Wargames @ farfaraway.org » Warmachine

Making Beach-style Bases

owen — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:44:36 +0000

I’ve used lots of different ‘piratey’ bases (see here and here) for my Warmachine Privateer army, but a sandy beach was one I hadn’t attempted until I was working on the last unit of Thamarite Cultists. I could’t find any good tutorials on this, but I decided I’d give it a go.

Step 1: Since I was using Warmachine rounded-edge bases, I decided to fill the inside of the base with Milliput. For these kinds of modelled bases I always work with the model off the base. Before the Milliput dried I pressed the base into fine (but not too fine) sand.

Step 2: When this dried I used a watered dow PVA mix to liberally coat the base and again dipped it in the sand. I’m not too concerned about uniform coverage as walked on sand is rarely smooth.

Steps 3 and 4: Repeat Step 2.

Step 4: Attached the miniature to the base. As always time spent pinning them on now will save heartache later on.

Step 5: Undercoat the miniature. I decided to undercoat these guys black, which was better for the miniature, but would mean a few more steps in painting the base.

Step 6: Paint the miniature. This is easy and should only take a minute or two, right?!

Step 7: Paint the base. I tidied up any mess from the earlier painting using Chaos Black. Next I used two watery coats of Khemri Brown to get rid of most of the black. A watery coat of Iyanden Darksun (a deep yellow colour) was applied next. I then drybrushed the base with this yellow colour. Next I mixed it 50:50 with Bleached Bone and did a light drybrush. Finally there was one more pure Bleached Bone drybrush. Take some Chaos Black and tidy the edge of the base.

(I painted the base and then the miniature, but that was the wrong way around as then you need to be very tidy when working on shoes, etc.)

Step 8: Add Seaweed. I grabbed some moss from the back garden and left it to dry overnight. I mixed a very watery PVA mix and then dipped the ‘seaweed’ in it and added it to the base.

That sounds like lots of steps, but when your basing a whole unit there is very little hanging around as (certainly with the painting) once one step is completed on all of the miniatures you can go back to the first model and start the next step. Easy and effective.

Owen

Phinneus Shae is a hard man to kill!

owen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:00:34 +0000

I’m trying to get some experience using my Privateers and I thought I’d start out with some small games using Shae. I was playing a 15pt game against Khador on Tuesday and I thought it’d be a good opportunity to try out the following list -

Captain Phinneus Shae
- Freebooter
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
Bosun Grogspar
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

This is a Tier 2 list and boy do you get a lot of miniatures for 15pts. I made my first mistake at the list construction phase. The Freebooter’s attacks are only POW 14 and the next most powerful attacks come from Shae with Blow the Man Down (POW 15) and Storm Rager cast on himself for a POW 15 melee attack. It was going to be difficult to dent Khadoran armour with that. My opponent had the Khador battle box and a unit of Widowmakers. Sorscha could immobilise much of my army as only Shae and the Freebooter would be able to shake effect.

My second mistake was made on my first turn. The Press Gangers and the Sea Dogs (because of Mr. Walls) were advance deployed with the solos as close as they could be. The mistake I made was moving the whole army forward and leaving Shae until last. He has two upkeep spells that I wanted to get out – Phantasm on the Sea Dogs and Storm Rager on Hawk. Unfortunately, my preferred targets were out of range. I moved him up and just cast Phantasm as Hawk was still out of range, but this left him behind the army when I’d prefer him to be in the middle of everything.

Anyway, the game went okay with Shae dealing most of the damage to the Khadoran ‘jacks and the infantry slowing the ‘jacks and dealing with the Widowmakers. Both armies were whittled down to pretty much the ‘caster and this is where Shae shown. He cast Storm Rager on himself and began camping focus. On a turn he upkeeps it he is DEF 17 with ARM 21. Even if you manage to knock him down he’s still DEF 17. MAT 9 and POW+S 15 is just gravy.

The game ended with Shae running into melee with Sorscha. She managed to critically freeze him, but couldn’t get through the armour. On his turn he shook the stationary and finished it.

Phinneus Shae is indeed a hard man to kill!

Owen

Talion Charter: Photographs

owen — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:00:37 +0000

There’s a complete gallery below, but first up are the recently completed Thamarite Cultists -

And Fiona the Black -

Everybody –

Owen

I am now a …

owen — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:09:59 +0000

No, not a toy soldier, a Press Ganger! You know, one of those guys that supports Warmachine and Hordes in their local community…

… should be fun.

Owen

Talion Charter: Complete (Video)

owen — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:28:47 +0000

This turned out to be a bigger painting job than expected. Because I bought a few of the miniatures already (excellently) painted I had a standard to aim for. My painting has been getting better over time, but this project really pushed me. I’ve spent significantly longer on each miniature than I have with previous armies. There are two reasons for that – the first is that I wanted to achieve a better standard and that takes time, and the second is that the pirates are all individuals. It’s hard to production line paint them like a standard unit. That said, I now have a beautifully painted army, so, no complaints! So, that’s it, my MkII project is complete (apart from maybe a ‘jack or two!).

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

I’ve just finished photographing the whole army, so I’ll post them later this week.

Owen

Fiona the Black and Thamarite Cultists: Work in Progress

owen — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:00:31 +0000

No, not the name of a terrible 1970′s soft rock band. Nope, this is the final Sea Dogs Crew unit for my Privateer army. I decided to paint them as Thamarite Cultists to complement Fiona the Black. They’re a work-in-progress, but are nearly finished. Anyway, here’s a quick video.

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

I’ll probably pick up one or two more ‘jacks, but that’s it for the pirates for now.

Owen

Privateer Tier Previews

owen — Fri, 28 May 2010 21:34:54 +0000

We’ve been treated to some Privateer treats with the previewing of the Shae and Fiona Tiers. Bell of Lost Souls have also previewed the Fiona the Black Tiers here. I haven’t painted Fiona yet, but I’ll have a look at this Tier too. I have a good few more Pirates to paint and painting them as Thamarite cultists would be a nice change of pace.

The Shae Tiers are in No Quarter #30 and have already been implemented on the Forward Kommander Army Builder. Here’s a quick 35pt list I put together -

Captain Phinneus Shae
- Mariner
- Commodore Cannon & Crew (Commodore and 3 Crewmen)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
3 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Bosun Grogspar
Dirty Meg
- Buccaneer
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

This is a Tier 3 list. I get all of the solos I want at a bargain basement points cost. My army will be lightning fast in the first turn game and I get a better chance of winning the starting roll. Sweet!

It’s good to be a pirate!

Owen

Dirty Meg: Complete

owen — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:00:10 +0000

I’m trying not to get totally sidetracked by other projects, but in the last while terrain, Malifaux, Epic Armageddon and Flames of War have all distracted my from painting my Privateers. I’ve had a unit of Press Gangers and Dirty Meg on the go for a couple of months, but they kept getting bumped by the other projects. Anyway, excuses, excuses! Here’s Dirty Meg finished -

She’s a pretty easy minature to paint. I started with the flesh – Tallaran Flesh, two watered down Ogryn Flesh washes and then added progressive amounts of Elf Flesh to Tallaran Flesh. Next up I painted the apron and blouse with Khemri Brown. I lightened the apron with Snakebite Leather and then added Bleached Bone for a highlight. The blouse is Bleached Bone over the brown and then highlights with progressive amounts of Skull White added. Her trousers were based Shadow Grey and I added Space Wolves Grey for the highlights. They were washed with Asurmen Blue. Her hair is Snakebite Leather mixed with Khador Red Highlight (an orange colour). They’re all of the main colours. Everything (apart form the trousers) received a 1:1:1 wash of water, Devlan Mud and Badab Black. It makes her look appropriately grimy.

