As mentioned in my last post I’m trying to rediscover my Khador by moving out of my comfort zone and visiting some of the more unorthodox casters and units.OrsusSmash did a fantastic write up about Khadoran casters and this material along with my revitalized feel for the game has given plenty of inspiration for forces I’d like to try out and what follows are a few of those lists along with a preliminary analysis of what I’m trying to achieve with them.

For the past two years I’ve more or less played Khador the exact same way and I’m feeling like its more then a bit stale now. The usual attrition war of high def infantry isn’t just boring but in the current meta it doesn’t stand as well as it used to so I want to branch out and try new things. It doesn’t mean I won’t use high def infantry any more I jus want to find new ways to utilise them and combine them with other elements. As such I’m steering away form my 2 most common casters; pIrusk and pVlad for the moment and trying to use only what I have so far in my Khador collection and as I play on with different casters I can proxy new things before making new purchases. I’m quite lucky in that I like all the khador casters wether it be because of their backstory or nature of play so I’ve got plenty of options.

Now these are only preliminary lists and as of yet I haven’t tested any of them so I can only speculate on whats going to happen and how I’m going to adapt with them but as I play more of each one I’ll pick apart my findings in separate articles. So without further adue here we go!

The Butcher of Khardov
- War Dog
- Behemoth
- Beast 09

Rorsh
- Brine
Saxon Orrik
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich

Kayazy Assassins
- Kayazy Assassin Underboss
Winter Guard Infantry
- Winter Guard Officer & Standard

Now some of the more shrewd amongst you will recognise as a list from Templecon 2013 used by Matt Lee and you would be correct! So why, when I’m trying to rediscover the faction on my own terms am I copying someone else’s list? Well it’s circumstantial I suppose, most of the elements were already in place (kayazay, winterguard, saxon and Big B) when I was introduced to this list and in my eyes it filled in a lot of the holes I was musing over.

pButcher was my first caster with Khador after the battle box and he’s one of the major reasons I got into the faction. I love how aggressive he is and how when it all goes south he can get stuff done himself. Accompanying him is the standard IF fodder but with more heavy support then Khador is used to, one of which can alpha strike and is not dependant on butcher to do so. As such the list is still attrition based but uses the feat and R+B to tilt it aggressively and towards assassination if the opportunity arises.

One thing I may try during play testing is swapping beast out for a normal juggernaut and widowmakers but for the moment reach and the imprint is just too tempting.

Kommander Strakhov
- War Dog
- Beast 09

Fenris
Manhunter
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator
Widowmaker Marksman

Doom Reavers
- Greylord Escort
Widowmakers
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters
Kayazy Assassins
- Kayazy Assassin Underboss

I have always really liked Strakov; his fluff, the model, his aggressive playstyle and so he’s one of the casters I want to learn to use most. The thing is he’s always been seen as a one trick poney and even though knowing something is coming and being able to stop it are two different things it does leave him very one dimensional and most importantly: predictable. Most people always take a lot of CC units with him to maximise charge distance but I read a very interesting in a comment in a thread whist researching him: why not include more shooting elements in the army? This way you can engage in a more attrition based game whilst waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

To this end the Nyss and Widowmakers are in to help attrition down the opposing force as well as clear charge lanes for the feat turn. A good spattering of hard hitting infantry like assasins, reavers, Fenris finishes it off. Beast 09 is of course ever present with Strakov to provide a ridiculous assassination threat.

Kommander Orsus Zoktavir
- War Dog
- Conquest
- Drago

Fenris
Man-O-War Drakhun
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution

Great Bears of Gallowswood
Doom Reavers
Widowmakers

So I owe this one to my club mate Chris Berry, he’s been playing a lot of eButcher and seeing the fun he’s been having with him has wet my appetite so this is my first list attempt with this very unique caster. The whole thing balances on using the feat to assassinate or deal so much damage in one turn that my opponent cannot recover.

To this effect theres some shooting in the list to guarantee at least a few rage points if things look sketchy and the usual assortment of fast cavalry solos and hard hitting elites to make the best of the feat. Most models in this army, if given 3 fury are capable of killing a caster. Of special note the conquest is not there to shield Butcher, although sometimes this may be necessary the massive base will hinder more then help in a lot of situations, but because with the feat, fury and conferred rage he has a treat range of 14” at MAT8, POW 25. Even with “only” 3 attacks this is enough to render most heavys dead or useless. Drago is a bit of his experiment in this list with rampager and his imprint he can go through an entire unit on his own…in theory!

I also want to run the eButcher tier list with lots of Doom reavers though obviously this requires a few more purchases first.

Kommander Harkevich, The Iron Wolf 
- Behemoth
- Black Ivan
- Conquest

Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich

Winter Guard Rifle Corps
Battle Mechaniks

With a beard like that who wouldn’t want to play Brian Blessed Harkevich! A caster I have long dismissed as being incredibly sub-par but now I want to take the plunge and see what I can make of him. I feel that Broadsides can be a trap if you’re not careful and that you should never build just for it but also for CC as the speed and armour buffs present quite a few opportunities. I chose the 3 best shooting jacks available to us that can also hammer things in combat (ok Ivan is a bit pillow fisted but we can forgive him that). The rifle corps are also an experiment in providing long range, accurate infantry support whilst also performing the essential winterguard role of being meatshields/jammers etc. I think the mechaniks are self explanatory.

