G’day, Warmachine (and Hordes) fans!  Here I present, for your delectation, an exhaustive report of my experience at the 2^nd Irish Masters, hosted by Leprecon 2012.  I was more excited about this tournament than a grown man ought to be, and that was in no small part due to the imminent appearance of Jason Soles – one of the original Warmachine designers.  He was bringing the trophies over from Seattle for us, and I was determined he wouldn’t take any back with him!  The format for the event was three 35pt lists (with 7pts reinforcements); but every list had to be played at least once, and no list more than twice over the five games across the weekend.  Here are the lists I took…

List one: (No Quarter Theme list – tier 3)

Dawnlord Vyros                                     (+6 points)
Hydra                                              (8* points)
Manticore                                    (7* points)
10 Dawnguard Sentinels                            (9 points)
+UA                                     (2 points)
+Marshalled Griffon                   (4 points)
10 Houseguard Halberdiers                  (7 points)
+UA                                     (2 points)

2x Arcanists                                     (2 points)
Reinforcements:
Manticore                                     (7* points)

A pared-down version of the 50pt list I took to Gamers World in February, but which didn’t do so well in my 35pt play-testing.  The extra 15pts gave me double Covering-Fire and a whole lotta Focus-efficiency (ie with the Tier 4 bonus), whereas I found just two Warjacks got destroyed too easily.  Anyway, this was a still my attrition-based, *anti-Stealth * list.

List two: (Theme list – tier 3)
Adeptis Rahn                                     (+6 points)
2xPhoenix                                     (20 points)
Arcanist                                     (0* points)
10 Houseguard Halberdiers                  (7 points)
+UA                                    (2 points)
6 Battle Mages                                     (5 points)
+ Soulless Escort                  (1 point)
3* Battle Magister Solos                            (6 points)

Reinforcements:
Arcanist                                             (1 point)
6 Battle Mages                                    (5 points)
+ Soulless Escort                  (1 point)

Except for a slight shuffle to include reinforcements (wouldn’t normally include Soulless Escorts), this has been my default Rahn-list for 35pts for a very long time.  He just dominates control-based scenarios, and can stay well back with his mighty Control Range and double Arc-Node… But has the most hard-counters of my three lists: Protectorate of Menoth and Circle Orboros can completely shut down his spells (as will any Stealth-heavy army), and the conspicuous lack of Pathfinder means Rough Terrain is a big problem too.  For all these reasons and more, my third list is:

List three (“Snipe, Feat, Go!”)

Ravyn, Eternal Light                            (+6 points)
Phoenix                                             (10 points)
Aiyana & Holt                                    (4 points)
10 MHSF                                     (8 points)
+UA                                     (2 points)
6 Dawnguard Invictors                            (6 points)
+UA                                     (2 points)
4 Stormfall Archers                            (5 points)

Epic Eiryss                                     (3 points)

Arcanist                                             (1 point)

Reinforcements:
Destor Thane                                     (4 points)
Narn                                              (3 points)

Models with Pathfinder to deal with terrain; Aiyana & Holt to hand out Magical Weapons (handy for Incorporeal models as much as Menite Warjacks); dirty Assassination potential to *hopefully* discourage my opponents from taking the nastier Control-Warcasters (looking at you, Harbinger and Major Haley!).  My rough kinda plan was to use each list once on the Saturday, and leave myself with full choice for the Sunday – but to let the Scenario and opponent of each game to take precedence in my choice.  So… How’d I do?

Game one – Anthony (Cryx)“Gauntlet” (#2)

Warwitch Deneghra                     (+5 points)

2x Deathrippers                            (8 points)

Skarlock                                       (2 points)

6 Bane Thralls                               (5 points)

+UA                                     (3 points)

6 Bile Thralls                                 (5 points)

10 Satyxis Blood Witches                 (6 points)

+UA                                       (2 points)

Bane Lord Tartarus                           (4 points)

Pistol Wraith                                    (3 points)

Warwitch Siren                                    (2 points)

Anto’s other lists were led by Skarre1 and Skarre2, both with juicy targets for Ravyn… but I didn’t want to risk the possibility of a Stealthy Warcaster (and $%&@ Bane Thralls) so took Adeptis Rahn.  Turned out I’d made the right decision for the scenario as well – only problem was the Killbox Artifice meant he couldn’t hang back as far as I’d like; but with a wall of Halberdiers between himself and the filthy undead horde, I figured he’d be Okay.

This was an extremely bloody fight for both sides: highlights being my left-flank Phoenix getting wiped out by just two charging Bane Thralls (with a little help from Parasite), and my Battle Mages thumping the Incorporeal Blood Witches into a panic with their Magical boxing-gloves (which I never previously knew they had!).  On my Feat turn I was able to clear my scoring zone and run a Battle Magister Solo in for my first Control point.

My screen of Halberdiers had almost evaporated by this point, and my remaining Phoenix couldn’t run/charge/do anything much except walk 4” and be Channelled through…  Luckily though, the zone was still pretty much uninhabited (did I mention it was a bloody game?!), and after the last two Halberdiers killed the Blood Hag with a single Combined Melee Attack, Adeptis Rahn was able to use his spells to Push/Slam the last guys out of the zone for the second Control Point and the win.  Good job really, or he would have died HORRIBLY the following turn!

Picture: Force Blast FTW!

WIN – 2 Control Points to 0

Game two – Ian (Minions)“Restoration” (#15)

Picture: Ian

Dr Arkadius                            (+6 points)

4x Warhogs                                    (28 points)

4 Bone Grinders                                    (2 points)

6 Farrow Brigands                           (5 points)

6 Slaughter-housers                           (6 points)

Ian had brought all three Farrow Warlocks to the tournament, and had painted his mass of Pig-flesh very well.  I’ve used Dr. Arkadius and Lord Carver myself before, but had yet to see what Sturm and Drang were capable of.  I decided to take Ravyn for the Scenario, as I figured her guys would shoot the Objective to rubble in one turn.  However, when Ian selected Dr. Arkadius and elected to go first, I changed my plan…

At DEF 15 and ARM 14, Dr. Arkadius is *theoretically* an ideal target for “Snipe, Feat, Go”; so long as he ends his turn within 22” of the Mage Hunter Strike Force.  He did; and I actually apologised to Ian before I even rolled any dice!  Guess what though…

After my failed assassination attempt, Dr. Arkadius Feated, and all of a sudden four hopped-up Warhogs were in my face – one in fact B2B with Ravyn after having Trampled over my useless Mage Hunters (luckily by then it was out of Forcing range so was unable to buy more attacks that turn).  I had another turn of un-boosted shooting to try and salvage the situation, but in the end only brought the deviant scientist down to two hit-boxes.  Ravyn then got splatted.

