Check out this video batrep

Andrew Galea at Rankings HQ (RHQ) produces the second of what is hopefully a long-running series of battle reports. These are very well done - over-the-table camera shot, dice rolls are shown, running track of VPs and CPs, rules mistakes, spell cards and Feat rules. If you can get past the Aussie League-esque Ocha accent on the commentary in between turns (good for a laugh if nothing else) they are well worth the viewing (especially on a Saturday night when the TV is shite and I'm looking for any excuse not to continue my Equinox debrief).

It's 1 1/2 hours viewing! Check it out here.

150pt Showmatch

Me and my friend Glenn are gearing up for a larger scale game of Warmachine and Hordes next tuesday night at our usual practice arena. For those of you who play in the wargaming scene in Auckland, Glenn is the red bearded, fluoro-jacket wearing chap who can often be found outside the wargaming hall having a cigarette. He doesn't frequent the internet much. Nice guy.

Just as a teaser before I play the game next week and post the batrep, here are the lists. We both fully intend to play this game with 100% painted models, on a 4ftx4ft table, within the space of around about 5 hours. The scenario will probably be incursion but with a customized variation: all three flags remain on the board for the game, and whoever has the most caster kills when it is packup time takes the match, or in the event of a caster kill draw, the player with the most control points total (no maximum required to win on sudden death). Failing that, VP's.

Glenn tells me that he has enough models to take it up to 200pts, but unfortunately I came up 7 points shy of 150 when my entire (painted) model collection tallied up, so i'll be borrowing a small unit and solo from a fellow circle player to top up.

Glenn's list: Highborn Covenant (Solos gain advance deployment)

*Ashlynn D'Elyse
^Mule
^Vanguard

* Captain Damiano
^Mule
^Rocinante

* Gorten Grundback
^Ghordson Basher
^Grundback Blaster
^Grundback Blaster

- Anastasia Di Bray
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + Gun Mage Officer
- Dannon Blythe & Bull
- 10x Devil Dogs
*jack marshalled: Mangler*
- Dirty Meg
*jack marshalled: Mangler*
- Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
- Gorman Di Wulfe
- 10x Hammerfall High Shield Guard + Officer & Standard
- Harlan Versh
- Herne & Jonne
- Horgenhold Artillery Corps
- Horgenhold Artillery Corps
- 10x Horgenhold Forge Guard
- Madelyn Corbeau
- Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile
- 5x Ogrun Assault Corps
- 2x Ogrun Bokur
- Reinholdt
- Rhupert Carvolo
- Rutger Shaw
- Stannis Brocker
- 10x Steelhead halberdiers
- 10x Steelhead Halberdiers
- 5x Steelhead Cavalry
- Taryn di la Rovissi

Luke's List.

* Baldur the Stonecleaver
^Megalith
^Woldguardian
^Woldwyrd

* Cassius the Oathkeeper + Wurmwood, Tree of fate
^Feral Warpwolf
^Gorax
^Pureblood Warpwolf
^Warpwolf Stalker

* Krueger the Stormlord
^2x Argus
^Gnarlhorn Satyr
^Warpwolf Stalker
^Woldwarden
^Druid Wilder

- Blackclad Wayfarer
- Celestial Fulcrum
- Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers
- Druids of Orboros + Overseer
- Lord of the Feast
- Shifting Stones
- Shifting Stones + Stonekeeper
- Swamp Gobbers
- 10x Tharn Bloodtrackers + Nuala
- 4x Tharn Ravagers + Chieftain
- 5x Tharn Wolfriders
- 6x Tharn Bloodweavers
- Lanyssa Ryssyl
- Totem Hunter

Cryx (Cygnar) noob ep26 - Grading for the Red Belt... (Part Two)