I now have a 35pt force painted. I’d rather not field this many solos at 35pts, but until the Press Gangers are completed this is the only fully painted Talion Charter force I can field at this size.

Captain Phinneus Shae
- Buccaneer
- Commodore Cannon & Crew (Commodore and 3 Crewmen)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
- 2 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Bosun Grogspar
Dirty Meg
- Mariner
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

Owen

Building a 4′ x 4′ Wargames Board

owen — Sat, 15 May 2010 10:05:18 +0000

I’ve been using the same flat battle boards for the last 5 years, so I decided recently that it was time to build a slightly more contoured board. I didn’t want it to be flat, but I also didn’t want the terrain to be so specific that I’d only be able to use it rarely. To that end I went with a dried riverbed theme. This way the river could be treated as a shallow water, deep water or nothing depending on what game we wanted to play. I also wanted to make sure the terrain was flat enough to position miniatures without too much difficulty.

The materials and tools I used were -

Frame and Base

4 ‘ x 4′ 6mm thick plastic sheet (thicker MDF would also be fine)
2″ x 1″ x 4′ batons
12-16 ½” brass screws
4 x 3″ brass screws

Terrain and Sculpting

Several different pieces/sheet of 1″ and ½” of packing foam
Plaster Filler (I used a brand called Polyfilla)
PVA Glue (I used 1:1 watered down Durabond)

Painting and Finishing

Acrylic Paints
Flock (Static Grass)
Matt Varnish Spray

Tools

Dremel
Electric Drill
Electric Screwdriver
Jigsaw
Sand Paper
Hot Glue Gun
Rubber Gloves!
Paint Brushes

STEP 1: Put a Frame on the Board
Okay – this is pretty straight forward stuff, but like all woodwork you need to measure twice and cut/drill once. Also, be careful – all of the power tools can do a lot of damage to a person, so pay close attention to what you are doing. First up you need to drill some guide holes in the 4′ x 4′ sheet to fix the batons through. Make sure the holes are not too close to the corners as you’ll be using the 3″ screws to secure the batons together and you don’t want the screws that hold them to the board to get in the way. To that end I measured and marked eight holes – each 4″ from a corner and 1″ in from the edge. I drilled this with a small bit on the Dremel. I then grabbed the real drill and sunk wider holes (just wide enough for the ½” screws). I positioned a baton flush with one edge and then attached it to the board using the screwdriver. I attached the opposite baton. I oriented the batons so the broader (2″) side ran flat with the board.

Next I needed to cut the other two batons to length. Rather than measuring the 44″ (48″ – (2+2″)) I lay them between the fixed batons and mark the length to cut. I then cut them to length with the jigsaw and fixed them in place.

This step is optional, but for more rigidity I drilled holes from the longer batons into the new shorter ones and secured them with the 3″ screws.
I drilled four more holes through the board in the centre of the batons and fixed with screws. There are now three screws holding each baton to the board and four screws connecting the batons.
The board and frame is now solid and pretty well supported.

STEP 2: A decision to make?!
I now had a decision to make – which side of the board would I build the battlefield on. The ‘top’ side is a flat 4′ x 4′ area with the frame underneath. Building on the bottom would mean loosing 2″ (the thickness of the batons) from every edge, but it would be more robust for storage. As can be seen in the photo I opted for the later an decided to build the battle field between the batons and sacrifice some table area. If I ensure the battlefield does not rise above the baton edge I should have a board that is less likely to be damaged.

STEP 3: Shaping and Gluing Foam
As mentioned earlier I used basic packing foam, you know the kind that electronics and the like come in. I shaped most of the foam using a bread knife, but before doing so I drew the shape of the battle filed onto the boards. This way I could position the available foam, which was a hotch potch of hoarded bits, before cutting. Once all of the foam was cut I used a hot glue gun to fix it into position. The glue melted the foam slightly, but since it was melting it where it wouldn’t be seen that didn’t really matter.

STEP 4: Conturing the Foam
I grabbed a large tub of Polyfilla (or Spackle) and used it to contour the edges of the (low) hills, riverbed and river bank. To do this I wore a pair of rubber gloves and had a small container of water hand. This is a messy job, but produced a great looking result. For the dried riverbed I ensured it looked like it had been shaped by flowing water by working it in the same direction. I gave the Polyfilla 24 hours to dry before moving to the next step.

STEP 5: Applying Sand
This is a straightforward, but time consuming step. I watered down PVA glue and applied it in 1′ x 1′ sections, being careful to avoid the bottom of the dried pond and riverbed (the previous step gave them enough texture). I then tilted the board and poured sand onto the wet area. I repeated this process until the board was covered in sand.

STEP 6: Painting and Flocking the Board
Painting the board is pretty easy. I wanted the sand and textured Polyfilla to give natural highlights so I used a heavily watered down mix of Burnt Sienna artists paint (you know the kind that comes in a tube). This is a pretty quick step, but because it is so watered down it can take a while for the paint to dry. I left it 24 hours. Next I used PVA glue to judiciously apply flock to certain areas of the board. As I was aiming for a dried earth look, I didn’t want too much grass. I also painted the wooden at this stage.

STEP 7: Sealing the Board
There are a couple of different approaches to protecting a board, but I decided to use spray matt varnish. This only provides a small bit of protection, but it also helps to keep the flock in place.

It seems like a lot of work, but it is worth it to have a good looking board to field your battles on. Here are a couple of pictures of the board in use -

Owen

Lost Hemisphere Podcast

owen — Sun, 02 May 2010 20:24:55 +0000

The good gentlemen (I might be using that term a little loosely!) at Lost Hemisphere have started a new podcast. Check out a blog post introducing it here. I enjoyed their first episode and look forward to many more.

I’m a fan of The Iron Agenda and Focus and Fury podcasts. In my mind they fill slightly different niches, IA are slightly more considered and (dare I say) scholarly, while F’n'F sound more hardcore and seasoned. Each podcast also has different production quality, IA is more honed and F’n'F is pretty raw. I subscribe to and listen to both, so it’ll be interesting to see where Lost Hemisphere Radio settles, but so far so good.

Owen

ANNIHILATION Campaign System v1.1

owen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:45:32 +0000

Here is an update to the two player ANNIHILATION campaign system based on myself and Peter’s campaign -

ANNIHILATION v1.1 Campaign Rules (PDF)

Feedback and experience would be most appreciated.

Owen

Aftermath of the ANNIHILATION

owen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:00:59 +0000

The ANNIHILATION is over and Khador came out on top. Each of the four games was contested closely and the attrition rules limited both of our force selection, particularly in the final game. Here are all of the articles related to this campaign -

[Games 1 and 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Campaign Rules]

We’ve fought a hard campaign and there are plenty of things to reflect on. I’m going to tweak the campaign rules for readability, but otherwise they’ve worked well. I’ll run the campaign again with other factions, but for now the rules seem robust enough.

Anyway, now that the dust has settled and we’ve had a chance to assess our losses here are our final remarks.

Peter: So, quite a comprehensive loss on my part for the campaign then, and it had all looked so good after the first game. And even after the first few rolls of the dice in this one, to be honest!

