Obviously, I've been really busy, but I swear I'm not done blogging yet! I won't get into all the various things that are keeping me away from the computer here (you can look on my other blog for that, it's not very interesting though, I promise).
The important thing is that I'm going to try to blog more.
I don't know if I'll ever get my various battle reports up from PrezCon, mainly because it's been so long now that my memory faded. We ended up leaving from it early, but still got a few other games in that I haven't posted about: Imperium and Triumph of Chaos come to mind immediately. Man, Triumph of Chaos has potential to be a fantastic game, but it's going to have to be one I'll need to own to play it effectively. I need to actually study a few of the parts of the game to see why I would want to do certain things, or to see the penalties from playing certain cards, etc. One day.
Upon coming home from PrezCon, I broke out (at the time) ATO's newest issue: The Lash of the Turk. Played one of the scenarios solo. I really like the overall flow and rules of the game, but it needed some errata (for instance, the setup was completely screwy). Also, the siege rules are bit peculiar. It's one of those eras of history that doesn't seem to get enough games covering though, so I'm definitely going to give it some slack. Again, maybe someday I'll post pictures and a report of that game. More likely, however, is that when I play it again, I'll post THAT.
Rob and I have been playing occasional games of Combat Commander. We've been eyeing the Stalingrad campaign game, so maybe in another few weeks we'll do that. Combat Commander is a blast, but I swear that has to be the most complicated game in existence.
I still do my ASL playtesting when I have time to. I won't say I'm decent yet, but I'm certainly getting better at playing. Every time I play it, I'm just reminded how great a game it is. I have dreams of playing a lot of the scenarios solo (and even grander dreams of running some of those massive Valor of the Guards scenarios *drool), but it won't be for a bit.
Regardless, I'm sure I wasn't missed much, but I'll be coming back with some new posts, I promise. I've been trying to tackle Fields of Fire lately, so I suspect there will be some posts on that coming up soon.
See you guys soon!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Been so busy!
Man, it feels like forever since I've posted here.
I've been busy, obviously- I'm starting to move to a new job, which requires skills and knowledge I have to learn before doing so. That takes a lot of time. My girlfriend is starting college, and her first classes are poorly taught, leaving me to help her out... that takes time. I work two jobs... that takes time.
Mainly, there just isn't enough time to go around, and certainly none for blogging (or myself in general).
Well, I'm going to try to keep it up a little. I HAVE played a few games in the intervening months, and I have stacks of battle reports to go through, but truthfully it's so daunting to sit out, right them up, and edit them that I may never get around to it. Instead, I'll just make a few comments here about what's been going on for me the last few months (various things I haven't posted already, at least).
Warhammer Fantasy: All I've really done somewhat recently was play a single game of this against Frans. I was using Dark Elves vs. his Skaven, 2500 points, I believe. I tried to run a little stronger with magic and melee, and it was actually a decently close game, but I still lost. I actually learned a LOT about Warhammer from this game though- for instance, I won't be taking any more small units. They are just too easy to get points from. They can't stand up to all the various things in the game, and it's not worth it anymore. The new 'unkillable' lord is really as tough as he sounds, as well.
I haven't purchased the Storm of Magic supplement yet. I may or may not, I haven't decided. It's too difficult to keep up with GW's pricing these days.
Warhammer 40K: I've spent some time thinking about the background for my Chaos Space Marines, and even started to assemble some Berzerkers, but haven't progressed past that yet. I'm really excited about Necron rumors, however.
Other GW games: My Blood Bowl project has hit a bit of a snag, because my free time is so limited. I will look at trying to use the updated Java Blood Bowl client to help speed me up here, however. If I can save some time, I can still pull it off.
Warmachine/Hordes: I've done a decent amount here, but still pretty disappointing. Let's cover a few things.
I've played quite a few games. I played Nathan, Cryx vs. his Cygnar, and lost. I played BK, Skorne vs. his Menoth, and lost (although the Titan Gladiator dropped two of his heavies in a turn, something he won't forget, I'm sure). I've played Ben during lunch once or twice, and lost. I've been playing Rob with intent to help him play Warmachine (especially his Khador) better, and won, but of course these were teaching games. We've made some progress though- last night we played a quick game, 35 points, me running Master Tormentor Morghoul, and him running Karchev, and although I won, he was one or two rolls away from making it a MUCH closer game (as in, not rolling a 4 on three die for damage on Morghoul sort of rolling). So, I'm getting some gaming in, but not much.
I've been assembling some, but not very quickly. Finished a Necrotech for Cryx (you know, because I'll use it so much). Finished my Arcuarii for Skorne. Started on a unit of Venator Reivers. I bought a few Retribution models, but I don't expect to start working on them soon. Still haven't been painting.
I'm really excited about Unbound, but I don't think I'll get many opportunities to play, since I'm the only person amongst my group of friends with 150 points (of Cryx). However, I'm going to be working on my Cryx to have them available to play such a game should the chance arrive.
Warmachine Wrath came out, and it looks incredible. Maybe I'll go over the choices, from my perspective, but maybe not, since it's not like you can't find those reviews elsewhere :).
Other games: I haven't been working on any of my other miniatures, sadly. I'm really eager to work on Flames of War, even though I don't play it yet. Same with Malifaux. But I don't have time to play the games I have stuff for, it's hard to justify extra.
So yeah, that's where I've been. I'll be trying to blog more, now that I've posted. If I go back and manage to get some of the other battle reports up, great, if not I'm not going to sweat it too much. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well out there!
I've been busy, obviously- I'm starting to move to a new job, which requires skills and knowledge I have to learn before doing so. That takes a lot of time. My girlfriend is starting college, and her first classes are poorly taught, leaving me to help her out... that takes time. I work two jobs... that takes time.
Mainly, there just isn't enough time to go around, and certainly none for blogging (or myself in general).
Well, I'm going to try to keep it up a little. I HAVE played a few games in the intervening months, and I have stacks of battle reports to go through, but truthfully it's so daunting to sit out, right them up, and edit them that I may never get around to it. Instead, I'll just make a few comments here about what's been going on for me the last few months (various things I haven't posted already, at least).
