I bought a Warlord Games Mystery Box, so you don't have to (although why wouldn't you?)

As the title says, I purchased one of the most recent batches of mystery boxes from Warlord Games.  For those who have not seen these before (and because the description is no longer on the Warlord Games store), these are boxes filled with random miniatures, books, items, and whatnot from Warlord Games.  You will roughly get about twice the value of the box (these were sold at 120$), but you get a random assortment of items, so it may or may not be useful to you.

For me, personally, I don't really own that much in the way of Warlord Games product.  I own a couple of Bolt Action armies, the start of a Konflikt '47 army... and that is about it.  However, I am pretty interested in quite a number of their games, including their various naval games.  Heck, maybe I'll get something for one of those games.  All part of the excitement!

I didn't have any particular expectations of the box.  I assumed I would end up with some Bolt Action stuff, a random hobby item, and a book of some sort, but the rest... well, the rest was a mystery.  So, let's see what came, shall we? In no particular order...

Oooh, a Marder III Ausf. M for Bolt Action!  Off to a great start, as it is not only a model for a game I play, but an army that I have miniatures for already.  Very exciting.

Six Humbrol Acrylic paint pots.  This is not a brand I have experience with, or know anything about.  It looks like the brand is well regarded, however, and these paints can be thinned and used in an airbrush (which I don't have).  They do not seem to list the colors on the pot itself though, which seemed atypical.

The pots have an identifying number on the top, however, and these correspond to a chart (here).  The chart also contains color matching information with other brands (starting on page 8), and provides information on the top of finish, which I really like.  Heck, I am impressed with this brand, even before I've opened one of these pots up.  Pretty fantastic for something I had not heard of prior to opening the mystery box.

A Nachtalben Squad box for Konflikt '47.  More details for this can be found here.  Again, these are miniatures I do not own for a game and army I play, so this was an exciting find.  Having a unit of Tough, Elite, and Fast troops available to add to my force is fantastic.

Another Bolt Action selection, this time a Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais FRC 76mm Infantry Gun (more info here).  I don't play Belgians (yet!), but this is still a fun inclusion, because artillery pieces seem like they would be quite enjoyable to paint and base.

A pack of eight metal Hittite Levy Spearmen (more info here).  Now we are looking at some product for games I do not play.  Hail Caesar is a game I have purchased the rules for, but the rules did not have any army information included (these were included in a separate supplement), so I just didn't end up getting into it.  I believe they just had a second edition come out, however.  This is a game I would certainly try, as I love ancients, and I enjoy that rank and file look in my miniature game, but armies look to be upwards of a hundred miniatures, and without a committed opponent, I just can't muster the enthusiasm to get into it on my own.  Maybe I just need more historical gaming friends.  Anyway, I am not sure I have a current game where I could make use of these guys, but I am sure one of the Osprey wargames probably would give me a place to put them, as they make a number of skirmish-sized games.  They will just have to wait in the 'someday projects' box for now.

A pack of three Law Enforcement models for Strontium Dog.  I have read that Warlord has ended this line, and I cannot seem to find anything but the rules for it on their website, but I did find an older article with these models painted up here.  Sci-fi cops won't be too hard to find a use for, since I could probably use them in Rogue Stars or Stargrave or something.  I cannot quite tell if the scale of these figures matches anything else (although the game is referenced as 28mm heroic scale), but assuming they match some other lines, I am sure they will hit the table at some point.

A box of Samurai Horsemen for Pike & Shotte (more details, and pictures of the minis here).  I have heard good things about Pike & Shotte, but don't own the rules, or really know too much about it.  I certainly didn't know they covered feudal Japan.  I am not sure where I can use these miniatures yet, but I am certain I have somewhere they can go, although maybe I will get into Pike & Shotte at some point.  One never knows.  Regardless, this was a fun inclusion, so I am pretty happy about it.

A Promo Aztec figure for the Mythic Americas game. I think this is just a version of the Warlords of Erehwon game (listed on the blister as well), but I cannot actually find a picture of this miniature anywhere.  The range looks pretty cool and colorful, and a random Aztec figure almost certainly has some random games where it can be used.  In addition, it is a metal miniature!

