Frankenstein Tournament

Here's the format of today's tournament: 666 points, you can mix two factions, everything is FA:C for allowances, and warcasters/warlocks can use each others mechanics, except that warcasters can use focus/fury for armor, up to their stat, and warlocks can dish out fury like focus, but can't use armor. Warcasters can't transfer. Pretty simple I think... on to the show!

I figured very one in my group would bring Legion + whatever to totally waste me. I almost didn't go to the tournament because of this. But I decided at the last second to do it. I took eCaine, Krea, gobber, squire, extoller, JMWC, Ancestral Guardian, 4x stormlances, B13th, 8x trenchers + UA, eiryis, and aiyana and holt.

First game was against eAsphixious + legion (raptors, seraph, striders + UA) It went the longest all day I almost lost it due to my not being able to hit a 6. The dirty combo here was Ghost Siting B13th until it was feat time, then Caine gets a bizzillion shots on the enemy caster. He Shadow Winged away and almost got out of range, but I got an inch on him and killed.

Next game against Skarre/Trolls was pretty much a “if you blink, you die.” Going first, I got into range, killed the champion she was borrowing armor off of (silly Earthborn) and then killed her. Two turns. It was sick.

Last game, against pThagrosh, same thing. B13th actually helped this time by dropping the POW 18 template of Dooooom on his front line of warmongers, catching Thag for 11. transferred, then eCaine went to work and finished it.

I feel dirty, but it's the first time I've won a tournament and gotten a 1st place coin, gold cards, and entry money all at the same time. Usually when I win a tournament, it was for a single coin (left over merc coin) or I would win faction coin but not gold cards, or just money (store credit) and none of the other things. So it was fun. Most of the guys hated the format, but not because of extoller + Cygnar, but Legion + Cryx stuff. Can't wait for Raptors to take a big Mk II Nerf bat to the face...

Calandra Beat-Down

So while I've sworn off my majority buying of PPress stuff, I still picked up Calandra. She seems to give Trolls some neat denial while being deceptively hard to kill. I opened her up yesterday, assembled, and played today. Two games against the new Retribution stuff. Poor elves.

750 included: Calandra, 2x Imaplers, Slag, 2x Champion units, 8x Kriel warriors + UA + Caber, Hero, Fell Caller, Kriel Stone + Elder, Gobbers vs Nightelf chic, Phoenix, Hydra, max Dawnguard Sentinels, max DawnGuard Invictors, each marshaling a Manticore. Guys is coming from eThagrosh and Legion with lots of beasts. Doesn't work will with 'jacks. I lost stuff, but Star Crossed and a +2 to-hit/damage + +2 FellCallered Hero finished her off in two swings, needing 4's to hit and dice is damage. One Impaler kept critting the Phoenix into the Hydra so they were land-locked the whole game while the Kriel Warriors actually went through the Sentinels like no-one's business. Befudle helped set up the end game move and Star Crossed helped. I did miss all of my 3+ Tough rolls though. In the end it actualy helped me win as the Hero would not have killed the silly elf chic. Low DEF and average ARM doesn't help their elite units very much. Only did two damage to any of the Myridon's grids *grumble*

Second game against Vyros, the bird guy, I had Calandra, Axer, Impaler, Slag, Champions, Kriel Stone + Elder, Hero, Gobbers vs Yyros, Phoenix, Hydra, 6x Sentinels, 6x Invictors, and Aiyana and Holt. The see through everything Bird Eye ability is gross; 13 or so wounds right off the bat turn two to that crap. So I had to figure out how to kill the Mydridon's... just like in Mk II, you invest alot of stuff to drop them. Killed the Hydra in one turn after Calandra caste Misfortune on it, damaged and knocked it down. A champion, the Hero, and the Slag disabled it in one go, freeing me to focus on other things. I almost did the same to the Phoenix but his +2 ARM spell helped keep it up while my Axer wiffed a damage roll on his last fury, costing him his life. The one Impaler critted every time he chunked a spear tonight so that was good, while the end game had Calandra Misfortune Vyros, Champs move over (one) and beat on him on with twin POW 14's, and the Slag shot him in the back for the win.

Calandra's sick. Even against Molik Karn. Poor Karn was eventually killed by a troll player next to me since Karn couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Impressive stuff. I'm still going to need to playtest it out since Retribution doesn't have tons of options just yet for Mk 1. I'm excited though with how seamlessly she played!

Summertime Blues

So, after a good two months, I figured I'd update this thing!


As of right now, Privateer Press games have lost some of their allure and hold on me. I chalk it up to Mk II and the wait we have until the “official” rules. Sure I could go have fun with the old stuff, but I don't want to buy any more stuff not knowing how they will REALLY turn out in Mk II. I was so close to picking up eMagnus, jacks, units and a few solo's but, in the end I held off because with my luck, he'd be completely changed from what I thought I was buying. Oh well.


In other news, back in May I won a ten-person tournament using Caine, B13th, 4xStormlances, JMWC, Aiyana and Holt, 3x Stormsmiths, Lancer and a Bokur (I believe that was the list) One of the easiest tournament's I've played in due to my opponent line up (Nemo round one where we both made mistakes, but he was playing Nemo, so his mistake meant death, then against a new guy playing Sorcha; probably his first 10 games ever, and finally a great veteran player using Ashlynn who had one slip up that cost him the game) Got thirty bucks out of the deal and used it to purchase another Dreadnought. My group got into 40k for a while, but I've taken the plunge and got a bunch of stuff. Not spending on PP stuff, so I'll spend somewhere else I decided. Probably about done spending in that direction for awhile as we pick up another game called Infinity... curse PP and the Mk II wait!

