Alright, my buddy Ben has been working on getting his Ogre Kingdoms playable and useful these days. He had a pretty poor start, so I figured this would be a fun challenge for myself as well. I have an Ogre Kingdoms army that I've never run, so this could be a chance to get some interesting games in. I don't have any dreams of beating current tournament lists, but maybe I can pose at least a challenge for some of them :).
Ogres are definitely not a top-tier army. They have poor shooting, mediocre magic, and close combat- their best thing- is still outclassed by several armies. Also, no flaming attacks, which is rough with all the regeneration out there. I tried to go for a lot of units, backed up with some useful shooting support in the form of Dogs of War cannons. There are some rumors that Dogs of War and Ogre Kingdoms will be combined, so I'll use that as part of my justification ;).
Here's the list:
Tyrant w/ Tenderiser, Heavy Armor, 2 Gnoblar Thiefstones, Luck Gnoblar - 291
Butcher w/ Hellheart, Tooth Gnoblar - 185
Butcher w/ Bangstick, Dispel Scroll, 2 Tooth Gnoblar - 190
Butcher w/ Bloodcleaver, Dispel Scroll - 180
3 Ogre Bulls - 105
3 Ogre Bulls, extra hand weapon - 117
3 Ogre Bulls, extra hand weapon - 117
6 Ironguts w/ Bellower, Standard Bearer, Rune Maw - 338
20 Gnoblar Fighters w/ Groinbiter - 42
20 Gnoblar Fighters - 40
20 Gnoblar Fighters - 40
2 Leadbelchers w/ Bellower - 120
2 Leadbelchers w/ Bellower - 120
3 Yhetees - 195
Dogs of War Cannon - 85
Dogs of War Cannon - 85
Total Army Cost: 2250
Tyrant and Bloodcleaver Butcher in the Irongut unit. Other Butchers in with the Ogre Bull units.
Mostly unassembled and unpurchased. Needs a lot of playtesting also. No idea how well it will work, but I'll certainly give it a shot!
Thoughts?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Dark Elves vs Chaos Daemons, 12/23/09 (last Battle Report without pictures!)
2000 point game vs Sam running my Dark Elves vs his primarily Nurgle Daemons. Played at the Games Workshop Battle Bunker in Glen Burnie.
My army list:
Sorceress (lvl 4) w/ sacrificial dagger, seal of ghrond
Death Hag w/ Cauldron of Blood
20 Corsairs w/ Full Command, Sea Serpent Standard
w/ assassin w/ extra hand weapon, rune of khaine, manbane
5 Dark Riders w/ repeater crossbow, musician
5 Dark Riders w/ repeater crossbow, musician
28 Spearmen w/ full command, shields, Banner of Cold Blood
6 Shades w/ great weapons
w/ assassin w/ manbane, rending stars
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
1 Hydra
Sam took Chaos Daemons- I don't have exactly what was in it (Sam is more than free to send it to me though :) ), but it was basically:
Great Unclean One (lvl 4) w/ Staff of Nurgle, Trappings of Nurgle
Herald of Nurgle (lvl 1) w/ Staff of Nurgle + Epidemius in a unit of Plaguebears
Herald of Nurgle (lvl 1) w/ Staff of Nurgle in a unit of Plaguebearers
Medium sized unit of Bloodletters
Beast of Nurgle
Deployment:
I deployed Dark Riders on the flanks, everything else more or less central. Sam put most things in the middle, Bloodletters on the side some.
I really should've taken notes... I can't remember much of the play by play, but Sam moved forward the first two turns, steadily marching and using his magic advantage to hammer at my spearmen. The Great Unclean one dropped my sorceress out of the spearmen unit on turn 3, I believed. I didn't move much, shooting at the Great Unclean one, and getting the Dark Riders behind his Bloodletters.
Sam had his 3 wizards, each with a bound spell, vs no magic defense on the top of turn 4. I had dealt maybe 3-4 wounds to his Great Unclean one, he had dropped my spearmen to about half. Also, he had each of his wizards casting Miasma of Pestilence (reducing the WS, A, S, T and I of my models in base contact with him to 1), making them difficult to directly assault. However, the tide was to turn!
The Great Unclean One charged my spearmen, doing no wounds. In return, he lost combat, and took 2-3 wounds (I can't remember exactly, but he was down below half).
My frenzied corsairs received killing blow from the Cauldron of Blood and charged into the Plaguebearer unit on my left. The Killing Blow won the combat- I dropped the Herald, and several Plaguebearers. Next round saw Epidemius go with him. The Corsairs plowed through the unit on the next round of combat, and took no damage in return.
The Dark Riders kept shooting at the Bloodletters, whittling them down. I finally charged the rear of the unit, eventually killing it. The Great Unclean One brook through the Spearmen, and played no further role. The Shades and Dark Riders kept shooting at the Beast, bringing it to one wound. The other Plaguebearer unit killed the Hydra, then mopped up the 2 Bolt Throwers.
Final score was 1624 VP for me, 1216 VP for Sam. A 408 VP win (Minor Victory) for me!
Sorry about the kind of poor synopsis. I need to take notes :(. Or pictures. Or both.
A goal for next year, surely :)
My army list:
Sorceress (lvl 4) w/ sacrificial dagger, seal of ghrond
Death Hag w/ Cauldron of Blood
20 Corsairs w/ Full Command, Sea Serpent Standard
w/ assassin w/ extra hand weapon, rune of khaine, manbane
5 Dark Riders w/ repeater crossbow, musician
5 Dark Riders w/ repeater crossbow, musician
28 Spearmen w/ full command, shields, Banner of Cold Blood
6 Shades w/ great weapons
w/ assassin w/ manbane, rending stars
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
1 Hydra
Sam took Chaos Daemons- I don't have exactly what was in it (Sam is more than free to send it to me though :) ), but it was basically:
Great Unclean One (lvl 4) w/ Staff of Nurgle, Trappings of Nurgle
Herald of Nurgle (lvl 1) w/ Staff of Nurgle + Epidemius in a unit of Plaguebears
Herald of Nurgle (lvl 1) w/ Staff of Nurgle in a unit of Plaguebearers
Medium sized unit of Bloodletters
Beast of Nurgle
Deployment:
I deployed Dark Riders on the flanks, everything else more or less central. Sam put most things in the middle, Bloodletters on the side some.
I really should've taken notes... I can't remember much of the play by play, but Sam moved forward the first two turns, steadily marching and using his magic advantage to hammer at my spearmen. The Great Unclean one dropped my sorceress out of the spearmen unit on turn 3, I believed. I didn't move much, shooting at the Great Unclean one, and getting the Dark Riders behind his Bloodletters.
Sam had his 3 wizards, each with a bound spell, vs no magic defense on the top of turn 4. I had dealt maybe 3-4 wounds to his Great Unclean one, he had dropped my spearmen to about half. Also, he had each of his wizards casting Miasma of Pestilence (reducing the WS, A, S, T and I of my models in base contact with him to 1), making them difficult to directly assault. However, the tide was to turn!
The Great Unclean One charged my spearmen, doing no wounds. In return, he lost combat, and took 2-3 wounds (I can't remember exactly, but he was down below half).
My frenzied corsairs received killing blow from the Cauldron of Blood and charged into the Plaguebearer unit on my left. The Killing Blow won the combat- I dropped the Herald, and several Plaguebearers. Next round saw Epidemius go with him. The Corsairs plowed through the unit on the next round of combat, and took no damage in return.
The Dark Riders kept shooting at the Bloodletters, whittling them down. I finally charged the rear of the unit, eventually killing it. The Great Unclean One brook through the Spearmen, and played no further role. The Shades and Dark Riders kept shooting at the Beast, bringing it to one wound. The other Plaguebearer unit killed the Hydra, then mopped up the 2 Bolt Throwers.
Final score was 1624 VP for me, 1216 VP for Sam. A 408 VP win (Minor Victory) for me!
Sorry about the kind of poor synopsis. I need to take notes :(. Or pictures. Or both.
A goal for next year, surely :)
Finished Space Wolf Second Omnibus...
And I gotta say, I'm going to miss reading the series, since I understand this is the last book. I always thought the plot for the books was fantastic- really just a very enjoyable story. My only complaint was seeing the words 'young Space Wolf' about 40 times in Wolf's Honour. Eesh.
The Space Wolf series is overall very good though- really really does a good job giving a feel for the whole dynamics of the Space Wolf chapter as well as the personality of their warriors.
Next up is reading some of Pete's fiction, then a Warhammer fantasy book next... maybe Knight Errant by Anthony Reynolds. Don't get to read enough fiction about Bretonnian Knights, after all!
Also, have another brief battle report to post, probably tomorrow. Last one without pictures, I promise!
The Space Wolf series is overall very good though- really really does a good job giving a feel for the whole dynamics of the Space Wolf chapter as well as the personality of their warriors.
Next up is reading some of Pete's fiction, then a Warhammer fantasy book next... maybe Knight Errant by Anthony Reynolds. Don't get to read enough fiction about Bretonnian Knights, after all!
Also, have another brief battle report to post, probably tomorrow. Last one without pictures, I promise!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
New Years Resolutions for 2010
Alright! Time to get some things to keep me focused on next year. Hobby things mainly. I think if I stayed focused, I really can get all these done!
No new armies, no proxying!
I will not be starting any new armies on the upcoming year aside from the ones I play for Fantasy (Empire, Dark Elves, Ogre Kingdoms), 40K (Necrons, Witch Hunters, Daemonhunters, Chaos Space Marines), and whatever I end up choosing to do for good in the other games I play (one army apiece). There's rumored to be soooo many cool new things coming out. How can I resist? Even buying random models needs to stop. I need to focus on what I have!
Also- I want to force myself to assemble/convert the stuff I want to run. It'll make the game more enjoyable and rewarding for myself and my opponent. No more 'counts as'.
Build my Empire army
I have played them a few times, but I always have to proxy. I have an Army List that I want to use, but I want to get it fully assembled so that I can field it without having to figure out models to sub in. I think I own all the models, thankfully. Just need to finish! It's still PLENTY incomplete, so this will take some time.
Paint my Dark Elves!
Dark Elves were my first ever Games Workshop army. Why are they not painted??
Build Witch hunters
This also involves coming up with a good 2000 point list, and then ensuring that I have everything I need to assemble it.
Play more games!
I played 10 games of Warhammer Fantasy this year, 3 games of 40K, Space Hulk, and Blood Bowl, and 2 games of Warmachine. I'd like to play more (much more, in the case of 40K) of each of these. I also want to try Malifaux and Uncharted Seas. Basically, I want to play much more!
Play through Great Battles of Alexander
Great Battles of Alexander is a fantastic game about an era of history I love. I want to play through all 10 scenarios included. This will probably end up being solo, simply because ancient warfare isn't everyone's taste, but I can live with that. So long as I finally do it.
Play through Fellowship of the Ring
Get the models, build the terrain, and play all the scenarios from the Fellowship of the Ring book.
Get 100 painting points
Finishing the Dark Elves, according to Painting For Paints, will give me like 74 or so points. I want to get to 100. That's more than I've done up to my hobby LIFE up to this point. Quite a tall feat!
