and... my latest WIP for the Storm Strider... it's is a huge model and is taking longer than I originally figured to get painted.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
More Finished Cygnar and Stormstrider WIP shots
Not a lot to say, just some pics of the latest finished models.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Blaize Impressions and Updates
Connie Blaize gave me two very interesting games last week. Both times her feat proved to be incredibly powerful ,giving me upwards of 12 souls, almost ARM 30 precursors, and very frustrated opponents. In game one however, I just couldn't thin out the horde of trolls (curse you tough rolls!) and was beat down by the few remaining champions. In game two however an awesome charge by the Bokur followed by a post feat- focus laden spell assasination brought eButcher down. A couple of observations:
1: Blaize is a midline caster: keeping gallant and a bokur close to keep her safe allow Connie to get the most out of her spells and her feat.
2: Blaize needs a crap-ton of infantry to be effective: The more single wound models you have, the better off you will be on the feat turn. I simply don't want to lay out the money on Steelheads or else everyone wouldn't stand a chance against her. With that said, make sure you have infantry that can do the deed if needed. Nyss or Forgeguard are probably your best choices, especially with transferrence active.
3: Blaize's army is deceivingly quick: Crusader's call is an awesome spell allowing you to spring on your opponent from a little further out than they expect. Capitalize on this with reach weapons and watch your threat out range your opponent's shooting.
In other news, I finished all three Storm Smiths and Arlan, which means my eNemo list is 100% finished. On the painting table right now is the Storm Strider (which is taking forever) and Boomhowler and Company.
1: Blaize is a midline caster: keeping gallant and a bokur close to keep her safe allow Connie to get the most out of her spells and her feat.
2: Blaize needs a crap-ton of infantry to be effective: The more single wound models you have, the better off you will be on the feat turn. I simply don't want to lay out the money on Steelheads or else everyone wouldn't stand a chance against her. With that said, make sure you have infantry that can do the deed if needed. Nyss or Forgeguard are probably your best choices, especially with transferrence active.
3: Blaize's army is deceivingly quick: Crusader's call is an awesome spell allowing you to spring on your opponent from a little further out than they expect. Capitalize on this with reach weapons and watch your threat out range your opponent's shooting.
In other news, I finished all three Storm Smiths and Arlan, which means my eNemo list is 100% finished. On the painting table right now is the Storm Strider (which is taking forever) and Boomhowler and Company.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Constance Blaize: Theory and 35 Points
Wednesday night is Warmahordes night! This week is going to see my first foray with Cygnar's new caster from Wrath, Constance Blaize.
First Choice? FACTION: Connie is an ally caster, so she can function as a Cygnar caster OR as a Highborn merc caster. For fun, I'm going to run her as merc this week to use some models I haven't used before.
Connie as a Caster: In my mind, she's definitely built to take a front line role in her army. Her spell list is designed around supporting infantry, but as soon as she can she needs to break loose and put a hurting on your opponent. Strangely enough, I don't see her as an assasination tool. I think with flashing blade she can clear a path for Gallant or any of her infantry to deal the final blow. This is the main weakness I see in her stats and spells, the kill condition is not as clear as I would like it. Still, with flank, reach, Crusader's Call, and the fact that her sword ignores bonuses from spells, she can make a go at a kill shot against mid level casters.
Transferrence: This spell allows infantry in Connie's control to spend her focus to boost. I see this spell going up mod 1 and never coming down. The various infantry models in the list will be able to pretty reliably clear paths, boosting when they need it. Seeing the Forgeguard boost weapon master hits will be impressive.
The Feat: Timing is going to be an issue. I see the feat more as a defensive measure than an offensive. For those who don't have the rules handy, every time a model in Connie's control dies she gets a soul, soul becomes focus next turn, etc. etc. That's not the cool part. For every soul on Connie, warrior models get +1 arm. If timed right, the feat should allow a few models to die, give Connie the focus for next turn, but make the rest of the army very survivable. With this in mind, I see the army hitting in one big wave, as opposed to being broke up.
The Army: Here's my first stab at a 35 point list.
- Constance
-Gallant
-10 Forgeguard
-10 Precursor Knights +UA
-6 Boomhowler Trolls
-Harlan Versh
- pEirys
-Ogrun Bokur
Probably should drop some of the solos for a little more infantry spam, but I like the utility this list gives me. I might drop Eirys for Wishnayylr if I can figure out where to put the extra point. I like the bokur just because he's a secondary beatstick that will help keep Connie alive as she play so close up front. Versh is Morrowan, and he's bad ass. The precursors and the forgeguard are the big muscle in the list, especially with Transferrence up and the Precursor's mini feat.
