The Un-Dead Post

Definitely not dead. Just busy with life, work, and the rest. I've been going through a small crisis with Fantasy and been trying to find my way through it. Doing so, I've come to a few conclusions:

1) It seems like the magic system has finally been totally dominated by Life Magic. Every time option comes up, Life is the immediate answer. Its become a crutch for players that like the instant gratification play-style. Throne goes up, 6 dice go down for Dwellers, main combat unit removed. Playing with my wood elves, I've been experimenting with Beasts. Beasts is an incredibly rewarding set, even without the top spell. Its most basic spell can turn any losing battle into a fair match. Even the old lores are good. My recent acquisition of some Vampire Counts is going to see some Fire/Vampire/Death combos flying around the board. 

2) The fun is still there, so long as the Internet sits out. The Internet is a fantastic resource for information, tactics, opinions, and character builds. My issue is when that becomes the sole resource for list building. Its a shame when you see two lizardmen players using the exact same build for their Slanns with the same gear on their Skink Priests. They just seem to be running through the numbers during play, following their guides to win without knowing what to do if the field changes. The games I've found the most rewarding are the ones where I've had to adapt a whole new strategy because my plans fell through. 

3) Purpose leads to performance. There are some awesome units in the army books that almost never get played because they are difficult to use. My opinion on this is that they're being used incorrectly. These forgotten units and heroes can add a lot of variety to the army and create interesting situations. Seeing 4 units of 10 skinks doesn't look interesting, but throw in terradon riders and a razordon unit, spice of life people. Play the units you want to play, learn where they're strong, and they will perform. Warhawk riders: I'm looking at you.

I think a lot of the problems I've had with 8th edition stem from stagnation. The group I play with are not fans of adjustments or trying new tactics without reading them on the Internet first. I decided to take a slight break from Warhammer, not playing as many games, but picked up something new to revive my love for the hobby. 

I picked up Warmachine a long time ago, but got a bad taste in my mouth after playing a game with someone who had a reputation as a power gamer. It was probably my fourth game ever, still learning the rules but my opponent agreed to play me. Needless to say, I lost. Badly. It wasn't just the loss, it was the attitude the guy had. As a new player to the group and the system, you always end up eating teeth to learn. Being a tool doesn't help new players at all. Disheartened, I put the models up on the shelf. So when I hit a slump with 8th, I looked more into some elements of Warmachine and re-read the rule book. Slowly but surely I'm figuring it out. Each game I get a little closer to the caster-kill. 

By no means am I quitting on GW games. Just taking a slight break from them to stay fresh. If you've been having some hard times with 8th, it always helps to take a breather. Focused in on some painting projects, like my new Vargwulf. Maybe I'll post up some of the Warmachine stuff I've been painting. Until then, kick back a bit and watch the leaves turn colors.

If A Tree falls in a forest, does it get a 5+?

So as promised, I'm going to run through a bit of what I've learned about Wood Elves in the new edition. I still cannot understand why there are so few WE players. I think it may have to do with the common image of the WE's being tree-huggers or that they're codex is out of date. Those trees are not for hugging, put them to work.

The adjustments to the army organization has granted the Woodies a nice little push. In a 2500 point list, you can easily fit a Highborn (leadership 10) and a level 4. The other hero choices are also incredi-cheap. Before you had to choose between going for that Altered Kindred running around or a strong hero to sit in a unit. Now you don't. I've been practicing with my support charge Eagle riding Highborn. Since lone, mobile heroes are sitting ducks when it comes to missile fire, I have him kitted out with the Shield of Ptolos (+2 save against shooting, plus light armor, plus mounted should make him a +0 against normal fire) and the Brooch (WE item, +3 ward against non-magical). For that extra punch, the Ogre Blade grants +2 strength, 4 attacks at initiative 8. I have been reconsidering the weapon recently. The Dawn Spear might be a better option (cause a wound, the unit is -1 to hit for the combat) because he never goes in alone and Woodies have decent WS. Spellweaver: level 4 definitely and with the Rhymer's Harp. Plug him into a Glade Guard unit, that unit is going to be crazy annoying the entire game.