Warhammer Fantasy: All I've really done somewhat recently was play a single game of this against Frans. I was using Dark Elves vs. his Skaven, 2500 points, I believe. I tried to run a little stronger with magic and melee, and it was actually a decently close game, but I still lost. I actually learned a LOT about Warhammer from this game though- for instance, I won't be taking any more small units. They are just too easy to get points from. They can't stand up to all the various things in the game, and it's not worth it anymore. The new 'unkillable' lord is really as tough as he sounds, as well.
I haven't purchased the Storm of Magic supplement yet. I may or may not, I haven't decided. It's too difficult to keep up with GW's pricing these days.
Warhammer 40K: I've spent some time thinking about the background for my Chaos Space Marines, and even started to assemble some Berzerkers, but haven't progressed past that yet. I'm really excited about Necron rumors, however.
Other GW games: My Blood Bowl project has hit a bit of a snag, because my free time is so limited. I will look at trying to use the updated Java Blood Bowl client to help speed me up here, however. If I can save some time, I can still pull it off.
Warmachine/Hordes: I've done a decent amount here, but still pretty disappointing. Let's cover a few things.
I've played quite a few games. I played Nathan, Cryx vs. his Cygnar, and lost. I played BK, Skorne vs. his Menoth, and lost (although the Titan Gladiator dropped two of his heavies in a turn, something he won't forget, I'm sure). I've played Ben during lunch once or twice, and lost. I've been playing Rob with intent to help him play Warmachine (especially his Khador) better, and won, but of course these were teaching games. We've made some progress though- last night we played a quick game, 35 points, me running Master Tormentor Morghoul, and him running Karchev, and although I won, he was one or two rolls away from making it a MUCH closer game (as in, not rolling a 4 on three die for damage on Morghoul sort of rolling). So, I'm getting some gaming in, but not much.
I've been assembling some, but not very quickly. Finished a Necrotech for Cryx (you know, because I'll use it so much). Finished my Arcuarii for Skorne. Started on a unit of Venator Reivers. I bought a few Retribution models, but I don't expect to start working on them soon. Still haven't been painting.
I'm really excited about Unbound, but I don't think I'll get many opportunities to play, since I'm the only person amongst my group of friends with 150 points (of Cryx). However, I'm going to be working on my Cryx to have them available to play such a game should the chance arrive.
Warmachine Wrath came out, and it looks incredible. Maybe I'll go over the choices, from my perspective, but maybe not, since it's not like you can't find those reviews elsewhere :).
Other games: I haven't been working on any of my other miniatures, sadly. I'm really eager to work on Flames of War, even though I don't play it yet. Same with Malifaux. But I don't have time to play the games I have stuff for, it's hard to justify extra.
So yeah, that's where I've been. I'll be trying to blog more, now that I've posted. If I go back and manage to get some of the other battle reports up, great, if not I'm not going to sweat it too much. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well out there!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy (Book Review)
David Stevenson's Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy may be the best coverage of the First World War ever written. This terse, detail filled tome covers, in incredible detail, the political, financial, logistical, and strategic decisions and challenges faced by all of the belligerents.
When I was in middle school, our coverage of World War I started with a class exercise. We broke into groups, were given a written description of our groups’ thoughts (basically- ‘You have an agreement with so and so group to fight a war if they join one, but here’s why you might not want to’), and a group was told that one of their leaders was assassinated. Soon, the entire class was at war. The goal was to show that politicians weren’t so much in control of this war- events just spiraled out of their control, and the result was a conflict resulting in millions of deaths and effects which are still felt today.
Cataclysm challenges that view- it shows, in great detail that politicians deliberately made choices to both initiate the war, and continue it despite appalling casualties. Most importantly, it presents this case in an unbiased fashion as possible- you won’t find much in the way of assigning blame to one country or group in here.
The book is broken into four major parts, and I feel it’s probably handy to at least mention them for and understanding of this book’s value.
In Part One, Outbreak, Stevenson examines the causes of the war- from the decisions taken by politicians after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife to the various diplomatic factors faced by Germany and Austria prior to this event, to the tensions caused by the Balkan Wars, to a bunch of other things. I feel this is probably one of the strongest sections of the book- the causes of World War I are one of the most studied topics in history because there are SO MANY factors that went into it. This book does a fantastic job covering them all. The central theme is, of course, that World War I was a controlled event- the politicians from BOTH sides knew (at least partially) what their actions would cause, and chose them anyway. The first part ends with coverage of the initial attacks in the first year, and the difficulties faced on the Eastern and Western fronts- including why the front lines didn’t advance on West for 4 years, and the ones in the East didn’t move very far to start. It also describes why the Germans chose to keep their fleets at port, instead of going out to attack the various British troopships when they were vulnerable (since the British fleets at Scapa Flow probably couldn’t have arrived in time). The desire to not risk the fleet, keeping it as a ‘political instrument’ would of course present the Germans with problems later- Stevenson shows us early on the decisions made by the Central Powers that ended up hurting them.
Part Two, Escalation, nominally covers the middle of the war- from spring of 1915 to spring of 1917. As we know, there were several major battles during this period- Verdun, Somme, and Cambrai, for instance are all well known. Despite this, the advancements of defensive warfare meant that no advances were made, so in the long run, there isn’t a lot of historical interest that happened (‘escalation and stalemate, both sides applying rising levels of violence yet failing to terminate the impasse’ according to the book). However, instead of boring the reader with page after page of inaction, Stevenson chooses to examine the issues that kept the war going as well as examining, by country, the various issues facing them, from manpower shortages, to morale, to economics, and into new logistical, tactical, and technological advances. He does a great job blending the information in- although the information is fairly terse at times, the information is presented in a way that shows, at each step, how it influenced the course of the war. One thing to note about this section is that coverage of the war is only briefly chronological- much of the section is devoted to discussions about the various topics and how they influenced later parts of the war- not so much when they happened during it.
Also covered in this section are the war aims of the various countries. The people of a country won’t support a war without knowing why they’re fighting, after all. Some of the works towards finding a peace (or in the case of Germany, trying to use peace feelers as a way to split their enemies) are covered here.
