tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56559299209379385652024-03-21T07:06:15.591+00:00The Nation of ProcrastiAvoiding painting over 5 wargames systems and countingBrax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-55037936770347770982015-11-09T12:58:00.001+00:002015-11-09T16:35:03.760+00:00Malifaux Journal - The Night of The Carver<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i>Ain't It just my luck to be in the same goddam shanty town as a Carver sighting on All Hallow’s Eve. With the Neverborn massing to boot! I’ve tried reasoning with Ironsides that Union business takes precedence over this. We should find the renegade and extract him as soon as possible, let the Guild handle this problem. But the crazy bitch wants to test her mettle and our safety be damned!</i></div>
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<i>If I survive this, I’ll be sure to make my feelings on the matter known to the boss! If I don’t, may my soul forever haunt her nights!</i></div>
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<i>-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>From the journal of Josephine Evelyn Ness</i></div>
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Last week I played my first game of Malifaux since Vapnartak against Ben, for whom it had been even longer. I used the opportunity to start my Arcanists, in this case Ironsides, and Ben took Collodi as he'd been wanting to use his fully painted crew for some time. </div>
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As it was nearly Halloween when we played, we decided to play the Night of the Carver scenario from the Crossroads book. Neither of us have enough experience to know how balanced the scenario is, but it was more about playing a game and getting back in to the swing of the mechanics after so long out of it. </div>
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The Strategy for the game was for me to score 1 VP per turn if I was able to kill or sacrifice at least 2 of the opposing crew, and for Ben, he was required to flip a card to determine his conditions. In this case he flipped a Ram meaning that he would score 4 VPS if he killed either a Henchman or the Leader. We weren’t too sure if we were supposed to determine schemes or not, but we decided not to.</div>
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I must admit that I did feel a bit bad with my crew selection as it was geared entirely to damage outpost, and as I took Johanna as well as the Captain, I had two Relic Hammers to use against an almost entirely construct crew. Truth be told I had considered taking Taelor for a third Relic Hammer, but in the end I decided that I would rather use a Gunsmith so that I could return to the idea of creating a running narrative for my games by including <a href="http://thenationofprocrasti.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/malifaux-journal-forging-narrative.html#more" target="_blank">Josephine Ness</a> (I didn't name her before so will have to write a bit more info about her elsewhere).</div>
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After a slow first turn of trying not to kill anything for as long as possible, but at the same time be on the verge of killing many, I finally finished off the model Ben had designated to be Carver’s Sacrifice, and Ben was excited by his arrival as it meant he could unleash carnage with him almost immediately. It wasn’t to be however, as I had 1 AP remaining on the Oxfordian Mage that had caused the Carver to be summoned, and although I flipped a Black Joker for damage, the appearance of that card meant that Carver became my model to control before Ben even got a chance to use him!</div>
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That pretty much summed up the game. Every time a Joker was flipped giving Ben control, another was flipped before he got any decent use out of him.</div>
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By the end of turn four I had managed to flip Carver back to my control and then wipe out Ben’s crew meaning that with no more card flips needed, Ben couldn’t kill The Captain nor Ironsides to take the victory, though that said, he had managed to do enough damage to them throughout the game that had he control of Carver for even just one activation longer, he’d have killed either of them with ease and AP to spare! I think to add insult to injury, it was his attempt to gain reactivate with Carver that caused this (the Carver player may flip four cards to gain the condition, thus increasing the risk of flipping a Joker and giving Carver to your opponent)</div>
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The result of the game was 2 VPs to Nil in my favour, but to be fair, had there been schemes in play, I doubt that I would have won, and in any case it was hard fought as it was.<br />
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It was good to play the game after so long, and as for once it wasn’t a tournament game I was able to take a bit more time to make choices, and given it was a new faction for me to play, that was a godsend. I did enjoy the way the crew played, but saying that, as I said before, while it excels at damage, it is rather lacklustre at dropping schemes or similar. I need to have a bit of a think what I want to swap out and in to try and mitigate that issue without diluting the hitting power too much. Whilst Johanna does at least have Finish the Job, I don’t really want to depend on such an expensive model dying in order to gain just one scheme marker.<br />
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I suspect eventually I will need to go to a second master to achieve a more scheme orientated force, but to start with I want to stick with Ironsides to get to grips with how to use her.<br />
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Josie didn't make too much impact in the game, though I think she took down a wicked doll or two. But that's all fine as I don't want her to be all powerful anyway.<br />
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<i>I don't know what was more disturbing, the sight of The Carver, or how quickly it turned on its own kind. We barely took a scratch. Ironsides and The Captain took a beating, and Johanna went down, but all will pull through. </i><br />
<i>I can't help feeling that something else was at work. I give thanks to whatever or whomever watched over us tonight, but I worry for the debt that such protection has cost us. </i><br />
<i>-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>From the journal of Josephine Evelyn Ness</i><br />
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Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-20473444827385833092015-10-12T17:22:00.002+01:002015-10-12T17:24:13.254+01:00This week in Immoren: Breast Cancer Brawling<div>
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Just a quick one today. I went to Leeds Warmachine's Breast Cancer Brawl yesterday along with Ben. I think it is fair to say that we both had a great day.
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I think that with two wins out of five games, I didn't do that badly to say that I've only played Minions for a bit over a month, and for the most part I have been playing them in smaller games.</div>
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At five games, it was a long day that started with both Ben and I already feeling tired, but in the end it was well worth it. In the order I played, I faced two sets of Merc opponents (Bart then Cognifex Cyphon), a Cygnar player (pCaine), Retribution (Rahn) and finally Menoth Kreoss. I used Arkadius for the first and third game and Helga for the others.</div>
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All my games except the last ended with dice down and were determined by points remaining, so at least I must have been doing something right. As for poor Kreoss, it wasn't really his fault that he got killed as he made a valiant attempt at killing Helga and when my Road hog finally pasted the old man, Helga only had one box remaining.</div>
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As for the other games, I was well on my way to killing Cyphon and Caine when the call to end was made, and i had taken a reasonable toll on Rahn's forces too, though in the end for all three, it either wasn't enough of a toll, or at too high a cost for my own forces.</div>
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That said, I enjoyed playing both lists and learned a lot from the games I had, and I have ideas how to hone and expand from here.</div>
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One of the perks that BCB has is that they give out pink versions of the cards for each battlebox to the best in faction. Ben managed to get the Ret one, and although I was technically the second Minion player, I got the Carver card as the other guy got Calaban.</div>
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So this was the standings for the event. </div>
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In a convoluted turn of events, because I won my last game, it meant that Dave Wilkinson (who had challenged me to no avail) didn't get the wooden spoon he was wanting. Sorry Dave.</div>
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At the latest count, the event raised over £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support, so well done to Mark Peyton and Dave Millington!</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-61491435908899396852015-10-08T17:19:00.000+01:002015-10-12T17:23:42.184+01:00This week in Immoren: Meat's back on the menu boys!<div>
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If you read <a href="http://thenationofprocrasti.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-state-of-nation-2015-part-2.html" target="_blank">my last post</a> you will know that I have begun work on my Farrow for Warmachine. Initially this was for the Journeyman League but will also be for the Breast Cancer Brawl tournament on Sunday. </div>
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I have set myself the task of painting at least one standard sized legal list for each system and initially this will be an Arkadius Nature of the Beast theme force at 50 points. It obviously includes lots of Warbeasts which means that I will at least be able to field some painted warbeasts in other lists if nothing else!</div>
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The sceptics amung you will rightly point out that that is still a lot of models for <i>me</i> to paint, and usually you would be correct. This time however, I am determined and have set myself a routine that I think even I will be able to follow. As the journeyman and the first tournament I will be attending is only 35 points, I'm initially working on that with the idea being to expand the remaining 15 points once the first set is finished. </div>
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As such these are the models I need to paint.</div>
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The two painted Gorax are being loaned to me by Luke as my own are being converted by Snooty Fox from Hull's Angels and may not be ready in time, but to be honest if it is just two less of my own models painted on the day, I can live with that as by that stage I'm hoping the incentive to crack on will be enough for me to continue. </div>
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Just to show that it isn't all talk, here is the list as it is now.</div>
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Despite their simplicity, they have taken me a while to get done as the Razor Boars were essentially the test models for the scheme and as such I wanted to make sure I not only got the right, but that I would be able to recreate once I moved on to the more elaborate models. </div>
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I had hoped to get the 35 points painted by Sunday, and I'm not sure that will happen now, but I will at least give it a go. </div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-63941149794138208572015-09-25T20:30:00.000+01:002015-10-01T12:58:28.249+01:00The State of the Nation 2015 - Part 2<div>
So upon review I have realised that I had left out Malifaux from my plans for the year. Far from being intentional I guess it's the issue you face with so many games in various states of activity. As such I thought I would write another post that included Malifaux and then discuss a couple of other things that I've been considering since the last post.
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So Malifaux. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>I've played using Ressurectionists exclusively since I began playing Malifaux after M2e arrived, and while I've not had that many games in total, I feel like I've been using them for ever and getting nowhere. I still love them, I think Malifaux is the closest I've ever gotten to playing an Undead faction the way my imagination thinks they should work, and as such I'm keeping them handy in case I ever want to have a go with them in the next year. After all, they aren't taking up that much space by not being in storage anyway. </div>
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However, as I said I fancy a bit of a change, even if it's just from an assembly and theoryfaux point of view. I had a good long think about it and whilst (typically for me) all the factions had some pull, I narrowed my desires to Guild, Outcasts and Arcanists. I don't have much Guild aside for he Lady J box I bought to use with both Tara and McMourning, and although I'm always happy for new stuff to buy, it would mean a large investment based upon a whim.</div>
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I already had a couple of crew starters for both the other two factions. For the Arcanists I had Mei Feng and Ramos and for Outcasts I had Misaki, the Viks and Tara. Although I was confident that the Ten Thunders connection in either faction's available options wasn't likely to cause me a distraction once I started, I couldn't shake the thought that the possibility of Tara would keep me thinking Ressers when I should be thinking Outcasts. </div>
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In the end the release of the Ironsides crew was really what swung it. I loved the artwork and when I saw the miniatures I liked them even more. Except Mouse. Still not sure on Mouse. </div>
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So that was my decision made. In truth, this thought process began in January and continued through to last week. It also links nicely with an idea that started ( http://thenationofprocrasti.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/malifaux-journal-forging-narrative.html#more ) whereby I had intended to create an ongoing narrative for a single model. I may amend the details somewhat, but still plan to continue with this. </div>
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Having now assembled the Ironsides crew I think that will be the one I start with. I've had a few chats about her with my friend Dave, and while I am taking his advice on board, I think at least at first I need to play the box more or less as is. </div>
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As such I'm hoping to fit in a few more games this year, and had I been a bit more experienced by now I would have loved to have taken part in the Wyrd worldwide campaign.</div>
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Painting. We know I hate it, we know I avoid it at all costs. Some know it's because of a viscous cycle I feel I'm in of not good enough a painter, need practice, don't want to ruin models so don't paint, rinse, repeat. </div>
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However I also hate unpainted models. Even <i>I</i> struggle to identify which is which when they are white metal silver or plastic grey, and I'm far more used to them than even a regular opponent is. As such I think enough is enough and I want to try and put in a concerted effort to get some paint on the models of every game I play (that doesn't already feature pre painted miniatures).</div>
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I'm realistic about this, it's going to take time, especially for me. For this reason I'm going to do this in sections. As per the last post I'm playing five games that need forces painting and all vary in size and detail. First things first I'm going to set myself a year to achieve this and then review it. I don't expect to get through five games worth of forces by then either, especially since in all of those I have multiple factions. </div>
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Therefore the intention is to choose one faction from each game to paint. From there paint one legal force at a point level (or equivalent terminology) equal to that game's standard/tournament standard. So for example, Warmachine and Hordes would be 50 points, Infinity is 300 points, Malifaux is 50 Soul Stones and Batman is 300 rep (which may become 350 once I'm more used to the game). Guild Ball is a little trickier in terms of what size to go for, but only a bit. Technically I could just paint six models, but I think I will opt to make it eight minimum for tournament purpose, especially as at the moment it's likely I will paint either the Alchemists or the Butchers, both of which have been started. I think it is important to not 'lock in' a set list at the beginning of the project and allow for adjustments and refinements as well as new additions, after all this is about getting a minimum level painted, not following a strict regime. If at the end of each project I have more painted than intended, then great, but not to the detriment of the overall goal of getting paint on all games' forces.</div>
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Despite the talk of Malifaux earlier on it will likely be Warmachine that I begin with. As I said last time I am taking part in a Journeyman League and a tournament not long after and so although painting the next batch Trolls may seemed logical, it will be the Farrow up first. With an Arkadius list I have the benefit of very few rank and file troops to paint, so hopefully that will speed up the process. </div>
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I will give each project its own series of posts, if only to try and show myself some progress, and in them chart how I'm finding the project. </div>
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The last thing I want to talk about is my writing, and I want some genuine feedback on this. I do enjoy writing, and so want to do more of it. Moreover I have always enjoyed linking it up with gaming. As such some of my posts have included writing I have done or an 'intro' in the form of a story. Do you guys like this? Do you want more or less of it? Have you got any thoughts on the style I use? </div>
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Basically I can show as much of my gaming related writing to my family, my tutors and fellow students as I like, and whilst they may be able to comment on the technique or the theme etc, to them it is out of context. Furthermore I often have to amend what I write for that audience so it doesn't seem as strange to the muggles. So with this in mind I may post bits up from time to time if of interest. </div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
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<br />Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-90832822524233016822015-08-24T20:28:00.000+01:002015-09-25T21:04:26.388+01:00The State of the Nation 2015<div>
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It's been a funny old year. Some things have gone well and some not so much. I've made some changes to my life, and plan some more in the future. One thing that has suffered the most is writing, and as a result the frequency and content of my blog posts. They have always been intended more for my own recollection than for outside reading, however, I do still try when I write to make it entertaining. Unfortunately I find it difficult in game to note take. As a consequence my write ups are often fairly vague. I'm hoping to try and change this in the future, as apart from anything, it isn't going to help me if the information is sketchy!
