Newest Addition

Well the whole "waiting for Domination to come out" thing failed pretty miserably the first day of PAX, so here are some (sadly low-res) pictures of my newest Warlock, Kallus, Wrath of Everblight:

Haven't gotten a chance to assemble him yet and I'm busy packing for a trip, but with any luck I'll have a battle report featuring Kallus early next month!

Thoughts on Kallus

For those who don't know, the new Everblight Warlock, Kallus, Wrath of Everblight, is being sold at Gen-Con this weekend, so spoilers have started leaking out. I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on him.

Off the bat, I'm a bit disappointed. While he is the infantry supporting Warlock people originally thought Bethayne would be, there were rumors that he would be a pButcher-esque super solo type, which I was really hoping for. All of Everblight's warlocks are supporters, and it would have been nice to get a guy whose job was to run up and murder things like Epic Caine, Prime Vlad, or Kromac. Still, there's a lot to like about him.

In my mind, he's going to put up Ignite first turn, then spend most remaining turns casting Dark Guidance and supporting his army from just behind the front line. Flashing Blade and Eruption add some utility. Not only does Flashing Blade let him attack multiple models, but since its a spell, he can attack before he moves. And Eruption provides both AOE support as well as a possible defensive shield for a heavy warbeast if he target them. I really like the fact that his stats are solid. Too often games have come down to the wire, and if I'm running either Lylyth or Saeryn, its hard to tip the balance in my favor by having my Warlock get into the fight. Possibly the worst part of him is his feat. Not only does it require your opponent to help out, Kallus makes it harder for them to do so thanks to his Unyielding aura. In addition, the benefit is kind of lackluster. I can't imagine getting more than 4 or 5 Incubi out of it, and it doesn't seem like they'll get their out of activation attack. The other cool use could be Grotesques, having them fly over the front line, die to free strikes, and then spawn Incubi next to the enemy Warcaster/Warlock for assassination, but it seems like that isn't possible ("No Grotesques flying through models").

My favorite part of Kallus is he makes Warmongers spectacular. I've been a champion of Blighted Ogrun almost since I started, and he gives them some great benefits. Unyielding help make up the gap between them and Gatormen, who have been their main competition, and Dark Guidance means Berserk chains are even easier to get off with an effective MAT of 10.5! But the best thing is both those abilities affect everyone in the Battlegroup, meaning they don't have to compete with other models for upkeeps. While Ignite isn't bad on them, with their already high POW they really don't need it.

Speaking of Ignite, I'ven been trying to figure out the best way to use it. I probably want to use a unit, since that way I get more attacks to make the most of the benefit. The great part is I've been thinking about picking up a new unit soon. I've narrowed it down to 4 options:

Gatormen: These guys are getting a lot of time in this post! Ignite doesn't require faction models, so these guys are a decent target. The downside is they won't benefit from Dark Guidance, and since I'm already including Warmongers, I'm not going to have many bodies on the field. While running an army full of high arm multiwound monsters is intriguing, losing out on Dark Guidance is a BIG loss, since that seems like Kallus' thing.

Legionnaires: At first glance, these seem perfectly made for Kallus. They're a cheap tarpit-style unit, which means they really benefit from Unyielding since you can field multiple units easily, and they're already one of the best ways to get out Incubi. Tack on Reach and CMA and it seems likey they'd be great with Ignite. Unfortunately, upon closer inspection, they aren't as great. Only one unit can benefit from Ignite, and with Kallus' moderate control, you'd be hard pressed to get 2 full units in it and still near the enemy. And while they are cheap, I wouldn't mind paying a point or two more for the pefect unit. Still, they're resilient and have CMA and reach, which makes them a decent choice.

Hex Hunters: Another options I like a lot. Unyielding nicely complement Stealth and high DEF, and increasing their power makes it more likely for Battle Wizard to trigger. The main downside is they're too fast. If you take Bayal and Advance Deploy them, its really likely they'll be out of Kallus' control for the first turn or two, meaning no Unyielding or Dark Guidance, and that they could go down before he can use his feat.

Ultimately, it's probably going to come down to Farilor, the Legionnaire UA slated for Domination. If he brings the right stuff to the Legionnaires, I'll probably get them; otherwise, I'll go with Hex Hunters.

