So I'm starting Mordheim with some friends but I cant deside what warband to pick and I have no idea how to equip them.. i'm thinking maybe Dwarves or Skaven, Could anyone tell me a bit about them? Give some tips on how to equip them?

I did an on-off podcast thing over a year ago, alternating between the HobbyCast - talking about painting and modelling - and the BattleCast - talking about the theory, mathematics and philosophy of game design. It all became too much like hard work, so it eventually stopped. But my schedule has recently changed to mean that I have one evening a week to record again. The exact evening varies, but is going to be pretty definite for the foreseeable future, so I've decided to re-start.

I've got three episodes in the can and up on the Podbean site; the latest is here: http://bit.ly/15WP5gq. Or, if you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes - just search for "Precinct Omega".

I'm just doing the (far more popular) BattleCast, although I will occasionally have episodes in which I talk hobby where it collides with the topics I'm discussing (as in the latest epsiode, which covers the joys of "small scale" gaming - that is, 6mm to 10mm scale wargames). To make it less like work, I don't script the episodes, just working from notes, so it's all a bit stream of consciousness. And it is just me, so you'll have to tolerate a monologue. But I hope you'll find what I have to say worthwhile.

Regards,

Robey

My first Wyrd Mini... A real breath of fresh air in my hobby !

Helloh from NH :D

Hey all, I'm aiming to make a solid daemons list that includes no Nurgle-exclusive models (ie no plaguebearers but DPoN are cool).

I'm having a little bit of trouble working out exactly what to shave off or change to reach 1850

Current list is:

HQ
Lord of Change + Greater Gift - 250
Bloodthirster - 250

Troops
15 Daemonettes - 135
15 Daemonettes - 135
15 Daemonettes - 135

Fast Attack
10 Flesh Hounds -160
10 Seekers - 120
10 Seekers - 120

Heavy Support
Daemon Prince of Tzeentch + Wings + armor + Exalted Gift - 260
Soul Grinder of Nurgle + Plegm Bombardment - 180
Skull Cannon - 125

Total: 1870

The Lord of Change will roll on Divination and depending on what he gets there will take the +2S staff if it is an acceptable scenario. Daemon Prince will be picking up Grimoire. 1 squad of daemonettes will chill in reserves with the outflanking seekers to provide support where needed and grab objectives. Soul Grinder, Skull Cannon, and Flesh Hounds will roll up the field with the FMCs.

I'm open to thoughts or suggestions. Yes I am aware that two of those daemonette squads would be much better served as plaguebearers.

One consideration I had was to swap the Skull Cannon for 3 Fiends but with all the S8 and ID running around wasn't too sure on how fiends roll in the current meta.

Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Come at me.

hello everybody

just getting back into 40k again eldar are my favorite and i cant wait for the next codex

Ok then guys, I've got a hankering for some rather specific music, I'm a fan of dieselpunk and the twenties, the whole vibe of jazz and it's mixtures with electronics etc. I listen to electro swing occasionally but am disapoitned to find it mostly full of piles of endless vocal-less creations.

Or to put it short, anyone know of any music to fill the elctroswing/twenties vibe I want that has some lyrics ?

2500ish Points HE vs O&G

So this Battle Rep was played by a couple who wanted to learn how to play. So a friend and I loaned out our armies so that they could see the models and get some experience playing.

The High Elf List

Lord

Alarielle the Radiant

Hero

Noble
+BSB
+Heavy Armor
+Halbred
+The Banner of Avelorn

Core

15 Silver Helms
+Standard and shields
15 Silver Helms
+Standard and shields

Special

Skycutter
+Eagle Eye Bolt Thrower
Skycutter
+Eagle Eye Bolt Thrower

29 Phoenix Guard
+Full Command

Rare

10 Sisters of Avelorn
Frostheart
Flamespyre

Pregame discussion High Elves

So I kinda winged the list together from what I've been playing. As I wanted to try to give the full experience to the couple, I had flying MCs, Cav, Archers, Chariots, infantry, and magic so the only element missing was artillery. We kinda jotted down lists for them to play real fast keeping in mind this was their first experience with it and wanted to make it fun. So he wanted some lee way on his rares and I wanted some lee way on points (mostly a champion for the PG and a threw a halbred on the noble).