Watch the top 50 movies
Trying to get myself more cultured, I want to watch as many of the top 50 movies on the AFI top 100 list. I've seen 9 to date, so 41 more before the end of the year. First up, The Godfather!
Alright, that's it! Let's see how well I do! I'll make mention once a month about it. Or less frequently as I forgot :).
No new armies, no proxying!
I will not be starting any new armies on the upcoming year aside from the ones I play for Fantasy (Empire, Dark Elves, Ogre Kingdoms), 40K (Necrons, Witch Hunters, Daemonhunters, Chaos Space Marines), and whatever I end up choosing to do for good in the other games I play (one army apiece). There's rumored to be soooo many cool new things coming out. How can I resist? Even buying random models needs to stop. I need to focus on what I have!
Also- I want to force myself to assemble/convert the stuff I want to run. It'll make the game more enjoyable and rewarding for myself and my opponent. No more 'counts as'.
Build my Empire army
I have played them a few times, but I always have to proxy. I have an Army List that I want to use, but I want to get it fully assembled so that I can field it without having to figure out models to sub in. I think I own all the models, thankfully. Just need to finish! It's still PLENTY incomplete, so this will take some time.
Paint my Dark Elves!
Dark Elves were my first ever Games Workshop army. Why are they not painted??
Build Witch hunters
This also involves coming up with a good 2000 point list, and then ensuring that I have everything I need to assemble it.
Play more games!
I played 10 games of Warhammer Fantasy this year, 3 games of 40K, Space Hulk, and Blood Bowl, and 2 games of Warmachine. I'd like to play more (much more, in the case of 40K) of each of these. I also want to try Malifaux and Uncharted Seas. Basically, I want to play much more!
Play through Great Battles of Alexander
Great Battles of Alexander is a fantastic game about an era of history I love. I want to play through all 10 scenarios included. This will probably end up being solo, simply because ancient warfare isn't everyone's taste, but I can live with that. So long as I finally do it.
Play through Fellowship of the Ring
Get the models, build the terrain, and play all the scenarios from the Fellowship of the Ring book.
Get 100 painting points
Finishing the Dark Elves, according to Painting For Paints, will give me like 74 or so points. I want to get to 100. That's more than I've done up to my hobby LIFE up to this point. Quite a tall feat!
Watch the top 50 movies
Trying to get myself more cultured, I want to watch as many of the top 50 movies on the AFI top 100 list. I've seen 9 to date, so 41 more before the end of the year. First up, The Godfather!
Alright, that's it! Let's see how well I do! I'll make mention once a month about it. Or less frequently as I forgot :).
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Dark Elves vs Skaven, 12/18/09
Played a 2250 game, my Dark Elves vs Frans' Skaven, last Friday at the Glen Burnie Battle Bunker.
The objective was a 'fun' game. We usually try to go with the most competitive armies we can, winning being the primary objective type games. This time, we just wanted to try some random things out.
My list:
12 Corsairs (120)
-> Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Manbane, Rune of Khaine (146)
-> Lokhir Fellheart (250)
516 points
12 Corsairs (120)
-> Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Manbane, Rune of Khaine (146)
266 points
30 Spearmen w/ full command, Banner of Cold Blood, shields (240)
-> Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Rune of Khaine (121)
-> Supreme Sorceress (lvl 4) w/ Sacrificial Dagger, 3 Null Talismans (330)
-> Master (BSB) w/ Lance, pair of handbows, heavy armor, sea dragon cloak, Dark Steed, Pearl of Infinite Bleakness (172)
863 points
Sorceress, level 2 - 135 points
10 Crossbowmen w/ shields - 110 points
10 Shades - 160 points
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers - 200 points
I was trying a few different things. First, I ran Lokhir, who I think is great, but WAAAAAAYYYYY too many points for his use. Against Skaven, the extra attacks will be nice, but not enough to be game changing, I'd think. I also ran a lot of assassins, which is different. I also tried to use different magic items- no Ring of Hotek or Pendant. This was the result. The goal was to get the Corsairs to focus on a unit, destroy it, and get it ran down for double points. Repeat until I won. Everything else provided ranged support. The BSB master was to eventually leave the unit and support where needed.
Also, no Hydras, no monsters :(. Level 4 took Lore of Fire, Level 2 took Lore of Dark Magic.
Frans' list:
1 Warlord @ 219.0 Pts
-> General; Shield; War-Litter, Poison attacks [15.0], The Foul Pendant [30.0], Warplock Pistol [8.0], Warpstone Armour [30.0], Tail Weapon [8.0], 1 War-litter @ [35.0] Pts
20 Stormvermin @ 218.0 Pts
-> Halberd; Heavy Armour; Shields; Standard, Shroud of Dripping Death [30.0], 1 Fangleader @ [10.0] Pts
1 Plague Priest @ 578.0 Pts
-> Magic Lvl2; Frenzy; Flail; Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll [25.0],
-> 1 Plague Furnace @ [414.0] Pts
-> 26 Plague Monks @ [264.0] Pts
--> Frenzy; 2ndWeapon; Standard; Musician, Storm Banner [50.0], 1 Bringer-of-the-Word @ [10.0] Pts
1 Plague Priest @ 528.0 Pts
-> Magic Lvl2; Frenzy; Flail; Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll [25.0]
-> 1 Plague Furnace @ [364.0] Pts
-> 26 Plague Monks @ [214.0] Pts
--> Frenzy; 2ndWeapon; Standard; Musician, 1 Bringer-of-the-Word @ [10.0] Pts
1 Doomwheel @ 150.0 Pts
21 Skavenslaves @ 42.0 Pts
1 Doomwheel @ 150.0 Pts
21 Skavenslaves @ 42.0 Pts
8 Plague Censer Bearers @ 157.0 Pts
-> Frenzy; Censer, 1 Plague Chanter @ [13.0] Pts
1 Plague Priest @ 166.0 Pts
-> Magic level 1; Frenzy; Censer, Poison attacks [15.0], Warp Scroll [35.0]
I didn't do much editing of this list, to save myself some time. Warlord in with the Storm Vermin. Almost identical in style to his competitive list, just Doomwheels instead of Hellpits.
The table (terrain set up by an independent 3rd person- Ben), and initial deployments:
For the record, this is my first try using Battle Chronicler, so I didn't have time nor experience to adjust the terrain. All of those buildings are slightly bigger, although the relative location is correct. The lake in the middle was also a little bigger, and impassible.
The terrain was a problem to begin with, it made the middle of the board unusable. It also made my force, which was no faster than my opponent, really get stuck into playing an attrition game (since the impassible terrain was more than able to block flanks) that I was not designed for.
I won't bother posting too much info about how the game went. I shot the first two turns, doing about 3 wounds to the left Doomwheel, and two to the left Plague Furnace. A charge by his Censor Bearers into a unit of Cosairs had them get annihilated by the assassin. The unit charged into the Stormvermin, who had been advancing straight down, but got defeated and ran down (the assasin killed nothing, and Lohkir directed all attacks on the warlord, dealing only a single wound).
The leftmost corsair unit failed a terror test to charge the Doomwheel, got charged instead, broke and run down, which caused the sorceress to panic off the table. At this point, I conceded, I had only killed the one unit of Censor Bearers, and had lost over 917 points, with more about to happen. Not looking good.
Ah well, next time, I'll get my revenge!
No pictures yet, next year, I swear!
The objective was a 'fun' game. We usually try to go with the most competitive armies we can, winning being the primary objective type games. This time, we just wanted to try some random things out.
My list:
12 Corsairs (120)
-> Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Manbane, Rune of Khaine (146)
-> Lokhir Fellheart (250)
516 points
12 Corsairs (120)
-> Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Manbane, Rune of Khaine (146)
266 points
30 Spearmen w/ full command, Banner of Cold Blood, shields (240)
-> Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Rune of Khaine (121)
-> Supreme Sorceress (lvl 4) w/ Sacrificial Dagger, 3 Null Talismans (330)
-> Master (BSB) w/ Lance, pair of handbows, heavy armor, sea dragon cloak, Dark Steed, Pearl of Infinite Bleakness (172)
863 points
Sorceress, level 2 - 135 points
10 Crossbowmen w/ shields - 110 points
10 Shades - 160 points
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers - 200 points
I was trying a few different things. First, I ran Lokhir, who I think is great, but WAAAAAAYYYYY too many points for his use. Against Skaven, the extra attacks will be nice, but not enough to be game changing, I'd think. I also ran a lot of assassins, which is different. I also tried to use different magic items- no Ring of Hotek or Pendant. This was the result. The goal was to get the Corsairs to focus on a unit, destroy it, and get it ran down for double points. Repeat until I won. Everything else provided ranged support. The BSB master was to eventually leave the unit and support where needed.
Also, no Hydras, no monsters :(. Level 4 took Lore of Fire, Level 2 took Lore of Dark Magic.
Frans' list:
1 Warlord @ 219.0 Pts
-> General; Shield; War-Litter, Poison attacks [15.0], The Foul Pendant [30.0], Warplock Pistol [8.0], Warpstone Armour [30.0], Tail Weapon [8.0], 1 War-litter @ [35.0] Pts
20 Stormvermin @ 218.0 Pts
-> Halberd; Heavy Armour; Shields; Standard, Shroud of Dripping Death [30.0], 1 Fangleader @ [10.0] Pts
1 Plague Priest @ 578.0 Pts
-> Magic Lvl2; Frenzy; Flail; Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll [25.0],
-> 1 Plague Furnace @ [414.0] Pts
-> 26 Plague Monks @ [264.0] Pts
--> Frenzy; 2ndWeapon; Standard; Musician, Storm Banner [50.0], 1 Bringer-of-the-Word @ [10.0] Pts
1 Plague Priest @ 528.0 Pts
-> Magic Lvl2; Frenzy; Flail; Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll [25.0]
-> 1 Plague Furnace @ [364.0] Pts
-> 26 Plague Monks @ [214.0] Pts
--> Frenzy; 2ndWeapon; Standard; Musician, 1 Bringer-of-the-Word @ [10.0] Pts
1 Doomwheel @ 150.0 Pts
21 Skavenslaves @ 42.0 Pts
1 Doomwheel @ 150.0 Pts
21 Skavenslaves @ 42.0 Pts
8 Plague Censer Bearers @ 157.0 Pts
-> Frenzy; Censer, 1 Plague Chanter @ [13.0] Pts
1 Plague Priest @ 166.0 Pts
-> Magic level 1; Frenzy; Censer, Poison attacks [15.0], Warp Scroll [35.0]
I didn't do much editing of this list, to save myself some time. Warlord in with the Storm Vermin. Almost identical in style to his competitive list, just Doomwheels instead of Hellpits.
The table (terrain set up by an independent 3rd person- Ben), and initial deployments:
For the record, this is my first try using Battle Chronicler, so I didn't have time nor experience to adjust the terrain. All of those buildings are slightly bigger, although the relative location is correct. The lake in the middle was also a little bigger, and impassible.
The terrain was a problem to begin with, it made the middle of the board unusable. It also made my force, which was no faster than my opponent, really get stuck into playing an attrition game (since the impassible terrain was more than able to block flanks) that I was not designed for.