A BSB is almost required for every army now and WE are no exception. The issue with all Woodies is their survivability. T3 isn't going to keep them in the fight for long. So the re-roll is great for them. I can't bring myself to get a magic banner on the BSB. Armor of Destiny works well to make him stay in there at least a turn longer than normal. The unexpected hero from this section has to be the Branchwraith. Murder of Sprites and Cluster of Radiants gets you a D6 of poison attacks and an additional Dispel Dice. Don't forget that he's also I8 with 4 attacks. Leading a unit of Dryads, he can bring the hurt as a support charge or against a small unit of normal troops.

Glade Guard are the same but definitely require more of them. The always-stand-and-shoot banner is practically required. I've been fielding a large block of 20+ and they consistently work out well. Dryads are not as strong as before but I wouldn't run without them. Grab yourself about a dozen and they'll treat you well if you pick-and-choose your fights. Eternal Guard are an interesting slot here. The Highborn means you can take them as a Core instead of Special. Same cost as the GG, but no bows; +5 armor with additional hand weapons AND spears (weird I know, but their fighting style is cool like that). My 18 block with the BSB in there makes them Stubborn and dishes out a ton of attacks. The Razor Standard gives them a little extra punch which is sadly missing from the unit. If you're not feeling the models, another GG block is probably the way to go. Glade Riders are almost exactly the same as before only not as good.

Treekin Support Charge. That should cover Special Choices.

Kidding, there's a lot of depth in here now. Eagle Riders are almost viable for hunting missions. Wild Riders got dumped on but don't fear, they are incredible at Warmachine hunting. The vanguard move gets them close and since they're movement 9, they should be on top of things early and often. Try them out with the Banner of Swiftness. Now you got a 20" marching unit that can re-form due to Fast-Cav rules, Immune to Psyche, with a ward save against non-magic. My last game saw a unit of 5 take out 5 warmachines from my Empire opponent. Treekin should be in units of 4 or better. A 2x2 square puts out a lot of hurt without taking up much space.

The double eagles are hard to pass up. Way Watchers are having a bit of trouble but marching and chasing a heavy armored unit the whole games is a lot of fun. The Treeman still keeps it real. He can even go toe-to-toe with a Hellpit for a turn or two. Don't forget that the army has Forest Strider. That means the Treeman can move around nicely and has the Tree Singing ability.

At 2500, you should be seeing a sizable army forming. Wood Elves, much like their cousins, are points heavy. The cheapest thing in the army is 12 points a model. I played against a Dark Elf player this last weekend. Great match, even if I was vastly outnumbered. He fielded three big blocks: 40 Corsairs, 25 Black Guard, and I think close to 30 Witch Elves. A unit of 10 Cold Ones, a hydra, small block of archers and regular spear-elves to wrap up. BSB and two casters (lvl 4 and lvl 2) leading the way. I ended up winning but it was a drag out fight. My points left were in the Eternal Guard unit (~240), the Glade Guard (~240), and all three of my heroes (~700), and I had killed his general, taken two banners, and his BSB (add ~200). The remains units he had were the Black Guard and the Witch Elves (~650-ish). So a win, but hard fought. I'll post my list if people are interested.

In summary, I guess Wood Elves didn't change all that much from the way I was playing them before. The re-direct army of the past is now the super-quick army of now. So long as you're not taking a unit in a straight fight, the Wood Elves can do quite well.

Wot was that? ::shank::

Hey, everybody. Sorry I've insanely busy with life and work. But I have had a chance lately to do some projects. I took a quick break to play in a doubles 40K tourney. My buddy and I ended up winning for the second year in a row. His sisters, my Tau. Crazy fun times.

Our last game was with a team of two ork players. One of the best games I've had of 40K in a while. It inspired me to get back into 40K a little, but don't worry. Fantasy is still getting the majority of my time. Recently, I've been working on my Wood Elves and my Beastmen at the same time. They're looking pretty mean at each other across my desk. It got me thinking of some good ambush units in the 40K world. I usually run my Kroot like that but Snikrot has it down pat. Hence my for fun project:

This bad boy is about two hours of good work from done. I love painting green skin. I'll update again when I got him finished. Snikrot was also the test model for my new airbrush. Just wait till I get it on Mork's Teeth.