Next up is a box of Macedonian Pezhetairoi for SPQR (28mm plastic models).  There will be quite a number of places I could use these miniatures, but I have also heard quite a lot of good reviews for SPQR.  I think I would have to buy another unit and a hero in order to play?  And the rules, probably.  Anyway, until then, I may just assemble these because I like the way they look.

Next up is a sandbag wall.  I can always make use of more terrain.

This is actually the February purchase promo, which was not part of the mystery box, per se, but since he arrived due to the order of the mystery box, I will include him here.  This is Eisensturmtruppe Kühn, a replacement NCO for a Wehrmacht Heavy Infantry Squad for Konflikt '47.  More info here.  I own Germans for Konflikt '47, and the miniature looks nice, so this was a nice bonus.

I vaguely remember a mention in the description that each mystery box would contain something that was about to come out, or newly released.  For me, that would be these guys, an Italian Bersaglieri Sniper Team for Bolt Action (more info here).  Very nicely detailed, although I wish they would have included at least some hint in the box what these were- it took me a bit to track them down!  The much-maligned Italians are not an army I play in Bolt Action, but they have a lot of fun looking vehicles, so these may see the table in the way they were intended someday.

And finally, a book- Wildcat Aces of World War 2, all about the history and pilots of the F4F Wildcat.  Lots of color plates in the book for whenever I have a need to work on some Wildcat models, and the book has a lot of period photos.  This is going to be a nice read- I love military history books, and I am not overly picky about my topics.

So, there you have it.  My mystery box has arrived, I have opened it, and I have showed you the contents.  Is it worth it?  Price-wise, absolutely, they advertise that as part of the draw.  Past that, it is going to depend more on what you're expecting.  There is a lot of different genres and eras covered in this box, and that certainly isn't going to appeal to everyone.  On the other hand, I enjoy the variety, and even though I don't have an immediate use for every item in the box, not a single inclusion is worthless to me, as I can see at least *some* case where I would make use of it.  So it's definitely a win as far as I'm concerned.  

Sadly, no boats in this box.  Maybe you'll have better luck!

Orgoth Sea Raiders MKIV Core Army Starter Unboxing

It has arrived!  MKIV is here!

Ooooooh

Nice looking box, with a colorful picture of what is included.  It seems a bit peculiar to me to have the battlegroup painted in the picture, but have the rest of the models included pictured unpainted.  I think painted models make the box more attractive, and therefore more likely to grab the random gamer's eye.  Heck, GW uses painted minis on their boxes, and one has to think they do it for a reason.  If not, then why paint the battlegroup?  An odd choice.  Anyway, box construction is okay.  Not too flimsy, and doesn't take too much space.  The magnets on the side were included in the purchase, and are important for assembling the warjacks.

Let's look inside the box:

Inside the large box are four smaller boxes that make a nice little piece of art. It also comes with a sheet giving you a bunch of additional information, suggestions on next purchases, and basic instructions on working with the materials.  No complaints here.

The boxes are numbered one through four (probably for helping them pack them), so let's take a quick look at the contents of each box:

Box 1:

Box 2:

Box 3:

Finally, box 4:

We've seen this packaging style with the preview battle boxes.  It works, although it is not very exciting.  It did cause a bit of breakage then.  As we shall see, there was some damage this time, as well.

The empty box four did make me chuckle- I'm glad they included the note that it was intentional, however.

Let's have a look at the minis, starting with the warcaster, Kishtaar, the Howling Silence:

It's a one-piece model!  That is really quite impressive, and I feel like this would have been pretty tough to manage prior to the 3D printing.  Looks great!

Now, the warjacks:

Jackal

Tyrant

A few things I notice - first, it looks like they have changed the resin mixture some since the preview battlegroups.  These minis are a different color (a bit darker), and seem to be slightly more flexible than the preview ones.  Still great detail, and it seems like there are slightly fewer layer lines (which I didn't find too bad to begin with).  

Another change- the torso and legs (and shoulder pads) are attached!  There is literally no pre-assembly for these models, other than attaching the magnets.  That's... really something.  Even that flail for the Tyrant comes assembled.  The assembly was very easy, but removing another step is fantastic.  Great job, PP!