Picture: Warhog to the face…

I ended the game with only 1 army point, from killing half a unit of Bone Grinders!  For all that my dice failed me, I didn’t deserve to do any better because I’d ignored the scenario, and gone for the Assassination without any sort of contingency plan.  Well done Ian!

LOSS – 0 Control Points to 0

Game three – Adam (Skorne)“Envelopment” (#12)

Picture: Adam

Archdomina Makeda                           (+5 points)

Cyclops Brute                                    (5 points)

Molik Karn                                    (11 points)

Titan Gladiator                                    (8 points)

4 Beast Handlers                           (2 points)

10 Praetorian Swordsmen                           (6 points)

Agonizer                                    (2 points)

2x Ancestral Guardians                           (6 points)

Reinforcements:
Rhinodon                                             (7 points)

If I wanted to keep all my options open for the Sunday, then I had to take Vyros this round… but I took a risk and selected Rahn for the second time, figuring that whereas he doesn’t mind fighting Skorne, he HATES fighting Menoth and Circle, and I could end up fighting one or t’other the next day.  Besides, this was another scenario which Rahn ought to dominate.

I’ll not dwell on this battle; suffice to say that it was my best game of the weekend.  Adam, who is an incredibly nice guy (even though he kept trying to distract me with his dodgy dancing), was actually a Trollbloods player, but had to borrow his mate’s Skorne because his latest order hadn’t come in on time.  He told me he hadn’t played against Warmachine armies much, and I got the impression he didn’t know the Retribution at all…  One day I’d like a rematch against your Trollz Adam, so if you’re reading this, please contact me!

Picture: Rahn DOES love scenarios…

So Saturday was done, and although I was disappointed with Game two, I was reasonably happy with my overall performance.  I was out of the running for the awesome trophy (unless some very weird stuff happened on Sunday…), but figured I was still in the running for a podium-finish.  BRING IT ON!

WIN – 3 Control Points to 0

Game four – Gerry (Legion of Everblight)“Diversion” (#17)

Picture: Gerry

Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight                (+5 points)

Nephilim Bolt Thrower                           (6 points)

2x Ravagore                                    (20 points)

6 Blighted Nyss Striders                           (6 points)

+UA                                    (0* points)

6 Blighted Nyss Striders                           (6 points)

Strider Deathstalker                           (2 points)

Gerry straight-up told me who he was taking this round before I even had a chance to look at his lists (Kallus and I believe Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight were his other options), *probably* because I’d been telling him for weeks just how much Epic Lylyth makes the Retribution cry!  Certainly, had I taken Ravyn it would have been a very one-sided match, so I took Vyros and hoped he’d be able to tough it out.

I immediately screwed up my deployment by putting the Sentinels on the WRONG SIDE of a house from the Flag they needed to defend; but luckily they had enough SPD to get there by turn two, and enough ARM to survive the Striders’ bows.  Vengeance helped me out a lot here, and for the first time I can remember, the Offcier survived all game!  It was at about this point that we realised we hadn’t deployed properly…  Whoops!

Picture: “radial deployment, you say?”

On the other side of the table, Lylyth and her Battle-group were having uncharacteristic trouble mowing down my guys.  Even the three Halberdiers that were on fire managed to beat out the flames!  I managed to sneak in a Control Point by running my soon-to-be-dead Manticore up to the flag under Mobility the same turn a single, solitary Sentinel (say THAT ten times fast) put a toe into the Zone.  I tried to engineer a second point, but “Dice Down” was called.  I won on first tie-breaker, and now feel like I‘ve *sharked* Gerry with all my talk of how broken eLylyth is – honestly, I was expecting to get wiped out!

WIN 1 Control Point to 0

Game five – Harry (Cygnar)“Incursion” (#7)

Picture: Harry

Commander Adept Nemo                         (+6 points)

Charger                                             (4 points)

Lancer                                             (6 points)

Stormclad                                    (10 points)

Squire                                             (2 points)

6 Arcane Tempest Gun Mages                  (6 points)

+UA                                    (2 points)

Aiyana & Holt                                    (4 points)

Arlan Strangewayes                           (2 points)

Gorman di Wulfe                                    (2 points)

Journeyman Warcaster                           (3 points)

Ooh, I LIKE this scenario!  Partly because I have my own cool little flags made from spare Myrmidon parts.  I decided to take Ravyn because I reckoned I could out-shoot any of Harry’s own gunlines (he also had General Adept Nemo and Siege I think, though I don’t remember which list he’d already used twice).  Harry chose table-side.

Picture: Gunline vs. Gunline

…Turns out I was right!  On my Feat Turn I turned the Lancer and Stormclad into wreck-markers, and the following turn I wasted the Charger, the Journeyman Warcaster, the *fake* Aiyana & Holt (because mine were the real ones…) and Gorman Di Wulfe.  By the time the smoke cleared there was no way for Cygnar to contest my last Control Point in the third turn (I also got lucky with that – the one on the left disappeared which was ideal), so I won my last game of the weekend.

Thanks for the game Harry – I’m worried I didn’t shake your hand afterwards, and have been worried about it ever since!  See you at Itzacon, Maybe?

WIN – 3 Control Points to 0

Results and stuff…

With nine Control Points over the weekend, I JUST edged out Jason Soles for 3^rd Place, as he also had four wins over the tournament (he’d played five additional games over the weekend just for the Craic – beating me both times we faced off…).  I won a nifty Steamroller certificate and commemorative coin, and a hardback Prime Rulebook signed by the development team.  I also won the randomly-assigned fully-painted army prize, which was a cool poster of Kommander Strakhov that I bullied Jason into signing for me!

Picture: Me & Jason

All in all, a fabulous weekend!  Well done Stu for organising the event, and thanks to everyone who took part.  I hope to see y’all around on the forums and the next few tournaments.  I’m taking Garryth and Kaelyssa to Itzacon this weekend – who’s up for a beat-down?

Parenthetically yours, (Neil)

WARPCON!

G’day folks!  I had a fantastic time in sunny Cork last weekend.  The occasion was Warpcon 22, and I had been planning to go ever since I’d first heard about it in November; months before I’d even met any Dublin Gamers!  It nearly all fell through though, when it transpired that the bus UCD Gamesoc had laid one was due to leave at 12 noon on the Friday… which was no good to me whatsoever (lectures are important, apparently…).  After a panicked flurry of emails on the DGG mailing-list however, I secured transport and a place to stay.  Thanks again to Ian for helping me out there, and in fact everyone who offered a lift/asked around on my behalf.  If it wasn’t for you guys I wouldn’t have made it!

