no points there. I lost three standards and he lost two, HOWEVER, two of the standards I lost were "reclaimed" by the Knights as they slaughtered their way across the table (a good 40" from where they started). Final score saw me with 27 Victory Points - a Tie. Had I turned my Knights around, I could have increased that margin by another Leadbelcher, and possibly the two Bulls that wound up killing my General if an Overrun would have occurred, but we will never know.

My thoughts? Ogres are effin mean! Toughness 4 with that many attacks back is enough to kill any low-count unit, which it did on several occasions. Leadbelchers are just as awesome as they always have been. Maneaters do not do well as solo units. Enough about them, though.

While JavCav are great in larger games as a harrassment unit, they suck in smaller ones, so they will not be seeing action at less than 2250... or at least not against anything larger than 25mm. For all the good the Magic Phase did for me, I should have just kept my Sorcerer at Lv1 and used the points for more Warriors. The Knights were the MVP without question - taking out at least twice their points guarantees they will see action in every game. The Khorne Marauders I really can't say anything about because it was a bad roll - all hits, no wounds. The Nurgle Marauders, I wish I had something lighter to throw them against, but they still managed to hold the line until the Knights arrived. If I had to make any changes, it would have been to take the Nurgle Exalted Hero and throw him in the Nurgle Marauder unit - possibly do more damage against a more powerful regiment, but possibly not. Maybe next time I'll do a larger game against him when he gets his own models...

- Cash

My Dreaded 'Plan B' - Warriors of Chaos

2010-07-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson yet again with another 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy update. Upon further reading, I decided to come up with an alternate army list better suited to taking on "all comers." My original Warriors of Chaos list was a fluff theme based around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - four characters, four marks, nothing without a mount. With the new rules, however, the list carries with it several changes as I hope to bring this to the 'Ard Boyz in August if it works better than my greenskins (which wouldn't be hard at this point).

First up, the maximum 1+ Armour Save shaves down points on my Khorne Exalted Hero (no longer requires a shield) and Nurgle Exalted Hero (no point in taking an Enchanted Shield anymore) - they were on Juggernaut and Barded Warhorse respectively. It may not seem like a lot, but a combined 15 point reduction pays for other items of note later on.

Second, Thunderstomp strikes again with a Daemon Prince in the new list, as seen in the pic. Mark of Khorne, Diabolic Splendour, and Fury of the Blood God give him a 5+ Ward, 2+ Magic Ward, 5 Attacks + d6 Thunderstomp, Flight, and Terror/Fear at -1 Ld. For a meager 355 points, I get a Lord choice whose sole purpose is to destroy whatever happens to be in his way, plus the ability to actually survive whatever spells get thrown at him (which would probably be a lot since the new Lores are brutal).

Third, my Sorcerer of Tzeentch WAS on a Manticore so I would have a Flying, Terror model that could rip apart anything it got in combat with (Killing Blow is nothing to shake a stick at), but the Daemon Prince does a better job without risking a caster on a needless combat - 200 points dropped right there. Kept him Level 3, only I swapped out his old gear for Conjoined Homonculus and Power Familiar. This would give him +3 for his Caster Level, +1 from Mark of Tzeentch, and an additional +d3 from the Homonculus, meaning a minimum of +5 bonus on every spell he slings into the enemy, as well as 2d6+1 Power Dice per turn - as long as I don't Miscast, he will earn his points in any game. His last bit of bling also happens to be the Mask of Terror (I hate the new item name), and he gets thrown into a Tzeentch Warrior unit

Fourth, I previously ran two Slaanesh units: Exalted Hero in Chariot, and a second Slaanesh Chariot. Those were removed as I didn't have enough staying power in combat, seeing as how all my units were Cavalry, and horseback is expensive to do. Another 390 points managed to get shaved there as well, allowing me to take other units later on.

Fifth, the Khorne and Nurgle Exalted Heroes saw very few changes from how they were originally. Because of the 1+ Armour cap, I decided to kit him out with a new magic weapon, the Cleaver of Swift Slaying - at Initiative 6 with Frenzy and Always Strikes First, that gives him 5 Attacks with Re-Rolls against anything that isn't another Character with a -2 Armour Save on top of that. The other item is the Brass Collar of Khorne, granting him a total of 1+ Armour, 6+ Ward and 3+ Magic Ward (Collar + Juggernaut). As for Nurgle, the points I saved earlier allowed me to upgrade his weapon to a Filth Scythe (because why would Nurgle use a mace), meaning so long as he causes a single unsaved wound, he also causes Terror. On top of that, the Stream of Corruption gets used as well, owing to the fact that he MUST challenge, so an additional 2d6 hits could lead to some very interesting Overkill results (hooray Breath Weapons).

Sixth, my Core units are as follows: 7/7/6 Marauder Horsemen with Javelins and a Musician, 8 Khorne Marauder Horsemen with Flails and Standard, 7 Nurgle Marauder Horsemen with Light Armour/Shields and Full Command, as well as 19 Tzeentch Chaos Warriors with Full Command. This gives me four units with Vanguard Movement to cause damage early, a dedicated brick with a 6+ Ward to hide my Sorcerer Lord, and a nice unit to place my Nurgle Hero in.

Finally, my Special units saw several changes. There are 7 Nurgle Chosen with Chaos Armour, Hand Weapon, Shield, Halberd, and a Standard - 3+ Armour with either 6+ Parry or Strength 5, plus whatever I get from the Eye of the Gods roll at the start of game. Next we have 5 Khorne Knights with Champion and Standard, causing their Fear as usual, extra attack, blah blah - the Exalted Hero goes with them as well for additional fun. Upon removing the second Slaanesh unit, I decided I wanted more sawmill ability, so enter my 6 Chaos Ogres of Khorne. Using the same strategy as Ogre Kingdoms, these bad boys get a Standard, Heavy Armour and Great Weapons - front Rank gets 12 Attacks at Strength 6, back Rank gets 9 Attacks at Strength 6, plus 3 Stomp attacks at Strength 4. I expect to lose at least 2 of them before they even see combat, but Immune to Panic makes up for it - 15 Attacks with a -3 Armour Save, plus 3 more at a -1 means whatever they hit will take damage.

So how do I think this will fare in battle? Well, it's heavily armoured, though there are spells to get around that, but I can withstand enough shooting (even Drew's 80 Handjo... sorry, Handbows) to make it into combat. On top of that, this is geared for full on assault with JavCav and magic support, meaning once models start taking swings, I should be able to cause enough casualties to grind down or break units. Next we have the Vanguard push - though it loses its kick against shooty armies (which just about everyone is going to have now), I can sacrifice the JavCav to make sure the Khorne Marauders get their flails in, or at the very least tie up some of the shooting units on fodder. Another bonus for me is the Sorcerer Lord by himself, as his chance to actually FAIL casting a spell is only on a Natural 2 or 3 on 2d6 - even rolling double 2's means four of the six Tzeentch spells are cast. Finally, there's Psychology on my side this time - two units cause Terror, one has the potential to cause Terror, and three more cause Fear, with the Chosen having potential to cause Fear or Terror.

On a side note, I would like to see how Lizard, Daemon or VC players fare with the new rules, mainly because they held the cheese title for so long lately. Too bad they only come out of the woodwork when there's a tournament to spam - I guess I'll find out in August.