On the less positive side, there is the first of my breakages for the Jackals' hand.  I could have taken a better picture, but the open hand for the Jackal has a finger broken off.  This happened a little with the preview boxes- fortunately the pieces glue back together nicely, but it is still a little disappointing.

Next up are the Strike Reavers.  Three parts, with good detail, and what looks to be extremely easy assembly. No issues here, but these look and feel closer to the preview battle box resin.  Maybe this will mean they are a bit more brittle.

The Reaver Commander is four pieces, which is a bit surprising.  I am not sure what the (F) signifies on the label.  Lots of detail on these minis, if you have not seen them in person yet.

The Assault Reaver unit look fantastic, but here you can see I had quite a number of broken pieces on the spears.  I am sure I can repair them, but historically Privateer Press has been very good about replacements, and I have heard people getting replacements for broken pieces.  If I have to go that route, I will, but I'll see if I can handle this on my own, first.  I admit to being a little disappointed here.

Here are the Reaver Standard Bearers (one for each unit).  I wish these would have had slightly different sculpts (maybe a different banner- I am showing you the front and back of the banner in this picture).  Seems like something that would not have been too difficult.  As is, they do look good, so no real complaints.

Warwitch Coven.  I have no real comments, these look good, and aren't broken.

Finally, the Ulkor Barragers, who look great, but I do wonder why the head isn't a single piece with the torso like the Reavers.  The two armed weapons don't fill me with joy, because I have had some bad assembly experience with such models in the past, but assembly for these miniatures have been remarkably easy, so I'll reserve judgment for now.

Overall, these models look great, the game looks great, and I'm eager to get them on the table (happening in February!).  There is some breakage in this set, which I suspect I can get replaced from PP, but I'm not expecting the fixes to be too difficult, so will likely do them myself.  I can't wait to get these models on the table, and hopefully writing some battle reports!

My 2022 retrospective, and a bit of looking forward into 2023

It has been quite an odd year for me.  With the new child and long commute to and from work, I did not get as many opportunities for gaming as I usually do, but still pushed myself to try some new things and move my hobby status forward.

Let's start with some numbers: I managed 60 plays, spread out over eight different games.  My most played game was Marvel: Crisis Protocol at 30 total plays (some of these being two plays to finish a single game on Tabletop Simulator).  Most of my gaming was miniatures games (36 plays - MCP, Warmachine, Skytear, and Core Space), followed by card gaming (20 plays - all Marvel Champions).  This is the least amount of gaming I have done in several years, but with the one year old, that's not surprising, nor is it likely to change for a bit.

With that said, I did manage to accomplish a few things this past year.

First, I actually did a good job getting some painting done.  My painting situation changed, but I have a good schedule for it now, still managed to complete some models (Stormsmith Storm Tower, and Sir Dreyfus), and have a few painting projects in the works.  I am getting more comfortable with painting, which should finally result in me completing projects faster.  Based on the 'painting points' system I've used in the past, I only managed 7 points this year (down from the previous year's 11), but I think I'm in good position to beat that by quite a bit next year.

Second, I finally played in a miniatures game tournament!  I played in a Marvel: Crisis Protocol tournament back in September, going 2-1, good enough for second place (losing only to the eventual winner).  I played a Dark Dimension/Wakanda roster.  My game results:

Game 1 - Win with Dark Dimension against Web Warriors

Game 2 - Loss with Wakanda into SHIELD

Game 3 - Win with Dark Dimension against X-Men.

I felt good about all three games, even the loss, and finally feel comfortable with both Dark Dimension and Wakanda.  Overall, a very positive experience that leaves me eager for more chances to play.  Also, I got a sweet trophy!

As I'm thinking about next year, I am not going to bother with resolutions, because I just don't have the time nor focus to manage them.  I do have some small plans for next year, however.  I'm finding my gaming tastes are changing a bit as I get older.  I went through a phase where I was buying a ton of old CCGs, mainly for nostalgia, but I realize that I’m just not going to ever play these games, and don’t want to keep a bunch of games I’m not going to play in my house.  I will sell what I can and likely trash the rest this upcoming year.  This will probably extend past CCGs, if I am being honest.  I love games and gaming… but my time is unfortunately limited, and that’s unlikely to change for several years.