Orc and Goblin List

Lord
Savage Orc Great Shaman
+LvL 4
+Lucky Shrunken Head
+Obsidian Lodestone

Heroes

Night Goblin Shaman
+Forbidden Rod

Savage Orc Big Boss
+BSB
+Banner of Eternal Flame

Orc Big Boss
+Warboar
+Silvered Steel
+Great Weapon

Core

38 Savage Orcs
+Full Command
+Big Un's
+Additional Hand Weapon

40 Night Goblins
+Nets
+3 Fanatics
+Full Command

5 Forest Spider Riders

Special

6 Trolls

5 Savage Orc Boar Boyz
+Spears

5 Savage Orc Boar Boyz
+Spears

Rare

Arachnarok
Arachnarok

Mangler Squigs

Orc and Goblin Pregame Discussion
So my rares was off and the High Elves had a few extra points, I really just wanted to see 2 arachnaroks on the field again. Talk about some serious dust removal there. The last time I played with those models was I think two years ago. They made me so mad at a tournament where a treeman tied them up for three turns then killed one and over ran the other. 16 attacks for each 6 combats and not a single poison really irked me. I didn't want to over power the list so I avoided the 18 man troll horde and only brought 6. Gave me a lot of points so I put in a lot more MSU style stuff that I normally don't go for at all. Put in 5 forest riders, a couple of units of 5 man savage orcs with spears. It was very weird to me but I felt like I needed them to help keep his flyers under control. I couldn't bring myself to part with the savage orc big un's though. I just love them, clearly more then a horde of trolls. I pulled out my regular orcs and was gonna put them in... I swear, I have some great regular orc models... But the bad memories of them and all the good memories of savage orcs just swung me back to savage orcs. I felt the two lists were comparable though I was upset to discover that I didn't have my rock lobbas or spear chukkas (wtf, I have like 8 spear chukkas and 4 rock lobbas! Where did I put them! Grrr...).

Scenario
Battleline (Picked cause we didn't want to over do the rules)

Terrain (no mysterious terrain, just trying to keep it simple)

Upper left had a ordinary building, middle left held a forest, lower left had a chaos shrine, lower middle held a small hill, upper right had an ordinary building, middle right had a pair of gargoyle statues.

Deployment
High Elves won roll off (rolled a 6). (From left to right) the Frostheart deployed behind the Chaos Shrine, the Firespyre on the other side of the shrine, then a unit of silver helms, skycutter, Phoenix Guard, Sisters of Avelorn, silver helms, and then the last remaining skycutter. Alarielle went with the sisters and the BSB with the Phoenix Guard.

Orcs and Goblins (From left to right, HE perspective) Arachnarok behind building, Savage Orc Boar Boyz, Savage orc Big Un's, Night Goblins, Mangler Squigs, Forest Spider riders and Arachnarok (both behind building) and then finally a savage orc boar boyz unit. The orc shaman and BSB with the savage orcs, the N. Goblin sham with the goblins, Orc on boar with the trolls.

The Goblin Forest Spider Riders vanguard past the building.

The High Elves finished first and rolled another 6. (some one seemed to be having some serious beginner's luck)
High Elf Turn 1

Movement
Some minor movements, the flamespyre flew over to be a little forward and canter of the army (trying to get into position to potentially burn some gobos and pop and fanatics hiding in there if there are any. The Frostheart got on the other side of the Shrine.

Magic (Alarielle knew Earth Blood, Throne of Vines, Shield of Thorns and Dweller's Below)
5 and a 4

1st spell Throne of vines. 4 dice thrown. Successfully cast but not IF, O&G elects to dispel and rolls double 6s to dispel.

2nd spell Shield of thorns on the Silver helms. Successfully cast, not IF. Spell goes through.

Shooting
Far right skycutter hits the far right arachnarok and causes 2 wounds to it, the other skycutter shot the mangler squigs and took 2 wounds off it. Nothing was in range for the sisters.

Close Combat
None

Orc and Goblin Turn 1

Movement
All animosity tests past and stupidity test past.

Arachnarok heads into the forest, the savage orcs march forward 8, the boar boyz try to protect the rear area behind the savage orcs (from the flamespyre). The Night Goblins march 8, the mangler squigs bounce 13 forward, the trolls march 12, the arachnarok moves forward to hide behind some gargoyle statues, while the savage orc boar boyz moves forward and wheels for clear view of the silver helms.

