Sunday, August 30, 2015

50pts Grim1 (Trollbloods) vs. Vayl2 (Legion). Back to phonepics and storyless batreps. Sorry guys.

  In the midst of our Journeyman league and everything else we have going on, the errata dropped.  Killshot already existed, but the Mt. King got assault as well.  There's a lot of other things that got errata, but this is a Trollblood page.

  That being said, Cygnar players are hilarious.  It's like a 12 cylinder Corvette (nonexistent, I know) playing a cylinder down.  They'll be ok.

  Anyways, Bruce got assault.  That's 2 sprays per turn.  RAT5, POW16, SP10 x2.  If you weren't paying attention to Miniature Market, they were giving them away free with every purchase.  The day the errata dropped, they were gone.  PP will have to actually manufacture more of them.  There's four dudes standing around a table trying to remember how the Mt. King and Animithrax mould go together.

  Who wants him?  Doomy2 is obviously still an option, but with now 2 shots, he steps a bit more into the ranged game.  It's now a lot more possible for him to do more with with the ranged game than the melee game.  Although, lets be fair, that was already possible, but not because the ranged capabilities were so good.

  My criteria for building a list for the King and choosing the caster were the following:

1.  RAT boost of some sort.  Nothing like maximizing the newest best thing about this guy.
2.  Threat extension.  SPD5 + 3'' charge + 2'' reach sucks in most cases.  Most heavies that can one-round the king can also cover that distance more effectively.
3.  Enough support from the caster to not need support for the King.  I did not want to bring an EBDT or KSB.
4.  Plenty of room in the list for Infantry to screen.

  Doomshaper1, Grim1, Grim2, Gunnbjorn.  Doomshaper1 means Runes, and Fortune.  I'm not quite ready for that.  And if I'm going to put a Garg in that list, it'll probably be GK, not MK.  

  Grim2 has everything but threat extension (Mirage doesn't work on him).  The free charge is nice, the feat is bonkers, but no threat extension means I need an Axer.  Or Lanyssa.  20pts doesn't give me much room for anything.

  Gunnbjorn has a lot of uses for him, and I think he turns Gunny up quite a bit, but we're back to no threat extension.

  This leaves Grim1.  Grim1 makes him pretty accurate, can maybe protect him for a turn with the feat.  The boostable KD gun is a huge MAT/RAT buff of it's own, Headhunter is a threat extension, and Cross Country is great for a lot of things.

  Having said all of this, I realize now that Borka1 is pretty solid in this case.  Mosh Pit is a great accuracy buff, he's got a threat extension, he can screen stuff really well with Iron Flesh on the tarpit...  Yeah, Borka1 has game.  I may have to try that.

  Anyways, I built a Grim1 list.

Grim1
*Runebearer
*Mt. King
*Pyre
Janissa
Max Fenns w/UA
Max Highwaymen
Fire Eaters
Fire Eaters

  Highwaymen seemed smart at the time because of Grim1.  Looking back, idk.  Maybe Scats would be better.  Still, CRA and Cross Country or Marked for Death seemed good. Fenns would tarpit, HWM would shoot things, and basically, we move up the board with Janissa protecting Grim1 until I feel like I can deliver the King into whatever can kill him the easiest, and hopefully assault/killshot enough to make that possibility really unlikely.  Ideally, I'd feat for that.

  There were some different lists running around.  I dodged the Menoth guy because he was touting a Harby list, and I reeeaaaally wanted to Killshot something.  That left an Arkadius tier or a Vayl2 player.  I ended up against the Vayl2 player.

  First time I've seen Vayl2 outside of her Tier.

Vayl2
*Scythean
*Angelius
*Shredder
*Raek
*Naga
Shepherd
Shepherd
Max Pot (I think)
Anyssa Ryvaal
Max Raptors
Deathstalker
Deathstalker
Forsaken
Forsaken

  Low model count, but I've got to be constantly aware of Vayl2's ability to spell assassinate me all game.  He also nearly matches my threatrange on the King, so there's that, and he has refuge.  The scythean is my concern, but the Angelius can be dangerous to the King as well.

  We rolled a scenario, got Fire Support.  He took the no Knockdown objective, and I took Effigy of Valor.  I won the rolloff, took first.  He should have taken my side of the table, but at the time, it made sense to hang out on his side.

  We deployed.  His stalkers and raptors mostly across from the HWM, beasts centered on the King.  I have no Fell Caller, no Chronicler.  I'm relying on terrain for DEF boosts, and on Cross Country for pathfinder.  The Fenns have the Minifeat, so there's that, but otherwise, I'm counting on Grim.  The HWM get Cross Country, they run into the woods.  The King runs forward, and everything else follows.


    The Raptors all move up and shoot at HWM.  They are out of range.  They back up into the woods.  The Deathstalkers kill one HWM, but he toughs.  The Scythean runs up.  The Raek moves up.  The pot tucks in behind the obstruction on the left, and the Shepherds and Forsaken tuck in with them.  Angelius runs up to the woods, and Vayl2 moves up and considers feating.  It's not assassination, but he really wants to get all of his upkeeps out and still have fury.  He decides not to, puts Occultation on the Raptors, Admonition on the Scythean.  He throws an occulus at the Scythean, hits and arcs an Icy Grip at my Fenn behind cover.  He's out of range.  Another Fenn, outside of cover, was way closer, and he both A) Failed to measure his control and check it, and B) Failed to notice the closer Fenn.  I'm not sure how that happened, but Icy Grip fell flat on it's face.


    I really want to feat here.  Everything is too far back though.  I can move up with Grim and maaaaaybe have the Scythean within 8 for the KD shot, but my Fenns are in the way.  My HWM are too far away from much, and it's at this point that I remember why I don't like Grim1.  He really wants to play forward, and I usually can't keep him alive.  Grim2, and the HWM would be shooting  like crazy.  I can't ignore stealth, so there's that, but even then.  Grim1...  I have no Apparition or anything.  Grim1 upkeeps Crosscountry.  The HWM move forward, are out of range of everything. 

  Fenns minifeat and charge.  One charges in behind the Scythean, who admonitions straight back from the King.  I still have melee on him  though.  The rest of the Fenns run/charge.  Two are in melee with the Scythean, both hit needing 5s and do average damage on him.  Two miss the Raek, one engages Anyssa who has Parry anyways.  It was worth a shot though.  

  Grim1 is freed up now though, so he moves up, boosts a hit into the Scythean and hits.  There's "Bait the Line".  Boost damage for like, four points.  Nothing crazy.  Spend one for Return fire and camp 2.  

  The Mountain King goes for it.  He assaults.  The whole reason I'm playing him.  He goes all in, reaches melee on the Scythean, the shot goes through, hits the forsaken, a shepherd and a pot guy.  I miss all four.

  Sweet.

  I boost the melee hit though, and absolutely demolish the Scythean.  The pot gets a Corpse token.  The Mt. King gets Killshot, and sprays to his right at the Angelius.  I boost the hit, hit, and boost damage for 16 damage.  Or something like that.  It was crazy.  I boost a hit on one of the two raptors I hit behind him and kill one.  

