Painting updates and a recap

So the painting is coming along I think. I think I'll be getting some new brushes on Friday it should help me paint cleaner. I really think the level of detail in even the rank and file models is great. I'm going to wash and ink the whole force at once and will start highlights soon. So far this is whats mostly done and then whats left so far.

I'm looking forward to getting the Choir done so I can move on to funner models. I also know if I don't do them first they won't get done. The Vassal may be next since it's been getting a lot of attention in my games. Kreoss will be last so I have the most practise in before I get to the main focus of the list.

In my games I've been trying to make sure to activate the Choir first so I don't forget move out of range. I also found a little thing on there card that should be better used. They have reach. It means I may start to use them to block charge lanes. I tired to attack but hitting even a 12 Def with a Mat 4 isn't the easiest thing in the world. The other thing I've been thinking about is using Kreoss's feat for defense. Is it a bad plan to knock down a force to make them use focus, attack, or movement to stand up? I've thought before that it was kind of an alpha strike type of feat. I may give it a try what's it going to hurt. I've also been reading about slams. locks, and throws. I haven't seen many of these attacks in the local meta, this may come in handy.

Thanks again for reading if you have any ideas on how to help with ranged attacks let me know.

Tues equals game day

With the day off Dustin and I decided to throw down this morning. Having only 15 points he was kind enough to play small games with me. My list is pKreoss, Crusader, Revenger, a Repenter, Min unit of Choir, and the Vassal of Menoth. Dustin had Haley, 3 Stormsmith Stormcallers, Hunter, Lancer, and Charger. Once again I'm a new and not sure if that's his list for sure. I was more worried about playing and learning my force at this point.
His deployment

My deployment

My thinking was use the Ravenger with his shield and hymn to be the front line with a 21 defense. Repenter and Crusader would follow up to mop up the rest. I was also hoping that since I have made a real effort to paint the dice gods would be happy with me. I took a picture of just how happy I made them.

Pretty happy right. Three sixes. Well that was a boosted damage roll made by Dustin. That leaves a mark no matter what kind of Hymn you use. The game went bad when I knocked out the Hunters gun arm I and Dustin retreated I thought I was get a free strike. Um not so much in this game I guess. Oh that's a Star Wars Miniatures rule. DOH! It was really his guy had parry but I wanted to cry a little. My dice rolls where average but his where unreal. I need to repent to Menoth so he looks down on me with blessings.

Well this is a picture of the final turn. Crusader charged and killed a Stormcaller which I was told was a little over kill. but since it was the only model I killed I'm glad I did it.

I learned that placement of my caster is real important. I was also in charge range. My reasoning was because I was using Lamentation to slow down being disrupted. Kreoss got shot to death. He would have been charged as well anyways. So the lesson today was model placement. I think I was better at using my focus but it could improve as well. This game made want a shooter bad. Kell Bailoch is looking ever so tasty right now. We tried to squeeze in another game before we had to start picking up kids from school but on'y got a few turns in. Dustin decided he hates the Choir and Vassal. I also thought a Mechanik would be nice to have along since I'm so jack heavy. I may try one of them and Wracks for the two points of the vassal.

Great game even though I lost. I really needed to have my butt handed to me I was thinking I was getting good at this game. It will be nice when I have enough models that it makes people wonder what I'll be fielding. Thanks again for the great support from readers keep the input coming!