Magic (Fists of Gork, Hand of Gork, 'Eadbutt, and Foot of Gork, and the goblin had Vindictive Glare)
1 and 3

1st spell Foot of Gork upgraded, 4 dice rolled not IF, Alarielle Dispels.

Shooting
None

Close Combat
None

Turn 2 High Elves

Charges

The far right skycutter into the 5 Savage Orc Boar Boyz. Stand and hold reaction, Skycutter auto makes charge.

Movement

Flamespyre flies over the Savage Orcs (only killing 3 out of 8 wounds) and the Frostheart flies just to the right of the Arachnarok (out of its LoS) The Phoenix Guard moves up just a little to keep the sisters out of danger.

Magic
6 and 1

1st Spell Throne of Vines, she rolls double 1s and breaks her concentration. O&G dispels Shield of Thorns.

Shooting
Bolt hits mangler squigs but fails to wound and the sisters kill it.

Close Combat
The impact hits kill 3 savage orc boar boyz, the crew killed another. The remaining orc and boar fail to wound. The Skycutter wins 5 -0 and orcs fail leadership. Overran off the board.

Orcs and Goblins Turn 2

No Charges. The Savage Orcs squabble!

Movement

The Arachnarok turns to face the frostheart, the Night goblins move forward 8, the boar boyz book it from the Flamespyre, the Forest Goblin Spider Riders and the Aracknarok sets up a big flank charge out of LoS on the silver helms.

Magic
6 and 2.

1st spell Vindictive Glare upgraded on a skycutter. 6 dice rolled and IF! Rolled 12 hits, wounded twice. 1 saved, 1 wound goes through.

We forgot to roll miscast

Shooting

Some pot shots from the arachnarok fails to wound the Frostheart.

Close Combat
None

Hi all,

I am looking at building a couple Ultramarine models for an RPG and was wondering if the Finecast shoulder pads that GW currently sell are the same size as the current plastic should pads, or if they just use the old 2nd ed mold.

Thanks!!

I'm thinking about giving black library a go, but I hear the quality varies, so I thought I'd ask for recommendations.

I'm a science fiction fan in general. I think some of the 40k background is interesting, and could potentially make good science fiction (but some of it is trash), and I'd like to explore the setting more.

I should say though, that I can't do bad science fiction. Whether its a film, a TV series, a comic book, or a novel, just being interested in the background, or the theme will not be enough to make me persevere if its poorly executed.

If it helps, some science fiction authors I love include: Iain M Banks, Frank Herbert, Phillip K Dick, Asimov, Ursula Le Guin, Heinlein, H P Lovecraft, Richard Morgan...

Should I try black library, and if so where should I start, and what should I avoid?

Without much yaddayadda: the main thread. Share your opinions on the contest, the groups, the songs, or the show in general. Please keep the forum rules in mind - racist comments will not be tolerated. Check the finalists here.

Now let the show begin! :D:yes:

So Oncebitten had the great idea of a Bretonnian campaign where the three members of Team Youtube would battle it out since we all played that army.

The system is a bit complicated, but basically you need to earn each of the virtues by taking them, dealing with a tax, earning them, and then winning or keeping that character alive. The first one to get all the virtues wins.

Below I'll be posting up the links from all of our summaries and battle reports.

Also, feel free to vote on who you think will win :)


Kickoff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98EGWTcj8cY


Malorian:

Summary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcCDG3LXyoA
Game 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKdAkYQsAXY


Oncebitten:

Summary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqRBlDDw7og
Game 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBDOXy5CSUA


TheSustainableCenter:

Summary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL-CcMLxopE
Game 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJQqLNA764

Ok guys and gals can anyone please fill me in as to the fate of Mr Zou ?

I really enjoyed the Bastion Wars trilogy but since then nowt, zilch finito. Is Mr Zou planning a comeback for W40K or is he finished, any info would be appreciated

Let's talk about Feats today.


TO FEAT OR NOT TO FEAT?

I distinctly remember from my early games that Feats tormented me. Should I feat now? Should I keep it for later? What if I need it later? What if this turn is the best turn to use it and I'm letting this opportunity go by?

