After a nearly year-long hiatus from the hobby to pursue more electronic-oriented forms of entertainment (yes... I was an mmo addict...), I have returned to the hobby that I love, if only in part. I have sold off and downsized much, but somehow I managed to hold onto my Flames of War miniatures, along with a smallish Nurgle CSM army.
After playing the fantastic MMO "World of Tanks," I find myself being drawn back to the miniature game that started it all for me. I've been playing FoW off-and-on for five years now (coincidentally the same number of years I will have been married to my beautiful wife on the 26th of this month!) and I typically find myself gravitating back towards its more mature theme, basis in history and realism, and lower price-point (since I still own much of the game rules and material).
Now with the arrival of companies like Plastic Soldier Company reducing the cost of 15mm game pieces, and price-point-positive www.gamodls.com providing miniatures that even I can afford, it should be easier than ever for me to get back into the Flames of War scene.
I'll be starting with Mid-war battles, which have always been a favorite of mine. The battles of the desert and Mediterranean have always been pleasing to me. This is probably due in large part to the lack of a Pacific theater, as well as the tendency of Hollywood and game producers to over-glorify the battles of France and Germany during the late war period. Tunisia and Sicily allow me to play in environments more interesting to me than the over-done beaches, bocage, and villages of the Normandy countryside.
In the meantime, I'll be working on small modeling projects to prepare myself for larger projects. Time to get to it.
My resolution: to finish painting both my FoW armies and my Nurgle CSM. The nurgles might be just for selling but maybe I'll hold onto them... we'll see.
Until next time,
--FP135
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Making the Hobby Our Own: Specialist Games
Continuing the discussion of Making the Hobby our Own (First discussed on this blog in THIS post), I would like to bring up the topic of the Specialist Games provided by Games Workshop.
Sadly, while playing at my monthly game-meet, a lot of players I talked to had never heard of any of the Specialist Games outside of Battle Fleet Gothic and WH40k Epic. I found this shocking! A lot of the Specialist Games have their rule sets hosted on GW's website FREE TO DOWNLOAD. To introduce you to a few of the more popular ones outside of BFG and Epic, here are a couple of my favorites:
MORDHEIM-
Mordheim is set in the same universe as Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It is a "Skirmish" scale game, meaning you have only a handful of models for each player. The story goes: A big comet crashed into the town of Mordheim, and fragments of this comet possess magical properties. Naturally, this means everybody wants it. However, the city is much too dense and sprawling for traditional units to hunt for fragments of the so-called "Wyrdstone", and thus "Warbands" enter the city in small groups to try and scavenge as much of the precious material as they can find. When they run into each other in the decimated city, that's when the fighting starts!
What I like about Mordheim: Better than any other game system I have played yet outside of RPGs, Mordheim allows you to advance your warband's capabilities. Campaigns actually are worth playing! Campaigns allow you to develop your warband, in which you can form real attachments to some of your characters. My favorite character yet is the epic Norse beserker that has slaughtered dozens of a Vampire's Zombie minions! It has a simple-to-play system that GW is known for, and games can be played in around an hour, depending on the size of the warbands. You can also find tons of fan-created material, and there are several very-active communities of staunch fans!
What I don't like about Mordheim: There are some balance issues. Skaven notoriously overpowered, and there are some hiccups in the rules. However, there are a myriad of house-rulings and fan-created supplements to fix this. In fact, one ambitious team actually created a whole new version of the game known as "Coreheim," which is based on balancing the core rulebook as much as possible. Also, if you are primarily a 40k player, you have to make all-new terrain to fit the medieval theme of the game. This was a real pain for me, since a game of Mordheim requires a LOT of city scenery with a medieval theme.
INQUISITOR-
Inquisitor is exactly what it sounds like: a game about 40k Inquisitors. If you have ever played Kill-team, you have played an extremely-simplified version of this game. Inquisitor is even smaller in terms of model count, as each player might have around 4 characters in a warband. It is highly detailed in its rules, nearly combining elements of the Dark Heresy RPG with Warhammer 40k the tabletop game.
What I like about Inquisitor: All units of measurement in the game are given in yards, which means you can play this game with any scale of models that you choose. Though most play with 54mm models (1/32 scale) due to the higher detail one can achieve with the miniatures, you can also play the game with your standard 40k 28mm models. In fact, I follow one particular blog (INQ28) that specializes in playing Inquisitor in this scale. Some of his conversions are spectacular. Another thing I like about this game is that it completely throws concepts of fairness and balance right out the window. There are no "points", "force organization slots", or any other such nonsense to get in the way of your character concepts. If you want to have a bad-a** space marine in your inquisitor's retinue, you can! That is, as long as the Game Master approves it. Which leads me to my next point...