Wrath! What I've been missing

So I picked up Wrath over the weekend and love it. I started looking over the Menoth first section of course. I'm trying to see how Thyra is used and what forces compliment her. I know that Daughters of the Flame are in her theme list and I start there. Now that I've played a couple of games I'm looking at the stat line and seeing what numbers are good. I may be off base with my assessments but I'm trying. The stat that stands out for me is Def 15. If I'm correct MAT 6 seems average. So on two dice I need an 9 or better to hit Def 15. So then I start to remember the games I played last Tues. and think Defenders Ward makes it a 11 or better to hit unboosted. But then I see that Thyra doesn't have that spell. No problem give them stealth until I can charge seems good enough. Anatomical Precision also seems like a strength of this unit. I saw POW 9 and just kept looking I want to kill some stuff with a big POW weapon. Doing some damage is better then none and some units only have 1 wound figures. But then I start to remember the Reclaimer does 1 damage if it has a soul token these guys could give him soul tokens and poke for 1 damage. With most solos I've seen at 5 damage boxes two Daughters and one Reclaimer equals a dead solo. Too bad Reclaimer isn't in the theme list. Now does Thyra feat say "use while melee before you activate and put target model on the back arc to back strike?" Not sure if it works but I think it does. Then I looked at Blood of Martyrs and think I've seen that picture before and loved it. This jack with the Choir seems nasty MAT 8 with a POW 18. Looking closer I see a new solo Nicia and unit Flame Bringers for the tier lists. Can you not make a tier 3 for Thyra or am I missing something. This was fun to look over since I've been looking at different casters. I want to see if my future purchases can be used with multiple casters.

The other thing about this weekend was I got to work. I try to phrase it like it's a privilege working Sat. and Sun. I got some feedback from readers and got turned on to a new pod cast. http://www.chain-attack.com I listened to the first episode and had to fight the urge to listen to another. This cast was well formatted, entertaining, and focused. It never felt like I was listening to a phone call between friends telling inside jokes. These guys are doing a great job. Not only having a good cast but a web site that has pics and force lists really made me understand what was happening. Being a new player I think is going to be a valuable resource in the new future. Thanks to Tranlin for sending me a link. I downloaded Boosted Damage and Lost Hemisphere but need to listen to them still.

I had a conversation about a 40k tournament from this weekend and came to the following conclusions.
1. Tournaments are for hard core lists/armies for the expressed reason to win. Win at all costs or WAAC as I saw it written means play to win. Tournaments have winners so play to win. Build your army to win. Could I win a Warmachine/Hordes tournament right now? Oh hell no. I expect to see the most broken combos and force lists at a tournament. If I want a happy pick up game using models that I think look cool that's a different ball game. A ball game that doesn't have an entry fee!
 2. If your not playing in the tournament you shouldn't care who wins, loses, or draws. I didn't play this weekend so I can't and won't give my 2 cents about the event. I will talk about tournaments in general though.
3. Don't ever call a player a "power gamer" at a tournament. If I go to a Magic tournament I'm bringing the most broken, expensive, and degenerate cards I can afford to increase my chances of wining. If their is a prize for 1st place and you keep track of wins and losses you need to reread #1 above again and live by it.
4. If you don't like it then don't play tournaments!

I want to close today's post by thanking everyone who has given me feed back. I'll work on my grammar, spelling, and content. I also want to thank Privateer Press for page 5.  

Umm uhh herpa durp

So I'm reading the battle report from No Quarter 37 because it features Menoth and realize I've never seen the stats on some of the models used. Blood of Martyrs, Thyra, and Reckoner are not in my book. So I do the learning curve thing and call up Jerry. He tells me about Wrath and how it gave all the Warmachine factions new units, characters, a the battle engines. So basically I have a book to buy since today is payday. I also called Dustin since I knew he hasn't played much MK 2 and just bought the pack of cards to let him know he can use it to. His MK1 cards look really different but not as different as I thought they would. Which brings me to my other lesson from last night pod casts.

So I found Iron Agenda, Guts and Gears, and Focus and Fury. I've listen to at least 1 episode of each and found them pretty good. I think Guts and Gears is the most up to date. I also found out that listening to Esp 1 of them really isn't going to help me much since it's all MK 1 rules. After listening to Guts and Gears I thought it was funny that at the beginning they would have musical breaks. Umm I'd say pause the recording take your break and spare me the elevator music. I did think it was funny when I realized what was happening and fast forwarded it. The only other thing I can nit pick is the word "brilliant". I don't think I've said it as many time in my life as the hosts of that show does per episode. It must be a cultural thing and it does sound better then some sayings could.