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But enough of that, on with the annual review which is a little later this yeard due to a number of factors. First up: a review of what I said last year, and how accurate it was!</div>
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Firstly, I pretty much put the lid on ever playing <b><i>WFB </i></b>and <b><i>40K </i></b>again, and nothing has changed. Furthermore, I'm more resolved than ever not to play them again as they simply don't fulfil a role I'm not getting from elsewhere. As such, unless anything radical changes, and I don't mean Age of Sigmar, I won't really be discussing them again. </div>
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Much as last year, and as predicted, I've not had any time for <b><i>Dystopian Wars</i></b>, however, I'm not yet ready to ditch it completely yet, though for now it is boxed up and stored and has been for months.</div>
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I've not played that many games of <b><i>Warmachine</i></b> and <b><i>Hordes</i></b> since this time last year, as largely my drive had diminished, as had my gaming time to spare for it. However, after a brief and mixed stint with Convergence, I went back to Trollbloods. These guys are the reason I played the system in the first place and so I feel a lot more comfortable with them. That's not to say that I won't dabble elsewhere, but these guys won't be forgotten. More on that later. </div>
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As for <b><i>Malifaux</i></b>, I've been more active on the tournament circuit with this game than in casual games. With few local opponents, and those that there are also having other games taking up their time, it meant I had to compete to get games. I did enjoy it however, and although I'm yet to win a ranked game, I didn't entirely embarrass myself and finished each tournament having dodged the wooden spoon! I'd been playing Ressers, and shall continue with these as my main faction, but I'm hoping to have a bit of a play around with Arcanists in the near future.</div>
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<b>The year ahead:</b></div>
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Okay, so I've picked up a lot of systems recently and a lot of factions for those I already had. In part this is to 'future proof' my gaming as I will already have the bulk of new things to try, but it's also born of a desire to try new things out. So let's go through the far longer than last year list. In no particular order:</div>
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As I said earlier, this won't likely be featured much as I've got a lot of other things to occupy me, but every now and then it catches my eye and I hate myself. </div>
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I still don't expect this to be more than occasional game. Ben and Sam play it, as does one other person I know, but that aside, there is much more attention on</div>
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In the local area (see what I did there?). I swore I'd not play this last year, but all the kids are playing it, cool or otherwise, so if you can't beat 'em, find a bigger bully! This is very much and occasional game for me, yet that said I'm dabbling with both Empire <i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">and </i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Rebels. I'm not intending to go for Scum & Villainy, but I'm sure next year I will be stating that 'Mistakes were made!'</span></div>
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Speaking of which, I've got a sizeable collection of Haqqislam now thanks in part to winning a competition. I've had one intro game, but that's all. I am hoping to rectify this soon, there's often talk of an escalation league happening, but there is talk of a lot of things. </div>
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Such as that there is a league for this. I've been enjoying playing Alchemists as I said earlier, but for the league, I will have to decide if I want to try and do well or learn a new team. My money is on the latter, but thanks to all the things I'm telling you I've bought, I don't have a lot of money left to bet with. </div>
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Partly because it turns out I collect Minions now. Both pacts! As I said, I've packed away Convergence, but I plan to use the Minions now and then to vary things up a bit. I do want to play a bit more, and now that I've come to peace with not trying to use 'the' net lists, I'm happy enough to dart from Minions to Trolls when the whimsy strikes. I'm going to Breast Cancer Brawl in October, so that gives me time to play about with a few more relaxed lists without feeling too much pressure from a competition point of view. At the moment the Troll 'Casters I am favouring are Calandra and pGrim. Despite what I said about using net lists, I am working towards building an EE tier list with her, but I am also playing her out of tier. As for Grim, although I have played Hunters Grim a few times, I'd never really given his prime incarnation much thought. I do want to play each of the 'casters I've never used before a few times by the end of the year, which now leaves me with Borka2, Gunnbjorn and Madrak2. I have plans for all three, but with a Journeyman league starting in September, I have decided to try out the Thronfall Alliance pact beginning with Arkadius.</div>
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Okay, so this is a new one. I've been wanting to do a RPG for some time. Aside from a single Iron Kingdoms intro game a couple of years ago, and now a couple of Unleashed ones in the last month I've never really played them before, but I did enjoy those games and so I've decided I want to take part in a campaign. As such, I've been speaking with Dave, Nick, Shane, Ben and Luke and we've decided to give the Unleashed version a go. As things stand I am thinking of playing a Pygmy Troll Bushwhacker/Monster Hunter, but I change my mind almost on a daily basis! This one is one of those back burner things so when it'll happen is uncertain, but hopefully it will!</div>
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The last game on the list and the newest. I'd been fighting the urge on this one for some time, but with a few guys from Siege/Yorkshire Renegades starting to play I quickly succumbed. And succumbed hard. I was instantly drawn to the Joker crew and so that was my first purchase, although there were a few of the 'good guys' models and crews that drew my attention and I realised that I could share models between Bats, Arrow and therefore Law Forces very easily and so have picked up some of those too.</div>
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So that's it really, that's the year in review and the plan ahead. Oh, wait, I've done a bit of painting too, but not much, and I intend to do more!</div>
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Thanks for reading and please let me have your thoughts on this and how I can improve the blog in general.</div>
<br />Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-33185215349198634132015-03-13T13:31:00.000+00:002015-03-13T13:31:25.632+00:00The Match Day Report - Pre-season training<div>
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The official PDF rules for Guild Ball have now been released and you can find them here. I must say that I am very excited about this as from the moment I saw the Kickstarter campaign pre-launch info, I loved the aesthetic and the idea of the game.
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Although due to time restraints I haven't been involved in the field testing, I have been keeping an eye on the progress throughout the months. Seeing the miniatures develop and keeping tabs on the discussions, I have to admit that it is seeming even better than I had hoped from the first glance of the Kickstarter page.</div>
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Such fantastic work is proving difficult for me to decide upon a starting team, so to recap, these are the options I chose as part of my backer rewards:</div>
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When I saw their artwork as the first of the second set of teams, I loved the idea of them. I have to say that the big draw of this team was Katalyst. I've not seen the finished model, but if he's half as good as that picture I'll be very happy indeed.</div>
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Their playstyle seems to be very much about positioning AoEs to block areas of the board, which I think is very intriguing. Certainly this isn't a style that I've played very much in any of the other games I play, with probably the closest being Jarl's feat in Hordes. That said, I think although I won't play them initially they will be a nice team to have as a second option once I've got a handle on the rules.</div>
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The artwork for this team was the reason I gave the project a second look. Before I saw them, I had heard about it, and hadn't given it much thought, however following a chance second post link to the Kickstarter page and seeing the team art, I was hooked by the aesthetic.</div>
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Their playstyle seems to be one of the more, if not the most blunt of all the teams, which given some of my previous armies, is no bad thing. I keep darting back to these guys as my first choice and it is a good bet, with their prodominant colour being red, that these may be the first team to get a coat of paint as Red is something I actually feel I do to a reasonable level.</div>
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When it came to choosing my teams on the Backerkit survey, I was really pushed as to whether to opt for these guys or for the Fishermen. In the end I chose these guys, though I'm still conflicted by the choice. From a miniature stand point I love the simplicity of the Masons. I think they are an 'honest' aesthetic whereby their strength isn't in the intricate detail, but the plainer functionality of each model, whereas the Fishermen are the sort of models that you notice something new each time. Certainly from a painting angle, it will be quicker to get the Masons done and dusted.</div>
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From a play point of view, these guys seem to be the 'average'. Reasonably solid, yet still with a few tricks they can work in unison as well as independently. Certainly this is a playstyle that I'm used to with Trolls and Convergence in warmachine and Hordes and in certain crews in Malifaux. Because of this I do keep cycling back to these guys.</div>
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I wasn't as blown away by these guys when they were announced, or rather, the other teams were more of a draw, however over the last few weeks, and having seen the Resin masters, i bitterly regret having not increased my pledge to four teams, though in truth would four have been enough then?</div>
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I've since pre ordered this team and I'm looking forward to giving them a whirl, but as they aren't part of the Kickstarter rewards I will be receiving, I won't receive them soon enough to use them for my first few games. </div>
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In the end I suspect it will come down to gut instinct when I actually get the models in front of me. I know that Luke certainly wishes that I would make my mind up as he is struggling to make his own decision and my darting about isn't making that any easier for him.</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-63864168070113141952015-02-06T14:53:00.000+00:002015-10-01T13:05:36.908+01:00Malifaux Journal: Kirai on (sorry)<div>
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<i>I have completed the tasks set for me by my new master, and now I am free to persue my own goals, until I am required once more at least. My Master is a strange creature. Where others demand perfection in the completion of their goals, She contents herself merely that the tasks are done, regardless of their success. Perhaps a grander, as yet unseen scheme is at work and I must ask myself, what part shall I play in it, and will I even understand that part until </i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">all </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">the parts are in place?</i>
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I'm fresh back from Vappafaux and once again I had a cracking time. I'd like to say that I thought it was a very well run event, especially considering that really it was two events in one, so we'll done to Chris Holloway on that score.</div>
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Thank you also to my opponents. I know that my play is a little slow as I'm still relatively new (I'm no longer saying really new), but you were all very gracious about it as well as helpful. Those opponents were in order played Ant Hoult, <a href="http://talesfromgeekmanor.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Matt Spooner</a> and my fast becoming regular tournament opponent <a href="https://minimusingofabear.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Dave Wilkinson</a>.</div>
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So yeah, game one and I faced the UK master. I'm not going to go in to full details with this as I won't do my opponents justice, however I will give a bit of info.</div>
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Obviously I had opted for Ressers for Vappa, but I was very conscious that I have only used Seamus in previous events and I was determined to try a different master. It was a bit of a gamble as I had only tried her once before, however against Ant Hoult there was no chance at all that I was going to win. Now, I couldn't remember what faction Ant actually played, however I was soon to find out: Ressers. And he was using Kirai!</div>
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So in my first game not only was I using the same faction as the UK Master, but it was a mirror match. My exact words were "Crap. Ok then, show me how to use Kirai."</div>
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He did. And after, he re-wrote my list for me and loaned me two Night Terrors. And that's a reason why I love the Malifaux community: he could have just let me get on with it, but having never met me, he helped with my list and also loaned me the models I needed to field it! What a top chap!</div>
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This game ended 7-4 to Ant, though it may have been a different story had it gone on longer.</div>
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At this point we were on lunch and I had a look around the convention. It was nice to see that it had plenty of attendees. The downside was that there wasn't any Malifaux to purchase which I found odd given the high numbers of players.</div>
