Saturday, December 15, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 12/15/12

A little done:

- Started assembly of Lelu and Lilitu for my Neverborn crew.
- Started assembly on a Watcher for my Guild crew.
- Got about halfway through assembling Gerlak Slaughterborn for my Cryx army.
- Drybrushed bone color onto my Slayer.

Really, I need to work harder on painting a tiny bit every day- I've had a rough patch, timing-wise for this, but hopefully I can get that back on course.

Malifaux battle report from 12/11/12, or 'How I manage to have things go badly, but still pull out a win'

This past Tuesday, Rob and I played two games of Malifaux over at DropZone.

Our first game was a 30 SS game.  I chose to run my Neverborn, and ran this list:

Lilith, Mother of Monsters -- 6 Pool
Malifaux Cherub [2ss]
Mature Nephilim [10ss]
Terror Tot Nephilim [3ss]
Terror Tot Nephilim [3ss]
Terror Tot Nephilim [3ss]
Tuco [7ss]

Tuco was a new addition for me- I finished his assembly last week, and was eager to get him on the table, and see how he played.

Rob chose to run an Arcanist crew:

Rasputina -- 5 Pool
Essence of Power [2ss]
Blessed of December [8ss]
Ice Gamin [4ss]
Ice Golem [9ss]
Silent One [6ss]

I had never seen some of these models (the Silent One or the Blessed of December, in particular), so I was excited to see how they'd play.

After flipping for Strategies and deployment, we ended having Shared Turf War (basically, get your models on the opposing side of the table) with a Diagonal deployment.

I chose Bodyguard (Lilith) and Breakthrough as my Schemes, and announced Breakthrough.  Rob announced that he has chosen Reflections of December.

Turn 1:

Here's my setup.



The ruined (greenish) building was being played as a Creepy Structure, so we could go up, spend actions, and get random effects.  We're trying to add more interesting terrain to the table, but in this game, we didn't use the Creepy Structure once.

Sorry about the blurry photo, but you can see that I had my Mature Nephilim off to my right, Tuco off to my left (due to the diagonal deployment, Tuco's strange deployment rules didn't end up accomplishing me anything), and everything else sort of centrally.

My game plan was simple.  Send everything up, get it into combat, and hopefully trounce Rob.  Tuco was there to be an annoyance, and hopefully draw at least some of Rob's attention.

Rob won the initiative first turn, and really, all we did was move all of our models forward.  Lilith spent two of her Soulstones to get a Blood Counter.

Turn 2:



I win initiative, and send a Terror Tot forward, towards the middle of the table, and have him grow into a Young Nephilim.

Rob sends an Ice Gamin towards the building.  I activate Tuco, and hope to start being annoying.  I use Veil Appearance to get pushed forward a little, walk up (using Nimble), and Run and Gun, letting me shoot (at a negative), but letting me move backwards 6"- hopefully out of range of Rob's army.  I try to shoot at his Silent One, which was the closest target, and after some cheating, manage to get a hit high enough to cause no modifier to damage.  With a card in my hand to guarantee Severe damage, I get excited about spreading some damage out... and then flip a Black Joker off the top of my deck.  No damage, no possibility of cheating the damage flip, and a very (VERY) disappointing development).

Rob, however, has no issue dealing damage, and sends Rasputina forward, to give her a view into the gap between the buildings.  She starts dropping spells, and when the dust (ice?) settles, she's managed to kill both of my Terror Tots, as well as my newly grown Young Nephilim.  As an aside- Rob misread his Scheme, and didn't use Ice Mirror to get the kills, which was a bit of a downside for him, but given the new board state, I figured he'd get over it.  His Essence of Power followed up on Rasputina by throwing some Ice Pillars in front of Rasputina to defend her.

Following up on Rob's very damaging activation, I have my Mature Nephilim charge his Blessed of December, and after both of us throwing a LOT of cards down for cheating, I manage to put four damage on it. 

The only other activation of note for this turn was that Lilith put an Illusory Forest into play, in between Rob's Ice Golem and his Blessed of December/my Mature Nephilim.  The Ice Golem isn't exactly fast, and although the Mature Nephilim can handle each of his two models individually, he certainly can't tackle both at once.

Turn 3:



I apologize for how blurry that picture is.  Lilith is over on the right, protected by the building.  That red ring on the top of the picture is my Illusory Forest.  Rasputina, the Silent One, and the Essence of Power are over on the left.

I win initiative, but Rob spends a Soulstone a wins the reflip.  Continuing with his steamrolling of me, he activates Rasputina and his Totem, sends them forward, and kills my Cherub (unfortunate because part of my plan to get back in this game was to Transposition Lilith into combat with Rasputina).   Casting some Ice Pillars and December's Touch on Rasputina let her sit pretty safely.

Tuco activates, and I do the same things as before.  Veil Appearance, walk up, Run and Gun at the Silent One, and Rob drops a 13 on the table to save her.

Rob responds by having his Blessed of December start tearing into the Mature Nephilim, and after triggering an additional attack plus the additional attack from Melee Expert, manages to put four damage onto it.

I have my Mature Nephilim kill the Blessed, and walk away, attempting to reposition him towards the middle, and try to salvage that part of the game.

Rob's Ice Gamin moves towards the rounded building, and I have Lilith go up and kill it (I can attack through walls, since I can draw LoS through them with Lilith's Master of Malifaux ability).

Rob starts moving his Ice Golem back deeper into his deployment zone, hoping to stop my Breakthrough Scheme. 

Finally, Rob's Silent One walks over, and starts dumping damage on Tuco, bringing him down to 2 remaining Wounds, I believe.

At this point, this are looking pretty bleak.  I'm down to three models (Mature, Nephilim, Tuco), and I've only killed one of Rob's.  I can't seem to get things placed correctly to seriously threaten his group of models, and most of my guys already are wounded.  With that said- it's certainly not over yet.  Lilith is not easy to kill, especially with a stack of Soulstones, and my Bodyguard Scheme means I will get some victory points.  If I can deny Rob from scoring too many, I can still pull this off.

Turn 4:



Rob wins initiative, and activates his Silent One.  The Silent One is already in range, and has no issue killing Tuco (even with his Hard to Kill).  Yay for spending the stones on a model that did no damage all game.  *sigh.

I move Lilith back behind the Creepy Structure.  I figure if Rob is going to make a play for my side of the board, I can have her pop out and try to wreck some havoc.

Rob responds by moving most of his models towards my Mature Nephilim, who was threatening his side of the board, and who I end up moving FURTHER into his side of the board, hoping to win the Turf War Strategy.

Turn 5:

I win Initiative. My Mature goes into Defensive Stance, and moves further into Rob's zone.  Of course, Defensive Stance is worthless against all of Rob's spells, but I did have some concerns about him having his Ice Golem taking shots at me.

Rob again moves most of his guys kind of centrally, somewhat towards the Mature, somewhat towards my side of the board, and attempts a long range spell, but is slightly out of range of the Mature.

I back Lilith further up, and cast Illusory Forest closer to me, blocking any Line of Sight onto me.

Turn 6:

I win Initiative, and realize that with Fast, I have enough activations and speed to get onto Rob's side of the board, and that there isn't much over there to threaten me.  First though, I decide to try to save the Mature Nephilim, in case the game goes longer, and have him back up, attempting to hide him behind a forest.

Rob starts moving his crew to my side of the board, but his guys are not very fast, and they do not get very far.

And Lilith books it, and gets pretty far.  I'm not sure it's enough... but if the game goes another turn, I'll definitely have plenty of distance (of course, Rob might as well...)

We flip to continue the game... and flip a 10, adding another turn!

Turn 7:

Rob wins Initiative.  Not a very exciting turn- I move Lilith into his zone, Rob attempts to move his crew into mine.  We flip to end the game, and this time it's a low number, ending it.

Scoring:

We start by checking out the Strategy.  Turf War gives a player two points if they have models completely within his opponent's side of the board.  We measure, and I easily do for 2 VP.  Rob however, wasn't able to get over quickly enough, and doesn't score here.  I also get an additional VP for having more models in the opposing deployment zone than my opponent (I had one to his zero).  However, Rob has more models on my half of the board than I do on his, and scores a VP.  So far, 3 VP for me, and 1 for him.

On to Schemes.  Rob failed to achieve his Scheme (although, only because he misread what he had to do.  He easily could've accomplished it on the turn he dropped all my Terror Tots), whereas with Lilith alive, I achieved my Bodyguard Scheme, giving me 1 VP.

Final score: 4 VP - 1 VP.  Neverborn win!

Thoughts:

Given that Lilith is my primary crew, and Rasputina is Rob's primary one, I imagine this is a matchup I'll see a lot of.  It seems fairly well balanced- I have a lot more speed and more close combat advantage, but Rasputina certainly has me beat at range.

When Lelu and Lilitu are assembled, I'll have fewer fragile models on the table, which may help me survive some of that initial magical damage, but as Rob gets more experience with his guys, who knows how that will balance out.  I'll have to practice more with my movement tricks to get guys into combat, against someone who has the tools to keep his crew well defended, and a playstyle that focuses on it.  It will be interesting!

Second game (brief):

We had a little bit of time after our first game, and tried to fit in a second game.  I won't write a full report for it, however.  I was trying out Sonnia Criid's box against a smaller version of Rob's Rasputina crew.

We only ended up going four turns, and Rob had managed to kill all of my Witchling Stalkers for relatively light damage in return, so it wasn't look good at game end.  I just couldn't get flips to go in my favor (Sammael at one point Rapid Fired into Rob's Blessed of December, in combat with one of my Witchling Stalkers- a favorable shot, since the Blessed draws twice as many cards as the Witchling when we determine who I hit... and hit the Witchling all three times, killing it).




Mercifully, I suppose, we didn't play a full game.  This game, Rob definitely had his guys moving up the table quicker (despite us being deployed further back- we had Corner deployment this time), and I had no idea how to respond.  However, I'm eager to get Sonnia back on the table, so this will be something I'm sure we'll see a rematch of at some point.

