Opening doors for the next generation. Introducing my nephew to comics.

I had received a phone call from my sister a few months ago where she started to ask me questions about comic book characters.  For those who do not know of my background, I used to really want to be a comic book artist and had dedicated a good amount of time in pursing that dream when I was younger.  I had a dream to pencil comics for Marvel or DC or Image comics and join the ranks of the esteemed artists like Jim Lee, Scott Clark, etc…  As time went by, reality set in and the acknowledgement that the job market for comic book artists is not that great, I decided to put that dream to bed while still enjoying comics.

So getting back to my sister’s phone call, my sister calls and asks me “So John, what is your favorite comic book character?”  To someone that is not a comic book fan, this seems like a rather innocuous and normal question.  I do not think my sister was prepared for the events that followed.

I responded to my sister with the question “What universe?”

“What?” she asked?

“What Universe?  Marvel?  DC?  Image?  Which comic book company/universe?”  I replied.

“Uh…Which one has Spiderman?”

“Marvel” I responded.

“Ok, Marvel then.” She said.

“Great, my favorite Marvel characters go in this order...” I began.

“You have more than one?” she asked.

“Yes, shush.” I said “Ok, so number one is going to be Sabretooth.  He is by far my favorite of all the Marvel characters.”

“Why, who is he?  What is his super hero power?” my sister asks.

“Oh he’s not a super hero.  He’s a psychopathic killer who is Wolverine’s nemesis.  He was in Weapon X where the government trained him to be a super powered assassin who delighted in slaughtering and slaying while on missions.  He has the same healing factor and regeneration ability that Wolverine does but is far more feral and destructive.  He’s also like 6’6” and his name is Victor Creed.  He’s totally bad ass and he’s fought Wolverine tons of times in the comics but currently he’s dead which makes me sad.”

“Uh…ok…that is your favorite guy?”

“Yeah!  He’s awesome!!!  Ok so next in line has got to be Moon Knight.”

“Who?”

“Moon Knight, he’s kind of like the Marvel version of Batman only he receives his powers from the Egyptian Moon god Khonshu.  He serves as an agent of retribution and vengeance and is just merciless as a vigilante.  His name is Marc Spector and he’s wicked awesome.  His costume is all white and pale like that of the moon.  He’s also extremely brutal when dealing with enemies.  After that I would have to say The Punisher is number three.”

“The Punisher?  What is he?” asked my sister.

“So the Punisher is a vigilante named Frank Castle who’s family was murdered by gangsters and as a result he wages a one man war on crime.  He kills a whole lot of criminals in his books.  He fights crime and punishes wrong doers to ensure that there is justice and punishment.  He’s a really awesome complex character but also deadly.”

“Uh John…”

“So next in line I’d have to say Deadpool.  Deadpool is pretty awesome.  He’s a vigilante or an assassin, depending on who is writing the comic.  He also breaks the forth wall and talks directly to the reader.  His name is Wade Wilson and while his body is ravaged by cancer and scar tissue, he has regeneration abilities much like Wolverine and Sabretooths.  He too was in Weapon X but at a different time than Sabretooth and man he’s just so awesome as an assassin, he kills so many people and is hilarious!”

At this point I should have picked up the note of irritation in my sister’s voice but I did not for I was lost in the excitement of talking about comic book nerdyness.  But alas, I did not.

“So…John.  You have a psychopathic killer, 2 vigilantes and an assassin as your favorites.” Asked my sister; “How about…DC”.

“DC? Sure.  My favorite is Green Arrow.  His name is Oliver Queen he’s like Batman with a bow.  He is a vigilante that goes around fighting crime with his unique arrows and archery.  Think of him as a Robin Hood for Star City only he’s pretty brutal in a fight.”

“Ok…go ahead.”

“Next up is Batman, you know who he is so I’m not going to go into detail on him.  So after Batman, I’m going to go with Grifter from Team 7 and WildC.A.T.S.  he originally was from Image comics but Wildstorm comics got bought by DC. Grifter’s name is Cole Richards and he is a Black Ops assassin with telekinesis and telepathy and was trained by a group of ninjas called the Coda, he…”

“Ok stop, are you trying to tell me that all your favorite comic book characters are psychopathic killers, vigilantes or assassins?” barked my sister.

“Well…yeah those types of characters appeal to me.” I replied.

“How are these to be role models for your nephew?”  She responded angrily.

“Oh, is that what you wanted?  Well hell, there are tons of options!”  I then went into the Avengers, Justice League, the X-men and who existed in each universe and team.  I then provided my sister with a “Play list” for watching all the movies in chronological order.  I do not think my sister had expected the extreme level of detail I had provided her and even then it was only a minute amount of the years and years and years of panels stored in my head from reading them. 

               

                So for the past few months I have been able to connect with my nephew on an entirely new level which has him completely excited about comic books, his heroes and me.  After speaking with my sister, I became very excited for helping mold this young boys imagination and in time I’ll give him access to my Marvel account where he can read all the comics he wishes.  I guess you begin to take for granted the impact that comics have on a young child’s mind as you get older.  I grew up in an age where we had the first run of Superman and Batman movies, where my imagination was sparked by Star Wars, Transformers, Thundercats and comic books.  Where I could watch the Hobbit as a cartoon and then watch the Superfriends on Saturday morning television.  So seeing my little nephew now beginning to cross that threshold of interests that I had at his age is really one of the more exciting things I’ve had a chance to be a part of as an adult.  It makes me super eager for when my niece and my daughters get to his age and I get to repeat this entire journey with them as well.  My sister is almost as excited about this as I am because she can't wait for me to sit down with my nephew and just talk about comic books and the movies and all that stuff with her son so that he can share the same experience I had when I first began reading comics.  That sense of wonderment and awe that you feel when you turn the pages wondering what is going to happen to the X-men next, or hoping that Thor gets up after being smashed to the ground.  It's positively awesome.

