So, I got both my 15 and 25 pt games in tonight, but I'll save the other for just a little bit.
To recap, my 15 pt list is:
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Wolf Riders x3 (6)
In the tundra, we found...
Forward Kommander Sorcha (*6)
-Destroyer (9)
-Juggernaut (7)
-War Dog (1)
Widowmakers (4)
I won the roll and had him deploy first. He deployed with the two jacks in front of Sorcha and her puppy. I put my Wolf Riders on the far left flank (which had a hill on it on his side of the table, expecting his Widowmakers to move into position there) while Kromac set up a bit back from a forest outside of my deployment zone with his beasts. The Widowmakers AD'd on the opposite side from the speedy wolves, scared of the puppies after their previous experiences.
He advanced to no real avail, trying to shoot at my Feral but finding his snipers to be out of range. Kromac went first and tossed up Warpath on himself, Inviolable Resolve on the Wolf Riders and finally Wild Aggression on the Warpwolf, finally advancing into the edge of the forest. I ran and light cav moved up the left flank with the Wolf Riders, turning to look at Sorcha. The beasts advanced and riled for not much else.
Sorcha got ballsy and actually charged the Wolf Riders. He's seen what they can do before if allowed to Assault and was try to cut them off. As I recall, one bit the Frostfang in the face but the other two survived. The Widowmakers tapped some damage onto the Warpwolf and not much else happened. On my turn, the Gorax failed a charge at the Widowmakers (SPD5 in Circle suuuuuuucks) while the Warpwolf warped for armour and moved to protect Kromac who had moved further up in the forest and tossed up Bestial, catching Sorcha. The Wolf Riders whiffed terribly and I passed the turn back to him.
The Juggernaut went after the Feral, failing to really hit at all. Sorcha saw an opening and went after Kromac herself (stupid War Dog). Sadly for him, he forgot to pop her feat and he wailed into Kromac, connecting and dealing 12 pts of damage. I spent my last fury to transfer it to the Gorax and then took a second swing for three points of damage, where I decided to Beast Out. Kromac took the turn back in beast form, letting his upkeeps expire. Before he got to do his thing though, I activated the Wolf Riders who came Assaulting in. The killing blow was a wolf, just like the last time the Wolf Riders managed to kill his caster.
Wolves biting Sorcha's ass are awesome!
So, the list worked basically as I had hoped, with the Wolf Riders going after the squishiest target within reach, namely the caster in this case. While the beasts and Kromac advanced more or less up the center. If Sorcha got within range of Kromac's advance + jump with jacks in the way, I was planning on going for the feat assassination.
Kromac felt a growl growing in his throat moments before he heard a rifle report from up ahead, from within the cover of the falling snow. At the same moment, despite the cold all around him, he felt an unnatural cold through the snowy veil. He knew this feeling. It belonged to one of the Northern witches and her pet constructs. Kromac fell into a hunting stance as he moved into the trees, his warbeasts ranging out to one side while he knew the sisters covered his left flank. But as soon as he heard the shrill warcry of the Khadoran warwitch Sorcha, he wondered what ill befell the sisters.
Sorcha came in screaming and swinging her polearm. Catching him off guard, the blow connected with his side. Kromac rolled with the blow even as he expended the last of his magic to force the Gorax to accept the wound in his stead. In the back of his mind, he felt the pain through his connection to the enraged beast as it laid about itself, tossing and clawing at the Khadorans before him. Kromac rose and let Dusk and Dawn drop down in his grip until he held them by the end of their hafts.
"You're going to have to do better than that, girl. That hammer seems a little big for you..." he snarled as he came rushing back in at her. The icy witch was twirling that blasted hammer around her fending off his half hearted axe swings while he listened and felt for any sign of his forces. The Warpwolf had been found by one of those infernal iron constructs, though it was struggling to catch the exceedingly nimble wolf. While his mind searched for the sisters he missed a parry and felt her hammer glance off his thigh, bringing his attention back to the fight. Drawing on the throbbing pain in his leg, Kromac let forth his bestial nature, spasming uncontrollably before being becoming the hulking, muzzled monstrosity he was.
As he drew in his breath to roar at the stunned officer, he heard the yelping hunting cries of the sisters, who appeared miraculously from the whiteout, a javelin landing in the Khadoran's back while a wolf savaged her leg before throwing her away from Kromac. No sooner did her battered form land than her warjack scooped her up in its open hand and a deep tha-whump sound was heard, before a portion of the ground exploded. Another beat later and another shell fell. The wolf had wounded her badly so Kromac withdrew. He would track the witch down and kill her another day when that blasted cannon could be dealt with.
Before long, Kromac was tracking the Khadorans while one sister lay slung over her mount, wounded but still alive, for now. An ambush would hopefully let him finish the ice witch before she could recover to put up a fight. And if he could slay her quickly, her machines would be lost without direction. He had killed her kind before. And tomorrow he would add another mark to his axe...
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Double post incoming!
Going to double post this so I can copy paste in what I had on the Privateer forum for the starting fluff I'm writing. Then I have my 15 pt game fluff to include!
Kromac strode through the knee high snow, never noticing the chill on his bare skin. He paused to breathe in deep, letting the freezing air fill his lungs, somehow smelling of the cold. He felt an unbidden growl deep within his chest, though he was making no sound. His warpwolf had found the beast they had come for. He let his consciousness slip into the feral's and immediately was able to pick up a snarling at the edge of his hearing. Kromac returned to himself and nodded to the slender Tharn woman at his side. She immediately swung up onto the back of her wolf and let forth a primal howl, answered by her sisters, before loping off into the trees, vanishing from view into the gently falling snow. He tightened his grip on Dusk and Dawn before following her into the snowy veil.
Before long, Kromac was joined by the warpwolf, it's fur plastered against its body as the snow melted against it. They slowed as the snarls grew louder, until they entered a clearing and found what they sought. The beast was chained to a stone held in place by druidic magic, but still it strained against its bonds. He saw motion behind the raging Gorax to see the wolf riders circling the clearing. Expecting them to take it down if the creature made a break for it, he set himself before it and nodded to his wolf, who quickly severed the bonds of the distracted Gorax and stepped back as it leapt at Kromac's throat.
Kromac felt a growl stirring within him again, but this wasn't conveyed from the beast who now watched the scene. This was his own bestial nature struggling to come forth. He normally would restrain himself, but he needed that side of himself for this and he let loose the beast within. His heart stopped for a moment as his body suddenly convulsed, the muscles stretching, the bones growing at unnatural speeds, his face elongating into a savage muzzle. Within the span of a few heartbeats, before the enraged Gorax had even crossed the clearing, an equally ferocious creature stood where Kromac had moments before. He tossed aside his axes disdainfully and answered the Gorax's charge with a challenging roar of his own. The only sound that filled the dead and still forest was the two animals. But Kromac would not let the Gorax swing its claws at him. He leapt at it midcharge and stole its momentum with his own. The Gorax went down in a heap as it found an equally fanged maw at its own throat. In that moment, Kromac reached into the savage mind of the Gorax and pulled it from its frenzy. The beast calmed as Kromac stepped away, pleased that his journey had gone so well and ended so bloodlessly. But now he craved blood and flesh. And so the band set out in search of prey.
So, I've recently decided to go with a winter themed Circle army. Of course, given the typical Circle armour, working in blue is easy as the enamel. The Tharn represent another challenge. And speaking of challenges, I am challenging my terribly weak paint skills to do this. I recently had asked about painting tattoos, because this is the way I wish to bring the blue into the Tharn elements. And part of my inspiration is this fellow:
He has some enourmous and recognizable tattoos while still being fairly simple. Perfect! I can totally paint simple! This is really my first shot at free hand, so here's to hoping it comes out well. Since Kromac is kind of the crown jewel of Tharn models, he is actually going to be reserved for the end of the painting league, the capstone of the project as well as the culmination of what I have learned and practiced on other Tharn in the weeks before.
