Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Pirates of Lys Spoilers (A Game of Thrones)

Ser Lancel Lannister
Unique Lannister Character
2 Cost
2 Strength
Intrique, Power Challenge Icons
Holy Crest
Lord.  Knight
Ser Lancel Lannister gets +1 STR for each Holy Crest character in play.

The Bear and the Maiden Fair
Event
House Lannister only.
Response: After you win an Intrigue challenge by 4 or more total STR, the losing opponent chooses and discards 2 cards from hand. (Limit 1 per phase).

Cersei's Scheme
Plot
3 Income
6 Initiative
1 Claim Value
House Lannister only.
If you win a challenge as the attacker and defending player does not have more participating characters than you, choose and kneel 1 character controlled by the losing opponent.

Andrik the Unsmiling
Unique Greyjoy Character
3 Cost
3 Strength
Military (+Naval), Power Challenge Icons
Ironborn.  Lord.
Response: After you win a challenge in which Andrik the Unsmiling participated by 4 or more total STR, choose the topmost location in the losing player's discard pile and put it into play under your control.

We Do Not Sow
Event
House Greyjoy only.
Challenges: Kneel 2 influence or kneel a character with 1 or more Naval enhancements to turn all Warship locations you control into characters with STR equal to their printed cost, a Military icon, and a Power icon, until end of the phase.

Victarion's Scheme
3 Income
7 Initiative
1 Claim Value
House Greyjoy only.
During unopposed challenges, raise the claim value on your revealed plot card by 1.

Salladhor Saan
Unique Baratheon Character
3 Cost
3 Strength
Military, Intrigue (+Naval) Challenge Icons
Smuggler.  Captain.  Traitor
Response: After you play a Smuggler character, pay 2 gold to choose and discard from play 1 non-limited location with printed cost 3 or lower.

Oakenshield Port
Unique Baratheon Loation
2 Cost
The Reach.
When Oakenshield Port enters play put 6 gold tokens from the treasury on it.
Response: After you win a challenge, discard 1 gold token from Oakenshield Port to claim 1 power for your House (discard 2 gold tokens to claim 2 power for your House if a Naval attacker or defender was participating in that challenge).

Ours is the Fury
Event
House Baratheon only
Response: After you win a Power challenge by 4 or more total STR, stand all participating unique characters you control.

Moreo Tumitis
Unique Stark Character
3 Cost
3 Strength
Intrigue (+Naval), Power (+Naval) Challenge Icons
Captain.  Tyroshi.  Ally.
While you control at least 1 Warship, Moreo Tumitis gains renown.

Swamps of the Neck
Stark Location
1 Cost
The North
Challenges: Kneel Swamps of the Neck to choose a participating character you control.  Stand that character, and remove it from the challenge.

Titan's Daughter
Unique Stark Location
1 Cost
Warship
Response: After an opponent declares a Naval attacker against you, kneel Titan's Daughter to choose a standing character you control and kneel it as a defender.  If you win the challenge, search your deck for a character, reveal it, and shuffle your deck.  Then, put the revealed card on top of your deck.

Hellholt Docks
Martell Location
1 Cost
Dorne.
Response: After an opponent kneels a location, kneel Hellholt Docks to choose and kneel a location.

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
Event
House Martell only.
Response: After you lose a challenge, discard your hand of at least 1 card to reveal the same number of cards from the top of your deck, and put them into your hand.

House Targaryen Loyalist
Targaryen Character
2 Cost
2 Strength
Intrigue, Power Challenge Icon
Lord.  Traitor
If you control 1 or more Dragon characters, House Targaryen Loyalist loses the Traitor trait and gains: "House Targaryen Loyalist gains renown during Power challenges."

Balerion
Unique Targaryen Location
2 Cost
Warship
Any Phase: Kneel Balerion to lower the cost of the next character you put into play using ambush this phase by 1.  That character claims 1 power when it comes into play and until the end of the phase, it gains a Naval enhancement on its power icon, if able.

Fire and Blood
Event
House Targaryen only.
Challenges: Choose a Targaryen character.  That character gets +2 STR until the end of the phase.  Then, attach Fire and Blood to that character (counts as a Boon attachment with the text, "Attached character gains cannot be discarded from play").

Torrhen's Square
Plot
3 Income
4 Initiative
1 Claim Value
Military Battle.  City.
If you have no other City plots in your used pile, raise the claim value on your revealed plot card by 1 during Military challenges.

Negotiations at the Great Sept
Plot
3 Income
2 Initiative
2 Claim Value
Intrigue Gambit.  City.
When revealed, if you have no other City plots in your used pile choose an opponent.  You and that opponent may each choose to shuffle your hand of at least 1 card into your decks, and replace them with the top 5 cards of the same deck.

The Long Voyage
Agenda
Your minimum deck size is 85 cards.
When you draw during the draw phase, draw 1 additional card.