Well, been awhile since I updated here; mainly the only thing going on is Mk II games around our store (and a mk II tourny at the end of May) But that said, I tried eMagnus out and wow, I think I'm hooked. He wasn't "overpowered," he was just a tide of death. I posted a synopsis of the game here: http://www.privateerpressforums.com/index.php?showtopic=178389 Beyond that, I'd love to swing the full Croe's Cutthroats to go along with the steadiness that is eMagnus. While I only caste Calamity and Mobility the entire game (I don't count the Obliteration I missed...) it was a neat feeling to fly up, kill four Cygnar lights in two turns and watch a Renegade take Kraye down. So I don't have a lot of coherency for this post but I have the merc bug... maybe I'll have to be the Royal Blue, Blue Green's, and Traitor Blue's? Still blue though...

So, Mk II's upon us. When I first skimmed the stuff, I got that feeling of dread; a lot of the new things Cygnar was blessed with vanished. Completely. Or at least, their role and power changed pretty severely. Black 13th took a major hit in my book and while you could argue the ATGM's switched rolls with them by having CRA “Inferno” I wept a little inside. I mean, they supposedly knew about this before Legends was released, yet they still released it and sold the models, only to know they were being severely changed later? Smacks of Gwism to me. But no matter. Press on I guess.

After Haight started breaking down the good from Mk II, I must confess I'm a little more optimistic now. Ehaley is just a nasty nasty woman and will really be fun to play, I think. Most of the others either gained more than they lost or remained the same even while losing some situational or even pointless abilities. Sadly, Darius took a nerf bat to the face, repeatedly. I'm hoping that the full rules will give him at least +2 to hit like the Bokurs boost or Aiyana's new version of Harm. We'll see I guess. All in all, I'm ready to start playtesting!

In other Troll news, I went 3-1, losing in the last round on VP's against Ashylnn in a Schism event in Oklahoma City. I ran Borka for the whole tourny (Borka, Mauler, Impaler, Winter, 2x Champs, Krielstone min + elder, 2x Fell Callers, Hero, Pendrake, and Gobbers)

I started off against an eMorgal player who is probably still learning and won on VP's, killing every single beast. He did kill off the Gobbers with an extoller deviated catapult shot, but the rest of my army was intact. Man, I have to confess the Hero is awesome! He two hit the Rhinodon (two champs had died and he was pissed.) He also killed a Cyclops Savage with a back charge and beast lore from Pendrake. That thing is just a beast. I have to say I'm sorry to have every doubted it. Might be kinda expensive, but... man. WHACK! WHACK!

Next game was against Khador (Zerkova) and I won it on the top of turn two with a super Borka Fast Ball from the Raged + KSB strength buffed Mauler. Zerkova was two hit and I won. It would sadly hurt my chances to win.

Next game was against pHaley and lots of guns. Turn two Borka bounced a bomb off a Centurion, doing 5 or 6 to Haley, then next turn, the Centurion was slammed over her, did some damage, and Borka bounced another bomb off it to kill Haley. So turn three assassination. Yay.

Finally, Ashlynn... guy rolled 15 tough rolls on his hammerdwarves. We were tied on VP's when time was called and he went last, so my poor Impaler who was left in the wind was killed by Ashlynn and her pet Bokur. I almost went 4-0 in a tourny with trolls. I must say the other guys were newer or less experienced players, but winning with trolls for me is a big deal... sometimes!

I also won Master Shaman with my Grissel; I'll get pictures later! The winner went 4-0 with 67 VP's... amazing!

Fun-suckers...

Some complain that Haley sucks the fun out of the game; others Sorcha, and others Kreoss. Heck, almost any Prime 'caster seems to suck someone's fun. For me, it's Everblight. I can't beat them. It doesn't matter if it's the cocky arrogant power gamer ramming stuff down my throat or a really nice guy who just picked up the faction because he liked the idea of “land sharks.” I have lost every single match up to this army, regardless of player and regardless of which “Blue” I'm fielding. The combination of speed, effortless synergy, and independence just overwhelms me.

Take today. Playing a really nice guy up at the LGS who only runs Legion. Just a friendly game, but due to game mechanics, my stupidity, and his insane dice rolling (which is quite often now that everyone but me seems to have picked up casino dice) I get steamrolled flat in a 750. I just don't have an answer for this faction or anything that it can do. I left especially early because I just lost all desire to play, even though it's the one time I get to play and I had another two or three hours to go. Even if it was fighting Circle (with it's own fun-sucking mechanics) Skorne, or whatever. I'd rather fight 30 zealots Menoth than Legion. So I'm just a wee bit frustrated at the moment...

Insomnia musings...

Not a lot of musings to speak of. It's getting late (for me) but I'll quickly put something here! I've been playing Privateer Press games since May 2006. I picked up Nemo and a Hunter and was hooked. Since then I've collected nearly everything there is for Cygnar and a sizable Trollblood for force Hordes. Right now I'm focused on Trolls due to Metamorphosis, though that could easily swing around later in the year. Fact, I just painted up a Slag Troll today, starting from my previous base coating and taking it all the way to "finished." I'm quite pleased with him and am getting excited to work on my new Dire Troll Mauler and Earthborn. The latter has been languishing in my foam tray unpainted, but still played while the former is brand-new as of today. Anyway, that's enough for tonight.