Oh, and other inspiration comes from another video game character:
http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-01/art/ff7-redxiii.jpg
Yeah, even my wolves are getting tattoos if this works out...
But I'd like to hear suggestions too. The models are going to be EXTREMELY cool. Like, wow, that's cold. But the Tharn are savage and cannibals, as we know. Hell, we have BLOODtrackers and BLOODweavers (one of which will be showing up later in this project!). Should I consider blood splatters on the Tharn? I'm leaning towards it for the Bloodweavers at least (oh damn, I gave away that surprise I guess...)? Tell me your thoughts!
I guess you wanna' see the first list, huh? Well, if you bothered reading the narrative, you will already know it.
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Tharn Wolf Riders x3 (6)
15/15
Yup. Lots of fur here.
Pictures are gonna' be pretty poor for a bit here as I am relegated to just my poor phone camera for now. Next week, I'll be back home with the family and I can try to search out the charger for my actual digital camera. I'm being overly ambitious for my painting skill and pace, so I'll be working myself hard to try to keep up with everyone here.
The winter snow betrays you
Kromac strode through the knee high snow, never noticing the chill on his bare skin. He paused to breathe in deep, letting the freezing air fill his lungs, somehow smelling of the cold. He felt an unbidden growl deep within his chest, though he was making no sound. His warpwolf had found the beast they had come for. He let his consciousness slip into the feral's and immediately was able to pick up a snarling at the edge of his hearing. Kromac returned to himself and nodded to the slender Tharn woman at his side. She immediately swung up onto the back of her wolf and let forth a primal howl, answered by her sisters, before loping off into the trees, vanishing from view into the gently falling snow. He tightened his grip on Dusk and Dawn before following her into the snowy veil.
Before long, Kromac was joined by the warpwolf, it's fur plastered against its body as the snow melted against it. They slowed as the snarls grew louder, until they entered a clearing and found what they sought. The beast was chained to a stone held in place by druidic magic, but still it strained against its bonds. He saw motion behind the raging Gorax to see the wolf riders circling the clearing. Expecting them to take it down if the creature made a break for it, he set himself before it and nodded to his wolf, who quickly severed the bonds of the distracted Gorax and stepped back as it leapt at Kromac's throat.
Kromac felt a growl stirring within him again, but this wasn't conveyed from the beast who now watched the scene. This was his own bestial nature struggling to come forth. He normally would restrain himself, but he needed that side of himself for this and he let loose the beast within. His heart stopped for a moment as his body suddenly convulsed, the muscles stretching, the bones growing at unnatural speeds, his face elongating into a savage muzzle. Within the span of a few heartbeats, before the enraged Gorax had even crossed the clearing, an equally ferocious creature stood where Kromac had moments before. He tossed aside his axes disdainfully and answered the Gorax's charge with a challenging roar of his own. The only sound that filled the dead and still forest was the two animals. But Kromac would not let the Gorax swing its claws at him. He leapt at it midcharge and stole its momentum with his own. The Gorax went down in a heap as it found an equally fanged maw at its own throat. In that moment, Kromac reached into the savage mind of the Gorax and pulled it from its frenzy. The beast calmed as Kromac stepped away, pleased that his journey had gone so well and ended so bloodlessly. But now he craved blood and flesh. And so the band set out in search of prey.
So, I've recently decided to go with a winter themed Circle army. Of course, given the typical Circle armour, working in blue is easy as the enamel. The Tharn represent another challenge. And speaking of challenges, I am challenging my terribly weak paint skills to do this. I recently had asked about painting tattoos, because this is the way I wish to bring the blue into the Tharn elements. And part of my inspiration is this fellow:
He has some enourmous and recognizable tattoos while still being fairly simple. Perfect! I can totally paint simple! This is really my first shot at free hand, so here's to hoping it comes out well. Since Kromac is kind of the crown jewel of Tharn models, he is actually going to be reserved for the end of the painting league, the capstone of the project as well as the culmination of what I have learned and practiced on other Tharn in the weeks before.
Oh, and other inspiration comes from another video game character:
http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-01/art/ff7-redxiii.jpg
Yeah, even my wolves are getting tattoos if this works out...
But I'd like to hear suggestions too. The models are going to be EXTREMELY cool. Like, wow, that's cold. But the Tharn are savage and cannibals, as we know. Hell, we have BLOODtrackers and BLOODweavers (one of which will be showing up later in this project!). Should I consider blood splatters on the Tharn? I'm leaning towards it for the Bloodweavers at least (oh damn, I gave away that surprise I guess...)? Tell me your thoughts!
I guess you wanna' see the first list, huh? Well, if you bothered reading the narrative, you will already know it.
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Tharn Wolf Riders x3 (6)
15/15
Yup. Lots of fur here.
Pictures are gonna' be pretty poor for a bit here as I am relegated to just my poor phone camera for now. Next week, I'll be back home with the family and I can try to search out the charger for my actual digital camera. I'm being overly ambitious for my painting skill and pace, so I'll be working myself hard to try to keep up with everyone here.
The winter snow betrays you
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Gamer's Journal Update
Quick update as to where I am:
My phone pisses me off. Really, it does. It is so proprietary and counter-intuitive I cannot get pictures off of it for some reason. Piece of crap. Ugh.
The relevance to this is that if I don't figure this out, I don't put up my terrible little camera phone pics of the models at the start. Big deal. I'm really not terribly concerned with my WIP shots. I should have access to my real camera (provided I can find the charger for it, and if I can't I'm ordering a new one) on Monday to post some actual results. And if I can't find mine, I'm going to snag my sister's camera to get some Monday shots while I wait for my new charger to arrive.
However, due to the fact I am moving (and homeless for a day!) this week, my first week is likely to be...uneventful. I green stuff'd my Wolf Riders and Kromac today to fill in some gaps (and cover the "collar" effect of the Wolf Riders), so I got a little bit done. Next week though, I have no work. No school. Nothing but time and family distractions, so I'm gonna' force myself to get a LOT more work done. This is likely to include playing a little catchup due to the whole move and busy work schedule this weekend.
So expect some actual shots next week. To recap, these are my current expected lists for the 15 and 25 pt levels, the first two here.
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Wolf Riders x3 (6)
15/15
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Wolf Riders x3 (6)
Bloodweavers (6)
Lord of the Feast (4)
25/25
Yeah, the 25 pt list changed a little. This was actually my initial list when brainstorming, but I had gone to the Gnarlhorn/Gobber Crew addition instead for model count. I changed this for a few reasons. First, I want to try to add a unit each week. I am terrible about getting around to painting units because there always seem to be so damn many of them! Second, I can't get my hands on some Swamp Gobbers at the moment and without them the list only comes to 23/25, which is below the Within-One-Point requirement for tournament play (which I do play by). So the Gnarlhorn got pushed back to week 3 along with a set of Shifting Stones I can toss in then (see? week 3 has a unit!).
So, I'm hoping to get to play these lists a bit tomorrow. I'll be away from my playgroup for a week so I want to try to get a 25 pt game in this week. If we end up with an uneven number of players (3 people is not uncommon for us), I might end up throwing down with a pair of 35 pt Circle lists against two others for an unlikely allies type game tomorrow night. If I do, my plan is to take my 35 pt Kromac list and add a 35 pt Morvahna infantry list to it (Morvahna and Kromac were fluffy as I recall and I wanna' get my Reeves on the table for some reason).
Expect battle reports tomorrow night. Until then, I leave you with the current Week 1 thread on the Privateer Forums for the Gamer's Journal Online Edition.
