Major Beth Maddox

My first official Mk3 model completed! I'm pretty proud of myself for having her painted less than a week after LnL. I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical of the sculpt quality in plastic, but now that I've got her completed I really am pretty happy. The biggest issue I have is actually with the one side of her hair which just seems to have a weird edge to it. Otherwise, pretty happy with this sculpt.

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #126

Happy Fathers' Day to all the hobby enthusiasts out there!

I'm super tired, so this update is going to be pretty condensed. It was a good week overall. Maddox and the battle group from the Cygnar starter box are started (as pictured here), and I'm hoping to get most of Maddox done tonight. In addition, the 2 Gun Mage Riflemen are primed, and most of the Legion starter box is assembled at this point, with just the Neraph left to go. I also got the 2 Hellmouths prepped and ready for priming as well. I'll likely leave all the Legion stuff alone for the time being until I star the Riflemen.

In addition to this hobby work, I also got a couple games in this week, playing 0pt and 35pt games with Haley1 vs Helynna. I won both games. I'll forgo a proper battle report on those probably, since I suspect there will be a lot of Mk3 games coming up.

Games played this year: 35

Lock and Load 2016 Recap

Achievement format go!

The Long Road - Drive from the Bay Area to Bellevue. 13 hours of driving with two of my best friends. Was totally rad. Loved the whole trip, especially the last couple hours when it was open season for jokes found via Google. And yes, I had my Sloan model blue-tacked to the dashboard of my car the entire trip, much to the torture of my friends. It was glorious.

Veteran Warrior - Feel like a real LnL Veteran. I felt like a real veteran of LnL, having attended 4 years in a row now, especially given how many people were commenting that this was their first year. Especially given that this is now 3 years at the same venue, it made things familiar and easy to know where things would be.

Master of None - Play in Masters. Yep, totally played in Masters. I got pretty thoroughly stomped, going 1-3 in the early heat, and coming in at 47 out of 102. That makes it sound good, but lots of people dropped. In fact there were 2 people that dropped and still ranked higher than me. Still though, I had a fantastic time. All of my opponents were great, especially the indomitable Brad Fish in my last round. We had a delightful chat about Cygnar after he assassinated Sturgis with Caine2 top of round 3. All of my games were a delight though, and I wouldn't change a thing. This was the first time I played in Masters and I have to admit that it was a great way to start the entire weekend. In previous years I arrived just planning to play in the arena, but now I think future years might feature more tournaments than anything else.

Hang With The Cool Kids - Go for drinks where the PP staff does. So it turns out when you take all your buddies out for drinks at a nearby upper class restaurant bar, you end up seeing the Privateer staff there too. We didn't interrupt them as I believe they were celebrating a number of things, not the least of which was probably Simon leaving. Still, it was great to see a bunch of them all hanging out and enjoying drinks together.

Sole Unbound - Play Unbound with Jason Soles. It finally happened! Clearly my biggest and most exciting achievement. I was the only one to show up for the Unbound event and Jason happily kept the event on. It was an amazing game and wrapped up in under 6 hours amazingly. During the game I got to chat with Jason a lot too which was really enjoyable. He's a really nice guy and clearly enjoys the game. The Mk3 release was clearly a huge event and now being able to talk about it was clearly a huge relaxation for him. It was hilarious watching him rip Mk2 cards out of their sleeves as I finished them off and toss them with a cackling "Goodbye Mk2 card!" So many things going away in Mk3 that make the game more enjoyable not just for the players, but for the staff as well. Getting to ask him questions like "what's your favorite thing about watching people explore Mk3" were especially fun to hear his commentary on. I'm sure he was getting a ton of questions about individual models, but having a more broad view of the entire game means he has such an interesting high level perspective on the new edition that I think most people didn't take advantage of. Anyway, again, the Unbound game was awesome, and Jason destroyed me pretty handily. There was however a shining moment...

Dice Bending Miracle - Get a crazy run on dice. So in a desperate move during the Unbound game, I managed to teleport Sturgis into Jason's backfield and right next to eFeora and a Judicator. I then proceeded to win the initiative, go first, and have an incredible run of dice for Sturgis to assassinate a full-focus-camp eFeora. It was epic, and I think Jason was actually pretty shocked.

Shut Up And Take My Money - Buy lots of stuff. Yep, totally bought a bunch of stuff at the store. Got 4 card decks, 2 starter boxes, 2 Gun Mage Riflemen, 2 Hellmouths, and 3 blisters of Gobber Drudges. So great.

