How I lost the faith and found that ‘blight makes right.

So after a brief hiatus from war-gaming, due to work commitments, I am back baby!

This has meant three things for me. Firstly, I’ve decided to make the switch to Legion of Everblight, secondly I’ve decided to put some real effort into playing painted models only and most importantly I have a chance to spend more time with all the great guys in my local gaming groups.

The second of these tasks has really only meant an increase in time at my paint station (which has been awesome).

The first however has been a complete revelation.

Now, Legion of Everblight have been considered top tier as far as factions go for quite some time. So I knew there would be a lot of people moaning about ‘power gaming’, but I had no idea just how much fun it was shooting the living smile off your opponents face while they bemoan all the rules you ‘ignore’.

Having started out playing Khador a few years back before finding the faith and taking a big jump into the Menoth Faction, I’ve always loved the ‘axe to face’ style of play. Ramming a few units of insane weapon master Doom Reavers or a brick of Bastions down your opponents gullet is all sorts of fun, there is no denying it.

I feel that while my skill level was the main factor truly holding me back from being more successful with Menoth, I have always had a niggling feeling that I just couldn’t compete with the top players in my local meta. I always found the high armour skew lists a problem, as well as a few specific lists.

Now I realise that toys don’t substitute skills, but I felt a fresh start and new approach may give me the push to play more and increase that dwindling skill level.

Having had a look about at the factions, and deciding that in order to start a new faction I wanted to minimise my outlay, and hopefully the amount of models I would be having to put together and paint (I am hoping to only be playing painted from now on). Legion looked on paper like the obvious choice. To be honest, the idea of being able to fit two 50 point lists into one KR case is always going to appeal to me.

The real fun began when I first put the two lists I had chosen on the table. I had opted for both prime and epic Vayl. It didn’t take long for the mechanics of playing Hordes rather than Warmachine to prove to be a big stumbling block. It hasn’t taken many games to get my head around it, and I would advise anyone who has only played a Warmachine faction to give a Hordes faction a try and vice versa.

Overwhelmingly the best thing about coming back to Warmachine/Hordes is the community. It has been amazing to spend more time playing games with friends old and new.

I’m already working on another blog about ‘My Two Vayls’ so watch this space for some more Legion fun and games. Feel free to make requests about subjects you would want us to cover. I will be posting pictures of my lists and talking about why I chose certain models.

As a final thought, the first time you pull off the double obliteration assassination or dark sentinel kicks in and you one shot the spirit of the beast charging you, you know that it’s true what they say…

…’Blight Makes Right’

Have you had a moment with your faction like this? If so, jump on the comments below and let us know.

Tom

Battle report: Game 1 without Warders.

Warders are dead, PP are now GW and Trollbloods are useless without EE. False! 

Get a grip keyboard warriors, you're being stupid. Warders have lost weapon master but as a faction trolls are still in a good place. Instead of using warders for an offensive output and an auto include, I will now use them to hold zones in certain lists. Simple. Do they fit in my Madrak2 list any more? No. Will I use them with pGrissle and other lists? Yes.

Warders used to be the heavy hitters in my Madrak list. Before the errata, I had been thinking of using a second unit of Fenns due to their extended threat range and table presence. One game in and I'm  happy I purchased that second unit. They might not survive like Warders, but boy I love Fenns.

This morning, I went round Aaron's for a game vs his Skorne. Between you and me, I had been on a bit of a loosing streak against my arch nemesis and was just looking to get a game in. Knowing he had fist and a pretty solid Makeda2 list, I was ready for another uphill battle against a solid opponent. 

As I said earlier, my Madrak list has changed. Two units of Fenns, a unit of Kriels and a unit of Fire eaters now made up most of my force. Fell callers, Saxon and a chronicle sprikled flavour on a Troll meat sandwich. 

I deployed my Kriels up front to take the hit. Without the Warders, I was looking to make the most of Blood Fury on the Fenns. He went first and ran up (standard play). I did likewise. 

Turn 2 started with Khan killing some Kriels, tough rolls being made and importantly, the Fenns on the left gaining vengeance. My turn two had me clear the left zone and get in his face. Minimal damage was done to his gladiator but the scenario game had begun.

