Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Rules [Updated]

While the table is finally finished, there is one last thing that needs to be done with it before it's ready for Templecon: playtesting!  Any good scenario should be tested to make sure that any rules questions are resolved in advance so that players can focus on having fun instead of arguing or asking questions.  Today I will be transporting the table to the LGS where it will undergo some vigorous testing and I will sift through some questions and thoughts on the table.  While I know it looks great, I want it to be fun too!  Therefore, I have created a beta for the rules here that you may sift through them for any questions/comments!  The most up-to-date rules can be found here.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Finished!

 It's taken some time, but it's finally finished!  The scenario table is done!  All that is left to do is some final touch-ups and it will be ready for playtesting.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves, as the girlfriend and I are very pleased with how it looks.  See for yourself!

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Painting

I apologize for the lack of an update yesterday.  The work on the table has been constant and productive and I lost track time.  I do have some more pictures today of the table, and we should be finished in time for the Thursday deadline, at which point I will bring the table to the LGS so that people can play the scenario. For now, here are the photos of some of the painted pieces to hopefully get you as excited as I am!  I apologize for the pictures, as I don't have my usual software here to fix up the photos better.

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Structures!

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, and I hope all of you Jewish folk enjoy the rest of Hannukah.  Personally, I had a great Christmas, as my girlfriend gave me a Vallejo 72-color paint set with case (!).  Meanwhile, at SPG we've been busy at work on the scenario table for Templecon 2012!  The graveyard (as of yet unnamed) has been progressing nicely and today I have some teaser pictures to share with you about our progress thus far.  The current deadline is Thursday this week, so that it can be transported to the LGS for playtesting, and it looks like we are following along according to schedule.  Take a look!

Follow-up: More than just a business

I noticed recently that there was an interesting announcement made my Privateer Press regarding the Boneswarm model.  If you're not aware of what I'm talking about, let me provide some important backstory.  First, the Boneswarm is an old metal model from the old Iron Kingdoms line (made for the RPG) that has recently been made into a playable light warbeast for the Blindwater Congregation in Hordes: Domination (see my spoiler on it here).  There was some drama about the transition of this old Iron Kingdoms model into the Minions line because there was a significant price increase (which I discussed towards the end of this article) from $10 to $19.  Privateer Press has prided itself as being a company that stays connected to their player base, and this was a surprising move for them, and there were some unhappy customers.

Cost of starting a new army

We've all seen them.  Price comparisons between Warmachine/Hordes and 40k.  However, since I am currently building a Trollbloods force, I am hyper-aware of how much a full force costs.  Granted, there are lots of sites out there that offer discounts or buyer-rewards programs, but at the end of the day, it's still quite expensive to start a new faction for any game system.  This has also become even more apparent for me as I pondered updating my Tyranid force to playable strength, thinking that Mawlocs might be a wise investment for dealing with tanks.  At any rate, today I wish to compare the cost of the 50 point Trollblood I will be starting, and a 1750 point Tyranid army - both of which I believe are the most expensive armies for their respective game systems.

Steamroller 2012 - Predictions

Having spent some time with the new Steamroller 2012 rules (in their final beta), I have developed some thoughts about what we will see in the tournament scene in 2012.  As usual, Templecon will be the major testbed for these new scenarios and rules, and will be expected to be the biggest Warmachine/Hordes tournament in the country, with Lock and Load being the only exception.  Additionally, I've heard rumors of Steamroller coming to the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston (PAX East) in the near future.  So what can we expect to see on the tables, and what do I predict we will see?

Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Genesis

In the beginning there was nothing.  The foam was shapeless and void, lacking in any detail or meaning.

Work on the scenario table for Templecon 2012 has begun!  My girflriend and I have begun work on what is being tentatively called the "Graverobbers" scenario table.  Most of all of the materials have finally been gathered and work began in earnest last evening with the purchase of the foam necessary to create the surface onto which the rest of the details will be placed.  I have some pictures to show you all of how the project is progressing but first let's list the materials used in this project so you can follow along:

Editorial: The Ten Things Every Game Needs

Recently I read two great articles by Mark Rosewater.  Mark Rosewater is the lead game designer for Magic: The Gathering, and naturally has some great insights into what makes a great game.  M:TG has been one of the most successful games out there and clearly reigns as king among card games, second only to poker.  Since the game has many years of success - and is lots of fun - I really took his articles on Ten Things Every Game Needs (Part 1 and Part 2) to heart and thought it applied also to miniatures games out there that I have played.  I figured I would share his ten points summarized here, with how I think they apply to Warmachine/Hordes.

