Cygnar

So I've been building up my Cygnar army of late...

Faction: Cygnar

Army Points: 1754/2000

Victory Points: 59



Captain E. Dominic Darius

Defender

Ironclad

Charger

Hunter

Hunter

Hunter

Lancer

Captain Victoria Haley

Commander Coleman Stryker

Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane

Gun Mage Captain Adept

Stormsmith

Stormsmith

Stormsmith

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages

Field Mechaniks (4)

Long Gunners (10)

Long Gunners (10)

Stormblades

Sword Knights (6)

Trencher Chain Gun Crew

Trencher Chain Gun Crew

Trenchers (10)

Trencher Grenade Porter



 

The 40k Bug

Yes, I'm back on 40k again. Pure excitement, isn't it?

One thing that I decidedly enjoy more about 40k is the variety of things. Warmachine is nice, but Warmachine armies are almost exclusively character driven. People announce their armies as faction-Warcaster, and you know generally speaking what the army consists of. If I say "Cygar - Stryker" you know pretty much immediately what the army is going to look like, because Warmachine is a game of synergy and it rewards you for taking Warcasters and armies that work together in concert with one another.

40k is a different animal, in my mind. My Word Bearers army doesn't really match any other Word Bearer armies out there that I have seen. I have all infantry. No Daemonbomb. Multi-role squads. Bloodletter Assault waves. etc. I like it, and have fun with it when it works right. And mostly have fun with it when it works wrong, too.

Anyway, the point of this is not to really compare and contrast the armies in the two games.  This is an ongoing look at my armies, how I am enjoying them, what I think they need, etc.

After my loss and win with the Tau yesterday (report and commentary was made on the Disorderlies list) I took out my Mech Guard and was eyeballing them.  After some consideration and playing with Army Builder (it's so great to have that on the laptop downstairs) I realized that I am very very close to having a fully painted 2000 point army - the remaining Chimeras need to be finished, but after that, I just need the two Sentinels (who also need some bitz), two command squads and an Officer painted.  And then I'm golden.

It's not really an orthodox IG army by any stretch.  But the sight of 8 Chimeras, 2 Leman Russes and 1 Leman Russ Demolisher rolling at them ought to be enough to give people serious pause.  I haven't played it yet under 4th edition rules, but I have high hopes.  And I haven't even tackled the issue of whether or not I'm going to keep the infantry mounted in their Chimeras or set up as a gunline.  

It'll be something to test.

Next on the review list:  Dark Eldar.

I want my money back

So in my new quest to organize and improve the Gaming Mecca, I'm clearing my way through stacks and stacks of comics and magazines and CCG cards and whatnot.

And man, what a fool I've been.

I'd like to send a message to myself-of-the-past, and inquire what the hell I was thinking.

Did I REALLY need to peruse Wizard magazine? Did I NOT see Inquest Gamer did, in fact, suck like a hoover? Why in the world was I picking up Command and Strategy and Tactics - I have no recollection of actually READING THEM.

And on the CCG side. It was my practice for some time to pick up a deck of pretty much anything, to explore the mechanics, check out the art, etc. I'm not sure if I thought I was going to have some pithy discovery from these investigations - I sure did NOT have one; but what I DO have is CCG cards that could feed a small third-world nation.

That is if they could find nutrional value in Magic: The Gathering and Legend of the Five Rings, etc.

So. I'm sifting through the piles and boxing it up. I haven't got the heart to sell it. I don't even imagine there is a MARKET out there for back issues of Game Trade Magazine or the Duelist.  (Was there ever?)    It'll go sit in the back room for a few years until I go into a "What IS this stuff?!" sweep and toss it.  In the meantime, I guess, it just gets to take up space, like the stuff that I'm currently sweeping out has done.

 

And still more

Hordes.

Faction: Legion of Everblight
Army Points: 722
Victory Points: 26

Lylyth, Herald of Everblight (painted)
Carnivean (painted)
Carnivean
Seraph (painted)
Shredder (painted)
Shredder (painted)
Shredder (painted)
Shredder (painted)
Shredder
Shredder
Shredder
Shredder
Blighted Archers (6)
Blighted Swordsmen (6)
Totem Hunter

ALT Warlocks: Thragrosh, Vayl


Faction: Trollbloods
Army Points: 570
Victory Points: 18

Chief Madrak Ironhide
Dire Troll Mauler
Troll Axer
Troll Axer
Troll Impaler
Troll Impaler
Trollkin Scattergunners (8)

Mostly painted, I'm told?

More Army Inventory

Warmachine.

(whew, this is hard AND scary)

Faction: Cygnar
Army Points: 575
Victory Points: 22

Captain E. Dominic Darius
Ironclad
Charger
Hunter
Lancer
Gun Mage Captain Adept
Stormsmith
Stormsmith
Stormsmith
Field Mechaniks (4)
Sword Knights (6)

ALT Warcasters: Stryker, "Seige" Brisbane
NONE painted except for Darius. Started work on the Warjacks but only just.

