The year that was~

Okay, I’m finally back to writing. The holiday season is finally over and the regular grind slowly sinks back in. Which means, I can sort out my thoughts and ideas back again. So for the passed few months, I’ve been going through a few stuff.

1. World weaving – some stuff that I read up to help me ponder and sort out my ideas on some story I want to write down. This is probably a very, very long term project that I’d commit to some output write ups every month. Something to keep me sane 😛
2. League of Legends grind – I started playing this game over the low times in the holidays. I’m currently at lvl20 and is playing around for the AP Mid and AD Ranged slot, and slowly getting used to some Solo Top Bruiser. I will probably run a few games every weekend. Add me up in LoL PH (axellion_sordaz)
3. Warmachine/Hordes – activity was low, mainly because I have other trips prior to the regular saturday gaming nights at Schizo, so I don’t want to lug around my army during those times. I did get to play against SJ last saturday. And the tagaytay invitationals the day after. Writeups and Battreps on a separate post.
4. Droid app development – this is a side project I’m doing while I still have some spare time in the office. Also part of my long term project. (somewhat related to number1)

I have a strange habit of checking up yearly horoscope predictions at the end of the year, only that I read up on the predictions for the current year, just to see if the predictions were correct or something. So far they’ve been sporadic. I guess the vagueness of these readings made it open to so many interpretations.

Looking back~ I only have a few highlights for 2012

• Warmahordes – I actually ‘semi’ started in 2011, starting with only Ret and escalated dramatically in 2012 until I get to play Circle. Practically a big chunk of my gaemz/hobbies expenses/time went here. 
• Started investing in real estate =))
• Moving into a pseudo start-up company. Work from home fridays is ozm
• Start learning droid app dev

I don’t have much resolutions, but I guess just do what I do best and go further. 😛

[WMH] Battrep – … as I was saying.

My previous post was about me wrapping up my experience on the Masters event, having not qualified and all. But the next morning I got a msg noting that one of the participants backed out and I was bumped up, getting me into the Masters event.

I ran with Kromac and Mohsar for that day. Mohsar for my anti-arm, attrition caster. And Kromac to take on hard matchups for Mohsar, and those who can’t take on a typical smash face play style.

The Kromac list plays a lot to my aggressive play style, utilizing warpath and the Shifting stones to cover the most ground for heavy hitting

• Kromac
  • Druid Wilder
  • Warpwolf Stalker
  • Warpwolf Stalker
  • Gorax
• Gatorman Witch Doctor
• Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers
• Shifting Stones
  • Stone Keeper
• Tharn Bloodtrackers (min)
• Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
• Gatorman Posse
• Reinfocements: Blackclad Wayfarer, Lanyssa Ryssyl, Tharn Wolf Riders (min)

Mohsar’s list was a variation of my Day2 qualifiers list, that it maximizes the points into damage output beasts while still having models to efficiently run attrition with.

• Mohsar
  • Druid Wilder
  • Woldwarden
  • Warpwolf Stalker
  • Warpwolf Stalker
• Blackclad Wayfarer
• Gallows Grove x2
• Gatorman Witch Doctor
• Shifting Stones
  • Stone Keeper
• Shifting Stones
• Tharn Bloodtrackers
  • Nuala
• Tharn Bloodweavers
• Reinforcements – Gorax, Tharn Wolf Riders (min)

Game one (Outflank, Outfight, Outlast) vs Terminus

DocLance was my first match up, his Terminus list had so much infantry that I have to bow out Mohsar in this match up. So I gambled with Kromac. The main feature of the table is this huge forest in the middle of the board, its about 12×8 inches, making it ideal for my pathfinder models. I started as the first player and ran everyone up behind the forest, while having the Bloodtrackers take the vanguard. DocLance responded by splitting his forces and ran Terminus to the right side of the forest, he has his screen of Bane Thralls protecting him with his jacks following behind. His MechThralls on the left side and a few more infantry units. Turn 2 I deployed my reinforcements and allowed me to clear a bit of the infantry screening Terminus using charges and assaults. Played a bit more attrition to trigger Warpath for my beasts. And after getting my core pieces in line, I activated Kromac and gave Wild Aggression to the closest Warpwolf Stalker, and have him Primal’ed by the Druid Wilder. Shifting Stones shoved the Stalker in front of Terminus, and it proceeded to take him down. With MAT8 with Wild Aggression, hitting DEF14 needs only 6s on 3D6. But despite all of the augments on the Stalker, Terminus still sits on ARM22, that’s -2 to my POW20 swing. A couple of poor rolls later and I finally had him roll for Tough, which he failed and won me the game

Afterthoughts: Caught DocLance off-guard when I pulled it off. I had all of my options there but I still got too much excited that I actually messed up a few of my initial activations (good thing I got it right on the activations that really counts). I could’ve made it better if I had activated a few other units/models first. But overall, its one of the few games I didn’t expect to win myself.

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Game two (Incursion) vs eLylyth

I was up against Dan this time. With the table having a river that stretches across the board. A few obstructions that can help me block line of sight from the eyeless sight Legion, I opted to use Mohsar. Won the roll and opted to go 2nd. Dan ran everything forward, he had the Striders up front with the beasts following behind. They are positioned to shoot through a lot if they had the chance. I then spammed Pillars of Salt to block LOS from the shooty beasts. Or at least he needs to exhaust the Typhon to spray a lot. This gave me an opportunity to run my Bloodweavers forward while the Bloodtrackers stayed on my left flank, waiting for the Raptors to deploy as Reinforcements. I kinda got too cautious and moved a few of my beasts away from Mohsar’s control as one of my shifting stones unit teleported him behind an obstruction on my right flank. I am just glad that the Druid Wilder is there to give me a long leash over them.