Looking back, I think my biggest weakness throughout the series of games was not doing enough to protect my caster. The first game I had a house to hide Sevvy behind, and it made all the difference. In the later games I was a bit too easily led into attacking, and in the last game in particular, bad dice meant that I got tied up in combats that I was expecting to win decisively. Owen did a much better job of keeping his eyes on the prize and had plenty of firepower to bring to bear on me when I made a mistake.

I’ve enjoyed the games a lot, especially having to pull together a force from a limited pool. By the end of the four games my force is actually looking reasonably healthy, not hurt by the High Reclaimer bringing back my bait unit of Bastions. Having seen the amount of damage I did to Owen’s force, even through Khador armour I would be interested to see if other factions came out with enough points for the final game. Cygnar wouldn’t be able to rely as heavily on hanging back and shooting due to the scenarios, and Cryx playstyle tends to be classified as a glass hammer.

Apart from the fairly major mistakes in a couple of games, I think I made a big mistake in my choice of casters. I think carefully looking at the scenarios would have suggested different choices on my part, but then I wouldn’t have had the chance to bring back all of my Bastions ready to charge back into the fray, which was one of my favourite moments in the final game.

Overall then, I think as a test run of the system which Owen set up it was almost entirely sucessful. We had a few issues tracking the zones in the last scenario, and I’m not a big fan of ‘jack bonds other than the ones that come with epic casters, but I think the openness of knowing which scenarios and which faction you are facing result in fairly evenly sided matches. Plus I managed to total a Devastator during it, and that’s never a bad thing!

Owen: Playing 35pt ‘caster kill games can get a little formulaic with each player trying to pull off their tricks before the other. Not so when you play a campaign like this. Each game challenges you as you have to pay attention not only to the scenario winning conditions, but also to the losses you are willing to take to win the scenario. With the campaign view in mind both Peter and myself did some merciless slaying in the first two games. In the first and second games Peter and I (respectively) had the scenario win in the bag, but continued the carnage until our turns ended. It isn’t enough just to win, we wanted to take down as much of the enemy as possible too!

He may have a ruthless streak, but Peter is a great opponent. He got into the spirit of the campaign and played four great games. His Bastions, who refused to die, were a pain throughout the whole campaign and I’m certain that if there was a fifth game in the campaign I’d be toast. As it is I got lucky with two of the wins. One area I was happy with was my choice of ‘casters. Sorscha and Irusk are great scenario ‘casters. My one regret is not choosing Sorscha to lead my army in Game 1. For the ‘clear the area’ scenarios such as Mosh Pit and No Man’s Land her feat is awesome. Irusk is handy enough in a fight too as he can buff a lot of his army and exercise some great board control. Overall my army selection was good, but it was a little frustrating that I was left with a number of duplicate FA:1 units for the last game. That’s the nature of an attrition campaign.

I’m planning an update to the campaign rules. Whilst the ‘jack bond rules had zero effect in our campaign they have the potential to be very powerful, so I’ll change them to be optional. Other than that I’ll leave the structure as is. More play testing may necessitate changes, but for now the campaign rules seem fine.

I enjoyed that so much I’m itching to play another ANNIHILATION campaign. I might bring the Legion out to play next time.

Owen

Update A new version of the campaign rules are available here

The ANNIHILATION never ends!

owen — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:00:04 +0000

Honouring the fallen

The scene was one of devastation. The Menite crusaders were all fleeing the battle, inert ‘jacks abandoned and the injured left to die where they lay. The Khadoran jubilation was short lived. Yes, the enemy had been vanquished, but the cost has been high. Irusk lamented the death of every Khadoran soldier. Their blood had been spilt on Khadors own soil and he could think of no more noble death than to die defending this great empire. Still their loss hurt him.

Irusk ordered a nearby Mechanik to return to the camp to fetch medics to see to the wounded and get more Mechaniks to reclaim the damaged ‘jacks. He could sense the confusion felt by the Marauder. Both of its arms had been disabled in the battle and it moved around looking for a target. He could hardly believe it was over himself. The intensity and ferocity of the Protectorate’s attack had been extreme. Had they really expected to bring their crusade to these lands without the Khadoran army reacting? Either way, the last two days had been bloody and costly for both sides. A unit of Widowmakers lay dead in perfect formation to his right and he was surrounded by dead Machaniks who had rushed forward to reach the damaged Marauder. Who knows what the final death toll would be? All of these valiant sacrifices would not be forgotten.

Game 4: 50pt / Break The Line

It all comes down to this. I was ahead on campaign points with 6 against Peter’s 1.5, but with this game worth 5 ultimate victory could go either way. Both of us were suffering from the losses in the earlier games. I had several units that were down on numbers, but thankfully most of my ‘jacks were available and both of my ‘casters were viable for this game. Break The Line is a tough scenario requiring the army to fight on a broad front. Looking at my remaining pool I’m a little light on units. The loss of the Great Bears in the last game was particularly painful. Here’s what I had left before this game and the units marked in red were chosen to fight for Khador in this final battle -

Warcasters	Kommandant Irusk, Kommander Sorscha
Warjacks	Destroyer, Destroyer, ~~Devastator~~, Juggernaut, Marauder
Units	~~War dog~~, War dog, Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts), Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 1 Grunts/2 Grunts), ~~Great Bears of Gallowswood~~, Greylord Ternion (Leader and 1 Grunt/~~1 Grunt~~), Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 5 Grunts), Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & ~~Standard~~, Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and ~~9 Grunts~~), Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard, Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and ~~2 Grunts~~), Widowmakers (Leader and 2 Grunts/~~1 Grunt~~), Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts), Koldun Lord, Man-o-war Drakhun (with dismount), Man-o-war Drakhun (without dismount), Manhunter

Peter wasn’t faring a whole lot better. With Game 3 going down to a ‘caster kill Epic Severius wasn’t a viable choice for this game. He was still doing okay for units. Two units of Bastions, coupled with the High Reclaimer’s feat, could be game winners. Anyway, here is what Peter had to choose from, with the units marked in brown being chosen for this final game -

Warcasters	~~Hierarch Severius~~, High Reclaimer
Warjacks	Dervish, Blessing of Vengeance, Templar (Damaged), ~~Castigator~~, Redeemer, Revenger (Damaged), Crusader
Units	Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts), Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts), Choir (Leader and 5 Grunts), Choir (Leader and 3 Grunts/1 Grunt/~~1 Grunt~~), Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts), Zealots (Leader and 5 Grunts/4 Grunts), Monolith Bearer, Monolith Bearer, Vassal, ~~Temple Flameguard (Leader and 9 Grunts)~~, ~~TFG Officer and Standard~~, ~~Vilmon~~, Paladin, Paladin

As you can see there isn’t a whole lot of army left for either faction! The attrition from the previous games was really dictating our army choices. Between the compromised army selection and the fact that the campaign win was still up for grabs I wasn’t feeling confident. In fact, they’re not the reasons I wasn’t feeling confident; it was Peter’s two units of Bastions…

It all comes down to this …

Break The Line is a tricky scenario; the battlefield between the two deployment zones is divided into six areas. From turn three if either player ends his turn controlling two areas in his half of the board and one in his opponent’s, he wins. To be sure you don’t give away an easy win you must context all three areas on your half of the table at least. The battlefield had two farmhouses in the centre, with some hills and a forest surrounding these. Peter won the dice roll, but let me go first. My deployment was divided into three battalions – the IFP and manhunter on the left; the Koldun Lord marshaling two Destroyers in the middle; and Irusk’s battlegroup and Widowmakers on the right. The remaining elements were positioned to be a little flexible to move between the middle and right areas. I had to proxy a couple of Mechaniks as I only own four.