Game Three - Mike Snook's (Snookie) filthy bastard Cryx brokeness


Oh my beloved Cryx! I wept bitter tears of joy drawing Mike - holder of the Cryx icon and (now) currently NZs No.1 Warmachine/Hordes player. This was a golden opportunity to learn from one of the best and better - he was playing the faction I was eventually aiming to become a master at myself! As well as carrying a reputation for kicking ass Mike is a quiet comedic genius (starting to sense a common thread amongst all the Wellington players). For his part Snookie was rockin pDenny and eSkarre. I was quietly hoping he would take eSkarre so I could be dealt some serious lessons in how she works. Instead Mike chose pDenny (so I would still be dealt some serious lessons in how she works!). He took a list that I was very pleased to see was almost identical to what I would take:

pDenny
- Deathripper
- Deathripper
- Skarlock
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith
Min Banes + UA
Tartarus
Warwitch Siren
Warwitch Siren
Scrap Thralls

Not sure what else was in there. I took Haley because she was working well for me and because I have a love/hate/hate/hate relationship with Darius.

At this point I was becoming very well aware of the repercussions of all my trash talk in the week leading up to Equinox - having taken two Wellington scalps I was very very keen to bag this prized specimen for the trophy wall of The Dojo! However...

I'm sorry to say this game turned out to be a total embarassment. Mike took first and bolted up and, having skipped on the reading of Page 5, I edged forward like a complete girls blouse and started taking pot-shots. I really did learn a fantastic lesson in this game because while I was causing absolute carnage on the attrition front Mike was positioning for the actual win. Strangely enough I saw this coming but couldn't stop myself from falling into the trap and in the end it was simple. pDenny Feated. Game.

The big issue here is that under her Feat you can't run. Mike held the objective in the middle and scored a point, Feated and stopped me from contesting, blocked/jammed with stuff and stopped me from contesting again. Boom - 3CPs for Mike, one seriously tough lesson for Dave.

I'd like to say Mike's overwhelming charm or the pink t-shirt with the unicorn mounting the dolphin underneath the rainbow distracted me but those are only part-reasons. The real issue here is that I got so caught up with killing guys I overlooked the fact that we were actually playing a scenario and was hopelessly outclassed by a guy whose pokerface would give Lady Gaga a run for her money. He (rightly) said nothing while I cheerfully blasted guys off the pitch. He maneouvered cleverly, threw out the bait, stopped me from advancing, timed the Feat perfectly, and won the game in turn 2. Brilliant and horrifying at the same time and I was crushed to not have given Mike more of a battle.


Lesson learned - pay attention to the scenario dumb ass. Seriously... WTF?



Game Four - Mark "The Fish" Fisher and his Trolls

Mark and I had previously met on the hallowed ground of The Dojo where Haley had given pMadrak a good going over (in a non-sexual way you dirty perverts!). This time, on a board designed to test our mental endurance to the limits (the wharf board with the barrels o' monkeys), he decided Borka would be the superior choice. I agreed. Dammit.

We had a hell of a time with this scenario - I've forgotten what it's called but it has radial deployment (first time for both of us) with zones and flags and stuff and you basically need to walk through your opponents army, contest the zone and control the flag or something. Mark and I both looked at each other and made the early call to go for the honourable outcome - assassination. Except he'd taken Borka - cheater...

Borka's ragtag bunch included Mulg (or M'lug as we more commonly know him thanks to a legend typo from Asian Nick about 6 months ago) and this was problematic - only the Stormclad could take him on and was unlikely to be one-shotting him. Add into that mix max Fenns + UA, Chronicler, Fellcaller, min Dygmies, Axer, a Troll Champion Hero dude and more linear obstacles than you can arc electro-leaps... arse. This was going to be difficult.


Anway, Mark and I maneouvered a bit. The Fennblades were giving me a headache with the Chroniclers 'can't target dudes if they're Knocked Down' bulls*** being a constant annoyance. They jammed the Stormstrider up nicely while it sat next to the flag Mark would have been aiming for if we'd been bothering to win on scenario. The Dygmies took the scenic route around the outside of the table, eventually ending up in the zone they were aiming for but otherwise not making much of a contribution to the game (except for obliterating Eyriss with some stunning shooting). I threw away the Stormclad on some half-assed attempt at clearing away M'lug (fail) and then Borka was in combat and we all know how much of pain in the ass he is. Some timely and legendary Black Oil from Gorman proved to be exciting but ultimately it was just delaying the inevitable. Borka put up Mulg's animus and I knew I was screwed (no casting within his command). Determined not to get assassinated Haley camped and ran out of combat to hide behind some barrels near the target zone but Mark wasn't done with her yet and a tricky Trample and some shenanigans saw her dodging bullets (er... Mulg's giant club). She barely survived the onslaught.