Steamroller 2012 - First Impressions

Today I participated in a 35 point Steamroller tournament using the 2012 Steamroller rules.  The organizer asked me not to share the actual rules on here, but I'm sure you can search somewhere on the internet to find the final beta of the rules.  Today's tournament focused on the "flanking" scenarios using reinforcements, so I figured I would weigh in on my impressions of the new steamroller rules.  Oh, and if anyone is wondering, I did not do too well today.

List Building: Fiona the Black (50 points)

One of my other factions that I play is Mercenaries.  Specifically, I play the privateer mercenaries, and I started with Broadsides Bart.  There is one warcaster who has always piqued my interest and that is Fiona the Black.  She's a badass goth pirate chick that's not Skarre.  I love her artwork in the Mercenaries book and I love the idea of a manipulative denial warcaster, but I have struggled for a long time to figure out how does she win?  I have not played her yet because I have not felt confident in a list yet.  Her tier is kinda "meh" and I don't think it takes advantage of the many tools she has available, and the benefits from her tier list don't make up for that, in my opinion.  Last night I had a revelation, and I began building based upon my other list building articles, and I think I have a list that makes me feel a bit more confident.

Showcase: Stormguard

Okay, by now you're probably sick of all of the showcases, so the good news is that today's will be the last for a while... or at least until I finish painting what models are on my painting table.  Today I will showcase my two units of Stormguard!  What's great about taking pictures of my models is that I become hyper aware of what kind of damage they have taken in the time since I finished painting them.  Last night I made sure to go through and fix all of the little chips, dings, and minor paint spills.  I'm not the neatest painter, but I wanted them to look at least a bit better for you all.  Let's see how they turned out!

Homebrew: Nikolai, the Saint of Khador

I figured that you all might be starting to get of all of the showcases, so I figured I'd give you all a break before the last showcase.  So, in the true holiday spirit, I decided to once again make some homebrew rules for a character!  This time I present you with [what I think is] the Iron Kingdoms version of Jolly Ol' St. Nick!

Showcase: Cygnar Stormsmiths

Today I will continue the showcase of my Cygnar models by showing off the models that convinced me to play Cygnar in the first place: Stormsmiths!  Just like  most else Warmachine/Hordes related, I fell in love with the models first and then read their rules, only to find myself liking them more!  In particular what convinced me to start Cygnar was one model in particular: the Storm Tower!

Showcase: Cygnar Warjacks

I continue to show off my Cygnar today by showing you all what my painted Cygnar warjacks look like!  So far I only have a Stormclad and two Fireflies done, with Thunderhead basecoated and a bunch of other warjacks waiting for my attention.  Despite having only these few models completed, I have a large collection of Cygnar, and I haven't even played with half of them!  They are definitely my "collection" faction so far, while I play most of my games with Circle.  Anyway, let's take a look at them, shall we?

Showcase: General Adept Nemo

So since I've been showing you what I've been painting lately, I figured that I would showcase today what little Cygnar models I actually have painted.  "You play a faction besides Circle!?" you may ask.  I know it might come to a great surprise to you, but I do in fact play other factions besides Circle.  One of my earlier alternatives to Circle was Cygnar, particularly eNemo and his tier list.  With Cygnar being the second book out after Mk II was official, some of the tier lists are a bit "meh" but eNemo's really stuck out for me for one reason: Stormsmiths!  I loved the idea of these guys and early-on I designed a Tier 4 list that I was going to build.  The only problem was that the model for Fireflies wasn't released for some time, so it took me some time to build up the steam (heh) to assemble the force.  Well here's what I have painted so far now:

My Cygnar force!  So far I have painted:
eNemo, 2 Fireflies, Stormclad, 2 min units of Stormguard,
3 Stormsmiths, and the Storm Tower

I will showcase more of these models in the next couple of days, but today I want to show you my work on the man himself, General Adept Nemo!