The Pirates of Lys Contents (A Game of Thrones)

41 Ser Lancel Lannister (x3)
42 The Bear and the Maiden Fair (x3)
43 Cersei's Scheme (x3)
44 Andrik the Unsmiling (x3)
45 We Do Not Sow (x3)
46 Victarion's Scheme (x3)
47 Salladhor Saan (x3)
48 Oakenshield Port (x3)
49 Ours is the Fury (x3)
50 Moreo Tumitis (x3)
51 Swamps of the Neck (x3)
52 Titan's Daughter (x3)
53 Hellholt Docks (x3)
54 Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken (x3)
55 House Targaryen Loyalist (x3)
56 Balerion (x3)
57 Fire and Blood (x3)
58 Torrhen's Square (x3)
59 Negotiations at the Great Sept (x3)
60 The Long Voyage (x3)

A Study in Static Spoilers (Android: Netrunner)

Disrupter
Anarch Program
1 Install Cost
1 Memory Cost
1 Influence Value
- Strength
Trash: Prevent a trace.  That trace initiates again with a base trace strength of 0.

Force of Nature
Anarch Program
5 Install Cost
1 Memory Cost
1 Influence Value
1 Strength
Icebreaker.  Decoder.
2 Credits: Break up to 2 code gate subroutines.
1 Credit: +1 Strength.

Scrubber
Anarch Resource
2 Install Cost
1 Influence Value
Connection.  Seedy.
2 Recurring Credits
Use these credits to trash cards.

Doppelganger
Unique Criminal Hardware
3 Install Cost
2 Influence Cost
Console
+1 Memory Unit
Once per turn, you may immediately make another run when a successful run ends.
Limit 1 console per player.

Crescentus
Criminal Program
1 Install Cost
1 Memory Cost
1 Influence Value
- Strength
Trash: Derez a piece of ice.  Use this ability only after breaking all the subroutines of that ice during a single encounter.

Deus X
Shaper Program
3 Install Cost
1 Memory Cost
1 Influence Value
10 Strength
Icebreaker
Trash: Break any number of AP subroutines.
Trash: Prevent any amount of net damage.

All-Nighter
Shaper Resource
0 Install Cost
2 Influence Value
Click, Trash: Gain Click, Click.

Inside Man
Neutral Resource
3 Install Cost
0 Influence Cost
Connection
2 Recurring Credits
Use these credits to install hardware.

Underworld Contact
Neutral Resource
2 Install Cost
0 Influence Cost
Connection
When your turn begins, gain 1 Credit if you have at least 2 Link.

Green Level Clearance
Haas-Bioroid Operation
1 Cost
1 Influence Value
Transaction
Gain 3 Credits and draw 1 card.

Hourglass
Haas-Bioroid ICE
5 Rez Cost
2 Influence Cost
4 Strength
Code Gate
- The Runner loses Click, if able.
- The Runner loses Click, if able.
- The Runner loses Click, if able.

Dedicated Server
Jinteki Asset
3 Rez Cost
2 Influence Cost
3 Trash Cost
Facility
2 Recurring Credits
Use these credits to rez ice.

Bullfrog
Jinteki ICE
3 Rez Cost
2 Influence Cost
4 Strength
Code Gate.  Deflector.  Psi.
- You and the Runner secretly spend 0 Credits, 1 Credit, or 2 Credits.  Reveal spent credits.  If you and the Runner spent a different number of credits, move Bullfrog so that it is the outermost piece of ice protecting another server (the Runner continues the run from this new position and is now running on this new server).

Uroboros
NBN ICE
6 Rez Cost
2 Influence Cost
4 Strength
Sentry. Tracer
- Trace (4) - If successful, the Runner cannot make another run this turn.
- Trace (4) - If successful, end the run.

Net Police
NBN Asset
1 Rez Cost
2 Influence Value
1 Trash Cost
X Recurring Credits.
Use these credits during traces.  X is the number of links the Runner has.

Weyland Consortium: Because We Built It
Weyland Identity
45 Minimum Deck Size
15 Influence Limit
Megacorp
1 Recurring Credit
Use this credit to advance ice.

Government Contracts
Weyland Agenda
5 Advancement Requirement
3 Agenda Points
Click, Click: Gain 4 Credits

Tyrant
Weyland ICE
7 Rez Cost
2 Influence Value
4 Strength
Barrier
Tyrant can be advanced only while rezzed and gains "- End the run" for each advancement token on it.

Oversight AI
Weyland Operation
1 Cost
2 Influence Value
Condition
Rez a piece of ice, ignoring all costs, and install Oversight AI on that ice as a hosted condition counter with the text "Trash host ice if all its subroutines are broken during a single encounter"

False Lead
Neutral Agenda
3 Advancement Requirement
1 Agenda Point
0 Influence Value
Security
Forfeit False Lead: The Runner loses Click, Click, if able.