I won't bother posting too much info about how the game went. I shot the first two turns, doing about 3 wounds to the left Doomwheel, and two to the left Plague Furnace. A charge by his Censor Bearers into a unit of Cosairs had them get annihilated by the assassin. The unit charged into the Stormvermin, who had been advancing straight down, but got defeated and ran down (the assasin killed nothing, and Lohkir directed all attacks on the warlord, dealing only a single wound).
The leftmost corsair unit failed a terror test to charge the Doomwheel, got charged instead, broke and run down, which caused the sorceress to panic off the table. At this point, I conceded, I had only killed the one unit of Censor Bearers, and had lost over 917 points, with more about to happen. Not looking good.
Ah well, next time, I'll get my revenge!
No pictures yet, next year, I swear!
Warmachine on Friday, 12/18/09
Played a quick game of Warmachine late Friday night, working to learn/teach the game with the new MkII rules. I once again ran the Khador starter box (Sorscha, Juggernaut, Destroyer) vs Pete using the Menoth battle box (Kreoss, Revenger, Repenter, Crusader).
I advanced slowly (silly Khador jacks) with my jacks leading, Pete doing the same.
My Devastator charged his Revenger, bouncing off it. The return attack taught Pete just how tough my jacks were to kill! A charging Crusader did NOTHING to me. Maybe scratched the paint.
Next turn, the Devastator did significant damage to the Revenger, and began pounding on the Crusader. A supporting charge by the Juggernaut ended the Crusader. Sorscha again moved closer, preparing to overrun his first line of jacks when ready. No damage to my forces, utter decimation of his? Sounding good so far.
Then disaster struck :(. His stupid Repenter, who I was convinced sucked, managed to hit Sorscha with it's flame thrower, catching her on fire. First turn didn't get rid of the continuous effect, and almost killed her. Suddenly on a VERY tight schedule (4 health left, and still on fire), I attempted to assassinate his caster, wind rushing Sorscha forward, feating (causing all his models to go stationary), then begging to shoot and Razor Wind with everything I could (the only other shot being the Devastator, of course). Not enough to do the job. Since Kreoss had not used his feat yet, I conceded. It was just going to be more painful, and that's if the fire didn't kill me. Another loss!
I know I was a little too aggressive moving Sorscha up, but I do like using Khador. It's a very different feel than Cryx, who I'm more familiar with. I'll have to give the faction a try with some new toys!
I advanced slowly (silly Khador jacks) with my jacks leading, Pete doing the same.
My Devastator charged his Revenger, bouncing off it. The return attack taught Pete just how tough my jacks were to kill! A charging Crusader did NOTHING to me. Maybe scratched the paint.
Next turn, the Devastator did significant damage to the Revenger, and began pounding on the Crusader. A supporting charge by the Juggernaut ended the Crusader. Sorscha again moved closer, preparing to overrun his first line of jacks when ready. No damage to my forces, utter decimation of his? Sounding good so far.
Then disaster struck :(. His stupid Repenter, who I was convinced sucked, managed to hit Sorscha with it's flame thrower, catching her on fire. First turn didn't get rid of the continuous effect, and almost killed her. Suddenly on a VERY tight schedule (4 health left, and still on fire), I attempted to assassinate his caster, wind rushing Sorscha forward, feating (causing all his models to go stationary), then begging to shoot and Razor Wind with everything I could (the only other shot being the Devastator, of course). Not enough to do the job. Since Kreoss had not used his feat yet, I conceded. It was just going to be more painful, and that's if the fire didn't kill me. Another loss!
I know I was a little too aggressive moving Sorscha up, but I do like using Khador. It's a very different feel than Cryx, who I'm more familiar with. I'll have to give the faction a try with some new toys!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Blood Bowl, Book Read, and whatever else
Not a whole lot happening at the moment, but did manage to get a game of Blood Bowl in on Saturday vs Ben, primarily as a teaching game.
I used Dark Elves, 9 LineElves, 2 Blitzers, 3 Rerolls, 1 FF, 1 AC (no point saving money in a one-off game).
Ben used Lizardmen, and took 6 Saurus, 5 Skinks, 3 RR, 2 FF, 1 CL, 1 AC.
The score ended 1-1, but it really should have been higher (one way or the other). We had some of the worst luck I've ever seen in a game. Just sloppy ball handling (and terrible blocking) all throughout the game.
Overall, it was still a good time, although I would've loved to win!
I finished reading Palace of the Plague Lord by C.L. Werner. Overall, it was just okay- but it did have two things going for it.
First, it made me want to play the Path to Glory ruleset that Games Workshop put out at one point. Basically, it was a way for people to create Chaos Warbands and play skirmish games against one another, and have your members level up with experience, as well as draw in new recruits. It was a pretty fun little side-game, and had lots of easy modeling opportunities for newer gamers.
Second, I loved the description of the Plague Dragon Bubos, from the book. I think it's going to be a conversion project at some point :).
Next book is the second Space Wolf Omnibus. The series has been great so far, so I'm looking foward to getting through it.
And finally- next year I will be posting pics of my games, which means I won't be using 'counts as' in ANY game from now on. That's more of a personal challenge than anything- should get me off my butt to finish these armies!!
I used Dark Elves, 9 LineElves, 2 Blitzers, 3 Rerolls, 1 FF, 1 AC (no point saving money in a one-off game).
Ben used Lizardmen, and took 6 Saurus, 5 Skinks, 3 RR, 2 FF, 1 CL, 1 AC.
The score ended 1-1, but it really should have been higher (one way or the other). We had some of the worst luck I've ever seen in a game. Just sloppy ball handling (and terrible blocking) all throughout the game.
Overall, it was still a good time, although I would've loved to win!
I finished reading Palace of the Plague Lord by C.L. Werner. Overall, it was just okay- but it did have two things going for it.
First, it made me want to play the Path to Glory ruleset that Games Workshop put out at one point. Basically, it was a way for people to create Chaos Warbands and play skirmish games against one another, and have your members level up with experience, as well as draw in new recruits. It was a pretty fun little side-game, and had lots of easy modeling opportunities for newer gamers.
Second, I loved the description of the Plague Dragon Bubos, from the book. I think it's going to be a conversion project at some point :).
Next book is the second Space Wolf Omnibus. The series has been great so far, so I'm looking foward to getting through it.
And finally- next year I will be posting pics of my games, which means I won't be using 'counts as' in ANY game from now on. That's more of a personal challenge than anything- should get me off my butt to finish these armies!!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
LotR teaching armies
Alright, so I'm going to be teaching Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle game to a few of my friends, so I put together two 500 pt lists that I hope will be balanced against one another. I don't claim to have much experience with Lord of the Rings, so if anyone has some advice, I'd love to hear it!
Evil, Cirith Ungol w/ Nazgul allies:
Shagrat w/ Shield - 60
2/14/2 Nazgul w/ horse - 120
Mordor Troll - 100
8 Orc Warriors w/ shields - 48
8 Orc Warriors w/ spears, shields - 56
8 Orc Warriors w/ bows - 48
Orc Warrior w/ banner - 30
3 Warg Riders w/ 1 box, 1 shield - 38
Good, Tower of Echtelion w/ Rangers of Ithilien allies:
Faramir, Captain of Gondor w/ heavy armor, lance, horse - 90
Damrod, Ranger of Ithilien - 20
8 Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ spears, shields - 72
8 Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ shield - 64
Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ banner - 32
7 Knights of Minas Tirith w/ shields - 98
1 Knight of Minas Tirith w/ banner, shield - 39
10 Rangers of Gondor, 5 w/ spears - 85
I'm thinking I'll need to add another hero to the good force, something with some ability to combat the Nazgul's spells or handle the Troll maybe. Will have to give it a playthrough to see how well they interact with one another though.
After I get some games in with my friends, I have someone to go through the books and play the scenarios in them all. That's got me very excited :).
Thoughts?
Evil, Cirith Ungol w/ Nazgul allies:
Shagrat w/ Shield - 60
2/14/2 Nazgul w/ horse - 120
Mordor Troll - 100
8 Orc Warriors w/ shields - 48
8 Orc Warriors w/ spears, shields - 56
8 Orc Warriors w/ bows - 48
Orc Warrior w/ banner - 30
3 Warg Riders w/ 1 box, 1 shield - 38
Good, Tower of Echtelion w/ Rangers of Ithilien allies:
Faramir, Captain of Gondor w/ heavy armor, lance, horse - 90
Damrod, Ranger of Ithilien - 20
8 Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ spears, shields - 72
8 Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ shield - 64
Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ banner - 32
7 Knights of Minas Tirith w/ shields - 98
1 Knight of Minas Tirith w/ banner, shield - 39
10 Rangers of Gondor, 5 w/ spears - 85
I'm thinking I'll need to add another hero to the good force, something with some ability to combat the Nazgul's spells or handle the Troll maybe. Will have to give it a playthrough to see how well they interact with one another though.
After I get some games in with my friends, I have someone to go through the books and play the scenarios in them all. That's got me very excited :).
Thoughts?
End of November update
Just a quick post about hobby progress since the month is over.
I've been painting Cold One Knights, but I've slowed down a bit due to the holidays.
I've also been getting a strong desire to play a lot more specialist games (especially Blood Bowl!), as well as more games in general, in order to practice for some tournaments!
I played a game of Monsterpocalypse on Monday night as well, Defender X + Laser Knight vs Rogzor and Mucustos. My opponent ran two shooty monsters and a LOT of shooty units. The granted abilities really made things dangerous for any of my stuff to get close. He made the mistake of moving his Mucustos up too far, which I took advantage of by Body Slamming him with Laser Knight, then following with a Beat Back blast with Ultra Defender X. Killed his alpha form, followed by killing his ultra form two turns later.
I didn't think Defender X and Laser Knight would work so well together, but they really do. I was getting 8 Power Die a turn when I powered up. It was a HUGE factor when trying to run two monsters.
I've been painting Cold One Knights, but I've slowed down a bit due to the holidays.
I've also been getting a strong desire to play a lot more specialist games (especially Blood Bowl!), as well as more games in general, in order to practice for some tournaments!
I played a game of Monsterpocalypse on Monday night as well, Defender X + Laser Knight vs Rogzor and Mucustos. My opponent ran two shooty monsters and a LOT of shooty units. The granted abilities really made things dangerous for any of my stuff to get close. He made the mistake of moving his Mucustos up too far, which I took advantage of by Body Slamming him with Laser Knight, then following with a Beat Back blast with Ultra Defender X. Killed his alpha form, followed by killing his ultra form two turns later.
I didn't think Defender X and Laser Knight would work so well together, but they really do. I was getting 8 Power Die a turn when I powered up. It was a HUGE factor when trying to run two monsters.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Obligatory Games-Workshop GT circuit post
So GW posted their list of the tournaments in their GT circuit this upcoming year, and there's one in Baltimore (ICGT from July 10th-11th) that looks like it will have Fantasy, 40K, AND War of the Ring (or Lord of the Rings?) tournaments.
I'm sure I'm nowhere near having a painted enough army (or even assembled enough) to be ready for it, but it's certainly nice to think about. Of course, which one would I go to? Fantasy has fairly unbalanced army books at present (although I play Dark Elves, who are considered top tier), 40K will be nearly impossible for me to paint in time (Sisters take FOREVER for me to paint), and I've yet to play a game of War of the Ring.... hmmm....