Maybe its because I’ve playing hordes with lots of heavies that makes me want to use this list but I have a few hopes for it and the experience I gained playing hordes should help out hopefully. I’m fully aware that its not at all the same thing due to the focus/fury mechanics but I do have a lot of shooting potential, and a lot of close combat threat and nobody wants to have to deal with armour 23+ jacks. Either way I want to finally get this caster on the table and see what he’s worth.

Koldun Kommander Zerkova - T4 Hunting Wolves
- Conquest
- Spriggan
- Vanguard
- Vanguard

Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist
Koldun Lord
Widowmaker Marksman

Kayazy Assassins
- Kayazy Assassin Underboss
Greylord Ternion
Kayazy Eliminators
Widowmakers

Ah good old Zerkhova, no doubt Khador’s most frowned upon caster yet the only one with a cult following. I played her fo the first time a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. Admittedly it was only at a small scale however I can see some of her merits now and as her theme force is quite impressive I thought I’d start with that. Now I’m not 100% about this list as I feel you REALLY want to take advantage of the FA 2 Kayazay and underboss but sadly I only have one unit of them so that will do for now.

This one is a difficult one to explain, as the theme force dictates what you take and what hunting wolves lets you take is stuff I’m already quite the fan of I just tried to get as much in as possible. Until then Zerkova has a lot of objective control with Forceblast and on the Conquest this gives her a LOT of coverage and with the spriggan you can cover both zones in multiple objective games. The Vanguards are there to cover Zerkhova and let her make the most of influence, Icy Grip and her feat.

So its not the best list but it is what I have access to (the vanguards i can proxy). The biggest challenge as the moment in any case is playing and getting used to her and then we’ll see where we go from there.

So theres the first few lists I’ve come up with but still got a few more to go including eIrusk, Karchev and the Sorschas. I’ll post them up when they’re ready but until then all thats left is to get playing and see what happens!

As I sit here trying to verbally remove the layer of dust the blog has accumulated it actually made me remember a very important detail; since december Whelpslayer is 1 year old! Brings a lot of things into perspective to reread your old blog posts and to see how things change over just a year. But with the new year comes new ideas and I’ve had some pretty different ones this time round. Fair warning a lot of this post is about personal stuff and I’ve written it as much for myself (a reminder so to speak) as anyone else so if you’ve come looking for reports or tips or anything im afraid you won’t find any in this post but still if I have your curiosity then by all means read on…

Another Xmas come and gone but It was a good one for me, spent a lot of time with the folks and the girlfriend and even got a few games in here and there. I’ve been meaning to get some blogging done for a while but never got round to it, usual excuses and all but more importantly I’ve decided on a pretty big change to my hobby “objective” you could say recently.

For a few months I’ve been trying to get regular practice in for numerous events I had tickets for this year but due to work I was never present more than 2/3 weeks at a time. During my time away all I could really do was theorycraft as I am not a fan of vassal at all. As such any progress I made was lost by the time I got back. This compounded with other elements that I wanted/needed to prioritise meant that the whole thing became a kind of 2 steps forward 1 step back situation. All in all I have to admit it stressed me out and I was enjoying my games less and less and in general I was disliking my gaming experience.

So anyone who’s been to the U.S. before knows that international flights give you plenty of time to think…and eat tiny packets of pretzels but I digress, during my recent trip over there thats more or less what I did and had a bit of an epiphany (for lack of a better word). Long story short I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to do it, I’d rather devote the time and attention to other, more important things and try to make warmachine and wargaming what it was to me before: a hobby, a pass time I really enjoyed and an artist outlet. I still intend on playing plenty of Warmachine as I love this game and page 5 is still sacred but I intend to do it with a more casual and fun perspective without the rigors of trying to get my level of play up for serious events.

To that end I’ve sold off the tickets I had for major events this year and taken a step back from things and kind of tried to re evaluate what I really liked in the game and one of the first things I decided was to go back to my Khador. I had been slowly building up a legion army, getting it painted quickly and efficiently using Army painter dip and this was meant to be my tournament army for 2013. I was enjoying my foray into hordes and getting used to all the new elements slowly but surely however my first love has always been Khador and with no more events I’ve quickly shifted back to the motherland. What I do with them I’m not sure yet but I feel like I will sell them off in order to finish my Khador collection.