Peter put the full unit of Zealots (with Monolith Bearer) and a Paladin to challenge my left (not shown in this photo). The bulk of his force was concentrated spanning the line between the middle and left areas with the High Reclaimer in the centre, ready to do what he does best – reclaim the souls of the fallen. In this group were two units of Bastions, two Choirs, a small unit of Zealots and a Paladin. Peter had the Redeemer positioned slightly towards the right area, the Blessing of Vengeance in the middle and the Dervish to the left. He also had to do a bit of proxying with Trollkin Scattergunners representing a unit of Bastions, some TFG representing Zealots and Deliverers pretending to be a Choir!

My turn one was unremarkable with everyone pushing forward and Irusk casting Superiority on the Juggernaut. Peter’s first turn should have been equally unremarkable were it not for the amazing shots from the Redeemer at the Widowmakers. He managed to hit one directly and deviate another shot onto two more making three dead snipers.

Turn two is when the jockeying for position really began. The IFP had been badly stung by the Zealots in our last game, so I was determined not to let that happen again. They moved forward into Shield Wall, but kept their distance from the Zealots. On the right the Juggernaut moved up to go around the back of one of the farmhouses to try to slow the approaching Zealots on that side. The Drakhun and War Dog moved up for potential counter charges while the Destroyers bombarded the Blessing of Vengeance from afar, doing some damage. Irusk activated and cast Inhospitable Ground and cast Iron Flesh on the Drakhun (stupidly denying him the potential of a counter charge!).

Peter pushed everything forward on his turn. On the left the zealots moved up and lobbed bombs at the IFP. Luckily (for me!) they proved to be out of range or mostly inaccurate. Those that struck (or deviated onto) the IFP did no damage. The Zealots on the right threw their bombs at the Juggernaut dealing little damage. After the amazing luck with the REdeemer in the first turn Peter’s dice luck seemed to have abandoned him. In the centre the Bastions moved up menacingly and the High Reclaimer cast Ashes to Ashes through his arc node at the Marauder. It bounced into Irusk and the War Dog. Irusk and the Marauder were unharmed, but the dog was reduced to single box of damage.

Turn three had to be about killing Bastions for me. I doubted I could take out both units so I decided to concentrate on the one coming towards Irusk’s battalion. I hit them with the Destoyer’s Bombards, charged them with the Drakhun and War Dog and had the Juggernaut trample over the Zealots to get into them. After all that I had killed four of the five and reduced the last man to two points of damage. There was nothing else I could throw at them and with the Reclaimer’s feat still to come, and the additional focus from the souls of the dead I knew next turn was going to hurt. Irusk cast Inhospitable Ground and feated, hoping to mitigate some of the damage next turn. I charged the Blessing of Vengeance with the Marauder, but forgot about its shield. He used defensive strike to hit me with it and bounced the Marauder back 1″.

On the left the IFP ran up to the Zealots and then used Defensive Formation to ensure their B2B triangles provided them with Shield Wall. I hadn’t damaged the Zealots (they were Invulnerable this turn anyway), but at least they were nearly all engaged by the 2″ reach of the Blasting Pikes. The Manhunter pushed forward a bit on that side too.

As expected Peter feated on his turn and returned the Bastions to full strength and added a Zealot to the unit that was trampled. The Bastions proceeded to demolish the Drakhun and the War Dog and deal some decent damage to the Juggernaut. The Paladin and Redeemer charged the Juggernaut as well. It’s movement was knocked out, but it was otherwise functional. There from other unit of Bastions charged the Marauder and managed to barely scratch it. Peter’s damage dice (4D6 on a charge) were appalling.

On the left the Zealots maneuvered with the IFP killing a couple with bombs and the Paladin. A well placed bomb took out the Manhunter.

On turn four I needed to stall Peter’s army. The Marauder and the Destroyers (one with range the other in melee) got stuck into the undamaged Bastion unit and dealt a lot of damage to it. The Juggernaut took a couple of wild swings, but was ineffective. The Mechaniks moved up to get close for a combat repair if needed and block charge lanes to Irusk. He cast Inhospitable Ground again, but was beginning to feel the heat. The Widowmaker Kaptain who had been taking pot shots at the Zealots on the right continued to do so. On the left the IFP killed a lot of Zealots, but not enough for them to flee, and took out the Paladin.

On Peter’s turn four he moved the two units of Bastions in to take out the Juggernaut and deal some substantial damage to the Marauder. I didn’t spot it at the time, and thankfully neither did he, but in moving the Bastions he had left a firing lane open for Irusk. He cast Ashes to Ashes onto the Mechaniks, killing all bar one and dealing four points of damage to Irusk. The Redeemer fired another miracle shot to kill the Widowmaker Kaptain who was in cover (effectively DEF 20!) with a double 6s. On the left the Dervish and choir moved towards the IFP. The Zealots proved ineffective in melee.

I needed to finish it in turn five as Peter really had me on the ropes. The Juggernaut was gone, the Marauder was badly damaged and the left flank wasn’t going to hold much longer. I left all focus on Irusk with the intention of putting two Swordcannon shots into the High Reclaimer. Before I did that I decided to fire the unengaged Destroyer at him. It was marginally out of range, but the deviation drifted onto the Reclaimer. The boosted blast damage roll was high. The other Destroyer stepped back from combat with two Bastions to take a shot. The free strikes caused a lot of damage, but no systems were taken out. His shot was in range and on target. The damage roll was again big and the High Reclaimer went down. Arcing fire Bombards are a thing of beauty! Irusk didn’t need all of that focus in the end. Khador wins.

Not quite the final thoughts

Wow, Khador may have won, but it was at a high price. When you look at the remaining Khadoran forces I’m not sure I could field a viable 25pt army from the 100pts that started the campaign.

The win in this game gives me the campaign win by a decisive margin, but every game was close. The result could have easily gone the other way. Peter and I will write up some concluding remarks for the campaign and I’ll post them soon.

Owen

Update Concluding comments can be found here.

An Introduction to Warmachine

owen — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:00:01 +0000

This is an article I wrote a couple of months ago for Issue 3 of the Uplink magazine [pdf]

“Play like you’ve got a pair!” is the catchphrase for this fast-paced aggressive game. If you like the sound of a wargame that has a stunning range of miniatures, is based in an immersive and compelling world, has some of the most beautiful books produced by any gaming company, is balanced and has a set of rules that are rock solid then Warmachine is the game for you! Warmachine has been around for about seven years now and is produced by Seattle-based Privateer Press. Its second version, called Warmachine MkII, released at the start of 2010 after an open field test in which thousands of players contributed feedback to tweak and refine the game and model rules. This award-winning game has earned Privateer Press a devoted set of followers worldwide who love their games equally for their strong character-driven storyline and fantastic gameplay.