Round 2 starts and the flag on my left disappeared. His Raptors now not having much immediate use other than trying to take on the Bloodtrackers. But much to my dismay, a few got taken out. His focus that turn was largely aimed at removing the Pillars, while trying to get his infantry to contest the flags. The middle flag had the blood weavers jamming the area and scattered. And had his Striders spread to contest the right flag. My turn mainly comprises of my Wolf Riders trying to take out as much Striders as they can, while trying to control the zone. I had Mohsar pop more Pillars to screen my tarpits from getting shot at. The Bloodweavers dived in and tried to engage one of the Ravagores, while the Blood Trackers struggled with the Raptors. My beasts did nothing much and was way too far away from the action. The only beast that got anything to do was my Stalker that took out some of the Striders, allowing me to control the right flag, giving me a control point.

Round 3 continues the grind having Dan clearing out the Bloodtrackers using the Raptors, while trying to take out as much Pillars. He was winning the attrition game, after he cleared the middle of the board giving him one point, while he slipped in one of his striders to contest my zone after the Pillars have been taken out. The struggle continues like this as I sent in stuff to contest the middle while trying to control the right flag. But then he finally used eLylyth’s feat to clear most of the Pillars and contesting models, netting him with 2 points. Finally ending the game with him having 3 CPs and me having only 2.

Afterthoughts: I had almost 20 pts worth of smash face beasts in this list and it didn’t do anything this game. I had this strange phobia of getting them shot down (vs Cygnar, a lot). What I should’ve prioritized was to have that 20pts pour into the center while having Pillars to waste his shots on. I only had the Bloodweavers holding the middle with a Gatorman Witchdoctor supporting them. But after they all died I don’t have anything much to contest that area. The Pillars really shined in this game, as it forced Dan to use eLylyth’s feat to just to clear them. I know that I could’ve done better. I guess I need to play more against Legion to get around that shooty phobia.

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Game three (Restoration) vs pStryker

This is up against Louie’s Storm Surge list (pStryker with a lot of defensive attrition). The table was the same in game one (the forest terrain in the middle almost spanned the entire contesting zone for the scenario). I know that I can run this terrain against him and his feat. And seeing that there are a lot of things that can block LOS of his shooting models, I choose to use Mohsar in this game. Winning the roll, I choose to go first and ran my Tharn units into the forests while the beasts and Groves followed behind. I placed some pillars on the sides of the forests so that they can’t snipe any of my models outside the forest. My army is literally in the center of the table, with a lot of stuff blocking his LOS. Louie responded by running the StormGuards up front with Carvolo’s Tough+Fearless+Arcane Shield and used pStryker’s feat. His Stormwall moved to the left flank along with his ATGMs and their JM’ed Defender

I responded by flanking my army to the right, rotating the flank while spamming Pillars to block LOS from Louie’s gunners. Reforming back, I had my infantry fall back denying Louie’s a chance for a counter strike using his StormGuards. I had Mohsar and his battlegroup regroup to his right, trying to keep close at the Restoration Cache. This allowed me also inch my army closer to his Restoration Cache. And ironically, his Stormwall nearing mine. Louie then advances his Infantry to engage the Tharn infantry, his Lancer ran into the forest, allowing him to knock down some of my infantry by channeling Earthquake to the Shifting Stones. Stormwall and the the other shooty models closed in on the left flank, his counter-attack turn ended with only taking out a few of my models.

After weathering through pStryker’s feat and the Counter-Attack turn, I finally started doing some attrition. I have my Warpwolf Stalker and WoldWarden almost within charge range of Stormwall (it only needs Hunter’s Mark to get in the distance). But first I maneuvered my Bloodweavers to dispel Arcane Shield and had the Barknode teleport in and clips as many Stormguards as it can in its anti-tough bubble. This allowed the Bloodtrackers to take them out with only POW11s against their ARM15. Cleared a lot of them occupying the right side of the forest. And having them reform away (had one reformed towards a Shifting Stone unit’s Triangulation). Made an error in the movement of the Bloodweavers, in that they blocked the charge lane for one of my Stalkers. So I scratched that idea and just went with more attrition. I had the Blackclad engage the Lancer and casts Stone Spray on it, clipping the other StormGuards. Since I didn’t went through with breaking Stormwall. I just spammed Pillars of Salt and Sands of Fate to the Bloodtracker that’s within the triangulation mentioned earlier, popped his feat to stop the Lancer from channeling (though it doesn’t matter since its now engaged). And had the beasts run around, staying out of the gun line’s threat range.

Louie saw a vector where he can take out Mohsar. He had his Stormlances deployed behind as reinforcements. Positioned for an Assault vector. pStryker advances, attempting to cast Earthquake on the Shifting Stones near Mohsar and a Stalker, but the range fell short and it deviated safely away from Mohsar. He then had his Stormwall move back and try to take pot shots at my Wolf Riders, but it standing on a hill bumping its DEF to 17 so thats pretty much it for SW, he then allocated the remainder of his shots to the Pillars of Salt screening the ATGMs. Lancer activates and tries to took out the Blackclad. And the ATGMs with its Defender took out the Bloodweavers, dealing damage on one of the Stalkers. Trying to recover, he had the Storm Lances ran in and screened pStryker. Ending his turn.