Thanks for reading everyone!

Friday, December 14, 2012

What a week for LCGs!

Man, so much great stuff going on this week!

The first Data Pack for Netrunner, What Lies Ahead was released (spoilers on this site).  In addition, another one was announced!

With releases, the next Warhammer: Invasion Battle Pack was released as well (also spoiled here).

And as for news- the next Deluxe Expansion for Call of Cthulhu, another Force Pack for Star Wars, and the reprint (FINALLY) of the Clash of Arms cycle for Game of Thrones??

Not only is this year ending with a bang (ie, Star Wars is being released soon), but man, next year is going to start off incredibly!

Oaths of Vengeance Spoilers (Warhammer: Invasion)

Alith Anar
Unique High Elf Legend
3 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Power Kingdom/Quest, 2 Power Battlefield
3 Hit Points
Forced: When this legend enters play, you must burn 3 zones instead of 2 in order to win for the rest of the game.
Action: When this legend attacks, turn target development you control faceup.  If it is a High Elf unit with Ambush, trigger its ability as if it just ambushed and declare it as an attacker.  Otherwise, sacrifice it.

Rescue Prisoners
Unique High Elf Quest
0 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Mission.
Play in any opponent's zone under your control.
When you assign combat damage to this zone, you may place any number of that combat damage on this quest instead.
Forced: When the 3rd damage token is placed here, sacrifice this quest to put 1 resource token on each card you control with at least 1 resource token on it.

Outlying Tower
High Elf Support
1 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
Building
If you control a non-High Elf card, sacrifice this card.

Nagarythe Archer
High Elf Unit
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
3 Hit Points
Ranger.
High Elf only. Ambush 2.
Action: When this unit ambushes, deal 3 indirect damage to target opponent.

Karak Hirn Warrior
Dwarf Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
3 Hit Points
Elite
While you have at least 3 resources in your pool, this unit may attack from any zone and may defend any zone.

Band Together
Dwarf Tactic
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
Dwarf only. Ambush 0.
Action: Gain 3 resources

Wealth of the Hold
Dwarf Support
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Power
Vault
Action: At the beginning of each opponent's turn, gain 1 resource.

Maid of Sigmar
Empire Unit
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
0 Power
2 Hit Points
Priest
Battlefield only.
This unit gains Power for each experience attached to it.
Action: When this unit attacks or defends, attach 1 experience to it.

Distribute the Spoils
Empire Tactic
0 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Play only if you just dealt combat damage to an opponent's capital.
Action: Attach 2 experience to target attacking unit.

Wolf Chariot
Orc Unit
5 Cost (2 Loyalty)
3 Power
4 Hit Points
Cavalry. Goblin.
Battlefield only.
Action: When this unit attacks, sacrifice a unit you control.  This unit gains Power equal to the sacrificed unit's loyalty until the end of the phase.

Goblin Raiders
Orc Unit
1 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Power
1 Hit Point
Goblin
Battlefield only.  Raider 2.

Get Outta My Way!
Orc Tactic
1 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Action: Until the end of the phase, each unit with no damage on it deals no damage in combat.

Shaggoth Champion
Chaos Unit
X Cost (2 Loyalty)
0 Power
X Hit Points
Creature. Dragon. Ogre.
This unit gains Power equal to X.
X is the fewest number of cards in any opponent's hand.
Forced: When this unit attacks, each player draws a card.

Summons of Chaos
Chaos Tactic
2 Cost (4 Loyalty)
Epic Spell
Limited.
Action: Name a number and reveal the top X cards of your deck.  X is the named number. Put a Chaos unit with cost X or less revealed by this effect into play in your battlefield.  Discard the rest of the revealed cards.

Vaedra Bloodsworn
Unique Dark Elf Unit
3 Cost (2 Loyalty)
0 Power
3 Hit Points
Warrior. Witch Elf.
Action: When this unit attacks or defends, discard the top card of target opponent's deck.  This unit gains Power equal to the cost of the discarded card until the end of the phase.

Hag Graef Knights
Dark Elf Unit
2 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Cavalry
Raider 2.

Cavalry Raid
Dark Elf Tactic
1 Cost (2 Loyalty)
Cavalry
Play only on your turn.
Action: Attacking and defending non-Cavalry units lose all Power until the end of the phase.

Stealthy Skink
Neutral Unit
2 Cost
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Lizardmen
Order only. Ambush 1.
Action: When this unit ambushes, Lizardmen units you control get +2 hit points until the end of the phase.

Skaven Packmaster
Neutral Unit
2 Cost
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Skaven
Destruction only. Ambush 1
Action: When this unit ambushes, restore up to 2 units you control.

All Out War
Neutral Tactic
3 Cost
Play at the beginning of your Battlefield phase.
Action: When you declare an attack against target opponent, that attack is against all of that opponent's non-burning zones.  Defending opponent may declare defenders from all of his non-burning zones.  This effect lasts until the end of the phase.

Contents of Warhammer: Invasion, Oaths of Vengeance

21 Alith Anar (x3)
22 Rescue Prisoners (x3)
23 Outlying Tower (x3)
24 Nagarythe Archer (x3)
25 Karak Hirn Warrior (x3)
26 Band Together (x3)
27 Wealth of the Hold (x3)
28 Maid of Sigmar (x3)
29 Distribute the Spoils (x3)
30 Wolf Chariot (x3)
31 Goblin Raiders (x3)
32 Get Outta My Way! (x3)
33 Shaggoth Champion (x3)
34 Summons of Chaos (x3)
35 Vaedra Bloodsworn (x3)
36 Hag Graef Knights (x3)
37 Cavalry Raid (x3)
38 Stealthy Skink (x3)
39 Skaven Packmaster (x3)
40 All Out War (x3)

Thursday, December 13, 2012

What Lies Ahead Spoilers (Android: Netrunner)

Whizzard: Master Gamer
Anarch Identity
0 Base Link
45 Minimum Deck Size
15 Influence Limit
Natural
3 Recurring Credits
Use these credits to trash cards.

Spinal Modem
Unique Anarch Hardware
4 Install Cost
2 Influence Value
Console
+1 MU, 2 Recurring Credits
Use these credits to pay for using icebreakers.
Whenever there is a successful trace during a run, suffer 1 brain damage.
Limit 1 console per player.

Imp
Anarch Program
2 Install Cost
1 Memory Cost
3 Influence Value
- Strength
Virus
Place 2 virus counters on Imp when it is installed.
Once per turn, you may remove 1 hosted virus counter to trash a card you access at no cost (even if it cannot normally be trashed).

Morning Star
Anarch Program
8 Install Cost
2 Memory Cost
4 Influence Value
5 Strength
Icebreaker. Fracter.
1 Credit: Break any number of barrier subroutines.

Cortez Chip
Criminal Hardware
0 Install Cost
2 Influence Value
Chip
Trash: Choose a piece of ice.  The Corp must pay 2 Credits as an additional cost to rez that ice until the end of the turn.

Peacock
Criminal Program
3 Install Cost
1 Memory Cost
2 Influence Value
2 Strength
Icebreaker. Decoder.
2 Credits: Break code gate subroutine.
2 Credits: +3 Strength

ZU.13 Key Master
Shaper Program
1 Install Cost
1 Memory Cost
2 Influence Value
1 Strength
Icebreaker. Decoder. Cloud.
If you have at least 2 Link, the memory cost of ZU.13 Key Master is 0, even if it is not installed.
1 Credit: Break code gate subroutine.
1 Credit: +1 Strength

The Helpful AI
Shaper Resource
2 Install Cost
2 Influence Value
Connection. Link. Virtual.
+1 Link.
Trash: Choose an icebreaker. That icebreaker has +2 strength until the end of the turn.

Plascrete Carapace
Neutral Hardware
3 Install Cost
0 Influence Value
Gear.
Place 4 power counters on Plascrete Carapace when it is installed.  When there are no power counters left on Plascrete Carapace, trash it.
Hosted power counter: Prevent 1 meat damage.

Haas-Bioroid: Stronger Together
Haas-Bioroid Identity
45 Minimum Deck Size
15 Influence Limit
Megacorp.
All bioroid ice has +1 strength.

Mandatory Upgrades
Haas-Bioroid Agenda
6 Advancement Requirement
2 Agenda Points
Initiative
You have 1 additional click to spend each turn.

Janus 1.0
Haas-Bioroid ICE
15 Rez Cost
3 Influence Value
8 Strength
Sentry. Bioroid. AP.
The Runner may spend Click to break any subroutine on Janus 1.0.
- Do 1 brain damage.
- Do 1 brain damage.
- Do 1 brain damage.
- Do 1 brain damage.

Ash 2X3ZB9CY
Unique Haas-Bioroid Upgrade
2 Rez Cost
2 Influence Value
3 Trash Cost
Bioroid.
Whenever there is a successful run on this server, trace (4) - if successful, the Runner cannot access any cards other than Ash 2X3ZB9CY for the remainder of this run.

Braintrust
Jinteki Agenda
3 Advancement Requirement
2 Agenda Points
Research.
When you score Braintrust, place 1 agenda counter on it for every 2 advancement tokens on it over 3.
The rez cost of all ice is lowered by 1 for each agenda counter on Braintrust.

Snowflake
Jinteki ICE
1 Rez Cost
2 Influence Value
3 Strength
Barrier. Psi.
- You and the Runner secretly spend 0 Credits, 1 Credit, or 2 Credits.  Reveal spent credits.  End the run if you and the Runner spent a different number of credits.

Restructured Datapool
NBN Agenda
5 Advancement Requirement
3 Agenda Points
Initiative
Click: Trace (2) - If successful, give the Runner 1 tag.

TMI
NBN ICE
3 Rez Cost
1 Influence Value
5 Strength
Barrier
When you rez TMI, trace (2) - if unsuccessful, derez TMI.
- End the run

Project Atlas
Weyland Agenda
3 Advancement Requirement
2 Agenda Points
Research
When you score Project Atlas, place 1 agenda counter on it for each advancement token on it over 3.
Hosted agenda counter: Search R&D for 1 card, reveal it, and add it to HQ. Shuffle R&D.