A Study in Static Contents (Android: Netrunner)

61 Disrupter (x3)
62 Force of Nature (x3)
63 Scrubber (x3)
64 Doppelganger (x3)
65 Crescentus (x3)
66 Deus X (x3)
67 All-Nighter (x3)
68 Inside Man (x3)
69 Underworld Contact (x3)
70 Green Level Clearance (x3)
71 Hourglass (x3)
72 Dedicated Server (x3)
73 Bullfrog (x3)
74 Uroboros (x3)
75 Net Police (x3)
76 Weyland Consortium: Because We Built It (x3)
77 Government Contracts (x3)
78 Tyrant (x3)
79 Oversight AI (x3)
80 False Lead (x3)

The Ruinous Hordes Spoilers (Warhammer: Invasion)

Sigvald The Magnificent
Unique Chaos 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, discard the top card of your deck.  This legend deals +X damage in combat until the end of the phase.  X is the discarded card's cost.

Dominion of Chaos
Unique Chaos 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 corrupt up to 3 target units.

Northern Wastes
Chaos Support
1 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
Wasteland.
If you control a non-Chaos card, sacrifice this card.

Norse Charger
Chaos Unit
1 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Power
1 Hit Point
Berserker.
Battlefield only.
Action: When this unit attacks, examine all developments in the defending zone.  Then, you may sacrifice this unit to destroy target development in that zone.

Steel Behemoth
Empire Unit
6 Cost (4 Loyalty)
4 Power
4 Hit Points
War Machine
Battlefield only.
Toughness X.
X is the number of all opponent's units participating in combat.

Panther Champion
Empire Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
4 Hit Points
Knight.
Action: When this unit defends, remove it and target attacking unit from combat.  Then, this unit deals damage equal to its power to that unit and that unit deals damage equal to its power to this unit.

Pyromancy
Empire Support
1 Cost (2 Loyalty)
Attachment.  Spell.
Attach to target unit you control.
Forced: At the beginning of your turn, attached unit deals damage to target unit equal to the damage on attached unit.

King Alrik
Unique Dwarf Unit
3 Cost (3 Loyalty)
0 Power
3 Hit Points
Noble.  Warrior.
Battlefield only.
This unit gains Power for each resource you have in your pool.

Horn Hold Defender
Dwarf Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
2 Hit Points
Warrior.
While you have at least 3 resources in your pool, this unit gains Toughness 2.
Action: When this unit attacks or defends, gain 1 resource.

Open the Armoury
Dwarf Tactic
0 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Play only at the beginning of your turn.
Action: Play a unit or support card from your hand (Paying all costs)

Avelorn Sojourner
High Elf Unit
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
3 Hit Points
Mage.
While this unit is questing, raise the cost of each tactic played by an opponent by 1.

Sally Forth
High Elf Tactic
0 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Play at the beginning of your Battlefield phase.
Action: Choose one of your zones.  Units in that zone may be declared as attackers this phase.  Until the end of the phase, you cannot declare attackers from any other zone.

Orc Warboss
Orc Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
3 Hit Points
Elite.
Battlefield only.
Action: When this unit survives an attack that dealt damage to an opponent's zone, sacrifice this unit to gain an additional battlefield phase this turn after the current battlefield phase.

Wolf Gobbos
Orc Unit
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Goblin.
Action: When this unit survives an attack on an opponent's zone, sacrifice this unit to destroy target unit in that zone.

Ded 'Ard
Orc Tactic
0 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Action: Cancel an Action just triggered that targets a damaged unit you control.

Cold One Champion
Dark Elf Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
3 Hit Points
Cavalry
Raider 2.  Scout.

Test of Will
Dark Elf Tactic
2 Cost (1 Loyalty)
Spell
Dark Elf only.  Ambush 0.
Play only during the Ambush step.
Action: Attacking opponent must sacrifice an attacking unit or cancel the attack.

Spellweaver
Neutral Unit
2 Cost
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Wood Elf.
Order only.  Ambush 1.
Action: When this unit ambushes, place the top 2 cards of your deck facedown in this zone as developments.

Restless Corpse
Neutral Unit
2 Cost
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Undead.
Destruction only.  Ambush 1.
Action: When this unit ambushes, draw a card from the bottom of your deck.

Lying in Wait
Neutral Tactic
0 Cost
Action: Turn target unit you control facedown into a development.

The Ruinous Hordes Contents (Warhammer: Invasion)

81 Sigvald The Magnificent (x3)
82 Dominion of Chaos (x3)
83 Northern Wastes (x3)
84 Norse Charger (x3)
85 Steel Behemoth (x3)
86 Panther Champion (x3)
87 Pyromancy (x3)
88 King Alrik (x3)
89 Horn Hold Defender (x3)
90 Open the Armoury (x3)
91 Avelorn Sojourner (x3)
92 Sally Forth (x3)
93 Orc Warboss (x3)
94 Wolf Gobbos (x3)
95 Ded 'Ard (x3)
96 Cold One Champion (x3)
97 Test of Will (x3)
98 Spellweaver (x3)
99 Restless Corpse (x3)
100 Lying in Wait (x3)

Friday, March 15, 2013

Rumors of a new LCG from FFG?

