Vengeance: The Aftermath Day 1

The dust has settled on another fantastic Vengeance event. Before I start, I want to say a massive thank you to Jay and his team for putting on a truly outstanding event. If you haven't read my first Vengeance article, I recommend checking it out here.

Day 1:

Game 1 V Pete O Sullivan - Hunters (Skatha, Fahad, Seenah, Jaecar, Ulfr, V Hearne)
Pete went with a mixed team but ultimately was orientated towards the football game. This was good for me as I love to play Football. Pete hadn't played much against Queen Brisket so was unaware of her shenanigans and made a mistake in leaving the ball unsnapped after Mist scored. This meant Brisket was able to use her Legendary to snap the ball with Mist, use I'm open to receive the ball and then score again. Mist was taken out by either Seenah or Jaecar (can't remember which) and he had also scored with Ulfr. Another Union player was also out for the count but I cannot remember who.
Start of turn 2 Avarrise & Greede pick up the ball and attempt to score but pick the worst target possible (Vet Hearne) who knocks Greede over scattering the ball just out of reach. Greede got up and used Where'd they Go to retrieve the ball but was out of inf to pass to Brisket. Vet Hearne then fluffed his dice trying to knock Greede down again but had also engaged Brisket. In Brisket's activation, she first tried to hit Hearne to dodge away but failed so was left with no option but to use I'm Open on Greede and hope for a successfull pass by an engaged model to an engaged model. The pass failed but the scatter was kind and Brisket intercepted it. However, this left her out of momentum so could not take the shot on goal. I had two choices:
Kick the ball into open space where only Mist could retrieve
OR
Kick to Grace who was in the centre of the pitch.

Oh hindsight, you cruel mistress. To Pete's amusement, I elected to kick the ball to Grace, forgetting how potent (and fast) Skatha is. That single decision cost me the game as in the proceeding activation, Skatha ran up to Grace, tackled the ball then bounced around my team till she got within goal range. Bang goal Game over! It was frustrating to lose as I made a stupid mistake but hey, that is the pres-sures of  a tournament.
LOSS: 8-12

Game 2: Mat Hart - Engineers (Pin Vice, Mother, Hoist, Velocity, Ratchet, ???)
Mat Hart, Creative Director of Steamforged, Indirect Boss. This would be a fun game. Engineers have always been my weakness (curse you John Parish) so I was not looking forward to this match up. When Pin Vice wants to, she can easily outscore Brisket and out kill her as a Plan B. Mat's dice were cold. Like super cold, no matter how many dice he rolled, he would only get 1 net hit on his target. While this was good at the start, I knew at some point they would either become red hot, or mine would follow suit. I remember both teams scoring a goal early before Mat realised that I was more suited to the Ping-Pong goal game. Pin Vice decided to hold the ball close to her own goal behind the protection of Compound and Vet Velocity. This would be a slog. Especially as the With Aplomb to take it to 8-9 but Hoist then grabbed the ball and scored for the win. A super close game where I could have/ should have taken the win but Lady Luck abandoned me at the crucial moment.
Engineers were able to dish out enough damage to hurt my players whereas (bar Harry) I could do none. At the end of turn 2, it was 6 (or maybe 8)-4 to Mat but Snakeskin had acquired the ball and was sitting out of Compound range, ready to score me a goal, which would then allow Brisket to score the winner from the resulting goal kick. Snakeskin missed...a tap in...on 3 dice. My turn to have cold dice. Devastated. In a football orientated team, I can't afford to miss goals. In the following activations, Brisket scored
LOSS: 9-12

Game 3: Snowy - Morticians (Obulus, Dirge, Ghast, Bonesaw, Graves, Cosset)
I had never played (or met) Snowy before but both him and his mate who was watching were both super friendly. His team was not haha. Obulus, destroyer of dreams. Another tough match up for my girl Brisket. However, with Bonesaw in his team I knew there would probably be goals, I just had to be patient. As with my previous games, getting the 2 goals proved to be relatively easy. Mist and Brisket were both able to score in the early turns (as well as Bonesaw scoring and Ghast taking someone out) before Obulus came to the show and hit a 6 point activation to win the game. I don't feel I did anything particularly wrong in this game, was just outplayed and out scored by a better player.
LOSS: 8-12

At this point, I was sitting second from bottom 115th out of 116 players. Only the infamous Straw (of the Battlehammer) was below me so I knew I would be facing him next. I was also 0/3 for the Tournament which caused great amusement amongst the Steamforged contingent who were playing. Lose this game, and the wooden spoon would look likely.

