Mwahahaha.
Joining the flock, here is my new blog that I am copying from everyone.
Circle ftw.

Having traded the Warpack box off a mate (who I am poking until he starts posting here), I decided to go and buy a bunch of cool looking stuff. So I ended up with a Pureblood and Kromac as extras, though I won't be using them for a while...

So far I've played 4 games, 2 vs. NRs Legion, and 2 vs. my friend's Skorne.
So far I'm on 2 wins and 2 losses (assuming we count my second game against NR as my victory), which isn't too bad, and I'm feeling like I'm getting the hang of the rules, and even starting to not act like a retarded monkey when using them on the field of battle.

I've also ordered Krueger and a unit of Bloodtrackers, 'cos I would really like some ranged attacks, and both mr. Stormwrath and the Tharn are a bit awesome at that...

Hopefully I'll get some more pics of painted stuff up soon (there are some god-awful pics of my Warpwolf in Painting), and as soon as my new camera arrives I'll try and do some photo battle reports...

Time to restore some peace and order to the world.
By smashing your silly warlocks into the dirt!

-t.

Bah, everyone's stealing my idea now...

Sure, you jump on the gravy train now... Though it will certainly be interesting to see what was running through your head during our games and the kind of stuff you are going to collect so I suppose I will let it slide. You must know your enemy to defeat them, after all. But, I must at least vandalise this blog for the sake of appearances. We can't let anyone know that I might have some kind of respect for you.

:P

Nah, just kidding.

Legion ftw.

nice. -t, lets all get the hordes/warmachine section going in style!

Sounds like it's starting to get there. Well, with something like 5 posters anyways, hehe. will try and get my buddy, klaukalosh posting here too, as he's the troll player I often fight.

But I'm glad to see some regular posting on this area, it's a nice reprieve from the rules section.

hah, now that I've crossed over from 40k to something else(for now) I'll probably have a good amount of activity in this section. Anyhow, -t, I'm looking forward to seeing your work(as always) on your hordes stuff.

OK, so, 2 more games down, and 2 more losses.
However, I have discovered some very cool tricks, and have definately got the hang of how the warpack works.
The 2 Argus are definately an odd choice, and on paper seem a little rubbish.
And my results record backs that up fairly nicely.

However, using Kayas abilities, and a bit of careful planning and they can leave your opponent realing. I had a couple of turns where my enemy was completely unable to bring me to battle, and I was dealing some heavy damage to his beasts...

The second game, in particular, I felt went well. I had an amazingly stupid moment in turn 2 which led to one of my argus being torn apart by an angry (and non-dopplered) Cyclops. However, the rest of the game went fairly well for me, highlights including throwing another Cyclops about the battlefield.
I also killed all the enemies warbeasts, but unfortunately that put me in a position with Morghoul able to get to Kaya, who he managed to kill (he gets waaaay too many attacks to be healthy). If I hadn't been an idiot at the start of the game, all would have been well.

Next time, Skorne. Next time!

-t.

so your second loss was to warcaster fatality? Suckage!

I'm hoping tonight will go well. I don't have a warpack, but I think I have enough to test
as a "starter army. :D

Well, thats how the game normally ends, as HORDES doesn't have a turn limit (unless you set one), and you tend to stay at roughly equal casulty levels until it tips dramatically (at which point freking Morghoul ruins everything, the gimp).

Something I heartilly reccomend is placing small dots on the side of the base indicating where the front and rear arcs of your model are. This is very important, and is a good thing to remember.

Also, remember to check what each special rules does before you do something.
The number of times I've forgotten that each extra beast that attacks the same target in Kaya's control area gets +1 to MAT and STR is many, and frustrating...

-t.

Well, thats how the game normally ends, as HORDES doesn't have a turn limit (unless you set one), and you tend to stay at roughly equal casulty levels until it tips dramatically (at which point freking Morghoul ruins everything, the gimp).

Something I heartilly reccomend is placing small dots on the side of the base indicating where the front and rear arcs of your model are. This is very important, and is a good thing to remember.

Also, remember to check what each special rules does before you do something.
The number of times I've forgotten that each extra beast that attacks the same target in Kaya's control area gets +1 to MAT and STR is many, and frustrating...

-t.

Well, I think that can be said about any game you're new to though. Even in 40k, until you "remember the special rules" you're hosed.
But I immagine more so in hordes/warmachine since its a game of risk management and synergy of special rules exploited to its full potential.

I read the quick start rules and realized how important front facing was so I have hemisphere lines on my models(for now) I will replace them with hemisphere rune stones once I get them made to denote front and back halves.

I'm all excited now talking about it, and I can't even play for at least 5 or 6 more hours... curse you!

Yeah, the almost 20 attacks morgoul gets is obscene, especially because each hit causes a minimum of 1 wound. Lucky she she has a crappy MAT.

And yeah, having markers is the easy to tell facing.

Argus have some decent things going for them, but also some down sides. Since they have 360 LOS, you can't hide behind them and let them frenzy, as they'll just turn around and bite you in th face. But they have a good speed, and 2 attacks on a light isn't bad. Plus their animus isn't bad either. Add in the mythology and the coolness that is kaya, and they would be on my lists if I played circle.

as to victory conditions, you could try some of the other ones, pendulum, king of the hill and such. Some are great, some are very caster specific.

Wow, sounds like you suffered a fair few headaches at the hands of Skorne. I hope I have a chance to take a crack at the army soon-ish. I may even have some of my models closer to completion when next we meet!

Well, I only got one game in tonight down at the club, as I have succumed to illness.
Sore throat + shouting at children for attention = bad.

But on the plus side, I did have an awesome game.
Was totally cheated of a win, but it was fun anyway!

Neither of us were really using 'optimal' lists, as we both wanted to try out new stuff. I was 4 points over, but that was cool (I checked in advance).
I had:
Kromac, a Pureblood Warpwolf, a Warpwolf and an Argus (for 354pts I believe), and my opponent had:
Makeda, a Titan Gladiator, a pair of Cyclops Savages and a unit of 6 Praetorians (for 350pts).

The battlefield was a 4x4 table with some woods scattered about, and a pair of rocky pillars on my left flank.

The game proceeded thus:
I won first turn, and cautiously advanced somewhat. Kromac advanced into some woods just behind the rock pillars, the Argus headed left (putting him out of sight of everything) and the pair of Wolves headed vaguely up the center, but not too far.
My opponent advanced steadily, forming a definsive line with his praetorians, but foolishly (IMO) leaving the Dakar in the front in clear LOS. The beasts and Makeda advanced somewhat, and positioned themselves behind the wall.

In my second turn, Kromac advanced to just behind the closest pillar, and tried out one of his spells. The Howling Pit opened up, but I managed to miss the closely packed Praetorians, and the AOE scattered to my left (we used a scatter dice rather than the 'official' chart as it seemed more apropriate), blocking the gap between the forests and the stones. The Argus headed around the rocks, safe from enemy advances due to the pit. Again, the wolves headed vaguely forward, the Pureblood moving further foward as bait, and blasting the Dakar with his Warp Strike animus.
My opponent cast a selection of nasty spells with Makeda, and popped her feat (basically brings any infantry that die this turn back to life, if there are any of the original unit left). The Praetorians charged at Kromac and the Pureblood, dealing several points of damage to the Pureblood (stupid penetrating strike... mutter mutter), and even causing 7 points of damage on Kromac. This was probably an error on his part, as Kromac shunted it onto the Argus, and changed into his Beast form, with prooved impossible for the rest of the unit to hit.

My third turn opened with Kromac returning to human form, let te pit vanish, and leaped out of combat into his wood... He then cast Brutality on the Pureblood. The Argus headed round the rock and Paralysed the nearest Cyclops. The Pureblood (easily) killed the 3 Praetorians in range, then Warp Strike'd the furthest one from him, leaving one looking sad and lonely. The 'regular' warpwolf then ate him (though it took both attacks... *gulp*).
My enemy, duly thrown, thought long and hard about what to do. He cast Makeda's Carnage spell, giving everyone +2MAT. He then moved the paralysed Cyclops up to the Argus, so it couldn't get away without getting free-strike'd (lame). The second Cyclops ran up to the Pureblood and headbutted it down to the ground, before hitting it a bit. This sucked. The Titan charged the Pureblood, hoping to pick it up and throw it at the regular Warpwolf with his chain attack, but (unfortunately) killed it instead... Big mistake.

My fourth turn started with Kromac becoming the Beast. The Argus moved up to the Cyclops engaging it and locked it's weapon with one jaw, before gaining fury to get an extra attack that didn't do much. This was my big error. Kromac charged the Titan, and (eventually) killed it. He fluffed his second attack (4s on 2 dice you say? Hm.), so couldn't chain, but eventually carved the huge thing into teeny-tiny pieces via use of his (frankly evil) feat. 11 fury later and all that remained of the Titan was a selection of bloody chunklets. The Warpwolf was torn as to whether to go for Makeda or the Cyclops in front of it. I decided (probably wrongly) to go for the Cyclops. It died fairly easily.

At this point my opponent conceded.
Then we decided to play the turn anyway and see what happened...
Makeda ran forward and deperately hit Kromac. Her first hit did...
13 damage.
13.
13.

That involved rolling 17 on 3 dice. I felt ill.
I looked at my fury. My beasts were full. I couldn't transfer.
Hm.
She missed her next attack, and spent the rest of her fury on an attack that exactly killed Kromac.
I suspect at this point I may have said a bad word.


OK, so, all in all, an awesome game. Right down to the last roll, it was a cliff-hanger...
I think I'm gonna use this list again with Kaya (who I suspect is a much 'better' fit in terms of game-winning-ness), and will see how it goes.
I also want to try out Krueger and the Woldwarden I got the other day, as a 'mage' type 'lock should be fun to try, and the Wolds seem to go well with him...

My Tharn Bloodtrackers seem to have got lost in the post, but hopefully should turn up soonish, and I'm really looking forward to trying out infantry.
I shall also be working out some bugger lists and trying to decide how much stuff I want to get. I desperately want some Wolf Riders and some Tharn Ravagers, but both of these units are hella-expensive, so may have to wait for a bit...

-t.

Ooooo! That was a rediculouse game! Its pretty much the same as mine (except when he tried to 'caster kill me I had ARM 22 and laughed at him :P). Do you have any of your minis painted? (other than the warpwolf I found of yours in the painting section)

I demand pics! PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS!

I saw the end of that. It's rather unfortunate that it had to end that way but then again, I guess that's just the way the dice roll sometimes...

I had a game against our mutual friend and his Trollbloods where I won in pretty much the same way. I think he forgot that he could shunt damage, though, which was lucky on my part. Oh yeah, my Carnivean also fell to the floor and broke after someone knocked it off the table. Today I learned that it costs more than one Fury to charge. Also, there was an issue with getting back strikes (he was saying that I couldn't claim the bonus for a back strike unless I had been in the rear arc since the beginning of the turn) and whether using animi counts as a combat action.