  The fire eaters on the left run up to block LOS to Grim1.  Janissa drops her wall on his left, creating a little bunker for him with the pre-existing wall.  Fire eaters on the right move up a little.  This is it.  The Angelius has it's spirit out, but that's easily fixed.  If he doesn't kill the King this turn, it's probably over.  If he does, it's still a game, but a more difficult one.  


  First things first.  Vayl upkeeps nothing, I think.  Feat turn kinda thing.  The Deathstalkers move up, try to kill HWM and the Fenn on the hill.  HWM dies, the Fenn toughs.  He debates long and hard about going after Grim1, but at DEF20 from most angles, it probably can't happen.  The Raek is the kicker, he needs the headbutt but he can't get him there.  So he focuses on the King.  The Forsaken walk up on my King with 4 fury on him and there's two.  They both blow up and between the two of them, take most of a spiral with them.  I put my whelps up towards the Angelius, trying to eliminate landing spots but it's hard when they're required to be there B2B.

  The Shredder goes, kills one of the Fenns engaging the Raek.  Vayl activates, and starts throwing the Occulus around.  She hits the one on the hill.  He toughs again.  She hits one on my left that blocks LOS to Grim.  She hits him with an Obliteration and takes him and a whelp out.  She feats and puts Refuge on the Naga, Admonition on herself and I think Occultation back on the Raptors.  Not sure.  At some point, she's killed two or three Fenns or whelps, but the guy on the hill is still there, so she Oblits him, and he doesn't tough.

  The pot is full now, spawns a Shredder and it kills the other Fenn engaging the Raek.  The Angelius charges the King, hits him for 9, 10 damage on the first attack, and after a full activation, and one last attack to kill a whelp instead of the King, he takes out a spiral.  I've blocked out most of the upper right with whelps, so the Naga goes and kills them all and refuges away.  This leaves the Raptors.  Three charge, one runs into the HWM.  The three of them do little to no damage with the mounts, and the very very last Weapon Master attack kills the king with boxcars and double fives.  I remove the Mt. King from the board and leave a plethora of whelps.


    Then he said "Aw man." and points at his forsaken.  He rolls his dice, 2d6, and rolls an 11. "Put the King back on the table, they failed their CMD check."  Apparently Forsaken are abomination.  Which is funny because the Mt. King has Terror, and so do the Fenns.  All of which they were engaged with.  So the King came back on the board with a full spiral left and a couple of whelps behind him from previous attacks and we called the game.  

  Annyssa hadn't gone yet, but she couldn't kill Grim by herself, and the Raek simply didn't have the range.  On my turn, Grim1 would feat, the unit of Fire Eaters on the right would have killed all of the Raptors and Angelius.  The left Fire eaters would have killed the Pot guys and party, and the HWM would have mopped up everything else.  Vayl2 would have been left, on her own, and without a feat.  That's assuming the Mt. King dies.  With him alive, he sweeps with Amuck, kills all raptors and Angelius and killshots Vayl1.  Maybe he hits, maybe he doesn't, but its a boosted RAT8 on the feat from Grim1.  It was a bad spot. 

  Thoughts on the game:

1.  I really don't like Grim1.  He just doesn't click for me.  The feat is great, but he wants to push hard to get it.  Overall, I like Grim2 so much more.  I also like how much more he enables Trollblood shooters without having to push so far forward.  The only issue is not getting a SPD buff in there.

2.  Assault is really cool.  I didn't get to use it this game to any positive use lol.  Basically a normal Mt. King game.

3.  My opponent really felt like missing Icy Grip was the killer, but I think the Scythean would have died either way.  The KD shot from Grim would have negated Admonition and the need for the SPD buff.  I'm not sure where it fell apart.  The King lasted longer than I thought he would.  Some subpar dice from the Forsaken and Angelius certainly hurt.  I also feel like I didn't see any major Obliterations.  Usually Obliterations wreck huge swathes of my army and I lost 2 fenns to it.  Icy Grip hurt, sure, but the HWM were going to start wrecking face next turn.  CRAs love low model counts and eventually they'd get within 8''.

4.  Idk if I'll do another Grim1 game with the King or not.  It's probably back to Grim2 for me, maybe Borka1.  Borka1 seems like fun, but the first time I run into a KD immune list I'll be frustrated.  That's not super common though so as long as my other list can handle Menoth we're good.  

  Hopefully you enjoyed the batrep.  It's certainly not up to Arizona_Troll's standard lol, but this took three Scrubs episodes to write, not a day like I imagine his do.  We'll be heading back to hobby oriented stuff before too long, but with the Errata in place, a Mt. King batrep seemed like the thing.  Cya around guys!


Monday, August 24, 2015

Basic necessities for Painting/Basing Part I

  This article is by request, mainly from players I PG for.  A lot of players view the hobby from the point of the Battlebox or the All-in-One, and it all looks so fine, so simple.  Wonderful paintjobs, great artwork, etc.  Then they open the box and flashing-intensive pieces spill out with no instructions and I get messaged on FB.

  I legitimately don't know where Grim2's keg is supposed to go.  Put it on his shoulder and call him Skaldi.  It's ok, I've seen worse.

  That being said, when all the grey pieces come out, you realize that you've bitten off a pretty serious hobby, and staring at the local paint rack doesn't help you.  So, where to start?  What do you need?  What's preference, what's mandatory?  What can wait, what I do I need for the journeyman?

  We'll break this into a few sections.

  A.  Assembly.  We have to build the thing first.
  B.  Painting.  What you actually were looking for.
  C.  Basing.  How not to use sand as a blanket solution

  Then we'll hit all three again.

  D.  Assembly.  We'll use the word "Pinning" this time since maybe you want to paint this model in steps.
  E.  Painting.  You know what drybrushing is.  What about wet blending or 2 brush?  What if you want to airbrush?
  F.  Basing.  I'll unleash everything from Hirst Arts to walking around town looking for rocks.

  So, Chapter A.  Assembly.

  Right off the bat, you've dumped out your battlebox and there's no instructions.  If you're a 40k player, you're both miffed that you're being forced into specific stances, but also pleasantly excited that every space marine arm won't be 4 joints to glue each.

  Every piece has a spot to go in and it's got a keyslot that only it's mating piece really fits.  Look at the picture, put the piece in, go from there.  The battlebox stuff is easy.  When you start assembling Nyss, you're welcome to cuss.

1.  Glue.  Lot of people have Zap a gap.  Some have the Army Painter brand.  Some actually pick up modeling glue from Hobbytown and some still have modeling cement from their 1942 British Spitfire model.  All of that probably works, but I consistently come back to liquid Loctite.  The stuff bonds plastic in less than ten seconds.  The gel stuff seems like you'd have more control, but you waste more glue, and it's actually more difficult to work with.



2.  An exacto knife.  There will be flashing to cut.  I'm not worried about mold seams at new player level unless they are, but I do like to have an exacto knife to cut large pieces of flashing and gating off.  Flashing, if you don't know, is weird thin/flat or pipe looking plastic that sticks from the middle point on a limb of your model.  Its where the seam of the mold was, or where the resin was poured in.  PP did the best they can during production, but the assembly really comes down to you.  Some models are worse than others, plastics usually being a bit more of a culprit than metal.  There are some cheap exacto knives out there, but I highly recommend spending more than 97 cents on one.  Get one with a good grip.  This is the tool I use the most for assembling, and for obvious reasons, it's the cause for most of my scars in this hobby.  So get one with a good grip.  Something you can hang onto and control.  This one has a thick handle, which is also smooth except for some knurling at the blade end.  I use this like a dough roller on my green stuff because of that smooth surface.