- Cash

Goethe returns to the coast (first dark elves game 8th ed)

2010-07-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

Dreadlord w/ halberd, armor of darkness and dawnstone

Supreme Sorceror w/ lvl 4, pendant of khaleth, screaming blade and dispel scroll

Death Hag w/ cauldron of blood

Death Hag w/ battle standard, standard of hag graef, dance of doom and cry of war

Sorceress w/ lvl 2, tome of furion and terrifying mask of eee!

Crossbowmen x12 w/ shields and musician

Corsairs x20 w/ pair of handbows and musician

Corsairs x20 w/ full command

Corsairs x18 w/ full command and sea serpent standard

Witch Elves x12 w/ hag, cry of war and musician

Excutioners x12 w/ master and musician

Shades x7

Shades x6

Repeater Bolt Thrower x4

Spells:

Level 4: Shadow - Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma, The Enfeebling Foe, The Withering and Pit of Shades

Level 2: Death - Aspect of the Dreadknight, The Caress of Laniph and The Purple Sun of Xereus

Orcs and Goblins:

Goblin Shaman w/ lvl 1 and dispel scroll

Goblin Shaman w/ lvl 1 and sneaky staff of stealing

Black Orc Warboss

Black Orc Warboss w/ battle standard

Savage Orc Warboss on Boar

Night Goblin Boss on Giant Squig

Orcs x30 w/ full command and extra hand weapon

Orcs x30 w/ full command and hand weapon/shield

Black Orcs x15 w/ full command

Night Goblins x55 w/ spears full command and fanatics x3

Night Goblins x55 w/ hand weapon/shield full command and fanatics x3

Goblin Wolf Riders x10

Goblin Spider Riders x10

Boar boys x5

Stone Throwers x2

Turn: 1 -2

The Orc And Goblin army advanced straight into a wall of crossbows, I have to admit that the only moving I did first turn was to get my units into better firing positions and my combat units moved slightly so that if an enemy tried to charge they would hit into them first.

With much luck I knocked out one of the stone throwers before it even got a shot off due to the bolt throwers. I even forgot to move my shades that were skirting his deployment though they did manage to harass a unit of black orcs for awhile with their shooting.

Handbow corsairs moved up slightly to gain range to goblin wolf riders which with almost 80 shots they removed them all from the table.

Turn: 3-4

Night Goblins sent out fanatics which did a good amount of damage to executioners and corsairs on both flanks. A unit of night goblins felt brave enough to charge my frenzied corsairs on a hill I caused nine casualties to his 2 (i have to admit rolling four out of six saves helped me). Despite being stubborn and a re-roll from a nearby battle standard he broke and was run down (thank you slavers rule).

In doing so the frenzied corsairs managed to set up a nice flank charge on my turn versus the battle standard unit. They happily charged the flank and won combat handily sending the orcs packing (killing both unit and battle standard bearers) across their own lines panicking black orks and shaman.

Handbow corsairs managed to obliterate spider rider unit with shooting, when they were charged by the boar boys with attached savage orc warboss their luck was up. Between their shooting reaction and hand to hand they brought the unit down to the standard and hero.

Turn: 5-6

Due to forgetting magic phases or rolling really low on the winds of magic it was only towards the end of the game that I really started getting spells off. Pit of shades claimed 6-8? orcs from the general's unit, I even managed to get off The Withering on the general's unit right before my executioners charged. I didn't think much of it when the spell went off, but then it occurred to me I would need 2+ anyway.. It's a good thing I made that little mistake because when my Death Hag battle standard attacked I removed SIX orcs one for every attack (3 base, xhw, frenzy AND cauldron). Add that to attacking on the flank and though the orcs put up a good fight and killed the few remaining executioners.. the lone Death Hag ran the rest of them to the ground!

At this point the only thing that was doing anything in my opponent's army is the Savage Orc Boss on boar along with champion boar boy going through back line. Even that would of been silenced with no real threats left on the field so we called it a game.

What I lost:

Shades x6

Crossbowmen x12 w/ musician and shields

Repeater Bolt Thrower

Executioners x12 w/ musician and champ

Corsairs x20 w/ double handbows and musician

about 600-700pts

What he had left:

Night Goblins x32/50

Savage Orc Big Boss w/ boar

Boar boy champion

Black Orcs x8?

Orcs w/ shields x 12?/20

My Impressions:

-Shooting-

-Firing in two ranks is great! I almost felt bad unloading double handbows into anything by simply walking into range and unleashing 80 shots. My regular crossbowmen got even more effective which is always a plus.

-No partials from templates is pretty devastating, a stone thrower managed to take a good chunk with just a glancing hit on both corsairs and executioners. Had it not destroyed itself it would of cause a HELL of a lot more trouble for me.

-Magic-

- the basic lores just got ten times more attractive than they have ever been, I have always been a fan of the shadow lore but now it just seems like a no brainer with the wide arrange of effects/debuffs it can do.

-Winds of magic does balance things out somewhat, so that no one gets absolutely steam rolled for not packing as many wizards as scroll caddies.

-Charging/Combat-

-Striking in initiative just makes my elves better so I guess I am biased, sure the enemy gets the "step up rule" which means unless you wipe out most of the unit you will receive attacks back.. But a smart player never fights fair and always aims for flank/rear attacks.. that could just be a dark elf saying though lol

-Random charges I believe are good, it makes the game more dynamic don't get me wrong I love the speed of my elves outdistancing my opponents and usually getting the charge on my opponents in past editions of warhammer. But I do have to admit it was fun NOT knowing if my enemy will fail his charge or not against my units. It's pretty easy to gauge distances especially after playing wargames for so many years that uncertainty brings a little "something" back.

-Battle Standard Bearers being VERY useful re-rolling just about any leadership test makes them invaluable... at the same time makes them a PRIME target for all enemies

- Frenzy isn't much a liability when you have high leadership and can avoid charging into things (say like a fanatic).

- Stepping up means you better have more models in your unit in order to survive a head to head charge. Because if you don't wipe out or severely damage the enemy you will still receive a healthy amount of attacks going against you.

-Though I haven't tested my fear/terror abilities yet I still stand firm by them, the ability to make an enemy WS 1. They changed the "to hit" charts slightly so that WS 1 models would hit WS 4 models on a 5+ making it less likely to take casualties if fear/terror pull through.

Other than that I eagerly await for my next game, I have always loved playing Warhammer Fantasy the only problem is that it isn't as popular as 40k. Now with an upcoming 'Ard Boyz for Fantasy and the new rulebook coming out it is the best time to get a few games in.

~Drew

The Woes of Warhammer - Greenskins Lose Hard

2010-07-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

Cash Johnson with a second in a series of Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition posts. Last time I remarked on what I liked about the new rules in relation to my own greenskin horde - having actually played a large game (3000 pt 'Ard Boyz list). Unfortunately, training against Drew is a blessing and a curse in most instances; while I'm guaranteed a good challenge, it's still a hell of a challenge, and the 'Ard Boyz isn't exactly a fair fight to begin with. So what went right? What went wrong?

Well for starters, I totally forgot about the Vanguard deployment move, which would have gotten two units within a Turn 2 charge range right off the bat. Seeing as how it was the only rule I forgot that made any difference, I'm going to have to put that down as the biggest downfall. Then again, seeing as how, without an Errata or FAQ to tell us otherwise, Drew was able to Stand and Shoot with 72 handbow shots we may have to wait for an update for the rematch. XD

The twin Night Goblin Shamans also didn't work well, but that was more deployment than anything. Rather than trust them in the giant bricks, I left them on foot - both times I got magic missiles, so I felt it was better to place them where enemies were closer rather than get stuck with Animosity. They weren't as effective as I'd hoped, the scroll caddy dying on turn one, and the other constantly unable to score hits against Drew. The Staff of Sneaky Stealin', however, was the MVP item - a low roll round left Drew with 2 Power Dice to my 3 Dispels, and I had to teach him the new order of spell casting, resulting in my Dispel on a 15. The change here will most likely be upgrading from two gobbos to an Orc Shaman (or Great Shaman depending how points go).

