Garagehammer Campaign - Turn 4 Results

Here's the official update!

End of turn 4 building updates:
1) CDMB: 16 (13+3carried) City on H6 and Capital on I7
2) Grant: 22 (20+2carried) Take control of K5 and Capital on L6. Carry 2
3) Chris: 27 (20+7carried) City on E3 {via Building Boom chosen via Praise be to the Oracle}
then City on G3, Capital on E3 and purchase F4. Carry 3
4) John: 21 (18+3carried) Castles on C1 and B2 and a City on C1. Carry 5
5) Harrison: 19 (17+2 carried) Purchase C7 and Castle on C7. Carry 5
6) Luke: 7 (4+3carried) Castle on F6. Carry 3
7) Tom: 10 (7+3carried) Castle on B4 upgraded to City {via Building Boom}. Carry 6
8 ) Aaron: 4 Castle on L4
9) Ryan: 4 Castle on G1
10) Taz: 5 (4+1carried) Castle on D2. Carry 1


Strategic & Campaign Events!
1) Luke: War Tax & All is Well
2) Aaron: Scouts & All is Well
3) Tom: Building Boom {upgraded castle on B4 to city} & Fame/Infamy
4) Taz: Survey the Battlefield & Knowledge Boom
5) Harrison: Headhunter & Hidden Cache
6) John: Diplomacy (Grant) & All is Well
7) Ryan: All or Nothing & False Alarm! (That's Disaster! with no actual Disasters occurring!)
8 ) Grant: Praise Be to the Oracle! & All is Well
9) CDMB: Land Grab & Hidden Cache
10) Chris: Building Boom (via Praise Be to the Oracle) {upgraded Castle on E3 to city} & Knowledge Boom

Challenges!The order of challenges (smallest Empire to biggest) is the same as above.

Luke challenges Chris

Aaron challenges Taz

Tom challenges Harrison

John challenges CDMB

Ryan challenges Grant

Gold Collected this turn

Luke 100 Gold
Aaron 100 Gold
Tom 150 Gold
Taz 200 Gold
Harrison 305 Gold (175 + 130 for Mountain Mine)
John 200 Gold
Ryan 290 Gold (200 + 90 for Mountain Mine)
Grant 200 Gold
CDMB 250 Gold
Chris 250 Gold

Finally, the overall score update! (Ties listed alphabetically)

1) Chris - 9
2) CDMB - 8
3) Grant - 7
T4) Harrison, John, Ryan and Taz - 5
8 ) Tom - 4
9) Aaron - 3
10) Luke - 2

Strangely enough, the start of turn 5 shows our scores on a perfect bell curve! Odd.

Garagehammer Campaign - Dogs of War vs Orcs and Goblins

I am in a bit of a writing slump at the moment, so I am only going to provide a brief recap of the game I played this week. This week’s game was for the Garagehammer campaign. I had been challenged by Luke and his orc and goblin army.

I really liked the mix of units that Luke brought to the table. Of particular note was the arachnorak spider that he brought to the battle. This was my first time facing the unit, so I was interested to see what it could do on the battlefield. Other things of note included two bolt throwers, one orc shaman, one night goblin shaman, and a good size unit of boar boyz. Finally, credit to Luke for making his own magic cards. They were a very cool idea!

I pretty much brought the usual stuff for my Dogs of War. I had actually forgotten 4 ogres for the game, so I ended up playing short by about a 100 points from what I was originally planning. Not a huge deal and since this league is for fun, I wasn’t worried if I would be at a disadvantage.

When it came to my approach, I knew I had the advantage when it came to shooting, so I needed to maximize what I could accomplish during that part of my turn. I used Vespero as a speed bump unit to slow the approach of the boar boyz. I also backed them up with the ogres who could accept the overrun charge Vespero was defeated by the warboss.

As for the giant spider, I gambled and sent in my merchant prince and knights to tackle it. I honestly didn’t expect for them to defeat it, but I thought it would be enough to slow it down. The first couple rounds between the units resulted in me doing a few wounds and the spider killing everyone but my prince. The later rounds of combat saw my prince killing the spider by breaking it in combat and running it down.

Across the board, Ruglud’s orcs spent 5 turns exchanging fire with a unit of orcs with bows. Each turn we would dwindle down each side by a model or two. Finally on turn 5, Ruglud broke and ran off the board.

At the end of the game, I had won by a difference of ~860 points. Like my last campaign game, what won it for me was not having many units completely wiped out. I also think focusing on a unit until it has been wiped out has really helped me with my last few games.

The Wednesday Peek

This Week's Peek...


Last Week's Answer...

The Monday Mission

Today's mission is a rough draft of the WFB primer scenario that will be released this Thursday at the Invasion Kenosha Social being held at Outpost Gaming in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I am still working on this scenario, so the language may be a bit rough and the template could use a little more work. I have also not written a narrative for this scenario, so expect one to accompany the final primer mission when it is released next week on the Invasion website.