I downloaded all the Menoth and Legion specific episodes I could find from each cast and really like them. Hearing that the Choir and Vassal are go to models made me happy about my purchases. Going over the new models from the Wrath book in Esp 43 (I think) was really cool. I will have to say I'm not a fan of an hour of listening to story line. I know a lot of people really like the fluff but at this point I just want to hear about how to play the game. I will say this Douglas Seacat (once again I think) really gets into the flavor and back story of the world of Warmachine/Hordes. Once I get a better handle on the game and stop wasting focus during my turns I'll start to read the story line.

If anyone has other Warmachine/Hordes pod casts that I'm missing please let me know. I'm in a car at work and do a lot of driving and really could use some new things to here. Well off for overtime Friday thanks for giving me a read.

Chris
Jokerkiller on the Privateer Press Forums

Menoth 101 and more painting

So I have a few games under my belt and did decent at them I guess. I've looked at my units, jacks, and solos so I know the direction I think I wanna go with Kreoss. Now I'm looking at other casters. I'm not jumping to another any time soon just keeping options open. I want a 35 point Kreoss list first and about 20 or 30 more games with it before I move on. Also all I'm looking at now is what looks cool. I'll worry about building around his feat and special rules later. I may decide the model if great but the rules blow and change up. I have a bunch of different options so I'll find one that fits both areas.

I think The High Reclaimer 2010 looks pretty sweet. I wouldn't mind hitting people with that staff! Also Amon Ad-Raza look cool but I wonder how difficult the chain is to keep in place. It looks like it could be rather flimsy. I have read some of his rules and nothing jumped out and said win the game. The last two I'm thinking look sweet are Testament of Menoth and Harbringer. I've looked at Harbringers rules because focus 10 seems really good. I almost said take a lot of jacks please. Like I said just looking at cool sculpted mini's 1st.

After the hot water fiasco I did a chance to knock out one of my Choir. I always paint single mini's. I'm not an assembly line painter.

I know painting white on black under coat is difficult. I wanted a strong white not the yellowish white of the stock Menoth. I started with grey and my army color of purple. I don't know why I like purple models but I do. This model didn't feel as busy as the Revenger so it felt cleaner to paint. With the Revenger I thought I was touching up my screw up constantly. Well I haven't washed or inked either model yet but here's how this one is. Oh I need to base them better then just green paint also.

Well not sure if I'll get anything else painted today but I plan on finishing some Warmachine Hordes podcasts. I've found Guts and Gears, Focus and Fury, and Iron Agenda if you have any others I'm missing let me know.

LSG goodenss

So yesterday I was a little frazzled and didn't get to mention some of the thought I had about Tuesday since my hot water heater decided to stop working. Luckily we live in the time of Youtube and I knocked out the thermocouple in about an hour.

Wichita has had a number of stores which have have a number of locations. Finding miniature gaming the first time was at Agents of Comics when it was on Central and West street. I have always loved comics so I'd go in to see what the X-men and GI Joe where up to. Then I saw Necromunda. This game was cool. It had roleplay elements with the campaign and sweet Mad Max looking figs. What the game had in coolness the store lacked in space. Now I understand large space costs large dollars. Agents has moved 3 times since that location if I remember correctly and most of the time to larger location then before. Wichita also had a store called Blue Horse Trading Company. Weird name, hard to find location, and very unmotivated employees. Nothing against the guys they where nice but instead of playing online games why not building terrain. Also if your going to have a Rouge Trader don't decide that day not to judge painting. Also if players want painting to be part of the overall score don't say "if you don't like it go to Agents". Because you know what I'm a big boy and will!

Now it may seem I'm playing favorites since I had a great time at Hero Complex the other day. What I saw at Hero Complex was the guy working. Not just being there to take my money but working. He was painting a few Space Marines and some Orks for the store demo armies. This store has every box set painted for Warmachine and Hordes. When I demo'ed Menoth it was with a fully painted battle box. Very cool! Also if we had a question about rules he did his best to help out and didn't just but in trying to rules lawyer us. The store is also clean.