Overall, I like Kallus, and think he'll be an interesting addition to the Legion. I'll probably wait until Domination is release to pick him up, mainly so I know if I'm getting Legionnaires or Hex Hunters to complement him. Still, I'm looking forward to a Warlock other than Rhyas who can run Warmongers well!

Case Version 2

A little while back I posted about my carrying case, and wanted to keep you guys updated on some of the changes. I was finding that I was running out of space in the interior portion, so I decided to buy some pluck foam and upper level with it, allowing me to put some of the small based models there. Here's how it looks now:

 And here's the interior, with much more space than before:

 The one big problem I ran into was where to keep my dice, measuring tape, cards, and markers. I came up with the idea to glue magnets to them and attach them to the sides of the case. I bought a deck box for the cards, which is also helpful for keeping them in order. You can kind of make them out above, but here are some close up pictures of the sides:

One one major problem currently is the foam is resting on a piece of cardboard since it isn't long enough to not fall into the inside of the case. Unfortunately, the cardboard is starting to bend (you can kind of see the effect in the first picture), but I'm hoping to replace it soon with something sturdier - just as soon as I find something sturdier thats easy to get and cut into the right shape!

Battle Report: Lylyth vs Gorten

Wow, over a month since my last post. Sorry its been so long - summers been eating up most of my Warmachine time, and I've also been feeling a bit burned out on the game lately. I probably won't be posting often until the end of August, but with any luck things will pick up in September. In any case, here's a battle report for a game I did manage to get in last night. Since I've been beating this opponent pretty handily lately, I decided to play my standard Primal Lylyth list, which IMHO is my weakest:

Lylyth, Herald of Everblight
-Carnivean
-Seraph
-Shredder
Blighted Nyss Striders
-Officer & Musician
Full Blighted Ogrun Warspears
1 Spell Martyr
The Forsaken

He brought a new Searforge army he's been working on, led by Gorten Groundback:

Gorten Grundback
-Ghordson Driller
-Grundback Gunner
Full Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corps
Min Horgenhold Forge Guard
Min Horgenhold Forge Guard
Brun Cragback & Lug
Gudrun the Wanderer
Ogrun Bokur

I'm not liking the look of this fight - my list is build to take on either a few really tough models or lots of flimsy ones. He's got a large number of pretty tough guys, so I'm going to have to be careful and whittle him down before he can get to me. Thankfully I've got the range advantage, so I think I have a decent shot.

Terrain

A quick note: the reason his deployment zone seems bigger (and has terrain in it) is he gets +4" since he's playing Searforge Comission. He wins the roll, but decides to let me deploy first.

Everblight Deployment
As usual, I'm outnumbers, so as usual, I'm going for a refused flank. The beasts form a line directly behind the forest, with Lylyth, the Forsaken, and the Spell Martyr behind them. The Warspears deploy to their right, past the forest so they can run up and help push into the right side of my opponent's army.

Searforge Deployment
He's struggling a bit to fit all his forces into the deployment area, especially due to the hill and forest. In the end, the High Shields and Forge Guard form a block between the two terrain pieces, with Gorten and his jacks behind them. Brun and Lug deploy in the forest, hoping to flank me.

Everblight Advance Deployment
Keeping with the refused flank strategy, I put my Striders as far up on the right as possible, hoping to get behind the High Shields to deny them the Shield Wall bonus and take them apart.

Searforge Advance Deployment
Not wanting his Ogrun to get shot up, he deploys them in front of Brun and Lug. I'm going to have to be careful, since thats a reasonably fast force on the right that could flank me.

Everblight Turn 1
My beasts all run forward, and Lylyth hands out Spiny Growth, Tenacity, and Slipstream to help. The Warmongers also run forward, but the Striders just walk, and 3 CRAs later, one of the Forge Guard units is taking a morale check, which they easily pass. First blood to Everblight.

Searforge Turn 1
His massive Dwarven brick advances, but its almost comical how slow they are in comparison. Its less funny when his left flank runs down towards me, though I'm not that concerned since it doesn't look like they'll get in the action for another turn or two. The High Shields CRA the Carnivean, dealing 4 damage despite Spiny Growth, but otherwise I'm unharmed. Gorten puts Strength of Granite on the Driller.