Caduceus
Weyland ICE
3 Rez Cost
2 Influence Value
3 Strength
Sentry. Tracer.
- Trace (3) - If successful, the Corp gains 3 Credits.
- Trace (2) - If successful, end the run.

Draco
Neutral ICE
1 Rez Cost
0 Influence Value
0 Strength
Sentry. Tracer.
When you rez Draco, you may pay X Credits to place X power counters on it.
Draco has +1 strength for each power counter on it.
- Trace (2) - If successful, give the Runner 1 tag and end the run.

Contents of Android Netrunner: What Lies Ahead

1 Whizzard: Master Gamer (x3)
2 Spinal Modem (x3)
3 Imp (x3)
4 Morning Star (x3)
5 Cortez Chip (x3)
6 Peacock (x3)
7 Zu.13 Key Master (x3)
8 The Helpful AI (x3)
9 Plascrete Carapace (x3)
10 Haas-Bioroid: Stronger Together (x3)
11 Mandatory Upgrades (x3)
12 Janus 1.0 (x3)
13 Ash 2X3ZB9CY (x3)
14 Braintrust (x3)
15 Snowflake (x3)
16 Restructured Datapool (x3)
17 TMI (x3)
18 Project Atlas (x3)
19 Caduceus (x3)
20 Draco (x3)

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 2/8/2012

This week, I did a bunch of random assembly:

- Assembled Tuco for my Neverborn crew.
- Assembled my Sonnia Criid crew (Criid, Sammael, and three Witchling Stalkers).
- Assembled a flamethrower and a sniper for my German Bolt Action army.  They aren't field-able yet (they need additional team members), but it was nice to put together a few of the minis.

No painting this week, unfortunately, but next week I'll get back to doing small amounts of painting every night.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Gaming on 12/05/12

This won't be terribly exciting, but I did manage to teach a friend at work how to play Android: Netrunner, yesterday  Two quick games, with him using my Shaper deck, and with me using my Haas-Bioroid deck.  He ended up winning both games (the first game 7-0), but that's partially because I played intentionally sloppy a little to let him see the mechanics.

The game itself doesn't matter- the important thing is that I'm expanding the game, ever so slightly, by teaching it to new people.  In the last six months, I've managed to get a new Game of Thrones player, and new Lord of the Rings player, and with luck, a new Netrunner player.  Maybe I'll make that a goal for 2013.  Increase the LCG total player base by ten people, or something.  Might be a fun challenge.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Lilith list for 35 ss

So, I've been trying to think what I can do with my Lilith army to make it more 'generally' good.  Out of the box, in my few games of experience, she's certainly been solid, and fun to play, but I find that not only is she fairly one-dimensional (get stuff into combat, make Nephilim bigger), she also has some pretty serious holes in her attack.  So, I decided to see what sort of things I could take with her at 35 Soulstones, which seems to be a fairly normal size for games.

Using the handy Malifaux crew creator, I came up with this:

Neverborn Crew - 35 - Scrap

Lilith, Mother of Monsters -- 5 Pool

Lelu [7ss]
Lilitu [7ss]
Mature Nephilim [10ss]
Terror Tot Nephilim [3ss]
Tuco [7ss]

I'll have to play this a few times, of course, to see how I like it, but I think this will definitely be a step up.  Some thoughts on my decisions:

Tuco seems to be a necessity here.  I have practically no effective ranged threat using Lilith otherwise, and against some Masters *coughHamelincough* I really feel like I'll have a difficult time dealing any sort of damage without SOMETHING ranged.  Tuco has a decent ranged shot, and a few movement shenanigans and special rules to help keep him safe and effective.

I don't know how effective Lelu/Lilitu are, but I feel like having them in my list for a few games would add some variety.  Lilitu's Lure spell will give me some additional tricks I can pull on my opponent's models, and the two of them can (hopefully) be somewhat durable with Regeneration and additional healing (from Drink Blood, I guess).  At 14 total Soulstones, they'll have more table presence than a Mature Nephilim and a Terror Tot, and can give me some more options.

I've only (so far) taken Lilith with the Mature and Terror Tot Nephilim, and I wanted to have one of each in my list.  The Mature Nephilim is fantastic- he's fun, he's fast, he hits hard.  What's not to like?  The Terror Tot is around primarily so that I have something to spend Blood Tokens on (either for Growth, or for one of the Summon Lelu/Lilitu spells if necessary).  Using it as a target for Lilith's Transposition spell is a useful option as well.

So, with that said, what's not in the list that I could've taken?

The Black Blood Shaman has a lot of tools that could be really handy, but I don't know that I could get as much mileage out of him as I'd like, both through limited Blood Counters, and limits to my play ability.  Maybe eventually I'll pick one up and switch him in.

I really really wanted to take a Cherub in the list, but couldn't afford it.  This hurts most because it takes away one of my primary ways to get Lilith around out of activation, but maybe I can utilize Lilitu's Lure to accomplish the same goal. 

Nekima is really the only other model that would fit, but man, she's so expensive (13 Soulstones).  She does have a bunch of helpful abilities, but she doesn't really add all that much to my crew that I don't already have in some form. 

As for Schemes, I think I have a lot of options running this list.  Breakthrough is a good choice, since most likely I'm going to be advancing on my opponent.  Bodyguard isn't a bad choice as well, since Lilith's defensive stats are pretty solid.  Kidnap and Reclaim Malifaux work great as well, the latter for the same reason as Breakthrough.  I have some great choices here, and I'm sure, combined with whatever the Strategy ends up being, I'll be able to keep my opponent on his toes.

So what do you think?  Anyone with experience running Lilith?  Suggestions?

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 12/1/2012

So this week, I've been busy during the evenings, helping my girlfriend with her college coursework, but I did manage to get a little done.

First, I am read up on all the Malifaux books, which is great.  The overall fiction in the book is really cool, and knowing about the background certainly makes the game more enjoyable.

On the painting front, I've put most of the base layer of Vallejo Chainmail Silver on my Slayer.  I really want to do more painting, but it's difficult with a minimum of time.

For assembly- I've finished all of the filing for my Wraith Engine conversion, meaning that next week, I start assembly!  I glued Terminus' sword into his model, so now I'm just left with a few spikes left until he's completed.  I also filed down Sonna Criid, but didn't quite glue her yet (or start on the rest of her crew).

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Malifaux game, 11/27/12

This will be a short battle report, haha.

Rob and I played a game of Malifaux yesterday, over at DropZone games.  We chose to play a 21 Soulstone game, and I took my Lilith crew as well as a Cherub.  Rob has been real excited to play Hamelin, and even painted his army before putting them on the table (very nicely done, I might add!).  We flipped and got Shared Claim Jump as our Strategy, and I chose Breakthrough and Holdout for my schemes (this is our first time using schemes, I was going for simple ones).

So, we setup, and started to play.



Our first turn was pretty boring- we just moved everything towards the middle.  Rob had Hamelin sacrifice a rat to draw cards, and summon a Stolen.




Eager to come to grips with my opponent, I have my Mature Nephilim start the second turn by charging one of Rob's rats, killing it and a stolen.  Big mistake though.  The rat respawns, and in return, Hamelin makes my Mature Nephilim charge a Terror Tot, killing it, THEN proceeds to force the Nephilim to attack Lilith, although he missed.

At this point, I've killed a Stolen, and lost a Terror Tot.  Rob can keep bringing Stolen back, if need be, however, so it's not a big loss for him.  I decide to be aggressive, and have Lilith charge in, and manage to kill Nix (his doggie). 

In return, Rob's rats begin swarming Lilith.  And here's where it gets a little.. strange, I guess.  They take a point of damage to reposition themselves around her (they can't move then attack, because they are Slow), attack her, and on a hit, damage her, give her a Blight Token, and cause her Black Blood to trigger... killing all the rats, respawning them, and letting them attack her again during a later activation (they can't receive Slow a second time, after all).  By the end of the turn, they had easily killed Lilith (although it took them another respawn, I believe).

At this point, I looked at the board- I was outnumbered, I had no way to stop the rats from easily killing the Mature Nephilim next turn, and couldn't score enough VP from my schemes to win, so I conceded.

I'm... at a bit of a loss for what to do against Hamelin.  It doesn't feel like an even matchup, but I feel like I probably do have options to play against him to at least make the game... well, a game.  First, I need to stop being so aggressive.  Charging in like I did was extremely stupid.  Second, I need to take the advice I've been giving Rob every time he talks about the trying to beat Lilith with Rasputina- I probably need to spread out a lot more.  Hamelin needs all of his things within 6" of him.  If I spread out, I may be able to make it difficult.

Also, I need to add some versatility to my crew.  I need some ranged threat, and I'm guessing for now, that's going to be Tuco.  If I can get some damage on Hamelin with shooting, I might be able to make it a closer game, as well.

So, there's certainly options, but yeah, it felt ridiculous playing the game, once the rats started doing their thing.  Of course, I'm not alone in the concerns about the matchup. And there are a lot of threads about Hamelin himself, so one hopes that maybe a small tweak will be made (well, at least I hope so :) ).  But still, I'll give it another try, and try a bit more cautious approach before I get too worried about it.  Maybe hope for a different Strategy (something where the objectives are spread out?).

After this game, it should be noted, Rob and I taught BK how to play, and he took my Lilith crew against Rob's Rasputina crew, and pulled off a win.  BK seemed to enjoy the game, and hopefully will have his upcoming crew (Jakob Lynch) ready to go soon!


Saturday, November 24, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 11/24/2012

This week, I really focused on painting.

My Slayer has two layers of green paint on it.

Overall, not a lot on the hobby front (darn holidays screw me up), but it's certainly nice to have done SOME painting!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Malifaux battle report, 11/20/2012

So, Minute purchased a Malifaux army, and wanted to learn the rules, so this past Tuesday, we played a small intro game at DropZone games.  I again used my Lilith starter box, and he used the Som'er Teeth Jones crew box.

