Game day post coming soon!

Hey folks, it's been a few days here at Wargamer Ramblings and I've not forgotten about you all!  Instead it's been a hectic couple of days getting ready for some games that me and the wife ended up playing yesterday.  We drove up to Wise for some Pathfinder RPG and got some Warmahorde gaming done before hand.  I got a chance to test out my battlebox as well as Courtney and we had a couple good games each.

So look forward to hearing about it in the next day or so and until then happy gaming!

Journeyman League Faction!

Hello all and welcome to the update on the Journeyman League faction choice!  As you all might be aware for those following this blog I've been debating about what faction I will be going with for our upcoming JL.  That being said, I can now say I have decided on my faction of choice..............



 

CRYX

 

 

Awwww yeah that's right, the undead faction of the Iron Kingdoms awaits for me in the near future! 

 

So what made the ultimate decision?  Well it was really more of a few driving forces than a singular reason.  So let me briefly touch on those forces:

1. Aesthetically I really enjoy the look of the Cryxian models.  I already have some color schemes planned out for them and I have to say that is a definite plus for me.  To have a color scheme ready and picked out before I even have any models is a driving force for me, as it saves me mental anguish over what colors would be interesting yet cohesive.
2.  Gameplay wise I think the Cryx faction will challenge me to look at the game in a different light.  As I mentioned previously I have been used to self-buffing/synergizing and now I am going to have to contend with a completely different style.  In a way I think it will make me a better player as I have to expand my way of thinking in a new direction.
3. Undead!  I mean c'mon, it's the undead faction.  Me likey undeady.
4. In the last Journeyman League our group had participated in I wanted to do the Cryx as a new faction but financial resources at the time made it difficult to do so.  Now I am in a position to start them up just like I wanted to in the first place!

So there we have it, my declared faction for the Journeyman League.  I look forward to painting up these undead models and discussing more about the units/lists in the future.  Until then folks take care and happy gaming!

 

Dread Elves: Executioners

A few posts ago I talked about this unit being the primary reason I got into the Dark Elves back in 7th/8th edition WHFB and they still to this day are great models.  Something about the clean, sharp armor combined with the 2-H swords they wield just resonated with me.  The updated sculpt from GW isn't bad but what throws me off are the skull helmets, they just seem a bit...goofy.


Ehhhhhhh.....

So now that I am working on these guys let's look over the stats/options and see what we can hypothesize (theorize? One of the two, right?).  Let's get started!

Stat wise the Executioners sit with most of the 'DE basics' except WS and S are up by 1, meaning they will usually hit more often and hit harder.  They are equipped with Executioner's Blades which are great weapons with Lethal Strike and Multiple Wounds (2. Infantry, Monstrous Beasts, Cavalry).  They have Heavy Armor.  Special rules-wise they have Hatred (from being Cult of Nabh) as well as standard Dread Elf special rules.  They have access to a Full Command and a magic banner up to 50 pts.

The bodies of the old models, mostly 1 piece!

So where does that leave our lovely Executioners at?  Well for one they are not meant for being on the defensive that's for sure.  Toughness 3 and only a +5 for armor with no other defensive options leaves them with not a lot of staying power.  They make up for it on the offensive however.  Despite hitting last they hit hard with an effective S6, WS 5, +1 to attack rolls, re-roll to-hit on the 1st round of combat, causing multiple wounds/hit, AND re-roll 1's to wound.  Once these guys go swinging there might not be much left!

When you buy 2 command groups for 1 unit...:-\

So the best way to use these guys is to not take the charge but to give it!  I'd say they are the kind of unit that needs to go in after the 'anvil' has taken the charge and is holding the enemy down, ready for the taking!  With the ability to inflict multiple wounds on Infantry, Monstrous Beasts, and Cavalry I'd also wager that they would be a decent unit to taking down those types of units.  Once again I'd caution being charged and in a true Dread elf fashion I'd keep an eye out for opportunities to pounce on weak flanks/units.

Completed unit, ranked up amazingly easy!

As for Magic Banners well the options are going to be in line with my previous article, the Dread Knights.  Without repeating myself here I will go with my top 3 banner choices that I would consider taking for the Executioners:

1. Bloody Banner of Nabh: With the chances of getting Lethal Strike on the attack roll I would be very interested in making sure I could re-roll my 1's and my 2's.  Granted if I am already rolling 2's from my WS and Lightning Reflexes then it becomes a bit moot, but if I have to roll 3+'s then this banner shines.
2. Rending Banner: Get an additional -1 to your armor save when I wound you?  Why sure! It's already at -3 naturally from the high strength, lethal strike makes it a potentially nasty -9, so making it a reliable -4 will make it a good counter to highly armor targets.
3. Stalker's Standard: Re-roll charge moves? Yes pls.

Quite a lovely conversion and paint job! not mine though :(

Overall it's an aggressive unit with models that I love so I am quite excited to put this unit on the field and see what they end up doing.  The way they ranked up while assembling has also been a huge plus to me.  Model-wise the only iffy part is that the swords had to be glued separately and the contact point is a tiny peg...here's hoping the green stuff/glue combo holds up!

Well that's all for today's ramblings, tune in next time for whatever comes up in my brain.  Until then happy gaming and good luck!

Journeyman league: Damned factions part 2!

To continue my current thought process in regards to my Journeyman League faction I'd like to take some time to talk about the Hordes.  Last time I talked a bit in-depth about the different Warmachine factions I had decided on to keep on my list.  This time let's take a look at the furious beasts and dive right in!  As last time order does not necessarily equate preference.

Legion of Everblight: The Dragonfather's Cheaters

Look at dat Dragon!

I say Legion are cheaters because it is the faction that gives me the most trouble right now.  So it's more of a projection of frustration than a call to them being cheats.  Still the faction is known for the aggressive alpha strike moves from their beasts, and it's no joke.  Their main strength lies in their beasts from my observation and their casters can be absolutely brutal sometimes being outright monsters in their own form.  From my research it's not just a simple point and win faction but has a lot of cunning tricks, much like a beast in its own right.

