Like Rocky but with less punching.

For the next 2 months this blog will be a personal ramble on finding tournament skills. After becoming the Event planner at my local Wargaming club I've been busy setting up events and getting people to run them, well now it's set and on September 25th we will be holding our first national sized tournament. And since I'm not running it (I just pulled the strings to get it done), I get to play in it! If you're in the UK, it would be awesome to see other IABN guys there, so keep the Saturday free and when the tickets go on sale (only £10 including lunch) grab yourself one and come throw some yellow dice with me.

So I decided I need to tighten up and start to play a couple of games of WM a week, maybe even go as far as one a day. After my break from WM I returned and found I had lost what skills I had got (I took about a year break in total, so obviously I lost a lot), which means I now need to get back into estimating stealth ranges and such..

I also filled out my Retribution army (at the cost of selling my never used Legion stuff), so I now own every Warcaster and every released unit except the houseguard. I'm a few solos off but I have enough left over from the legion stuff to grab them and a unit or two.

So I sat down and made 2 lists I wanted to use at a tournament level of play.

List 1,

Rahn
Phoenix
Chimera
Full sentinals + UA + Soulless Escort
A pack of Mittens
2 MHA
E Eiryss
Arcanist

List 2,
Kaelyssa
Hydra
Full Sentinels + UA
Full MHSF+UA
A pack of Mittens
2 MHA
Narn

So I'm already some what used to Kaelyssa (although no where near enough, I will dedicate at least 2 weeks to playing her into the ground. But I've been playing Rahn a lot lately and I'm getting a good feel for him.

Here is what I've learnt over those games.

-Stealth rapes Retribution, we just have no answer to stealthed Heavies except Sents, who are priority one.
-I need to learn to guess Stealth range much better.
-I need to use a 'caster not just 1 of their abilities.
-Rahn's feat is rarely powerful, but it's useful for a double force hammer turn or wiping infantry off the board with 12" of AOEs
-Mittens are great for my style of play, they increase ranges
-I need to protect my solos better, I offer them up too easy and always call people's bluff on the MHAs, which they either run from or take out turn 1. I need to try holding them back or at least 1 of them.
-Forcehammer is very good but risky and expensive, the D6 slam can be a bad thing more than it's good.
-Don't get frustrated when the game looks over and you're going to lose. I did this in a game I had tonight and pointed out to my opponent how he could kill me, I should of shut up and let him miss it, he didn't take it any way and I later got a 11.7" line on Lylyth including 2 free strikes on Rahn, took it and if the dice hadn't failed me I would of beaten her down. As long as you have a high focus model on the table you can do something.
-I need to protect my Sentinel officer better.
-I don't value my models enough, I always play high risk high reward and it makes me give up points I shouldn't be. I need to stop throwing away stuff and making bad trades, I have to look at this more like Magic where you only trade if you get a perk from it or you have no choice but to.

That's it for my ranting now. If any one wants to give me any suggestions and feedback or set up a game of Vassal below I'd be up for that. I need to play games and I've met some great guys on IABN I'd like to play with.

Why I play the lists I play #1

A few minutes ago I just finished a game on Vassal VS Harbinger, it ended in the way I like all my games to end with an Elf putting a crossbow bolt in an opposing 'casters face. Which made me think why I like the lists I like and play the way I play. At a club night a week previous someone asked me why I liked Elves (while unpacking my Wood Elves after rocking him with my Retribution), my answer was thus "I don't like Elves, they like me". Elf factions tend to be fast and nimble with a preference for long ranged combat, that is the way I like to fight in games, that's how I like to be on the tabletop.

I know there are a lot of people who like Khador being tanks and just shrugging off blows but I've never felt happy with that. If I'm playing something I want skill to be the defining factor not luck and having high armour stats just doesn't give me that feeling, so I've always been drawn to relying on my reflexs in games and positioning in Wargaming. Due to this the first faction I picked up was Cryx (Cryx Trixs used to be a common phrase), then I picked up Cygnar and found they lacked the mobility I wanted even though I liked the 'jacks and Warcasters. After much time with Skorne I read the Retribution army book (as I was intending to buy all the books at that stage but got burnt out on the game before I did so) and found -my- faction. They have the mobile ranged theme while not sacrificing melee, they have a Warcaster (Kaelyssa) who allowed me to turn my biggest fear of assassination into a strength (camped fury/focus) yet still the faction has a nice melee unit to hold scenario against those players who just want to zerg rush you with arm 20+ models.