Faction: Protectorate of Menoth
Army Points: 1343
Victory Points: 42

High Exemplar Kreoss (painted)
Crusader (painted)
Guardian
Reckoner
Vanquisher (painted)
Redeemer
Redeemer
Repenter (painted)
Revenger (painted)
Revenger (painted)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal
Paladin of the Order of the Wall
Choir of Menoth (4)
Deliverers (10) (painted)
Holy Zealots (6) (painted)
Monolith Bearer
Knights Exemplar (painted)
Knights Exemplar
Temple Flameguard (10) (painted)

Alt Warcasters: E-Kreoss, Severius, Feora, High Reclaimer, Amon

Faction: Khador
Army Points: 1587
Victory Points: 60

Butcher of Khardov
Destroyer (painted)
Destroyer
Devastator
Juggernaut (painted)
Juggernaut
Kodiak
Marauder
Man-o-War Kovnik (painted)
Manhunter
Manhunter
Battle Mechaniks (4)
Doom Reavers
Greylord Ternion (painted)
Greylord Ternion
Iron Fang Pikemen (6)
Man-o-War Shocktroopers (4) (painted)
Man-o-War Shocktroopers (3)
Widowmakers (painted)
Widowmakers
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (painted)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (painted)
Winterguard (6)

ALT Warcasters: Sorscha, Vlad, Irusk

Faction: Cryx
Army Points: 1229
Victory Points: 35

Iron Lich Asphyxious (painted)
Deathjack
Seether
Slayer (painted)
Deathripper (painted)
Deathripper (painted)
Defiler (painted)
Nightwretch
Nightwretch
Nightwretch
Nightwretch
Skarlock
Bane Lord Tartarus
Necrotech (painted)
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith
Scrap Thrall (painted)
Bane Knights (10)
Bane Thralls (10)
Mechanithralls (6) (painted)
Mechanithralls (6)

ALT Warcasters: Denegra, Terminus, Skarre, Goreshade.

Faction: Four Star Syndicate
Army Points: 1397
Victory Points: 47

Gorten Grundback (painted)
Ghordson Driller (painted)
Grundback Gunner (painted)
Grundback Gunner (painted)
Grundback Gunner (painted)
Magnus the Traitor
Mangler (painted)
Mule (painted)
Mule (painted)
Nomad (painted)
Nomad (painted)
Renegade (painted)
Renegade (painted)
Talon (painted)
Talon (painted)
Alexia Ciannor
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios (painted)
Croe's Cutthroats (6)
Herne and Jonne
Sam MacHorne and the Devil Dogs (6)

An Army Inventory, Part deux

Warhammer!

Chaos: Mortals - Approximately 3000 points painted. Want to replace one unit of Marauders that I painted (poorly, and not in the scheme with the rest of the army) Overall mostly finished with this, unless I add more Daemons. Played with it twice - once against Jeff's Dwarves (lost) and once in the megabattle, mostly against Mike P's Dark Elves (lost)

Chaos: Beastmen - Approximately 2500 points painted. Needs some touch-ups; most of the bray models look pretty much the same and units are not easily distinguished. (A known issue with Beastmen armies, admittedly) Would like to add: Shaggoth, Centigors, some Trolls? Have played it several times, mostly against Jeff's Dwarves, mostly losses.

Ogre Kingdoms - Approximately 1500 points. 1200ish points painted. Needs: Slave Giant, Butcher, more Maneaters? Have never played with it.

Empire - Approximately 2000 points painted. Very likely to hit the auction block. I was excited about them a long time ago, but... mostly now they have gathered dust. I only remember one game with it, in the 1st-and-only Warhammer megabattle held at the Gaming Mecca. Was mostly wiped out.

Tomb Kings - Approximately 2000 points painted. Need to add two Screaming Skull Catapults, a bone giant, more archers. Have played it twice - one loss against High Elves, one overwhelming victory against Jeff's dwarves.

Dark Elves - Approximately 2500 points, 1500 points painted. If the other 1000 points gets painted, this is a very good army - in theory. Have never played with it.

An Army Inventory

Well, if I am the only one posting, I might as well make this thing useful to me.

Let's go over my various armies and what they have to-be-painted as of yet.

Organized by game system, shall we?

40k

Blood Angels - Have about 2000 points painted. Currently have 6 Tactical Squads and 6 Landspeeders - thanks to windfall of 3rd edition 40k boxes courtesy of Mr. Chris Arant. Would like to replace Terminators in the army with the new model plastics. Would also like to add a Land Raider (Crusader?) to the army for punch. Overall, very playable.

Word Bearers - Have about 2000 points painted. Approximately 3 Squads, 10 Daemonettes, 10 Bloodletters, 1 Rhino, 1 Defiler to be painted. Would like to add Statured Daemon Prince, possibly a Greater Daemon to the army.