Part Three, Outcome, covers the Russian Revolution, the American entrance into the war, the final push of the Central Powers and the collapse of their armies, and their eventual ceasefire and surrender. The causes, progress, and results of the Russian Revolution, are perfectly blended into Stevenson’s coverage of World War I, and the same great amount of detail is put into it as the war itself.
The reasons behind the American involvement in the war, from the various political reasons to the Zimmerman Telegram are covered, but once in the war, the actual fighting the Americans were involved with was very briefly stated, although their presence was ‘indispensable’ to the Allies’ victory.
Also, the various tactical/operational improvements are discussed, especially prior to the Central Powers’ 1918 offensive, which met with early success but eventually drained the German manpower too much to allow them to continue the offensives, or even effectively defend themselves during the renewed Allied attacks. Also discussed is the role of Ludendorff’s mental breakdown in the eventual fall of Germany.
The final part of the book is titled Legacy. Given the grand scope of the war, and its influence to later world history, it’s an apt title. A few different issues are discussed here. First, the Treaty of Versailles, reparations, and the League of Nations are all briefly discussed. The eventual bitterness towards the treaty certainly contributed to the rise of nationalist groups in Germany after the war, so you couldn’t talk about World War I without discussing them. Much of this section, however, is concerned with covering the breakdown of the cohesion of the Allied powers, their reasons for their laxity in enforcing the treaty, and indeed the eventual rise of the Third Reich (although Stevenson makes a point to show that the events of the 1930s and later were not inevitable, but they were more difficult to defuse because of earlier choices). One of the primary reasons mentioned for the breakdown of peace is the lack of American or Russian involvement in post-war security.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in World War I- unless you’re only interest is in the individual battles occurring during the war. Although the book covers the overall strategic decisions made by the powers fighting, comparatively little is written about individual battles. The Battle of Verdun gets about 3 pages of coverage, and some battles (for instance, the Second Battle of the Marne) get only passing mention. There are plenty of resources for readers interested in that. Cataclysm contains a 21 page bibliography- I’m almost certain you could find a perfect book for any topic you’d want listed in there.
If you’re interested in the politics behind war, and the various processes a country has to undertake to keep a war running, as well as the strategy and flow of World War I, I don’t think you’ll find a better book than Cataclysm. My only warning is that this is NOT an easy read- it’s going to take you a month to get through this, but it’s well worth it.
When I was in middle school, our coverage of World War I started with a class exercise. We broke into groups, were given a written description of our groups’ thoughts (basically- ‘You have an agreement with so and so group to fight a war if they join one, but here’s why you might not want to’), and a group was told that one of their leaders was assassinated. Soon, the entire class was at war. The goal was to show that politicians weren’t so much in control of this war- events just spiraled out of their control, and the result was a conflict resulting in millions of deaths and effects which are still felt today.
Cataclysm challenges that view- it shows, in great detail that politicians deliberately made choices to both initiate the war, and continue it despite appalling casualties. Most importantly, it presents this case in an unbiased fashion as possible- you won’t find much in the way of assigning blame to one country or group in here.
The book is broken into four major parts, and I feel it’s probably handy to at least mention them for and understanding of this book’s value.
In Part One, Outbreak, Stevenson examines the causes of the war- from the decisions taken by politicians after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife to the various diplomatic factors faced by Germany and Austria prior to this event, to the tensions caused by the Balkan Wars, to a bunch of other things. I feel this is probably one of the strongest sections of the book- the causes of World War I are one of the most studied topics in history because there are SO MANY factors that went into it. This book does a fantastic job covering them all. The central theme is, of course, that World War I was a controlled event- the politicians from BOTH sides knew (at least partially) what their actions would cause, and chose them anyway. The first part ends with coverage of the initial attacks in the first year, and the difficulties faced on the Eastern and Western fronts- including why the front lines didn’t advance on West for 4 years, and the ones in the East didn’t move very far to start. It also describes why the Germans chose to keep their fleets at port, instead of going out to attack the various British troopships when they were vulnerable (since the British fleets at Scapa Flow probably couldn’t have arrived in time). The desire to not risk the fleet, keeping it as a ‘political instrument’ would of course present the Germans with problems later- Stevenson shows us early on the decisions made by the Central Powers that ended up hurting them.
Part Two, Escalation, nominally covers the middle of the war- from spring of 1915 to spring of 1917. As we know, there were several major battles during this period- Verdun, Somme, and Cambrai, for instance are all well known. Despite this, the advancements of defensive warfare meant that no advances were made, so in the long run, there isn’t a lot of historical interest that happened (‘escalation and stalemate, both sides applying rising levels of violence yet failing to terminate the impasse’ according to the book). However, instead of boring the reader with page after page of inaction, Stevenson chooses to examine the issues that kept the war going as well as examining, by country, the various issues facing them, from manpower shortages, to morale, to economics, and into new logistical, tactical, and technological advances. He does a great job blending the information in- although the information is fairly terse at times, the information is presented in a way that shows, at each step, how it influenced the course of the war. One thing to note about this section is that coverage of the war is only briefly chronological- much of the section is devoted to discussions about the various topics and how they influenced later parts of the war- not so much when they happened during it.
Also covered in this section are the war aims of the various countries. The people of a country won’t support a war without knowing why they’re fighting, after all. Some of the works towards finding a peace (or in the case of Germany, trying to use peace feelers as a way to split their enemies) are covered here.
Part Three, Outcome, covers the Russian Revolution, the American entrance into the war, the final push of the Central Powers and the collapse of their armies, and their eventual ceasefire and surrender. The causes, progress, and results of the Russian Revolution, are perfectly blended into Stevenson’s coverage of World War I, and the same great amount of detail is put into it as the war itself.
The reasons behind the American involvement in the war, from the various political reasons to the Zimmerman Telegram are covered, but once in the war, the actual fighting the Americans were involved with was very briefly stated, although their presence was ‘indispensable’ to the Allies’ victory.
Also, the various tactical/operational improvements are discussed, especially prior to the Central Powers’ 1918 offensive, which met with early success but eventually drained the German manpower too much to allow them to continue the offensives, or even effectively defend themselves during the renewed Allied attacks. Also discussed is the role of Ludendorff’s mental breakdown in the eventual fall of Germany.
