GNAAAAH! Where's my new rulebook?!

Well, frustratingly I am still awaiting the 6th edition rules to arrive, so whilst you lot (who for the most part ordered their copy at least 8 hours after I did) have been enjoying your new book, I have been trying to occupy myself in between ranting on twitter in impotent rage.

So what have I been doing? Well, I've already honed my KoB Naval and Armoured lists as much as I can without further gaming, so that was out. So instead I have now done the same with my hordes lists:

I've written a 35 point list for Jarl Skuld, Borka Kegslayer, p&eDoomshaper, the same at 50 points and a 100 point two 'Lock list for all combinations of these casters. So that was me sorted until about 3pm yesterday.

I've watched Red Riding Hood, Sucker Punch, all the Resident Evil movies currently on DVD and the same episode of Revenge twice. My Ogre Kingdoms army has been written at 2400 points AND packed away. The Vampire Counts list has been written, printed, packed and placed in my car. I've dragged the Warriors of Chaos to the top of my warchest (yes, I have a chest that I store my miniatures in. It's a 16th century chest so I suspect that wasn't what the carpenter had in mind).

Eventually it occurred to me that sooner or later I'm going to have to focus on a doubles army as currently the plan is to go to the december event. It seems likely that whomever I partner, I shall be paired with Ogre Kingdoms. With this in mind, I began to look at which factions a) I would like to play and b) which army would work well alongside the Ogres.

As a backup, there is obviously the aforementioned Warriors of Chaos. I know them well enough to pick up and play, though I would prefer not to use them.

Beastmen I struggle to work in a form I like (I'd rather not go doombull/ungor spam) and Dwarfs I think would be fun, but I can't ever really summon enough enthusiasm for.

To be fair, It's been the Empire that I've wanted to get to grips with for quite some time and with the doubles force being 1000 points it will give me a solid start to my army.

As said, as I'm expecting Ogres as an ally, The Empire shall add some much needed numbers and with that in mind the first port of call (which it would be anyway) was a nice solid 40 strong halberdier unit with a 20 strong swordsmen detachment. To keep them steady and hitting correctly a captain (with a standard in all likelyhood) and a Warrior Priest shall lead the force. From there I'm still undecided. Initially my thoughts are to supplement my combat block with a few missile units, beginning with Outriders. My thoughts here are that I won't expect them to survive long, but whilst they do, to try and disrupt the enemies initail moves and perhaps whittle some numbers to boot. From there the Empire wouldn't be the Empire without some artillery, so next thoughts are either a Hellstorm or a Hellblaster. There is obviously a Cannon, but the Ogres can bring that, and can do it better to boot. The mortar is a bit here and there for me and the way I see it, if you want templates, go for the rocket.

That leaves about enough space for a cheap Lord or Celestial Hurricanum, which I must say will add to the complimentary magic aspects of the force and may also disrupt the enemy a little.

So thats the initial thoughts on the Empire and what I've been doing to avoid insanity over the weekend. Perhaps next time I write on here I shall be able to speak about 40k properly.

Adaptation

Well, I've not posted in a while for various reasons, but with the impending release of 6th edition Warhammer 40,000 at the end of the month, I have to say that I am looking forward to it.

There seems to have been a degree of disillusion about the new edition. I must admit, I felt the same way when 8th edition fantasy was released, and if I recall correctly, 3rd, 4th and 5th edition 40k. So whats changed with my mindset? I'm a pretty stubborn sod, and I don't react well to change, so why am I so relaxed now when I haven't been at every turn before? I think that the answer must partially lie with 8th ed fantasy.

As it approached I dutifully did what many gamers are now doing: trawling the internet for scraps of information regardless of source as to what I could expect. Looking back now, I think that I had 'given up' on fantasy about a month before it was released and the reason was that I had read abstract information presented in a format that denied the reader the ability to see the 'bigger picture'. A cliche I know, but for a reason. By reading such information on a rumour mill rather than as part of the updated rules it meant that I couldn't understand the context of the new rules set. Sure it may seem odd that fear and terror aren't as powerful now as they were, but does that mean that they are under powered now, or over powered then? Sure a Daemon or a Zombie are scary, but so too is another human running at you with a sharp sword and a determination to survive. The difference is that a soldier is trained to overcome these horrors, and when his own courage fails him, his officers and the standard are there to inspire him to conquer that fear and stand firm against his better judgement.