Showcase: Gnarlhorn and Pureblood

To continue with my painting streak, I finally decided to finish my Gnarlhorn and Pureblood Warpwolf.  Much like my Druids, I had started and essentially finished these two warbeasts over the summer while I was in Savannah, but I had never gotten around to basing them because my basing stuff was packed away for so long.  These are two warbeasts that I absolutely love and they find their way into many of my lists, so I figured that it was about time that I touch them up, finish basing them, and seal them.  I did complete painting these two guys prior to finishing the Gorax, so you'll notice that the musculature is not as highlighted as I wanted.  Still, I think they look pretty good, even if their skin looks a little too flat.

New Poll: Favorite Faction?

 

The previous poll expired at the end of November, so let's see what your favorite gaming articles are!

What kind of gaming articles do you like to read?

Editorial	3 (18%)
List-building	10 (62%)
Painting	8 (50%)
Hobby	7 (43%)
Army Showcase	8 (50%)
Rumors	3 (18%)
Rant	2 (12%)

Showcase: Druids of Orboros

 My druids have been sitting in my case, half painted, for about 5 months.  This last summer I was bascially a hobo for a month while I was between my last boarding school and my new one.  I spent part of that time with my buddy in Savannah, GA and we spent some time painting towards the end of my trip.  One unit that I've been meaning to paint for some time are my Druids, especially since I use them practically every game.  Anyway, for some time they were just sitting with a Badab Black wash over them with some white highlights on their capes, and I figured it was time to finish the job.  You will also notice my purple vortex templates, which I made using my cheap and easy template technique.

Showcase: Gorax and More!

So I have a treat for everyone today!  I've been painting between playing Skyrim and work and finally have a model to show for it!  It feels like I've been painting more than I actually have, because much of my painting time has been focused on touching up my constructs.  They have seen repeated use in games for over a year so they needed some love to fix up those chips that they have seen over time.  While I will present to you a completed model, I will start by showing you the touched-up constructs.

New toys!

Guess what arrived today???

Scenario Table!

So I've been keeping this news pretty close to the chest for a while to make sure that it was actually going to turn into a reality first: my girlfriend and I will be making a scenario table for Templecon!  If you don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain.  At Templecon, in addition to all of the tournaments that are going on, there will be a collection of various independently-crafted tables.  Each table will have a unique scenario for it, and you can earn bonus Iron Arena points if you play on different scenario tables.  An example of one of these scenario tables is called Low Tide and it was made by a local PG Lonelymonk.  Here are some pictures of me playing on it:

Road to Templecon 2012: List Building

So if you have not had the opportunity to read my two articles on List Building, you should check them out in the Learning Center (the links towards the top left of my blog).  In those articles I discuss what kinds of things you should be considering when designing a good list.  While having fun is first and foremost, the best way to have fun is to make sure that you aren't screwed by a particular playstyle of something that you "totally forgot about."  It happens to the best of us, and bad match-ups will always be a part of the game, but this is why multiple-list tournaments are so popular.

Today I will be discussing a couple lists that I have been considering bringing to Templecon 2012 this year, to play in the team tournament (also mentioned in my last Road to Templecon article here).  I have four lists on the chopping block, and I'm only allowed to bring two.  I already have a good idea of which ones I want to bring, but I won't tell you, so that I can keep the surprise ;-)

List Building 102: Expectations

Building a list for Warmachine/Hordes is not as easy as just copying whatever you've seen on the internet.  I have found that many people have attempted this, thinking that they'll do fine, and then struggle for unknown reasons.  While something can be said for playing many different warcasters/warlocks/factions in the game, ultimately success depends on choosing a list that fits your playstyle, like I discussed in List Building 101.  Now that you understand how important it is to find a playstyle that matches your own, let's look at the next natural step and think about what you can expect to see across the table.

Painting - keys to getting started

So many happy trees...