The final part of the book is titled Legacy. Given the grand scope of the war, and its influence to later world history, it’s an apt title. A few different issues are discussed here. First, the Treaty of Versailles, reparations, and the League of Nations are all briefly discussed. The eventual bitterness towards the treaty certainly contributed to the rise of nationalist groups in Germany after the war, so you couldn’t talk about World War I without discussing them. Much of this section, however, is concerned with covering the breakdown of the cohesion of the Allied powers, their reasons for their laxity in enforcing the treaty, and indeed the eventual rise of the Third Reich (although Stevenson makes a point to show that the events of the 1930s and later were not inevitable, but they were more difficult to defuse because of earlier choices). One of the primary reasons mentioned for the breakdown of peace is the lack of American or Russian involvement in post-war security.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in World War I- unless you’re only interest is in the individual battles occurring during the war. Although the book covers the overall strategic decisions made by the powers fighting, comparatively little is written about individual battles. The Battle of Verdun gets about 3 pages of coverage, and some battles (for instance, the Second Battle of the Marne) get only passing mention. There are plenty of resources for readers interested in that. Cataclysm contains a 21 page bibliography- I’m almost certain you could find a perfect book for any topic you’d want listed in there.
If you’re interested in the politics behind war, and the various processes a country has to undertake to keep a war running, as well as the strategy and flow of World War I, I don’t think you’ll find a better book than Cataclysm. My only warning is that this is NOT an easy read- it’s going to take you a month to get through this, but it’s well worth it.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Received Four Roads to Moscow!
So, early last week, I received my copy of Four Roads to Moscow, the 2010 Annual from Against the Odds Magazine. This issue is particularly exciting, because not only does it include a game covering Operation Barbarossa, but rather it includes FOUR games on the topic, from four different designers (John Prados, Roger Nord, Ted Raicer, Michael Rinella), each with its own style and rules.
I haven't had a chance to play any of them yet, but man the product looks good. I managed to get the last ATO release (Lash of the Turk) on the table- even though I've been really slow posting things on here!- so I'm really excited to see that they are getting on the ball this year.
I haven't had a chance to play any of them yet, but man the product looks good. I managed to get the last ATO release (Lash of the Turk) on the table- even though I've been really slow posting things on here!- so I'm really excited to see that they are getting on the ball this year.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Lunchtime Hordes, 3/31/11
Ben and I played a quick game of Hordes during lunch, using 25 point armies, and with a few new things on both sides.
I ran:
Archdomina Makeda
- Basilisk Krea
- Molik Karn
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 5 Grunts)
- Praetorian Swordsmen Officer & Standard
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)
Agonizer
Totem Hunter
I was eager to get my newly assembled Basilisk and Swamp Gobbers on the table, and they provide me a good amount of ranged defense, in case Ben ran with more shooting elements.
Ben, however, took:
Hoarluk Doomshaper
- Dire Troll Mauler
- Earthborn Dire Troll
- Mulg the Ancient
Ben obviously went for a rather direct approach to his army design, but that sure is a lot of 'beat-down' packed into 3 packages.
The first turn, Ben and I moved into position. I put Savagery on Molik Karn and Defender's Ward onto my Swordsmen, Ben used Transmute for Mulg and the Mauler, giving them +2 ARM due to proximity to obstacles.
On the second turn, I started with the offense. I used my Krea (on my left) to paralyze his Mauler, preventing it from charging. I sent the Swordsmen up so that they were out of the Mauler's charge range, but still in Mulg's. Molik Karn (on my far right) flew into Ben's Earthborn, but some bad rolls (an 8 on 4 dice) caused only minor damage. Molik used Fate Weaver to get away, behind a Swamp Gobber cloud, to keep him safe.
Ben went on the offensive. Mulg charged in, killing two Praetorians and a Swamp Gobber, before struggling with rolls to hit anything else. The Earthborn trampled forward into the newly created void, and managed to land two swings onto Makeda, but she transferred one, and stayed alive.
With two heavy trolls in among my forces, my immediate goals were clear. The Swordsmen surrounded Mulg, taking small amounts of damage off him, Makeda took some small chunks out of the Earthborn, and the Totem Hunter ran up to put some more damage on Mulg. Then Molik Karn went into action. Swing, side-step, swing, side-step dropped the Earthborn, and with the 5 Fury I had available (due to Affinity with Makeda), he finished off Mulg as well.
Ben was left with only a single Dire Troll Mauler and Doomshaper, and briefly considered conceding. Instead, he decided to take a shot for victory. He moved up into the Swamp Gobber, and declared a double-handed throw (boosting to hit). He chose Makeda as a target, again boosting to hit, and knocking her down. A few Primal Rages later, Makeda was dead, and Ben was again victorious.
I made a few really dumb mistakes. I forgot to use my feat on the turn I had planned to (prior to Mulg charging), which probably wouldn't have made a difference overall, but certainly would've been nice to help have more bodies. I also cast Carnage at one point, and completely forgot that I had used it. Those are silly mistakes that there's no excuse for. I also really need to be more careful with the warlock. Makeda could've side-stepped away easily, and been happily out of danger (she'd have been out of range for Primal Rage, at the least). Overall though, the game was very close, and several times the overall momentum changed. I have a few new toys I can use, and I phase them in, I should start seeing some improved results.
I ran:
Archdomina Makeda
- Basilisk Krea
- Molik Karn
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 5 Grunts)
- Praetorian Swordsmen Officer & Standard
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)
Agonizer
Totem Hunter
I was eager to get my newly assembled Basilisk and Swamp Gobbers on the table, and they provide me a good amount of ranged defense, in case Ben ran with more shooting elements.
Ben, however, took:
Hoarluk Doomshaper
- Dire Troll Mauler
- Earthborn Dire Troll
- Mulg the Ancient
Ben obviously went for a rather direct approach to his army design, but that sure is a lot of 'beat-down' packed into 3 packages.
The first turn, Ben and I moved into position. I put Savagery on Molik Karn and Defender's Ward onto my Swordsmen, Ben used Transmute for Mulg and the Mauler, giving them +2 ARM due to proximity to obstacles.