On my final turn, I had the Gorax ran, allowing the Druid Wilder to cast Primal on a Stalker. Double Shifting Stones teleport and I had the Stalker land behind pStryker. Stalker activates and killed pStryker. Getting me a win.

Afterthoughts: If there’s anything I learned from the awesome Storm Surge list, is that fighting/engaging them just because you can doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. As much as I want to fight the StormGuards with ARM23. I can only prey on them using POW11 weapon master Javelins, accompany that with Curse of Shadows and I am looking at 11s to kill on 3D6. And if I ever plink it further with a Bloodweaver’s dispel against their Arcane Shield, that’ll reduce it to 8s to kill on 3D6s, all under pStryker’s feat turn. But then I will have to worry about the Tough rolls, which can be addressed by the Barknode. I can actually go all out with that option, but I want to lure the Gun Line closer to Mohsar or the Objective. By doing so, I was able to have the ATGMs and its Defender waste 2 turns on almost shooting at either Pillars of Salt, non-critical models, or models that have already done their role (though yeah I have to admit that the Bloodweaver positioning in that turn was a bit off, sacrificing them needlessly to the ATGMs), or no shooting at all.

In my ideal plan, if I didn’t have the weavers blocking the charge lane. I would’ve casted Hunter’s Mark on the Stormwall. Primaled the Stalker using Gorax, charged Stormwall using the Woldwarden, geomancy Curse of Shadows to drop its armor down to 19, sissy-whack it until its maxed out and let the Stalker take it out. And then Mohsar Sands of Fate his way out. and pile up the Pilars to block the LOS.

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So yeah~ yey for getting 3rd in the Masters tournament. And again, reinforcing my confidence in running Mohsar. I still have a few more tricks I want to try out but didn’t have the opportunity to do it during the entire ordeal. I am still contemplating on choosing between the Woldwarden or the Woldguardian. Since most (if not all) POW10 infantry shots have some degree of ignoring circle’s protection/shenanigans (ATGMs, MHSF, Nyss Hunters, Striders, etc). And there are a few more tricks that I can use with Sunhammer and Curse of Shadows. I just need to figure out how to maximize them.

I guess I’ll have to wait until the next games so that I can test them out.

PS. Need to build a list with Woldwrath in it =))

[WMH] Masters Blues, Gusts of Sands

Been too pre occupied with a lot of stuff lately and I wasn’t able to post. Got a grinding course for some crafting stuff for the hobby like Free-handing and Magnetizing. I’ll have to work on those posts later on.

But for this post, I want to focus on a few things, and that is the recent Masters Qualifiers. Its the main reason that got me so psyched about, and at the same time nervous. Yep, I don’t show it but I’m that comfy yet in a very competitive setting. I like playing WarmaHordes for fun and when I focus I can be really get around it. These passed few Saturdays hosts the Qualifiers for a local Masters tournament. Something I’d like to run for it, but not pretty sure I’d commit to later on.

Moving on, I had a blast taking on great players, I get to see their perspectives when playing against them. Some insights that only I’d realize when I’m on the receiving end of my shenanigans, at the same time finding countermeasures to it and expecting them from the players.

Day 1 was all about Kromac and his beast assassination tricks. He’s pretty capable in delivering beasts for it, and with Wild Aggression, its all rides on how much damage can you dish out per beast. With Bestial, he can protect his army from spell-slingers. Pretty awesome if you ask me. That kind of denial while having movement shenanigans just syncs well with my playstyle. I lost the match that could’ve qualify me when I slipped and made more mistakes as I get more exhausted. I was really frustrated at the end, but I accepted that those mistakes are really my own.

Day 2 got me pitted against a more varied list of players, we actually had every faction represented except for Minions and Khador. Which brings me to my new-found favorite caster: Mohsar

Truth is, I was eyeing Mohsar as one of my casters when I started circle. But he wasn’t available at the local shop so I just opted to work with other options (competitive options, actually). Experiences with playing the tree hugger faction got me into the sense of building options and fall-backs. Which I think, helped me got a grasp of the caster that quickly.

Yeah, I actually first fielded Mohsar in the Qualifiers (Day2). And I was enjoying fielding him that I ran him on all 3 games. Too bad the lack of experience with him finally caught up, getting him killed. But still~ I am really liking his play style. It was kinda ironic because I only got him a few days back along with WoldWrath. And opted to not field the Gargantuan because I don’t want to run something like that in a tournament setting without much experience. But then, lo and behold: I fielded something that changes the very list you build, entirely. It was pretty ironic, and awesome at the same time.

Mohsar hosts a lot of utility while giving him enough Fury to utilize them on one turn. Though to balance him out, he only rides with pretty low DEF and ARM. But then, he has his army to cover him for it. With Mirage offering him a unit/model in his army out of activation movement, and Curse of Shadows bumping the damage output of your army against its target. These utility spells work with only purely offensive spell: Crevasse. This is pretty solid for him as he sits with 8Fury, he can hit reliable even against ARM15s. This gives him the advantage against eBaldur with his Fury6, pretty easier to hit. These spells are pretty straightforward but offers a lot in giving the army some attrition play.

What sets him apart from the other casters are his two infamous spells: Sands of Fate and Pillars of Salt. These two spells are pretty straight forward, but they can be applied in so many ways. Offense, defense, denial. With Fury 8, his Control Range is pretty huge. These spells needs a bit of fore-planning with a few shenanigans similar to using the Shifting Stones, but if used properly, it can do a lot for your army. I am really liking how  his spells shape the kind of playstyle that I really liked.