Stay on target - Play a bunch of games towards my yearly goal. I played 9 games total while I was there which really jumps me forward on my goal. I could have played more undoubtedly, but between Masters and Unbound, it ate up most of 2 days of gaming time and I did also want to have some general hanging out time as well.

Getting the gang back together - Play games with all my friends. Check and check. I was especially enjoying that I got 2 games in with my buddy Mike who made a last minute plan to fly in for 2 days of LnL. It was really great to see him.

And that's pretty much it. Another Lock and Load in the bag and a pile more memories of a great time. I'm already hoping to attend next year!

Taelor

Another Malifaux model completed! I'd say I really enjoyed it, but what I liked about doing it was actually the couple key pieces of practice I got. Specifically painting her ab muscles, and painting a denim pattern on her pants and top. It was enjoyable practice. I also feel like her face got at least somewhat right, despite the small size of her eyes.

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #125

Jump, jump, jump, pounce!

So progress this week has shifted gears after finishing the Sacral Vault. I trimmed a bunch of Cephalyx models (3 units and 3 heavies), but painting jumped over to Malifaux models that I had prepped and primed. It's sort of fortuitous actually since I was hoping to make some progress on my remaining Malifaux horde of stuff. Iggy was a very quick paint and I've already made a significant amount of progress on Taelor, with the base mostly done and herself mostly done as well. The Black Blood Shaman is ready to start, and 3 Daydreams just got primed. I've only got 3 more evenings of painting ahead of me before leaving for Lock & Load, but we'll see how much gets done on Malifaux during that time. Speaking of Malifaux, I did some planning work to figure out what all bases I still need to make. I'm documenting it here for my own future use.

Malifaux basing plan:
Remaining models:
Black Blood Shaman - 30mm Nephilim
Lilith Avatar - 50mm Nephilim
Nekima - 50mm Nephilim
Lilitu - 30mm Nightmare Nephilim Woe
Lelu - 30mm Nightmare Nephilim Woe
Widow Reaver - 40mm Nightmare
3 Daydreams - 30mm Nightmare
3 Alps - 30mm Nightmare
2 Stitched Together - 30mm Nightmare Puppet Darkened
Mysterious Effigy - 30mm Puppet Effigy
2 Waldgeists - 40mm Beast Swampfiend

Currently have:
2 30mm Nightmare
2 30mm Nephilim
1 50mm Nephilim
1 50mm Woe
2 30mm Woe

Need to make:
1 50mm Nephilim - custom for Lilith avatar
2 30mm Nephilim/Nightmare/Woe
4 30mm Nightmare
1 40mm Nightmare
Bases for Stitched Togethers, Waldgeists, and Mysterious Effigy - Gotta decide on options there

Iggy

Since I was all wrapped up on my PP model painting, I decided to pick up a prepped Malifaux model as an interlude. This one was already primed and ready and definitely bite sized. Honestly it's a nice change of pace from all the army painting I've been doing. I took way more time than I needed to on this model, and yet I still feel like it was a really fast paint job. Perhaps I'll paint a few more Malifaux models before LnL.

Sacral Vault

This was a beast of a project. So many challenges along the way.

What went well:
* Using the airbrush to do initial layers of stone work, then building up from there.
* Working through details one layer at a time.
* Painting in parts, but doing all the pinning/fitting work up front.
* Not letting myself get too buried in detail work and trying to make it all look great.
* Resin for water effects. Combination of luck and planning brought it together.

What could have been better:
* Spending more time on key parts.
* Paying closer attention on where to put candles at the beginning.
* Not letting it tip over and crash, necessitating multiple repairs.
* Green-stuffing the candles down rather than just gluing them.

Countdown to LnL2016: 1 Weeks

7 days now. It's very real.

Scott's Pro Tips (this week) for packing: Bring glue and aspirin.

Logistics:
Travel - check
Hotel - check
Food - check
Model transport - check
Shopping - check
Gaming equipment - check
Tokens - check
Repair kit - check

Events:
Masters - Check. Registered! Lists finalized.
Unbound - Check. Finalized my list.
2nd Unbound - check

Pretty much ready to go at this point. Just a matter of actually packing my car.

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #124

Late/early update since Memorial Day weekend makes this weird.

So as you can see, the Sacral Vault is nearly completed. I got it all painted, assembled, and sealed. I poured the Envirotex today which will need at least a couple days to dry. This project has been a real beast and it's definitely not my best work, and admittedly I've reached a point of just wanting to be done. Getting the Envirotex poured is a good pausing point, after which I can go back and do touch ups if I feel so inclined.

