Warmachine Batrep #11: 50 Points Circle vs. Skorne - Kreuger2 and Baldur1 vs. Makeda2 (with pictures!)

Howdy, folks! Just another Battle Report for some games I got in the other day. I'm just testing things out and slowly getting stuff painted, trying to get my lists ready for a 50-point tournament on July 26, and eventually gearing up for what I assume will be a fun (yet shameful) Feast of Blades.

That's right folks, I've decided to take the plunge - instead of playing 40k at Feast like in years past (I actually won the 40k tournament one year, and am therefore auto-qualified for all "finals" events for 40k), I will be playing an entirely different game system. For better or worse, I will be attending a major con for reasons other than 40k.

Madness.

These lists are representative of my efforts to get ready for FoB, having 3 full 50-point lists completely painted and ready, and potentially even getting a 4th list ready for Hardcore. Instead of practicing with "CrutchVahna", I'm working on other lists that I think may pair well with her in a 3-caster setting. I'm actually going to attempt an article talking about my own approach to pairings in the future, but for now, here are two reports :)

Warmachine Batrep #10: 50 points Circle vs. Retribution - Baldur1 vs Rhan and Krueger2 vs. Ossyan (with pictures!)

Howdy, folks! More reports, because I'm loving Warmachine lately, and I tend to learn more about games when I write reports and analyze what I'm doing wrong/awesome. My last reports featured a fully painted army, and I'm sorry to say that these reports have reverted back to using unpainted models. However, you'll be happy to note that I have continued to paint, finishing off Megalith, as well as three Wold Watchers recently. Next up are probably Druids or Wold Stalkers :)

At any rate, there's a tournament in Laramie, WY I intend on attending at the end of July. Two 50-point lists are what we're doing, and as such, I will hopefully be fully painted for that. These reports are actually an attempt to find a good pairing for Circle which doesn't depend on Morv2. Don't want her to be "CrutchVahna", after all!

So, I went down to Laramie to play my friend Don, who is currently working on Retribution lists. Let's see what happens, after the break.

Warmachine Batrep #9: SR Tournament Report - 35 points, single caster (Circle, Morv2) (with pictures!)

Howdy, folks! It's been a while in coming, but I finally have my Steamroller Tournament report up! This was over a week ago (June 21, 2014), but stuff has gotten in the way of my (all-important) blogging, and therefore I am only now getting it up. Believe it or not, I'm still planning on getting a short Adepticon report up for my last 6th edition 40k tournament, but that day is not today.

I took Circle, as it's my only army. I wasn't sure what to expect - I've been to Warmachine tournaments before, but it's been about 3 or 4 years since I went to one. I worked hard, painted everything (well, the Skinwalkers weren't quite done, but honestly still looked decent), and showed up with a silly Morv2 list! Mostly, I wished I had Reeves and War Wolves, but I owned the Wolves of Orboros (WoO), and wanted an excuse to paint them up. Guess we should go to the jump now.

Warmachine Batrep #8: Circle Morv2 vs. Menoth Harby, Circle Kaya1, Mercs Bart 35 Points - Grow League Week 6 (with pictures!)

Howdy, folks! Another three batreps from the FINAL NIGHT OF GROW LEAGUE!! This iteration of grow league stayed at 35 points, but this time we had zero restrictions. People could take whatever caster they wanted, with whatever list they wanted. Because we have a tournament coming up (single caster, 35 points), I've been dithering over what the best 'all-comers' list at 35 points is.

My choice ended up being Morvahna2, despite the hate she's been getting lately. I think that Kreuger2 would also be a good choice, though I'm not sure (as in, I just don't know enough to give an honest opinion) that he can really do everything he wants at 35 points. Morv2 at 35 points seems pretty strong, if you bring the right models. As such, I've been working to paint as many models as I can for the Morv2 list, and thought it would be nice to get in a few games before the tournament um, tomorrow.

Warmachine Batrep #7: Circle Baldur2 vs. Cryx Gaspy1 then Skorne Xerxes1 35 points - Grow League Week 5 (with pictures!!)

Howdy, folks! Another couple batreps for you as our Grow League moves up to Week 5. I decided that while I enjoyed Baldur1 quite a bit, I also wanted to try out Baldur2. Because we were required to use our initial battle box force (Baldur1's was a Wold Guardian and Wold Warden), there were no other casters I felt comfortable taking with them.

We have been building toward getting 35 points and having zero restrictions, which I am really looking forward to. There is also a tournament coming up so that all us newbies can get thrashed by those tournament veterans who didn't want to play the grow league and instead show up for some easy prize support. That being said, I'm also looking forward to that. Lots of learning to be had at most tournaments, and I'm guessing that a Warmachine tournament will be even more instructional than normal!

Let's see how I did with my first spin with Baldur2 :)

Tournament Report: Xaereth takes Dark Elves to 2014 Bugeater GT Fantasy (lots of pictures!)

My Dark Elves!