After briefly going over the rules, we set up for a game.  Flipping for our Strategies, I ended up having Claim Jump (end more models near a certain point than Minute), while Minute had Treasure Hunt (grab an objective in the middle of the board, and walk it back).  We had diagonal deployment zones.

On the first turn, we both basically advanced the fullest towards the middle of the table.  I also had Lilith cast Illusory Forest in the middle of the table, near the Treasure counter.  I figured that the easiest way for me to win was to deal a ton of damage to him in the middle, then swing over on turns 5 and 6 to surround the Claim Jump marker.



In that photo, the black mini in the middle was Minute's Treasure marker, and the mini on the left was my Claim Jump marker.  My Illusory Forest in the middle of the template.

To start the second turn, I send a Terror Tot with Defensive Stance forward, hoping to get into a good position without taking too much shooting damage.  Minute sends a Bayou Gremlin over to my left, and I happily send my Mature Nephilim into him, easily killing him.  Minute responds by having his Gremlins open fire- at the beginning, hitting his own guys more than the Mature Nephilim, but a Bayou Gremlin using Y'all Watch This and getting his Dumb Luck tripper puts enough damage into the Mature Nephilim that the random small shots end up bringing me down.    On top of that, Minute summons another Gremlin.  He finishes his turn by sending his Warpig forward, hoping for some scary Stampeding.



This is a picture of the middle of the board.  Warpig in combat with me, surrounded by the remainder of my crew.



And this is a picture of the left side of the board.  You'll notice- no Mature Nephilim.  Not good.

Turn 3 starts with Minute getting initiative, and Stampeding.  However, great cards in my hand combined with the Terror Tot's 6 defense mean that the Warpig ends up causing no damage, and in return, I have Lilith charge over and kill it, giving me a Blood Counter.  I spend the rest of the turn failing to Grow my Terror Tots into Young Nephilim, and Minute repositions near the wall near him, preparing to put some fire on my crew.

On Turn 4, I look at my hand- Two 13s, a 12, two 11s, and a Red Joker.  I shake my head, show Minute, and he concedes.  Most likely, I'm going to get my crew into him, and he has already expressed concerns for how to deal with Lilith here (8 defense is pretty rough for him).  Combined with his fairly mediocre hand (and Som'er reducing his hand size by one card), it probably wasn't going to be much of a game.

Once again, I really enjoyed playing this.  I find myself really enjoying the card mechanic (it really helps when I'm fairly consistently drawing good cards, and the activation system creates a lot of fun choices.

Malifaux is going to be a great time, especially when I add a few more models (ie, when me and my opponents all get up to maybe 25 soulstones or so, just so I can think some about army composition).  I do enjoy the miniatures overall, so there's certainly some extra incentive to get into painting so I can get working on them as well.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Heirs to Numenor Spoilers (Lord of the Rings)

Player cards:

Beregond
Hero (Unique)
Tactics
10 Threat
0 Willpower
1 Attack
4 Defense
4 Hit Points
Gondor. Warrior.
Sentinel.
Lower the cost to play Weapon and Armor attachments on Beregond by 2.

Boromir
Hero (Unique)
Leadership
11 Threat
1 Willpower
3 Attack
2 Defense
5 Hit Points
Gondor. Warrior. Noble.
While Boromir has at least 1 resource in his resource pool, Gondor allies get +1 attack.

Errand-Rider
Ally
Leadership
1 Cost
0 Willpower
0 Attack
0 Defense
2 Hit Points
Gondor.
Action: Exhaust Errand-rider to move 1 resource from the resource pool of a hero you control to another hero's resource pool.

Citadel Custodian
Ally
Leadership
5 Cost
1 Willpower
0 Attack
1 Defense
3 Hit Points
Gondor.
Lower the cost to play Citadel Custodian by 1 for each Gondor ally in play.

Mutual Accord
Event
Leadership
0 Cost
Action: Until the end of the phase, each Gondor card in play gains the Rohan trait, and each Rohan card in play gains the Gondor trait.

Wealth of Gondor
Event
Leadership
0 Cost
Action: Choose a Gondor hero.  Add 1 resource to that hero's resource pool.

Defender of Rammas
Ally
Tactics
2 Cost
0 Willpower
1 Attack
4 Defense
1 Hit Point
Gondor. Warrior

Behind Strong Walls
Event
Tactics
1 Cost
Action: Ready a defending Gondor character.  That character gets +1 Defense until the end of the phase.

Spear of the Citadel
Attachment
Tactics
2 Cost
Item. Weapon.
Attach to a Tactics character.  Restricted.
Limit 1 per character.
Response: After attached character is declared as a defender, deal 1 damage to the attacking enemy.

Damrod
Ally (Unique)
Spirit
4 Cost
1 Willpower
2 Attack
2 Defense
2 Hit Points
Gondor. Ranger.
Action: Discard Damrod from play to lower your threat by 1 for each enemy in the staging area.

Light the Beacons
Event
Spirit
5 Cost
Action: All characters get +2 Defense and do not exhaust to defend until the end of the round.

A Watchful Peace
Event
Spirit
1 Cost
Response: After a location leaves play as an explored location, return it to the top of the encounter deck.

Blood of Numenor
Attachment
Spirit
0 Cost
Condition.
Attach to a Gondor or Dunedain hero.
Action: Spend 1 resource from attached hero's resource pool to give attached hero +1 Defense for each resource in its resource pool until the end of the phase (Limit once per phase.)

Hunter of Lamedon
Ally
Lore
2 Cost
1 Willpower
1 Attack
1 Defense
1 Hit Point
Gondor. Outlands.
Response: After you play Hunter of Lamedon from your hand, reveal the top card of your deck.  If it is an Outlands card, add it to your hand.  Otherwise, discard it.

Ithilien Tracker
Ally
Lore
2 Cost
0 Willpower
1 Attack
0 Defense
3 Hit Points
Gondor.  Ranger.
Action: Exhaust Ithilien Tracker to lower the Threat of the next enemy added to the staging area to 0 until the end of the phase.

Master of Lore
Ally
Lore
3 Cost
1 Willpower
0 Attack
1 Defense
1 Hit Point
Gondor.
Action: Exhaust Master of Lore to name a card type.  Lower the cost for you to play Lore cards of that type by 1 until the end of the phase (to a minimum of 1).

Ranger Spikes
Attachment
Lore
2 Cost
Trap.
Play Ranger Spikes into the staging area unattached.
If unattached, attach Ranger Spikes to the next eligible enemy that enters the staging area.
Players do not make engagement checks against attached enemy.  Attached enemy gets -2 Threat.

Envoy of Pelargir
Ally
Neutral
2 Cost
1 Willpower
1 Attack
0 Defense
1 Hit Point
Gondor.
Response: After Envoy of Pelagrir enters play, add 1 resource to a Gondor or Noble hero's resource pool.

Encounter Cards:

Alcaron's Scroll
Encounter Set: Peril in Pelargir
Objective
Scroll
If unattached, return Alcaron's Scroll to the staging area and it gains: "Action: Exhaust a hero to attach Alacron's Scroll to that hero".
Forced: When the hero with Alcaron's Scroll attached is damaged by an enemy attack, attach Alcaron's Scroll to that enemy.

Harbor Thug
Encounter Set: Peril in Pelargir
Enemy
25 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
3 Attack
1 Defense
3 Hit Points
Thug.
Forced: When the player whose hero has Alcaron's Scroll attached raises his threat, Harbor Thug engages that player.
Shadow:  Any damage dealt by this attack is dealt to the hero with Alcaron's Scroll attached, if able.

The Leading Fish
Encounter Set: Peril in Pelargir
Location (Unique)
2 Threat
6 Quest Points
City.
If Alcaron's Scroll is attached to a hero, The Leading Fish gains: "Forced: At the beginning of the quest phase discard X cards from the top of the encounter deck where X is the number of players in the game.  Add each enemy discarded by this effect to the staging area".
Victory 3.

Pelargir Docks
Encounter Set: Peril in Pelargir
Location
4 Threat
3 Quest Points
City. River.
While Pelargir Docks is the active location, enemies get +1 Attack and +1 Defense.

Harbor Storehouse
Encounter Set: Peril in Pelargir
Location
1 Threat
4 Quest Points
City.
Forced: Each time a location is discarded from the top of the encounter deck, raise each player's threat by 1.
Shadow: Deal attacking enemy an additional shadow card for each Thug enemy in play.

Collateral Damage
Encounter Set: Peril in Pelargir
Treachery
When Revealed: Discard 2 cards from the top of the encounter deck.  Discard an additional 2 cards for each copy of Collateral Damage in the discard pile.  Then, raise each player's threat by 2 for each location discarded by this effect.
Shadow: Any damage dealt by this attack is dealt to the hero with Alcaron's Scroll attached, if able.

Celador
Encounter Set: Into Ithilien
Objective Ally (Unique)
2 Willpower
2 Attack
2 Defense
3 Hit Points
Gondor. Ranger.
While Celador is in the staging area, he is committed to the current quest.
Forced: After players quest unsuccessfully or a character leaves play, deal 1 damage to Celador.
If Celador leaves play, remove him from the game.

Ithilien Guardian
Encounter Set: Into Ithilien
Objective Ally
2 Willpower
2 Attack
1 Defense
2 Hit Points
Gondor. Ranger.
While Ithilien Guardian is in the staging area, he is committed to the current quest.
When Revealed: Add Ithilien Guardian to the staging area and Ithilien Guardian gains surge.
Shadow: Deal 2 damage to the attacking enemy.

Southron Company
Encounter Set: Into Ithilien
Enemy
34 Engagement Cost
1 Threat
3 Attack
1 Defense
5 Hit Points
Harad.
Southron Company gets +2 Threat and +2 Attack while the current quest card has the battle or siege keyword.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 Attack (+2 Attack instead if the current quest card has a keyword).