I had a very interesting conversation last night about LGS's and the moral of the story is spend money where you want to KEEP playing. Honestly I'd don't swing off any of local stores. I buy what I want where I want don't feel like I need or want store "loyalty". But it really helps when what I want is in stock. When I use the restroom I feel like I should wash my hands then go. I also like to see knowledgeable and helpful people behind the counter. Now Wichita has a nice variety of store in my opinion. We have a store dedicated to Magic that has loads of singles. We have a store that can reliably get you comics and lets you stare at nice looking knowledgeable employee's. We also have one with friendly staff decent space but lacking focus.  This isn't talking about all the stores even.

Overall I enjoy the fact I can go less then 10 miles in any direction and go to a game store for one of my hobbies. But I really like seeing a new location raise the bar. It's only going to force the other stores to raise as well. A win win for Wichita.   

Hero Complex and 1st games

So yesterday I had to start the day figuring out how to transport my models to the game store. Seeing how I thought I'd never play a table top war game again I sold my Orks with the case. So that left me with some rather ghetto options for transport. I settled on a box with foam from a mother board in the bottom of it. Not a great plan but it worked. Then I grabbed a tape measure and off I went. Dustin and I pulled up just as the open sign was getting flipped. The store is very clean and the person working was very welcoming. I've been here only twice before up since it was empty of other customers I saw that they have 10 numbered tables and 1 labeled demo so that a lot of game space. The terrain all looked very nice.

This shows the store some in the back ground and some of the terrain we thought of using. Dustin thought that slamming or throwing one of my jacks in the water would be funny so my steam engine would go out. I'll have to look that rule up! Since we where still waiting on Mike we decided to look around. I wanted to buy a solo anyways to make my list 15 points. At the Warmachine/Hordes section I found all the models I was thinking of buying and also found out that Dustin hasn't played since MK1 rules. I decided to go with the Vassal of Menoth. It seemed best to just work on buffing the 3 jacks and keep the list Menoth only. I can always add Mercs later and I really want to learn Menoth pure before I get a model that may not be helpful. I went to pay and found the best things ever! A 6 pack of dry erase makers that have erasers on the cap for only $4.25 sold. Bringing my spending to $13.13 under the $15 limit my wife set. Then Mike shows up and we do intros and start to drool over each others paint jobs.

So the game play was fun I learned a lot. Dustin uses he focus very well. I always either didn't allocate very efficiently or wasted focus. First turn I cast Defenders Ward on the wrong jack that cost me huge since it got charged and then slammed. I managed to team up my Revenger and Crusader against the Titan Gladiator right after popping my feat. I think the difference was the fact my feat makes people get hurt real bad and the Skorne feat just made it so I lost a productive turn. Thankfully I'm not good at focus anyways so it didn't hurt me that bad. I ended up winning the game because Morghoul missed a few attacks and the Crusader didn't. I was surprised I won since Mikes army was painted and mine isn't yet. Dice gods love paint! If you notice in the picture I'm starting on the Choir next so the paint will be complete soon.

 

Next we played a 3 way 15 point game. I set up last and played like I had to find my pair. I positioned on a far corner while Mike and Dustin where very close to each other. Mike being the most experienced split his forces knowing he couldn't beat us both. The other cool thing was Mike switch to Trollbloods which lead to a funny exchange (from my side of the table anyways). Dustin asks "what no ranged attacks?" About that time Mike uses a Troll Impaler on a Cygnar light jack (don't know Cynars list very well sorry) criting Smiting the light jack back into Dustin's caster doing a huge amount of damage. Dustin did reply by wiping out all of Mikes Impalers and swordy guys..... Oh yea your reading a new guys blog I don't know all the models yet sorry. Then Mike kill Dustin's caster about the same time I get into charge range on Mikes army. Once I pop my feat and seeing I'm about to charge we decide to call the game so Dustin and Mike can get in another one.