Casters of choice:

1. pVayl: I like the noblewoman wizardy pVayl brings to the table but I am also a big fan of her ability to create channels from her own beasts.  From what little Hordes I've been exposed to there doesn't seem to be a lot of options for channeling.  So being able to do so by attacking with my Sauron-globe is a definitely plus.  Her feat is awesome too.
2. eThagrosh: What a powerhouse.  This guy is a beast on his own and his abilities make his battlegroup just ridiculous with his Manifest Destiny spell.  Sort of like a pVlad's Signs and Portents.  Also once per game after taking 5 hit boxes he can spawn a lesser beats.  "Oh you hurt me?  That's cool, here's a dragon puppy."
3. Kallus:  The reason I am drawn to this caster is because I feel like he is the misfit.  In a faction full of nasty beasts he is the infantry caster.  He is the one buffing the infantry units that most would probably overlook in another list, but might shine with him.  So because he's the quirky odd one, I make him my third choice.

Skorne: The Angry Vampire BDSM Elves

 

Like an angry bug!

At least I think Skorne are elves?  Anyways this faction is hyper aggressive and they have a strange sense of synergy to them.  Unlike the Protectorate of Menoth the synergy lies (from my understanding) isn't as obvious and relies on certain elements that don't seem to work together that actually does work together.  Also hurting your own troops makes them fight harder in this faction.  The heavy beasts tend to love to slam and trample, and I do love the slam power attack.

Casters of choice: 

1. Aptimus Zaal: After reading up on his feat I see a lot of potential in this caster for a solid infantry list.  Take a unit that is meant to just feed the feat and if you're luck you will have 10 vengeance tokens for the rest of the army to use to boost.  So then your second wave heavy infantry can get boosted attack/damage rolls.  You can even use it to boost the rolls of your beasts and save some Fury for more attacks, brutal!
2. eHexeris: A solid support caster with some solid stats to go with it.  What draws me to this caster is his feat and his vampiric harvest.  The former grants me some tactical uses that can be applied in many situations.  Run my beasts hot? Feat. Need to remove Focus/Fury on a camping caster? Feat. Now vampiric harvest is partially situational since it depends on how many living models die, but against mass infantry builds this will shine well.
3. Naaresh: For my third choice I would go with a decent all-arounder caster that can do well with a variety of lists.  Coming from a play-style of buffing and synergizing (PoM and Trolls), the hyper-aggressive nature of Skorne will lead me to have some inevitable mistakes in my list building.  Therefore I think it would be a good idea to go with Naaresh.

Minions: The Mercenary Faction for Hordes

 

The almighty Gator skull thingy!

There really isn't to say much about Minions I think.  Not that it's a bad choice to go with, they have some quirky and good casters amongst their ranks.  Out of the two choices available, Pigs or Gators, I think that the gatormen are meant for me given some experiences I've had with the only Minion player I've met in out meta.  That experience must have been enough for me to consider the gators as a potential faction for the Journeyman League.

Casters of choice:

1. Bloody Barnabas: This is the caster I've had experience with and I think in the right hands he can be annoying.  Being able to help support the beasts and other gators in the force with his spells while being a solid melee fighter in his own right, Barnabas is a solid choice.  Also his feat is almost a copy of pKreoss which is a plus.
2. Maelok: This undead gator is like a cryx caster in a gatorman's body.  Though his ability to debuff isn't as strong as the actual faction he still has a couple tricks up his sleeve.  Also the model is pretty interesting being a gator zombie and all.
3. Rask: Not technically a gator but he is a Bog Trog caster and a good one at that.  He is apparently the answer to some issues gators were having and with his spell list he should be able to handle some annoying issues like high ARM or upkeep spells.  All around a good caster for them gators.

 So that's all for my Hordes options that I have been thinking about.  At this point I have a couple of strong options that I can choose from so I'm not really sure what it will boil down to.  Might end up being what I want to paint :)  Until next time folks stay warm and good luck out there!

Journeyman League Musings: Damned factions part 1!

So here in our little corner of VA the snowstorm has hit and we ended up with about 6" so far with more to come.  What better way to spend the snowed in days than doing war game stuff!  Today I wanted to expand on my faction thought processes for the Journeyman League coming up.

Since most of the group are prior vets to the game we have the added caveat of starting with any combination of caster and jacks/beasts we want.  No character units at this point, so this opens up a wide range of options for me for sure.  From our last post on the matter at hand (right here) I talked about 6 factions I was interested in.  Let's get started with the Iron side of the factions for today!

Cygnar: The Swan Kingdom of Lightning Pew Pew

 
Cygnar has been a faction of interest since I've started the game.  I am a fan of their clean cut models, their techno-arcany feel, and the ability to do some shenanigans with their casters.  When I look at this faction I think of the strong casters at their disposal (any of them Haleys will do) and some strong, albeit niche, infantry choice (ATGM ftw).  If I went with this crew I would definitely have some hard choices to make to start off and would also end up getting some new Mercenary troops as well to help cover the weaknesses inherent in Cygnar infantry (e.g. no super strong beef wall imo).  

Casters of choice:

1. pHaley: I especially enjoy her all-around capabilities and offensive potential she brings to the army.  Her ability to deny enemy spells in a 3" bubble around her for only a focus point also has potential.  Downside is that one of her infamous spells in this incarnation costs 4 focus, so there will have to be some focus mitigation.
2. eCaine: While I have some minor experience with pCaine, I feel like eCaine has that potential for surprise assassination runs with his Gate Crasher spell.  Given he has an insane RAT it is likely he will be able to assassinate most casters.  Might have some issues with the current swing of Horde players incoming being able to transfer damage, but we will cross that bridge later.
3. eStryker: This was a tough call between him and one of the Nemo incarnations, but I feel for the JL Stryker might be the better choice.  Once again he brings a nice toolbox of useful spells for all around and his Feat is a solid choice too.  I also enjoy his very risky Overload ability, with lady luck on my side I might get that +18 to STR and not take much damage haha.

 Cryx: The Undead Debuffers of Doom

Cryx was the other faction I had thought about when I first started the game a few years ago.  I love the undead as I've stated in this blog and so it would seem that I would have started them.  Now that I have the chance to I have been toying around with these undead blokes in my head.  I like the under-handed tactics they can bring to the field and some of the tricks I've read up on are just simply unfair (not technically but it's so mean).  While some of their infantry choices may seem weak on paper, when you start the debuffs rolling in they become disgusting.  