The winter snow betrays you...
My phone pisses me off. Really, it does. It is so proprietary and counter-intuitive I cannot get pictures off of it for some reason. Piece of crap. Ugh.
The relevance to this is that if I don't figure this out, I don't put up my terrible little camera phone pics of the models at the start. Big deal. I'm really not terribly concerned with my WIP shots. I should have access to my real camera (provided I can find the charger for it, and if I can't I'm ordering a new one) on Monday to post some actual results. And if I can't find mine, I'm going to snag my sister's camera to get some Monday shots while I wait for my new charger to arrive.
However, due to the fact I am moving (and homeless for a day!) this week, my first week is likely to be...uneventful. I green stuff'd my Wolf Riders and Kromac today to fill in some gaps (and cover the "collar" effect of the Wolf Riders), so I got a little bit done. Next week though, I have no work. No school. Nothing but time and family distractions, so I'm gonna' force myself to get a LOT more work done. This is likely to include playing a little catchup due to the whole move and busy work schedule this weekend.
So expect some actual shots next week. To recap, these are my current expected lists for the 15 and 25 pt levels, the first two here.
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Wolf Riders x3 (6)
15/15
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Wolf Riders x3 (6)
Bloodweavers (6)
Lord of the Feast (4)
25/25
Yeah, the 25 pt list changed a little. This was actually my initial list when brainstorming, but I had gone to the Gnarlhorn/Gobber Crew addition instead for model count. I changed this for a few reasons. First, I want to try to add a unit each week. I am terrible about getting around to painting units because there always seem to be so damn many of them! Second, I can't get my hands on some Swamp Gobbers at the moment and without them the list only comes to 23/25, which is below the Within-One-Point requirement for tournament play (which I do play by). So the Gnarlhorn got pushed back to week 3 along with a set of Shifting Stones I can toss in then (see? week 3 has a unit!).
So, I'm hoping to get to play these lists a bit tomorrow. I'll be away from my playgroup for a week so I want to try to get a 25 pt game in this week. If we end up with an uneven number of players (3 people is not uncommon for us), I might end up throwing down with a pair of 35 pt Circle lists against two others for an unlikely allies type game tomorrow night. If I do, my plan is to take my 35 pt Kromac list and add a 35 pt Morvahna infantry list to it (Morvahna and Kromac were fluffy as I recall and I wanna' get my Reeves on the table for some reason).
Expect battle reports tomorrow night. Until then, I leave you with the current Week 1 thread on the Privateer Forums for the Gamer's Journal Online Edition.
The winter snow betrays you...
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Time to get this going again (And the start of the Online Gamer's Journal)
I've been lazy about this. I made it a bookmark and I forget it. Ha!
Well, I have a painting project now. Someone over on the Privateer Press forums has this great idea inspired by a running No Quarter article. The thread can be found [url=http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?p=310960&posted=1#post310960]here[/url]. The basic idea is a painting league dealy to give us all peer pressure to get things painted. Good! I need someone to ride my ass and make me get stuff done! And right now, I'm back to my Circle Orboros. This is a great excuse to get an army painted up for the next league, which starts June 7th. I wanna' play Kromac. So, he's it. Four successive levels of Kromac lists at 15, 25, 35 and finally 50 pts. Some of the warbeasts have some paint on them but none are done. They will be finished and based. Some of what is already done needs to be changed since I have recently decided to go with a winter theme instead of the bog standard green and gold.
As the project goes on, I'll post what amounts to fanfiction for each successive group as Kromac's personal little warband grows. I [i]will[/i] be taking liberties with the fiction where I do not know things (such as the closeness of family bonds within the Tharn). If anyone actually reads this and wants to correct me, awesome. Go for it! I don't know as much about the Tharn as I'd like. I've only read the three Hordes books and that was several years ago, so I don't remember all of it at this point.
Further, I made myself some rules. I posted them in that thread, but here they are again!
+No bouncing around! I will paint each list all the way before I paint a model from the next tier. 15, 25, 35 and 45 pts.
+The aim is the 15, 25 and 35 pt lists each in one week with all remaining time before the June 7th league start to finish the 50 pt list (and extra time is spent on alternate warlocks!)
+Any units that appear will be painted as a full unit, not just the number in the list. (This is only relevant to one choice in my lists, but I hate to paint only part of a unit when I have the full unit. I feel the models end up inconsistent when painted at different times)
+My warlock is the last model painted. There are a couple reasons for this. First, I want to try some techniques along the way on other models (tattoos on other Tharn if you saw my recent question about them). Also, I like getting every bit of practice before I paint a model as daunting as Kromac! And it means I have my Tharn painting schemes down by the time he comes up. Also, I love painting characters more than anything else. He is my final reward and the capstone to the project.
+Pictures! For the start of the project, my pictures will be terrible camera phone ones since the charger for my digital camera has decided to go AWOL. I will have a chance to look for it in a little over a week. If I cannot find it, I will be placing an order for a replacement.
But on to the lists!
Week 1 == 15/15 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Week 2 == 24/25 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Week 3 == 35/35 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Tharn Bloodweavers (5)
Shifting Stones (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Lord of the Feast (4)
Week 4 == 50/50 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Argus (4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Druids of Orboros (7)
-Druid Overseer (2)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Tharn Bloodweavers (5)
Shifting Stones (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Lord of the Feast (4)
You might notice I'm adding a unit every week. That's because I hate painting units and doing more than one in a week might make me kill myself. Once this is done, I will still have full units of Bloodtrackers, Reeves and Wolves for another time. But I'll put a dent in them!
I'm looking forward to this. In the next month I've gotta' move and work. And not much else really and I knew I wanted to get some painting done. So this is perfect!
If possible, I am gonna' try to get at least a game in at each level each week with each level. This will however be dependent on others being up for the games. I will be trying to get someone else at my LGS to join me in this though.
That's it for now. Expect starter pictures of everything in the next couple days!
Well, I have a painting project now. Someone over on the Privateer Press forums has this great idea inspired by a running No Quarter article. The thread can be found [url=http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?p=310960&posted=1#post310960]here[/url]. The basic idea is a painting league dealy to give us all peer pressure to get things painted. Good! I need someone to ride my ass and make me get stuff done! And right now, I'm back to my Circle Orboros. This is a great excuse to get an army painted up for the next league, which starts June 7th. I wanna' play Kromac. So, he's it. Four successive levels of Kromac lists at 15, 25, 35 and finally 50 pts. Some of the warbeasts have some paint on them but none are done. They will be finished and based. Some of what is already done needs to be changed since I have recently decided to go with a winter theme instead of the bog standard green and gold.
As the project goes on, I'll post what amounts to fanfiction for each successive group as Kromac's personal little warband grows. I [i]will[/i] be taking liberties with the fiction where I do not know things (such as the closeness of family bonds within the Tharn). If anyone actually reads this and wants to correct me, awesome. Go for it! I don't know as much about the Tharn as I'd like. I've only read the three Hordes books and that was several years ago, so I don't remember all of it at this point.
Further, I made myself some rules. I posted them in that thread, but here they are again!
+No bouncing around! I will paint each list all the way before I paint a model from the next tier. 15, 25, 35 and 45 pts.
+The aim is the 15, 25 and 35 pt lists each in one week with all remaining time before the June 7th league start to finish the 50 pt list (and extra time is spent on alternate warlocks!)
+Any units that appear will be painted as a full unit, not just the number in the list. (This is only relevant to one choice in my lists, but I hate to paint only part of a unit when I have the full unit. I feel the models end up inconsistent when painted at different times)
+My warlock is the last model painted. There are a couple reasons for this. First, I want to try some techniques along the way on other models (tattoos on other Tharn if you saw my recent question about them). Also, I like getting every bit of practice before I paint a model as daunting as Kromac! And it means I have my Tharn painting schemes down by the time he comes up. Also, I love painting characters more than anything else. He is my final reward and the capstone to the project.