              My nephew already is super excited about seeing me in November when we fly down to Tennessee and he will be even more excited when I show up dressed up as his hero Captain America.  I have ordered an adult sized costume and a child sized costume so he can run around the house dressed as his favorite comic book hero.  My sister and her husband have been adhering to the Marvel playlist I provided them with great dedication to ensure that they are up to date on all the information that their son is going to be bombarding them with when I am not available for questions.

                I know I generally blog about Wargaming, modeling or D&D related activities but sometimes it’s nice to just reflect on the important things that really make life great. 

Theme vs. Function - Fluffhammer a go go !

Theme vs Function Argument

                One of my favorite arguments in Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k is the principle that people argue “Theme vs Function”.  Whereas a list apparently can not be effective and function efficiently if you have instituted a semblance of theme or that dreaded word …fluff.  So before we open that can of worms, let us discuss the principle of why people choose to “Theme” their lists in Fantasy and 40k. 

Fluffhammer, those about to lose we salute you!

This game, and actually most games these days, has the creators spending inordinate amounts of time creating this rich and lush back story to their little miniature combat game.  Warhammer has a 30 year back story and 40k is right behind it with 25 years in the pipe.  The world is filled with heroes, villains, grand battles, cataclysmic events, betrayals and alliances, horrible tragedies and grand triumphs.  Every rule book has half of it dedicated to the back story and models in order to fully immerse the players in the world the author has created.  The army books and codices have most of their bulk dedicated to the story that is rife with lore and history that is meant to inspire players to build themed lists to recreate legendary battles or armies of long dead heroes.  The other half of the book contains pictures of models or illustrations that are meant to spark the imagination, while a small section of 8-9 pages detail the unit costs and stats.

With all of this reinforcement for lore and fluff, it is not surprising that many players have a theme to their army.  Many players (me included) will name characters and units and give them a back story or build a story around the unit based on actions that happened in game.  The entire army will comprise of units that are more in tune with the “story” of that army which may or may not be the most optimal choices for the army. 

The notion of a themed list is something that causes the “hardcore tournament” players to look at fluffy or themed lists with an overly critical eye and immediately dismiss those lists that are “sub-optimal” because the list choices do not match up with the meta game.   I find this is a massive disservice to many players who have their list designs and themes immediately dismissed under the guise of “effective choices.” 

I think this type of mentality is ultimately damaging to the hobby.  List creation using the most optimal and effective units does not take a lot of critical thinking nor real hard decision making.  It involves finding a combo and then spamming the best choices generally.  I do not have anything against this type of list other than it really lacks substance to me.  The only thing I have against this is the mentality it generates that if you don’t take these combos or types of units then you can’t win.   That is a terrible misconception as I have thrived for years using under powered and “sub optimal” lists to win tournaments, events and generally rise above to conquer with my figurative swords held aloft blazing with the flames of VICTORY!..

Did I take an opportunity to brag on how awesome I am?  Of course I did, this is my blog and I’m going to behave like God’s gift to Warhammer.  Wouldn't you? 

Getting back to the actual line of thinking, I would like to see players building lists that fulfill a theme or a story.  You can make an incredibly effective list using fluffy options it just requires the general to use something that gets sacrificed a bit when you spam the “best units”… strategy.  Players are always welcome to build their army however they wish as it is their money and their time they are putting into the hobby but theme is always neat to see.  But I feel that you can still use effective combinations by while having sub-optimal units in the army.  This just requires a different method of using the units and capitalizing on what most tournament players don’t count for, the anti-meta.

When more and more players engage in this type of thinking and build lists using this ideology then you begin to do something which should have been done a long time ago.

You invalidate comp.

I have made it well known my opinion of composition restrictions on events.  I dislike anyone telling me I can’t take something in my list.  I expect players to actually exercise sportsmanship rather than just talk about it.  I feel that gaming organizations and clubs should be aware of how their players interact and help those members of their group that are “sportsmanship-challenged” a.k.a. douche bags work towards being fun to play against.

Composition as a general rule does not work as people are attempting to enforce sportsmanship through list building rather than through actual interaction and conversations.  Anyone can take a completely restricted list and still play and act like an utter and complete douche bag.  Composition is a lazy way of instituting sportsmanship in a community.  A gaming community should understand that some combinations are very difficult to counter in an army list and if someone is employing them then the players should learn to counteract them by playing well.  Now I’m sure the next comment is “Well John these combinations are comp’d because the games aren't fun because they are ass beatings!”  Well to think that you are never going to encounter a tough game and lose is naive at best.  And if you are complaining that in a tournament that someone brought something that is termed “competitive” and beat you with it…. No kidding?  You mean someone brought the right tools to get the job done at a tournament?  Does this mean they are guaranteed to win? No. However, you can have a fun game with someone and still get beaten.  The difference is having an opponent who is using that combination not act like a jerk while playing.  In the end it’s a dice game and regardless of what super powered unit they take, 1’s are 1’s. 

I’m digressing from my initial point that a fluffy, themed list should never be underestimated as the list is only as effective as its general.  Expect the unexpected!

To be continued!

Growing Pains and The Great Hunt, War Host of Athel Loren (v.2.0)

Growing Pains

Much like any general who has had a new book released, there are a certain amount of growing pains that have to be experienced in order to find that perfect “fit”.  As the Wood Elves have had a substantial departure from their previous rule set and play style, all my previous posts concerning “Tactica” and “Preferred Enemies” have been slightly invalidated. 

I personally am struggling with balancing form and function in order to make the army be a perfect balance between “meta” and “theme”.  I had spent years honing my previous 2,800 point list to take full advantage of my personal play style, the local meta and the theme I had developed in order to further the “story line” of my army.  Even with some of the changes to magic items and magic lores, my old list still would work in the current rule set, albeit not as well (maybe).

One additional caveat or challenge that I put myself through which most players don’t think about or even care about really is that in addition to making forum, function and theme work; I need to make sure the army fits in my Table War display case.  A challenge that I did not think would be an issue at first!