Now, here is where I have to be honest. This is where Madrak should have died. I clicked my clock over and went 2-0 up. That's when I noticed Khan and a Bronzeback (proxy base) could prob at get to me. Unfortunately, Aaron had seen the same opening. 

Models were moved, dice were rolled and again tough rolls were had. Tough saved me in this game; I must have made over fifteen tough rolls. While he did get Khan to Madrak, he left him on 6 boxes and a transfer. I retaliated my killing all three of his beasts. Yes I had to pop feat and use blood fury. It was glorious. Not only that, I cleared the zone again. 4-0 to me.

This was when Aaron failed his mental command check. He put engine of destruction on himself and then failed a change on Madrak. Why did he not measure his controll area? I don't know. He was broken by this point. 

I ended the game by killing a contesting beast handler then still rolled to kill Makeda. 6-0 to me (although apparently you can only get 5).

On reflection, I got lucky with tough rolls and Aaron was unlucky to trigger an early vengeance move. However, I loved the threat range of the Fenns and how I wasn't slowed down by Warders.

It's only one game, but trolls are certainly not dead. 

Spell draft a lesson in balance

Hi

I am a poor to average, but very enthusiastic player of war machine. I play Ret, Skorne and Rhullic with about a 20% win to lose ratio.

I played in a recent spell draft and got legion, legion and legion as my opponents, I played Ret with Rahn.

I finished second, losing to a list I had no chance against in the final, but got 4 CP'S

I beat pval, eval and lost to abby2.

So what, well I drafted some spells that made my troops uber good, 8 spells but three of note, fury, savagery and muzzle, all spells that do not get much attention as they are hardly game busting in thier home factions. So fury, that went on my halbs with UA so on mini feat turn, mat8 p+s 17, I killed 5 legion heavies, savagery on my battle mages, they ran like light cavalry, finally muzzle on Rahn plus feat, it shut down legion beasts.

What did I learn? Some of these spells I have in Skorne and, well they are situational  and can be good but not game breaking. In my Ret I killed lists that when I play as pure Ret I normally get stuffed by (not a great player) legion. I played eVal again last night with Rahn and died T2 . I got a draft that gave me spells that clearly PP had no intention of my faction getting and I rocked.

I finally understood how easy it is for PP to be able to break the game with spells that on paper are so so.  I, like all, rage at times to the injustice of some factions getting x (doomy3, hayley3, etc) whilst mine get eZaal and thyron (who I am told is good but I plain suck with). I see complete nerd rage with the new errata, having faced EE and ROW, trust me from the other side it is truly no fun if you are a poor to average player.

What did spell draft teach me, PP are doing a great job getting the balance right, they don't get it right all the time, but if they do want to get it wrong please give Ret access to muzzle and fury.

If anyone wants a game at somgcon, I will be happy to play, but expect me to grumble about dice at some stage, because I can fail to roll a 6 to hit 11 times in a row, then feel guilty when I roll a 12 for damage.

Pigs... Life, Love and Errata

Well its been an interesting 12 months in my world of Warmachine and Hordes, 2014 ended with me quite dispondant with pigs, nothing was working or going my way... I started a Troll force in early 2015 but didnt really get on with them and my love for the game was at an all time low!

A few months later i convinced myself a new force was the way forward, enter Legion as was seen earlier in the blog... i really liked painting them (Very important to me) and enjoyed the play style of Vayl1 greatly. I played a number of games with them, including at a few tournies and started to win again and rekindle my love affair with the game.

Flash forwards to late 2015 and the release of Devastation; The Warlord, Splatter Boar, Battle Boar and Lynus & Edora are coming, the Meat Thresher and Effarit scouts are released and the low burning embers of pigdom begin to be stoked again...

The Warlord

 I love this guy! I really do, i have two of them in my current double Max Brigands Carver list and its doing very well at the moment. he is very much a model that needs playing rather than just looking at his card. If you can keep him safe long enough to get work out of gang then combined with the quagmire spell you create a credible answer to high def in pigs with mat10/11 brigands with PS12.

The Effarit Scouts

Unlike the Warlord, the value of these guys is immediately obvious by looking at the cards; High speed, high RAT and a great gun combined with light cavalry to run away gives them a myriad of uses... setting up finisher for rampaging Slaughterhousers for one, thinning out a flank of medium base guys like trolls and putting a dent into heavies is always handy.