I need to paint.  A lot.  I swore that when I started playing Warmachine/Hordes that "I'll get so much more painting done!"  I was a Tyranid player, so the thought of not having to paint 100+ models of identical poses was a relief.  Unfortunately, I still find myself procrastinating when it comes to painting my models, and it's a problem.  I hate being one of those bloggers who uses my real life as an excuse for not getting stuff done, but I'm not in college anymore.  I'm a real person with a real job.  Unfortunately for me, that job happens to be being a teacher.  Oh, and I also work in the theater.  Two incredibly time-consuming jobs.  While that leaves me the occasional downtime to play some Skyrim (another reason for no painting) or play a game of Warmahordes, it's easy for me to avoid painting when I only have small chunks of time.  So today I'm not going to talk about painting techniques, but rather my thoughts on painting in general and how the rest of us can get some painting done.

List Building 101: Playstyle

I've been seeing a lot of articles on the internet lately discussing list-building.  What I've been finding most interesting is that these articles are popping up on web sites that have traditionally been focused more on Warhammer 40k.  Perhaps it's a sign of the extreme growth that the Warmachine/Hordes community has seen in the last year, but I think that one thing that is often neglected in these list building articles is the issue of Expectations.  What do I mean by that?  I'm talking about both what you expect of your own style of play, which I mentioned yesterday when I was talking about faction loyalty.

Faction Loyalty

After yesterday's great Domination event (which you can read about here) I realized that I really love the Hordes side of Warmachine/Hordes.  After the conclusion of the event, several of us local players sat down and talked shop, discussing options for Templecon, discussed some theories about combos, and heard some tales of the playtesting for Domination (a bunch of local players are PP playtesters).

Throughout the conversation I kept coming back to the realization that I really enjoy Hordes factions more than Warmachine factions and one of my buddies from Regular Team agreed with me.  While we maintain our first Warmachine factions and are still pretty attached to them, we find Hordes to be more fun.  Perhaps it's the fury mechanic, perhaps it's the originality of each faction, or the unique nature of warbeasts over warjacks, but I find myself having way more fun managing fury than focus.  This got me to thinking about something I've been considering for some time: trading away my privateer mercenaries.

Domination Release Event! (Updated!)

So today at my LGS there is an event celebrating the release of Domination and I most certainly will attend!  So the deal is that you try to play as many 50 point games as you can and you earn points once you achieve a "glorious deed" or other such conditions are met.  There will also be a new scenario, which I briefly playtested the other day against my Troll buddy, so that will be fun too!  The rules for the event can be found here and I plan on playing all day!  I will try to update my blog over the course of the day to let you all know how I'm doing and how the event is progressing, so make sure to come back and check up on how I'm doing.  Here are 3 lists I'm going to run (at least):

Road to Templecon 2012: Team Building

I'm so excited for Templecon this year!  I wrote about Templecon already here, and how I was excited to be not only attending this year, but participating in a couple of the tournaments.  When I attended last year I played exclusively for fun, playing only on scenario tables in the Iron Arena.  One of the tournaments I'm most excited for is the team tournament, so now let's discuss my adventures in finding a good team for the Templecon Team Tournament.

Homebrew: Gobbler, the Crazy Turkey Warbeast!

Since there was such an interest in Archeron during Halloween, I figured that I could make some rules for a fun Turkey warbeast for Turkey Day!  I present you all with Gobbler, the Turkey Warbeast!

DOMINATION! READ! NOW! PART 7! FIGHT!

Today is the conclusion of the DOMINATION! READ! NOW! series, and I’m sure you’re all tired of seeing so many exclamation points and capital letters.  To conclude my initial analysis and impressions of Domination, I have a battle report to share with you!  Today’s battle report is pretty special not only because it’s the first I’ve posted on here, but also because it’s against a kid Drew at my LGS.  Drew is a good kid and I’ve been playing games against him for some time and recently traded my old Minions from the good Dr. Arkadius for his Cygnar.  This means that all of the painted models in the battle report today were painted by yours truly!  Let’s begin.

DOMINATION! READ! NOW - ah screw it.