Next post will break down the exact list I play and why I use each model. I recently got a new diagnosis for my illness and if it turns out to be correct I maybe able to attend larger tournaments in my area and if I did the list would be my A-list for 35 point games.

Vyros uses a Trackball mouse

Yesterday I finally got to play some Warmachine again for the first time in months.

I played with the following list

Vyros
-Hydra
-Hydra
10 Sentinels + UA
Stormfall archers
Eiryss
2 Mage hunter assassins

It's a list I use on Vassal and enjoy using, it's low model count but high quality and it can do a bit of everything. I knew my opponent would play Cygnar (probably Stryker) but I didn't build an anti Stryker list, I built what I wanted to play. My opponents list was thus

Stryker
-Old Rowdy
-Hunter
Squire
Stormblades + UA
Full Long gunners
Black 13th.

So he had a similar list to mine except I had another heavy and our unit sizes were switched around, then we both had a set of killer solos (even if 1 is a unit persay). We discussed his list while playing and I asked why he didn't include Jr. He had discussed it with another player and they had decided both Jr and Eiryss was "just because" and had no real point in the list and I pointed to my Eiryss on the right flank and went "Is Stryker ever going over that side of the table?" his response was "No" and then he finally got why 3 points was worth it, My Eiryss did nothing but kill 1 Stormblade all game, but she funneled Stryker into the side of the board I was controling. I only include Eiryss if I'm left with 3 points after I add the solos I want, she's not an auto include, but if I have the points I will take her as a tool box solo.

He decided to set up second, so I deployed my sentinels in the middle with hydras flanking either side, Vyros a bit back, Eiryss and the stormfalls on the right flank (hilly goodness) and my 2 MHA on the left flank.

He deployed Stryker, old Rowdy and the squire center, long gunners with the B13th mingled among them on the left flank and the Stormblades on the right with the hunter just ahead of them.

Turn 1 I moved everything up, Eiryss playing distance games with the Hunter and the stormfall taking a hill in range to attack it next turn with snipe rounds if it didn't move. The MHAs moved up and hid behind a tower.

His turn he just moved the Stormblades, Old Rowdy, Stryker, Hunter and the squire about a bit, nothing exciting.

Turn 2 the hunter gets wrecked, Stormfalls brutal shot it to death with the final shots coming from a hydra with 3 focus. I positioned my Sentinels in groups of 4 and figured he would kill 1 or 2 in the coming turn giving me vengenace and getting some face raping in. Everything else just moved up into higher ground positions or looked scary and shuffled a bit.

His turn 2 he pops feat and stormblades kill 4 sentinelss (arm 19 is a bitch to crack) and takes more shots with the long gunners but can't crack the arm on my dudes.

So my turn 3 I decided I wanted those storm blades gone and took my vengenace move my left bubble moved towards the long gunners and my right bubble took some swings at the stormblades, 2 were dead from the vengenace attacks (arm 23 VS weapon masters, yum yum). My opponent was just like "what the hell?" and I'm like "I did tell you everything is a weapon master". I use Eiryss, Stormfalls and the hydras to clear out some charge lanes in the stormblades to get my extra dice and then charge with the sentinels, they clean up the unit except for 1 or 2, they constantly pass command checks and hold though). The other sentinels run up to engage the B13th and long gunners, with the MHA moving forward ready to hit Stryker next turn. At this point I had Stryker staring down 2 fully loaded Hydras, 2 MHAs and other nothing but Old Rowdy to protect him.

So his turn is pretty much going "oh shit.." and trying to clear out the Sentinels in his long gunners, which he fails to do leaving 2 alive and just in command range of the officer on the hill. Some sentinels die and next turn I forget my free movement and swings, which I knew I would at some point. My sentinels are pretty much wiped out as are his stormblades.

So turn 3 hits and I know I can nail him to the wall, except my dice disagree. Sentinels miss, MHA misses, Stormfall miss, Eiryss misses, Hydras miss. I just can't hit that def 16 and had it been a tournament I would of been frustrated, but it was not so meh. Old Rowdy is all up in my face at this point and I have to wiggle around his 6" bubble of countercharge insanity. I put Vyros on a hill with the sentinel standard bearer blocking the charge lane (and Vyros is just a bit out of range incase) and pass turn.