Casters of choice:

1. eAsphyxious: My friend Danny will say I am cloning from him (partially true) but eGaspy is a solid caster.  With a excellent feat and the ability to put down a zone to suck up those souls, eGaspy has the potential to toss out a lot of spells.  Plus his lists can be down right nasty in the right hands as Danny showed me.
2. Scaverous: Something about this caster makes me want to see about playing him and seeing if I could do well.  From my research he's a solid all arounder caster that can do things well, but you have to decide what that is each turn.  In a way he reminds me of a mix between pSeverius and eKreoss in an undead body.
3. p/eGoreshade: I put the two together because I'm still not sure which is better for me but I know that in either case it is my third caster of choice.  Goreshade I feel is a strong melee beatstick with some aggressive spells to back up.  His affinity for the bane type infantry is also a key appeal factor as well.

Khador: The Motherland's Toughest Bastards 

Khador is a faction that I see often in the local meta and it's not surprising why.  They are tough, strong, and Russian themed.  They have some great sculpts as far as models go and if you dig past the Butcher you will see they are not just a simple "hurr durr smash" faction.  There are a couple units and casters that draw me to the Motherland.  Knowing my approach to gaming to go for the esoteric/unused I have my eye set out on some unusual-for-the-meta units and casters.

Casters of choice:

1. The Old Witch: Oh how I love this ole' granny.  She is my top choice for Khador casters due to her ability to control the board like no other in the faction.  Plus she has access to the faction's only Khador arc node in the whole faction.  Her feat is a great area of denial and against infantry builds it will prevent most movement for a turn.
2. eZerkova: pZerkova had a reputation of being the worst caster for Khador, and then she got an epic version.  It seems to run counter-intuitive with the rest of the faction wanting to rush in a go to melee town, but I like it.  It might take some time to get a build going on in my head but I think that if I went this route it would be hard but fun.
3. Strakhov: In our meta we had one guy who did the last JL with Strakhov and it caught me off guard in a few games.  Since then it's been stuck in my head that he is not the weak caster I thought he was, and since he moved we do not have a Strakhov player.  So I would choose this elite commando as my third caster of choice.

So that about sums it up for my thought processes regarding the Warmachine side of my Journeyman League choices.  Next time I will look over my Hordes options and then maybe by then I will have made a decision for the league.  Stay warm and safe and happy gaming!

Dread Elves: Dread Knights

Today I am taking a look at my unit of Dread Knights (e.g. Cold Ones) heavy cavalry for the Dread Elves.  As far as cavalry options go the Dread Knights are the heaviest unit that can be taken by the Dread Elves and what a unit they are!  Not only are the models still a solid option (presuming we are going with GW's) but they are not a bad choice to be taken on to the field.  So with that in mind let's take a look at what they have!

First the stats.  The Dread Knights clock in at 26 pts/model with some great basic stats.  Weapon Skill, Strength, and Initiative are a point higher than "standard" elves so they will likely be striking first.  The raptors bring Mount's Protection +5 with Heavy Armor + Shield, meaning your average save is sitting at a +2 starting.  Raptors are not that fast compared with most mounts and so only have a M of 7.  They share Dread Elves rules of +1 to hit in melee and re-roll 1's to wound, but sadly have Stupidity.  Leadership of 9 is pretty good to prevent most hurr durr durr's however.  The Knights come with Lances, Full Command options, and can take a magical standard up to 50pts. 

Each raptor came in 4 pieces...

...each rider came in 7-8 pieces

So where to begin the dissection?  This is definitely an elite unit that fits snugly in the Special choices.  As most cavalry options I envision I would probably run this unit with 10 models, 5 wide 2 ranks deep.  Should I take some casualties from ranged/magic I will (hopefully) not lose their effectiveness early on.  I wouldn't take this unit to deal with war machine crews but would look to flank some tasty unit that needed to be hit hard and fast.  With the changes to spears I would try to avoid charging directly into the front as the Lethal Strike to cavalry rules can make a hopeful charge into a sad day.

On the charge the riders will get a +2 to their strength making the Dread Knights a potential counter to some high-toughness/save units.  The raptors can bring up to 2 attacks into combat but their initiative is a 2, so most units will strike before that.  This can be problematic depending on what you charge against but it is still a good thing to have.  The raptors strike at WS3, S4 so it's not a bad trade-off considering most non-monster mount attacks.

Rawwwwr!

 

Now let's talk about what the unit can bring for the standards.  I won't go over over every single choice as that would take awhile so instead I will refer back to my previous post when I went over my Legionnaires right here.  Since the Dread Knights can take a standard up to 50 points it opens up some options.  I will talk about my preferred choices (not necessarily in order):

1. Stalker's Standard: I would take this one more for the Swiftstride than the Strider rule.  Being able to the re-roll charge dice is mucho useful indeed.
2. Rending Banner: Having Armor Piercing (1) is useful, on the charge it'll change the -3 to the armor save from strength to -4, and normal H2H attacks to a nice -2.
3. Bloody Banner of Nabh (Dread Elf book): Being able to re-roll 1's AND 2's on the To-Wound roll is a nice addition.  I would probably use this banner for this unit if I were not taking it for another one already.
4. From the Legionnaire list I would use Banner of Leadership (to avoid stupidity even more) or Banner of Speed (to counter the lower than average raptor Move).

The unit fully assembled, from behind!

 All things considered I not only like the models (using GW's Cold One Knights) but I also like their combat capabilities.  With a solid charge their murdery-killy opportunities greatly shine, but as with any combination there are some strong counters to keep in mind.  That's it for today, I hope you all have a great one and happy gaming!

Dread Elf Series interruption: Journeyman league!

I know it's been a couple of days since my last post but things have been pretty hectic lately and so I've had to push some of my modelling back.  I promise I am working on things still, but alas I had to push back a bit.

Despite that I am interrupting my Dread Elf series to bring you an announcement!  The local gaming group is starting up a Warmahordes Journeyman League again and I am most excited about it.