3.  Pliers.  On the metals specifically, some flashing will be difficult to cut off because of the size, so pliers to work it back and forth are good to have.  I have a pair of Leathermans on me at all times so it's not a big deal for me, but I use them all the time for modeling.

4.  Greystuff/Green stuff.  

  You know, the stuff that makes you feel like you're an IMF operative in Mission Impossible and you've got exploding bubblegum.  Get a small pack of the stuff, it's amazingly handy for sticking metal models together long enough to glue.  I usually dab glue on either side of the joint and stick a tiny ball of the stuff in the middle.



2.  Painting

  Where do I start with painting.  A lot of pictures of people's painting desk is a large surface with two cutting boards and four painting racks with entire lines from all the companies.  I'm here to tell you that 80% of those paints never get cracked open.

  When getting into your paints, determine your A) Primary color, B) Secondary color and C) Any accents.  My Trollbloods are Black with Blue tartans with red and white stripes.  So, I will need Dark, Rich, and Highlight versions of all of those, plus the basics.

1.  Primary (Lets say blue)
  A) Dark (Near black)
  B) Rich (Probably slightly darker than what you imagine your color to look like in the daylight)
  C) Highlight (Like  Light blue)
 2.  Secondary (Pretend green)
  A) Dark (Still near back.  Deep forest)
  B) Rich (Elm leaf green kinda thing.  What Robin Hood has got)
  C) Lime Green
 3.  Accents
  A) Accent 1 (Say red.  Just one shade of it.  Maybe this will be the pupil of our evil eyes)
  B) Accent 2 (Yellow, for the flame on the model or something.)

 Then the basics.  Stuff every painter, no matter the scheme, will need.

4.  Greyscale
  A) Black.
  B) Grey
  C) White
5.  Brown.  Everything has ropes and straps.
  A) Dark, near Black, Brown
  B) Rich, Milk chocolate brown.
  C) Tan
6.  Steel metals
  A) Dark
  B) Gunmetal
  C) Plata or Mithril, bright silver.
7.  Gold materials.
  A) Dark Bronze.
  B) Gold
  C) Bright Gold.

  This seems a bit daunting, especially for the guys with financial commitments already.  There's a few solutions.  If you're going to do the Privateer Press studio scheme, they have boxes to get you started.


  That runs about 15$ which is basically a buy 5, get 1 free deal.  Paint usually runs 3, 4$ a bottle.  Wayland games has them for 2.03 a bottle right now, Miniature Market is at 2.63.  When I first started, I got the greyscales, and basic colors and worked into the stuff that I wouldn't need right away. E.G., leather browns, and tartan colors.  The other option is companies sell bulk sets too, but you end up with a lot of colors you won't ever use.

  I personally prefer Vallejo.  They sell sets of 8 for 20$, which isn't much different.  There's two paint lines in Vallejo.  Game Color, and Model Color.  The former is brighter, richer colors and covers the whole spectrum with a lot more variety.  It's made for miniature games like WMH and 40k.  Model Color is specifically for the historical model-making industry.  WWII drab colors for tanks, planes and such.  So very diverse offerings in just olive green shades.  This line has the whole spectrum as well, but anything outside of classic tank and urban colors isn't expanded on very much.  As far as makeup/recipe, the paints are identical.  Hobby Lobby stocks Model Color quite a bit, game stores usually stock Game Color.  

  Vallejo also creates a lot of in-house modifiers like thinner, thickeners and such that are designed to work with their paints.  I overall like Vallejo quite a bit, but I came from GW which is thick, sludgy stuff.  The main thing I appreciated with Vallejo is the dropper bottles.  There's solutions to the P3 line, e.g., putting them all in dropper bottles.  I like Vallejo enough though that there's really very little reason for me to switch except to encourage new players and support the P3 line as a PG.  I'll probably never switch to it, but I've purchased some to paint with so I at least understand the mechanics well enough to teach it to players that want to go all out PP.

  Technical stuff now.

8.  Thinner.  Can be water if needed.
9.  Primer.  Cheap grey krylon (NOT MAXX COVERAGE) works great.
10.  Sealer.  Clear Matte Krylon works fantastic.
11.  Paint tray.  Basic stuff.  Dollar item usually.  But you need it.  I have 3 or 4.  One big one, two these size, and a 6 slot one for travel.  I usually use this one here, and my wife uses the other one.  Because the couple that paints together, stays together?



12. Brushes:


  There's a lot of debate on the best brushes to use.  The undeniable standard are Kolinsky Sable hairs from weasels in Siberia.  The hairs are more common than it sounds, but the brushes are expensive.  I will undoubtedly have some eventually.  They last longer, retain their point better, etc.  They're worth their money.  But instead of 4, 5$ a brush, it's closer to 25$.

  Most of my brushes are from Hobby Lobby.  The generic brushes provided by both P3 and GW are synthetic brushes that are very shortlived.  Hobby Lobby and Michaels both have a couple of good brands, to get going on, and great sales.  There's 40% off sales at Hobby Lobby all the time, so I'm usually stocked up on brushes pretty well.  The 3 brands here are Master's Tough, Winsor & Newton, and Simply Simmons.  I use SS pretty rarely, the W&N one I'm using all the time, but most of my stock is Master's Touch.

  The ones listed here though are for pretty specific jobs.  We'll run through them.  Top to bottom we have:

1.  #1 Script.  In my "Twelve Things" article, I talked about how I'm liking longer brushes because of the amount of paint they can hold, giving me more working time for larger surfaces.  This is usually what I use for putting primary colors down.  If it's for a colossal or even a jack that I didn't airbrush, I'll probably go up a size.
2.  #10/0 Liner.  This one is for more detailed spots.  Not quite as fine of spots as the 20/0, but I have definitely used this as a water brush to support my 20/0.  The two of them usually work in conjunction to blend.
3.  #4 Shader.  Drybrush.  I go through these quick.  My Drybrushes are just big brushes.  Hobby Lobby does packs of brushes occasionally, and the four smallest are ones I can paint with, and largest three or four become drybrushes.
4.  #12/0 Round.  These used to be my painting brushes.  I liked their small tips, thicker handles.  However, they go bad very quickly because of how easy it is to get paint into the Ferrule (The metal neck holding the bristles), and once that dries, it wedges your bristles apart and makes it difficult to control the brush.  Secondly, the brush doesn't hold much paint, so it dries very quickly.  I use this as mostly a water brush to blend or erase.
5.  #1/4 Angle Shader.  Another drybrush, or in this case, a wash brush.  My wash brushes follow the same path as drybrushes. Left over big brushes I can't use elsewhere.  I like the angle shader because it can collect a lot of my wash or ink, distribute it quickly over the model, and then I'll wipe it off and come back to pull some wash off.
6.  #0 Liner.  Very similar to my #1 Script, but just a little smaller.  For putting primaries down on small to medium based models.  It also shades those as well.  I can do a bit of detail work with it as well, specifically edges of armor and such.  High points in cloth.  Some faces. This brush is probably my workhorse
7.  #20/0 Liner.  The down to earth eyeball painter.  My tartans, my gems, my eyes, faces, all that stuff.  This thing holds plenty of paint, works it out there, and gives me a lot of control because of how long the bristles are and how much I can manipulate it.  The actual parts of the bristles consist of the "toe", being the end of the brush and the "belly", being everything between the end of the bristles and the beginning of the ferrule.  With the Liner, I'll paint a lot of armor edges with the belly.  Instead of trying to drag the toe across a fine edge, and bristles touching either side and painting too much, you turn the brush and use the belly.  It's a lot more forgiving.