The old list I used in with the previous book relied on balanced shooting and close combat, synergy of 3 magical items to create a deadly assassination tool and a very durable bunker, and mobility.  I put a lot of emphasis on having the assassination type general that alongside his unit of Waywatchers would annihilate heavily armored cavalry and smaller heavily armored units. Meanwhile, the meaty Treekin alongside the Wild Riders and my 3+ ward save Eagle noble would crash into units that had been depleted by my Glade Guard and wipe them out.  I employed Eternal Guard to be a Stubborn bunker for my Spellweaver and BSB that was protected by the 2 Glade Guard units and my Dryads.  I would use my two Great Eagles and my Treeman to bounce around the board mopping up smaller units or warmachines.  I relied a lot on the Bow of Loren + Arcane Bodkins combo on my General and the loss of that combo is a hard pill to swallow. 

Now that’s all fine and good John, we’re all glad you got that whining off your chest.  How are you going to make it all work then?

Well, I want to ensure the theme stays the same of the Waywatcher Lord Sylvos Greystorm the Huntsman is still leading the armies of Athel Loren into battle as their Ranger-General.  That means the army is going to still need to be fast, hard hitting and mobile and have the ability to remove an enemy unit a turn if need be in order to ensure success. 

So after hours and hours of painstaking revisions and changes and modifications; I present pretty much the exact same list only I dropped 1 unit for another.

May I present the The Great Hunt, War Host of Athel Loren (v.2.0)

+ Lords + (436pts)

Waywatcher Lord Sylvos Greystorm the Huntsman, Ranger General of Athel Loren

    * Glade Lord (186pts)

        (BRB) Armour of Fortune (35pts), Asrai Longbow, Great Weapon (6pts)

Archdruidess Nysa Greystorm the Storm Maiden, Hierophant of Athel Loren

    * Spellweaver (250pts)

        (BRB) Talisman of Endurance (30pts), Level 4 (35pts), Lore of Shadow

+ Heroes + (260pts)

Lady Nepenthia Dreamsinger, Stormsinger of Athel Loren

    * Glade Captain (150pts)

        (AB) Hail of Doom Arrow (30pts), (BRB) Gambler's Armour (20pts), Asrai Longbow, Battle Standard (25pts), Hand Weapon

Storm Lord Cyre Winterwolf the Mistwalker

    * Waystalker (110pts)

        (AB) Bow of Loren (20pts)

+ Core + (843pts)

The Handmaidens of Dornatha, the Verdant Rage

    * Dryads (110pts)

        10x Dryads (110pts)

The Spears of Loren, Aegis of the Dreamsinger

    * Eternal Guard (258pts)

        Champion (10pts), Musician (10pts), Standard Bearer (10pts)

        * 19x Eternal Guard (228pts)

            19x Shields (19pts)

The Twilight Host

    * Glade Guard (245pts)

        Musician (10pts), Standard Bearer (10pts)

        * 15x Glade Guard (225pts)

            15x Hagbane Tips (45pts)

The Farstriders of Lady Greystorm

    * Glade Guard (230pts)

        Musician (10pts), Standard Bearer (10pts)

        * 14x Glade Guard (210pts)

            14x Hagbane Tips (42pts)

+ Special + (736pts)

The Wolfkin, Feral Knights of Dornatha

    * Tree Kin (270pts)

        6x Tree Kin (270pts)

The Outriders of Twilight, Huntsmen of Kurnous

    * Wild Riders (216pts)

        Champion (10pts), Standard Bearer (10pts)

        * 7x Wild Riders (196pts)

            7x Shields (14pts)

The Storm Wardens of Cythral, Rangers of the Huntsman

    * Wildwood Rangers (250pts)

        Champion (10pts), Musician (10pts), Standard Bearer (10pts), 20x Wildwood Rangers (220pts)

+ Rare + (525pts)

Scryah, the Last Shadow

    * Great Eagle (50pts)

        Great Eagle (50pts)

Gwynador, the Scion of the Sethayla

    * Great Eagle (50pts)

        Great Eagle (50pts)

Dornatha, the Verdant Rage

    * Treeman (225pts)

The Stalkers of the Silent Path

    * Waywatchers (200pts)

        10x Waywatchers (200pts)

Total: 2800 pts.

This army is intended to function a bit differently than it did before.  The army will still rely on mobility and focused assassination but the delivery method will change slightly.

1.       The General is now a close combat general and will be situated with the Wildwood Rangers.

2.       The Spellweaver will be located with the Glade Guard since her spells may be cast at a relatively safe distance.

3.       The Battle Standard Bearer will be placed with the Eternal Guard in order to provide Stubborn support.

4.       The Waystalker shall accompany the Waywatchers.

The army shall be divided up into four strike teams:

1^st Talon – Assassins in the Shadows

The first talon of this “bird of prey” shall be comprised of the Waystalker and the 10 Waywatchers in one unit with the twin Great Eagles accompanying them.  The Great Eagles will serve as warmachine hunters/blockers so that the Waywatchers and Waystalker may do what they do best: Assassination.

The Waystalker will fire two shots a turn at the enemy spellcasters or the battle standard bearer in hopes of removing the enemy leadership options.  The Waywatchers will focus on heavy cavalry, infantry or high armor targets in order to remove them from play.  When the Great Eagles are not serving as blockers, they will hunt loan characters, warmachines or serve as rear-charging combat resolution.

2^nd Talon – Blades of Loren

The second talon is the primary combat wing.  This group will have the Eternal Guard, the Wildwood Rangers and the Wild Riders working as a single combat entity.  The idea is that the Eternal Guard charge the front and soak up damage while the Wildwood Rangers and Wild Riders strike the flanks/rear and deliver merciless Strength 5 attacks.  Ideally these units shall battle in a forest to take advantage of the Forest Stalker rule.