On the second turn, I started with the offense. I used my Krea (on my left) to paralyze his Mauler, preventing it from charging. I sent the Swordsmen up so that they were out of the Mauler's charge range, but still in Mulg's. Molik Karn (on my far right) flew into Ben's Earthborn, but some bad rolls (an 8 on 4 dice) caused only minor damage. Molik used Fate Weaver to get away, behind a Swamp Gobber cloud, to keep him safe.
Ben went on the offensive. Mulg charged in, killing two Praetorians and a Swamp Gobber, before struggling with rolls to hit anything else. The Earthborn trampled forward into the newly created void, and managed to land two swings onto Makeda, but she transferred one, and stayed alive.
With two heavy trolls in among my forces, my immediate goals were clear. The Swordsmen surrounded Mulg, taking small amounts of damage off him, Makeda took some small chunks out of the Earthborn, and the Totem Hunter ran up to put some more damage on Mulg. Then Molik Karn went into action. Swing, side-step, swing, side-step dropped the Earthborn, and with the 5 Fury I had available (due to Affinity with Makeda), he finished off Mulg as well.
Ben was left with only a single Dire Troll Mauler and Doomshaper, and briefly considered conceding. Instead, he decided to take a shot for victory. He moved up into the Swamp Gobber, and declared a double-handed throw (boosting to hit). He chose Makeda as a target, again boosting to hit, and knocking her down. A few Primal Rages later, Makeda was dead, and Ben was again victorious.
I made a few really dumb mistakes. I forgot to use my feat on the turn I had planned to (prior to Mulg charging), which probably wouldn't have made a difference overall, but certainly would've been nice to help have more bodies. I also cast Carnage at one point, and completely forgot that I had used it. Those are silly mistakes that there's no excuse for. I also really need to be more careful with the warlock. Makeda could've side-stepped away easily, and been happily out of danger (she'd have been out of range for Primal Rage, at the least). Overall though, the game was very close, and several times the overall momentum changed. I have a few new toys I can use, and I phase them in, I should start seeing some improved results.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Battle Report: Combat Commander: Stalingrad, Scenario 35- Spartakovka Salient
The next wargame played by Rob and me at PrezCon was a scenario from Combat Commander: Stalingrad. The eventual goal for the convention was to break this out and actually give the campaign system a shot, but to start we needed to just play a game to get the rules for the system back in our head.
We chose to play the first scenario of the Stalingrad battle pack, Spartakovka Salient, which depicts elements of the German 16th Panzer Division fighting through some rear-line Russian units in an attempt to get to the Volga River (which I didn't check, but I'm pretty sure they succeeded at). This scenario is different for this pack, since it's the only one that doesn't use any of the new Stalingrad special rules (rubble, the urban sniper, etc) since they aren't in the city quite yet.
I was playing the Germans, and Rob was the Russians. The Russians have fewer and poorer troops, whereas the Germans get reinforcements who are fairly elite. Since Objective W was an open objective, we both knew that exiting squads off the opposing side would be worth double victory points. I drew chit F for my secret objective, which listed that Objective #2 (the one on the far side of the board, to the right) would be worth 2 VPs. Rob drew one as well.
We did our set up, Rob first.
Setup:
After Rob's setup, I began mine (also seen above) and formulated my plan for the battle. Given that units exiting off the map were worth double, and given the superior quality of my troops, that needed to be my goal. I'd lock Rob's main force (which you can see in the above picture) down with significantly fewer units, and advance the rest off of the board, claiming Objective #2 along the way. Each squad leaving would be worth 4 victory points, plus I'd get the squads back the next turn. Can't argue with that.
Of course, the wrinkle in my plan is that Rob is listed as the scenario defender. That means he gets a LOT of extra abilities through the cards to hinder me. Mines, wire, and all sorts of tricky things would be thrown at me to slow me down.
I begin the game by moving up on the right, into the woods, with a few squads plus a leader. My mortar takes a shot up the road into the woods, and I get a Time! trigger, but the shot has no effect. Turns in Combat Commander, for those who have never played, are determined by these Time! triggers- many random events happen during the game because of various triggers, as we'll see. Regardless, a Time! trigger in this scenario is a huge help to the defender (Rob) who not only gets a victory point, but also gets the game closer to ending (the game potentially ends any time after turn 7).
Rob tries to take a few shots at me, but doesn't accomplish anything. He decides to send a Russian squad down the road to the right of the lake, to try to make me hesitant to advance around and off the map. I Op Fire at him and manage to break him, however.
On my turn, I shoot at the broken squad in the open, killing it (and giving me 2 Victory Points).
Rob and I then take turns discarding cards (instead of playing cards during your turn, you have the option to discard a few cards with the hopes of getting a better hand- if one person discards, it's not generally a bad idea for the other player to do so as well, since he is basically given a free turn), but Rob plays an action once I discard to get some reinforcements- rolls, and gets another Militia squad (big help there). He then continues to shoot at me, but again accomplishes nothing.
I'm saddled with a hand of Command Confusions and Artillery Request/Denied cards... which are worthless in this scenario since we have no radios. I discard again.
Rob's shooting finally gets some results, as he breaks my closest German leader. With no Recover card in my hand, I have to just hope I stay lucky enough to keep him there (without a leader, it's hard to move my Germans in groups).
We trade a turn of me moving and him shooting to no effect, then on my turn, I finally some useful orders for once. I advance a Rifle Squad into melee with the Russian squad closest to me. Rob uses a Hidden Mines action which ends up breaking me, and I respond with two Ambush actions to kill his squad, followed by a No Quarter action to get some extra victory points. Can't complain about getting Victory Points!
Rob begins opening fire into my broken squad and leader, hoping for some kills, and succeeds in killing the broken Rifle squad. Some shooting also suppresses my Weapon team with the mortar (which has been rolling 4s all game for shooting, by the way). The leader recovers on my turn, and I begin moving them up the right, towards Objective #2 and freedom.
I believe Rob ran out of cards here, which is a free Time! trigger, much to my chagrin.
He follows this up by breaking my Weapon team, but isn't sure what to do about my guys on the right. I follow this up by bringing on my reinforcements- a bunch of elite squads to help deliver the hurt to the Russians! I work on moving my entire army up, but Rob uses some Hidden Wire actions to shut down my movement towards the top of the map (guess he was sure what to do ;) ). Rob doesn't accomplish anything on his turn, and I move out of the wire, and up some more.