This is the third year one has been run at the LGS, last year's was unfortunately cut short by me and the wife moving an hour away and it sort of died out.  In the interim of that about half of the people lost their tracking sheets and so the results were never really completed.  My friend, and current runner of this year's JL, would have won the painting patch for sure (sorry Josh :\).

So with it coming up I have to decide on a faction to play.  We might end up with 8 people so that means there might be some overlapping for faction choices.  We already have 2 Circle of Oroboros players so that's done with.  We have 1 (maybe 2) Retribution players, 1 Legion, 1 Cryx, 1 Skorne, and so that leaves me choosing.  There might be a couple other new players coming into the fold and there is one guy who might pick it back up but as far as faction goes he's a wild card.

I've already eliminated some options for this League based on past choices and current faction demographics.  No Trolls or Menoth (both are my primary factions), Circle is out, Mercs don't appeal to me, not a fan of Convergence, and Retribution since my wife is playing it (though I would probably pick them tbh).

So that leaves in no order of preference: Minions, Legion, Skorne, Cygnar, Khador, and Cryx. Honestly I am leaning towards Cryx, Cygnar, and Legion the most.  I think it's mostly because of painting them up would be a fun endeavor.  I do like some of Khador's infantry however.  Play-style I think I would enjoy Skorne with their pain driven synergy, but we shall see.

It's something I'll be thinking about for sure and looking into, I think the wife and I are planning on stopping by Dewayne's to get some stuff for her Retribution and then maybe by then I'll have made up my mind.

If you have suggestions leave them in the comment box and until then happy gaming!

Dread Elves 2.b: The mighty Corsairs!

Ah the Corsairs are a neat unit in the Dread Elves army.  Aside from having a pretty good looking model (those sea drake cloaks are well done Gee Dubs) they are a nice unit to have overall.  In my particular case I will be usually bringing 30 of them in a 6x5 formation to help maximize the number of troops I can bring in combat while still maintaining a small footprint.  With my 50 model block of Legionnaires I need to be careful with my footprints to avoid running over my own forces.

Model-wise these guys were pretty easy to assemble.  The only complaint I was able to have is that in some cases with the weapon arms the swords/punch-daggers/hooks would cause them not to rank up as easily as some of the other choices.  I took the lazy way out and just clipped them off until they fit.  Might not look as awesome with a smaller sword but if it means the difference between being able to rank up or not then...well...snip snip.

Ranked up so far so good

In this rendition of the Dread Elves the Corsairs had a slight tweaking that changed the way I wanted to originally use them.  At first I was going to go with the hand repeater crossbows but in this edition I think I might forego that for an additional hand weapon.  Mostly because they lost the shorter ranged crossbows and are given thrown weapons instead.  It's not a bad option to take with Multiple Shots (2) and Quick to Fire, but they lose out on the Armor Piercing (1) that repeater crossbows get.  In a smaller unit I could see myself taking this option as a flank harasser with ranged but that's not how I will primarily use them,

Corsairs share the same stat-line as the Legionnaires so there aren't any surprises there.  Standard upgrades for the command group.  If you have a Prince or Captain with the Fleet Commander upgrade then you can upgrade the Corsairs to get the Vangaurd special rule (a 12" inch move before the game starts after all deployment is made).  I rather like the idea of having a unit being able to move that far before the game starts, only downside is that you cannot charge if you also go first in the turn.  With some careful planning, and if you go second, you can charge right on in a unit that is easily affected by multiple attacks.  Anything with hardcore armor or multiple wounds might not be a good idea however.

30 Corsairs all ranked up just fine

One thing that Corsairs do have is a solid +4 armor save.  Their cloaks no longer give them a bonus to just ranged attacks but now to ALL attacks.  A +5 Innate Defense combined with Light Armor gives a nice solid armor save for most light attacks.  This makes them a little more survivable than Legionnaires (w/o Heavy Armor) with the option of more attacks.

I like these cloaks, very well done.

Unless given the BSB Corsairs do not have an option to take a special banner.  Bummer.  Still I think this is a great flanking unit that fills up a core choice.  I would consider taking them as a Horde unit of 50 as they cost about the same as Legionnaires (I think 1 more pt/model) and fill a similar role.  I think they could take a normal hit and still be effective at throwing out a lot of attack die.

That about sums up my tactical thoughts on the Corsairs, tune in next time for more tactica and unit discussion!  Good luck!

Dread Elves part 2.a: Dread Legionnaires!

With my unit of Reaper Auxiliaries assembled I can turn my attention to the next unit: the Corsairs.  If you're familiar with the Dark Elves you are probably familiar with this unit as well.  First I wanted to go over the Dread Legionnaires for a bit.

Since I've had them assembled I wanted to go over the unit as a whole and briefly touch on what I would use them for and why I kitted them out the way I did.  In 9th Age I have the option of either keeping the sword and board (hand weapon + shields) or trade in the hand weapon for spears.  Naturally I chose spears (which cost me 0 extra points!).

The thing about spears in 9th Age is that they came with some extra perks compared with hand weapons.  Now don't get me wrong the sword and board option isn't bad.  With it your opponent cannot get more than a +4 to hit if they are striking from the front.  With spears you get Armor Piercing (1), Fight in Extra Ranks, and Lethal Blows against Cavalry, Monstrous Cavalry, and Chariots.  Granted that is only to models in the front but if I angle myself correctly I might have an advantage.

Not mine but I love the paint job

So with my horde of 50 Dread Legionnaires, presuming no casualties, against a unit to the front I will be rolling about 41 attacks with Armor Piercing (1).  I think that's better than the sword and board option for sure I believe.

Stat-wise the Legionnaires are solid core infantry.  Speed and Initiative of 5, WS and BS of 4, average S and T, and a Leadership of 8.  A bit faster in movement and combat than your average Joe but that's a typical Elf statline.  They get to re-roll natural '1's to-wound in close combat and  +1 to hit in close combat.  So against a non-sword and board unit with a WS of 3 I should be hitting on +2 and re-rolling 1's to wound, which is more likely before average units.  Ouch.

So these are my go to "block" unit in most lists I've written.  In 9th Age I have the option of giving them Heavy Armor, but for 2 pts/model.  The cost of that for my whole unit would jump it up by an extra 100 pts.  Ouch.  The unit is already 430 pts for 50 models base, adding an extra 100 points for a +1 to their save is pretty rough.  I can see the use in larger games where I have an extra 100 points but at the 2000-2500 level I have to take a pass.