Maybe I should just try playing in smaller, local tournaments this year and shoot for 2011? I really need to just get some experience in tournament games. I really want to play in the GT circuit, just for the experience, but alas, it will have to wait :(.
So much to do!
I'm sure I'm nowhere near having a painted enough army (or even assembled enough) to be ready for it, but it's certainly nice to think about. Of course, which one would I go to? Fantasy has fairly unbalanced army books at present (although I play Dark Elves, who are considered top tier), 40K will be nearly impossible for me to paint in time (Sisters take FOREVER for me to paint), and I've yet to play a game of War of the Ring.... hmmm....
Maybe I should just try playing in smaller, local tournaments this year and shoot for 2011? I really need to just get some experience in tournament games. I really want to play in the GT circuit, just for the experience, but alas, it will have to wait :(.
So much to do!
Weekend update
Well, not a lot happening hobby-wise, but a few updates.
Made some progress painting finally! My unit of Cold One Knights has paint on it, and could be done by the end of the week (unlikely, but possible). I'm really excited about them. Of course, I'll post pictures when I get around to it.
I tried Warhammer: Invasion over the weekend. It's FANTASTIC. I really need to play more games though, see how well it works with some of the other factions (we just played Dwarfs vs Chaos). The game has a lot of potential though- there's a lot of decision-making, which makes it more tactical for a card game than I'm used to.
Also, me and Rob played another game of Monsterpocalypse. I used Mogroth and Rob used Grindix-Birvikaan. The matchup was pretty terrible for Rob, given his unit selections. His units could do absolutely nothing to my alpha form, and his monster was on the receiving end of a vicious slam, really hurting his chances to get back in the game (meaning that yes, I won!). Mogroth seems very very good (Terrify + Decoy is AMAZING versus units), but I think if a player takes some Explosion and Multi-Shot, you can really help keep yourself in the fight. I'd have to try sometime, however.
Also, I updated my list of Monsterpocalypse monsters I haven't beat Rob with. Including the new monsters, haha.
Nothing else going on, and I'm sure this holiday season will be slow, but I will have some new things come the next year!
Made some progress painting finally! My unit of Cold One Knights has paint on it, and could be done by the end of the week (unlikely, but possible). I'm really excited about them. Of course, I'll post pictures when I get around to it.
I tried Warhammer: Invasion over the weekend. It's FANTASTIC. I really need to play more games though, see how well it works with some of the other factions (we just played Dwarfs vs Chaos). The game has a lot of potential though- there's a lot of decision-making, which makes it more tactical for a card game than I'm used to.
Also, me and Rob played another game of Monsterpocalypse. I used Mogroth and Rob used Grindix-Birvikaan. The matchup was pretty terrible for Rob, given his unit selections. His units could do absolutely nothing to my alpha form, and his monster was on the receiving end of a vicious slam, really hurting his chances to get back in the game (meaning that yes, I won!). Mogroth seems very very good (Terrify + Decoy is AMAZING versus units), but I think if a player takes some Explosion and Multi-Shot, you can really help keep yourself in the fight. I'd have to try sometime, however.
Also, I updated my list of Monsterpocalypse monsters I haven't beat Rob with. Including the new monsters, haha.
Nothing else going on, and I'm sure this holiday season will be slow, but I will have some new things come the next year!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Various updates
Received 'The Pocket At Falaise' on Saturday as part of my Against the Odds Subscription. Looks like it may be good, but it's waaaay down on my list of games to play. First up is 1805: Sea of Glory. Begun clipping the counters and reading the rules. Hopefully can get this on a table by the end of the week.
Various updates
First, started making some progress on the first parts of my painting goal for this month. I'm painting some of the old Cold One Knights, will post updates and pictures eventually :).
I finished reading Fallen Angels as well. It was fantastic, of course. Really looking forward to book 12. Starting to read Palace of the Plague Lord by C.L. Werner. I know absolutely nothing about the book, so we'll see how it is.
Received 'The Pocket At Falaise' on Saturday as part of my Against the Odds Subscription. Looks like it may be good, but it's waaaay down on my list of games to play. First up is 1805: Sea of Glory. Begun clipping the counters and reading the rules. Hopefully can get this on a table by the end of the week.
I finished reading Fallen Angels as well. It was fantastic, of course. Really looking forward to book 12. Starting to read Palace of the Plague Lord by C.L. Werner. I know absolutely nothing about the book, so we'll see how it is.
Received 'The Pocket At Falaise' on Saturday as part of my Against the Odds Subscription. Looks like it may be good, but it's waaaay down on my list of games to play. First up is 1805: Sea of Glory. Begun clipping the counters and reading the rules. Hopefully can get this on a table by the end of the week.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
First crack against new Skaven...
Played Frans at 2250 against the new Skaven book, using my Empire army with a few changes.
Got massacred.
We went with the wording in the book about the Storm Banner, knowing that a clarification/errata was coming, allowing it to be re-used once it failed, meaning I spent the entire game unable to shoot. It turned out that was fairly critical- I couldn't muster any sort of firepower against Frans primarily Pestilens based army (2 Plague Furnace + 2 Hellpit Abominations being the focal point of the army). Also, I dropped my Steam Tank last minute for fear that the Skaven would struggle too much to destroy it (seeing what they ended up taking). Foolish, being a nice guy ;).
A few things I thought worthy of notice though.
The Hellpit is VERY nasty in close combat, but it seems to be fairly easy to kill for a monster of its point cost. If you needed a reason to add something flaming into your army (and you haven't done so already?), now you have another good reason. It stops the Hellpit from coming back. Man that thing is nasty when it charges though.
I don't understand GW's need to make things that don't break from combat in the newest books. Lizardmen added Stubborn monsters (the Stegadons). The Skaven have Stubborn Ld 8 Hellpits, as well as the ability to make several units unbreakable with the Plague Furnace or Screaming Bell. Why?
The Plague Furnace was a lot better than I thought, also- it didn't seem like much, but given it's unbreakable nature, it can definitely wear a unit out easily. Toughness tests, free hits, and the attacks really take a toll on any unit. That thing is going to suck to fight once I start seeing more of it.
Overall though, Skaven don't seem so bad- but I've only gotten a taste of them thus far. We'll have to see!
Also.... BEASTMEN IN FEBRUARY! It's been too long since they had a usable book, I'm really excited to see them redone.
Got massacred.
We went with the wording in the book about the Storm Banner, knowing that a clarification/errata was coming, allowing it to be re-used once it failed, meaning I spent the entire game unable to shoot. It turned out that was fairly critical- I couldn't muster any sort of firepower against Frans primarily Pestilens based army (2 Plague Furnace + 2 Hellpit Abominations being the focal point of the army). Also, I dropped my Steam Tank last minute for fear that the Skaven would struggle too much to destroy it (seeing what they ended up taking). Foolish, being a nice guy ;).
A few things I thought worthy of notice though.
The Hellpit is VERY nasty in close combat, but it seems to be fairly easy to kill for a monster of its point cost. If you needed a reason to add something flaming into your army (and you haven't done so already?), now you have another good reason. It stops the Hellpit from coming back. Man that thing is nasty when it charges though.
I don't understand GW's need to make things that don't break from combat in the newest books. Lizardmen added Stubborn monsters (the Stegadons). The Skaven have Stubborn Ld 8 Hellpits, as well as the ability to make several units unbreakable with the Plague Furnace or Screaming Bell. Why?
The Plague Furnace was a lot better than I thought, also- it didn't seem like much, but given it's unbreakable nature, it can definitely wear a unit out easily. Toughness tests, free hits, and the attacks really take a toll on any unit. That thing is going to suck to fight once I start seeing more of it.
Overall though, Skaven don't seem so bad- but I've only gotten a taste of them thus far. We'll have to see!
Also.... BEASTMEN IN FEBRUARY! It's been too long since they had a usable book, I'm really excited to see them redone.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Books!
I finished Gotrek & Felix's 3rd Omnibus over the weekend, from the Black Library.
I gotta say, I really enjoy the fact that Nathan Long has taken over. William King's stories have been very entertaining thus far, but I find his writing style very very bland. Nathan Long took a series that already had a bland-ish premise (basically Gotrek runs around, and kills the biggest and baddest things in the world in order to redeem some dishonor in his past), and breathed some fresh life into it. I have to say I'm quite excited for the next books, whenever I get to them.
I'm starting Fallen Angels by Mike Lee, book 11 in the Horus Heresy series. It covers the fall of the Dark Angels on Caliban during the Heresy. I'm sure it'll be fantastic as I've yet to be disappointed by any of the series thus far.
I gotta say, I really enjoy the fact that Nathan Long has taken over. William King's stories have been very entertaining thus far, but I find his writing style very very bland. Nathan Long took a series that already had a bland-ish premise (basically Gotrek runs around, and kills the biggest and baddest things in the world in order to redeem some dishonor in his past), and breathed some fresh life into it. I have to say I'm quite excited for the next books, whenever I get to them.
I'm starting Fallen Angels by Mike Lee, book 11 in the Horus Heresy series. It covers the fall of the Dark Angels on Caliban during the Heresy. I'm sure it'll be fantastic as I've yet to be disappointed by any of the series thus far.
Painting for Points
So, I've been playing Games Workshop games since 2001, and have painted very very very little. I still do not have a painted army.
This is hopefully going to change :). One of my friends has suggested we start with a painting challenge in the gaming group in order to get our armies slowly painted. That's a great idea, of course, but I own a ton of miniatures for games that none of them play. I need a way to motivate myself to get them painted.
So, a lot of other blogs use a system called Painting for Points, started (I believe) by Lone Pilgrim. I've seen a few things added to it, so that's what I'm going to work off of.
Basically, I get a number of points equal to the number of painted models. We're talking completed here.
Since I've begun playing, I've painted... let me count... 29 points. Seriously, that's it.
Next year, I'll have a full goal, of course, but for the remainder of this year, we're going to shoot for ANYTHING.
This is hopefully going to change :). One of my friends has suggested we start with a painting challenge in the gaming group in order to get our armies slowly painted. That's a great idea, of course, but I own a ton of miniatures for games that none of them play. I need a way to motivate myself to get them painted.
So, a lot of other blogs use a system called Painting for Points, started (I believe) by Lone Pilgrim. I've seen a few things added to it, so that's what I'm going to work off of.
Basically, I get a number of points equal to the number of painted models. We're talking completed here.
- Infantry - 1 point
- Cavalry, bikes, 40mm miniatures (Ogres, or slightly larger 40K things) - 2 points
- Monsters, Dreadnoughts, Heavy Warjacks - 5 points
- Vehicle - 10 points
- Superheavy Vehicle (I have soooo many) - 2o points
Since I've begun playing, I've painted... let me count... 29 points. Seriously, that's it.
Next year, I'll have a full goal, of course, but for the remainder of this year, we're going to shoot for ANYTHING.
500 pt list for painting
Alright, time to come up with 500 points to paint by the end of the month for our gaming group painting challenge. Overpowering awesome-ness isn't really the goal, just painting stuff is. So to that end, we've got a nice balanced list to work with.
