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!

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."

35 point Army Deals: Legion of Everblight

Continuing the 35 point army deals, today we have the cheapest deal yet, clocking in at a mere $201.94 for the Legion of Everblight!  Part of the fun of playing Legion, of course, is being able to run with lots of warbeasts!  One of the most fun aspects of playing with the Legion of Everblight is being able to run with lots of warbeasts and to run them efficiently.  Today’s list not only has a bunch of warbeasts, but they’re warbeasts that you’ll see used in multiple Legion lists so you’ll be getting the most bang for your buck – and that’s part of the goal of these 35 point army deals.  Perhaps it's due to the lower cost of running a Legion army that they are very popular (although not as popular as they once were).  Without further ado, I present today’s 35 point Army Deal, led by Thagarosh, Prophet of Everblight!

List Building: eVayl

It's been a while since I've done ye-olde-fashion list-building, so I figured I'd satisfy the itch today and discuss another warlock that's on my docket after Templecon: Vayl, Consul of Everblight.  Ever since I saw the artwork for her primal form, I was interested in Vayl.  She's such an interesting character for the Legion of Everblight and I seem to gravitate towards the spell-slinging types.  Naturally, Vayl is an interesting character to me, and when she went epic... hooo boy I was sold.  Not only is her model better-proportioned, but she has come to epitomize spell slinging.  Today I will be looking at her tier list, as I think that it is very strong and I believe it gives her access to all of the tools she needs for a brutal alpha-strike.

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 - 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 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!

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...

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:

Wednesday Game Night: A Tale of Learning

This is Kent: Beautful! ... but rural

So this past summer I moved from my comfortable existence in Waltham, MA to Kent, CT.  If you are not aware, Kent is pretty much the middle of nowhere.  Don't get me wrong!  It's a great community and the school is wonderful, but it has severely limited my gaming experiences as I no longer can drive out the the LGS to play some games.  One of the big "cons" to moving out here was the fact that I would likely be too far away from a good game store and I would be left with no way of dealing with my stress.  I. Need. To.  GAME!  What was I ever going to do!?