However, I am finding myself more interested in miniature-agnostic rulesets.  For example, for Christmas I asked for and received a copy of Xenos Rampant, from Osprey Games.  This is a science fiction ruleset without a miniatures line, so I can use all the 40K miniatures I have laying around, in addition to whatever other miniatures I own (say, Zombicide: Invader or those from Mantic).  Some of these sets of rules seem like a lot of fun, and the financial investment is minimal (you know, just a rulebook).  I will see if I can wrangle someone to trying them out.

I am hoping to attend more gaming tournaments this year.  I am aiming for at least two.  These will likely be for Marvel: Crisis Protocol, but I would love to attend a Warmachine tournament, as I know there are some within driving distance. One such option that I’m thinking about (and my brother may join me) is going to NOVA Open.  I’ve never gone, but it is certainly somewhere I could drive to (so I can get home if needed), and it looks like a lot of fun.  I’ll need to start painting more, however, because I do not want to be the guy running unpainted minis!  Going to such a large tournament will certainly results in some pretty one-sided losses, but my ego can handle that- the larger experience would be great for developing myself as a player on top of being a lot of fun.

I am also hoping to get heavily into Warmachine MKIV (and hoping I can make it to a tournament in 2023).  My excitement level is certainly high, although I do have some concerns about the rules.  I love the new miniatures, and am actively painting some, which I hope to complete by the end of January.  With some luck, I can start getting this new edition on the table soon to see how it stacks up, and see what the interest locally is.

A few other miniature games are on my list to get on the table in 2023.

A Song of Ice and Fire is starting to gain some traction with my group.  This is great news, since I bought a bunch of stuff during its initial Kickstarter (as in I have playable Stark and Lannister armies), but have never managed to get a game in.  With the group’s interest growing, I decided to pick up Targaryen as the army I will start with, just to have something different from everyone else.  Going to be a little tough, of course, since the dragons feature in so many lists, but the Mother of Dragons box is extremely expensive (come on, CMON, how about a reprint?).  I’ll make do with other units until they are available, but having such iconic and unique figures missing is a bit of a letdown.

My group has not played Malifaux in a long time (since 2018), but has been calling out to me lately.  We always liked the rules, but the transition to third edition caused us all to fall out of the game.  I quite like the app and current rules, however, and checking it out has really caught my interest.  I have picked up a few models in the last couple of months, and would love to play this again.

Finally, Bushido is a game I have never played, but I bought the starter set, and have been reading the rules and looking at the models.  I could see myself enjoying this, so hopefully will invest some time and money into it in the upcoming year (likely starting with Clan Ito).

Anyway, my love of gaming and the miniatures hobby certainly hasn’t dipped at all, although my available time has.  My hope is that I can focus on getting some minis finished and some games played, and work to build on my progress year to year.  With luck, maybe I can find some patient opponents to start writing battle reports again.

Hope to see you all soon!

Warmachine MKIV Preview Battlegroups have arrived!

Finally!

All three battle boxes, with their magnets in the white containers

I didn't have a whole lot of time to dig into them quite yet, but getting these table ready will be my priority.  I did get a chance to pop open the Cygnar box, however.

Inside the Cygnar box:

Packaging for individual models:

There were complaints about pieces breaking, especially the polearms, so seeing them pulled off and packaged to themselves seems pretty smart.  I had no breakages in this box, I will mention ahead of time.

Major Anson Wolfe:

Detail looks good, or at least it looks as good as other PP miniature do, to my eyes.

Courser Warjack:

Pieces all have good details, I think, and the printings look fine, although I do see some shiny parts on the shield:

The pieces don't seem soft, so this doesn't seem to be uncured or under-cured resin, but rather some reside of something.  I'll try to clean that up this weekend, and see how it goes.

The Stryker polearms were packed on their own, and made the trip undamaged:

And the rest of the Stryker Warjack:

Quite a lot of pieces, but looks pretty straight-forward to assemble.

Anyway- the first box all looks good, with no obvious problems, I tried taking a close look to see if I can see any printing lines, and none immediately jumped out at me, which was another concern.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased, and I'll get working on these minis this weekend (including my first try using magnets!).  I'll make sure to post some updates (and I'll open and unbox the Khador and Orgoth boxes tonight).