Warmachine/Hordes Tournament

The format was five games over Saturday and Sunday, with two 35pt lists and (most of) the Steamroller 2012 rules.  More than anything else, I was looking forward to playing five completely new opponents, as all of my Dublin adversaries were playing one or t’other flavour of Warhammer at the Con.

This was the first tournament I’d been to where I brought two lists I was very comfortable with; normally I playtest one to death until I’m happy with it… then make up a random second list that *should* be fun to play.  I’d had some success with Adeptis Rahn and Arcanist Ossyan in recent games, and had my order-of-activations pretty well down, so was fairly confident I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of the Cork Lads!  The lists were:

                        “Pew pew!”

• Arcanist Ossyan                                                (+6 Warjack points)
• Discordia                                                (10 points)
• 10 Mage Hunter Strike Force                        (8 points)
• Commander                                    (2 points)
• 10 Houseguard Halberdiers                        (7 points)
• Officer & Standard                        (2 points)
• 4 Stormfall Archers                                    (5 points)
• Epic Eiryss                                                (3 points)
• Aiyana & Holt                                                (4 points)

            “Chuckle Brothers” (tier 3)

• Adeptis Rahn                                                (+6 Warjack points)
• Phoenix                                                            (10 points)
• Phoenix                                                            (10 points)
• Arcanist                                                (free – tier bonus)
• Arcanist                                                (1 point)
• 6 Battle Mages                                                (5 points)
• 10 Houseguard Halberdiers                        (7 points)
• Officer & Standard                        (2 points)
• Battle Magister (solo)                                    (2 points)
• Battle Magister (solo)                                    (2 points)
• Battle Magister (solo)                                    (2 points)

Game One – Protectorate of Menoth

• Epic Kreoss                                                (+6 Warjack Points)
• Crusader                                                (6 points)
• Avatar of Menoth                                    (11 points)
• 5 Exemplar Bastions                                    (8 points)
• 5 Exemplar Cinerators                                    (8 points)
• Dartan Vilmon                                                (3 points)
• Paladin of the Wall                                    (2 points)
• Eiryss                                                            (3 points)

My first game was against Jason, who introduced me to the Cork accent in spectacular fashion!  The scenario was #16, “Command and Control”, and the battlefield was dominated by two large areas of Rough Terrain.  My Adeptis Rahn list had no Pathfinder whatsoever, so Ossyan bravely stepped forward.  Unfortunately for Jason, his medium infantry and heavy ‘jacks had real trouble negotiating the woods in the centre and the field in his deployment zone, and I was able to dictate the flow of the game pretty well form the start.  I was also very fortunate that there was none of the usual Menoth support guff hanging around (i.e. Choir), so was able to shoot his stuff to bits over consecutive turns for very little retaliation, and take two Control Points for the win in about 45 minutes.

To my eternal shame, however, I failed to kill his Eiryss, but lost mine to a back-striking Paladin!  Apparently mine was the traitor…
 

Game Two – Protectorate of Menoth

• Severius                                                (+6 Warjack Points)
• Blessing of Vengeance                                    (7 points)
• Avatar of Menoth                                    (11 points)
• Vanquisher                                                (8 points)
• Vanquisher                                                (8 points)
• Repenter                                                (4 points)
• 6 Choir of Menoth                                    (3 points)

I came back from the break to find myself on Table 1, and up against Christopher and another Menoth army.  The table was fairly open this round, and the scenario was #2 “gauntlet”; but the very presence of the Choir (never mind Mr “you can’t cast spells at me”) meant that Adeptis Rahn simply wasn’t an option.

I opened fairly conservatively, and saved my Feat for a later turn; but I hadn’t realised just how much I had underestimated Chris and his list until he set nearly half of my army on fire in his second turn!  Luckily, he had forgotten to pop his Feat, so I was able to spend the Focus to set up an all-or-nothing assassination with eEiryss, Ossyan and my remaining Mage Hunter Strike Force.  In the end though, because Severius had spent all his own Focus the turn before, Ossyan pulled off a spectacular one-shot for the win.  WOW that was close!

Game Three – Legion of Everblight

• Thagrosh                                                (+5 Warbeast Points)
• Harrier                                                            (2 points)
• Harrier                                                            (2 points)
• Shredder                                                (2 points)
• Shredder                                                (2 points)
• Angelius                                                (9 points)
• Carnivean                                                (11 points)
• 6 Nyss Striders                                                (6 points)
• Officer & Standard                        (3 points)
• Nyss Shepherd                                                (1 point)
• Strider Deathstalker                                    (2 points)

Game three was #13 “demolition”, and I was up against Dave’s Legion.  Dave had only brought one list, and while I’ve plenty of experience playing against eThagrosh (shudder), I’d never fought against his Primal incarnation, so was a little nervous.  I took a long time deciding which list to use, but eventually opted for Adeptis Rahn, figuring I *might* be able to pull off a dirty assassination on my Feat turn with some careful positioning.

I nearly managed it!  But for the two Lesser Warbeasts blocking Push-lanes and the two GIMPS that missed their boosted Magic Attacks, Thagroh would have been Knocked Down and in melee range of a fully-Focussed Phoenix. Never mind…  Dave then had some very unfortunate luck with Ranged Attack rolls (in particular, the Striders missed one almighty CRA against the other Phoenix), and left his Warlock behind a couple of Ash Clouds that were once Battle Mages (I’d like to think the two that missed the previous turn!).

Adeptis Rahn is the master of shenanigans though, and I was able to Force Hammer Thagrosh to the ground (once a Magister Solo had Whip-snapped the Phoenix’s toe into the Ash Clouds for LOS), and have the Phoenix walk over and stab the blighted Ogrun to death.  Thanks for the game!

Game Four – Cygnar

• Epic Stryker                                                (+6 Warjack points)
• Ol’ Rowdy                                                (9 points)
• Stormclad                                                (10 points)
• Squire                                                            (2 points)
• Storm Tower                                                (2 points)
• Stormcaller (solo)                                    (1 point)
• Stormcaller (solo)                                    (1 point)
• Stormcaller (solo)                                    (1 point)
• Black 13th                                                (4 points)
• 6 Stormblades                                                (5 points)
• Officer & Standard                        (3 points)
• Journeyman Warcaster                                    (3 points)

After a good meal and a fabulous snooze, I was ready for day two!  First up was Brian with eStryker  (again, another ‘caster I had never played against before). The scenario was #6 “Destruction”, so I took Ossyan with a mind to completing the victory conditions; but also taking any assassination opportunities as they arose!