I’ll probably field him more and probably with a Woldwrath (if not, I will probably surge use him with eKreuger or pBaldur). There is just so much that I want to try out with this caster. These spells, though not straightforward, got me really thinking into maximizing them. i guess I just need to run him more to test out all of these ideas running in my mind.

Well, that’s it for my stint at the Masters event. I’ll catch up with my long pending posts (army escalations, Woldwrath, Magnetizing the Warpwolf, and battreps) in a few days or so.

 

[WMH] Battrep – Of Rivers, and Lightning Rods

So I got to finally have that match against Mang’s Circle. It was crazy, as expected, but the outcome didn’t turned out as what I’ve hoped for. I guess all that grinding with Kromac finally paid off.

So here is my list:

• Kromac
  • Druid Wilder
  • Warpwolf Stalker
  • Feral Warpwolf
  • Gorax
• Tharn Bloodtrackers (min)
  • Nualla
• Shifting Stones
• Shifting Stones
  • Stone Keeper
• Gatorman Posse
• Blackclad Wayfarer
• Druid Stoneward and the Woldstalkers
• Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
• Reinforcements: Tharn Wolf Riders (min)
• Reinforcements: Lord of the Feast

For Mang’s Circle: (eKaya’s Tier List)

• eKaya
  • Laris
  • Druid Wilder
  • Warpwolf Stalker x2
  • Feral Warpwolf
  • Gnarlhorn Satyr
• Shifting Stones x2
• Druids of Orboros
  • Overseer
• Warpborn Skinwalkers (min)
• Reinforcements: Gnarlhorn Satyr
• Reinforcements: Gorax

His list is pretty crazy, it has a lot of punching power and can really overpower my list if he gets the chance x_x

The scenario was Bunkers, 50pts w/ 10pts for reinforcements. The board is split in between by a river (shallow water), roughly 5″ worth of rough terrain, and another 4-5″ forest after it, while having a wall on one of its edges. Really crazy terrain.

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I went first and deployed from the edge of the flank deployment zone: Gatormen Posse; Stalker, Gorax, Wilder, Swamp Gobbers, Kromac, Feral, and the Woldshrimps, in that order. Mang countered by deploying his Skinwalkers on my right and eKaya in the center. My AD followed up with my lolz formation of the Shifting Stones units while the Bloodtrackers deployed on the edge of the flank deployment’s AD line. Mang then deploys his beasts in front of eKaya, with the shifting stones behind them. His Druids deployed to my right as well, trying to support the Skinwalkers in a form of a screen.

Turn 1: Jacky Circle

• I’ve set one of Mang’s Stalkers as prey for my Bloodtrackers, and the upcoming Wolf Riders set their eyes on the druids as their prey.
• Bloodtrackers ran up to the right flank, taking cover on the wall terrain just before the river. The Gatormen followed suit to give me a counter charge vector if ever something mad happens. Woldstalkers ran to the left flank, just outside the forest.
• Feral warped for ARM, and riled for one fury, running forward reaching the forest terrain. Stalker mimicked the Feral but instead warped for STR. Gorax riled for two fury and ran forward as well but a bit behind the Stalker. Druid Wilder ran, following the Stalker behind. Shifting Stones (w/ UA) activates and teleported themselves forward into the forest.
• Kromac advances and casts Warpath on himself, Inviolable Resolve on the Feral Warpwolf, and Wild Aggression on the Stalker. Shifting Stones (no UA) teleports and kept Kromac in its triangulation. Blackclad Wayfarer and the Swamp Gobbers ran up behind the forest.

Turn 1: Mang Circle

• His heavy beasts ran up, lining up just behind the river, with the Gnarlhorn Satyr right beside the wall terrain. The Shifting Stones teleported behind to allow triangulations and serenity triggers. eKaya casts Occultation on herself, and Forced Evolution on the Feral Warpwolf, charging forward and landing right behind the wall, and camping with one Fury. Laris followed eKaya and clipped her B2B.
• Druids advanced and went through the forest, the Overseer attempted to cast the Devouring on one of the Bloodtrackers but it deviated back, hurting no one. Druids’ Unit Leader casts anti-magic while the rest casted Vortex to protect them from getting hit. Skinwalkers ran up behind the forest for counter charge just in case the Druids got engaged.
• 2nd Shifting Stones Unit teleported behind eKaya to keep her in its triangulation.