What a horde looks like, courtesy of Brother-Maynard @ Deviantart

I have the option of taking a Veteran Standard bearer in the unit, making it One of a Kind but I can take a banner up to 25 points.  That only leaves the Core rulebook options:

1. Banner of Leadership: +1 to the unit's leadership raises from 8 to 9.  Not too bad but could be mitigated by the presence of the general.
2. Banner of Speed: +1 to movement.  Also not too bad, could be really useful for keeping up with faster units.
3. Flaming Standard: Gives the unit flaming attacks.  Too niche to be taken often, great versus Undead Dynasties and Sylvan Elves I'd say.
4. War Standard: +1 to combat resolution score.  I could see this being a good option if I had a character attached that could help add the wounds on to the total score.  
5. Icon of the Relentless Company: Triple march movement once per game.  So a 15" move could be useful if I did something wrong or they got caught and stuck in a bad position and needed to get somewhere quick mid-late game.
6. Standard of Alternate Realities: Weapons with the Magical Attack rule in the unit lose the rule and vice versa.  Also a niche pick, great against Ethereal units but otherwise useless.
7. Gleaming Icon: Once per game you can re-roll a failed Leadership test.  This could be useful since it doesn't specify which Leadership test you can re-roll, just any of them.  
8. Banner of Courage: Auto pass Terror test and immune to fear.  Also not a bad choice being immune to some aspects of psychology.  I wouldn't want my core block running away from a dragon because my dice rolling sucked.

So  I would more than likely take 1, 4, 7, or 8 if I had to pick options.  The others are too niche to plan for but if I had the foreknowledge of my opponent I might consider the others.  My friend Sam is looking into Undead Dynasties and the Flaming Standard would be a great pick but if I didn't know who I was up against I would plan for the the "safe" picks.

Overall I think it's a solid choice for a core unit clocking in at 8/pts per model (10 with heavy armor), it makes for a good solid unit of 10x5.  Next up I will go over my Corsairs (they took more time to assemble than I thought).  Until then happy gaming!

Dread Elves part 1

I must confess that I'm not starting this Dread Elf journey completely fresh.  That block of 50 Legionnaires I mentioned in the previous post, well they are already assembled.  I haven't put the magnets on just yet but I'm planning on it!  So mostly fresh.

Instead I will be working on my Reaper Auxiliaries which will provide me a nice bit of ranged firepower to help whittle down some troops whilst the rest of my forces move up.  I think a unit of 20 would be sufficient since in 9th Age you can fire in 2 ranks of 10 wide.  Not only that but these are repeater crossbows so presuming I am able to I could potentially get 40 shots out of these evil elves.  Granted I'd be taking a -1 to hit from the multiple shots, but the more the merrier!


My men ready to be assembled in piles

Eventually I think this unit, combined with the 2 Reaper throwers, will be the primary firebase for the Dread Elves.  Until I play some games I can't really foresee myself needing any more units but if I do then assembling 20 of these guys really isn't a problem.

While I was clipping away at the sprues I found that there are these crossbows with 2 arms already attached as one piece.  Score!  That means less parts for me to worry about mold lines and easier assembly.  So with all the parts ready I was prepared to start gluing.

Convenient arms ftw!

So far so good

Well everything was going as normal until...well...every Fantasy veteran will probably know where I went wrong but I found out that the models did not line up as easily as I thought they would.  Ugggggh now I'm in a weird bind as I need to find some way of ranking these guys up.



Convenient arms betrayed me! Nooooo

My face at such betrayal!

To fix this I just did the lazy way out, turned them around and voila!  No more ranking issues ha ha!  Now I have a 20 man unit ready to roll, granted some of them are not paying attention to the correct direction (to ummm watch their backs...yeah...), but I think in a small unit like this it isn't too big of a deal and seems to work out.  If there are any confusions about unit facing then I can just refer to the command group.


Eh, it works.

Next unit I have planned are my 30 man strong Corsairs, we'll see how they turn out.  So until then take care everyone and happy gaming!

My Dread Elf journey

All righty it's that time again folks, today's topic will be where I am with my Dread Elves.  As I mentioned before it's not my penultimate favorite 9th Age army but it's what I own and it's good enough for me.

I figure it would be a helluva lot easier to just roll up my sleeves and get to assembling the models than to try and tell half-opened boxes on eBay and buy a whole new army.  Besides the way I see it, if I get these guys done and work on the Vampire Covenant that's 2 different armies I can toy around with.  Not a bad deal if you ask me. 

So where am I with my Dread Elves?  Well I did a quick calculation of what I currently have bare bones (i.e. no magic items/banners/serious upgrades) and found out that I've got about 2.5k worth of points in Dread Elves.  Nice.

Currently my collection is composed of thus:

• Dread Prince, Exalted Oracle, Captain, Oracle, and 2 Assassins for my Lords/Heroes
• 50 Dread Legionnaires w/ Spears
• 20 Reaper Auxiliaries
• 30 Corsairs
• 30 Executioners
• 10 Raven Cloaks
• 10 Dread Knights
• 2 Dread Reapers

I think for the most part I've got the bulk of my infantry down and any future purchases will have to be made in the special and rare categories.  In 9th Age the Dread Reapers (e.g. Reaper Bolt Throwers) moved from rare to special so now I am completely lacking rare choices.  I've been eyeing up the Hydra from Reaper miniatures but I'm not sure about scale of the model itself.  Since I can take medusas as a skirmishing unit I've been considering getting some of the Avatars of War Naga's to use, though I'm not sure about the base size (will they fit on a 40mmx40mm?).  Finally I might break down and get GW's Cauldron of Blood, not only is it a good model to have in my force but it's a good looking model despite the cost.  I think I can snag one off eBay for cheaper though.

So I am taking the journey into making all 150+ Dread Elves come to life, and then...then...try to paint all of that.  Oh God what I am getting myself into?

Actually I am a bit excited about the prospect, I've wanted a large scale army project lately and I think I just may have come across what I've been looking for.  It will take awhile but that will be ok.

Until then gamers have a good one and good gaming!