+Pictures! For the start of the project, my pictures will be terrible camera phone ones since the charger for my digital camera has decided to go AWOL. I will have a chance to look for it in a little over a week. If I cannot find it, I will be placing an order for a replacement.
But on to the lists!
Week 1 == 15/15 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Week 2 == 24/25 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Week 3 == 35/35 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Tharn Bloodweavers (5)
Shifting Stones (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Lord of the Feast (4)
Week 4 == 50/50 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Argus (4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Druids of Orboros (7)
-Druid Overseer (2)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Tharn Bloodweavers (5)
Shifting Stones (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Lord of the Feast (4)
You might notice I'm adding a unit every week. That's because I hate painting units and doing more than one in a week might make me kill myself. Once this is done, I will still have full units of Bloodtrackers, Reeves and Wolves for another time. But I'll put a dent in them!
I'm looking forward to this. In the next month I've gotta' move and work. And not much else really and I knew I wanted to get some painting done. So this is perfect!
If possible, I am gonna' try to get at least a game in at each level each week with each level. This will however be dependent on others being up for the games. I will be trying to get someone else at my LGS to join me in this though.
That's it for now. Expect starter pictures of everything in the next couple days!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Oh yeah, I have this thing here. DJ still rules.
Wow. I forgot to put something up last week. Yay!
Ok, got in a pair of games last week, both with the same guy against the same list. I switched up my list after the first game. Working from memory on these things:
Him:
eHaley
-Cyclone
-Defender
-Lancer
Trencher Infantry (x6)
Trencher Commandos (x6)
Maxwell Finn
Yes, that is a Tier 4 Gravediggers list at 35 pts. FML.
Me first game:
pSkarre
-Deathjack
-Deathripper
-Deathripper
-Skarlock
Mechanithralls (x10)
Bane Thralls (x10)
Bane Lord Tartarus
Necrosurgeon
Yeah, good ol' melee oriented pSkarre list up against Gravediggers. Yup. Going to end well. And actually, it did. And it gave me one of my favourite plays ever.
I luckily outraced him to the caster kill before he could pop her feat (more on that later). Tartarus got to beat the hell out of terrified Commandos (really, they rolled an 11 on a command check once we realized he was in melee with them and was a terrifying entity) and add on more Thralls (I MIGHT need to get more of them just to be fodder for Death Toll...). He Assaulted the Infantry into my Mechanithralls with the Deathjack behind them. Arc'd Blood Rains already had Finn sitting at one pt left after Corrosion ticked so he was making a suicide charge for glory! And horrible, soul-devouring death. Can't forget that.
So, Skarre decides to finally step out from her hiding place to get my entire army into range and pops her feat, cutting herself for five. She then tossed up Dark Guidance. The Assassination run is on. And that is when I became exceedingly happy.
A Deathripper. Actually, my only painted Deathripper out of the far too many I own. He slams the Cyclone, full force, full distance, with a STR of 12 straight across eHaley, taking off half her health and knocking her down. Ha! TAKE THAT YOU TEMPORAL WHORE! (Can you tell I'm not a fan of either version of Haley?) The Deathjack decides he wants to devour her soul too, so he clears out the way for himself with some spell casting, then goes charging in on the Defender next to Haley, smashes it (for some ridiculous amount of damage that I cannot recall), then reaches over with his next swing and splatters Haley for 18. Seriously, more than her starting health with a single swing.
I chalk the head up for the Deathjack. That's two casters in MK2 he has personally gotten the killing blow on. I actually plan on keeping track of his kills on the back of his base with faction coloured tick marks. I'm still debating on whether I want to do one tick for each unique caster he's killed or just for every caster killed ever, even if they are repeats. But anyway, while I give him the kill itself, my opponent contends the Deathripper is the real killer. Ok, the little guy does get points and needs some special love. He's the #1 Deathripper now.
We decide to roll up for another quick game so I swap lists, specifically to a pDenny list I had prepared that also used Bane Thralls so I had less to do in terms of swapping to the Bane Knights I had in the pGaspy list I also brought.
This time I have roughly:
pDenny
-Deathjack
-Deathripper
-Deathripper
-Deathripper
-Skarlock
Bane Thralls (x10)
Bane Lord Tartarus
Warwitch Siren
I believe he had a comment of something like "Holy arc nodes..."
This game got mired down into cat and mouse pretty quick as we both speed played. Stealth on the Bane Thralls kept tripping him up, saving me repeatedly. (Also constantly incurring evil cackling on my part...what can I say, I feel I belong with Cryx) He popped his feat a bit earlier this time though which tripped me up bad. For the record, eHaley's feat boils down to this:
-All affected enemy (read: my) models (in her massive 8 FOC ctrl) forfeit either their movement or action. Ouch. Especially when running a melee heavy army that hasn't reached combat yet.
-On my next turn he gets to tell me which order I activate in. Dammit.
He popped it at pretty much the perfect time since my army was heavily affected by not getting their attacks and still needing to even reach melee so most of my army just kind of moved up. I did however manage to land Crippling Grasp on Haley and then popped Denny's feat as a defensive measure to keep him tied down for a turn. It works to let me survive and has Haley reduced to a crawl as she runs away. The Cyclone though stepped up to play bodyguard and actually hurt the Deathjack fairly bad, knocking off an arm (and a crucial FOC from the Skull of Hate).
Given that the next turn is the last thanks to the shop closing up, I decide to screw the methodical approach of picking apart his army and decide to go for the assassination. It fails, though I did hurt her pretty bad (if the DJ still had that extra focus from his second arm I think I would have been able to manage a kill since then it meant either meant a fourth Venom cast or enough for a Scourge before double Venom to make sure she bites it). However, we call it a draw and pack up.
So, closing thoughts:
Tartarus is a goddamned beast. No, really. This guy does not fuck around. He wrecks house, is resilient for a solo and is SPEEDY. He zips up the field and is just fine RUNNING into combat to make an opponent think twice about running. If even a single Bane Thrall can manage to reach within 3" of Tartarus, then fleeing and giving me the free strikes is a terrible option. Clumping in to get Thresher'd is just as bad. And, well, if you can't kill him before he goes nuts next turn, there just aren't any attractive options. Tartarus says hello with a very big axe and a slightly murderous disposition.
Necrosurgeon didn't do much but I expect I will get better use of her healing and McThrall making abilities in games that don't end so quickly when the feat goes live for Skarre.
The Siren didn't do much, but that's thanks to my opponent redeploying so he didn't have to play with her and the Deathjack running a tag team on him gathering souls for even more unholy devastation.
The Bane Thralls impressed me. In MK1, I just always reached for my Knights instead (reach, Ghostly, their free attacks and I like the models better). But the Thralls are major contenders now I think. And man, I cannot wait to get that UA next month...
Deathripper needs a name. Now. He is my friggin' hero. The DJ may have been able to do it all on his own without the little guy, but the little guy was an isnurance policy that made sure the DJ could finish the job. Also, painted models do perform better. More proof!
This week I'm hoping we can throwdown in a three way with my Cygnar and Khador opponents (from here on called J and T respectively). I'm trying to decide between some Coven or pGaspy action. I'm sure I'll make a decision by Wednesday. And that's good since the following week brings us our first week of Nightfall. Of course, since I am still getting re acclimated to my Cryx and Nightfall has the bastards invading my home turf, I am bringing the Cryx to the party. Though while I have been trying to explore the different casters and how they act in MK2, for the League I am not straying far out of my comfort zone. I'm playing good ol' Cryx. That is, quick and dirty.