Hope you feel better. Get well soon! I expect I will come and see you on Thursday.

You don't get back-strike bonuses unless you have spent the whole *activation* in the models rear arc, and you have to be *completely* inside the rear arc to get it. Thus, if you can find some way of turning your enemies models around, you can get back-strikes.

Animi don't count as a combat action, and can be done at any time (unless otherwise stated), but can't interrupt an action (ie: you can't move halfway, use the animus, then move more; or do several attacks, use the animus, then keep attacking).

Charging only places one fury, but you have to boost your attack roll normally (thus 2) if you were doing that. The charge attack (if it hits) gives you a 'free' boosted damage roll.

Sucks about your big-boy mate, very much.
Also, generally it is considered polite to point out things like damage transfer, especially if you were having a fun game and he deserved the win... ^_-

No pics yet I'm afraid, as a) I haven't got a camera that is up to the task at the moment (as the pics of the warpwolf testify, and b) I haven't got anything else painted yet...

-t.

I saw the end of that. It's rather unfortunate that it had to end that way but then again, I guess that's just the way the dice roll sometimes...

I had a game against our mutual friend and his Trollbloods where I won in pretty much the same way. I think he forgot that he could shunt damage, though, which was lucky on my part. Oh yeah, my Carnivean also fell to the floor and broke after someone knocked it off the table. Today I learned that it costs more than one Fury to charge. Also, there was an issue with getting back strikes (he was saying that I couldn't claim the bonus for a back strike unless I had been in the rear arc since the beginning of the turn) and whether using animi counts as a combat action.

Hope you feel better. Get well soon! I expect I will come and see you on Thursday.

Well, to charge costs 1 focus. To boost the to hit costs another. Can't boost damage since it is already boosted. And yes, you only get the backstrike if you started YOUR ACTIVATION in their rear arc. So if you use a spell, or push a model such they are now in the back arc, and you then activate, they would get the bonus. And no, animi are not combat actions, and may be used almost seemingly willy nilly. Will get you a more specific rule on the animi in a bit.

Sucks about your big-boy mate, very much.
Also, generally it is considered polite to point out things like damage transfer, especially if you were having a fun game and he deserved the win... ^_-


Of course he deserved the win but I totally forgot about it. I swear on my grandfather's grave. Closing time also prevented the game from going on. But yeah, I probably would've lost if it had gone on any longer.

That involved rolling 17 on 3 dice. I felt ill.


Some people just have the luck of the devil I guess.

Or maybe it's just Karma for being such a nice chap...;)

I suspect at this point I may have said a bad word.

Yep, definitely Karma.

Cuuuurse You Dice Gooooods!

I'm with theyak here...
Freaking dice gods.

Also, look who decided to show up!

Ladies and gentlemen, Murderous Monkey is none other than my arch-nemesis, the overfiend of the Skorne Empire, and general jammy beggar...
I'll get you next time, Monkey.

*shakes fist*

-t.

*bows*

Thank you for the introduction minus_t, it is good to be heralded wherever I go. Have you considered serving me as a slave if the tree hugging doesn't work out for you?


Ladies and gentlemen, Murderous Monkey is none other than my all conquering arch-nemesis, the overfiend of the Skorne Empire, and general tactical genius...
I'll fail miserably again next time, Monkey.

*shakes fist*

-t.

Just fixed that bold statement for you...

You aint a mod here, boy.

It's wild out here on the frontier, we wouldn't want anything happening to you...

*loads 6-shooter*

-t.

Welcomme, monkey! Show that -t who's the boss. GO REDS!

And that was a very tight battle. Lucky strikes FTW. :P
Kromac has an awesome model. I like him most of the Circle 'locks (I guess I like the big beatsticks. Kromac, Xerxis, Butcher, Thargosh, Borka, Terminus, Siege...).

And don't let -t's threaths get to you. It's always a lot of talk but no action.

Talking? Ah, is that what he's doing whenever I hear a general vibration in the air about how I'm going to lose? I'm so glad we were able to clear that up. :P

Glad you found your way over here Monkey. You might recognise me as our resident Legion player ;)

You aint a mod here, boy.

It's wild out here on the frontier, we wouldn't want anything happening to you...

*loads 6-shooter*

-t.

What's a six-shooter gonna do against this? *banhammer* 8Y

-t, have you gotten Krueger tested with the Woldwarden yet? I'm waiting on that report...

-t, have you gotten Krueger tested with the Woldwarden yet? I'm waiting on that report...

Depending on how quickly I can put NiteRabbit's Legion out of their misery tonight, I will either be trying them out today or later on in the week (assuming mr. Monkey is up for it).

Wish my stupid Bloodtrackers would arrive. Starting to wonder where they are at now...

-t.

O_o

LN, Acrydon - whatever. What are we supposed to call you (will "That guy" do?)!? :P

What can I say? Misery loves company. Oh yeah, you'd best prepare to be destroyed. Assuming my Carnivean holds together and all that. I'm watching you.

O_o

LN, Acrydon - whatever. What are we supposed to call you (will "That guy" do?)!? :P

It's LN now... I realized that I'm too well placed as LN anymore. =P So you're stuck with me.

It's LN now... I realized that I'm too well placed as LN anymore. =P So you're stuck with me.

Alrighty then Acrolosty-nemesisdon. ;)

Ok, so, I managed 3 games today, but all were with the standard Warpack box (Kaya, Warpwolf and a pair of Argus).

2 were against Trollbloods (I got a win and a loose here), and both were a bit dull.
To be honest, the box set on box set for Circle/Trolls seems like a poor match up, as I'm trying desperately to pin him in place, and he is busy running around trying to throw axes and spears at me...

Both games only came to a head because we got bored of circling constantly, in the first case I charged in with Kaya, ported the Wolf next to her and tried to kill the axer (I failed... them things are tough), then Kaya got assassinated by pretty much everything the trolls had; and in the second game it was pretty much role-reversal, with his guys charging my Warpwolf, then Madrak getting bummed by a bunch of angry Argus (after the Wolf had had his fun...).

The third game was one against Nite's Legion, and was one that had a strict time limit.
Due to this, it wasn't really a 'real' game, as to end it fast I made a brave (and pointless) attempt to down the Carnivean (leaving it with something like 4 health left), and leaving Kaya open for several hungry Shredders...

I have decided that I am:
a) fed up of the Warpack Box sets. While they are awesome for learning the game, they are pretty damn small, and pretty damn samey. Every time I've tried to play the Circle box as something it isn't I've lost horribly, and playing it as it is is somewhat dull. Run around until they do something wrong, kill something small, run away laughing. A fun game, this does not make.
b) Not a huge fan of Kaya. This might simply be because of the repetition, yet she does not inspire such joy in me when she spirits a wolf out of harms way as when Kromac rips the arms off a Titan and beats it to death with them...

So we shall see how things go. I'm gonna try out Krueger and a Woldwarden in my next games, and see how they perform. I'm looking forward to a much more agressive playstyle, though I'm not convinced he will be at his best in our (currently rather) infantry bereft games...

I am currently working on:
a) converting a Gorax. Seriously, how did this model get signed off as finished? It's fugly. A stain on the game system... Yet such a lovely animus... *plots*
b) painting various things. Kaya's base has had some work, but I think she will go on hold for the moment (pending larger games with her). The Pureblood and the Woldwarden both call out for paint, yet I think I should paint at least one of the Argus first. Maybe Jumpy, he normally does me proud.

Peace and love, fellow Hippies.

-t.

Ok, so, I managed 3 games today, but all were with the standard Warpack box (Kaya, Warpwolf and a pair of Argus).

2 were against Trollbloods (I got a win and a loose here), and both were a bit dull.
To be honest, the box set on box set for Circle/Trolls seems like a poor match up, as I'm trying desperately to pin him in place, and he is busy running around trying to throw axes and spears at me...

Hah, yeah warpacks can be rather dull if both players are good tacticians.

Both games only came to a head because we got bored of circling constantly, in the first case I charged in with Kaya, ported the Wolf next to her and tried to kill the axer (I failed... them things are tough), then Kaya got assassinated by pretty much everything the trolls had; and in the second game it was pretty much role-reversal, with his guys charging my Warpwolf, then Madrak getting bummed by a bunch of angry Argus (after the Wolf had had his fun...).

Making sure here that you didn't actually charge Madrak.... because he cannot be charged by warbeasts.


The third game was one against Nite's Legion, and was one that had a strict time limit.
Due to this, it wasn't really a 'real' game, as to end it fast I made a brave (and pointless) attempt to down the Carnivean (leaving it with something like 4 health left), and leaving Kaya open for several hungry Shredders...

yeah, shredders are what ripper swarms should be! munch munch munch. they can be so good, and so bad if played wrong.


I have decided that I am:
a) fed up of the Warpack Box sets. While they are awesome for learning the game, they are pretty damn small, and pretty damn samey.

that's the whole point with the WPs though.


Every time I've tried to play the Circle box as something it isn't I've lost horribly, and playing it as it is is somewhat dull. Run around until they do something wrong, kill something small, run away laughing. A fun game, this does not make.

but that's sort of how circle's primary speed tactic works, what with its light cav and whatnot.
Direct assault circle tends to be too fragile(though hard hitting) when you compare it to other direct assault armies like trollbloods or skorne.


b) Not a huge fan of Kaya. This might simply be because of the repetition, yet she does not inspire such joy in me when she spirits a wolf out of harms way as when Kromac rips the arms off a Titan and beats it to death with them...

So we shall see how things go. I'm gonna try out Krueger and a Woldwarden in my next games, and see how they perform. I'm looking forward to a much more agressive playstyle, though I'm not convinced he will be at his best in our (currently rather) infantry bereft games...

I've seen a woldwarden in action once. .they can be REAAAAAALY nasty. Good luck!

Right now infantry is king. Its partially because not all evolution is out yet, and the plethora of downright awesome infantry vs warbeasts. The same balance shift happened for Warmachine too, if I understand it right. It was first all about the mechs.. and then people discovered infantry and more good infantry came out. The game settled to what the concept should call for is mainly infantry with the big stuff supporting(I guess like most other strat games out there).


I am currently working on:
a) converting a Gorax. Seriously, how did this model get signed off as finished? It's fugly. A stain on the game system... Yet such a lovely animus... *plots*

I tend to agree with you on this.


b) painting various things. Kaya's base has had some work, but I think she will go on hold for the moment (pending larger games with her). The Pureblood and the Woldwarden both call out for paint, yet I think I should paint at least one of the Argus first. Maybe Jumpy, he normally does me proud.

Peace and love, fellow Hippies.