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Game two in the afternoon and it was against Matt Spooner (@Uberspoons on Twitter). We were chatting at the beginning of the game and realised we were both using the Retro deck. I mentioned that I was on the look out for the old style decks and at that he gave me one of his which I thought was really good of him. So Matt, I owe you a drink.</div>
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He was using a Lady J crew and I stuck to Kirai. This was a really low scoring game, partly again due to my slower play, though I think I was a little quicker. I liked the idea of Headhunter in this game as it felt a lot more achievable than Reckoning, even though between the two of us only one point was scored.</div>
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I really got to see the use of a Guild Austringer in this game as Matt's three points came from Deliver orders to Lady J to push and drop a scheme marker that Matt then used pull off max points on Plant Explosives due to my clustered forces. </div>
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Despite its low score, a win to Matt also helped to keep him from earning the Tractor in this event which is a badge of dishonour in his group, The Tractor Massive.</div>
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Game three and I drew Dave! I'd played him at Cojo Dojo, my first event last year and had enjoyed the game then, so looked forward to this one. I stuck with Kirai as I was starting to get the hang of her. Dave opted for Yan Lo (Ten Thunders, as despite having two Resser crews, he pretends to hate them).</div>
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Dave maintains that our Outpost game was quite close. I don't remember it being so, I think he is just being nice. This game wasn't that close. It was, I think my quickest though. Dave took Yan Lo, a master I'm quite familiar with as Ben uses him so much, but that still didn't make me confident. I did manage to sneak all three points for Protect Territory and a hasty decision with Plant Explosives meant I only got a single point. Meanwhile Dave managed to consistently gain points for Stake a claim no matter how hard I tried to score on the Strategy, but he also scored two for Bodyguard and max points for Protect Territory giving him an 8-4 win at the end of turn 4.</div>
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So three more tournament games under my belt, and whilst im still chasing that elusive win, im still enjoying myself and also the community feeling of the game. It is strange to think that my tournament games represent over fifty percent of my total games payed, but I still think I'm getting better with each one. I also stuck to my aim of not resorting to Seamus, which may have been a mistake, but I think it was more important to get used to someone else.</div>
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So next up, its time to get on with the Arcanists. I've so far aoided painting, but I cannot put it off forever.</div>
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And so, until next time.</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-9012079369660119032015-01-27T23:17:00.001+00:002015-11-09T16:36:04.688+00:00Malifaux Journal: Forging the narrative<div>
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No narrative introduction today, partly because this is a longer post, partly because as of yet, the narrative hasn't quite been decided upon.</div>
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To tie in with ToMB, as mentioned in my previous post I intend to follow <a href="http://joelfaux.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/expanding-my-malifaux-experience.html" target="_blank">Joel Henry's</a> lead and chart the on table/off table story arc of one of my models. Essentially, my Gunsmith will fulfil this roll, and I intend to take this model type in as many games as I am able.</div>
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The model I have is that of a female Gunsmith, however it will not necessarily be a female that I end up with. Having read the Through The Breach Fated Almanac, I love the idea of having certain aspects of my character's background determined by Fate. It seemed strange to me when I first read it, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of it. After all, I had no say in my family's background when I was born, nor did I have any control over my gender. </div>
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I therefore shall use a modified version of the Malifaux Tarot to generate my character details. Some of the Tarot relates to skills that the Through The Breach character might have, which as I am simply using a pre-set Malifaux Gunsmith, these skills will be redundant. As such I shall use the following details to determine my character's background. </div>
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Centre: Station (as normal). This determines the birth station, or family trade.</div>
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West: Gender. A red card will medicate female, black will indicate male.</div>
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North: Age to the decade. Low will indicate 20s, Moderate 30s, Severe 40s. Re flip Jokers</div>
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East: Age to the year. This can push the character over the decade threshold. Re flip Jokers</div>
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South: Wealth. Low is poor, Moderate is comfortable, Severe is wealthy.</div>
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I will also keep a note of the accompanying phrases to somehow weave in to the developing story. </div>
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And with that folks, it's on to character generation. I am writing this as I generate results, so at this time, I have no idea what will happen.</div>
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For each result of the Tarot, I shall include a photo of the ongoing result and explain the meaning that has been generated.</div>
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The fate deck all ready to go. Drumroll please!</div>
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The Station card: </div>
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2 of Crows! Typically Malifaux-esque, this makes my character an orphan.</div>
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The Western card: </div>
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10 of Masks, a Red card! Congratulations! It's a girl!</div>
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The Northern card: </div>
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8 of Masks! Our girl is in her 30s. For now.</div>
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The Eastern card: </div>
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2 of Masks! 32 it is!</div>
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The Southern card: </div>
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7 of Tomes, re flipped from Black Joker! She has a bit of scrip, not enough to retire on. I think thattheBlack Joker here means she has to have acheived that from nothing, which seems apt for an orphan.</div>
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So that's it. A background is formed! With all those masks, I'm sure the Neverborn have a hand in her future, or her past, so that gives some rich development to use at some point. I shall tie a few bits together and present a fuller introduction some time soon.</div>
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Finally, here's her destiny.</div>
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Until next time!</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-5124355071839334532015-01-26T23:11:00.003+00:002015-10-01T13:17:07.235+01:00Malifaux Journal: Entering the Tomb<div>
<i>It was almost blinding. I had been travelling for hours but knew that if I did not continue through this hell, I may not survive long enough to see its end. I had been sent to make a statement, and nothing would make that statement quite like arriving through a sandstorm. My papers directed me to an isolated mine that was down on it's quota. For no discernable reason, it had not been pulling its weight. Several times it had been given another chance, but each time it fell short. Well, this time </i>I<i> would be there to get the answers, to get the results. This time, the mine would achieve its goals, or with the full backing of the M&SU, I would bring about a reckoning. </i></div>
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I have decided that this year I want to push on with Malifaux. I've played Ressers for a year now and I have enjoyed doing so. I do want to continue with them, however I want to branch out a little more, and after some thought that will be explained later, I have decided to start using Arcanists as well.</div>
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Two blog posts have caught my eye recently. The first one is on Joel Henry's blog, The Philosophy of Uncertainty. His post from January 12th can be found <a href="http://joelfaux.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/expanding-my-malifaux-experience.html" target="_blank">here</a>, but in summary he intends to take a Ronin in all his games and document her progress in games and beyond. I have decided to do something similar, but will go in to further details in another post. The second was a post by Ben Sime on the Malibros blog. The post, dated January 26th can be found <a href="http://malibros.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/tomb-2-tomb-harder.html" target="_blank">here</a> and is basically an invitation to take part in ToMB2, a Tale of Bloggers system for Malifaux. I have taken part in these before in other systems, and frankly haven't kept to it. I have been lucky so far with the tournaments that I have attended as they haven't had a paiting requirement, however there are a few events that I would like to go to, but need some paint on my models. with this in mind, I intend to combine the ideas from Joel's and Ben's blog and see how I get on.</div>
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And so, to begin with, in accordance with the rules, I begin with £40 with which to purchase models.</div>
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As stated above, I intend to choose Arcanists for this project. Primarily Mei Feng, I may expand beyond her in time, but as with when I started with Ressers, I imagine that I will use her for some time to come in order to get used to her style of play, and also to ease in to the faction as a whole. These are my starting models for Month One.</div>
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Starting amount £40.00</div>
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Rail Crew box -£19.20</div>
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Metal Gamin Box -£11.20</div>
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Female Gunsmith <u>-£ 5.10</u></div>
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Balance £ 4.50</div>
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In the interest of disclosure, I have already assembled all the models from the Rail Crew box, and as the Gunsmith is single peice, I guess her too. I've had all the models for some time. The Gunsmith was purchased from <a href="http://elementgames.co.uk/" target="_blank">Element Games</a> and the Metal Gamin were from <a href="http://the-outpost.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Outpost</a>. I cannot find where I purchased the Rail Crew from as it doesn't show on my order history from any of the stores I've previously purchased and with this in mind, I have opted to take the price from The Outpost as a) it is cheaper than most others and b) I likely cannot find a record of my purchase because I bought it in store.</div>
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And so, with decision made, I now need to keep up the enthusiasm I currently feel towards getting these models painted. It's only ten models in a little over a month, so theoretically I should be able to manage that?</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-3769604835515863992015-01-17T23:30:00.000+00:002015-10-01T13:15:17.769+01:00Malifaux Journal: A New year, a new crew.<div>
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<i style="font-style: italic;">A year turns in Malifaux and I find myself making changes almost instinctually. It is as though a corner has been turned where no corner existed before. Now that I have come to this realisation, I know now that more than Fate is at work. Were it </i>just<i style="font-style: italic;"> Fate, I would doubtless be where I was, but instead I am where I am. </i></div>
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<i>And now: I must find out what else is at work.</i></div>
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Happy belated new year and all that malarkey. hope you all had a good start to it, I know mine was good. I had my first game of Malifaux on the 2nd using Kirai for the first time. She was an interesting one to say the least. As usual I faced Ben, who this time fielded Lucas McCabe. His crew was pretty much just the box contents Plus a Monk of the Low River, but to be fair, I've thought for some time that it is a nice solid crew and doesn't really need much added.</div>
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The deployment, scheme and strategy pool were as follows.</div>
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Because of Corner deployment I chose power ritual, but given my crew choices, I couldn't easily take Vendetta as aside for Sadir, all of my crew costed more than his crew options. I'm not too keen on A Line in the Sand as I took it almost by default when I started and never did too well, but actually I should have considered that and should have definately considered Protect Territory. Instead I opted for Breakthrough. </div>
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The encounter was a good one. I managed to summon in a Hanged early using Izamu as the target model and managed to heal both back up relatively easily. About mid game I also summoned an Onryo, but those two aside it was just a couple of Seishan here and there. </div>
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Both of us made some early progress laying down a Power Ritual marker in our own section and moving up board to further capitalise on our schemes in the subsequent turns. I made the choice to team the Belle with the Ashigaru and have them moved up the top corner of the table to place another power ritual scheme marker. For Ben's part he moved a few models toward both relevant corners for the same, but couldn't quite reach them. </div>
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After the first turn I concentrated on Reckoning for a couple of turns, thinking that if I could score a couple of points, I should have time to focus back on the other schemes. </div>