I’m trying to look at the Khadorans in a new light too. Stepping away from the stereotypical lists I normally use to try out some different approaches to a faction I’ve been playing overall very similarly for the past 2 years. My last 3 games have been with Zerkhova, eVlad and Butcher and it’s been both very enjoyable and refreshing and I’ve found myself writing loads of army lists for different casters that I’m very keen to try out. On a painting note, now I no longer have to try and paint under tournament deadlines I’ve taken to painting things I really want to and after 2 years I finally picked up pButcher and took him home to paint. Either way I feel a liberated, I’ve started really enjoying my games again and in a very turnabout way it makes me want to take part in more events so I can meet new opponents, test out new lists and just have fun as opposed to worrying about rankings, which when I think about it is why I got into this in the first place.

TL:DR – I’m still playing warmachine, just don’t want to aim for serious competitive play anymore.

Where do I intend to go from here then? I’ll also be running the PP Machinations League down at The Outpost so plenty of warmachine is on the cards. Speaking of cards I’ve been getting into Malifaux recently too as it has always interested me and my girlfriend wants to try out wargaming and chose Malifaux so I’ll be getting a crew together as well as some terrain I think. The new plastics are amazingly pretty and its a very inspirational game terrain wise so they should both be pretty fun tasks. I’m also wanting to get back into dystopian wars a bit with friends.

For the Blog well as I mentioned I’m getting into some of the more…unorthodox styles of playing Khador so I may write a few things about that. I’d like to try doing some battle reports again and maybe even stream some more games for fun. I’ll also document my adventures in Malifaux as well as any artistic endeavors.

So there you go guys, sorry it’s been a while (though I’m sure you’ve managed perfectly fine without me!) Normal service will be resuming form now on.

Peace out.

The end of October saw the arrival of Frontlines 2 to The Outpost in Sheffield. It’s been a few months in the making and as my first time organizing an event like this it was a learning curve but in the end it turned out to be a great day! I thought I’d talk a bit about what we did, show you guys some photos and also give out some tips on how to run your own event like this!

Frontlines 2

So I set out to organize a 1 day, 32 player event and believe me it required a bit more work then you think but the result was well worth it! Despite the weather threatening to hold some back we had all but 1 person turn up and dispute starting slightly late we kept to schedule and everything went ahead as planned.

As threatened we streamed the event live on WhelpSlayerTV and it was quite successful so I plan on streaming a lot more in the future so keep an eye on that page! I would advise anyone running an event to try streaming, its great press for your event and it’s a real step forward for the community.

Overall people seemed really impressed with the event and the great venue that is The Outpost. We had some great tables and terrain laid out, we tried to challenge people with the terrain by setting out some more interesting and/or challenging boards, some people liked this, some didn’t but none could deny it did challenge how some played and made for a more interesting fight then just two armies slugging it out in the center.

Of course we had some victors by the end of the day so congratulations to our top 3, those who won the Golden Thrall painting event, the best in faction players and in fact everyone who participated the day could not of been a success without you all.

I would like to particularly like to thank Dr. Norbert for his amazing help and advice with getting the project up and running. Massive thanks to Myke Myers for assisting me with all the scoring and data entry during the event and all around just being a legend! Jamie Perkins, Dan Cunningham and others for all the support and advice as well as The Outpost with all its staff who put in so much effort to create a top class venue!

Top 5 tips for running your own events!

Now I’ve said it enough but events are the lifeblood of our community as well as an essential part of the game. What I’d like to do here is give you a few tips on inning an event and encourage you to do so! Big or small events bring in new players and empowers local gaming groups. By no means is it always easy but like I said before doing something like this for your community is very empowering and rewarding.

Now I ran a 1 day, 32 player event, SR2012 event but no matter what size of event you run I hope these tips will help you!

1. The best laid plans of men and mice.

Now this one seems simple but you really need to go all out when it comes to preparing your event. Along with all the obvious things make sure you know what scenarios you’re playing, what the random game length will be for each round so you can properly plan out you schedule. This was especially important for me as with 5x50point games in one day we needed to run a very tight ship in order to finish the event before it got too late.

2. Thou Shalt never walk alone.

Another benefit of being part of such a great community is there are plenty of people who have done this before and are more then willing to help any way they can. My event would of been nowhere near as good without the help of Dr.Norbert. If there was an award for contributions to the hobby this guy would win it, he helped me with every aspect of the event and I recommend contacting him (he’s on TWF) if you have any questions regarding your own event. Also on the day enlist a trusty companion to help you, you don’t want to have to be the one doing the judging/organsing/inputting/etcetc all on your own!

3. Pimp my ride.

Sell, sell, sell. Get your event out amongst the masses through any means you can. Every little helps form a catchy name to a poster, forum posts etcetc. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help again, I’m really grateful to all the podcasters who mentioned Frontlines on their shows and it brought more people in for certain.

4. The devil is in the detail.

Seriously any little thing you can add to enrich the players experience is worth it and this ranges from the obvious things like providing good quality boards to absurd things such as cakes, no word of a lie FQD (see one of my previous blog entries) is famous for the cakes made by the wife of one of the people who organize it, it seems strange but believe me people come for the cakes as well as the gaming!