Another common complaint with 8th edition that unit sizes, in the main, were forced to increase in order to keep up with the changes to the combat rules. People felt that it was unfair how their well honed forces that had done them proud over at least the last two editions with the minimum of fuss between the changes were now required to undergo serious alterations. Yes this can be frustrating, and yes you probably spent hours getting your force just how you wanted it and to have it perform at it's peak efficiency, but what's fun about having all the answers? Sure it means expenditure, and sure Games Workshop are increasing prices, but I've been wargaming nearly 20 years now, as have many of my fellow regular gamers and price rises aren't a new phenomenon and if there is one thing a gamer likes at least as much as a win or achieving a good paint job on a model(s), it is buying something new.

You can't tell me that all the gamers that became despondent at news of bigger sized units and games hadn't previously moaned that they couldn't fit in a particular unit or a few more models within an existing unit.

But I digress. In truth, much of what I have said can be applied to the fears of 6th edition, though I suspect my own reasoning for looking forward to seeing what changes are ahead of us lay away from Games Workshop. Over the last year or two I have for the first time in my gaming career played none GW wargames, namely Hordes/Wamachine by Privateer Press and Dystopian Wars by Spartan Games. Both are very different to 40k and Fantasy, but both are very enjoyable. Essentially both these new systems have forced me to learn an entirely new rules set and in many ways forget how GW has taught me to wargame. Now I won't profess to be a better wargamer for this, indeed I suspect that I now fall under the 'master of none' category as I've not had the opportunity to dedicate myself to one system, however I think what it has taught me is to tolerate a different way of looking at the games I play. For example, for the first time in nearly two decades I am having to really adjust to new and unfamiliar rules sets.

I see no reason why one cannot adopt this approach with new editions of 40k or fantasy. Change can be good as it progresses the game as much as it streamlines it. Yes there will be elements that are unpopular I have no doubt. Experience tells me that I won't realise how unpopular they are with me until an opponent, probably at a tournament, points out that I am trying to play the old rule, not the new one, however with the negatives, there will be positives; not least that the models we use are better than ever and that the community is ever more widespread and supportive. All in all, I think 6th edition Warhammer 40,000 will be one to look forward to.

Circle Army stolen

Guys, I know I haven't posted in a while and sadly this isn't a good post. This post is by a good friend and fellow gamer, Luke who unfortunately suffered a burglary recently. Please read and spread the word within the community. Luke can be contacted at http://splatter-mania.blogspot.co.uk/

Circle Army Stolen

Hi all,

This is an appeal for readers of this blog (and mainly friends from the club) to keep their eyes open for my Circle Orboros army which I had stolen from my house in Hull, East Yorkshire during a burglary on monday night (7th May 2012). It was taken along with a laptop, wallets and my car.

It is most likely that the burglars will throw the models away as it is likely they didn't know what was in the case but if they should surface in any of the second hand model shops or a fellow druid sees these available to buy second hand - Id be so grateful if you could contact me. Id love the chance to recover or buy this army back as I have sunk 100s of hours into painting it and it has been my passion for the last year since I got into WM/H.

The details of what are stolen are below along with some pictures of some of the models.

Brand new KR Multicase KR Transport Bag (Black)
- Containing 2 Cardboard KR Multicases with Blue Foam Trays

KR Multicase Accessory Case (Black)
- Containing
Circle Orboros Faction Dice, Measuring Sticks, Printed out tokens etc.
Custom made 'Hull Warmachine' Dice

Circle Orboros Deck
Hordes Rulebook Softback

[b]Warlocks[/b]
Kromac the Ravenous - both forms (painted)
Kaya the Wildborne (painted)
Krueger the Stormlord (painted)
Baldur the Stonesoul (painted)
Baldur the Stonecleaver (painted)
Morvahna the Autumnblade (painted)

[b]Warbeasts[/b]
Gnarlhorne Satyr (painted)
Warpwolf Stalker (old metal) (painted)
Warpwold Stalker (new resin) (unpainted)
Wold Guardian (painted)
Megalith (painted)
Classic Pureblood Warpwolf (painted)
Woldwyrd (converted to be swimming) (painted)
Woldwyrd (unpainted)
Argus (unpainted)
Argus (unpainted)

[b]Units[/b]
Druids x 6 (painted)
Tharn Ravagers x 4 (painted)
Tharn Ravagers x 4 (painted)
Tharn Ravager Cheiftain (painted)
Tharn Ravager White Mane (painted)
10 x Tharn Blood Trackers (painted)
Nuala the Huntress (painted)
6 Stoneward & Wold Stalkers (painted)
6 Stoneward & Wold Stalkers (painted)
4 Sentry Stone & Mannikins (painted)
Lord of the Feast (painted)
War Wolf (unpainted)
Black Clad Wayfarer (unpainted)
Druid Overseer (unpainted)

Oh Games Workshop, how I hate thee!