  Back to the regular stuff.  We're up to

  13. Lamp.  My wife bought me an Ottlite, which is awesome.  I love that thing.  However, I also   have a cheap black lamp from walmart with a daylight bulb that was just as expensive as the lamp.  A solid, bright, daylight bulb is instrumental in getting good color on a model.


 14.  Model holder.  There's a lot of options to hold a model.  Some people have some plier looking things to hold the tab under a model, but I cut those off before I paint because cutting them after the paintjob is a good way to damage my paintjob.  So, whether or not they're attached to the base, I'll stickytack them to something to hang on to so I'm not touching the model.  There's enough oil on your fingers to create chipping issues later, so keeping hands free as much as you can is advisable.  Used to, I used 1x1 blocks of wood, but now I found 10 pack plastic shot glasses at Dollar General for a buck.  Those are awesome.  I also use them for blending my airbrush mixes, and as water cups when I'm on the road.


  15.  Paper Towels

Last but not least, cleaner uppers.  They're good to have around for offloading paint, cleaning brushes.  It's kind of a no-brainer, but in case you didn't think about it, you'll need 'em.


  C.  Basing.

  Only read this if straight black bases are not attractive to you.  If you want to do something different, great.  We already covered exacto knives and pliers.  You'll need that to break off the tabs meant to hold a model to the slot.  Watch your fingers with the knife.  You'll get that sudden slice and cut an inch deep through the tip of your pinky.  It's great.  Luckily, there's superglue nearby usually.

1.  Army Painter Grass tufts

  Grass tufts are like forgiveness.  They cover a multitude of sins.  I've legitimately painted bases brown, and then covered them in these tufts and gotten the greatest compliments on my basing skills.  Literally, dab of glue, tweezers, pliers, fingernails, whatever, pick the grass off the plastic and stick it to the base.  I liberally covered Denny3's base in the last article with these, but usually, I just hit points I don't like on my regular bases.  Some of the black plastic showing through or whatever, grass tuft.  I also like to have them under ledges, or just peeking out.  Add some life to the scenery.


2.  Rocks/Ballast

  I won't get super in depth here.  Rocks are simple.  You can go buy sand/gravel ballast at Hobby Lobby, or Hobbytown.  Or you can get rocks out of your driveway.  I look for small, flattish ones.  I usually need both.  The gravel fills in the spots, makes it look a bit natural, like pieces are falling off the cliff that your whole army is standing on.

3.  Tree Bark

  A great alternative to rocks, I usually just pick the most non-linear stuff out of the mulch.  As I've progressed though, I've gotten better at figuring out what's bark and what's rock so I usually just do rock.

4.  Etc.

  A lot can be used.  I'll go into my full palette in the next article, but I have Corkboard, foamboard, insulation foam, sticks, plasticard, cardboard, Hirst Arts, wood pegs/dowels/rods, so on, so forth.  

5.  White Elmers Glue

  Usually the most important thing.  I like superglue, but Elmer's Glue is nice for being cheaper, larger quantities, dries slower so you have longer to work with.  It's good to have.



In Conclusion

  That's really the gist of getting started.  My travel pack is all my neccessities:


  Whatever colors I'll be using, the brushes I listed, some shot cups, ballast rocks, rocks, retarder, thinner, exacto knife and the GW sculpting tool that's handy.  I usually fill a shot cup with water and get a paper towel from where I'm at.  And that's it.  My model is stickytacked to a cup and away I go.  I have brought my daylight bulb lamp with me before, so there is that, but usually this is all I need for projects on the go.  Stuff that's already based, or stuff I don't plan on basing fancy.  

   Hopefully, this answers a lot of questions for you, and if I left anything out, hop in and tell me how I'm living my life wrong.  The second iteration of this article will be a bit more in depth and get more into the basing and assembling side of things.  Airbrushes, pinning, Hirts Arts, etc.  Hope you enjoyed it, and cya around.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Witch Coven, and Denny3 based

A custom comission for the Witch Coven.  The main thing is Egregore hovering, and in the pictures, the fishline is extremely noticeable.  On the table, I looks amazing.



  And then I also based and magnetized the wings on Denny3.


Magnetizing Denny3 isn't super hard. The stubs that go in actually fit incredibly snugly, so I shaved them back a bit so they slid in and out much smoother.  Secondly, DO NOT DRILL into Denny3's arm socket.  There is no depth there, and you'll punch into a hollow.  So any magnets need to fit into the wing sculpt.  I glued the magnet down to the bottom of the socket, and then cut into the arm deep enough for 2 magnets to fit in.  I left the two pieces that dictate the rotation for the arm, cut back into the arm, glued the magnet, and it works fine.

  I should have taken a picture.  I'll try to get one and add it in here.  If you try magnetizing though, you'll see what I'm talking about.  The biggest thing is not to drill into Denny3.  I didn't cut any length off of the key on the arm stub either, just in the elbow deep enough to fit 2 magnets.  1 to glue to the arm, 1 glued to Denny3.

In Other News:

  Things are getting busy around here for PP related stuff.  I just started a Journeyman thats doing really well in the aftermath of AoS.  So I picked up a Skorne Battlebox and that'll show up on here a bit.  

  Most of my commissions have gotten done.  I have a waiting list and I'll start biting into that.  Expect some Reznik2, hopefully some Kromac1/2 before too long.  

  Eratta!  The Mountain King got some serious help.  Idk if it'll be enough but it's certainly worth trying.  I feel like someone at PP just wants to play Gunnbjorn competitively.  

  Lastly, I have a couple of articles in the pipes that are specific to the hobby.  We have enough new players in our meta that I'm getting a lot of requests for hobby articles.  So right after this, I have an article on what you need to look at just getting in.  Assembling, Painting, Basing.  Then I'll hit those three again, but more with what I use for advanced techniques.  Obviously, a new painter/hobbyist doesn't need seven kinds of ballast, 3 places to get rocks and 2 different bags of mulch, but a player trying to move up a bit in his hobby skills would like to know that.  So I'll have two parts to article.  Getting started, and going forward.  That should be out shortly.

   Then we'll go for painting techniques.  The nice thing about this is that instead of me hashing it out again where other, more qualified artists have really done a better job, I'll assemble an article with links to videos of specific methods and techniques.  