With a crowd of spectators looking on I was gaping stupidly at the board trying to figure out what the hell I could do when, surprise surprise, dice down was called. Mark and I shook hands and I congratulated him on the well-deserved win. I was getting smashed all over the place and the Dygmies controlled the zone. Then we got the surprise of our lives when Chris explained that I'd won the game.

Cue shocked outcries from the assembled onlookers...


Lesson learned - read the tie-breaker conditions. The tie-breaker in this scenario had nothing to do with zones and everything to do with contesting a flag. Not your flag. ANY flag. The Stormstrider had been forced to camp next to Mark's flag for basically the whole game while it was jammed with Fenns and I wasn't able to move it away. Lucky me - the damn thing was the only model within cooey of the flag and I won the game on ACCIDENTAL TIE-BREAKER! Mark was absolutely gutted and frankly so was I - no way I deserved to win that game; epic and royal spankings were being dished out in up-sized doses. In the end I was left with the Strider, Haley, Jnr and the Squire while Mark had lost the Fenns and I think the Chronicler.

What a weird and bogus end to the day! I was completely shattered. Staggered to a BBQ at Chris's place and crashed out early. 3 games to go and sitting on 3-1 - the goal looked achievable! Next up was Jason Brown and his mysterious Skorne. Hmm... only played Skorne once before... could be a sharp curve coming up!


Dave

Cryx (Cygnar) noob ep25 - Grading for the Red Belt... (Part One)

Equinox. Massive. Identified now as the convention that featured one of the most fantastic tournaments ever run - the Warmachine and Hordes tournament. It smashed 40k for awesome. It obliterated Fantasy for sheer brilliance and amazingnessness. I can say with absolute certainty, having been around the block a few times (yes, I am that much of a game system skank) that it was the best tournament I have ever attended.

So before I launch into how my weekend went - why was this particular tournament so damn good?

A) Warmachine is mint.

I've begun to understand that this particular game is big on balance but it wasn't until this weekend that I realised how totally great it is as a system that runs in a tournament setting. It. Is. Boss. I saw a massive amount of stuff in my games that I'd never encountered before or played against - in effect this didn't matter in that I really felt that I had a chance in every game. Sure I reckoned on a better chance in some games than others and yes, player skill and reputation for awesomeness (cf. Snookie, Sean and, I will grudgingly admit, Scott among others) weighed in on my efforts/feelings/results, but even in the matchups where I figured on an outside chance the point is that I still had a reasonable shot. That's the best - not necessarily having the answer for a problem, but still being able to construct something that is creditable and respectable. I think the game itself can take a lot of responsibility for that. Props to Matt Wilson et al - I can't see myself stepping backwards from this (because that's what it feels like it actually would be - stepping backwards!).


B) The TO went mentally all-out to set the standard high.

I've been there myself and run tournaments before. I think you're always looking for a wow factor (I think in fact, you should be if you aren't) because while the game is obviously already great, your players deserve a bit more love than the equivalent of 7 games in a really big garage. You don't have to go mental like Chris did, but the extra effort to establish the 'specialness' of your tournament in the mind of attendees is a big deal (if I may use such a term). Anyway, Chris did go pretty overboard on the awesome in this event and I think the jaws hit the floor on more than one occasion. 'Professional @ Life' handles, the shot glasses, the mean trophies, the props to fellow TOs (very, very classy and I'm sure very well-deserved) and on it went. There was such a massive feel good factor throughout the weekend and I appreciated the enormous generousity so consistently demonstrated. I thought that the prize support provided by the convention organiser was in essence quite pathetic and verging on insulting. Nevermind - Chris obviously foresaw this to some extent, stepped into the breach, and ensured we would never forget this tournament for a while to come. I already respected the guy as a great friend and an exceptional player (except when he's using Mercs of course...) - I can say unreservedly I respect him now as an organiser and incredibly effective administrator and an essential leader in the Warmachine community.