I mean, what’s not to love, Warmachine is a game full of massive steam-powered machines of war that can headbutt, slam and throw their enemies to the ground before pounding them to oblivion. These machines, named warjacks (or just ‘jacks), are controlled by battle mages known as warcasters. The background of the Iron Kingdoms, a set of countries on the continent of Western Immoran, is one of almost constant war. The warcasters are the powerful protagonists at the centre of these conflicts that are tasked with leading the armies of their countries. They are warriors beyond compare who can wield potent magics to cast spells and boost their ‘jacks in battle. In the world of Warmachine the warjacks are sentient constructs of armour, weaponry, pistons, gears and steam-powered might centred around a cortex. The cortex is a delicate piece of magically constructed engineering that gives the ‘jack basic intelligence and allows it to operate autonomously. It also enables the warcaster to see through the ‘jacks eyes and push it to extremes. This is the unique selling point of the game, the focus mechanic that represents magic. The fact that the game has exceptionally well thought out and balanced rules doesn’t hurt either!

Before I can talk about how focus works, I first need to introduce the basic combat mechanic. Like most wargames every model has a set of stats that represent its movement, combat abilities and capacity to sustain damage. Warmachine does not rely on players learning off tables to calculate the chances to hit and wound an enemy. Rather a player simply rolls 2D6, adds them to a combat statistic and compares them to their opponents defense. Equal or beat their defense and it’s a hit. Wounding them is done in a similar manner – roll 2D6, add the strength (and power) of your weapon and if it beats their armour they sustain damage. It is in these dice rolls that the delicate balance of the game lies. Everything is based around average rolls. For example, most ‘jacks have a melee attack (MAT) statistic of 6. A high defense (DEF) on a warcaster would be 16. On average rolls a ‘jack would have a hard time hitting a ‘caster. Here’s were a ‘jacks controlling ‘caster can help out.

Every warcaster has a focus statistic (typically around 6 or 7). At the start of a turn the player can allocate focus from their ‘caster to ‘jacks to enable them to do exceptional things during their activation. With focus a ‘jack can perform power attacks, such as throws, slams, armlocks and headbutts, and importantly boost attack and damage rolls. Boosting allows the ‘jack to add an additional die to a roll. That DEF 16 warcaster seems a lot easier to hit now that the ‘jack is rolling 3D6! Focus allocation is one of the key skills in the game as the ‘caster can also use focus to cast spells and boost their own attacks. Every warcaster has a unique list of spells that they can cast to destroy their enemy, control the batlefield or help out their own army. They also have a once per game feat that can dramatically change the face of the game. When playing against a new warcaster the first thing you do is check out their feat to see what it does!

So, that’s the basics of the gameplay – you have a powerful warcaster (or two!) at the centre of your army who pushes it to excel in battle. Warcasters are so focal that changing a warcaster can completely change how an army performs. Armies are constructed in a similar fashion to other games, you set a point total and add ‘jacks, units and solos until you reach the limit. Warmachine is a game of synergies. Some units and solos work well with each other and specific ‘casters. Games tend to be scenario focused were there are two winning conditions – win the scenario or kill the enemy warcaster. Larger games, 50 or 75 points, can have a large number of miniatures on the table and will take 2-3 hours to play. At this scale Warmachine isn’t the skirmish game that it appears to be at initial glance. The carnage is beautiful and battles can change quickly as a player who seems to be winning the scenario suddenly finds his warcaster under threat. However, even small games that comprise a warcaster and a few ‘jacks are great fun. These battlebox games last less than an hour and are so-called because they are made up of the contents to a factions basic boxed set. Each of these boxes contains a warcaster, a few ‘jacks, their stat cards and a quickstart version of the rules (which are also available for download). If you’re considering playing Warmachine this is a decent place to start.

There are essentially six factions in Warmachine – Cygnar, Khador, Protectorate of Menoth, Cryx, Retribution of Scyrah and Mercenaries. Coming from games like Warhammer and 40k this might look like very few, but the fact that each faction has a lot of warcasters (as many as a dozen in several cases) really mixes things up. These ‘casters completely change the character of an army, so there is a lot of strategic diversity in the game. There are a lot of resources on the Internet that talk about the features and differences of the different factions, so I won’t go into them here. Each faction has a broad theme and a unique aesthetic. For example, the Khadorans could be characterised as a cold power hungry race that value superior armour and bone crushing weapons over speed and precision. Their large brutal ‘jacks are symbols of a stoic people and an ever expanding empire. Each faction has its own character. The factions are well balanced as Warmachine is released incrementally, i.e. each book release sees every faction get something new, so you don’t end up with army books developed under an old edition become obsolete. As MkII is a new edition of Warmachine everything was reviewed and updated. The releases of MkII during 2010 will see each faction getting a Forces book that details the background and rules for every miniature in that faction. From 2011 the game will return to the incremental releases

There has never been a better time to get into Warmachine. It is a mature game, with lovely miniatures and a great set of rules. Ask a friend to give you a demo, or take the plunge and pick up a couple of battleboxes, but whatever you do remember to “play like you’ve got a pair!”.

Owen

Why Warjacks Rock in MkII…

owen — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:43:39 +0000

Here’s a photo from the middle of a great game I played this week -

My Marauder had used Combo Smite to slam Deathjack towards Tartarus and the Bane Thralls. Unfortunately I only rolled 1″ on the slam, but that’s another story. Anthony, my savvy opponent, saw the opportunity to cause a little mayhem. He loaded Deathjack with focus and used Shake Effect to overcome the knockdown. On his activation Deathjack trampled across the pikeman and wardog (who made his tough check) to make contact with the Juggernaut. He then proceeded to almost wreck it with additional attacks (bought with focus). Beautiful.

I remember when ‘jacks used to get bogged down completely by infantry. Thankfully that’s a lot harder to do now.

Owen

The ANNIHILATION continues!

owen — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:00:48 +0000

The Khadoran Avalanche…

Irusk’s attempt to blunt the early enemy advance had been less than successful. To add insult to injury he had lost the only Devastator in his force to a rare moment of impetuousness. Severius had brought confusion to the Khadoran ranks, something Irusk was not accustomed to and had managed to sieze the high ground. The first battle had not gone well.

Thankfully Kommander Sorscha had more success. Her army had halted the advance of the religious zealots and managed to deal a lot of damage to the opposing army. She had done all this with no loss to her own troops. This was becoming a small war and every loss would be felt dearly. She had done well.

With the momentum back in his beloved Khador’s favour it was his turn to deal damage to the enemy. Severius was again trying to push forward on his damne crusade. Now was the time to bring the Khadoran avalanche to bear. These Menites would have to retreat of be buried by it’s might.

With a win apiece things were close. I was marginally ahead in the campaign points and had sustained slightly fewer losses. Things start to hot up with Game 3 which is a 35pt game played using the Killing Field scenario. I had a win from the last game so I could nominate one unit to gain Advance Deployment. Peter’s Protectorate of Menoth army was led by Epic Severius as in the first game and I had Irusk commanding my force. I’m hoping to avenge Irusk’s loss from the campaign opener.

Game 3: 15pt / Killing Field Scenario

Peter’s force comprised a unit of Bastions, a unit Zealots and Monolith Bearer, a Choir, a Vassal, the Blessing of Vengeance, a Revenger and a Templar and was led by Epic Severius. My army was commanded by Irusk and contained a Marauder, a Juggernaut, a full unit if Iron Fang Pikemen and UA, a unit of Mechaniks, a unit of Greylords, the Great Bears, a War Dog and a Drakhun (with dismount). It was a toss up between the Great Bears and the IFP for my bonus advance deploy unit, but I opted for the IFP.

Killing Field has three objectives marked along the centre line and players receive a point at the end of their turn for each point they hold. The first to 7 points wins.