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I did manage to score two points for Reckoning by the end of the game, but I should have concentrated more elsewhere. Although the Ashigaru managed to place a scheme marker for Power Ritual, I needed him and the Belle to be ready to pounce into action for Reckoning, so they left the scheme marker unattended. Despite a valiant effort from the Belle to Lure two Wastrels in, one managed to get to my marker and swap it for his own.</div>
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Luckily in the opposite corner the summoned Onryo managed to place a marker before moving towards Sidir to do absolutely nothing. </div>
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Likewise Ben had pushed through my lines With his final Wastrel who managed to place a scheme marker. He eventually died to Izamu, who had been slingshotted across the table with some help from Kirai, and the marker was removed.</div>
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However, as Ben had opted for Vendetta choosing one of his Wastrels and my Ashigaru, he managed to secure all three points for that scheme late in turn four, meaning that I needed a turn six in order to sneak at least a draw. But alas, it was not to be.</div>
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So a good first test of the Vengeful Kirai. Happy enough that I know how I would play her now, though she will need practice as against a seasoned opponent she would need to up her game. Obviously Ben had little idea what to expect meaning that my mistakes and inexperience weren't as big an issue. But I enjoyed using her more than I did McMourning, so whereas I shall use McMourning more as a threat to Doc Bungle who has a real issue with him in particular, I will likely progress my games with Kirai as at least my secondary Master for Ressers.</div>
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I've a few other options in the pipeline, but at least in the short term it's Kirai and Seamus. </div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-71429251330204134502015-01-15T19:58:00.000+00:002015-10-01T13:33:56.093+01:00Relic Mystery Box giveaway Hi guys. Tor Gaming are doing a <a href="https://gleam.io/BOZWJ/mystery-box-q1-2015?l=http%3A%2F%2Ftorgaming.co.uk%2Fmystery-relics-box-giveaway%2F" target="_blank">mystery box giveaway</a> that you should totally go and check out, not least because if you do, I get a better chance of winning, and thus starting to play the game.<br />
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I've heard good things about the game but would like anyone that plays the game to give me their thoughts and perhaps some details on the different factions. All of them catch my attention aesthetically so I would be grateful for some deeper insight.<br />
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Cheers guys, normal programming shall continue shortly.Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-55081666021028372532014-12-23T19:31:00.000+00:002015-10-01T13:01:04.090+01:00This week in Immoren: Priming<div>
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I've been putting this off for some time now as frankly, I'm terrified of damaging it. However, with a little over a month until it is needed for New Year's Revolution, I think I need to get cracking with the Prime Axiom, as whilst a fully painted Army isn't a necessity, I'm guessing using an empty base will be, at least, frowned upon!</div>
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The cause for my terror is simple: I don't feel that Convergence models should have battle damage. If it were a Stormwall, a Kraken, a Judicator or a Conquest, or even a Woldwrath I'd be happy to give it some bullet holes if I messed up the cleaning of the flash. If it were a Mountain King, a Mammoth or an Archangel, I could turn anything I caused to look like gouged flesh with a little work. But to me, neither the Retribution nor the Convergence seem to fit the battle damage theme. Unless Of course you are modelling the wreck. </div>
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However, I've started.</div>
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In other news, I've had another practice game with my Lucant list last weekend. I didn't change anything from the list in my last post which I shall repeat here for reference.</div>
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This would be a good test facing whatever Sam had prepared without the luxury of tailoring. His list was as follows.</div>
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To say that this game was a slug fest is an understatement. We played Supply and Demand as the scenario and neither of us managed to score any points. The battle came down to the third tiebreak which I won on, but not by much. </div>
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I took some photos at the end of turns 4,5 and 6 (which we had decided at the end of turn 4 would be the last turn as we weren't playing timed turns), but please bear in mind the following: THE ARCHANGEL WAS A PROXY FOR THE PRIME AXIOM! So get it over and done with, take the piss quickly, then move on! Also, the hover jack you can see was standing in for an Enigma Foundy as my second one is in parts awaiting a paint job.</div>
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At the end of turn 4, I've Feated and repaired most of the damage suffered by the Prime Axiom at the hands of the Kraken, and in return I took out one side of the Kraken using the Axiom and two of the Reciprocators whilst another two take out Sam's last Bonejack. Sam has whittled down the Obstructors to just 4, and even with the Enigma Foundry the largest they could get back to is 7. Sam has also killed my unit of Clockwork Angels during this turn which I really threw away to be fair. I should have been more conservative and used them to attack the Objective. </div>
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During turn 5 I repaired a decent amount of the Axiom's damage with both Optifex Directives enabling me to take out the Kraken with a combination of the Reciprocators and the Axiom. The Reciprocators are taking a beating themselves, but are riding it out with the help of the Enigma Foundry. Two of them charge Saxon Orrick and will spend the remainder of the game locked in combat with him. In his turn, Sam uses Sturgis' Feat to move some of my figures in. He's pretty unlucky to be fair and only kills a couple of my Obstructors and causes a single wound on one of the Reciprocators. He also charges Sturgis in to my Prime Axiom and does a fair bit better, taking out the right side and causing a reasonable amount of damage to the left. He doesn't quite manage to kill it however and so in what will be our next turn he knows he will be open to assassination unless he teleports back to the rear of the zone. </div>
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He creates some Scrap Thralls from the Kraken's wreck and uses them and the rest of his troops to create speed bumps. </div>
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In the final turn, I chew through most of his remaining warrior models but fail to kill Sturgis. In his own turn there is little for him to do really and the game ends without much further action.</div>
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Now, I know that sounds a bit more on my side, however, I really wasn't sure on this one. I'd planned this list to be an attrition list, but that hadn't been Sam's plan with his, so all things considered, I deem his list to have won on the attrition front. It's also obvious that I remember my choices and outcomes better than his, but he did make some great choices in game that I simply cannot recall. Neither of us could breakthrough the other's lines to score even a point, and despite my note about the Clockwork Angels earlier, it wouldn't by any stretch be a foregone conclusion that it would have happened. </div>
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I was really impressed by both the Obstructors and Reciprocators in this game as the former really held my left with the latter holding both the right and helping the centre. I'd not originally included Obstructors in the list, but at Dave's suggestion had put them in at least to try. I think I'd overlooked their reach and Combined Melee Attacks, but now I've realised it, I'm much happier with them. One of them managed to kill a Satyxis Blood Witch with a free strike which, had it not, just that one model could have changed the game. </div>
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I've also not mentioned above how invaluable I found Purification. One of the reasons Sam was able to cause so much Damage on the Axiom was through Parisite and he also didn't do too badly at spreading a bit of Corrosion. Obviously he still got the benefits before each bout of Purification, however it made sure Sam had to pay that little bit more Focus for it. </div>
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So all in all, a good test for the list, though I do think I need a bit more use with it. I do need also to give Aurora a whirl at 50 points, though this may not happen before January. </div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-13696757255226928142014-12-08T12:54:00.000+00:002015-10-01T13:08:21.853+01:00This week in Immoren: Onwards<div>
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The Journeyman League is long since done and dusted, and it's onwards and upwards. I didn't really get a great handle on the Convergence in the larger games, but a bit at a time I'm beginning to understand them.
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I think one of the issues is that I was still trying to cope with the differences between Warmachine and Hordes. At the lower levels where resource management wasn't spread so thin, I was doing quite well, however once you add in a couple of units and solos that may need a little boost, it's a bit tricky.</div>
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Still, I'm settling in to it now and I do enjoy the challenge of the faction.</div>
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I'd had most of my success with Aurora. She is a little bit risky, but in the right circumstances can pull off a cheeky 'caster kill out of seemingly nowhere. However, in the games where I have lost with her, mainly during the Charity Tournament, I over extended her and wasted her feat.</div>
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I usually use her feat purely to benefit her, and not the army as a whole, but realistically if I don't think that I am able to pull of the kill, I shouldn't even try and instead focus on manoeuvring the force about. </div>
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I've not gelled with Syntherion. I know people have a great deal of success with him, but it's almost like I don't want to succeed, that's how badly I seem to fair. Instead I'm now trying to get the hang of Lucant, and in a bit of a surprise move to some, Axis. </div>
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The latter I had played a few times before the Journeyman started in 35 point games and whilst I was aware that his playstyle wasn't as intricate as the others, and that he was a lot more frail than he at first seems, I did enjoy him. He played similar to my Grissel2 list and so it wasn't as much of a radical transition as perhaps I'm finding Sytherion to be. I've honed his lists a bit as well and so hopefully that will help.</div>
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Lucant is a bit tricky for me as well. I've only played him a few times, one of which I lost very quickly, and so I have yet to really get the most out of him. I feel as though his lists almost demand an Axiom in order to get the most out of Positive Charge, and so I sense the building of a Colossal in the near future. </div>
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[Insert] I have now played Lucant again since the bulk of this post was written and this game went much smoother. In the end I won on Deathclock, which whilst perhaps not the most traditional method of victory, is maybe something to consider.</div>
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The list I used was as follows:</div>
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Essentially I used the axiom to take the bulk of the punishment then used the Directive to repair it each turn. </div>
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The Reciprocators died fairly quickly as I made some obvious mistakes with them, and keep doing so to be honest, but their loss didn't do much to swing the battle in my opponents favour.</div>
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Other than that, it was just a case of weathering the storm. I'm not sure it will work every time, but we shall see.</div>
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In other Warmachine news, I have decided to go to the ETC in 2015, tickets permitting. I've not decided for certain whether to take Trolls or Convergence, which is partly the reason for the continued progress with Cyriss. I'm also keen to take a fully painted army, and well, we all know what I'm like, it may be a close run thing. </div>
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If I opt for Trolls, I will likely go for Runes of War with one of my lists. I've always liked Doomshaper, and whilst I realise that people plan for Runes, I also know that it is a solid enough force, and one that I think I will be able to get my head around quite easily.</div>
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For the other list, I have been discussing options with Dave, and he has come up with a couple of Lists: one for Jarl and one for Hunters Grim. I'm a fan of both Warlocks so I look forward to trying them out. I've got, or have on order almost all the things he's put in the lists, with the only current exception being Braylan Wanderheart which until her release I will have to proxy anyway.</div>
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So despite keeping my options open, the aim is to try and focus initially on the Convergence. I've not had as much time to get used to them as I had done with Trollbloods, and so I feel that if I don't give them enough attention now I won't have enough time to build up my knowledge and experience. </div>
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Finally, I'd like to say a quick thank you to Dave for running the league and the tournament, to the players I faced during them, and to Luke for making these awesome Character Jack/Warbeast cards for each participant. </div>
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Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-73991518623069935262014-12-01T17:46:00.000+00:002015-10-01T13:21:18.927+01:00Malifaux Journal: Elementary lessons<div>
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<i>My schemes are paying dividends, whilst those of my Masters are thwarted, and yet they do not see my hand in this, but that of a cruel Fate. It will not be long before I cease to kneel and cower before them, instead to rise proudly, and take their power for my own.</i></div>
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Well I survived Elementary. I didn't win any games, again, but I did feel that I put in a valiant effort.