So, now that this project is nearly done, I find myself in an odd position. I've completed all the models for what I would consider my active factions, and I don't have anything on deck at this point. So either I lure myself to my FLGS and buy something new or I start my Cephalyx. Although it's very tempting to go pick up the new Proteus sculpt, I'm going to behave myself for now and start sorting through the Cephalyx all-in-one box that I got and deciding how to tackle it. There's a bunch of things I need to decide, like whether to continue with the existing basing scheme I already had for my Cryx, or go with a new scheme. Part of that is dependent on how Cephalyx are categorized in Mk3 I guess. So many things to sort out when starting a new army.

Battle Report: Sturgis vs Syntherion

So very close, yet so far.

My list: Sturgis, Squire, Stormwall, Jakes, Dynamo, Stormblades (6+UA+3WA), Stormblade Captain, Stormsmith, Tarin, Aiyana & Holt, Harlan, Effigy of Valor Objective.

My opponent: Syntherion (tier 4), Corollary, Axiom, Mitigator, 2 Diffusers, Galvanizer, 2 Emergence Projectors, 2 Dispersion Optifexes, 3 Attunement Servitors, Optifex Directive, Bunker Objective.

Scenario: Recon, 60 minute death clock.

Honestly, I can't remember a lot of details of this game. I ended up going second and choosing the side with the bunker. My Stormwall got Magnetic Held. Aiyana failed to drop harm on one of the battle engines, and from there some more failed dice rolls meant I only took out 1 of the two of them on my second turn which resulted in some badness. There was other badness, but generally what it came down to was getting slightly outplayed and being behind on scenario so I went for an assassination run on Synth who was camping 5 focus. Long story short, I failed, but more analysis on the actual attempt below.

Lessons learned: I'm going to lose gloriously in Masters. I'm just hoping for a set of fun opponents.
Also thinking I should swap out the Stormsmith and Harlan for Eiryss2. I'll try that next time.

Games this year: 24



Overpower vs Drop-5-Damage
Ok, so on this assassination run, I was curious about the about the math on this, so I'm going to try it out here, comparing old Overpower vs new drop-5-damage mechanisms.

Sturgis made a last ditch assassination attempt on Synth, who was camping 5 focus. He was def 13, arm 18 base. I won't replay the attack rolls for hit/miss based on average dice, and just assume it stays as the same hit rates. I'll also assume Synth still had his 3 damage from Feedback that Sturgis had put on him previously, so he was down to 17 damage remaining. I will however assume average damage rolls rather than trying to recall exactly what I rolled last night.

Stormwall, 1 boosted Big Gun hit at POW 15, 1 boosted Metal Storm hit at POW 12.
Sturgis' feat, boosted POW 12.
Harlan's quad iron, with 4 boosted POW 10s
Stormblade Captain charge attack, boosted weapon master POW 13


Overpower scenario (what played out last night), with Synth at ARM 23:
Stormwall does 2.5 and 0.
Sturgis does 0.
Harlan does 0, 0, 0 and 0.
Stormblade Captain does 4.
So a total of 6.5 damage on average. In recollection, I had spike rolls in both directions which pushed the damage up, but still not even close to a win.

New drop-5-damage scenario, with Synth at ARM 18.
Stormwall does 7.5 and 4.5.
Sturgis does 4.5.
Harlan does 2.5, 2.5, 2.5 and 2.5.
Stormblade Captain does 9.
Let's assume Synth optimizes and pays to drop from the largest ones, that eliminates the 2 4.5s, and 1 2.5 entirely. It also drop 5 from the 9, and 5 from the 7.5. This comes out to a total of: 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5 and 4, for a grand total of 14.

So Synth lives, assuming average dice and perfect drops, Synth lives, but I can only imagine the brain twisting process as dice spike one way or another and having to guess when to try and drop or not.

All things considered, I dig this change.

Countdown to LnL2016: 2 Weeks

2 weeks! Crazy!

Scott's Pro Tips (this week) for packing:
Bring spare card sleeves for Mk3 cards.
Bring a water bottle to refill at the fountain there.