Thought of the day: why is war gaming important?

It's a good question if I say so myself.  Why is it important?  Why do we spend time putting together plastic/metal miniatures of fantasy and sci-fi people to play games with?  Wouldn't it be easier to just pop in a video game and play that way?

The thing about these questions is that it boils down to something that is pretty much a personal reason.  A lot of these models require a good amount of effort before we can use them on the field and if you take it a step farther you then spend that time painting which requires more effort and time!  We spend our hard-earned money on these models, which some are ridiculous in price (some not), and all the other parts in order to do this hobby and for what?

So why?

Well I can't answer for anyone else but I think my personal reason for doing war gaming can be split up into 3 reasons.  For one, I have a pretty big imagination and I get really excited thinking about thematic forces I can make on the field.  I get involved in the stories and often I will pick a unit or character that I just love for no reason other than the story or lore.  Anyone who knows me knows my love of the Death Guard and it has been primarily motivated by the lore.  Hell even the reason I picked playing the Protectorate of Menoth was the result of the lore of 1 unit in particular.

Another reason I love these games is for the strategy/tactics/mechanics of whatever game it is.  If the game is solid and/or has some sort of quirk then I am likely to be interested to some degree.  I know it's almost like saying 'duh' when I say it's the game that I love, but it's not just a game to me.  It's a test of mental skill, a exercise in tactics, a way of thinking up cool combos and great moves on the field.  There is something about pulling off a move in these kinds of games that just makes me really dig it, almost like mind crack.  I love what models can do uniquely and all the special rules each game has appeal to me greatly.

Finally I love this hobby because of all the friends and people I've met while playing.  I've ran into some of my closest friends including my Yang counter part Mike while playing these games and I've also met a wide range of people.  Sure some of them have not ended up being pleasant to deal with or my friends but I would gladly relive those unfortunate moments for those friends.  The games serve as a community medium in which many of us bonded over while simultaneously meeting new people.  Our group has been involved in many local events, some sponsored by ourselves, and it's been great.

For some these reasons will resonate and others have their own.  It's what makes our hobby great I think.  It's something we all can bond with but for our own reasons.  What is it about this game that draws you and keeps you in?  Until then war gamers stay strong and game on!

The results of Game Day!

Yesterday was a ton of fun for me and Courtney.  Definitely worth the drive up to to see everyone and get some games in.  7 people showed up and there was a bunch of Warmahordes being played.  There was a game of Bolt Action played as well.  I ended up not playing any Warmahordes but I did play a intro game of Malifaux and I played a game of X-Wing as well.  Unfortunately I didn't get to get as many details on the games as I wanted to so it's just barebones :(.  So here are some of the shots I grabbed yesterday:

Mychaela's Convergence

Courtney's Retribution

 Mychaela and Courtney had the first game for Warmahordes and from what they told me it was a pretty good game.  From what Courtney told me Mychaela had won but it ended up being a close game.  I think at one point Mychaela might have tried to do an assassination run with Aurora, but it might have taken 2 turns to end up getting the win.  Not sure but it was reportedly a good game!

Josh's USA versus Mike's Wermacht

Mike and Josh played a game of Bolt Action concurrently with the Warmahordes game.  I wasn't sure what the scenario was exactly but the way Mike explained it that the goal was to destroy each other's base on the opposite side of the board.  Apparently Josh had a rough time getting past the 1/3 point on the map with the way Mike had set up his fire lanes.  Also early on Josh's Sherman took a hit and ended up being destroyed early on, leaving Mike's Stug doing whatever it wanted to do.  In the end Mike was able to secure a victory and destroyed Josh's base, one more win for the Wermacht!

Meanwhile on the other side of the store...

Me and Sam did the 2-player intro box game for Malifaux using the store's X-Wing display table (not a lot of room to grab a legit table).  We did the last scenario in the book which we had to secretly assassinate a model in the other person's crew and then destroy evidence in the center of the board.  Overall it was a fun game and I really liked how cards were used instead of dice.  The Cheat mechanic was fun and led to some interesting decisions on what you allowed to happen and what you risked cheating for.  I ended up winning with 3 victory points over Sam's 2, but we both came out of the game satisfied with the taste Malifaux provided.

Overall for Malifaux it's a game I would get into but I am not sure how many people play in our area to make it worth or not.  I feel like it's a game you need to expand your collection on to cover the different scenarios and schemes that you might run into, but overall it was a fun game and I liked it a lot.

Courtney versus Mike's Legion

Courtney played another game with Mike and this game was not as close as it was compared with her earlier game.  Mike and Legion go together like bread and a toaster and it was a decisive victory for Legion.  Courtney told me later that she was not ready for the Carnivean being able to deal as much damage as it did and started looking up Warjacks that might be able to contend with Legion's beasts.

Danny's Cryx vs Josh's Kahdor

It's not often that Danny comes up to play Warmahordes considering we Shanghai'd him into playing Cryx.  Since then it's been the only war game he's really be interested in and has invested his time into being a pretty nasty Cryx player.  So when Josh brought his Khador to the field, which he's never played against Cryx before, he was not ready for Danny's tricks.  Danny has a certain fondness for the trample power attack for Jacks and there was an opportunity presented that he could not resist:

Suffice to say Danny ended up winning the match and we gave Josh a hard time about lining up his Pikemen perfectly for a trample.

Mychaela's Rebels vs my Imperials

 While Josh and Danny were throwing down for Warmahordes, Mychaela and I were dog-fighting in X-Wing.  We played a 100 point game which I'm not sure if that's standard sized or not, but it felt like a solid amount.  Mychaela brought 2 B-Wings and an X-Wing, the only named pilot I could remember was Poe from the new Star Wars movie.  I brought a Firespray, TIE Defender, and TIE Fighter.  I have not kept up with X-Wing as much as I have other games so I'm not sure if I had the optimal builds, but I was pleased with what I had.

I had a hard time conceptualizing where my ships would go so I ended up running into asteroids a couple of times (which ended up crashing my TIE fighter).  Mychaela had a B-Wing that was sort of derping around in the corner for most of the game, but her other B-Wing was a pain to deal with!  Curse you Autoblasters!  Eventually she was able to wear down my ships and blasted them and I was only able to take out 1 B-Wing.  Still it was a great game and once I got the flow of rules down some the pacing went fast.