Game 4: Straw - Brewers (Esters, Quaff, Spigot, Hooper, Friday, Pintpot)
I was glad to see Brewers on Straw's tray. It would make for a slightly more relaxed game. I also chose an experimental line up for this game (as the preferred options clearly hadn't been working). I went with Benediction, Harry, Decimate and Minx. I would have a brawl with these Brewers if that's what they wanted. Plus Benediction's ability to hand out Sturdy would come in handy. It was a fantastic game, both players not really caring what happened as we were bottom but it made for so much fun. Turns out you get all the results you want when you hit Brewers. I also managed to get the infamous Avarisse and Greede first turn goal which caused Straw to exclaim he hated Avarisse and Greede. In return, Esters body slammed into Greede and took him out in two swings.

Cartoon impression of Greede's demise.

It wasn't all in vain though as Brisket/ Mist was able to retrieve the ball to score again to make it 8-2 at the end of turn 2. The ball was passed out to Stoker who just made a beeline for the Union goal and promptly made it 8-6. From the goal kick, one of the union team grabbed it and scored to make it 12-6 and finally end this barren run of form. I can't stress enough how much fun it was to play the Battlehammer and would love to get some rematches in the future.

WIN: 12-6

So at the end of Day 1 I was sitting pretty low down on 1/3 but I had that win and if I could win all my matches on Day 2, I would go positive which was my aim before the event. 

We then had the Q&A from the SFG team which revealed the Blacksmith's guild, and a few other stories which I cannot utter on a family friendly blog. I also got chance to sit down with the #TeamNottsOP gang and play a few rounds of Shadow Games. Turns out while they may be good at SBG, they suck at bluffing. All in all a great day 1. 

If you wish to watch the Q&A, check out the video about from Mini-Modelog (warning, may be some strong language). 

Bring on Day 2! 

Stay tuned for the second instalment of Vengeance: The Aftermath later this week. 

Vengeance!

This coming weekend sees the return of the biggest Guild Ball event. 128 players!  Jay Finnegan of GBI is once again hosting Vengeance at the Element Games North West Gaming Centre.

One of the many benefits of living in Stockport is now my close proximity to the gaming centre which means this event (which was 250 miles away) is now on my door step.

In this article, I am going to go through my chosen 10 players for this event.


Guild: The Union
Anyone who has played me before knows I am a big fan of the Fisherman's Guild and their silky footballing skills. Having played them since Season 1 and with the release of Seasoned Brisket, I decided to give the Fisherman a bit of a break and try my hand with the dastardly Union.
They have a wide range of players which makes for a more varied play style as it opens up the option of 2 Take-outs, 2 goals which the (Shark led) Fisherman struggle to do.

Captain: Seasoned Brisket
I've always wanted to use Brisket but never really liked the Butchers so this was a perfect excuse. I have been using Seasoned Brisket almost exclusively since she was released. As a primarily football player, she immediately appealed to me. Great character plays and a fantastic legendary that when used well, means she can get anywhere on the pitch.

 Mascot: Coin
Coin was a no brainer to add in. His Bag of Coffers brings a valuable extra influence meaning when Brisket takes her full 6, there is still enough to go around the rest of the team.

Player 1: Mist
Again, another no brainer. Mist comes in as the primary striker. He has a massive threat on goal which increases even further as he gains Shadow Like when within 6" of another Solthecian model. This makes him a perfect partner for Seasoned Brisket.

Player 2: Harry 'The Hat' 
A fringe player in previous seasons, Harry has stormed into almost every team in Season 3; including mine. His Inspiring Hat makes playing football so much easier and preserves that precious momentum that I need to score/ keep Brisket out of trouble. Harry is also great at clearing out a mass brawl in the middle as his 2" melee and momentous pushes allow him to disengage enemy players at ease.

