No More Cryx in my Neck

After much consideration and gamer soul-searching I have an unfortunate announcement to make. I have been playing Warmachine for over 10 years- since the very day it hit the shelves in fact. I have gotten a lot of joy out of the game in those years, winning two tournaments and taking home a "best Cygnar player" coin. Those days, I am afraid, have passed.

The game has outgrown me, or perhaps I have outgrown it. There is too much going on in the game, too many $120-$150 (or more) models, too many units, too much. The game has actually gotten as (if not more) expensive to play than Games Workshop games. I don't have the money needed to be dumped into the game at the rate it calls for.

I also do not enjoy the way the game plays. There is too much inactivity when it is not your turn. If your opponent alpha-strikes you it is all too frequent that during your turn you get to do nothing other than watch yourself lose. This game used to be about aggression, but now it seems to be whoever dances the best wins. I don't like games where you have to sit back and do nothing as your opponent runs roughshod over you. Even in Warhammer 40,000 you at least get to roll dice to try to save your guys. In Warmachine you do NOTHING. Perhaps this is why I have been so drawn to Infinity, X-Wing, and Dust; games where you never sit down, pull up a chair, and have a sandwich while you just pick up your mans from the board.

The game also has a jerky feel to me. I can't really explain it, but even during your own turn it has too much of a stop-and-go aspect that just doesn't appeal to me.

...And so I come to the point of this announcement. I am done with Warmachine. Permanently. The rules bloat, prices, and lack of overall enjoyment I get from the game have quite simply driven me away. There is no turning back, there is no convincing me otherwise. It's sad to close this chapter in my gaming career, but there we go.

A Game Tonight- Cryx vs. Retribution

My first real game of Warmachine in... Well, a long time is tonight. I have played a game to get my feet back under me, a tiny little nothing affair, but tonight- Well let's just say if it's worth doing it's worth overdoing. Straight to a 50 point list, because that's what all the big kids use. My Miniature Market order came in and has been assembled (as you can see) and so, despite their unpainted state, the army list I want to run will hit the table. DakkaDakka wasn't the greatest help ever, as I should expect from a Warhammer 40,000 oriented forum, but I did learn about Bane Knights, Epic Asphyxious, and Darragh Wrathe. Apparently Darragh makes all undead armies very scary for one reason- Deathride. Advancing everything in your command area (9") one inch while on a large base is, well it's awesome. Sure, he can cast Hellfire, and Beyond Death taking 2 off of enemy damage rolls is spiffy, but that movement bit- it just plain extends your threat range noticably. Giving Bile Thralls that little boost they need. Shunting Bane Knights from a position where LoS is blocked (more than 3" into a forest for example) into a position where they can use Ghostly to perform a charge. Spinning around to face an enemy that has outflanked you. Shenanigans with eGaspy's feat (suddenly they're not so bunched up). The list goes on and on. Here's the bonus- it works on everything undead in his command range! I am (in an admittedly uneducated way) impressed with this fellow on paper. Tonight will be my first attempt at using him, so while it may be a bit awkward using him, I'll see what I can do.

So, here's what I'm running:

eGaspy
-Cankerworm
-Nightwretch
Bane Knights (10)
Bane Thralls (10)
-Officer & Standard
Bile Thralls (6)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Darragh Wrathe
Gorman di Wulfe
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith

As you can see, except for the 'Jacks & Gorman, everything- INCLUDING ASPHYXIOUS is able to benefit from him. Best. Four. Points. Ever.

...Or so it seems. I'll see what I can see tonight.

...And Cryx

Remember how I said I was done with Warmachine? Well, that all may have changed.

I have broken down and posted a thread on Dakka Dakka asking for advise on getting back into the game with a minimum of financial expenditure. I put up a list and got one very long bit of feedback- that being that I need Bane Knights. Well, there goes the whole "minimum expenditure" concept. I was given a budget, and allowed to go not a penny over. Luckily this was well more than I needed, so I would be able to grab a Bane Thrall command section as well. Thus I did venture out into the wilds of NoVA to seek out my much needed minis. I started with the store Demitra frequents. It's only a hop, skip, and a jump from my place, so I got in the ol' car and headed on over.

