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Hordes: Frostfang Brood

ByDankelzahn

When I just tried digging up a link to my write-ups on the color scheme for my Warmachine/Hordes armies, I found an article for The Vermillion Menofix but I didn’t see one for my Legion force.  So to remedy that I snagged this off another forum and have copied it here to my blog.

Looking over my Legion of Everblight models, it didn’t take long for me to decide to go with a color scheme that matched their background in the frozen mountains to the north. I immediately decided to have a cool blue be a dominant color and worked from there, eventually coming up with a ‘bone-and-blue’ scheme shown below. I won this warpack in a drawing the day of release and I began assembling the models relatively soon thereafter. The paint job was chosen to be unique at the time, but it turned out that since I started a number of people have had the same idea and my models were by no means the first ones done with this scheme.

Many of the techniques I started using on my Legion models were relatively simple and there were a great deal of large expanses to do but still… for some reason I felt drained after painting these up and had to take a break for a bit before picking the brush back up. I don’t think I’ve ever painted a miniature (or group of miniatures) that took as much out of me as the Legion of Everblight Warpack did. Read More “Hordes: Frostfang Brood”

A Few Post-GenCon Thoughts

ByDankelzahn

I’m back in St. Louis and still recovering from GenCon.   A lot of the announcements and previews at the Privateer Press booth have already hit the various forums so there’s no need to talk about those again.   Josh, Jason, and I recorded a lot of interviews over the weekend which we’ll be posting as we get them cleaned up.

It was a blast meeting and talking to fellow Warmachine players from across the country like the SOBs. We recorded Episode 50 of the Iron Agenda in the Wabash room late Friday during open play and I think by the end of the episode we had cycled 11 people behind the microphones.

The downside of the Con this year was getting sick, missing the last Hardcore of MkI, and now I’m fighting off some sort of cold/sinus infection.   Still I had a great weekend and am already looking forward to next year.

We’ll be talking about the news surrounding Privateer Press, their Next Big Thing, the Retribution, and more here and on the podcast in the near future, so keep an eye open.

The Podthralls say goodbye

ByDankelzahn

After four years and 200 episodes, the Podthralls have announced that they are hanging up their microphones. They’ve been a fixture in the online Warmachine community for four years and it’s sad to see them go.     Best of luck, and thanks for all the hours of entertainment you provided to your fellow Warmachine players.

Most of the hosts of Fell Calls can still be heard on the Thac0 Podcast, a show about general geekery and geek-related entertainment.

Tactica: Raptors

ByDankelzahn
Legion of Everblight Raptors
Legion of Everblight Raptors

With the release of Incubi, I shelved my Raptors for a bit while I concentrated on the small-based Nyss troops.   My Raptors sat mostly unplayed until the recent Veto tournament where I dug them out to use as substitutes when needed.   It’s hard to imagine but I had almost forgotten how good they are.   Almost.

Overview

The Raptors are one of the most versatile and dangerous weapons in the Legion of Everblight’s arsenal.   They are a quintessential flanking force capable of striking and escaping long before an enemy force can pin them down.

Read More “Tactica: Raptors”

2009 Masters Event Last Minute Changes

ByDankelzahn

Preregistration for Masters has been closed and tickets have been bought.   I hope nobody had their Masters lists finalized, packed, and painted, because with a month left before GenCon Privateer Press has released a rules addendum to their Masters event.   The big change is this:

The GenCon 2009 Masters event encourages players to not only demonstrate mastery with a single warcaster or warlock but with their entire faction line-up. A warcaster / warlock that appears in one of a players’ lists cannot appear in another list for the remainder of the Masters event. Mercenary warcasters can only appear in a players’ list[s] if that player is playing Mercenary contracts for the whole of the GenCon 2009 Masters event.

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Grind… MkII?

ByDankelzahn

Bellevue WA. June 30, 2009 – Privateer Press is pleased to announce Grind, an extreme combat sports board game for two players ages 14 and up releasing this October. In Grind players customize a team of steamjacks—10-ton, steam-powered mechanical robots—and battle to move a large, spiked ball into their opponent’s goal. The game comes with several highly detailed plastic components, including six Runner steamjack figures, four Crusher steamjack figures, 32 interchangeable weapon arms, two spiked pillars, and the Grinder ball. Also included are a full-color game board, 11 tokens, and custom dice.

I hardly ever played the initial Grind release – it just didn’t pique my interest enough.   If I was going to be getting my Warmachine miniatures out to play, I’d rather just play a game of Warmachine.   It wasn’t that the concept of Grind wasn’t interesting, but it seemed to be cobbled together from the existing Warmachine rules and so suffered from a rule system that wasn’t really designed to support it.