The next game was pretty one sided since Dustin hadn't ever played against a Horde army before he didn't know how "cheater" an Agonizer was. Not being able to give focus to his 2 light jacks really hurt. Mike was using Molik Karn to move all over the place. It is a really nasty list. 

I had a really great time a day off well spent. Hero Complex is a great store I just wish it was a little closer to the house. If your ever in Wichita look it up you won't be disappointed. Nice up since I work tonight I think I'll check out some Warmachine/Hordes podcasts to see if I like them.Thanks for reading.

Chris

Painting it's been awhile!

So thanks to some good luck for me and bad luck for Mike he needed a jump start yesterday. One of the good things about a bad work schedule is I'm home during the day to help with random stuff. Since Mike and his family where coming over for dinner for a paint minis party he let me take his paints (since I don't have any) and get a head start on a fig. I started on the Revenger since I'm not sure if I'll be using it after getting the jacks in the 2 army box. Mike says Arc Node is really good but being a noob I'll have to see. My other reasoning is the Repenter being only 4 points and having hard hitting weapons seems to me the better option.

Page 81 of No Quarter 37 had a sweet picture of a Menoth Jack that's not the normal off white color. I was thinking a purple scheme and seeing this reinforced the thought that darker colors for Menoth would be cool looking. So here's what I started with.

It's a start. It's interesting how many details are on these minis. I'm pretty happy about the fact that the armies are so much smaller then 40k's so you can really make an effort in detailing your work. I found it hard to paint "clean" and was going back over stuff a lot. I hope it doesn't look start to look like purple camo with different layers being added to other parts of the fig. 

I don't think it's horrible but it's not inked or washed yet so I'll see how it goes. I'm going to start on the Choir next to see how the metals are to paint.

Now today is my 1st couple of non-demo games meeting Mike and Dustin around 12 at Hero Complex to play on some sweet terrain. Dustin and Mike haven't met yet also so I'm networking then together. Since both are cool dudes they'll have fun with it. I'm only playing 15 points using Kreoss, Crusader, Revenger, Repenter, a min unit of Choir and buying a Vassal of Menoth. I wanted to get a Mercenary solo for some uniqueness but I think being a new guy I should focus on playing what I have for a while. After that I'll have a better idea what my army really needs. So wish me luck!

Adding a few $$$ in a solo

So I'm trying to get to 15 points and have a limited budget for this week. I'm looking at Kell Bailoch,
A Reclaimer, Vassal of Menoth, or a Vassal Mechanik.

I like Kell for the long range shooting I was looking at Alten Ashley but that wouldn't be much help against Dustin's Cygnar. So I skipped to Eiryss and seemed to be the same problem either would be good for Mike's Skorne but not Dustin. Although Mage hunter was very close to making the cut.

Next comes the Menoth faction solos I'm really torn on this I like the Reclaimer for the Soulstorm but since I'm more then likely only taking a min unit of choir I don't really want to kill one for it to work all game. The Mechanik was a thought since I'm taking 3 jacks but I'm not sure if it's effective as a "healer". The Vassal seems like the best all around choice to get the jacks buffs. We'll see what strike my fancy tomorrow before game time.

How it all began

So I guess I look like a guy that needsmore ways to spend money and time away from home. I say that because I play Magic or used to at Friday Night Magic, Pro Tour Qualifiers, and other decent sized events. Commander or EDH is a great format that everyone should play! I also run an Airsoft team called Wichita Tactical Airsoft. I collect pod cast (Mini's Mayham) Star Wars miniatures a wonderful game that was dropped by Wizards of the Coast. So between that a full time job, wife, and 3 great kids I have a pretty full plate.

So how did it all begin? Well thanks to a new work schedule I don't get to play any of the above mentioned games very often. If I see my wife and kids more then an hour a day it's a blessing. So how do I get time for a new game? Well that's where Mike comes in.