There's a rumor that FFG may be working on an LCG based off the old Vampire: The Eternal Struggle CCG.  My source: http://www.cardgamedb.com/forums/index.php?/topic/5846-rumors-of-new-lcg-based-on-vtes/

That is great news for several reasons.  First, it's always great to see more LCGs.  This is a great format, and the more games that are out for it, the better (in my opinion).  Of course, my wallet will be displeased, but whatever.  I can always pick up a third job.

Second, V:TES is in my top three of greatest CCGs not currently available (along with Doomtown and Battletech).  It'd be a huge win for FFG to remake this, and I know it's popular enough to really give them some serious income.  I played it briefly in my CCG loving days, and have good memories of it.  It played quickly, you were forced to both attack and defend if you wanted to win... it really was a good game that required a lot of skill (not just deckbuilding) if you wanted to be successful.

Finally, V:TES is a multiplayer game at its heart.  Like, four or more players.  I believe two players was an enjoyable game experience, but it really played best with more people.  LCGs need a game like that.  Lord of the Rings has that for cooperative games, Warhammer and Star Wars will have that eventually, and Game of Thrones does okay for small groups now, but something that could feasibly play 7 people quickly would be a nice addition as well.

I'll be keeping my eye on this- very very exciting news, if true.

My gaming from 3/12

Just a quick update on the most recent day of LCG gaming I had (I don't get many... for now).

Started off by playing Netrunner against Rob.  I ran a brand new Noise deck I constructed against a newly created NBN deck.  Game went for a while, and I eventually won 7-5... but the victory was immensely flawed because I misread Chimera (thought it derezzed after every run), allowing me to run multiple times a turn for almost no cost.  Odds are, playing it correctly, I would have lost- but there was certainly enough uncertainty there to warrant not counting it in either one of our favor. 

I did learn even from this game though- my Noise deck needs a lot more economy.  I spent the entire game without resources, which isn't a very good strategy.

Second game was Star Wars- I took a Jedi deck against Rob's Imperial Navy deck.  I had a really rough time getting characters out in the early and mid-game, but when I finally started getting them, I ended up pushing through a victory, with the Death Star dial at 10!  Part of this was because Rob only ran a single copy of any objective in his deck, but still.... a win is MUCH better than I had done in the past, meaning at the very least, I'm improving in this game :).

Finally, we broke out Mage Wars, and I learned how to play.  I was pretty impressed.  There's certainly enough replay there (and book-building) to warrant playing it more.  I will try to add it to the rotation of things this site covers, although there might be a slight lag time in that.  Regardless, another sweet card game that's out to get into.

Overall, I had a great time, got some (undeserved) wins, and managed to break out LCGs, which I badly wanted to do.  With luck, I can do so again before the end of the month!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Desolation of Hoth Spoilers (Star Wars)

A Message from Beyond
Jedi Objective, Objective Set 37
1 Resource
5 Damage Capacity
Dagobah.
Reaction: After you refresh, damage this objective to return the topmost enhancement from your discard pile to your hand.

Old Ben's Spirit
Jedi Enhancement, Objective Set 37 (2 Copies)
1 Cost
1 Force Icon
Force Spirit
Enhance a Character Unit.
Interrupt: When enhanced unit would be destroyed, instead discard this enhancement and remove all damage from that unit.

Weapon Mastery
Jedi Event, Objective Set 37
0 Cost
2 Force Icons
Action: A target Character unit gains Unit Damage for each enhancement on it until the end of the phase.

Calm
Jedi Event, Objective Set 37
0 Cost
2 Force Icons
Force.  Control.
Play only during an opponent's turn.
Action: Remove all focus tokens from a target Character unit with 2 or more enhancements on it.

Heat of Battle
Neutral Fate Card, Objective Set 37
2 Force Icons
5 Edge Priority
Deal 1 damage to a target participating enemy unit

Hoth Operations
Rebel Objective, Objective Set 38
1 Resource
5 Damage Capacity
Hoth
While you control more Hoth objectives than your opponent, each of your Speeder units gains edge (1)

Wedge Antilles
Unit Rebel Unit, Objective Set 38
2 Cost
1 Force Icon
Unit Damage, Blast Damage (edge)
2 Damage Capacity
Character.  Pilot.
You may play this card on a friendly Speeder or Fighter unit as an enhancement with the text: "Action: Focus this enhancement to remove 1 focus token from enhanced unit".

Rogue Three
Unique Rebel Unit, Objective Set 38
3 Cost
3 Force Icons
Blast Damage, Blast Damage
3 Damage Capacity
Vehicle.  Speeder.
This unit gains Unit Damage, Blast Damage for each enhancement on it.

Snowspeeder
Neutral Unit, Objective Set 38
2 Cost
1 Force Icon
Unit Damage, Blast Damage (edge)
1 Damage Capacity
Vehicle.  Speeder.

Hoth Survival Gear
Rebel Enhancement, Objective Set 38
0 Cost
2 Force Icons
Item
Enhance a Character unit.
Enhanced unit gains +1 damage capacity for each Hoth objective you control.