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When Is Good Terrain Bad?

ByDankelzahn

For many people tabletop war games can be a very visual hobby.   I’m not a proponent of having to paint to play but there’s no denying that painted models and nice terrain can really dress up a table.   Sometimes, though, well crafted terrain can add difficulties to play, or worse yet be damaging to models!

My most recent run-in with good terrain gone bad was after DieCon when I discovered a few of my models with decent sized chips in them.   Most of them only came out for the four rounds of Hardcore, so they hadn’t seen much play.   The likely culprit is the play surfaces themselves – 4×4 foam table tops with sand glued down for texture.   While the sand drybrushed well to make the table look nicer, it also had the tendency to turn the tabletop into sand paper and damage models that happened to topple in play.

I like a nicely terrained table but sometimes I’d just rather have something that’s more playable.   Hills that are both steep and tall make placing models along their edges difficult.   Forest templates that are warped – no matter how nicely flocked – are unstable surfaces for figures.   There are actually a number of potential pitfalls for forests in particular… for example trees that are permanently affixed to the template base can interfere with placing miniatures.

Is a finely built yet potentially damaging piece of terrain simply analogous to the fantastically converted model that for whatever reason suffers when it comes to playability on the table?   There are a number of Warmachine and Hordes models that suffer similarly.   A prime example is the Seraph, which hangs over its base so far that it can be difficult to maneuver models around it on the tabletop.   Should gameplay suffer for art?   Should art suffer for gameplay?

I enjoy fielding painted miniatures whenever I can but I find myself unfazed whether I’m playing on particleboard, cloth, or a flocked tabletop… whether I’m using a fantastically painted and sculpted piece of terrain or felt cut to size.   Does this mean I have a double standard when it comes to tabletop aesthetics?

Tactica: Thagrosh, the Messiah

ByDankelzahn
Thagrosh, the Messiah
Thagrosh, the Messiah

On Episode 29 of Iron Agenda I gave my initial impressions of Epic Thagrosh, along with the rest of the new models the Legion of Everblight received in Hordes: Metamorphosis.   Ever since I saw the sculpt I knew that I wanted to be able to play the Messiah with confidence, and that meant a lot of practice to get a good feel for him and what he can do to overcome his weaknesses.

My experience with the Messiah has confirmed many of my earlier opinions regarding some of his deficiencies, but with a few tournaments (including an official Hardcore) utilizing him under my belt,  I feel confident enough to talk about him in more depth.

Fluff

I had been waiting for Hordes: Metamorphosis ever since Hordes: Evolution was first released, primarily to see how an event as epic as Everblight consuming Pyromalfic’s athanc would be handled while maintaining balance on the game table.   We’ve always known that some personalities in the Iron Kingdoms defy tabletop rules.   Was Thagrosh to be elevated to those ranks, already occupied by the likes of Voyl, Toruk, and Vinter? Fortunately for Legion of Everblight players and modelers the answer was a resounding no.

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Ride the Blightning! – A Hardcore Tourney Report (Part 2)

ByDankelzahn
Ride the Blightning!
  • Thagrosh, the Messiah
  • Carnivean
  • Seraph
  • Nephilim Soldier
  • Raek
  • Shredder
  • Harrier
  • Forsaken
  • Shepherd
  • Strider Deathstalker x2
  • Warmonger Warchief
  • Warmongers x4
  • Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

This is the second and final installment of my Hardcore Tournament report from Privateer Weekend 2 at DieCon 9.   You can find my list-building discussion here and the first part of my Hardcore coverage here.

I started Hardcore with a loss to the Protectorate of Menoth, but they say if you fall off the Blightning, you get right back on and try again.   After a round two win against Khador I was hoping it was the start of a streak.

Once again I’ve included the list I used for reference and have tried to recreate what each of my opponents were running to the best of my recollection.   I can’t guarantee what I have for my opponents’ lists is 100% accurate but it should give you a rough idea of what I faced each round.

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Ride the Blightning! – A Hardcore Tourney Report (Part 1)

ByDankelzahn

Hardcore is a lot like riding a bicycle; you never forget how to fall off.

At least that’s how I felt preparing for Privateer Weekend 2 and my second Hardcore. I knew what to expect from the time clock and how to handle the short turns, but the competition at Hardcore is a notch above your standard Steamroller event.   So I needed a secret weapon…

Read More “Ride the Blightning! – A Hardcore Tourney Report (Part 1)”