As far as the Night Goblins themselves, they will stay. The only serious losses they sustained were due more to bad rolling than terrible armour or low Leadership - rolled an 11, then re-rolled another 11 from the BSB aura, fell back, and was eaten alive by Dark Elf Corsairs (stupid slavers). Better deployment would be the only change I make, as the meat shield has its uses.

The Boar Boyz and Savage Warboss did their job incredibly well, though. A 19" charge tore through a Corsair unit, turned around, survived a Reaper Bolt Thrower, charged that the next turn, killed the crew, overran into a Warrior unit, killed them, and would have charged into another Bolt Thrower crew if the game wasn't over. Not bad for 6 models (though the Boyz were taken down to just a Standard Bearer and Warboss). XD

The Boyz themselves also receive no changes, as they didn't really do much of anything bad to deserve punishment. A hole was broken in my right flank, and the Dark Elves poured into it as best they could. Change up deployment. That's about it - they're the heavier core of the army.

Black Orcs will receive a new change - take one less unit, bulk up the one unit to at least 20. Two units just wasn't effective at all, and only managed to take 12 casualties, chase Shades off the board, and then die to Bolt Thrower fire the next turn.

Another good option to keep will still be the Rock Lobbas - the crew receive Toughness 7, and no more partials has a greater statistic advantage. From now on, however, park them behind hills wherever possible.

As for the General and BSB, I'm going to have to see about throwing different Magic Items around, probably a Magic Standard on the BSB. The General will need something better, however, and I will have to look into what. Also, I'm not sure about where they were placed in the amy anyway. Dual Black Orc characters didn't need to Quell Animosity in the Boyz, but that doesn't mean they won't need it another time. Will have to experiment with these until I find something better.

In all, my battle plan and deployment was my biggest enemy, as well as that one fatal Leadership failure (twin 11's). Drew did excellent as always, though I think being able to double tap and Stand and Shoot may need an errata. Way too broken to be legal. While the ability to always fight in two ranks is a greater advantage for me, as well as always getting to swing back, it also means more elite enemy units can tear into my own units more effectively. Points will have to be reworked, units reformed, and Mk.2 will come about soon enough - thankfully I still have plenty of units that didn't get thrown in this time around. Maybe monsters, maybe shooting, maybe a warboss on wyvern. Good thing the 'Ard Boyz isn't for another 2 months.

- Cash

Reaction to 8th Edition Fantasy - Greenskins

2010-07-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

First post of the series by myself, Cash Johnson, focusing on the most successful Warhammer Fantasy army I own, Orcs & Goblins. Most of what I have seen on internet forums focuses on general aspects of the new rules set, and what is going to be the most prevalent combination of units/items/rules/etc to see in every army. Well that's fine if plastic men are the only way you feel good about yourself, but I play for sport and enjoyment - it's still a game after all. Therefore, I have ignored everything other people have said about what they plan to change to have the most broken armies and concentrate entirely on my own.

The start of my Fantasy greenskins was with the Battle for Skull Pass box set. While I liked the look of the Dwarfs, I have always been a huge fan of the Waaagh, plus the starter came with a sizable number of goblins and a plastic troll, which was more than I could say for the stunties. After that, came the large army box, which filled in the rest of the horde nicely. After that, many boxes of Orcs, Black Orcs, and Night Goblins, plus Fanatics and war machines.

Which brings me to my play style - the horde press. Create walls of infantry, put bigger stuff behind it and go. Since Animosity tends to ruin the best battle plans, I opt for the simple approach. March, release Fanatics, and grind down units as they come. So after reading the 8th Edition rules, I decided to not stray from this tried and true method. Some of my strategies improved drastically, and some of the options I never considered are now open to me. Surprisingly, very little of the new rules damage my army. And so, the reactions:

Pros:
1. The Horde Rule - I already ran Night Goblin units in massive bricks, originally 46 and 50. Now both bricks are at 55 each, and one with spears - something about receiving a charge and getting 40 attacks back makes me all tingly.

2. Random Charges - Instead of a standard 8" charge, I'd get an average of 9-11", meaning opponents would have to fear my Fanatics and Animosity even more. Unexpected surges of movement can close the charge gaps quicker now with lucky rolling. On top of that, it allows me to coordinate the Waaagh better, seeing as how I will usually get an extra couple inches on a charge.

3. New Magic Rules - I never took Shamans unless I needed Dispel Dice. I relied on weight of attacks and cannon fodder to do the work for me, and didn't trust dice to choose my spells for me. Now that even a Lv 1 Shaman can cast a 10+ spell with ease, I figure on taking two Night Goblin Shamans in games, a total of 175 points for the pair. On top of that, the Staff of Sneaky Stealin' becomes the most valuable item I could have, since Power Dice are limited to dice rolls instead of stacked pools - the chance to get more Dispels than the enemy can use is another tingly feeling.

4. Indirect Fire - My Shooting phases always consisted of 4 Spear Chukkas, always. Hitting on 4's, wounding almost everything on 2's, and hitting across the table. I had killed a giant and a stegadon with them before the new rules for stone throwers came out. Now I will take the same 140 points and reinvest in two Rock Lobbas. Indirect Fire gives me two turns of twin boulders raining on the enemy as I march up, and probably stay parked out of sight in the process - in addition, there are no more partial hits, so hitting 6 is vastly improved over having to roll to wound 6 times.

5. New Cavalry Rules - Like Shamans, Cavalry were something I didn't bother with. They moved faster than the rest of the army, so they would always be vulnerable until the bulk of my horde reached the battle. However, thanks to Surestride, cav units become more lethal when used en masse - several units getting a 16-19" charge makes a combined Turn 2 push possible. On top of that, I own Spiders and Wolves, so the Vanguard movement at the start of the game GUARANTEES a Turn 2 assault. But the biggest improvement is the inclusion of the Boar Boy Big 'Unz, with Gork's Waaagh Banner - 7+3d6 (dropping lowest) plus another d6" increases the charge threat to 17-21" with a maximum of 25" for a third unit that can charge on Turn 2.

6. Premeasures - A warboss' new best friend, the ability to premeasure everything means Fanatic releases and Waaagh rolls are MUCH easier to coordinate. End of story.

7. Characters and Items - Because characters are based on points instead of slots, every unit could realistically take a Hero in addition to a Command Squad, each with a Magic Item geared towards whatever the unit needs. On top of that, Battle Standards become even more important in a low Ld army -ANY Ld-based test can be re-rolled within 12", and the number of magic banners available (and so cheap) can jack up the effectiveness of any unit.

8. Improved Giants - Thunderstomp. That's all - Thunderstomp.

9. Waaagh Miscast - With the dangers other armies have to face, I'm incredibly at ease with rolling a Miscast. On the main table, every roll is a tragedy waiting to happen. On my table, I just have to avoid rolling a 2-4 or 7 as a final result to skate around the worst. 36% is a much better risk than 100%.