Overall I think we all had a great day with some great games.  Next up on the agenda is working on my Dread Elves until they are all assembled.  Until next time fellow gamers have a good one!

Game day today!

Hey folks!

Today I am going to spend some time with the peeps up in Wise and get some games in.  I've been looking forward to it all week so I am excited for sure.  As last time I will take some pics and get the bat rep summary sometime soon.  I think the game plan is to do some Warmahordes and I think some people are doing Bolt Action. 

Eventually I would like to try my hand at doing some videos but that might take some time to  start up.  I think the biggest issue is that I have to find a good power source for my camcorder.  I know it's a silly barrier but I've not taken the time to just look for one.  I think doing this blog has helped me want to do it though, so I will look into it now :D

I did want to mention one thing related to yesterday's post and that would be the cost difference in making that army.  If you need to reference my list it is on yesterday's post but I wanted to see the cost it would be to buy all the models I needed from GW as compared to a mix of Mantic/Reaper/GW.

All models from GW:  $529.50

Models from Mantic/Reaper/GW: 349.72

It should be noted that with the Mantic option I went with the Undead Mega army deal so not only do I have parts for me list I also will get: 10 Barrow Knights, 10 Mummies (which I don't know what I would use them for but they will be used!), 3 Undead Werewolves (can be converted into Vampire Spawn or Ghasts), and a Balefire Catapult (can be converted into Altar of Undeath). 

So to me it's pretty obvious that I will go with the latter option.  I was a bit surprised that the GW price wasn't as high as I thought but it's still pretty steep.  I also get more options with the latter choice so it's a steal.  The only model I had problems finding was a good alternative for the Varkolak (i.e. Varghulf)  I found this guy here but I am not really sure if the scale is correct.  It's hard telling with Reaper on their site.  I like the model, but if it's not the right scale then I might just get the GW Varghulf.

Well that's all folks, hope you enjoyed this post and I will update you all on the games.  Maybe I will win one today :), until then happy gaming!

The Undead cometh! D:

In theory at least!

Greetings everyone I hope you all are doing well!  It's a rainy day here where I am at so it's a great time to jot down some ideas for my future Vampire Covenant army.  For a copy of the army book I am referring to feel free to grab it here.  As is probably the method I have been doing with this blog I will talk a bit about part of the army and then leave the rest for another post.

I'm not sure what scale 9th Age is 'supposed' to be played at, I know a decent game of 40k is about 1500-2000 points so I guess that might hold true for Fantasy style games?  I know during the End Times era of WHFB a good minimum was 3000 so you could get the ridiculous characters and units, but 9th Age does not have that aspect so I'm thinking a 2000 point VC force is a good starting point.

One thing I feel like I need to point out is that in 9th Age there is a current lack of special characters.  I'm not sure if that's intentional but I kind of like it in a way.  I like special characters but I always felt from reading/watching bat reps of WHFB they almost got a point where you needed to take a special character or else your army was sub-par.  Maybe that's false, but it's how it seemed to me.  I like being able to make my own lord, also I sort of have no choice in the matter.

So starting out I have to make sure I have my Lords and Heroes how I need and want them to be.  I feel that 9th Age has done a decent job of tweaking things around so there isn't any omgwtfhaxx sort of choices, but depending on your playstyle there are better choices than some.  One caveat is that if you choose a bloodline you get access to the "super bloodpower" but all the vampires in your force HAVE to be that bloodline.  So no Nosferatu magic slinging vamps walking right next to a Brotherhood of the Dragon. 

So here is my theoretical list:

2000 VC starting point

Lords:
Vampire Count - 305 pts
Level 2 Wizard, Lamian Bloodline, Commandment ancient bloodline power, Blade of Red Thirst, Glittering Cuirass, Shield

Heroes:
Necromancer - 215 pts
Level 2 wizard, Cadaver Wagon w/ Endless horde

Barrow King - 125 pts
Hardened Shield, Sword of Strength, Gem of Fortune

Core:
36 Zombies - 128 pts
Standard bearer, Musician (why do zombies have these?)

40 Skeletons - 230 pts
Spears, Shields, Full command

20 Ghouls - 210 pts
Full command

Special:
20 Barrow Guard - 300 pts
Full command, Banner of the Barrow Kings, Shield

Varkolak - 205 pts
Fly (9)

Rare:
3 Winged Reapers -280 pts
Light Armor, Additional Hand Weapon

Total cost: 1998

Overall I believe I am pleased with this starting point.  My big concern is my lack of 'fast' units but I think that's kind of a weakness for VC.  I have a couple faster units that can fly so I think I would keep them as a second wave/response unit (if that even works?).  I feel that the 'anvil' units are large enough to absorb a good charge and hold off until my 'anvil' units can get in.  We shall see though.  I wanted to bring more special choices but at 2000 points I felt the squeeze of "I want to take that but I caaaaaaaan't :(" coming on.

I went with the Lamian bloodline mostly for the Ancient bloodline.  Since I plan on plopping her in the unit of Barrow Guard (read Grave Guard) she will be able to impart that unit a WS of 5.  Couple with the Banner of the Barrow Kings, her Glittering Cuirass/Red Blade, and their armor of 4+ means that it's going to be a great hammer unit if I can get them to flank.  I feel that 2 level 2 wizards should cover my magical needs (maybe, I hope).

If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave a comment below on what might work better or what might not work.  Until then happy gaming!

My current Fantasy kick

All righty it's that time again and today I can only do a brief post about my current war gaming kick of Fantasy.  Rather it's 9th Age, but we all know it for what it is: a community driven Fantasy 9th edition.  The more I read the rules (which are free for download here) the more I want to dive in and get some games in.  Which means I have to get cracking down on some assembling of my Dread (Dark) Elves and start busting out the movement trays if I want to battle in Fantasy.

I didn't always want to play DE and usually Elves aren't usually my thing (I might be lying since I play Eldar as well).  Those who know me in person will tell you that as far as nemeses go I just love the undead.  In Pathfinder as a GM my favorite monster type to send after PCs are undead.  My first Warhammer Fantasy model was the really old metal Nagash, the one with the goofy face and ridiculous cheekbones.  He had an upgrade in recent times and what a difference time and CAD technology has had on the new sculpt.