  On top of that, there's always batreps.  I've been playing the GK quite a bit, so there may be something in the pipeline for him too.  But we'll see.

  Anyways, thanks for swinging by and taking a look.  Follow me on twitter @diceotfirstdegree too for more regular updates.  Cya around!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Guest Batrep 50pts Haley3 (Cygnar) vs. Jarl (Trolls) Arizona Troll returns!

50 Points: Cygnar (Haley3) vs. Trollbloods (Jarl Skuld)

Hello once again! Alan O’Bryan (Arizona_Troll) with another guest battle report on Dice of the First Degree. You can find me on Twitter at @Irish_Al or check out more pictures of my models at www.whpictures.blogspot.com. I hope you enjoy this report!
P.S. – The events described in this battle report make some mention of our last match, Siege vs. Grim2. If you missed it, be sure to first read that battle report at http://diceotfirstdegree.blogspot.com/2015/08/guest-batrep-from-arizonatroll-75pts.html. Unfortunately there’s no beer drinking DURING this rematch game (only afterwards) because we were playing at our local game store.


Finn approached the command tent, knocking mud off of his boots before entering. He glanced to his left to where Sylas Wyshnalyrr sat by himself under a tree apparently meditating. “Always keeps to himself, he does,” Finn mumbles to himself. “Spooky bastard.”

Finn entered the tent to find Haley sipping tea and looking over maps of the area.

Finn. Thank you for coming. There is a large Trollbloods force marching in our direction.”

I haven’t heard any reports-“

They are keeping to the woods, moving through cover. They will be here by the morning.”

How do you know this?”

It has already happened.” She looked up at him. Morrow! She’d been extremely odd ever since regaining consciousness. And growing an arm back. And, well, I guess one might expect her to act odd considering everything she’d been through.

I’ll alert the men. Should we dig in?”

I don’t believe that is wise. This Trollkin leader. He is…tricky. If we dig in, he will simply move around us. We need not beat them. But the remains of Siege’s army is in full retreat from its battle yesterday. If this force is allowed to pass unmolested, the armies will collide in two days and what’s left of Siege’s forces, including a Stormwall, will be lost. We must hamper and bloody this force to slow them. Deploy the cavalry on our flank and wait for my orders.”

Aye, ma’am. It will be done.”

###########

Jarl Skuld took a sip from his flask and scratched at the edge of his eyepatch. The damn thing was always painful in the morning. He wasn’t sure why. His stomach grumbled. The army had been moving as fast as possible to reinforce and resupply Grim Angus. Those Mountain Kings were sure good in a fight, but they created all sorts of supply issues. It was difficult to say the least to prevent them from eating everything in sight, including all of the food and ale for the troops and, for that matter, eating the army itself.

Wrathar, the eldest brother of the Fell Caller family under his command, pulled him out of his thoughts. “Skuld!” The Trollkin always sounded a bit like he was yelling. “Cygnar troops spotted. And they’re arrayed for battle. Apparently they knew we were coming.” Turgor, Jarl’s trusted Impaler, tightened his grip on his spear, sensing Jarl’s anxiety. He pushed it down, and Turgor relaxed a bit. He was still not used to fighting these straight-up battles and spared a moment to reflect on his days leading small bands on raids through the forest.

I don’t suppose they’re here to surrender? Or maybe they’re just dropping off some ale? Tea party, perhaps?”

Wrathar looked confused. “I – I don’t believe so, sir. I think-“

It’s a joke, Wrathar.” Goddess above, this ‘kin had no sense of humor. Where’s Rhudd when you need him? “Alert the column, Wrathar. Double time it into position, and let me know if those Swans start moving.”

As you say!”


Jarl drew his pistols and checked that they were loaded and loose in their holsters.

He gritted his teeth in determination and began to march forward. Behind him, Runkter, his Mauler, let out a might roar of anticipation.

###########


SCENARIO AND DEPLOYMENT

Scenario 4: Fire Support
Two flags (dominate friendly flag for 1 CP, control/dominate enemy flag for 1/2 CP)
Two objectives (destroy or remove from play enemy objective for 1 CP)
First player to 5 CPs wins





Travis has had a very hard time coming up with an answer to this particular Jarl list in the past. He has been working on this list as a potential counter since Haley3’s rules were first spoiled, but this is our first time testing the match-up after he beat up on our other local players for the last few weeks. Because 1) we’re somewhat lazy and 2) we were testing this matchup more generally and not relative to any specific scenario benefits, we opted to “break the rules” and just play with generic objectives (DEF 5, ARM 18, 15 damage boxes) instead of one of the Steamroller-specific ones.

Alan won the roll to choose first player or board edge (4 vs. 3), and elected to take 2nd player and side.

It’s probably worth noting here how we set up terrain. We have a chart (1: obstruction, 2: forest, 3: hill, 4: wall, 5: shallow water, 6: no terrain), and we roll a die for each of the six areas of the board (imagine cutting up the board into a 2x3 grid creating six areas). Whatever we roll, we place the appropriate terrain so that it “fits” the board and scenario well. We don’t totally observe the distance restrictions outlined in the Steamroller packet, although we do keep obstructions and walls out of the zones and somewhat apart from flags and objectives. What we like about this is that it creates asymmetrical boards and usually a clearly superior table edge. This makes it a much harder choice to go first or second than with terrain chosen to make the table “balanced” and has also lead to some really interesting battles with terrain combinations we might not have otherwise ever tried. Note that we never allow less than four pieces of terrain, so if we roll too many 6s we reroll them.








TURN 1: BATTLE OF THE SMOKE CLOUDS!

Top of Turn 1: Cygnar (Travis) 

The Trollkin army had barely begun to assemble when orders went out.

Blazers, move out! Harass their flanks! Trenchers, move up and cover the army! Stormlances, advance. Forgeguard, move up to support the trenchers!” Haley relied on Finn to execute her battle plan.

She took a look around her at the men and Dwarfs who would fall today. Such a terrible thing, war. These men must die, but their deaths would save others. The thought brought her no comfort. In fact, she felt very little. This battle had already happened, after all.

Haley walked forward, summing her echoes. The army would need them this day.

Across the field, an unnatural fog began to rise from the surface of a pond.


Before starting his turn, Travis carefully checked that he deployed his entire list. If you read our last battle report, you’ll know why he was paranoid about this. :-)

No Focus is allocated.

1. Tempest Blazers: Run up on the flank.
2. Maxwell Finn: Moves up, gives desperate pace to the Trenchers.
3. Trenchers: Advance a lay down a wall of smoke. Travis left a small gap between two of his clouds (and knew he was doing so). The gap was between the third and fourth cloud. The building at his deployment line interfered with his normal troop placement for this unit. I think he probably could have rotated his clouds and closed the gap. But I don’t know.
4. Stormlances: Move up a bit.
5. Lancer: Walks forward.
6. Forgeguard: Run forward maintain groups of Dwarfs base to base.
7. Journeyman Warcaster: Casts Arcane Shield on Haley and walks forward.
8. Piper of Ord: Moves up and gives Tough and Fearless to the Forgeguard.
9. Haley: Moves forward and puts both echoes into play. She casts Tactical Supremacy on the Trenchers through the Lancer and casts Temporal Flux.
10. Sylas: Advances.
11. Trenchers Tactical Supremacy: Move back out of the clouds.


