Krueger and Circle tokens

Jamie popped in last night for a Warmchine v. Hordes game bringing his Skarre Thrall army to take on my Circle force, now lead by the newly acquired Krueger miniature.

I don't have a lot of experience playing against Skarre (I do now :-) and I have to say that I really did underestimate the impact of her spells. Its often quite easy to forget just how much damage a Cryx caster can deal especially when using Bonejacks to arc-node spells at you. The Skarre-bomb is also really damn effective and I think that if I had been using Skarre instead of Deneghra then I might still be playing Cryx.

The two games we played allowed me to try out Krueger as well as try out the new plastic Hordes tokens that Privateer Press is producing. I picked up a set (well one of the PP staffers quite nicely gave up theirs) while In Bellevue and wanted to see how they worked.

The Tokens
As you may have read online Privateer Press has not licensed any of the Hordes IP to Gale Force 9 for them to create tokens similar to the ones they create for Warmachine. Instead Privateer Press has created small plastic Fury markers and round holders for cardboard counters that are then inserted into the holders. The Fury markers and the counter holders are a translucent green plastic with small curved barbs around the edges. In fact the Fury markers are actually rather sharp.

The immediate issue with them is that they do appear "cheap" in comparison to the GF9 counters. Which really is be expected since you're getting a hell of a lot more tokens for the price. The packs contain all of the fury and effect tokens you'll need for all of a faction's units from Primal so you're getting the functional equivalent of four or perhaps five packs of GF9 tokens for the price of one pack of GF9 tokens. Obviously then you're not going to get laser cut plastic tokens backed with felt for this price. So in terms of quality of materials they don't compare to the GF9 products.

Where I think they have an obvious advantage, aside from price, is that there are graphic differences, either colour or design, between the various effect tokens and so its easier to gauge when a unit has different animus or spells on it. The one issue I do have with the GF9 tokens is that they are visually quite similar and often there is no easy way to see exactly what spell effect(s) are one a unit other than leaning over and ready the token.

This certainly won't disappear with these PP produced tokens but with the various coloured backgrounds for the effect tokens its going to be easier to see a difference.

In the game the tokens did their job and did it quite well. They marked spell effects and marked fury on Warbeasts and at no point did I really have to give them a second thought. They work well at the task they are meant to perform and the only real issue surrounding them is that they aren't made to the same quality as the GF9 tokens.

But for the cost of a pack of GF9 tokens you get all the tokens you need for all the units in your faction so its really difficult to not like them.

Game One
The first game started off well for me. I was able to eliminate one of this Bonejacks quite quickly with the Woldwarden and took out some thralls with spells. I also managed to gauge the distance between the Bile Thralls and my Wolves well and so tey were saved a second turn purging. Krueger's Wind Storm spell was helpful in that it kept the Wolves safe from a few shots from the Bile Thralls.

The game could have been over quite quickly and would have ended in the second turn if Jamie hadn't missed with a second Hellfire spell. Skarre typically oozes Focus after the first turn and between the Skarre-bomb and Hellfire Krueger was knocked down to four health and his long term prospects weren't looking too good.

Luckily was I was able to knock a hole in the unit of Mechani-thralls covering her and charge in a warpwolf who managed to take her down.

The one bright point in the game for me was that my Totem Hunter was able to Leap in to attack the Bloat Thrall and take it out. I think its the first Totem that the unit has harvested in the entire time I have used it.

Game Two
The second game looked quite ugly from the onset as I used Krueger's feat to eliminate both Jamie's Bile Thralls and Mechani-thralls. Jamie thought the game looked a little bleak but I think that was based on his relative inexperience with the game. The thralls are chaff and he still had his caster and jacks and so was in a much better position than he thought. I tried to press the advantage but due to some spectacularly bad dice rolling on my part and some effective spell casting on his part he was able to take Krueger down and win the game.

it was a pretty typical Warmachine game in which an initial heavy hit still wasn't enough to take down the caster and their army and its one of the reasons why I think Warmachine/Hordes is such a good game. You can usually at least come up with a plan to try to reverse your situation even if you take a lot of initial damage.