Player 3: Minx
Another player who was relatively under-used last season, Minx is now seen in many a Union and Hunter team. She gained access to Snared and Back to the Shadows in season 3 allowing her to deal out damage and snare her opponents before disengaging (meaning she can charge again for free next turn). Having Furious also means you can use Minx as an influence battery on those turns when you really need your strikers to have max influence.

Player 4: Decimate
Decimate has been a mainstay of many Union teams for the last few seasons despite losing that fabled 2" melee. Able to do consistent damage and generate plenty of momentum, it wasn't a hard decision to bring her in my 9. What makes her super useful in this team is her T<< play book result (that's a tackle combined with a double dodge for those who don't speak Guild Ball). She is also incredibly quick so is often sent to retrieve the ball (also makes her a good target for Briskets Worthy Sacrifice).

Player 5: Avarisse & Greede
Avarisse & Greede, the dynamic duo that everyone loves to hate, These guys are a great pairing and combined make a fantastic striker. However, I always struggle to use these guys to their full potential so they haven't seen much action in my team recently. That should hopefully change this week as I squeeze in a few more practice games with these guys.

Player 6: Grace

No pretty photos yet so this stock
image will have to do.

Originally Grace was not going to be in my 9 but the announcement that Steamforged Games are going to pre-release both her and Benediction at Vengeance changed my mind. She has a great chance of being included in most of my games as her ability to speed up Mist and Brisket will be invaluable. She can also throw out healing AOEs if the match starts to go against me.

Player 7: Benediction
I won't lie, Benediction is in because he looks so damn cool. From the theory hammer in the office, we came to the conclusion he probably works better in a Veteran Rage team than Brisket but I think (if he comes in) he has his uses. He can dish out Sturdy to Brisket making her tougher to knock down and similar to Harry, he provides a 2" melee with plenty of momentous pushes.

Player 8: Snakeskin
Sneaking in at the last minute (thanks to the change in the OP doc) Snakeskin is my final pick. She is a great ball carrier thanks to Clone and Nimble. Combine that with her Charmed Male and Shadow Like and she can reliably get the ball back to Brisket or Mist.

General Thoughts:

I was toying with the idea of running two captains (probably Veteran Rage) but ultimately decided I wanted more flexibility in my players. Plus after running Brisket for the last month, I am out of practice with Vet Rage so it's unlikely I would even pick him in my team. I'm sure he will return to claim ownership of the Union soon enough. I am fairly confident that I can get the job done with Brisket against most teams; Obulus being a super tough match up. In an ideal world (one where I receive the ball first turn) I am aiming to get at least one goal, possibly two, in turn one using Mist and Brisket's Legendary. If my opponent kills the ball then I just have to be patient. Given a turn or two, Brisket or Mist (maybe even Avarisse and Greede) can go fetch the ball.


Failing that, The Union will just have to bloody their knives.





Happy Wargaming!

A Pair of Clever Girls Joined the Drowned Earth

A Pair of Clever Girls Join The Drowned Earth

    

Forget riding a motorcycle along side these beasts – ride a raptor in The Drowned Earth!

The Drowned Earth KS has started with a bang – 9 stretch goals unlocked with many more to come. They recently added one of the coolest models I’ve seen in awhile…

Meet Nix, the leader of the Artifacters faction, a group of adventure archaeologists, explorers and rogues. We’ve already seen her on foot at the start of the campaign, but now a mounted option hints at the suggestion we might see mounted versions of other models too?
She was unlocked a few days ago, and has caused quite a stir!

They’ve also added some companions for her… 

Become a Backer Today!

James Baldwin has kindly agreed to come to MSWG once the game has landed to showcase the game. Keep an eye on the blog for further announcements regarding this. 

Return to Rivenstead 2017 Tickets now on sale!

Tickets are now on sale for our next Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game tournament. 

Date: 24-25 June 2017
Where: Dorset Arms, East Grinstead
Cost: £30
Points: 1000, 1 Army
Games: 6
80 GBHL Points

Tickets can be purchased by sending £30 via PayPal to Midsussexwargamers@gmail.com. At time of writing, there are 4 tickets remaining so please email to confirm there is a spot left or if you are on Facebook, send Sam Page a message. 