Travis immediately realized that he had some tough decisions to make. Knowing how vulnerable Haley and her echoes are to Magic Bullet (and with Jarl having the only Magical Attacks in the whole list), Travis opted to use Arcane Shield, coupled with Temporal Flux (and, later, +1 DEF from the Piper) to protect the unit. However, he is concerned about his cavalry. Because if Jarl isn’t shooting at Haley, then his shots are going somewhere, and he can’t have Arcane Shield everywhere…

In his testing, he has found that he likes to have both echoes in play. Future Haley has a great gun that comes in handy when needed plus Revive to bring cavalry back into play, and Past Haley has been his major game-ender, landing multiple assassinations on the feat turn in past games. In addition, he’s hoping that the smoke wall will slow down my Fennblade charge and provide poor targets for Jarl to shoot.







Bottom of Turn 1: Trollbloods (Alan)

The Cygnar army was already in motion as the Trollbloods arrived at the field.

Damn Swans,” Jarl grumbled. He had already begun summoning fog from the nearby pond. Trenchers in the front lines deployed smoke grenades, screening Jarl’s view of the battle.

Well, two can play that game.” Concentrating, Jarl summoned more and more fog, the mist rising from the pond and blowing across the field in the direction of the Cygnaran forces.

Move up behind the fog, lads! Skaldi, take your boys and watch our flank for those ponies!”

As the army moved forward, Jarl caught a glimpse of a Trencher moving behind a thin point in the smoke cover. Quickly drawing his right-hand pistol, he fired and caught the Trencher in stomach. The bullet ricocheted into the head of the man next to him.

Ugh. A shot to the gut. That’s a painful way to die, friend. Sorry for that,” he thought.

He reached out with his arcane powers to give speed and stamina to the Fennblades on his flank. Nothing to do now but wait for the smoke to clear.


1. Fennblades: Run forward, but not maximum distance.
2. Fennblade Kithkar: Runs forward on the left flank.
3. Fennblade Kithkar(2): Runs forward in the center of the army.
4. Sons of Bragg: Run up behind the Fennblades.
5. Imapler: Advances and forces for 2 Fury to give Far Strike to Jarl.
6. Fell Call: Advances and gives Pathfinder to the Warders.
7. Runebearer: Advances and uses Harmonious Exultation.
8. Jarl Skuld: Advances, casts Magic Bullet for 1 Fury with Harmonious Exultation. He shoots at the Trencher he can just see through the gap in the clouds, boosting to hit (thanks to the proximity of Haley’s unit, he is DEF 15). The shot hits and the Trencher is killed. Magic Bullet kills the Trencher to his right (Jarl’s left). Jarl uses Swift Hunter to move back a bit, then casts Quicken on the Fennblades. Jarl then made the Swans “SMELL MY TROLL FEAT!” by summoning 5 clouds.
9. Warders: Run forward into the pond.
10. Mauler: Riles for 2 Fury, then runs forward.
11. Champions: Run to the right flank next to the edge of the cloud.


Having seen him deploy both cavalry on one side of the table, I deployed most of my army diagonally away from them, especially my Fennblades who are very vulnerable to the Blazers and the assaulting, charging, electro-leaping attacks of the Stormlances. My plan was to present my Warders as charge targets for the Stormlances, hopefully not losing too many of them, and to present my Champions as targets for the Blazers. With Jarl supporting whichever unit needed it more, I should be able to handle the cavalry, and my Fennblades and Sons of Bragg should be able to handle the Trenchers and Forgeguard (I hoped).

It’s also worth noting that I decided not to dedicate myself to the scenario during the early turns. I had a feeling that he would not commit the entire Haley unit to his flag in order to dominate it (because they would be in a vulnerable position to Jarl’s guns and because he would want them to be spread out to give extra defense to his army with Temporal Flux. So as long as he couldn’t control or dominate my flag I knew I would be okay. Setting up heavily on that side of the table basically guaranteed that wouldn’t be a problem.







TURN 2: DON’T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES!

Top of Turn 2: Cygnar (Travis) 

The fog had become so thick and dense, mingling with the Trencher smoke, that Haley couldn’t see anything. Her captains looked to her, confused about what to do with no enemy targets in sight. She relayed orders through Murdoch and Finn to prepare for the Trollbloods’ attack. In the meantime, the Trenchers continued to deploy their smoke cover while the Blazers began to nip at the enemy’s flank.


Upkeep Arcane Shield on Haley’s unit from the Journeyman Warcaster.
Maintain both echoes.
Upkeep Tactical Supremacy for free from Sylas.
No focus allocation.

1. Tempest Blazers: Move towards the Champions and shoot at the one on the end. Two are in range, and both hit with Brutal Damage. The first shot does no damage, the second shot does 1 damage. They then use their light cavalry move to retreat.
2. Trenchers: Move forward and create a smoke wall. Right after doing this, he realizes that he should have activated Haley first so that he could revive a member of the unit and get an extra cloud.
3. Stormlances: Move forward slightly.
4. Finn: Runs at maximum speed back behind the Cygnar battle line.
5. Forgeguard: Run forward and maintain pockets of base to base groupings.
6. Piper: Gives +1 DEF and Terror to Haley’s unit.
7. Haley: Moves MPV Haley up a little bit, Future Haley moves towards the center of the board, and Past Haley shifts to stand next to the Stormlances. Future Haley Revives one trencher and MPV Haley casts Temporal Flux. The echoes currently sit at DEF 19, ARM 21.
8. He doesn’t really activate and move any of his other models.
9. Trenchers Tactical Supremacy: Move back out of the clouds.

He doesn’t have a lot to do this turn because of the feat. He shoots at what he can and sets up to assault me next turn.










Bottom of Turn 2: Trollbloods (Alan)

Jarl ordered the Fennblades to advance through the smoke screen. Not knowing exactly what awaited them, he said a brief prayer to Dhunia to protect them and, if they had to die, to speed their reincarnation. To their credit, the lads surged ahead without fear, chanting their terrifying battle cries. Their Kithkar moved forward, encouraging the unit and keeping an eye out for anything emerging from the smoke.

Jarl heard chanting behind him, and turned to see his Runebearer’s eyes glowing with magical energy. Looking in the direction of Skaldi and the Champions, he was about to give them orders to hold the flank, but they were halfway across the field. The Runbearer just shrugged and smiled.

Skaldi, Skaldi,” Jarl chuckled. He must have asked the Runebearer to give them speed. Well, that ‘kin knows how to fight. He should be fine.

Runkter the Mauler was straining at his bond, rabid and frenzied to attack. “Whoa, boy. Whoa.” Jarl sent calmness and restraint through the bond. It was like trying to hold back a waterfall, but for the time being the Mauler remained in his control.


Jarl upkeeps Quicken on the Fennblades.