I had my IFP and Great Bears deployed on the left to contest that objective marker. The bulk of the rest of my army was in in the centre. Irusk cast Iron Flesh on the Great Bears and Superiority on the Juggernaut (which was upkept until the last turn). The advance deployed IFP charged up (through rough terrain) to take the left hand objective. The Juggernaut moved towards the right hand objective with the Mechaniks following close behind.

The Greylords moved up behind them. Meanwhile the War dog moved up behind Irusk and the Drakhun moved out in front of him. Opposite this main part of the Khadoran force stood the Templar, Vassal, Choir and eSeverius. Across from the IFP and Great Bears was a Revenger and a load of Zealots. I was confident that I could keep that flank, but my confidence would be short lived…

The Zealots moved up cautiously as did the Revenger. It arced Influence onto a couple of IFP and had them kill their comrades. On my turn I saw a chance to charge the Revenger with Great Bears. Unfortunately only one could make it in. His dished out a load of damage, but the bounce back pushed him out of melee range. Severius responded by arcing everything he could at the Great Bears and IFP. This coupled with the Zealots’ bombs wiped out the Great Bears and decimated the IFP.

On the right things weren’t looking a whole lot better. The Bastions advanced forward to take the objective on that side and the Blessing of Vengeance moved up to arc spells towards the advancing Khadorans. I had little to realistically counter them, so when the opportunity presented itself the Juggernaut moved into the arc node and threw it towards the Bastions. Unfortunately the throw went a little long and it landed behind them. The Greylords moved up to spray the Bastions, dealing some damage and then the Mechaniks ran between them and the Bastions.

In the middle the Marauder slammed into the Templar and put it on its ass. Unfortunately it only went back 1″. A few more inches and it would have been an unpleasant surprise for Severius! While the Templar was down the Drakhun charged in (with Battle Lust cast on it) to deal a load of damage. The War Dog ran forward to make Severius second guess his movements. Irusk moved up and popped his feat primarily to protect the warriors on the right flank. With my warcaster, a warjack and a Drakhun in close proximity Severius was under real pressure.

On the left the remaining IFP charged the Revenger and nearly totalled it. I sneakily left the standard bearer on the objective. At this point it was 4:1 to me. Peter responded by Hex Blasting Irusk for only a small bit of damage and then feating, hoping to pit my army against me. He began to advance one of my Greylords into a position to spray Irusk, but I opted to free strike him. Poor dice rolls conspired to ensure that that was all the feat really did. The Bastions charged the Juggernaut and the troopers on the right. They dealt some damage to the ‘jack, but tough rolls and misses meant the majority of the troops survived. The Templar stood up and moved to engage the Marauder. The Choir charged the mutt killing him.

Things were going south quickly. The flanks were collapsing and Peter was soon going to start picking up control points. I slammed the Templar back again, but failed to take it out. The troops an Juggernaut on the left took swings at the Bastions, but didn’t do enough to kill them. Having kept all of his focus he moved into a position to shoot Severius. Two boosted shots later and he was down. Game 3 to Khador.

Peter: Looking at the scenario for Game 3 I was fairly confident that I could win it. The combination of a large control area and Sevvy’s upkeep spell that gave an extra attack and damage dice seemed like they put me in a great position. Then I realised the spell had a range of self and things started to look a little bit shaky.

My plan was to try and contest all three of the objectives, so I had a Templar in the middle with beat back to shift things off the marker, and two Revengers with their repulsor shields to help keep things away from them. Zealots and Bastions were stationed on each flank as they could act without focus.

Of course, the plan did require me getting to the objectives first which just wasn’t to be. Owen got first turn, plus the bonus from the last game meant he could advance deploy a unit. Then Inhospitable Ground went up and I was going to be finding it very difficult to get into the middle of the table without setting myself up to be charged and destroyed.

In the end I took a chance at an assassination and left Sevvy out in the open and was punished for it, but I did take a few positives away from the game. Getting rid of the Great Bears was just fun, and clearing out a good chunk of Iron Fangs will hopefully limit the amount Owen can play outside his control area (I’ll quite happily send a unit of Bastions against a marshalled jack). I think the most important thing is that I only lost one choir member in the whole game, so I’ve now got lots of infantry choices for the final game meaning I can cover a lot more area than the High Reclaimer’s control area.

Owen: Wow, that was a tough game. Losing the Great Bears and pretty much all of the Iron Fangs is really going to hurt in the next game. Failing to take out the Templar and the Revenger was disappointing, but taking out Severius was quite nice! Irusk is a great scenario ‘caster, but when he needs to finish things he’s more than able. An outcome of the game is that Irusk has developed a bond with both of his ‘jacks.

My losses are starting to mount up. I can field a viable force for the last game, but it is going to be ‘jack heavy. This win puts Khador in the driving seat, but everything is still left to play for. I’m really looking forward to Game 4; the empire will either send the Menites packing convincingly or the Protectorate will gain a toe hold in southern Khador.

Owen

Update Game 4 can be found here.

Epic Warmachine and Hordes

owen — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:26:39 +0000

I’ve always been a big fan of Games Workshop’s Epic game. I’ve owned pretty much all of its incarnations over the years and currently have large Blood Angels and Eldar armies, but what does that have to do with Warmachine and Hordes. Well, Epic is for representing large scale battles with a single assault between a couple of formations in Epic being the equivalent of a whole game of Warhammer 40,000 (a game I’ve never been able to like). Epic brings a grander perspective to a battle than just the small scale clashes that occur between platoons. In some ways Flames of War has a similar perspective to representing battles.

Warmachine and Hordes are more than just skirmish games, but they certainly aren’t designed to scale to represent larger battles. That’s not a criticism, I love the fact that an individual warjack can double-handed throw an opposing model and aim it at an important target. Trying to represent that at a larger scale would bog things down. If you’ve ever played a 100pt Warmachine/Hordes game you know how things start to slow down as the time between turns gets longer. Epic Armageddon is about the movement of whole armies. Instead of being concerned about the movements of individual troopers you control larger formations of 30+ troopers (in six strips of five). They are represented at the 6mm scale, i.e. an human sized trooper is about 6mm tall. To alleviate the time between turns formations are (more-or-less) activated alternatively allowing the commander to react to events as they unfold on the battle field in a very fluidic manner.

How would this be great for Warmachine/Hordes? Since Superiority Privateer Press have been trying to given an impression of the scale of war in the Iron Kingdoms. 35pt and 50pt games are almost the ubiquitous standard and they are much closer to a skirmish game than a full blown strategic battle. The Forces of Warmachine books describe grand armies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Imagine playing a 1000pt game of Epic Warmachine with 3-4 warcasters on the field surrounded by 15-20 ‘jacks and large formations of troops, artillery and cavalry and you start to get an idea of what I’m talking about. This Epic scale would require a different rule set and it would be a challenge to represent the power of warcasters at this scale, but I think it would make for a great game. Imagine replaying the assault on Northguard in its entirety! How about trying to represent thousands of Khadorans moving into the outskirts of a city like Point Bourne? Hell, I want to play a game that looks like the cover of the Warmachine MkII rulebook!

C’mon Privateer Press, how about a strategic level game for the Iron Kingdoms?

Owen

Commodore Cannon and Crew: Complete

owen — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:25:30 +0000

The water tower and coal store terrain project distracted me a little and progress on the Commodore was slower than expected, but here it is now.