World Eaters - Have about 1500 points painted. Haven't looked at the army in a long while - it's hard to play these days without some adds to the army, like a Statured Prince, a couple of Predators, maybe a Bloodthirster.

Necrons - Have about 2500 points painted. Some of the army needs re-basing. Some of the Warriors don't have green rods inserted. Would like to add some Pariaths and a Monolith to army - maybe two? Have several bases of Scarabs unpainted - overall, probably the most complete 40k army I own!

Tau - Approximately 1500 points. Only one unit of Kroot painted. Low on overall priority list. Would like to add two Hammerheads, one Devilfish.

Tyranids - Approximately 2000 points. Scattered pieces (30ish Gaunts, 7-8 Warriors) painted. Would like to replace older-model Hive Tyrant and Tyrant Guard with new models. Would like to add Raveners.

Sisters of Battle - Approximately 1000 points. Nothing painted. Would be useful as add-on to Guard army, but little push.

Imperial Guard - Approximately 2000 points. Mostly painted except for the vehicles. My Guard army is really two armies in one - the (old metal model) Cadian infantry side, and the Steel Legion mech infantry side. At one point I was trying to push for all Steel Legion/Mech Infantry but didn't get this accomplished. The Mech Infantry army is fun any surprisingly effective on the field...although I don't think I ever played it in 4th edition. I don't imagine much has changed because while assaulting-out-of-vehicles got riskier, Mech Infantry NEVER assaults. Would like to get the remaining Steel Legion and vehicles painted and make this the primary "Guard" army.

Orks - Last remaining bunch are Ebay-bound.

Grey Knights - never really an army. Two squads, and Inquisitor and some retinue. Mostly just an add-on for my Guard and Blood Angels. Wouldn't mind getting a squad of Grey Knight Terminators but hardly a priority for me.

Dark Eldar - Approximately 1000 points painted. Tons and tons unpainted.

Man, I'm thinking about starting ELDAR? I'm nuts. Screw that noise.

Okay, new post for each game system.

"Big Games" versus Skirmish Games

This is mostly just a discussion piece, so I don't expect anyone to try and sway me or feel attacked or anything like that. Failing to heed this notice will result in a McBoot to the McBackside. (No, Tim, you can't have seconds)

One of the things that keeps me coming back to Warhammer and 40k is the "feel" of the games. Even though I don't love all of the mechanics - particularly some of the stuff in 4th edition 40k sticks in my craw - I really like how when you put stuff on the table, it looks/feels like an ARMY.

I like Warmachine, and all of the other skirmish games we're dabbling with (deep breath: Confrontation, Rezolution, Infinity, Dark Age, Urban War, I'm-sure-there-are-more-I'm-forgetting-that-I-have-armies-for) but they don't really provide that same OOMPF that Warhammer and 40k do. It's a feeling of mass, I guess. It makes me understand why the historical types enjoy their games so much - couple hundred bases of AWI or Napoleonics or whatever just makes you go "Wow."

Probably my favorite game of all time is Epic, also know as Adeptus Titanticus/Space Marine/Space Marine 2nd edition/Titan Legions/Epic 40,000/Epic Armageddon. Yes, there have been a number of changes over the editions. I like the scale of it. I did note, however, that the current incarnation - Epic Armaggedon - doesn't actually carry as much mass as the older editions. Back in the day, you bought Space Marines by the COMPANY. 100 men. Well, powered armor supermen, anyway. I know this because I was infamous, INFAMOUS, for getting entire companies killed in 2nd edition by sticking them in buildings which would invariably crash down on them and lay waste to the entire company. My men feared buildings far, far more than they feared the enemy. (Damn 2nd edition and its ease of dropping city-blocks full of my Marines!)

In Epic it was all about SCALE. You felt like when you were playing, the stakes really were huge. I don't really feel the same way about Warmachine. Superiority, I think, has worsened that - with the background stuff available, you start to realize that while Warcasters really are that rare, the numbers of soldiers in the Iron Kingdoms is massive. Really, most battles occur between the lowest grunts dying by the hundreds, and Warcasters are as rare as a kiss from the princess turning you from a frog into a prince.

Are their any other games that really capture this scope? Battletech doesn't, and we would probably never play Battleforce, or (shudder) the Succession War game. (Yes, I own a copy) Clix games do not. Mighty Empires SORT OF did, but I haven't played that since Glenn and I lived on the same street. Battlefleet Gothic is cool and epic, mostly, but it's not really the same thing - big ship battles are more skirmish than anything else.

A second point, that I have stolen from John -

One of the great things about games with big scope is that the stories that come out of them are more meaningful. You get stories like the Spartans at Thermopylae, where one desperate squad holds back the tide of the enemy and turns the battle for you. You don't really get that in Warmachine - the scope isn't the same. I know that John has stories of that sort of thing, where a lone unit of Assault Marines held a pass against hordes that should have, statistically, beaten the crap out of it and surged through. It's good story-telling. And it makes for great games.