Target of Opportunity
Neutral Fate Card, Objective Set 38
2 Force Icons
9 Edge Priority
If you are the attacking player, deal 1 damage to the engaged objective.

Echo Base Defense
Rebel Neutral Objective, Objective Set 39
1 Resource
5 Damage Capacity
Hoth
Limit 1 per objective deck.
While you control more Hoth objectives than your opponent, your Hoth objectives cannot suffer unopposed damage.

Wilderness Fighters
Neutral Unit, Objective Set 39 (3 Copies)
3 Cost
1 Force Icon
Blast Damage (edge), Blast Damage (edge)
2 Damage Capacity
Character.  Trooper.
This unit gains Unit Damage for each Hoth objective you control.

Subzero Defenses
Neutral Enhancement, Objective Set 39 (2 Copies)
1 Cost
1 Force Icon
Condition
Enhance your play area.
Destroy the first enemy unit to strike against a friendly Hoth objective each turn, after its strike resolves.

The Killing Cold
Sith Objective, Objective Set 40

1 Resource
5 Damage Capacity
Hoth
Action: Sacrifice a unit you control to remove 1 damage from a friendly Hoth objective.

Icetromper
Neutral Unit, Objective Set 40 (2 copies)
2 Cost
1 Force Icon
Unit Damage
2 Damage Capacity
Creature.  Hoth.
Action: Sacrifice this unit to remove a target attacking non-Vehicle unit from an engagement.  Then, deal 1 damage to that unit.

Fear
Sith Enhancement, Objective Set 40
1 Cost
2 Force Icons
Condition
Enhance an enemy Character unit.  Remove enchanced unit from the Force struggle, if able.
Enhanced unit cannot commit to the Force.

The Desolation of Hoth
Sith Event, Objective Set 40
3 Cost
3 Force Icons
Hoth
Play only during your turn.
Action: Move any amount of damage from a Hoth objective you control to a target enemy unit or Hoth objective.

Twist of Fate
Neutral Fate Card, Objective Set 40
0 Force Icons
2 Edge Priority
Cancel this edge battle and the card effects of all other fate cards just revealed.  Discard both edge stacks and start a new edge battle.

Lord Vader's Command
Imperial Navy Objective, Objective Set 41
1 Resource
5 Damage Capacity
While this objective is undamaged, increase the cost of each event card played by an opponent by 1.

Darth Vader
Unique Imperial Navy Unit, Objective Set 41
5 Cost
4 Force Icons
Unit Damage, Unit Damage, Blast Damage (edge)
4 Damage Capacity
Character.  Force User.
Elite.
While this unit is attacking, each of your attacking units gains Blast Damage.

Communications Officer
Imperial Navy Unit, Objective Set 41
3 Cost
1 Force Icon
2 Resources
1 Damage Capacity
Character.  Officer.

Probe Droid
Neutral Unit, Objective Set 41 (2 Copies)
2 Cost
1 Force Icon
Unit Damage (edge)
1 Damage Capacity
Droid
Interrupt: When this unit leaves play, deal 1 damage to a target enemy objective.

Imperial Suppression
Imperial Navy Event, Objective Set 41
0 Cost
1 Force Icon
Interrupt: When an event card is played, cancel its effects and place it on top of its owner's deck.

Shadows on the Ice
Empire Neutral Objective, Objective Set 42
2 Resources
5 Damage Capacity
Hoth
Limit 1 per objective deck.

Wampa
Neutral Unit, Objective Set 42 (2 Copies)
3 Cost
1 Force Icon
Unit Damage, Unit Damage
3 Damage Capacity
Creature.  Hoth.
Reduce the cost to play this unit by 2 for each Hoth objective in play.

Succumb to the Cold!
Neutral Event, Obective Set 42 (2 Copies)
0 Cost
1 Force Icon
Hoth
Play only if you control at least 1 Hoth objective.
Reaction: After a focus token is removed from an enemy unit, place 1 focus token on that unit.

Battle of Hoth
Neutral Fate Card, Objective Set 42
3 Force Icons
8 Edge Priority
You may deal 1 damage to or remove 1 damage from a target Hoth objective.

The Desolation of Hoth Contents (Star Wars)

0065 Heat of Battle (x2)
0133 Target of Opportunity (x2)
0171 Twist of Fate (x2)
0178 A Message from Beyond (x2)
0179 Old Ben's Spirit (x4)
0180 Weapon Mastery (x2)
0181 Calm (x2)
0182 Hoth Operations (x2)
0183 Wedge Antilles (x2)
0184 Rogue Three (x2)
0185 Snowspeeder (x2)
0186 Hoth Survival Gear (x2)
0187 Echo Base Defense (x1)
0188 Wilderness Fighters (x3)
0189 Subzero Defenses (x2)
0190 The Killing Cold (x2)
0191 Icetromper (x4)
0192 Fear (x2)
0193 The Desolation of Hoth (x2)
0194 Lord Vader's Command (x2)
0195 Darth Vader (x2)
0196 Communications Officer (x2)
0197 Probe Droid (x4)
0198 Imperial Suppression (x2)
0199 Shadows on the Ice (x1)
0200 Wampa (x2)
0201 Succumb to the Cold! (x2)
0202 Battle of Hoth (x1)

Friday, March 8, 2013

X-Wing battle report from 2/20/13

Unfortunately, we didn't have the Wave 2 stuff back in February, but nonetheless, BK and I played a game of X-Wing, and had a blast doing it.

