Project Press Ganger: Battlegroups!

It's been a while now but for those who weren't aware, I want to be a Press Ganger. My regular job takes a big time commitment but my spare time is mostly spent on Warmachine/Hordes and I've had some experience running tournaments in the past. I love Warmachine/Hordes and I want to give back to the community and help new people get into the game. I'm already a teacher so it's a natural interest for me and plays to my strengths! I like to think that I'm a good player, know the rules, and am fun to play against (or at least am helpful for those who are looking for advice) so I hope that Privateer Press will agree that I'd be a good candidate to be a Press Ganger. That's all well and good, but there are, of course, some requirements for applying to be a Press Ganger and one of those requirements is making sure that you have fully painted models to demo games with, and that's admittedly been an area of weakness for me. That ends today, however! I finally got two battlegroups fully painted for Hordes!

Thinking Cap: Initial thoughts on the Woldwrath

I think I inadvertently creating a shooting list with eBaldur.  I got to play with the Woldwrath for the first time a couple of weeks ago against a Cryx player at the Battle Standard.  He usually doesn't play in tournaments much but it was my first time with the Woldwrath anyway so I have no allusions that it's OMG BROKEN or anything but I do want to share my brief insights on the model.  I wanted to try out a 50 point game because Templecon is coming up soon and I need some practice.  I crafted a 50 point list for eBaldur a while ago but I finally got to try it out and so I need to share my findings.

Winter 2012 Holiday Bundles: Hordes

Much like the Warmachine Bundles offered by Privateer Press for the holidays, today I will look at the Hordes holiday bundles and rank them on the same criteria (Power Level and Longevity).  It's taken me a while to fully evaluate these lists and there are some very interesting differences between the Hordes bundles from the Warmachine ones.  Notably, the Warmachine bundles included the plastic battlegroup box (and so you would normally get a second warcaster to play).  These bundles do not include the plastic battlegroup box (except for Skorne, for some reason) and, in the case of these bundles, that is actually more of an advantage since the rest of the bundle isn't limited by warbeast choices.  Also, the Hordes bundles include a full-sized rulebook instead of the pocket sized one - probably since there's no battlegroup warcaster and they wanted to offer a fair deal.  What's also different with these bundles is that there isn't even a Trollbloods holiday bundle, which is very curious.  Instead, there are two Minion bundles - a great boon for anyone interested in starting the Thornfall Alliance or Blackwater Congregation.  It's great the Privateer Press created separate bundles for what is, essentially, two separate factions.  Well, let's jump into it!

Steamroller Prep: Escalation Tournament

So there's an Escalation Tournament on December 9th at The Battle Standard in Manchester, CT that sounds really interesting.  Unfortunately, I'm on duty that weekend so I will be unable to attend *shakes fist* but in case I can get someone to switch duty weekends with me, I still would like to prepare for it.  What will be interesting about the tournament is that there will be 4 rounds and the points values for each round increase, so you'll play at 15 points the first round, then 25, then 35, and lastly you'll play at 50 points.  Where it gets most challenging, however, is that you must keep building on your previous list.  In other words, the models in the 15 point list must be present in your 25 point list and so on.  The other major challenge is that your 15 point list is warjack/warbeast only (although you can be 3 points down).  That's where things get tricky because it means infantry warcasters will have a tougher time first round, and so the event as a whole will likely favor warjack/warbeast-heavy lists.  So what would I be bringing?  Well I first had to start with looking at viable 15 point lists, since those elements will carry forth into the later rounds.  Here's what I considered:

35 point Fall Steamroller Results

Sunday I played my first tournament in well over 2 months and it felt great!  While I was definitely pretty rusty, I found myself in my element and on my game, for the most part.  There was a little issue in the last game because me and my opponent were pretty tired and forgot that scoring for Incursion meant scoring each turn instead of round, but we were able to retroactively determine that I did, in fact, win the scenario.  He was a great sport and we had some good laughs afterwards about how tired we were.  So let me share the lists that I finally decided upon and then I'll briefly break down my games.

Road to Templecon 2013: List Building Part 2

Like I said on Monday, now that the Templecon Team Tournament has been confirmed as 50 points, 2 lists, and Divide and Conquer, I have some decisions to make.  I already looked at using pBaldur vs. eBaldur and I'm genuinely torn between the two and will need to playtest the lists thoroughly.  Today, however, I want to look at my other two options to pair up with whichever Baldur I want to take.  Fortunately, the 50 point level means that I have more options to play around with and I'm more motivated to use warlocks that I have a hard time justifying at 35 points.  So which lists am I considering?

Road to Templecon 2013: List Building

 So we have confirmation that the Team Tournament at Templecon will be 2 lists, 50 points, and Divide and Conquer.  Damn.  This is also a bit strange to have such a decision already made without the SR 2013 document available yet, at least as far as I know...  Either way, this is a little disappointing for me because it severely limits my options.  One of the reasons why I was hoping for a 3 list format is it means that you'd be less likely to see the same tournament lists over and over again because players could experiment a bit more and worry less about bad match-ups.  Indeed, I can almost guarantee that every Cryx player will bring Terminus, Cygnar players will bring eHaley, etc.  *Sigh*  Well, let's consider what I'll be bringing.  At least the field will still look a bit different with the addition of colossals/gargantuans and there are a few new warcasters on the field these days, so maybe there will be some variety.