Click image to enlarge

If you are interested in learning more about Invasion Kenosha, or registering for one of the events being held at it, please check out the link at the top of my blog.

Waaagh Cast - WFB Tournament (June 25th)

The crew from the Waaagh Cast are planning another WFB tournament for Saturday, June 25th, 2011. The TO for this tournament is Paul Vinton, a really nice guy that I met last time I was down there to play. Currently, the Waaagh Cast crew is running a poll to determine the point size for the tournament. I voted for 1500, as they only have 7 hours to run the event and I am a firm believer that you can open the field to special characters at this level as none of the major troublemakers can be used.

If you would like details or to vote, follow the LINK.

Invasion Kenosha III Update

This week's theme on the Invasion website has been prizes for the charity raffle. As you can see from the announcements on the site, the charity raffle has a lot of support this year. The best part is that we have not even come close to announcing all of the prizes that have been donated. Without a doubt, this will be the biggest Daisy May Charity Raffle to date!

April 30th is the last day to register and be eligible for the early registration raffle that will be held for each tournament. This year's early registration raffles feature some very cool stuff from Forgeworld/Warhammer Forge. If you want to be eligible for a tournament's early registration raffle, you must be fully registered by 11:59 PM CST on April 30th. After April 30th, folks can still register on the site for any of the tournaments, they just wont be eligible for the raffle.

With regards to making sure to register sooner than later, the first 24 folks who are fully registered for the WFB tournament will be receiving one random model from Center Stage Miniatures. Since receiving the models I have been thinking up different ways in which they can be used as some cool alternative models for WFB armies.

Speaking of prizes, next week's theme on the site will be prizes for the Warhammer Fantasy tournament. Each day we will announce another prize associated with the awards given out as part of the tournament. Remember, this year's story is the second chapter in 'Old Magic', so expect to see prizes related to the story.

Finally, Thursday is the Invasion Kenosha Social Gathering at Outpost Games. This is a chance for everyone to gather and try out a couple of the primer missions for all of the tournaments. It is also your chance to win a prize if you are fully registered on or before the raffle at 7 pm. Further details can be found on the site.

Dogs of War vs. Vampire Counts Battle Report

In this battle report, my faithful Dogs of War face the undead might of Frank’s Vampire Counts army. This was our first time to play each other as part of the Outpost Gaming league, so I was excited to finally get a chance to face off. One of the very cool things about the league has been the folks playing in it. We have a very relaxed crowd that just wants to play and hangout. Thursday nights have become a great night to just hang at the store and talk with a growing group of buddies.

One of the things that I am finding interesting about 8th edition Vampire Counts is that people seem to have dropped cairn wraiths in order to include a black coach. The ability to drain magic dice each phase is a huge boon and one that seems to payoff very quickly. Across all the games I have played against them, it seems to me that it is required now to include magical weapons in anticipation of having to deal with a fully charged coach by turn two.



Looking back at my game with Frank, another thing that I noticed about his army, and something I really liked, was that he fielded large blocks of zombies. They are just a unit that I don’t see being played, so it was a nice change to know that there were a couple good blocks of them coming my way. They are not the strongest unit, but a horde of them can make for a great tarpit.

Early Turns

The game begins with Frank’s forces advancing. I counter with Vespero charging his giant bats and wiping them out.



Middle Turns

Vespero dies to the Vargulf. Black coach is fully charged. Cursed Company hits a block of zombies and proceeds to grind them down in two turns. One of my cannons drops a corpse cart.



Late Turns

Black coach runs along my lines, chasing away the paymaster and Marksmen. My wizard dies to a freshly raised unit of zombies. The Cursed Company destroys two Corpse Carts.

Conclusion

This game came down to the end. Frank had won it clearly, but it was close until the last turn. I still had a massive Cursed Company on the board, which was just fun to see, but it was out of position to reach Frank’s general before the game ended.

Lessons Learned…

1. I need to build a unit that has the sole purpose of generating flaming attacks on a consistent basis. I continue to struggle with enemy units that have regeneration. The Vargulf was a monster and forgetting that he had no armour save meant that I had no effective means of destroying him.

2. The espringal needs to be made into a unit of them. A single one is just not that effective. I also need to reread their rules as I forgot that they have a 4+ armour save.

3. More ogres… I need more ogres. I want more ogres.

The Wednesday Peek

Attention Readers - While I love doing the Wednesday Peek, there hasn't been much of a response to it as of late. Curious if people would like for this segment to continue or if I should find something else to replace it.

This Week's Peek...


Last Week's Answer...

Garagehammer Campaign - Dogs of War vs. Empire Battle Report

“The people think we no longer exist, that we no longer matter,” complained the paymaster as he paced within his castle.