Master w/ Great Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cold One - 114
10 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen w/ musician - 105
5 Dark Riders w/ repeater crossbows, musician - 117
5 Cold One Knights w/Musician, Standard Bearer - 159
Total: 495 points
I'm getting kind of a late start to this, so I chose a primarily cavalry force, so I'll have a lower number of models to paint (although cav models aren't exactly speedy). 21 models by the end of the month? We'll see!
Master w/ Great Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cold One - 114
10 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen w/ musician - 105
5 Dark Riders w/ repeater crossbows, musician - 117
5 Cold One Knights w/Musician, Standard Bearer - 159
Total: 495 points
I'm getting kind of a late start to this, so I chose a primarily cavalry force, so I'll have a lower number of models to paint (although cav models aren't exactly speedy). 21 models by the end of the month? We'll see!
Sisters vs Orks, 650 pts
Well, another small game today at the GW, this time vs Ben. I was running a Sister of Battle list with 2 sister squads in Rhinos, and a Celestian squad in an Immolator.
I ended up losing, though it wasn't a blowout. I had some poor luck early, but overall it was fine (as was Ben's). We got the Annihilation meeting with a Spearhead deployment.
I deployed my guys as far forward as possible, and Ben did very similarly, and did not manage to seize initiative. He did scout move his Deffkoptas forward however.
I didn't really keep a play by play, but after about 2 turns of shooting, his Orks were on me en masse, and although I did kill plenty, it wasn't enough to pull off the victory. I conceded on turn 4, I think, he had 5 kill points, and if I got really lucky I may have gotten 4.
Overall not too bad. I need to be more patient with my guys, I was probably a little too aggressive against an army that does it better than I do.
I ended up losing, though it wasn't a blowout. I had some poor luck early, but overall it was fine (as was Ben's). We got the Annihilation meeting with a Spearhead deployment.
I deployed my guys as far forward as possible, and Ben did very similarly, and did not manage to seize initiative. He did scout move his Deffkoptas forward however.
I didn't really keep a play by play, but after about 2 turns of shooting, his Orks were on me en masse, and although I did kill plenty, it wasn't enough to pull off the victory. I conceded on turn 4, I think, he had 5 kill points, and if I got really lucky I may have gotten 4.
Overall not too bad. I need to be more patient with my guys, I was probably a little too aggressive against an army that does it better than I do.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Progress Bars
I've added a few progress bars on the right there, to keep track of some ungoing projects I either have, or will be working on. They are pretty self explanatory for the most part, but there's one that I need to make a quick comment about.
Me and a few friends are going to be trying to make an effort to paint up our armies, in manageable chunks. Our first goal will be to paint 500 points of new models this month. I'm going to write up a random 500 point list and paint it. I'll put occasional progress as I do. Hopefully I can get done by the end of the month!! Seeing as how I got a slow start, especially. We'll see :)
Me and a few friends are going to be trying to make an effort to paint up our armies, in manageable chunks. Our first goal will be to paint 500 points of new models this month. I'm going to write up a random 500 point list and paint it. I'll put occasional progress as I do. Hopefully I can get done by the end of the month!! Seeing as how I got a slow start, especially. We'll see :)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sunday Night WTF-FEST
*sigh.
Me and Rob once again played Monsterpocalypse Sunday night.
I used Cyber Khan. Rob took Krackenoctus (I believe that's the correct spelling).
I, after seeing the monster he was choosing and the lack of movement abilities he would have available (compared to my Flight), chose a map with tons of terrain. Pretty un-inspiring selection of units (I took what I had). Took a BUNCH of buildings with Chemical spills (figuring I'd have a decent shot of staying at full health).
We started our game with the normal 'get into position' turns, trading a few pot shots. On one turn, I struck. I went Hyper, advanced something like 12 spaces (including the 4 steps), and set up for an alpha form destroying, 6 damage super slam through two spires. I figure, heck- 5 action die, 2 boost die, 5 power die... that's at least an 80% chance to hit defense 6 (it's actually 97.86%). I roll, knowing the game would be over- Rob never recovers from a blow like this....
And miss.
Well, the return blow did damage, but I got away, and tried to stall. But of course, I'm badly damaged, playing for time, and really unable to start my game again because I'm so badly thrown off. I also missed several more high probability attacks that game (88.65% and 93.91%.... yes I did the math). I ended up conceding.
Really, what more can I do? I set up for a game winner (not quite, but it would've been pretty brutal), and had it 'Rob'bed from me. I always say, luck may not win you the game... but it can lose it.
Rob did convince me that Tow is much better than I thought though. I was pretty impressed with his uses of it- seems to have some potential.
Me and Rob once again played Monsterpocalypse Sunday night.
I used Cyber Khan. Rob took Krackenoctus (I believe that's the correct spelling).
I, after seeing the monster he was choosing and the lack of movement abilities he would have available (compared to my Flight), chose a map with tons of terrain. Pretty un-inspiring selection of units (I took what I had). Took a BUNCH of buildings with Chemical spills (figuring I'd have a decent shot of staying at full health).
We started our game with the normal 'get into position' turns, trading a few pot shots. On one turn, I struck. I went Hyper, advanced something like 12 spaces (including the 4 steps), and set up for an alpha form destroying, 6 damage super slam through two spires. I figure, heck- 5 action die, 2 boost die, 5 power die... that's at least an 80% chance to hit defense 6 (it's actually 97.86%). I roll, knowing the game would be over- Rob never recovers from a blow like this....
And miss.
Well, the return blow did damage, but I got away, and tried to stall. But of course, I'm badly damaged, playing for time, and really unable to start my game again because I'm so badly thrown off. I also missed several more high probability attacks that game (88.65% and 93.91%.... yes I did the math). I ended up conceding.
Really, what more can I do? I set up for a game winner (not quite, but it would've been pretty brutal), and had it 'Rob'bed from me. I always say, luck may not win you the game... but it can lose it.
Rob did convince me that Tow is much better than I thought though. I was pretty impressed with his uses of it- seems to have some potential.
Dark Elves vs Ogres 1K
So last Thursday me and Ben played a small game to show the basics of the Warhammer system to our coworker Chris (and so he could see what the game was about). Ben had joked about taking a Stegadon-based Lizardman list, which at 1000 points would be a challenge to go against for my poor Dark Elves. So naturally, I brought a list I thought could moderately challenge it.
My list's basic composition was 2 units of 10 crossbowmen, two level 2 sorceress, two bolt throwers, and two chariots. This army had a LOT of shooting, and good counterattack ability, and great magic for this points level (2 level 2 Dark Elves can pound a LOT of magic)
Sadly... Ben brought his Ogres. Now, Ogres have many things going against them- no armor, costly units, ineffective shooting, costly characters.... oh yeah, and their army is about 4 years out of date, and wasn't THAT good when it came out (but certainly provided some interesting matchups!).
And of course, Ogres suck BAD at low points (anything less than 2250, I'd say).
I won't bore you with a play-by-play (I don't remember all that much). It was a lot of shooting kills, followed by his Tyrant eating a Chariot then two units of crossbowmen in a surprising finish. He ate through a LOT of my army towards the end, and ended with only one wound left (and the sole survivor for the Ogre army).
Minor Victory me. Wish I would've known he was bringing Ogres though, I would've put together a balanced army to show Chris the basics of the game :(.
My list's basic composition was 2 units of 10 crossbowmen, two level 2 sorceress, two bolt throwers, and two chariots. This army had a LOT of shooting, and good counterattack ability, and great magic for this points level (2 level 2 Dark Elves can pound a LOT of magic)
Sadly... Ben brought his Ogres. Now, Ogres have many things going against them- no armor, costly units, ineffective shooting, costly characters.... oh yeah, and their army is about 4 years out of date, and wasn't THAT good when it came out (but certainly provided some interesting matchups!).
And of course, Ogres suck BAD at low points (anything less than 2250, I'd say).
I won't bore you with a play-by-play (I don't remember all that much). It was a lot of shooting kills, followed by his Tyrant eating a Chariot then two units of crossbowmen in a surprising finish. He ate through a LOT of my army towards the end, and ended with only one wound left (and the sole survivor for the Ogre army).
Minor Victory me. Wish I would've known he was bringing Ogres though, I would've put together a balanced army to show Chris the basics of the game :(.
Alright...
I actually had some games late last week beginning of this week, but never got around to posting. I was battling 'The swine' all week, and that ended up draining me. Now that I'm a little more rested (and fresh off another nap), I'm going to knock out a few posts. Hopefully no more super long delays.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Road to Glory Part 3
+++ Transmission Begins +++
Transmitted: Larax Outpost, Endmus
Received: Convent Sanctorum, Ophelia VII
Date: 4558999M41
Astropathic Duct: Riaeva Jenik, Ordo Hereticus
Author: Canoness Preceptor Sahine
Title: Mission Status Update
Thought For The Day: Success is commemorated; Failure merely remembered
Prioress,
I am pleased to report significant progress on our re-cleansing of Endmus. We have dealt the xenos a significant blow, and I feel we have finally taken the initiative in the campaign.
We have a sector of the warzone (523.A) where our forward outpost is very close to the xenos'. It has been the site of a few skirmishes in the past, but overall it's been a fairly quiet zone. Lately we've noticed more activity on their side of the lines, and decided to launch an attack to disrupt whatever plans the foul xenos were working on.
We sent Battle Squads Melangell (Flamer/Melta) and Ulphia (Melta/Melta) as well as Celestian Squad Tigridia and Retributor Squad Elfleda to launch a quick attack across the lines. Melangell and Tigridia were tasked with launching the attack, with Elfleda providing fire support, and Ulphia to defend our outpost in case we needed a counterattack, or support in case the forward squads needed fire support for a retreat. Turns out they were not needed.
Squad Melangell sped a Rhino directly towards the xenos outpost, catching them mostly unawares, and with holy promethium and blessed bolter shell forced the 'Tau' to retreat. Their cowardice was a reminder to all present that only those who follow the Emperor were fit to hold this planet.
After taking the outpost, Squads Elfleda and Ulphia took up support positions in our outpost, and Tigridia moved to cleanse a nearby crater of xenos soldiers. The response from the Tau was... confusing. They seemed to be expecting reinforcements, but they were late it coming, and the reports from our sisters noted that the Tau reinforcements came only after we were ready for them. Perhaps there is some new Tau trick we are unaware of? If so, it did not work, as our squads made short work of anything that arrived that was in range.
Tigridia, in one of our Immolators, cleared the crater and began firing on one of their higher ranked members in those strange suits. The sneaky Tau attempted to surprise us with their 'stealth' troopers attacking Ulphia from behind, but were quickly decimated. Minutes later, organized Tau resistance in the area faded.
In short, we've not won a decisive battle, but we've finally, after so many years, broken a hole in their lines, and as a testament to our preparedness, we've already launched an attack into the gap. As always, I will inform you of any progress we make against the xenos.
Praise be the Emperor!
Your servant,
-Sahine
+++ Transmission Ends +++
Played the second mission later in the day on Saturday.
750 pt batle, took two squads of sisters in Rhinos, 5 Retributors w/ 3 Heavy Bolters, and a Palatine w/ Celestian Squad in an Immolator.
