Video Battle Report #7 for the week

The final video of the year has been posted.  We kept to our goal of 1 video a week released by Friday (only missing the Friday deadline once and posting on a Saturday).

Starting 2014 off with the same goal in mind with a focus on tweaking lighting, video quality and if possible getting a better resource tool to improve the animation and effects on the videos.

Video Battle Reports 3 - 6

So I failed to keep up with the video battle report posting so to catch the blog up here are the videos we have produced and posted on Youtube since the last blog post.

Battle Report #3:

Battle Report #4

Battle Report #5

Battle Report #6

We have agreed to do a weekly Friday release so there should be a video up once a week all through 2014.

November 2013 - MD - Titan Games & Hobbies Steamroller Tournament Review

Just returning off of a Warmachine/Hordes tournament this past Saturday, and had a great time.  We put a call out and 7 of the Woodbridge crew answered.  Piling into two cars we drove up for an hour and a half to Titan Games & Hobbies in Timonium, Maryland.  The format was pretty standard and with a 16 player field we ended up playing 4 games total to give us a single 4 and 0 player.

The Tournament
System: Warmachine/Hordes Steamroller Tournament
Point Value: 50pt. - 2 List - Divide & Conquer (1) - Deathclock
Where: Titan Games & Hobbies (Lutherville, MD)
Date: Sat, November 23th,  2013
Time: Registration: 10:30 - Start Time: 11:00

It was a long day getting started slightly later then announced and each round having a pair of games go down to both players using their full hour clock (Myself being one of them on two rounds), the night went on till about 8pm.  This would not have been to much of an issue (almost expected) if it was to be a local tournament, but since we were an hour and a half away from home base we were in for a long drive home.  Silver lining on the drive home I got to talk to one of the better players of our group and we discussed my lists and play style and our meta, was a real eye opening experience (mean while Mike and Boyoo were sitting in the back sawing logs).

The results of the tournament were:

Warmachine/Hordes Battle Report #2

Posted up the second Battle Report for Warmachine & Hordes on the Youtube channel:

The idea going forward is trying to get a video up every Friday.  Looking at this video though I can see that the limitations of Windows Movie Maker renders the movie a bit fuzzy.  Definitely need to look into a different tool to do post video production.

October 2013 - VA - IFL Steamroller Tournament Review

So the Iron Fist Leagues's (IFL) October 2013 Steamroller Tournament has come to an gone, and I must say it was an amazing success.  Here are some of the details of the event that was ran that day:

Tournament Details:
System: Warmachine/Hordes
Point Value: 50pt. 2013 Steamroller
Format: 1hr. Deathclock, 2 List, No Special Characters
Time: 11:30am Registration (First round started at 12:00 noon - Ended about 8pm-ish)
Rounds: There were 17 players on the field. Went 4 rounds (would have been 5 but one dropped mid game)

"HELP for HEROES" Salamanders Project Charity

Found this one through my Youtube news feed over on the IDIC Beer channel and figured I would post it for those few who might read this blog.

• Blog Page: http://idicbeer.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_9.html

A great group of Youtubers have gotten together and painted up a HUGE Salamanders army for this charity.  Even if your not a 40k player I would encourage you to go to the page and donate what you can, it's for a really good cause and one I plan to support myself.  The donation page can be found here:

• http://www.justgiving.com/Salamanderscharitybuild

To see pictures of all of the models in the army so far you can visit the above blog link and scroll to the bottom of the article.  Lots of talented artist and lots of great works, a very worth cause.

Epic Lylyth complete

I had picked her up a while ago as I am looking for a list that can deal well with some of the various heavy shooting armies in my area.  As any Legion player would expect to be drawn to, I saw this lovely woman with her Shadow Pact Battle group and decided to give her a whirl.  Not that she has hit the table yet but she has been put to a table top standard for play.

I also intend to take her with me to a local tournament south of me in Glen Allen, VA (Dragon's Den).  It's a 35pt Steamroller-esk tournament however instead of using the SR scenarios it will be using the Entropy Scenarios out of this years Machinations League.  They plan on having a painting competition and I want to see how she will fair in the "single model" bracket.

As for her 50pt list I am currently looking at the below:

Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight
     Succubus
     Naga Nightlurker
     Ravagore
     Ravagore
     Carnivean

Blighted Nyss Striders + UA
Incubus
Strider Deathstalker
Spell Martyrs

I would love to get some fury management in the list but since everything is stealth (or waiting to be deployed in the form of Incubus) a shepherd or forsaken will take most of the shooting that comes it's way as it's the only thing to see.

50pt IFL Steamroller Tournament - Fredricksburg, VA - 10-05-13

IFL is running their first Warmachine & Hordes Steamroller Tournament.

System: Warmachine/Hordes
Point Value: 50pt. Steamroller 2013 (Deathclock, 2 List, Character Restrictions)
Where: Game Vault (Fredricskburg, VA)
Date: October 5th, 2013
Time: 11:30am Registration (First round starts at 12:00 noon )
Admission: $10

Description:  
Steamroller 2013 Packet:
http://privateerpress.com/organized-play/steamroller-tournaments

• Deathclock
• 2 List Format
• Character Restrictions

Rounds: Participant headcount will determine the number of rounds we do.