1. Fell Caller: Moves up and gives +2 MAT to the Fennblades
2.  Fennblades: Use the “No Quarter” mini feat and the front line walks forward 8 inches, engaging both the Trenchers and the Forgeguard. Both pass their morale checks against the Terror (Darn!), and they kill two Trenchers. The others have moved up a bit.
3. Fennblade Kithkar: Runs forward on the left flank.
4. Fennblade Kithkar(2): Runs forward in the center of the army.
5. Runebearer: Uses Power Glyphs to cast Quicken on the Champions.
6. Champions: Run 12 inches towards the Blazers. One even manages to barely engage the lead Blazer.
7. Sons of Bragg: Move forward behind the Fennblades.
8. Warders: Run forward to form a strong center for my lines.
9. Impaler: Moves forward and is forced for 2 Fury to give Jarl Far Strike.
10. Jarl: Moves forward and shoots the nearest Stormlance. Boosting the attack and damage roll, he kills the cavalryman. He uses Swift Hunter to shift a bit, then fires a boosted attack and damage shot into the next closest Stormlance. The shot does 4 damage, 1 shy of the necessary amount to kill him.
11. Mauler: Riles for 2 Fury and runs forward.

I debated using No Quarter this turn. I certainly wasn’t going to use most of the bonuses, but I was pretty sure that I could force two Terror checks. If even one of them failed it would be a huge swing. Alas, both passed. But getting my Fennblades through the smoke screen helped make sure that the smoke was done for the game. Other than that, I positioned myself to minimize the damage he could cause and maximize my counterattack in Round 3.












TURN 3: SPEED KILLS, BUT CYGNAR AIN’T AFRAID!

Top of Turn 3: Cygnar (Travis) 

Haley watched as her forces absorbed the attacks of the Fennblades emerging through the smoke. The line it would hold. She already knew that their bravery would last. She could hear Murdoch shouting orders to counterattack, and along the line Trollkin were cut down.

In an effort to give the Forgeguard a reprieve, she ordered the Trenchers forward into the Trollblood lines. This would buy the retreating army nearby previous minutes to escape. The brave Trenchers did their duty without question, even though they had to know that this would be their end.

Haley refused to allow herself to dwell on their fates. There would be time to mourn later.


Upkeep Arcane Shield on Haley’s unit from the Journeyman Warcaster.
Maintain both echoes.
Upkeep Tactical Supremacy for free from Sylas.
No focus allocation.

1. Trenchers: Charge/Assault and kill two Fennblades and leave two others knocked down after they make their tough checks.
2. Haley: Future Haley moves and casts Revive on the Stormlances, bringing one trooper back with 1 unmarked damage box. MPV Haley casts temporal flux and shoots one of the knocked down Fennblades, who survives after making another tough check.
3. Stormlances: Two (the ones with 1 unmarked damage box each) charge the Warders. The other three hang back. Between some missed shots and less than excellent damage rolls, he fails to kill either Warder. One Warder takes 6 damage, the other takes 5 damage. An electro-leap kills the nearest Fennblade.
4. Forgeguard: Dwarfs walk forward and kill two more Fennblades. One more makes two tough checks and survives.
5. Piper: Gives +1 DEF and Terror to Haley’s unit.
6. Finn: Runs into position on the hill.
7. Tempest Blazers: He begins to move the ones not engaged around the edge of the Champions. However, he forgot that Skaldi has Countercharge. When he moves the third Blazer (leaving him in Skaldi’s front arc), Skaldi charges and kills him. Due to the angle, however, he was not engaging the other two nearby so they could still attack. Using Brutal shots, the Blazers pepper the Champions but fail to kill any of them. The Champions have the following numbers of unmarked damage boxes: 7, 1, 7, and 4 (Skaldi). The unengaged Blazers move away with their Light Cavalry move.
8. Trencher Tactical Supremacy: Move forward into my lines and pass the necessary morale check against Terror.


Travis starts his turn by saying, "You never leave me any good options, man." As I wrote down this quote, I asked if he meant to call me something more colorful than “man”. He said, “It’s me. So, yeah, that’s implied.” Some friendly ribbing between good buddies.

He was really annoyed at forgetting that Skalid has Countercharge, and when I declared the attack he was certain that it cost him that flank. While in a way I agree with him, I’m also not very scared of the Blazers in this list. If they did manage to get through my Champions, Jarl and Magic Bullet could make short work of them. I was pleased at how well the Champions held up against the Blazers. They did the job I needed them to this game and all of them survived.

For Travis’s part, he just didn’t kill enough this turn, and the counterattack will be strong and swift.









Bottom of Turn 3: Trollbloods (Alan)

Jarl watched as the Fennblades felled the last of the Trenchers. He turned his attention back to the center of the battle in time to see the Stormlances bearing down on his Warders. Despite the ferocity of the charge, the lads held formation and kept their feat. He took aim and peppered the two lead Stormlances with a hail of bullets until they fell from their saddles.

He eased up on the mental restraint he had placed on Runkter the Mauler, and the Mauler’s primal fury emanated from him, empowering the nearby Kithkar. Instinctively knowing what to do, the Kithkar, encouraged by the chants of the nearby Fell Caller, charged the remaining Stormlances.

Warders! With me! Charge!” The Warders followed him into battle, and the Stormlances were cut down trying to turn and retreat.


I choose not to upkeep Quicken.

1. Vengeance and Righteous Vengeance: The Fennblades and one Kithkar kill the remaining Trenchers with Vengeance.
2. Champions: Move and kill two Tempest Blazers. They pass their morale check. However, this leaves the Blazer on the far flank out of formation.
3. Fell Caller: Moves up and gives +2 MAT to the Fennblade Kithkar in the middle of the table.
4. Fennblades: Charge and kill 3 Forgeguard.
5. Fennblade Kithkar: Runs up on the left flank behind the Fennblades.
6. Impaler: Moves forward and is forced for 3 Fury to give Far Strike to Jarl.
7. Runebearer: Uses Harmonious Exultation. 
8. Jarl Skuld: Casts Magic Bullet for 1 Fury with Harmonious Exultation. He sacrifices his movement to aim, and shoots one Stormlance engaging the Warders. He boosts the damage roll and kills the Stormlance, but the Magic Bullet attack fails to kill the other Stormlance (rolled even to his armor). Takes his second shot at the Stormlance, boosts damage, and kills him. Uses Swift Hunter to adjust his position slightly.
9. Sons of Bragg: Run up next to the flag.
10. Mauler: Moves up and is forced for 2 Fury to give Rage to the Kithkar. [Note that I failed to account for this ahead of time, so Jarl can only collect 3 Fury next turn but there are 4 Fury on his warbeasts. Unless Jarl is hit and has to transfer damage, one of my beasts must make a Threshold Check next turn.]
11. Fennblade Kithkar(2): Charges the rearmost Stormlance and, with War Cry and Rage, obliterates the cavalryman. He puts his second attack into the Stormlance on his right but misses.
12. Warders: Receive a Charge! order and kill the remaining Stormlances. This was important because I didn’t want him to be able to revive them on the next turn.


It was really important to me that I finished off the Stormlances. If I failed to kill all of them, then he can start to use sneaky Revive tricks to bring them back in inconvenient places, bypassing my defenses and getting deep into my lines. So I moved to hold ground on the left flank and focused all of my resources towards getting rid of them.