Side note to this - I was really seriously impressed that part of the structuring and creation of this event was a process on consultation with other main centre TOs. I cannot stress how huge this is in terms of scene/community strength. It's a big man who puts his ideas on the line for a trial by fire from his peers when they really know their stuff and can pool considerable knowledge and experience as TOs. Warmachine can only benefit from this. Thumbs up all the way.

Ok, enough man love and gushing crap... how did I go?


I took the two list option like this:

pHaley
- Squire
- Stormclad
Junior
Stormstrider
Arlan Strangeways
Gorman
eEyriss
Min Stormblades
Black 13th

Darius
Some stuff... let's gloss over this for now...


I was very very happy with the Haley list. I was very very ambivalent about the Darius list. If nothing else I learnt that, despite being trained by Chris Baker, I am NOT Chris Baker. No more Darius please. Ever. It's just not for me. On the other hand, TB from Haley is absolutely spec-****ing-tacular. What a monster spell that is!! I'm desperately trying to figure out a way around it because at some point I'm sure I'll see her on the opposite side of the table and she must be real bitch to play against (literally!). Still, Page 5 and all that :)



Game One - Nick G's Trolls (aka Welly Nick aka Sean's Padawan)

The Padawan Challenge... Hmm... I was aiming for a 5-2 win/loss ratio for the weekend but frankly I would have sold my soul to make sure I won this first game even if Id lost the rest. I didn't know Nick from a bar of soap but it took very little conversation (from the airport to Chris' house and from Chris' house to the venue) to ascertain that Nick is not only one intelligent mofo, but that he knew his stuff inside out and backwards. Nick is something of a big deal in Flames of War and, while I don't play that particular system, I know enough to respect a guy who kicks ass with tanks and little guys. Despite being newish to Warmachine, Nick would be far from new at how to actually 'play the game' as it were. I was not proved wrong.

Nick was cranking Grim (woot! Played lots of this against Asian Nick) and pMadrak (woot! Played against this... once?) and thanks to my weekly stoush against Trolls I had a very good idea about what they could do. Nick ran Grim, I ran Haley to screw over (amongst other things) the jamming Fennblades from hell who would otherwise eat me alive and cause me to lose on scenario almost immediately.

The scenario was Overrun. We gapped it up the guts for the most part and I very quickly learnt how rocksaur ARM20+ Trolls are. They are very, very rocksaur indeed! I had a hell of a time with the Mauler and Champions and found myself on the backfoot trying to make a dent in the ridiculously tough (Tough!) greenies (Nick's army looked AMAZING by the way - a sweet sweet paint scheme that I think worked brilliantly).

The Fennblades found the shooting love early on, followed quickly by an over-keen Fellcaller. I was camping squishy characters behind the Stormstrider and Stormclad, well aware of Grim's penchant for important solo removal.

Key moment that swung it - I threw huge resources into the Mauler which was on my doorstep and failed horribly. Fortunately the blue sea of Cygnar goodness parted and up stepped Gorman "The Man" di Wulfe. Boom - Black Oil. Boom - sad face Mauler. Nek minnit (sorry.. sorry...) Gorman suffered bullet+face=goneburger from Grim but the damage was done. The Mauler sacced action to engage the Strider and 'Clad but got chopped to bits for is troubles and the game was swung. I was just about to wail on Nick's Impaler in the next turn (after being cheekily Knocked Down by Grim and duffed up by the Impaler) when dice down was called and, with a bunch of expensive toys in the zone, I won on the tie-breaker.

Great game I think - Nick played cagey, relied on the natural armour and and buffs from the Krielstone and nearly had his wicked way with me. The Fennblades were easily managed but anyone not respecting Champions needs their head read - they are totally badass. Neither caster was ever really under threat (Grim being behind a wall for most of the game, Haley being behind the big toys - hiding like a boss). Nick went on to place fourth (Darth Vadering his sensei in the process). He's a powerhouse player and an awesome asset for the game and community. Looking forward to our next game and hoping we meet at Call to Arms later in the year! Cheers Nick!