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I decided that unless anything unusual cropped up to change my mind, that I was going to stick with Seamus as my master. Nothing unusual cropped up, so Seamus it was. </div>
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I faced Aiden Kirk for this game, and he used Shenlong. Obviously I've had very little experience with facing different masters, but it was nice to face this one. I'd seen Aiden's work on Twitter and loved his crew. </div>
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I had mistakenly announced Assasinate, and also Breakthough. I was happy with a 5-8 loss as it at least meant I had been paying attention to the schemes and strategies. It was an enjoyable game and I learned some lessons. Aiden pointed out that if you don't know the opposing master, maybe Assasinate isn't a scheme to choose. To be fair, I never really got anywhere near Shenlong, though it was a fair point, and one I took in to account in my next game. </div>
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During lunch I reflected on my options and crew choice, and having noticed corner deployment with Power Ritual, I spoke at length with Ben about the best way to maximise points for this combo.</div>
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Only to be drawn against him! So, having travelled from East Yorkshire to Stockport, we got drawn against our own regular opponent. That's ok though, we're each other's regular opponent for a reason beyond geography, and we knew we'd be in for a good game, and at least it would likely result in one of us getting a win. </div>
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It was a hard fought engagement. Ben went for a reasonably bitty crew with the hope of summoning more to lay schemes. Knowing that he'd likely do this for Turf War, and that it would be much harder for me to summon, I went for an objective grabber force with a Necropunk and two Canine Remains amongst two Belles and Sybelle. Rather than get side tracked by Ben's crew, I went straight for laying down as many scheme markers as I could. Ultimately this paid off, as when final turn was called, we were drawing 7-7, with it looking as though both would then score a further point for Turf War.</div>
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But then, Ben pulled a blinder by using his own Belle to Lure mine twice away from the six inch scoring bubble. </div>
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A bloody good game. Now, knowing each other so well, Ben and I are well passed hand shaking, but I felt that game was worthy of one, so I forced him in to it.</div>
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For the final game of the tournament I faced Rob Barmforth (I think I got the name correct, apologies if not) who used his Leviticus crew. I've heard a lot about Levi, and I was a little apprehensive, though now I've played him I'm less nervous about facing him again. The strategy was Stake a Claim, and for schemes I chose Plant Explosives and Distract.</div>
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I made a big mistake in this game. I'd misread the details for Stake a Claim, so had thought that I just needed to lay scheme markers, then choose which scheme or strategy they counted at the end of the game. As such, after Rob announced his first set of points, I realised my mistake, but knew I'd not be able to keep up on the strategy. I managed to get a point from Distract reasonably early on, but as I began to run out of models, I wasn't going to be able to put that on enough models that he couldn't remove enough to stop me scoring. Towards the end of the third turn I managed to spot a chance to get a couple of cheeky points from Plant Explosives as he had a couple of models near enough to one of my scheme markers, and I just had to hope that he would keep them reasonably near, which luckily he did.</div>
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As for the rest of the game, which as it turned out finished at the end of turn three, I was struggling to figure out how I'd be able to win back the deficit against a crew I knew nothing about. I'd again taken more of a scheme runner crew, so didn't really have much hitting power to take out his key models. Not that I think that would have mattered; he had a much better handle on his plan than I had on mine. In the end, I was happy to end the game 3-6 down, as it could have been much worse. Without the Plant Explosives points, I'd have only managed a single point, and had the game gone on a turn longer, Rob would have scored more points for Bodyguard.</div>
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So in the end, I managed three losses, which is as I expected, but I finished one place higher than last time at Cojo Dojo and managed to score fifteen VPs over the three games, which was seven more, and my differential was only -7 rather than -13, so six better there. So all in all I was happy with the result. </div>
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So what's next? Well, I've got Vappafaux at the beginning of February. That's actually only a 40SS event, so I'm already feeling the pinch with crew selection. To try and streamline my playing, I've started building 'core crews'. The idea here is to have a list with a few key models so that once I get to the table, it speeds up my crew selection. At 50SS, it leaves a bit of room for tailoring to the Strategy and Schemes, but at 40SS, that accounts for all but a model or two meaning that I have to either strip back those key models, have less upgrades, or just build a set crew. That last option may be something I try a few times before Vappafaux and see if it works. </div>
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As few which Master to go for, I've used Seamus exclusively for both Tournaments, and now want a change.</div>
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I feel I'm good enough with Seamus to keep him as a backup, and I also feel I've got the handle of McMourning, and just need to fine tune him. However, having ordered Kirai at GenCon, and Tara for Black Friday, I'm going to give the girls a bit of table time. Both seem to play very differently, but I'm not worried too much by that. I still aren't planning to challenge for even mid table by the end of 2015, and since these tournaments represent my best chance to get games against a wider spectrum of players than the handful of sporadic games I get at home, I just plan to have a bit of fun.</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-64822671429755763972014-11-18T17:51:00.000+00:002014-12-01T17:51:58.623+00:00Malifaux Journal: Rise once more<div>
<i>I am stronger now. I have rested and studied and now I am ready to venture forth once more. The Masters have underestimated me, for I am now playing two off against each other. I must be wary, lest my hubris get the better of me, but for now my own schemes are progressing, parallel to those of The Masters', yet unseen by them.</i></div>
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Malifaux has very much been forced to take a back seat in recent months. A mixture of very little time, Priority gaming time being given to Warmachine, and a lack of available opponents that aren't also suffering from at least two of these, and many other reasons besides has meant that I haven't had more than a couple of games since I attended Cojo Dojo. I have, however, assembled a good many models, but fear not, I've not painted anything yet!
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During GenCon I pre ordered a few bits and bobs. One of which was Kirai's Vengeful Spirits box. I found this an odd choice once I'd received it as there were very few plastics available for models that synergised well with her, and indeed none seem to be on the horizon. As such, she is on hold. Who knows, Molly may appear before Kirai's crew do, then it's on to her instead!</div>
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I have had a few goes with The Good Doctor, Douglas McMourning since Cojo Dojo, and whilst I think I've work to do still, I'm getting the hang of him, so he may be a contender for an alternate crew, though Seamus still leads the field.</div>
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This Sunday I am travelling over to Stockport with Ben for a tournament at the NWGC. I'm not hoping for any more of a result than I got in Sheffield, but I do think that I understand the game a little better now.</div>
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The upside is that I know the Strategies and deployment types for each game so I can initially think through lists for that, the downside is that without knowing the Schemes, I cannot plan too heavily. I think I shall stick with Seamus in the main. Both he and the Belles can help with movement and he and Sybelle have some killing power whilst the Belles can take a punch. After that, my options are open as I've got all the plastic options currently open to Ressers, so I can pick and choose wave 1 models easily. </div>
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We shall see what Fate has in store. </div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-86971056053215029512014-09-08T11:39:00.002+01:002015-10-01T13:13:13.250+01:00Malifaux Journal: Progression<i>The masters have begun to trust me enough again to let me write. They did not take well to the failure of my last assigned task, for which I was punished. It has taken much to appease their wrath and many promises I hope I can keep, for I fear this is my second and </i>
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final <i>chance. </i></div>
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<i>I have been given to a new master as the old one grew tired of my excuses. In truth I belong to many masters, yet only one at a time ever assign me a task. I think they fear my escape, as last time I came in to contact with the servants of others, from whom I learned much of the wider world of Malifaux.</i></div>
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Well the Cojo Dojo has long since been and gone, and I really enjoyed my first Malifaux tournament. In the end, I finished 29th out of 30, which is one place higher than I expected. It should be pointed out here that I got the same points (nil) as the people that came 28th and 30th, but what separated us were the VPs from our games.
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There were a few other new players there, so I wasn't the only one with a lack of experience which was nice to see. As much as I love Warmachine and Hordes, I couldn't imagine someone playing as few games as I had and then grasping the game well enough to tackle a tournament, with what frankly included a decent number of the big hitters on the Malifaux circuit. But what struck me was that all players so openly helped each other by sharing insights and information. I did find this at the Warmachine tournament too to be fair, but not so much as with this one. Perhaps it was simply the pressure of timed turns rather than just a timed round meant that there wasn't the time for a player to do so, but it was a nice thing to see. I have seen evidence of the Malifaux community being really friendly and helpful on twitter though, so perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. </div>
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Despite the losses I enjoyed the games. I picked up a good deal of info both from how my opponents played, and from talking through things with them. I was a little too busy concentrating on my games to make notes, but Trust me, I had fun losing.</div>
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After a bit of an enforced gap following the tournament to focus on Warmachine, I've started playing Malifaux again and I'm beginning to get the hang of it a bit more. Despite not being too successful at Cojo Dojo, I really got a feel for Seamus, so with that in mind, I started to think on whether to keep on using him or switch to another master. Obviously my aim is to run Molly as a master, but with no known release date for the plastics, I am forced to wait for that little miss. Instead I have started looking at McMourning. Just for something a bit different I wanted to try a Guild McMourning crew, but with further thought I have kept to Resserectionists. At the very least Ressers will be my tournament faction for a year or so and so focussing on them wherever possible should be the priority. If I want to play Guild now and then, fine, but I need to focus my learning on the way I intend him to play in a competitive setting. </div>
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In the event that I attend a tournament that isn't fixed faction, then if I have had sufficient practice beforehand I may play McMourning from both factions, but we shall see.</div>
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I've now played the Doc three times, twice against Ben, and once against Sam. Ben used two different masters: Ten Thunders Lynch in the first game and Ressers Yan Lo in the second. </div>
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I cannot remember really how that first game went exactly, nor can I recall the schemes or the strategy, all I know is that I played poorly. We were both using our crews for the first time, though I made less of my crew than Ben did against me.</div>
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In the second game I played much better. It was still a loss, but a bloody and close game. The strategy and schemes were as follows with the expanded schemes being the ones that I opted for.</div>
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I had misunderstood the nature of expunge and had thought that kills from that attack didn't count towards Reckoning. Had I known, I may have played differently and maybe got an extra point or two. Then again, maybe not. However, it was this game that I really got my head around how the poison manipulation works with this crew, and I began to really enjoy using him. The game ended 5-2 to Ben, though it would have been higher were it not for McMourning's Evidence Tampering.</div>
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My game against Sam was a bit of an odd fish</div>
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It was a 40SS game in an attempt to make it a smaller more managable game for Sam who was a few games behind us in experience. With hindsight, 35 would have been better really. </div>
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This was the deployment, strategy and scheme pool for the game. Again with the expanded ones being the options I chose.</div>
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Sam chose Bodyguard on Lenny, which was also the only candidate for Murder Protege and so he was effectively worth double points depending on his survivability. </div>
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I won't go into too much detail about this game as it was more about getting Sam some games in than being the subject of the blog. However, I was much improved in my approach to getting the most of the crew and so I'm happy that I am beginning to understand the intricacies. </div>
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I've received my GenCon order now and I'm looking forward to using the Kirai crew, though I shall leave discussion of her for another time.</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-52733638223911114372014-08-18T07:41:00.001+01:002015-10-01T13:02:18.294+01:00This week in Immoren: Starter's orders<div>
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Last Monday we began the Journeyman League at the club and I'm pleased to say that it had a fantastic turnout with 19 players, so well done to Dave for that!