Since I'm tired of repeating it

Gaming Mecca is closed until the yard grade improvements are made (~$3000) and the basement wall (~$200) and flooring (~$1200) are replaced.

There may be small games held upstairs in my dining room area. Can't say I've had much interest in doing so of late, though.

Gencon Looms

If any of you guys want things from Gencon, please get to thinking about it and let me or Rob F. know.

2 simple rules:

1. E-mail a list

2. Know about what it's gonna cost - if it's more than $50, I'd like cash in advance (so's I don't have to use MY gaming budget to support YOUR habbit).



Aaron

What Rob A. (TMF) is REALLY looking forward to at Origins (yes, the space below is correct)

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Stuff I am looking forward to at Origins

In no particular order:

Previewing the Mutant Chronicles CMG by Fantasy Flight Games. FFG has a good track record - yes, I even liked Diskwars - and I think they are going to do right by Mutant Chronicles. I don't expect it is going to be Warzone 4th edition. But I still have high hopes.

Previewing Dreamblade - I think this looks like a creative Chess-esque D&D battle.

Previewing AT-43 - Although I am a little worried about how Rackham is presenting the teasers for AT-43, if it's a good game, and pre-painted, I'm on it like white on rice.


Wow. THREE pre-painted games here. Trend? Perhaps!

The new Rezolution box - even though the rules aren't stunning, I think Rezolution has potential, and I'm willing to support them while they improve.

Flames of War 2nd Edition. Haven't played 1st yet, but interested.

And...I think that's it. Nothing HUGE releasing at Origins - the big dance is at Gen Con, Origins is sort of the ugly sister you practice kissing on before you get to the princess.

Initial Skorne Musings ~500 points

So I finally decided I should start looking at how I intend to load out my Skorne force, starting at the 500 point mark with available figures by the end of summer, to give me a little direction in the purchasing/painting/and assembly of the force.

Makeda
3x Cyclops
1x Titan Gladiator
6x praetorians
4x Cataphract Arcuarii

Warlock:
Makeda has a decent amount of fury manipulation capability, sitting in at 6 for a Warlock, and an excellent selection of spells to boost the capabilities of her force, particularly infantry. But to be really usefull she needs to go near the beginning of the round. She doesn’t have many upkeep spells, and the important one (carnage) most definitely is not.

Warbeasts:
These 4 Warbeasts can generate up to 16 fury per turn. Even after 2 are dead Makeda can still max out her fury stat in one turn if necessary.

Cyclops
The cyclops are some very effective warbeasts. Although they only have a POW 13 weapon but the ability to boost attack or damage after the roll greatly increases their effectiveness, and ensures efficient use of Fury.

Titan Gladiator
I'm thinking the Titan has the potential to be very effective under the control of Makeda. Between a dosage of prescience thanks to the Cyclops, as well as up and running Carnage (+2 to all melee attacks in Makeda control area) there is a decent shot that the Gladiator should make good use of the Smash and Grab chain attack.

Infantry:
Praetorians:
I like the way these guys look, the ability to combo slam for slightly better damage (13 off of an infantry unit) or to forgo the damage roll and cause one point of damage to Warjacks and Warbeasts could be handy in a pinch. I don’t think it is something which will be used constantly but definitely could be handy. MAT values are decent but not great. However if Makeda gets carnage in gear then they should be pretty solid on their hitting (effective MAT 8 and 9)

Cataphract Arcuarii:
These guys look powerful and they are very expensive to boot. Clocking in at almost 20 points a pop I can only hope prove useful. Limited Range attack, and the ability haul a med base or smaller towards them, up to 8” could be painful for the light warbeasts. POW 12 weapons and weapons master, means more pain then a bucket of raw chicken. As a side benefit if I can 2 or 3 to harpoon a big nasty it makes them easy prey for something else to come along and slaughter them. I think I’d rather field the Melee orientated Cataphracts but I like these figs and want to see how they will work out.

Options:
Replace the Titan:
I think there are available points to replace the Titan Gladiator with a Titan Cannoner. I’m not sold on the usefulness of the cannoner, even though I‘ve got one fully assembled

Cut the Cataphracts
If I drop the cataphracts I could drop in a second unit of praetorians. This leaved enough point left over to upgrade one of the praetorian units to full size, or put a Totem Hunter in.

Aaron - Origins SST list

So since Rob showed you his, I'll, er...show you mine.