5. Know thy enemy.

Now I’m not saying that your players are the enemy but you need to know what they want and expect from an event. Put your mindset into theirs when considering the likes of when you should hold the event, what format you should use and others. I specifically chose the dates for FL2 as I knew there were a lot of tournament players coming so it was essential that my event didn’t clash with another big one. Originally I started out with a hardcore painting requirement but ended up removing it as too many people didn’t have painted armies. It’s a shame but you need to do these things sometimes to ensure success. I intend to hold one or two more baseline painting events before enforcing the hardcore and hopefully by then the locals will be all painted up (they better!)

I hope you guys have learned a bit from this and I especially hope you now feel like trying to run your own event! To reiterate its great for your local community and is very rewarding in itself! So give it a go and see what you can do, if you need any help or more tips feel free to contact me, I’d be happy to help.

Until next time guys.

A real treat for you boys and girls, a fantastic video, with commentary, of the finals of this years Warmachine Weekend! Many thanks to Team Covenant for such fantastic video coverage, from all of us who couldn’t be there it’s great to see this kind of high level play move by move. Enjoy!

Some may think the boat has already sailed for this review however after having used the program extensively II’m a lot better placed to give a fair review of it! So lets get to it, This is a review of Privateer Press’ WarRoom app.

iBodger

I know that wasn’t exactly the first title you were expecting right? in reality no review of WarRoom can happen without first mentioning it’s predecessor. iBodger was a app for smartphone that was an almost obligatory download for any aspiring Warmachine/Hordes player. So what was so good about iBodger? Well it was simple and very easy to use, very intuitive and did a lot of things for you, such as removing units you could no longer put in your list because of tiers or points cost, which improved the overall user experience. It didn’t take much battery on your phone and was very quick to load. Included were all the forces in WM/H and was updated regularly. It was also free so instantly popular with the masses. It wasn’t the prettiest of apps but what it did it did well!

What you have to remember when asking people about WarRoom is that the majority WILL compare it back to iBodger and yes it was a good program and yes it was free and yes it did this and that but at the end of the day it is no longer with us as PP requested the project be stopped when they announced WarRoom. All in all it was largely agreed that WarRoom should be a bigger and better version of iBodger…and views still differ into how well they managed that. Either way now you are aware of iBodger (if you were’t already) then you can understand where the basis of WarRoom came from as well as a lot of the arguments for/against it.

WarRoom

WarRoom is a downloadable army builder program for smartphone and tablet. Developped by Privateer Press and TinkerHouse Games it was released in the Autumn.

The program itself is free however comes with no faction elements apart from a few basic cards for each force. You effectively buy faction “decks” for it, these cost £4.99 and include cards for all models currently released and all those that will be released until a new edition of the game comes out. These cards are updated to include any errata that are introduced by Privateer Press.

The Program includes a Card Library, Army Builder, Rules reference and Fight mode. There is also a store section for purchasing faction decks.

Before we go any further WarRoom had a fair few issues when it came out, a lot of these have been fixed and this review focuses on the program as it stands now. I have used the app for a while on a tablet but for the majority of this review It will be from the point of an iPhone user (4S).

As you boot up the program you’ll see the logos of the involved parties which flash up (which does take about 8 secs) and the program has loaded (about 10 secs) we’re presented with a neat main screen. 20 seconds isn’t a terrible boot up time for an app however it is a lot longer then the aforementioned iBodger. The entire program is generally very aesthetically pleasing with the main page looking very crisp and professional. This does have a downside as the app can feel very clunky and slow to react t your input. Loading times are also an issue, these have been improved since launch but improvements in making the program more fluid would do wonders for its usability.

Another major issue for the app is the battery usage once again this is nowhere near as bad now as it was at release where it used to devour your battery however even in its current state you would have a hard time using the program all day during multiple games (think 5 game tournament setting) which does dent its practicality.

• Card Library

A great little addition to an army builder and definitely something that iBodger did not have. you can review the stat cards of all units in a faction on the go without need to refer to cards, books or Pdfs. All the cards are kept up to date with any erratas and even special units from the seasonal campaigns are included.

You can view stat cards from the army builder section however if you’re just after a quick referral this is an easier option. All in all a very good section that a lot of people don’t give enough credit to.

• Army Builder

So here we go, the main act, the reason we’re all here, the army building function, now theres a lot to be said about this so lets get cracking!

This is the first screen you get in the army builder section, along with the faction icon it lists all the armies that you’ve built in the order they were created, which is a bit strange if you’re used to the alphabetical system of iBodger which personally seems more efficient but its a minor point. Along with its assigned title you can see any tier list you’ve attributed to it as well as other details such as points used and unit breakdown.

 When you click on an army you can see it assembled as such, war caster at the top with his assigned battle group however after that the application doesn’t seem to class them in any particular order except to put solos at the top so that can be a bit irritating. It still looks good and very neat, clicking on the icons allows you to see that units stat cards and at the top you can change the army name as well as attributing any tier lists to it (although that doesn’t change the list, more on that later), you can also add reinforcements in a separate window if you’ve taken them in the list.

The unit bar at the side takes you to the selection screen where you can add more models, now this is where the program is a bit lacking and probably where most of the improvement work is needed.