Cons:
1. Fanatic Control - While increased charge range is great, my Night Goblins can never charge before releasing their Fanatics. Before, my charge range was 8", which is where my Fanatics were released from anyway. Now, I have to make the decision to attempt a charge or release them and get charged - while Fanatics would be a great start of a two part combo, I'm not guaranteed to get them into contact with the enemy unit, meaning I would take 2d6 hits per Fanatic, possibly Panic from my own charge, and Flee just like that.

2. Monstrous Cavalry - My lucky gobbo cruise missile loses 2 wounds because of the new Unit Type rules. Night Goblin Boss on Giant Cave Squig is my great random unit, and so far I am the only person I know who owns one who can use it correctly (aim it at specific, easy targets, like solos or war machines). At 94 points, and a -4 Armour Save penalty (Sneaky Skewerer), it would usually last 2-3 turns before it was killed. Now with two less wounds, and the ability for units to get extra attacks in combat just by standing there, and the fact that trees no longer block LoS, he has to be mixed in with several units to make sure he gets where he needs to go.

These are just initial impressions - the actual performance on the table will be the test, though if I stick to the original plan of marching up under artillery fire, I should be just fine.

- Cash

Valhallan Ice Warriors

2010-05-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well since I dont post a lot on my blog Drew suggested just to make my posts on his blog. This past weekend I finally started painting up my Valhallans. I went for a simple grey color scheme that I think works well with the snow on the bases. It really gives the model that feel of being from an ice world. Here are some pics of the first squad I painted. Leave some feedback for me.

-Mikey H

'Ard Boyz 2010 qualifiers: Game 3

2010-05-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

For the final game we had to play an Annihilation Scenario with modified KP mission that gave extra KP if a certain unit can move more than 6" in a given phase. I had to again face one of my team members (it is inevitable...) but Hoj had a much stronger list though the modified KP meant it was going to be an uphill struggle for him. He had:

Demon Prince w/ wings, mark of slannesh and lash of submission
Demon Prince w/ wings, mark of slannesh and lash of submission
Generic Greater Demon

Khorne Berzerkers x10 in land raider
Plague Marines 5x7? w/ melta guns
Obliterators 2x3

Chosen x5 w/ melta gun x4
Chosen x5 w/ plasma gun x4

I'm not quite sure what else may have been in the army but I did fear all those plasma cannon shots going my way from those obliterators. Even with a piece of LOS blocking terrain in the dead center eventually one of us would have to peek around to get anywhere or get ambushed.

The game turned into a real shoot em up game, though Hoj was pretty tired at this point and made a few errors. Like not finishing off squads when they were down to one or two members. Me retreating them and hiding them behind LOS blocking terrain also helped.

At this point of the evening Hoj was pretty tired and was convinced that he would be out if the running so played a bit sloppy and demoralized. So anytime one of my units was in danger of being wiped out I would run them away so that he couldn't get any KP for them. Though the game lasted until the very last turn mainly due to me not having very far range weaponry and firing dozens of missiles at his obliterators hoping they fail their 2+ save. Eventually it worked and I tabled Hoj and moved enough of my units to get all the bonus points.

Post game:
After the game I wandered about to see the main table that pitted my friend Jon versus a friendly player using Leafblower guard. Unfortunately for the guard player he was playing a scenario that was heavily weighed against him, though at a glance it seemed regardless of scenario he would of had a really rough time winning against Jon killa kan wall with horde of orks...

When it came down for placement I was surprised to learn that I was actually vaulted into 2nd place thanks to Jon beating his opponent handily. My strategy for the the tournament seemed to work better than intended, I was shooting for third but got second! The way I figured it as long as you you don't massacre your opponent first round you will not be paired against the "hardest" lists of the tournament. Sure this is all based purely on luck some might say but in this case it completely worked! lets hope that luck keeps up as I cruise into the semi-finals!

'Ard Boyz 2010 qualifiers: Game 1

2010-05-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

The first game of the day I fought against a fellow named Stuart, who brought along his blood angel army sporting a lot of 3rd edition miniatures which is always a plus in my book! He brought along:

Reclusiarch w/ jump pack (leads death company)

Furioso Dreadnought

Tactical Squad x10 w/ melta gun and plasma cannon in rhino
Tactical Squad x10 w/ melta gun and missile launcher in rhino
Assault Squad x10 w/ jump packs, melta gun, vet sarge w/ power weapon
Assault Squad x10 w/ jump packs, melta gun, vet sarge w/ thunder hammer
Death Company x13 w/ thunder hammer jump packs
Death Company Dreadnought

Baal Predator w/ pintle mounted storm bolter
Land Speeder w/ typhoon missile launcher
Land Speeder w/ Multi-melta and assault cannon

Vindicator
Vindicator
Whirldwind

The mission was Seize Ground with 5 objectives, bonus battle points for: killing the most scoring units, killing more of the opponent's HQ, killing highest point unit and having more scoring units in your opponents deployment zone.

Deployment:
His
Left Flank: assault squad, land speeder (melta/cannon) and tactical squad in rhino
Center: death company, two vindicators, baal predator, land speeder (typhoon) and furioso dreadnought
Right Flank: assault squad and death company dreadnought

deep into his deployment was an objective guarded by a whirlwind and tactical squad with rhino.

My deployment was fairly simple all my grey hunters went as far back as possible to avoid combat by the second turn. My long fangs hugged board edges to get excellent fields of fire regardless of turn.

The Game:
Turns: 1-2
First and second turn his fire did a few casualties here and there I believe on squad of grey hunters went down pretty quickly. First turn the rune priest cast "Jaws of the World Wolf" catching five models including his Reclusiarch... in an unexpected turn of events ALL of the models caught died! I followed up by virtually obliterating the rest of the death company via 14 missiles of the long fangs and random bolter fire so only two survived.

Turns: 3-4
The last two survivors of the death company get assault by my grey hunters including the wolf guard with thunder hammer. Amazingly one is still left alive in a dragging combat when the furioso dreadnought decides to join in, thankfully I thought ahead of time and led the thunder hammer wielding wolf guard on the edge of combat expecting a dreadnought to join in. Though I took a few casualties I knocked out the dread and stayed in combat versus the lone thunder hammer wielding death company who was having trouble hitting.

My blood claws with attached wolf priest managed to chew through his tactical unit on the charge and when they were eventually charged by the assault marines they polished them off also! After neutralizing any threat on my left flank they advanced jumping from cover to cover.

An assault squad and dreadnought jumped onto one of my depleted grey hunter packs near an objective mauling them with a handful of casualties. At this point some of my units were barely holding on and a lucky round of shooting could of changed things easily.

By the end of turn four I believe I managed to knock out both vindicators and shot down a weaponless land speeder that was trying to contest and objective.

Turn: 5

Both forces are looking worse for wear so he starts by driving his baal predator onto an objective and backs it with the surviving dreadnought. He strings a tactical squad across two objectives in his deployment with a typhoon land speeder for good measure. Ineffectual fire from the baal predator ends his shooting without much effect.

He jumps an assault squad onto a depleted grey hunter squad, counter attack does me proud though and cause I more casualties than they can dish out. With "no retreat" tacking on another wound or two against the assault marines.

A time warning starts my turn and I know this will be the last gasp to make or break the game so I set about my business. So far it's one objective a piece so I had to get lucky in order to win. I wasn't thinking straight and took a gamble ran up my double melta gun grey hunters to the baal predator and hoped my scouts (with combi melta/melta gun) could deal with the dread giving me another objective.

Things worked out on on this turn though I did manage to nuke the baal predator despite shooting at the rear of the dreadnought either the scouts shots missed or didn't roll high enough! Which means I wasted a perfectly good scoring unit for nothing.