What's up, folks! This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 4th annual Bugeater GT in Omaha, Nebraska. I've been to this event every year it has been run, and I've loved it every time! This year was a little different, as I didn't really feel like playing 6th edition 40k since 7th is already out.

So, instead of playing a game that no longer exists, I decided to touch up my Dark Elves and take them to the Fantasy GT! I've been to a couple other Fantasy GTs in the past (Adepticon a couple different years), but this was the first one I've been to in favor of attending a 40k GT.

In the past couple years, I've played about 6 games leading up to this tournament (you can find the batreps for those games elsewhere on this blog), and so was extremely rusty. Still, I figured I'd have fun at the very least :)

Fantasy Tournament Report: Dark Elves 2000 Points (with pictures!)

Last Saturday, I played in a local 2000 point Fantasy tournament. There were no restrictions, and I was really looking forward to getting in games 4, 5, and 6 with the new Dark Elf book. Since my 1500 point tournament over a month ago, I painted a lot of stuff: 2 Bolt Throwers, 20 Executioners, and 5 Doomfire Warlocks. I was excited to see how they would do!

This tournament was in large part in preparation for the bigger, more awesome Bugeater GT I will be attending next week. While the Bugeater is 2500 points, this would at least give me a refresher on how the army could work, remind me about the rules, and just generally help me to be more prepared.

 List and reports after the bre

Warmachine Batrep #6: Circle Baldur1 vs. Cryx, Mercs, and Skorne 25 points - Grow League Week 3 (with pictures!!)

Howdy folks! Today I've got Week 3 of my Journeyman Grow League for you! This week we went up to 25 points, though we are still not allowed to change our original battle box contents. I've been using Baldur1,  whose battleforce has two models: Wold Guardian and Wold Warden.

Week 2 allowed me to add a set of Shifting Stones + UA.

Week 3 (this week) I've added something I've really been excited to try out: Bloodtrackers + Nuala. Let's see how good they are/aren't after the break :)

Upcoming Events and What I've Been Up To (Fantasy, Warmachine, 40k, etc.)

Howdy, folks! Today I made a tough decision. As you well know, Warhammer 40k is my primary game, and I travel all around the place in order to get smacked around by my betters. It's a fun game (usually), though as you may or may not have noticed, I've become somewhat disillusioned by GW and their silly (i.e. atrocious) business practices, particularly in how they treat their customer. And, as you must also know, 7th edition has struck recently, only 2 years after the most recent edition.

As you may also have known, the Bugeater GT is coming up in a couple weekends. The new edition has not been around for a month yet, and as such, Tim has (wisely) chosen to stick with 6th edition. This has given me a lot of thinking to do on how exactly I want to experience the Bugeater.

Warmachine Batrep #5: Circle vs. Trolls, Menoth, and Skorne 15 Points - Grow League Week 2 (with pictures!)

Another day, another report! I will not likely be putting up reports this quickly in the future, but I've had some time to write them lately, and figured I may as well! It's fun for me to go back and read reports about games I played just after I started playing, just to see if I've gotten better or not, so these reports are pretty important to me personally. Hopefully they're helpful/fun to you as well!

Today was week 2 in our Journeyman Grow League in Fort Collins, CO. I have decided to play as Baldur1, who I initially thought of as a boring choice. I mean - who wants to play big slow dudes who have zero defense? Just doesn't seem very flexible to me, and I've never been a fan of attrition armies.

However, Baldur1 does give a lot of fun tactical flexibility. I need to work on some things with him (obviously), but there are lots more options with him than I had initially foreseen.  Let's see how I did: I got 3 games in, all of which were quite fun :)

Warmachine Batrep #4 Circle vs. Khador, THEN Khador 50 points (with pictures!!)

Howdy! Today you get the first two out of four different reports against my good friend Don, who wanted to run several different lists! I played it "tournament style", keeping special characters relegated to a single list each. This led to some "sub-par" choices (i.e. no Megalith in every list), but it was still fun, and good practice.

My friend has a large Khador army, though he hasn't played a ton of games lately. We're both trying to get "tournament ready", so if we make mistakes here, please don't get TOO angry at us :)

At any rate, Khador is quite a bit different than Skorne...

Warmachine Batrep #3: Circle (eKreuger) vs. Skorne (eHexeris, then eMakeda) 50 Points (With Pictures!)

Alright! Let's continue my slog through the doldrums of trying to learn how to play Warmachine. Today you get a double-header against my friend Vince. Vince is an experienced tournament player, though his first list isn't one he's experienced with. His second list is the one he goes to big tournaments with and wrecks face - you'll just have to find out if my face also gets wrecked or not :)

Please note that with all these batreps, not all of them are in order. For instance, my Grow League batrep actually came after this chronologically. It was just the one I wanted to get out before my second week of grow league, which pushed this report back.

At any rate, let's get to the first game!