- Sluggish: Now I know this isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned this but here it’s the most apparent. wether it’s oaring the actual screen, using the drop down lists or just clicking on the add unit button this bit is SLOW. Nothing I can suggest here, this is simply a programming predicament.

- Drop down menus: These are annoying, theres no other way to describe it, scrolling between the different sections is a pain and no way near as intuitive or helpful as iBodger was. for example if you only had 5 points left to spend the program would remove all the options that were 6 points or once you chose a character unit it would remove it from the list. A bit of work but will make it so much easier, just get the program to remove units you can no longer use, wether its because of points, FA, character restrictions etcetc.

- Attatchments: Now this isn’t a hard one; if I choose a UA Its obviously for that unit right? Wrong, the program still asks you if you want to attach it to your war caster or another unit it can’t legally go with… This is EASY, just when I choose the parent unit ask me if I want to take the UA, it’s that simple. The only time I should be being asked which unit I want to attach it to is if I’m taking multiples of the same unit.

- Tier lists: Another disappointment, if you choose a tier list in the army screen it makes no difference to the unit selection screen, no points reductions, no FA allowance, no removing units that can’t be used. As said, make the army builder take into account the list restrictions and bonuses!

Now this isn’t to say that it’s ALL bad. Once again the system looks good, stat cards can be consulted without having to go back and the system is very intuitive if it they could just tune it up a bit then it would be fine and probably stop a lot of the criticism that’s directed at WarRoom.

Honestly, the program works, If you set out to write an army list then you will get it done, its as simple as that however in no way is it nearly as quick and easy as iBodger used to be. This part needs a LOT of work but If it can do the same things as iBodger but with the aesthetics and other inherent advantages that WarRoom has then it will by far surpass its predecessor.

• Reference 

Essentially this is a rules section and frankly, it’s great. it’s got all the individual rules organized alphabetically and they are kept up to date with errata. It’s that simple and quick to use, really a fantastic addition to this program and allows you to generally do away with your rulebook. A great Idea and works fine.

 This function can also be accessed from other parts of the program, for example if you’re viewing a card and there is a rule on there you want to refresh your memory on then you can just tap the card and it will bring up all the rules relevant to that card.

• Battle

Another innovative part of the app. This section, if used right, allows you to do away with your standard stat cards as the program can keep track of all your stats, damage and rules!

Essentially you can import one of your army lists in and the program will allow you to access the stats, cards and damage tracks of you cards whilst you play.

There are 2 ways you can do this, you can either have your WarRoom act independently or it can link to your opponents WarRoom so you can share your armies, you can see his cards and vice versa.

Now in all honesty this isn’t generally as quick as having your cards on the table as like the rest of the app it can be very slow to load up cards and stats however it must be said that it is more practical. The exception to this is when you need to show cards to your opponent as you don’t generally want to be handing expensive pieces of technology to just anyone.

There is also a Timer that can be used for both timed turn and death clock but its a bit vague and I think something could be done to make it simpler and more up to scratch aesthetically.

A note on Vassal: Now I don’t play Vassal but from what I’ve told this program is great for it as you can link data with your opponent which streamlines the game immensely.

A note on Tablets: It’s less obvious when using the other functions but this part is where having a tablet really shines. With a bigger screen you can look at a units stats, spells, abilities and damage without having to constantly switch between screen which incurs loading times.

Now I personally found this to be quite practical, especially in small or casual games, I’m still on the fence about using it in a competitive environment but I fear without a tablet and a way of making the battery last an entire day of gaming I fear it won’t be seeing any tournaments any time soon.

Conclusion

I’ve had quite a lot of time to ply with WarRoom and I like to think I can give a pretty balanced review of it. You very often get people bashing WarRoom for one reason or another but honestly it’s not as bad as some make it out to be (as per usual on the internet). Most of these proclamations usual start with ” Well iBodger did this…” or “Didn’t have to do that with iBodger” and as mentioned before those arguments are kind of irrelevant as iBodger is no longer around. Now don’t get me wrong WarRoom still has a lot of problems, some that can be ignored and some that REALLY need seeing to before this app can see its full potential.

From a casual standpoint I think its a very nifty little app, you can use it to run one off casual games and not worry too much however as mentioned above due to the battery and loading time issues I would not take it to a tournament unless this was improved upon.

I like to look at it like this. I have currently spent £10 on Faction decks for WarRoom. Now do I feel like I’ve lost out on my money? No but then again I don’t feel completely overwhelmed either, the app does what its meant to do fairly well and I can live with that BUT the app itself has a lot of potential. We’ve all seen technology advance in leaps and bounds over the years and despite it flaws what we may have in our hands is the next generation tool for wargaming. I think a lot of people need to step back and consider this before brazenly casting it down and really think about what we could do with this as a community.

When all is said and done WarRoom is a sufficiently good army building app, it’s come on leaps and bounds since its release and will no doubt continue to improve but if you really want to get all your ones worth you really need to embrace all of it’s functions and see just what it can do with you.

What we have here could be the next big thing for wargaming.