I walked briskly and confidently into the store, bent on picking up one of the two items at the least. As I entered the store the friendly staff greeted me and asked what I had stopped in for. Cheerfully I answered "Warmachine"! They pointed to the display immediately to my right and I stared at it intently. "Is there something you're looking for?" I was asked. "Cryx- I can't seem to find them."

It was then that the employee's face fell. "There was a customer in the other day. He started a new Cryx army- by which I mean he bought all of our Cryx stuff". My heart sank. Nooooooo!!! I had just gotten myself to get back into the swing of the game, and there was not a blister or box to be had! I thanked the employee for his time, and shuffled out the door.

All was not lost, however. There was always my Friendly (not so) Local Game Store! They always have tons of HordesMachine stuff!

Back to the car, down route 50, and up route 28. I got there a few minutes after 12:00, and the gaming tables were already in use. *It's good to see the store is doing well* I thought as I walked over to the display wall.

And found the Cryx section.

And found the blisters.

No Bane Thrall Command, but that was secondary.

Over to the boxes.

No Bane Knights.

It was thusly that I learned a lesson- do not trust that your FLGS has anything in stock. Always call beforehand.

It's unfortunate that this was how my attempt to support my local brick-and-mortar stores ended, but what could I do. On my way home I stopped by Firehouse Subs to drown my sorrows in some pastrami. That helped, but dagnabbit, if I was getting back into this game I'd be getting back into it! To the Miniature Market! Fingers crossed I began clicking away. Bane Knights? In stock! Bane Thrall Command? In stock! I even had some money left over. I remembered reading that Darragh Wrathe was a force to be reckoned with in an all-undead army, so I tacked him onto the purchase. Still a few bucks left, eh? How about a little X-wing? Blammo! Just a few cents under my limit and enough spent to get free shipping. After heartily patting myself on the back I finalized placing the order and went back to watching "Cops" on TV.

These minis cannot show up soon enough.

It looks like tomorrow is the big day, but as the UPS guy never really shows up until after 6:00, I may have to go back to painting my Greys. I'm taking a bit of a break from them, as having their paintjob get slammed really derailed my mojo. I'm not going to repaint them, but I'll have a hard time motivating myself any time soon. Whatever, too many people would refuse to play them any way since they're "too small" and "not GW minis". They'll probably go into a box and sit in the closet until I get inspired to paint them again.

Any way, let's end this on an upbeat note! I'm getting back into Warmachine, a game that I loved ever since it first hit the scene! Hooray!

It is Done. A New Era Dawns.

A new home for so many minis.

Well, I went through with it. Many, many miniatures are now briskly on their way to the local landfill. I would be lying if I said it didn't break my heart a bit, but it is something that had to be done. I needed to refocus my time, attention, blog space, and most importantly money onto something actually useable. The many, many minis that were trashed last night were not amongst those games.

This brings some changes to Wargaming Chaos. This is now primarily a 40k, WHFB, and Infinity blog, with bits of boardgaming miniatures thrown in here and there. That's pretty much it. Maybe a miracle will happen and I'll get back into Warmachine; I've decided to hold on to my Cryx, but that's it. My Cygnar stuff is gone. Finished. Outta here. After hearing that you pretty much need a Stormwall to be effective, I decided to bail.

Seriously, no.

I know you can potentially run (almost) any list in Warmachine, but I don't want this mini. In my opinion it is ugly, overpriced, and it being an auto-include doesn't help my opinion of it. The fact that you have to have this hunk of resin to be competitive just grinds my gears. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them "Sam I Am".

I am still not pleased that I have to buy a Bane Thrall command section for my Cryx, but it is much less a bitter pill to swallow than having to spend a hundred and some-odd dollars on that Gargantuan.

Now the problem:

Selling my Cygnar minis.

I hate eBaying things, I prefer to get rid of things in one fell swoop. I want somebody to swoop in and grab up my stuff at the low, low price I'm offering them for. The problem is that not everybody (in fact fairly few people) want to drop the kind of money involved in picking up an army all at once. I have one potential buyer, but that's assuming he doesn't balk at the $400 price tag. This, for this much pewter, is a STEAL. The fact that they are (in my opinion) quite well painted only adds to the value. I can try posting them on eBay if nobody bites, but will anybody start the bidding at $400 plus shipping? I am seriously not willing to let them go for anything less.