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I decided to stick with my initial instincts with the battlegroup, and so it consisted of Syntherion, an Assimilator and an Inverter. Two fairly blunt instruments, but ones I've grown to like and understand a bit better than the others</div>
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With Syntherion's spells such as Hot Shot on the Assimilator and Reconstruct on the Inverter my basic plan was to avoid playing people with purification.<br />
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I got to the club reasonably early, but even so there were several games already on the go. After greetings, meetings and catch up I organised a game with Phil Dangerfield. Phil has chosen to play Farrow Minions and has used the standard Journeyman battlegroup for them. Despite having invested in most of the Farrow models, I've never used or faced them before, and haven't really given Carver much attention either, so I wasn't too sure what to expect. The game was short and decisive in my favour. Having won first turn, Phil charged Carver up field his maximum distance, first having cast mobility and quagmire on the War Hog. He riled and then ran his battlegroup to keep up. </div>
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In my turn I advanced my units so as not to be in charge range this turn and put up reconstruct on the Inverter and Hot Shot on the Assimilator. I may have thrown out a ground pounder more to check the distance between me and the pigs than for any expectation of damage.</div>
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In Phil's second turn he advanced a little further to try and force my hand. He would anyway. He took a couple of shots with the Gun Boars, but to little effect if I recall. He did put up Batten down the Hatches as a spell however meaning that I would find it easier to hit him, but harder to wound. </div>
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In my turn, I was going to be in charge range of something with my two vectors, but wasn't sure if Carver would be quite reachable. I upkept for free with Resourceful and put all six Focus on the Vectors. I chose Syntherion as first activation and declared I would be using my feat. This meant that I could charge for free and my battlegroup would be able to use any ranged weapons as part of it's initial attacks. A quick control area check made me reasonably confident that both my Vectors would be in range of Carver. I'm sure Phil was hoping for a charge against the War Hog, but to be honest if I had risked that I doubt I'd have weathered the storm if I'd fluffed it, so I went straight for the boss hog. </div>
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He put up a valiant fight, even sacrificing a Gun Boar using two transfers to fight off the 'caster kill, but in the end, I had about eight Melee attacks and a ground pounder ranged attack to use with two Vectors as I boosted the first hit with the hammer to knock him down, and that was a POW 20 attack. </div>
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And so, first blood to me (maybe even in the league overall as I think our game was the first to finish). Onwards to face Luke.</div>
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Against whom I have never won.<br />
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Luke is using a Magnus led Battlegroup consisting of a Buccaneer, a Freebooter and a Mariner. I'm not sure which Contract he is using however. </div>
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I've faced Luke's Mercs a couple of times but I couldn't for the life of my remember what they did. Again I lost the roll for first turn, and so Luke ran forward with all but Magnus and the Buccaneer both of whom charged, the latter using an assault shot net with snipe that knocked down my Assimilator. I think it was on this turn that Luke used his feat to manoeuvre most of his force out of harms way whilst moving the Buccaneer in to a baiting position. </div>
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This wasn't a particularly big issue for me however. I had no intention of charging in just yet. I upkept my spells for free with Resourceful and gave just one point of Focus to the Assimilator and moved him up. With only the Baccaneer to shoot at I decided to go for the regular shot. Either I didn't hit, or I did negligible damage and so my Assimilator was left in the open. I didn't expect both Vectors to survive another turn, and so with that in mind, I was happy to let it be the Assimilator rather than the Inverter.</div>
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Since I had a focus on the Inverter anyway from induction, I ran the Vector so as to be in position to charge whatever took out the Assimilator next turn. Meanwhile, I just manoeuvred Syntherion in to a reasonably safe position and camped on the remaining five focus. </div>
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Luke obliged in his turn and began the destruction of the Assimilator with a ship gun shot from the Mariner. That caused a decent amount of damage meaning that the two remaining 'jacks wouldn't be hard pressed to finish him off. The Buccaneer charged next using assault, which inevitably knocked down the Vector meaning that Luke was at liberty to chew through the Assimilator with the Buccaneer and then the Freebooter. Magnus then simply walked in to base contact with the Freebooter to benefit from steady from Lash.</div>
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In this turn I knew I needed to start thinking about taking out Magnus. Luke still had three healthy 'Jacks, whereas I was down to my last Vector, and Syntharion wasn't going to last too long either. I upkept Reconstruct with Resourceful just in case and allocated three focus to the Inverter. I began with Syntherion and declared feat meaning that the Inverter would charge for free. I didn't want to charge Syntherion this turn, which with hindsight was a mistake. If I were to play this game again, I would use the last three focus to cast synergy and charge the Buccaneer. As it was, I cast Magnetic hold on Magnus, which hit, and because the Buccaneer had his back to Syntherion and so I just moved my 'caster behind the rough terrain of my destroyed Assimilator so as to avoid the Buccaneer being able to charge due to spacing. </div>
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Moving on to the Inverter, I knew that with Lash up, I couldn't easily kill Magnus. I decided to slam the Freebooter in an attempt to then knock down Magnus with the Macropummeler. I only rolled a one for the slam distance however and so Magnus remained base to base with the Freebooter. I did manage to cause seven points of damage to Magnus with the collateral damage, and then a few more with the Macropummeler leaving Magnus on three or four wounds. The Meteor Hammer failed to hit however and Magnus lived.</div>
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With just one Vector <i>or</i> Syntherion to kill, I didn't expect to survive Luke's turn, even with Reconstruct up. I didn't however bank on Luke moving Magnus away from base contact with the Freebooter. He went all in for destroying the Inverter, however unluckily for him, at the end of his turn I still had about four boxes left. Crucially one of which was the Induction node. Luke was happy enough though that he had crippled one of my arms, and my movement, as would I have been. </div>
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As usual I upkept Reconstruct for free and then I allocated three focus to the Vector. What Luke hadn't banked on however was that my Ace in the hole was Auto repair from Syntherion's Field Marshal ability. Learning from earlier I began with Syntherion and cast Synergy. He then charged the Buccaneer and hit him causing a bit of damage. This wasn't really the main focus of my turn however, as I just needed the +1 to hit and damage.</div>
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Moving on to the Inverter, now that Magnus was not benefiting from from Lash, I began with a boosted hit on Magnus with the Macropummeler. I hit, and so with a total of plus four to the damageroll, I killed Magnus without rolling dice. A good solid game despite the small size, and against a solid opponent. </div>
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And so, for my first week I was very happy to get two wins. I do not expect this streak to continue for long, but I am just enjoying using the Convergence. </div>
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It will come as no surprise to anyone that I have yet to paint my models, but I do intend to do so at some point. </div>
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And so on to week 1b. </div>
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Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-50777191971166118272014-08-10T22:12:00.001+01:002014-08-10T22:42:43.965+01:00This week in Immoren: Out of my League<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There is a Journeyman league starting at the club tomorrow, and having recently started the Convergence, I've decided to use them.
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There is a Journeyman league starting at the club tomorrow, and having recently started the Convergence, I've decided to use them.
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Syntherion isn't really a caster that caught my attention when I first began looking at the faction. I was really drawn to Axis and Directrix, however now that I am giving him a bit more attention, I can see his merit. Just as well, as without an alternate option for the Journeyman, I will be spending most weeks with him in charge.</div>
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We have been permitted to create our own battlebox force if we wish, and although I do like the Cipher, I'm less keen on the Galvaniser and the Mitigator as starter 'jacks for league play involving Mangled Metal. Furthermore, although I would be permitted to add in other 'jacks at later stages, until the final week I would still be locked in to using those three first, before purchasing additional 'jacks. As such I decided a custom battlegroup would be far more beneficial. </div>
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My battlegroup will consist of Syntherion, one Assimilator and one Inverter. The amended rules pack states that I may take two heavy jacks, though they must be different, and furthermore at least one must have a ranged attack. To be honest, I am more than happy to comply with this as most of the ranged attacks that Convergence have access to are worthwhile anyway. </div>
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I do have a great deal of flexibility though as I have every released faction model, and have one of each 'jack assembled excluding the Monitor, although I do have a model for it. I just need to decide whether to assemble it as that or as a second Inverter and wait until I have the pennies to buy a spare 'jack. </div>
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I suppose I ought to at least pretend that I will be painting during this league, so here is a picture of my unpainted battlegroup plus Axis. </div>
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Syntherion came with some arm parts missing, and so whilst I wait for their replacements to arrive (it's convention season so I could be waiting a while) I thought I would get Axis painted up.</div>
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I shall be chronicling my progress through the league in as much detail as I can remember, so shall share the ups and downs with you. isn't really a caster that caught my attention when I first began looking at the faction. I was really drawn to Axis and Directrix, however now that I am giving him a bit more attention, I can see his merit. Just as well, as without an alternate option for the Journeyman, I will be spending most weeks with him in charge.</div>
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We have been permitted to create our own battlebox force if we wish, and although I do like the Cipher, I'm less keen on the Galvaniser and the Mitigator as starter 'jacks for league play involving Mangled Metal. Furthermore, although I would be permitted to add in other 'jacks at later stages, until the final week I would still be locked in to using those three first, before purchasing additional 'jacks. As such I decided a custom battlegroup would be far more beneficial. </div>
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My battlegroup will consist of Syntherion, one Assimilator and one Inverter. The amended rules pack states that I may take two heavy jacks, though they must be different, and furthermore at least one must have a ranged attack. To be honest, I am more than happy to comply with this as most of the ranged attacks that Convergence have access to are worthwhile anyway. </div>
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I do have a great deal of flexibility though as I have every released faction model, and have one of each 'jack assembled excluding the Monitor, although I do have a model for it. I just need to decide whether to assemble it as that or as a second Inverter and wait until I have the pennies to buy a spare 'jack. </div>
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I suppose I ought to at least pretend that I will be painting during this league, so here is a picture of my unpainted battlegroup plus Axis. </div>
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Syntherion came with some arm parts missing, and so whilst I wait for their replacements to arrive (it's convention season so I could be waiting a while) I thought I would get Axis painted up.</div>
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I shall be chronicling my progress through the league in as much detail as I can remember, so shall share the ups and downs with you.</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-18351640130549398632014-07-30T17:00:00.004+01:002015-03-13T13:46:18.392+00:00The State of the Nation 2014<div>
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I realised a few days ago that I set up this blog four years ago today, and wow, I've dodged a lot of painting since then! A canny reader will see that I've got older posts than that, but they were added retrospectively from my old forum posts so that I still had them after the forum shut down. The very first <a href="http://thenationofprocrasti.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/bfg-adeptus-mechanicus-fleet.html" target="_blank">post</a> concerned itself with my plans to assemble a pre-bought Adeptus Mechanicus Battlefleet Gothic fleet. In the end, it never came to fruition as we never really got stuck in to that game. Instead it went a long way to financing my early Trollbloods. </div>
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I've done a lot since then, and many plans have been devised and sidelined in that time, but I think that it has been for the better.<br />
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I wrote a similar <a href="http://thenationofprocrasti.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-state-of-nation.html" target="_blank">post</a> to this last year, albeit a little earlier in the year than this. In it I outlined my plans going forward. I shall do this here this year, but first I intend to reflect on that post a little and provide an update on some of the systems.<br />
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I spoke about sticking with one list for each system, namely the chaos army for each but with the addition of a Daemon Army that was in the pipeline. This has stalled. </div>
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I've felt very let down by GW over the last couple of years. I feel that they are stretching the customer's finances more and more with each release and yet are not actually adding much of value for it. I understand that this is just my point of view, however this is sadly how I feel. The only thing keeping my from shedding my collection wholesale is that they are stored for the move that never seems to get nearer. However there is a strong possibility that I shall be unboxing them to go on eBay. </div>
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I plan to keep a couple of armies, and at least one for each system, but this is more in hope than expectation that things will improve. Frankly I'm having more fun with other systems, and the best way for me to finance these is to use money from sales of unwanted armies.<br />
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No real change here. I didn't have time last year, and that hasn't changed. A new edition has been, or is soon to be released, I'm a bit out of touch, and yet still as much fun as it was, it took too long to play a game at a worthwhile size; and the amount of clutter from tokens, markers and dice to indicate hit points etc was far too fussy. At some point I intend to re-look at this, but it won't be for some time and will probably be with the Russians. </div>