Mike and I met at a LGS across the parking lot from where I used to work. He had just moved to Wichita from the land of the red dirt Oklahoma. He played Warhammer 40k and I played Necromunda. We hit it off and started to hang out. His wife and my wife became great Warhammer widows. It's nice to have a couple that both wife and I can kick it with. Since this is a Warmachine blog I guess I should say I'm not a huge Games Workshop fan anymore. Sorry I don't need a $50 rule book every 2 years!

Mike has been playing Warmachine for while and it's kinda like Magic as far army building and game play since having a force that works together and combos is key. Also you don't need 100 models to play a normal sized game. The game also last about an hour or so. I'm a big fan of getting the most games out of the time I do get to play with. So I look at it and say well yea it's cool but I don't have time, paint, or figs. At this time I remember a guy I worked with before that plays Cygnar and happens to have some of the same crappy days off I do. I call Dustin up and he says he still plays and Tuesdays would work for him. Well score two for the home team. Now I have 2 guys that I A. like B. have time to play with and C. can teach me a new game that seems pretty complex.

There does seem to be something missing from the equation though models. Well Mike being a Skorne player took the dark samurai looking army so I look for other great looking figs. Well I had the Hordes Primal book and start thinking well I don't dislike any of the sculps so let look at feats, rules, and play styles. The ones that jump out are the Legion of Everblight. These guys look great! Thagrosh being able to bring back Typhon after he dies seems good. Also the Spawning Vessel making free guys that I have 4 different choices given the need seems real good. The idea of cheating points out of my list seemed real good. Then I start to look at the battle box. It's a great deal for the cost but most of the models aren't in the list I made. But I'm convinced that what I'm gunna build.

Then I call up Jerry a guy that for a while had a very high Magic rating and still hung out at one of the LGS's I played at to see if he was able to play games on my weird schedule. So far it's not looking real good but he did say he'd demo a game at a new LGS I'd never been at that has all the battle boxes painted up ready for demos (Hero Complex in Wichita a great store!) Mike calls me up and says "hey what's your daughter doing on Friday morning?" Well she's working so dad doesn't have to buy school clothes for a her why? "Damn I need a babysitter Friday." Mike I'm home with my youngest daughter he's welcome to come play with us all day. Mike and Kelly (his wife) feel like they need to pay me to watch him. I'm game since anything they pay me is getting spent on Legion figs so it all works out.

So now I'm thinking I have a faction picked out I have a wish list I'm set and ready to roll. Phone rings it's Mike hey wanna split the new 2 army box set that coming out? Well not really wanting either army so I ask him which one he likes better. Khador is his answer. Mike has always been a Ruskie lover and since Khador look very Russian he's set. Now during this time frame I ask my lovely wife which models she think look cool. She like the Menoth figs well until she see's the Wracks. So I get a call in the next day or so from Mike saying guess what I got a Battle Box of Menoth and I'll give it to you for watching my son. Well it's a start it's free and burning people is always fun. I played Redemption in Necromunda so it's not a huge stretch even though my wife was worried I'd paint them like Clansmen.

Before I get the battle box I run up to Hero Complex to demo the game with Jerry. He's going to play Cygnar's Battle Box while I run the Menoth. He's very good at teaching the game and even let's me get a caster kill for the win. I do see this is going to be a huge up hill climb learning rules but I'm pretty excited. Then Mike calls me and says the mail just came and I need to get my stuff that's cluttering his house before he throws them away. 

So now I have a caster and 3 jacks. I think hmm better have some support and after downloading the Menoth book I notice the Choir seem to be where to go. Which is where we're sitting at this point. I have my Revenger under coated black and we're ready to paint. So look forward to the up coming weeks of painting, learning, and gaming. I plan on painting some today and gaming with Dustin and Mike tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for reading and try not to burn yourself to bad.

Chris
Jokerkiller on the Privateer Press forums