TURN 4: GHOSTBUSTIN’

Top of Turn 4: Cygnar (Travis) 

Haley ordered her young echo through the lines to distract the Trollkin warlock and his troops while her older echo bolstered the Dwarf lines. Haley herself took a shot at a Warder knowing exactly where to place the bullet to maximize the damage. In the distance the Blazers struggled with Trollkin Champions while close by the Forgeguard held fast against the dwindling Fennblades, causing massive casualties on that flank.

It is almost time,” she said to no one in particular.


The Journeyman Warcaster upkeeps Arcane Shield on Haley’s unit.
Haley maintains both echoes and camps the rest of her Focus.

1. Finn: Moves up and rolls 3 shots. His first shot at the Kithkar on the flank misses, but the second shot hit and rolls box cars for damage. The Kithkar makes his tough check, but Finn’s third shot finishes him off.
2. Haley: MPV casts Temporal Flux. Past Haley moves up through the Trollbloods lines and casts force hammer at Rhudd of the Sons of Bragg. The spell lands, and he is slammed back into Tor. Both are knocked down, Rhudd takes 6 damage and Tor takes 5 damage. Future Haley revives one Dwarf in a position that will allow him to get to the Sons of Bragg. MPV Haley shoots and kills the Kithkar near the Warders after boosting damage.
3. Lancer: Walks up and spears a Warder, killing him
4. Journeyman Warcaster: Stands still to shoot at the Warder nearest the flag. He rolls snake eyes and misses.
5. Piper: Gives +1 DEF and Terror to Haley’s unit.
6. Forgeguard: Walk forward and kill most of the remaining Fennblades, who pass their morale check by rolling an 8. One Dwarf walks up to Tor and kills him, but the Son of Bragg passes his Tough check.
7. Tempest Blazers: He moves the Blazer who was out of formation into formation, and the other one shoots at Skaldi and does 3 damage. Skaldi has one unmarked damage box remaining.


At the beginning of his turn, Travis said, "Can I even salvage this? I don't think so.” The tide was definitely turning against him, and he had no choice but to try to put Past Haley into a position to kill me next round if I missed her with the shots from Jarl. I had too large of a manpower advantage at this point and he didn’t have much left that could kill my high armor troops. Will Past Haley survive a round of shooting from Jarl…?




Bottom of Turn 4: Trollbloods (Alan)

This was it. The pivotal moment of the battle. Having seen that young woman run THROUGH his troops to knock Rhudd and Tor to the ground with a magical explosion of energy, Jarl didn’t hesitate to put a bullet in her. Willing the Sons to be okay, he sent mental images through his bond with the Impaler. The Impaler ran over and speared the Dwarf just before he could strike Tor for a second time. With a mighty shout from Wrathar, Tor and Rhudd stood up and all three Sons began to sing one of their ferocious songs as they charged towards the remaining Forgeguard.

Go get ‘em, you beautiful bastards! Go get ‘em!”


Jarl takes all of the Fury from the Impaler and 1 Fury from the Mauler. The Mauler passes his Threshold check.

1. Vengeance: Vengeance kills one Dwarf and the Drummer moves up.
2. Fell Caller: Moves to his right, gives +2 MAT to the Warders. He then sprays the center Dwarf in the line of three Forgeguard towards the middle of the table and catches all of them. With the armor bonus and the defense bonus from Temporal Flux, all three attacks either miss or fail to break armor.
3.  Impaler: Moves up behind the Sons of Bragg and, boosting to hit, kills the Dwarf in front of them.
4. Champions: Skaldi kills both remaining Tempest Blazers, and the other Champions move to the inside edge of the hill.
5. Warders: Charge the Lancer. With Set Defense and the defense bonus from Temporal Flux, the Warders have a hard time hitting. Only one of the four attacks lands, and the Lancer takes a handful of damage. Note that Past Haley had a potential Free Strike on one of the Warders, but he elected not to take it because it would have removed incorporeal from her. [To be honest, I just needed her unengaged. I hadn’t even thought about that!]
6. Jarl: Sacrificing movement to aim, he boosts an attack and damage roll into Past Haley and kills her.
7. Fennblades: The one knocked down sacrifices movement to stand up. They failed to kill any Dwarfs, but that’s okay because they just needed to clear a path for the Sons of Bragg.
8. Sons of Bragg: Use their Fell Call to stand up without penalty, then charge the Dwarfs. The assault spray misses both the Dwarf and MPV Haley, but the charge attacks kill four Dwarfs.

At this point things were looking very good for me. My Fell Caller could get to the flag next turn and start controlling it, and I could move my Champions and Mauler towards Haley without any way for him to deal with them. Haley would be dead pretty soon or I would start getting an unstoppable edge on CPs.








CYGNAR CONCEDES: VICTORY FOR THE TROLLBLOODS!

With her past echo removed, Haley sounded the signal for retreat.

If we stay any longer, the lives we lose will be more than those we save. It is time.”


Travis conceded the game at this point for four reasons.
1) Things were looking very bad. I was about to start scoring CPs without any way for him to stop me.
2) He mostly wanted to see if this list was an answer for Jarl. Clearly it wasn’t, at least not in this game, and he had seen all he needed to see.
3) It was 9:30 p.m. and the store closed at 10:00 p.m. and we needed to pack up soon anyway.
4) We have a ritual of heading to our favorite local watering hole (http://www.thebeerresearchinstitute.com/) after our Thursday night game nights, and some of our friends were done with their game and ready to head over soon.


So we shook hands. Another victory for both of us, actually, because the most important thing is to have a good time with good friends. And in that regard, we both succeeded!


My Thoughts on the Game:

Two games in a row without any CPs scored…definitely not normal for us. But…

Thoughts on the game…

1) I don’t think Haley3 is the answer to Jarl, even though Travis really, really loves her (she has become hands down his favorite Warcaster to play). Travis really thought that high armor and defense (plus clouds) would make the echoes safe from Jarl, who was the only model with magical attacks. While in a way that part was true, he never really forced me to have to deal with them when they had all of their buffs stacked together. When he finally moved Past Haley up to threaten Jarl, he chose to try to remove the Sons of Bragg with her spells. But this reduced her armor when Jarl retaliated. It turned out that I rolled something stupid for damage (like a 15 on three dice), so she would have died anyway, but he certainly didn’t maximize his chances that she would survive to try to kill him the following turn.

2) It’s the little things that get you… Travis forgot that Skaldi has Countercharge, and as soon as I declared the attack he realized that it likely won me that flank. While it’s impossible to remember every rule in a game with this amount of depth and complexity, forgetting an important ability like Countercharge can really cost you.

3) Pay attention during your opponent’s turn. So, to be fair, I was taking notes as fast as I could type on my phone, so I had a bit of an excuse to lose track of a model here and there. But I didn’t notice what he did with Finn on Turn 3, and that lost me my Fennblade Kithkar on the left flank.

4) Holy crap, Temporal Flux is an amazing spell when you can spread it out that far with three members of the unit.


5) I love Jarl so much. He is far and away my favorite Trollblood Warlock, and I’ve gotten very good at playing him. So much so that I’ve mostly retired him from play with our local group. So getting an opportunity to get him back on the table was a lot of fun for me.