Capture and Control mission, Dawn of War Deployment, ended up capturing BOTH of the objectives, giving me the scenario win. Part of it was his poor reserve rolls (most squads didn't come until turn 4, I think?), but I don't think he was prepared to retake the objective after I took his on the first turn. Those rhino squads really are proving their worth!
This means I'm now the attacker for the campaign, giving me some of the initiative. Won't matter if I don't win the final battle though!
More details when we play a game (will probably be in a few weeks, and playing at 1250 pts).
Transmitted: Larax Outpost, Endmus
Received: Convent Sanctorum, Ophelia VII
Date: 4558999M41
Astropathic Duct: Riaeva Jenik, Ordo Hereticus
Author: Canoness Preceptor Sahine
Title: Mission Status Update
Thought For The Day: Success is commemorated; Failure merely remembered
Prioress,
I am pleased to report significant progress on our re-cleansing of Endmus. We have dealt the xenos a significant blow, and I feel we have finally taken the initiative in the campaign.
We have a sector of the warzone (523.A) where our forward outpost is very close to the xenos'. It has been the site of a few skirmishes in the past, but overall it's been a fairly quiet zone. Lately we've noticed more activity on their side of the lines, and decided to launch an attack to disrupt whatever plans the foul xenos were working on.
We sent Battle Squads Melangell (Flamer/Melta) and Ulphia (Melta/Melta) as well as Celestian Squad Tigridia and Retributor Squad Elfleda to launch a quick attack across the lines. Melangell and Tigridia were tasked with launching the attack, with Elfleda providing fire support, and Ulphia to defend our outpost in case we needed a counterattack, or support in case the forward squads needed fire support for a retreat. Turns out they were not needed.
Squad Melangell sped a Rhino directly towards the xenos outpost, catching them mostly unawares, and with holy promethium and blessed bolter shell forced the 'Tau' to retreat. Their cowardice was a reminder to all present that only those who follow the Emperor were fit to hold this planet.
After taking the outpost, Squads Elfleda and Ulphia took up support positions in our outpost, and Tigridia moved to cleanse a nearby crater of xenos soldiers. The response from the Tau was... confusing. They seemed to be expecting reinforcements, but they were late it coming, and the reports from our sisters noted that the Tau reinforcements came only after we were ready for them. Perhaps there is some new Tau trick we are unaware of? If so, it did not work, as our squads made short work of anything that arrived that was in range.
Tigridia, in one of our Immolators, cleared the crater and began firing on one of their higher ranked members in those strange suits. The sneaky Tau attempted to surprise us with their 'stealth' troopers attacking Ulphia from behind, but were quickly decimated. Minutes later, organized Tau resistance in the area faded.
In short, we've not won a decisive battle, but we've finally, after so many years, broken a hole in their lines, and as a testament to our preparedness, we've already launched an attack into the gap. As always, I will inform you of any progress we make against the xenos.
Praise be the Emperor!
Your servant,
-Sahine
+++ Transmission Ends +++
Played the second mission later in the day on Saturday.
750 pt batle, took two squads of sisters in Rhinos, 5 Retributors w/ 3 Heavy Bolters, and a Palatine w/ Celestian Squad in an Immolator.
Capture and Control mission, Dawn of War Deployment, ended up capturing BOTH of the objectives, giving me the scenario win. Part of it was his poor reserve rolls (most squads didn't come until turn 4, I think?), but I don't think he was prepared to retake the objective after I took his on the first turn. Those rhino squads really are proving their worth!
This means I'm now the attacker for the campaign, giving me some of the initiative. Won't matter if I don't win the final battle though!
More details when we play a game (will probably be in a few weeks, and playing at 1250 pts).
Monday, October 26, 2009
Road to Glory Part 2
+++ Transmission Begins +++
Transmitted: Larax Outpost, Endmus
Received: Convent Sanctorum, Ophelia VII
Date: 4557999M41
Astropathic Duct: Charael Idiam, Ordo Hereticus
Author: Canoness Preceptor Sahine
Title: Mission Status
Thought For The Day: Vigilance is Your Shield
Most Revered Prioress,
You requested to be informed about progress regarding the ongoing war with the Xenos (designation: 'Tau') and their heathen allies (designation: 'Kroot') on the planet Endmus. I pray to have better news in the near future, but at present there is not much to report.
Since we've begun the campaign here, years prior, we've been hard-pressed to fight a decisive battle with the xenos. They've been difficult to pin down, and seem to be capable of incredible mobility. We've been increasingly working on fighting them whenever the opportunity presents itself, as well as continuing work attacking their front lines. So far, it's been a stalemate.
We have spent far too many resources lately on fixing mistakes. Recently, we had a supply mission get intercepted and shot down. We sent Battle Squad Menna as well as Celestian Squad Cyriaca, along with a squad of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers to attempt to retrieve them. Unfortunately, the Emperor-forsaken xenos attacked with the same goal, causing heavy casualties and taking some of the supplies from our grasps. With the Emperor's words on their lips, they ended the life of many xenos that day with blessed fire and bolter. Emperor be praised!
I am pleased to report that plans are underway to begin a more serious offensive, and I will send you an update when I can. Until then, we pray for the Emperor's guidance, and any resources the Ordos can send.
With faith and fire, the enemies of man shall fall.
-Sahine
+++ Transmission Ends +++
First mission played on Saturday. We ended up drawing (500 pts). We also played the second mission later that day, and I'll post an update sometime tomorrow, hopefully.
Transmitted: Larax Outpost, Endmus
Received: Convent Sanctorum, Ophelia VII
Date: 4557999M41
Astropathic Duct: Charael Idiam, Ordo Hereticus
Author: Canoness Preceptor Sahine
Title: Mission Status
Thought For The Day: Vigilance is Your Shield
Most Revered Prioress,
You requested to be informed about progress regarding the ongoing war with the Xenos (designation: 'Tau') and their heathen allies (designation: 'Kroot') on the planet Endmus. I pray to have better news in the near future, but at present there is not much to report.
Since we've begun the campaign here, years prior, we've been hard-pressed to fight a decisive battle with the xenos. They've been difficult to pin down, and seem to be capable of incredible mobility. We've been increasingly working on fighting them whenever the opportunity presents itself, as well as continuing work attacking their front lines. So far, it's been a stalemate.
We have spent far too many resources lately on fixing mistakes. Recently, we had a supply mission get intercepted and shot down. We sent Battle Squad Menna as well as Celestian Squad Cyriaca, along with a squad of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers to attempt to retrieve them. Unfortunately, the Emperor-forsaken xenos attacked with the same goal, causing heavy casualties and taking some of the supplies from our grasps. With the Emperor's words on their lips, they ended the life of many xenos that day with blessed fire and bolter. Emperor be praised!
I am pleased to report that plans are underway to begin a more serious offensive, and I will send you an update when I can. Until then, we pray for the Emperor's guidance, and any resources the Ordos can send.
With faith and fire, the enemies of man shall fall.
-Sahine
+++ Transmission Ends +++
First mission played on Saturday. We ended up drawing (500 pts). We also played the second mission later that day, and I'll post an update sometime tomorrow, hopefully.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday Night BeatTown
Me and Rob ran another Monsterpocalypse game Friday night. Of course, we show up and decide to play the exact same monster (Gakura), so after a brief discussion we ran our first every multi-monster game.
I chose Gakura and Tyrranix, who are the same agenda. This let me use all of my Terrasaur and Ape units, plus get the benefits from the monsters. I also chose a fairly balanced mix of units, mainly shooting support, but a decent amount of Carnidons for brawl attacks (coupled with Gakura's berserk, and alpha form Tyrannix's charge, hopefully).
Rob chose Gakura and King Kondo. Primarily this was because it was convenient to run both of the current Ape Empire monsters... I suspect partially it's because Rob has a thing for apes ;). This is a man who thinks Planet of the Apes doesn't suck horribly (I know, I know, I'm in the minority thinking here). Don't remember a lot of his overall unit comp.
Fairly even city layout, we played on the Highway to Hellevue map.
I didn't keep a full play by play, but I will say I learned to appreciate the value of morphers, as well as the value of two monsters (even using the rather limited A-die and P-die resources).
For instance, early in the game (my first monster activation) I charged two parts of my morpher, Rolling Ranch and Gearjammer-BTO, across the board to combine brawl attack against one of his monsters (to Beat Back it into the other monster). The next activation, I chose a monster activation, went hyper, and removed myself from danger on the other side of the map (where Gypsy Sunbeam was). Doing that was very important for causing early damage, and really set a more aggressive style of play from my end.
Mid-game, I used Gakura's Blitz at the start of an activation to destroy two buildings, which provided all the P-die Tyrranix needed to throw Ultra Gakura across the map, killing the form. Without Gakura there, I would have been able to do a decent chunk of damage, but not kill the form. Things like that really added up.
Regardless, the end result was a victory for me, a demolished city, and a new appreciation for morphers. All in all, a good night :) Sadly, I can't count this in my goal of beating Rob with every monster, since I want to do that in one-on-one matchups. I feel confident Tyrranix and Gakura will be up to the task, however.
I chose Gakura and Tyrranix, who are the same agenda. This let me use all of my Terrasaur and Ape units, plus get the benefits from the monsters. I also chose a fairly balanced mix of units, mainly shooting support, but a decent amount of Carnidons for brawl attacks (coupled with Gakura's berserk, and alpha form Tyrannix's charge, hopefully).
Rob chose Gakura and King Kondo. Primarily this was because it was convenient to run both of the current Ape Empire monsters... I suspect partially it's because Rob has a thing for apes ;). This is a man who thinks Planet of the Apes doesn't suck horribly (I know, I know, I'm in the minority thinking here). Don't remember a lot of his overall unit comp.
Fairly even city layout, we played on the Highway to Hellevue map.
I didn't keep a full play by play, but I will say I learned to appreciate the value of morphers, as well as the value of two monsters (even using the rather limited A-die and P-die resources).
For instance, early in the game (my first monster activation) I charged two parts of my morpher, Rolling Ranch and Gearjammer-BTO, across the board to combine brawl attack against one of his monsters (to Beat Back it into the other monster). The next activation, I chose a monster activation, went hyper, and removed myself from danger on the other side of the map (where Gypsy Sunbeam was). Doing that was very important for causing early damage, and really set a more aggressive style of play from my end.
Mid-game, I used Gakura's Blitz at the start of an activation to destroy two buildings, which provided all the P-die Tyrranix needed to throw Ultra Gakura across the map, killing the form. Without Gakura there, I would have been able to do a decent chunk of damage, but not kill the form. Things like that really added up.
Regardless, the end result was a victory for me, a demolished city, and a new appreciation for morphers. All in all, a good night :) Sadly, I can't count this in my goal of beating Rob with every monster, since I want to do that in one-on-one matchups. I feel confident Tyrranix and Gakura will be up to the task, however.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Road to Glory Part 1
Alright, this Saturday me and Nate start our first 40K campaign, the 'Road to Glory' out of the Warhammer 40K rulebook. He will most likely be taking Tau, and I will probably be running with the Witch Hunters.