-t.

Good goin! Now I'm looking forward to seeing what you crank out of your painting desk, you know.

I plan on running Krueger with some Wolds, so I'm just waiting on -t's report to let me know if it's worth my time to go for...

I am currently working on:
a) converting a Gorax. Seriously, how did this model get signed off as finished? It's fugly. A stain on the game system... Yet such a lovely animus... *plots*


The gorax is the definition of f'ugly. Do you have the old or the new version (you could see his private stuff on the old one...... :D)?

I like to play warpack/battlegroup games from time to time. It brings some variation in to the game and they are good when you want half an hour to pass a bit faster. Although 350pts/500pts games are most fun!

Kruegar and his Woldwardens are actually one of the most effective and popular lists in tournaments... Not sure why though since I'm not to well-versed in the killer-combos of HORDES.

IMO there still exists a good balance between infantry and 'beasts in HORDES. 'Beasts are nescessary and they bring a lot of punching-power and tricks to the table. It is not like in WM where most of the 'jacks have trouble to get through infantry units because in HORDES most 'beasts have a decent MAT or they have a high enough Fury to dish out 3-4 boosted attacks.
Heck, the Bronzeback combined with Xerxis Merciless Assault can get up to 11 MAT 6-attacks, 3 of them P+S 16 and the rest P+S 17...

Wait.... you didn't just say Krueger and Wolds was.... popular? *cringe*

I think you crippled my plans...

Heh, yep, the stone-and-lightning-horde-of-dooom is from what I have understood a very popular force in tournament. :P
Crippling in one way or another is what I do best.

Yeah, it's pretty much nearly 75% of circle tourney lists, and sadly always too popular, but if you want to be another mindless sheep LN, go for it, we won't hold it against you (*snicker*). Maybe get some warmachine and do a sorcha whoosh list with bombards. eheheheheh. Sorry.

Come on, that's harsh. I mean it's not a Seraph Spam after all :P

Heh, go tarzen, just POP LN's little bubble.
Though I could probably be criticized for going borka/champs/Longriders too.

Do what ever you want to, man. Its popular becuase it works and works very well.

Anyone who's tried reading the Shadowy Flame thread should know how much less likely I am to do something if it's popular... :|

Anyone who's tried reading the Shadowy Flame thread should know how much less likely I am to do something if it's popular... :|

I realize this, I'm just saying there's nothing wrong with it. Its popular because it works.
;Y

Anyone who's tried reading the Shadowy Flame thread should know how much less likely I am to do something if it's popular... :|
Oh, but now were just splitting hairs. Warmachine/ Hordes, as a whole, isn't as popuar as Warhammer/ 40k, therefore you've already sated your non-comfomist self. Also, how many Circle players are there in your area? Just 'cuz a lot of people do something in one place, doesn't mean it's the norm in another.

And what do you mean by 'popular'? I can understand wanting to be unique, and I approve of it (I play pure Grey Knights because they are cool) but don't not do something merely because some other people are doing it over there *waves hand in general direction of nowhere* If you want to be unique, cool, paint them differently, add strange unit attachments, play Warmachine with lots of 'jacks :P but don't get hung up on what other people are doing!

[/rant]

++EDIT++
You're back to Lost Nemesis!!! *brings out cake* Hurray for returning names!!!

So, is it even possible to play a reasonable WM list with lots of 'jacks...? If so, I'm ditching Menoth to get Khador, since I prefer their 'jacks. Hmm..

From what I see and hear, all jacks are a failing venture now adays.
There are just too man "good" infantry options out there that all jacks
= swarm and death, or flank and caster death.

Khador does have an option with the warcaster that is IN the warjack.
(edit) This guy:Karchev the terrible

http://www.privateerpress.com/WARMACHINE/gallery/default.php?level=picture&id=113
I've never seen him in action but I hear rumor that he's pretty good with an all jack force.

Karchev is great in an all-jack force. However, even then you might want to take some small units of infantry like Widowmakers in order to hunt down and destroy solos that aren't worth wasting your time on. Like Pistol Wraiths, which aren't strong enough to warrant charging after with your Juggernauts but at the same time can be very annoying due to them being great shots. Mechaniks are also pretty useful for Karchev since he doesn't actually have to forfeit his activation to be repaired (as he is neither a Warjack nor a Human).

Repairing, as of REMIX, have no effect on a 'jacks activation (IIRC).
But yes, Karchev is a great leader for an almost pure 'jack-force. His Martial Instinct (+1 MAT to all 'jacks in his battlegroup) is a good addition and with Tow and Arcantrik Turbine he and his 'jacks can leap across the board with astounding speed. He is also the most resilient 'caster in the game with a total of 34 damage points (damage grid) and he isn't disabled as he loses systems! So with some mechanics ditching in to repair that system that he baddly needs ensures that he is kept up and running.

And he got a big axe.

So, is it even possible to play a reasonable WM list with lots of 'jacks...? If so, I'm ditching Menoth to get Khador, since I prefer their 'jacks. Hmm..

Darius from cygnar does this incredably well also, as does nemo along with a JMWC. But yeah, there are a few lists, particularly in khador that excel with mostly Jack oriented lists.

Menoth does have a hard time doing it as it's jacks don't really have the sheer awesome abilities that some of the other factions have, but it's infantry is all that much stronger.

I'd say that Amon Ad-Raza with a few Choirs, some Wracks, and maybe a couple of Exemplar Seneschals or other such supporting units would do reasonably well, if you filled out the rest of the force with jacks. It's just that, to this day, I have no idea how to make Ad-Raza work but just that in theory, he should. The interesting thing about Menoth's jacks is that I don't think you can actually go wrong taking them (except maybe against infantry hordes), but a couple of Repenters to flame infantry, a Castigator or Crusader to deal with heavy stuff, Redeemers to blow things up with their rocket launchers...not bad, I say.

Victory at last!

Score one for the forest-living hippies!

Today, I played my Murderous foil, and defeated his evil Skorne forces, led by none other than the Tyrant Hexeris!
Potent Kreuger would not stand his presence in the lands of the west, and sent him packing...

400pts game, I had:
Kreuger, Woldwarden, Warpwolf, Gorax, Argus;
...while my enemy had:
Hexeris, Titan Gladiator, Cyclops Savage, Cyclops Brute, Ancient Guardian, 8 (I believe) Praetorians.

The game was fun, with plenty of thinking occuring on both sides.
Best bits include:
'Death March'ed infantry almost killing the Warpwolf (twice).
The Woldwarden seeing off the Titan for 2 turns, as well as several attacks from various Cyclops and Ancient Stone thingys, before finally being brought crashing down by a frenzying warpwolf (stupidly I tried out the Gorax's animus, then forgot, and moved the wold into LOS... d'oh!).
A frenzied argus jumping onto a Cyclops from behind, and killing it in one go!
Hexeris finishing off (and claiming the *only* Skorne kills) the Warpwolf and mashing the Argus in a single turn, only to be blasted into oblivion by a Tornado from Kreuger...

Awesome, awesome game.
I played a little stupidly at times, resulting in the death of my Wold (*weep*), and played 'spellstrike' wrong (inevitably), but I shall (hopefully) do neither again, and I heartily congratulate my opponent for making me pay dearly for my victory, even at the very end...

-t.

PS. Kreuger + Wolds = AWESOME.

PS. Kreuger + Wolds = AWESOME.

What I wanted to hear...

By the way, get on MSN. :)

edit: Oh, and here - click this (http://store.privateerpress.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=8164).

PS. Kreuger + Wolds = AWESOME.

Never was a truer word spoken. Consequently I'm being forced to eat a few ill chosen words at the moment but I shall return stronger than ever before... just as soon as I can remember how to roll dice.

The game was awesome and had a lot of tactical thinking. Sure there were rules mistakes but the battle was played with real tension and I'm pleased it ended as closely as it did. It would have been interesting to see the Woldwarden and Gladiator go toe to toe, but if we remember the correct way to play Spellstrike it might happen next time.

It was another close finish in the end, although a couple of poor decisions ultimately cost me the game (and Lord Hexeris his servants). I think minus_t and I have each found a caster we really enjoy using in the game and we both have some strong ideas about how we're going to develop our lists. Once we've acquired all the bits we want it'll be very interesting to see how it plays out. Although I'm wincing at the thought of a second Woldwarden walking toward my army - it doesn't sound healthy!

Just a note - he stole those Woldwarden ideas from me... sneaky guy... I originally wanted to run Krueger with a pair of Woldwardens, as well as a couple of the smaller Wold guys. :)

Or.. did I steal the idea from him? Or get inspired by him... probably.

Whoever thought of it... it's pretty darn scary to fight!

I do think I am set on a stone-y force of doom for the moment, shopping list being:
Another WoldWarden,
2 Woldwatchers,
2 Woldwyrds,
2 sets of Shifting Stones...

I am looking forward to trying out my Bloodtrackers soon, I suspect I will probably run them with Kromac, as Tharn on Tharn action is probably all to the good.
Plus, ranged attacks are fun.

I'm not msn'ing tonight 'cos I've gotta be up early... meh =(

That WW extreme is quite nice, but the head doesn't work for me, and I'm not a huge fan of the skinnyness (oh, the irony!).
Plus, he's $50 (£25ish), which is quite a lot (all the stuff above comes to £54 from Arcane Miniatures) for one model. I also don't think I'm that bothered about having more than one WW and one Pureblood atm, but maybe that will change.

-t.

PS. I thought of that list shortly after I got Primal and read the 'spellstrike' attack.
Page 5 through and through! ^_-

Well... I at least came up with the combination knowing nothing of the rules, just using models I liked! Ha!

Psht, get on MSN anyways... you're busying yourself on LO, you won't stay up any later on MSN. ;Y

Soo... going down the same road as so many other Circle-players then, -t? :D Of course, everyone is entitled to play their force however they want and I am pleased to hear that you have found a force that you like.

OK, so, I feel slightly dirty.
I think it's just the left-over attitude I take to 40k...

Seriously though, 350pts for:
Krueger, 2 Woldwardens and a Woldwyrd is just a steal.

*shudder*

Although not being able to heal the big guys was a bit of an issue (especially towards the end of the game, when I was starting to loose aspects), they performed remarkably.
3 sets of Forked Lightning killed off 3 Shredders and did about 8 points of damage onto Thagrosh, in one turn.

While the list is fun to play with, I don't think I'll be running it again for a while, it just made it too easy.
I'm all for winning through superior strategy and skill, even luck, but winning because you've got an easy-to-use, rinse-and-repeat list is not so good...

I suspect that this is me feeling slightly uneasy about p5, but at the moment I'm not really playing anyone who has suffecient models to be able to come back at me with something equally horrible, thus giving me a fair fight. The fact I didn't use my feat, and didn't ever really have to think too much about what I was doing probably indicates that this list is a bit of a one-trick-pony.

