Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2012 brings you joy and peace. I’ve had another good year on the blog. I’ve written 98 posts this year, down a bit from last year. Not bad considering little Ciarán arrived in May!

My main focus in 2011 was campaign play and I see that continuing in 2011. I’ve played campaigns in Warmachine, Horde and Flames of War. I’ve also done quite a bit of painting this year. Here are a few samples -

I didn’t make that much terrain last year. I made the Jailhouse, some Fences and some fortifications for Flames of War. I’d like to improve on that for next year.

I also did the Wargames Audit which was a great exercise. On the back of it I am determined to concentrate on my three core games of Warmachine/Hordes, Flames of War and Malifaux in 2012. I don’t see myself starting any new armies other than adding to my US WWII army. I have good faction coverage in Warmachine (Khador, Mercs and Cryx) and Hordes (Legion) and until I get more games of Malifaux played there is no point adding more models. I have the Puppet Wars models and the Dead Justice crew to paint anyway. My painting list is under control and I’m happy with the progress I’ve made.

In 2012 I’m looking forward to extending the Malifaux VASSAL module and getting more Malifaux played. I’d also like to run a Flames of War campaign based on some of the fighting in the Hürtgen Forest. I’m going to focus my Press Ganger activity on a new store that opened in my home town recently. I think the IK RPG may pique my interest in 2011 too, but I’m not really a roleplayer!

Happy New Year,

Owen

Merry Christmas Everybody…

(I decided I’d keep up the bad photoshopping tradition!)

Owen

If there was one word to describe tonight’s game it would be ‘attrition’! When the dust settled there was very little left standing on either side. Anthony used a pretty competitive Scaverous list that included a Skarlock, Malice, two Ripjaws, two Warwitch Sirens, two Pistol Wraiths, a min unit of Bile Thralls, a full unit (plus UA) of Bane Thralls and Crowe’s Cutthroats.

I wanted to filed my newly painted Gun Carriage, so it was the first model I added to my list. I’ve been having great fun with Strakov recently, so he was definitely the ‘caster I wanted to field. I rarely use him without Beast-09 and a Devastator. Sylys Wyshnalyrr is a model I’ve wanted to use as I think he is potentially great for Khadoran ‘casters, so I added him to the list (spolier alert – he was great!). The rest of the list revolved around ranged support (Widowmakers and Marksman) and some melee punch (Great Bears, IFP and Shocktroopers). Reinholdt was added as I had a point to spare. Here’s a full rundown of my list -

System: Warmachine
Faction: Khador
Casters: 1/1
Points: 50/50

Kommander Strakhov (*6pts)
* Beast-09 (11pts)
* Devastator (9pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Gun Carriage (9pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (proxied by Oridic Pistolier)(1pts)
Widowmaker Marksman (2pts)

We played the Incursion scenario (three flags; one randomly disappears at the end of second round; first player to three control points wins) from the SR2012 Beta, though it hasn’t changed much from its previous incarnation.

Anthony had the first turn and pushed up aggressively. Scaverous moved up through a wood with a Skarlock and Malice close by. In the centre the Banes moved up quickly with the Biles behind them. On the right Crowe’s moved up. On each flank a contingent of Warwitch Siren, Ripjaw and Pistolwraith moved forward.

In response I pushed my whole force up. Strakhov put Sentry onto the Gun Carriage and Superiority onto Beast-09. The battle engine pushed trampled forward and took out of range shots towards Crowe’s and the Banes. I killed one Cutthroat. Beast-09 and the IFP moved up my left flank (opposite Scaverous) and the Great Bears moved up the right (opposite Crowe’s). The Devastator trundled forward and the Widowmakers camped out in a wood.

Anthony attempted destroy Beast-09 through Telekensis-ing Malice and Beast-09 and then dragging Beast into contact with it. The plan was to serve Beast up to the Banes. Bad dice foiled the plan, dooming Malice on my next turn. On the right Crowe’s Cutthroats were ineffective against the Great Bears (a theme that would mostly continue). My Gun Carriage moved up to contest a flag in the centre, killing a Bane and blasting Biles apart while Beast-09 decimated Malice. The Shocktroopers and IFP beat up the Ripjaw on the left while the Great Bears went to town on Crowe’s. I managed to pick up a control point in the centre.

In response the Banes tore Beast-09 apart and a single Bile Thrall managed to purge, killing two IFP, three Mechaniks and my Reinholdt proxy. At this stage the attrition was starting to mount! With a bit of effort I managed to clear enough Banes to score another control point in the middle. This involved effectively sacrificing the Devastator. Scaverous had moved forward and tore it apart while the Banes took the Gun Carriage down. On the final Great Bear died to a Ripjaw, scoring Anthony a control point.

Strakhov has a fun spell, Battering Ram, but I rarely getto cast it. As Anthony only had one model contesting each of the two control points I had an opportunity to score on either. I used Strakhov to push the Ripjaw 3″ back (on my second attempt after rolling three 1′s). The Widowmakers then ran in for the scenario win.