Capt. in Cougar Suit w/Firestorm Missle System
Traits: Fire King, Warning

NCO in Cougar Suit w/Firestorm Missle System
Traits: Warning


Platoon 1:

LT in Cougar Suit w/Firestorm Missle System
Traits: Warning, Sniper

Sgt. in Cougar Suit w/6-Gun Rotary Cannon
Trooper in Grizzly Suit w/ 2 x Firestorm Missle Systems
2 x Trooper in Grizzly Suit w/ 2 x 6-Gun Rotary Cannons


Platoon 2:

LT in Cougar Suit w/Firestorm Missle System
Traits: Warning, Sniper

Sgt. in Cougar Suit w/6-Gun Rotary Cannon
Trooper in Grizzly Suit w/ 2 x Firestorm Missle Systems
2 x Trooper in Grizzly Suit w/ 2 x 6-Gun Rotary Cannons


= 2000 points, 12 models.

HERE COME THE PAIN....

My Mobile Infantry list for the Origins SST tourney:

Lt - Ape Suit 295
Traits : SiCon Mil Intel, Sniper

NCO - Chickenhawk - 590
Pee-Wee Nuke, Blizzard Missile Pack, Inferno Support Flamer
Traits: Artillery Corps

NCO - Ape - 210

Power Suit Squad - 355
Sarge, Corporal, 6 Troopers, 1 Javelin, 1 Triple Thudd

Power Suit Squad - 355
Sarge, Corporal, 6 Troopers, 1 Javelin, 1 Triple Thudd

CHAS - 175

1980 points.


OPTIONS: Might swap the Pee-Wee Nuke to the CHAS - he can fire it "on the bounce" whereas the Chickenhawk can't. That would also mean I could REALLY saturate an area with the Nuke and the Chickenhawk's Blizzard Missile Pack and ensure my "no survivors" policy for bugs.

Plus, 20 more points for Traits. Haven't found any I love yet.

Original Sin

Seems I am the only one posting on here. No matter; it's my sandbox, anyway...

So as you've heard, I'm going to Origins.

My original plan was to concentrate on two games - Starship Troopers and A Call To Arms. Conceptually, this was for two reasons. First off, SST and ACTA don't get a lot of attention locally, aside from a handful of Disorderlies. Secondly, as Rob F discovered for us at last year's Gen Con, Mongoose Publishing is quite generous with prize support - and we support that kind of generosity when we can lap it up.

However, this plan has recently expanded to cover two more games: Confrontation Dogs of War, and Urban War by Urban Mammoth.

Mother.

I'm going to be posting my army lists and whatnot up here, for thems that care.

The Addictive Qualities of Addicition

Ever notice how gaming begets more gaming? Gaming is a craving that is never sated by itself. We crave to game, yet when we game, we always start thinking about more gaming. Expand this army. Try a new tactic. Hmm, if we had more terrain, we could really have a hell of a cityfight. Man, this battle was cool, but if we had 4-6 people, it could be a megabattle! Hey, I know, I'll go to a convention to play a game that I don't get much opportunity to play....so hey, we should practice that game. Damn, that new army is sweeeeeeeeet.

More. More. More.

Most cravings embrace fulfillment, if only for a short time. Gaming just embraces deeper craving.

Loyalty

This stems from a conversation with Imam.

He remarked that the pricing structure and tactics of certain companies makes him less likely to purchase their products.

I guess, at the core, do I care enough about companies to buy their products - and drink their Kool-Aid - based on their games? And the answer is... no, not really.

For example. I like Warmachine. I like the Iron Kingdoms. At present, I own at least 500 points of each Warmachine faction (barring Mercs, which is slightly less, I think) I have picked up some of the IK:RPG books - not the two new hardbacks, but I suspect that's just a matter of time.

I do this because I find the world interesting and the games challenging and fun. I don't feel that Privateer is a model game company - whatever that means - or because I feel compelled to buy their product for any reason external to my personal enjoyment.

One of the arguments I've seen raised from "players" of games when gaming industry people complain about the declining sales and dying companys is this:

The industry =/= the hobby.

Meaning that players do not always have a vested interest in keeping company X afloat. Yes, it means that support materials pretty much come to a screeching halt. While the RPG folks are the least affected by this, even miniature gamers aren't totally destroyed, so long as there were enough releases to make the game playable and/or suitable proxy models on the market.

For example, I remain a fan of the game Legions of Steel. I still pick up the odd model for it off of Ebay, and have, um, three sets of the tiles for the game. I haven't played it in years - but I am amused to read that Steve Gibson runs a LoS-rules scenario game at Gen Con every year, using a variety of miniatures - Heroclix, 40k, Shock Force, whatever. Global Games, maker of Legions of Steel has been out of business for probably 10 years now, but the hobby of the game lives on.

Mostly.

So. I buy Warhammer and 40k games and models because I like the games. I enjoy playing them. I don't like Games Workshop - and that has nothing to do with prices; that has to do with their foolish decisions concerning the games (and their butchery of Fanatic Games) and their staff members that I have interacted with. (particularly the retail staff, who generally ranges from well-meaning but annoying to outright jackasses)

If Privateer Press, tomorrow announced that all of their future books would only be the $100 limited edition style books with leather covers and faux-animal skin pages, well, I think I'd have a grand time with my existing books and models. 'cause I'm not loyal to that sort of artiste-mindset that they sometimes peddle.