Warmachine Batrep #2: Circle Orboros vs. Cryx - Grow League Week 1

What's up, everyone! I've been loving me some Warmachine lately, and though this last week I haven't really had time to play as much or write up reports, I've been "studying" the game quite a bit when I have the chance. Wow, this game is just so different from 40k and Fantasy, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

I'm a firm believer that if you want to play a game competitively, you need to understand how everything in the game works, not just your own rules/army. This is especially true in Warmachine, as some combos will just jump out and kill you. Gotta know every caster, and what most of the (multiple) special rules do too, and how they can make your opponent's units much better than "normal".

Warmachine Batrep #1: Circle Orboros vs. Skorne 50 Points (with pictures!)

Howdy, folks! Xaereth here with a double-header battle report for Warmachine/Hordes! I usually just call the combined game "Warmachine", and will likely just do that henceforth.

As this post attests, I have not played Warmachine in around 3 years. I'm pretty new to the whole scene, and there are a TON of new models I had no idea existed. Circle now has birds for warbeasts. Who thought that was a good idea?

My aim is to make as competitive a list as possible, which is awesome, because hey - you can do that in Warmachine and still be fluffy! :)

At any rate, let's jump into the lists!

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

Pondering Re-jumping into Fantasy and my Dark Elves...

What's up, folks!

Lately, I've been a little disheartened by the state of 40k. This is not really a new development - many people are tired of the way GW has handled 40k. And, while I still enjoy 40k, I'm pretty sick of needing to play one of the few viable codices/builds in order to do well. And, not to brag, but I don't really have anything to prove. I've made the top bracket in almost every major tournament I've attended in the last year and a half (which is like, 5).

My ego can afford to take a break for a while.

So, I have a number of things I want to accomplish in the hobby. One of them just happens to be jumping back into Fantasy!

CAG Bash 2014- Escalation, Stronghold Assault Tournament-Battle Report by Spaguatyrine

By Spaguatyrine



My friend John Lay and I drove the 2 hours to Cincinnati Ohio to play in the 4th annual CAG Bash.  This year they allowed escalation, stronghold assault, and forgeworld 40k approved units.  There ended up being 38 players.  Check out this battle report with a few pictures.  Not as good as Xaereth's of course but I am working on it....

Game in vs. Knight Titans: Practical Thoughts Moving Forward

Yes, yes this is a Dreadnought. Kind of relevant though.

Howdy folks! I just wanted to spend a few moments today to discuss a game I got in last weekend against my friend CJ's Knight Titan army. As I am sure everyone is aware, the internet is full of controversy over whether or not Knights should be allowed to be played in the tournament scene, specifically because of the hate Strength D has been getting. I personally hate Strength D and have been extremely opposed to the Escalation supplement. Going into this game, I wasn't as sure about Knight Titans - I wanted to keep an open mind, but it was difficult to fathom giving them a thumbs up given my bias against StrD.

Note: this is a mini-batrep, but is more a discussion on Imperial Knights. No pictures to speak of, but I'll give lists and a small run-through on how the game went.

Tournament Report: Adam Tricola's BeastStar vs. the LVO (lots of pictures!)

Howdy, folks! Best get settled in for this one - I've got my full battle report from the 2014 LVO here, complete with what computer says is 80 pictures to aid me in my story telling.

I'll give a little background first. My initial goal for tournament season of 2014 was to get a Marine list up and working, which I would be able to unabashedly take to big tournaments and not entirely embarrass myself.

However, there was an RTT at my LGS which I could actually attend, and I had nothing approaching the required models for the current iteration of my Marines, so I decided to be silly and take my old Dark Eldar with a couple Eldar units as allies. I had so much fun, I decided to try to make Dark Eldar work. 5 or 6 games later, my list had morphed drastically, from an old-style MSU Dark Eldar list to a ridiculous BeastStar, taking Eldar as primary.

I felt as if I had betrayed the Dark Eldar. Depression had set in. But I had a list, and after a ton of effort painting, and playtesting about 5 games total (which is a TON of practice for me), I was packed up and ready for the LVO.

Adam Tricola takes BeastStar to LVO: Game 7 vs. Eric Hoergar's White Scars!!

Howdy, folks! I am taking far too long in to write my full tournament report, but would like to start getting a little bit of content out there nonetheless (I've already written quite a few reports, but need to delay writing the final ones for a bit). I am therefore going to try something I've never done - splitting my tournament report into several different game-sized posts.

I will then eventually combine all of the reports into one "large" report for your later reading convenience :)

I'll give a little background first. My initial goal for tournament season of 2014 was to get a Marine list up and working, which I would be able to unabashedly take to big tournaments and not entirely embarrass myself.

However, there was an RTT at my LGS which I could actually attend, and I had nothing approaching the required models for the current iteration of my Marines, so I decided to be silly and take my old Dark Eldar with a couple Eldar units as allies. I had so much fun, I decided to try to make Dark Eldar work. 5 or 6 games later, my list had morphed drastically, from an old-style MSU Dark Eldar list to a ridiculous BeastStar, taking Eldar as primary.

I felt as if I had betrayed the Dark Eldar. Depression had set in. But I had a list, and after a ton of effort painting, and playtesting about 5 games total (which is a TON of practice for me), I was packed up and ready for the LVO.