Krueger
Krueger is an interesting Warlock. His feat is a little unusual in that its very offensive and it seems as if it needs to be cast early to take out covering units or threatening infantry. It sure will knock a hole in anyone trying to do a Haley Turtle defense. Unlike Baldur he seems a bit more straight-forward to play and I am thinking of replacing the Warpwolf with a second Woldwarden to be able to cast three Forked Lightning spells a turn.

All in all a successful first outing with Krueger and a positive experience with the new Privateer Press tokens as well.

Book Meme

Well its only fair that Maksim tags me with this meme as I did the same to him quite some time ago with another similar blog-meme. Since he posted this on the 15th its also a bit of a slap on the wrist for me to keep up to date with my blog reading.

Name one book that changed your life:
World of Ptavvs by Larry Niven. This is perhaps the first sci-fi novel that I read that made me aware of the power not only of my own imagination but also in a book and writer's ability to transcend reality and take you to a place that doesn't exist and explore ideas. Niven's early work is often a mental sandbox from which he exercises utterly outlandish concepts. Its easy for me to still recall the sense of awe that I felt when first reading this book.

One book you've read more than once:
There are quite a few books that would fit into this category but The Illuminatus Trilogy is probably the only book that I have not only reread but reread in several formats. Its a wonderful book for many reasons but mostly, to my mind, for its ability to make you doubt your own reality. The book spends hundreds of pages to build up a baroque conspiracy and then demolishes it in a few paragraphs.

One book that made you laugh:
Anything by Terry Pratchett but I am especially fond of his work with Neil Gaiman on Good Omens. I'm lucky enough to have a paperback copy of the book that has been signed by both authors using a special autograph they designed specifically for the book. The running gag with the BBC Gardening show is classic.

One book that made you cry:
Nothing since I was young and then it was one of the ubiquitous "animal-friend dies in chapter 12" books that seem to be popular with people in elementary school or at least popular with elementary school teachers.

One book you're currently reading:
Eon by Greg Bear and a history of the Punic Wars that has made such a monumental impression on me that I can't be arsed to even get up and read the title. It would be nice if someone could write an interesting history of that period. Maybe something with maps as well?

One book you wish you'd written:
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter if only because it must be fun to be that frikin' smart.

One book you wish had never been written:
Anything by Ayn Rand. A series of books that provide an epistemological excuse for being a self-absorbed cunt.

One book you'd want on a desert island:
Well if it was a deliberate trip onto a desert island then I'd probably want to take Unpopular Essays by Bertrand Russell as it is a book teh requires some time to contemplate and I'd hope that a desert island would provide me with the required space, quiet and time to do so.

One book you've been meaning to read:
Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs. A fascinating work by a fascinating scholar but I can never bring myself to finish it as it confirms all my worst opinions about North American culture.

Other people I am tagging
Stu
Hyun
A third pick to be determined at a later date

South to Privateer Press Part 1

I took an extended car trip yesterday to drive down to Bellevue to visit the offices of Privateer Press. The meeting was ostensibly to get a demo of the new P3 paints but I was also going to take some time to chat with Matt Wilson. The major draw though was a promise of a chat and paint demo with Mike and Aly McVey. I'm still as much of a fan-boy as the next person so it really was

The PP offices are in a rather inconspicuous industrial site in Bellevue and the building itself has no signage or even a unit number so it was really only because one of the PP staff was taking a smoke break when I walked past that I was even able to find the front door. Their location belabours the word non-descript. One small sign at the street entrance is the only indication that the company is even there. It wouldn't surprise me if staffers were routinely late due to walking past the offices while back from work.

Once I managed to get in the first thing that greeted me, aside from Mike the charming fellow at the front desk, are three huge gaming tables that have been taken over by staff using them to assembled Cygnar Lancer boxes. The process was quite fascinating and what was even more-so was the chainmail mitt that the sorter was using to grab and hold parts while packaging.