The "Counter-Punch" playstyle

This article was inspired by a couple of comments exchanged with someone on a Bell of Lost Souls review of the Woldwrath.  I thought that the review was pretty solid (although without much play experience) and I generally like the Warmachine/Hordes writers for BoLS.  In the comments I mentioned my experiences with the Woldwrath for some additional feedback and I had an interesting exchange there discussing Circle's playstyle.  In fact, I've had similar thoughts from reading Lamoron's articles on his experiences with Circle over on his blog.  I've always been interested in Circle and they're my first faction since Mk. II (although it might have been Cygnar if they had released the Firefly model sooner for that eNemo theme list).  I'm not going to suppose that I'm an expert on the faction or that others are incompetent, but the purpose of this article is to try to explain the playstyle of the Circle Orboros and why many find the faction to be so challenging outside of just a handful of warlocks.  I believe the best way to describe this playstyle is something called "Counter-Punch".

List Building: pKaya 35 - Griffon

It's been a long time since I've done some list building.  Perhaps it's been because I've been extremely busy.  More likely, it's because I don't have many opportunities to play games as it is and so I don't play around designing lists when I won't be able to test them.  Today I want to share a list I came up with that I want to try with pKaya.  I've always been an outspoken supporter of pKaya (and indeed, a lot of under-appreciated warlocks) and I think the recent release of the Griffon will allow a lot of flexibility for pKaya.  Admittedly, with the recent errata ruling that medium bases cannot use their full range of power attacks against larger bases (throws, locks), the Griffon will have more limited usage in many lists, but I still think he's useful for an assassination tool - especially with pKaya.  Let me share the list and then I'll break it down.

Recent Games and Reflections

September is the craziest time of year for me.  Coming out of the hibernation period that is the summer and being dropped right into a full boarding school teachers schedule is a bit intense.  Now I remember why I didn't start The Steam-Powered Gamer until October (OMG ALMOST A YEAR OLD!) - I was far too busy in September to do it.  Things are starting to calm down here a bit now 0 well, actually, I think I'm just getting into my groove.  Anyway, I have still been trying to be productive when it comes to Warmahordes stuff and I've managed to get a couple of games in at the local club.  Now that school is back in session some of the regulars have been coming back to the game club so I can at least get a game of Warmahordes in on Friday nights (typically).  That said, 2 games in the month of September is still not that great, but let me outline quickly how those games went.

Team Tournament Prep: 50 points

I've certainly distracted this week from Warmachine/Hordes.  First, I've been distracted due to orientation week for work, with various meetings and classroom prep.  Secondly, I've been getting ramped up for Relic Knights since their Kickstarter has almost ended.  I've been trying to shift gears, though, since even when the Kickstarter ends, product isn't expected until May (yikes!).  Alright, so it's time to start preparing for Templecon in February and start getting into tournament prep and playtesting mode.  I had hoped that this summer I could get lots of practice in with my Cygnar as a potential option, but I've since decided that I should stick with what works: my Circle.  So today I revisit my Circle in preparation for the tournament.

Showcase: The Woldwrath

I know it's been a long time coming, but I finally got pictures snapped for the Woldwrath!  I'm really excited to use this guy but unfortunately school is getting in the way.  I'll be fine for now, but mark my words - I will want to smite someone with his fists in the near future!  While I've already written about how the Mountain King really isn't as bad as people claim, I haven't written much on my opinion of the Woldwrath (that will be coming soon).  I will let you know that I really like the Woldwrath, but its uses will be far more limited than the much-maligned Mountain King.  Even still, I want to try him out because I think he will be fun, even though he won't see much use below 50 point games (except for eBaldur).  Anyway, without further ado, here's my Woldwrath!

Woldwrath!

 I told you it'd be coming!  It's been a busy week but I finally got the Woldwrath assembled!  It actually didn't take that long to assemble and was probably a bit easier than the Stormwall, but it took a while for me because I've been busy working on wedding stuff with the fiancee, in between planning out Cygnar lists.  At any rate, he's here now!  The only problem is that his right-thumb is missing (it's in my fiancee's car - long story) so I can't begin the priming/painting process yet like I had wanted to.  Oh well, I can still get him primed tonight and maybe get him basecoated in time to show him off at the Battle Standard tomorrow... we'll see.

Surprise! Also Templecon Prep (yes, already)

So a couple of good friends are going to GenCon this weekend (jealous) but guess what they've graciously agreed to do for me?  Getting me a Woldwrath!  That's assuming, of course, that they'll be able to snag one before they sell out, but I'm really really excited to get my hands on this model - especially before the normal release date.  While I won't be able to use him in tournaments, I'll be eager to get him painted up in the style of the rest of my constructs and get him onto the tabletop soon so I can start playtesting him in preparation for Templecon this year.  Oh yeah, it's only 6 months away and I want to see if it's worth taking the giant rock-ape!