His turn 4 is trying to work out how to get an assassination, but it just doesn't happen, the B13th can't clean out the Sentinels and the long gunners can't really kill Vyros, Old Rowdy turns up and engages Vyros and we decided turn 4 was the end since we had to leave soon after.

So my turn 4 involves everything shooting at Stryker with everything it has and doing absolutely nothing to drop him below 4 boxes. I always underestimate Def 16 and it's not like Stryker has low arm either. I was wishing I had Ravyn with me as I could have wrecked Stryker, but I think Vyros's +2 arm spell is so insane on sentinels that he played a good roll in the game and I really enjoyed that. He even got to cast Elimator on Stryker at the final attack of the game, boosted to hit and just got no where.

At this point we shook hands and called it a draw. We added up points of models lost and I had killed 16 points of his stuff and he had killed 15 of mine, but it was a draw as far as I'm concerned. Both armies were wrecked and it was all down to the dice as to who won on turn 5.

I think Vyros is a competitive 'caster and can not only support the 2 Hydras but his infantry at the same time. His 6 focus is the perfect point for him, he uses 1 to upkeep Resolve then 2 to cast mobility and has 3 to play with each turn or just camp, which is generally enough to restock your Hydras if they need it since they won't spend more than 2 a turn unless they are in melee at which point your other one should still hold his focus. He has insane mobility and can threaten people from miles away if you want him to. His feat is pretty lame but it's extra focus if you really need it, the problem with Hydras is that you can't load them up only restock them due to the focus on them counting for allocation purposes, but hey I'm a focus 12 'caster already so whats a narrow feat? Sure I'd love something insane, but it's not needed.

I think I will be playing Vyros for the near future, I really enjoyed the game and found he had more options than Kaelyssa did and while you lose the focus stealing your army becomes a real problem to deal with unlike with her who just can't support them beyond "No Magic plz, oki".

Hopefully I will get to make it again next week and play some D&D (I want to play a Dwarf based on the MMORPG fanbase), but as a back up plan I'll play Warmachine. My other Wargaming club is meeting Sunday, I may venture out to it if I'm up for it.

STFU, I'm a Timelord bitch

So between watching a lot of Doctor Who (Sixth Doctor era) and playing AvP, I've been trying to work out a list for the Warmachine tournament tomorrow. I had originally want to run Vyros but Maelstrom games still haven't sent my 2 Heavy kits. So instead I decided to make a Kaelyssa/Ravyn list and go from there.

Kaelyssa's list is thus.

Kaelyssa
-Hydra
10 Dawnguard Sentinels + UA + Soulless escort
10 Mage hunter strike force + UA
Stormfall archers
Mage hunter assassin
Mage hunter assassin
Eiryss

And Ravyn gets this

Ravyn
-Hydra
10 Dawnguard Sentinels + UA
10 Mage hunter strike force + UA
Stormfall archers
Mage hunter assassin
Mage hunter assassin
Narn

I think the lists pretty much speak for themselves. One is anti Warmachine with Eiryss and 1 is more Anti hordes. I'm pondering if maybe with Ravyn I should drop the one of the units for Invictors instead, but I think the sentinels are nasty and the mage hunters with snipe and her feat can kill Warlocks.

The Kaelyssa list is a bit more interesting, it will completely shut down magic against my units. Ehe Soulless makes anything but a close arc node impossible to hit them with (and if it does then that arc node is getting wrecked by the vengenace counter attack, leaving my Sentinels free to do what they wish the next turn) and the mage hunters can just have full magic denial on them.

The Sentinels are to hold objectives, the Stormfall are to clear enemy troops and the mage hunters enemy jacks/whatever presents it's self. I expect some heavy jacks to be around and my list can wreck those since everything in the list is a weapon master against them except Kaelyssa and the Hydra, who will have other jobs to do/make them stationary. I think as an all comers list this is solid and should be able to play Scenario or 'caster kill. I'll prefer 'caster kill but I'll take scenario.

I think Kaelyssa will be my primary caster due to being able to play her at more speed than Ravyn. I want to try and play quickly and not have to read my own cards more than is really needed. Every other unit I'm familar with except for the stormfall and I remember Snipe and brutal shot so what else do I need?

If you guys have any thoughts I'd like to hear them.