When I was finally over that initial distraction I made an immediate beeline for the two four layer display cases that hold most (all?) of the companies studio paintjobs. The Hordes case was quite bare, almost as if minis were out being re-shot for catalogues, but the Warmachine case was brimming with miniatures. What was immediately apparent, and rather shocking, was the level of detail that is on the miniatures and lost in the photographic process. This is understandable for images being put on the web but I was really quite taken aback by how much better the miniatures looked in person when compared to the photos in the rulebooks or catalogues. If you didn't know that they were one in the same you'd almost think that the miniatures in the display case were repaints or even new paint schemes. I don't want to belabour this point too much but the next time you see a picture of a painted mini from Privateer Press just assume that the real thing has twice to three times the amount of detail and shading than you see in the picture.

After a quick meeting with Nate, Mike and Aly McVey came down and gave me an extensive demo of the new P3 paints. This involved Mike talking about the paints, and answering my questions, while Aly painted various colours on two Warjacks and then did some blending and highlighting on them. The paints were quite impressive and it was also pretty neat to have a first-person demo of wet blending techniques from someone as accomplished as Aly. What was quite obvious was that Mike and Aly are both quite enthused about not only creating a good line of paints but also creating a line of paints that they would want to use. Their enthusiasm for these new paints was infectious to say the least.

I also do have to say that it was a bit of a geek-thrill to sit down and chat with Mike. I've been reading his painting articles and been a fan of his painting and design for quite some time and it was quite a thrill to meet him in person and just chat. Both Mike and Aly were very personable and I really had quite a good time talking with them about the P3 line and painting in general.

I taped the entire demo and will hopefully have the audio saved as an MP3 file to post to TGN at some point. There is a fair amount of editing that needs to be done as the room we were in was being used to box miniatures (you can hear someone using a tape roller at one point) and I also say "Wow" a hell of a lot in the demo as well. Blame Aly and the paints for that.

Hordes Circle force

And just to be complete, here is a photo of my entire Hordes force including Kaya and Baldur.



I am going to be putting a hold on my Trollblood army as I work on expanding the Circle army and keeping it as fully painted as I can.

Next month I will be adding Krueger and the Ravagers.

Wolves of Orborus

As part of our recent Hordes tournament I finished painting a unit of Wolves of Orboris in order to field a fully painted 500 point force. I had to do these quickly but I am still happy with how they turned out.

Khador Bezerker

I recently picked up a new camera and have been spending some time avoiding work by taking some photos of my recent painting. This is a Khador Bezerker that I painted recently to expand my Khador force. Its one of the first minis I have paitned using Valejjo thinner and matte medium.

My Khador force is done with Valejjo Russian Green as its primary colour and I use red as an accent colour.

Menoth beckons

I've been reading through Superiority and I don't know what it is but suddenly I am gripped by this compulsion to put together a Menoth force. I can't explain it. I have spent the better part of two years firm in my conviction that out of the entire list of Warmachine factions that Menoth was the one that I didn't actually like.

And then I started reading Superiority and began to devise tactics to use the new Reclaimer and the Flame Guard UA.

Weird.

I may have to borrow someone's Menoth army to try it out before committing myself but there is a distinct possibility that I will be getting rid of my Cygnar force to build a Menoth army.

What makes a good game?

There have been a few threads on various messageboards about Warmachine and/or Hordes and how good a game experience they are for people that are used to WFB or 40K.

And the one interesting thing about these conversations is that they have pointed out to me just how many different ways there are to get a rewarding experience from a game.

Say what you like about the 40K rules but there is certainly a lot of room in that system (as well as WFB) for gamers to convert miniatures and create unique characters and figures. And this is a very rewarding experience if you are indeed interested in building and creating new miniatures.

Warmachine really doesn't have this aspect to it (yet, as Privateer Press continues to promise the ability to order individual model components) and so some players find it a dull game as there is no apparent way to customise your army.

Unless you look at the strategic and tactical aspects of the game and then Warmachine shines in that you can build new synergies between units and casters to create new tactical options for your miniatures. This is even more the case in Hordes where Warbeasts also have new spells that they bring to the army.

Which makes it difficult really to help suggest games to someone unless you have a good idea of what that person is looking for in a game. One recent messageboard poster asked about Warmachine and I suggested that he not play it since he obviously got so much out of converting his miniatures.

This also makes one wonder if there will ever be a "better" version of the 40K rules. If the majority of 40K gamers aren't as interested in the rules as they are in converting and painting does new rules bring anything new to the table to help them get more from the game?