3^rd Talon – Wrath of the Ancients

The third talon is the support close combat wing and defensive element to the army.  This element is comprised entirely of forest spirits; the Dryads, the Treekin and the Treeman.  With the reduction in Strength to the Forest Spirits as a whole, it is important that these units function as one combat element to overwhelm and destroy their targets.  Due to the higher toughness of these units and their immunity to psychology, their defensive strengths will work well to prevent flank charges and control the field by forming a fearsome line.  This talon will work in support of the 2^nd Talon and also provide defense to the 4^th Talon.

4^th Talon – The Darkening of the Skies

This fourth and final talon is comprised of the two Glade Guard units and the Shadow casting Spellweaver.  This unit has all Poisoned arrows (Hagbane) and will be the most “static” element in the army.  As the Wood Elves have lost their ability to ignore movement penalties, it serves this group best to minimize the amount of penalties they would suffer from shooting when trying to weaken other units.  This group will focus in debuffing the charge targets of the 2^nd and 3^rd talons, crippling movement of the big units trying to support the charge targets of the 2^nd and 3^rd talons, weakening the higher value toughness models in the army for the 1^st and 4^th talons, and finally wreaking havoc on the enemy lines with pit of shades or penumbral pendulum (not to mention a well-placed mindrazor doesn’t hurt either).

The poisoned shots should be able to remove warmachines and monsters from the battlefield opening up more opportune targets for the two close combat wings and assassination targets for the 1^st wing.

This list should (in theory) hold up against both heavy armor armies, fast moving armies (dark elves I’m looking at you) and heavy magic armies.  I will obviously still have some issues against horde style armies and some builds (that is just Warhammer – not everything is a perfect counter for everything else), but I feel that changing the unit strategies and realigning expectations on how I want a specific talon to work should do this new book justice.  The advent of having Lore of Shadow over Lore of Life is going to be big, especially since I will be using a close combat general now where before I had a ranged assassination general.

I am aware of the current “meta” that has been proposed that the Wood Elves need to focus on shooting and avoidance.  I am fully aware that many podcasts (except mine because I think Wood Elves are great!) think that this book is a lower tier book and need to avoid combat.  I will only say that I respectfully disagree and will enjoy making this list work in the new book.  I am of the mindset that proper balance and intelligent playing will trump the overpowered netlist or the “optimized” tournament list.  While I wanted to take certain combinations and synergies (2 units of 10 Waywatchers comes to mind, 3 units of Wild Riders, Sisters of Thorn character bunker for 2 Level 4’s of Shadow/Death or High/Dark, filling my entire Core selection with Glade Guard, 4 Waystalkers, etc…), I also have to take into consideration what is fun for me to play and more importantly is fun for my opponent.  I know I can take a specific combo and pretty much kill all characters in my opponent’s army by turn 3 without ever being in combat and break the back of their army.   Knowing how it can be accomplished and choosing not to field (or by extension fielding it and not taking full advantage of it) it is a strong balancing point for being a good opponent.

I will be testing this list out for the next month and a half before I have to submit my final list for the OFCC Warhammer Team event by July 1^st.  I’m sure I may make some modifications and it may well end up being that I really love how a specific unit works and I want more if it, we’ll have to see how everything pans out.

Until then, I’ll try to get some games going and some Battle Chronicler reports generated.  I’ll also feel more comfortable writing up some new tactics articles after a half a dozen or more games with the new book under my belt.

The Great Hunt, War Host of Athel Loren - v.1.0 - 2800 pt Wood Elf List

Here is the first run at a 2800 pt list I'm going to try out.  This is obviously not optimized but it's incorporating various units I want to try out or keep using.

Lords: 411

Glade Lord – Armor of Fortune, Great Weapon – 186 pts

Spellweaver – Level 4, Asrai Longbow, Lore of Shadow – 225 pts

Heroes: 360
Glade Captain – BSB, Talisman of Endurance – 130 pts

Spellsinger – Level 2, Asrai Longbow, Lore of Beasts – 120 pts

Waystalker – Bow of Loren – 110 pts

Core: 828

Dryads x 10 – 110 pts

Eternal Guard x 19, Full Command, Shields – 258 pts

Glade Guard x 14, Mus. Std Bearer, Hagbane Tips – 230 pts

Glade Guard x 14, Mus. Std Bearer, Hagbane Tips – 230 pts

Special: 656

Tree Kin x 4 – 180 pts

Wild Riders x 7 - Champion, Std. Bearer, Shields – 216 pts

Wildwood Rangers x 20 – Full Command, Banner of Eternal Flame – 260 pts

Rare: 545

Great Eagle

Great Eagle

Treeman – Strangleroot – 245

Waywatchers x 10 – 200 pts

Total: 2800

I am eager to see how Lore of Shadows and Lore of Beasts work together for Wood Elves (As I know how well they work together for Beastmen).  I am also eager to see how the Waystalker with the Bow of Loren performs.  I am unsure how a diminished Treekin unit will perform (as I am loathe to replace a unit that was such a reliable hammer in the old list).  I anticipate the Waywatchers will once again prove why they are my favorite unit and I'll see how the close combat version of my general works out.  (Keep in mind for the past 5+ years he's been only armed with Bow of Loren/Arcane Bodkins)

None of the units shall receive a name until they have proven themselves in battle!  Also, I don't want to go through the trouble of creating a wicked awesome backstory only to nuke the unit cause it failed to meet my expectations.

We'll see!

A triumphant return!

I have not really been able to blog much in the past 2 months due to an injury that occurred when my C6/C7 disc in my neck herniated and decided to pinch off the nerve in my arm.  Since then it's been pretty much uninterrupted pain 24/7 which made doing anything such as typing, walking, modeling, etc... just ridiculously painful.  

So on April 14th, I decided to go ahead and have surgery to fix this issue and by God it worked!  So I return triumphant and ready to get my hobby on (as soon as I can bend my neck and turn my head that is - still wearing a neckbrace for a few more days)!

My surgeon did live up to all my expectations when he came out to update my wife after everything was done and said in his best Obi-won Kenobi voice "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."