Tonight I should probably read the SR2010 scenarios but they all seem to be capture an area so why bother? The lighting at the club is terrible so I don't know if I'll be able to get any pictures, but if I go I'll write a report.

I think I'm going to start making puns here.

It looks like I may have got my community sorted at least a bit. We're going to meet some time next week and discuss the future. I really hate the side of me that steps up and sorts stuff out when it needs sorting. Now I have to be responsible. :(

I've played a couple of games on Vassal and I've noticed the game plays quite differently. Often I can get 2-3 models in an assassination position and get the kill in 1 turn, but the games I've played so far I've been struggling to get it in 2. The player quality is just much higher and that's pretty cool.

Yesterday I played Clayton and my dice were insanely bad. The first 3 rolls in the game for me were all Double 1s. I was like "only need a 5 to hit, I'll take a pot shot". And then 1-1 and I'm just like "Really vassal?". Bad dice really defined the game. My theory is because the text is pink and there is no yellow counter balance they roll bad, you need 1 of each as discussed earlier. I took some stupid riskes, but honestly that's how I play and it's what I find fun. I've got the mentality "When you're screwed, you're at your best", and when dice hate you and your dice are at -7, you've got to take that shot! Sadly that shot was an Arcantik bolt which then proceeded to nail my Griffon and let his Mariners smash face. But I've rambled enough on this since Clayton is doing a battlereport, I must warn you that I come across as angry and pissed off in some lines, but I was laughing the entire time, I found it sadistically amusing and look forward to playing with him some more.

Since my LGS is closing down I picked up a box of Sentinels cheap and I'm going to order Prime MKII from Maelstrom some time this week. I wasn't sure I wanted to invest in Warmachine at this point, but I think getting the rulebooks and NQ at least is a good idea. I'm going to continue to play on Vassal and the information is damn useful. Plus I likes reading the books. I think when the store is truly dead I'm going to post my thoughts on it and what was done right and wrong, but until it is dead and gone I'm not going to insult it on a public forum with the Iron agenda's popularity, it's just not a good idea.

I'm hoping to get a game in against Gdaybloke in the near future, I want to play E Morghoul, but I knew Clayton was taking Bart and an Arm 13 'warlock just isn't going to cut it with all those AoEs. I know I'm good with Kaelyssa and I can get wins with her, but I want to so some fieldtesting and I'm interested in Skorne or Vayl for that.

I wanted to get some painting done today but I can't prime because there is snow every where... wait, why am I blogging when there is snow outside!? Screw you guys! SNOW!!!

I suck with Ravyn

So tonight I got a game with Ravyn in against Epic Kaya. Know what happens when you haven't read Epic Kaya's rules? Turn 2 assassination on your ass happens. I think Arcane Killer is a bit abusive with Dog pile and left feedback as such, but it's made me sit down and read through all the stat cards for Circle and I'll do the same for Trolls, Legion and then Warmachine factions this week, just need more printer ink to get them all printed out since monitor reading is bad for your eyes.

I think I'm going to start playing on Vassal more, I have it installed but only used it once. If I'm looking to goto major tournaments in the future I want to get in as much practice as I can and online will do that for me.

Thursday I'm heading over a friend's house to get in some MKII games, I'm tempted to take Skorne to help with the MKII fieldtest, but part of me also feels Warmachine armies need to be facing Hordes factions too, since everyone wants to use the new shiny Hordes rules, which limits testing against Warmachine and balancing the two. I'm curious what you guys think about this, will there be enough WM VS Hordes testing or will you all be playing your Warbeasty factions?

I did (not) goto a tournament.

I haven't updated in a while and was planning to do a nice big review of the 350 point mangled metal tournament my local store ran yesterday. The problem was I didn't get to take part beyond the first game due to time mismanagement. Some of the players are new or a bit suspect on the rules and play slow as hell, there was meant to be a turn time limit and... it was never enforced.

So I got in 1 tournament game then played a 35 point game of MKII against one of the best local players.

