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.

Final Ravager Finalized

That's right, I'm done painting Ravagers. This one, as stated before, was a chore. At least it's over and done with. You may have noticed the sort of "crown of thorns" around the vehicle. It's a sharp and pokey as it looks. More than once I had to put the model down because it was becoming uncomfortable to hold. In the end, however, it came out looking pretty spiffy, so it was totally worth it.

I'm hoping to start the five Kabalite Warriors. I may or may not get through them today (having Fridays off really helps me get my painting done).

Tonight I'm running my sister through either a game of MalifauX or Warmachine. The gaming virus within my family grows stronger! I was really surprised when she texted me asking if I was willing to run her through an intro. I will have to brush up on my MalifauX rules should she decide that's what she's into, but I still have most of the rules down. I think I'll just need a quick reference sheet. We'll see how tonight goes. Hopefully I'll have a new opponent some time soon.

On Army Lists- Optimization

Optimize, Optimus. You get it.

Demitra (my font of inspiration recently) brought up (see the comment) that he would be writing a post about optimization of army lists soon. Well, ever to be one to beat somebody to the punch, I decided to give my two cents first.

I'm usually a fan of building the hardest list you can bring to the table, regardless of the system being played. I don't want to win in a walk, I want to be challenged, and to have a very real chance of losing. Just steamrolling somebody is no fun. I like to get my lists as hard as possible for just this reason. If I want you to bring the nastiest thing you can to the table, expect me to do the same. My Plague Marines are as optimized an army as one can field with this sub-optimal book (hopefully to be rectified soon by the rumored Codex: Chaos Legions, but I digress). I bring two Warptime Daemon Princes, the best infantry in the book, and as many Obliterators as I can cram in. I don't feel bad about it either. It just so happens that this is my fourth Plague Marine army (can't get enough of these nasty dudes). Did I intentionally pick Plague Marines since they're the best infantry in the book? No. I did, however, make the best damn list I could from what's available. I have three Vindicators, two Dreadnoughts, and a whole plethora of other gribblies to field. I don't, as much as I want to, because they're not the best thing to get the job done. Well, I do field the Vindicators from tome to time, as the damage they can do is just so much fun!

In HordesMachchine this approach is expected. Everything should compliment everything else. There should be synergies, and the best bang for the buck. I used to whine about the Winterguard Death Star, but not so much any more. I've learned how to cope with it, and accept it as part of the Khadoran metagame. They're an insanely good deal for insanely good troops. That's how Privateer Press rolls, and I try to optimize my Warmachine and Monsterpocalypse forces whenever I play. It's expected.

In Warhammer Fantasy, 40k, or any other G.W. game, however, this is frowned upon. They design their games to be played "casually" (A.K.A. an excuse not to extensively playtest), and declare those of us who design our armies to win games "beardy" or "cheesy". They do this as they sponsor the 'Ard Boyz events,, which epitomizes the "bring the nastiest thing you have and don't cry when you get tabled" mentallity. They're talking out of both sides of their mouth, however, as when they say their games are not meant to be played competitively they still have a Tournament Circut listing on their website. Is this supposed to be a non-competitive tournament? Is there not a winner? This just seems a bit silly to me.

Games are meant to be played to be won. In wargaming this means to bring the best toolkit available to you to the table. The reason I don't "Venom spam" and "darklight spam" my Dark Eldar is twofold. One, I got into the army for Incubi. They're in the army no matter what. The second reason is financial. Blasters are expensive- there's only one to a box, and for Trueborn this means you need four boxes of warriors just to field a single squad. If I was capable of recasting a billion blaster arms, you'd better believe there'd be a bunch of those dudes running around.

But then, aren't I being hypocritical when I say I'm not going to build the best dang Dark Eldar army I can? Shouldn't I just drop the Incubi and get as many Blasters on the table as I can?

No.

I'm still optimizing my army. I'm tailoring it around my Incubi. I have assets in my army to crack open APCs and get the contents out where I can charge them (Ravagers). I have assets to decimate infantry as they close (Splinter Cannons / Liquifiers) and anti-support assets (Wyches and Raiders). I'm bringing the best I can think of to the table. If I get my teeth kicked in by a superior list that just means one (or both) of two things:

One, I need to refine my army.
Two, I need to practice more.

Of course, I do have a sub-optimal army in my Deathwing, but hey, everybody needs a challenge some times. I just see every aspect of the hobby as a challenge. Assembly, painting, playing the game, and even list building.

In closing, I just want to say that list optimization is not a crime. It's not some horrible affront to the wargaming hobby to bring your best to the table. I build my armies to win games. I feel no shame when I whip out two Hell Pit Abominations against an opponent. There are ways to deal with monsters (flaming attacks) in the game, and people need to learn how to use them. Expect the worst possible element you can imagine across the table from you, and plan accordingly. The meta is still part of the game. It's the game within the game. Learn it, know it, live it.

More Forward Progress

Yeah, no snappy title for this one.

Well, yet another tiny little post. I finished my Mournfang Cavalry. Here's a picture.