Rob moves a leader, and I take a shot, drawing a 5 for my attack roll, which I use the Initiative card to re-draw, and get a 4 instead. Rob of course grabs a 12 for the defense roll, which is another Time! trigger for him. Sigh.
After several rounds of us shooting at each other, I do manage to break one of his squads in the woods to the left, but he manages to Rout it out of there and into safety (and eventually recovers).
I also, over the course of a few rounds, move point blank to his lone squad on Objective #2, and advance into it, killing the squad, and claiming the objective. My shooting also breaks another Russian squad. Rob isn't exactly idle, but his shooting isn't doing a whole lot (breaking or suppressing my weapon team a few times, but I keep recovering). He doesn't want to move out of the building, since it's an objective, and he doesn't know what mine is, and he can't really get the guys out of the woods on my left because I'll take chunks out of them as they try. He's just stuck waiting until I get things off the board, and trying to recover from that.
After drawing through my deck (another Time! trigger), I oblige him. My two squads and 1-command leader exit the board, giving me 12 Victory Points, finally moving the VP marker to my side of the track (oh yeah- the VP marker starts on the 11 space on the Russian side of the track ;) ). These squads will come back on as reinforcements next time there's a Time! trigger. Some of my shooting then causes a Walking Wounded Event! which lets me bring back a squad. I now have a lot of guys on the board, and coming on.
Rob figures that I might have the Objective #2 chit, so moves back to reclaim it, and again continues to shoot at me, without effect. I then discard cards again, and Rob again plays the action to give him a reinforcement roll, this time getting an Assault squad with a Flamethrower.
We don't wait long for it to influence the game. Rob sends him into melee with the adjacent German squad, and we tie on the combat draws, wiping everything out (a net gain of like 4 Victory Points, I think). On top of that, Rob's next shot gives us another Time! trigger, bringing the game closer to the end.
I focus on moving things up and around, but groan as I draw 4 Recover cards when I refill my hand. That slows me down for a turn as I discard them.
Rob has decided to start trying to get the game over. He shoots, but fires as many individual low strength shots as he can in order to increase the chances of either of us drawing Time! triggers. He doesn't get any yet- but does manage to draw another objective chit. Realizing I'm going to be pressed for time, I move up quickly (dropping some smoke next to me to help protect me from shooting), but shoot and break another Russian squad. Rob responds on his turn by playing a Recover card... unfortunately the Event drawn ends up killing the Russian before the roll could've recovered him.
I finally make it up to Objective #2, and have a move order in my hand to blow the game open next turn. However, Rob finally gets lucky- his shooting brings up a Time! trigger, and we are now at the point where we roll for the game end. It doesn't happen yet though. However, my Defense roll brings up ANOTHER Time! trigger, and this time the game does end. I never got a chance to move those guys off :(.
Ah well, we move onto figuring out the final score. Due to casualties and the turn I moved units off the board before, the victory point marker was at 1 on his side. My objective chit gave me 2 victory points for control of Objective #2. Rob's objective chits were L and J, which were 3 Victory Points for Objective #4 (controlled by me), and 2 Victory Points for Objective #5 (controlled by him). That means we ended with a net score of 2 Victory Points for me- a very narrow win!
This scenario has a very different feel than any I've played with Combat Commander so far, and it was certainly a good time. Rob's shooting wasn't very effective, and a lot of that was due to poor luck. He had several good turns of fortune though, so it probably evened out. Overall, my luck was good as well. Rob thinks that his main mistake was setting up too far forward. I don't know if it would've helped, but it may have. I mean, he was close to winning as is- one or two more things going his way may have done it. Had the game gone another turn, I would've ended up with a pretty significant win.
Hopefully we'll get a campaign started one of these days. Just another thing to add to the to-do list.
We chose to play the first scenario of the Stalingrad battle pack, Spartakovka Salient, which depicts elements of the German 16th Panzer Division fighting through some rear-line Russian units in an attempt to get to the Volga River (which I didn't check, but I'm pretty sure they succeeded at). This scenario is different for this pack, since it's the only one that doesn't use any of the new Stalingrad special rules (rubble, the urban sniper, etc) since they aren't in the city quite yet.
I was playing the Germans, and Rob was the Russians. The Russians have fewer and poorer troops, whereas the Germans get reinforcements who are fairly elite. Since Objective W was an open objective, we both knew that exiting squads off the opposing side would be worth double victory points. I drew chit F for my secret objective, which listed that Objective #2 (the one on the far side of the board, to the right) would be worth 2 VPs. Rob drew one as well.
We did our set up, Rob first.
Setup:
After Rob's setup, I began mine (also seen above) and formulated my plan for the battle. Given that units exiting off the map were worth double, and given the superior quality of my troops, that needed to be my goal. I'd lock Rob's main force (which you can see in the above picture) down with significantly fewer units, and advance the rest off of the board, claiming Objective #2 along the way. Each squad leaving would be worth 4 victory points, plus I'd get the squads back the next turn. Can't argue with that.
Of course, the wrinkle in my plan is that Rob is listed as the scenario defender. That means he gets a LOT of extra abilities through the cards to hinder me. Mines, wire, and all sorts of tricky things would be thrown at me to slow me down.
I begin the game by moving up on the right, into the woods, with a few squads plus a leader. My mortar takes a shot up the road into the woods, and I get a Time! trigger, but the shot has no effect. Turns in Combat Commander, for those who have never played, are determined by these Time! triggers- many random events happen during the game because of various triggers, as we'll see. Regardless, a Time! trigger in this scenario is a huge help to the defender (Rob) who not only gets a victory point, but also gets the game closer to ending (the game potentially ends any time after turn 7).
Rob tries to take a few shots at me, but doesn't accomplish anything. He decides to send a Russian squad down the road to the right of the lake, to try to make me hesitant to advance around and off the map. I Op Fire at him and manage to break him, however.
On my turn, I shoot at the broken squad in the open, killing it (and giving me 2 Victory Points).