This is the tournament game, in perfect detail. My opponent was a new player who I kind of mentor since I am the local Skorne player as the other moved away (and had a huge fetish for Makeda and couldn't see how Molik made a Gladiator look like a joke). So I didn't want to smash him and such but er.. yea, read on.

my opponent goes first by my choice.
He runs his beasts forward, does something with Morghoul and moves him up to.
I move up my group having my army looking like it will engage his Bronzeback, Savage and Gladiator among a forest, with Kaelyssa and a Griffon hiding behind it and phantom hunter on Kaelyssa.
He moves his army round the forest ready to engage, casts unrelenting on his bronzeback, I measure control area and watch.
I upkeep Phantom hunter, put a focus on the Griffon to be safe (figure I can steal 2 giving me 8 focus and I need 2 to shoot and 6 to boost) and move Kaelyssa up. I put a shot in Morghoul, he transfers it to the savage, I put a shot in Morghoul, take his fury and hit him for about 10 damage, I needed 8 to kill on the next shot and I got it. Extend hand, feel like a jerk.

So I wait like 45 minutes for the new guys to finish playing and honestly I was quite frustrated. Pairings for round 2 were announced and I got the bye.. Which annoyed me quite a lot. I was the top of the tournament with 1 turn 2 kill and I get the bye because no one else could compare to that, so I get to sit out round 2, when I had gone to the tournament to win it. My mind was set on winning, I walked in that door and went "I am the best player, I have Kaelyssa and I can and will win this tourney without a doubt" and then I just get kicked in the nuts for doing exactly that. Round 3 didn't work because it was closing time when round 2 ended. So instead of a tournament I got to smash a guy's face and then play a 35 point of MKII.

I was against a Butcher list full of heavy armour and my list just doesn't deal with that, I couldn't really kill Butcher and I got drawn into attrition and just plain lost. I couldn't get to butcher and that sucked. I'm thinkng of getting the Sentinels and replacing the Invictors, they can break heavy armour. The Mage hunters are a very nice unit though, they are quite nasty.

On Sunday I have a rematch against Dave's Khador. Hopefully my health will recover since I'm still recovering from my hospital visit where I spent 6 hours being sedated and messed with. Next week I'm going to get in some extra games with other locals, Another Khador played I rarely gets to play wants to get some MKII so we're going to meet at the store and give it a couple of games. Then me and the local Press ganger are going to get some Hordes MKII games in. I want to test Krueger as I'm really unsure on his feat and I intend to playtest it a few times before I write feedback going "dude, WTF?"

Painting day.

Had a busy week and didn't get much done but my Mage hunters and UA arrived. So I've decided, I can't even open the boxes until my invictors and Vryos done. I need to paint 4 heads, mark 6 bases and just clean up the guns a bit here and there. Then varnish time and er.. yea. I will finish them today and post some bad pictures.

A while ago I suggested mini tournaments at the local game store on game night and they announced one next month away and it's a 350 mangled metal. I'm looking at Running Kaelyssa, but I'm not positive yet. I'm wondering if I can fit Kae, a phoniex, a hydra and a griffon. I am tempted to run Vryos just so I can walk my jacks up backwards and go "I punch you in the face, from my ass!"

On D&D news, I have totally found a group, I maybe posting a pic of my dwarf mini I will probably be using. I'm also working on some 40k minis to fit with the new playgroup and I may pick up a small amount of Flames of War, the only problem is I would want to play Japanese factions and I don't think they are out yet. I just want to correct people saying Kamikaze, cause I'm annoying like that.

I was listening to a podcast recently and there was something I noticed. Some of the "sportsmanship" discussions really stood out to me. I tend to "play the rules", never cheat but I'll stick to the rules and use minor loop holes to do things. Like firing at something out of range with a unit to "premeasure" for another unit and some people consider this to be abusive and not sportsman like. I may try to stop doing this and be more "sportsman like". I tend to take the opinion of "I play by the rules, what's wrong with that?" and I'm starting to ponder if I should be playing differently to this. I would be interested in your guy's opinions and feedback on this matter.

Goddamn it

No one else turned up to the tournament, so I went for a wander and found a whole new playgroup and a new press ganger. Some old friends were there and hopefully some new ones.

I found me a D&D group. So I'm working on a little Dwarf adventurer and I'm going to track down my old halfling pirate model.

As for WM/H I taught a kid to play Warmachine today, I played Retribution and tried to do cool things like throwing a ferox at some venators and just doing the cool demo game. I refused to assassinate Mordikar (pot shotted him just to act like I failed) and then killed Molik with Kaelyssa's fury stealing melee. Wasn't too bad.

I ordered the Malifaux rule book and I expect to pick up a few new games and see what pans out. Fantasy is back on the books, so I need to get my new carry case and things.