“Obsolete, retired, and no longer legal have been used to describe us,” the paymaster continued.

“Sir, you do realize that this Formal Announcement from the Queen, or FAQ as they call it, states we can no longer hire Ogres from the ogre kingdoms,” piped in Chase.

“Screw the empire and their money grabbing attempts at oppressing the free market,” the paymaster responded angrily.

“But sir, the FAQ states that we cannot legally operate, and yet they continue to offer up our services in their kingdom,” replied Chase.

“Very well, they may wish for us to go quietly into the night, but that is not something I am content to do. Gather the men; we march on the closest Empire province. Tonight we remind them that we still exist.”

In this battle report, I played Tom’s Empire army as part of the Garagehammer campaign. The scenario for this game was the default one that has us lining up and fighting for victory points. With regards to the campaign, I believe this was the first invasion gaming being played and it was a chance for me to bust out of the corner that I was stuck in.

Tom’s Army
Arch Lector
Lvl 3 Wizard w/ Fire
BSB w/ magic items
40+ block of swordsmen
10 knights
20+ block of great swords
5 outriders
2 mortars
2 cannons
1 helblaster
1 rocket rack

My army
Merchant Prince w/ Ogre Sword, Tilean Plate, Enchanted Shield, 4+Ward, Barded Warhorse
Level 4 Hireling Wizard Lord w/ Arbyan Tome
Level 2 Hireling Wizard w/ Plaque of Chotec
Paymaster w/ Armour of Destiny
15 Marksmen of Mirgliano
5 Vespero Vendetta
5 Cavaliers w/ full command & Razor Standard
10 Braganza’s Besieger
4 Ogres with full command & Movement Banner (+1 movement)
1 Espringal
2 Mercenary Cannons

Deployment
Tom had set-up his helblaster in a ruined building on the southern flank. All of his other war machines were deployed across his deployment zone, with one cannon stationed on top of an impassible mound. In comparison, I had the ogres positioned to move straight ahead, flanked on each side by a cannon and a unit of crossbowmen. I used scout to position Vespero to advance along the northern flank in the hope of dealing with a cannon and some outriders.

Early Turns
Tom started the game with his war machines firing at the marksmen and killing 10 of them. His outriders also took down a member of Vespero’s crew.

During my turn, I advanced Vespero and the knights with the merchant prince towards the northern cannons and outriders. I also pushed forward the ogres. During the magic phase, I was able to get off Dwellers and remove Tom’s cannon that was sitting on top of the mound. During my shooting phase, I got off a very lucky cannon shot that killed his wizard who had failed his ‘Look Out Sir’ and ward saves.

Middle Turns
The middle of the game saw Tom killing a couple of ogres with his helblaster. He was also able to wipe out the Marksmen with his knights. Finally, his cannons were able to pick-off Vespero himself.

During my turn, what remained of Vespero and the Knights were able to hit his outriders and cannon. Wiping them out, they moved to the north to engage the block of swordsmen and rocket rack. With nothing to hinder my wizards, I continued to unleash the big spells on everything in range. Final Transmutation was able to kill a number of knights and swordsmen over a couple of turns.

Final Turns
The game concluded with my ogres, prince, and duelist units sandwiching his swordsmen. I was worried at first that it may be a disaster for me as I was not hitting well, but in the end, I was able to break the unit and chase them off the board.

The last turn of the game was me playing a game of cat & mouse between his remaining mortars and great swords. I know he was trying to bait me into charging them, but I kept my head on the objective and pulled back and around the mortars, thus prevent him from charging my last duelist or prince.

Conclusion
In the end, I ended up winning the game by a difference of 886. The game seemed close at the end with me only having a few models left in each of my units, but once you look at the differences in model count (2:1 in Tom’s favor), it was a pretty significant win for me.

The game changer was when I was able to hit his wizard with a cannon ball. I got lucky with the shot, but sometimes that is how the game plays out. Without anything to slow down my magic phase, I was able to remove rows from the swordmen and knights.

Lessons Learned…
1. I made the mistake of posting the first part of this battle report on the campaign forum. It was a mistake because Tom seemed to have been offended by it and posted his own quick report that spun the game as not being a huge loss for him. Again, it was a good game between us, but in the end, I was still sitting on a level 4 wizard, a merchant prince, a fully crewed cannon, two ogres, a paymaster with a single Marksmen, and a single duelist. In comparison, Tom had two mortars, a helblaster, and his great swords with lector. Another turn would have likely seen the two mortars dead and the great swords hit with some big magic.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a really fun game with Tom and would love to play him again. His army was a challenge to beat, so I am not claiming that it was anything less than a hard fought battle. I guess I was just surprised by his post and wondered if he had taken my opening narrative the wrong way. Hopefully we can chat sometime in the near future and clear things up.