Starting with Cygnar, trying to make sense of Stryker1's Invincible was pretty bad. It helps if you've got an offensive feat. It's easier to use an offensive feat to your advantage as a new player, I believe. Even better when it's a self-reliant feat. Goreshade1, Caine1, Caine2, Feora1, these are all pretty straight forward. As close to point and click as we're going to get in this game, I believe.

Haley1, Kreoss1, Butcher1, Stryker2, these are not exactly self-reliant, but they still happen on your own turn, so they should be easy, right? Except I always struggled to time Haley's feat right. Part of my army was always out of range, another part of my army was going down meanwhile, meaning the longer I waited, the less models I would have left to use Blitz on. And back then, it wasn't exactly easy to prioritize. Today, I feel more comfortable saying this unit firing on that enemy unit has priority and should get the feat, if possible. And I still mistimed it in my last game with Haley, getting off three extra shots from my Blazers while the Stormblades and the Stormclad I really wanted to use the feat on ended out of range somehow...

Now, let's make things even more complicated: Stryker1, Severius1, Old Witch, Haley2, Skarre2, partially Deneghra1 and Irusk1. These feats are reactive. They happen in your opponent's turn. Back in my early games, I've seen Stryker pop his feat only to see the enemy retreat and wait another turn to hit the alpha. Kind of frustrating...

How the heck is a new player supposed to know when the enemy is going to hit him hardest? If he's still struggling with figuring out when his own army might get a good punch in (see Haley1 above)?


MASTERING THE FEAT

I noticed, however, that Stryker's feat got more manageable the moment scenarios came in, because scenarios force the game into high gear early, and you you can't just draw back and withdraw from zones as you like. Which holds true for far more feats than I first suspected. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but the essential turn in many games comes in round two. And turn two feats have become far more common than I first thought. Now, don't get me wrong. There are feats and there are feats. Some are very precise tools that accomplish something special and should be timed perfectly, i.e. Caine2. Others however, like Irusk1 and Stryker1, are more like unaimed AOEs raining down, precise, unguided, doing something, probably. These are generally the hardest to grasp for a new player, in my opinion, and if you have trouble timing them, it's not a bad policy to pop them preemptively in turn 2. Just like taking a Squire with your Warcaster. It's a useful policy while you still figure out the bigger stuff, as long as you eventually get around to revisit these policies.

Learning a complex game like Warmachine is all about compartmentalizing, about knowing what con concentrate first and what to focus on later once you got the essential basics. This is one of these things.


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Today I want to talk about Space:


AS THEY MAKE THEIR WAY ACROSS THE ̶U̶N̶I̶V̶E̶R̶S̶E̶ TABLETOP

I already talked at length about threat ranges, overlapping threat ranges, zone denial. etc. Let's look at these again in the context of an actual game:

Last week, my Cygnar squared off (the "square" here being a 48" by 48" gaming table) against my pal's Protectorate forces. Set up was done, I'd managed to deploy more compactly than I used to, even though we were playing incursion (yaay for me!), and first turn was about to start. Here was what I saw across the thinly terrained table, from left to right:

A Forest, Knights Exampler (melee monsters that kill elite hard targets), Deliverers (long-range AOE-lobbers that threaten light infantry), Cinerators (more heavy knights), Zealots (more AOEs). Ignoring the warjacks and everything else in the second line for a moment, I found myself staring at what seemed like a cluster of overlaying threat ranges threatening everything I got, both the light ranged and the heavy melee units. This only got more complicated when his Warcaster started laying down a smokescreen in front of his army...

Comparing notes after the game with my opponent, something I can't recommend enough, I got to see the same moment (between deployment and turn one) through his eyes:

Across the table, up center, stood a powerful unit of Forgeguard rocking ARM 21, threatening all his heavy units. They were flanked on both sides by Gunmages and Blazers that threatened his army with vicious hit & run needle strikes from range. Add hated Eiryss, a Minuteman hungry to run into his forces and shred face with a rain of grenades and a powerful ranged caster trailing the Forgeguard in the second line, and my opponent felt his approach routes denied just as much as I did.

The game itself became pretty intense, with some bold moves early on on both sides, aiming to overcome the initial standoff. This piece is not about the game, however, it's about the initial standoff.