Examining Prime-legal legacy armies and my collection, Part 2

Continuing from yesterday, I am going to look at the remaining Prime-legal legacy armies, and try to figure out where I stand with each of them.  This will help guide my purchases before the rules come out, and give me some idea of what to expect.

One thing to note is that when I count units, I'm really counting MK3 units- sometimes this will actually translate to more MKIV units than I have listed, but I can't know that for sure until the rules come out.

Mercenary (Blindwater, Cephalyx, Farrow, Privateer, Rhulic, and Steelhead):

Quite a lot of armies here!  Blindwater I am well set on- I own plenty of beasts, units, warlocks, and solos. I expect I will be able to be able to put this army on the table from day one.

For Cephalyx, I have one warcaster (Exulon Thexus), a unit of Mind Benders, a unit of Overlords, an Agitator solo, and a Dominator UA.  Depending on how the Dominator ends up, maybe that will become another unit.  Clearly, I need some Monstrosities.  Even with them, it would be a stretch to play this army for a bit.

I had been slowly getting into Farrow, but my collection is pretty sparse.  I should have most of the warlocks, at least, as well as five beasts (although two are Razor Boars), a unit of Brigands, a unit of Valkyries, and a good number of solos.  Honestly, I might just be a few units away from this being playable.

I own almost nothing for Privateers.  I would have to buy this army from scratch.

I think I should be well set up for Rhulic at least.  Two warcasters, ten warjacks, five units, and almost all of the relevant solos.  I might actually be close to full Field Allowance for Rhul, honestly.

Finally, Steelheads are not in a great place.  I assume Damiano will be one of the casters, and I own him.  I can only guess on the warjacks.  I own a unit of Heavy Cavalry and a Mortar, and I'd have to guess on the solos (I own no solos with 'Steelhead' in the name though).  Not quite starting from nothing, but I'm not very far along, either.

Protectorate of Menoth (Exemplar and Flameguard):

Based on the current beta rules for the Exemplar army, I can field 75 points.  If that ends up being the standard point level, great!  If the standard is 100... well, I'll have some buying to do (although Mercenaries and Cadres may help me out here).

For Flameguard, I do not own a relevant unit or solo.  Yet another army I would have to build from scratch if I wanted to play it :(.

Retribution (Dawnguard and Mage Hunter):

I do own two units of Dawnguard Invictors (which will become 3-4 units in MKIV).  Hard to say which jacks will make the jump, although I expect Imperatus will, and I do own him.  Therefore, at a minimum, I expect I will be able to field a small, very specific, army for Dawnguard.

The story for Mage Hunters is much worse.  I own a couple of relevant solos, but I don't own any of the units.  Yet ANOTHER army I would have to build from scratch, sadly.

Skorne (Immortals and Praetorians):

I own a minimum unit of Immortals, most of the Immortal related solos, and likely, whatever beasts and warlocks they decide to include.  So this would involve just a few unit purchases. 

The news for Praetorians is better- I own a unit of Swordsmen, a unit of Keltarii, a minimum unit of Ferox (which will likely just be a unit in MKIV).  Solos would be a guess, along with beasts, but I strongly suspect I can play the Praetorian army the day they release rules for them.

Trollbloods (Northkin and United Kriel):

I own almost nothing for Trollbloods, so unfortunately, both of these armies would involve significant purchasing to become playable.

There is a chance I will see at least some of my collection become cadres that some of these armies can take, so there is hope that I'll have a bit more flexibility than I've listed.

In summary, the news is not as good as I would like (the result of spreading out how I purchased things over the last couple of years instead of focusing), but I will have plenty of choices going into MKIV, at least.  In addition, since I will buy into a few of the new armies, I won't have to worry about when things rotate into Unlimited.

Now, back to waiting for my battle-boxes to arrive...

Examining what the Prime-legal Legacy armies mean to me

With the list of 28 Prime-legal Legacy armies released last week, I have been trying to figure out what I can expect for my own collection, personally.  Maybe get an idea of what I should try to buy so I can get some games pretty early into MKIV.