I received about 15 pirates (non-Privateer Press) from Ugo and they are fantastic sculpts. I’ve cleaned off a few Press Gangers and some of the models I received, so they are next on my painting list. They will bring my Privateer force to 35pts. I’ll use the additional models Ugo sent as another Sea Dog Crew unit for my jump to 50pts. I will probably add another ‘jack too!

Owen

Mr. Walls: Complete & Privateer Army Progress

owen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:00:43 +0000

A saltier sea dog you won’t meet anywhere else…

I sculpted bases for the Commodore and its crew last night. I’ll clean off the miniatures and attach them today (hopefully). I got a text message from Ugo yesterday to say that he found twelve pirate miniatures (including a Goblin pirate!) during a Spring clean. He’s posting them to me, so I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in the box.

So, here’s the 35pt painting checklist I set for myself back in January -

Captain Phinneus Shae
Buccaneer
Dirty Meg *
Mariner *
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
2 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
Bosun Grogspar
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

That’s just leaves Dirty Meg and some Press Gangers to do from the original list. The Commodore has now also made it to the painting list. I think it’s time to start thinking about my 50pt army. I’d love another heavy ‘jack and I think more Sea Dogs would be great.

Owen

Mr. Walls: Work in Progress

owen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:27:40 +0000

Here is Mr. Walls about 80% complete. The metals will be the final stage and I’m going to try to keep them quite bright to lighten the overall colour scheme for the miniature.

I picked up the Commodore today, so along with the Press Gangers that will round out 35pts of Privateers. I’ll probably tackle Fiona the Black and Dirty Meg then, and will consider adding another mercenary ‘jack.

Owen

Lady Aiyana and Holt: Complete

owen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:18:28 +0000

And just to prove I paint the backs too …

Mr. Walls is next on the painting bench.

Owen

Lady Aiyana: Complete

owen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:28:33 +0000

Aiyana took longer than expected to complete – I haven’t gotten that much painting in recently. I didn’t want her to completely match Holt. Here outfit reflects the burgundy and light blue on Holt’s coat, but the bright red and brass are distinctive to Aiyana. On the tabletop it should be clear who is the client and who is the bodyguard.

As with Holt (and several of the Privateers) the base still needs some ‘liquid’ and then a matt varnish.

Owen

Let the ANNIHILATION begin!

owen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:03:08 +0000

Every war starts somewhere…

The chanting was what annoyed him the most. Let them worship however they choose, but the incessant murmur was what grated on him. The Menites were numerous as they approached this small Khadoran hamlet. It was typical of southern Khador, a homestead with fields of wheat. Irusk wondered how much of it would be left when he expelled these pious invaders.

There were at least two enemy ‘casters guiding the army and there were several ‘jacks. This was no expeditionary force. This was a crusade meant to do in Khador what they had done in Llael. Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff had been sent to protect his right flank. The mighty Maxkrad river offered effective protection to his left.

The delirious chant intensified as a small part of the enemy force broke towards a farm house on high ground. If they held it they would have a commanding vantage point over the entire battlefield. Irusk summoned the Devastator from his army and yelled at some Shocktroopers and Widowmakers to join him. He looked forward to spilling Menite blood on his beloved home soil. They will feel the might of the Khadoran empire.

Okay, enough talking about the campaign. Time to get stuck in. Peter and I are going to play out the ANNIHILATION campaign exactly as described in the PDF. Peter assembled a 100pt Protectorate of Menoth army lead by Epic Severius and the High Reclaimer. My army had Irusk and Sorscha leading from the front. Tonight Peter and I played out the first two games and already the losses are starting to hurt. Before I get into the battle reports let’s look at the full armies. Peter’s army is made up of -

Warcasters	Hierarch Severius, High Reclaimer
Warjacks	Dervish, Blessing of Vengeance, Templar, Castigator, Redeemer, Revenger, Crusader
Units	Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts), Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts), Choir (Leader and 5 Grunts), Choir (Leader and 5 Grunts), Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts), Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts), Monolith Bearer, Monolith Bearer, Vassal, Temple Flameguard (Leader and 9 Grunts), TFG Officer and Standard, Vilmon, Paladin, Paladin

My army comprises -

Warcasters	Kommandant Irusk, Kommander Sorscha
Warjacks	Destroyer, Destroyer, Devastator, Juggernaut, Marauder
Units	War dog, War dog, Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts), Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts), Great Bears of Gallowswood, Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts), Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 5 Grunts), Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard, Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts), Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard, Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 2 Grunts), Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts), Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts), Koldun Lord, Man-o-war Drakhun (with dismount), Man-o-war Drakhun (without dismount), Manhunter

It’s really tough composing the complete army while trying to anticipate loss. You want to have spares, but you don’t want redundancy. The ‘jacks are potentially quite durable (in campaign terms) as they have to be completely destroyed to be taken out of action. That said destroying them is necessary in MkII games as even a heavily damaged ‘jack can be dangerous.

The other factor in choosing a force is what scenarios will be fought. I’ve generally found Khador to be a good scenario faction as their ‘jacks and units can be difficult to budge from objectives.

Game 1: 15pt / Mosh Pit Scenario

Peter’s force for the opening battle of the campaign was led by Epic Severius and comprised a unit of Bastions, Zealots and the Blessing of Vengeance. My army was commanded by Irusk and contained a Devastator, some Man-o-War Shocktroopers (min unit), a unit of Widowmakers and a Manhunter.

Mosh pit forces the armies to draw together and the Menite force moved into the centre quickly. As the Khadorans advanced Severius moved the Blessing of Vengeance up to arc some disruption with two Shocktroopers falling to friendly blades. The Bastions advanced up behind it and the Zealots swarmed towards the Mosh Pit.

Devastator advanced into the Blessing of Vengeance and used a double handed throw to hurl it towards the nearby Bastions.

The It’s throw overshot them leaving the Devastator very exposed to a counter charge. The lone Man-o-War moved into the Mosh Pit and the Widowmakers chanced a few shots at Severius, but missed (he was behind cover). Irusk cast airburst at the Zealots killing four and shot his Sword Cannon to drop a fifth. They held steady.

With the Devastators armour wide open he was very vulnerable. The Zealots threw their bombs at it causing minor damage. When the Bastions charged however they totalled it. This only left the Man-o-War in the Mosh Pit. Severius moved up and feated. He moved the Man-o-War out of the pit and proceeded to attempt to get the Widowmakers to shoot their komrades, but only killed one. The Mosh Pit was in Menite hands. Game over.

Owen: Ouch! That really hurt. Not only did I lose the scenario, but I also lost my only Devastator. The double-handed throw was the wrong option. Rain of Death into the Bastions would have been a better. I could have (coulda, shoulda, woulda!) contacted three of them with Bulldoze and boosted 2/3 of the POW 18s. Even with their wound sharing shenanigans I could have taken out a couple of them. The loss of the two Shocktroopers effectively makes that unit unfieldable as I’ll need to pay the min points just to field the single remaining Man-o-War. That’s make him a very expensive solo. Between these losses and the loss of a Widowmaker I’m down about 16pts. I only killed 6pts of Zealots! That could really hurt later in the campaign.

Peter: Well, I don’t think I could have asked for a better scenario for Epic Sevvy, everyone needs to get into the middle of the board, well within his control area, and with the limited number of models available at 15 points it was always going to be relatively easy to clear out the Mosh Pit with Sevvy’s feat. Being able to use the Shock Troopers to kill each other was great too.