So. Loyalty to games, not to companies. And even that is tenuous, because we are always getting impressed by new shiny things out there.

Oh, right. One more piece. I am somewhat of a purist for having the right model for a given game. This can be seen as an extension of loyalty...but it is deeper than that. Back in the day, when I was first starting my miniature gaming life, one member of my gaming group - named Mark - was absolutely infamous for his proxying. He did it to be cagey and tricky about what model was armed with what weapon, but playing against him grew very tiresome. "No, THIS model has a missile launcher, and THIS model has a pistol...." In the end I think my preference for the "right model" grew out of this. When I put my army on the table, there are no questions about what they are, what they are armed with, etc. It's a courtesy, in my mind, to my opponent. I know that some people (PAUL) feel diferently about proxying, and that's fine...it's just not me.

Tactics Articles

Chances are there is at least one if not dozens of tactics articles for every army in every miniature game out there.

Some of these articles seem to have been written by chimps. Truly groundbreaking paradigms of thought like "These troops are your best shock troops. They need to be in hand-to-hand to work properly."

WOW. Sun-Tzu is spinning in his grave like a rotisserie chicken. You're telling me that these troops - these pricey, elite-quality troops with big swords and no guns- need to be in hand-to-hand to work properly? Check out the big brain on Brad!!

(sighs)

All me to cite a fine example, and the inspiration for this piece. In my prep work for the upcoming Starship Troopers tourney at Origins, I was considering the options for a Skinnies army. I figured that even if I didn't take them (and I am not) it would be a good exercise in seeing what sort of armies we might see there. But upon reviewing their army book, and the list of what models are going to be available between now and the tourney, I don't see any way that someone could really put together a winning force.

But, my curiosity was raised. So I posted on to the Mongoose SST forum this inquiry:

"Does anyone have some actual Skinnies gameplay experience? I've been rolling the points around and trying to see how they'd play compared to my preferred MI, and they are just so radically different.

The Skinnies don't have the MI mobility at all. My standard way of dealing with the Warrior swarm is Ready-Jump/Shoot. It seems cheap, in a way - but the MI don't really have much choice. They can't win the game as a stand-and-shoot army - they lack the range for that kind of gameplay.

So I'm curious how the Skinnies can win. They don't have a lot of weapons with extreme ranges, and they can't beat the fast retreat of the MI, either. I suppose it's possible that they could try and do alternative reactions of Shoot and then Flee, but even then, that's dangerously close to the mouth - and the belly - of the beasts.

So, please, if you've proxied models and played the Skinnies, at any point level, I'd like to hear what you've had success with."

And this is my first reply:

"Some units just die, others die hard..."

(sighs)

Very concrete example there.

And the second:

"Well when I played I played with my friend with an arachnid controled skinne army. It was very cool considering the power of the arachnid close combat combined with the ranged weapons with the skinnies. I am now considering getting skinnies. They are very powerful if you know how to use them. They can kick some serious butt."

Um. Okay. Let's revise my request here, since You Are Not Getting It.

I posted again:

"Any specifics that come to mind? Brutes versus Marauders, anything?

I have plenty of theory. I'm looking for concrete examples."

And I got:

"I imagine the ambushing will help keep the MI on their toes, you could easily get a list where the MI must overun you, and by placing large quantities of raiders in ambush positions the MI go forward at their perril, and dear god... who trusts Mass drivers to slaves!!!! My point being a 60inch rng gun that can pump out that sort of fire power is demonic...

I think skinnies will do just fine, the venerables are mobile, and if you want you can even go bug for brute, the brute being 15 points and as good or better than a warrior..."

ARGH.

In fairness, I did get three posts (the last three) with examples of results and ideas for what appear to be, on paper, good armies/configurations. But so much NOISE to get to the signal. It's madness.

Let me pull one other fine example of some GREAT tactical advice out there...

"Chaos Warriors and Knights come in two flavors, regular and Chosen. The Chosen Chaos Warriors are cut from the 5th edition cloth. They have two attacks and chaos armor. The drawback is that they are very costly, and you are only allowed one unit. Regular Chaos Warriors and Knights have only one attack and wear heavy armor. They are still better than most similar units out there, are definitely worth the price, and you can have as many of them as you want."

What exactly are we learning here? Two attacks, chaos armor - right, I read the army list. Very costly - okay, I see your point, comparing them to this Empire Spearman over here, they cost more. Better than simarlar units - like what? How are they better? How are they worth the price????? WHY AM I FILLING MY MIND WITH THIS MEDIOCRE DREK???