2. I am starting to believe in the elite army again. Now that I am getting a handle on the rules, I am finding that if I deploy smart and focus on the objectives, I can win games, or at least stay in them.

Invasion Kenosha III - Garagehammer Interview

The guys at Garagehammer were kind enough to interview me about Invasion Kenosha III. The interview starts at 1:56 mark and runs for about seven minutes.

Episode 22 – Adepticon Recap

Sponsored by Unique Gifts & Games, Unseen Lerker, The Game Preserve, and Ursa’s Den

The Garage ManaGeR segment is sponsored by Chaos Orc’s Superstore

Shout out Sponsors: Robert Ruffner and Big Mike

Local Tournament Info segment brought to you by Circle City Circuit.

So here’s Episode 22. Sorry we are a few days late with it. This episode, we talk a bit about the Tomb Kings preorder, and then it’s on to our discussion of almost 2 dozen games we played at Adepticon and in our Mighty Empires Campaign! We also talk about the many things we saw and did other than gaming there.

Finally, we would like to thank everyone we met and talked to and played with/against at Adepticon. It was one of the best times we ever had gaming and we can’t wait for next year.

Thanks for listening and see you in just a few weeks for Episode 23!

Follow us on Facebook (Garagehammer Podcast) and Twitter (Garagehammer)

If you liked the show, please help us by leaving a positive review on iTunes.

You can also reach us by email.

Christopher: garagehammer@live.com

David: david@garagehammer.net

or to reach us both: garagehammer@live.com

Garagegear available at garagehammer.net/store

Thanks for listening!

On the Bench: Dragon Forge Broken Wasteland Bases (Product Review)

One of the first things that I noticed about the bases was the quality of the casting and the type of resin used for them. There are a lot of companies that are doing resin bases, and not all of them are of the same level of quality as what Dragon Forge provided. I like that they use a higher quality resin and this goes a long way to justify the $1.00 per base cost.

When looking at the selection of bases available, I decided to go with the Broken Wasteland series. The reason I selected these was that I liked the look of the grainy desert areas when contrasted with the cracked tile sections of each base. I also selected them as I am painting the bases first and deciding what to mount on them later. I do like the Lost Empires series, but may save them for a future project. Also, the selection of square bases is much smaller and the ones available just are not as interesting or impressive as those offered by Back-2-Base-IX or Microart Studios.



I began the process of preparing the base by cleaning the small amount of flash on the bases. After I cleaned them, I gave each base a wash with warm water and a drop of dish soap. Once the bases were dry, I gave them a coat of white primer (Army Painter brand) and allowed them to dry overnight.

To start the process of painting them, I applied a diluted coat of Snakebite Brown to the gravel areas of the bases. After the layer dried, I applied another layer to the same areas to assure that I had a reasonable amount of coverage. While the one section was drying, I also applied a coat of Desert Brown to the skull on the one base.


The next layer was to the cracked tile. I used a thinned layer of Desert Sand which was applied in two coats to make sure I had covered all of the white primer.



With the base coating finished, I applied a thinned wash of GW Sepia to the bases (excluding the skull on the one base). Once the wash dried, I went back with a slightly thicker wash of Sepia that was applied to the deeper sections of each base and to spots that were bleeding the base coat.


Once the washes were dry, I applied the first layer of paint to the cracked tile sections of the base. I used a 50/50 mix of Desert Sand and Bleached Bone that was thinned. Next, I applied a layer another layer of the same mix with a little more Bleach Bone added to it. This was followed by another layer that was an additional thinning of prior mix with Bleached Bone.



I continued the process of highlighting the cracked areas by using a thinned layer of Bleached Bone. With each additional layer, I added Dead White and thinner to the mix.



When it came to the sandy sections of each base, I started with a drybrush of Snakebite Brown. This was followed by a drybrush of Vomit Brown. I finished with a soft drybrush of Bleached Bone.


The skull on the one base was painted using a modified version of the approach I use for my skeletons. I gave the model a thinned wash of Sepia, followed by a wash of Devan Mud in the deeper sections of the skull. Once the washes were dry, I layered it with Desert Brown that was mixed with Bleached Bone and Skull White.



When it came to the rim of the base, I used a couple of thinned layers of Khemri Brown.


The last step was to add a small clump of static grass to each base. I decided to do this to add a little contrast to the painted colors.



In conclusion, my overall opinion of Dragon Forge’s Broken Wasteland series of resin bases is very high. The quality of resin in casting is well worth the $1.00 per base price. I also found the assortment of bases diverse enough to make each base feel unique while still keeping with the overall theme of the series. I also liked that the bases were designed such that I could add a little bit of static grass to make the bases standout a bit more.