Luck decided otherwise, for all the bad rolls versus the dread the rest of my grey hunters walloped the assault marines and made the lone survivor head for the hills. Thankfully for me I failed to catch him leaving me free to consolidate back onto one of my home objectives!

Thanks to my blood claws barely being within one of his objectives it was 2-1 in my favor and I garnered myself a victory with 2 bonus points killing his highest unit (death company) and killing the most scoring units (only his tactical squad in his deployment survived scoring wise).

Post Game Thoughts:

It was a very close run game and it was down to the final roll, I have to say Stuart was a great opponent and a great sport. We didn't have any rules quarrels and ew both had our moments of good and bad luck. With that being said my first turn "Jaws of the World Wolf" caused way more damage than I thought I was going to get. I assumed that I would tag a model or two, but when he failed his chaplains initiative test with a 6 my jaw dropped. Followed by 5,5,6 and 6 for the four death company unlucky enough to be right behind him I honestly couldn't think of anything better.

I knew that if the death company approached my lines with anything near full strength they would tie up units until their buddies arrived. With that in mind I focused most of my fire on them and slowly backed away buying me a few turns to organize my units and focus on his piece meal.

If I had to do anything differently I should of used one of my scout units to knock out his whirlwind (in deployment) and hide behind it's wreck out of LOS from the tactical squad to thin out their number. Also I should of run with the blood claws one turn instead of trying to knock out the land speeder. It would of ensured that I would of reached combat and at the end of the game I would of been 2-0 objectives in my favor.

Survivors:
Whirldwind
Death Company Dreadnought
7-8 tactical marines

Rune Priest
Wolf Priest x2
Blood Claws 6/10
Grey Hunters 5/10
Grey Hunters 3/10
Grey hunters 6/10
Long Fangs 7/7
Long Fangs 3/7

'Ard Boyz 2010 qualifiers: Game 2

2010-05-17T18:46:00.001-07:00

My second game was victory points and table quarters with spearhead deployment, good to see VP again in the game I have always preferred it to KP any day! My opponent was Cash one of our own crew regrettably he built a list using models he had at hand rather than what he wanted. This is what he brought to the table:

Chaplain w/ terminator armor and melta bombs (with death company)
Librarian w/ terminator armor (with terminators)

Assault Terminators x6 w/ lightning claws x4 thunder hammer/storm shields x2

Death company x21 w/ thunder hammer x2
Tactical Squad x10 w/ power fist and melta gun
Tactical Squad x10 w/ power first and melta gun
Tactical Squad x10 w/ plasma pistol, plasma gun and missile launcher
Tactical Squad x10 w/ plasma pistol, plasma gun and missile launcher
Assault Squad x10 w/ power weapon, melta gun x2, no jump packs

Dreadnought w/ tl lascannons and missile launcher
Dreadnought w/ tl lascannons and missile launcher
Predator Annihilator w/ tl lascannons and sponson lascannons

Terrain was a shelled out city with clear LOS through the center with a few pieces of scattered cover. A few buildings skirted the edges of the board blocking LOS for anything close enough to them.

Cash deployed his terminators and death company towards the center while all his infantry and dreadnoughts took solace in the cover of buildings. On my corner I just deployed my infantry in wide straight lines and set up a gun line waiting for the blood angels to come and get me. Had my long fangs on flanks to get some enfilade fire out behind lines of marines with my blood claws on a flank behind a building ready to advance on the side and pounce on isolated units.

The game went by pretty fast the death company spent the game eating missiles and random fire while approaching my line. Every time I felt the terminators were too close I would fall back and have other squads provide covering fire. Cash knew from the beginning that he would be outclassed but tried to see how much damage he could cause. But when all was said and done I earned a massacre result with two bonus points for holding two table quarters and contesting his quarter.

Post Game Thoughts:
There isn't much I would change as part of my battle plan seeing as I one so handily. thought I didn't report it a round of shooting made my long fangs almost fall off the table. Thankfully they had just enough room to regroup and keep on firing. But if I were to change anything it would be to be more aggressive on my right flank and chase the rest of the tactical marines out of the building to claim even more quarters.

Survivors:
Chaplain
Librarian
Assault Terminators 3/6?
Dreadnought?
Tactical Marines about 6-8? split into two squads I believe.

My whole army minus two wolf scout units, a grey hunter unit and an odd man or so in a few grey hunter squads.

'Ard Boyz 2010 qualifiers: List

2010-05-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

HQ
Wolf Priest w/ runic armor
Wolf Priest w/ jump pack and wolf tail talisman
Rune Priest w/ terminator armor
Rune Priest w/ beastslayer saga

TROOPS
Grey Hunters x10 w/ flamer x2, mark of the wulfen and wolf standard
Wolf Guard w/ frost blade

Grey Hunters x10 w/ meltagun x2
Wolf Guard w/ thunder hammer and storm bolter

Grey Hunters x10 w/ plasma gun x2 and plasma pistol
Wolf Guard w/ plasma pistol and frost blade

Grey Hunters x10 w/ flamer x2 power fist
Wolf Guard w/ terminator armor and power fist

Grey Hunters x10 w/ flamer x2
Wolf Guard w/ terminator armor and power fist

ELITES
Wolf Scouts x5 w/ melta gun and plasma pistol x2
Wolf Guard w/ plasma pistol

Wolf Scouts x5 w/ melta and plasma pistol x2
Wolf Guard w/ combi melta

FAST ATTACK
Blood Claws w/ jump packs and flamer
Wolf Guard w/ jump pack and power fist

HEAVY SUPPORT
Long Fangs x6 w/ missile launcher x5
Wolf Guard w/ terminator armor and cyclone missile launchers

Long Fangs x6 w/ missile launcher x5
Wolf Guard w/ terminator armor and cyclone missile launchers

The list i'm taking to 'ard boyz is a no frills list, it doesn't rely on gimmicks or broken combos, bending of rules or anything of that sort. It is a horde of counter attacking marines, being an ork player first I find this very pleasing to have a wave of infantry backed up by a good 3+ save.

My list lacks mobility for scoring units but in most cases I just send the scouts or jump packers to harass enemy objectives and make some last minute dashes to contest while firmly holding my own. Though I would love to get more than just flamers in most of my grey hunters I simply do not have any other special weapons for now. So I guess i'll just have to make do till I gain a few more special weapon marines.

In most of my games I have found that against most armies that don't rely all on shooting I can advance a bit and form a nice firing line. If an enemy engages I have more than enough stopping power to defeat them in assault.

The Coven of Devious Intent (Mordheim)

2010-04-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

Leader of the expedition is Fabian is magister of the "Coven of Devious Intent" sent to Mordheim by the request of his patron to search for items of power. Though he is not a full practitioner of the dark arts " " has learned how to call upon the glory of Slannesh to bless one of his warriors by mutating their body instantly.

Fabian, Master of Rituals
Magister with spear and "eye of god" spell

Once a pit fighter who brought hundreds of adoring fans to their knees with his artful skill with his mace. He was sold when his master fell upon bad times, dissatisfied when robbed of his former glories Gregol escaped bondage and came across the cult of pleasure. Instantly seduced by the promise of glory and other sinful delights, Gregol quickly earned the favor of the dark prince who blessed him with various mutations including a tentacle like arm.

Gregol
Mutant with mace and tentacle mutation

The Masques of Delight as they are known are true devotees of the prince of pleasure, relishing every sensation of combat as they battle foes that would be even those with the stoutest of heart tremble to face. Though some may balk at their gaudy costumes and their apparent lack of skill with their weaponry none can doubt their devotion in protecting their charge.