Anyway, I got to try the big stoney dudes out against a Thagrosh list, I believe my enemy (not NiteRabbit, unfortunately) had:
The big T, a Carnivean, a Nephilim and 3 Shredders.

While I was quite nervous about playing Thagy for the first time, I didn't find him hugely worrying. His feat was a bit of a damp squib to be honest.

I managed to kill off all the Shredders in a single turn, while the next turn involved me recovering from a fairly unpleasant counter attack.
I then manage to smash down the Carnivean and the Nephilim in one turn, leaving Thagrosh a little exposed. Obviously the feat was coming next, and predictably the Carnivean pops back too life.
At this point my enemy made his biggest error, IMO. He spent almost all of Thags fury (which he cut himself to get) on a spell, which did absolutely nothing. He managed to miss Krueger, and had a mere 2 fury left.

The net closed, with both Woldwardens and Krueger advancing into LOS and forking Thag, forcing him to transfer damage onto the newly hatched Carnivean, before the Wyrd moved up to stop him casting too much...
The Carnivean (staggering under transferred damage) walked up to one of the Wardens and failed (just) to kill it (by 2 points... ouch!). Thag bummed around looking miserable and wishing he had some fury.

The unengaged Warden forked Thag, killing the Carnivean (again) with the transferred damage, leaving the second Warden to finish the job off (just barely). But I had the Wyrd and Krueger left, just in case...


So, yes.
Filthy dirty list.
I suspect the Wyrd wasn't at it's best vs. Thagrosh, and I don't think I've quite got the hang of it yet, although I suspect that it is a genuinely horrible piece of stone technology vs. the right opponent.

Still waiting for my Bloodtrackers to show up.
Am getting bored of waiting now.

On the plus side, my new camera should be here in a weekish, so that'll be good!

-t.

Good goin!

I wanna see your stone men against some BLUE! ;)

I would love to fight that style list with the coven or haley. Outsling, or simply stop all together. That said, most of my lists for Legion would have a hard time with the exception of Saeryn, as she can pop feat, run your whole army into combat with the wolds and caster, then pokey next turn. Def 18 is pretty rough to hit, even for Kruger.

No wonder it's a favored army in tourneys, and no wonder I have no desire to play it anymore. I'll try it out, sure, but if it's as powerful as you say... too reminiscent of 40k-style army lists.

It's hard to counter in low point games. In higher point games, it certainly hurts to take multiple pow 14s AOE, but you have enough stuff to get in and kill the wolds or kruger.

Kinda like the old 3 wraithlords in 500pts. Can be killed, and very easy to beat in objective games, but straight up crunch games you'll be hard pressed without a tailored list.

It was a fun list, and I have no doubts that it has huge flaws, as relying so heavily on one aspect of the game always does, but I will definately have alternatives ready if I take it to any more games.

As Tarzen says, it's over-dependant on one type of attack.
A similar style list at 500pts would be much easier to take apart, as units become more prevailant, and the ammount of damage you can throw out in one turn increases.

When I've got a few more lesser stones I shall try a larger game, but suspect it won't be as much of a cake-walk.

The next game I'm doing is gonna feature Kromac or Kaya. I've got a sudden desire to try her out in a points game, I'm thinking:
Kaya, Pureblood, Warpwolf, and either an Argus (for lameness) or a Gorax (for awesomeness!).
The Argus is the more sensible option, but the Gorax's Animus is just vicious.

-t.

Gotta say, the gorax in the defender position of Stampede was AWESOME! As it started with one damage in each branch (so 6 damage total), but that's what makes him totally better. Add in his animus, and he's now like +4 Strength. But as mentioned before, too bad he's fugly. I might have to model one digging in a log so I can hide his head. Figure I can make it tourney legal by modding a sign on the base that reads, "stay back, hungry gorax"

No wonder it's a favored army in tourneys, and no wonder I have no desire to play it anymore. I'll try it out, sure, but if it's as powerful as you say... too reminiscent of 40k-style army lists.

Its interesting you say that Nemesis, because one of the things I LIKE about hordes is partially the pg5 philosophy(toned down of course) but I've always enjoyed the high capacity army vs high capacity army combat. Ever single unit in Hordes/warmachine not only works, but works WELL!

If you make the lowest common denominator(expectation of strong list) higher, then the chances of "oh, dern poo, my fun list was trashed" isn't there.

The problem that "power" lists in 40K have is that the expectation of competitive lists aren't there like it is here. It specifically SAYS to build the toughest meanest army possible to bash your opponent's army. The expectations are more in line and thus its more fun to bring a "broken" list. At least for me.

Broken? Maybe. Aggressive? Absolutely. I for one will never take broken lists to a casual game no matter how much it's endorsed by Privateer, as I do like to win but not if I didn't feel that my opponent had an equal chance of doing the same. And that, kids, is why Seraph Spam is not good for you.

I'm ambivalent on the subject. On one hand, I'm a bit gutted that I don't seem to be the only Legion player anymore in our ever-expanding group of Hordes players, but on the other hand, we outnumber the rest of you now and we can always compare tactics and such. It'll be fun. Thagrosh looks neat, but seeing as how he's already in use...

:P

Vayl looks really cool, especially her feat. Very tricksy.

I have to say that I find that one of the nicest parts of the game.

Yes, Haley is broken. But so is each and every other caster. Yes, it makes your slow khador list almost useless, deal with it. Nothing I like seeing more than bane spam when I have haley. TB and chainlightning FTW!

And I find that many, many more of my opponents bring their A game to WM/hordes, vs the fluff and fun in 40k.

Its interesting you say that Nemesis, because one of the things I LIKE about hordes is partially the pg5 philosophy(toned down of course) but I've always enjoyed the high capacity army vs high capacity army combat. Ever single unit in Hordes/warmachine not only works, but works WELL!

If you make the lowest common denominator(expectation of strong list) higher, then the chances of "oh, dern poo, my fun list was trashed" isn't there.

The problem that "power" lists in 40K have is that the expectation of competitive lists aren't there like it is here. It specifically SAYS to build the toughest meanest army possible to bash your opponent's army. The expectations are more in line and thus its more fun to bring a "broken" list. At least for me.

As said - only if your opponent has their own suitably 'broken' list. :) I'm sure two broken lists will be great fun to pit against one another. A one-sided battle, however, isn't that great, in my eyes.

Ah, but my friend, one sided battles usually only happen once, and your oponent learns and changes his list! And things get harder, and better. Your oponent grows to meet your challenge, or just gets tromped!(then its his/her choice and fault, not yours) I really appreciate competative lists, it tests me.
When I make less than 100%, I expect defeat or a hard fought victory and THAT's why I take those lists, not to be matched fairly.
Its a glory list for a reason, its all glory when you win against the odds.

I did something!

Well, I didn't really, but I got my camera (finally!).
So, I promised pics, and here are some.
It's only WIPs, but better than nothin', I figured.

So, here is my WIP converted (still needs GSing) Woldwarden (it was a bit weird "re-static" a mini, but the way the pieces are made it was tricky to do much else with him):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/conversion_1.jpg

...and here are a couple of pics of my WIP painting Woldwarden, the wood areas are done, the stone is basecoated, and all the 'runes' and eyes are going to be glowing blue...:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/painting_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/painting_2.jpg

Thoughts/suggestions, before I finish them off and unleash them upon the unsuspecting painting forum?

-t.

They're looking pretty good. I can't wait to see them done. I wish I could get stuff done as fast as you. :P
I'm so banefully slow at painting.

Nice work! Will be great to see them with added glowy-ness.

I got more photos!
Yay!

Better pics of the Warpwolf (although he needs another blast of dullcote to get rid of the sheen... =( )...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/warpwolf_front.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/warpwolf_side1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/warpwolf_back-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/warpwolf_side2-1.jpg


...And some finished pics of the Woldwarden (although his base needs finishing off with grass)...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/comingatcha-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/wold_front-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/wold_side-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/wold_back-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/wold_back2-1.jpg


...Which I'm fairly pleased with =)

I had another game against that Murderous Monkey the other day.
350pts, I went for:
Kromac, Warpwolf, Gorax, Woldwarden; while my evil enemy went for:
Morghoul, Titan Gladiator, 2 Cyclops Savages, and a unit of 4 Cetrati

I beat him about pretty severly.

Turn 1, he advanced somewhat, keeping in a block formation, and activating his shieldwall.
I advanced to meet him, the warpwolf taking the right flank with the gorax behind it, the wold advancing further on the left and throwing a Howling Pit at the Cetrati, damaging the leader slightly.
Kromac (as a man) headed slightly towards the right, and cast Bestiality (preventing the Cetrati from shieldwalling).

Turn 2, his Cyclops advanced forward. The Titan ran towards the Warpwolf, ending up about 10" away. The Cetrati headed forward, about level with the Titan. Morghoul stalked about at the back.
My Gorax activated, and cast his Animus on the Warpwolf. The Warpwolf mutated +2" movement, and charged the Titan, killing it in a flurry of blows (yay for Throat Ripper!).
The Wold advanced somewhat, and activated his animus. Kromac (man again) advanced to slightly behind and to the right of the Wold, and cast Bestiality again (w00t for spam!).

Turn 3, both Cyclops charged the Wold, damaging it fairly severely and knocking out it's mind...
The Cetrati spread out somewhat, putting one of their number into melee range of the angry, angry Warpwolf (cursed Frenzy), and doing 2 combo strikes, for a total of about 9 damage on the Wolf. Morghoul bummed about in the center of his battlegroup...
Kromac flipped into beast mode at the start of my turn. The Warpwolf (predictably) munched down the Cetrati 'gift' that had willingly walked up to it. The Wold moved forward to within 3" of Morghoul (taking 2 free strikes, and being left with 2 points of damage...) and activated his animus, Undergrowth, debuffing Morghouls freakish defence down to 15.
Kromac charged straight at Morghoul, ending up just in range (yay for reach!) though he took 6 points of damage from a free-strike (I didn't transfer, as I wanted as much fury as I could muster, and if this didn't work it was pretty much game over anyway...), and smacked the pathetic torturer about the head and neck with Dusk and Dawn. Popping his feat (and stealing my opponent's fury) gave him enough attacks to finish off the Skorne leader, leaving his warband broken and defeated...

Go Circle!

-t.

veru nice -t,
I really like the eyes on the warpwolf. It looks like its looking at me! :P
Its like its saying "oh nos, a troll is gonna knock my pretty- pretty teeth right out of my face"

Looks great -t! Nice work.
Oh and congratulations to that win as well!

I finally got another game of Hordes in yesterday evening, and let me tell you, I had a blast. I'd forgotten what fun it was, and got to try out a bunch of new stuff that I'd been itching to use...