Garagehammer Campaign: End of Turn 2

So at the end of turn 2, this was the map (except that John's castle in A1 should be a city).

So there is no confusion when looking at the map, the VPs listed after the symbols are TOTAL VP. Meaning, Empty tiles AND castle tiles are each worth 1VP total. Cities are 2VPs total and your Capital is worth 3 total.


Here were the points

Ryan 23 (15 plus 8 for Headhunter)
Chris Yu 21 (17 plus 4 from Fortune Favors the Bold)
Grant 20
Christopher 17 (16 plus 1 carried over from last week)
Tom 19 (15 plus 4 carried from last week)
Harrison 8
Luke 8 (5 plus 3 carried over from last week)
John 5
Taz 5
Aaron 5 (4 plus 1 carried from last week)

Here's how everyone spent their points:
Ryan: G1, K1, castle in I1 (20 spent carry 3)
Chris Yu: G3, I3 (20 spent carry 1)
Grant: City L6, Castle/City J6 (20 spent carry 0)
Christopher: G5, I5 (16 spent carry 0)
Tom: B2+River Mine (16 spent carry 3)
Harrison: D6 (8 spent carry 0)
Luke: F6 (8 spent carry 0)
John: C1 (4 spent due to Land Grab carry 1)
Taz: Castle E1 (4 spent carry 1)
Aaron: Waiting to find out if he castles or carries. Either way it doesn't affect the actual tiles.

Strategic Events!
John: Building Boom (A1 upgraded from castle to city)
Taz: Building Boom (through PBttO) (E1 upgraded from a castle to a city)
Luke: War Tax
Harrison: Head Hunter
Chris Yu: All or Nothing
Christopher: Survey the Battlefield
Tom: Land Grab
Aaron: Fortune Favors the Bold
Ryan: Scouts
Grant: Praise Be to the Oracle

Random Events!
Luke: Fame/Infamy
Taz: Knowledge Boom
John: Fame/Infamy
Grant: All is Well
Christopher: All is Well
Harrison: Government Corruption (-70 Gold)
Chris Yu: Knowledge Boom
Tom: All is Well
Ryan: Knowledge Boom
Aaron: Knowledge Boom

Mines:
Tom's Mine produced 30 gold
Grant's Mine produced 70 gold
Harrison's Mine produced 90 gold

Total gold earned this round:
Luke 175 (75 plus 100 for war tax)
Taz 100
John 100
Grant 245 (175+70 for mine)
Christopher 150
Harrison 95 (75+90 for mine-70 for Government Corruption)
Chris Yu 100
Tom 130 (100+30 for mine)
Ryan 100
Aaron 75

Here is how the current scores break down before the third game:
Christopher: 5 (1 city tile, 3 other tiles)
Grant: 5 (2 city tiles, 1 other tile)
Chris Yu: 4 (4 tiles)
Ryan: 4 (4 tiles)
Aaron: 3 (3 tiles)
Harrison: 3 (3 tiles)
John: 3 (1 city tile, 1 other tile)
Taz: 3 (1 city tile, 1 other tile)
Tom: 3 (1 city tile, 1 other tile)
Luke: 2 (2 tiles)

Here are the challenges!

Luke challenges Taz
John INVASION challenges Tom
Harrison challenges Christopher
Chris Yu challenges Grant
Aaron challenges Ryan

Warhammer Forge Newsletter #5

Hi there,
We have two new releases to announce this week for Chaos players: Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord himself, mounted upon the horrific Toad Dragon Bubebolos, and the nefarious Sorcerer Sayl the Faithless.

Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord on Bubebolos the Toad Dragon

The fell legend of Tamurkhan has been whispered for many centuries amongst the tribes of the Chaos Wastes. Some tales speak of him as a scion of the Great Kurgan, one of four sons each cast to the four winds to conquer and enslave. Others claim that he was once no more than vermin – a corpse-canker grown fat and clever on the spoils of the battlefield, swelled and transformed by the light of the Ruinous Powers.

Whatever the truth, the Maggot Lord sits at the head of a great horde of decaying and bloated monstrosities, his mortal form cloaked in the flesh of an Ogre Tyrant, leading his warriors south to seek the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy.

Perhaps the most fell creature under his command is the mighty Toad Dragon Bubebolos, a huge, reeking, primeval horror and greatest of all its bloated kind. Blessedly few in number, the Toad Dragons are lumbering horrors from a forgotten age whose flesh festers with unwholesome rot and whose black blood is clotted with maggots and carrion worms.

Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord on Bubebolos the Toad Dragon is the largest model Warhammer Forge has so far released. This truly enormous full resin kit, sculpted by Mark Bedford, is packed with revolting detail and makes a perfect centrepiece for any Warriors of Chaos army. This immense kit is available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 26th April, and writer Alan Bligh has supplied these experimental rules to allow you to field this powerful warlord and his horrific mount. Full background and details of Tamurkhan’s Chaos host will be published in Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos, which will be released later this year.

