Playing at 35pts

Coming up for the next two weeks is our local clubs extremely belated Exigence release event, that our local PG has just never quite got around to fitting into his busy tournament schedule. We're mixing it up a little though, to make it more encouraging for new players, and trying to keep the format friendly to veterans. Far too often, release events have some godawful scenarios that just leave players cringing.

The result is that the format will be standard games using steamroller, and all at 35pts. A mini tourney of sorts, run over two weeks of club meetings. I'm looking forward to it immensely. For me, the most fun and the best demonstration of why Warmachine is one of the best games systems out there is playing casual games against new people and friends alike.

But it does get me thinking though. 35? Although in my part of the world when I first started playing, the game has naturally evolved now, and I've been playing at 50pts exclusively for around six months at least, with only a couple of sporadic games before that. It takes me back to that rose tinted montage of learning to play, like Rocky running through the snow. 

If I played Khador, this would probably be more apt.

 

But the more I've dwelt on building lists for the event, the more I've realised some things about the points level that time forgot. So let's talk 35pts today, because playing at that level really does force you to make some interesting choices.

Firstly, you can't waste points anywhere. In 50, where points redundancy is a little more forgiving, having that solo or at worst Light Warbeast or min Unit that don't quite do anything in most games isn't the end of the world. Hell, your opponent probably has something similar in his or her list. At 35 though, forget about it - we're trying to squeeze every single point out of this mother, and there's zero room for a model that doesn't pull its own weight. This is where some of the Tiers with points reductions come in as extremely valuable too; if I play the previously discussed Morghoul2 Theme Hit Squad with points reductions on my Heavy Warbeasts at 50, then I can manage to effectively play 59pts at a 50pt game. That's good, but the same at 35, giving me 44pts is much more valuable. My opponent is playing 35, and I'm on my way to a 50pt list, especially if I take more of the big lads. It sounds silly, but those extra points are much more precious suddenly.

Even so, 35pts forces something else that is almost entirely mitigated at 50pts... namely, weakness. At 50pts, with players using the same standard builds that sap all inventiveness and individualism out of the game, it's easily possible to build forces which tick all of the boxes, and 'answer' everyone's 'questions' - or even build your own all comers list. Your army can splash down on the table, knowing that unless you play the most skewy of all skew lists, you're probably on an even footing. So why is this bad? It's not. But 35 is interesting, because it typically denies this, due to lack of available points. You're going to have some elements where your force can't quite cover effectively, leaving you more than ever before in the hands of fate.

Instead, players are forced to build lists which play the way that they want the list to play, aggressively designed around their strengths. It's a more fragile place yes, but at the same time exhilarating. Games at 35pts have the same feel that the early battlebox games you had did - set up small forces against each other, start playing and then bam! Assassination straight out of downtown, or that vital Unit / Heavy / Solo gone to a clever trick. Wipe the table, set up against another player start again. Total game time? Probably around half of what a 50pt game has. Net result, lots of fun, quick games against different players, which no one takes too seriously.

35pts to me seems to embody the spirit of Warmachine more than any other points level. You can include whatever you want, and play using the full rules, but don't have to worry about the game being bogged down into a grinding attrition that takes an age to play out, or losing interest as your opponent moves hordes of models around. It's quick, fast and dirty, the gaming worlds premier skirmish game doing what it does best, and thriving. There is after all a reason that we all stopped off here after we learned the ropes, and before we stepped up to contemporary tournament play.

Is 35pts balanced? Yes.. sort of. There are some Warnouns that just don't work at the level, some models that are just too prohibitively priced. In comparison to 50pts? Probably not. 50pts should absolutely be the standard for tournament play. Is 35pts fun though?

Absolutely. I can't wait to play some games again!

Ramblings of the Reformed

..so, after bursting out of the gate with a mission statement regarding our man Morghoul2 and his delightful new tier, I've been silent for a few days. More than a few indeed. "Aha," you say, "clearly the man has been playtesting!"

Well.. about that.

Not so much. Sadly, real life has conspired to steal my opponents, and left me without games, or time to play them. That, and painting. But like any decent Warmachine player, I've been making lists, and checking them at least twice. The few games I've managed with Morghoul have taught me some interesting lessons - and now, we're onto a new approach, which is to try him as the worlds most unlikely Brick Warlock. More on that once I've manged a handful of games with him. To be honest, I might not stick with it, but something calls me in a list with three Gladiators, and two max Gatormans, especially with Grevious Wounds on tap.