Everblight Turn 2
The Driller is hiding behind the wall, but I can probably get to him with my Carnivean if I can clear out some of the Dwarves. So I have better odds, Lylyth feats first, but is unable to put Parasite on the Forge Guard since she kills both the ones she shoots, keeping me from using Witch Mark! The feat isn't really necessary as my army continues to whittle his down with ranged attacks, finishing off the weakend Forge Guard unit and taking out a few High Shields. In the end, I decide not to risk the Carnivean and have him aim and spray at the Dwarves, taking out 2 Forge Guard from the second unit.

Searforge Turn 2
I can tell my opponent is getting frustrated with slowly getting picked at, so most of his army runs forward in an attempt to swarm me. Two forge guard are able to charge one of the Warspears that stepped up to kill High Shields, and turn the poor Ogrun into paste. The Ogrun, Brun, and Lug all run towards me, realizing they're not going to get into the action at this rate. While most look like sitting ducks for my army, Gudrun does engage the Seraph, which is a bit annoying.

Everblight Turn 3
This turn looks like its going to be the crippling strike. Lylyth moves up and kills one Forge Guard before putting Parasite on Lug. Sadly the Striders fail to kill enough Forge Guard to keep the Carnivean from drawing a free strike, but he survives it as he charges the Driller and rips it to pieces. The Seraph engages Gudrun, killing him the first time thanks to poison (first time its ever triggered for me!). While he's alive, he's knocked down, allowing my Warspears to freely charge Lug and kill him. The Shredder then moves up and eats the Bokur. Overall, things are looking good - Lylyth may be out of Fury, but she's safe behind my lines, while all he has left is Gorten, 2 Forge Guard, most of the High Shields, the Gunner, Brun, and Gudrun. To be safe, I move my Forsaken and Spell Martyr in front of Lylyth to block line of sight, the Forsaken pulling Fury off the Seraph to avoid Frenzy next turn.

Searforge Turn 3
Unfortunately, my opponent still has one trick left up his sleave. He charges Gorten into the Carnivean, giving himself Strength of Granite to kill the beast. He then uses his feat, dragging Lylyth out from her cover and right into his lines! To make matters worse, her DEF is lowered, and after a CRA from the High Shields and an aimed shot from the Gunner, its all over.

Aftermath
I made the same mistake I've made a thousand times: I risked a more powerful model to save a much weaker one. In this case, I had Lylyth use all her fury to put Parasite on Lug so the Warspears could finish him, when in reality, even if the bear survived, he would have killed 2, maybe 3 Ogrun. The lack of Fury kept me from transferring the killing blows to my Warlock. Still, it was shocking to see how effective Gorten's feat was. Even if I had survived, I all my models would have been at -3 speed, making it difficult to reform my forces. Overall, it was a great game. I even got my opponent to complain the Warspears, widely regarded as one of the worst Everblight units, were overpowered and should cost more points!

As mentioned to earlier, I probably won't be posting much for the rest of the summer. When fall does roll around, the PG at my store is thinking of running a Slow Grow League based on official rules Privateer Press plans on releasing. It'll be a good opportunity to start that Warmachine army I was thinking about last year (wow, has it been that long already?). I think I have an idea of what I'm going to run, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for you guys. Hint: its one of the ideas I mentioned in the posts tagged "Warmachine".

Lock & Load 2011

Last weekend was Privateer Press' Lock & Load convention, and what a blast it was! There was too much cool stuff for me to describe it all here, so I'll just go over some highlights

-I played against people from Utah, Tennessee, British Columbia, and even Mexico! The player from B.C. was running a Skorne list complete with Molik Karn. This was only my second time playing against Skorne and first time against the infamous Karn. He did a lot of damage with with 14" threat range and 10" retreat, but I managed to drag him down with the power of Saeryn's feat.

-I played an awesome scenario game, this one against the player from Mexico. I had 25 points to his 50, and had to keep his army out of the back 10" of the board. To make things easier, there was a massive gate just outside my deployment zone, so his entire army was trying to get through an 8" gap! The interesting thing was he brought a Cygnar gunline as the attacker, while I had a balanced Rhyas list as the defender. It came down to the wire since though he tore my army up early, he did so while advancing slowly and realized he wouldn't make it if his Precursor Knights didn't break Shield Wall and run. In the end, he managed to knock down my Scythean so Ol' Rowdy could avoid the free strike and win.