My list:
"Howlrunner" w/ Swarm Tactics
"Mauler Mithel" w/ Swarm Tactics
Academy Pilot
Academy Pilot
Academy Pilot
Academy Pilot
Academy Pilot
Total Squad Points: 99

This is just a basic TIE Swarm.  I took a more useful set of upgrades this time, however- Swarm Tactics actually get my ships shooting before several other pilots, and it was definitely helpful in this game.

BK's list:
Luke Skywalker w/ R2-F2
Rookie Pilot w/ R2 Astromech
Rookie Pilot w/ R2 Astromech
Gold Squadron Pilot w/ Ion Cannon Turret, R2 Astromech
Total Squad Points: 99

3 X-Wings and a Y-Wing.  R2-F2 with Luke makes him pretty tough to kill, and the R2 Astromechs should give the X-Wings more maneuverability.   I am happy to see the Y-Wings in the list, of course.

Turn 1:

A quick note about our setup- I basically set up everything right in the middle, as you can see from the picture.  BK put Luke Skywalker and the Y-Wing off to my right, and the two Rookie Pilots off to my left.  It was different than I'm used to seeing, so I was eager to get into action.

Regardless, our first turn is of course, uneventful.  We both move forward towards the center.  Exciting.


Turn 2:

I have a choice here.  I could go to my left, crush the Rookie Pilots, but then I'd have Luke and a Y-Wing behind me, which could really suck (getting hit with an Ion Token, then having Luke move to range 1 and Target Locking would be a dead TIE a turn, I'm sure).  I decide to bank to the right, and take on Luke early.

Unfortunately, my piloting skills suck.  A bunch of my ships run into themselves, but in general, I do manage to get my ships pointing the right way.

Both of BK's groups of ships turned slightly and headed towards the center.

We exchange some long range shots to little effect- the sole casualty is a single shield is taken off the Y-Wing.



Turn 3:

Well, it's action time.  I figure that BK's ships are likely to bank to their right, and rejoin their buddies.  However, I didn't want to fully commit to that way, so I tried to slightly go BOTH ways.  Because the ships are already in position to not fall on top of one another, I actually get to take actions with everyone.  Those actions, however, are 7 Evade actions.  Seven.  Yes, exciting.

BK's left group of X-Wings is forced to send one of them through the asteroid, but doesn't take any damage.  The Y-Wing does bank to his right, but Luke goes straight forward, depending on his high agility to see him through the firestorm.

Well, he's right there.  A few TIEs shoot at Luke, but fail to do any damage, and in return he deals a point of damage to one of my Academy Pilots.

On my left, I'm a little more successful- my massed shooting takes all the shields off the Y-Wing, and get a Critical Hit onto the starfighter (something minor).  BK's Rookie Pilots deal two points of damage to an Academy Pilot as well.

So, three turns in, I'm in position to start hurting the Y-Wing, and I'm taking damage on my TIEs at a fairly mediocre rate.  Not looking too bad, so far.



Turn 4:

Alright, what to do now?  I'm fairly unsure about how well I can hurt Luke without sending every ship after him, and decide to give up on that for now, and focus on the other ships.  I send my guys to the left, and try to spread out to cover as much of the board with firing arcs as possible.

BK sends his ships basically right into the middle of my lines.

I start off with some shooting at the Y-Wing with Howlrunner and a Swarm Tactic'd Academy Pilot, but fail to accomplish anything.  Luke follows with a shot on Howlrunner, hoping to lower the effectiveness of my entire fleet, but fails to put any hits through (2 hits and 2 evades, I believe).

Mauler Mithel, however, has much better luck and lays into the Rookie Pilot right in front of him, rolling up four hits (to no evades), destroying him, and giving the Imperials the first confirmed kill of the match.

The Academy Pilot I had used Swarm Tactics on with Mauler also finds some success, and deals two damage to the Y-Wing right in front of him.

The Y-Wing gets a little revenge, however, and manages to put an Ion Cannon shot into one of my Academy Pilots, making my maneuvering a little more annoying next turn.

Unfortunately for said Y-Wing, he doesn't get to stick around and take advantage of it, as my remaining Academy Pilots bring him down.


At this point, things are looking pretty good.  I've killed two ships, and although I've taken small amounts of damage on a few of my TIEs, I haven't lost any.  If I can get my ships pointing the right direction, I should be able to depend on my weight of shots to carry the day.

Turn 5:

Every one of my ships turns around, except for the one that had an Ion counter.  BK's ships slowly move up into the teeth of my squad.