Though, I think I'll need to change things up since J has at least found me on the Privateer forums (where he voiced his contention over the Deathjack's latest prize to me via PM) where I also have a link to this blog for my thoughts. I don't know if he will read any of this, but I can't trust a dirty Cygnaran (even if he has Cryx too). Besides, I don't really wanna' be a one trick pony. More of a two trick pony. Their names being Deathjack and Skarlock. Rawr.
Ok, got in a pair of games last week, both with the same guy against the same list. I switched up my list after the first game. Working from memory on these things:
Him:
eHaley
-Cyclone
-Defender
-Lancer
Trencher Infantry (x6)
Trencher Commandos (x6)
Maxwell Finn
Yes, that is a Tier 4 Gravediggers list at 35 pts. FML.
Me first game:
pSkarre
-Deathjack
-Deathripper
-Deathripper
-Skarlock
Mechanithralls (x10)
Bane Thralls (x10)
Bane Lord Tartarus
Necrosurgeon
Yeah, good ol' melee oriented pSkarre list up against Gravediggers. Yup. Going to end well. And actually, it did. And it gave me one of my favourite plays ever.
I luckily outraced him to the caster kill before he could pop her feat (more on that later). Tartarus got to beat the hell out of terrified Commandos (really, they rolled an 11 on a command check once we realized he was in melee with them and was a terrifying entity) and add on more Thralls (I MIGHT need to get more of them just to be fodder for Death Toll...). He Assaulted the Infantry into my Mechanithralls with the Deathjack behind them. Arc'd Blood Rains already had Finn sitting at one pt left after Corrosion ticked so he was making a suicide charge for glory! And horrible, soul-devouring death. Can't forget that.
So, Skarre decides to finally step out from her hiding place to get my entire army into range and pops her feat, cutting herself for five. She then tossed up Dark Guidance. The Assassination run is on. And that is when I became exceedingly happy.
A Deathripper. Actually, my only painted Deathripper out of the far too many I own. He slams the Cyclone, full force, full distance, with a STR of 12 straight across eHaley, taking off half her health and knocking her down. Ha! TAKE THAT YOU TEMPORAL WHORE! (Can you tell I'm not a fan of either version of Haley?) The Deathjack decides he wants to devour her soul too, so he clears out the way for himself with some spell casting, then goes charging in on the Defender next to Haley, smashes it (for some ridiculous amount of damage that I cannot recall), then reaches over with his next swing and splatters Haley for 18. Seriously, more than her starting health with a single swing.
I chalk the head up for the Deathjack. That's two casters in MK2 he has personally gotten the killing blow on. I actually plan on keeping track of his kills on the back of his base with faction coloured tick marks. I'm still debating on whether I want to do one tick for each unique caster he's killed or just for every caster killed ever, even if they are repeats. But anyway, while I give him the kill itself, my opponent contends the Deathripper is the real killer. Ok, the little guy does get points and needs some special love. He's the #1 Deathripper now.
We decide to roll up for another quick game so I swap lists, specifically to a pDenny list I had prepared that also used Bane Thralls so I had less to do in terms of swapping to the Bane Knights I had in the pGaspy list I also brought.
This time I have roughly:
pDenny
-Deathjack
-Deathripper
-Deathripper
-Deathripper
-Skarlock
Bane Thralls (x10)
Bane Lord Tartarus
Warwitch Siren
I believe he had a comment of something like "Holy arc nodes..."
This game got mired down into cat and mouse pretty quick as we both speed played. Stealth on the Bane Thralls kept tripping him up, saving me repeatedly. (Also constantly incurring evil cackling on my part...what can I say, I feel I belong with Cryx) He popped his feat a bit earlier this time though which tripped me up bad. For the record, eHaley's feat boils down to this:
-All affected enemy (read: my) models (in her massive 8 FOC ctrl) forfeit either their movement or action. Ouch. Especially when running a melee heavy army that hasn't reached combat yet.
-On my next turn he gets to tell me which order I activate in. Dammit.
He popped it at pretty much the perfect time since my army was heavily affected by not getting their attacks and still needing to even reach melee so most of my army just kind of moved up. I did however manage to land Crippling Grasp on Haley and then popped Denny's feat as a defensive measure to keep him tied down for a turn. It works to let me survive and has Haley reduced to a crawl as she runs away. The Cyclone though stepped up to play bodyguard and actually hurt the Deathjack fairly bad, knocking off an arm (and a crucial FOC from the Skull of Hate).
Given that the next turn is the last thanks to the shop closing up, I decide to screw the methodical approach of picking apart his army and decide to go for the assassination. It fails, though I did hurt her pretty bad (if the DJ still had that extra focus from his second arm I think I would have been able to manage a kill since then it meant either meant a fourth Venom cast or enough for a Scourge before double Venom to make sure she bites it). However, we call it a draw and pack up.
So, closing thoughts:
Tartarus is a goddamned beast. No, really. This guy does not fuck around. He wrecks house, is resilient for a solo and is SPEEDY. He zips up the field and is just fine RUNNING into combat to make an opponent think twice about running. If even a single Bane Thrall can manage to reach within 3" of Tartarus, then fleeing and giving me the free strikes is a terrible option. Clumping in to get Thresher'd is just as bad. And, well, if you can't kill him before he goes nuts next turn, there just aren't any attractive options. Tartarus says hello with a very big axe and a slightly murderous disposition.
Necrosurgeon didn't do much but I expect I will get better use of her healing and McThrall making abilities in games that don't end so quickly when the feat goes live for Skarre.
The Siren didn't do much, but that's thanks to my opponent redeploying so he didn't have to play with her and the Deathjack running a tag team on him gathering souls for even more unholy devastation.
The Bane Thralls impressed me. In MK1, I just always reached for my Knights instead (reach, Ghostly, their free attacks and I like the models better). But the Thralls are major contenders now I think. And man, I cannot wait to get that UA next month...
Deathripper needs a name. Now. He is my friggin' hero. The DJ may have been able to do it all on his own without the little guy, but the little guy was an isnurance policy that made sure the DJ could finish the job. Also, painted models do perform better. More proof!
This week I'm hoping we can throwdown in a three way with my Cygnar and Khador opponents (from here on called J and T respectively). I'm trying to decide between some Coven or pGaspy action. I'm sure I'll make a decision by Wednesday. And that's good since the following week brings us our first week of Nightfall. Of course, since I am still getting re acclimated to my Cryx and Nightfall has the bastards invading my home turf, I am bringing the Cryx to the party. Though while I have been trying to explore the different casters and how they act in MK2, for the League I am not straying far out of my comfort zone. I'm playing good ol' Cryx. That is, quick and dirty.
Though, I think I'll need to change things up since J has at least found me on the Privateer forums (where he voiced his contention over the Deathjack's latest prize to me via PM) where I also have a link to this blog for my thoughts. I don't know if he will read any of this, but I can't trust a dirty Cygnaran (even if he has Cryx too). Besides, I don't really wanna' be a one trick pony. More of a two trick pony. Their names being Deathjack and Skarlock. Rawr.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
And the Deathjack claims it's first MK2 warcaster head...
I got my first MK2 game in tonight. Huzzah!
I changed up the list sort of last minute since I couldn't find my Nightwretches (where the hell are they?) I dropped the Necrotech and took a Defiler instead.