Sayl the Faithless and Nightmaw

His name synonymous with treachery and betrayal amongst the warriors of the Ruinous Powers, Sayl the Faithless is an infamous arch-sorcerer. Too proud and too paranoid to swear fealty to any single god amongst the Chaos pantheon, he has pursued pacts and bargains with innumerable petty godlings and daemons, betraying each in turn.

Sayl is pre-eminent among the Dolgan tribe, and his rise to ascendancy began with his allegiance to Schalkain the Vile, as one of his seven seer-apprentices. Sayl’s honeyed lies turned each acolyte against the others, and fanned the flames of suspicion into murderous strife. Eventually Schalkain was manipulated into conducting a dark rite involving Sayl and three fellow ‘loyal’ apprentices which resulted in his horrific death at the hands of a daemon beholden only to Sayl, while the three surviving acolytes were twisted into a terrible beast known as Nightmaw. Hated and feared, Sayl the Faithless and Nightmaw now march alongside Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord.

This full resin set, sculpted by Mark Bedford and Dan Cockersell, contains two incredibly detailed models that are available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 29th April. Experimental rules taken from the forthcoming Warhammer Forge expansion book Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos are now available to download courtesy of Forge World writer Alan Bligh.

Warhammer Forge at Forge World Events

Salute – 16th April 2011
London’s ExCel Centre is the location of Salute 2011 on Saturday 16th April, and Forge World will be in attendance with a Sales stand bursting with resin kits, modelling supplies and books from both the Forge World and Warhammer Forge ranges.

You’ll be able to purchase our MkIII Armoured Boarding Space Marine and Chaos Dwarf Hellsmith Event Only models, as well as the recently released Eldar Lynx with Pulsar and Eldar Lynx with Sonic Lance, and the mighty Phantom Titan.
Warhammer Forge models such as the Marienburg Land Ship, Theodore Bruckner on Reaper and the Nuln Ironsides Handgunner Conversion Kit will also be available alongside limited numbers of both this week's new releases.

If you’ve placed a reservation order for collection at Salute, you can expect to receive a confirmation e-mail in the next few days. You must bring this with you in order to collect your order, so please check your Spam and Junk e-mail folders just in case.

Games Day France – 22nd May 2011
Warhammer Forge sculptor Edgar Skomorowski and graphic artist Sam Lamont will both be attending Games Day France, which is held on Sunday 22nd May at the Parc Floral de Versailles in Paris. They will be bringing a display of work in progress miniatures and artwork with them, as well as future releases that have recently been handed to our Production team.

We are now accepting reservation orders for Games Day France, and this is the best way of ensuring that we will have exactly the models you’re looking for, packed up and waiting for you to collect and pay for on the day. To place a reservation order, please send an e-mail entitled ‘Games Day France Reservation’ to fwreservations@games-workshop.co.uk, making sure to provide your full name and a list of the items you’d like to reserve. You can also phone the Forge World Customer Service team on 0044 115 916 8177.

The Wednesday Peek

This Week's Peek...

Children of Avarice

The Children of Avarice – Part One

The Children of Avarice are a long term project that has been floating around in my head since the new Beastmen book was released. My original idea was to build a list around centigors, but considering the current cost of them and my lack of time to flesh out an army with a large model count, I came up with a companion theme. This particular theme, while extremely interesting to me, will likely garner a lot of complaints when it comes to the composition crowd.

The basic idea of this army is to build a diorama of a herdstone being built. Since it is a new one, the foundation of the list will focus on shamans. The basic 1000 points will contain three shamans, one greater shaman and two lesser ones. The idea is that the greater shaman is leading the “dedication” of the new herdstone and the lesser ones are assisting him.

The core choices for this army will be three chariots and either a regiment of ungors or gors. I am leaning towards gors as I see them acting as guards around the construction site. The chariots on the other hand will not be chariots, but “wagons” hauling large stones to be used in the construction process.

Since these stones will be large, they are going to need someone to lift them. To meet this need, I am going to include a giant in the list. In general I dislike the rules for a giant, but I truly hate the spawn models and minotaurs don’t seem big enough to be lifting the stones that are needed for the altar.

Adepticon 2011: Dogs of War vs. Vampire Counts

The Cursed Company stood in the middle of the field as Chase came to stand beside the paymaster. The regiment had not moved since the last battle, and Chase found it puzzling, and a bit troubling, to share the company of the undead warband.

“What do you think it is like to be like them,” asked Chase.

“I am sure it is like endless torment,” replied the paymaster.

“How can you be certain?” question Chase.

“I can see the pain in the eyes of Krueger,” the paymaster responded.

“All I see is an eerie green glow of where his eyes should be.”