So personal update aside - I return with a new zest and excitement for the next few months as the Wood Elves are rumored to be out in May!  After a long and I do mean long awaited release of a new book, (2005 to be exact) I eagerly await to see how they have changed or better yet updated my favorite army.  

Many rumors state that they are getting rid of the Eternal Guard, making everything skirmishers, etc..  I am not going to concern myself with any of that until the new book has been released.  Based upon the relatively solidness of the last 2 elf books and the dwarfs, I can safely surmise that the Wood Elves will be just fine and my enjoyment in this hobby will continue.

I also eagerly await the 3rd book in the Wood Elf triology - The Council of Beasts.  The last book, Tears of Isha, had me very nervous as to how they are going to move forward with the Wood Elves lore wise.  Darius Hinks has done a pretty good job of instilling this idea of "noble savagery" to the Wood Elves.  Rather than the cold and overly regal demeanor that you see in High Elves or the cruelty and malevolence in Dark Elves; the Wood Elves have been portrayed (to me) as a very shamanistic and clannish society that still has a caste system.  Also, the alliance between forest spirits and the Asrai (Wood Elves) seems to be strained at best, more of a barely tolerable arrangement where the Asrai treat the Forest Spirits like a dog with distemper - fierce and can turn on you at any moment.  There also seems to be an ancient and dark magic rather that permeates the woods of Athel Loren, I have not decided if it is 100% good or evil but rather just ..feral.  I eagerly await the next book!

So I think that perhaps the authors of the new Wood Elf army book and Darius Hinks will have redefined how the Wood elf army is perceived as well as played in the next book.   

In an effort to maintain my sanity and the sanity of my wife, I have put all hobby projects on hold.  I will be waiting for 2 weeks for the new Wood Elf book and then I shall unload the hobby Armageddon as I recreate the Great Hunt once again!  I will also be reviewing each unit and playtesting heavily to see how they function for a whole new Wood Elf: Tactica!

For now, I'll try to fit in a few book reviews until our great event occurs!

Army Updating – Embracing Change

Army Updating – Embracing Change

                It is always difficult to embrace change, especially when you have become very used to performing tasks a specific way.  When the 8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy came out back in July of 2010, many players were upset because they were forced to adapt their armies and play styles to a new format.  The game changed on a scale that required a hard reboot on how many people not only built their armies but also how they played the game.  The idea of Multiple Small Unit (MSU) armies went the way of the dodo and the era of large units and destructive magic began.  As I had just gotten back into Fantasy about a year and a half before 8^th edition had come out, I only had one army to really update and that was my Wood Elves.  When I made the decision to update the army, I had to look at how the new game system operated, what rules directly impacted my army the most and most importantly what tools I would need in order to survive in the new “age” of Warhammer Fantasy.  The fortunate part of updating at the beginning of the new edition was that I was able to embrace the new edition with open arms because I knew a new army book was not coming out soon and I would be able to play with the army for a long time.  I also was aware that all of my old tactics would not be useful and as a result be providing a disadvantage to me rather than help me be successful.

                So for my Wood Elf army I capitalized on Mobility, Focused Firepower and Assassination as my primary objectives for building the army.  I was able to break down how I felt the game would flow and make tactics and decisions about the army that created positive results and I was able to use units that the “current meta” or “tournament” scene did not find useful.  There were many of our gaming clubs however that did not embrace the new edition and struggled with realigning their tactics to work with the new rule set.  Some of those players quit, took breaks from playing or struggled through the edition until they figured out what worked for them.  Therein lays the issue that many gamers face, a lot of people like making “a list” that they use over and over.  Gamers prefer what is familiar and as a result will seek to use that which is familiar in their gaming.  Many struggle for a while when a new book or edition comes out because they are forced to reprogram their mind as to how the unit works in the new book from the old book.

                With the release of 6^th edition Warhammer 40,000 in June 2012, I was faced with a similar dilemma.  I had been playing 40k 5^th edition so much with the same “lists” for my Eldar and Black Templars that most games were almost auto-pilot in some regards.  However in 6^th edition, Games Workshop completely changed the way the game system worked.  In 5^th edition the Assault phase was king, and armies that brought units that could unleash a hellstorm of attacks in close combat were devastating.  You could blast your transports forward at full tilt and if they survived the next turn because they weren’t Destroyed or Exploded, you could disembark your death squad and assault the hell out of your opponent.  Now in 6^th edition, the game is far more shooting oriented.  Assault armies have been nullified and the day of the bolt-gun has dawned and the day of the chainsword has set.  An incredible amount of army configurations were nullified when 6^th edition came out, especially with the advent of Allies and Fortifications.  So with all the changes to transports, shooting, assaults, the reimplementation of overwatch, flyers, pre-measuring and Look out Sirs, the additional confounding issue that I ran into was that two of my armies were getting updated within a few months of each other.

                 With all of these compounding changes and rules, I began to struggle with trying to build the “list” to use in this new edition.  I then ran into the additional issue with the release of the Escalation and Stronghold Assault rule sets.  It became painfully apparent that the days of having “one list to rule them all” were long over.  Keep in mind that until my children were born I was pretty keen on being a competitive player in both Fantasy and 40k.  As my children reached their delivery date, I began to slowly back away from that mentality as my free time to spend playing in tournaments was severely impacted.  There are now far too many variables and options to make a viable and competitive all comers list that you could participate with in a tournament.  The advent of D weapons in standardized game play and the Forge World becoming official.  Games Workshop suddenly began inundating the market with options and rules for everyone and marked all of these options as “Official”. 

                 So with all these new options and accessible rules, I still struggled trying to come up with a list that I felt was “right”. 

                 It has been pointed out to me that once I have decided upon a theme that is loosely or tightly based off what I feel is fluff that I will put arbitrary restrictions on myself on what I feel “fits” the way a specific chapter, craftworld or army should be played and what units it should contain. 