Here's what I have in mind as a replacement:

CHAOS WARRIORS: Arguably the best Core infantry in Warhammer. Also the most expensive. Chaos Warriors are capable of fighting against any unit in the game, and if supported by a secondary unit (like a Chariot, fully ranked Maruaders, or another unit of Chaos Warriors) winning critical combats. Chaos Warriors will rarely outnumber their opponents based on their high point costs, but against typical opponents (Empire, Skaven, Goblins, etc) can expect to win combats by killing more of the enemy to compensate from their lower unit strength.

This could be a lot deeper - discussing optimal unit sizes (12-18), options based on what God you follow, etc. But this is the tip of the iceberg and it is STILL better than the alternatives by a wide margin.

Hordes and Warmachine

So now is effectively poll time. Although I've always enjoyed the Warmachine mechanics, miniatures, and fluff, none of the faction ever direclty prompted me as the Faction I had to play. They each had something interesting, but nothing unifying as a "FACTION". Well this has all changed now that Hordes has come out. I get the same base mechanic (replacing fury with focus) and 4 new factions.

But the question at hand is how does the Disorderlies Group plan to handle Hordes and Warmachine. Are there players that will not want to face the Might of the Circle Warpwolves with their Khador jacks? Individuals who would prefer not to have to see their Cygnaran Sword knights getting decimated by a unit of Skorne Preatorians? Perhaps nobody wants to watch their wonderful Basilisk Drake shot to shreds by a line of Cygnaran long gunners. Or do you believe all is good in love and war and we now have 8 factions to be played.

Each side has a respectable point to be had. My warmachine opponent may not have taken time to read primal and understand that my Beasts don't have a cortex, and I never use Focus. Thus when he loads up to bear against a 'jack army, he gets pummeled by by all around beat force. I know this is mitigated in tournament play with the alternate army lists, but what about good ole fashioned Gaming Mecca fun….


Take your pick which one are you?
Warmachine Elititst
Hordes Zealot
Or Hold on sec I’m busy having my Skorne Titan double hand throw a Cygnaran Warjack into that unit over there.

Origins and the planning madness

Yeaargh.

I really wasn't planning to do the convention circuit this year. But the circle of circumstances surrounding Origins - a friend in the area where we can crash, good odds of getting phat prizes from Mongoose in their tournaments, et al - have made it painfully attractive.

So the planning is underway. Army purchases and painting. Logistics of the trip - travel, coordination, etc.

It's amazing the amount of effort that goes into these things. I think for every hour I spend playing, three or four hours go into preparation, planning and general mindspace for the playing. For example, if this happens - and there is no definate answer that it will - I've got to set-up time for playtesting, rules review, army list adjustment, etc.

In my more lucid moments, I sometimes sit back and wonder the hell I've gotten myself into. Gaming is a very abusive mistress - she's needy, she's noisy, and generally speaking her ROI is laughable. But the ride is fun while it lasts, I guess.

Lucky for me the lucid moments are few and far between. Pardon me while I get back to my pondering of whether or not I need to put a nuke into my Mobile Infantry Army List, or whether I am making a mistake by sticking with the Centauri for my A Call To Arms fleet.

Hordes Release

So, Saturday morning, I trekked out to the DW to see about securing myself a Hordes boxset and rulebook. I was still undecided which faction to pickup - Everblight's fluff tempted me something aweful, but I fell in love with the Circle models. I arrived promptly at 11, where my compatriot, Rob F. was not to be found - he was running late, and I was informed I should put aside a Circle box and alt. caster for him.

Well, shit. That makes at least a couple of people I know looking at using the Circle. Everblight is looking more appealing at this point just to ballance out the factions in our sanguine little group.

I get in, and Sean's not there. Uh-oh. This could be a problem - the Hordes stuff wasn't put out and I didn't know if Dan had be told that I was getting a mini box on the free for the last WM tourny. No big deal, as I know Dan, will, uh, take care of me.

Anyway, at this point, I'm still undecided, but leaning toward the EB.

I should mention that when I pulled up, there were at least 20 people waiting outside the doors.

This could be a problem.

Turns out, there was a freaking Pokemon tournament that day and the adults were very eager to drop the kiddies off for a cheap babysitting job. Ok - cool.

Doug put aside my spiffy hardback copy of the book, so I begin looking through it to see if I can decide. Turns out it was easy - I'm really not impressed with the EB visuals after looking through the book - have no clue what the stats are like, and I don't really care, either. I'm still a bit on the fence though, for the ballance reason.

Shit.

Sean rolls in about 10 minutes after 11, and I offer to get the Hordes stuff out of the back, thus ensuring I get my grubby mitts on it before the rabble.

I go get the goods and begin to unpack. I settle on getting a starter of each - after all, one is free, right? Also the alt. casters and a Minion Totem Hunter - this thing rocks (the model - still hadn't looked at the stats at that point - but the stats are awesome too!). Pulled Robustiano's stuff to set aside as well.