I ganked Lylyth!

Tonight I played 1 game and, pretty much played a second game by proxy. There was a new guy playing Skorne and since I know Skorne, I had to mentor him and be rules lawyer all at once. My community recently changed and some how I've become one of the veteran players.. but hey that's cool. So I mentored a guy on how to abuse Skorne then I played a battle box game against Legion.

The game went like this.

I move stuff, take a potshot at Lylyth with my Manticore. He slams the Manticore on his turn and I then move Kaelyssa up and tag Lylyth twice boosted. Extend hand.

Seriously, if you leave a 'caster open within 18 inches of Kaelyssa I am going to start taking pot shots. I don't need LoS to hit you, so I'm going to do so and do so a lot. If you don't run the hell away I'm going to keep doing it over and over. Isn't that fun folks!? I'm really starting to get Kaelyssa and she plays like Caine or E Morghoul, her army isn't as important as just getting that all mighty assassination attempt. I may even risk another Heavy kit to get her a hydra to do her shootie doom with. Either way digging the Ret.

I have some more stuff painted and I need to take pictures, but I picked up a lot of new stuff. Invictor UA, Ghost Sniper, Soulless Escort and a Chimera. I'm slowly working my way to 750 points. Which will be nice. I have a game against Circle/Khador on Tuesday, just hoping it's not Kruger, cause I'm still not sure how I deal with him, advices please?

I may also have found a D&D group..

Doug Seacat eats puppies to fuel his writing powers.

So tonight I got a game VS Trolls, first time I've played them outside of mangled metal and well, it went extremely poorly. My opponent also had a really bad grasp of his rules and I didn't feel like checking his cards over and over. So he was probably cheating out of his ass and the few times I knew something was suspicious I did call him on it, but any way.

I'm not going to write a battle report because it just involves "Trolls move into middle, Borka stands at the back and I can't get to him". So I got tar pitted down in the a huge unit of Kriel warriors and just couldn't do anything but fight it out with them through the game. Champions kept making tough rolls and just yea.. Wasn't a fun battle, everything just got smushed into the middle and I was out numbered as he only had 1 dire troll for his warbeasts. The game came down to a final turn where I got Kaelyssa into a position to snipe out a furyless Borka, I moved up Aiyanna to throw harm on him and missed it. If I had got it up I would of killed him. But I started the turn with 6 models on the table and about 10 trolls staring them down, so I took the long shot.

So yea I lost, but I'm really suspicious of how my opponent played, he didn't understand Pulse and Aura, so he was like "oh I cast this and then" and I go "It's an aura, you can't do that..) and just lots of little things like this. So yea.. I'd go and read through all the MKI rules and leearn the things I don't remember but seriously.. MKII is a few months away, I can put up with it for now. The only problem is some of the newer players are.. dumbasses. They just aren't very bright, they're the scene kid type of people and just.. ugh.. I'm sorry but when you all ask 1 guy all your rules questions and he doesn't know half of them you may have issues as a playgroup. I sat there and answered every question they had, because I care about WM/H and plan to get into the tournament scene and go annoy the Boosted damage folks.

Playing Retribution makes you the centre focus in the entire store though. Everyone wants to see your models and touch them. I went to the bathroom and came back to find my Heavy being passed around the table.. Then people wanted to pick up Kaelyssa and just yea.. The world revolves around you apparently.. And everyone calls them Space Elves because the 'jacks have force fields, but last time I chcked, so did every freaking Warcaster.. But yea, Space Elves..

I picked up Dawnlord Vyros but couldn't get my Arcanist, the store didn't have him in stock and I was trying to support my LGS, so I guess I'm going to be ordering from Maelstrom games again.

I missed the tournament this Sunday, but in 2 weeks time we have a 750 I might try and make. I'd need a unit of Mage hunters and such.. but yea. I did also come to understand the value of mittens tonight, they push trolls away to avoid a huge ugly mosspit mess. Flank was pretty spiffy though and with 2 reach jacks I got to pull it off 5 or 6 times and felt it made the invictors insane.. I think keeping the Griffon with them is a very good idea.

So now I'm going to make a casual magic deck and get some more painting done. I liked the way the silver looked under lights and just.. felt happy with the army, so paint scheme is a go!

Lets be social!!