Which leads me, in a mildly convoluted way, to a confession and the real focus of my ramblings today.

Yes, despite my previous mission statement, I played the Fist at an event. I played the Fist, and remembered all the reasons why I liked it, and the compelling reasoning as to why I came to loathe it.

For me, the Fist was a great way to begin my faction. I've never been able to get along with Morghoul1, and the artwork for Xerxis1 is cool. So cool in fact, that I took one look at him and stopped searching for another Warlock. For about three years.

 The Chuck Norris of Warmachine

Back then, our meta was kinda small. No one had really explored the idea of spamming models via tiers into their armies. We were all so jaded from being burnt by 40K, that Warmachine was our escape back into the wilds, where we could find our love for wargaming again. Playing the Fist in this environment was crazy fun, as I'm sure you can imagine. Before long, I was the guy to beat, with the silly list, where everything had weapon master or crazy strength, pretty much everything had reach, and everything had both more armour and more boxes than god.

The trouble is, once you start being that guy, you don't stop being that guy. The pressure gets to you, and you become both a negative play experience for other people, and a douchebag that desperately needs the win to keep the reputation. You don't in reality of course - but that's exactly how it feels, no matter how small or inconsequential your meta is.

Before long, I stopped even considering taking other lists to events, or building pairs that were not around the Fist, and its few shortcomings. It's an extremely potent list, which requires careful planning on the best way to beat it, and which some armies simply don't have. Any time I considered the possibility of playing without it, I just got stuck in the mindset that to not take the Fist was the height of lunacy.

This is where, in my opinion, Warmachine players can go wrong some times, and what lists like the Fist, along with the other potent net decks represent. I'm not against powerful lists, and players choosing lists that are similar to other peoples, and nor am I scornful of people that want to do well at events. We all do, obviously. No one enjoys playing games they don't win. But often in my experience, those same lists come with expectations, and (unintentionally) bad intentions and experiences.

Now for me, the mission statement of playing games is simple. Fun. Waramchine is my social outlet, an evening hanging out with my opponent, my weekend away with the guys, or my chance to meet new, likeminded people. I've made a lot of friends that way, and kept in touch with more, and have stories to remember and tell of the events I've been to for later years. By no means am I most the best player in the world, and never will be. And I'm not about to start playing a WTC winning list just to try and reach a few steps further up the ladder.

So that means that netdecks are out. Being a negative play experience becomes something I don't want to touch at all. I played Convergence for a year exclusively, spending seven months of the year eagerly waiting for Father Lucant - only to drop him after a handful of games because I saw how much he worked up my opponents. If there is a trap in this game, it is that we find something strong that works, and then get too scared to step away from it, because we might start losing again.

That's all wrong.

And that's exactly what I felt playing the Fist at a Journeyman In a Day event I went to last weekend. I played tight, cagey games, which were mostly very one-sided. And whilst wiping 50pts of Menoth off of the table in one turn during the last game was fun of sorts, I really didn't like the unease at remembering what it was to be that guy.

And there you have it. My confession. And the reason that I rarely, if ever, play with Molik Karn in my army.

Hit Squad - Tyrant Mantooth's Musings

..so, lets talk Morghoul2's new tier list, Hit Squad. 

Hit Squad was spoiled this weekend just been at Lock and Load, the day that the internets exploded with talk about an invincible Menite, a Retribution guy that didn't get the memo about wearing white, and a time traveling version of everyones favourite negative play experience.

But for me, the real news was Privateer's latest attempt to fix an old, much maligned veteran.

Poor Morghoul2 took a real bump all things considered, coming over from Mk.I to Mk.II. Probably the most galling is the feat, or more precisely what the feat was before it went away. All enemy models suffer Blind? I have no idea what crack someone was smoking when they came up with that one, but pass from the left hand side please.

But I digress.

Sadly, the new Theme Force does that same thing (that I can't quite get behind) which we saw in Conquest and Victor. Its the old list, but better, because the old one wasn't working. Sure, Imperial Assassins is fun, but it doesn't exactly do much to help out Morghoul2's plight really.

I guess we should just be happy its not another attempt to fix the Siege Animantarax, which has been the bane of the last three Theme Forces.

