[The Von Report] A Week Without Gameplay

So, term has started and the new Cycling Agenda is in full swing and the long and the short of it is that I can juuuust about make it to the club for 7 p/m - provided you don't mind your Vons stinking of sweat and Berkshire cycle tracks. Now, I don't want to be That Guy, and the Northern Line was all kinds of gremlined last week anyway, so I abandoned ship and went home for a good wash.

On top of that, my home Internet's been down for a week now, and this has meant a) I haven't been able to blog unless there are a few quiet moments at work, like these moments right here, and b) I haven't been able to play WoW and have had to find more productive uses for my time.

Productive Use #1 - Prime ALL the things! 

Everything has now had the necessary slathering of black gesso, barring a few limbs on the Crypteks and the Overlord which have been swapped around during the week.

Productive Use #2 - Paint some Troops!

I'm vaguely dissatisfied with the Ghost Ark and I'm not sure why. It's better now that it's had a spot of ink on the green glowy bits. I think the lack of guns may be to blame; see, I subscribe very strongly to the "make the scary bits look bright and the rest of it can be dark and minimalist" school of painting, and not having the guns on the Ark means there are no lurid green shooty bits to draw the eye. I may have to work out some alternative means of transporting the thing and stick the guns back on. I do wish that whoever sculpted the Necron vehicles had considered the prospect that people might like to put them in figure cases and perhaps move around the place with them.

Productive Use #3 - Build Crypteks!

This happy chap is the fifth member of the Cryptek five-a-side team. It's a Harbinger of Despair, which I want to bolt onto the Royal Court for a while, until I get the Deathmarks shoehorned into a list.

I've also tweaked one of the existing models; the one with the extended carapace and the staff up in the air is now a Harbinger of the Storm, which will be riding shotgun in the first Night Scythe I acquire down the line when I can justify buying flyers. It'll be further differentiated by its colour-scheme when I get around to painting them up, too.

Productive Use #4 - Write up the army list!

With this came the somewhat unfortunate discovery that I was actually 6 points over the limit during the first week (I will accept admonitory tuttings on Thursday night), so the revised (and legal) 600 pointer looks a bit like this:

Vargard Koschei

Necron Overlord

warscythe

sempiternal weave

Catacomb Command Barge

Royal Court

3 Harbingers of Destruction

1 Harbinger of the Storm

6 Necron Warriors

Ghost Ark

6 Necron Warriors

Not bad for a week where I didn't actually get any gaming done, eh what?

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Gaming on a Budget: Let's Get L33T

Want to start a new army, but don't have a lot of money to spend?  Well you don't have to go running for one of those fringe skirmish games that only the weird kid who smells like cheese at your FLGS plays.  It's time to put your bloated, mainstream army on a diet. 

Today's mantra is a simple one:  Less is More.

Keep reading for some practical tips for saving money by shrinking your model count.



 Now don't get me wrong, I'm probably the first person to go running towards the newest army around that plays like a horde, but lately I've been doing some thinking about expanding into a new army, but with my recent career change, am not left too flush in the cash department.  The answer for me was a simple one- find the most badass, elite army out there and rock them like a hurricane. 

Why elite?  Well, be it better training, better equipment, or both; elite armies in any gaming system that makes even a modicum of sense will probably cost more points.  More points equals less models which, in general, means spending less money.  As an added personal bonus, since I've never played a huge beatstick elite army in all of my 17 or so years of gaming, this is going to be a challenge for me.  The armies I typically gravitate towards have high model counts like Skaven, Menoth, Imperial Guard, Tyranids, etc.  It'll be like Neal Peart re-learning different drumming technique mid-career, though I'm probably not as good a gamer as Peart is a drummer.  Screw it, the judges are going to let the simile stand anyway.