I quit on the pink, I started to paint a 'jack and just said no. It's just unreasonable and in a week I got 2 models done. I switched to my original idea of silver models and battle damage them up from there.

The picture is very bad and due to using flash you can't see any real shading so it looks terrible. But I painted him in a day and I just need to add some stains and grubbiness. I have the Griffon half done and 8 of the Invictor bodies done.. I should finish my army in a week or two at this rate.

If I feel up to it I'm going to a tournament tomorrow, may report it..

I decided I wanted to try and meet more Warmachine players and get to know the wider community and to discuss things with people outside the PP forums. So I'm going to post my AIM name and see what happens. Say Hi, troll me, whatever, I just think it's a cool idea to get to know folks.

So my AIM name is AstrayPenguin . I'm usually around, so drop me a line.

Need feedback (pics)

Okie dokie. I need some help on something. I can't decide if I want to do all the armour pink or if I want to do it half and half.


So pick 1 or 2. The complete dude (left) or the half and half (and unfinished) dude on the right.

Wip Shots

Some quick off the hip pics







All WiP, but startinng to get there. I'm not sure if I just want to ink the cloaks and make them a dark blue or what.

Game on!

Today I had my first games with Retribution. My theory on being a high pressure army that goes for the throat was correct and I felt in control of the game the entire time. The solos are the key assassination pieces, but the Invictors and 'jacks were capable just as well.

I'll write up a full report tomorrow and give a run down of each model I used and how I felt they performed.

Retribution review part 1

Today I worked some more on the Ret. Started to paint Aiyanna, Kaelyssa (Boob armour!) and the Invictor is almost done. I absolutely HATE the Heavy jack and I will make a full post on it, because that kit is absolutely vile and deserves to be absolutely demolished.

But onto the main show!

I'm going to review every model in the Ret book, but using only 1 sentence for each.

The Retribution seems to have a solid theme going with adaptable troops able to hold scenarios with the solos and 'casters suited to assassination. So in SR4 Ret will either go for "you can't win" and assassination or full on Scenario abuse. Another overriding theme is pressure, Ret excel on applying pressure, especially to 'casters.

Garryth.

Melee Assassin. He's exactly like Abyslonia in Legion, except has Arc nodes. I really liked her in that, but in Ret he just doesn't feel as strong. Does make me think E Morghoul's fan will be passive in MKII though. But yea, he'll pull 'casters around and then stab them. Nothing else to say.

Kaelyssa.

She is a disruption and mind games 'caster. Her abilities tend to disrupt your opponents troops with rough terrain and cripple their warjacks/make them shake. The fury/focus leeching leads to mind games with Hordes and she is deadly against casters, but lacks the ability to set them up. She should be a strong 'caster but will take a lot of skill to really abuse. She will also be one of the first Ret epics, her fluff is all "Will be awesome"

Rahn

Rahn I really don't like, he's a scenario 'caster and that's about it. He just pushes things around and disrupts, but it's just not enough for me. Why is my 'caster pushing dudes instead of killing them on mass? Has a terrible feat and just feels unplayable to me. I love his model and will pick it up to complete the set.

Ravyn.

Emo chick! She's a really strong 'caster who applies pressure best of all the Ret. She can extend ranges, move things faster. She can easily kill a 'caster in close combat and has the ability to move things around to open lines. Her feat is just insane with the right army, it screws the def stat and lets you move forward, take some shots and then move 2 inches back to deny the charge and stabby death.. I think she is a very strong 'caster, with the Ret units and her spell list she can force people to play on the back foot and then corner them ready for the kill.

Vyros.

Ret's jack 'caster with some troop support thrown in for good measure. He's a jack of all trades and will be solid for being so, but he could do with some more ways to boost 'jacks or generate additional focus.

Chimera

It's an arc node that you can't engage. It's just a solid little Lancer style dude, what more do you want?

Gorgon

Another disruption piece for the Ret, they have a lot of pinning models in place abilities and the Gorgon excels at this. My only complaint is that I'm not sure if the Gorgon is worth the points (I'm unsure on how to value a point in MKII yet), it's going to pin something down, but anything worth pinning (Character 'jacks/beasts etc.) are going to beat it senseless. Time will tell ifi t's worth it in the meta game.

Griffon

It's a beat stick and it's cheap as hell. You could take 10 of these in 500 points. How the hell do you deal with that many beat sticks at once? With Vyros these are nuts.. speed 8 pathfinding jacks you could just swarm with. Yes, freaking, please.