I hate blogger.  I spent an hour and typed out a very long review of my favorite models from Domination and then *POOF* it didn't save any of it.  Let that be a lesson to all of you: type it out elsewhere and save it, don't rely on the blasphemous magic of the internet to save for you.  Since I don't have the time nor the patience to re-type the article again, right now, I will simply give you the quick outline.  Maybe I'll come back this evening and be more detailed, but for now I'm literally shaking with rage, so all I can do is a quick review:

DOMINATION! READ! NOW! PART 5! SMASH!

Okay so what's on for today?  Well at the end of today's article you will find some pictures from my first game with a Domina Today I will briefly talk about each of the character warbeasts that were released in Domination - all of whom seem to be some variation on the theme of smashing things to bits.    I will not be ranking these guys, even in order of my favorites, but rather just talk about the strengths of each and where I see them fitting into the current meta (at least my local one).  One interesting thing to note is that each has the rule special issue [warlock], meaning that they can be taking as a part of that warlock's themed list and are also bonded to that warlock.  Aside from that, there are no direct affinities like the other character warbeasts, so there's no real disadvantage to taking them with other warlocks.  I have to warn you that today's post is a little long, but thorough, so hopefully you'll find it useful without being too long.  Let's start in the order in which they are presented in the book:

DOMINATION! READ! NOW! PART 4! WARBEASTS!

Okay so why do people play Hordes?  I imagine that if they really wanted to play with lots of infantry then Warmachine probably suits that better than Hordes.  No, if you want to play Hordes, you're likely interesting in the big tools of war known as warbeasts!  Domination brought us some unique and exciting warbeasts!  Unlike Warmachine, new warbeasts have to be considered not only for their battlefield performance, but for their animi, as they are effectively a new spell that our warlocks have access to.  Which warbeasts are my favorite from Domination?  Let's find out!

DOMINATION! READ! NOW! PART 3! WARLOCKS!

By now you’ve hopefully become excited enough that you ran out and purchased your own copy of Hordes: Domination and are aware of the different spells and abilities that these fancy new warlocks can use.  There are some new spells and there are some old, but one thing that Dominations has surely brought us is a bunch of new playstyles for each faction.  Today I want to focus on my three favorite (I didn’t say “best”) warlocks, and why.  I want to first say that I LOVE eBaldur, but I already spent enough time talking about him here, so today I will be focusing on three other warlocks, with the understanding that you know Baldur is my absolute favorite.  Here are my thoughts:

DOMINATION! READ! NOW! PART 2! TEARS-er-TIERS!

I have always loved the idea of tier lists.  In fact, they were the reason why I stared playing Mk II in the first place!  I was bitter about Mk I and how some lists were so incredibly broken and I was "just a casual gamer."  The idea of playing a theme list for benefits really appealed to me!  I later discovered that I can still have fun in a casual setting trying to be competitive, but I digress.  Today I will be looking at what I believe to be the top 3 tiers.  Your meta will vary so take my rankings with a grain of salt, but I will be listing my top 3 (unfortunately, a little one-sided) rated based on achieving Tier 4.  Let's do this!

DOMINATION! READ! NOW! PART 1! ART!

ZOMGWTFBBQ I PICKED UP MY COPY OF DOMINATION YESTERDAY!!!!

I'm sure I will not be alone in reviewing everything that's awesomesauce in Hordes: Domination.  This is our first "real" book since Mk II for Hordes, and it's time for us to join the Warmachine players with our own Battle Engines!  Here's a spoiler though: ours are better.  Instead of focusing on particular models for Part 1 (of 7) of my DOMINATION! READ! NOW! articles, I will be focusing on some of the overall "vibes" I'm getting from this particular book.  We'll look at the particular factions, what new play-styles have emerged (there are lots!), and what you will likely be seeing across the table.  Some of our old warlocks now have some new tricks up their sleeves, and it's your job as a good general to know what kinds of things they'll be up to.  Let's dive right in!

Editorial: Character Restriction

So recently I've been reading a lot of chatter about the new SteamRoller 2012 tournament rules.  These rules have not been finalized yet, but they are certainly causing a stir for one big reason: character restriction as a standard.  What does this mean?  Well character restriction already exists in SR 2011, and what it means is that model that is FA:C can only appear in one list if there's a multiple list format.  This also means that you cannot use the same warcaster/warlock in multiple lists, but in the SR 2012 format, you can have a prime and epic version of a caster in two of your lists.  So if I wanted to run pBaldur and eBaldur, I'm totally allowed, but I can only take Megalith in one of the lists since he's FA: C

Templecon is coming!