I know math is hard, but you can figure it out

It's no secret that I've been working diligently on an Ogre Kingdoms army.  They're a pretty classic example of a good solid army with a low model count.  The size of the models makes them a little bit of an aberration, but I still submit that they $/point ratio for them will, on the whole, be among the best in WFB.  Random snippets of that endeavor can be found here and here.  Click those links for details, but the Cliff's Notes version of that army is that it's constructed not only with a low model count, but also basically from 3 battalion box sets (scored for $60 a pop when the market was low on OK) and like 4 more kits.  That's cheap by WFB standards. 

If WFB is on your radar, there are plenty of good army choices to be had.  High Elves are always  classic standby as are Warriors of Chaos.  With both of those armies you're getting some of the best stat lines in the game and for that you will pay a price- in points, not monies.  This translates to a low final model count and will likely save you money.  In past editions, I'd also say that adding a big monster centerpiece to your force is a good way to add high points, low cost eliteness, but those bastards are basically just canon bait nowadays. 

40k more your style?  Well, play any marine army and you're pretty much good to go on the elite tip.  Certainly that's an oversimplification, but if you're looking for a relatively low model count and an army with a good learning curve, you can't go wrong with the boys in power armor.  There are many flavors to choose from and some of those will yield better playability.  Many have had great success with mostly Terminator Space Wolves armies.  Just about anything Grey Knights will be ridiculous and have super low model counts.  Value wise, though buying a bunch of Ravenwing boxes to make a biker army may be one of the cheapest ways to go elite.

Beyond Marines in all of their flavors, things get a little dicier for 40k players.  Eldar are probably a more classic example of an elite army, but let's face it- it's hard to pull off and not necessarily cheap.  Unless you are a staunch believer in the power of footdar, you're going to spend a ton on transports for your fragile units.  Yeah, some of the aspect warriors are pretty great on their own, but only get better when they have a magic bus to ride around in.  Unless you feel like walking those fire dragons across the table hunting tanks that can easily outmaneuver them.

Shifting gears, you may be stepping outside the GW playground a bit like I am right now.  I've got a pretty decent German army going and cold represent many different forces in the late war from Panzerkompanien to Panzergrenadiere.  Now, they're fairly elite, certainly more so than any Russian human wave, but he models counts aren't as low as they can be. 

Honestly, Germans may provide for one of the lowest model count forces in the history of gaming- like less models in a 1500-2000 point army than in a skirmish game.  Und zwar- Die Schwere Panzerkompanie... errr, sorry, the German heavy tank company.  Backed by the Tiger or the even more expensive Porsche Tiger, you can seriously run working lists that feature just over 5 models. 

This is where the new army itch catches me.  I'd like a new FoW army.  In the past, I've focused on tanks a lot, though, and decided to eschew the ridiculousness of the Tiger tank.  Instead of the boss equipment route, I'm going for the extreme training route.  I'll starting a a late war 2. Fallschirmjaeger (paratroopers for those of you not in the know).  I've been impressed with Infantry's survivability in FoW, so I figured why not take an army that will be hard to move out of defended position and is also damn near impossible to make run away. 

Here's a tentative list for what my 2. FJ Kompanie might look like:

 

So in all, we have about 30 infantry models with a few mortars and a pair of PaK 40 antitank guns added on.  Not too shabby model wise.  Just need to test it to make sure it works on the table...

I've only really mentioned 3 gaming systems, but there are plenty of other popular ones out there where you can apply the less is more strategy for saving money.  I've long since been over the game, but if you're into Warmahordes, you can't go wrong by picking one of the red armies (not commies, that's in FoW).  I'm sure there are even places to apply the method in Infinity or Malifaux or whatever other game you're playing. 

I'm out for now.  Happy gaming and go save some money1

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SinSynn's List Design for the Luckless

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

I suppose I'm just one of many gamers out there that has absolutely no luck, but sometimes it feels as though I've been singled out by the Dice Gods for some unknown transgression.

I have absolutely no idea what I did to earn their ire, but I definitely have.

It's so bad, I've given up trying to appease them, giving up begging and pleading and sacrificing...stuffs.

DON'T YOU JUDGE ME!
...it wuz just that one time...

*And it didn't work anyway*

So you know what?
I don't even care anymore.
Screw the Dice Gods.