Woldwrath preliminary thoughts

The stats for the Woldwrath were spoiled on the forums a few weeks before the No Quarter issue was officially released.  Some individuals had their own copies in advance for some reason, so I've had some time to reflect and collect my thoughts on the highly anticipated Circle Gargantuan.  While some mock the appearance of the Woldwrath (notably it's massive shoulder blades), it's technically the oldest of the gargantuans since we've had pictures of it from the original Iron Kingdoms RPG, before Warmachine even existed!  I'm eager to purchase my own model and I wish I could justify spending the money right now to have a friend pick it up for me from Gencon.  I've already commented on the viability of Gargantuans, in general, and specifically with the Mountain King, so where does that leave the Woldwrath?  It has some of the same challenges which face the Mountain King but it also has some different ones.  Let's take a closer look.

Editorial: "In a Vacuum" Part 2

Like I mentioned last week, Warmachine/Hordes is a complex game because there are 11 factions, over 100 warcasters/warlocks, and an even wider selection of warjacks, warbeasts, units, and solos.  There are a LOT of moving parts to this game we play and while there are some consistencies like spells between multiple warcasters/warlocks, every faction (let alone warcaster/warlock) has a different playstyle and to look at any one model and say "wow, that's broken" is so silly to say that it borders on bigotry.  To look at something and make assumptions on it based on your initial impressions is a common practice in humanity but it's our responsibility to try to be open-minded and consider more than just our first impressions.  I liked the way my friend put it: "You can't consider the model in a vacuum."  So today I'm going to take a practical approach and briefly look at each Hordes faction and some common models/abilities/spells that need to be considered whenever you're looking at something new and different before you pass judgement.  While this list is no where near comprehensive, I hope it will help people keep an open mind and consider all the possibilities before they decide something is "stupid" or "broken."

Steamroller Prep: 35 points

There's a 35 point Steamroller this Saturday at Pandemonium in Cambridge, MA.  While I've known about this event for a couple of weeks now, I actually forgot about it until last week when my fiancee reminded me (she's the best!).  We weren't sure if we were going to make it but since she wants to see her best friend in Boston this weekend anyway, I get to play in the tournament!  Hooray!  So today I'm going to look at my two favorite options again to see what I want to bring with me.  I learned some lessons at the NETT and I want to re-evaluate my options.  Naturally, I think I'll bring my Circle to this tournament just because they're my best faction.  I've been trying to give my Cygnar some experience too, but I'm not ready to bring them to a tournament yet.  I might play some games with Cygnar today just for some practice, but I'm 80% sure that I'll bring my Circle.  There are two warlocks that I want to playtest, if possible, before the event on Saturday so hopefully I can get some games in tonight at the Battle Standard.  Who am I considering?

List Building: Goats! Er, Satyrs!

Last night I was playing around with some lists, trying to mix things up a bit.  I strive to keep myself fresh with ideas to prevent the game from getting stale and boring.  I commented to a friend last night that one of the things I love about Warmachine/Hordes is that I can totally get by with just two factions (let alone the 4 that I own) because of the variety of builds that can be made within the same faction.  I've played a lot with my Circle but, admittedly, many of my builds are similar and feature the same things.  Last night I decided to play around with some ideas and I came back to an idea I've had for a while: a Satyr list.  Now, I've owned 2 Gnarlhorn Satyr models for some time now and I've just been waiting for a Shadowhorn for what seems like forever, but I finally found one and so I've been tossing around ideas of incorporating him.  I decided to just go all out and build a list with Satyrs, and not a single warpwolf.

The Search for a new Partner

After the NETT I discovered that I was a little disappointed by my pKrueger list.  While it certainly handles Warmachine armies reasonably well, I played against 3 Troll lists over the course of the day and they made me aware of some of its limitations if I have a bad match-up.  So, that means that I need to either tweak the list or come up with another list that I want to run alongside Baldur when I take my Circle to tournaments.  I took some inspiration (as I always do) from the captain of team Danger Apartment.  He's given me some great ideas since I first started playing the game and he's probably the best Circle player that's out there right now, so I watch his games and lists carefully.  Today I'll share my revamped pKrueger list and then some alternatives that I'm considering to try out to see which of the three will compliment Baldur the best.

Challenge Accepted: Making Cassius Work

As most of you already know, I am a contributor over at 3++ is the new black.  For those who do not regularly check the site, it's mostly 40k-focused but Kirby has been expanding their Warmachine/Hordes content (and I help!).  Well, with the recent release of 6th edition, they've been pretty 40k-crazed over there lately and I've personally been too busy to post for a while.  Well, I've finally found some time to put up an article that's been on my mind since I started considering building a list for Cassius the Oathkeeper.  He's often considered the worst among the Circle warlocks and my natural response was:

So I apologize for recycling the post here but I figured that those who don't regularly check 3++ might still be interested in reading my thoughts on making Cassius work.