Logistics:
Travel - Check. Car serviced.
Hotel - check
Food - Check. Snacks and drinks loaded in my car.
Model transport - Check. Got 2 tool boxes and a cookie sheet. And an additional storage tray thanks to my buddy Lance!
Shopping - check
Gaming equipment - check
Tokens - check
Repair kit - check

Events:
Masters - Check. Registered! Lists finalized.
Unbound - Check. Finalized my list.
2nd Unbound - check

At this point I mostly just need to pack. I'm trying to get a couple more practice games in prior to going, but otherwise everything has come together.

Battle Report: Sturgis vs Skarre2

No picture this time.

My list: Sturgis, Squire, Stormwall, Jakes, Dynamo, Stormblades (6+UA+3WA), Stormblade Captain, Stormsmith, Tarin, Aiyana & Holt, Harlan, Effigy of Valor Objective.

My opponent: Skarre2, Skarlock, Deathjack, Nightwretch, Aiakos, Sepulcher, Bane Riders (5), Mobeus, 2 Bloat Thralls, Necrotech, 1 Scrap Thrall, Effigy of Valor Objective.

Scenario: Destruction, 60 minute death clock.

I lost initiative which let me pick sides. Cryx jammed in, and I advanced a cautious amount. The Bloat Thralls, thanks to Black Spot, managed to do a real number on my Stormblades which was really devastating. From there the Bane Riders formed a line at the front edge of the zone and Skarre feated to make 3 of them immune, along with the DJ and herself. In order to try to dig my way out of this roadblock, Aiyana put harm on one of the Bane Riders (thus affecting the whole unit), and then Holt and Jakes shot one off the end. Sturgis then charged the other non-immune one, putting himself within 3 of the other 3 in the unit. After killing the 2nd one, he feated and was able to boost damages on the others. Unfortunately at effective POW 14 vs ARM 20 and 5 wounds, Sturgis needed 11's to kill and managed to roll 3 10's in a row, leaving all 3 with 1 HP left. He then teleported back and from there it was mostly an attempt to jam. The Stormwall advanced and used a Stormpod drop to clear one of the wounded Bane Riders and leave metal storm templates on top of those Bane Riders and force movement. At this point my remaining Stormblades just tried to get in the way. It was at this point that things went south. Skarre loaded up the DJ, used Perdition to kill a Stormblade and grant a full advance to the DJ, who then could walk over to Sturgis and proceeded to punch him down to pulp.

Lessons learned: I still love playing Sturgis. He's such a fun toolbox for my play style. Also, Perdition is totally a thing to watch out for. Plus, I really don't enjoy playing against Skarre2, but I feel like I nearly weathered this one well if it wasn't for a couple position errors.

Games this year: 23

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #123

Late update. Another boring week.

More progress on the Vault. I was traveling for work again this week, and generally had a very hectic week due to family stuff. So the progress isn't amazing, but it's getting there.

Paint Target: Complete All Models
Sacral Vault - painting

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #122

Boring week to report on.

I'm posting this early since I'm hoping to get a game in later tonight. Lots of work on the Sacral Vault this week. All three gators for it are done, along with the base. The vault itself is in progress, as pictured here. Hoping to crank this sucker out over the next week.

On another note, I still haven't locked in lists for LnL.

Paint Target: Complete All Models
Sacral Vault - painting

Battle Report: Stryker3 vs Skarre2

This battle should be named "Oh how I can't wait for Mk3".

My list: Stryker3 (tier 4), Stormwall, Ol Rowdy, Storm Lances (5), Tempest Blazers (5), Laddermore, Stormblade Captain, Effigy of Valor Objective.

My opponent: Skarre2, Skarlock, Deathjack, Nightwretch, Aiakos, Sepulcher, Warwitch Siren, Bane Riders (5), Blood Witches (6+UA), Effigy of Valor Objective.

Scenario: Incomming, 60 minute death clock.

I won initiative and opted to go first. I immediately jammed forward about as far as I could, especially with the Stormwall. At the end of my turn though, I realized I had left Stryker directly behind my own objective which was going to cause movement problems on the next turn. My opponent then spent a considerable amount of time mulling over how to respond to a serious jam. His response was pretty well done actually. He managed to get Black Spot on my Blazers which allowed him to shoot 4 of them off the table between Skarre and the Sepulcher. From there things got nasty for us both. I ended up jamming in the Stormwall but a Deathjack/Sepulcher counterattack destroyed it. At this point things were pretty desperate with Skarre toe'ing into both a forest and the Stormwall's wreck. My options kept getting more and more narrow, but I did my best to stay in the fight and attrition him down where I could. In the end he managed to dominate his friendly zone and take out my objective to score enough points, with less than a minute on his clock I might add. Well done Henry!