Frontlines 2 today chaps! You can catch all the top table action LIVE HERE. We’ve got some top level players coming so be prepared for some hot games!

One day, 5 games, 20 points. very fast and very dirty. Perfect Warmachine atmosphere! Was a bit of a rollercoaster of a day, being my return to tournament gaming after so long. It was really enjoyable, a great day but it did bring up just how rusty I am and how much I need to up my game for future events! Anyways on to the games!

I gave these lists quite a lot of thought and after trying a lot of casters I settled on a fairly standard choice of lists.

pIrusk
Kommandant Irusk – WJ: +6
- Black Ivan: 10

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator: 1
Kayazy Assassins – Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Kayazy Assassin Underboss: 2

pVlad
Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Prince – WJ: +5
- War Dog: 1
- Spriggan: 10

Harlan Versh, Illuminated One: 2
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters – Cylena & 9 Grunts: 10
- Koldun Kapitan Valachev: 2

Ah good old Vlad, a great support caster with his feat and signs & portents but when he needs to get his hands dirty he can dish out the pain. The spriggan is a fantastic jack’ for Vlad and the Nyss under S&P are awesome. An all round fast and heavy hitting list at both melee and range.

I tried out a fair few other lists and combos before settling on these including eVlad and Strakov but at the end of the day didn’t feel as comfortable with them as I did with these lists.

The Venue.
We set off early for Stockport, passing through the obligatory McDonalds for breakfast before arriving. The place war fairly easy to find and as we’d arrived before opening we just chatted and messed about outside as people started turning up. The inside was BIG, a lot of tables and plenty of space. First thing that struck me was how COLD it was inside and it took a while but eventually it warmed up and I was able to take the coat off without my hands shaking so much I couldn’t roll dice. There seemed to be a nice variety of terrain and space between boards to put trays/carses/cards etcetc. Now I have to say the place wasn’t the prettiest, quite rough round the edges especially the toilets. Now maybe I’m just biased because of the number of events I’ve attended at Maelstrom but at the end of the day its on the tables you spend most of your time so thats what counts and the staff were very friendly and helpful so all in all a good venue.

The event was run by Jamie Perkins and after a short wait due to late arrivals we cracked on with the first game!

NOTE: I left my notepad at home with all my adversaries names in, I’ll edit this once I’m back from my work trip.

Game 1
pSorscha vs pIrusk (khador)

So for the first game we were faced with a Khador off. James had pIrusk, eSorscha and eVlad. Faced with Fellow Khador and knowing I was going to be against high def infantry I decided on pSorscha whilst James went for pIrusk.

Kommandant Irusk
* Juggernaut
Great Bears of Gallowswood
6 Iron Fang Pikemen
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard
6 Kayazy Assassins
* Kayazy Underboss

I Got the first turn and charged up the table with the winterguard in the centre and Behemoth off to the left opposite the iron fangs and Juggernaut. Sorscha stayed central mingling with the winterguard. James also ran up to meet me in the centre and minifeated with his IFP and Iron Fleshed them.

This is where I thought I could start locking the IFP out of the game whilst I dealt with the Kayazay who were behind a wood so wouldn’t get more then 2 or 3 models into the WG next turn. First mistake of the game I moved Sorscha up to freezing grip the IFP. I decided to boost the hit and forgo wind rush as I would be perfectly safe with the IFP stationary. What I didn’t realize is that the Black Dragon’s mini feat not only gives +4ARM but also makes you immune to stationary and knockdown and so Sorscha got stuck at at the frontline on 1 focus…doh! I had to jam the winter guard a lot further up then I wanted to to cover her and even then I feared that she may go down, especially if a Battle lusted IFP got into her. James moved up as he could, engaging a lot of my winter guard with IFP and Kayazay but because of some poor dice rolls could only kill two.

I knew I needed to feat this turn but as I hadn’t been punished for my previous mistake I was still in the running. The only thing that would stop me was another big mistake…which is what I promptly did. I moved Sorscha first and feared but james pointed out that I hadn’t faced her correctly and as such only freeze part of the targets I wanted. I panicked as I now had 3 Kayazay with back strikes on her and moved onto spraying with the winter guard in an attempt to clear all the kayazay. by the time I was done there was about 4 IFP and 3 Kayazay left however I then realized I’d totally forgot to wind rush out -_- Great. At this point I knew it was over without a miracle.

James of course saw this blatant opportunity and clearing the few models he needed to charge and applied a juggernaut and Great Bears to Sorscha and that was all she wrote. A bit of a stinker for a first game and it reminded me just how rusty I was with tournament play. I resolved to move on and try not to mess up on that scale again.

Game 2 – Matt Golligher
pIrusk Vs Kaelyssa (Retribution)

Game 2 was against a good club mate of mine, a very good ret player and it’s always an uphill struggle whenever we play. He’d beaten me the last 2 games we played so wasn’t feeling to confident about this one as I knew which list I was going to play against and It’s a tough one.