My point is this: Both our armies controlled the space in front of them. I didn't want to put Eiryss a few inch from the right table edge, but the presence of the Deliverers in the very center of the table in combination with the utter hatred of her by my opponent left me little choice. I couldn't advance across the center and take potshots the way I wanted to with my Gunmages (mounted or otherwise) either, because of the AOE threat right in front of them. The units not threatened by the Deliverers all lived in fear of the elite knights framing the Deliverers on both sides. Which meant they could operate within the Deliverer threat ranges, but could not get close enough to do their own thing without the counter-thread.


ACROSS THE TABLETOP

Again, threat ranges and overlying threat ranges and area denial are just part of the equation. Position in general is key to this game. We already talked about SPD 4 models jogging across the table, trying to get where they need to be in time. We talked about zones and zone control, about match-ups, about terrain you had to hug or avoid. Like in chess, sometimes it's worth trading a piece for a good position on the board.


SPREADING OUT

But if there is the board on the macro scale, then there is the unit formation at the micro scale. One of the most important formations in my mind is the anti-AOE spread in which every model in a unit is positioned about 2" away from each other, forming small triangles. The difference between seven Gunmages spread out like that and seven Gunmages clumped together B2B is often seven dead Gunmages after a single AOE.

However, spread out like that, the second line often gets denied their shots, because the unit is operating at extreme range, or because there's only a narrow firing gap between terrain and intervening models. Either way, I've repeatedly been tempted into close clumps, sacrificing my own models in the process. This happened in said game against the Protectorate once again; My opponent used scattered ruins and smoke to deny all LOS to his army except for a tight cluster of 5 Zealots visible inside the smoke. It felt like the perfect spot for an Arcane Inferno. I guess it was, as I killed all five in a single strike. This was the turn before my opponent's feat turn. He brought back four of his five dead Cinerators (my Forgeguard had bravely advanced into the smoke and taken their hammer to the fanatic knights) behind my Forgeguard in nasty proximity to my Caster (who barely survived the charge). He also brought back two Zealots in close proximity to my Gunmages. Close enough to lob firebombs right into my cluster of ... burnt corpses, as it turned out.

There's also something called the Fan. Essentially, you position a small portion of your melee unit ahead of their comrades, baiting your opponent into a charge. Those select few might die, but the rest of your unit is then in position to take on your opponent. In a way, it's the Chess / Punishment principle writ small.


COME THE CASTER

One of the oldest dilemmas faced by Warmachine players is the question where to put their caster. As the queen, you want him at the front doing damage, as the king you want her in the back, screened by the rest of your army. It's another question of space and positioning, again.

What helped me a bit here is the concept of Backfield, Midfield and Upfield Caster. I'm not going to explain which caster is which, if you need help, ask the veteran faction player of your trust and they will certainly help you. But just knowing there's usually a general idea how far upfront each caster needs to be should be reassuring.

Just don't overestimate what Upfield caster means. My last two games with Stryker2, both played against the same fledgling player in my gaming group, both ended with me winning the War of Attrition before losing Stryker...


BE ZEN

In high school art class, we were once supposed to draw our own hand. My art teacher told me something that blew my mind (ten years later, when I understood what he meant): If you have trouble painting the hand, paint the space between the fingers instead!

By the same token, start seeing the empty space on the tabletop.

I can't say more on this, however. Like any Zen puzzle, it can't be explained, just experienced.

(Although I can only recommend the consumption of green tee in long, slow sips as you look thoughtfully at the horizon while you send your men to die for your p̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶r̶r̶e̶l̶s̶ eternal glory.)


GO SEAGNAR SEAHAWKS

I already explained the similarities to chess, with threat ranges, denied space, models covering each other. Let me give you another metaphor:

Warmachine is American Football, your Warcaster is the quarterback trying to throw the ball, while your army is the offensive line protecting him against the "pass rush" by the other team's defense. Except the ball is focus the quarterback tosses to his teammates for small gains (and sometimes for the big game winning touch down drive, or he might keep it and charge forward himself) and both your offense and defense are on the field at the same time.

Also, my favorite team/faction wears dark blue and and is operating out of Seattle.


ONCE AROUND THE ̶U̶N̶I̶V̶E̶R̶S̶E̶ TABLETOP

Let me finish this one with another snapshot of my game against the Protec army from above: Annoyed by both the smoke screen and the tight frontline of overlapping threats, I ended up running my Blazers around the enemy army. By turn two or three, I occupied the open space behind my opponent, forcing him to turn part of his army around. Remember what I said about seeing empty space? Zen.


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