Lessons learned: Stryker3 is still fun. It's not a particularly amazing list, but I'm feeling better and better about it. This might be one of my Masters' lists now.
On a side note, there was a bunch of stuff in this game that makes me look forward to Mk3. First is the wreck stuff. Second, and more importantly, I had 2 failed command checks in this game (once on Blazers near the start, and second on Storm Lances late game).

Games this year: 22

Countdown to LnL2016: 4 Weeks

Only 4 weeks left! So excited!!

Logistics:
Travel - Vehicle service scheduled for this coming Monday.
Hotel - check
Food - I need to make sure I have a plan for bringing snacks and drinks with me, especially for Unbound.
Model transport - Got 2 tool boxes and a cookie sheet. Still need some additional storage.
Shopping - check
Gaming equipment - check
Tokens - check
Repair kit - check

Events:
Masters - Registered! Need to finalize lists, and ADR (if applicable).
Unbound - Need to finalize a list.
2nd Unbound - check

Remaining Paint Queue: nothing!


As a last note, I took a picture of my entire Cygnar collection which I plan to bring to LnL for random games. I'm also hoping that my tweet of it will help secure my Unbound game being against Jason Soles finally this year.

From the Desk: Painting Videos

If you're relatively new to painting, go watch these for education.

If you've been painting a long time, go watch these for amusement.

SDUB's Paint More Minis videos

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #121

Pitiful roundup, but doing it anyway.

Finished Ragman and got started on the Vault. Not a lot of progress though due to work craziness, playing, stress, and general tiredness. Hopefully this week will be more productive.

On another note, I really need to lock in Masters lists and a plan for Unbound as well.

Paint Target: Complete All Models
Sacral Vault - painting

Battle Report: Stryker2 vs Morghoul1

Breaking through Master practice fatigue with something different.

My list: Stryker3 (tier 4), Stormwall, Ol Rowdy, Storm Lances (5), Tempest Blazers (5), Laddermore, Stormblade Captain.

My opponent: Morghoul, Marketh, Krea, Karn, Bronzeback, Gladiator, Reptile Hound, Shaman, Agonizer, Willbreaker, Beast Handlers (4), Nihilators (10).

Scenario: Close Quarters, 60 minute death clock.

I won initiative and opted to go first. My list makes for some crazytown jamming. With the tier bonus, I had the Stormwall 1" off the centerline at the end of my first turn, with everything else very close to the centerline as well. From there though things got tricky. Nihilators made tough rolls all over the place and a couple of key ones blocked my ability to really get work done with the Stormwall. There was also a key forest that Karn and Morghoul were able to hide behind that kept my Storm Lances from really delivering the hurt. I very much ended up running out of time and clocking myself due to a number of factors, not the least of which was some environmental distractions in my house. However a lot of it was just unfamiliarity with playing heavy cavalry enough and trying to sequence Stryker3's feat and the rest of his army. We played past the clock and in the end I was able to attrition him down and eventually kill Morghoul, but I'm still marking this one down as a loss on time because I was just horrifically slow.

Lessons learned: Stryker3 is both fun, and kinda one dimensional. I definitely feel like some added practice with this particular list could be much more fun. I made a number of positioning and execution mistakes throughout the game that more practice would help with. I also feel like an important less was playing against Karn again, which is something that I routinely get surprised by.

On a side note, with all of the Mk3 spoilers getting out there, it was interesting to play this game. Specifically there were a bunch of places during the game where we found ourselves saying "man, this will be so much better in Mk3 when..." and citing some change. From things like pre-measuring, to forests, to just crazy stuff like the Agonizer. I really can't wait for Mk3 to roll out!

Games this year: 21

Ragman

Super fast speed paint job while watching shows on Netflix streaming. Nothing amazing. Just another one closed out.

Lord General Coleman Stryker

Such an awesome model! So dynamic! Really enjoyed this one. I could have let myself get lost in details. The big challenge I had with this model actually was the rock wall which didn't fit with my basing theme for Cygnar. After much consternation over what to do with it, I chopped it down in size and green stuffed it into something resembling a small wall that fit the basing theme. I do however suck at green stuff work and so it really looks like a slab of melted-then-solidified metal rather than a machined well. However keeping it did provide an important anchor for the model to the base which makes the entire thing remarkably solid. I feel compelled to get this incarnation of Stryker on the table at least once before Mk3 hits.