-I got drafted into the 5 Commander tournament as part of the aptly named Ship of Fools. Each team had 5 players, and they would pair off and play. We were scrambling to get our forms done in time since the team was assembled at the last minute, but managed to get everything in thanks to a first-round bye. The two games I played were some of the best I've had: the first was against a Trollblood army, and we both spent the game dancing around each other to avoid losing our heavies to a charge from the enemy. It was definitely the most cerebral game I've had to date. The second was against another Everblight player, which was interesting since I knew his army incredibly well. He had Epic Thagrosh and lots of warbeasts, including a Carnivean and Typhon. He was no match for Saeryn's Carnivean and Scythean though, and I managed to bring him down by caster kill by hitting Thagrosh with Breath Stealer, 2 Ice Cages, and Kiss of Lyliss before trampling a Scythean over some Shredders and buying attacks to finish him. That's quickly becoming one of my favorite tricks! This also marks my first win in a tournament, so I'm pretty excited about that.

-I attended two seminars: The History of the Iron Kingdoms, and Concept to Book: A Model’s Journey Panel & Workshop. The first was Doug Seacat talking about some history of the Iron Kingdoms, which, while geeky, was a lot of fun. I've definitely spent afternoons on the forums just browsing through everything he's posted, and this was similar except in person. The second one was also amazing: after we listened to some background on the development process, we got to make our own league models. The one I really want to mention is the Strider Deathbringer, a version of the Strider Deathstalker that is a lesser warlock. I'm particularly psyched about her because it was my suggestion, and I'm really hoping she'll show up in one of the future leagues!

-I managed to snag two amazing sketch art prints, one of Garryth and one of a Satyxis Blood Witch.They don't do them justice, but here are some pictures:

-There was some amazing art of what I'm pretty certain are Epic Vayl and Hexeris. Here are some pictures of them:

Overall, the weekend was a ton of fun, and I can't wait for next year's Lock & Load!

Some assembly required

Some of you may remember that I was hoping to put up pictures of the modelling projects I was working on towards the end of last month. While I was delayed even more than expected, several of them are finally coming to fruition! First off, I'd like to present, for the second time, my Scythean!

The main problem I had with him was the arms - they were too heavy, and just wouldn't stay on, no matter what I tried. Eventually, I got help from a friend of mine at my local gaming store and pinned the arms on. I'm hoping to get him painted over the course of the next week, and I'll put up more pictures when I do.

Next is a project I've been meaning to get done for sometime. When ordering my last unit, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with Warmongers or Warspears. I really didn't like the look of the Warmonger models, so I decided to get a Warspear box and several Warmonger arms, and convert them. However, after playing for a few weeks, I discovered I preferred each type of Ogrun in different situations, so rather than just convert them, I magnetized the arms so I can swap them out. So here they are, my Warmongers/Warspears:

I greenstuffed over the magnets attached to the stumps and Warspear arms, but didn't do it for the Warmonger arms since they were too heavy for the magnets to hold with GS in the way. With any luck the paint will cover the magnets well enough that they won't be noticible.

Also coming up this week is Lock & Load, Privateer Press's first gaming convention. I'll be going, and aside from a few seminars, I plan to spend most of my time in the Iron Arena. Hope to see you guys there!

Battle Report: Epic Thagrosh vs. Rahn, 35 points

One of the major problems I've been dealing with lately has to do with Epic Thagrosh. I'm a huge fan of both the model, and he's a big part of why I got into Everblight in the first place, but when it comes to playing him, I'm running into some problems. It feels like Shredder Spam is his only good list, particularly since I like to use my feat to go after the enemy Warcaster, and Shredders are really the only beasts that can hit their high DEF due to Rabid. While this wouldn't be a huge problem on its own, Shredder Spam has some serious issues dealing with infantry, meaning more often than not I find my favorite dragon-possessed Ogrun sitting on the sidelines.

I've been thinking about new ways to use Thagrosh, and decided to seriously try using Scourge for an assassination. This can also help the problems I'm having with his feat, since even my MAT 6 heavies can hit a knocked down Warcaster with their feat attack. With that in mind, I built the following list:

Thagrosh, the Messiah
* Shredder
* Carnivean
* Scythean
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Striders
* Officer & Musician
2 Spell Martyrs

The Striders are there to help clear problematic infantry, and the Blackfrost Shard can also help my heavies hit Warcasters without boosting thanks to Ice Cage.