Winning that game ticked a fairly significant box for me - walking away with the Padawan Challenge! I was presented with a red belt from The Dojo (cheers Chris - nice!!!) - goodness knows what I have to do to get a black belt (although I suspect actually winning an event might be on the list somewhere...)!

What else did I learn? Holy freakin crap - dice down. Chris scared the hell out of me when he came up and called it and I'm sure I just gave him a really dumb, empty look like "What? Dude? What do you mean 'dice down'?". I was super-paranoid about this for the rest of the weekend and was quite surprised at how many times I ended up being on the receiving end of the dreaded words.


Game Two - Tiny Tim's Legion (aka "Careful, I might just take the 3 Ravagores list")

Tim got my vote on Friday night for most consistently hilarious comments I have ever heard. The guy is a total crack-up and I love him to bits - an awesome dude to hang out with. Tim had eThagrosh and something else that strangely I never saw played over the weekend (eLylyth or somesuch?... He should have used it; sounded mean...). He carefully explained to me exactly how the list worked - Shredders advance and go Rabid, Thagrosh casts Manifest Destiny and Feats, Shredders eat face, game ends.

So what did I do? I took pHaley and put her at the front of my army in striking range of said Shredders (camping Focus and Arcane Shield obviously... I'm not a complete idiot!). I reasoned that, sans Shredders, Thagrosh was up against it and didn't have the range of models to threaten enough stuff. Smash Typhon and the Carnivean (easier said than done, yes - impossible, no) and that would be game(ish).

Tim needed no further enouragement and put "Plan A" into action. Sadly (or not in my case) "Plan A" failed horribly and after the dust had cleared Haley had suffered all of 3 boxes of damage. Smiling my smile of being a complete git I casually walked her away, dodging or ignoring the ineffectual freestrikes of the four Shredders and unleashed hell. The Shredders disappeared in a puff of smoke (and lightning). Typhon found himself on the pointy end of a Stormclad on full Focus and went out in a very big bag. The Stinger babystting the Carnivean was Brutal Damaged to pieces, and a handily placed Watts (as in - or so I'm told - "Watts he's even doing here?") sucked down the Unnatural Aggression move (or whatever it's called) from the Carnivean who had lost an aspect (which meant he'd be rolling 1 dice to hit).

The Carnivean whiffed against the DEF15 Watts and was shortly thereafter Gunfightered to death in a blaze of fire. A far off Forsaken was electro-zapped and I scored a point (this being Process of Elimination if I remember correctly). The very brave Stormblades turned out to be not so very brave and failed their Abomination check from Thagrosh as they ran to engage and surround him.

Thagrosh made some magic happen and turned then Stormblades into a series of fiery clouds with his choppy deathstick which blocked LOS and would kill whatever stepped into it with fire.

Except for Gorman :)

Boom, Black Oil. Zap, crackle (Stormstrider) and some Brutal Shot love (Black 13th)... RIP eThagrosh.


Learning point - don't put your models on a GW case to move them around the tables. Poor old Tim spent half the game repairing his badly damaged toys when they decided to find the table earlier than expected (and from a great height). We've all heard the sickening crunch of a big model going in four separete directions I'm sure.

I took a (fairly) significant risk in this game - Haley should, by my scruffy calculations, have taken 10-12 boxes of damage so I was a bit on edge when Tim made his run. The dice gave Tim a serious kick in the nuts though and I got very lucky in return. A bit uneven thanks to the (apparently random) number generators but taking that risk proved to be ultimately worthwhile and incredibly exciting.



Damn... I've had to make this Part One of what might be three parts... it's getting late and it's been a helluva week post-tournament. To be continued with Day One games against Snookie and Mark "The Fish" Fisher (more Troll goodness).