                 Despite my own self imposed restrictions which tend to be more of a hindrance than helpful, I am faced with updating two armies I have owned for a very long time; my Black Templars and my Ulthwe` Eldar.  I played both of these armies as assault armies in 5^th edition, so when the new codices were released I realized that the days of ramming it up the center and assaulting with a hammer were over.  The reason is mainly because these days everyone and their mother bring more than enough firepower to deal with a unit or two breaching their perimeter.  Tactics and strategies I once used are now no longer viable.  What is a player to do in an edition where his army book and rule set have changed within six months of each other?  An additional conundrum is what is a player to do when new rules have been implemented that change the entire face of the battlefield?

                The answer is simple in this respect.  It took me a few weeks to figure out what I wanted to do mainly because I have always built a list first then built the army after.  Any small tactical changes which required units being swapped out was always done in the initial stages as to now waste money or time.  Now I have to throw all of that methodology out and adopt the new practice of building units that I am familiar with or like and making a list when the game is decided upon.  It is entirely possible that in a week I could be invited to play a 2,000 point game of 40k, a 1500 point game of 40k, a 2.5k game of 40k with Lord of War allowances and a 2000 point game with Stronghold Assault rules.    A single list isn’t going to be very effective in all those games but having units that I like and know how to use is. 

 

So enter the age of the collection lists and bid a fond farewell to the days of the static all comers list used in every game.  Enter the age of lists that will have more guns than blades and where the battlefield and battleforce are equally dynamic.  Enter the age of spending more time creating a unit with a story and then fleshing out that story every time you play.  Lastly, enter the age were its finally possible to build a narrative and create a fun and exciting game.

While this issue isn’t as prevalent in Warhammer Fantasy 8^th edition, I still have a Wood Elf army that will need to be updated in 2014 which I am both excited and dreading!

 

Armies on the Update Docket:
1. Ulthwe` Eldar – I want to create a themed Ulthwe` Strike Force that I can sub out options and maintain the Guardian and Seer Council theme.

2.  Black Templars – I want to build a narrative crusade full of characters, knights and zealots who are still determined to bring the Emperor’s wrath by bolter and chainsword.

3.  Wood Elves – this army will be getting updated sometime this year.  I can only pray that they do a good job with the book and do not unintentionally make most of its builds impossible to play successfully.

So I’ll wrap up this long winded whine with the realization that I have become more casual than competitive and honestly, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.  That is not to say that whatever lists I use are not going to be efficient and cock-punching but I can guarantee they will be fluffy themed and fun too!

Hopefully, this year will be filled with interesting and fun hobby updates as I build my armies.

The Company of the Damned - Year in Review 2013

The Company of the Damned – Year in Review 2013

Last year I published the 2^nd “Year in Review” where I rehashed the goals for 2012 and how well I did with meeting them.  Well this year will be no different!  I have a whole bunch of 2013 goals and aspirations that I totally failed to meet and take great joy in talking about them!

Let’s kick this off!

Ten Goals for 2013 and The Company of the Damned

1.       Finish paniting the 2800 point Bretonnian army for OFCC 2013 Fantasy – Success
2.       Purchase, assemble and paint a Wood Elf Blood Bowl Team – Failure
3.       Fully catalogue the Wood Elf army book in the Wood Elf Tactica Library and provide an entry for every current army book under the Preferred Enemies articles – Failure
4.       Assemble and paint the 2000 point Dark Eldar army using the Crimson Sigil army list posted in the blog. – Failure
5.       Assemble and paint the rest of the 50 point Retribution of Scyrah army. – Failure
6.       Assemble and paint the 50 point Circle Orboros army – Failure
7.       Assemble and paint a 35 soul stone Malifaux Lady Justice Crew – Failure
8.       Participate in the OFCC 2013 Fantasy Event – Success
9.       Participate in the OFCC 2013 40k Event– Success
10.   Promote and double the current listener audience for the Deployment Zone podcast – Failure

 

As you can see I was not the most successful hobbyist as far as reaching my goals for 2013.  Most of these I was partially successful in.

Examples:

1.       I purchased and assembled the Wood Elf Blood Bowl Team.
2.       I catalogued 2 Wood Elf Tactica and 6 Preferred Enemies articles.
3.       I assembled and painted 1100 points of Dark Eldar.
4.       I assembled 122 points of Retribution of Scyrah.
5.       I assembled 68 points of Circle Orboros.
6.       I assembled 35 soul stones worth of Malifaux.
7.       We increased our listener base by 18% this past calendar year for the Deployment Zone and the blog increased its membership by 21%.

Major Accomplishments of 2013 for the Company of the Damned

1.       I won the Operation #Steakbet and it was glorious.
2.       I managed to build in 2 weeks 70% of my unassembled models.
3.       I ran a successful online 40k Campaign called The Black Spiral and had over 220 submissions.
4.       Built and played with my first De Bellis Antiquitatis army – The Vikings.
5.       Bought my first air brush!

 

I see now that I didn’t have many Major Accomplishments in the hobby because I realized that fatherhood is time consuming and it’s extremely important to be focused on being a dad first and a hobbyist second.  As my girls grow I find myself having more time to do hobby stuff while they go to sleep which is good, so for 2014 I think I’m going to keep things kind of simple for goals and see where that leads me.

The Company of the Damned goals for 2014!

1.       Assemble and paint 2800 points of Warriors of Chaos.
2.       Update my Wood Elf army when the new book comes out this year.
3.       Update my Black Templars with a few units.
4.       Update my Ulthwe` Eldar with a few units.
5.       Paint 50 points of Retribution of Scyrah.
6.       Paint 50 points of Circle Orboros.
7.       Post at least four articles a month on the blog whether they be hobby updates, tournament/event coverage, unit tactica or random crap.

 

There we have it folks, the crazy goals for 2014.  I hope this year proves to be more productive than last year but at the same token if it’s not… no big deal.