I'll continue this tomorrow with the Heavy jacks and the units!

Invictor WiP

I spent all day working on models, building, painting, hating the goddamn annoying heavy kit (modding it just so I never have to buy another). I'm now going to try and avoid plastic kits if I can, I just plain don't like PP plastic.



I'm running out of Thaco podcast and starting to regret the pink. It takes 4 coats to get a solid colour..

Models here!

Okay so my models arrived, I'm now working on building A&H, Kaelyssa and the Invictors.

Since I'm busy trying to get all this built for Tuesday (my gaming night), I'm just going to post 1 interesting pic.

This is how many parts the Griffon comes in. And that polearm needs a brass rod.

I am the dice man!

So my book arrived today (HAPPY FACE!) and I sat down to read the fluff and then got 2 pages into the fluff and went "MODEL RULES!" and proceeded to spend about 8 hours looking over it.

So for a quick run down.

I like the female 'casters and I like Rahn's model, but really don't liks his rules. I'll be picking up Ravyn ASAP and her and Kaelyssa will be my main 'casters. I got a thing for emo chicks I guess. Ravyn is awesome, I love her spell list and her weapon, I can't wait to pick her up and put her on a custom base, Position her foot so she's standing on a slant and like she's going to look down and stab someone.

So units wise I love the Dawnguard and Mage hunters, both of which I will pick up a unit of when they come ot (aka when I have more moneys, I plan to spend about £50-60 a month on models to quickly build up the Ret force. I really don't like the mittens or houseguard though. The houseguard are just shitty Gun mages and quite frankly the models are terrible. They look like Big O and Piccard had a love child and then cloned him a few times. Houseguard just don't work for me, they seem like dawnguard if you are missing a point or two, unless the models are amazing, I doubt I'll pick them up, maybe the long gunners, but probably not.

Stormfall archers need their own sentence. FUCK YEAH! These guys have an awesome concept and awesome art to go with it. Hoping the model lives up to it.

Onto the solos. There are some stunning and awesome (Narn) some are terrible like Nayl. Going to pick up most of them though.

I'm wanting to know what PP will do with the cav. Will they release a full box or do the current cav thing? Either way lots of cav, I'll probably pick them up.

So yea, I likes it. My stuff should be posted today or tomorrow, so hopefully I can get to work on them. There is a tournament here in a couple of weeks on the 11th, it's the Retribution steam roller event, so I figure I should be rocking my pink Elves. I need to check what the format is, but I'm hoping it's not mangled metal or I'll need to buy another jack or two. I am quite tempted to go for Griffon spam. They're insanely cheap and it would be fun to just beat people down with a bunch of them, while stealing Fury/Focus with Kaelyssa to power her spells.

I suppose the advantage of playing a new army is surprise, even though I'm not experienced with them. But hey should be fun either way, just got to hope my health is okay. I have to go into hospital for an entire day next week, which will cut into my painting time, plus they want to knock me out so it'll take a while to recover even when I do come out.

But yea, Ret good, very good. I'm really digging the Ret vibe, they seem to fit my style really well. My next purchases will probably be Ravyn, E Eiryss, Invictor UA and a unit of Mage Hunters. That will give me a 35 point list in MKII and I'll be closing on the 750 mark in MKI as well and throwing in a couple of solos and another jack and I'll be good to go.

Retribution colour scheme (feedback wanted)

Okay folks, so my Retribution are in the mail and will be here in a few days, and as such I started to ponder my colour scheme and wanted to do a quick test. Now I'll be running a couple of jacks and need objective markers, so I looked at what I had laying around and figured I'd never touch my Cryx, so I stole the Cankerworm base and painted it up as such.



That's WiP but the pink is finished and I really like it. It draws the eye perfectly and covers well, is easy to highlight and shade. So my Ret is totally going to be that colour when they arrive. Plus the bonus is they count for the Breast cancer brawl as a pink army.

The downside is basing with the pink is very difficult. I can't use static grass because the moment I do it's going to clash with the pink and look terrible. So it's down to a plain brown, a sandy flag stone or a neutral grey rubble. I can't decide on which but I'm leaning towards the rubble as the cloaks are going to be grey/blueish and the neautral grey will blend will the cloaks and make the armour all the more striking.