I went up against one of the Retribution players at my LGS yesterday, and he brought this list:

Adeptis Rahn
* Chimera
* Phoenix
Battle Mages
Full Houseguard Halberdiers
* Officer & Standard
* Soulless Escort
Stormfall Archers
Arcanist
House Shyeel Magister
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress

Only one unit of Battle Mages, rare for Rahn, though I'm not liking Lanyssa Ryssyll. My opponent wins the roll but decides I should go first.

Terrain

Everblight Deployment
Deciding that the wall will be the best way to hide Thagrosh, I deploy most of my force on the left side, with Thagrosh on the far left, the Carnivean, Scythean, and Shredder next to him, and the Spell Martyrs behind them. I don't want the Blackfrost Shard to have to take abomination checks, so I deploy them on the right, behind the rough terrain.

Retribution Deployment
My opponent deploys his force across from Thagrosh and my beasts. The Houseguard Halberdiers form the front line, with the Stormfall Archers and Lanyssa Ryssyll next to them. Rahn, his jacks, and the Arcanist deploy in the middle, and the Battle Mages deploy on the right, across from the Blackfrost Shard.

Everblight Advance Deployment
The Striders deploy in front of the Blackfrost Shard in the terrain, hoping to contain the Battle Mages so they can't do much with Rahn's feat.

Everblight Turn 1
Everyone but Thagrosh runs forward, setting up so if my opponent moves forward, I get hit him next turn. Thagrosh moves up behind the wall and gives himself and the Carnivean Spiny Growth.

Retribution Turn 1
My opponent advances cautiously, moving his Houseguard up in shield wall and sending Lanyssa Ryssyll into the forest so she can benefit from stealth. The Chimera runs forward, and Rahn moves up behind the Halberdiers and arcs Chain Blast into my Striders, killing one. The Battle Mages move up behind the Chimera, and the Phoenix and Arcanist follow Rahn behind the Houseguard. The Archers move up and use Snipe to try to hit the Scythean, but are all out of range and the scatters fail to do any damage.

Everblight Turn 2
I don't like Lanyssa as far up as she is, so I have both my Carnivean and Thagrosh try to incinerate her with their sprays, but to no avail. I then use a Spell Martyr to arc Scourge onto her, but fail to kill her by rolling snake eyes for damage! The Striders pick off several Battle Mages, and the Blackfrost Shard moves to the center, taking a few shots at the Chimera.

Retribution Turn 2
He once again moves up slowly, bringing his Halberdiers into range of most of my force but hiding Rahn, the Phoenix, and the Stormfall Archers behind them. On the right side, the Battle Mages and Chimera take down 3 more Striders, bringing them to half their number.

Everblight Turn 3
Things aren't looking good for me, but my opponent has moved Rahn up far enough that I can take a shot at him. I run my remaining Spell Martyr onto the hill, then have Thagrosh arc Scourge onto him to knock him down. I feat, and have my Carnivean charge the Houseguard so I can catch Rahn with the assault spray. The Blackfrost Shard also steps up and take shots at the Warcaster, but he still has 5 health left. I run my Scythean over the hill to the back of his lines, and after the Striders take down most of the Battle Mages, the heavy beast uses its feat move to step up and crush Rahn under its scythes.

Aftermath
I can't believe how well the plan worked. Running + feat gave me great threat range, and using the hill I was able to hit Rahn despite behind behind his line of Halberdiers. Pretty much everything in my list helped out: the Striders cleared enemy troops, the Spell Martyrs let me arc scourge, and my heavies gave me the killing blow. While I initially thought Typhon might be a better option than the Carnivean, I remembered why I dislike him when I checked the spray range - Rahn was 9" back from the front line, out f Typhon's range but in the Carnivean's. The one thing I'm thinking of switching out is the Blackfrost Shard. While Ice Cage and Kiss of Lyliss may help my heavies on feat turn, drawing line of sight is still pretty tough. I'm thinking of replacing them with a Nephilim Soldier, since that gives me another beast that can help with the feat assassination, especially with reach and POW 14. Overall though, I'm pretty excited, since this is the first game I've played where it felt like going for the assassination was a better idea than trying to dismantle the opposing army. Though I'm still not that comfortable risking the entire game on the assassination working, hopefully as I get more experiance I'll get more comfortable and better at it!