FORCES - 500pts

Legion: Lylyth, 2 Carniveans, a Seraph, a Nephilim, 2 Shredders

Circle: Kromac, Pureblood Warpwolf, Woldwarden, Gorax, Shifting Stones, Sentry Stone (and Mannikins), 9 Bloodtrackers

TERRAIN -

A rough clearing in the center of the table, with a hill to the right (from my point of view), woods to 3 sides, and a shallow pond next to a rocky spire to the left.

SET UP -

Legion deploys over to my left flank, with the pair of shredders to the far left, the pair of carniveans towards the center, and the seraph, nephilim and lylyth between the two pairs...

Circle deploys its beasts opposite the Legion force, with the wold on the edge of a wood and Kromac behind it, and the Pureblood towards the center, with the gorax behind it. The Bloodtrackers then deployed behind a hill towards the right flank, the shifting stones in a spread out line in front of the pureblood and the wold, and the sentry stone guarding my left flank.


TURN 1 -

Legion advances, the Seraph slipstreaming the Nephilim out in front of it. The rest of the force mumbles about a bit.
The Nephilim then charges my Sentry stone, but misses out on destroying it by 1 point of damage (and is now waaaay out of Lylyth's control zone).

The Circle responds by activating the Sentry stone, and creating a Mannikin behind the Nephilim. The stone then sucked fury out of everything it was in range of (I believe this was the nephilim and the seraph). The Mannikin then back-struck the nephilim, dealing fairly serious damage (considering it's made out of wood and weeds, anyway).
The Woldwarden stomps through the woods in front of it and spellstrikes a Howling Pit at the Nephilim, doing heavy damage to it (I believe it had 4ish damage left at this point), but unfortunately catching the Mannikin in the blast, and destroying it.
The Pureblood advances too, and throws it's animus at the doomed Nephilim, breaking the vile beast's body clean in two...
The shifting stones slightly reform, moving to block charge lanes to the circle beasts, then the Gorax ambles up behind the pureblood, before the Bloodtrackers advance up the hill overlooking the central clearing.

TURN 2 -

The Legion forces generally advance further, taking up positions about the lake.
Lylyth pops her feat, then fires her bow twice at the wold, doing a little damage, before using Taint on it (in the hope my pureblood (with 5 fury on him at this point) would frenzy in my turn, and charge it). The Seraph remains still to aim it's blight-strike at the Wold, dealing a hefty chunk of damage, and knocking out it's spirit. It also caught Kromac in the stream, but couldn't hit him (yay for concealment!).
The Shredders run down the far left flank, coming about level with the sentry stone.

Kromac sucks up all available fury, leaving a point on the wold (thus preventing the pureblood from frenzying and smashing it into stone-y chunk-lets).
The Circle again activates the Sentry stone first, creating another mannikin and sucking up more fury (yum yum yum). The mannkin charges the closest shredder, doing around 10 damage to it, and gets in the way of the second shredder (who I suspect is going to be going for the sentry stone).
The shifting stones remove a point of damage from the wold's spirit (yay!), and shift somewhat, so that they are surrounding the wold and Kromac.
The wold aims a spellstrike at the seraph, doing some damage.
The pureblood advances to slightly in front of the wold (although quite a way to the side), and warp-strikes the seraph. Some damage is done, although nothing to write home about.
The Bloodtrackers decide that the seraph is, at this point, slightly out of range, and thus don't attempt to ambuscade. They reposition some more, hoping to get involved next turn.

TURN 3 -

The Seraph seizes the moment, and slipstreams a carnivean to behind my 'lines', with a clear charge lane at either Kromac or the back of my wold. Ouch.
Lylyth aims several shots at the wold, but manages to miss with both bow-shots and bad blood. I rejoice.
The shredder that is currently unengaged goes rabid, and charges my sentry stone (getting free-struck for 10ish damage, and knocking out both it's mind and body), although it still manages to demolish the stone. The other shredder gnaws the mannikin to death.
The Carnivean behind my lines, waaay out of control zone, advances towards Kromac (curse you, eyeless sight!), and has several hitting issues. His toothy jaw missed, his first talon connected (for 12 points of damage, transferred onto the Gorax, knocking out it's mind), and his final talon also misses. Yay!

In the circle turn, Kromac turns into an angry, angry bear type thing, sucking up 8 fury in total from the pureblood and the wold.
The shifting stones teleport the wold behind the seraph (I will have my vengance!), although this was probably a stupid move. It would have been better to teleport Kromac out of combat, and use him to potentially kill the seraph.
The Gorax wanders forward, and uses Primal on the Pureblood.
The Pureblood charges Lylyth, and tears her into bloody chunks (though it was down to the wire... My initial charge left her with 1 damage left, but then I missed my second attack... Erk. Lucky the pureblood comes with 3, I guess!).

Game over.


So, a fun game, but I made a stupid call in the last turn.
I should have ported Kromac in front of the seraph (it was facing my table edge), as he would have had no problem finishing the damned thing off, even without the bonuses for back-strikes. The wold was not only overkill, but stupid overkill. If the pureblood had failed, I would have had an angry Carnivean looking hungrily at Kromac...
Admittedly, he had yet to activate, and I suspect that with is feat he could easily have done enough damage to the hulking monster to take it down, but why run the risk...
Also, I completely didn't use my Bloodtrackers. They shored up a flank, but that was it.

Things I loved:
The shifting stones and the sentry stones. Golden units.
I shall be fielding them wherever possible, from now on.

Things I learned:
Don't teleport into rear-arcs just because you can.
Seraph's are evil.

Coming soon (hopefully this afternoon), pics of my sentry stone and shifting stones!
Also mannkins!
And pureblood WIPs!

-t.

As I said yesterday, a nice win -t. I can't help but feel that our mutual friend hadn't quite adjusted to using Lylyth yet, given that he was being far too aggressive with her. I also feel he was overextending his forces in terms of slipstreaming that Carnivean all the way out of the control range (I think the tactic would definitely have worked better with Vayl or Saeryn. Then again, I did make similar mistakes in my first Legion games and I wonder sometimes if we're not all Rhyas players at heart...

I have a Sentry Stone, and they are golden things (did nasty things to a Cygnar players light 'jack...and stealing focus off his camping caster was pure gold), I have another one on its way along with 2 shifting stones... I'm thinking of a list with Baldur with only constructs (ie Woldwatcher, Woldwarden, Woldwyrd, Shifting Stones and Sentry Stones). Good job on the win though, I think I would have left Kormac in combat... if you have a tharn bad a$$, why not flash it off by mauling a Carnivian or two =P

Oh yah, by the way I started Circle :rofl

++EDIT++
Can't wait for the WIP's of the Pureblood

OK, so, heres some pics of my Sentry Stone, Mannikins and Shifting Stones, lemme know what you think:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/sentrystone.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/mannikins.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/shiftingstones.jpg

The pics are a tad dark, and the models were basically speed-painted, so they aren't amazing, but I'm happy enough with them.

Also, there is a WIP thread of my Pureblood up over *here* (http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/painting/112775-hordes-circle-pureblood-warpwolf-wip.html#post1089836), so please comment on him and give me some advice on where to go next.

Cheers guys!

-t.

I really like the blue 'power' thingies on the Sentry Stone. Did you do that by starting with a light colour, and 'highlight' it with a darker colour?

Looks like the glowing crystalline parts were based with a darker blue and then highlighted before going over the rest of the model with extreme care. It seems the simplest way as any mistakes can easily be covered up when you're highlighting the stone.

The Sentry Stone was actually simplicity itself.
Simply paint the normal stone as you would normally (I worked up about 5-6 layers of adding Codex Grey to a mix of Vallejo Model Colour Green-Grey (165), black and Vallejo Model Colour Leather Brown (147)), leaving the 'inner' bits at the base colour.

Then I glazed the entirety of the inner bits with Regal Blue (plus glaze medium), and worked my way lighter, by adding Enchanted Blue, then white, and adding more water each time, so that the 'glow' is concentrated around the edges of the recesses.

The glowing runes on the shifting stones were painted in a similar way, but replacing glaze medium and water with matte medium, to make the layers appear to blend far smoother, as the glow 'spills' out of the actual runes.

-t.

-t, I hate you and your painting. I attempted to start painting up an Argus today, and I'm not sure how it's going to turn out.. overall I'm not unhappy with it, but it's way too dark, and the skin is way too flat. I need to figure out how to make it look more natural. Bah.

Also, just to say, pewter is now my arch enemy. At least, when I don't pin. Need to learn to pin!

Looking very sharp, -t. Reminds me that I should perhaps paint my models... (no!) :P

Well, I played another game today, against the same Legion player (not Niterabbit... his time is yet to come), and it went pretty well.

The terrain was set up on a 4'x4' board, with a small lake over towards the south-east of the table, a tomb/hill thing just north of it, and a few woods scattered about, most crucially a wood about 8"ish to the north-north-west of the hill.

The lists:
Legion - Thagrosh, Carnivean, Angelius, Seraph, 6 Striders.
Circle - Kromac, Pureblood Warpwolf, Woldwarden, Gorax, Shifting Stones, Sentry Stones, 9 Bloodtrackers.

Deployment:
I won the first player roll, so deployed thus:
Kromac standing slightly behind the Wold, just to the bottom left of the lake. The Gorax behind the Pureblood slightly to the left (about 4").

My opponent deployed his force behind a wood in the east of his deployment zone.

My sentry stone deployed behind the corner of the hill thing, between it and the lake. My shifting stones formed a picket fence across the gap between the hill and the nearby forest. My bloodtrackers deployed inside the forest.

My opponent's striders deploy about in front of the picket line, as close as they can be.

At this point, I declare my prey, and opt for the striders.

Turn 1:
I generally move forward. The beasts and Kromac advance up to just behind the stone wall. The sentry stone creates a mannikin in front of it.
The Bloodtrackers ambuscade at the striders, ending up roughly 7" away. The first one kills it's target. Yay, I think. The next attack (and indeed, the rest) misses automatically, due to stealth. That will teach me to forget about special rules...

My enemy also generally moves up, slipsteaming the carnivean foward to just behind the hill. The angelius kills a bloodtracker. The Striders make a combined ranged attack at the sentry stone, but manage to roll a bit pants for damage, and merely scratch it (one point of damage eh? Not so good).

Turn 2:
I stop and take stock of the situation. Obviously I won't be getting too many early kills here, not like the last game. Thagrosh is safely behind a wall of flesh and bone, and I won't be touching him any time soon.
I activate the sentry stone, and steal a point of fury from the carnivean, and, of course, make a new mannikin. The old mannikin charges up and roots the blasted dragon-monster. The new mannikin runs up and does a mighty 3 or 4 points of damage to it. Fear my rooty fists!
The shifting stones shift a little, into a more trinagular shape.
My beasts (and Kromac) advance into the triangle (yay for charge blocking!), with the gorax just behind the line. The Wold pops its animus, giving me extra protection.
The bloodtrackers ambuscade at the striders again, killing all but one this time (yay!). The surviving strider proceeds to flee off the board.
I name the Carnivean as my new prey.