Prize Support:  We will have Steamroller Coins, Admission goes to prize support, and let us not forget the Smoking Boots award.

Hope to see you there.  You can sign up using this link:
http://www.ironfistleague.com/forums/General/Events/warmachinehordes-50pt-ifl-steamroller-tournament-game-vault-fredricksburgva-100513/

Butcher 3, Damn you Privateer Press

As I pack my models up for GenCon and get ready to head out they have to release this video:


MUST.....RESIST....MUST....FOCUS ON....EVERBLIGHT.....ARRrrrgghhhh..

Warmachine Kickstarter & Journeyman Warcaster sneak peek.

Reblogged: http://endgamegaming.net/

So the next Warmachine book to be released is "Venegence". Some models have already been released by Privateer Press for this new expansion such as the various Solo Jack Marshalls like the Cygnar Stormblade Captain, Menoth Exemplar Bastion Seneschal, and Khador Iron Fang Kovnik.

Well this week we are now privy to some more rules and the release of two new warcasters.  One for Cryx and one for Cygnar.  These rules were released from PP for the new up and coming Vengence Book were as a result of their Privateer Press's Kickstarter for "Warmachine: Tactics".   The Kickstart is not even 24 hours in and as of this post are sitting at $509,219 of there $550,000 goal.  So yeah this thing is going to happen without a doubt.  It's nice to see Privateer press entering into the computer gaming arena with there IP, we all know what Dawn of War did for Warhammer 40k.  Maybe it will do the same for Warmachine.

 Looks like running "more jacks" just got a little easier

New Cygnar Warcaster


New Cygnar Warcaster Stats

Dark Lance Designs Sci-Fi Corridor Set Project

A local to me Kickstarter team was approved recently and has officially launched the Dark Lance Designs Sci-Fi Corridor Set Project!

This thing is awesome.  I mean it's straight out of sci-fi movies we all know and love.  First one coming to mind is Aliens, and I would be lying if I didn't admit when I first saw this I immediately though of grey stuffing up some Alien construts on the walls and floor.

For those with a like minded wargaming side you will see alot of advantages in playing your Space Hulk games on this terrain giving the already awesome game some much needed environmental depth.  Something I was hoping one day GW would have provided, but with their recent discontinuing of all secondary games that will nto come to pass.

Please share the link with everyone you know who might be interested, and get the word out about this amazing terrain set.

Here's the link: Dark Lance Designs Sci-Fi Corridor Set
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1471151048/sci-fi-corridor-set

Tale of Ever-Teal : Part 1

This past weekend was very good to me.  I was able to acquire a large amount of Hordes: Legion of Everblight, and it has ignited the blight in me and is slowly taking over in my heart.  I love to go to local stores swap meets in the hope of finding the ever elusive "Diamond in the Rough".  Most of the time I get something, it's just a matter of is it something I "need" or is it something that my eyes fell on and I said "Sure I would paint that".  This Everblight army fell into both categories.

See long before I ever ventured into Trolls I was looking at the various Warmachine and Hordes factions and my first eye catching interest was in fact Everblight.  More specifically the Throne of Everblight their battle engine.  With it's drooling maw and sharp teeth, mutated skin wrapped in armor, writhing tentacles and sheer size my little chaos heart leaped with joy.  It has mutation, and tentacles, and mutations, and a being to worship like a god, and mutations, and dragons....and mutations.  It was only more interesting that they were "evil", which I like more cause I never have been very good at being "Good".  Hell my own troll army has a Japanese Magi Daemon for a Dire Troll Mauler.  Evil is my thing...did I mention mutations?

Millennium Falcon gets a face lift

Gamer ADD took over and i went out and bought a Millennium Falcon.

Decided to give the Millennium Falcon a fresh coat of paint and put it in the color scheme of the Stellar Convey.  For those not familiar with the story of the Millennium Falcon before Han Solo got a hold of it, here you go. Millennium Falcon

Back to my other projects...SQUIRREL!!!

Warmachine & Hordes - 50pt Battle report - MENOTH vs TROLLBLOODS

Gave it a shot at my first video battle report.  Was definitely a creative experience, lots of room to grow.  Hopefully this will become a new hobby within a hobby for me.  Time will tell

X-Wing Miniatures Game - In Review

So last night I had a good friend come over and he showed me X-Wing the Miniatures game.  

First Impressions
The game appears to be a heavy movements game.  And by movements game I mean you will win or loss the game based on how well or poorly you move your ships in the space provided.  Dice didn't seem as strong of a factor in the game due to the focus mechanic and the chance to hit via hits,crits, and focus on the attack dice.  So where other games you have the potential of lady luck kicking you in the nuts, with the embedded focus mechanic you are more likely to keep her vengeance at bay.  This also drives towards movement being so critical.  If your opponent can capitalize on your movements there is a much higher chance of doing enough dmg to knock out your ships early on.  An in a game of only 3-6 ships in your fleet even a single lost ship is a crippling blow.  