Circle (Blackclad and Tharn):

I'm not sure where they will go with the Blackclad army.  The current 'Blackclad Theme' is Secret Masters, and I cannot really see that being ported the way it is (a Minion-focused Circle army?).  Maybe when they release the cadre rules, this will have some ways to interact with them.  I just don't know what to expect from this one.  I *think* this might be a Blackclad/Wold theme, but I can’t be sure.  Either way... I own a decent selection of Blackclad models (a unit of Druids, a unit of Mist Riders, various solos and warlocks).  However, without knowing more about this one, I just can't guess what I would need to field.

For Tharn, I own quite a number of relevant units and solos (as in eight Tharn units and five Tharn solos).  I would guess the living beasts would go into this theme, because they'll need some beasts, and I have plenty of those, too.  I would guess Kromac and Iona as warlocks... neither of which I own.  Aside from that, I think I'm well positioned to play Tharn right out of the gate.

Convergence (single army):

I own three warcasters... 3 non-colossal warjacks (we know colossals are not going to be usable right away), two units (assuming Asphyxious4 is Prime-legal), and about seven solos.  I *think* I will be able to play Convergence, or at a minimum, I will be one or two purchases from having them playable.  They will not be good... but if I can put them on the table, I can work on the quality of my choices later.

Crucible Guard (single army):

I should have this playable right from the get-go, with quite a number of choices.  To play 100 points (which may be the standard), I would have to buy one more warjack.  Easy enough.

Cryx (Bane and Blackfleet):

For the Bane army, where we've seen Beta rules, I can currently field 298 points.  I'm good, here, with lots of options available (and both warcasters listed playable).

Blackfleet is harder to say.  If they just take the Scourge of the Broken Coast theme, and stop there, I may not have enough to play.  A unit of Boarding Party, a unit of Ironmongers, a unit of Bloodgorgers... and maybe a bunch of solos.  If they include the Ghost Fleet items, I can add a unit of Revenant Crew.  Really should have bought Satyxis over all of these years, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.  So... yeah, may not be able to field these guys for a while.

Cygnar (Storm Knight and Trencher):

For Storm Knights, I should have a few relevant casters, a few relevant jacks, and I own two units of Stormblade Infantry, one of Stormguards, and a bunch of random solos.  I probably will be okay.  Maybe I need to buy some Storm Lances.

For Trenchers... I'm going to have to hope to get lucky on the warjack choices, to start with.  I own an Express Team and a unit of Trenchers, and very few solos.  Once again, might be tough to field these guys to start with.

Grymkin (single army):

I have been buying some Grymkin all year.  I have a pretty good collection, and I expect I'll be able to field them the day they get rules.

Infernals (single army):

I am not quite sure how they'll make this work out, but I do have a good collection of Infernals, and should be okay playing them immediately.  I may want to pick up a unit of Howlers, however.

Khador (Man-O-War and Winter Guard):

I really have nothing for Man-o-War.  Thankfully, two people in my playgroup do, so at least we'll be able to see them on the table.

I'm still surprised they are having Winter Guard as one of the Prime-legal armies, given the upcoming Winter Korps.  Baffling.  Anyway, I have some relevant models here - a Field Gun, a Mortar crew, a unit of Winter Guard Infantry, and Kovnik Joe.  Depending on what else is included (for instance, I have a decent number of Widowmakers), I might be okay here.  Probably playable.

Legion (Blighted Nyss and Blighted Ogrun):

I'm covered on warlocks for both of these, I think, and I'm probably going to be okay on the warbeasts (although I admit I do not own any of the character warbeasts).  For the Nyss, I own a unit of Archers/Swordsmen (unassembled, so one or the other), a unit of Blightblades and maybe a few solos.  Not promising.

Blighted Ogrun are even worse- a unit of Warmongers and a unit of Warspears.  No solos.  I might have a hard time putting any Legion on the table in Mark IV without buying quite a bit more.  Damn.

That's probably good for the moment, I'll think about the rest of my collection and how they relate to MKIV armies tomorrow.

PP releases actual list of Legacy armies!

Heh, got my post out JUST IN TIME to be irrelevant.  Here's the official list of legacy armies that will be Prime legal to start with: https://home.privateerpress.com/2022/08/18/legacy-armies-in-prime-arena/

I was right and wrong.  Some of these are a bit baffling to me (Winter Guard and Storm Knights?  We have new armies for those), some of these are obvious (how did I forget about Steelheads?), but hey, at least now we know!