You know that using the Tier System to fix models is flawed, Privateer Press

So what does Hit Squad have to offer? Well, to start with you can take the same suspects as usual (Paingiver units, Paingiver Solos), with a little more freedom on Warbeast selection (all non-character Skorne Warbeasts), and a nice little bonus or two - namely, the Agoniser, and Minion units that can be subjugated by the Skorne.

For your pains, you get four levels which are extremely easy to achieve, and offer some solid advantages, along with one big change. The big change is what comes first, and has only the requirement that you don't break Tier. Namely, this is the upgrade to your Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentors, whom gain Shadow Whip on their melee attacks.

Shadow Whip is  a new rule (I believe) which allows you to immediately advance a friendly faction model in their command 3" if the Master Tormentor hits one or enemy models with an attack. Its basically Warpath, but limited to the two models that just became mandatory in your list. Interesting? Certainly. By my estimation, any one thing in the army just extended its threat range; Morghoul himself now boasts a non-linear 15 and a half inch threat in any one turn, but don't stop there - your Archidon can now enjoy the same with Rush (now included past Tier Two, unlike Imperial Assassins), and your other heavies a staggered increased threat. The interesting part here will be keeping the Master Tormentors alive, to keep the ability in play. More on that later.

The second  level is really for the trolls out there (not to be mistaken for the Trollbloods) - the enemy army loses all trace of Advance Deployment (with added confirmation from Infernals that it cancels out any AD gained by any means). Fairly situational, some armies won't care at all, others will loathe this. The most immediate advantages will be the enemy having to clump up to begin with in most cases, and losing those valuable AD ranged units, with an added aside that you should have a greater control to see where the enemy is placing their models before you place your own AD models. This should help maximise the fun that your BloodRunners will have at least.

Tier 3 is pretty legit - all heavy warbeasts are one point cheaper. To get there, you have to include three in your Battlegroup, but if you're looking to reach this level, then you're clearly trying to push as many bonus points into your list as you can, so I doubt you'll struggle. Archidon's are an obvious choice, but the lift of Imperial Assassins SPD restriction really opens up the field to include Titans and pack a little punch to your force that might have been missing before. And don't forget my favourite, the noble Rhinodon. A six point enraged Rhino with Grevious Wounds, Reach, Amuck, and a threat of 15" on a thresher attack is the bane of Trollkin Warders and Bane Thralls alike.

Finally, the last Tier is Fury management for the Agoniser, with almost laughably easy to achieve goals. Include an Agoniser? Well, considering the tier benefit directly affects the model, that much is obvious. Include a unit of Beast Handlers with a Fury 5 Warlock? Go home PP, you're drunk. In all seriousness, this isn't quite the game changer that Tiers 1-3 offer, but it does give our Fury starved Lord Assassin a preloaded Agoniser, by starting the baby elephant with a token per Paingiver unit.

So, how to run it? Good question. I'm going to enjoy playtesting it, especially with a Tier Only tournament on my horizon next month. The most obvious requirements I can see will be two Master Tormentors, which interestingly will need a little tech to keep them in play. Stealth will help with most things for obvious reasons, as will Sprint, but actually might encourage the use of the little known Razor Worm, who can give out Girded as usual (immunity to blast damage).

I trust you guys can see how serious I am here about this list by now. Morghoul2, Rhinodons, Razor Worms? Bringing my A Game to a table near you..

Otherwise, a Cyclops Brute is typically a must have with Morghoul, as will be Beast Handlers, and an Archidon for Sprint. If you want to hit Tier 4 (I'm not sure that I do, we'll see), then that's another two points. Otherwise though, you're left with a huge selection. Personally, I'm tempted with two min units of Bog Trog Ambushers, to really pressure my opponent away from the edges and into the middle of the table, where Morghoul can have some fun. I don't buy the Gators I don't think, especially at the 11pt price tag with the Paingiver Task Master.

I'm pretty sure that at least one Titan Gladiator is the usual must, if nothing else for Rush, meaning that a Cyclops Shaman becomes even more viable for then casting either that, Safeguard or Lightning Strike as a utility beast. The other choices would be Aradius, but we'll have to wait for that one..

More another time, once I have some games under by belt. Until then, Sherwin signing off.

Forces of Distinction is available for general release next week.