Kaelyssa, Night’s Whisper
* Phoenix

10 Dawnguard Invictors
* Invictor Officer & Standard
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Ghost Sniper

So Phoenix is a sick jack any day of the week. Invictors are awesome at range and when they have flank can easily eat high def infantry. Coupled with Eiryss doing her usual thing and the sniper picking off solos his list is a royal pain in the ass even with out kaelyssas feat. Basically it means I can’t just run up, feat and then ill stuff. It generally means I need to survive 2 turns before I can really get stuck into him. As I said this was the list I expected and I feared pVlad getting shot off the table so I gave it to pIrusk and stealthed kayazay to try and conquer it.

The game started well, I read towards him and took very few casualties as the kayazay managed to engage his front line. I also managed to maneuver the great bears and Ivan so as to really threaten the Phoenix so it couldn’t move up too far, keeping it stuck in the middle of the invictors so it couldn’t ignite without burning a good number of his own troops. I felt quite confident but this is sadly where the game turned. His Invictors managed to clear a good number of kayazay with a combination of flank and some good rolls and Eiryss kept Black Ivan shut down for most of the game as I failed to kill her. The feat meant I had to charge a kayazay with my great bears in order to get hits on the phoenix but as the kayazay stubbornly refused to die I only got 3 hits on the phoenix and although I took out a lot of the systems it was still up therefor still giving the invitors flank who promptly murdered  the great bears.

It was just a case of mopping up the remaining kayazay after that before assassinating Irusk who had moved up in a last ditch attempt to get some APs. A resounding defeat and I think I didn’t even take half the Invictors off the board netting me nil points. In retrospect I really didn’t think things out before they begun. I didn’t manage Iron flesh well enough to keep the kayazay alive and I should of used Irusk more aggressively to kill Eiryss and the sniper turn 2 with airburst. Another big mistake one turn was forgetting to move the underboss therefor denying 2 kayazay command range who couldn’t free strike as they were promptly riddled with bullets, even more reason to get stuff painted so I don’t forget they’re there. Less a game of mistakes this time and more a failure to recognize and evaluate threats.

Game 3 
pVlad vs eFeora (Menoth)

Game 3 and to be honest I was feeling a bit sorry for myself but I was determined to get my  score back u[p and go 3-2 at least so with that in mind I went into this game with a grim determination. My last list was pVlad and I drew against eFeora, a matchup I’ve had many times before with my mate Dan so I was feeling pretty god about this one.

Feora, Protector of the Flame
* Reckoner
* Redeemer

4 Choir of Menoth
5 Exemplar Bastions
Vassal of Menoth

Now I usually play against eFeora with a unit of Zealots in order to absorb a redeemer shot without dying so Feora can spread the fire. I could only assume that the Bastions were taking this role with their high armor to stop them taking the blast damage but with potentially only 5 fire markers on the table to redistribute I reckoned the Nyss hunters would be fairly safe and just have to deal with scattering AOEs.

* Vociferon
* Nightmare

10 Mechanithralls
10 Mechanithralls
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls

My opponent deployed his caster centrally with Nightmare and thralls either side. I put my kayazay centrally with Black Ivan to the left and the Great Bears following up the Kayazay. With superiority and Iron flesh cast I moved my force up cautiously as my opponent belted it up the board, intermingling the stitch thralls with the mechanithralls as he cast his upkeeps.

I saw a chance to start putting a dent in the horde so up kept both my spells and after taking a reload from reinholdt started my second turn with irusk who feated and moved up to cast an airburst which killed 5 thralls and shot two more dead with his gun. Not a bad tally for one turn! Black Ivan put a bombard shell into the masses and killed another 4 as the Kayazay ran to engage the thralls. My opponent messed up his focus allocation, not keeping enough for a Hexblast so had to settle with just carnage. After casting his spells he brought some of the thralls back before pilling them forward into the kayazay in an attempt to kill as many as possible but on DEF19 only managed to hit one who passed his tough.

I saw a chance with gaspy stood too close to the front lines and decided to take it, going for a win rather then waiting on SPs and APs. I dropped both spells and gave 1 to Ivan who blasted apart some more thralls to get some more points. Irusk cast Battle lust on the Kayazay who minifeated and 4 of them charged Gaspy and promptly 2 shotted him.

At the end of this one I was just pleased I hadn’t made any mistakes and gotten the assassination off without a hitch!

Game 5
pVlad Vs Mordikaar (Skorne)

I went into the final game very optimistic, I was very close to going positive in my win-loss ratio and I had my main man Vlad as my final caster. I came to face up against the Skorne list that had beaten my club mate Matt the first round. I wasn’t super familiar with this caster but looking at the lists I knew I had an edge with S&P.

Void Seer Mordikaar
* Archidon
* Titan Gladiator

10 Nihilators
Void Spirit

I got the first turn and put my Nyss forward into the scoring zone, following up with the rest of my force. My opponent did very much the same as we faced of fairly squarely, he had his titan and void spirit opposite my spriggan and the Archidon on the other flank. I started strong, casting S&P and proceeded no put down most of the Nihilators before zephyring back out of threat range. My opponent brought 4 of them back with his abundance of soul tokens and feated then piled them into me but only two were in range and they missed. I zephyred around out of combat and continued to hammer the Skorne bezerkers, taking them down to a man (who was hidden at the back) as the spriggan dashed across the table to kill the Gladiator.