So my list was:
eSkarre
-Deathjack
-Leviathan
-Defiler
-Skarlock
Satyxis Raiders (10x w/ Sea Witch UA)
Pistol Wraith
I faced off against:
pSorcha
-Destroyer
-Juggernaut
-Marauder
Winterguard Infantry (6x)
Winterguard Mortar Team
Man-o-War Demolition Corp (3x)
Widowmakers
He won the die roll and decided to take first. From my side of the table, I was looking at the Destroyer with Manowars on the left flank, the Marauder with Winterguard on the right flank and the rest, including Sorcha, setting up in the middle. I deployed heavy to the right flank, intending to just not deal with that hated bombard on the Destroyer. And I never really did. He Avande Deployed (AD'd from now on) the Widowmakers on my right flank just behind a forest. I AD'd the Deathjack (DJ from here on out) directly behind the big rock spire in the middle of the board with the Satyxis doing the same on the far right.
Turn 1: He moved the Widowmakers up into the woods and shot at the Satyxis. Let me just say right now the Satyxis seem great on their own. Toss in that UA and they are approaching broken. Holy hell. DEF 16 vs ranged and immune to blasts? I actually had to keep checking that latter part to make sure I was right. Woah. I'm not sure if they are immune to a direct hit as well, but I assume they suffer that and are simply immune to the blast damage. Luckily, he never managed to hit them directly with his mortar. Of course, he missed the Satyxis. Otherwise, he largely moved up, tossed up Fog of War and passed the turn.
In return, I started by running the Satyxis up to where they stood outside the forest but with the Widowmakers within the reach of my Lacerators. The rest of my army largely moved up, I tossed up Death War on the Defiler and Admonition on...I don't remember. It didn't really matter. Admonition DID matter later, but I'll get to that.
Turn 2: He upkept Fog and moved into his turn after some allocation. His Widowmakers tried to flee. Somehow, one of them made it out alive, passed his command check and lived in the back. He didn't manage to do much else, trying to drop a mortar shell into the Satyxis and doing nothing. Notably, the Juggernaut had moved onto the open part of the hill in the center of the table (it was a flat hill with an impassable rock spire taking up half of it).
When it came around to me, I allocated plenty of focus to the Deathjack to do his thing, took a damage point to upkeep Death Ward on the Defiler and tossed a couple to the Leviathan, who squandered them, so we won't talk about him anymore this turn. The Satyxis went running through the woods to again harass the Widowmaker. I got Backlash up on the Juggernaut, used the Skarlock to put Admonition on the Deathjack and then charged in with said Deathjack. He wrecked it in one turn and fed back some damage to Sorcha. The Pistol Wraith tried to Death Chill the Marauder (and somehow failed to hit on his first attack...on a Khadoran heavy...wtf). With the Deathjack basically being the triumphant king of the hill, I passed the turn, waiting for a challenger.
Turn 3: He accidentally let Fog of War expire this turn but allocated focus to the Marauder. The Widowmaker made a break for it again and got cut down, but this was perfect for him. He cast Boundless Charge on the Marauder, popped Sorcha's feat, freezing the Deathjack, my Satyxis and the Wraith. His Winterguard moved poorly and only half got to shoot at the Satyxis, but without my DEF 16, he scored three hits and three kills handily. The Marauder then made his move, charging in on the Deathjack, and began hammering in. He was hitting automatically but his damage was all over the place. He missed knocking out a single system completely while still taking out about half the Deathjack's boxes. Of course, the DJ got a tad pissed and got his revenge the next turn. And for the record, I hate Sorcha's feat. It shut down my Admonition defense. Luckily, that wasn't happening again.
So, things roll around for me, the DJ has taken a fair bit of punishment, needs to act this turn and I need to protect him. I allocate him full up, give the Leviathan a few so he can get in on the act, have the DJ spend a focus to shake off the Stationary and then proceed with the turn. The Skarlock successfully got Backlash onto the Marauder and then the Leviathan moved in. He managed to get some damage on before the Deathjack went to town and got another warjack wreck to his credit, dropping Sorcha to about half her health by the time it was done. I moved up with Skarre, popped her feat, cut herself for five and protected the Deathjack, Leviathan, Defiler, Pistol Wraith and Skarre herself.
Turn 4: Facing down a line of most of my army that was untargetable, Sorcha ran off. Not much really happened except some maneuvering. Well, he did charge the Raiders with his Winterguard, playing Imperial Guard style to keep them locked up. Nothing came of it and he moved on.
During my turn, the DJ got a full load like every other turn. The Satyxis moved up and wiped out the Winterguard, making for their last play of the game. The Deathjack advanced over the wreck markers in front of him and hurled Black Spot at Sorcha (given the amount of heavy Khadoran armour I faced off against, this was oddly the first time I cast this all-star spell). It came up one short so I boosted it after the roll. Oh, how I LURVE Seas of Fate. Got it to stick now and then cast Perdition, hoping to move up onto Sorcha and hopefully luck out and pound her in with his initial attacks, which were still ready. Sadly, it missed and I went on. The Defiler moved up, intending to act simply as a node if needed and took a potshot spray across the clustered Manowars and Mortar Team. Took half the health from one Manowar, pinged the second and killed one member of the mortar team. I don't remember these guys being this awesome in MK1 so this improvement to him made me VERY happy. The Pistol Wraith stood his ground and fired into the Manowars. He finished the first one, gaining a token that he in turn used to boost his damage roll on the second Manowar (the other wounded one) which let me kill that off too. The Skarlock dropped Admonition back on the Deathjack and everything was setup. All of this proved very important when Skarre moved up, used her last focus to cast Perdition, killed the last member of the Mortar crew (which was also the closest enemy model to the Deathjack), and let Perdition trigger the Deathjack directly into Sorcha herself.
Turn 5:
He tries to charge the Deathjack in the back with the last Manowar, which triggers Admonition and lets him scuttle around Sorcha, out of the Manowar's reach and trying to hide behind her to keep the Destroyer to from coming after me. Sorcha swings in effectively at the jack while moving to the side to let the now Boundless Charge Destroyer to still reach the Deathjack. The poor Khadoran jack whiffs and the Deathjack promptly smears Sorcha in a single swing the next turn, sealing the game and capturing his first caster kill in MK2.
So, that was a long ass play by play and I really won't do that for all games (probably just really notable ones). But damn was that fun! I was so happy to be back chucking dice. I had the upper hand from the start of the game because this is someone fairly new to the game who lacks much for model choice (the Widowmakers were proxied) in addition to his lack of experience. We are gonna' play again next week and he is proxying things to try them out to see what he wants to buy next. This is simply going to be a matter of time in terms of learning and expanding. I can't wait 'til this becomes a more competitive game for the people here.
Under MK2 though:
eSkarre: Just as sickening as in MK1. Oh, I love her. She lost the ability to suck Focus back off her jacks and while I wished I could have done that a couple times that night, meh. She is still my lady.
Deathjack: Still kind of unfair. He lost Necrovent, but he also lost Unbound, which is MORE than beneficial to the Cryx player IMO. He personally tallied Sorcha herself as well as TWO Khadoran jacks (with minimal help from the Leviathan).
Leviathan: Ok, honestly, he is here to shoot at infantry that have Black Spot on them. This made him pretty lack luster. I'd honestly probably have preferred to have a Slayer and the points freed up.
Defiler: Went from utterly useless to pretty damn awesome I think. Expensive at 5 pts, but I will definitely take him in future games if I can eek out that extra pt.
Skarlock: Still a staple.
Satyxis: Oh. My. God. They didn't get to do what I REALLY wanted (Power Swell charge a jack with Backlash on it and kill the opposing warcaster without ever getting close to her) but he ran scared of them. And at range against regular ranged attacks, hitting them seemed near impossible. I am going to have a lot of fun with these. I need to make a Satyxis army when the Raider Captain, Bloodweavers and Blood Hag all come out.
Pistol Wraith: A tad overcosted I think. I don't think I'll be using them much in the future except for MAYBE big games with eSkarre or Denny (both versions).