Operation: Impending Doom

But what to do with said money? Well, as alluded to in my last post, Tau.

...But wait! Not just any Tau. I've been wanting to do this army for a while, and now that I am refocusing my attention onto games I can actually play, I will build an Irken army worthy of the Almighty Tallest! The Tau, with their high-tech weaponry, inability in close combat, and overall shootyness just screams Irken. I will be using the Zombiesmith "Grey Alien" range, as the sculptor basically said he modeled them after Invader Zim. I've got some ideas as to how to represent other machines of war, but they're still in the planning stage and may or may not change as I consider my options. This is my dream, it will be realized.

Oh, and I'm building an army for my wife, too. It's pretty stupid to be honest, but it does have potential. I'll just say I flagrantly stole it from somebody else and leave it at that.

Crisis of Faith? Or Warmachine Atheism?

It is with a heavy heart I say this, and not lightly.

I do not enjoy WARMACHINE any more. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was my total inability to win. Perhaps it was the nerfing of so many rules my old armies depended on. Maybe it was the introduction of Battle Engines, Colossals, and Gargantuans. Perhaps it was that there are (in my opinion) too many units with too many rules to keep track of. Maybe I just no longer get the game. It's got to be one, a few, or all of these things.

I think it started a while ago when I sold my Skorne. I felt no pain at letting them go. None. I gave my Hordes rulebook to my sister who was at the time starting up the game (who knows what happened to that). I never even flinched at getting rid of any of these things.

Just not doin' it for me...

During this time my figure cases full of minis have been sitting in the closet. Not just unused, not just collecting dust, but getting in the way. I have a limited amount of closet space, and on several occasions I have found myself getting annoyed that I can't put things like my Skaven or Dust Warfare minis there. They're beyond unused, they're almost a hassle. it is at times like these I begin to contemplate things.

Let's throw out an example. I really, really like Song of Blades and Heroes. A lot. I have a bunch of miniatures for it. I have a ton of terrain for it. What I do not have is an opponent to play the game system. The same goes for Alien Squad Leader. The same goes for Hordes of the Things. The same goes for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. Finally, the same goes for Flames of War. These are, to me, dead game systems. They are great games, but with no opponents, they are dead games.

It could get worse. I built an entire In Her Majesty's Name warband (that was the secret project) and barely even finished painting it before coming to the realization that there was no way I was going to be able to play the game.

Tau to be?

I guess what I'm getting at is this; it's "spring" cleaning time. All the above miniatures have to go. I'm going to sell the ones I can, but most of them (LotR, HoTT, SBH, ASQL) will be seeing the dumpster. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars of stuff getting pitched because of impulse buying into systems that looked cool, but I had no opponent for. Watch this space for the upcoming picture of the "Big Mountain O' Trash Minis" coming soon.

Now my attention turns to games I actually enjoy. Games I want to play. Games I have an opportunity to play. There's just this big part of me that doesn't care to play Warmachine any more. Maybe it'll pass, but it's only got until I find a potential buyer for my stuff.

Time will tell.

Wine & Warmachine

So, I'm having a night right now, and I feel the need to post a blog article. This leads me to the following:

My Current Cryx Force

At present I have found a Warmachine force that suits my play style. That is to say sneaky and synergetic. Note however that this force is subject to change once my Mercenary Faction Deck arrives (a purchase I've put off far too long considering I have a case labeled "Mercenaries"). I've already won all of one game with this force, which ranks it up there with my list I won a game with because Demitra messed up the distance between his Warcaster and the objective.

My "winning" list:

Lich Lord Asphyxious (+6 Warjack Pts.)
-Cankerworm (5 pts.)
-Nightwretch (4 pts.)
-Nightwretch (4 pts.)
-Skarlock Thrall (2 pts.)

6x Bile Thralls (5 pts.)

10x Mechanithralls (5 pts.)
-Brute Thrall (1 pt.)

10x Bane Thralls (8 pts.)

The Withershadow Combine (5 pts.)

Bloat Thrall (2 pts.)