I started out well, and was in a great position to hold off the inevitable storm AND to start whittling down my first objective…  Instead I went for a very risky assassination, and very nearly failed.  First off, Ossyan dropped Admonition to cast Quicken on himself for the extra range (dumb move), and MISSED Stryker with his Chronophage Cannon (rolled a 9 on 3D6 – needed a 10).  Uh oh…  Had he hit, Stryker would have been half-dead already, and far fewer of the following Mage Hunter Strike Force would have missed him.  In the end, the last guy in range tagged him for his last few boxes, and my hands finally stopped shaking!

…Except that when we tried the “what if” thing, and I measured to confirm that he had been the last guy in range, I nudged him out – and I have never felt so much a dirty cheater in my life.  It was too close to call, so Brian let me try one last shot with the Stormfall Archers (who hadn’t activated yet), and the one dude who got LOS to the Stormcaller BEHIND Stryker got him with the Blast Damage (I was rolling 3D6 – 8).  Brian, if you’re ever up in Dublin, I would love a rematch!
 

Game Five – Legion of Everblight

• Thagrosh                                                (+5 Warbeast Points)
• Angelius                                                (9 points)
• Carnivean                                                (11 points)
• Blackfrost Shard                                    (5 points)
• 5 Nyss Raptors                                                (10 points)
• Anyssaa Ryvaal                                                (4 points)
• 1 Spell Martyr                                                (1 point)

Last game was against Paul’s beautifully painted Legion, and the Scenario was #7 “Incursion” on the same table I played Jason in Game one.  Paul had been playing Absylonia exclusively so far, but he took a similar Thagrosh list to Dave’s for his final match.  After a lot of hummin’ and hawin’, I took Ossyan for the fourth time purely to deal with the forest in the centre.

The game was nearly over after ten minutes when Thagrosh Channelled a double-boosted Obliteration through the Spell Martyr at Ossyan!  Luckily for me he only took 8 damage, but that would have been a very bad way to end the tournament!

The Mage Hunter Strike Force were absolute stars this game!  They held off the Raptors by sheer dint of their Pathfinder and Stealth (eEiryss was not so lucky – stupid Eyeless Sight ignoring everything that keeps her alive…), and were able to “bad touch” Thagrosh from inside the forest over two turns due to Phantom Hunter.  I didn’t quite manage to kill the evil Warlock during my Feat  turn, but rather like Brian had in Game three, Paul kept Thagrosh front-and-centre, assuming his free Animus and multiple transfer-targets would keep him alive.  They didn’t, and next turn I turned him into a blighted pin-cushion for the win.  Cheers Paul!

Results

So… I won all five of my games, and was the only player to do so.  It’s nearly two weeks later, and I still can’t quite believe that I won a tournament!  As far as I can remember, I’ve never won five games in a row of anything before now, so I imagine I will get utterly destroyed in my next few games as the laws of physics re-adjust themselves.

The tournament itself was run very smoothly, and the slide-show at the end was a nice touch!  Other Dave, if you’re reading: I know I said that adding timers would improve the event next year, but please ignore that!  All they seem to do is stress folks out, and we all finished our games in good time anyway (unlike those poor Warhammer players…).  I will suggest though that you include some other spot-prizes; such as “Destroyer” for most enemy army points taken, and/or “Mage Hunter” for the quickest Assassination throughout the whole tournament.  A vote for best painted army wouldn’t go amiss either.

Come and get some!

I shall be playing in the 50pt tournament on Sunday 12^th at Gamers World, and of course will try my hand at the Irish Masters in March, so please come along and smash my face in!  I’ve had a blast in Ireland so far, and long may that continue.  See you around folks!

Neil

First up COLOSSALS!!!

PP announce their next BIG expansion for war machine, called Colossals, which introduces Massive new warjacks to the system. These warlocks will sit on battle engine bases & are 3 times the size of normal warjacks.

Check out the video

Next up is Iron Kingdoms

“It is a land like no other, a place where steam power and gunpowder meet sword and sorcery.

The Iron Kingdoms possess a rich history—and a tumultuous future—full of unique monsters, deities, heroes, and villains. Immerse yourself in the detailed world of gritty conflict and sorcery with the Iron Kingdoms RPG. Unleash the power of mechanika, the fusion of magic and machine. Take on the persona of unique character classes, like the gun mage who combines powerful magic with a deadly acumen for firearms or the steamjack-commanding warcaster. Travel through a fantastic world that takes classic fantasy concepts and gives them a new twist with a high-octane rush of steam power and industrial engineering.

Prepare yourself for an experience like no other.

The world of the Iron Kingdoms awaits!”

The role playing game that spawned Warmachine and Hordes, is relaunching this summer with a whole new rule set, based on 2d6 mechanic similar to whats used in the tabletop game. I for one can’t wait for this, there will be plenty of powder kegs for all!!!

Check out the video

Last but not least, War Room

PP’s new war machine app for building lists, tracking damage & keeping up to date with rule changes

• Army Creation Workshop: Players can select their faction and game size and then choose their warcasters and warlocks, warjacks or warbeasts, units, solos, and battle engines to create valid lists, all within the War Room application.
• Full Card Display: Model stat cards are shown exactly as they are printed, so players can reference them easily and with the same confidence as printed cards.
• In-Game Status Tracking: In-game damage and status tracking will give players immediate and easily accessible information on every fighting model in their command.
• In-Game List Sharing: Lists will be sharable between every player using War Room in the same game so they can quickly access each other’s model status and abilities, allowing players to keep their focus on the tabletop action.
• Turn Clock: This optional player-initiated feature allows players to keep individual turns fast but fairly apportioned.

The base app is a free download and contains cards from all current WARMACHINE and HORDES starter products.

Full faction decks for both WARMACHINE and HORDES will be available as additional downloads for $6.99. Every deck will include all currently released stat cards for that faction as well as new model updates for the life of the current rules set.

Very interesting idea about instant update to rules & errata! Cant wait to check it out

Check out the Video

2012 is of to a great start for Warmachine and Hordes, a great turn out for Warpcon’s war machine tournament & a big congrats to Neil Kettles & his Retribution of Scryah army  for taking the win in his first Irish tournament, great stuff.

But whats next? Well the next 2 tournaments coming up for Warmachine are just around the corner:

February 12th in Gamers World – 50 Point Tournament, SR2012 – Starts at 10pm for registration & costs 10 Euro entry - Details

Looks like its going to be a busy couple of months, can’t wait!

Hope to see you all there!

Ciaran

The Warmachine/Hordes Irish Masters will be taking place at Leprecon 33 on March 3rd and 4th.