For the Beastmen front, I've been looking at Chariots. They're an iconic piece of the army and make for an intimidating line if you drop 5 or 6 core choices like that, so I've been working them up. 

The chariot is finished but I need to work up the boars and the base, but a good start.

Expect another painting update and some cool Wood Elf tricks up next. They might not be popular but they will still hand you teeth at the end of the day. Stay tuned.

NoVA Open Report

Hey hey, everyone. A bit late coming off of the weekend of the Open, but here's the rundown of my experience. I went in with my Lizardmen ready for an uphill fight. I wanted to win at least half my games on Saturday, but depending on my draws, I was ready to be fed a steady diet of my own teeth all day.

Here's the gist of what I brought:
Slann - Lore of Life, Cupped Hands, BSB - Banner of Eternal Flame, Loremaster (I forget the real name of the Discipline), Becalming Cognition, Magic Resistance (3)

Skink Priest - Level 2, Cloak of Feather, Plaque of Topek

Skink Chief - Ancient Steggadon, Steggadon War-Spear

Core choices were 2 x Saurus Blocks of 20 with full command, 22 skinks with banner and muso. along with 2 kroxigors, and a small 10 man skink unit with blowpipes

Specials looked like 17 temple guard with full command, razor standard and the mask of EEE! on the champ, 3 Terradons, 6 chameleon skinks. I only took 2 sallys for rares.

I felt pretty confident with my list, because I had been testing it a lot. Worked in some solid blocks with annoying units while trying not to do a lot of repeats.

Game 1 - Chaos Demons: First time I had played against demons in the new edition. If someone told you that Demons got nerfed in the new edition, someone lied to you. The guy brought a pretty balanced list, which I was glad about. The Masque - definitely the MVP. I had a chance to charge her in the first turn with my steggadon. 2D6+1 impact hits would have settled that out-right, but I whiffed the charge. Needed a 6 to make it, rolled a 3 (nice going, Jeff-Rey). From there on, I could not make a leadership test to save my life. Chain panics and the Masque making thing complicated doomed me. Overall though, I had a great time playing against my opponent, Josh. He had a gorgeous jungle themed army, and we were both in the right mood for the first game. Result: Loss

Game 2 - Wood Elves: I was looking forward to this match, because not only did I just transfer from Woodies to Lizardmen but my opponent also brought strips of steak for each of his matches. Best Hangover fix: Warhammer and steak. I challenge you to find a better one. The game was pretty back and forth for a while. The Wood Elf movement phase is just as impressive as it was before. The climax of the game was when I flank charged a 38 block of archers with three heroes in it. If I could crack it, it'd be game over. My temple guard did what they could. All three heroes make-way, fend me off, then re-set for the next attack. Moving at the speed of "elf" is no joke. They might be a little stringy, but when they squeak something like 13 attacks through, best give respect. He also showed me a really crazy way of equipping an eagle riding lord with Eternal Guard stance, maybe a post for a later date cause that guy can hold it down. Result: Loss

Game 3 - Orcs and Goblins: This was one of the weirder match-types: Fortitude Points. If you hit 3 or lower, game over immediately. You count your banners, BSB, and the general counts as 2. I had about 6, my opponent had 9. The winner was determined by who had the best ratio at the end. This was the first time against a Savage Orc boy list. There wasn't too much to comment on this one except that went the TG's pick on a weaker unit while they have the regen spell up, its not even funny. I managed to get my Skink Priest behind a unit and pushed it almost into the TG's with Wind Blast. Wind Blast is a really underrated spell. Getting units out of position is a great advantage. I broke Grimgor Ironhide's unit twice with some combo charges and both times he got away. I ended up winning by chewing up his night goblin unit which had a BSB (2 points) and 2 more of his Savage Boys. By the end, I had 5 of 6 remaining, he had 5 of 9. Result: Win

Game 4 - Lizardmen: Its a cold-blooded grudge match, people. We both had really similar builds with only slight variations. He brought two steggs, I had one; I brought a Level 2 priest, he didn't have one; he brought more chameleons and I had my TG's. My opponent had a really interesting build for his Slann but also had Becalming Cognition, so neither of us were banking on getting the double 6's to cast. That actually kept things really close, until I got Comet of Cassandora off. It took 3 or 4 turns to come down and made a total mess of the board. The game ended with his ghost Slann locked in combat with two other units chopping away uselessly. Great match, its interesting to see the difference in play styles with similar armies. Result: Win