Ithilien Road
Encounter Set: Into Ithilien
Location
4 Threat
4 Quest Points
Forest. Road
While Ithilien Road is the active location, the engagement cost of each enemy in the staging area is 0.
Shadow: Return attacking enemy to the staging area after it attacks.

Blocking Wargs
Encounter Set: Into Ithilien
Treachery
Surge.
When Revealed: Deal 1 damage to each character committed to the quest. (If the current quest has the battle or siege keyword, shuffle this card back into the encounter deck.)
Shadow: Deal 1 damage to the defending character.

Orc Scramblers
Encounter Set: The Siege of Cair Andros
Enemy
15 Engagement Cost
1 Threat
2 Attack
1 Defense
2 Hit Points
Orc. Besieger.
Surge.
When Revealed: Deal 1 damage to each Battleground location in play, if able.
Shadow: Deal 2 damage to The Citadel if it is in play.  Otherwise, attacking enemy gets +2 Attack.

Battering Ram
Encounter Set: The Siege of Cair Andros
Enemy
33 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
7 Attack
3 Defense
5 Hit Points
Besieger.
Doomed 2.
When Revealed: If the active location is a Battleground, deal 3 damage to it.
Shadow: Deal 2 damage to The Approach if it is in play.  Otherwise, attacking enemy gets +2 Attack.

Siege Raft
Encounter Set: The Siege of Cair Andros
Enemy
30 Engagement Cost
3 Threat
4 Attack
1 Defense
6 Hit Points
Besieger.
When Revealed: Deal 2 damage to the lowest Threat Battleground location in play, if able.
Shadow: Deal 2 damage to The Banks if it is in play.  Otherwise, attacking enemy gets +2 Attack.

The Citadel
Encounter Set: The Siege of Cair Andros
Location
3 Threat
11 Quest Points
Cair Andros. Battleground
If The Citadel has 11 or more damage, remove it from the game (do not collect its victory points).
Response: After The Citadel leaves play as an explored location, remove stage 4 from the quest deck, if able.
Victory 3.

The Approach
Encounter Set: The Siege of Cair Andros
Location
2 Threat
7 Quest Points
Cair Andros.  Battleground.
If The Approach has 7 or more damage, remove it from the game (do not collect its victory points).
Response: After The Approach leaves play as an explored location, remove stage 3 from the quest deck, if able.
Victory 2.

The Banks
Encounter Set: The Siege of Cair Andros
Location
1 Threat
3 Quest Points
Cair Andros.  Battleground.
If The Banks has 3 or more damage, remove it from the game (do not collect its victory points).
Response: After The Banks leaves play as an explored location, remove stage 2 from the quest deck, if able.
Victory 1.

Orc Assault
Encounter Set: The Siege of Cair Andros
Treachery
When Revealed: Each character gets -2 Attack and -2 Defense until the end of the round.
Shadow: Deal 2 damage to all Battleground locations in play.

Pickpocket
Encounter Set: Streets of Gondor
Enemy
28 Engagement Cost
3 Threat
1 Attack
0 Defense
2 Hit Points
Brigand
Forced: When Pickpocket attacks, the defending player discards 1 resource from one of his heroes' resource pools and 1 card at random from his hand.
Shadow: Defending player discards 1 of his attachments. (Discard all of his attachments instead if undefended.)

City Street
Encounter Set: Streets of Gondor
Location
2 Threat
2 Quest Points
City.
Surge. While City Streets is in the staging area, players cannot travel to a location that does not have the title City Street.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +2 Attack.

Market Square
Encounter Set: Streets of Gondor
Location
3 Threat
1 Quest Point
City.
Immune to player card effects.
Travel: Each player must spend 1 resource from one of his heroes' resource pools to travel here.
Shadow: Defending player discards all resources in his heroes' resource pools.

Lost in the City
Encounter Set: Streets of Gondor
Treachery
When Revealed: Each player must search the encounter deck and discard pile for 1 City location and add it to the staging area, if able.  Shuffle the encounter deck.  This effect cannot be canceled.
Shadow: Defending player discards his hand.

Local Trouble
Encounter Set: Streets of Gondor
Treachery
When Revealed: Attach this card to the hero with the highest threat cost without a copy of Local Trouble attached. (Counts as a Condition attachment with the text: "When attached hero exhausts, readies, or triggers an ability, raise its controller's threat by 1").

Zealous Traitor
Encounter Set: Brigands
Enemy
17 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
3 Attack
2 Defense
2 Hit Points
Brigand.
Forced: When Zealous Traitor engages a player, that player must deal 1 damage to each ally he controls. (2 damage instead if Zealous Traitor was not optionally engaged).

Lossarnach Bandit
Encounter Set: Brigands
Enemy
24 Engagement Cost
3 Threat
3 Attack
3 Defense
3 Hit Points
Brigand.
Forced: When Lossarnach Bandit engages a player, that player discards 1 resource from each of his heroes' resource pools (2 resources instead if Lossarnach Bandit was not optionally engaged).

Umbar Assassin
Encounter Set: Brigands
Enemy
40 Engagement Cost
4 Threat
5 Attack
1 Defense
5 Hit Points
Brigand.
Archery 2.
Forced: When Umbar Assassin engages a player, that player must deal 3 damage to a hero he controls. (Discard that hero instead if Umbar Assassin was not optionally engaged).

Lurking In Shadows
Encounter Set: Brigands
Treachery
When Revealed: Return all Brigand enemies engaged with players to the staging area.  If this effect returned no Brigand enemies to the staging area, Lurking in Shadows gains Surge.
Shadow: Return attacking enemy to the staging area after it attacks.

Overgrown Trail
Encounter Set: Brooding Forest
Location
4 Threat
6 Quest Points
Forest.
Action: Exhaust a Ranger character to place 3 progress tokens on Overgrown Trail.
Shadow: Remove X progress tokens from the current quest, where X is the attacking enemy's Threat.

Secluded Glade
Encounter Set: Brooding Forest
Location
3 Threat
3 Quest Points
Forest.
Immune to player card effects.
Shadow: Remove X progress tokens from the current quest, where X is the attacking enemy's Threat.

Lost Companion
Encounter Set: Brooding Forest
Treachery
When Revealed: Each player removes 1 character he controls from the quest, if able.  Then, if any player has no characters committed to the quest, remove all characters from the quest.

Morgul Spider
Encounter Set: Creatures of the Forest
Enemy
25 Engagement Cost
3 Threat
4 Attack
1 Defense
5 Hit Points
Creature. Spider
When Revealed: Until the end of the round, Morgul Spider gets +1 Attack for each character not currently committed to a quest.

Forest Bat
Encounter Set: Creatures of the Forest
Enemy
18 Engagement Cost
1 Threat
1 Attack
1 Defense
1 Hit Point
Creature.
When Revealed: The first player deals 2 damage to a questing hero and removes that hero from the quest.
Shadow: Defending player raises his threat by X where X is the attacking enemy's Threat.

Watcher in the Wood
Encounter Set: Creatures of the Forest
Treachery
When Revealed: Raise each player's threat by the number of questing characters. (If the current quest has the battle or siege keyword, Watcher in the Wood gains surge).
Shadow: Each player raises his threat by the number of enemies engaged with him.

Southron Mercenaries
Encounter Set: Southrons
Enemy
35 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
3 Attack
2 Defense
4 Hit Points
Harad.
Archery X.
X is the number of players in the game.
Shadow: Attacking enemy has +1 Attack (+3 Attack instead if it has the Harad trait).

Haradrim Elite
Encounter Set: Southrons
Enemy
27 Engagement Cost
3 Threat
4 Attack
3 Defense
3 Hit Points
Harad.
Forced: When Haradrim Elite enters play, it makes an immediate attack from the staging area against the first player.
Shadow: This enemy attacks again after this attack resolves (deal a new shadow card for that attack).

Mumak
Encounter Set: Southrons
Enemy
38 Engagement Cost
4 Threat
7 Attack
3 Defense
12 Hit Points
Harad. Creature.
No attachments can be attached to Mumak.
Mumak can not take more than 3 damage each round.

Southron Support
Encounter Set: Southrons
Treachery
Doomed 3.
When Revealed: Each player must search the encounter deck and discard pile for 1 Harad enemy and add it to the staging area, if able.  Shuffle the encounter deck.

Lieutenant of Mordor
Encounter Set: Mordor Elite
Enemy
33 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
5 Attack
2 Defense
5 Hit Points
Mordor.
Allies cannot defend against Lieutenant of Mordor.
When Revealed: Resolve the "when revealed" effect on the topmost treachery card in the encounter discard pile, if able.  This effect cannot be canceled.
Victory 3.

Orc Arbalesters
Encounter Set: Mordor Elite
Enemy
35 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
1 Attack
2 Defense
5 Hit Points
Mordor. Orc.
Archery X.
X is the number of different resource icons (Leadership, Tactics, Spirit, or Lore) on heroes in play.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +2 Attack.

Orc Vanguard
Encounter Set: Mordor Elite
Enemy
40 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
8 Attack
3 Defense
5 Hit Points
Mordor. Orc.
While Orc Vanguard is in the staging area, resources cannot be spent from the resource pools of heros who have a Leadership, Spirit, or Lore resource icon.
Shadow: Deal the attacking enemy two additional shadow cards.

Orc War Camp
Encounter Set: Mordor Elite
Location
5 Threat
2 Quest Points
Mordor.
If an Orc enemy is in play, progress tokens cannot be placed on Orc War Camp while it is in the staging area.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 Attack for each shadow card dealt to it.

The Master's Malice
Encounter Set: Mordor Elite
Treachery
When Revealed: Each player chooses 1 sphere of influence (Leadership, Tactics, Spirit, or Lore).  Each character a player controls that does not belong to his chosen sphere takes 3 damage.

The Power of Mordor
Encounter Set: Mordor Elite
Treachery
Doomed 3.
When Revealed: Count the number of encounter cards in the staging area and shuffle them into the encounter deck.  Then reveal an equal number of cards from the encounter deck and add them to the staging area.  This effect cannot be canceled.

