Jumping back into Warmachine/Hordes and Circle Orboros!

What's up folks! Lots to talk about today, very little (but some) stuff about 40k, more stuff about Fantasy, and even more stuff about Warmachine/Hordes! As you may know, I went to Adepticon, and as you may have guessed, I took a ton of pictures for all my games. I am finally finished with my master's program, and as such will (theoretically) have much more time to play games! As such, I am attempting to update my Dark Elf and Circle armies. Lots of fun stuff ahead - stuff after the



So, first thing - let's get the 40k part out of the way. I'm still planning on writing some batreps up for my games. I played well (in my obviously humble opinion) and the games were all fun, but I haven't had the time to write anything, as my life has been even wilder of late than normal. Those of you in school understand some of that, and those of you with a job while in grad school, along with spouse/children, and a basic need for at least a modicum of sleep understand it even better.

I had fun at Adepticon, and am planning on attending the Bugeater GT for the 4th year in a row towards the beginning of June. I'll be playing 40k, and likely taking my BeastStar. However, I won't be playing a ton of 40k in the interim, as I've become a bit disillusioned with the current state of 40k and the current "StarHammer" we're playing. I know that "StarHammer" appeals to some, and I know that my own army features a Star (making me somewhat of a hypocrite), but I'm just not having as much fun with 40k as in the past.

In addition, because of the rumors of a 7th edition kicking around this summer, I have lost most of my desire to purchase and paint new models for 40k. It's a lot of work and money, and frankly, most of my armies were awful once 5th edition came out. I intend to keep working on my Salamanders to some degree throughout it all, but until I discover whether or not there will be a new edition, I will likely just stand pat.

Fantasy Stuffs

Well, I went to a 1500 point tournament recently, and played three really fun games! I am currently working on making a YouTube channel so that I can do battle reports for those games, but suffice it to say that I really enjoyed the wonky stuff that happened, and really look forward to more Fantasy events in the future. In fact, I believe there is a Fantasy event here locally at the end of May which is 2000 points. This means that I'll have some time to paint some new models that I have, and make another lunge toward being fully updated.

After some solid play time, I discovered that I loved my Dark Riders, as they're just pests! I also loved the Doomfire Warlocks, and my big old block of Spearmen. My Chariot didn't do much, but it was also involved in my epic endeavors. Master on Peg was extremely disappointing, though I feel I didn't use him well.

My new list thoughts moving forward:

• Blocks of 20-30 are great. I'm actually leaning less towards MSU, surprisingly.
• I needed ways to kill heavy-armored stuff.
• Executioners are definitely making the cut in my next tournament list
• I loved magic, and wanted more of it. I think soon I'll be playing around with a Level 2 Sorceress on a Horse and using the Tome of Furion to pick one of the spells from Dark Magic, as needed.
• Tactical flexibility is essential to the way I play any game - I know I won't be able to generate nearly enough dice (even on a 12) to be able to cast all my spells. I just love the idea of being able to kill different enemies during different matchups. 
• Need a BSB who is close to my blocks - Peg Master was fun, but always a little far afield from the bulk of my forces.
• Everything else is top secret (until my next game, haha!)

I'll let you know about my YouTube channel once I have all the reports up. Should be interesting to see if my monotone voice is awful enough that nobody wants to listen to me, HA!

And now... Warmachine!!

Note: these pictures ARE NOT my own paint jobs, unfortunately.

Warmachine is a fun game, though it appeals to me less than the Warhammers, simply because of the scope of battles. I have difficulty caring about skirmishes like this, and my "army" is really only a few models. I also have trouble caring because of the ridiculous volume of information I am required to learn in order to be competitive. Knowing what every single caster can do and their interactions with other units is exhausting. But maybe I'll learn at least some of it :)

I like Circle because of the finesse required to use them. If you take note of the armies I play, I generally lean toward armies with a little resilience and an unforgiving play style. I like picking opponent's armies apart through skilled play, rather than bludgeoning them. While it may be argued that WM/H requires every player to have "finesse", I feel that Circle exemplifies those values even more.

Wish I had painted this guy. Really stunning work here, obviously.

So, I'm going to take a few casters, get them and their battle groups painted up to reasonable standards (I don't really think I'll take the time to make them amazing, I have too much left to paint!), and try to play in a few tournaments. In the past I've always been an attrition-based player, but I'm not sure what form of madness led me to want to play that way. Circle is absolutely ridiculous at scenario play, and I will be approaching the game in terms of scenarios henceforth.

I love big wolf things! Most of what appealed to me initially about Circle!

Tonight, I will finally be playing a few games of WM/H. I'm excited. I want to eventually get an eMorvanha (sp?) list going, but don't have the models I want to run with her yet, so I'll hold off on trying her out until such a time that I can actually use all the models necessary.

Cool thing about tournaments for this game though, is that you generally get to bring more than one caster/list, which gives me some great options. My first list will be my favorite caster ever: Kromac the Ravenous. My wife (who doesn't play any of these games) even knows his name and which model he is.

Wish my Kromac looked that good...

List I'll bring:

Kromac (obviously!)

Warpwolf Stalker
Ghettorix
Pureblood Warpwolf (or Feral, haven't decided yet!)
Gorax

Shifting Stones w/ UA
Shifting Stones
5x Wold Stalkers
5x Wold Stalkers

Druid Wilder
Gallows Grove
Gallows Grove
...and I have an extra 1 point left. Either 1 more Gallows Grove, or the old dependable Gobbers. Probably Gobbers :)

The idea is to use my ranged attacks (Wold Stalkers) to trigger Warpath and make my beasts move up outside of their activation. I can cast the Stalker's animus on at least two of them (Wilder helps with that) and once they've killed their targets, they can move 6" back the way they came. Lots and lots of mobility in this list, and lots of options which allow me to kill infantry, big guys, and everything in between.

My second list will include eKreuger. He's got a TON of ability to manipulate where models are placed, and his feat is ridiculously debilitating in scenario play.

The List:

eKreuger

Megalith
Warpwolf Stalker
Ghettorix
Gorax

5x Wold Stalkers
5x Wold Stalkers
Shifting Stones w/ UA
Shifting Stones

Gallows Grove
Gallows Grove
Druid Wilder
Swamp Gobbers

The Idea is to kill stuff, then push the rest of it back. Or pull it towards me so I can cast the Stalker animus, charge the lone beast, then run out of threat range. Kreuger has some ridiculous abilities to mess with other models, and his spells are good enough that I felt it was justified to take the Megalith, so that I could use some of them a few more times as well :)

I actually thought about taking a Wold Warden for even more casting ability, but unsure if that would reduce my hitting power too much.

One thing to keep in mind here is that some tournaments won't let me take Ghettorix in multiple lists, since he's a character beast. In that case, I would probably take either a Feral Warpwolf, or another Stalker. It would be nicer to take a Stalker, but I don't have two of those models yet :-p

Is it just me, or does she look like both 1) a Tharn and 2) a dude? 

So, what are your thoughts? Comments? Angst-fueled criticisms?

I'm pumped to start playing more games, now that I'm finally free from working on school stuff! More Fantasy, Warmachine, and maybe I can fit in some time for 40k as well :)