A First and a Last in St. Louis

ByDankelzahn

Although Warmachine MkII has brought positive changes to the Warmachine community, it unfortunately coincides with the closing of Game On!, a game store that has always been a strong supporter of the Warmachine community.   On Wednesday the 14th, we had a last blast 35-point Mangled Metal MkII event – our first MkII event in St. Louis.

After throwing around a few possible casters, I decided on some of my lesser-used options to see how they changed in MkII.   I was curious to see if they and their battlegroups would fit my playstyle better now, or if I would be able to change my playstyle to better suit their abilities.
Read More “A First and a Last in St. Louis”

350-point 1-1-1-1 Tournament Report

ByDankelzahn

firemanOn September 5th we held a 350-point 1-1-1-1 event at one of the local gaming stores.   As the event approached, I didn’t think I’d be able to make it.   When I wound up with the day free at the last minute I threw together some lists and headed up for some  good ole’ fashion heretic burning.

Read More “350-point 1-1-1-1 Tournament Report”

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.

Read More “Ride the Blightning! – A Hardcore Tourney Report (Part 2)”

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)”

The Frostfang Brood Gets Hardcore

ByDankelzahn

At the first Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon 8 I assembled my Protectorate of Menoth forces to take a stab at the Hardcore tournament format.   I was happy with my army’s performance and would have been happy to run it again but I wanted something different.     This year I turned to my Legion of Everblight forces, the Frostfang Brood, to see if I could lead them to similar success but first I had to build an army.

For me the first step in building a Hardcore list was to decide what I wanted to accomplish.   Every round of a Hardcore tournament is an assassination game so there’s no building lists for scenario victories but it’s not uncommon for players to gear their lists towards winning one or more of the four Hardcore medals:

Read More “The Frostfang Brood Gets Hardcore”

Foodmachine St. Louis, 2007

ByDankelzahn

Creamed CornLast year one our local Privateer Press Pressgangers and his friend in Indianapolis got together and devised a competition between our two cities to collect canned goods for our local food pantries, with the city donating the most cans per player to take ownership of the Harvestthrall Trophy.

This event, dubbed “Foodmachine,” featured interesting twists on the typical Warmachine rules to help encouraging food donation – in addition to having the entry fee replaced with a required can donation by donating additional cans during a match a player could have a number of effects on the game such as generating extra Focus points and re-rolling his or his opponent’s dice.

After the success of the event Privateer Press provided coverage of that event in No Quarter Magazine and promote the second year of the event nationally. In 2007 the Foodmachine event, organized on the Harvestthrall web site, featured nearly fifty competing local communities across the globe.

Read More “Foodmachine St. Louis, 2007”

10/20/2007: Hordes Stampede! Event

ByDankelzahn

On October 20th we had a Hordes Stampede hosted by Miniature Market locally here in St. Louis. We had a large turnout for this event – large enough that we had to run out for an extra table so that we would have enough. In addition to a fair number of regulars we had a couple younger guys who were back in town for the weekend from college and a few other locals who aren’t regulars but came by anyway. Between the sixteen participants, two employees, and the pressganger the store was packed.

Unlike the Swiss tournament format that is typically used for Privateer Press game events the goal of the Stampede was to claim a table by defeating its current defender then defending the table against new attackers for as long as possible. In addition the defender would suffer attrition, forcing him to hold on for as long he good with his dwindling forces. To help offset his mounting losses the defender’s side of each table had a few extra pieces of defensible terrain – a couple trenches and a couple linear obstacles to seek cover behind.

My other tournament reports so far have centered more around the games I played and their results. This time I want to take a break and instead talk about observations regarding the Stampede format itself, including some of the things that worked and some that didn’t.

Read More “10/20/2007: Hordes Stampede! Event”

4/14/2007 Warmachine/Hordes Mixed Tournament Report

ByDankelzahn

Saturday, April 14th, one of the local Pressgangers ran the 500 Mixed Massacre at Dragon King Games using the Steamroller 3.0 beta rules. We had 11 players show up, including two who drove an hour and a half or so to attend. All of the factions were represented as well – there were two Cygnar, Cygnar, and Legion players while Khador, the Protectorate, Trollbloods, Circle, and Skorne had one player apiece.

Although I debated between the Protectorate and Legion until the last minute, I ultimately decided to go with the Menites to try to round out faction representation. I decided instead of bringing lists built for various scenarios, I’d build separate lists for Warmachine and Hordes opponents. With that in mind I put together the following:

Read More “4/14/2007 Warmachine/Hordes Mixed Tournament Report”

Warmachine Call to Arms Wrap-Up

ByDankelzahn

Cryx vs. MenothThe local Warmachine league finally wound to a close a few weeks ago and from all appearances it was a rousing success. Here in St. Louis we had the largest league in the country, checking in with around 35 players grouped into 14 teams. There were plenty of new faces that showed up and the game store was packed on most league nights, and it was a great time week in and week out.

Cygnar boasted highest representation with 11 players (4 teams). Cryx and the Protectorate both had 8 players (3 teams each) and Khador trailed with 7 players (also 3 teams). Our final player was the organizing Pressganger who occupied a virtual spot on the ladder for the purpose of bonus points and accepted any challenge, playing whatever faction the other player chose.

One of the Cryxians, D.Vader, took the Champion pin, and his team Dead Men Walking (also including Saultydog/Superduck and AslainKheog) won the best team award. One of my Protectorate teammates, Rassillion007, snagged the Relentless award and Patman, a Cygnaran, scored the Tactician award.

Overall the league was a very enjoyable experience. I was able to play a lot of very enjoyable games against both new and old opponents. I also used use some warcasters that I hadn’t really used before to try out new lists and new strategies. I’ve learned the joy of the POW 14 Fire. However while the members of the local gaming group make the league a very enjoyable experience, I’m not 100% happy with the way that Privateer Press set up the rules for the league.

Read More “Warmachine Call to Arms Wrap-Up”

12/9/2006 Warmachine Tournament Report

ByDankelzahn

Last Saturday I attended a local Warmachine tournament at the Clicks in Crestwood Plaza – a 500-point Steamroller event. This was only the second event I’ve been able to attend since I started getting involved in the local scene. Most events lately have been 750-point events, and I’m just not as big of a fan of the larger games. The few 500 point events that have taken place have been on days I had prior engagements, so it’s been a while since I was actually able to play in a tournament. Fourteen players showed up for the tournament, so it was a pretty good showing. Faction representation was relatively even, with the exception of the Cryx; there were two Cygnarans, three Menites, three Khadorans, five Cryxians, and a merc player. All are members of our local forums.

In addition to the standard Steamroller rules, the Pressganger added an additional rule to try to finish the tournament quickly so everyone could make their holiday events. If it was your turn when time was called, you had five minutes to finish your turn. If you had gone first, your opponent then had five minutes to take his last turn. Personally I wasn’t a big fan of this rule at all – it meant the last player may have five minutes to try to counter his opponent’s ten-minute previous turn, but the majority wanted it so it was put into place.

I decided to give the Harbinger a shot in this tournament, but mine is still in pieces. There’s a few conversions I’m toying around with, and I didn’t want to do a rush job to get her on the table so I borrowed a fellow Menite’s figure instead. My initial choices for my other caster were Kreoss and Amon, but the lists I had come up with were both similar builds, and I needed something to cover the Assassin scenario better, so I went with Severius. My lists were as follows:

Read More “12/9/2006 Warmachine Tournament Report”