The Meat Thresher

The Meat Thresher is a firm favourite of mine (I have and have used three haha), its not as good as the Sacral Vault thats a given but for pigs it provides another reasonable answer to high def infantry with its auto boosted attack rolls and knockdown. The gun can then get to work on what ever survives that! Admittedly it has to get there but brings a great target for Helga's Defenders Ward spell!

The praises of the Battle Boar and Splatter Boar have been sung enough on the various forums and by the fantastic Matter of Pact podcast team so i wont go into them... i do have a standing pre-order with the local shop for 8 Battle Boars and 4 Splatter Boars hehe.

A final note on the errata and the Splatter Boar; Now tagging a beast with the gas forces a threshold test which if they fail the beast will frenzy in the controllers next turn! This is a great turn out as it lets you ignore aspects of your opponents army knowing full well that they will be doing nothing for them haha

   

From druid to tyrant. Skorne for 2016.

Hello guys, It's Aaron here and I've made a bold choice. After playing Circle Orobos straight  for 4 years I've decided for 2016 it's time to shake it up. For me, 2016 is the year of the master race and Skorne. I'm super excited about the change and It's really breathed a breath of fresh air into the game for me. I was probably at about 150+ games with Kreuger2 as well as the usual culprits and as much as the game is my favorite game for me it was getting a little stagnant in my own play.

Mid november I took the plunge, and ordered my 2 Skorne lists which are as follows:

Makeda2
Molik Kahn
Bronzeback Titan
Titan Gladiator
Nilators (Max)
Swordsmen (Max)
Incindarii (Min)
Beast handlers (Min)
Willbreaker
Extoller

Paired with

Xerxis1 (Fist, Tier 2)
Archidon
Cetrati (Max)
Cetrati (Min) /w Vorkesh
Arcuarii (Min)
Arcuarii (Min)
Arcuarii (Min)
Incindiarii (Min)
Incindiarii (Min)
TyCom.

Right off the bat, I didn't spend ages crafting a pair in which I think is the most competitive pairing for Skorne, I didn't think about my pairings or what I can or can't play. I simply picked this stuff because A) It looked fun B) It's different to circle C) I liked the look of it. I love the look of the Skorne range and the models in the above lists have my favorite in it. I'm currently 33 games in with Skorne since mid November and darn are they a blast to play. These lists bring me a whole different game to circle, from extreme brute force, extremely long threat ranges, durable en mass multi wound infantry as well as weapon master infantry. I could not be enjoying the game more right now and with that buzz I've even picked up a brush and painted something, which for me is a big deal. I own the whole Circle Orobos faction painted, with enough models for every tier I have painted 20-30 models in it, I've either had it commissioned or bought it painted so for me to find that buzz to paint for my self is huge.

On that brush stroke, I thought I'd share some of my painting. I will be attending the Welsh nationals this year and that is a 3 list event in which I plan to bring Makeda2, Fist and Mordikaar. I'm yet to buy my Mordikaar list and won't do so until my first 2 lists are completed. I've started with Makeda2 and for the moment her battle group done.

Here is a WIP progress shot of my Bronzeback, I'm rarely content with my own painting but I'm super happy how this guy ended up so I thought I'd share him, more pictures of him to come! 

Next up is Molik Kahn, this guy was a pleasure to paint and I love the aesthetic of this model. It encapsulates everything in Skorne that I was looking for in the detail, look and presence of the model.

The last model in the battle group was my Titan gladiator, which was easy to make half good with a bit of dry brushing and a wash (Praise the lord for washes)

And lastly but not least Makeda2 her self, and a group shot of the whole gang.

I'm pretty happy with how they have come out, I'm under no illustion of my painting level (which is low, at best). A bit of dry brushing and washes have gone a long way and I'm happy these guys have got to a decent table top level.

That's it for this post! Next I'm going to be looking into my 3 list pairing for the Welsh Nationals, pulling that apart and hopefully discussing it with you all.

Thanks for reading, would love to see a photo of your guys current hobby project, or to discuss what yours plans for 2016 for the game.

Thanks again and see you again soon!