At this point I was supremely confident in a win, having only lost 1 model and my opponent only having 4 left on the board so was kinda shocked at what happened next. He flew the Archidon across the board and essence blasted him into Vlad causing a large amount of damage and then the void spirit, which turned out to be a LOT harder then I gave it credit for, proceeded to finish him off. I was really disappointed but it was a great play by my opponent and my confidence really backfired here. Looking back I feel I could of survived had I been more knowledgeable about the caster but I was still very happy with the game and despite not getting the 3-2 I wanted it was a fitting end to the day.

Conclusion.
Like I said in the intro, this event really brought back to me how rusty I am and how badly I’ve let my level of play slip the past few months. I finished 20th out of 32  and I can’t blame anything on the lists as I still defend they were very solid all the faults come from me and a mix of stupid mistakes and poor calls of judgement.

Now I can’t complain as I’ve been making a lot of advances with other things since my last event however it has motivated me to pick it back up and really hammer out some games to get my mojo back. This being said it was a great event with a scale of play that really changes how the standard game unfolds. Had loads of fun, was nice to meet new people and see others again and I will definitely be back next year!

The past couple of weeks I’ve been quite busy with work, holiday abroad, insert random excuse for being a lazy bugger here BUT all in all I’ve managed to get a fair bit done so here we go.

So first of all, after over a year of collecting them I have FINALLY finished a Khador model! (to my great shame) However I am very happy with the results and fingers crossed this is a style/colour scheme I can stick with.

I have min unit of IFP nearly done then on to a jack, probably behemoth and just got to keep rolling it out!

Before doing Vlad I made a push to get all my British naval done for Dystopian wars and suprisingly got it all done! Including Tribal class cruisers which I’m unsure I’ll even ever use as they are slightly lack luster.

So that leaves just my air and maybe land to do when I get some. Not a bad start! But for now I want to concentrate on Khador in the hopes of being painted for my next tournament.

]]> http://whelpslayer.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/painted-log-iii/feed/ 1 panzar Vlad agincourt tribal Orions Majesty Vanguards http://whelpslayer.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/hard-pounding-2-dystopian-wars/ http://whelpslayer.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/hard-pounding-2-dystopian-wars/#comments Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:39:19 +0000 Panzar http://whelpslayer.wordpress.com/?p=599 Continue reading →]]>

Get yourself ship shaped and brush up on your ports and starboards because here comes a Dystopian Wars event not to be missed!

Hard Pounding 2 is a 1 day event at The Outpost in Sheffield.
16 players will be fighting it out to become the ruler of the high seas.
Hard Pounding 2 includes 3 rounds using scenarios detailed in the rules pack.
Players will need a 1000 points force with Naval core as per the DW rulebook.
Painted armies are not obligatory but are highly recommended.

Rulespack can be found HERE

The event will take place on Sunday 7th of October.

Tickets are £15 and include lunch.

The event will start at 0900 and finish around 2000

Address:
The Outpost
30 Furnival Gate
Sheffield
S1 4QP

Prizes:
Gift certificates for;
- Top 3 players
- Best Painted
- Bloodiest admiral

Frontlines returns for its second instalment but this time its bigger and better!

Frontlines is a 1 day event at The outpost in Sheffield.
32 players will be fighting it out for the top spot.
Frontlines is a 5 round, SR2012 event.
Players will need 2 50 point lists with 10 point reinforcements. Divide & Conquer.
Hardcore painting as per SR2012.

Rulespack can be found HERE
PLEASE NOTE: Due to it threatening the overall success of the event I have had to drop the fully painted requirements. I am very sad to do so in the eleventh hour but needs must. Please ignore the painting requirements mentioned in the rules pack, this is a non painted event.

The event will take place on Saturday 27th of October.

Tickets are £15 and include lunch.

The event will start at 0900 and finish around 2000

Address:
The Outpost
30 Furnival Gate
Sheffield
S1 4QP

Prizes:
Steamroller coins for top 3 players
Golden thrall coins for top 3 painters
Best in faction patches for all factions.

Gift certificates
Top 3 players
Best painted
Fastest Caster kill
Most VPs

Players 29/32
John Dale
Andrew Garrand
Mark Coultis
Mark Carter
Owen Carmichael
Mark Williams
Dan Cunningham
Jamie Perkins
Lewis Johnson
Kenton Sheppard
Matt Oakley
Matt Golligher
Nathan Hoole
Gavin Roath
Paul Mansfield
Elliot Kimpton
Dan Mecia
Mark Williams
Bret Wilkey
Adam Wilkey
Liam Jordan
Kert Vayer
Paul North
Richard Would
John Giles
Lewis McMahon
Johnathan Hales
Jamie Knight
Phil Shaw