The format for the Irish Masters will be:
35 points (+7 points of Reinforcements per list)
5 rounds
10 minute turns, one 5 minute extension per round (relaxed timing)
3 Lists Required, each list must be used once and no list may be used more than twice
Characters Restricted (Note: Epic and Non-Epic versions of the same model count as separate characters)
Steamroller 2012 Rules: http://privateerpress.com/files/SR2012Final.pdf

Entry will be 20 Euro at the door or 17 Euro if you pre-book online.

Alternatively players will be able to pre-book in person with me for a discounted rate of 15 Euro (which is entry to Leprecon, basically making the Masters free). I’ll try and state times when I’ll be available to take pre-books. The first time will be at Warpcon in Cork I’ll post other times and places in this thread when they arise.

http://w-ired.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2455

Neil vs. Lorcan: 35pt battle report

Bonjour folks!  As promised (threatened?) last week, I have a second blog entry for you.  Sorry if last week’s battle report was too tedious to read all the way through… but there were *issues* with the photographs.  This time I’m going to practice my HTML skills (hah!) and link the pictures from somewhere like Flickr or Photo-bucket.  The plan is also to fiddle with them a bit first, and have annotated notes for each game-round.  You never know, it might even work!

The Army:

As much as I really want to play Lord Arcanist Ossyan (only recently painted), I’m still not as comfortable with Kaelyssa as I’d like to be, and consecutive games with her seem to be the best way to learn her various tricks.  Soooo, I’m gonna tweak last week’s list instead:

1. Kaelyssa (+7 Warjack points)
2. Phoenix (10 points)
3. Manticore (8 points)
4. Sylys Wyshnalyrr (2 points)
5. 2*Arcanist (2 points)
6. 10 Mage Hunter Strike Force (8 points)
7. Mage Hunter Commander (2 points)
8. Soulless Escort (1 point)
9. 10 Houseguard Halberdiers (7 points)

10. Officer and Standard (2 points)

The Theory:

I was very tempted to substitute my second Warjack from last week’s list for some brutal melee solos (of which the Retribution has more than a few), but despite the general advocacy of one ‘jack per ‘caster on the Scyrah Forums, I like giant robots.  Besides, the more targets for “Witch Hound” the better.  In the end, I swapped the Hydra for a Manticore and a second Arcanist; Sentinels for the ever dependable MHSF (acronyms rock!); and Lanyssa Ryssyll for a partisan-mercenary who actually has a function.

Lorcan’s dudes:

I met Lorcan at Connolly Bridge Burger King, and we talked sh!t at each other through mouthfuls of hot meat(!).  He told me he’d brought two Khador lists (not Circle Orboros then?); one super-competitive, the other *just for fun*…  I never asked which one the Epic Butcher was when he deployed it across the table from me:

1. Epic Butcher (+6 Warjack points)
2. Beast 09 (11 points)
3. Juggernaut (7 points)
4. Yuri the Axe (3 points)
5. Manhunter (2 points)
6. Doom Reavers (6 points)
7. Greylord Escort (2 points)
8. 6 Winter Guard Infantry (4 points)
9. Officer and Standard (2 points)

10. Rocketeer (1 point)

11. Winter Guard Mortar Crew (3 points)

Scenario:

We went for a rulebook scenario, and I rolled a 6: don’t remember what it’s called, but there were two 10” circles in the centre of the battlefield, and you won if by the end of your turn (starting 2^nd player’s third turn) you controlled both zones.  I won the roll, and decided to go first.

Round One

A fairly predictable opening salvo!  Roughly what went down is this: 

1. The MHSF advanced on the left-hand zone
2. Houseguard Halberdiers advanced in “Shieldwall”; had “Banishing Ward” cast upon them
3. Kaelyssa cast “Arcane Reckoning” on herself
4. Manticore gave some “Covering Fire”
5. Beast-09 had “Fury” cast upon him… because he totally needed it
6. The Mortar Crew went for a wild shot on Kaelyssa.  Missed

Round Two

I tried to be clever (You’d think I’d know by now that that NEVER works), but poor judgement on my part meant I came out of this round worse off than Lorcan: 

1. Actually, the MHSF did OK and murdered two Winter Guard
2. The Halberdiers charged the Doom Reavers, killed two; then got PWNED in the retaliation
3. I was half an inch short of “Rift-ing” the Manhunter’s face off through the Phoenix’s Arc Node.  At least the AOE drifted and disrupted the line somewhat with Rough Terrain
4. Kaelyssa popped her Feat, denying the charges that would have utterly destroyed both of my Warjacks.  Go me!

Round Three

This time it was bad luck that did for me, on two specific rolls (grumble grumble RAEG)…

1. …except for the MHSF who did great; murdering the remaining Winter Guard apart from the Officer – who then failed his test!  Woot!
2. My super-duper powered-up Manticore f@cking MISSED Beast-09 with his Combo-strike…  Don’t think I need to tell you what happened next (that Wreck Marker ain’t there for decoration)
3. My wall of expendable dudes in front of Kaelyssa evaporated in the face of eButcher, and proved Rage Tokens for his guys to shuffle up a bit
4. The Phoenix failed to Combust Yuri to death by ONE point of damage, despite boosting the roll

Round Four

Panic mode: 

1. The MHSF took a run/charge Order; finished off the Winter Guard with a Combined Melee Attack, and scooted over to help Kaelyssa
2. The Phoenix FINALLY Combusted Yuri (and two Doom Reavers and my Halberdier Standard Bearer) to death, only to be wiped out by the remaining Doom Reavers
3. Kaelyssa ran away with full FOCUS

Round Five

I think the picture says it all!  I made the mistake of trying to paper-cut eButcher a little with the MHSF (obviously to no effect whatsoever) before shooting him with Kaelyssa.  What I SHOULD have done, however, was shoot the already damaged Beast instead: I would a) have had a much better chance of damaging him and b) Lorcan *might* have taken the bait and moved Beast towards the MHSF with “Hyper-aggressive”, thereby opening up a charge-lane.  Kaelyssa would have had a marginally better chance stabbing eButcher than shooting him, but in the end took him for about 12 points of damage between spells and bullets.  He responded by casting “Boundless Charge” on himself, and splitting my Warcaster down the middle with his initial swing. 

I lose!