The rules pack for this event can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_RGEH0PqyFwxYDv9gLB2NoNpLE9sNWX0ReCOHkKaMY0/edit

Happy Wargaming

Tale of Many Gamers: Sam's Azog's Legion Army Month 4 Update

"What does the eye command?"

After a bit of a delay, I have finally caught up with my Tale army. Turns out moving half way up the country and starting a new job has a big impact on your hobby time in the short turn.

After missing my month 3 target I was desperate to try and meet both targets. And I am happy to say, I have done so.

This month I have painted:

Month 3 Target (warband + hero)
Orc Captain w/ Shield
5 Mordor Uruk Hai
3 Hunter Orcs - 1 Hornblower)
Gundabad Ogre
3 Spectres

Month 4 Target (paint up to 750pts)
Gundabad Troll with Scything Gauntlets.

My 750 point army now stands at

Bolg - Leader
6 Gundabad Berserkers
2 Gundabad Ogres
1 Gundabad Troll w/ Scything Gauntlets

Gundabad Captain with Shield
6 Gundabad Orcs - 3 with Shield, 3 with Spear
3 Hunter Orcs - 1 with Horn

Mordor Orc Captain
5 Mordor Uruk Hai - 2 with 2H weapons

As I mentioned in my last blog post at the end of month 2, I have had to deviate away from a pure Azog's Legion army in favour of painting up some of my backlog. I now have warbands from Azog's Legion, Dark Powers of Dol Guldor and Mordor. The 3 spectres I painted up will be added to the 1000 point army in Month 6.

For month 5, the target is again to paint another warband plus hero. The warband of troops is relatively easy to choose. I have 2 Spectres, 1 Mordor Uruk Hai, 3 Hunter Orcs with bows left over which need painting so they are automatically in. I am also planning on purchasing 3 more Gundabad Berserkers for a tournament in the middle of June so they can be added. The remaining 3 spots will be taken by whatever I can find when I dig around in my various boxes.
For the Hero it is a little tougher. I have the Knight of Umbar on foot and horse ready to paint or I could convert an old Ugluk into a Mordor Uruk Hai Captain. Now theme is out the window, I could also paint a Mordor Orc Shaman on warg. Post below on what you would paint/ want to see painted.

Anyway, enough waffle. Onto some pretty(ish) pictures.

Happy Wargaming! 

The Drowned Earth - Available on Kickstarter now!

The Drowned Earth: First look at the Game

If you've heard about The Drowned Earth Kickstarter lately then you're certainly not alone! In this article we're going to take a brief look at what sort of game it is, and discuss some general points.

The first and most obvious point is that this is a low model count, character based miniatures game. Billed for games of 5-15 models (and working equally well with anything within this range) the game is played on a 3x3 board.

Terrain

Like a lot of science fiction skirmish games, cover is important, or your models will shoot each other to pieces in no time! The game has been advertised with loads of beautiful, jungle ruin themed terrain, but the creators say it works perfectly well with less terrain, provided there's lots of cover to hide behind! In a game with a name like this, water is also a big feature, but again, not essential. It's fun to leap off tall buildings, guns blazing, and then landing safely in water. Swimming slows you down, as you might expect, and provides some cover too. But not all areas of The Drowned Earth are under water, and there's no reason not to fight on dry land.

So while the game might look like the terrain is a bit of a barrier to entry, I think most people who play games at home will have enough terrain to get by. This is especially true considering the board size is under average.

Turn Order

Lets have a brief look at the activation structure. The game is alternate activation, meaning that you each take turns in activating a single model. Each model has a personal pool of Action Points which they may spend during their activation.

However, models can also use these action points out of turn, to react against their opponent's actions, provided they have line of sight to the action. This, combined with the alternate activation gives the game a really involved, immediate feel: you're constantly interacting with your opponent, facing off in "firefights" and "duels". What's more, the orders are somewhat fluid when it comes to moving and shooting: you can shoot in the middle of a move, which creates a very cinematic feel, and often creates those wonderful moments of epic story, where an important objective is contested in a split second of furious action!