The reason I say my force is subject to change is that Gorman DiWulfe is sitting in my figure case itching to loan his alchemical skills to my force. Depending on who adds less to my force, either the Skarlock or the Bloat Thrall will be dropped in favor of him. Who exactly that will be is up in the air, but let me assure both models that whoever fails to perform tomorrow will definitely be up on the chopping block.

Any way, I'd post my army tactics here, but I have a certain reader, who happens to be my regular gaming opponent, who would just love to know what's going through my mind as I use this force.

Here's hoping tomorrow has at least a respectable turnout for the forces of the Dragonfather.

A Gasp of Air



The Man, the Legend

 Today I played a game with the "upgraded" version of my favorite Warcaster. Lich Lord Asphxious is quite possibly everything the interwebs say he is.

Now, let it be stated thet my view is biased since I just won a game with him. He will require more intense study to be sure. From what I was able to gather today however, he's just one big bag o' beatstickery.

Having said that, he's not a frontline 'caster. His MAT just isn't high enough to reliably nail enemy models, and having lost Sustained Attack in his transition to epic-dom, he now needs to roll out every single attack. This will mean boosted attack rolls on each attack, and despite P+S 15 on Daemortis, he's just not going to off a non knocked down Warcaster in melee. Don't get me wrong, though, he is a capable combatant against many (lower DEF) things. He took a pretty good chunk out of a Khadoran Heave that he got a free strike in on, although to be fair I did roll pretty well.

eGaspy is also not a backfield 'caster. His spells and his feat want him up near his thralls, where the action is. The ability to add a thrall to a depleted unit (as a result of an offensive spell!) draws him close to the action, and Hellbound assists in keeping him safe from retaliation. Teleport only adds to the fun, allowing him to get out of sticky situations he (hopefully intentionally) has gotten himself into. That spell sure saved my bacon today.

Asphyxious wants to be right in the middle of the action. Not overextended, but not hanging back like a coward. His forte' is area control and denial. Caustic Mist allows you to block up charge lanes by denying line of sight, or outright deny areas of the board to single wound infantry. Daemortis helps insure the area becomes a no-go, as anything that dies there coughs up a soul. I also found the mist was great for objective denial, as if it gets cast on top of a key point on the field only Warjacks (or Man o' war and their ilk) can get to it.

I didn't get to try out the big guy's feat, as all that died on my end of the batlefield were Mechanithralls and Bile Thralls (not really worth bring back). I didn't want to over extend my Bane Thralls, as I've lost them before to stupid errors after commiting them too early. Banes seem to be the way to use the feat, but I really don't want them to be destroyed if I can help it.

Any way, that's my mini review of Lich Lord Asphxious. Let's see if he continues to hold up.

They Combine, But Not Into Voltron

Victory over math and unpainted miniatures!

Just a real quick one before bed. I finished my equations which, in turn, means I got to finish the Withershadow Combine. Not my greatest paintjobs ever, but they (like the rest of my Cryx army) are intended for gaming, not to win painting contests.

...I really should get around to painting those arcs of vision on their bases...

That's all for now.

Good night.

She's Got a "Great Rack" (Of Horns)

Well, I'm back with a quick update. Today saw a metric ton (2,200 lbs) of homework done. in between equations that ate up at least a page of paper each, I decided I'd work on a couple of models in order to clear my head of any frustration I encountered.

It seemed like a good plan. Now, I've been hearing a lot about Epic Skarre and how amazing she is. I also heard a list on Podhammer that was feared by the hosts, so I decided to give it a whirl. Now, the exact contents of this list will have to remain a secret unless you listen to the latest episode, or until after I've played a game with it. I like the theory as to how the list works (that I've been able to glean from simply parroting a list) so I set about rounding up the required models as this is a list I knew I could replicate with my collection.

Rooting through my boxes I came upon the Withershadow Combine, sadly unpainted. I've heard good things about this trio, so out of the case they came, my nominees for painting between problems. They've come along fairly nicely so far, and I'll have pictures up once they're finished.

Once these three are painted I'll have a choice- do I paint Epic Asphyxious or do I start on my Soul Hunters?

...Or maybe back to painting Anima: Tactics minis...