Rob and I then take turns discarding cards (instead of playing cards during your turn, you have the option to discard a few cards with the hopes of getting a better hand- if one person discards, it's not generally a bad idea for the other player to do so as well, since he is basically given a free turn), but Rob plays an action once I discard to get some reinforcements- rolls, and gets another Militia squad (big help there). He then continues to shoot at me, but again accomplishes nothing.
I'm saddled with a hand of Command Confusions and Artillery Request/Denied cards... which are worthless in this scenario since we have no radios. I discard again.
Rob's shooting finally gets some results, as he breaks my closest German leader. With no Recover card in my hand, I have to just hope I stay lucky enough to keep him there (without a leader, it's hard to move my Germans in groups).
We trade a turn of me moving and him shooting to no effect, then on my turn, I finally some useful orders for once. I advance a Rifle Squad into melee with the Russian squad closest to me. Rob uses a Hidden Mines action which ends up breaking me, and I respond with two Ambush actions to kill his squad, followed by a No Quarter action to get some extra victory points. Can't complain about getting Victory Points!
Rob begins opening fire into my broken squad and leader, hoping for some kills, and succeeds in killing the broken Rifle squad. Some shooting also suppresses my Weapon team with the mortar (which has been rolling 4s all game for shooting, by the way). The leader recovers on my turn, and I begin moving them up the right, towards Objective #2 and freedom.
I believe Rob ran out of cards here, which is a free Time! trigger, much to my chagrin.
He follows this up by breaking my Weapon team, but isn't sure what to do about my guys on the right. I follow this up by bringing on my reinforcements- a bunch of elite squads to help deliver the hurt to the Russians! I work on moving my entire army up, but Rob uses some Hidden Wire actions to shut down my movement towards the top of the map (guess he was sure what to do ;) ). Rob doesn't accomplish anything on his turn, and I move out of the wire, and up some more.
Rob moves a leader, and I take a shot, drawing a 5 for my attack roll, which I use the Initiative card to re-draw, and get a 4 instead. Rob of course grabs a 12 for the defense roll, which is another Time! trigger for him. Sigh.
After several rounds of us shooting at each other, I do manage to break one of his squads in the woods to the left, but he manages to Rout it out of there and into safety (and eventually recovers).
I also, over the course of a few rounds, move point blank to his lone squad on Objective #2, and advance into it, killing the squad, and claiming the objective. My shooting also breaks another Russian squad. Rob isn't exactly idle, but his shooting isn't doing a whole lot (breaking or suppressing my weapon team a few times, but I keep recovering). He doesn't want to move out of the building, since it's an objective, and he doesn't know what mine is, and he can't really get the guys out of the woods on my left because I'll take chunks out of them as they try. He's just stuck waiting until I get things off the board, and trying to recover from that.
After drawing through my deck (another Time! trigger), I oblige him. My two squads and 1-command leader exit the board, giving me 12 Victory Points, finally moving the VP marker to my side of the track (oh yeah- the VP marker starts on the 11 space on the Russian side of the track ;) ). These squads will come back on as reinforcements next time there's a Time! trigger. Some of my shooting then causes a Walking Wounded Event! which lets me bring back a squad. I now have a lot of guys on the board, and coming on.
Rob figures that I might have the Objective #2 chit, so moves back to reclaim it, and again continues to shoot at me, without effect. I then discard cards again, and Rob again plays the action to give him a reinforcement roll, this time getting an Assault squad with a Flamethrower.
We don't wait long for it to influence the game. Rob sends him into melee with the adjacent German squad, and we tie on the combat draws, wiping everything out (a net gain of like 4 Victory Points, I think). On top of that, Rob's next shot gives us another Time! trigger, bringing the game closer to the end.
I focus on moving things up and around, but groan as I draw 4 Recover cards when I refill my hand. That slows me down for a turn as I discard them.
Rob has decided to start trying to get the game over. He shoots, but fires as many individual low strength shots as he can in order to increase the chances of either of us drawing Time! triggers. He doesn't get any yet- but does manage to draw another objective chit. Realizing I'm going to be pressed for time, I move up quickly (dropping some smoke next to me to help protect me from shooting), but shoot and break another Russian squad. Rob responds on his turn by playing a Recover card... unfortunately the Event drawn ends up killing the Russian before the roll could've recovered him.
I finally make it up to Objective #2, and have a move order in my hand to blow the game open next turn. However, Rob finally gets lucky- his shooting brings up a Time! trigger, and we are now at the point where we roll for the game end. It doesn't happen yet though. However, my Defense roll brings up ANOTHER Time! trigger, and this time the game does end. I never got a chance to move those guys off :(.
Ah well, we move onto figuring out the final score. Due to casualties and the turn I moved units off the board before, the victory point marker was at 1 on his side. My objective chit gave me 2 victory points for control of Objective #2. Rob's objective chits were L and J, which were 3 Victory Points for Objective #4 (controlled by me), and 2 Victory Points for Objective #5 (controlled by him). That means we ended with a net score of 2 Victory Points for me- a very narrow win!
This scenario has a very different feel than any I've played with Combat Commander so far, and it was certainly a good time. Rob's shooting wasn't very effective, and a lot of that was due to poor luck. He had several good turns of fortune though, so it probably evened out. Overall, my luck was good as well. Rob thinks that his main mistake was setting up too far forward. I don't know if it would've helped, but it may have. I mean, he was close to winning as is- one or two more things going his way may have done it. Had the game gone another turn, I would've ended up with a pretty significant win.
Hopefully we'll get a campaign started one of these days. Just another thing to add to the to-do list.
Trying to get more 40K stuff going on again
Well, I've been pretty lax the past year or so about getting my Warhammer 40k armies assembled and on the table, and given all the cool new things that have come out, as well as a strong desire to play Spec Ops: Killzone with some 40k minis, I'm going to have to rectify that.
Part of the problem with my 40k motivation has been that all of my armies are really out of date. I have Necrons (the oldest un-updated codex) and Witch hunters (the next oldest), and I actually own a decent amount of Grey Knights (which are going to be the newest) but really can't afford to go buying the stuff I'd need to really play them. That leaves my Chaos Space Marines which I own plenty of, but have never touched.