 

Dark Elves Army Book First Look

Dark Elves Army Book First Look

The new Dark Elves army book has been out now for almost two weeks and so it’s time to do a brief review (yeah right) of the army book and what has changed.  First and foremost, I think it is very important to point out that Mat Ward wrote the book.  As it is obvious to everyone, whenever Mat Ward writes a book you can expect the army to be strong. 

The book is written very well, the layout flows smoothly and you really get a concise feel for the Dark Elf race, and I have to hand it to Mat Ward, I was not expecting such a well written lore section as this.  The lore is told from the perspective of the Dark Elves, which puts an interesting slant on the perception of events.  The book also provides a full pantheon of all the elven deities worshipped by all three “elven races”.  Lastly, this could be the most thorough and complete encapsulation of a race’s lore and background of any of the newer books to date. 

Book Layout:

A.      The Dark Elves – this section describes the Dark Elf race, the effects of chaos and the goals of the Dark Elves as a whole.

1.       Describes all three elven races: High, Dark and Wood Elves.

2.       Describes how the Dark Elves few the other two races.

-          Hate the High Elves for their betrayal

-          Hate the Wood Elves because they seek not to rule but only endure

3.       Puts an interesting spin on the “touch” of Chaos on all three races.

-          High Elves it made them more stubborn and convinced that only they can save the world.

-          Wood Elves it made them more isolationist and convinced that they are in control of their kingdom as long as they managed their forest.

-          Dark Elves it brought enlightenment that all races exist to serve them and to be ruled.

4.       The book strongly emphasizes the Dark Elves dedication to Khaine and how his influence has affected them as a race.

B.      Naggaroth – this section describes the home of the Dark Elves and provides background and lore about their cities.  It goes into detail providing information about the major ciies like King Malekith’s city of Naggarond, the Tower of Cold or his mother Morathi’s home, Ghrond the Tower of Prophecy..

C.      Annals of the Black Tower – this section outlines the timeline and history of the Dark Elves told from their perspective.  It really is an interesting take on their history as you see the High Elves and Wood Elves being repeatedly punished by the Dark Elves for their “weakness”.  It’s an interesting read and I recommend not skipping the fluff!

D.      Army Special Rules – this section I will write out in a list format to provide a brief description of each unit.  I will be doing a Preferred Enemies selection on some of these units as I have now experience against them.  For the sake of brevity however for this post, I will merely be listing out some of the information on each unit.

The Murderous Host:
 Army Special Rules:

1. Murderous Prowess - re-roll all rolls of 1 to Wound in close combat

2. Hekarti's Blessing - +1 to cast spells from Lore of Dark magic

3. Eternal Hatred - Models have Hatred, and it's hatred applies every round of close combat.

4. Always Strikes First.

Armory Changes/Updates:

1. Sea Dragon Cloak - 5+ scaly skin – this is a huge upgrade to the Corsairs and to any character which will now provide Dreadlords with a pretty easy 2+ armor save.

2. Repeater Crossbows - Str 3 - multishot, armor piercing

3. Repeater Handbows - Str 3 - multishot, quick to fire

Army Lay Out:

* New Unit

Lords:
Dreadlord - same price - still most solid pick of General and is very cost effective choice.

Supreme Sorceress - huge upgrade -dropped 40 pts in price and gained access to all 8 Lores of Magic when previously they had Dark, Fire, Shadow, Metal or Death.

High Beastmaster* - 300 pt mounted Lord who gets either free manticore or Scourgerunner chariot.  May grant one beast within 3" of him +d3 attacks per round.

Black Ark Fleetmaster* - Lord with access to 50 pts of magic items, when in challenge and survives - his unit gains Unbreakable for 1 round.  Works well for a Pirate themed army.

Heroes:
Master - went down 10 pts.

Sorceress - went down 20 pts and gained access to all 8 lores.

Death Hag - went down 5 pts and gained some upgrade options that affect her units also may ride the new updated Cauldron of Blood.

                1. Cry of War - unit now causes Fear but has -3 to LD when testing to restrain.

                2. Rune of Khaine - Death Hag has +d3 Attacks per round.

                3. Witchbrew - unit gains frenzy or if already has frenzy +2 attacks rather than 1.

Khainite Assassin* - moved from Core to Hero slot.

Cauldron of Blood – this unit received a huge upgrade in this book for now it:

                1. May join units now and is a special chariot that can march - i.e. charges = impact hits

                Has the Bloodshield of Khaine rule that does the following:

                a. Cauldron of Blood = 4+ ward save

                b. Witch elves/Hags and Death Hags in same unit or mounted on it have 5+ ward

                c. All other models in same unit have a 6+ ward.

                2. Fury of Khaine - augment spell (3 casting cost) - target gains frenzy if it already has frenzy then it gains +2 rather than +1 attack.

                3. Strength of Khaine - models with Murderous Prowess special rule in units within 6" of the Cauldron reroll all failed to Wound rolls.

Core: - the units went up in price to make them more in line with the High Elves choices but their options are still very, very solid in this army.

Dreadspears* - Dark Elf Warriors with Spears

Bleakswords* - Dark Elf Warriors with Swords

Darkshards - renamed Dark Elf Crossbowmen

Black Ark Corsairs - went down in price but have to take either additional hand weapon or repeater handbows which makes them 11 pts over their previous 10 pt cost.

Dark Riders - went down in cost and giving them crossbows got cheaper

Witch Elves* - moved from Special to Core and went up a point.  Perhaps the most effective unit now combined with a Cauldron of Blood or a properly equipped Death Hag.

Special:

Cold One Knights - still a solid choice but went up in cost by 3 points.

Black Guard of Naggarond: - went up to 15 pts but also are no longer limited to a maximum of 20 in unit. Still a very solid choice and with ASF and Halberds they can wreck some damage.

Shades: no real changes.

Cold One Chariot - went up 15 pts in cost, still a solid chariot

Har Ganeth Executioners - went from being a fluffy choice to one of the new power hitters of the new book. ASF + Great weapons means Init 6 Great weapon attacks at WS5.  Solid choice now.