I mean, seriously...it's obvious at this point they've scorned me.

When I say 'bad luck' in regards to dice, what I mean is, 'I can't roll above a 3.'
Like, ever...

Technically, I should roll a 4 or better 50% of the time, according to the 'statistics,' or whatever....
Who the fuck came up with that bullshit?
Whoever came up with that 'Law of Averages' nonsense was completely un-cursed, and I hope they live lonely, miserable lives.

I think they need a completely different set of statistics for 'cursed people.'

*Well, actually maybe they don't...just go with this*

If they tried to have 'cursed people' compile the statistics themselves, I'm sure something would go tragically wrong, like...the laboratory exploding, or whatever, so that wouldn't work either.


No, I've just had to admit that no amount of...sacrificing stuffs is gonna help me.

I've tried 'alternative approaches' to rolling dice....like, y'know, 'positive thinking.'

*Someone punch this idiot...he prolly plays Grey Knights*

I tried 'visualization.'
Like, y'know...Seeing that big '6' in your mind, believing that'll make it happen....
That didn't work either.
*sigh*
I suppose my twisted lil' Xenos mind just differently.
...
Cuz I'm sure you all know what I saw....

*Just the usual stuffs*

Ultimately, I've had to try and work around my fail dice.
The main problem I have, obviously, is that at some point in every game, my potential victory or almost certain defeat is going to depend on those rotten little fucking cubes.

So...waddayagonnado, amirite?

Well...HA!
SinSynn has a...sorta solution, my unfortunately luckless brothers and sisters!
I call it 'Army Design for the Cursed.'

It's not that complicated.

Simply put, if a unit requires a roll of '4' or better to do something...well then, that unit is fucked if it's in one of my armies.

Being that I know I can't roll a 4, I've stopped including those units in my Army Lists, unless they have some sort of 'mitigating factor.'

Allow me to elaborate.

Take the Tyrannofex, for example.
A lot of 'Nid players swear by these guys...big ol' Str-10, Ap-4 Rupture Cannon and whatnot.
Heck, it's Assault 2, even...

Now I understand that sounds like a good thing for...most people.
The 'un-cursed' kind.
...Not for me.

That gun is attached to a BS3 Monstrous Creature, and needs 4's to hit.
Even with two shots a turn, my test games with a proxied T-Fex were disastrous.
So...T-Fexes were out.
Trygons, with their ridiculous WS and amount of attacks (with re-rolls!) were in.

And yes, I have failed to hit a moving vehicle with a Trygon, even with 6 attacks and re-rolls.
-_-
Many times, in fact.
I had to check, to make sure my dice even had 6's printed on them.
Blah.

Now let's take a look at another unit.

*Just the coolest unit ever*

Ah, the Tau Crisis Suit.
He too, shares the dreaded Ballistic Skill of 3.
But this guy can work around it.

He can carry a Multi-Tracker, which boosts his BS, or perhaps a nearby group of Pathfinders can illuminate a target for him, and make it so I only hafta roll 2's to hit...
Hell, even I can roll s'2, sometimes.
So, when it comes to my Tau, these guys are in- they have tricks to mitigate my bad luck.

The T-Fex...not so much. No tricks.

THIS is the basis for my 'Army Design Theory,' in truth.
I need units that are like...curse proof, and/or have tricks to alleviate said curse.

*Non-compliance will result in Disintegration*

Not only can a Crisis Suit (hopefully) deliver on the shooting end, but he can also take a fair amount of attention from the enemy, as well.
You can pack three in a squad, have a bunch of Drones attached to absorb shots for them, and since Crisis Suits have 2 Wounds and can be outfitted differently for shenanigans with 'wound allocation,' they're a pain in the butt to get rid of...
Theoretically, anyway.

Hey, have you ever noticed that things always work in 'theory,' but rarely ever work in 'reality?'
Especially when it comes to Army List Design.
Why the hell is that?
Hmph....it's bullshit, if ya ask me....