My shooting is all at long range, and I fail to accomplish anything.  BK's limited shooting is much more effective, however, and his Rookie Pilot puts two damage on an undamaged TIE (unfortunately, the only one he could get in his firing arc), both of which are critical (I don't remember the exact effects).



Now, ships are about to get close, which means things could get very ugly.

Turn 6:

And they do.  I screw up all of my maneuvering, meaning almost none of my ships actually get actions (smooth), but unfortunately for BK, that's all that goes wrong this turn.

My shooting starts fairly weak- one of my Academy Pilots, shooting with Howlrunner's Swarm Tactics take a shield off of Luke, who fires back and gets FOUR hits... which I then proceed to evade all but one of.

My next shot takes two shields off the Rookie Pilot, who's shooting does nothing.

I finish my turn with two Academy Pilots, each shooting at Luke.  Three shots apiece.... and each rolls three hits.  Luke can't keep up with that kind of rolling, and gets destroyed.

With only a single Rookie Pilot facing off against my entire force, even damaged as they are, we decide to call it.

Thoughts:

This will probably be the last time I run a TIE swarm in a friendly match for some time.  I'm really too eager to try all the new ships, and I really want to try running multiple TIE Advanced and see how they perform, as well as using the new Wave 2 ships.  Running all these TIEs was fun, of course, but I want to try something different.

It's hard to say what I did wrong or right about this game - I got so lucky with dice at times that it didn't matter what I chose (killing Luke, for instance was almost purely luck).  Obviously, I really REALLY need to work on my maneuvering, since I spent two turns without actions, practically.  My overall game plan worked better than my last TIE Swarm game (I didn't lose Howlrunner right away, for instance), so that's progress.

So yeah, next time I play as the Imperials, look for a something with more variety as my list!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Malifaux Battle Report, 2/6/13, Sonnia vs Mei Feng

Rob finally got the opportunity to break out his new Mei Feng crew last month, and challenged me to a game.  Clearly terrified of my Lilith crew (he insists he thinks Lilith would be too easy for him to beat, but I know the truth ;) ), he suggested I take Sonnia, so I did so. We ended up playing a 30 Soulstone game, as well, since I was a little limited in my model selection for the moment.

To start with, my crew:
Sonnia Criid -- 6 Pool
Francisco Ortega
Samael Hopkins
Watcher
Witchling Stalker
Witchling Stalker
Witchling Stalker

I don't really have a lot to say about my list- it's her starter box + Fransisco (I figured I could use some extra ranged options) + a Watcher (to help offset bad luck).

Rob's crew:
Mei Feng -- 8 Pool
Emberling
Kang
Metal Gamin
Rail Worker
Willie, the Demolitionist

Admittedly, although I've read the Ten Thunders book, I only had a minimal amount of knowledge of what all the models did.  I did know Mei Feng could combo a lot, however, so I needed to keep an eye out for that.

After flips, we ended with Shared Claim Jump as our Strategy (whoever had more models within 3" of a counter in the center of the table scored points).  We each had two Schemes, which we both announced: I chose Bodyguard (Sonnia) and Raid.  Rob chose Bodyguard (Mei Feng) and Grudge (Fransisco).  We deployed in the corners, and the only thing notable about our terrain was that there was a lot of buildings.

Turn 1:

I win Initiative, and basically move everything towards the center.  I send my Witchling Stalkers forward as a sort of picket line, hoping to create a wide area of Disrupt Magic auras everywhere.  The rest of my models end up moving behind them.

Rob's activations involve Willie using Clear Out off Kang to move everyone forward a few inches, but Rob basically decides he had screwed up his deployment, and ends up just moving everything towards the center instead of more fanciness.


Turn 2:

Rob wins Initiative, even though I start by flipping a 12 (he manages to flip a 13).  Grrr!

Willie starts off the turn by double walking towards the middle of the table, to catch up to the action.  In addition, he puts a bomb up close to my forces.  I respond by having the central Witchling Stalker use Defensive Stance and his Disrupt Magic aura before moving a little towards the middle, hoping to make life a little difficult for Rob's force.

Rob activates Mei Feng and the Emberling next.  The Emberling walks up and tries to throw up a Vent Steam... but is sadly is in range of the aura, and fails.  Mei Feng is able to move up, stay out of the aura, and cast it, however, providing her with some protection.  I respond... by having my Witchling Stalker on my side of the building do the exact same thing as his brother.

Rob has a Rail Worker move in front of Mei Feng, presumably to block line of sight to her.  I activate my Watcher, who lets me look at the top two cards of my deck.  One of them happens to be the Black Joker, which I gladly throw on the bottom of my deck.

Rob parks his Metal Gamin next to Mei Feng.  If only I had decent blast shots!  I have my last Witchling Stalker do the same thing as his buddies, creating quite the area of magicless-ness.

Kang ends up going after the closest Witchling Stalker to me, but with Defensive Stance up, isn't able to put shovel to flesh.  Finally, given that I have all the activations left in the round, I attempt to go a little offensive.  Sammael starts taking shots, and manages to kill Willie, who unfortunately explodes, damaging the two closest Witchling Stalkers and Fransisco for two.  Fransisco follows up by firing at the Rail Worker, doing a few points of damage.