Reaper Bolt Thrower* - moved from Rare to Special, got 30 pts cheaper and is not limited to 3 per army but rather 4.

Harpies* - moved from Core to Special went up 4 pts.

Scourgerunner Chariot* - t4 Chariot w/ S7 Bolt thrower for 150 pts.

War Hydra* - went down 15 pts, moved from Rare to Special, lost regen but new rule is roll a D6 equal to the difference of the current number of wounds and the starting wounds, i.e. the Hydra has 2 wounds left you roll 3 dice.  On a roll of a 4+ you regain a wound per die - provided Hydra is alive.  Also the hydra has a number of attacks equal to 3 + its current number of heads and may buy a breath weapon and ranged shooting attack as upgrades.  Cause this model wasn’t a pain in the ass in it’s previous incarnation.

Rare:

Doomfire Warlocks* - new unit, 25 pts each. These guys are similar to Blue Scribes where they start out at L2 wizard as a unit and gain +1 to cast per additional rank to a max of +3. Unit suffers d3 wounds if they miscast. They know the spells... Soulblight or Doombolt.  Also against models with Mark of Slaanesh or Daemons of Slaanesh, they lose their 4+ ward save.  Mat Ward did a good job of incorporating their lore into the unit’s rules. – Bravo Mat, Bravo.

Kharibdyss* - 160 pt monster with poisoned attacks and makes models in base contact reroll successful leadership rolls.  Also in combat if all its close combat attacks are directed and hit the same model (not unit), then target model takes an additional D6 S7 hits.  - very powerful character killer or monster hunter.

Sisters of Slaughter* - New infantry models that are 15 pts each, have a 4+ ward save against attacks in close combat. Also units in contact with the Sisters of Slaughter gain no combat bonus for additional ranks and may not use parry saves.  Also if they are in base contact with 1 model that has a higher strength or weapon skill they gain +1 to hit and wound.

Bloodwrack Medusa* - 90 pt T4 Monster that has the special rule Avert your Gaze! - models in base contact must pass an initiative test  or suffer a S4 hit with Killing Blow special rule and no armour save is allowed.  It's a magical attack.  Also has Bloodwrack Stare that is a 12" range Str 4 hit that is a Multiple Shots (4) and Killing Blow attack.

Bloodwrack Shrine* -  same options as the Bloodwrack Medusa and also like the Cauldron of Blood it may join units as well (and subsequently cause impact hits and march) .  It also has the Aura of Agony rule - Dark Elves within 6" have +1 to Leadership, non -Dark Elves suffer -1 to LD.

Lore of the Dark

Lore Attribute:

Spiteful Conjuration: - if the Dark Elf wizard successfully casts a hex, magic missile or direct damage spell against a unit then the unit suffers 2d6 S1 hits with armor piercing rule.  If the roll contains a triple its then 3d6 S1 hits with armor piercing.

Power of Darkness: - Sig Spell

Cast on 8+

Augment that targets caster's unit.  The unit gains +1 Str and the wizard gains D3 dice to his pool.  If generated 3 dice he takes a wound with no armor save.

Doombolt - Sig Spell

Cast on 12+

Magic Missile - 18" range  - 2d6 Str 5 hits. Bigger version requires a 24 and its 4d6 Str 5 hits.

Chillwind - Cast on 5+, Magic Missile

24" range, 2d6  Str 2 hits. If target is wounded -1 to BS for a turn.

Word of Pain - Cast on 9+/12+, Hex

24" range, models in unit suffer -D3 to WS and BS, bigger version affects Str and Init as well.

Bladewind - Cast on 9+, Direct Damage

24" range, every model must pass a WS test or suffer  Str 4 hit with armor piercing rule.

Shroud of Despair - Cast on 10+, Hex

12" range, all enemy units do not benefit from Hold Your Ground! special rule or Inspiring Presence.  Also if target fails a LD test it suffers -1 to LD for a turn.

Soul Stealer - Cast on 11+/14+, Direct Damage

small round template, 18" range. Place it and scatter D6.  All models hit by template suffer S2 hit with no armor saves.  D6 for each wound caused, on a 4+ caster gains a wound up to 10 wounds.  May extend to bigger version which has 36" range.

Arnzipal's Black Horrow - Cast on 15+/25+, Magical Vortex

small round template, remains in play, models touched by template - Str test or die, no armor saves but may make ward save - no mention of regen.  Otherwise functions like Purple Sun.

Magic Items have undergone a rather big change.  Rather than list them all, I will touch on a few:

- Hydra blade is now 100 pts and has random attacks of A+D6.  Also wielder must make LD test at -2 every round. If he passes nothing happens, if he fails he suffers -5 penalty to WS and gains Heroic Killing Blow til end of round.

- Ring of Hotek gives MR3 now.  Enemy wizards now suffer miscasts on rolls of double 1's within 6"

- Sacraficial dagger - one per casting attempt may sacrifice 1 model in unit and roll a D6, on a 4+ they gain another die they must use immediately.  On a 3 or less the dagger failed and you may sacrifice another model.

Special characters:  I will touch on these another time perhaps as the topic of a discussion.  Mat Ward did a good job on reducing their power levels while still keeping their fluff in tact.

Overall, the Dark Elves army book provides the player with several options for multiple builds and all of them are solid.  The book is fully of synergistic combos that provide the player with so many new options and strategies to capitalize on during gameplay. 

Ex:  Placing a Cauldron of Blood in a horde of Witch Elves and charging with Executioners and Witch Elves into a unit.  Cast the big version of Word of Pain into the unit and have both units hitting on 3’s, and rerolling their to wound rolls since they are within 6” of Cauldron.  Not to mention the Ward save you can provide your Witches with the Cauldron being in unit (or the impact hits the Cauldron causes when you charge with it IN the unit it’s in).

As I mentioned before, I will be doing a series of Preferred Enemies to provide Wood Elf players with some guidelines and strategies on how to deal with their Dark Kin.

Thanks,