Now, I know I said last week that I’d try to keep it down to 1000 words next time, and so far I have.  So far…

Game 2: Neil vs. Mark

There was time for a second game, AND a new opponent willing to beat my face in!  I decided to try out Ossyan after all, and Damien helped me build a list on the fly:

• Lord Arcanist Ossyan (+6 Warjack points)
• Phoenix (10 points)
• Sylys Wyshnalyrr (2 points)
• 10 Houseguard Halberdiers (7 points)
  • Officer and Standard (2 points)
  • 10 Dawnguard Invictors (10 points)
  • Officer and Standard (2 points)
  • 4 Stormfall Archers (5 points)
  • Eiryss (3 points)

I liked it!  Had good shooting, and a couple of excellent targets for “Quicken”.  Fewer Warjacks than I would normally like, but that left room for more great units.  Mark had Cygnar, and was proxying Greygore Boomhowler for the new Ogrun Assault Corps.  I think it went something like this:

• Siege Brisbane (+5 Warjack points)
• Grenadier (5 points)
• Defender (9 points)
• Squire (2 points)
• 10 Trencher Infantry (10 points)
• Officer and Standard (3 points)
• Rifle Grenadier (1 point)
• 3 Ogrun assault Corps (6 points)
• Captain Jonas Murdoch (2 points)

Mark won the roll-off, but gave me first turn.  Basically I just shoved everything as far up the board as possible; casting “Quicken” on the Halberdiers so they could advance 11” in Shieldwall, and running the Invictors so that they benefitted from “Defensive Line”.  Mark responded by “Cautiously Advancing” and pinging my Phoenix for a few points of damage, and taking out one Halberdier and Invictor.

I upkept Quicken for free thanks to Sylys, and charged the Halberdiers into the Ogruns and Trenchers, using their “Follow Up” move to engage the survivors.  Ossyan then cast Quicken on the Phoenix, moved forward and popped his Feat.  The Invictors blew up the Grenadier; the Phoenix walked 8” and Combusted on more Trenchers!  The Stormfall Archers did a whack of damage to the Defender; and Eiryss “Disrupted” Siege like this:

Mark was able to kill off most of the Halberdiers, and even do a bit of damage to the Phoenix with “Assaulting” Trenchers (although he later felt dumb for giving me more Combustion targets; he had in fact prevented me from stabbing Siege with the Phoenix’s Thermal Blade next turn by clogging me up).  Quite spectacularly, Siege then blew up all the Stormfalls with a “Ground Pounder” attack, and under his Feat the Defender was then able to take Ossyan DOWN TO THREE HEALTH with a single shot.  Ouch!

The Phoenix burninated four more Trenchers, and the Halberdier Officer hit-but-failed-to-damage a Trencher that was blocking LOS to Siege.  Eiryss had to kill him instead, and then I went for the assassination with Ossyan and the five Invictors who could get range (I’d popped their mini-feat a turn too early).  When the smoke cleared and I’d spent all my Focus, Siege had THREE HEALTH LEFT; and the battlefield looked like this:

I lose!

Oh well – two fun games and a bunch of lessons learnt!  I do like the Retribution’s latest Warcaster, and that list was a blast to play!  I’ll bring it along next week for my game against Nick’s Skorne.  I’m going to leave Kaelyssa for the moment though, and bring a variation of my Garryth list in case of a second game.  I think they’d be a good pairing for Warpcon on the 28/29^th.

Until Next week!

Neil

]]> http://w-ired.org/blog/2012/01/14/the-retribution-of-neil-part-2/feed/ 0 http://w-ired.org/blog/2012/01/11/substitute-soldiers/ http://w-ired.org/blog/2012/01/11/substitute-soldiers/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:05:26 +0000 Mandragoran http://w-ired.org/blog/?p=979 Using alternative miniatures in your games!

- by James Carey

Time has passed since the early days of miniature gaming, when Games Workshop effectively stood alone in miniature gaming. Since the early days of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader and the Warhammer Fantasy Role Play Mass Combat game, many things have changed. For one, Games Workshop are now a commercial juggernaught. Still a leader in their field and turning profits in a recession, there are so many mainstream commercial enterprises which are falling on hard times (HMV) or as we all know too well are gone altogether.

While GW has undoubtedly changed in the last fifteen or so years, so have many other things in gaming. Other companies have surfaced some have come and gone while others, like Privateer Press, Corvus Belli, Mantic games, Rackham, Warlord Games, and Mongoose Publishing to name a few have surfaced. Some have had a massive impact on the hobby on a world-wide scale, bringing something new and special to the hobby, for the benefit of all! Maybe doing GW the favour of providing some healthy competition. Unfortunately, some have faded into the mists of obscurity for all time*.

So with many other companies, new and old, producing models in a varied range including historical, fantasy, science fiction, and alternative history, the modern gamer has a wide amount of choice for alternative toy soldiers to really personalise their own armies.

Personally, I have always liked to use models from the same company, regardless of game, in my armies for conversions or even simply alternative models. Over time though, this has changed slightly, but my own reason for doing so was because I felt the consistent look with the same scale and sculptors across the ranges, primarily with my GW armies seemed somehow more fitting. While I have become more lax with this on account of more products being available to me I still retain this mentality with Privateer Press games, mainly because that particular line and gaming world is so unique. In contrast, you could easily use some generic sci-fi soldiers or even WW2 models as Imperial Guard regiments for Warhammer (if the scale is right, in my humble opinion…), it is very hard to find an alternative for Cryx Bonejacks or Cyngar Stormblades.

Now, we come full circle. The tournament scene in Ireland has exploded in the last few years. People are travelling to more events, the internet has become a very useful communications tool for advertising tournaments and interaction between gamers who normally would not get the chance to talk all that much. While I miss Games Workshop running tournaments in Ireland, I think it is a very good thing that there are independently run tournaments by gamers, for gamers. A major problem I always had with the Games Workshop tournament pack was models had to be GW. This used to be the model having to be at least 50% GW. I heard recently that this percentage has increased. ‘Terrible’ is the word I would use to describe this rule.

I remember a few years back a GW tournament in Limerick where a local (at the time) from the Gathering used a Feral Ork army, using large dinosaur models as his Squiggoths and converting them. He had two in the army if I recall correctly. Long story short, he was told he couldn’t use them as they were not 50% GW, and part of them were scratch built. So, this cool, unique army was not allowed to play! I don’t know if this guy stopped playing because of this, but within a few months he had stopped visiting into the shop, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him at a con or a tournament since. I’d imagine that these two things are related. I could be wrong, in fact I hope I’m wrong but due to this silly rule, a unique army has been lost to the gaming scene, and now Ireland is down one gamer.