So we shall see!
On the painting front, all my Stormsmiths are finished and being sealed as you read this. Arlan is the last model before my eNemo 35 list is complete.
First Choice? FACTION: Connie is an ally caster, so she can function as a Cygnar caster OR as a Highborn merc caster. For fun, I'm going to run her as merc this week to use some models I haven't used before.
Connie as a Caster: In my mind, she's definitely built to take a front line role in her army. Her spell list is designed around supporting infantry, but as soon as she can she needs to break loose and put a hurting on your opponent. Strangely enough, I don't see her as an assasination tool. I think with flashing blade she can clear a path for Gallant or any of her infantry to deal the final blow. This is the main weakness I see in her stats and spells, the kill condition is not as clear as I would like it. Still, with flank, reach, Crusader's Call, and the fact that her sword ignores bonuses from spells, she can make a go at a kill shot against mid level casters.
Transferrence: This spell allows infantry in Connie's control to spend her focus to boost. I see this spell going up mod 1 and never coming down. The various infantry models in the list will be able to pretty reliably clear paths, boosting when they need it. Seeing the Forgeguard boost weapon master hits will be impressive.
The Feat: Timing is going to be an issue. I see the feat more as a defensive measure than an offensive. For those who don't have the rules handy, every time a model in Connie's control dies she gets a soul, soul becomes focus next turn, etc. etc. That's not the cool part. For every soul on Connie, warrior models get +1 arm. If timed right, the feat should allow a few models to die, give Connie the focus for next turn, but make the rest of the army very survivable. With this in mind, I see the army hitting in one big wave, as opposed to being broke up.
The Army: Here's my first stab at a 35 point list.
- Constance
-Gallant
-10 Forgeguard
-10 Precursor Knights +UA
-6 Boomhowler Trolls
-Harlan Versh
- pEirys
-Ogrun Bokur
Probably should drop some of the solos for a little more infantry spam, but I like the utility this list gives me. I might drop Eirys for Wishnayylr if I can figure out where to put the extra point. I like the bokur just because he's a secondary beatstick that will help keep Connie alive as she play so close up front. Versh is Morrowan, and he's bad ass. The precursors and the forgeguard are the big muscle in the list, especially with Transferrence up and the Precursor's mini feat.
So we shall see!
On the painting front, all my Stormsmiths are finished and being sealed as you read this. Arlan is the last model before my eNemo 35 list is complete.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Magic the Gathering!
First, thanks for the kind words in the comments section of the last post. I really appreciate it! You guys keep reading, I'll keep writing!
A short Warmachine update: Wednesday night I'm going to break out Constance Blaize for the first time. Hopefully I'll give a little theory article tomorrow night, and then see how it works out on Wednesday. Progress is steadily being made on the Stormsmiths as well, and I should have pictures for you all soon.
Saturday night eleven of us converged on my basement for a night of sealed deck MtG. Most of us have been playing Magic since revised, but for a few folks this was their first time. We each got four packs of cards, and then drafted nine more cards from other closed packs. From this card pool everyone built a 40 card deck. I went with green and white due to two "mana elves" in my packs and a few big green creatures. My deck was solid, but really didn't have any game ending combos in it. I won quite a few of my first games (besides being ground out by Joey Baltimore! Maybe he'll give us a guest testimony on how he managed to build a grinder deck in a sealed environment... ) but soon the late hour and copious ammounts of alcohol began to take their toll on my already adled mind and I fell into the loser's circle for the end of the night.
It was an incredibly enjoyable evening and a nice change of pace from all the tabletop wargaming we do. There's talk about a Magic league for the fall/ winter using only our sealed deck cards. Should be interesting...
Oh well, I'm off to paint. BTW: www.swor.com I've preorderd!
-D9
A short Warmachine update: Wednesday night I'm going to break out Constance Blaize for the first time. Hopefully I'll give a little theory article tomorrow night, and then see how it works out on Wednesday. Progress is steadily being made on the Stormsmiths as well, and I should have pictures for you all soon.
Saturday night eleven of us converged on my basement for a night of sealed deck MtG. Most of us have been playing Magic since revised, but for a few folks this was their first time. We each got four packs of cards, and then drafted nine more cards from other closed packs. From this card pool everyone built a 40 card deck. I went with green and white due to two "mana elves" in my packs and a few big green creatures. My deck was solid, but really didn't have any game ending combos in it. I won quite a few of my first games (besides being ground out by Joey Baltimore! Maybe he'll give us a guest testimony on how he managed to build a grinder deck in a sealed environment... ) but soon the late hour and copious ammounts of alcohol began to take their toll on my already adled mind and I fell into the loser's circle for the end of the night.