The basic idea behind the campaign is that two armies will have been fighting for many years, locked in a very very long stalemate. New commanders (me and him) have been shipped to the front, and it's our time to fight for glory, honor, faith, or the Greater Good.
We will be doing the campaign Escalation style. That means we will be increasing the size of the battle as we go along. Our first two scenarios will be at 500 pts, then 750 pts. I will post army lists tomorrow most likely. Should be a blast- a classic fight between a short range, tougher army vs a long range mobile army. Could be an uphill fight for me... but that's part of the fun!
The basic idea behind the campaign is that two armies will have been fighting for many years, locked in a very very long stalemate. New commanders (me and him) have been shipped to the front, and it's our time to fight for glory, honor, faith, or the Greater Good.
We will be doing the campaign Escalation style. That means we will be increasing the size of the battle as we go along. Our first two scenarios will be at 500 pts, then 750 pts. I will post army lists tomorrow most likely. Should be a blast- a classic fight between a short range, tougher army vs a long range mobile army. Could be an uphill fight for me... but that's part of the fun!
Various Gaming update
Played Rob twice Wednesday night in Manoeuvre.
First game was as the British vs the Turks. The game was... well.. not close. Rob pretty much outplayed me the entire game, and was well on the path to utterly destroying me. He was beating me in casualties, and I was barely holding on to fight for nightfall (although he had the advantage there). Then he moved a cavalry unit to prepare for an attack, but my counterattack killed him, leading him to concede. He should've won... he really just gets overexcited sometimes!
The second game was as the Austrians vs his Americans. I chose the two weakest armies expecting a balanced match. That was sadly not the case. The American's ability to withdraw led them to get pushed back from the center line, and the steady Austrian advance caught them in several crossfires. The resulting attacks left him with a depleted line, and me having more and more chances to isolate and kill his units. End result? A 5-0 casualty victory. The Americans never seem to win when we play them, either we're clueless... or they just suck. I'm not sure.
Also, I got my copy of Hellenes. Haven't given it a good look yet, but it looks to be a solid game. Can't wait to break it out!
First game was as the British vs the Turks. The game was... well.. not close. Rob pretty much outplayed me the entire game, and was well on the path to utterly destroying me. He was beating me in casualties, and I was barely holding on to fight for nightfall (although he had the advantage there). Then he moved a cavalry unit to prepare for an attack, but my counterattack killed him, leading him to concede. He should've won... he really just gets overexcited sometimes!
The second game was as the Austrians vs his Americans. I chose the two weakest armies expecting a balanced match. That was sadly not the case. The American's ability to withdraw led them to get pushed back from the center line, and the steady Austrian advance caught them in several crossfires. The resulting attacks left him with a depleted line, and me having more and more chances to isolate and kill his units. End result? A 5-0 casualty victory. The Americans never seem to win when we play them, either we're clueless... or they just suck. I'm not sure.
Also, I got my copy of Hellenes. Haven't given it a good look yet, but it looks to be a solid game. Can't wait to break it out!
Various Gaming update
Played Rob twice Wednesday night in Manoeuvre.
First game was as the British vs the Turks. The game was... well.. not close. Rob pretty much outplayed me the entire game, and was well on the path to utterly destroying me. He was beating me in casualties, and I was barely holding on to fight for nightfall (although he had the advantage there). Then he moved a cavalry unit to prepare for an attack, but my counterattack killed him, leading him to concede. He should've won... he really just gets overexcited sometimes!
The second game was as the Austrians vs his Americans. I chose the two weakest armies expecting a balanced match. That was sadly not the case. The American's ability to withdraw led them to get pushed back from the center line, and the steady Austrian advance caught them in several crossfires. The resulting attacks left him with a depleted line, and me having more and more chances to isolate and kill his units. End result? A 5-0 casualty victory. The Americans never seem to win when we play them, either we're clueless... or they just suck. I'm not sure.
Also, I got my copy of Hellenes. Haven't given it a good look yet, but it looks to be a solid game. Can't wait to break it out!
Also, game of Monsterpocalypse tomorrow. Not sure who I'm going to run. Really don't have the proper units to play the new monsters :(
First game was as the British vs the Turks. The game was... well.. not close. Rob pretty much outplayed me the entire game, and was well on the path to utterly destroying me. He was beating me in casualties, and I was barely holding on to fight for nightfall (although he had the advantage there). Then he moved a cavalry unit to prepare for an attack, but my counterattack killed him, leading him to concede. He should've won... he really just gets overexcited sometimes!
The second game was as the Austrians vs his Americans. I chose the two weakest armies expecting a balanced match. That was sadly not the case. The American's ability to withdraw led them to get pushed back from the center line, and the steady Austrian advance caught them in several crossfires. The resulting attacks left him with a depleted line, and me having more and more chances to isolate and kill his units. End result? A 5-0 casualty victory. The Americans never seem to win when we play them, either we're clueless... or they just suck. I'm not sure.
Also, I got my copy of Hellenes. Haven't given it a good look yet, but it looks to be a solid game. Can't wait to break it out!
Also, game of Monsterpocalypse tomorrow. Not sure who I'm going to run. Really don't have the proper units to play the new monsters :(
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Warhammer Empire
Alright, this is what I'm looking to run as my 'all-comers' army for Empire:
Arch Lector w/ Armor of Meteroic Iron, Holy Relic, Van Horstmann's Speculum, Great Weapon - 231
Captain (BSB) w/ full plate armor, Griffon Standard - 138
Wizard (lvl 2) w/ Doomfire Ring - 130
Wizard (lvl 2) w/ Rod of Power - 130
28 Swordsmen w/ full command - 193
9 Halberdiers (detachment) - 45
10 Crossbowmen - 80
10 Crossbowmen - 80
6 Knights w/ Full Command, War Banner - 203
19 Greatswords w/ Full Command - 220
9 Halberdiers (detachment) - 45
6 Handgunners (detachment) - 48
5 Pistoliers w/ musician - 97
Great Cannon - 100
Great Cannon - 100
Helblaster Volley Gun - 110
Steam Tank - 300
Total Army Cost: 2250
I'm not sure how it'll run, but I'll give it a shot once, and change it as I go (not against you Frans, I have other surprises!).
Thoughts? I have thoughts, but I'll run this once or twice before posting.
Painting: This army hasn't been started paint wise. It's mostly assembled, however.
Arch Lector w/ Armor of Meteroic Iron, Holy Relic, Van Horstmann's Speculum, Great Weapon - 231
Captain (BSB) w/ full plate armor, Griffon Standard - 138
Wizard (lvl 2) w/ Doomfire Ring - 130
Wizard (lvl 2) w/ Rod of Power - 130
28 Swordsmen w/ full command - 193
9 Halberdiers (detachment) - 45
10 Crossbowmen - 80
10 Crossbowmen - 80
6 Knights w/ Full Command, War Banner - 203
19 Greatswords w/ Full Command - 220
9 Halberdiers (detachment) - 45
6 Handgunners (detachment) - 48
5 Pistoliers w/ musician - 97
Great Cannon - 100
Great Cannon - 100
Helblaster Volley Gun - 110
Steam Tank - 300
Total Army Cost: 2250
I'm not sure how it'll run, but I'll give it a shot once, and change it as I go (not against you Frans, I have other surprises!).
Thoughts? I have thoughts, but I'll run this once or twice before posting.
Painting: This army hasn't been started paint wise. It's mostly assembled, however.
Incinerus vs Gorghadratron
Ugh. I'll spare you guys (all one of you!) the play by play of another beatdown. I ran Incinerus (Ultra) against Rob's Gorghadratron (Ultra) Monday night. It did not end well. Why not? I came up with several reasons.
Soon though. Soon.
- I'm losing my edge. Part of it is the new set, which has a LOT of things I'm not as familiar with, but a just as big thing is that Rob is getting better. Yes yes, I said it. Once I get time to really get up to date with things, I'll see what I can do.
- I really don't have the units to run some of these monsters. Incinerus needs more of those Elemental Champion units. Doesn't really work with the GUARD ones (although they do come in handy in a pinch).
- The matchup was terrible. Take a blast monster, who's really about board control (ie not much damage), and throw him up against a blast monster with cloak, super damage, and power die denial. It's just ugly. It really doesn't work.
- I was careless. I freaking SAW the Electrial plant on the table. I READ what it did. And I STILL took a point from it because I was careless. *sigh. I also tried brawling a building instead of blasting it. Geez, 5*1 against Def 6? Brilliant.
- My luck. It was terrible, but even the best luck in the game wouldn't have saved me this game.
Soon though. Soon.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monsterpocalypse NOW!
Well, we got our cases today. Me and Rob split the unit boosters up 6 apiece, and ended up getting one of each monster. Rob astutely noticed that all of the monsters I have were far superior to the ones he had- he must have guessed the win-loss record of our respective monsters in the near future. How'd he know? Crazy.
Looked through my monsters, have some pretty good ideas of what I'm going to be running (a few monsters REALLY stick out with potential, even with the units I had from the previous block). REAL potential.
Began looking through my things for terrain ideas. Craggy hills, buildings, forests? Hmm... will come up with something.
Looked through my monsters, have some pretty good ideas of what I'm going to be running (a few monsters REALLY stick out with potential, even with the units I had from the previous block). REAL potential.
Began looking through my things for terrain ideas. Craggy hills, buildings, forests? Hmm... will come up with something.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Space Hulk
So, got my Space Hulk Battlefoam today. Fits pretty well into the box (although had to watch the video to get the corridors fitting moderately. Doesn't close quite as well, and one Genestealer doesn't fit (and for the life of me couldn't figure it out), but otherwise plenty happy. This also means I've succeeded in assembling all of my Space Hulk miniatures. Now I just need some games!
Either later this week or next week, I'm going to start with some terrain or painting stuff. I'm going to try my hand at building some random terrain (probably out of a No Quarter or White Dwarf magazine), as well as begin doing the work for converting/painting/finishing my Dark Elf lord (from my army list). Also, maybe a game of Monsterpocalypse with Rob tomorrow (and maybe our new figures will come in??). And finally, will start working on some of my 40K stuff! Busy busy! Will keep ya posted!
Either later this week or next week, I'm going to start with some terrain or painting stuff. I'm going to try my hand at building some random terrain (probably out of a No Quarter or White Dwarf magazine), as well as begin doing the work for converting/painting/finishing my Dark Elf lord (from my army list). Also, maybe a game of Monsterpocalypse with Rob tomorrow (and maybe our new figures will come in??). And finally, will start working on some of my 40K stuff! Busy busy! Will keep ya posted!
Columbus Day
So I had off on Columbus Day. I think to myself, wouldn't it be perfect to sit here and paint, catch up on Netflix and Podcasts, and just enjoy my day?
Of course, then I get sick, and do nothing. No progress. *sigh. Hopefully sometime this week I can get back into the swing of miniature-ing. A few things some friends wanted- explanations for difficult model assembly, painting tips, and terrain tips. Will get working on them!
