More shelf cleaning...

As I mentioned before, I'm selling off my Cryx collection... which is a TON of painted stuff with a few non-painted units in the mix as well. The ebay auction can be found here! Just as with the last one, everything is being handled by the LGS, the posting, shipping, the whole bit! (So any questions or concerns regarding the auctions need to go to him through ebay)

That said, thanks to all those that placed bids on the previous auctions. All those proceeds helped me get a decent start on my Gator army! With the store credit I get from the Cryx stuff I plan to turn around and start either an all Steelhead Magnus/Damiano merc army or possibly a Menoth army as Feora as well as the new warcaster and character jack has kind of caught my eye.

Hopefully in the coming weeks I can get enough of my Gator models completed and some pics shot!

-EBC-

Ebay time! Clearing off my shelves...

I've decided to put up a bunch of my models on Ebay through my LGS. It's pretty nice as the shop owner does all the work as far as putting the items, shipping, etc, and I get store credit equal to whatever the items sell for! Anyway, CLICK HERE to head over the store's current ebay auctions and help me feed my gaming addiction!

Just a note of what I have up there:
- Malifaux Neverborn stuff. All painted except the "Dreamer" box set.
- Firestorm Armada painted Relthoza fleet.
- Legion and Retribution stuff for WM/Hordes.

Also, as soon as the current league I am in ends I will also be posting up my Circle stuff as well as my fully painted Cryx army!

Thanks for checking out my stuff!
-EBC-

From a Goldfish to a Shark: Helping new Warmachine & Hordes players get started!

As with any game, new players are often the lifeblood of Warmachine & Hordes, but the sheer number of models and options can be overwhelming. Which honestly is the reason I have not started FoW… there is so much stuff that I don’t know where to start!

My plan for this post is to go through what I typically go through when new players ask me where to begin. Keep in mind, as with everything, these are just my thoughts on the subject. It is by no means completely comprehensive, and you may not completely agree with in some spots. Either way, this is some of what I have been telling some of my local players, and I’m putting this out there in the hopes it may help some other people out there as well.

Pix of Cryx: Warcasters

In the coming weeks, I plan on systematically taking some pics of my Cryx collection. I’m choosing to kick things off with the models that set the overall pace and tone for any given army, the Warcasters.



Coreshade the Cursed, or eGoreshade was one of the 1st Cryx models I picked up as I just loved the model! Despite Goreshade being one of my favorite Cryx characters both model wise and fluff wise, I have actually never used him in a game. Maybe as soon as I get my units of Bane Thralls finished I can give him some time on the tabletop.



It is no secret, Terminus is my homeboy! While I picked eGoreshade up for the model/fluff, Terminus was the Warcaster I have been playing from the start! My 35 pt tourney list for this guy remains undefeated, and much hated by the rest of the guys at LGS. The original Terminus model came with a set of huge mechanical/ruined wings that I really struggled with during assembly. I couldn’t find a suitable way to really pin or stabilize the wings to a point that I was comfortable that they wouldn’t break off. My solution was the wings you see on him now, taken from an old D&D mini, which has the added bonus of making his overall profile a little bit smaller for transporting.



Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast, or eSkarre. I have never been a fan of the Satyxis horns, so I left them off, which gives her a kind of “Dark Elf” look. She has been mainly my caster for smaller games, (and MM/T&C) where her feat can be abused… err most useful. My armies for her tend to build around feedback & backlash, so they are very ani-warmachine in that case.




Finally, Iron Lich Asphyxious… better known as Gaspy! I’ve been playing him the most lately, and I think I’m starting to get a bit of a feel for him. I recently developed a list fro I posted on here, which seems pretty interesting, but I need to get in more games vs different casters to see what it is capable of.

So, those are my 4 casters I currently have painted up. I recently picked up the regular Goreshade model, but I’m just not a big fan of it. Maybe I will get lucky and there will be an alternate sculpt done for him in the future. I also wouldn’t mind picking up Mortenebra, but her numerous thin arms scare me from a modeling standpoint. I also wouldn’t mind picking up Venethrax, which would give me an interesting counter to my eSkarre list. It could be interesting to go to a tourney with an anti-WM list with eSkarre, countered with an anti-Hordes list from venethrax… not to mention, the model is pretty sweet too! But, there you have it, those are my current warcasters! Next time I do a “Pix of Cryx” post it will be of the Warjacks in my collection.

- EBC -

WM/Hordes Tourney, 1-29-11 Olathe, KS

I've got a tourney just a few weeks away that I figured I would throw up on here...

January 29th, 2011
Registration @ 11 am-12pm
Games Start @ 12:30 pm

* Note * There will not be a break for lunch, feel free to go grab something to eat either before or after registering. There is also a 30 minute window between the end of registration and the start of the 1st round as well…

$5 Entry fee

Prizes include coins for 1st-3rd as well as store credit. There will also be a prize for "Best Painted Army" as well...

31st century Games & Hobbies
2113 East 151st Street
Olathe, KS 66062
(913) 397-7706
31stcenturygames.com



The “Headhunter” format is as follows:

- Single Warmachine or Hordes list
- “Kill Box” Scenario
- 4 Rounds. 60 min + random additional time each round
- Games will last 6 turns
- Turns will be 7 minutes + a single 3 min extension

- Players strive for the fastest caster/lock kill. The winning player scores points based on what round the game ended on. 1st round = 6 pts, 2nd Round = 5 pts, 3rd Round = 4 points, and so on. A loss = 0 points.
- 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place will be determined by a player’s total score, with “strength of schedule” determining any final ties.