It was an incredibly enjoyable evening and a nice change of pace from all the tabletop wargaming we do. There's talk about a Magic league for the fall/ winter using only our sealed deck cards. Should be interesting...
Oh well, I'm off to paint. BTW: www.swor.com I've preorderd!
-D9
Thursday, August 4, 2011
State of the Games: Warmachine, 40k, WoW, and More!
Not sure anyone ever actually reads my ramblings any more (post comments! Let me know you're alive!) but I thought it was time to update everyone in what's going on in my little corner of the nerd galaxy. Time for... (cue suitably impressive music...) D-9's State of the Hobby Address. (bound to be more cheerful than a state of the Union address, because, let's face it, the Union's pretty much in a bad state right now, but I digress...) Let's talk about all the things that make nerdin' great.
1: Warmachine/ Hordes: As you can easily tell by my blog posts, this is THE game right now. We've been playing PP games for almost two years in our gaming group and they have become the only mini game we really spend time with any more. I've been steadily cranking out painted models and just as steadily getting solid games in on a weekly schedule. Wrath was awesome, and our group is looking forward to Domination. We still have spirited discussions about the balance of Hordes vs. Warmachine, but overall the PP system is a very enjoyable, solid game. My biggest gripe is that I don't get to play enough to try all the armies/ ideas that I come up with. Currently on the hobby table is my goal to get 35 points armies done. eStryker, eSkarre, and pSkarre are all 100% finished. eNemo has two models left to get done. From there, pStryker, pDenny, and pNemo are the next candidates for the full paint treatment.
2: Warhammer 40k: Wow... how the mighty have fallen. Our group has let 40k silently slide to the wayside, and then fall of the table to be crushed under the steam driven heels of a plethora of warjacks. Some great models have come out in the last two years, but to be honest no one seems to care. GW's business studipity has been met with a few chuckles and I'm just glad I have almost every model I'll ever need in metal and won't have to muck with finecast at all.... Will 6th edition re-light the fires of grim-dark wargaming? Probably. A new chaos codex would inspire me to dust off the World Eaters. I look at all my 40k armies and the models are incredible, the rules just really need a change.
3: World of Warcraft: Forgive me Blizzard, it has been a week since I last logged in to Azeroth... and I really don't miss it. WoW has taken a hit this summer, everything feels "grindy." Even the fun of leveling Horde characters for the first time hit a wall when I got out of the re-designed zones. I don't even touch my Alliance 85s unless someone needs me to heal a raid. The instances just aren't as fun as they were in WoTLK or BC. This is preturbing. I love WoW. I really do. I have a lot of fun playing this stupid game, but right now I'd rather paint models, play XBox, watch TV or even write pointless blog entries that no one will read. I have one eye on the horizon right now, and have already pre-ordered Star Wars: The Old Republic. We shall see what the fall brings. (but Old Republic looks freaking sweet! Space ships! Jedi! Sith! )
4: D&D/ Pathfinder: We had some awesome Pathfinder sessions in the spring, but now we are back in the traditional rut. Its hard to get working adults with families together for long rpg sessions. That said, the Pathfinder rule set is, hands down, the best RPG I have seen in my 20+ years of playing RPGs. Our group is working through "The Curse of the Crimson Throne" adventure path, and it is truly an incredible experience. If we can just get everyone to play....
5: Magic?!?!?!? yep... the crack is back on the street... Saturday night yours truly is hosting a sealed deck 2012 event. It's always fun to come back to MtG, especially in a controlled setting. Depending on how the event goes we may be looking at a contained league for the fall/ winter. I've never written about MtG on this blog, so maybe I'll put some stuff up following our weekend.
6: Board Games: Board Game night continues to be a big hit amongst our group of friends. Last Night on Earth by Flying Frog Games is probably our favorite. I wrote a review a few months back, but suffice to say it's the zombie apocalypse board game. Other games in rotation right now are Killer Bunnies and the Search for the Magic Carrot, Red Dragon Inn (hilarious!), Forbidden Island, and Cleopatra. Forbidden Island is a cooperative game that is fast paced and a lot of fun. I highly reccomend it out of this list.