The Masques of Delight
Dark Souls with axe x2

Drawn into the cult of pleasure with dreams of great fame and glory these low born peasants follow Fabian into the very depths of the city of the damned. Armed with bows and not much else these brethren are on their road to damnation.

Initiates of Bliss
Brethren with bow x3

Attracted by the lure of rape and pillage this trio of beastmen have signed dark blood pacts with Fabian. Mutated by the powers of chaos these beasts usually wear a hood to hide their identity when traveling through the streets of Mordheim to not raise any suspicions. Too late many an opponent has confused their unnatural constitution as an elaborate costume.

Rapturous Beasts
Beastmen with mace x3

Gold Crowns: 13
Equipment: None

This is my list for an upcoming Mordheim campaign that we are planning to run at the local store. I'm taking a big gamble on my henchmen hoping that either a beastman or dark soul can roll up "Lads got talent" result for experience making one VERY talented hero.

I am using a mix of random bits and Brettonian miniatures to make my warband as it will be the precursor to my Slannesh themed Brettonian army. After all Brettonians have so much pride and appreciation of the arts I don't see why an errant lord would not be seduced by Slannesh. There are still a few things I have to work out story wise but that is the basic groundwork.

* Since I already have everything just about converted I should be posting a few pictures by the days end in which case this post will be edited. Till then!

Tentative Gen Con Schedule!

2010-04-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

Thursday
2-3pm: Firestorm: Invasion (NMN1013519)
4-6pm: Foam Fighting Tournament (ZED1009018)
7-11pm: Injurius Games Tournament Qualifier (NMN1012441)

Friday

10-11am: Strange Aeons Intro (NMN1011015)
12-2pm: Morton's List: Let the Boulders Hit the Floor (ZED1013584)
2-3pm: Hell Dorado Intro (NMN1011020)
5-8pm: MERCS (NMN1007943)
8-9pm: Zombie Walk (ZED1008738)
9-10pm: Leviathans Demo (NMN1012253)

Saturday
10am-2pm: AE WWII Campaign (NMN1011355)
2pm-6pm: Pulp City Tournament (NMN1010530)
7-11pm: Injurius Games Tournament Final (NMN1012625)

Sunday
10am-130pm: Paranoia: Botapocalpse (RPG1010204)

Not much of an update really but thought I should post this just in case anyone else is going to the same events. If you do not know what Gen Con is you should take a look, it is one of the biggest gaming conventions in the US. Sporting just about every walk of game out there (miniature, card, role playing etc) as well as a dealers hall that is the size of a small village it is an annual tradition in our group.

Every year I set goals to play in certain games and due to time restraints or other distraction I miss out. This year I promised I would be diverse in what I do, enter foam weapon fighting, dressing up like a zombie, playing in an rpg and finally finding out what all this talk of "Morton's List" is all about.

Rest assured that I have not spent my time idly between painting the space wolves ever so slowly and moving my other projects along I actually have quite a few things to post up in the blog. With that said expect pictures of various unrelated projects before the month's end.

The Might of the Wolves!

2010-04-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

Here is my typical 1850 list, I haven't made many modifications if any to this list because it seems to work well regardless of my opponent. Having about 10 games with the list everything works the way I thought it would. I am still on the fence about keeping runic armor on my Wolf Priests but other than that not sure what else I would change.

Edrigar (Rune Priest) w/ terminator armor
Agnar (Wolf Priest) w/ runic armor, jump pack and melta bombs
Gudrun (Wolf Priest) w/ runic armor

Wolf Priests are really indispensable with their "Oath of War" ability giving them "preferred enemy" they can usually decimate most things one the charge. Making the squad they are joined with fearless also has great benefit by taking away the worry that even with high leadership I don't have to test for casualties.

The Rune Priest usually takes "Murderous Hurricane" and "Living Lightning" even against MEQs hurricane works wonders thanks to the dangerous terrain tests. Mind you the power doesn't say it has to wound anyone in order to take effect. Lightning is used to add some range to the wolves and pick on light tanks

Grey Hunters x10 w/ flamer x2, berzerker (mark of the wulfen) and wold standard
led by Wolf Guard w/ frost blade
supported by Razorback w/ twin linked lascannons

Grey Hunters x10 w/ melta gun x2
led by Wolf Guard w/ storm bolter and thunder hammer
supported by Razorback w/ twin linked lascannons

Grey Hunters x10 w/ plasma gun x2 and plasma pistol
led by Wolf Guard w/ plasma pistol and power weapon
supported by Razorback w/ twin linked lascannons

The bread and butter of my forces the thirty Grey Hunters are actually quite useful, especially now that they carry just about every tool for the job. Thanks to the "counter attack" special rule I can sit tight and rapid fire my bolters then wait for the charge to switch to pistols and close combat weapons.

Razorbacks provide the army with some long range AT fire, they are constantly moving about getting better angles at enemy vehicles. All else fails I have them gun it to an objective to contest.

Bloodclaws with Jump Packs w/ flamer
led by Wolf Guard w/ storm bolter, powerfist and jump pack

At the forefront of every battle are my Blood Claws led by one of the Wolf Priests, I have to say this unit never fails to make some sort of impact on the game on way or another. I already have tall tales of their insane acts of bravery, including a game where after eliminating a squad of enemies the whole enemy line fired at them causing near to 20-30 odd some wounds only killing 1-2 Blood Claws! They seem to shrug off an extraordinary amount of small arms fire.

Wolf Scouts x6 w/ plasma pistol x2 and melta gun
led by Wolf Guard w/ combi-melta

The scouts always do their duty show up mess up someones shiny tank and leave the field. No really after they are done knocking out a tank they usually launch an assault soon after cause a few casualties and run away. I have to start assuming that it is all part of their plan...

Long Fangs x6 w/ missile launcher x5
led by Wolf Guard w/ terminator armor and cyclone missile launcher

Nothing says loving like 7 missiles to a tank or squad, no need for subtlety just put the Long Fangs in a good fire position and let loose. Even if I have to move around the Wolf Guard's cyclone missile launcher can still fire!

Death in the marsh land..

2010-02-23T02:51:00.000-08:00

The stench of rot and decay lurked deep in the marshlands just south of the command post, patrols were sent out to search for any still functioning defenses the planet may have had before the warp storms. Rune Priest Edrigar led his pack ahead of their razorback that was slowly threading through the marsh. Guarding their left flank was another pack of Grey Hunters razorback in tow advancing cautiously.

Edrigar sniffed the air and snarled, but before a warning could be given the Death Guard had sprung their trap. The Death Guard sprung from the ground, bolt guns barked as they let loose their munitions. Their rhinos added to the volume of fire launching toxin filled canisters among the Space Wolves. A large gurgled roar came booming and a winged demon prince flew over head it's large bloated body held aloft by membranous wings.

After the initial shock the Space Wolves quickly set about to push back their enemy and take the bastion that was now in their sights. Edrigar could see in his mind's eye as the reinforcements started to respond to their call. A Wolf Priest led his howling Blood Claws spiraling into a unit of death guard, as if possessed by the spirit of Russ himself the aspirants slaughtered the traitors.

So eager were they to get into grips with the enemy that they recklessly advanced through a hail of enemy fire. Heedless to any danger the Blood Claws laughed insanely as they dove into another enemy squad ripping them apart in an animal like frenzy before taking to the skies again. They seemed all but invincible as small arms fire pattered off their armor like rain drops before they carved a bloody path through the enemy.