Of course, then I get sick, and do nothing. No progress. *sigh. Hopefully sometime this week I can get back into the swing of miniature-ing. A few things some friends wanted- explanations for difficult model assembly, painting tips, and terrain tips. Will get working on them!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
My Dark Elves
This is the army list I'm quasi-running for my Dark Elves. Thoughts after:
Dark Elves Monster Heavy (2250):
Dreadlord w/ Repeater Crossbow, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield, Black Dragon, Crimson Death, Pendant of Khaeleth - 545
Master (BSB) w/ Lance, Repeater Crossbow, Manticore, Ring of Hotek, Armor of Darkness - 369
Dark Riders w/ Repeater Crossbows, Musician - 117
Dark Riders w/ Repeater Crossbows, Musician - 117
Dark Riders w/ Repeater Crossbows, Musician - 117
Cold One Chariot - 100
Cold One Chariot - 100
10 Shades w/ Bloodshade, Great Weapons, Light Armor - 208
5 Cold One Knights w/ Full Command, Standard of Slaughter, Soulrender - 225
Hydra - 175
Hydra - 175
Total Cost: 2248 pts
This army has a lot of strengths.
It's extremely mobile. The slowest unit in the army is the Shades, but they are also the most maneuverable, and can start a lot closer to my opponent. Two flying beasties supported by a lot of fast units mean my opponent will be dealing with my army on my second turn where I want him to deal with it.
It's decent at shooting. Most things in the army shoot. There's almost 60 shots a turn, not counting the breath weapons. I don't look at the shooting as a primary way of dealing with opposing units, but it's a 'nice to have'.
It's great at close combat. This army can HIT. On the charge, almost any two (or three, since the army is quick enough to get where I need them to) units will be hitting, and together the results are devastating. I try to keep the Dreadlord and Master close by one another as support (and magic defense), and when the two enter combat together, they produce wonderful results. Everything else does just fine (except the Dark Riders, who provide vital flank support).
With that said, there's a HUGE weakness- magic. I only get my 2 dispel die, plus the defense from the Ring of Hotek. Some armies will be able to cast magic nearly unopposed (so long as they don't target anything near the Ring of Hotek). Lore of Beasts can really stall out my army if I don't get lucky with opponent miscasts.
Also, there's only two magic weapons in the army, meaning I'm looking at an uphill battle if a VC army runs a lot of ethereal stuff.
I'm not really sure what to change to address this. I might toy with dropping the Manticore, mounting the Master on a Chariot (and switching the Armor of Darkness for another magical weapon), adding a scroll caddy, and filling with Harpies. If that seems to work better, that's what I'll change the above list to do.
Painting Progress:
Dark Elves Monster Heavy (2250):
Dreadlord w/ Repeater Crossbow, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield, Black Dragon, Crimson Death, Pendant of Khaeleth - 545
Master (BSB) w/ Lance, Repeater Crossbow, Manticore, Ring of Hotek, Armor of Darkness - 369
Dark Riders w/ Repeater Crossbows, Musician - 117
Dark Riders w/ Repeater Crossbows, Musician - 117
Dark Riders w/ Repeater Crossbows, Musician - 117
Cold One Chariot - 100
Cold One Chariot - 100
10 Shades w/ Bloodshade, Great Weapons, Light Armor - 208
5 Cold One Knights w/ Full Command, Standard of Slaughter, Soulrender - 225
Hydra - 175
Hydra - 175
Total Cost: 2248 pts
This army has a lot of strengths.
It's extremely mobile. The slowest unit in the army is the Shades, but they are also the most maneuverable, and can start a lot closer to my opponent. Two flying beasties supported by a lot of fast units mean my opponent will be dealing with my army on my second turn where I want him to deal with it.
It's decent at shooting. Most things in the army shoot. There's almost 60 shots a turn, not counting the breath weapons. I don't look at the shooting as a primary way of dealing with opposing units, but it's a 'nice to have'.
It's great at close combat. This army can HIT. On the charge, almost any two (or three, since the army is quick enough to get where I need them to) units will be hitting, and together the results are devastating. I try to keep the Dreadlord and Master close by one another as support (and magic defense), and when the two enter combat together, they produce wonderful results. Everything else does just fine (except the Dark Riders, who provide vital flank support).
With that said, there's a HUGE weakness- magic. I only get my 2 dispel die, plus the defense from the Ring of Hotek. Some armies will be able to cast magic nearly unopposed (so long as they don't target anything near the Ring of Hotek). Lore of Beasts can really stall out my army if I don't get lucky with opponent miscasts.
Also, there's only two magic weapons in the army, meaning I'm looking at an uphill battle if a VC army runs a lot of ethereal stuff.
I'm not really sure what to change to address this. I might toy with dropping the Manticore, mounting the Master on a Chariot (and switching the Armor of Darkness for another magical weapon), adding a scroll caddy, and filling with Harpies. If that seems to work better, that's what I'll change the above list to do.
Painting Progress:
Xaxor vs Zor-Magna
*sigh. All this talk of my skillz, and the first game post-startup of this blog is a loss. I guess that's expected. I of course lacked two things. First, I didn't take any notes (too lazy, and not really sure what I would be writing down), and second, I took a monster I had already beaten Rob with.
Regardless, me and Rob played last Thursday, I took Xaxor vs his Zor-Magna, and got beat. It wasn't a HUGE loss... but a loss is a loss. We played on the Riverside Rampage map (I believed), and I made one too many mistakes... and completely forgot rule #3: pay attention to the map! Didn't even notice there were teleporters. Thankfully, by the time THAT mattered, I had already lost. They may have helped me some, but I don't think enough.
Regardless, Rob played very well. I'm convinced Shadow Sun are probably the strongest faction in the first block, and are easily the most difficult to use, and Rob did very well in thwarting my game plan and punishing my mistakes. Overall a good game (so long as I learn from my loss!). :)
Regardless, me and Rob played last Thursday, I took Xaxor vs his Zor-Magna, and got beat. It wasn't a HUGE loss... but a loss is a loss. We played on the Riverside Rampage map (I believed), and I made one too many mistakes... and completely forgot rule #3: pay attention to the map! Didn't even notice there were teleporters. Thankfully, by the time THAT mattered, I had already lost. They may have helped me some, but I don't think enough.
Regardless, Rob played very well. I'm convinced Shadow Sun are probably the strongest faction in the first block, and are easily the most difficult to use, and Rob did very well in thwarting my game plan and punishing my mistakes. Overall a good game (so long as I learn from my loss!). :)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Miniature games
Alright, what else do I play? Several games (and several armies)
Warhammer Fantasy
Of course... none are painted, or even close. Or even started in most cases. I will use this blog to talk about my progress too, as I see fit :)
Edit- these now will link to army lists, and I will list painting progress for that army on that page.
Warhammer Fantasy
- Dark Elves (nearly 5000 pts total)
- Empire (6000 or so total)
- Ogre Kingdoms (about 2250)
- Lizardmen (probably about 1500)
- Inquisition (both Daemonhunters and Sisters) (about 2500 combined)
- Necrons (2500 or so)
- Dark Eldar (500)
- Chaos Space Marines (1500)
- Imperial Navy (2500)
- Dark Eldar (2000)
- Small-ish Space Marine army. Not sure how many points
- Dark Elves
- Dwarfs
- High Elves
- Humans (2 different teams)
- Orcs
- Dark Elves (2000)
- Empire (2000)
- Van Saar
- Goliath
- Gondor (700)
- Mordor (500)
- Mercenaries (not sure what I'd run them as...)
- Skaven
- Cryx (2000+)
- Cygnar (maybe 500)
- Skorne (750)
AT-43:
- Therians
Flames of War:
- American 101st Airborne Division (just starting... slowly)
Of course... none are painted, or even close. Or even started in most cases. I will use this blog to talk about my progress too, as I see fit :)
Edit- these now will link to army lists, and I will list painting progress for that army on that page.
Labels:
Blood Bowl,
LotR,
Minis,
Warhammer,
Warhammer 40K,
Warmachine
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monsterpocalypse
Monsterpocalypse is a fantastic Collectible Miniatures Game (CMG) by Privateer Press. Two players each take one monster, up to 15 supporting units, and battle to the death across a variety of city-based maps. There's plenty of throwing, bodyslamming, radiation beams, building destruction, and overall mayhem to give any sort of person something to enjoy.
It's also one of the primary games that me and a buddy play. Sadly for said buddy, it's a game I do significantly better at. Why is that? Well, I'm just awesome. Also, I really 'see' the game better than he does. There's many many interacting abilities/triggers/reactions that the board (and units and monsters) force the player to deal with, and it can be difficult for a player to play in a way to best take advantage of it. I don't claim to be the best player in the world... but I do alright.
My current goal is to beat my buddy with every one of the monsters. So far, it's coming along nicely, but still plenty to go. These are who I have left:
Martian Menace:
Now, in all of these cases, I've never RUN any of these monsters against him, but I eventually will. I will make sure to keep track of what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and my thoughts =). I will even post my views on tactics with certain monsters (and I've joked many times about how he can use them as a new strategy guide).
Hopefully I can knock one off this list by the end of the week :)
It's also one of the primary games that me and a buddy play. Sadly for said buddy, it's a game I do significantly better at. Why is that? Well, I'm just awesome. Also, I really 'see' the game better than he does. There's many many interacting abilities/triggers/reactions that the board (and units and monsters) force the player to deal with, and it can be difficult for a player to play in a way to best take advantage of it. I don't claim to be the best player in the world... but I do alright.
My current goal is to beat my buddy with every one of the monsters. So far, it's coming along nicely, but still plenty to go. These are who I have left:
Martian Menace:
- All 5 monsters
- All 5 monsters
- Sky Sentinel
- Nova ESR
- Legionnaire
- Ulgoth
- Rogzor
- Zorog
- Pteradox
- Rakadon
- Tyranix
Tritons:
- All 2 monsters
Ubercorp:
- All 2 monsters
Elemental Champions:
- All 2 monsters
Subterranean Uprising:
- All 2 monsters
Savage Swarm:
- All 2 monsters
Empire of the Apes:
- All 2 monsters
Now, in all of these cases, I've never RUN any of these monsters against him, but I eventually will. I will make sure to keep track of what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and my thoughts =). I will even post my views on tactics with certain monsters (and I've joked many times about how he can use them as a new strategy guide).
Hopefully I can knock one off this list by the end of the week :)
Greetings!
Alright! Time for some information to make this blog interesting.
First, welcome to everyone who bothers reading these things. I imagine I'll be the only person, but hell, I get a kick out of that too. Maybe the g/f will read it too. Who knows. Who cares? :)
I'm a gamer, and I imagine this blog will be mostly about gaming. That may change as I decide I don't really have anything important to talk about. I'm also a professional computer scientist, but I bet you guys get to be spared from reading about that. There will probably be non-gaming things too, depending on my whims.
Alright, that's good for now. Time to make my first relevant post....
First, welcome to everyone who bothers reading these things. I imagine I'll be the only person, but hell, I get a kick out of that too. Maybe the g/f will read it too. Who knows. Who cares? :)
I'm a gamer, and I imagine this blog will be mostly about gaming. That may change as I decide I don't really have anything important to talk about. I'm also a professional computer scientist, but I bet you guys get to be spared from reading about that. There will probably be non-gaming things too, depending on my whims.
Alright, that's good for now. Time to make my first relevant post....
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