No update on the projects for now, so meh. I got to throw dice! That's all that counts! Oh, and I got God of War 3, so I'll be posting something about that later on. Probably once I beat it, which could honestly take a bit. I'm playing on Titan (hard) mode and it is fairly punishing actually. First boss was able to knock 1/3 of my health off each time he hit. But I still love it.
I changed up the list sort of last minute since I couldn't find my Nightwretches (where the hell are they?) I dropped the Necrotech and took a Defiler instead.
So my list was:
eSkarre
-Deathjack
-Leviathan
-Defiler
-Skarlock
Satyxis Raiders (10x w/ Sea Witch UA)
Pistol Wraith
I faced off against:
pSorcha
-Destroyer
-Juggernaut
-Marauder
Winterguard Infantry (6x)
Winterguard Mortar Team
Man-o-War Demolition Corp (3x)
Widowmakers
He won the die roll and decided to take first. From my side of the table, I was looking at the Destroyer with Manowars on the left flank, the Marauder with Winterguard on the right flank and the rest, including Sorcha, setting up in the middle. I deployed heavy to the right flank, intending to just not deal with that hated bombard on the Destroyer. And I never really did. He Avande Deployed (AD'd from now on) the Widowmakers on my right flank just behind a forest. I AD'd the Deathjack (DJ from here on out) directly behind the big rock spire in the middle of the board with the Satyxis doing the same on the far right.
Turn 1: He moved the Widowmakers up into the woods and shot at the Satyxis. Let me just say right now the Satyxis seem great on their own. Toss in that UA and they are approaching broken. Holy hell. DEF 16 vs ranged and immune to blasts? I actually had to keep checking that latter part to make sure I was right. Woah. I'm not sure if they are immune to a direct hit as well, but I assume they suffer that and are simply immune to the blast damage. Luckily, he never managed to hit them directly with his mortar. Of course, he missed the Satyxis. Otherwise, he largely moved up, tossed up Fog of War and passed the turn.
In return, I started by running the Satyxis up to where they stood outside the forest but with the Widowmakers within the reach of my Lacerators. The rest of my army largely moved up, I tossed up Death War on the Defiler and Admonition on...I don't remember. It didn't really matter. Admonition DID matter later, but I'll get to that.
Turn 2: He upkept Fog and moved into his turn after some allocation. His Widowmakers tried to flee. Somehow, one of them made it out alive, passed his command check and lived in the back. He didn't manage to do much else, trying to drop a mortar shell into the Satyxis and doing nothing. Notably, the Juggernaut had moved onto the open part of the hill in the center of the table (it was a flat hill with an impassable rock spire taking up half of it).
When it came around to me, I allocated plenty of focus to the Deathjack to do his thing, took a damage point to upkeep Death Ward on the Defiler and tossed a couple to the Leviathan, who squandered them, so we won't talk about him anymore this turn. The Satyxis went running through the woods to again harass the Widowmaker. I got Backlash up on the Juggernaut, used the Skarlock to put Admonition on the Deathjack and then charged in with said Deathjack. He wrecked it in one turn and fed back some damage to Sorcha. The Pistol Wraith tried to Death Chill the Marauder (and somehow failed to hit on his first attack...on a Khadoran heavy...wtf). With the Deathjack basically being the triumphant king of the hill, I passed the turn, waiting for a challenger.
Turn 3: He accidentally let Fog of War expire this turn but allocated focus to the Marauder. The Widowmaker made a break for it again and got cut down, but this was perfect for him. He cast Boundless Charge on the Marauder, popped Sorcha's feat, freezing the Deathjack, my Satyxis and the Wraith. His Winterguard moved poorly and only half got to shoot at the Satyxis, but without my DEF 16, he scored three hits and three kills handily. The Marauder then made his move, charging in on the Deathjack, and began hammering in. He was hitting automatically but his damage was all over the place. He missed knocking out a single system completely while still taking out about half the Deathjack's boxes. Of course, the DJ got a tad pissed and got his revenge the next turn. And for the record, I hate Sorcha's feat. It shut down my Admonition defense. Luckily, that wasn't happening again.
So, things roll around for me, the DJ has taken a fair bit of punishment, needs to act this turn and I need to protect him. I allocate him full up, give the Leviathan a few so he can get in on the act, have the DJ spend a focus to shake off the Stationary and then proceed with the turn. The Skarlock successfully got Backlash onto the Marauder and then the Leviathan moved in. He managed to get some damage on before the Deathjack went to town and got another warjack wreck to his credit, dropping Sorcha to about half her health by the time it was done. I moved up with Skarre, popped her feat, cut herself for five and protected the Deathjack, Leviathan, Defiler, Pistol Wraith and Skarre herself.
Turn 4: Facing down a line of most of my army that was untargetable, Sorcha ran off. Not much really happened except some maneuvering. Well, he did charge the Raiders with his Winterguard, playing Imperial Guard style to keep them locked up. Nothing came of it and he moved on.
During my turn, the DJ got a full load like every other turn. The Satyxis moved up and wiped out the Winterguard, making for their last play of the game. The Deathjack advanced over the wreck markers in front of him and hurled Black Spot at Sorcha (given the amount of heavy Khadoran armour I faced off against, this was oddly the first time I cast this all-star spell). It came up one short so I boosted it after the roll. Oh, how I LURVE Seas of Fate. Got it to stick now and then cast Perdition, hoping to move up onto Sorcha and hopefully luck out and pound her in with his initial attacks, which were still ready. Sadly, it missed and I went on. The Defiler moved up, intending to act simply as a node if needed and took a potshot spray across the clustered Manowars and Mortar Team. Took half the health from one Manowar, pinged the second and killed one member of the mortar team. I don't remember these guys being this awesome in MK1 so this improvement to him made me VERY happy. The Pistol Wraith stood his ground and fired into the Manowars. He finished the first one, gaining a token that he in turn used to boost his damage roll on the second Manowar (the other wounded one) which let me kill that off too. The Skarlock dropped Admonition back on the Deathjack and everything was setup. All of this proved very important when Skarre moved up, used her last focus to cast Perdition, killed the last member of the Mortar crew (which was also the closest enemy model to the Deathjack), and let Perdition trigger the Deathjack directly into Sorcha herself.
Turn 5:
He tries to charge the Deathjack in the back with the last Manowar, which triggers Admonition and lets him scuttle around Sorcha, out of the Manowar's reach and trying to hide behind her to keep the Destroyer to from coming after me. Sorcha swings in effectively at the jack while moving to the side to let the now Boundless Charge Destroyer to still reach the Deathjack. The poor Khadoran jack whiffs and the Deathjack promptly smears Sorcha in a single swing the next turn, sealing the game and capturing his first caster kill in MK2.
So, that was a long ass play by play and I really won't do that for all games (probably just really notable ones). But damn was that fun! I was so happy to be back chucking dice. I had the upper hand from the start of the game because this is someone fairly new to the game who lacks much for model choice (the Widowmakers were proxied) in addition to his lack of experience. We are gonna' play again next week and he is proxying things to try them out to see what he wants to buy next. This is simply going to be a matter of time in terms of learning and expanding. I can't wait 'til this becomes a more competitive game for the people here.
Under MK2 though:
eSkarre: Just as sickening as in MK1. Oh, I love her. She lost the ability to suck Focus back off her jacks and while I wished I could have done that a couple times that night, meh. She is still my lady.
Deathjack: Still kind of unfair. He lost Necrovent, but he also lost Unbound, which is MORE than beneficial to the Cryx player IMO. He personally tallied Sorcha herself as well as TWO Khadoran jacks (with minimal help from the Leviathan).
Leviathan: Ok, honestly, he is here to shoot at infantry that have Black Spot on them. This made him pretty lack luster. I'd honestly probably have preferred to have a Slayer and the points freed up.