Turn 2: Jacky Circle

• I deployed my Reinforcements on the 20″ line on my right. Having a clear view of their Prey Targets. Kromac maintained all of his upkeeps, leaving him with 4 Fury.
• Woldstalkers activates, advances forward and took shots on the Shifting Stones behind the heavy beasts (since Shadowpack grants them stealth, they were able to draw LOS passed the beasts). Warpath triggers, moving the Feral Warpwolf deeper into the forest. The Druid Stoneward then casts Zephyr to advance the WoldStalkers 3″ back into the forest, while one moved closer to the Gnarlhorn Satyr. (I was trying to provoke its counter-slam to go off).
• The Tharn Bloodtrackers advanced into the river and took some shots at the Gnarlhorn Satyr and some of the Druids. The Gnarlhorn took some damage and I reformed them to move closer to the Gnarlhorn. The Blackclad follows, attempting to spray a Bloodtracker and the Gnarlhorn altogether. Was gunning for a Critical Knockdown but it instead went off on the Bloodtracker and not on the Gnarlhorn Satyr.
• Gatorman Posse used Dirge of Mists Prayer and charged at his Druids (the others ran to clear the path of the Stalker). Took out one of the Druids in its attack roll. The Druids passed their Command Check when the Posse engaged them.
• Kromac activates and casts Bestial on himself. Advancing to the edge of the triangulation. The Shifting Stones (w/o UA) then activates and teleports Kromac to the right flank, towards the wall terrain. This allowed Kromac to reach the right side of the battlefield for Bestial and Warpath.
• The Wolfriders activate and assaulted the Druids, taking down two of them. Thus, allowing Warpath to trigger, moving the Stalker into the forest. Gorax Warpath-moved close behind the Stalker.
• Druid Wilder activates and casts Gorax’ Primal on the Stalker. Gorax then activates and pushed the Stalker forward for another 1″ after passing the STR check (I should’ve activated Gorax first before the Wilder so that the STR checks would be easier to take on).
• Shifting Stones (w/ UA) activates and teleports the Warpwolf Stalker within 8″ and right before eKaya and Laris.
• Warpwolf Stalker activates, sitting with MAT8 while warping for STR to give a net of POW20 on his sword. eKaya is sitting with DEF20 (16 + 2 from Laris B2B + Cover by the wall terrain) and one Fury for transfers. Needing 12s to hit eKaya, the Stalker missed on the initial attack. 2nd swing connects and she transferred the damage, 3rd hit and I boosted the damage leaving her with 2 wounds left. Last Fury point and the attack roll connects, taking out eKaya. Jacky Circle wins by assassination.

Afterthoughts:

My main concern in that round was the Gnarlhorn Satyr doing a counter-slam if I advanced my Stalker forward. That’s my main reason for throwing some infantry towards him. Only to realize that the Gnarlhorn doesn’t have Pathfinder, reducing the threat range of the counter-slam. This is sort of an accidental genius since the distance between the Gnarlhorn and the Bloodtracker was less than 3″, netting that the Slam attack fails and it will only do a regular attack instead of a successful slam attack.

I really got the hang of the Warpath shenanigans, that allowed my Stalker to reach out to Mang’s eKaya. And I also used Kromac’s control bubble just to make that plan work. WoldStalkers triggering warpath then placing Kromac where his control would cover the next set of activations really worked for me. The Gatormen helped in the follow up attacks to some extent, and I also remembered to use Reform on the Bloodtrackers. What I didn’t account for was eKaya’s DEF hitting 20. Even on 3D6s, that would need 12s to hit on MAT8. If it connects, she’ll get hit with Dice + 4 Damage. If she survives, I’d be dead, pretty sure about it.

Mang was also kind enough to point out on declaring the warps for the Warpwolf. And of course, declare the upkeeps I want to maintain. I was really out of it since I was so used to playing eKreuger having no upkeeps at all.

So yey~ for a win to get a faction coin 😛 and with that, I’m set on using Circle for the Masters.

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Fast forward a few hours to schizo’s geeky games night. I took on Mike’s Menoth list at 35pts.

It was challenging (since I’m not used to running Circle at 35pts) as I used eKreuger with Druids against pSevvy with his Errants. I can’t target anything w/ my spells, especially my infantry clearing ones. Errants having Sacred Ward and the Choir casting Shielding on his Jacks. It was also rough from his end as well as eKreuger’s Stormwall neutered their ranged threat, while the Druids defensively protected eKreuger’s battlegroup and his Shifting Stones.

• eKreuger
  • Woldwarden
  • Gorax
  • Warpwolf Stalker
• Gallows Grove (Barknode)
• Blackclad Wayfarer
• Shifting Stones
• Shifting Stones
  • Stone Keeper
• Druids of Orboros
  • Overseer

The most notable part of the board was the 2″ hill smacked at the center. The hill was large enough that the edges already covers the zones for the Close Quarters Scenario. I didn’t take any pics from this battle because my brain is still fried from the match against Mang earlier. Though I had a few highlights in this match.

• Shifting Stones (w/o UA) were used as ‘lightning rods’, meaning they were the main target for eKreuger’s Lightning Storm, while clipping the Errants in the AOE, getting around that Sacred Ward rule. I also used it as a main target for the Blackclad’s Stone Spray.
• eKreuger’s Stormwall neutered some jack shooting from his end, while the Druids’ Anti-Magic bubble prevented pSevvy from casting Ashes to Ashes on the Barknode. eKreuger’s Feat pushed some of the Errants off that 2″ hill, knocking them down (not enough to take down ARM18). And it prevented them from charging the Shifting Stones.
• The lightning rod trick became a turning point when I was able to place one near a couple of Choir models, taking them out with Lightning Storm. This allowed me to fish the jack screening pSevvy next turn so that I can Geomancy another Lightning Storm and zap pSevvy (by targetting the Shifting Stones).
• eKreuger failed on his 3 shots not connecting until the Shifting Stones (w/ UA) delivered the Stalker in for another melee kill.

This match up is pretty hard for me as Menoth’s denial play really goes against my shenanigans. I have to be creative on this one (by using the stones), as I inched my hitters closer for the caster kill.