The hubris of the demon prince was made apparent as it landed onto the ground and gurgled a roar at the oncoming Grey Hunter pack. Lesser men would of quaked in fear of such a sight, but these were not men they were giants and they gladly met this challenge with a toothy grin. Flame units were activated and they bathed the demon prince creating a towering inferno before the Grey Hunters moved in bolt pistols firing. Despite being wounded the demon prince swung it's rotten fists and swatted aside the first few marines in arms reach.

Practiced veterans that they were the remainder of the pack set about attacking the demon prince in unison knives and chainswords biting deep into the flesh of the demon. It was Brakkus the berzerker who finally laid the killing blow upon the brow of the demon prince splitting his skull in two with his mighty meat clever of an ax. With a loud screech the demon prince seemed to melt and disappear back to the warp from which it was spawned.

Edrigar was not idle as he moved his pack over look a hill firing on any death guard that were foolish enough to leave their transports. Summoning eldritch powers Edrigar flung bolts of energy from his hands dissolving armor and flesh alike. Chanting words of power Edrigar slammed his fist on the ground creating a chasm that swallowed the death guard into an earthy grave before sealing itself up much to the amusement of the old Rune Priest.

The battle raged as the Space Wolves relentlessly pressed on against the resilient Death Guard, their bloated bodies absorbing vicious blows that would fell even ordinary astartes not corrupted by the powers of chaos. But even in their madness they knew they could not hold back the Space Wolf assault and they called for the retreat slowly falling back while their rhinos covered them. The Death Guard had been routed and headed back into the marsh to consolidate their forces, the ferocity of the Space Wolves carried the day.

This was my first campaign game against a Death Guard (all plague marine force) player who relied primarily on a rhino wall all equipped with havoc launchers. At first glance I didn't see them as much of a threat but once they kept piling on wounds and made one of my Grey Hunter packs run off the table I definitely made them a priority!

MVP: Blood Claws with jump packs along with Wolf Priest Agnar running through 3 squads of plague marines and a rhino or two. Making armor saves by the buckets and contesting an objective.

LVP: Grey Hunter pack that ran off the table, had they made their test the demon prince would of met his doom by mass plasma fire!

As I get more games in with my Space Wolves I am becoming more confident in each units capabilities. In the next post I hope to put up my army list and reasoning why I took certain selections along with any tactical information I may have drawn up. till then.

Establishing a foothold..

2010-02-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

Turn: 1
The mighty engines of the thunder hawks roaring overhead were almost deafening as they ferried building materials from the 'Might of Russ' that lay in low orbit. The Space Wolf camp was in a flurry of activity setting up defenses and securing the perimeter of what would the forward command post on this planet. Establishing radio contact with anyone on the planet seemed futile, only short wave radios or microbeads seemed to work with any regularity.

Warpstorms covered several parts of the planet causing the Imperial forces to fracture and scatter across the world. Now with little to no radio contact they were forced to rely on scouts for intel. From what they gathered it seemed as if the planet was swallowed up by several ork warbands fighting for domination over one another. That was until Imperial forces showed up now they are slowly banding together into a great 'WAAAAGH' those that do not swear fealty to the warlord are quickly put to the sword.

Turn: 2-3
After the fortifications were built the Space Wolf force advanced to examine the surrounding areas looking for clues leading to the where abouts of the population. Sadly for all their efforts all that they could find was an abandoned run down city and more barren wastelands. The chapter's Rune Priests tried to search the ether for answers but the warp storms made it impossible to read the strands of fate with any accuracy.

Despite the set backs long range scout patrols have returned and brought good news to the Space Wolf camp, they successfully established communications with the Salamanders chapter in the north and the 208th Valhallan regiment in the south. This planet is doomed to be over run by the tide of orks it is only a matter of when this will come to pass...

With my Space Wolves all but finished assembly wise I set about in the campaign surrounding the areas around my HQ. Which led for the first few turns claiming empty space, reasoning that if I attacked someone there might be a chance I fail and gain nothing. While if I defended I would be able claim the square and any ties go to the defender.

Sorry for the lack of picture updates my mother decided to go on vacation for three weeks and nabbed my camera! Pictures coming soon but for now I plot on how I will put up a staunch defense!

The wolves draw first blood..

2010-02-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

Warp travel had always unsettled the old wolf, it was best not to contemplate the horrors that astropaths must go through to navigate the ether. Just a few days more and they would be at Din Kaldir to find out the whereabouts of the population and uncover other mysteries surrounding the planet. The ship lay in orbit on one of the many Imperial held worlds sending shuttles for more supplies as the astropaths momentarily rested before they were on the last leg of the journey.

The Priest's aide arrived yet again waiting to be acknowledged, he didn't care much for the man. He wasn't a native of Fenris for one, he was a plump smug man if he could be called that... a plump coward who would rather hide behind a stack of papers than battle an enemy face to face. He rarely left the safety of the ship and on the rare occasion he would make planet fall he would bemoan his misfortune.

With a gesture from the Priest the aide burst into an incessant chatter of information, from remaining energy stores to the cleanliness of the ship. Just when it seemed as if the aide was finished he added "in minor news the natives have requested our help against ork warbands ravaging their lands... I of course took the liberty of telling them the appropriate Imperial response will take six to eight standard months..." the Wolf Priest stared straight at the aide and bellowed "we can take the supplies of these people and we cannot aide them in peril!?!". The aide gulped "but sir... if we are to make..." the priest stormed off mid-sentence as the klaxons sounded... the wolves were off to war.

Within the hour a contingent of Space Wolves were deployed to the planet and on the hunt for the ork raiders. There was a low rumble as the Razorbacks slowly advanced their lascannons slowly scanning the surrounding area for a sign of the orks. Over the micro bead the wolf scouts reported that the orks were coming in mass. With the order given the wolves quickly jumped off the sides of the Razor back and formed a battle line waiting bolters ready.

In the distance a faint noise became a noisy rumble as the orks came clamoring onto the battle field firing their weapons in the air on their way to the villages. The wolves acted quickly and took the initiative a lascannon shot managed to strike true and stun a battlewagon full of orks. The Rune Priest spotted an ork carrying a a huge contraption on his back as he made his way atop a building cackling. He smiled to himself as his pupils went white and he began incantations, pointing two fingers at the ork lightning shot out of his fingertips electrocuting the ork and sending him off the roof off the building with a resounding thud.

"None shall get past us!" proclaimed the Wolf Priest as his banner bearer planted the wolf standard seconds before the orks smashed against their lines. The first wave of orks were Nobs huge hulking beasts made of muscle armed with the best weapons. Despite their ferocity the vicious counter attack from the wolves sent what remained of the Nobs running back towards their lines defeated and bloodied.

Though they were victorious the wolves did not get a chance to rest as the second wave of orks smashed into their lines. Though not as strong as nobs the pure weight of numbers were weighing the marines down in combat. A true testament to the stock of Leman Russ, despite being vastly outnumbered the wolves did not give up the fight hacking and slashing all around them.

Relief came with a howl as the Blood Claws rained death from the sky as they fell upon the bewildered orks. The young aspirants carving a bloody reputation into the orks scattering them to the winds as they chased after them blood lust in their eyes.

On the left flank the Rune Priest's squad was slowly being surrounded by waves of orks, only his fell powers keeping them at bay. The orks were slowly running out of bodies to throw at the Space Wolves, but even space marines are not invincible to waves of enemies. Things were starting to look bleak as marines fell, ork bodies piled high around them.