Orc Rabble
Encounter Set: Ravaging Orcs
Enemy
28 Engagement Cost
2 Threat
1 Attack
1 Defense
3 Hit Points
Mordor.  Orc.
Forced: When Orc Rabble is dealt a shadow card, it gets +2 Attack until the end of the phase.
Shadow: Deal the attacking enemy an additional shadow card for each player in the game.

Orc Arsonist
Encounter Set: Ravaging Orcs
Enemy
30 Engagement Cost
3 Threat
3 Attack
2 Defense
3 Hit Points
Mordor. Orc.
Forced: When Orc Arsonist engages a player, deal 1 shadow card to each enemy engaged with that player.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 Attack.  Deal it another shadow card.

Scourge of Mordor
Encounter Set: Ravaging Orcs
Treachery
When Revealed: Each player discards the top card of his deck.  Until the end of the phase, raise the total Threat in the staging area by X, where X is the total cost of all cards discarded by this effect.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 Attack.  Deal it another shadow card.

Quest Cards:

Peril In Pelargir:

1A/1B The Leading Fish
1A: Setup: Search the Encounter deck for The Leaping Fish and Alcaron's Scroll.  Make the Leaping Fish the active location and attach Alcaron's Scroll to a hero.
1B (6 Quest Points): Battle.
When Revealed: Each player must search the encounter deck for a copy of Harbor Thug and add it to the staging area.  Shuffle the encounter deck.

2A/2B Fighting in the Streets
2B (13 Quest Points): Battle
The players cannot advance to the next stage unless Alcaron's Scroll is attached to a hero.
When Revealed: Attach Alcaron's Scroll to the highest engagement cost enemy in play, if able.  Otherwise, add Alcaron's Scroll to the staging area.

3A/3B Escape to the Quays
3A: When Revealed: Each player searches the encounter deck and discard pile for 1 enemy and adds it to the staging area.
3B (15 Quest Points): Enemies cannot be optionally engaged.
Forced: The first enemy revealed from the encounter deck each round makes an immediate attack against the player who controls Alcaron's Scroll from the staging area.
The players cannot defeat this stage unless Alcaron's Scroll is attached to a hero.  If the players defeat this stage, they have won the game.

Into Ithilien:

1A/1B Ambush in Ithilien
1A: Setup: Add Celador to the staging area.  Search the encounter deck for a copy of Ithilien Road and make it the active location.  Each player must search the encounter deck for a copy of Southron Company and add it to the staging area.  Shuffle the encounter deck.
1B (15 Quest Points): Battle.
If the players complete this stage with Celador in the staging area, advance to stage 3A (bypassing stage 2).

2A/2B Southron Counter-Attack
2B (9 Quest Points): Siege.  Archery X.
X is the number of players in the game.
After this stage is completed, advance to stage 4A (bypassing stage 3).

3A/3B The Hidden Way
3B (12 Quest Points): When Revealed: The first player takes control of all Ranger objectives in the staging area.
Enemies do not make engagement checks and cannot be optionally engaged.

4A/4B Approaching Cair Andros
4B (15 Quest Points): If any player's threat is 37 or higher, Approaching Cair Andros gains siege.
Forced: At the end of each round, raise each player's threat by 2.
If the players defeat this stage, they have won the game.

The Siege of Cair Andros

1A/1B The Defense
1A: Setup: Add the Approach, the Citadel, and the Banks to the staging area.  Shuffle the encounter deck.
1B (9 Quest Points): Siege.  Players must deal damage from undefended attacks to the lowest Threat Battleground location in play.  If there are no Battleground locations in play, immediately advanced to the next stage.

2A/2B Reinforcing the Banks
2B (9 Quest Points): Reveal 1 additional card from the encounter deck and add it to the staging area during the staging step each round.

3A/3B Breakthrough at the Approach
3B (7 Quest Points): Battle.
Forced: After the players quest unsuccessfully, instead of raising threat, each player must choose and discard 1 character he controls.

4A/4B Breakthrough at the Citadel
4B (5 Quest Points): Siege
Breakthrough at the Citadel adds 5 Threat to the staging area.

5A/5B The Last Battle
5B (15 Quest Points): Siege
When Revealed: Reveal 1 card per player from the encounter deck and add it to the staging area.
If the players have collected 4 or more victory points, the Last Battle gains battle and loses siege.
If the players defeat this stage, they have won the game.

Contents of Lord of the Rings: Heirs to Numenor

1 Beregond (x1)
2 Boromir (x1)
3 Errand-Rider (x3)
4 Citadel Custodian (x3)
5 Mutual Accord (x3)
6 Wealth of Gondor (x3)
7 Defender of Rammas (x3)
8 Behind Strong Walls (x3)
9 Spear of the Citadel (x3)
10 Damrod (x3)
11 Light the Beacons (x3)
12 A Watchful Peace (x3)
13 Blood of Numenor (x3)
14 Hunter of Lamedon (x3)
15 Ithilien Tracker (x3)
16 Master of Lore (x3)
17 Ranger Spikes (x3)
18 Envoy of Pelargir (x3)
19 Alcaron's Scroll (x1)
20 Harbor Thug (x5)
21 The Leading Fish (x1)
22 Pelargir Docks (x2)
23 Harbor Storehouse (x2)
24 Collateral Damage (x4)
25 Celador (x1)
26 Ithilien Guardian (x2)
27 Southron Company (x4)
28 Ithilien Road (x2)
29 Blocking Wargs (x4)
30 Orc Scramblers (x3)
31 Battering Ram (x3)
32 Siege Raft (x2)
33 The Citadel (x1)
34 The Approach (x1)
35 The Banks (x1)
36 Orc Assault (x2)
37 Pickpocket (x3)
38 City Street (x3)
39 Market Square (x2)
40 Lost in the City (x1)
41 Local Trouble (x2)
42 Zealous Traitor (x3)
43 Lossarnach Bandit (x2)
44 Umbar Assassin (x1)
45 Lurking In Shadows (x2)
46 Overgrown Trail (x3)
47 Secluded Glade (x3)
48 Lost Companion (x2)
49 Morgul Spider (x3)
50 Forest Bat (x3)
51 Watcher in the Wood (x2)
52 Southron Mercenaris (x3)
53 Haradrim Elite (x2)
54 Mumak (x1)
55 Southron Support (x2)
56 Lieutenant of Mordor (x1)
57 Orc Arbalesters (x3)
58 Orc Vanguard (x2)
59 Orc War Camp (x2)
60 The Master's Malice (x2)
61 The Power of Mordor (x1)
62 Orc Rabble (x3)
63 Orc Arsonist (x3)
64 Scourge of Mordor (x2)
65 The Leading Fish (x1)
66 Fighting in the Streets (x1)
67 Escape to the Quays (x1)
68 Ambush in Ithilien (x1)
69 Southron Counter-Attack (x1)
70 The Hidden Way (x1)
71 Approaching Cair Andros (x1)
72 The Defense (x1)
73 Reinforcing the Banks (x1)
74 Breakthrough at the Approach (x1)
75 Breakthrough at the Citadel (x1)
76 The Last Battle (x1)

Painting frustration

I've been trying to paint recently.  This is surprising, given the low amount of models I've painted in my years and years of owning miniatures, but still- I'm really trying.

Monday, I take out a Slayer, prime it, and start painting it using a paint I have laying around, Citadel's Orkhide Shade Foundation paint.  I get the first layer on, but realize I'm running low on paint.

"No problem", I think to myself.  I'm at the game store tomorrow night (Tuesday), I'll grab another pot of it, and I'll put the second layer on.

I go to the store, only to discover that GW has changed their paint line (yes, yes, I realize this isn't recent, but I haven't exactly been painting, have I?).  Sure, using a conversion chart I found online, I can find what's an exact match, but it's still a very annoying way to go about things. 

This, plus remembering how annoyed I was about discontinuing Chestnut ink, from the last time I tried my hand at painting, meant I wanted to try something new.

In frustration, I picked up the Vallejo matching color.  It's cheaper, I'll get more use out of it, and I don't know that they've ever discontinued a paint color... but I struggle to use Vallejo paints well.  I'm supposed to mix them 1:1 with water to get a good ratio for layering... but I find that after it's mixed, it tends to slowly separate in the palette well, and I end up constantly using paint that is too thin to actually cover the model, meaning I have to remix the well. 

I feel like painting should be easier than this.  Maybe I need to switch to P3 paints, or something, are maybe I'm just really bad at this whole painting thing, but c'mon, what should I beginner painter do to find a set of paints that are both easy to use, and aren't likely to change names every year?

For now, I'm going to push through with the Vallejo paints.  I'm sure that once I get the hang of them, I'll really find them quite rewarding.  In the meantime, does anyone have any random suggestions for how to use them well?

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Star Wars rules posted!

Of course, this happened yesterday, but in case you missed it: http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=3748.

Very very exciting.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 11/17/2012

This week I:

- Assembled a Neverborn Cherub for my Lilith Crew.

- Attached the second wing to Terminus, leaving me only with his sword and a few spikes to assemble before he's completed.

- Assembled a Cryx Stalker.

- Continued work on Wraith Engine conversion, cleaning two more of the resin pieces.  I still have a lot of work to do, but might begin assembly of part of it this upcoming week.

- Re-primed my Slayer, with the goal to start putting paint on it, and determine my Cryx color scheme.  Something green based, most likely.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Contents of The Battle of Lake-Town

1 Terror From the Mountain (x1)
2 Fire and Water (x1)
3 The Dragon's Wrath (x1)
4 Smaug the Mighty (x3)
5 Smaug the Terrible (x3)
6 Smaug the Magnificent (x3)
7 Lake-Town (x1)
8 The Old Thrush (x1)
9 Close to the Flame (x3)
10 Scorching Blast (x3)
11 Town-Baiting (x3)
12 Dire Magnificence (x3)
13 Catching Fire (x 2)
14 Reckless in His Rage (x2)
15 West Pier (x1)
16 The Master's Manor (x1)
17 South Pier (x1)
18 North Pier (x1)
19 Merchant's District (x4)
20 East Pier (x1)
21 Great House (x1)
22 Great Bridge (x1)
23 Fisherman's Dock (x4)
24 Esgaroth Wharf (x4)

Also, 2 rule cards and a summary card.