A few notes from the games:

• Need to rely less on the Warpwolf Stalker. He is awesome, but the delivery system can be neutered if played recklessly.
• Or I could field 2 Warpwolf Stalkers 😀 This is due to me finally magnetizing my Warpwolf Kit (finally) will post some pics of it in my next post.
• The Feral Warpwolf does have its moments, my problem here is that it lacks pathfinder. And I kinda need to trim 1pt from the list if I want to upgrade it to a Stalker.
• Immobile objects (like the Shifting Stones and the Barknode) are pretty useful for spells like eKreuger’s Lightning Storm where the damage isn’t reduced on its ‘incidental’ damages.
• The Gatorman Posse is a solid unit, but I need to learn how to run them decently as a 1st wave unit. Enough resilience to last until a 2nd unit to counter-charge those who engaged them. But then, if I don’t have a 2nd melee unit, Trackers with Reform or WoldStalkers using Zephyr should be able to make it work.

Well that’s it for now, I’ll post some pics of the magnetized warpwolf kit tomorrow. I need to do some repairs as well as base painting to get me ready for the Masters Qualifiers.

[WMH] Prowling Blades

So first off, I finally got the missing parts for my Ret’s Gorgon from Louie’s latest shipment. And 2 blisters of Nyss Hunters, now I can finally run them with a full unit, replacing the Dawnguard Invictors under Ossyan.

My time is been split between GW2, Dishonored, and my Circle lists building. And while I have finally started experimenting on the colors, to give the nyss/drow skin color I want for my elves. I started out with Frostbite + Beaten Purple, and worked my way to the right tone by adding Exile Blue into the mixture.

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Well~ that’s out of the way. My biggest concern is my upcoming match against Mang’s Circle in the Unholy Alliance bonus round (thus the crazy thought process in my list building). As much as I don’t want to be overwhelmed by his ozm Circle play, I can’t help but feel frustrated. I know that I can run the faction well, but I don’t think I can still match him using his prime faction. And I just don’t want to loose miserably. So I got a few games in to learn more about a list I want to focus on when I’m up against Circle, enter Kromac and the Warpwolves.

Kromac plays a lot to the strengths of the warpwolves, especially the Warpwolf Stalker. Warpath and Wild Aggression can help his beasts position with lots of crazy shenanigans. Top it off with the movement madness of the Shifting Stones and you can get a Stalker to teleport within 8″ (not completely within) warpath for 3″, a 2″ reach does a lot as well.

Remember that this is further extended innately by Kromac through Warpath, the issue here is that it needs models to feed the Warpath triggers. Jack/Beast heavy lists will find it hard to do shenanigans if the damage output plays against our

I do need to remember that large bases are less than 2″ in diameter, this means that the Teleportation shenanigans can go as far as 1.5″ (safe measurement) on top of the first 8″. I was able to pull a double Teleportation, and further it with Warpath to allow my Stalker to cross more than 19″ in the field, right into the opposing caster’s face. The hat trick needs 2 units of Shifting Stones, which brings me to one of the weaknesses that I have to work on: reliance on the stones.

Though without the stones, a Warpwolf can reach at least 12″ with Warpath positioning prior to the charge. This is regardless whether which Warpwolf is used. This means that a Stalker can threat from 14″ with its reach, and the Feral can do the same if it Warps for SPD (though highly situational, its pretty nifty to pull it off).

Now for augments, we have Hunter’s Mark from Lanyssa or the Blackclad Wayfarer. This is a bit risky to bet on since you need to roll with Magic Ability 7. For 2pt solos, I don’t mind going with it, additional 2″ of movement on charge/slams, without forcing, is Godsend if it connects. This also gives the flexibility of having Wild Aggression on a different beast while another model/beast goes with the one hit by the spell.

Next in line is the Gnarlhorn Satyr, whose Animus extends the movement of charge/slam/trample by 2″, this also gives an additional +2 to the attack roll in those actions. Making it viable for a  Warpwolf to do those movements reaching 11″ at least. Again, this can be further augmented by Hunter’s Mark. This makes for some interesting threat range boosts.

Lastly, animi/buffs that could help the beasts without pathfinder go through rough terrain. Animus like the Argus’ Tracker and Pureblood’s Warp for Ghostly rule (only applicable to warpwolves).

Those points were highlighted because Warpath needs bodies to kill for it to work. This means that if the opposing army have hard to kill models, Warpath wont trigger that much. You can devote your army to destroy N models where N is the number of beasts in Kromac’s battlegroup.

Finally, the Feat is kinda bland on the surface but can do lots if pulled off right. I still feel that it can be maximized outside assassination purposes. I keep on forgetting that there are stuff that I can still do in prep for using the Feat. Things like using animus on himself so that he can run around after its activation.

Those are the things that I need to capitalize on, all and more productive Kromac activations. I still need to play with him after a few more times.

Hopefully I can get a few more games in before I fight against Mang-Circle this coming saturday. Wish me luck

_backLogs()

I was rummaging through my old files in my GDocs and found this small file entitled “Life Back Log”. Opening it leads to a list of the stuff I want to do and accomplish in my life. You know, stuff that I want to try out or at least finish.

Skydiving, 21km Marathons, Guitar covers (specific to songs), even my old game idea development progress (itemized into high level components). It was a large list that I remember sitting down and giving them much thought. It kinda gave me some vague direction on the stuff I want to happen in my life.

As much as I feel nostalgic about it, I also feel depressed and rueful. The spreadsheet was last updated at 2011, March. Really old and now I look at it with the intent of adding more items to the list. What’s even more frustrating that back then when I built this list, I was filled with hopes and ambitions. I even motivated myself by offering myself incentives/gifts/favors if I get to finish even just one item on that list.