I look through the book some more, and end up deciding just on the Circle. I really dig the models that will be coming out - especially the 2! types of Woldwarden.

Cool.

I figure when Rob gets there, we'll settle up with the purchases, then get to playing some Confrontation. He shows up around 12, bearing Krispy Kremes. This makes the big man happy.

He lets me know he forgot his Conf. models, so no biscuit there. Fucker.

We bullshit for a while, and decide to break out a game of Arkham Horror (with Dan, and later, James when he showed up). This is a very fun game - I would recommend it. We go get some Chipotle for lunch and come back and set up the game. This was probably arounf 1:30. Finish eating around 2, and start the game about 30 min. later after Dan and Rob explain to me how to play.

We get going (it's a cooperative game - try to stop the greater demon from invading reality) and I start working on my Circle box - I get the Warpwolf filed and drilled and Kaya cleaned up. The models have very little flash and seem to go together very well.

James joing us about 4 - 5 turns into the game - he's getting Circle too! Fuck. I didn't think too many people would be picking them up. Oh well.

We end up winning the game - my character was mostly a lame duck, though I did manage to close one gate - and I could kill anything that wasn't magically imune with no problem.

After discussion, we decided we needed a regular boardgame night to get our Fantasy Flight fix. I lamented how much money I was anticipating spending at their booth at Gen Con (Warzone CMG, Decent Expansion, Starcraft Boardgame, Game of Thrones expansion).

We will be playing the Game of Thrones (based on George R. R. Martin's world) after the Hordes boxset tourny this Saturday then going to B.D.'s Mongollian BBQ, for all who are interested.

All-in-all a good day.

Now to finish assembly and start the painting process.


Aaron

On Hype

I think that when a company stretches out the marketing on a product for so long, we naturally lose interest in it - there are just too many other immediate "now" games and releases we track as a group to get excited about something over the course of a year.

This has happened with almost all of PPS' releases - I'm excited about them +/- 2 months or so from the release date. Then, since we know all the stats and such from the book(s), it's just a waiting game for the models to come out.

I really rather prefer Rackham's approach. You maybe get to see some artwork 2 months out (from the French release, admitedly - so 3 - 4 from the English), then see the mini about 1 month out, then have the release. This is repeated EVERY month, so there's always a sense of mystery and excitement with the game. Add to the current trend of excellent communication from the new U.S. company reps, and I'm pretty completely sucked in.


Aaron

Let the bitching commence.

Well, since I'm doing *so* well on the painting front (see http://disorderlies.blogspot.com/ for the lack of details) I suppose it is high time to start some highbrow gaming commentary.

Highbrow? From the Disorderlies?!

For variant definitions of highbrow, I suppose.

I'll start the ball rolling: burnout.

All too often, game companies start the hype machine and pump excitement into players. New! Improved! Bigger! Better! And, being ever-hungry for excitement, we buy in, and we're hooked like fish on the line. "Man, X is coming! I gotta get/play X!"

For a while.

The problem with hype is that it is ultimately self-defeating. Hype is like a diet of sugar - man, it's good for a while, but it can't sustain you, and when you crash, it's ugly.

Case in point, since it's been a recent topic of Disorderlies Discussion: HORDES.

Hordes was formally announced by Privateer Press last August at Gen Con. It had been teased for months beforehand; being called the "Next BIG Thing". Several of the Disorderlies were present for this announcement, as well as a lot of the Warmachine faithful. The crowd - and there was quite a crowd - was electric for it, but when the actual truth of the matter came out, there was an undercurrent of disappointment. Not new factions for Warmachine, but instead, a new game that is COMPATIBILE with the game most of the people there were addicted to.

Not what we expected.

But, I expect, if HORDES were for sale at that very moment, we would have torn into it like a shark into chum. Rules, boxes, all of it, I know I would have tried just BECAUSE the hype machine had hooked me.

But we couldn't buy it. It wasn't coming out until....MARCH?

[which has now turned into April, and the END of April, for that matter]

During this time, we have been fed tidbits. Pixie sticks of hype, if you will. Quickstart rules, remarkably alike Warmachine. Pictures of damn near every release for the first year of the game.

So, I've tried to do my part. I've preordered the game. The armies. Etc. But I tell you, the hype has driven me crazy. Some members of the Disorderlies are still flying high on the sugar rush. Some have crashed and lost interest. I'm somewhere in the middle - I still have some excitement, but overall I think the hype machine has burned me a bit, and in general, I don't think the game is going to live up to the expectations created by this long wait.

Nothing can.

I could be mistaken. This time next week, I might have disgested the rules and the models and the machine might have me back in its clutches and snuggled into a warm pablum-filled place. I doubt it - but I admit it is possible.

In the meantime, though, I'm swearing off that sugar shit and eating a burger or something.