First Games of Firestorm Armada!

Rob and I tried a game of Firestorm Armada yesterday, and despite several hiccups, had a good time doing it.

We started by getting our fleets ready- I was running a Directorate fleet, which was the Starter box and the Overseer carrier (640 points), Rob was running the Terran Alliance plus the carrier (665 points, I think?).

We set up, drew our hands (of various random events and things we could do to subtly influence the battle), and started playing.  Our random victory conditions involved me killing all of his medium-sized models (his cruisers and carrier), and him having to kill 70% of my fleet.

Turn 1:



First turn, we moved forward, and took long range shots at one another.  I led with my Enforcer frigates, and Rob obliged by having his Sentinel cruisers move up, and take a bunch of shots, killing two of them, and damaging the last one.



My other squad of Enforcers was hammered by his Battleship as well.  In return, my Judgement class battleship and Overseer carrier managed to kill two of his frigates... and then I got to be appalled that his last squadron of frigates damaged one of my Vanquisher class cruisers.

So, Turn 1 tally: I had 2 dead frigates and 3 damaged ones, and a slightly damaged cruiser, to Rob's two dead frigates.

Turn 2:



Rob and I roll for initiative, and I play a card giving me an extra 3 to my initiative roll.  Even so, I lose, and Rob activates his carrier first, which shoots and kills one of my damaged Enforcers.

I decide that, with their limited life span, I need to be bold with my remaining Enforcers, and sent them into the middle of the board, firing wildly, and resulting in damaging his cruiser as well as two frigates.




We traded shots back and forth, generally to little effect (my Vanquishers all linked fire at one of his Sentinels, and failed to do a point of damage, sigh), but my Judgement-class battleship DID manage to get a critical hit on his battleship, dropping his shields (which he failed to repair for the remainder of the game) and dealing two damage, although I then took a point in return from his shooting.  The battleship also accounted for a few frigates.

Also, we tried using Wings this game, and my carrier launches a flight of 3 bombers (Rob's had done the same earlier in the turn).

Finally, his carrier fired into my damaged Vanquisher, getting a critical hit, and causing a raging fire, which I immediately repair.

Turn 3:



I start turn 3 by playing a card to repair my Vanquisher, bringing it down to having a single damage point on it.  His battleship lays into mine, causing a critical hit (Decompression, which gets repaired at the end of the turn).

I line my squadron of Vanquisher cruisers up to get a full linked broadside into his cruisers, and get a total of 17 hits, causing a double critical, killing his cruiser.  My other shooting for the turn ends up dropping 3 points of damage on his carrier.

Our bombers get into action... and do nothing.  It turns out, reading the FAQ/errata, that we had been using them a little wrong (no PD against the torpedo shots themselves), but if anything, it may end up weakening them.  We'll see.

Aaaaand that was all that we accomplished this turn.

Turn 4:




I was running a little short on time, so we had to call the game mid-turn, although we did throw a few random shots early on, just for fun.  Rob's battleship dropped another point onto my battleship, and I shot to no noticeable effect.

Summary:

So, we didn't finish the game, and since we were just trying to get the rules down, we didn't really figure out the results.  But regardless, we did have a good time.

I played a lot of Battlefleet Gothic in college, so I can't help but compare it to that in some ways.  Ships in this game shoot a LOT.  I mean, we were regularly throwing 10+ dice at a time, and then re-rolling a few of them every time we saw sixes.  As a man who loves to roll dice, I can't help but love this.  With that said, ships didn't really die all that fast.  Rob fired shots at my carrier and battleship every turn, and managed to get a total of 5 damage between the two of them.

Also, the Firestorm Armada rulebook is TERRIBLE.  I don't know who they had write this thing, but it really feels like they just half-assed it.  The rules may be among the worst organized (and there's no index!) that I've ever seen.  And this is their second edition rulebook?  Are you kidding me?


Torpedoes strike me as a little peculiar- they don't enter the map, and can travel whatever distance instantly.  In a sense, it's nice (fewer things to keep track of, and the torpedoes get to the target without issue).  But I do miss the tactical implications of throwing a spread of VERY scary torpedoes down, and watching my opponent have to maneuver to get around them.

The rules for boarding assaults are a little hard to understand (FAQ/Errata fixes this some), so we didn't use them yet, so I can't compare.  I don't remember caring for the BFG boarding rules at all, so I can't see how they wouldn't be an improvement.

Wings are very strange, but don't seem very strong.  Of course, we played with them wrong, so it's hard to say (I imagine 6 bombers would be a terrifying thing).  The equivalent in BFG wasn't much stronger, so it's comparable.

We didn't play with terrain.  We will next time.  As I understand it, you use a lot more terrain in Firestorm Armada than you do in Battlefleet Gothic.

The cards for Firestorm Armada don't do a whole lot for me, truthfully.  Rob says they add a cinematic feel, and add some epic-ness.  I mostly played cards to repair ships (which, combined with ships not taking too much damage means ships stick around), and once or twice we dropped cards to enhance our attack rolls.  Mostly, I kept cards around to cancel cards Rob played, if I could.  I can take them or leave them, however.

The game is in some ways a lot simpler- in a good way.  In BFG, you had to deal with a whole order structure to be able to reload torpedoes, change the way your ships move or shoot, any of that.  It worked, but it slowed the game down at times.  You also spent time looking up firepower in tables, which took time (for most batteries).  In Firestorm Armada, you move up, you shoot, then you move on.  Space games should be more fun, I feel.  Adding too much work to a game makes it less enjoyable, and Firestorm Armada did a good job here.

We'll get this game back on the table soon, hopefully getting more of the rules correct.  When we do, I can see this being very enjoyable.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 11/10/2012

Not a whole lot done this week, due to a last minute dog - sitting arrangement, but did start filing some more Malifaux minis. Hopefully, will get them done in time to use them on Tuesday.

Friday, November 9, 2012

GMT Posts List of Best Sellers

GMT games has put up a list of it's all-time 15 best selling games.  It's pretty interesting!

One thing to notice is that 3 non-war games (Battle Line, Formula Motor Racing, and Ivanhoe) made the list (I've not tried any of them, unfortunately).  Also, one expansion is on there: C&C Ancients Expansion #1 (also, never tried it).

Despite the fact I love wargames, I have played VERY few of these.  Twilight Struggle I've played, and love.  Combat Commander: Europe is something I've also played and enjoyed (some battle reports are posted on this blog, even).  SPQR and Great Battles of Alexander are games I own, and would love to play, but haven't had the opportunity.

Sadly, that's all.  Despite GMT's popularity, there are so many of their most popular games I've not even tried, nor own.  It's a shame, really.  Something to work on fixing over the upcoming years, no doubt.

There's also a list of their best sellers for the current year.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

First Games of Malifaux!

Well, Rob and I finally got the Malifuax minis out, and threw down for some games last night, over at DropZone Games in Glen Burnie.

I was running my Lilith crew, which was the only one I had assembled.  She basically consists of herself, 3 Terror Tot Nephilim, and a Mature Nephilim starting on the table.  Lilith's crew seems to be pretty straight forward.  Advance, get into combat (where I'm harder to shoot AND Black Blood lets me gradually wear down my enemies), kill things, move on.  Lilith, particularly, is pretty nasty in combat, with her 3/4/6 DMG line on her sword, and a (+) flip using it.

Game 1:

For the first game, Rob tried out Rasputina's crew box against me.  Rasputina runs with a bunch of Ice-based Constructs that cause all sorts of annoying things to happen.  For instance, when one of my models kill one of his ice dudes, my model's activation ends.  It makes it tough to use certain abilities.  Also, Rasputina has this annoying ability to freeze terrain pieces, which locks people in place.  Ugh.

Anyway, we flipped for our strategies (our scenario).  I ended up flipping the one for recovering a treasure in the middle of the table, Rob flipped the one for destroying evidence.  For him to get VPs, he had to get to my side of the board, and interact with objectives.  For me to get VP, I had to get a token in the middle of the board, and have it on a model when the game ended.  As this was our first game, we skipped out on Schemes.

 Then we went at it.  Right away we both basically moved our guys to the middle as quickly as possible.



Rasputina started the second turn freezing that large terrain piece in the center, locking Lilith in place for the turn (d'oh), but I got some major revenge later in the turn when after moving an Ice Gamin up, I proceeded to kill it with my Mature Nephilim.


Next turn, I win initiative, and eagerly move Lilith off the terrain piece and into combat with the Ice Golem, dealing about 4 damage to it.  I then use my Brood Mother action to immediately activate the Mature Nephilim, charging him in and dropping another 3 damage on the Golem (normally, we each activate a model at a time, alternating players, but some abilities give you the ability to activate more than one thing at a time).  Rasputina decides to exact some vengeance, and starts dropping spells into the combat, eventually killing the Ice Golem semi-accidentally (Rob certainly wasn't unhappy doing this, as a dying Ice Golem deals damage to models close to him).  With the Ice Golem dead, she threw another spell at Lilith, dealing a total of 5 damage to her on the turn.



Next turn, Lilith and the Mature Nephilim kill Rasputina, and the following turn, I grab the treasure counter on the middle of the board edge, leaving me the winner of the game 2VP to 0VP.

Game 2:

Rob decided to try his other assembled crew, Sonna Criid,  for the second game.  Rob's strategy ended up being something about controlling board quarters (really difficult to do when you only have 5 models), and mine involved being close to a counter at game end.

We set up, and again, went at it, running things in at one another on the first turn.



That's right, we basically lined up on opposite sides of the street.  We're super tactical players.