My enemy considers his actions. He activates the Seraph, advances in an arc, picking up the carnivean and dropping it off to the north of the bloodtrackers. It then strafes the unit, killing the only 2 in it's range.
The Carnivean breathes at me, killing another 3. My plucky lasses fail their command check and flee from the blasted monsters.
The Angelius forms up in a rough triangle with the other 2 beasts (blasting my mannikin to death), with Thagrosh advancing up between them. At this point Thaggy has no fury (he's discarded it all), and there is 8 fury floating about on the beasts, from various places.

Turn 3:
Hm. A bit of a kick in the teeth to loose the bloodtrackers, but such is life. This turn is one for consolidating, I feel.
The stone wall warps forward a little. The beasts advance. I make a mannikin and make sure it's the closest thing to the enemy. The Wold uses it's animus.

My enemy leeches his fury, leaving one on the Angelius. He, rather unfortunately, rolls an 11 for his threshold check. The Angelius charges the Carnivean, and does 10ish points of damage to it.
Ouch.
The Seraph activates its animus and runs (flaps hard?) towards my lines, carrying the carnivean. Thagrosh advances towards me, and aims Obliteration at my Sentry stone, taking it down to one point of damage left (phew!), and smashing apart the mannikin.
The Carnivean charges the Wold, and starts knocking chunks out of it, destroying its spirit (lame!).

Turn 4:
Well...
That was certainly interesting.
I activate the shifting stones, and heal 3 points from the wold. The other two surround the seraph, severely limiting its movement for the next turn...
I activated the sentry stone, and stole fury from everywhere I could (everything except the angelius!). I made a mannikin, who rooted the carnivean from behind (oh, there is nothing about that last sentence I don't like!).
The Wold smashed the carnivean a new one. It's attacks left the draconic creature as a broken and bloody mound of flesh.
The Pureblood charged the Seraph, and also totalled it. I do love my heavies sometimes...
The Gorax bummed about a little. Possibly prancing. Possibly conversing with the butterflies and flowers.
Kromac advanced to between the Wold and the Wolf.

My opponent looked somewhat shaken.
He activated the Angelius, and charged the Pureblood (which I shoud, really, have been protecting with the shifting stones. I live and learn). Very, very luckily for me, he missed with his charging Thrust. He boosted for a few more attacks, and did 12ish points of damage, but didn't knock out any aspects.
Then he activated Thagrosh. He advanced to just behind and to the east of the Angelius (just north of where the Carnivean had died), and activated his feat. Oh joy! Another Carnivean to play with! And in melee range of my Wolf!

Turn 5:
Although I was feeling confident that this should be the end of it, I couldn't figure out how for a minute or two.
First up, Kromac went beasty to suck up all the fury I had accumulated.
The sentry stone sucked up fury from everything (yummy, warlock flavoured!), leaving Thagrosh with just one fury point left. I suspect I probably did the traditional mannikin-root-attack-from-behind on the carnivean, but I honestly can't remember.
At this point, I considered my options.
Then I remembered power attacks.

The Pureblood made a two-handed throw against the carnivean. The mighty wolf lifted the draconic beast high above it's head, and brought it crashing down on top of Thagrosh. Thagrosh took 12ish damage, which he shunted onto the Carnivean, which took no damage from the actual throw. They were both, however, knocked down.

The Wold activated, and charged the prone Thagrosh. At this point, my opponent conceded, denying me the chance to brutally murder the Prophet of Everblight...



All in all, I had a great game. I felt like I used the lessons learned in my previous game with this list, and did pretty well.

My opponent is, however, muttering about cheese, and saying something about seraph-spam with Vayl, 4 Seraphs and a unit of Warmongers...

We shall see!

-t.

Two handed throws have become my answer to arcane shielded cygnar 'jacks. In the past few games against them, their 'jacks barely get damaged, but they spend most of their time 6" out of place and on their backs :P Good to see it being used to effectively against the Legion.

Is Kromac painted? I only ask because I will be starting work on him soon and was thinking I could steal some ideas/ pics off you.

Nah, not yet, I'm a little intimidated by him to be honest.
I suspect he may be next on my list, although I have a hankering to have a full unit of Bloodtrackers painted (seeing as they make up over half the models in the force)...

I was hoping to make some progress painting the pureblood tomorrow, but my days off have been switched around, so I can spend some time with my gf, who is coming back from 3 weeks in Australia on saturday. Thus, it will probably wait 'til monday or tuesday...

I do hope to make some serious progress next week though, as I have the week off work, and have determined to get this list fully painted before fiddling with anything else...

-t.

Very nice battrep -t and congrats to the victory.

Good luck with the painting as well. I'm really looking forward on your take of Kromac and I can understand that you are intimidated by him. Quite an impressive model!

Congrats on your latest win!

1 point-you can't use your animus the same turn you run, so his seraph can't slipstream and run, but he could declare a charge that would be short or a trample. 4" difference is pretty huge in this game. That said, some things have abilities (say a shredder with rabid) that may be used and then run.

Also remember that throws don't bowl, so if you throw a model and it passes over another model, they aren't hit (unless the model ends up on top).

That said, it's one of the sad things that legion is lacking in claws and jaws. Having not a single option to throw, and only 2 beasts with jaws kinda sucks-thank goodness for eyeless sight and all the other goodies we get instead.

Yeah, it's also worth noting that Slipstream doesn't really let you 'carry' anybody. It can only move a model two inches, regardless of how far the Seraph moves. I can't really tell from your description whether your opponent played it right, but I've seen this mistake made often enough that I figured I'd go ahead and toss it out there.

OK, so rules queries:
Tarzen: I picked up the Carnivean in a two-handed throw, and threw it *at* Thagrosh, hitting him with the RAT roll, thus knocking him (and the Carnivean) down.

LoW: We were doing it wrong, thanks for pointing that out! I hadn't really properly read the FAQ'd version in Evolution. Suddenly I'm not so bothered about that damn Seraph...
Can someone point out to me how exactly this makes Seraph spam a 'win-button' list? Or is it now dead and gone, and I'm behind the times?

Ditto on Animi and running, I forgot that bit too!
I suspect my opponent isn't going to be overjoyed about these things when I mention them to him, especially if he went ahead in ordering 3 more Seraphs...

Finally, I think that even the suggestion of moaning about not having claws should be shot down in flames. You have eyeless sight damnit! Wrongness on a stick!

=p

-t.

Even without cheaty Slipstreams, the Seraph is a solid beast. Its mobility, ability to see through most things (I agree with you about Eyeless sight--in fact, it probably bothers me, a devoted Cygnaran smoke tosser, even more than it bothers you ;)) and number of shots, combined with Lylyth's ability to make sure those shots hit make it a pretty serious threat.

I don't know that the Seraphspam is 'win button' but it is tough to deal with. Those Seraphs can move through anything and don't take free-strikes. Combined with their speed and the fact that most of their damage is dealt at range, it makes them hard to effectively catch in melee. So, either you have to shoot them back or get really fast. 'Course, Circle's good at getting really fast, so you shouldn't have that much trouble.

Ah, I getcha.
Yeah, the Seraph is a solid beast, but it was the 'moving a carnivean 16" then activating it' that was making me hate it...

The version of Seraph Spam I had presented to me was 4 of them, with Vayl and a unit of 3 Warmongers. Each Seraph 'ferries' a model forward, Vayl does several nasty spells, the Warmongers eat your 'lock/'caster.

Obviously somewhat erroneous...

-t.

Yeah, somewhat. Still, you gotta be careful. With slipstream, not even their normal stuff gets tied up in melee. The Seraph just flies by and teleports the guy out--freeing him to do whatever he wants.

Yes yes yes, it's still a very nice animus, just not *as* nice as it first appeared...

Also, I completely forgot about it, but my pureblood should have got slipstream in that game, as I destroyed the seraph with it...

Pesky rules...

-t.

Mm... a Pureblood with slipstream'd be tasty.

Bah, just throw a dire troll mauler at it... wait... you can't do that, CAN you. :P

I love how flying things can be thrown and knocked down, and slammed as normal=)

Yeah, just a reminder to those that don't play legion-slip stream can only be used once a turn on a model, no matter how many seraph you have, and "places" the model completely within 2" of its previous location.

Bah, just throw a dire troll mauler at it... wait... you can't do that, CAN you. :P

I could in a 3-player game =p

-t.

Double posting, ZOMG!!

Well, I finally finished the pureblood!
A few busy week-nights really took the wind out of my sails when it came to getting this beautiful, wolfy monster finished, but he is finally complete!

Much better pictures this time around, too.

I'm pretty happy with him, although these photos were taken before he was dullcoted, so he is a little glossy in them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/pureblood1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/pureblood2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/pureblood3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/pureblood4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/minus-t/HORDES_circle/pureblood5.jpg

As always, comments and criticism welcome!

-t.

The skin is superb, the model's right thigh in the first photograph looks especially awesome. Some beautiful shading and highlighting really brought out the best of the model. The brown leather looks a tad flat, but that's probably mostly because of the photo as I seem to remember it looking ok when you showed me the WIP last week.

The spines are also really cool - they add quite a lot to the model that way and the slightly ridged effect that comes from the lines help convey a sense of brutality. Not that a giant werewolf really needs help that way. ;)

It's very nice clean painting. I'd be interested to see you produce an especially grubby, blood-drenched or battle-scarred warbeast as I think it'd make an interesting change for the future! Mind you that's probably just because I'm addicted to Tamiya clear red...

Awesome work my friend - the army is really taking shape now!

Looking good, -t! Now I REALLY want to kill it in a game...and that's a good thing by the way. Mark of respect. There's not really much more I can say.

Fantastic job on that!

Awesome. Simple as that.
I think the claws could use a bit more highlighting though, since they are quite black at the moment,

Well, I've decided I don't like playing with unpainted models to the extent that I have gievn myself a deadline to get my current 500pts list finished painting.

I shall get:
Kromac,
a Pureblood,
a Woldwarden,
a Gorax,
3 Wolfriders,
3 Shifting Stones,
a Sentry Stone & 3 Mannikins

...painted by the end of the week!

On the plus side, I have already finished both of the heavies, the shifting stones and the sentry stone & mannikins, thus somewhat lessening my workload, and achievement.

You can find my new, shiny painting log over *here* (http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/projects/115117-minus_t-heroically-fails-paint-6-models-one-week-hordes-circle-blog.html#post1112492), where I shall attempt to update at least every day.