When you see them side to side it looks a bit silly doesn't it?

Truly though I love the undead.  I've already started to think about what army I would work on after I get my DE assembled and I just cannot help myself but to be drawn to the Vampire Covenant.  Sure I could go for the Undead Dynasties (i.e. Tomb Kings), but I would miss out on the ghouls/zombies/gothic skeletons/vampires and I just cannot bring myself to do that. 

I've already determined that when I do start my VC force I will not be using the majority of models from Gee Dubs.  Since I'm not beholden to really use anything from them I have decided to get the bulk of my skellies and zambays from Mantic right here!  Mantic may not have the best sculpts for all armies (Twilight Kin/Dark Elves are a bit of a joke really) but for the Undead they do look rather well and they are cheap as chips comparatively.  For $85 I can get 90 models, that's less than $1.00/model! Whaaaaaat?! (like really close to a buck but whatevs!)  GW skellies are about 25 per 10, Mantic skellies are like 40 for $40.  It's almost a steal.



All this for $85? Well played Mantic

Until then I am done with my DE the undead will have to wait but I can tell that I have more passion for the next army than I do my current force (isn't that the case usually?).  It's not that I don't like the DE, I do love some of the GW models.  In fact it was the Executioners of Har Ganeth of previous sculpt that made me go "oooooooo aaaaaaaaa I want to do DE."



I think these aged well, still love 'em

The more I read up on the DE and the way they played the more I became interested in them, and some of the models were just great.  I like the aggressive but careful style you have to use their forces in battle.  Fragile but deadly, like a scalpel coated in poison hid on the body of an oiled up naked psychopath who would kill you as likely to sleep with you.  Ya know, that sort of thing.  So it's not that I DON'T enjoy DE, it's just not where my heart truly lies.  That lies in the cold dusty earth, buried to rot until dark magicks wake it up and compel it to move against the living. 

Thanks for tuning in folks, I hope you enjoyed this day's post.  If you have a favorite army for Fantasy I'd love to hear about it!  Until then game well!

The Age of Sigmar...meeeeeeeeeeeeeh

So I've been thinking a lot about the games I play and all sorts of stuff associated with it.  What games I play, what I like, what I want to accomplish, what I want to get into, etc.  One game that I've been working on has been 9th Age (e.g. Warhammer Fantasy 9th edition) using my GW Dark Elf models to represent the 'Dread Elves.'  Of course once I started thinking about Fantasy I started thinking about Age of Sigmar.

As a disclaimer, I have not played ANY Age of Sigmar (I know it might be a bit late).  I have no interest in it.  So you can take what I say with a grain of salt and disagree, which is fine.  I still have my thoughts on it though :)

So Warhammer Fantasy has been a staple of the Games Workshop line for many years.  I would dare say it was almost synonymous in a way.  A game of epic fantasy battles with your army on the table top, slinging spells and slaying monsters while heroes charge across the field in glorious battle!  There are few sights more impressive than a fully well-painted Warhammer Fantasy army on the table and it has given me plenty of pauses.

That's quite impressive of a force!

Unfortunately the effort you need to put into painting let alone assembling a fantasy army is quite daunting even to veterans.  A unit in 8th edition of basic troopers could number at least 50 models large.  50 models! For some 40k armies that's the approximate numbers for the whole army.  So it's no wonder then that 40k became more popular as time progressed and Fantasy waned in popularity and sales.  Couple that with GW's ever increasing sales you had a formula for people leaving Fantasy in favor for Warhammer 40,000. For example shortly before AoS 10 Witch Elves went up in price to $60 and you need to bring about 30...so $180 for a unit -.-

Number of models and cost of this > average fantasy army

So GW ever being pragmatic and focused on the sales figured the best way to handle this dilemma of not selling models would be to change the game!  Now most of us Vets were skeptical about the change, I mean not only are we resistant to changing things but this is GW we are talking about.  Personally I was interested in seeing how they would change things up, I mean I had hopes.  I had hopes that maybe they would turn the game into something cool or exciting to play.  I had in my head 40k sized games of Fantasy with some cool models/rules and epic battles.  Then I saw some of the models and true to GW they were pretty models.

Me gusta, me gusta mucho

So far they had me interested.  "You can still use all your models!" Oh snap my Dark Elves are still legit! Then the rules came out.  The rules...were 4 pages long.  4 pages.  I can count that on my hand.  The rules were beyond simple.  Now don't get me wrong I don't mind simple rules if they are deep.  Bolt Action rules to me are simple and deep.  These rules were more like "guidelines on how to vaguely play a game with the models, but really just buy the models.  So easy even a tree could play!  Also if you care about lore and have been following it for a long time, WELL TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO ALL YOU KNOW LULZ."

Why was I even surprised by this turn of events?

I suppose this is what bugs me about AoS.  I feel like GW had a amazing opportunity to do something good with Fantasy but I feel as though they didn't even try.  I could forgive them if they put forth some kind of effort in making it into a cool game but it just feels like they gave it the bare minimum to call it a game.  Not to mention I am already biased against them and have subconscious beliefs that all they do is ultimately to screw us over and take our money.  That and the previous CEO made it known that the believe only about 20% of people who buy their models play and that it's just people who want to paint the models who buy the kits.  With all that you can see why I might think that they wanted to just correct profits in a dying game by making it more like 40k, while giving bare minimum rules for the "20%," and not really think about the ramifications of said actions for the community.

Right.  That's going to work.  Mm-hmm.

So I was pretty bummed.  I mean I had my hopes up by GW after a long time of being dead in my heart to it and I was burned again.  Not to mention I had about 2500 pts estimate in Dark Elves that I was going to assemble for 8th ed Fantasy.  I had thought about giving up hope until I learned about 9th Age.  Basically a group of about 4500+ members got together to modify, tweak, and balance up 8th edition Fantasy into something pretty awesome.  It's starting to garner some attention in Youtube batreps so I checked it out and I have to say I am impressed.  It's all free and every army is available.  So maybe there is hope for Fantasy gaming yet :)

That's all today folks, stay frosty and have some great games out there!