Hey folks! D-9 here, back after an extended hiatus. For anyone who cares, the new job is great and I'm starting to see a little glimmer of free time here and there, so it's time to get the blog rolling again.
One week from now we'll hopefully be wrapping up a Warmachine steam roller event. I figured it would be fun to catalog the prep as the week leads up to the tourney and then give you all the gory details when the tournament was done. So today's topic... choosing an army.
Last time we played Warmachine anywhere outside of the garage I took pSkarre and eSkarre. My day was a loss overall, but it was a lot of fun and taught me a lot about the game. It's been almost a year since that tournament, so I feel like I know what I'm doing going into this experience. Still doesn't mean I'll win... but in theory I have a better chance! So... what army to take? Here's my take on picking a solid tournament army.
Considerations:
1: Do I know the army? This is probably the biggest consideration. Warmachine is a game of, sometimes, minute interactions. Knowing the army means having played with it, relatively extensivly, so you have the experience of knowing what the army can do in a host of situations. It also speeds up gameplay when you know your army, as you don't have to reference your cards quite as much. I know a Stormblade is def 12 arm 12, whenever anyone asks, I don't waste 20 seconds checking...
2: Does the army actually have a shot at winning some games? I love fun fluffy armies. Tier forces in Warmahordes just make me smile, but the question is, can the army actually take on some of the more hardcore lists in the game and win? You can expect that people will play Cryx, can you handle the incorporeal? Can you break the trollkin brick? Can you down a mass of Khador heavies? Can you sacrifice something to the Winterguard deathstar and still win a game? I guess a great player can use any caster and win, however I am most definitely not a great player, more accurately I am barely a moderately not-awful player, therefore I need to make sure my army has some capability built in.
3: Is the army fun to play against? No one likes "that guy." Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I want to have a good time, and I want the guy beating me to have a good time. Playing annoying casters just to be annoying (eHaley, eGaspy) or an all infantry army or all jack army could really make someone's day awful.
4: Can the army be shut down totally by any of the other armies you are likely to face? The shooty cygnar list will be boned against a jack heavy Menoth list or even worse Barnabas and his damn gators. While this moves into #1's territory it's worth considering. As awesome as the satyxis heavy Skarre lists are, they lose effectiveness against a hordes army where backlash and feedback isn't as useful. The great thing about the Steamroller format is the two list format, so you can take a second list to deal with those factions who can really stick it to your main list.
5: Does it look good? I know many people don't seem to care on this one, but I don't want to bring anything not painted and based. Again, people are at a tournament to have fun playing the game. For many people that's seeing a well painted force across from their well painted force.
So the outcome?
Looks like I'm going to roll with eStryker and eNemo this weekend.
Tomorrow: thoughts behind my lists.
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