Warmachine/Hordes Campaign: Building the Iron Kingdoms

I know that it has been exactly 2 months since my last post but I promise today will make it worth it. I have been working on a campaign inspired by one which I witnessed almost 4 years ago. A Press Ganger and friend ran a kingdom building campaign using the Mighty Empires tiles for some locals at The Whiz back when Mk. II was in its infancy. It was through watching these guys play games and build their own mini kingdoms that got be interested in playing Warmachine/Hordes, and I hope that the campaign I have been working on will inspire someone else to join the game. The version I have worked on has many of the same features as the one I witnessed, with some minor tweaks and some additional features (like faction specific advantages) which I hope will fully revive the campaign while keeping in the same spirit. I have also clarified some of the terminology and even color-coded terms to make it easier to read and understand.

I will be running this campaign starting in the middle of July for 6 weeks (actual start date has not yet been determined) at The Battle Standard in Manchester, CT. There will be a low entry fee to play in the campaign which will go towards prizes (likely trophies). I will announce the finalized details soon.

Without further ado I present to you:

Building the Iron Kingdoms Campaign

Editorial: Pleasing the Fanbase

Something really interesting has been happening in the month of March.  For those of you who are not aware, Mass Effect 3 was one of the most anticipated video game releases for a long time.  The Mass Effect triology has grabbed the fans by the heart and led them along a winding path of decision-making and plot to create what I believe to be the defining science fiction epic of the last 100 years.  Mass Effect 3, the conclusion to the trilogy, however, has garnered much more ire from the fans of the game than both of the other games combined, and this disgruntled response is due to the ending of the game. 

I do need to add: I have not played the game yet, I have only played the demo and for various reasons that I will not go into now, I have not purchased Mass Effect 3 yet and so I'm only vaguely aware of what the ending of the game actually looks like.  What I do want to write about, however, is a response to this:
To Mass Effect 3 players, from Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare

War Room to replace Vassal?

 I want to call this a rumor but really it's more of some reasonable speculation/wishlisting, but I figured it would be worth sharing regardless.  There has been some conversation amongst some friends about Vassal, which has become a popular... what do I call it... game tool?  Well my buddies and I were thinking that with the recent announcement about the upcoming War Room app, that PP might have been giving us some hints about the potential future of this program.

A Gentleman's Tournament

Today I want to share something that’s a bit old but good fun.  About two years ago, before I really started playing Warmachine/Hordes, I was still playing Warhammer 40k fairly regularly.  The crowd at my local game store was fairly strong but some grumbling had begun to creep into the community – people were starting to become a little unhappy and bored with the armies regularly seen at events like tournaments.  My friend, Jon, and I came up with an interesting and fun idea: what if we had a tournament where winning didn’t matter?  I’m not just talking about including “Comp” or Composition scores on army construction (still a controversy in the 40k community), but winning legitimately did not determine the winners of the tournament.  It was a radical idea and some in the community didn’t like the thought of having a community where winning didn’t matter.  Really, who blames them?  What’s the point of a tournament otherwise?  Me and Jon were convinced that this could work and actually be quite fun, however, and thus, the Gentlman’s Tournament was born!

Editorial: Starting a new game

Back in 2004 one of my best friends got me interested in playing miniatures games when he brought over these plastic robots with guns.  These "Necrons" were really neat-looking and he told me about this game that involved pushing these models around on a table and there were rules which described their various abilities and what they could do.  After some convincing and a trip to the local game store, I found my interest piqued by these space bugs with living guns, known as Tyranids.  The rest is history, and I was hooked by miniatures games.

That same friend of mine still plays Warhammer 40k and his army collection has expanded over the years, but as I and our friends have moved on to play other games throughout the years, he has stubbornly stuck to playing 40k.  He's invested a lot of time and money into his armies and doesn't see a reason to stop.  I've been trying to get him to play Warmachine/Hordes because I think he will enjoy the game more, but he's been so resistant to changing.  This got me thinking about how to get someone into such an involved hobby like miniatures gaming, or getting someone to try a new game system like Warmachine/Hordes.  I think the key lies in the story of how I - and probably most you - got into gaming in the first place.

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.

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.

Editorial: More than just a business

Today we have an editorial for you by me!  I make no claims to be an expert in business but this article comes more from my observations of the past few months and my limited knowledge of human nature.  Warning!  Great Wall of Text incoming!  TL;DR can be found at the end

Something new and strange is happening in the world of business today.  Thanks to the internet, the world is becoming increasingly connected on a global scale.  No longer am I limited to my experiences in my own town, state, or even country, but now I am connected to other people in other parts of the world.  This has huge implications in all areas of our lives but as a teacher, I am really feeling the impact in my classroom and feel like this is changing what it means to be a successful business.