“There is emotion in those eyes, and that emotion is hate. A hatred for what has become of them and what they have lost,” remarked the paymaster as he turned to walk away.



Round four of the Adepticon tournament was three rounds in the making. By that I mean that Ian and I had been chatting that we wanted to play each other over the prior few rounds, so us getting matched up for the last game was a real pleasure.

Scenario

Early Turns

The early game was my usual approach of trying to dwindle down the biggest unit with a combination of magic and shooting. I did a decent job, of hurting Ian’s biggest unit, but not enough that he wasn’t able to recover from it during his magic phase.

Middle Turns

The middle of the game is when the Cursed Company made their way into the grave guard. I knew they didn’t have much of a chance, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to finally see them face another undead unit. Sadly the excitement only lasted for two turns of combat, the necromantic blades of the grave guard made quick work of my simpler skeletons.



Elsewhere, the Vargulf proved to be more than I could handle as he survived all of my attempts to shoot it down. As I watched it tear into my lines, I was reminded of my last game at the Waagh Cast tournament. My last opponent at that tournament suggested I include some form of flaming attacks, so I did so in the form of the lore of metal. The only problem was that the direct damage spells don’t work on stuff without an armor save. Needless to say, the Vargulf found himself a lovely smorgasbord of models to consume on my side of the board.

The one positive note for me was how effective my unit of ogre mercenaries were during this part of the game. I was able to charge the big unit of skeletons and proceeded to remove an enormous number of skeletons from the unit.

Late Games



The late game was really just a matter of Ian cleaning up what remained. As the game concluded, Vespero was my last unit, and he was just moving into position to launch an assault on the grave guard.

Conclusion

While the outcome of the game was never in question, Ian was a good player with a solid army; I cannot express how much fun this game was against him. I laughed throughout it and never once felt like I was playing a competitive game or player. The best part was that Ian won Best Sportsman, an award he clearly deserved.

Looking ahead to next year, I really hope they keep the 1000 point format. I have been running it for years at Invasion Kenosha, so it was cool for me to have a chance to play it. If I were to take Dogs of War next year, I would keep the Marksmen, ogres, and my hero choices. I would drop the Cursed Company and include 2 more units of crossbowmen for the points. I think I would also bring either a second cannon or the Goblin Hewer. Finally, I would increase the unit size of Vespero’s Vendetta and/or make them a generic unit of duelist.

Adepticon 2011: Dogs of War vs. Lizardmen (Round 3)

Night had settled upon the town as the lizardmen crept into the village. They came seeking revenge for their comrades that had fallen earlier in the day. If not for the presence of the Cursed Company, the stealthy approach of the chameleon skinks would not have been detected before it was too late.

I went into round three of the Adepticon tournament with 40 battle points and a 1-0-1 record. My opponent for the third game was Jormiboced from the Waaagh Cast forums. He was playing a lizardmen army with 3 salamanders, 2 small units of chameleon skinks, a unit of skinks, a large unit of saurus warriors, a skink priest and a saurus hero.

Scenario


Early Turns
I wish there was a lot to write, but the early game was really about two things. First, the chameleon skinks were just devastating. I had not faced them before, so I was ill prepared for all of the harm they could do, especially considering there were only six models in each unit. The other major factor for the game was the chain lightening that just kept jumping and killing large numbers of models.

Middle Turns
I should have gambled more and taken a shot at the saurus hero with my cannon. Dropping it would have gotten me the game, but I didn’t like the odds so I continued to focus on dwindling numbers. I did some damage, but with both units of salamanders closing the gap, it wasn’t nearly enough to change the course of the battle.

Late Turns
There wasn’t really much of a late game. I tried to charge the skink priest with my remaining ogre, but failed to make it.

In Conclusion
Jormiboced played an excellent game with a solid army. I made a lot of mistakes that he was quick to capitalize upon, so he deserves all the credit on the win. I ended up getting 5 points for the loss and a good helping of experience.

Adepticon 2011: Dogs of War vs. 8th Edition Night Goblins

The battle with the lizardmen had taught the coin collectors a valuable lesson; you sometimes need to be luck in order to win a battle. The paymaster didn’t want the army’s next encounter to come down to chance, so he ordered them to move to the southern part of the village.

Within the confines of the village, the ogres moved the cannon to the top of a sturdy building. At the same time, the Marksmen took position to the west of the building, setting up to rain death upon the open field that separated different sections of the town. As for Vespero, he stayed to the shadows and continued to scout the sections of the village that the army had already passed thru earlier in the day.

It didn’t take long before the signs of a new invader appeared on the darkening horizon. The bickering of goblins, lots of goblins, could be heard making their way towards the Coin Collector’s position. As they approached, the paymaster reached for the magical scroll the client had given him. As he unrolled it, he saw the image of a goblin shaman; an image that matched the goblin that was leading the horde towards them.