*Trying to work out an Eldar list that'll beat 'the Leafblower'*

Units can look so good in the books, too.
It can be a tad misleading...

Tau Fire Warriors, Eldar Wyches, even an Imperial unit like Space Marine Scouts.
These are all pretty cool lil' troopies, and on paper they seem like they can pull it off...
But, well...they don't quite live up to our hopes and expectations, do they?

Don't get it twisted, I've a few occasions where my Fire Warriors have come through for me in a big way, but those times are few and far between.
Just enough to keep me hoping, actually...stupid Fire Warriors.

Mostly, they just die, which is why I prefer Kroot.
They're cheap, they're not so exciting statistically (no fancy pulse rifle), and when they die I'm like, 'meh.'
That's what they're supposed to do, after all.
And, hey- every once in a while, they do something cool, and I'm all like, 'Holy Crap! Kroot friggin' rock!'

So that's another tenant in my list design- avoid the flashy, expensive stuff...go for the cheap stuff.
Especially if they're just gonna get fed to a meat grinder.

*This is a meat grinder*

Once I've found a handful of units that can fill the required slots, I try to make sure I bring at least two of each.
No, it's not 'spam,' and I'm loathe to use a 'competitive term like 'redundancy, but... it's just that I figger the first one is gonna die...

*Here lies First Platoon...and most of Second*

See it's not technically 'spam' if yer cursed, see?
Nyah.

Once I admitted to myself that I was cursed, List Design became a breeze for me.
Units that require a series of rolls to get stuff done (like psykers) are definitely a no-go.
Units that only 'do stuffs' on a '6' (like anything with Rending, for example) are out, natch.
When you don't HAVE luck, yer not gonna get the results you want from units like that.

The first step is just admitting you're cursed, then just follow these guidelines.

I won't wish you good luck, my fellow cursed gamers...we all know that ain't happenin.'
Heh.
Remember, the Dice Gods may hate you, but I stll luvs ya!

Until Next time folks- Have a very Xenos Day!
(try not to fall in an open manhole, or whatever....)

-SinSynn

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Gaming on a Budget: Return to Ogre Kingdoms Mountain

Hey everybody, thanks for bearing with me over the past week while I'm not posting (Regularly scheduled HoP Idol resumes this weekend) and thanks to those of you who sent their condolences to me in e-mails and your comments- I appreciate it.

Way back in the infancy of this series- like when it had lots of active readers and commenters ;), I threw up a post on buying in bulk that included tips on buying bulk minis.  With the release of the excellent new Ogre Kingdoms book, I'd like to revisit the concept of bulk miniatures.  My interest in WFB has been waning severely since the release of the new rules set as I've struggled to find an army that excites me.  I still like the Empire, but really don't need another game system where I basically play an immobile gunline.  I've also always been drawn to Skaven, but don't feel the energy to paint a horde army.  I'd been interested in Ogres for quite some time as the represent a playstyle that's relatively new to me and the larger models just look plain old fun.  Sadly, their old book was among the least competitive (or even playable) in the WFB canon. 


Enter the new book.  Nearly universal price reduction on units and equipment, a reworked magic system, and a chance to field even bigger beasties and leadbelchers that aren't the suck?  Yes please.  Sure I could complain about the ironfist being reduced to merely a shield, but hey who can complain about a 60% points reduction.  I'm still slightly baffled by why Bragg the Gutsman costs nearly double what a bruiser does merely because he has a magic weapon with +1 S and Killing Blow in challenges, but those are complaints for another day and really don't matter when compared to what is otherwise on the whole an excellent book.  I will, however, greatly miss the Cathay Longsword. 