Just as it seemed the battle line was about to strain the scouts master infiltrators and saboteurs arrived behind the enemy. Taking delight in pouncing on unsuspecting orks loitering in the back of the lines firing their rockets hooting at the impressive fire works. It was the last thing they knew as the scouts quickly stabbed and shot them with their silenced weapons before planting explosives on the damaged battle wagon that was trying to get itself out of a ditch. The scouts disappeared into the night just as their explosives went off.

The explosion made fighters on both sides pause for a moment before the orks realized just how many of their fallen brethren lay in the mud. With that the orkish morale was broken and what was left of them called for a retreat. The Wolf Priest took off his helmet and looked out into the battle field. The smell of blood, fire and sweat hung heavy in the air but it had been a resounding victory for the sons of Leman Russ, the orks have been beaten and would no longer possess a threat to the people of this planet.

This game is the first real game I had with my space wolves, going into the game I was a bit nervous I wasn't used to having so few models (about 50). Add to the fact that I am still very unfamiliar with 5th edition and it's missions. We ended up playing a kill point game where I deployed up to half the board edge pushing the ork deployment back.

I of course set up my razorbacks first to push the ork lines, content on falling back while providing covering fire. The wolves themselves did excellently I can't explain how GREAT the wolf standard is, even when Cash sent his nobs (of about 8) charging into a squad that used it's wolf banner. I believe I only took 1 casualty from the normal nobs and 2 from a powerfist in return for almost all of the nobs (the two that ran away had a wound left a piece!).

Once my scouts came on and started to reinforce a weakening flank my opponent threw in the towel. I lost 2 kill points from two razorbacks that were destroyed, while I scored 5-6 kill points I believe. Though two of the packs took the brunt of the attacks they lost 10 or so marines between both squads.

After the game was over I was left musing did I win because I learned how to play with compact/elite force better? Or was it my 10+ years of experience of playing orks that helped me turn the tide? Though I never came up with a clear conclusion it was still a great game and I can't wait to take my Space Wolves out, this time in the campaign!

The Warp Storm Breaks..

2010-01-26T23:49:00.000-08:00

From the one of the decks of the ship The Might of Russ a lone Wolf Priest looked on at the planet as shuttles carrying supplies ferried back and forth. Their work had been done here they had been sent to clear the planet of any threats and pave way for Imperial subjects to settle on this and many other countless planets. But this planet seemed to be one of the most Pyrrhic victories of all, in the final assault against the planet's defenses the chapter's wolf lord fell in battle along with his most trusted wolf guard. It had been a grievous blow top the chapter, but it had enabled them to win the war and bring the Emperor's light to this world..

The hiss of the automatic door broke the priest's attention for a second as a thrall strode into the room carrying a data slate. "Pardon to disturb you mi lord, but news from Terra has arrived..." the thrall droned "it seems as if the warp storm over Din Kaldir has subsided, all communications with the planet have resulted in nothing..". Before the thrall could talk the priest lifted a hand never taking his eyes off the planet below "When do we depart?" the thrall scrambled through his data slate "As soon as possible mi lord, we are part of the crusade to re-take the planet from any enemies of the Imperium. Various chapters and regiments will join the push to liberate this planet and find out what happened to the former residents...".

The wolf priest waved away the thrall and heard the hiss of the door as he left, the ship seemed to be moving away slowly away from the planet. No doubt the ship was making way towards a safe distance before it opened a navigation course through the warp. "At what cost is the name Din Kaldir" the Wolf Priest mused to himself as the ship engaged it's jump through the warp and everything went dark.

Well this is my mini-introduction for my Space Wolves for a store campaign I will be taking part of beginning next week. It will boast over twenty players and has an equal mix of both Imperium vs Xenos factions. I am quite happy how fast I assembled the Space Wolves though I still have a few touch ups to work on. I am also working on magnetizing my rhinos to make them razorbacks or predators if I feel the need to field any.

Looking over the rules for the campaign they are pretty straight forward, there are some grey areas that needed to be ironed out or fixed before the official start. But other than that should be a good excuse to get a few games in with a force that is very different to what I usually field.

Behind enemy lines.. Space Wolf Scouts

2010-01-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

After I clipped all the things needed for my Space Wolf force it took me a couple of days to try and conceive of an army.. Like I have said before I am not the greatest tactician in the group although I will claim myself to be one of the luckiest!

So instead of just sitting down being idle reading the codex and coming up with a coherent strategy I decided to simply build units based on whats available. Then when it comes time for battle pick and choose which units would fit best points wise and go.

The first unit to be done are the Wolf Scouts, I picked six wolf scouts because I converted up five that came in the battle force and by chance I happened to find a sixth metal scout! The box sets I used for the conversions are the Warhammer Fantasy Marauders, Space Marine Scouts and Space Wolves box, add in some green stuff and done!

Armed with two plasma pistols and a melta gun the scouts can (hopefully) come behind the enemy board edge and destroy any artillery/stationary units. Well at least that is the plan.. all else fails they are only 130 points of my army list, lets hope they don't get themselves killed! With the new Space Wolves FAQ released by Games Workshop I can also give the unit some added stopping power by attaching a cheap-ish Wolf Guard to lead the pack.

The beginnings of a saga...

2010-01-03T03:10:00.000-08:00

So like any miniature gamer I have been distracted by another project. It all began when Cash announced that the Game Room was throwing a campaign together using the Planetary Empires tile set in February. Seeing that both Jon and Cash wanted to use Orks for the campaign I wanted something a little bit different... I went for Space Wolves!

Now I should say that I am not just jumping on the band wagon, I never really was one to go for the "good guys" in any game I play (I prefer morally gray armies), the wolves were among one of the three Space Marine armies I ever liked ( Dark Angels and Sons of Medusa being the other two). Their savage nature, close combat abilities and distinctive/personalized armor make for something interesting.

As a bonus my brother has also a great love for anything Space Wolves, having remnants from his old army (or pieces of it rather) it is an army we both can use when the mood strikes us. So with my Christmas bonus in hand I went to the store and bought myself a few things to start up my force.

-Space Marine Battalion (which contains: 15 tactical space marines, 5 assault marines, 5 scouts and a rhino).
-Space Wolf Box x2 (20 marines)
-Fantasy Chaos Marauder Box

along with some odds and ends
- 10 marines
- 2 long Fangs
- Wolf Scout, Wolf Guard/Marine x2 one with power fist another with power sword
- Space Wolves Drednought
- 2-3 salvageable Rhinos/Predators/Etc

All and all I think I have quite a good set up plenty of bits to use for conversions and a decent sized army while i'm at it. It won't be easy especially with the vehicles since I will have to kit bash or scrounge a lot to get the rhinos looking respectable but it should be fun.

It took me a couple of hours between washing and clipping everything out of the sprues but with some tea and the Twilight Zone marathon playing all night long I managed to clip and sort everything I purchased.

The next logical thing to do would be to build an army list, now for me list building is quite personal and requires testing. I have to warn that I don't build lists to be optimal as some people do. I hate number crunching and sapping the fun out of the game for the other guy. List building for myself is something more organic if I can call it that.

I find units that I am comfortable with and I make them work one way or another through trial and error. Slowly making small tweaks in the list till I find a good combination of things to make a solid army list. Now for the campaign I want to make roughly three different types of forces. Not that it gains my any other benefit other than it's just something I thought would be cool. Roughly the three forces are veterans, aspirants and recon/mechanized, we shall see how things turn out but for now I am out of here. Till next time!