Trench Buster

Surprises me that he doesn't have Shield Guard given his massive shield. This model really is a brute of a model, towering over most 30mm infantry.

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #120

Sometimes my work affords some awesomeness...

This last week I was traveling for work (again), but this time to Seattle and happened to have the option to stay in downtown Bellevue. So of course I afforded myself a morning walk and went past the convention center where Lock & Load is going to be held. Pointless? Perhaps. Energizing? Definitely.

So this was a great week for hobby work, despite the work travel. I finished up Stryker3, got started on Ragman, and re-based Aiyana & Holt.

I also catalogued my remaining prepared Tau Ceti bases for Cygnar: 1 huge, 2 large, 1 medium, 9 small. It tempts me to buy more Cygnar, but certainly not until I finish my remaining models.

So after 1/3 of the year is over, I thought I might take a look at my goals for the year and where I stand with a few of them:
2) Close out DZC - Done! It felt great to wrap this one up early, even if I haven't played a lick of DZC lately.
3) Get Cygnar to 95% painted - Done! In fact it's completely painted. Aw yeah!
4) Play 52 games - 20 games so far, so I'm tracking well. My win-loss ratio is terrible, but I'm having a great time.
7) Play tighter games - Great progress. Between always using the clock and trying to be very tight about measuring, I feel great about this one as being "done".
8) Pack away old models - Trolls and Menoth got packed away. I think I'm going to have to pack away Cryx as well though given the lack of space in my display case.
9) Archive selected models - Done! That was such a wonderful cathartic exercise. I think I've got less than 10 models packed away right now as "inactive". There's a Cephalyx box that's sort of in a limbo state too, but I'll sort that out later.

Paint Target: Complete All Models
Ragman - painting
Sacral Vault - assembled

Battle Report: Nemo3 vs Syntherion (twice)

Double battles again. Very abbreviated reports.

My list: Nemo3 w/ Finch, Stormall, Dynamo, 2 Storm Striders, 2 Stormcallers, Aiyana & Holt, Effigy of Valor Objective.

My opponent: Syntherion (tier 4), Corollary, Prime Axiom, Mitigator, 2 Diffusers, Galvanizer, 2 TEPs, 3 Attunement Servitors, 2 Dispersion Optifexes, Optifex Directive.

Scenario: Incomming, 60 minute death clock.

Lost by scenario. Two CoC battle engines together is dangerous business.

Games this year: 19



Game 2!!!

My list: Nemo3 w/ Finch, Stormall, Dynamo, 2 Storm Striders, 2 Stormcallers, Aiyana & Holt, Effigy of Valor Objective.

My opponent: Syntherion (tier 4), Corollary, Monitor, Assimilator, Mitigator, 2 Diffusers, Galvanizer, 2 TEPs, 6 Elimination Servitors, 3 Attunement Servitors, Dispersion Optifex, Optifex Directive.

Scenario: Incomming, 60 minute death clock.

Lost by assassination. Synergy is crazy powerful once enough things build up. My Stormwall went down on a brutal counter attack.

Lessons learned: I'm not sure this is such a good list, but it is definitely fun to play!

Games this year: 20

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #119

Sometimes, despite willpower, accidents happen.

At one of the FLGS's here, they are having a 20+% off sale on all Warmachine and Hordes stuff up until Mk3 releases. Now honestly I was resolved to not buy anything at all until Mk3. Not so much because of potential rules changes, but more because I'm in a heavy push to get to fully painted. However I went in and found out about the sale, and then discovered a Cephalyx all-in-one box on the shelf. Normally marked at $145, it was 25% discounted. I just couldn't pass that up. I love the Cephalyx models and those all-in-one boxes are incredible deals. I snatched it up and stashed it in my closet until after LnL. I'm not proud of myself, but I'm also not going to beat myself up over buying it when it was such a great deal. So instead of focusing on that news, let's now focus on my progress for this week, despite spending 2 days in DC this week.

Finished Gallant. Hooray!
Got Stryker3 assembled and ready to prime.
Trench Buster is almost done.


Paint Target: Complete All Models
Trench Buster - painting
Ragman - primed
Sacral Vault - assembled
Stryker3 - assembled

Gallant

Yep, Gallant to go with Blaize. Not going to get played before Mk3. Fingers crossed!

Constance Blaize, Knight of the Prophet

I wish I had more time to talk about this model. It was very different to tackle for my Cygnar army due to the style and details of the sculpt. Nevertheless, it was actually a lot of fun to paint. I could see if someone was looking for a Cygnar model to really pour a lot of time and effort into on painting, this could be a good one. I really hope she gets better in Mk3.