Back on the gaming front, I had my second WM/Hordes encounter on sunday, with my Circle (the above list) facing off against Magnus the Traitor, who had with him:
Himself (duh), a Nomad, a Mangler, a Nomad, a unit of Steelhead Halberdiers, the Devil Dogs, and an Ogrun Bokur.

'Jacks are scary.

Long story short, I won! Huzzah!
The Wolfriders freaking kicked ass, using Brutality with them is just plain unpleasant.
The Gorax actually did some fighting in this game as well, killing a pair of halberdiers, but not using his animus, which is what I mainly take him for (there wasn't a point that I could safely let the pureblood frenzy without really screwing up my game plan).

I'm playing the same opponent tonight, but he will be using his beloved Trollkin. I am somewhat concerned about this, as I have played against Trolls only once before, which was using the starter sets.
However, I'm feeling confident-ish, and I'm really looking forward to the game.

I shall attempt to take photos and do a 'real' bat-rep, with notes and everything.

-t.

Where was his Renegades?! And he calls himself a Mange-player... :P

Good luck in the next game. Photos would be ace.

I suspect that when I wrote 'nomad' the second time, I meant renegade.
That's the one with the rocket and the chainsword, right?

-t.

Chainsaw! Chainsaw! Yeah, that's it. I love those little buggers. :)

God-freaking-damnit.

That'll teach me for trying to do 3 things at once.
I thought to myself, "write chainsaw, not chainsword... write chainsaw, not chainsword... write chainsaw, not chainsword... "

And look what happened.

Now, back to that Gorax.

-t.

Well, I won again...

I guess I'm starting to get cocky though.

Anyway, I did try to take photos, but they were rubbish, so I stopped.
Regardless, here is a rough step-by-step guide to...
KROMAC'S REVENGE! or: It's a trap!

Lists:
Circle: Kromac, Pureblood, Woldwarden, Gorax, 3 Wolfriders, Shifting Stones, Sentry Stone.
Trolls: Madrak, Mauler, Pyre Troll, Axer, some (6, possibly) Pyg Burrowers, 3 Longriders, Krielstone Bearer and 3 Scribes.

Table set-up:
My half of the table had a pair of woods on each flank, both ending about 20" up the field.
The middle of the table had a wrecked pirate ship (hell yes!) to my right flank.
The other half of the table had a wood in the center (ending about 15" on, I'd guess), and a small lake towards my right, closer to the center.

Deployment:
I won the roll off, and elected to go second.
My opponent deployed in standard Madrak form, the Dire Troll and smaller 'beasts in a line, protecting Madrak and the Krielstone, to the right of the wood. The Longriders took up the left side.
I deployed the Wold and the Pureblood up front, slightly behind the right forest. Kromac and the Gorax were a few inches back. The Wolfriders were deployed out on my left flank, in a wood.
The Pygs went right slap bang in the center, as close as they could be to me.
My sentry stone went in the wood, about 20" onto the table, with the shifting stones in a long triangle in front of the heavies.
I declared that my 'Hunt' was going to be for some Krielstone bearers. Obviously they have a big chunk of cheese that my wolves want to eat.

Turn One:
He ran forward. The pygs burrowed. He set up all manner of annoying defensive buffs. Duh.

I advanced by heavies into my triangle o' terror (lawl), and sent a howling pit at the scarily close Longriders. It was way out of range, and the AOE scattered to the right, which was a bit bum, but better than nothing. It kinda prevented one of the longriders from charging, and possibly affected the dire troll, but was not ideal.
The wolfriders ran, the leader heading back towards Kromac (I always forget about Howls when I'm deploying...), and the 2 troops interposing the lake between themselves and the angry, yak-riding trolls.
Kromac cast Brutality on the wolves (yay!) and put up Bestial, just for form.
The Sentry Stone made a likkle wooden man, and the shifting stones shifted a little to get better coverage of the heavies.

Turn Two:
The main group of Trolls advanced, casting a number of unpleasant Animi on various of the Longriders.
Predictably, the Longriders declared a charge against the Wold. I attempted to stand-and-shoot.
Then I was reminded I wasn't playing Warhammer. Lawl.
Fortunately, they were a few inches short, and ended up looking a little silly.
That'll teach them for looking like overgrown hedges/rugs.
Madrak attempted to make the best of a bad situation by chucking his axe into one of the shifting stones, smashing it apart, and ricocheting it into the Pureblood, doing a few points of damage.

I upkept Brutality and ended the pit.
I started off with the mannikin charging the closest longrider and attempting to root it. He missed. I then created another, which missed as well.
Bum. Stupid exploding splinter-y gits.
Anyway. To distract myself from the scary walking rugs in front of me, I activated the Wolfriders. They continue their long run around the flank, ending up around about 10 o'clock, looking down at the table.
The Pureblood walked up to the longrider chief and picked it up, throwing it into it's buddy to the left, doing a few points of damage to them both, and knocking both down. The Wold thought "hah, power attacks are for chumps, chain attacks are where it is at", and promptley proceeded to march up, pop it's animus, and smack the third longrider about. This left it with 1 wound left, before the chain. I hit. I rolled a 5 for my slam. So did my opponent. Stupid freaking mules. No damage, no movement, no knockdown.
Lame.
The Gorax then charged the chief longrider and smacked him about a bit. Not very much though, as a bum roll left him with 2 wounds left. Grr.
At this point I had a *lot* of fury floating around. 9 infact.
Kromac decided to do something about this. He advanced, and threw a pit at the Dire Troll in an attempt to minimise reprisals from my inability to kill things. It scattered 5" off to the right, way out of the way.
He then ditched his last fury.

Turn Three:
Again, my opponent leached etc. The pygs decided that next turn would be theirs, and burrowed forward a little more.
He advanced, and moved the pyre troll and the axer over towards the center of the board, both using their animi on the Dire Troll. The Dire Troll then realised it couldn't charge the Wold, due to the Undergrowth surrounding it.
Teehee.
The longriders stood up and variously beat at stuff, dealing a few points of damage to my Gorax (activating Pain Response) and my Warpwolf (just making it angry).

I thought long and hard. I decided in the end to stay as a man. I left one fury on each beast, and passed both threshold checks (huzzah!).
Now, to decide how to get from here to a good, aggressive position.
I activated the Sentry Stone and made a mannikin, as well as stealing 2 fury from the nearby Trolls. The Mannikin charged the right-most longrider, finally managing to finish it off (rather ignominiously), although ending up right in between my Wold and the Dire Troll.
The Gorax tore the longrider chief apart, forcing the final longrider to take a command check, which it promptly failed.
The shifting stones shifted slightly, with the one between the Gorax and the Pureblood healing them slightly (2 on the Gorax, 1 on the Pureblood).
The Woldwarden advanced up to the Dire Troll, activating Undergrowth (yay!) and pounding away at the damn thing. I hit it once and did a few points of damage, then failed to connect with my second punch.
The Pureblood charged the Dire Troll, activating Ferocity (re-rolls ftw!), and getting the brute down to only a few points of health.
Kromac advanced to the edge of the woods and cast Bestiality. The Wolfriders continued their long march, with the leader moving in behind Kromac and attempting to throw a javelin at the DT, but I was out of range.

Turn Four:
My dear enemy at this point noted that Bestiality denied orders. We then had a little chat about how this would affect burrowing pygs, and came to the conclusion that they probably couldn't pop up, though I felt this was probably up for further question.
Anyway, he leached fury and thought for a minute.
He activated the Dire Troll and forced it to regenerate. He then smacked the Pureblood with his big meaty fists, and chomped at it, although didn't quite finish it off...
He was then forced to charge the Axer at it, who killed it nicely.
I reaved 2 fury, out of it's 5, leaving me with 6 left on live beasts...
The Pyre Troll breathed fire at the Gorax, doing a little more damage to it, and warming up the nearby stones...
Madrak moved behind the Pyre Troll, forming a long line of medium bases (axer, pyre troll, madrak) in a nice diagonal.
The Kriel Bearers advanced behind the escalating fight, turning to face the inevitable assault from the Wolfriders.

I transformed into 'angry' Kromac, and leached all 6 fury. This did, rather irritatingly, mean I couldn't upkeep Brutality, but nevermind.
I activated the Sentry Stone and made another Mannikin, while also stealing 4 (!) fury from the trolls clustering close to it.
The first mannikin charged the Axer, hitting twice and dealing fairly decent damage. This one had obviously tasted blood from earlier... The second mannikin missed with everything. Stupid weeds.
The Gorax also charged the Axer, and with Pain Response managed to kill it. It had no fury to reave.
The Wold moved slightly to the left, to line the Dire Troll up into a slam into the kriel-bearer, and swung. It hit with both fists, but the chain missed (on 5s! curses!).
The Wolfriders finally charged the Kriel Bearers, killing all of them in a display of unparallelled wrongness. They devoured the sacred cheese and saw that it was good.
One of them also moved up behind Madrak to prevent him from running away next turn, should there be one.

Kromac now had a clear charge lane between himself and Madrak (who was unfortunately fury-less). He did the obvious thing.
His first blow hit, did 11 points of damage, and was taken. His second blow hit, did 8 damage, and was scrolled. His chain attack did a few points of damage to the pyre troll, killed the (unfortunately too close) wolf rider, and smashed Madrak to the ground.
We held our breaths as the tough roll came down.
It was a 1.


The Circle had victory this day, and could explore the remains of the strange, wrecked ship in peace.
The Tharn would feed well this night.

-t.

The Tharn would feed well this night.
Mmmm... Troll *drools*

Sounds like a great game, keep the bat reps comming in the name of Orboros!

Cool battle report and congratulations to the win. Seems like it was quite the fight.

Well, this has been quiet for a while eh?

I've played 2 games against niterabbit since that last one, and won both of them...
The first one was on sunday, and started off awfully for me, but ended up with Kromac doing what he does best, and reducing Rhyas to a bloody smear on a building wall...

The second one was slightly different.

Lists:
Krueger, 2 Woldwardens, Woldwatcher, Woldwyrd, Shifting Stones, Sentry Stone
Lylyth, Carnivean, 4 Shredders, 5 Raptors, 10 Archers plus UA (I believe...)

Terrain:
The table was an odd one. Rivers of lava ran over the right half of the table, blocking movement entirely. Otherwise there was little in the way of scenery, just a few rocky outcrops (impassable hard cover).

Set Up:
I won the dice off, and gave First Player to my opponent.
He set up with the Raptors on the far left flank, the archers in the center, and Lylyth and the beasts off to the right.
I deployed Krueger and the 2 Wardens towards the left flank, with the Wyrd off towards the center.
The Shifting Stones went about 6" in front of the Wardens, the Watcher went slightly further foward and to the left, behind a rock, and the Sentry Stone went behind a river of lava in the center.