For the second round of the afternoon 1000 point tournament at Adepticon, I was matched up against Jack Green and his night goblin horde. About the height of an actual goblin, this young man came to play, and I knew age wasn’t going to be relevant to the outcome of our game. He was playing an 8th edition night goblin list, so I have to admit I was surprised and a bit concern. Trying not to make a scene, I did a quick check with Alex, the TO, to make sure that was legal. He said it was, so I was fine with playing it.

As one would expect with a night goblin list, there were a horde of night goblins. One of the units was 40+ strong, while the other two were in the 20’s. His army also had two mangler squids and a unit of squig hoppers. Leading all of these greenskins was a night goblin shaman. It was a cool army (the kind I wanted to see in the tournament), so playing it was going to be a treat.

Scenario


Deployment

When it came to deploying my army, I elected to deploy the cannon on top of a building. Beside the building I placed the ogres and Cursed Company. To the west, I placed my wizard and Marksmen. Finally, I scouted Vespero to take easy control of my opponent’s deployment zone.

Early Turns

The early turns of the game saw the goblin horde push forward. Since they were lacking range, I used my shooting attacks to dwindle down the large block of night goblins. Magic for the first two turns was uneventful, with a few minor causalities on each side.



Middle Turns

The middle turns saw the most action as the goblins started to reach my lines. During the magic phase, my opponent was able to move the large block of night goblins close enough to unleash his fanatics. They did some damage, but not enough to cause any panics or disruptions of my forces.
In turn, I continued to use the cannon to dwindle down the goblins and squigs. I was able to kill both mangler squids with shooting. I was also able to kill his great shaman with Final Transmutation.

Late Turns

The last turns of the game were basically me avoiding the goblins that were in range and losing the Cursed Company to the squig hoppers. I also lost the ogres to the combined punch of fanatics and a unit of night goblins. In exchange, I continued to dwindle down what remained.



Conclusion

Jack did an excellent job of focusing on making sure to wipe out units. I did not do the same, so for an instant; it had appeared that I may have lost this one. However, upon reading the scenario rules for victory point s, I was able to claim the bonus points for killing his general, so suddenly the game was a lot tighter. In the end, Jack had 479 to my 433 which meant we had a draw.

What really helped me this round was the bonus battle points. I was able to kill his general and keep mine alive. In addition, I was able to keep enough of his forces out of my deployment zone while sneaking Vespero into Jack’s d-zone. In the end, I had 20 battle points for the second round.

Adepticon 2011: Dogs of War vs. Lizardmen

The Coin Collectors wandered into the abandoned village as the sun began to set in the west. The client that hired them stated that they could not open the scroll explaining why they were sent there until they had reached the village.



This was my first game in the Adepticon 1000 point tournament. My opponent was Roder, a nice fellow from Minnesota that was playing a very cool lizardmen army.

Scenario


Deployment
When it came to my set-up, I decided to begin with the Marksmen placed in the center of my deployment zone. In comparison, Roder started with a unit of skinks on the northern flank. As we continued to deploy, the lizardmen became stacked on the southern flank, with the stegadon set to charge the middle of the board.



Early Turns
The game began with Vespero and company making a dart for the skinks on the northern flank. The skinks responded with a couple of volleys of poisonous darts that killed everyone but Vespero himself. In turn, Vespero was able to reach the skinks and kill enough of them to shake their confidence. As they fled the field, Vespero pursued and killed what remained of the reptilian assassins.

Across the battlefield, the roar of a stegadon could be heard as it scouted forward. The paymaster responded to the beast with his own roar to bring it down. Moments later, the beast lie dead, victim to a volley of precision crossbow bolts and a cannon ball in the side. For a brief moment, the cheers of the Coin Collectors could be heard from across the hall.



Middle Turns
The southern flank was going to decide the outcome of this battle. A large regiment of saurus warriors was advancing on the ogres and Cursed Company. Marching with them was another small band of skinks and a salamander looking to consume something in its path. The ogres took the lead and positioned themselves to accept the charge from the saurus warriors when it arrived. Their undead partners moved to claim the building that was being held by the skinks.



While the fighters prepared to fight, the magic user did what his name implies. Calling upon the Lore of Metal, the hireling mage unleashed its greatest spell, Final Transmutation. Suddenly a few of the saurus warriors froze into place and began to turn into gold.



Final Turns
The final turns of the game became a dance between my shooting attacks and magic and the saurus warriors. Each turn a few more were dropped, but enough remained to keep pressing forward. As they moved, the Cursed Company faced the remaining skinks for control of the building.



Conclusion
In the end, the Dogs of War were victorious. I had defeated enough of them to have the edge on victory points, and thus the win. I had also scored a couple of the objectives to earn some additional bonus points.