Stormclad (take 2)

Second Stormclad, mostly because I love this model so. I sure hope it survives the MK3 updates with the same level of awesomeness it has now.

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #118

Given 3rd Edition, it's hard to keep focused on painting...

Another late evening post so I'll make this one short again. Everything right now is focused on getting projects wrapped up before LnL.
Finished Stormclad #2.
Blaize is nearly finished.
Bit more work assembling Stryker3 again, but again still a long ways to go.

Paint Target: Complete All Cygnar
Blaize - painting
Gallant - painting
Trench Buster - painting
Stryker3 - assembling

Battle Report: Nemo3 vs Syntherion (twice)

Two battles in one night!

My list: Nemo3 w/ Finch, Stormall, Reliant, Jakes, Dynamo, Storm Lances (5), 2 Stormcallers, Bunker Objective.

My opponent: Syntherion (tier 4), Corollary, Prime Axiom, Mitigator, 2 Diffusers, Galvanizer, 2 TEPs, 3 Attunement Servitors, 2 Dispersion Optifexes, Optifex Directive.

Scenario: Outflank, 60 minute death clock.

I won initiative, and opted to chose sides. This again got me in a bit of a jam since Axiom (with it's tow cables) marched right up the middle of the table towards me, threatening my deal Storm Lances' approach. I advanced cautiously which did keep the alpha strike to a minimum, with only 1 Storm Lance being lost. At the start of my second turn I opted to feat and try to press for an advantage. There was some unfortunately dice rolling, and some serious mess up on my part in the handling of Dynamo. Long story short, I inflicted a lot of damage on Axiom and one battle engine, but not enough to take either one out. At this point it became an exercise of clearing out the Storm Lances, advancing with Axiom, and tow cabling Nemo into melee to squash him like a bug.

Lessons learned: Nemo is fragile. And although I love the idea of Storm Lances, I really need more practice with them. Also, I'm pretty rusty with Stormwall.

Games this year: 17

Re-rack and play again!

My list: Nemo3 w/ Finch, Stormall, Dynamo, 2 Storm Striders, 2 Stormcallers, Aiyana & Holt, Bunker Objective.

My opponent: Syntherion (tier 4), Corollary, Prime Axiom, Mitigator, 2 Diffusers, Galvanizer, 2 TEPs, 3 Attunement Servitors, 2 Dispersion Optifexes, Optifex Directive.

Scenario: Outflank, 60 minute death clock.

I won initiative, and opted to go first. I rushed forward with everything. The rest of the battle is somewhat similar to the first except that instead of rolling poorly, I was rolling crazybananas. Pictured here was Nemo's lightning bounce on Syntherion during the feat round and boosted, which turned a POW 10 hit against an ARM 21 Syntherion into a really nasty result. The rest of the round went similar with enough lightning bounces rolling well to get Synth down to 4 points left, and in the process I took out the Axiom. Unfortunately I didn't manage to take out a battle engine, and at the same time, Nemo ended up just a little too close. A quake gun put him on his butt and the battle engine I failed to take out proceeded to dust him with a couple serious sprays.

Lessons learned: Nemo is still fragile. I do however think that this list is much more amusing, and it does lend itself to a much more interesting sideboard. I think I'm going to stick with it for another try in my next game.

Games this year: 18

Countdown to LnL2016: 8 Weeks

Missed a week on the countdown, but not a lot of progress anyway. Last week was crazy.

Logistics:
Travel - I need to take my car in for service before we drive up. Also it looks like we are definitely going to be 3 in my car, so I need to make sure we pack carefully.
Hotel - check
Food - I need to make sure I have a plan for bringing snacks and drinks with me, especially for Unbound.
Model transport - I need to make sure to bring a sturdy cookie sheet for during events, and that I can easily transport all my models. And that I can fit everything that I want to bring.
Shopping - check
Gaming equipment - check
Tokens - check
Repair kit - check

Events:
Masters - Registered! Need to finalize lists, and ADR (if applicable).
Unbound - Need to finalize a list, and also tweet a picture of my army to PP to help seed that I can play Jason Soles this year.
2nd Unbound - Playing an extra Unbound game with PPS Bryan. Need to make sure I'm all set for that. And now that's going to be a MK3 game!

Remaining Paint Queue:
Stryker3
Trench Buster
Blaize
Gallant

Battle Report: Nemo3 vs Skarre2

So many mistakes in my experimental run of Nemo3.