Now, I look at the list overwhelmed with frustration. At the back of my head, I hear myself complaining that the list is too long or some of the items there take too much effort.

WTF

I just don’t know when and where this happened, nor how this side of me was even created. This side of me that is easily content with whatever I have. Not even trying to go for my ambitions, and just settled with what mediocrity I have available.

That is not imba.

I define imba as a state where progression is its main goal. To set a standard above what you can, and raise it further as you reach it. My WoW Rogue and Armsman in RF are testaments to that. It is also my mantra back when I was working at Lakeside Tech. The persuit to further what I can do and reach.

My craft.

My passions.

More than a year has passed, and now I only update the list with little progress. That 1 year of being aimless. 2011 was such an unproductive year.

I just wish I can find some inspiration to pull me out of this slump again.

———————-

My apologies for the musings, I just feel really mortified right now.

[WMH] Random jolts of insanity

Brain Fart: I can run a 100pt list against myself. Ret vs Circle. And suddenly I’m swamped with scenario ideas and is counter-building lists for some scenarios.

The lists aren’t final, but I want to run Guidons as a scenario. As for the casters/locks, I’m gunning to field Rahn and Ossyan against Kromac + eKreuger.

As for the board and terrain, I’ll figure something out. This could be an opportunity for me to get some stuff here at home (or to an apt if I get to move out this Nov).

But rest assured, insanity follows

_handmadeMoments()

You smiled as you let go of your creations.

Parting with a fleeting moment of your life.

A moment of your thoughts, a moment of your feelings.

A moment of your life shared, but not at the same scene.

Not the same time, nor the same place.

A moment of your life, on the palm of my hand.

And my life strikes anew, with a part of yours with me.

Ephemeral, and immortal.

[WMH] Battrep – Warpwolf SMASH!!

… well at least half of Stormwall. Had a quick game with Louie running his Siege list (he wants to practice some more for his game against Kensei the next day). We were running Incursion scenario, with the most notable terrain feature being large forest terrain in the middle of the map. Here are the lists (50pts):

Jacky (Circle of Orboros)

• eKreuger
  • Druid Wilder
  • Warpwolf Stalker
  • Woldwarden
  • Megalith
• Druids + UA
• Shifting Stones + UA
• Blackclad Wayfarer
• Tharn Bloodtrackers (min)
• Gatorman Witchdoctor
• Gallows Grove (aka the Barknode)

Louie (Cygnar)

• Siege
  • Stormwall
  • Squire
• Reinholdt
• Junior
  • Defender
• ATGMs + UA
• Stormguards
• Stormcaller
• Rangers

I won the roll and got to deploy first. I deployed non-AD models right in the center, seeing that Stormwall is the only one at that area across the board (and before a forest), I figured I could play with a bit more aggression this time. Louie’s SIege and his assistants were deployed near the colossal, and the rest of his army are deployed on my right flank. I did a triangular deployment on the stones to the center, while the druids tarpit in the middle. Bloodtrackers and the Gallows Grove deployed on the right flank, facing the Cygnar infantry head on (it was a death wish lolz) Louie countered with the Rangers AD on the center as well, just right before the forest terrain.

Turn 1: Circle of Orboros

• Geomancers TK and trampled forward, shifting stones relocates to base with the beasts. Bloodtrackers (sets the ATGMs as Prey targets) ran up.
• Witchdoctor gave Tough+Undead on the Druids, Druids advanced to cast vortex before the forest terrain.
• eKreuger TKs himself and Warpwolf Stalker forward and casts stormwall.

Turn 1: Cygnar

• Rangers ran to the flag on the left, leaving one Ranger running towards the Bloodtrackers to mark them.
• Junior casts Arcane Shield on the Stormguards, his Defender ran forward.
• Stormwall runs forward right before the forest terrain. Stormguard marches forward towards the Bloodtrackers
• ATGMs and Stormcaller took down 3/6 Bloodtrackers, (CMD check passed).
• Siege moves up, casts Foxhole on the ATGMs

End of 2nd player’s 1st turn: flag in the center vanishes

Turn 2: Circle of Orboros

• Shifting Stones teleported the Woldwarden to the Rangers flank (left flag), Woldwarden Geomancy’s eKreuger’s Lightning Storm, taking out 3/6 of the Rangers, Rangers failed their CMD check.
• Megalith tramples into the forest and Geomancy eKreuger’s Lightning Storm towards the ATGM’s, missed and deviated away. Druid Wilder follows suit to cast Condition on Megalith but was out of range.
• Druids moves forward, took out the Ranger on the right flank (the one marking the Bloodtrackers). Pops vortex and the defensive spells. Bloodtrackers advances and attempts to take out the Stormcaller on the hill (literally feeding them to the Cygnarian melee screen).
• Witchdoctor granted Tough+Undead on the Druids. eKreuger recasts Stormwall and moves forward to clip the Colossal, he then TK’s the Warpwolf stalker and himself forward and accidentally outside the Shifting Stone’s Triangulation (slight error on positioning, more to expound on the next Circle turn)
• Blackclad Wayfarer casts Hunter’s Mark, Warpwolf Stalker charges for 11″ (+2 more from the eKreuger’s TK). Wrecks one half of Stormwall (right side) while warping for Strength. And forcing the Stormwall to engage him instead of shooting.