Sonnia spends the turn... basically doing nothing.  I don't know that I have a good early game plan for her, haha.

Turn 3: 

Rob wins Initiative again.

Rob starts by having his Rail Worker charge a Witchling Stalker, and detonates the previously placed bomb, killing the two central Witchling Stalkers, himself, and Fransisco.  That is really really unpleasant.  Needing to delay for an activation, to get his guys into range, I have my remaining Witchling Stalker use Defensive Stance, Disrupt Magic, and have him take a swing at Kang, dealing two damage... which doesn't really matter since he recovers from it whenever he activates.

Rob's Metal Gamin activates, and double Walks over to my side of the board.  I use the Watcher to move forward and help prepare my deck for the inevitable- revealing a 13, which I leave on top of my deck.

Rob then activates Mei Feng and the Emberling.  The Emberling walks up and Vents Steam, just staying out of the Disrupt Magic aura.  Mei Feng walks forward, casts Iron Skin on the Metal Gamin, and walks again.

I start salivating, hoping to put a ton of damage on Mei Feng.  Eagerly, I activate Sammael, and declare I'm going to Rapid Fire, and make the first flip... then remember that I haven't used his Flaming Bullets spell.  I also forget about his Arcane Hunter ability (so a net +2 Cb and +3 Dg I screwed myself out of).  As it was, Rob is forced to spend a few Soulstones, but even so, I still put 2 damage on him.  Honestly, had I remembered to use these, it would've probably cost him another Soulstone, which may have made a significant difference.

Sonnia ends the turn by activating, and throws a bunch more spells at Mei Feng, which force her to spend MORE Soulstones, but I still end up putting another two damage on her.



Turn 4:

I thankfully win Initiative.

For some reason, I activate Sonnia first, even though Sammael could've either killed Mei Feng, or forced her to spend every Soulstone she had.  I don't really remember why I did this.  Regardless, Sonnia starts throwing spells at Mei Feng, fails to kill her (but does manage to kill the Emberling), but does do a few more points of damage.

Mei Feng charges up, uses a string of Tiger's Claws strikes with the Tiger's Fury trigger, and kills Sonnia (but see below).  I end up conceding (although I guess Sammael could've made an attempt at killing her and playing for less of a loss).

Rob would've won the strategy (4 points), Mei Feng survived (2 points), but he didn't kill Fransisco in melee, meaning the final score was 6-0.  Quite a beating!

Thoughts:

I can't really say if this will end up being a good matchup.  Having some experience with her now, Rob says he should be taking more Rail Workers with her to exploit Express Line, and move her around more, which will probably make her a lot scarier.  On top of that, he did have some maneuvering issues that he'll be able to fix with a few more games of practice.

One big thing we DID screw up, however, is Mei Feng's trigger.  The end reads "perform a melee Strike against another target in melee range."  We played it that the target could be the same person (ie, Sonnia), which let him belt off the 5 attacks it took to kill her (she missed once).  With the trigger, she'd have had to kill Sammael as well (she certainly had the range), but maybe would've killed him quickly enough to save Sonnia.  Hard to say.  I started Mei Feng's activation with more Soulstones than her, so it's possible. 

Of course... Sammael would've been dead, Sonnia would've already activated, and I wouldn't have had any way to kill Mei Feng this turn, so it's hard to think the result would've changed at all.

If I remembered all of Sammael's rules, who knows what the result would've been as well.  Extra damage plus a higher stat value is really sweet, and definitely makes me eager to see him on the table again!

Regardless, the game was a lot of fun, and it's nice seeing Ten Thunders models on the table.  Also, Rob has been working extra hard to get his models painted, and the effort shows- his side of the board looked beautiful.  Definitely something to make me more eager to paint, when I have the time to do so.

We should have another game of Malifaux soon- hopefully I'll have more Guild stuff assembled, giving me some options in the game.  Maybe I can the next one a closer match :).

Until next time!

Friday, March 1, 2013

X-Wing wave 2 released

Those of you who play X-Wing no doubt have already seen that this is the case, but yeah, the new stuff for X-Wing is out!

I managed to snag one each of the new models- they were starting to sell out even as I showed up (not long after they were put on the shelves).  It's great to see this game doing so well. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting the new stuff on the table.  In another two weeks or so, I'll play another X-Wing game, and I'll make sure to use the new stuff.

Hobby progress for February, 2013

(EDIT: Oops, forgot to update this as the month went along!)

This month:

Malifaux:
* One game played (using Sonnia Criid) 

Saga:
* Starter Box of Jomsvikings Filed
* Starter Box of Skraelings Filed

Warmachine/Hordes:
* One game played (eHexeris)
* Unit of Long Gunners filed
* Unit of Cygnar Mechanics filed
* A few other Cygnar solos filed
* Cyclops Shaman filed
* Necrosurgeon filed

X-Wing:
* One game played (As the Imperials)