My list: Nemo3 w/ Finch, Stormall, Reliant, Jakes, Dynamo, Storm Lances (5), 2 Stormcallers, Bunker Objective.

My opponent: Skarre2, Deathjack, Nightwretch, Aiakos, Sepulcher, Siren, Bane Riders (5), Blood Witches (6+UA), Bunker Objective.

Scenario: Fire Support, 60 minute death clock.

I won initiative, but I opted to go second. That was a big mistake. Skarre's forces managed to jam forward really fiercely, putting me in a tight place where I just couldn't safely advance much. Then on Skarre's second turn, the Blood Witches went incorp, the Sepulcher pushed forward across the line, and the Bane Riders jammed right into my front line. Skarre also feated which made the jam that much more painful. From there I made a desperate attempt to start digging out but it wasn't quite enough. In the end the Supulcher was able to get onto Nemo and that wrapped things up.

Lessons learned: Not having any magic weapons in my list is sort of a problem. Also I think there's just not enough models in this list to deal with counter-jamming. In general it was a good learning experience but the whoopins I'm getting from Cryx are sure frustrating.

Games this year: 16

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #117

Lazy update night.

I'm sleepy, so here's a quick update of this week's progress...
Finished Storm Lances.
Assembled and started painting the Trench Buster.
Primed and started painting the Stormclad.
Painted 5 more 50mm Tau Ceti bases.
Bit more work assembling Stryker3, but a long ways to go still.

Paint Target: Complete All Cygnar
Blaize - painting
Gallant - painting
Stormclad - painting
Trench Buster - painting
Stryker3 - assembling

Storm Lances

Another big project down! After getting owned by Jason Soles' cavalry last year at LnL, I'm very eager to get these on the table and start learning how to use them effectively.

The leader model is the one I'm a little concerned about given the single contact point with the base, and via a plastic horse. I'm expecting it to break, so I might go back and reinforce it a bit, even if a second pin breaks the illusion.

Battle Report: Caine2 vs Goreshade3

No picture this time. This battle should simply be titled "oops".

My list: Caine2, Ace Squire, Jakes, Avenger, Tempest Blazers (5), Gun Mages (6+UA), Black 13th, Stormsmith, Gun Mage Captain, Reinholdt, Taryn, Acosta, Eiryss1, Bunker Objective.

My opponent: Goreshade3, Skarlock, Kraken, Darragh Wrathe, Bane Riders (5), Mechanithralls (10), Mechanithralls (6), Neurosurgeon & Stitch Thralls, Soulhunters (5), Bunker Objective.

Scenario: Recon, 60 minute death clock.

I won initiative and opted to go first. This was mistake #1. There was a linear obstacle on one side of the table which would prove to be a hiding spot for Goreshade the entire game. I put Blur on Caine. This was mistake #2. Then I surged forward and braced for the Cryx push, which wasn't bad. Then I unleashed a pile of ranged attacks, mostly just taking out a lot of Mechanithralls via electro-leaps from the Blazers. At this point Cryx was pretty heavily on me. As much as I tried to hold them back, too many damage rolls were coming up short. The Kraken then jammed in and I had no choice but to try and take it out with Caine's feat. Now on average dice, he shouldn't have quite pulled it off by himself anyway, but I had put a few points on it from Blazer, so I thought it would be close. It wasn't. At that point it was an easy mop up for Goreshade and it was wrapped up via the feat and the Kraken's melee.

Lessons learned: For this Caine list, I should choose sides if I can to avoid having my assassination options blunted. Also keeping Heightened Reflex on Caine instead of Blur would have been a much better choice given the Goreshade feat threat. I should have put Blur on Acosta instead, who didn't get to do any work. In general I find that I build for and play better when I'm going second. What I really need to consider now is ADR sideboard options. This was not a great match up for my Caine list, but I will say that losing was a great way to learn a bunch of lessons on this list.

Games this year: 15

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #116

Fun week, but not much hobby progress.

Not really a lot of measurable progress, but it was actually a lot. The Storm Lances have a lot of progress made on them, but it still feels like a lot of work left. Getting the base coats for the reds done was pretty huge. Looks like I'm going to miss another #miniaturemonday. *sigh*

Paint Target: Complete All Cygnar
Storm Lances - painting
Blaize - painting
Gallant - painting
Stryker3 - assembling
Stormclad - assembled
Trench Buster - blister