My List

Now I will not admit to any level of expertise (seeing as just above I admitted to only a couple games in), so take what I say next with a grain of salt.  After the couple mechanics learning games, we hashed out a 100pt Rebel List (100pts appears to be this games standard "tournament" format at the moment) which looks like this:

(X-Wing) Biggs Darklighter (25) w/ R2D2 (4)

(X-Wing) Red squadron Pilot (23)

(X-Wing) Graven Dreis (26)

(A-Wing) Green Squadron Pilot (19) w/ push the limit (3)

Total: 100pt.

Games Workshop (GW) Online Policies: The first ripple effect

So Games Workshop (GW) has laid out new policies for online sales and bits sales to put a tighter reign on their product and IP.

• Games Workshop Trade Documents

Many are screaming at it with hate (I would bet most are people not playing GW game anymore), and some are coming at it with statements of "business as usual".

Now I am not going to profess a Masters in marketing, but I do dabble in the field of marketing and sales and I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that this will have a HUGE impact on GW in the coming years.  Don't believe me, well we now have evidence of the first ripple effect in the form of Mini Wargaming shutting down their online store.

You have been warned.....

NOTE: None of these policies are optional nor have they had their sellers response.  These are mandates that GW has pushed down with retort of do it or lose your license.  Not that it's ethically wrong for a company to do it, companies do it all the time.  I mention this note because it helps to understand it from the retailers side of the issue.  They have no resort.  They either comply or else, not the best business relationship situation.

What the hell is this?

So the popped up an image over on Matt Wilson's twitter and from the looks of it, it's clearly a troll.

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?146293-New-troll-sculpt

However the troll community has a mention of this possibly being the Black Troll that wonders around eating zombies for left behind.  Could this possibly be a Minion model instead of a Trollbloods?  Could it be possible for a dual faction single model release?

All I know is my first reaction when I saw this was.  If I get this model I have to paint it up a Demon.  The tongue just screams Gene Simmons

Scrum's Painting Challenge II - Results

Been a crazy month and forgot to post up the final results of the Trollblood Scrum Painting Challenge II.  Here is the link:

http://www.trollbloodscrum.com/2013/01/painting-competition-winners.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+trollbloodscrum%2FxnwB+%28Trollblood+Scrum%21%21%21%29

I look forward to the TrollScrum Podcast crew doing this again.  Always good to get your models out there and test your abilities against others.

IFL 2nd Quarter - High Stakes 40K Tournament and Cook-Out

Spreading the word about my NoVA based gaming groups tournament.  We are hoping to run many events this year and make 2013 a strong year for us.  Not all events will be 40K related as we are a gaming group just getting into Warmachine as well.  If you want to join the conversations you can find us on our forums at http://www.ironfistleague.com/Forums.aspx  

Original Post can be found here: 
http://www.ironfistleague.com/forums/General/Events/ifl-2nd-quarter-tourney-high-stakes-40k-tourney-and-cook-out/

Are you good at 40K? Willing to put your money were your mouth is?
    Come out to the IFL High Stakes 40K Tourney and Cook-Out

So here is the format (borrowed from Brent at the Inner Circle):
There is a $20 buy-in for the event (includes lunch). Each game you play has a $10 dollar gift card riding on it ($5 from each player's buy-in) and each wins $5 if you tie - the rest of the buy-in ($5 per player) will go to the prize pool. At the end of three rounds the pool (plus 10% for prize support) will be divided between three winners at the end of the day, Overall, Best General, and Best Painted.
  
Date: April 13th Saturday
Venue: Game Vault
[ 6328 Five Mile Centre Park #414, Fredericksburg, VA 22407]
(540) 785-4263 
Start time: 10:30 AM
Entry Fee: $20 (includes cook-out style lunch)

TempleCon 2013 Announcement: New Faction - Convergence of Cyriss

So the new faction was announced at TempleCon 2013 and it is to be another Warmachine Faction called the Convergence of Cyriss.   The linked video at the top will show you the preview specifically for them.  So finer points of what you can extract from the video are:

• When Warjacks (called Vectors) spend focus you can place that when spent allocate the spent focus to other near by Vectors
• Vectors in a battlegroup share the MAT and RAT of their warcasters
• Warcasters give something to jacks in battlegroup via their individual Field Marshal Ability. (ex. Arc Node and shield guard)

Lets see.  Knee jerk reaction:

I want to...but I can't

So I took a break from painting for a bit after the Trollblood Scrum Painting Challenge II.  Not a complete break mind you but I was not pressed to sit at the table for a while.  What painting I did get done was just a model here or a model there.  It was a nice break from the day to day push on models.  That being said I have plans to go to the Colonial GT on March 1st.  I was going to put together a DA/IG army for it but after looking at what I have versus what I need I came to the conclusion I don't have the necessary funds for updating my DA, nor the time to get them painted up and ready.  Which leads me to the reason for this post.

For the longest time I have been staving off accepting this notion, but I can no longer participate in Games Workshop purchases.  Now this isn't some statement of protest where I refuse to pay cause it's not right (I have had that feeling for a while).  This is a statement of fact.  GW models have become way to expensive for me to justify buying, even from discount retailers.