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This has developed in to my main game over the last year. I'm very much enjoying the game and am really beginning to get the hang of my Trolls. I actually even have some of them painted now. This was so that I went to my first tournament with at least some models were painted.<br />
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Last year I spoke of sticking with Jarl and the Hunters Grim, however in a twist of fate, Grissel2 is now my strongest caster. She is the new thing now albeit with a different list to mine), but at the time many didn't rate her too highly. I found that for infantry spam she does enough to help out without having too many options to choose from. She's also got herself a reasonable kill tally in the 'Caster Kill Challenge. At present I don't really have a strong secondary caster, but as Borka2 is out later this year, I may well focus on him being my go to heavy hitter list. </div>
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I've also now delved in to another faction. With the sales of some of my GW armies, I've been investing in Thornfall Alliance Minions, Circle Orboros and Convergence of Cyriss and it is the latter I've recently started. It is early days still, but I'm enjoying them. Having started with Axis, I'm not using too subtle a list, but whilst I'm keeping with him at the moment, I'm looking to the other casters to find something a bit different. However much I try to avoid it I keep heading back to the Prime Axiom for my lists, which means that sooner or later, so heavy duty assembly and painting is going to be required. </div>
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A month or two after last year's article I went by train with Sam into Leeds. On that fateful journey, we bumped in to an acquaintance of Sam's that played Malifaux. He was an odd fish, but he did assuage a lot of my misgivings over Malifaux and as such I began to look further in to the game. I joined as Wyrd were finalising their playtesting for the second edition of the game (M2e) and so things were a little all over the place, however I saw the promise and began to play, and moreover, buy lots of models. </div>
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It was a rough start, and there are still teething problems it seems, however I've played seven games now and I am in love. Initially I have been playing Seamus who is one of the Resurrection's masters. I do intend to branch out from him, but I shall discuss that later. </div>
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I've recently been to a Malifaux tournament hosted by <a href="http://the-outpost.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Outpost</a> and whilst I came 29/30 I had a great day, and did reasonably well on VPs if not wins. I shall write a bit more on this in another post.</div>
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I'd resisted it for ages, but as we all know, (wait for it) resistance is futile (boom boom!). Speaking of the Borg, that's one of the fleets I'm collecting. That and the Romulans. I don't mind having a few Federation ships but I much prefer playing the opposition. </div>
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This is going to stay an occasional game and I...will...not...buy...X-Wing!</div>
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This is usually the bit where I get things wrong. </div>
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Neither <b><i>Warhammer</i></b> nor <b><i>40k</i></b> are likely to get a look in over the next year. I see things getting worse with those systems, not better and as sad as it is, I think that the sun has set on those games. Yet as I said I shall keep a few options for them in case I'm wrong. </div>
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<b><i>Dystopian Wars</i></b> may get a look in, but not for a while. That's about that for that. </div>
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<b><i>Star Trek Attack Wing</i></b> is an occasional game for me, so whilst I shall keep my hand in its not something I'm going to go crazy on.</div>
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<i><b>Guild Ball</b></i>. <a href="http://store.guildball.com/" target="_blank">This</a> is a new one for me. I pledged on the Kickstarter and I'm looking forward to the release in December. Hopefully it will arrive before Christmas as that is my present. I've opted for the Butchers, the Masons and the Alchemists guilds. I'm not too sure how each of those teams play, aside from the Butchers apparently being a bit of a blunt instrument, but I went for the teams that I liked the look of the most, and it was a hard task to be honest. We shall see how it plays out. Since this will be my Christmas present, I'm hoping it will be sent out before the expected release date of December 29th. </div>
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<b><i>Warmachine</i></b> and <b><i>Hordes</i></b> will continue to be my first game. Not least as it's the most accessible game for opposition. I'm enjoying the Convergence at the moment and will continue to tinker with them including taking part in a modified Journeyman League at the club. The Trollbloods aren't being sidelined. I've got some lists planned which will need testing at some point. Grissel2 remains my main caster, though I'm not really sure whether I'm going to give in to the Meat Mountain list much time. I'm liking the look of a Borka2 list I've come up with, but it will need some playing as I'm not sure whether my theory machine is that strong. </div>
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My plans for <b><i>Malifaux</i></b> are to continue with the Ressers. I'm waiting for Molly to come out so I can play about with a summoner. In the meantime I shall develop Seamus and play about with McMourning.<br />
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I've also signed up to another tournament in November, is time at Stockport at the NWGC. I think it would be wise to stick with Ressers for this, but I shall be looking at the Outcasts at some point too. I've got the Viks to look at as well as Misaki, and as soon as I can get my hands on Jack Daw, I shall be getting him too. So many choices!</div>
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So that's it really, another year on and another set of plans. Maybe the next time I write this type of article, I will actually have moved!<br />
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Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-14245393236308869162014-07-18T11:46:00.000+01:002015-10-01T12:44:04.654+01:00This week in Immoren: Progressing like Clockwork<div>
After a bit of a break from Warmachine and Hordes to concentrate on Malifaux, I've started to look at the game once more. This time, rather than go back to the Trollbloods, I've decided I want to give something new a try, which meant either Convergence of Cyriss, Circle Orboros or Thornfall Alliance as those are the three I've been stocking up on following my recent selling spree to fund new stuff. In the end I decided upon Convergence. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>I'd fallen in love with them as soon as I saw them. My favourite Doctor Who villains are the Cybermen, and when I saw the Cyriss Symbol and the Directorix artwork I knew I had to have them. Even the ethos of Cyriss that clockwork vessels are superior to flesh is the same. </div>
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I like aspects of all the 'casters, and as I have at least one of all the released models, it means I have plenty of flexibility when writing lists, as long as I can assemble quickly enough anyway. As I had already built him a while ago, I decided to start with Axis. He is less subtle than some of the other 'casters meaning that I can worry a little less about him and a bit more about how the army works. </div>
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Before I even played a game with them I set down Axis and a few Vectors including the Corallary and worked out the optimum moves for making the most of focus induction. Obviously I knew that no plan survives the enemy, but if I could get my head around the basics first, I'd have the advantage. As it is, having played two games now, I think I've managed to cope quite well with the mechanics. I do feel the pinch of Warmachine in terms of the Focus vs Fury changes, but with Convergence it is a little more manageable. </div>
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On Saturday I played against <a href="http://snorrisforge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sam's</a> Cryx for my first game, and Sam is still fairly new to Cryx and the Warmachine differences, so I wasn't going to be able to use the 'but I'm new' card against him. </div>
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I hate Deneghra.</div>
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I don't really, I love her, but I think that I'm going to need to give Cryx a good thinking about. Crippling grasp is a killer when cast on Axis as I need him able to move and strike. His armour isn't actually as good as you would expect from the background, so against her, perhaps Lucant with Purification is the answer. That said, Axis' own feat is a decent counter to her's. Evening out the speed buff/debuff means I can keep my army charging. </div>
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The other issue with Cryx is the fight for my Army's souls. They need them to boost their attacks, I need them to bring back my models, so I must be careful to ensure the Enigma Foundry(s) stay close. In the end I did what I always do with my 'caster, regardless of faction and left him exposed to a 'caster kill. Sam obliged and charged his Harrower in for the kill. </div>
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We had a second game and this time Sam wanted to summon the kraken. But I told him that this is a family friendly blog, so he used his Colossal instead. I played better this game, but in the end I did what I always do with my 'caster, regardless of faction and left him exposed to a 'caster kill. This time Axis fell to a pistol wraith. </div>
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On Monday I played against <a href="http://splatter-mania.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Luke's</a> epic Morvahna list. Now, he knows his Circle well so I wasn't ever going to beat him, even if I played Trolls. By now I think the list I know best for Trolls is my epic Grissel one. I'm pretty good with that, even against armies it shouldn't match up well against, and even that wouldn't beat Luke. He's my Unicorn (that's a Gone in 60 seconds reference).</div>
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Knowing a bit about how Morvahna works, and with confirmation from Luke, I concentrated on his units making sure that I wiped out his units completely though I did still plan to use my Clockwork Angels to take out any vulnerable solos should the opportunity arise. </div>
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I was pretty pleased how well the game went. He had a unit of max skinwalkers and max Tharn Ravagers which I did take out, albeit that I left one Skinwalker on one wound meaning that instead of charging Morvahna with Axis, I was forced to use him to take out the Skinwalker in case Axis couldn't kill the goat girl in one turn...</div>
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In the end I did what I always do with my 'caster, regardless of faction and left him exposed to a 'caster kill.</div>
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Luke failed a threshold check on a maxed out Warpwolf Stalker, but even so, Morvahna aside he had a Gorax and a couple of solos in position to charge the big man should Morvahna fail. She did not. Knocking him down on the chage meant that on max fury, she had plenty of attacks to take him out. In the end I believe she still had four fury when she struck the killing blow. </div>
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It was a great game, and not one I expected to win. Luke played her well and deserved to add Axis to his fledgling Caster Kill Challenge tally.</div>
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Next time Foster! Next time!</div>
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Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-33789475850716040792014-06-15T11:47:00.000+01:002015-10-01T13:22:00.824+01:00Malifaux Journal: Escalating threats<div>
<i>There is something in the air lately. Despite only recently being blooded by my masters, the tension is rising as though they mean to test me further. I do not know what the future holds, but it seems fate will do with me as she sees fit. </i></div>
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Well, I've had two games of M2e now, so that means I'll be ready for a tournament right? </div>
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What have I let myself in for? Well, I've signed up for <a href="http://the-outpost.co.uk/events/events/cojo-dojo.html" target="_blank">Cojo Dojo</a> at The Outpost in early July, and I had thought that it was a beginner tournament, but seeing some of the names on the list already, I'm not so sure. I think therefore I'm going to have to keep things simple.</div>
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Seamus it is then! I may take the Doc too, but I haven't played him yet, and I don't know if I will get much chance to do so before the day so he would be a hell of a risk in what is already going to be a long shot. But no matter, I shall stick with the Hatter and see how he fares. I'm expecting a spoon anyway. </div>
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Now, the tournament doesn't have a painting requirement, but I am trying to get some models painted by then. Because I know myself well enough, I know I won't get everything done, but if I at least make some progress I shall be happy. As things stand at the moment I have started one of the Rotten Belles' dresses. I went for green as I am wanting to have the Belle's dressed in richly coloured clothing, as per their artwork, but at the moment, I've only really got a suitable green colour to hand. </div>
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Since I have six Belles plus Sybelle I'm also toying with painting each Belle in the main colours of the different factions, but since Gremlins are brown, I'm not sure if I can get a dress looking right in that colour Sybelle may get pink instead. </div>
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I've been doing some research in to zombie flesh, and I couldn't quite find the right tone, so after putting a post up on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152059698821784&set=o.159737997556606&type=1" target="_blank">Wyrd Place Facebook group</a>, I received a lot of helpful replies, so thank you for that. </div>
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In preparation for the tournament, and really more to avoid opponents facing someone totally unprepared, I've obviously re-read the Rulebook paying as much attention to those rules I think I understand as to those I think I'm a little uncertain about. That is a tip I would encourage all players to adopt with a new game or edition. When revising, don't just glss over something because you think you know it, read it to reinforce the fact that you do. </div>
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So I shall crack on in the hope of making some progress.</div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-89764731078200949762014-06-06T16:17:00.000+01:002015-10-01T13:22:36.966+01:00Malifaux Journal: Rotten Dreams<div>
<i>I had thought my current allies amongst the most terrifying creatures this hell could conjure, but alas today I faced the stuff of my very Nightmares. I would fear for my soul at seeing such sights, were I not convinced it already beyond redemption</i>. </div>
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I had my second game on Sunday, and again used Seamus. I faced <a href="http://ancientpleasureandpain.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Ben's</a> Dreamer list, but as it was Ben's first game, this was more about fumbling through an encounter than being a proper game. </div>
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My crew consisted of:</div>
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Ben's crew consisted of:</div>
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Daydreams x2</div>
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I'm not sure what upgrades he took. </div>