Cheers,
Dave

lost in the blog

A Thrallblacks service announcement

Given the huge number of posts on teh blog now - thanks to all of our contributers! - we've now enabled a search widget on the left hand toolbar (have a look, just below the upcoming events bar). The widget will only search blog posts so you shouldn't get any random hits from linked pages :)

signing off

Chris Runs Tournament: A Warmachine Story

This Weekend I ran a small tournament, you may have heard of it. Come check out some pics,

 The unprecedented size of the field means we occupied these rows, all 16 tables. Great Showing

Because I am not a fan of saving the best for last and Big Daryl is such a champ we had a token set to give away to each and every participant, chock full of everything you need for a weekend of great games,

And some lovely armies turned out,

 like Greg F's Gators

 And Trolls By Mark F, Circle By Chris T

 Beautiful Skorne by Jason B and Daniel C

Badass Pink Cryx by Mike S

 And great Khador by Matt C

Equinox Wrapup

*Explicit and Opinionated*

Glory, Victory, Stuff.

Bask in the glory of champions.


MP3 File

Equinox Saturday Night Recap

*Explicit and Opinionated*

We recap the Saturday of Equinox with Dave, Otton and Sean. Good times, Bad times... who am I kidding there are only good times.


MP3 File

Year of the Dragon(father) Ep2 - Equinox

So the big first tourny for this game system is up tomorrow, Equinox run by the big deal himself. Here is a shot of the guys all together (not greatest quality), about 2/3 are painted properly and the other 1/3 was just given a quick basecoat to make it presentable for this weekend. I am running Scaverous and Terminus as being a giant noob I feel a bit safer with a caster who can take a axe to face and still smile back at you, the careful observers may also notice no heavies! running infantry spam as I have not had enough games with jacks to really feel like I get the best out of them, and its tougher (usually...sometimes...) taking out 10 points of infantry than it is a 10 pt jack.

Will give a run down of the games at the end of the weekend. Happy hunting to everyone (except my opponents).

Cryx noob ep24 - A Lesson in Trash Talk...

This was originally just a response to a comment but there's nothing like going into an event with a (massive) target painted on your head. So I thought I'd just make it a blog post too.

You people need a serious lesson. Check it out - free demo: I hereby declare a carve up on all southerners. Auckland will be smashing Wellywood upside the head while the slacked-jawed Tronites, stunned to inaction by the blinding awesomeness of what lies above the Bombays, stand to the side pretending to be the Warmachine equivalent of Switzerland in WW2. But the Alps will not save them and the Auckland avalanche of vengeance and justice will rumble on. Like wheat to the scythe the so-called "best" of the poor southern states will fall by the wayside and be left but hollow shadows; shades of their former selves. They will beg for mercy and they will not receive it. They will be tortured slowly like my cat murdering a cricket - one leg at a time. Maximum control points will be gained before the unbelievable horror of the final, pristine, perfectly conceived, brutal assassination run inevitably flows towards only one possible outcome. Death. Dismemberment. Humiliation. Crushing and absolute defeat. Good times. Good times. Except for for Luke. He's going to get steam-rolled (steam-rollered even!) and go down 2-5 in a brilliant and epic fireball of fail. Then complain that Menoth is too soft, that Harby is "like, the weakest caster ever", and that the (effing annoying) Choir should give +3/+3 and be 15/15 with boxes. And after Equinox he'll jump on the band-wagon and start collecting Cryx too... He'll just get through with painting Iain's stuff only to draw him and get smashed. I'll flatten him. Hell - Dines will even get a piece of the action with some accidental genius play (winning on scenario naturally). In the end, a sobbing wreck is all that will remain of this once great player, the self-proclaimed "2nd best Hordes player in Auckland... perhaps New Zealand... perhaps the world!!!" (nb. I don't think Luke's ever actually said that). And that ladies, is how it's done. Come at me bro. (EDIT - I hear all the Wellington and Hamilton lads are top chaps though... Can't wait to meet you all. Please don't punch me in the face when you see me).

Cryx noob ep23 - The Longest Week

Forget this Longest Night business... this feels like the week that will never end. Time slows to a crawl as I look forward to Equinox with more anticipation than I've had for a tournament in a LONG time.

Maybe it's because I'm playing a 'new' system. Maybe it's the fact I expect most of my opponents to be completely 'new' (to me). Maybe it's the thought of facing a bunch of 'new' armies...