Anyway, let’s try and keep it positive, and less about anger at big businesses and their brain-dead policies. Mantic games have released their Space Dwarves**, and they are very, very nice. What the hell, they are awesome. Buy them, use them as Forge Fathers in Warpath, and get friends in your gaming group interested by getting the local Space Ork player to bring along his models to use as Warpath Orx***, so nobody else has to spend money if they don’t want to. Then, use your Space Dwarves as Space Marines, in independently run tournaments, where it will be allowed. So now, you have saved money with less expensive models, have an army for two games, and in one game, a very unique looking Space Marine army.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article, and hope it didn’t come across as a jumbled mess with no direction in its writing, or a shameless plug of my own political opinion/agenda. Vote Republican! Gingrich 2012

Remember: Violence is never the answer, unless the question is ‘What is not the answer?’

*Rest in peace, Starship Troopers. Your time with us, though short, is fondly remembered.

**Pronounced ‘Forge Fathers’

***Pronounced ‘Orcs’

The Retribution of Neil

Preamble

Bonjour and welcome to what I hope will become a weekly fixture.  I’m 27 (nearly 28), and currently studying a Masters at UCD.  I’ve been obsessed with model soldiers for AGES, but only ever played the various flavours of Warhammer until quite recently.  Warmachine always looked pretty kewl; but it wasn’t until the advent of mk-II in 2010 that I finally took the plunge.  Three continents later (I got the bug half-way through a Working Holiday in Australia, and my dudes have since battled in British Columbia as well as my hometown of Edinburgh), and I’ve never looked back!

As far as models go, I have *most* of the Retribution of Scyrah, a fair chunk of Protectorate of Menoth and some Thornfall Alliance.  All of it is painted using the rather fabulous Army Painter products (in fact, my Protectorate and Retribution armies look practically identical; both are primed with “Skeleton Bone”), and transported in two rather nifty Battlefoam cases.  Alas, I could only bring one case to Dublin on the plane, so after much hand-wringing I elected to bring just my Angry Elves.  Maybe I’ll swap them out when I next go home.

For those of you that don’t already know what “Warma-hordes” is (Hordes is a separate, but wholly compatible game published by the same company), I’m afraid you’re about to be subjected to some seriously spurious analogies as I try to explain the mechanics of the game and its setting within the Iron Kingdoms.  If you’re already a convert, then please skip down to this week’s battle report.

Depending upon who you ask, there are between 9 and 11 factions across the two games; but while each one has *general* defining characteristics, it is more appropriate to say there are over 100 different “Warcasters” and “Warlocks” to choose from (about 10 per faction).  These guys are all unique characters with their own back-stories and spells, and are the starting point for every army-list.  A game of Warmachine is probably best described as a “what if?” scenario, fought between two such mighty personalities of Western Immoren during the current climate of Serious Sh!t Going Down.

Although there are usually specific objectives to complete in each game, you can always win by “assassinating” your opponent’s Warcaster or Warlock.  In this regard, he/she is a bit like a King in chess, if a little more proactive!  In Warmachine, you get so many FOCUS points every turn which you can either “allocate” to your giant steam-powered robots (the Warjacks) to make them even more badass, cast your own spells, or “camp” to buff your armour for a turn.  The FURY system in Hordes is similar; but rather than automatically receiving the points each turn, they have to be generated by poking the hopped-up monsters under your Warlock’s control (that’ll be the Warbeasts, then…), and then “reeving” their latent energy.  In addition, all Warcasters and Warlocks have an individual “Feat” – a once-per-game ability that can turn the tide of battle if timed well.

A player-turn consists of activating each model/unit in any order that you wish, and performing a “move” and then an “action” with them.  Models fight individually, and combat is worked out by adding 2D6 to the relevant statistic of the attacking model’s card (such as “MAT” for melee attacks), and comparing the result to the corresponding statistic on the recipient’s (such as “DEF” for defence).  The game is all about pulling off dirty combinations, but the rules are so tightly written that you can rest assured the designers expect nothing less of their players!

But enough of my rambling – it’s time I got on with this week’s battle report.  If you’d like to know more, I strongly recommend you visit the Privateer Press Website and check out the Warmachine and Hordes galleries.  The nice folks also provide free basic rules for both games here and here (scroll to the bottom of each page).

Battle Report

The format for these will probably change every week until I settle on something I like.  At the moment, my current feelings are that narrative battle-reports are silly, and that detailed blow-by-blow accounts are tedious (I’ve written both in my time).  Edited highlights are the way to go, and illustrative photographs are Full Of Win.  Feel free to send me your suggestions – just don’t be offended if I ignore them…

I decided to base my first “Irish” list off a Garryth list I’ve had reasonable tournament success with… but with a different Warcaster that a) I needed practice with, and b) ought to be a better fit for the list anyway.  I also swapped some things around to fit in a second Warjack.  Bizarrely, I ended up supplying my opponent’s list too, because I hadn’t actually organised a game, just turned up at Gamers World with a hopeful expression on my face.  Paul took pity on me and consented to a quick game – but not until he’d rather spectacularly ripped apart Pearse’s Blood Angels with his brutal Necron army (bless ‘im).

Less than 2 weeks to go!!!

Irelands First 50 Point Warmachine/Hordes Tourney Sunday 12th Feb Gamers World

50 points of metal crashing against beast!
Unleash the full might of your army on your foes!

This will be the first tournament of this size being run here & will run the finalised steamroller 2012 rule set.

When – 12th Feb 2011
Where – Gamers World, Dublin
Cost – Euro 10
Prizes – 1st, 2nd, and a variety of others/spot prizes
Players – Max 20
Rounds – 4 rounds
System – Steamroller 2012

Pre-booking available – email me/pm me and i will send on the details

Ciaran here, just a quick note to anyone thinking of trying Warmachine & Hordes, Owen Conlon (a fellow Pressganger) and myself will be running demo games in Gamers World, Dublin on the following days:

Tuesday 2nd August from 4pm

Wednesday 10th August from 6pm

We will have a mix of all the different factions, so you don’t need to bring anything. Though if you have a battle box already that you’d like to try, bring it along.

I have some copies of the Quick Start rules, which you can also get here -

Warmachine:

Hordes:

Let me know if you’re interested. Spread the word!

Ciaran

Welcome to the first Warmchine 101 Blog. My name is Ciaran and I am a Pressganger for Privateer Press, basically a volunteer to promote the game, and run demo’s and tournaments. I was recently asked a couple of questions about getting into Warmachine and Hordes so i though i would put them up here for anyone else that may be interested.

Q1) Which book is used for building armies? We noticed there are several profiles for the same units in say the Forces books, the Wrath book, and the Prime MkII book (though there are some units in some that aren’t in the others). So which one do we use?