So, in honor of the return of the Ogres to WFB, I would like to speak briefly about making the worlds cheapest 2,500 point fantasy army via these handy tips:

1. Starter Sets and Army Bundles- Most game systems have them and they usually offer a significant price reduction.  Some companies offer a better price break than others (PP and GW being among the best with Battlefront being towards the bottom of the discount scale), but savings is savings and anything that stretches your budget can only be good.  Play around with your army of choice and see what you can make by combining multiple army bundles and starter sets.  The core of my Ogre force is comprised of 3 Battalion boxes and little else.  I got each of these for about $60 each (more on that later) and saved about 35% on what I needed plus got a shitload of extra models.
2. If there is a new version of your army coming out, now is the time to stock up- This is simple.  If a new edition is imminent new models and configurations are going to be more expensive.  Take the Ogre battalion, for example.  The last version was $90.  The new one costs $105 for less stuff- no gnoblars but 2 extra Ironguts.  So, it's $15 more and you get a new of $15 less stuff vs the old box.  Hell, if you're lucky you might even catch a break and find a clearance on the old stuff.  I found an eBay store discounting the old Ogre battalion to $60 when it went out of print about a year ago.  Chances are that you're not really losing anything by doing this, especially with GW.  Certain core units are unlikely to get new models and will always be needed in any army, so buying "old" stuff is the same as waiting for the "new releases."

The List

Now, on to my Ogre list.  Bear in mind that this is a first draft and subject to revision, but I think there's some merit to it.  It's not a drastic change over my old edition list, except that I have the points flexibility to add more robust shooting.  I've dropped out leadbelchers in favor of Scraplaunchers and a Thundertusk to provide template fun, but I will probably come up with a variant list that runs 2 units of leadbelchers and an extra Firebelly in their place to save cash. 

The army is built around a core horde unit of Ogre bulls dubbed "the mother fucker" from an old Henry Rollins rant on El Nino.  The Mother Fucker is 16 bulls with ironfists with a Tyrant and a Battle standard bearer.  With the loss of the Cathay Longsword, decking out the tyrant was a bit more difficult now, but I think I've got it figured out.  I wanted to boost his strength to make him able to deal with monsters and war machines, give him an initiative edge, and improve his piss poor weaponskill.  While one item and a big name accomplished all of this before, I've now had to give him a sword of striking, a potion of speed, and the Giantbreaker Big Name to more or less accomplish my goals.  The battle standard helps prevent this very expensive unit from breaking if all goes wrong.  Now we have a unit not to be messed with.  It fights in 3 ranks with full attacks from all models, gets S6 Ogre Charges, and still gets a stomp attack.  Good luck surviving that shit.

To ensure that the Mother Fucker isn't charged, a unit of 30 Gnoblars will fan out in front of it.  when it's time for the Ogres to do their thing, the Gnoblars reform and move out of the way. 

The core will then be flanked with  2 small units of Iron Guts with a Slaughtermaster and Firebelly providing magical support.  I must say that I'm loving the firebelly.  With a good model, solid magic, great special rules, and a breath attack, this guy may be one of the stars of the new book. 

Bringing up the rear, we've got a pair of the still excellent scraplaunchers and a Thundertusk who provides a sold shooting platform.  Not only does it have a move AND fire stone thrower attack with no misfires, but it has 2 S6 shooting attacks that suffer no movement penalties.  Did I also mention that all of these things can also seriously throw down in close combat?  No, well they can.

Anyhow, here is the list in all of it's glory.  I'll be back next week with a guest article and will return the following week with a hot new weathering tutorial.


 

Lords
Tyrant	ironfist, heavy armor, giantbreaker, sword of striking, potion of speed	265
Slaughtermaster	hand weapon, additional handweapon, talisman of endurance, dispel scroll	307

Heroes     bruiser hand weapon, heavy armor ironfist, battle standard 138 firebelly lvl 2 wizard, additional hand weapon 157
Core     16 bulls hand weapon, light armor, ironfists, bellower, standard, crusher 542 5 ironguts great weapon, heavy armor , gutlord, bellower, musician 245 5 ironguts great weapon, heavy armor , gutlord, bellower, musician 245 30 gnoblars hand weapon, throwing weapon, groinbiter, standard 90
Rare     Gnoblar scraplauncher   130 Gnoblar scraplauncher   130 Thundertusk   250

Total 2,499 points

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