I'm now starting a series for the next couple of months on the Road to Templecon (2012), chronicling my preparations for what is bound to be an epic convention of gaming.  Templecon is historically one of the biggest conventions for Warmachine/Hordes games and I plan on entering with my team into the Team Tournament this year.  Part of my preparation includes list building, playtesting, and lots of painting.  Let's first start with the history behind this decision (Pictures from Templecon 2011 were taken by my awesome girlfriend).

So Templecon is nearly upon us!  What is Templecon?  Well it's one of the biggest (if not the biggest) Steampunk convention in the US and it takes place in Warwick RI.  This year the convention will take place Feb. 3rd-5th and it is sure to be EPIC this year since last year there were over 250 people playing in the Iron Arena alone!!!  This year the convention is taking over the Grand Ballroom and it's certain to be a much bigger event than last year.

List Building: Darius Tier 4

Lately my Circle have been getting lots of love from me.  I am "playing" them in the LGS Journeyman League which started two weeks ago, so they have been foremost in my mind.  I also plan on taking them to Templecon this year for the team tournament.  I'm still trying to convince my teammates to run all Tier lists so that we can name our team Trail of Tiers (too much?), but I digress.

Today I want to give some love to everyone's favorite protagonists, the boys in blue, the swans, Cygnar.  Specifically, I want to highlight one of the better tier lists in the Cygnar book, Captain E. Dominic Darius' Wrecking Crew.  This tier list is great for several reasons that become more apparent at the 50 point level.  I will start with a 35 point list, however, as it will probably be easier to achieve for some of you out there who want to think of ways of making this neat caster work for you.  Author's note: Darius is actually one of the rare casters who can achieve a Tier 4 list in 15 points!

Hobby: Really easy-to-make templates!

If you play Warmachine/Hordes often enough, you might find that you need a lot of different kind of templates that might not necessarily be provided.  I'm not talking about blast or spray templates, but AOEs that will need to stay in play for at least a turn.  For example, I love playing Circle and we have Druids which can put down a 3" AOE that's a cloud effect.  Similarly, if you play with Cygnar Trenchers, you might use their smoke bombs for similar effect.  Even if you don't use smoke templates, if you're playing with or against Warmachine, you'll need some kind of wreck marker to represent a wrecked warjack.  Well, my friends, I'm here to show you a stupidly easy way of making your own templates!

Learning Center: Focus in Warmachine

In our second installment of learning how to play Warmachine/Hordes, we will discuss the main tool of your warcaster in games of Warmachine: Focus.  While Hordes has rules which are playable against Warmachine, today we will be focusing (pun intended) on some of the rules that apply specifically to Warmachine.  Last time we discussed the core mechanics, specifically how we use dice to represent the results of our desired actions, specifically looking at attacking with melee or ranged weapons.  Let us look again at the cards of the two warcasters we were comparing: Coleman Stryker and High Exemplar Kreoss.

Plastic Warbeast Kits are here!...

Zoidberg...?

...sorta.  It looks like Privateer Press finally unveiled their first of the plastic warbeast kits, and it's no surprise that it's the Legion heavies.  Anyone who has put the metal models together already knows that these kits were nearly the same anyway, so they were the easiest to transition to plastic (compared to the Troll and Circle beasts, who will need more drastic resculpts).  I am guessing that Skorne might be next, as the Gladiator, Sentry, and Cannoneer kits are already pretty similar as well.  We also get our character warbeast kit, compatible with the plastic kits: Proteus!  Looks like Privateer Press is really pushing the Cthulhu theme with Legion now...

List Building: eBaldur Tier 4

This week is tech week for me at my school.  Due to the power outages last week, that means that we actually have two shows being put on this weekend.  As the technical director, I'm a bit drained, but I've been striving to make sure that Steam-Powered Gamer gets it's daily article!  Today I'm particularly exhausted, but it's time to play around with Baldur the Stonesoul!