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Closing Thoughts
The Gun Carriage performed very well. It takes a bit of getting used to as the trampling and charging are the best ways to get it moving. This requires giving it a little space. The rough terrain areas left by the cannons are pretty useful, but the best element of the Gun Carriage is how formidable it is. A few Widowmaker shots can clear out an area for the Gun Carriage to trample to, thus making it a pretty scary spectre. I look forward to fielding it again.

Until next time,

Owen

This became a bit of a labour of love. I’m really happy with how it turned out, but boy am I glad it’s finished!

Until next time,

Owen

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Myself and Phil got a 50pts 4 hour(!) game in on VASSAL last night. We played the scenario for the Hordes: Domination release event (PDF) (which Phil kindly did up a map for). If you flick through the images above, you’ll get a good sense of what happened. I managed to drop some damage at range on to Baldur and I kept Kallus well back until the endgame. Scenario points are scored for having Warbeasts/Warjacks or Warcaster/Warlock is on your opponents side of the board.

This was a very high attrition game with very little from either force surviving the game. Phil looked to be in a pretty solid position about half way through the game with his wall of Wolds advancing up the middle and making good use of the boulders. He narrowly failed to kill my Carnivean with Megalith (thanks to Spiny Growth) and that was probably the turning point in the game. The Carnivean had no problem dismantling the character Wold. Then things were a little more even. It went on to take out another Wold and the final one was carved up by the Ravagore (which was killed) and Kallus. I needed to make each of these kills to deny Phil scenario points. With the heavy damage from early game on him (and being on fire!) Baldur was up against it. The deathblow came from a Raptor’s arrow. Quite fitting as they served me very well this game, killing things at range and then acting as a speedbump. The unit leader was the only Raptor to survive, but he held his nerve and made the shot that counted.

It was a good game and a really fun scenario. If you get a chance download it and give it a go.

Until next time,

Owen

… is coming. I haven’t roleplayed in years, but I’m really excited for this.

Owen

Tonight’s Flames of War game against Peter was great fun. We played the Cauldron scenario with my fortified Hoch und Deutschmeister force defending. I started the game with lots of barbed wire sections, some HMG nests, a Panzer II turret, a platoon of Panzerknacker Rifle/MG troops and my company commander. I kept my three Panzer IV Hs in ambush and the rest of my force (two Rifle/MG platoons, Mortars and Nebelwerfers) were in delayed reserve.

Peter had three platoons start the game, mostly on my right flank – five Stuarts, Pioneers and Riflemen.

The game started with my tanks taking out a Stuart and bailing another. Then I managed to cause heavy losses to the Rifle platoon. Pretty good going. I took pot shots at the dug in and gone to ground Pioneers with my main guns on the Panzers. This offered a side shot to the Stuarts who bailed two and caused the other to break! Things were suddenly looking bleak…

I managed to hold off for a while, but the Stuarts were able to rampage through my army unchecked.

It was a really fun game and finishes out our Infantry Aces campaign (kind of ironic that the tanks had such a strong role in the final game!). It’s been great fun, though both mine and Peter’s Aces were destroyed in this game. I think I’ll dig out my notes on the Hürtgen Forest campaign and prepare something for a few months time.

Until next time,

Owen

This has been on my painting table for weeks. I’m really pleased with how it turned out. The simple story behind the conversion is that an artillery shell landed in front of the carriage, tearing a wheel off, blasting one horse apart and smashing the other into the crater. The crew filled sandbags and created a small defensive position.

Here are some more shots.

Owen

I felt a little bad for Conor when I pulled the trigger on the assassination. He was already a little disillusioned after Deneghra’s feat turn. Denny managed to get Crippling Grasp on to him from about 19″ away (thanks to a Defiler that ran into arcing range). Tartarus then finished off the Sword Knights creating three Bane Knights who had a charge angle on the enemy warcaster. A lone Thrall and a load of Knights charged Siege Brisbane (who was on -2 DEF and -4 ARM). I felt dirty.

It was a fun game, though I’m not sure Conor would review it that way!

Owen

I will be running a 35 Point Warmachine/Hordes Tournament on Saturday, 10th December in Gamer’s World Dublin. Full details are:

What: Steamroller 2012 Beta Tournament
Where: Gamers World, Dublin
Date & Time: 10/12/2011. 11am hard start, registration begins at 10:15 AM.
Entry Fee: €10.
Points: 35 points, two lists (optional). Lists must be written. If taking a theme force, players are required to bring a copy of the theme rules. Note: Reinforcements will not be used in this tournament.
Restrictions: Models or Units with FA:C cannot be in both lists. For the purpose of regular versus epics, epic models are considered to be different characters than their regular versions.
Timing: 10 minute timed turns (standard for 35pts is 7 minute timed turns, but I’m relaxing it for this one)
Tie-breakers: For the tournament, if there is no outright winner, Control Points will be tiebreaker. Second tiebreaker will be Army Points.
Scenarios:“Gauntlet”, “Destruction”, “Outflank, Outfight, Outlast”, “A Flag Too Far”, “Restoration”, “Command and Control”. The scenario for each round will be randomly chosen from the list above. Each scenario may only be used once. NOTE: The ‘Reinforcements’ artifice will not be used.

Prizes will include best general, 2nd place and a few spot prizes.

See you all there.

Owen