So I hit my goal of going 2 & 2 for the weekend. since I lost two games I got my name in the random raffle, and ended up with some ChessEX Dice. The real highlight was during the award ceremony for me:

I was awarded the "Heart of Gold" for Sportsmanship in Fantasy. My mind is still blown. No joke, its extremely humbling to get something like that in a competitive situation. All the guys I played were great opponents and the Fantasy community there was fantastic (pun intended) to pick people's brains. Playing at that level, you learn a lot very quickly from very experienced people. I told myself that I was going to take a break from Fantasy after the Open, but coming off the weekend, I'm already neck deep into my new project.

If any the guys from the NoVA Open see this, you guys put together a tight tournament that was a blast to be a part of. To the players, everyone had a great attitude for the whole day and I think I heard people laughing at least once at every table. Thanks for the weekend and the games. Until next time, keep rolling high.

Painted Lizards

Finally! Found some time to get some pictures up on here. Ok, a quick brief on the style of lizards I've put together, because I know on a few, people might jump on me. It has to do with the background (fluff alert) for the army.

The way I see the Lizardmen as servants of the Old Ones is to get people in-line. Specifically, demons. So with some of the models, I've tried to set them up with a demonic influence from exposure. My lizards have a tradition of taking demonic mounts and finding ways to break them for their own use. I have an Old Blood riding a Juggernaut and my Terradon riders on Screamers (more on those guys later. painting in progress).

Without further to do, let's get to some Core units. First up, the Saurus Warriors.

I wanted to get away from the traditional blue/green guys, so I went red on 'em.
I haven't gotten the entire unit done yet, but here's a group shot of them in progress.

The light is washing them out a little bit and my camera is actually a camera phone. Sorry, my real digital camera is in pieces.

Next up, the Skink/Kroxigor unit!

A lot of people dump on the mixed unit. But they actually have a decent bit of heartiness and surprising fighting power. Since there's a Parry-Save now, the 6+ actually will catch people off guard. I do have real Kroxigors but those trolls are too good to pass up. I mean, look at how the one reaches over the front rank.

My most well known Skink so far has got to be Jeff-Rey upon his noble mount, Gary.

Jeff-Rey started out as a handler for Razordons until he managed to kill a Chaos Knight by himself. That's a hard worker if I ever saw one. Here's a better look at the howdah.

The Slann is always a central piece for any lizardmen army. Mine has a bit of a different way of moving around.

Once I have it based, it will gel a little better. Everything still needs some touch up but I'll update these guys as they get more finished. Right now, I'm focusing on getting done what I can before the NoVA Open this weekend. If you're going, let me know. Its local for me (which is awesome) and I'm hoping to give it a good shot on Saturday. Let me know what you think of these guys, but remember, my camera sucks. Catch ya laters. 

Temple Guard, or Where the Hell is My Shield?

Fantasy is definitely my game. I started out 40K style, but the past is where its at. My most recent army has been the Lizardmen, which are almost done with my habit of building armies. The first box of models I got for them were the Temple Guard. I love these guys. They look great, have cool weapons, and can be taken to almost be impossible to get off the board. I even did custom bases for them (I hate basing, by the way).

The ideal way to run a block of these fancy lads is to stick a Slann in there. With the new changes on line of sight for magic missiles and direct damage, he should be able to float up and fire even if he's in combat. This also makes the unit Stubborn on a 9. Cold-blooded will keep most lizards in place but on a Ld of 9, they aren't going anywhere. 

There are two other ways of making this unit stick: make the Slann the BSB, or throw in Chakax. The Slann BSB just makes that Stubborn 9 extra safe. Chakax is a pricey hero at 335 points but he makes the unit Unbreakable. Plus he's a challenge machine. Even assassins have to reveal themselves early and would strike last against him. Anything High Elf related is going to get chewed up because he's WS 5 with 4 attacks. His great weapon makes him strike at STR 7 and gets to re-roll the first round if he misses you.