A1) Unlike 40k/fantasy, Warmachine & Hordes doesn’t use codex’s for armies. Traditionally all armies are updated at the same time with a major book release, ie wrath for warmachine & the upcoming domination for hordes. There are army books out for all the factions, but this was done to update all the mark 1 model rules to mk2 & to consolidate all the old books into easier to manage/transport books for players. With regard to what books to use, its quite easy as you can use any of them in any combination, as long as you follow the standard allocation rules found in Prime/Primal. For people starting off I would try to keep it simple and use either Prime or Primal for unit choices until you get to grips with how the system works & then you can experiment with any of them

Q2) What is the standard points people play? None of us are likely to play on the tourney scene any time soon but starting on the same footing as everyone else would be handy.

A2) Standard games are either 35 (most of the tournaments i run ~ 1500pt 40k game) or 50 points (larger & more toys ~ 2000pt 40k game). Best thing to do for starting off is play 15 point games – which conveniently is what the battlebox/starter sets are worth. After that try add in a unit or 2 & play 25 point games to build yourself up. The game scales quite well & there are tournaments designed around starter set size games

Q3) Where can we find the points costs for each unit? For all the profiles found across books, we didn’t see any points values or anything similar system.

A3) Point cost is on all the model cards & should be in all the books. Generally your warcaster is free & gives you free points to spend on warjacks/beasts (usually between 5-8 though there are exceptions). Units cost between 5-8 points, solos cost anywhere from 1-4 points, and medium and heavy jacks/beasts cost 4-12 points. If you have an iphone/ipad/itouch/android device, go to the app store and look up ibodger & you will get the free Warmachine/Hordes army building program

Hope this helps & anyone has any more questions about Warmachine or Hordes on the forums, my username is madrab

Talk to you soon
Madrab

I will be running a 35 Point Warmachine/Hordes Tournament on 28th August in Gamer’s World Dublin. Full details are:
Steamroller 2011 Rules (can be found here: http://privateerpress.com/files/Official%20Steamroller%202011%20Rules.pdf )
35 points
2 lists allowed
10 Minute Turns
Registration begins at 10:30 am
Entry 10 Euro
No painting requirement

Prizes will include best general, 2nd place and a few spot prizes

I hope to see some of you there, it should be good fun. Spread the word to anyone i may have missed,

Ciaran

I will be running a 35 Point Warmachine/Hordes Tournament on July 24th in Gamer’s World Dublin. Full details are:
Steamroller 2011 Rules (can be found here: http://privateerpress.com/organized-play/steamroller-tournaments)
35 points
2 lists allowed, the second list must have a different Character warcaster/lock
10 Minute Turns
Registration begins at 10:30 am
Entry 10 Euro
No painting requirement

Ciaran

Its ETC fever at the moment, & the Privateer Press players arent getting left out

The Warmachine and Hordes ETC will be held in Maelstrom Games on July 2nd/3rd & will comprise of 4 man teams. Looks like we will definitely be sending over 1 team, but we are not limited to just 1. If anyone would be interested in going let me know and we can round up numbers & see what the scope of things are.

Details here – http://w-ired.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1274

Basic Painting Required – All models must be painted using a minimum of three colors. Players should differentiate areas of the model to the best of their ability. Bases can be plain or finished. Hope to see you all there, and any questions give me a shout.

Ciaran

Revised 2010 Steamroller Link: Revised_SR2010 Rules Using the Base Colour Variant http://privateerpress.com/

Photos from the Last Event: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001139769137&ref=ts

I’d just like to let people know about NUI Maynooth Games Societys annual convention, Dominicon. It’s on this year on the 12th – 14th of November in the Hume building, NUI Maynooth, Kildare.

Entry to the con is just €10, for the weekend and tournament entry is €2 each.

We’ll be hosting 3 main events, on Saturdy the 13th we’ll have our 1750 point 40k Tournament, while on the Sunday we’ll be running both a 2200 point Warhammer Fantasy and a 25 point Warmachine/Hordes tournament. Both 40k and Fantasy will run for 3 games while Warmachine/Hordes will run for 4 games.

Rules Packs can be Downloaded here:

40k Rulespack
Warhammer 40k Rulespack

Fantasy Rulespack
Warhammer Fantasy Rulespack

Warmachine/Hordes
Warmachines Rulespack is slightly delayed but it will be added as soon as possible.
However, format is:
Four 25 point games with the Kill Box Scenario

You can also check out our website at:
Dominicon of Steel Website

So much to do, in fact. There’s never enough time to get everything done.

Now is actually a very interesting time to be involved. Recent years have provided us with plenty of new releases and there’s always something for everyone.

The classic Warhammer game has recently seen the release of it’s 8th edition rulebook. Warhammer : Islands of Blood is soon to follow in September. The new boxed game features some fantastic new miniatures, and the new rules should require players to rethink their army compositions to fit better with the new rules. The only question is whether to start of a new army or upgrade your current army to fit into the new rules and army compositions.

Of course, we also can’t ignore the futuristic cousin, Warhammer 40,000. While the current ruleset is not new, there’s always a new Codex just around the corner, and of course, new models to go with it.

For the historical buffs among you, a relatively recent release was the 2nd edition of the Warhammer Ancient Battles ruleset. I got my hands on the book recently, it’s very nicely put together. The game has diverged in rules from it’s Fantasy counterpart, but most long term Warhammer players will see rules from previous editions still present in the historical rules.

Privateer Press fans are certainly having a busy year. The release of Warmachine : Prime MKII has been well recieved and all of the Forces of Warmachine books are now available. Hot on the heels of all this is the upcoming release of HORDES : Primal MKII as well as the series of Forces of HORDES books due for each faction, as well as the first chance for HORDES players to use an all Minion force (along the lines of the all Mercenary armies from Warmachine.)

The new kid on the wargames block in the last year has been the skirmish game Malifaux. I don’t know a huge amount about Malifaux as I’ve resisted buying it so far, it seems to be proving rather popular among those who have collected factions, and the miniatures are really excellent. Time will tell.

But which one to choose. Should I add to my Dark Elves and Dwarfs, or start a High Elf army? Finish my Flesh Tearers or mech up my existing Crimson Fists army? Paint a Roman force for WAB? Continue with my Protectorate of Menoth force or break out the Skorne figures in the box for the HORDES release? Start playing Specialist Games again? Try Malifaux? The choices are endless.

So much to do, so little time.

Entry into the tournament will be 10 Euro.

The tournament is set at 35 points and will follow the Revised 2010 Steamroller format [PDF].

Title: Warmachine/Hordes Tournament
Location: Gamers World, Dublin
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Description: 35pt Revised 2010 Steamroller format
Date: 28th August
Start Time: 11am
End Time: 7pm