I get the feeling it's got something to do with the newness of it all :)


Mind you... three weeks after Equinox is NatCon and, while I can only attend the one-day Highlander event, I'm already going out of my mind designing and redesigning lists to take to that event. Can't wait to try a different tournament format - one list, 25pts, with the Highlander restrictions - and it's already making for some interesting and entertaining challenges.

I'm already buzzing about Call to Arms too... booked the flights and locked in the leave pass (in that order! Damn straight I'm wearing the pants in this relationship... or I was at that point). I'm told that Call to Arms is the highlight event on the tournament calendar and expectations are high, even while we're 5 months out!


Anyway, Equinox is going to be huge. I dare not lose my first round, inter-city, intra-noob grudge match against Welly-Nick and his dastardly gooey green Trolls. The other 6 games I might cheerfully get crushed from unexpected quarters but against Trolls I've been training hard to lessen the surprise of "oh hell... I didn't realise you could do that!". Lessen mind you... I've not played all the Troll casters and I'm confident Nick will be packing some serious heat in order to blowtorch me off the table in short order should I allow it to happen.

I'm aiming for 4-3 or 5-2 by the end of the weekend. I'm doing ok in practice games but the reality is that doing ok will usually result in you finding your level and becoming a human trampoline to a better player. I'm totally fine with that... there's no way 7-0 is a realistic goal when I look at the field and the players attending. Barring a total muppet meltdown from my opponents I'm confident I'll hit the wall - probably in Rounds 3 (or 4) and 6. I reckon winning 4-5 games against a similar calibre of player (noobs) is a decent enough goal and I think it's important to set it as a secondary target. The primary target of course being to have huge amounts of fun and laughs and good times with the awesome Warmachine community in attendance :)


... and where's the trash talk love? Where's the "I'm gonna smash you bro" hollow and weak threats of self-proclaimed awesomeness? Where's the intra-faction rivalry where Daryl and Damian declare civil war scenting out the best of faction for Cryx only to get pantsed and lose it to some pro-Welly/Tron player? Is everyone really that busy painting that they can't hand out some friendly banter? :)


Cheers and see you on Saturday (or Friday at the airport).

Dave

Forbidden Temple - format update

Hey guys, I'm posting this as listening to a couple of list discussions for the forbidden temple in Napier a few people have missed some of the salient points of the format. I've emails Monticus to confirm a few things so I thought I'd post the points up here:

• Single list - there can be only one! :)
• No character Jacks/beasts, solos, units or UAs, the only characters you can have are your casters/locks
• no repetition of Jacks/beasts (no 2 defender lists for example)
• No BattleEngines
• No  Warcasters / Locks with character companions (e.g. Old with and scrapJack, P-Goreshade and Deathwalker etc.)

Edit: added the clarifications from below to save you scrolling through the comments, nice eh? ;oD
check out the full details on Rankings HQ and see you in May! :)

Thrallblacks Radio - Ep13

*Explicit and Opinionated*

This week we talk about Guns vs Melee with an eye on list design and the role each threat vector plays as well as discussing Objective Scenarios for SR2012.


MP3 File

NatCON 2012 - Hamilton

NATCON this year is being run over Easter and instead of coming to one tournament you have the opportunity of coming to two. Yep two Warmachine/Hordes events.

First up on Friday the 6th of April is a one day 25 Point Highlander Event, 5 rounds of 25 points. One Caster/Lock, One Beast/Jack, One Unit, One Solo, One Winner (any left over points may be spent on extra jacks or beasts to make 25 points)
TO - Daniel CONLON

Next on the 7th and 8th April a 35 point 2012 Steamroller event 2 Lists. Yes we are using the new 2012 rules as released including the Artifices - Reinforcements and Killbox.
TO - Scott AVERY

You can come to either event or both, your options are -

Friday 6th April - Highlander only cost - $20
Saturday and Sunday 7th and 8th April - Steamroller only - $40
Both events $60
Earlybird registrations extended until 9 March

Players pack link on the side bar to the left.....

You have the choice, there is no player limit we have plenty of room, so get yourself to Hamilton for NATCON and register today, now go on I know you want to. The registration form can be found under the events column to the left and click on the link will take you straight to it.....