I received a Nomads starter box for my birthday, along with the Black 13th Gun Mage Strike team. Seems as soon as I dig myself out of my painting backlog, I'm backed up again. Not that I'm complaining, I'm just not sure what color I want to paint the Nomads minis. I'm thinking black and purple. It's been a while since I painted something purple, and the bug is starting to bite at me again.

Also the black 13th makes me want to run an eCaine list, and for that I need to paint up those Cygnaran Rangers I've got in my figure case, as well as one of those Chargers that've been collecting dust...

Arcing, But Not Spells

Why yes, I do own a few Cygnar minis.

Boredom, er, I mean inspiration hit tonight. I finally decided to get up off my rear and sit down to paint the arcs of vision on some of my models. Cygnar was near at hand, so I decided to do them. About an hour later and here I am with all the arcs painted on all my minis.

Here Haley shows off her sexy new arc.

That's about it for hobby progress lately. I plan on having some new minis to show off at some point, but with mid-terms hitting one after the other my time has not been my own. That will not be the case for a week or two here, so hopefully I'll be able to finish off those last two Infinity minis.

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.

Gunmachine

What follows is a rant, so for those of you who look to this blog for gaming and modeling, feel free to skip this post.

Okay, so I've been playing a lot of Warmachine recently, and losing a lot of Warmachine recently, so I've gotten to thinking; what changed between last edition (where I won my coins and gold cards) and this one (where I can't win a game to save my life)? The answer, quite simply, is shooting. Ranged attacks were a good way to soften up targets for a forthcoming charge last edition, or at best a way to off an already hobbled model. I liked this. It forced aggressive gameplay and prevented "camping out" in your own deployment zone. Now, however, it's the way games are won and lost. This sticks in my craw.

In a game that aspouses itself to be pure aggression, firepower should not, I repeat not, rule the day. If I want to get in shoot-outs all day I have Warhammer 40,000 and Infinity. These games are dominated by firepower, and they should be. Not so much with Warmachine.

Now, one could say that the firepower has to be used aggressively to be effective, and I'll agree to that, but the threat range of it allows units to hide all game before peeking out just long enough to gun down the enemy that has been running across the board all game. Really heroic, guys. As far as I can tell, there is no longer any reason to take any of my melee units. If the Bile and Bloat Thralls can't get the job done, it's game over. My Mechanithralls, Bane Thralls, and all the rest of my melee units simply don't stand a chance against a gunline, even with Stealth. This is really disheartening to me, as a game I love is devolving more and more into frustration. I like melee combat, and I believe that firepower should be emploved in a support role, not to outright win battles. Again, if I want those results, there are other games to play.

I know Privateer Press could not care less about the opinion of a single player who thinks shooting is broken, but I just feel the need to vent a bit. I used to love the need to tactically balance your forces in Warmachine, but it seems that now all one needs to do is load up on guns and pray they don't face Vlad's Wind Wall shenanigans.

My feelings on this are indeed biased. I seem only to face an extreme firepower-based army. I'm not saying the army needs to change, it's effective at what it does, and good for it. What I am saying is that with my current bag of tricks, there's really no good way for me to defeat it, and I'm just not into the game enough to plunk down money purely to try out a unit that may or may not work. Perhaps that is why skirmish games hold such a dear place in my heart. If your force doesn't work it's not a $100+ investment to try to make it work. At most, and I'm talking some pretty extreme miniatures here, it's $50 to add a single new miniature and shake the whole game up. Usually the shake-up can happen for around $10. For the $100 you'd spend on a unit for Warmachine, you can get an entire force for Infinity, and two for Anima: Tactics. I'm not a rich man, and do not have the disposable income to toss around to grab such expensive miniatures (thus why you haven't really heard anything on the Dark Eldar front for a while, and may never again). To be honest, the money I just spent picking up an ALEPH starter just killed off my gaming budget for the month. Again, I love skirmish games for a reason.

Why do I keep getting my rear handed to me? Perhaps it is because I don't spend hours pouring over my army lists. Perhaps it's because I have not been able to adapt to the new edition very well (the stripping of my Arc-Nodes was an extreme blow to my game). Perhaps it's that I need to buy the newest and shiniest miniature (or several) to be competitive. I don't know. What I do know is that I'm really disappointed with what Warmachine, a game I have loved for a decade, has become.

My next post will be more upbeat, I promise, but this is something I've been needing to get off my chest.

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...

New Adventures in WARMACHINE

35 points of pure pain. I hope.

I've got a WARMACHINE game coming up soon, so today I went about picking my force this morning. I ended up with what you see to the left.

This may seem strange to those who've played the game for a while, but in my 10+ year career playing WARMACHINE (it's supposed to be written in all caps) I've never, ever, used Commander Coleman Stryker. That's right, the Warcaster in the Cygnar starter box, and he's never seen the field under my control. I started using Cygnar fielding Haley, and I never really regretted it. Now, however, I must experience the power that is supposed to be Earthquake. Knocking down everything in a 5" area seems like an amazing ability, so why not give him a whirl? Stryker isn't a one-dimensional Warcaster, either. His spell selection includes a group of buffs that will be useful throughout the game.