I started turn 2 by getting things into action, my Nephilim taking down two Witchling Stalkers, letting me grow 2 Terror Tots into Young Nephilim (making them stronger).  However, I actually took a beating as well, as Sonna Criid unloaded into me, killing the Mature Nephilim and a Terror Tot.




On Turn 3, the Young Nephilim takes down Sammael, and Rob deals a decent amount of damage to everything I have on the board.  Lilith charges into Sonna, but fails to kill her.  At the beginning of the next turn, Rob kills Lilith, but leaves Sonnia too close to a badly wounded Witchling Stalker, allowing me to kill her by killing the Witchling (who explodes when he dies).  Having removed all of Rob's models, nothing stops me from getting the 4 VP from having models close to the counter you see in the pictures.

So yeah, two games in, and I personally had a blast.  There's a lot of interesting interactions in this game, but it's going to take a LOT of practice to get the hang of things here.  We'll need another model or two apiece, just to give our crews some versatility, but we'll get there, I have no doubt.  I love the use of cards instead of dice, and I love how hand management influences the games in so many ways.  Definitely looking forward to playing this again!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 11/3/2012

Not a whole lot this week, unfortunately, since I was given a dog to take care of by a coworker, kind of last minute.

I did get a least one thing done though- I started work on my Wraith Engine!  More specifically, I started work on a great Wraith Engine conversion, that hopefully will turn out pretty well.  Once I get some more progress done, I'll put up more details.

Days of Blood spoilers (Warhammer: Invasion)

Alright, first try doing this, let me know what you think about the formatting.

Here's what you get:

Dark Elves:

Crone Hellebron
Legend (unique)
3 cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Pow Kindom/Quest, 2 Pow Battlefield
3 Hit Points
Forced: When this legend enters play, you must burn 3 zones instead of 2 to win for the rest of the game.
While this legend is participating in an attack, defending opponent must discard a card from the top of his deck for each combat damage dealt to his capital.

Bride of Khaine
Unit
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Pow
3 Hit Points
Witch Elf
Dark Elf only.  Ambush 2.
Action: When this unit ambushes, target attacking unit gets -2 hit points until the end of the turn.

Chill Sea Watchtower
Support
1 cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Pow
Building
If you control a non-Dark Elf card, sacrifice this card.

Capture Slaves
Quest (unique)
0 cost (3 Loyalty)
Mission
Play in any opponent's zone under your control.
When you assign combat damage to this zone, you may place any number of that combat damage on this quest instead.
Forced: When the 3rd damage token is placed here, sacrifice this quest to search the top 5 cards of defending opponent's deck for a unit and put it into play under your control in any zone.  Shuffle his deck.

Dwarfs:

Veteran Thunderers
Unit
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Pow
2 Hit Points
Warrior
Raider 2

Doors of Karak Hirn
Support (unique)
3 Cost (3 Loyalty)
1 Pow
Fortification
This zone cannot be attacked, unless each other zone you control is burning.


Empire:

Ludwig Schwarzheim
Unit (unique)
4 Cost (3 Loyalty)
3 Pow
3 Hit Points
Knight. Standard Bearer.
Toughness X.
X is the number of experience attached to this unit.
Action: When this unit attacks or defends, attach 1 experience to it.

Middenheim Lookout
Unit
1 Cost (1 Loyalty)
0 Pow
3 Hit Points
Ranger.
Empire only. Ambush 1.
Action: When this unit ambushes, move target unit you control into this zone and declare that unit as a defender.

Midden Moors Watchtower
Support
2 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Pow
Fortification.
Forced:  When an opponent declares an attack on this zone, look at that opponent's hand.  Then, name a card.  The named card cannot be played this phase.

High Elves:

Great Fire Dragon
Unit
5 Cost (2 Loyalty)
3 Pow
4 Hit Points
Dragon.
Battlefield only.
Action: When this unit attacks, put 1 resource token on it.  Then, you may remove X resource tokens from this unit to deal X damage to target unit in the attacked zone.

Shadowlands Hunter
Unit
2 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Pow
2 Hit Points
Ranger.
High Elf only.  Ambush 1.
Action: When this unit ambushes, put 1 resource token on a High Elf card with at least 1 resource token on it.

Magic Ward
Tactic
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
Spell.
Action: Choose an opponent's zone.  Treat the printed text box of each unit in that zone as though it were blank (except for traits) until the end of the phase.

Orcs:

'Idden Boy
Unit
2 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Pow
2 Hit Points
Warrior.
Orc only.  Ambush 1.
Action: When this unit ambushes, it gains 2 Pow until the end of the phase.

Banna Bearer
Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Pow
3 Hit Points
Standard Bearer.
Action: When a Hero or legend you control is declared as an attacker, pay 2 resources to put this unit into play in your battlefield, declared as an attacker.

Warboss Banna
Support
0 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Attachment.
Attach to a target unit you control.
While attached unit is attacking or defending, it gains: "Action: Discard an Orc unit from your hand to give this unit Pow until the end of the phase."

Chaos:

Norse Marauders
Unit
4 Cost (1 Loyalty)
2 Pow
3 Hit Points
Warrior.
Raider 3.

Ghorgon
Unit
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
3 Pow
3 Hit Points
Creature.
Battlefield only.
Forced: When this unit attacks, discard the top card of your deck.  If the discarded card is not a unit, sacrifice this unit.

Reckless Attack
Tactic
1 Cost (2 Loyalty)
Limited.
Action: When your opponent declares at least 1 defender against your attack, put target unit in your discard pile into play in your battlefield declared as an attacker.  At the end of the phase, sacrifice all units that attacked this phase.

Neutral:

Bordertown
Support
2 Cost
2 Pow
Building.
Forced: When this zone takes combat damage, sacrifice this card.

Muster for War.
Tactic
0 Cost
Limited.  Play during your Quest Phase.
Action: Gain 2 resources and draw 2 cards.  You have no Battlefield phase this turn.

Gaming on November 3rd, 2012

Played a few games today.

The goal was to teach Frans about the game, but sadly, that didn't happen, as I ended up getting 'taught a lesson', so to speak.

Games 1 and 2, I played a Martell Icon removal deck (with Quentyn Martell as my agenda) against Frans' Stark Siege of Winterfell deck.  Game 1, I ended up with a mediocre start, and Frans' deck worked smoothly, taking me down (15-0, maybe?).  Game 2, more of my deck got working, but it wasn't enough, as Frans seemed to have answers for most things.  This one ended 15-9, in his favor.  I like my deck, but man, it's just too slow.  I think I need to drop a character or two, and add more cheap income locations.  I always felt like I was struggling to get going, so having something to speed me up will be nice.

Game 3, I ran a Greyjoy deck, using the Kings of Winter agenda, with the intent to choke his income.  We ended up having to cut the game short (after 7 rounds), but the choke part was working.  Unfortunately, I was doing just as good a job hurting myself, and I think I ended the game with only 3 power (Frans, I believe, had 2).  If we have more time, we may try giving that game another go.

So.... 0-2 on the day, but I did have fun.  Can't wait to get some time to tweak these decks!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Finally, official word on Star Wars deckbuilding, as well as example pods

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=3707

I was a little disappointed when I heard abuot the way they are doing deckbuilding, as were most people, from what I gathered.  But that said, after a bit of thinking, I'm looking forward to it, and the designer in this article basically highlights the reasons why.  I think it's going to be an interesting take on the old style of doing things, and new and interesting ways to do things always have the potential to be interesting.

Man, I can't wait for this game to come out.

Contents of Warhammer:Invasion, Days of Blood

Card Number, Name of Card, Quantity

1 Crone Hellebron (x3)
2 Capture Slaves (x3)
3 Bride of Khaine (x3)
4 Chill Sea Watchtower (x3)
5 Veteran Thunderers (x3)
6 Doors of Karak Hirn (x3)
7 Ludwig Schwarzheim (x3)
8 Middenheim Lookout (x3)
9 Midden Moors Watchtower (x3)
10 Great Fire Dragon (x3)
11 Shadowlands Hunter (x3)
12 Magic Ward (x3)
13 'Idden Boy (x3)
14 Banna Bearer (x3)
15 Warboss Banna (x3)
16 Norse Marauders (x3)
17 Ghorgon (x3)
18 Reckless Attack (x3)
19 Bordertown (x3)
20 Muster for War (x3)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Layout changed

Well, I didn't end up losing power, or (aside from a bunch of rain) see many of the effects of Sandy, which is good, but I know a lot of people did, so hopefully those that did get their power and lives back to normal soon.

I got around to making the layout change to the blog, basically applying one of the templates so that it didn't have the same boring look it had always had.

Let me know what you think.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Hurricane Sandy


Well, being in central Maryland, we're about to get hit by much of the wind and rain from Hurricane Sandy, which sucks.  But thankfully, I got out of work early today, and will have tomorrow off, at the least :).  I used what was left of the daylight today to re-base some minis, and hopefully I can use tomorrow to get some work done as well.

For the other people in Sandy's path, hopefully she goes light on you!  And on us :).

On an unrelated note- I was finally going to clean up the blog, and change some of the layout to make it a lot cleaner.  I'll wait until I'm sure I'll have power through the entire process ;).

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Hobby progress for week ending 10/27/2012

This week, I assembled two Young Nephilim for my Neverborn crew.  Now, thankfully, I have something for my Terror Tot Nephilim to look forward to, should I manage to get some blood counters in game.  With luck, maybe I can get a game in this next week.

Also, I read the rules to Firestorm Armada, and re-read the rules to Malifaux.  I don't know if I consider that 'hobby progress', but it's something that will enable me to more thoroughly enjoy games, and it's something I managed to do this week :).

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pariah?

Wait, what?

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440341a&prodId=prod1750023a

You mean, Dan Abnett is finally releasing the first book of the Alizebeth Bequin trilogy?  *hyperventilates*.

I haven't read a Black Library book in some time, mainly due to the fact I'm so busy, but man, that's the sort of series to get me started again!