Turn 1:
The Legion advanced, pretty much everything running forward. The Raptors might have shot at something, but I don't recall if they did damage.

The Wardens and Krueger advanced up into the shifting stones. Krueger cast Sky Bourne and Wind Storm to protect the Circle from the incoming missile fire...
The Woldwyrd headed over towards the center, floating menacingly above some lava. The sentry stone stole fury from the carni and a shredder, and created a mannikin.
Finally, the woldwatcher advanced and blasted a raptor apart with an elemental strike, turning it into a patch of woods (I suspect a heavily tangled garden of bluebells or possibly deadly nightshade...).

Turn 2:
The archers advanced and fired a volley of arrows into the watcher, dealing some damage to it's body.
Eager to revenge their fellow rider, the 4 remaining raptors charged the watcher and smashed him to rubble with well placed claymore strikes... They then moved off to the left, behind the same rocks the watcher had deployed behind, but with LOS to Krueger.
The beasts and Lylyth advanced, staying away from the sentry stone this time, and Lylyth sent off some arrows into the right-most warden, dealing a few points of damage to it's body.

The Circle decided not to let this stand. The left-most warden moved to get LOS to the raptors, and blew 2 of them apart with forked lightning, causing the other one to flee.
The right-most warden chucked forked lightning at a shredder that strayed too far forward and dealing a bit of damage, arcing it onto lylyth for a few points of damage, and a shredder, for nothing (yes, I rolled bum).
The wyrd moved to attempt to get closer to Lylyth, and ended up behind the sentry stone.
Another Mannikin was created, and the first charged an archer, killing it (eventually...).
Finally, Krueger cast Sky Bourne on himself, advanced and popped feat.
3 mighty tornadoes tore from the sky, killing a few archers, damaging lylyth (she now has around 12ish health left), continuing to damage the closest shredder, and failing to hurt the Carnivean.
The archers stood firm, despite their heavy casulties...

Turn 3:
The raptor fled as fast as it could, and failed to regroup, basically putting it out of the game.
One of the shredders (the heavily wounded one) in the tornadoes failed its threshold check and charged an archer, missing with his attack.
The other forward shredder went rabid, and charged the damaged woldwarden leaving it with one point of damage left in it's body aspect (ouch).
The carnivean advanced and breathed blighted fire-y goo over the woldwyrd, mannikin and sentry stone, dealing 7 damage to the stone and destroying the mannikin, but failing to hurt the wyrd.
The other 2 shredders got in positions to be charging me next turn.
Lylyth advanced and fired with pinpoint accuracy into the warden embroiled in combat, knocking out it's body aspect and dealing a few points of damage to its spirit.
The archers got back into formation, and let fly at the second woldwarden, failing to damage it.

The tornadoes moved back into the archers, covering all of them bar the ammo porter, and also touching Lylyth and a shredder.
They then killed 3 archers, causing them to flee, and did a few more points of damage to Lylyth (I got pretty flukey then, leaving her with around 9 points of health). I failed to damage the Shredder.
The sentry stone stole fury from what it could (I think it got one from the Carnivean, but I could be wrong).
The unengaged woldwarden advanced into lightning range of the heavily damaged shredder (which had no fury on it), and blasted it into oblivion with lightning, which then arced into Lylyth.

My intention with this was to leave her in a bad place (2-3 health left, if I rolled a bit above average), and to subtly point out to my dear friend NR that against a ranged army, you need focus all the time.

I rolled my boosted dice.
I think I got a 6, a 6 and a 4.

Lylyth, rather ignominiously, ended up as a crispy piece of fried flesh.
I felt very, very bad.

So, whilst I won a solid victory with a list I didn't think was that cop (the main power comes from 3 sets of lightning, all you need to do is engage the wardens and that is cut down to 1, which is significantly less scary, and Krueger just can't cut it up close...), I didn't feel good about the way it happened.
I had a good chat with NR about it afterwards though, and he knew he wasn't really playing particulaly well (he was trying overtly to be much more aggressive than in our last game, in which he was over-cautious), and hopefully he got something helpful out of it...

The wold list is quite fun, I suppose, and very intimidating, but I really think it would be better with Baldur. His spells really compliment them nicely, and the ability to heal them would be golden.
Another set of shifting stones is pretty much a must for this list, and I have the points to fit them in.

Only Kromac left to finish painting in my 'standard' list, which is pretty funky. I'm really looking forward to being able to field a fully painted army!

-t.

It was a fun battle, really. I just went a bit crazy for awhile due to "combat fatigue" :P I'd best get to work painting my own army as well, now that I think about it.

Well, I played more games.
I say played...

I had several games last weds, against a Khador player, who hadn't played for a little while, but said he was pretty good back when he was playing (a year or so ago, I believe). He'd had a few warm up games a week or so before, and knew the rules etc.

I trounced him.
Twice.

It was so horrific I could have died.
I mean, the first game lasted 'til turn 3, when my Wold chain-slammed a juggernaught into Sorscha and a destroyer, knocking them all down. My opponent conceeded at this point. I would say that in this one, I simply out-played him.
The second game lasted until turn 2. My wolfriders demolished a unit of widowmakers, a unit of doom reavers and a manhunter in one turn, leaving Sorscha and a pair of jacks (can't remember what they were off the top of my head) against my entire army. My opponent conceeded after the slaughter ended.

Now, while I like the person I played, I don't really like playing games against them, as he tends to get rather wound up if things don't go his way.
By about halfway through the Wolfriders activation in the second game, he was telling me he'd never play me again, or indeed, ever play WM again, as it is now 'broken', and in his day there wasn't any of this rubbish flouncing about with 'tactics', it was just a case of hitting each other hard with big heavy robots.
I guess if everyone around him played like that, that was why he did quite well back when he played...

Anyway, it sucked.
I hated the evening, and I really began to hate the game.


Luckily, my Troll playing friend challenged me tonight, and I had an awesome game.
I swapped the wolfriders in my list for 9 Bloodtrackers, and had a much closer, more challenging game that I ended up loosing, due to a few careless mistakes, and one 'play like you've got a pair' incident (you know, the ones where you do something a bit stupid 'cos it's page 5), and also some rubbish luck (how come I always, *always* miss with one attack when the Wold is trying to slam something? I only needed 6's for god's sake!) at bad times (not just the wold =p)

It really reminded me why I love Hordes, and kinda drove home to me what Page 5 is really about.
Both of us pulled off moves that were pretty horrificly powerful, yet neither of us moaned about it. We took it, and worked around it, solving the problems as best we could...
That, to me, is what p5 means. Play like you've got a pair.

-t.

PS. Rather annoyingly, that does now raise my 'finished army' counter to 11.
The list is:
Kromac the Ravenous
Pureblood Warpwolf
Woldwarden
Gorax
9 Bloodtrackers
Sentry Stone
Shifting Stones
Total: 499/18 VPs
I still need to finish off Kromac (getting there slowly), and now have to paint up 9 Bloodtrackers before I can claim moral high ground over those mere mortals with un-finished armies...

I also picked up eStryker. 'Cos he is awesome.

Glad you found the love in the game again.

I kind of go through the same thing depending on my opponent too. I've had several that are just jerks, and try and suck the fun out for various reasons. Some just want to argue rules-no problem, let's grab the book and bicker, then I'll still beat them. Or the people that just can't win (who always do, despite bellyaching the whole game) even though I can't roll higher than a 3 to save my life. To illustrate the former, I've had games where my dakka fex have inflicted 1 wound on marines, who of course promptly save it. Two fex, 1 turn, no wounds inflicted. Sadly, that's how my hordes can be when I try and play aggressive. It doesn't stop me from doing it, but for reasons unknown to me, I can't roll a 4. Usually end up with my caster standing next to 3 of his heavies and a fully loaded caster-never pretty.

I suppose it takes all sorts to make the world go round, but still, it's discouraging to deal with when you're looking for a nice relaxing enjoyable way to spend precious free time. And as far as crushing scorcha, serves him right. All he had to do was stand and pop feat, then kill you next turn, but hey, what do I know.

Glad you got back on your reindeer, er, horse, and had a good game of it.

Keep up the BRs.

I mean, the first game lasted 'til turn 3, when my Wold chain-slammed a juggernaught into Sorscha and a destroyer, knocking them all down. My opponent conceeded at this point. I would say that in this one, I simply out-played him.
A 3 model combo-slam?! Thats awesome! I've gotta say, it'd be pretty tricky for him to set up a 3 model combo slam for you (he would have had to have Sorscha squished between the two heavy's, all in a congo line headed for destruction... and then walk into you're charge range... at exactly the right angle). Honestly, the guy needs to relax a bit when he plays and take some things in good humor. Otherwise keep playing NightRabbit, Murderous Monkey and that Troll player you played against, as its not worth feeling like crap.

Keep fighting the good fight!

We want more pics!!!

Honestly, the guy needs to relax a bit when he plays and take some things in good humor.

To be fair, he's generally a good guy. What did happen though was that he got absolutely destroyed and that can send people for a real tumble off the edge if they're not ready for it. I think it was a rather major culture shock to come back to WM/Hordes and find that there are so many more nasty combos to be pulled off, and that Wind Rushing isn't the most brilliant thing in the world anymore. Whereas myself, the Monkey, and our resident Troll have had plenty of time to be conditioned towards Wolf Riders coming at us on Turn 2 with Brutality and ripping through any infantry we have, so we just learn to accept that as part of life. I feel that I share a bit of the responsibility for it as well, because I played him straight after and butchered my way through his Widowmakers, Greylords, and Winter Guard with 5 Incubi while Lylyth shot Sorscha after her feat turn (she was hiding behind the Carnivean at the time).

I'm hoping the Hordes crowd will continue as we seem to be drawing more attention wherever we go!

I know how that guy feelt. Kinda like when I play BFG with my Orks. I know I'm going to lose before I even play, since the Orks are simpl worse than most other fleets. Against one of my opponents it is ok, since we are about as skilled at the game. Against my other opponent, well, it is not fun at all. Guess that's a reason why I don't play BFG too much.

But you have to suck it up, really. Fact of life, some people are better than you at certain things. You just accept it and try to do your best.

And, as a faithful devotee of Sorscha, Wind Rushing is always a good move. You just don't have to move her every time. ;) If i have no favorable place to move when Rushing, I just let her remain at the spot and get that extra 4 in DEF. :)

*waits for post from minus_t*

Shush now.

-t.

Well, I played a game against Nite-y again on Tuesday, and while I was happy with my army and the way it performed, I couldn't help but feel that NR didn't have the best time in the world, despite his victory.

I used:
Kromac
Pureblood Warpwolf
Warpwolf
Woldwyrd
Ravagers (4)
+ Shaman
Blackclad Wayfarer
Shifting Stones
...which added up to 506pts, which