The great issue is that unit is a ton of points. It usually ends up in the neighborhood of 1200 points with all your Lord, half your Hero, and a good chunk of Special choices. The worst part is the shields on the TG's only apply outside of combat. I hate that. Weapons that require two-hands means he just drops the shield as soon as combat starts. Sure a 3+ against shooting is nice, but most times you need the better save in combat rather than the shooting phase. Shooting is usually -1 or -2 to armor, which on 4+ Saurus warrior could be trouble but its not terrible. With TG's, I'd rather have the 4+ against shooting and 3+ in combat, and here's why:

The typical Saurus Warrior is around 12 points (depending on whether spears are taken). They got a 4+ armor and the parry save (a 6+ ward) in close combat. Temple Guard are 16 points, but only get a 4+ in close combat with no parry save. Weapon skill a little higher, and the bonus from the halberd. Those extra points get sunk into the special passive abilities with the Slann. Both units are equally tough, strong, fast, and same number of attacks. The TG's upgrades are really expensive after you start adding in enough to make them work. Without support, a 4+ armor elite unit isn't going to decimate other elite units. They'll stick but with a lot of your points into that unit, it's hard to get those linebreakers in the list too. 

So a 20 block of Saurus with full command is at least 100 points cheaper than an effective TG block. That extra 100 points is a skink unit or a terradon squad waiting in the wings. 

With Lizardmen being hearty and elite, you gotta find ways to save points. I'm going to have a few test games with the solo Slann. Next up, I'm going to run through the new lores with the hypnotoad. 

8th and the Open

NoVA Open is going down on August 14th. I ran across the announcement by accident on whiskey40k's blog a while back. Now, I'm by no means the ultimate tournament player. What's great about tournament play is the level of play you are working at. I love playing the garbage games in the shop and just fooling around with a crazy list where winning isn't the goal. The big part of what I like about WFB is the insane happenings that go on the battlefield. The win is nice, but if you lose because two of your own comets came down and wiped out half the board including most of your stuff? That's awesome.

Tournament play has its place. When there's something on the line, it can bring out the best and the worst in people. The best being a fun game with a competitive army where you get to see two players really show that they know how to play. The worst is a mix between people who don't know what they are doing, and people who get insane with rule-lawyering and suck the fun out of the game. Unfortunately, with the new edition, I think there's going to be a fair lot of both of those types. New rules means

The NoVA Open is going to be 8th Edition. I've been trying to get as many games in as possible so I can really learn the rules and tricks you can pull with the system. Part of the barrier to get into the new edition is to forget a lot of the implied rules from 7th. Like the charging system, ordering of charges, skirmisher units, etc. Everything is different. I got 6 games in over the long weekend at the local shop and a few more last weekend. I played my lizards and my opponent played skaven. We used the new book at 2000-2500 points. Here's a run down of what we gleaned from the new system:

Fat Christ, are they quick! Games that would normally take 2 to 3 hours to complete for 7th edition zip by in about an hour and a half. If you run with the new special terrain, it takes a little longer but not by much. Units might be bigger but with magic and your own units being bigger, models will fly off the board.

Gotcha now! Charges are 2D6 plus movement. Slow units just got fast, and fast units got insane. Plus depending on how you choose your charge reactions can make a big difference in who's getting down run by what.

Reach out and touch someone. Combat and charging are still huge aspects of the game, but you really have to find a way to get at someone before they're on top of you. Magic and shooting are the two easiest ways. Even though you don't even really need a caster in 8th to protect yourself, its really hard to say "no" to the new magic lores. Without balance, armies fall apart quickly.

Oh the humanity! There's a lot of ways to die in the new edition. Your well-painted, favorite unit can, and will be, trashed in more than one game. Units get more attacks, magic just being sick, even the terrain wants you dead.

All in all, I've been pleased with the changes with 8th. I didn't think that it would revamp everything like it has. I love to see old models come out again now that their useful. Its also bringing in a new flock of players into the Fantasy side of the shop. New players means new tactics. That's another great thing about tournament level play: you get to see stuff go down that you might not have ever thought of running. I think the Open is really going to help me amp my game as well as crash course into the deeper parts of the new book.

Now all I have to do is paint up the massive number of models I'll need for the Open. Awesome.