Turn 2: Cygnar

• Reinholdt gives Siege a reload shot. Siege then pops his feat and casts Mage Sight on the exposed Woldwarden, 2 shots and it brought is life down to below half.
• ATGMs activates and takes out 2/3 of the Bloodtrackers (CMD Passed), took out 2 Druids as well (forgot to roll for Tough here). Failed to kill the last Bloodtracker and the Junior had to commit to take her out, failed as well.
• Stormguards activated and commited to take down the last contesting Bloodtracker. Junior’s Defender took a shot (under Siege’s feat) at Megalith, took 19pts of damage.
• Stormwall took down the Warpwolf Stalker (eKreuger reaved the fury, giving him 4) on melee using the left system. Drops s Stormpod to the left flag to contest the objective.
• Cygnar gains 1pt in the scenario for the right flag (having eliminated the last Bloodtracker)

Turn 3: Circle of Orboros

• eKreuger didn’t leached all of the fury in Megalith. So the Druid Wilder have to remove it via Condition.
• Megalith tramples forward through the forest, Geomancy eKreuger’s Gallows and pulls Siege closer to the forest terrain (damaging him as well).
• Woldwarden falls back and TKs a shifting stone (via Geomancy) to place eKreuger in the Triangulation.
• Shifting Stones then Teleports eKreuger forward, closing him to Siege. eKreuger then shoots Siege 3x and took him down to 5wounds.
• Druids move up with the UA casting Devouring, killing off Siege
• Circle of Orboros wins the game by Assassination

A few notes:

• The Warpwolf Stalker really delivers in taking down one side of the Stormwall (despite having a few bad rolls). Leaving him there for the Stormwall to engage bought me one turn to get my vectors set up. And under eKreuger’s spell, his ranged attacks is reduced by RNG5. Accidental genius moment. But for all its worth, I think I can break it with two Ferals.
• TK really does a lot in those shenanigans. Though I always have to keep in mind to not use them to move out of some intended formations. I had to commit the Woldwarden to Geo-TK one of the Shifting Stones (turn3) to get eKreuger into the formation.
• If I played the Bloodtrackers more conservatively, the range of the ATGMs wouldn’t have reached (total threat of 20″ on snipe shot) on their first turn. Giving them tough would be a nice choice but I was prioritizing the Druids for the fear that Siege could have Ground Pounded them (but didn’t happened in the game).
• I could’ve went for a different Prey target for my Bloodtrackers. But targetting the ATGMs early on makes it easier to lure them away from my attack vectors.
• I have reduced the Woldwarden into a 9pt Geomancer. It kinda works, but I need it to do something more productive with that model. And don’t get me started with Megalith. Though his FURY4 helps a lot.
• Sticking back to 1 set of Shifting Stones does not feel as restrictive as they are. I think with more planning, I can operate them effectively without relying on a 2nd unit.
• Still intrigued by the Gatorman Witchdoctor’s Sacrificial Strike. There’s still more to that 3pt model than just being tough. I’l try to play around with it on the next few games.

Well that’s just it for now. I’ll try to take pictures next time to document the fun games.

[WMH] Okay~ so the stones are having a hard time

Just got back from my fun match up against Legion, its for the two matches this round of the Unholy Alliance Team League held here. Really lost hard against Legion, I had so much more to learn, not just from how synergies in my army, but by estimating range and probabilities. The games actually showed a lot of vulnerabilities in my play style.

First few criticisms on my plays:

• Exposing the Celestial Fulcrum is like asking everyone to focus fire on it – it IS a tough target, but it can be taken down (it only has ARM18 with 20 wounds), so yeah. Don’t try to maximize extending them, even though it means that it doesn’t get to shoot all of its guns.
• Using the Geomancers only as pseudo spellcasters – Geomancy is nice, but it’s just an icing on the cake. Sure you can get off by casting a spell and generate one fury, but these constructs can do more than just that (geez 8-11pts worth and they just fling spells on turns where they engage). Under the Baldurs’ these can trample for free for that extra range, cast one via Geomancy, and spending 2 Fury for their animus. I keep on forgetting that I should cast Megalith’s Undergrowth BEFORE have him Geomancy an offensive spell. Maximizing this helps in getting the most out of these Geomancers, especially under the Baldurs control.
• Traffic Traffic Traffic – I suffer the problem of formation clogging. I tend to throw a lot of stuff forward that blocks the path of my heavies. So what I actually need here is to either steer clear of my intended path for those heavies. Or have the heavies activate first .
• The Shifting Stones need A LOT of planning and foresight – I only have a few funky formations. And some of them are geared towards the first 2 turns. And even then I have a hard time positioning them to make the most out of their utility. Things like shifting them defensively in such a way that they are there when the key models land, ready for the next Teleportation/Healing/Serenity ability.
• Committing too much for a slim chance of a play/trick to succeed – this means a lot to me. I have made plays that are unorthodoxed and farfetched that some of those tricks rests on one sequence of activations that could fail at any point. I should at least figure out the probabilities of them succeeding first before committing to them.
• Don’t commit to impulsive activations – Circle is unforgiving as a faction as a lot of their models have an influence in the field. Unlike Warmachine infantry spam, which consists of move and attack activations, most of these models have a lot to offer as long as the player maximizes them.
• What doesn’t work right now means that I just don’t know how to use it – ’nuff said. So I’ll prepare lists for each of my casters and have them work first instead of swapping things out because it didn’t work for me in the previous matches.

If you see me do these errors again, feel free to smack me (okay, just point it out verbally). =))))))

Side note: just got GuildWars2, look for me in the Isle of Janthir server “Axelle.2736”