Editorial: Signs of an abusive relationship [with your game company]

Today I wish to discuss an important subject.  I first want to say that I take abusive relationships very seriously, and I hope that you can take this post very seriously.  Abuse in relationships is not exclusive to physical means but abuse can take a purely emotional toll.  "But this is a gaming blog..." you might say.  You are right.  Today I want to discuss the same behaviors that are observed in abusive personal relationships and apply that to what I said in this article about miniatures games as a hobby being more like a relationship than other hobbies.

Warmachine Table Part 3: The Colors of the Wind

The Colors of the Wind

He was pleased at how the battlefield was taking shape.  Every stone was in its place, the grooves in the earth were ready to be filled with flowing water.  "Wait!  I'm getting ahead of myself, the waters have no color!"  The general realized that his battlefield was lifeless and lacked the color it deserved.  "Time to get painting!"

Spoilers: Lots of Domination stuff!

Alright so yesterday's post featured some detailed reviews of the actual Domination cards for some Warbeasts, but there has been a metric TON of spoilers on the Privateer Press forums!  Not terribly surprising, considering that the book will be out in two weeks.  Not only do we have rules and stats but even some tier lists!  I'm a huge fan of tier lists, and they were the reason why I even got into Mk II.

Alright so here's everything that I have synthesized while trolling through the Privateer Forums:

Spoiler: Domination Warbeast Cards!

I have long given up on my Minions.  I once played Arkadius and loved my 4 lovingly-converted War Hogs, but alas, it was not meant to be.  I was frustrated with the lack of options and decided to delve into my original choice for a second Hordes faction: Legion.  But I digress.

I've been waiting to see what this guy does!

This weekend is Warmachine Weekend in Springfield MO, and something interesting has happened: some PP staff have been playing with some new models from Domination!  Not only do we get to see these new beast models, but the cards have also been spoiled - with their blessing!  How awesome is that?!  Very smart PP, spoil these awesome new models in a time when other companies (*coughgamesworkshopcough*) are cutting down on spoilers.

Showcase: Two Player Box

I received the Two Player Box for a couple days now but I've been waiting until I got home to open it up and see what's inside.  I am not disappointed!  There is TONS of stuff in this box, and certainly well worth the $100 retail pricetag.  Even though other starter boxes or other games (like the Isle of Blood or Battle for Black Reach) have more models, Privateer Press made sure that this box provides everything you need to get into the whole hobby, and not just the game.  Anyway, instead of writing 15,000 words, I'll just give you 15 pictures (that's what they're worth, right?):

List Building: The Journeyman League!

While there was no power in Connecticut, I decided that I would trek up to Boston to spend time with my girlfriend.  I had a mini-vacation, sure, but she still had to work, go to class, and write papers and such.  What was a guy to do?  You guessed right: GAME ON!

I spent 3 of my 4 days off hanging out at The Whiz, my "L"GS (I say "L" because it's only local when I'm in the Boston area).  I had some fun crafting and playing a new style of Magic: The Gathering deck I like to call the "Mad Scientist" deck, but I wanted to take advantage of the time to play some Warmachine/Hordes.  That was when I heard from one of the Press Gangers that the store was starting a Journeyman League.  If you click that link you'll find out what the Journeyman League is, but I will summarize it by saying that it's a 6 week event that is designed to encourage new players to get into the game by starting small with the standard faction battle box of models.  The League tallies points for games played and the number and type of models you paint and you can earn prizes (and neat patches!) depending on how many points you earn.  Even though I'm not a new player, I decided that I would join up so that I could motivate myself to get some of my Circle painted in time for Templecon in February.

Editiorial: Being "Competitive"

"I never really played sports when I was younger because I'm not really a competitive person."

EXTREME!!!

I have said that line on many occasions and I now believe that there are many flawed assumptions in such a statement.  Yes, it's certainly true that I never really played sports, not even baseball, soccer, football (aside from a brief exploratory period in high school), nor any other kind of sport.  When I was young I never really had the drive to try any of these activities and my parents never had me try because of that.  In hindsight, I find that a little strange considering that they always encouraged me to try new things, but I digress.