I’m not sure Owen could have done much more damage to me by using Rain of Death on the Bastions, as I would have only lost a single trooper at most, and if the Blessing of Vengence hadn’t been thrown he could have charged in with four dice on the charge and three for any extra shots.

Sadly I couldn’t take out any extra Widowmakers, they always seem much better shots when they aren’t on my side. I’ll take the win though, and be grateful that I only lost a few zealots.

Game 2: 25pt / No Man’s Land Scenario

For the second game Peter decided to mix things up and go with the High Reclaimer instead. Here’s his list – a full unit of Temple Flame Guard, Vilmon, a Castigator, a full unit Bastions and a Revenger. I decided (after Irusk’s disgraceful defeat) to use my alternative ‘caster, Sorscha. My list had two Destroyers, a unit of Widowmakers, the Great Bears of Gallowswood, a War dog and a Man Hunter.

No Man’s Land would force the two armies into close proximity, but on a broader front than the previous scenario. Peter automatically ‘won’ the starting roll as he won the first game, but he decided to give me the first turn. I pushed my ‘jacks forward in the middle, advanced the Manhunter and Great Bears rapidly up the left flank and moved the Widowmakers forward in a wood.

On Peter’s turn he moved the whole army up and cast Burning Ash to screen them. The Castigator moved towards the Great Bears on Peter’s right. The Temple Flame Guard were in the centre of the advance followed by the Bastions and the High Reclaimer. Vilmon moved up into a wood to guard against the flanking Manhunter and the Revenger followed up alongside its ‘caster.

On my second turn I moved the ‘jacks up into No Man’s Land and followed up with Sorscha and the War Dog. The Great Bears spread out in the hope that the High Reclaimer would struggle to protect the Castigator with Burning Ash clouds. The Manhunter pushed up into the far end of the wood Vilmon was in and the Widowmakers were left with only him to shoot at, but they missed.

The Castigator launched itself towards a Great Bear, but failed to hit with its attacks. In the middle the Temple Flame Guard charged the Destroyers, slightly damaging one of them. The Bastions pressed forward to the edge of No Man’s Land and the Revenger followed up. The High Reclaimer cast a few Burning Ash clouds. Peter forgot to activate Vilmon (which would prove costly).

My turn three would be the last action of the game. I gave each ‘jack a focus and started proceedings with Sorscha. She moved up between them and feated, freezing almost all of Peter’s army. She struck down a TFG and cast Razor Wind at the High Reclaimer doing a few damage. The ‘jacks activated next and trampled across the TFG killing all bar one. The Widowmakers moved up and took out the final one. That was the scenario win, but since I still had a couple of units to activate it I decided to try to do some more damage. The Great Bears charged the Castigator and totalled it and the Manhunter advanced into Vilmon. I got lucky with his damage rolls and took out Vilmon.

Peter: Wow, what a difference 3 focus makes. I went with the High Reclaimer for this match and I think I panicked into keeping everything inside his control area. This meant I only managed to get a unit of TFG into the scenario area in turn 2, and they were depressingly easy to despatch once Sorscha had made them all stationary. Losing them also means I won’t be able to use their attachment in any upcoming games, wasting a couple of points in my full army list.

My original plan for the game had been to set up on one side of the table, run everything into the middle and then work my way along the zone keeping smoke up for cover. I think this would have been far better as a plan, and I honestly don’t know why I changed my mind at the last minute.

The mistake with Vilmon is the most upsetting thing, since he would have been incredibly useful for holding points in the next couple of scenarios, and also losing the Castigator limits my crowd control options in the same way as Owen losing his Devastator. Who knows what effect that will have when trying to clear the larger zones in the final game.

The biggest worry now is making it through the next game without suffering too many losses, I’m getting low on infantry at this point and the next scenario looks fairly punishing if it drags out.

Owen: I almost felt bad dishing out the damage at the end of that battle. The game was won, but I still went after all of the targets I could. This is where the campaign makes you think a little differently. The Devastator was a big loss from the first game and it was nice to see the Great Bears repay the favour. Peter was unlucky to lose Vilmon as had he activated him he’d surely have been impervious to the non-magical attacks of the Manhunter. The Tramples from the Destroyers were a thing of beauty.

The campaign is really hotting up and it is starting to live up to it’s name. With over 85 points still to field (excluding ‘jack points) in the remaining two scenarios we may struggle to field whole armies in the final game!

Two down and two to go. I’m barely ahead in the campaign and we’ve both suffered significant losses.

Owen

Update Game 3 can be found here.

ANNIHILATION Campaign System (Files)

owen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:29:16 +0000

Here are a couple of files that you might find useful if you plan to run an ANNIHILATION campaign -

ANNIHILATION v1.0 Campaign Rule (PDF) (as seen here and here)
ANNIHILATION Campaign Structure v1.0 (PPTX) to allow you to change the game structure and scenarios to suit your own campaign.

Feedback would be most appreciated.

Owen

ANNIHILATION – A Campaign System for Warmachine and Hordes (Part 2)

owen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:27:18 +0000

This is the second of two articles that describe the rules of a campaign system for Warmachine and Hordes. The first part described how to compose an army and deal with attrition as it sustained losses over a series of battles. This part describes how to sequence a series of battles and determine who is the winner.

WAGING WAR

Armies do not have infinite resources with which to wage a war. The loss of every trooper weakens the ability to fight effectively not only in the current battle, but in the following battles. The example campaign used in ANNIHILATION is designed for two players and comprises four games escalating from 15 to 25 to 35 and finally to 50 points in size. The complete pool of points available to construct the army that will fight in these games was 80% of their total sum, i.e. 100 points. This is just an example and you can choose to have a campaign last for as many games as you want and those games can be as large as you want. You could also adjust the percentage to represent a greater or lesser penalty for sustaining losses.

The basic campaign for ANNIHILATION has the following structure -

This is a very simple campaign structure where each game follows on directly from the previous one. All of the scenarios are described on pages 90-93 of Warmachine Prime MkII. The winner of each game receives a number of Game Points that are 10% of the points size of the game. There are some additional bonuses and penalties for winning and losing -

Game 2: The winner of Game 1 automatically wins the starting roll for this game. This represents the tactical advantage the army gained from winning the initial engagement.
Game 3: The winner of Game 2 can choose any one unit (excluding their warcaster) to benefit from Advance Deployment for this game. This represents the eagerness of the army to dominate their enemy.
Game 4: The player with the most Game Points so far (if there is one) gains a -1 modifier when making CMD checks for this game. This represents the confidence the army has to vanquish their foe.

Remember to keep track of the losses sustained by each army after each game. Don’t forget to award any bonds that may apply.

THE WINNER

Total up the Game Points accrued by each player over the course of the four games. The player with the most points is the winner, but there are different degrees of victory. Subtract the Game Points of the losing player from those of the winning player and compare them on the table below -

Difference	Victory Margin	Description
11-12.5	Annihilation	You completely massacred your opponent. You have not only one the day, but have also dealt a blow to your enemy they will not soon forget.
4.5 – 1.5	Victory	Your enemy put up a good fight, but ultimately you vanquished him. It has been a bloody day, but victory is yours.
0.5	Minor Victory	Your victory is tenuous and right now the enemy may be planning their counter attack. Do not rest on your laurels.

Okay, that’s it. The game structure is quite straight forward as are the victory conditions. The rules for army composition and attrition on the other hand are more complex, but a player who does not heed early losses may find himself unable to field a viable force in the later battles. With the game points weighted towards the later games this could prove disastrous.

Owen