My finalized 35 point list is as follows:

Commander Coleman Stryker - +6 Warjack Points
- Squire Warcaster Attachment (2 pts.)
- Lancer Light Warjack (6 pts.)
- Lancer Light Warjack (6 pts.)
- Ironclad Heavy Warjack (7 pts.)

10x Long Gunner Infantry (10pts.)

10x Sword Knight Infantry (6 pts.)

Eyriss, Mage Hunter of Ios Mercenary Solo (3 pts.)

Firepower is the name of the game here, with the Long Gunners getting Snipe cast on them on turn 1. Arcane Shield will be thrown up on the Sword Knights giving them an impressive ARM 19 as long as they're in base-to-bast contact with one another.

Earthquake will be used to knock down targets, getting around any Defense buffs, and those long range Long Gunner volleys should be able to deal with high Armor.

The Lancers will carry their Arc Nodes into range of Stryker's spells, and their Shock Shields will be used to annihilate enemy Cortexes.

The Ironclad is are unsubtle as you would guess. It's job is to smash the face in of any 'Jack it sees.

The Sword Knights are the close combat arm of my force, relying on their massive ARM stat to get in close to the enemy. a knocked down Warjack is a sitting duck to a unit of Sword Knights on the charge.

Finally, there's Eyriss. She just does what she does, sniping enemy models, disrupting enemy Warjacks and Warcasters, and generally being a hassle.

I'm hoping this army will do what I want it to, but we'll see soon enough.

Wargaming Fail

Well, it was a Friday of frustrating losses. My best efforts to defeat the Winterguard Deathstar failed. I'll leave the nitty-gritty of it for those of you who care to Khadoran Machine Never Breaks, but suffice it to say I was outplayed at every turn.

The Orc & Goblin showdown didn't go much better. We bashed the tar out of each other, but as I feared the Grey Seer charging headlong into combat atop his bell turned out... poorly. He was easily massacred by his goblin foes, but at least I was able to take out the opposing Night Goblin Great Shaman immediately after. My Hell Pit Abomination was again easily pasted by Black Orcs. My Doomwheel did little to nothing against the trolls it was sent against (constant "Misfires" from its Warp Lightning projectors). All in all, I was utterly dominated the whole game.

This brings up one of my thoughts from the game; how good is the Hell Pit Abomination, really? Now I understand they're a force that multiplies on itself (two A-Boms are vastly better than one), but my single Abomination has yet to achieve anything other than crushing Skinks and winning a slug-out against the notoriously underpowered Giant. Maybe I should drop him.

Now, conventional "Internet Wisdom" is to go grab another model and double up the pain, but the problem with the model is it rolling 1s for it's random action. This action is useless (in my opinion). The only redeeming quality is its multiple damage ability, which in an era of gigantic blocks of single-wound infantry is a pretty useless ability. Honestly, I'm thinking I might want to remove the model and replace it with more Rat Ogres. Why Rat Ogres? Sheer damage output. My usual regiment of six Rat Ogres and four Packmasters seems ideal. Twenty-one attacks is simply an avalanche of pain, and they have far more wounds than an Abomination. Now, of course the unit costs more points, but not terribly many. I should be able to get the points by dropping the Warp-Lightning Cannon (another internet no-no).

What about the Screaming Bell? well, the Grey Seer is now going to simply bunker-up in one of the Clanrat units and hide at the back of the formation. The combat leader will now be a Warlord carrying an Ogre Blade. High Strength attacks, and a fair few of them seem to be my forte', so lets see if a Clanrat block with some teeth can turn things around. I'll need to get my hands on some Rat Ogres to pull this off, so until then the HPA will have to stay.

Hmmm... What if I simply drop the Abomination and use its points to buy a Warlord?

Off to write up some army lists!

Back to Warmachine

It's been, well, since before I started this blog that I last played a game of Warmachine, and to keep things from getting repetitive Demitra and I are pulling out our respective armies and once again going at it. Today's army focuses on ranged combat, with every model able to shoot (and damage) high defense/high armor targets.
Today's 35 point army consists of:

Major Markus "Siege" Brisbane (+5 Warjack Points)
-Defender Heavy Warjack (9 points)
-Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1 point)

Journeyman Warcaster (3 points)
-Hunter Light Warjack (6 points)

10x Long Gunners (10 points)

Stormblades (5 points)
-Stormblade Officer & Standard Bearer (3 points)

3x Stormcaller Stormsmiths (3 points)

The Stormsmiths will focus on Warjack disruption, along with officer sniping. The Journeyman Warcaster & his Hunter will dismantle enemy heavy warjacks as they attempt to close. The Long Gunners are the perfect blend of accuracy and power, able to wreck heavy Warjacks as easily as they can pick off high defense infantry. The Stormblades will be held back, waiting to inflict the killing blow on whatever survives the army's firepower.

Finally, there's Siege. Between Reinholdt's "Reload" ability and the Defender, Siege and his Battle Group can crank out three blast markers a turn. Perfect for ferreting enemy units out of cover!

We'll see how this army stands up to Demitra's "Winter Guard Deathstar" army, as I'm going to refuse to advance on him and make him come to me for a change.