Sounds like I'm about to rant about their negatives, doesn't it?

Quite the contrary actually. What I really want is for them to give me a bit more time between releasing the armies I use.

I was going well until the released the Beastmen book at the end of last edition, but as soon as I had completed my new units, the Ogre book was released so I began work on that. Then the Vampire Counts were released so I scambled to get them risen. I'm still awaiting the arrival of some of the units I ordered last month to complete my Kemmler army and now I hear that the Empire are getting re-done, which is awesome, especially seeing some of the new models, but the problem is I keep running just to keep up with army development.

Seriously GW, I've already heard that the Dark Angels are on the way, so if you DARE release Daemons, Wood Elves, Warriors of Chaos or Dwarfs this year, we are going to seriously fall out!!!!

The freshly risen

Well, its been a long weekend but I've finally managed to complete the 50 strong Skeleton unit.

Whether I'll ever field a full 50 unit remains to be seen, but it never hurts to be optimistic about Invocation rolls. Other than that I've also recently built a Terrorgheist and Kemmler and Krell.

Although recently assembled, I have used Krell and Kemmler in an intro game I had with Mart and whilst I kept things basic so the intro game flowed, I was happy with how Krell in particular worked. His Heroic Killing blow is going to be useful against Ogres and other Monstrous Infantry Characters and Champions, however the fact that it is restricted to challenges seems somewhat rubbish.

I've just received Vlad and Isabella as late birthday presents but other than those two, there are only 20 Zombies left to assemble of the Vampire Counts models I already own, which is just as well as May isn't that far off and I have a lot of Blood Angels models to assemble for Chris' Spring wargaming weekend.

I just can't get away from those blood suckers!

Darklands Campaign, Turn 1

I am currently taking part in a campaign based in the Dark Lands with Ben, Sam and Chris and we have just completed the first turn. The campaign is being played using the Blood in the Badlands supplement with a few adjustments.

I am using Vampire Counts and have two armies: One led by the not so magical Abdemanechus, a Vampire Lord, the other led by the Lichmaster himself: Heinrich Kemmler.

My first battle saw Abdemanechus face Ben's 'Archlector' let Empire (I'll provide a bit more info on these at a later date). It wasn't going too badly until the latter stages, but sadly the Flagellents wore down my Ghoul unit and that really swung the battle.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to field the army I really wanted to as I am still waiting for parts of it to arrive, though i think that Ben was in a similar position so i cannot complain too much. Especially since I deployed and used a unit of Hex Wraiths for two turns before realising they weren't in the revised list I'd written!

Because of this I'm quite glad Ben won the battle as I think that their presence changed how he had wanted to deploy and for them to be simply removed meant that part of his army had to readjust its position to be of benefit, so the fact that it didn't stop him winning means he may eventually forgive me. Eventually.

So I'm in need of a win and sharpish! all the others seem to be getting interesting bits and bobs and I want me some of that!

So, I'm behind on the tile claiming and the relics

In absentia mea, ego vigilate te

Well, since my change around on this blog three weeks ago, I've been rather quiet. The reasons for this, simply, are that I don't have enough time! Between work and University, real life and trying to squeeze in some games now and then, I've not had much time left for recreational writing.

That isn't to say that I've not been busy as I have been working on army development! Although it is old news now, the Vampire Counts have had a new book and lots of new miniatures, and as such I have been busy assembling my forces.

It always strikes me as odd that I seem to have sufficient models for a reasonable sized army until the new book arrives, at which point I seem to need to spend weeks assembling basic units all over again, let alone all the new units that get released. However, I am now on my way to a viable force. The goal is to have a Kemmlar army, but to do so shall require a lot of Skeletons, as well as time and funds. Sadly, the Winds of Magic aren't real, and even if they were, I suspect that the Invocation of Nehek wouldn't work on plastic skeletons. So in the meantime the intention is to run a Vampire list including a large unit of Crypt Ghouls to get me used to the army once more and slowly turn it towards the Necromancer list. I have only used the force once since the book came out, and frankly it didn't fare well, though admittedly this was against Ben's own Vampire Counts army. Essentially I lost through a mixture of attrition, terrible luck with magic and a lack of experience, the latter being something that despite it being a force from a new book, I could have mitigated by spending more time using the army when the previous book was in use. Instead I darted from army to army never really giving myself time to become use to it.

So now I have a lot of work ahead to get the army I want assembled, but am eager to get going. In the meantime, however, I shall likely be an irregular poster and may or may not get time to look over your own blogs, but I shall do so eventually!


Take care all.

Brax