So there ya have it. That's where good ol' D-9 is in the hobby right now. If you still read, post a comment to let me know I haven't finally become that guy who types to himself in the internetz. Who am I kidding.... ;)
1: Warmachine/ Hordes: As you can easily tell by my blog posts, this is THE game right now. We've been playing PP games for almost two years in our gaming group and they have become the only mini game we really spend time with any more. I've been steadily cranking out painted models and just as steadily getting solid games in on a weekly schedule. Wrath was awesome, and our group is looking forward to Domination. We still have spirited discussions about the balance of Hordes vs. Warmachine, but overall the PP system is a very enjoyable, solid game. My biggest gripe is that I don't get to play enough to try all the armies/ ideas that I come up with. Currently on the hobby table is my goal to get 35 points armies done. eStryker, eSkarre, and pSkarre are all 100% finished. eNemo has two models left to get done. From there, pStryker, pDenny, and pNemo are the next candidates for the full paint treatment.
2: Warhammer 40k: Wow... how the mighty have fallen. Our group has let 40k silently slide to the wayside, and then fall of the table to be crushed under the steam driven heels of a plethora of warjacks. Some great models have come out in the last two years, but to be honest no one seems to care. GW's business studipity has been met with a few chuckles and I'm just glad I have almost every model I'll ever need in metal and won't have to muck with finecast at all.... Will 6th edition re-light the fires of grim-dark wargaming? Probably. A new chaos codex would inspire me to dust off the World Eaters. I look at all my 40k armies and the models are incredible, the rules just really need a change.
3: World of Warcraft: Forgive me Blizzard, it has been a week since I last logged in to Azeroth... and I really don't miss it. WoW has taken a hit this summer, everything feels "grindy." Even the fun of leveling Horde characters for the first time hit a wall when I got out of the re-designed zones. I don't even touch my Alliance 85s unless someone needs me to heal a raid. The instances just aren't as fun as they were in WoTLK or BC. This is preturbing. I love WoW. I really do. I have a lot of fun playing this stupid game, but right now I'd rather paint models, play XBox, watch TV or even write pointless blog entries that no one will read. I have one eye on the horizon right now, and have already pre-ordered Star Wars: The Old Republic. We shall see what the fall brings. (but Old Republic looks freaking sweet! Space ships! Jedi! Sith! )
4: D&D/ Pathfinder: We had some awesome Pathfinder sessions in the spring, but now we are back in the traditional rut. Its hard to get working adults with families together for long rpg sessions. That said, the Pathfinder rule set is, hands down, the best RPG I have seen in my 20+ years of playing RPGs. Our group is working through "The Curse of the Crimson Throne" adventure path, and it is truly an incredible experience. If we can just get everyone to play....
5: Magic?!?!?!? yep... the crack is back on the street... Saturday night yours truly is hosting a sealed deck 2012 event. It's always fun to come back to MtG, especially in a controlled setting. Depending on how the event goes we may be looking at a contained league for the fall/ winter. I've never written about MtG on this blog, so maybe I'll put some stuff up following our weekend.
6: Board Games: Board Game night continues to be a big hit amongst our group of friends. Last Night on Earth by Flying Frog Games is probably our favorite. I wrote a review a few months back, but suffice to say it's the zombie apocalypse board game. Other games in rotation right now are Killer Bunnies and the Search for the Magic Carrot, Red Dragon Inn (hilarious!), Forbidden Island, and Cleopatra. Forbidden Island is a cooperative game that is fast paced and a lot of fun. I highly reccomend it out of this list.
So there ya have it. That's where good ol' D-9 is in the hobby right now. If you still read, post a comment to let me know I haven't finally become that guy who types to himself in the internetz. Who am I kidding.... ;)
Monday, August 1, 2011
Thunderhead!
Here he is! In all his finished glory. I'm very happy with the finished product, especially the whites. I really worked on getting them smooth through several layers of very thinned down highlights and I think it paid off.
Gamewise, the T-Head is an infantry killer supreme. The Energy Pulse ability hits (automatically) all models within 6", doing enough damage to wipe out most one wound infantry models, and put a hurting on even big stuff like man o' wars and ogrun. After the pulse, T-Head can use focus to buy shots with the lightening coil which automatically hit due to sustained assault. Great for finishing off those tough multi wound models. I run T-Head with eNemo, and with lightening shroud on him he can do a tremendous ammount of damage in melee as well. Energizer can get him where he needs to be to pop his bug zapper ability or just to line up the charge if needed.
In other Warma-Hordes news, the Carny Gamers Society is having an interesting event this week. We're running a Prime/ Primal only 25 pt. tournament. More about this later.
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