Defiler: Went from utterly useless to pretty damn awesome I think. Expensive at 5 pts, but I will definitely take him in future games if I can eek out that extra pt.
Skarlock: Still a staple.
Satyxis: Oh. My. God. They didn't get to do what I REALLY wanted (Power Swell charge a jack with Backlash on it and kill the opposing warcaster without ever getting close to her) but he ran scared of them. And at range against regular ranged attacks, hitting them seemed near impossible. I am going to have a lot of fun with these. I need to make a Satyxis army when the Raider Captain, Bloodweavers and Blood Hag all come out.
Pistol Wraith: A tad overcosted I think. I don't think I'll be using them much in the future except for MAYBE big games with eSkarre or Denny (both versions).
No update on the projects for now, so meh. I got to throw dice! That's all that counts! Oh, and I got God of War 3, so I'll be posting something about that later on. Probably once I beat it, which could honestly take a bit. I'm playing on Titan (hard) mode and it is fairly punishing actually. First boss was able to knock 1/3 of my health off each time he hit. But I still love it.
Monday, March 15, 2010
This is going to become a bad habit
So, it's 2:14am my time when I am starting this and I have class in...7:45. Not terrible, but I'm one of those slow to wake up sort. And I'm just not tired. Therefore, I'm writing this to gather my thoughts!
This is gonna' be a pretty Warmachine focused post since that has been consuming my thoughts the last two days or so. Wednesday I'm finally getting my first MK2 game in. Woo! 35 pts of Cryx lead by epic Skarre against some Khador, another person's first MK2 game as far as I know too. Should be a fun learning experience for us both. So, here is my currently intended list unless my mail order shows up. In that order are a Warwitch Siren (saw her card online. 2 pts? Really? How did that get through?) and a Necrosurgeon, who apparently DOESN'T suck now. Hell, looking at his rules, she looks pretty nifty. Much better than the useless weight it used to be. Makes me happy since the Necrosurgeon herself with that big mechanical arm was always pretty awesome looking. Oh, this order also has a Cygnar Mk2 deck and their Forces book. I kind of inherited a Cygnar army from a friend last week. Might as well run with it!
eSkarre
-Deathjack
-Leviathan
-Nightwretch
-Skarlock Thrall
Satyxis Raiders (10x w/ Sea Witch UA)
Pistol Wraith
Necrotech
35/35
Since I had first bought and painted the original Skarre (that model is also hideous, so happy they made a new one), she's been my special lady. Skarre is simply vicious, in both her incarnations. Prime version can feat with a bunch of focus off a Ritual Sacrifice and just wade into the enemy. People lived in fear of the Skarre Bomb in MK1, but she was just as potent without that really if you let me get the charge off. Her epic form becomes nearly invulnerable on her feat turn, once again letting her just come wading in to dispense a little Cryxian justice. And that is purely her personal combat capability. Toss in some amazingly powerful feats and a versatile spell list and you have what I consider some of the best casters Cryx has to offer.
Man, I am looking forward to getting back on the tabletop with my favourite lady. I've heard she has held up well too in MK2.
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be painting. Sadly, I was out for a good portion of the last week back home visiting the family for spring break. Yeah, my spring break may be lame (and I had a flat tire), but it was more or less relaxing getting to go home. Missed my family but also really missed my pets, two cats and two dogs. Ok, those will come up as a subject again.
But anyway, the Cygnar are assembled and primed (via GW Foundation paints). I finally know the scheme I wanna' go with, but I need to work out a good ivory/khaki colour for the main armour plating. Similarly, I think I've almost got a scheme for my Cryx figured out, partially inspired by the way I have seen some do Cygnar (with certain colours which are the "faction" colours ending up being relegated more to details with another primary armour colour). Yeah yeah yeah, I have a smattering of painted Cryx, but for the non Thralls, there is no unified scheme. Mostly a bunch of different experiments. The Mechanithralls and Bile Thralls though are pretty ordinary undead flesh so they fit no matter what scheme the more unified warcasters and such end up with.
But you may recall my wish to have two battle boxes complete to apply for being a Press Ganger (I did mention that, right?). So, I'll close out once again with my current painting progress. I'm cheating here because some of the Cryx models are painted already. >.>
-Alviaran, the Meddling Mage
Current Projects
Cygnar Battlebox
Primed
0/4 Painted
Cryx Battlebox
Primed/Painted
Deneghra = Primed
Slayer = Primed/base colours down
Defiler = finished
Deathripper A = Primed/base colours down
Deathripper B = Bare metal/slight conversion finished
This is gonna' be a pretty Warmachine focused post since that has been consuming my thoughts the last two days or so. Wednesday I'm finally getting my first MK2 game in. Woo! 35 pts of Cryx lead by epic Skarre against some Khador, another person's first MK2 game as far as I know too. Should be a fun learning experience for us both. So, here is my currently intended list unless my mail order shows up. In that order are a Warwitch Siren (saw her card online. 2 pts? Really? How did that get through?) and a Necrosurgeon, who apparently DOESN'T suck now. Hell, looking at his rules, she looks pretty nifty. Much better than the useless weight it used to be. Makes me happy since the Necrosurgeon herself with that big mechanical arm was always pretty awesome looking. Oh, this order also has a Cygnar Mk2 deck and their Forces book. I kind of inherited a Cygnar army from a friend last week. Might as well run with it!
eSkarre
-Deathjack
-Leviathan
-Nightwretch
-Skarlock Thrall
Satyxis Raiders (10x w/ Sea Witch UA)
Pistol Wraith
Necrotech
35/35
Since I had first bought and painted the original Skarre (that model is also hideous, so happy they made a new one), she's been my special lady. Skarre is simply vicious, in both her incarnations. Prime version can feat with a bunch of focus off a Ritual Sacrifice and just wade into the enemy. People lived in fear of the Skarre Bomb in MK1, but she was just as potent without that really if you let me get the charge off. Her epic form becomes nearly invulnerable on her feat turn, once again letting her just come wading in to dispense a little Cryxian justice. And that is purely her personal combat capability. Toss in some amazingly powerful feats and a versatile spell list and you have what I consider some of the best casters Cryx has to offer.
Man, I am looking forward to getting back on the tabletop with my favourite lady. I've heard she has held up well too in MK2.
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be painting. Sadly, I was out for a good portion of the last week back home visiting the family for spring break. Yeah, my spring break may be lame (and I had a flat tire), but it was more or less relaxing getting to go home. Missed my family but also really missed my pets, two cats and two dogs. Ok, those will come up as a subject again.
But anyway, the Cygnar are assembled and primed (via GW Foundation paints). I finally know the scheme I wanna' go with, but I need to work out a good ivory/khaki colour for the main armour plating. Similarly, I think I've almost got a scheme for my Cryx figured out, partially inspired by the way I have seen some do Cygnar (with certain colours which are the "faction" colours ending up being relegated more to details with another primary armour colour). Yeah yeah yeah, I have a smattering of painted Cryx, but for the non Thralls, there is no unified scheme. Mostly a bunch of different experiments. The Mechanithralls and Bile Thralls though are pretty ordinary undead flesh so they fit no matter what scheme the more unified warcasters and such end up with.
But you may recall my wish to have two battle boxes complete to apply for being a Press Ganger (I did mention that, right?). So, I'll close out once again with my current painting progress. I'm cheating here because some of the Cryx models are painted already. >.>
-Alviaran, the Meddling Mage
Current Projects
Cygnar Battlebox
Primed
0/4 Painted
Cryx Battlebox
Primed/Painted
Deneghra = Primed
Slayer = Primed/base colours down
Defiler = finished
Deathripper A = Primed/base colours down
Deathripper B = Bare metal/slight conversion finished
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