The idea behind the tournament is for each player to get the quickest win possible each game. Expect to see overly aggressive, assassination lists in ever game. Games are expected to be fast and brutal! One of the interesting aspect of this format is that a player doesn’t need to have a perfect record to achieve 1st place… a player with a 2-2 record that managed to get turn 2 assassinations in both those games will end up with 10 points total, while a player with a 4-0 record but only achieved turn 5 assassinations each game will only end up with 8 points.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the format or anything else, please let me know!


Also, just a reminder, 31st Century has “Warmachine Wednesdays”, every Wednesday starting at 6:30 pm, which is the perfect time to get in some test games before the tournament. Brand new to the game? Wednesdays are the perfect time to get in a demo game or two to show you the ropes!

Maybe I'll see some you guys there!
- EBC -

Bane Thrall UA - Hot off the painting desk

Well, I recently picked up 2x Bane Thrall units and 2x UAs, mostly for a future Goreshade list, and while I'm still working on the unit itself, I did finish up the UA for the 1st unit. These guys served as my "Test minis" for the unit, and give a good idea of how the paint scheme will look for the whole unit. Overall, I'd say I'm pretty happy with their outcome!




... I also just realized that despite having 90% of my Cryx collection fully painted (only have the Banes & Bloodgorgers left) I do not have pics of them posted up. Guess I'm gonna have to fix that in the coming weeks!

- EBC -

Who needs a heavy? pGaspy sure doesn't!

The latest list I have been running with a bit of success is another pGaspy one. I think it is better than my previous one, but I need to get in some more games to determine just how competitive it may be. The list is as follows:



I should note that the scrap thralls are just filler for the final point and could easily be swapped for a necrotech or machine wraith. Another possibility would be dropping the 1 point filler and 1 bone jack to add in a rip jaw for the extra AP attack if you feel the need. You could even swap Gorman and the 1 point filler for a pistol wraith if need be. Needless to say, these are all tings I may be playing around with in the future.

The list is sneaky as it may seem weak on the table top at first due to its lack of a heavy, which may fool other players into rushing their heavies into your lines. However neither of the 2 main units are slouches in combat, and a heavy may quickly find themselves scrapped! The idea is to stack several effects like Scything Touch, ParasiteDark Shroud, Rust (vs WM), and gang on the bloodgorgers. I'll go through and explain, starting with the Bane Thralls.

Bane Thralls naturally have a P+S 11 w/ weapon master, and their dark shroud lowers a target's armor by -2. Scything Touch add +2 to the damage roll, Parasite reduces armor by -3, and Gorman's Rust causes -2 armor to jacks. So, stacking all those benefits, plus charging will yield some nasty results... especially vs jacks. Vs Jacks it would look like P+S 11 + 2 dmg with 4 dice on the charge, and the target jack could potentially have -7 armor! (-2 Rust, -3 Parasite, -1 Shroud) Even vs a Warbeast, it would still have -5 armor. There are not a lot of things that could stand up to effectively what would be multiple P+S 18/20 attacks with 4 dice each.

The Bloodgorgers, while not as nasty as the above example, can still surprise people. You'll be stacking the same effects mentioned above, even dark shroud if you manage to get a Bane Thrall into the Target's range. The Bloodgorgers get +2 dmg when in melee with a model in Melee range of another bloodgorger. While they lack weapon master, they do have 2x attacks each at P+S 11. So, Combat with these guys would look like: P+S 11, +2 gang, +2 scything touch (P+S 15 in total) with same -7 armor provided its vs a jack and you can manage to get a Thrall in range... effectively P+S 22/20/18 depending on what debuffs you can stack, and on 3 dice for the initial charge attack.

With effective stats like that, do you even need a heavy? Not to mention, both units effectively have a "no-Knockdown-tough roll", and the ability to create new Bane Thralls.

Scything Touch and Parasite is key, and getting them to go off on the multiple targets in a single round is pretty easy and just requires a little set up to pull it off to its fullest extent. You will have Gaspy casting 1 spell, and your Skarlock casting the other... the plan is to abuse the upkeep of a spell on 1 target, activating that unit 1st, then activating Gaspy/Skarlock and recasting the same spell(s) on a different unit. For example: Gaspy activates turn 1 and casts Scything Touch on the Thralls and Parasite on the potential charge target. Turn 2, Gaspy upkeeps Scything touch on Thralls and Parasite on the Target, you Activate the Thralls 1st Charge in, and do their stuff. Next you activate Gaspy, cast Scything Touch on the Bloodgorgers (removing it from the Thralls) and the Skarlock casts Parasite on the Gorger's charge target before the Gorgers in turn activate and charge in. Thus 2 uses of Scy-Touch/Parasite in a single round... easy stuff!

Jack wise, it's all about the Arcnodes to make the above 2 key spells easier to cast while keeping Gaspy out of range/in 2 places at once. Honestly, the Cankerworm is in there just for fun, and could easily be swapped out for another arcnode. It should also be mentioned that Gaspy is no slouch in combat on his own, and often I find my Banes/Gorgers simply open up a hole for Gaspy to rush in and finish off the opposing Caster/Lock with relative ease!

So, there you have it! Like I said, I'm not sure this list has been fully optimized just yet, as I have a handful of minute options I would like to try swapping around. But hey, I think its off to a decent start!

-EBC-