I'm going to try really hard to assemble and play these guys this year, as well as work hard to create a unique, background driven army for them. I think 40k is one of those systems that really gains so much from the work the authors have done in fleshing out the background that it would be a waste to not to tap some of that when creating an army. So for now, I'm going to work on more 'fluffy' armies for my Chaos guys.
I own mostly Khorne stuff, and frankly, I'd like to start with a Khorne-based army anyway, since I think it'll be the easiest to figure out how to play well, even if I don't get many wins.
Here's the list I'm going to work towards, at least to start (2000 points):
Kharn the Betrayer - 165
Chaos Dreadnought w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 105
Chaos Dreadnought w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 105
4 Terminators w/ Icon of Khorne, 3 Combi-Meltas, Lightning Claws - 175
8 Khorne Berzerkers w/ Personal Icon, Skull Champion w/ Power Fist, Rhino w/ Extra Armour - 263
8 Khorne Berzerkers w/ Personal Icon, Skull Champion w/ Power Fist, Rhino w/ Extra Armour - 263
8 Khorne Berzerkers w/ Personal Icon, Skull Champion w/ Power Fist - 213
Chaos Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons - 130
Chaos Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons - 130
Land Raider w/ Daemonic Possession - 240
8 Lesser Daemons - 104
8 Lesser Daemons - 104
1997 points
First off, I wanted to keep as many units at 8 models as possible, because that's Khorne's sacred number.
Kharn is such a great HQ choice that I couldn't imagine not including him (although I really was considering trying to fit a Chaos Lord with a Daemon Weapon in if I could have fit him). He can help drop vehicles as well as eat through infantry.
The Khorne Berzerkers are pretty self explanatory. I can't really have a Khorne list without Khorne-worshipping guys, can I? The power fist is in there so that I won't be demolished every time I fight a walker, and the one squad on foot is actually going to be using the Land Raider. Them + Kharn in the Land Raider should be a nasty start to my army's assault. Obviously, the Icons are there to help make sure those Daemons land where I need them, as well as to help the Terminators.
The Dreadnoughts and Predators are there because I felt like I'd have a hard time with tanks otherwise. I probably still will, but I didn't have many other good choices I felt. Obliterators didn't feel very 'Khorney', and I considered running Defilers, but they didn't really fit the theme to me either (although I thought a Defiler with a ton of arms sure would). I needed SOMETHING to try to tackle armor, and these seemed like good choices.
The Lesser Daemons will help add some bodies to the army for a cheap price, and will help out during my assaults.
The Terminators... hmm... I was considering not using them, because they don't seem all that good, but they do give me a moderately mobile anti-tank option (they can pop a Land Raider before my first wave hits, I would think). Giving them the Mark of Khorne is a bit of a waste of points, but again, the list just wouldn't really feel right otherwise. I may put something else in, however. I'm not sure.
Once I get an army list hashed out, I'm going to start working on the army, with a squad of Berzerkers first (so I can use them in Killzone). As I do that, I'll work on the background for my army.
Any thoughts?
Part of the problem with my 40k motivation has been that all of my armies are really out of date. I have Necrons (the oldest un-updated codex) and Witch hunters (the next oldest), and I actually own a decent amount of Grey Knights (which are going to be the newest) but really can't afford to go buying the stuff I'd need to really play them. That leaves my Chaos Space Marines which I own plenty of, but have never touched.
I'm going to try really hard to assemble and play these guys this year, as well as work hard to create a unique, background driven army for them. I think 40k is one of those systems that really gains so much from the work the authors have done in fleshing out the background that it would be a waste to not to tap some of that when creating an army. So for now, I'm going to work on more 'fluffy' armies for my Chaos guys.
I own mostly Khorne stuff, and frankly, I'd like to start with a Khorne-based army anyway, since I think it'll be the easiest to figure out how to play well, even if I don't get many wins.
Here's the list I'm going to work towards, at least to start (2000 points):
Kharn the Betrayer - 165
Chaos Dreadnought w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 105
Chaos Dreadnought w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 105
4 Terminators w/ Icon of Khorne, 3 Combi-Meltas, Lightning Claws - 175
8 Khorne Berzerkers w/ Personal Icon, Skull Champion w/ Power Fist, Rhino w/ Extra Armour - 263
8 Khorne Berzerkers w/ Personal Icon, Skull Champion w/ Power Fist, Rhino w/ Extra Armour - 263
8 Khorne Berzerkers w/ Personal Icon, Skull Champion w/ Power Fist - 213
Chaos Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons - 130
Chaos Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons - 130
Land Raider w/ Daemonic Possession - 240
8 Lesser Daemons - 104
8 Lesser Daemons - 104
1997 points
First off, I wanted to keep as many units at 8 models as possible, because that's Khorne's sacred number.
Kharn is such a great HQ choice that I couldn't imagine not including him (although I really was considering trying to fit a Chaos Lord with a Daemon Weapon in if I could have fit him). He can help drop vehicles as well as eat through infantry.
The Khorne Berzerkers are pretty self explanatory. I can't really have a Khorne list without Khorne-worshipping guys, can I? The power fist is in there so that I won't be demolished every time I fight a walker, and the one squad on foot is actually going to be using the Land Raider. Them + Kharn in the Land Raider should be a nasty start to my army's assault. Obviously, the Icons are there to help make sure those Daemons land where I need them, as well as to help the Terminators.
The Dreadnoughts and Predators are there because I felt like I'd have a hard time with tanks otherwise. I probably still will, but I didn't have many other good choices I felt. Obliterators didn't feel very 'Khorney', and I considered running Defilers, but they didn't really fit the theme to me either (although I thought a Defiler with a ton of arms sure would). I needed SOMETHING to try to tackle armor, and these seemed like good choices.
The Lesser Daemons will help add some bodies to the army for a cheap price, and will help out during my assaults.
The Terminators... hmm... I was considering not using them, because they don't seem all that good, but they do give me a moderately mobile anti-tank option (they can pop a Land Raider before my first wave hits, I would think). Giving them the Mark of Khorne is a bit of a waste of points, but again, the list just wouldn't really feel right otherwise. I may put something else in, however. I'm not sure.
Once I get an army list hashed out, I'm going to start working on the army, with a squad of Berzerkers first (so I can use them in Killzone). As I do that, I'll work on the background for my army.
Any thoughts?
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