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For deployment we flipped standard deployment, for the strategy we got Reckoning and then for schemes we flipped the 5 of Tomes and the 2 of Masks meaning that the scheme pool was: </div>
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<li style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-overflow: clip; text-shadow: none; word-break: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">A line in the sand (as always)</li>
<li style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-overflow: clip; text-shadow: none; word-break: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">Breakthrough</li>
<li style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-overflow: clip; text-shadow: none; word-break: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">Protect Territory</li>
<li style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-overflow: clip; text-shadow: none; word-break: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">Outflank</li>
<li style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-overflow: clip; text-shadow: none; word-break: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">Vendetta</li>
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I opted for Outflank and Vendetta and with the latter I chose for Madame Sybelle to take on the Widow Weaver. I decided to reveal both my schemes even though I didn't have to with Vendetta. I did this more so that Ben could follow why I make the choices I did. He kept his hidden at this stage. But I would eventually learn that he had taken Breakthrough and Outflank. </div>
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Because he was using the Dreamer, and didn't have his cards printed, the game was a bit of a struggle as he was trying to adapt to a new system, keep track of wounds on paper and reference his iPad and commuter for rules. I would suggest that if you don't print the cards out, if you do have a tablet, take a screen shot of each card and save them to a separate photo album so that it will minimise load time. </div>
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Now, the first turn was essentially positioning as it often is in Wargaming. Ben used his Daydreams to push things about, including the Widow Weaver which was heading to my right flank, which was the side I had placed Sybelle and a Rotten Belle on. Meanwhile as he advanced Coppelius on my left and Teddy centrally I moved Seamus and The Copycat left of centre with the Nurse close by and I began moving the other Belle along my extreme left flank in order to try and prepare to achieve the outflank scheme. </div>
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In turn two, Ben moved the widow weaver in to try and take on the Belle, which was a little further ahead of Sybelle. I don't think that Ben had appreciated how difficult the Belle's are to wound, and only got weak damage. Meanwhile this gave me chance to get Sybelle in to close attack range and she scored moderate damage, but the duel included a Tome triggering Death Mark meaning that even if Sybelle didn't kill her, the Widow Weaver would count as a Peon and couldn't take interact actions. Now, I have to admit to a mistake here: I hadn't realised that Ben could have discarded a card to avoid this, so it is something that I must remember for next time. I managed to finally kill the Widow Weaver with Sybelle, but not before the Weaver managed to poison the Belle enough so that with the wounds she had taken, she would die before the end of turn five. </div>
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Meanwhile, in the centre over the course of turn two and three, Teddy took on Seamus and I believe scored a moderate damage with his first attack, which I decided to drop the hat marker to avoid which was immediately picked up by the Copycat. Teddy's second attack however I don't think hit, or caused weak damage. In return Seamus and the Copycat tore chunks out of Teddy and killed it in short order meaning that Ben only had Coppelius and The Dreamer to count for schemes and strategy. In either turn three or four, having added a few alps and daydreams to the table, The Dreamer managed Waking +4, and Lord Chompy turned up. Again, a mixture of Mad Habadasher on Copycat, hard to wound and close duels meant that Chompy didn't really manage much by way of damage to my crew, and in return took a pounding killing him fairly</div>
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swiftly. Ben decided to place Dreamer near to my deployment zone and he then dropped a scheme marker. Meanwhile on the left flank Coppelius was taking on a Belle to try and stop me from getting the other flank. </div>
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In turn five, The Dreamer moved and dropped another marker, and I drew him further up the board with a Lure from a Belle in case we got another turn, though the Belle would die to the Poison Condition at the end of the turn. Meanwhile, An Alp managed to kill the Nurse, who had admittedly not done much this game meaning that alongside the Belle that would die, Ben would get a point for Reckoning. </div>
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In the end, it ended 7-3 to me. I think Ben had learned a lot from the encounter, which was the point of it really. He had relied too heavily on heavy hitters meaning that he didn't have enough APs across the crew from none peons to manage his schemes. He rushed in too quickly with those heavy hitters, and bad luck in his flips meant that those hitters took a heavy toll from my crew. Talking to him since and I think he has had a few thoughts on improvements. </div>
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For my part, I was a lot more comfortable with the crew. I struggled with the Nurse so should have taken another Belle, though since I've assembled a Canine Remains, so he shall help bring about some Belles. </div>
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All in all, I enjoyed the encounter, though I think I need to think a bit more carefully about crew selection <i>after</i> I know what the strategy and schemes are. Next time, I think that I may take the good Doctor out for a spin.</div>
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Edit: it has been pointed out by @tigerstyle40k on Twitter that from my description, Dreamer may not have been placed correctly when Chompy died. I honestly cannot remember, but if not, it didn't particularly help/hinder either of us beyond the ultimate result.<br />
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However, since my group and I are still new to the game, if you notice anything that isn't right, please do point it out!<br />
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Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-70374030110411460112014-05-28T00:50:00.000+01:002015-10-01T13:06:26.021+01:00Malifaux Journal: Among the dead things.<div>
<i>It has been some time coming, but I am finally beginning to progress my own schemes. It is not as I expected as I have made pacts with the dead to achieve what little gains I have so far made. I fear our fates shall be entwined for some time yet. So be it.</i></div>
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Yesterday I finally managed to play my first game in M2e against <a href="http://snorrisforge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sam</a>, and it was worth the wait. Sort of, I'd much rather have not waited and be further on, but you get my point. </div>
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We played 35 soul stones with Sam using the Sonnia Criid crew box and I used the Seamus crew box. I'm not sure what upgrades he used, but I took Bag o' Tools, Mad Haberdashery and Red Chapel Killer for Seamus and for Madame Sybelle I went for Bleeding Tongue and Decaying Aura. </div>
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The Strategy was Turf war with standard deployment.
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And the schemes were:</div>
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A line in the sand</div>
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Breakthrough</div>
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Assassinate</div>
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As it was both our first game, it was possibly just as well it was such a straightforward strategy and deployment. As for schemes, we both opted for A line in the sand, though I chose Deliver a message and Sam opted for assassinate. With hindsight, I misunderstood what I needed to do with Deliver a message and could have gained 3 points about three times during the game as I thought I had to have a qualifying model engaged at the end of the encounter to gain the points. I shall be better prepared next time. </div>
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The encounter itself was bloody. I took out a couple of the Witchling Stalkers nice and early giving me the upper hand for dropping scheme markers, but Sam managed to whittle my crew down too, and at the end of the encounter I had two belles (one that had been summoned) and Sam had only Sonnia. Now, had I read Deliver a message a little better, I would have delivered that message then killed that fiery lass as she wreaked havoc on my forces. </div>
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In the end, if I understood the scoring system correctly, Sam and I drew 7 a piece. But there are a couple of things that I need to check:</div>
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Other than that, I cannot think of much that seemed unclear to us, or that I have since found an answer to, so I'm pretty pleased with the start. </div>
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I think I'm going to stick with Ressers for a while until I get used to the game a bit more, so I now just need a few more games and perhaps a couple of new models, not least another box of belles as I underestimated the amount I would need. </div>
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Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-57583007800842623982014-04-13T13:36:00.001+01:002014-07-18T11:51:33.985+01:00This week in Immoren: Ever onwards<div>
After a couple of weeks off following the recent tournament, I'm back to thinking about Warmachine again. I had intended to look at a new faction after Fresh Starts, be that the Convergence or Circle, however, it seems I cannot shake off the Trollbloods.
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For starters, I've a Journeyman league weekend with <a href="http://ancientpleasureandpain.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Ben</a>, <a href="http://snorrisforge.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sam</a> and a few other of the Driffield lads to prepare for at the end of April and I'm probably going to use the alternate battlegroup led by Doomshaper. However I think I will be best prepping Madrak's group too. </div>
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Furthermore, I had decided before the tournament that I would paint the Trollbloods in blocks of Caster, at least two warbeats, at least one solo and one unit. So far, for Grissel I have painted all but the unit. However, following the aforementioned recharge, I'm ready to begin work on the Warders and if I am to paint the battlegroups for Doomshaper and Madrak too, then I've a lot of work to do.</div>
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Since they are currently the 'must have' Trollbloods unit, it seems fitting to paint them as my first unit. That and they number seven models less than the other 'must have' unit, the Fennblades. The two units will be the cornerstone of most of my lists, so I cannot put the Fennblades off forever, but to kick things off I think a lower model count would be wise in order to get some painted boots on the ground. Not that this means that I am trying to get out of painting however; as a kind of consolation I am painting some of the Privateer Press objective markers. </div>
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Speaking of painting things other than just the models I need, since I no longer rely solely upon others to game, and am now known to host the odd game here and there, it seems appropriate to increase the quality of my gaming facilities. I have the GW gaming mat now, but so far have no painted terrain. I figure that I should include scenery within my painting blocks with a view to enhancing the experience. The GW trees are fine for Warmachine and Hordes as well as Malifaux so that is the obvious next step, but beyond that I'm not sure where to go. I've looked in to the Galeforce 9 Battlefield in a box range, but since they seem to be splash releases it seems nigh on impossible to find some of the older stock, and typically those are the ones I like. </div>
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Now, here's a further complication: I need to have scenery compatible with both Warmachine and Malifaux, which isn't impossible to be honest but there are key differences in style particularly with structures. There are plenty of options out there for prefab Malifaux buildings, but Warmachine is a little more on the fantastical side so I think I'm going to need to make those. If anyone has any suggestions, give me a shout.</div>
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For now though, I've plenty of natural scenery to work with. </div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655929920937938565.post-67326703825456719752014-03-25T21:40:00.002+00:002015-10-01T13:18:08.577+01:00Malifaux Journal: Settling In<i>It seems like years since I arrived in Malifaux, but I have no idea how much time has really passed. I have spent time trying to get to know my surroundings, impossible though that is. </i><br />
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<i>I have been approached by numerous different parties seemingly vying for my attention. For now I am drawn to two, as their agendas best suit my own, and yet both are in opposition of each other. I can not put off my decision for long, but will I regret my choice?</i><br />
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I've had to put Malifaux on the back burner for a while recently in order to concentrate on the Warmahordes tournament that I may have mentioned once or twice. However, now that the tournament is done and dusted I can focus on more laid back gaming, one of which is definately to get on with starting Malifaux.
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I've fallen in love with the setting, the background and the models for this game, all without having even played it in its current edition. I've even got a 1st for an assignment I wrote based in Malifaux (I'm doing a creative writing degree). </div>
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Now, I've gone a little crazy when it comes to the new plastics and I have eight crew boxes already. There are many crews that appeal to me, not just specific factions, and so I've just bought what I like (mainly due to some serious reinvestment from Games Workshop products). Currently the two I'm really drawn to are The Viks and Pandora crews. </div>
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Now, The Viks are apparently a very good, user friendly starter crew so on the one hand they are obviously a good choice and I do like the idea of them so it is a crew I'm more than happy to use, however, I do very much like the Pandora crew. </div>
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According to <a href="http://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">Pull my Finger</a>, which is the Malifaux wiki, not only are The Viks on the 'good for beginners list', but Pandora is on the <i>'not</i> good for beginners' list. So I've got some thinking to do before I finally get gaming in a week or two. Both crews are assembled and are ready to use, however I do want to at least have the painting in progress with them and that's where the Pandora crews has the edge. The nature of the Woes and the Poltergeist mean that I can make quick progress with the crew without rushing them. They do need to fit around my Warmahordes painting as well, so having a quick to paint option means that I can perhaps paint the Pandora crew and a few Trollbloods simultaneous. </div>
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However, having a painted crew is all well and good, but if I struggle to use it because I'm struggling with the playstyles, is it worth it?</div>
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So, I think the key may be to use the unpainted Viks whilst I get the Pandora crew painted, then once I've got a few games under my belt and have a better understanding of how to play the game, then perhaps I can switch.</div>
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Any thoughts are welcome. </div>
Brax Jaxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06005004551724088431noreply@blogger.com2