Movement

So this is probably the "Unique Selling Point" of The Drowned Earth wargame. Movement is pretty different to most other games: it's very easy to climb, leap, jump off things, swim and otherwise be awesome. Remembering that you can shoot in the middle of these forms of movement, this is a game where some pretty epic things can happen!

Honestly, when reading the movement chapter of the Beta rules (the rules are still subject to some change, although the creators have indicated the core rules will only need a few tweaks here and there), it can seem a little complicated, but actually its very simple:

You declare your chosen movement path, and if it includes "dynamic movement" (leaping, climbing, jumping down) you make a test. Each model has two movement values: if you get one success you move the short distance, and if you get two successes (called "Nailing It" in the game) you move your full distance. It doesn't matter how many different types of movement you encounter, you just test once, and measure.

Of course you can fail as well, and what happens when you fail depends on the type of movement you are encountering. Typically you just move as far as you can, and stop at the terrain which made you take the test.

Rarely, you can critically fail, when something REALLY bad happens (like falling off the edge of the building), but these really don't happen all that often.

Other cool stuff!

There are a few other rules which really give the game character, which don't fall under the above headings. All models have special rules, which is where the tactics of the game really come in. Most characters also have a "class role" such as Mechanic, Medic or Leader. These are accompanied by special rules such as infiltration, repair, heal or, in the case of the leader, Command.

Command allows a leader to take a free Command test (it doesn't cost an action point to do this) to move Action Points between friendly models (including himself) provided he has Line of Sight to them. This can be extremely useful when building a turn strategy, especially as the leader can do this multiple times until he fails a Command test.

We should also talk about the "Feat" mechanic: when taking a test there's a special symbol which overrides any other results rolled on other dice: it's an automatic success AND grants the model another Action Point. This can suddenly give a model the boost he needed to achieve something significant, or even just to duck down out of danger.

There are also the usual flame templates, stealth mechanics and other little bits of fun... including...

Dino models?! (editor - sold, where do I sign?) Well yes, indeed, apparently in The Drowned Earth, provided you rear them from egg, it's entirely possible to train and even ride dinosaurs. This isn't currently represented in the Beta rules (except for the odd tantalising reference to "troop" and "beast" models, and these will have to wait till the faction starter boxes and rulebook are unlocked. After then? Who knows!

I hope you've enjoyed this brief look at the game. To find out more head on over to check out 

http://www.kickstarter.thedrownedearth.com

https://twitter.com/thedrownedearth/

http://www.thedrownedearth.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thedrownedearth/

MSWG: Just want to say a massive thank you to James and his team at The Drowned Earth for taking the time to write this article. I am in for at least one starter team and some Dinosaurs when they are unlocked. If you wish to arrange a game at MSWG, please email midsussexwargamers@gmail.com

Quote of the Day: "Throw pound coins at me! I don't care if it hurts!"

Tale of Many Gamers: Sam Month 2

''Send in the war beasts!''

Better late than never, here is my army showcase for Month 2. I did get these complete on time but real life has got in the way of taking photos.

For those who didn't read the battle report between myself and Chris, my 400pt list was:

Bolg
5 Gundabad Berserkers
Gundabad Ogre

Gundabad Captain with Shield
2 Gundabad Orcs with Shield
3 Gundabad Orcs with Spear

In total I had painted:

Bolg
6 Gundabad Berserkers
Gundabad Ogre

Gundabad Captain with Shield
3 Gundabad Orcs with Shield
3 Gundabad Orcs with Spear

For month 3 I have to paint another hero plus 12 models. My target for this month is to paint an Orc Captain, 6 Spectres, 5 Mordor Uruk-hai and another Gundabad Ogre. I am having to deviate from Azog's legion for two reasons. First is the cost. Forgeworld isn't cheap and while I'm happy to pay the prices, sometimes the wallet just needs a break. Second is my ever growing backlog. I've decided to utilise this Tale of Gamers to try and reduce that backlog so expect to see a variety of evil models over the remainder of this tale (also the new Gundabad trolls will definitely make an appearance).

Now on to the pretty photos...

....maybe later.