What I Don't Like about Inquisitor: The game needs a minimum of 3 people to play- 1 "Game Master" and two players. Like an RPG GM, the game master acts as both a referee and a plot-enhancer, helping to tell an epic story. While I understand that this is necessary for a "narrative" wargame, it does prove to be an inconvenience at times. I also didn't like the lack of balance at first, which I found a bit confusing, but now I have come to appreciate it. Not having limitations can make for really epic games! Lastly, the rules-set is completely different from any other GW game I have played yet. That in-and-of-itself is not a bad thing, but it did take longer for me to learn because of that fact. It also makes for very slow games at times, and necessitates the use of a calculator for some of the complicated math!
All in all, I love specialist games. If you have not played any of them, I strongly encourage you to give them a try. If you play either WFB or 40k, you likely have some models you can use in one of these games. In these times of increasing prices, free is GOOD...
--FP135
Sadly, while playing at my monthly game-meet, a lot of players I talked to had never heard of any of the Specialist Games outside of Battle Fleet Gothic and WH40k Epic. I found this shocking! A lot of the Specialist Games have their rule sets hosted on GW's website FREE TO DOWNLOAD. To introduce you to a few of the more popular ones outside of BFG and Epic, here are a couple of my favorites:
MORDHEIM-
Mordheim is set in the same universe as Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It is a "Skirmish" scale game, meaning you have only a handful of models for each player. The story goes: A big comet crashed into the town of Mordheim, and fragments of this comet possess magical properties. Naturally, this means everybody wants it. However, the city is much too dense and sprawling for traditional units to hunt for fragments of the so-called "Wyrdstone", and thus "Warbands" enter the city in small groups to try and scavenge as much of the precious material as they can find. When they run into each other in the decimated city, that's when the fighting starts!
What I like about Mordheim: Better than any other game system I have played yet outside of RPGs, Mordheim allows you to advance your warband's capabilities. Campaigns actually are worth playing! Campaigns allow you to develop your warband, in which you can form real attachments to some of your characters. My favorite character yet is the epic Norse beserker that has slaughtered dozens of a Vampire's Zombie minions! It has a simple-to-play system that GW is known for, and games can be played in around an hour, depending on the size of the warbands. You can also find tons of fan-created material, and there are several very-active communities of staunch fans!
What I don't like about Mordheim: There are some balance issues. Skaven notoriously overpowered, and there are some hiccups in the rules. However, there are a myriad of house-rulings and fan-created supplements to fix this. In fact, one ambitious team actually created a whole new version of the game known as "Coreheim," which is based on balancing the core rulebook as much as possible. Also, if you are primarily a 40k player, you have to make all-new terrain to fit the medieval theme of the game. This was a real pain for me, since a game of Mordheim requires a LOT of city scenery with a medieval theme.
INQUISITOR-
Inquisitor is exactly what it sounds like: a game about 40k Inquisitors. If you have ever played Kill-team, you have played an extremely-simplified version of this game. Inquisitor is even smaller in terms of model count, as each player might have around 4 characters in a warband. It is highly detailed in its rules, nearly combining elements of the Dark Heresy RPG with Warhammer 40k the tabletop game.
What I like about Inquisitor: All units of measurement in the game are given in yards, which means you can play this game with any scale of models that you choose. Though most play with 54mm models (1/32 scale) due to the higher detail one can achieve with the miniatures, you can also play the game with your standard 40k 28mm models. In fact, I follow one particular blog (INQ28) that specializes in playing Inquisitor in this scale. Some of his conversions are spectacular. Another thing I like about this game is that it completely throws concepts of fairness and balance right out the window. There are no "points", "force organization slots", or any other such nonsense to get in the way of your character concepts. If you want to have a bad-a** space marine in your inquisitor's retinue, you can! That is, as long as the Game Master approves it. Which leads me to my next point...
What I Don't Like about Inquisitor: The game needs a minimum of 3 people to play- 1 "Game Master" and two players. Like an RPG GM, the game master acts as both a referee and a plot-enhancer, helping to tell an epic story. While I understand that this is necessary for a "narrative" wargame, it does prove to be an inconvenience at times. I also didn't like the lack of balance at first, which I found a bit confusing, but now I have come to appreciate it. Not having limitations can make for really epic games! Lastly, the rules-set is completely different from any other GW game I have played yet. That in-and-of-itself is not a bad thing, but it did take longer for me to learn because of that fact. It also makes for very slow games at times, and necessitates the use of a calculator for some of the complicated math!
All in all, I love specialist games. If you have not played any of them, I strongly encourage you to give them a try. If you play either WFB or 40k, you likely have some models you can use in one of these games. In these times of increasing prices, free is GOOD...
--FP135
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Making the Hobby Our Own: Alternate Models
Before you read my post, read this: http://www.tabletopwar.net/2011/05/cutting-costs-making-hobby-yours.html
It is a post by a fellow blogger posing the question: What is keeping you from using alternate models for 40k? Pretty much there is only one reason: tournaments (ok, maybe personal taste as well). However, since GW no longer puts on nearly as many events as independent retailers, I believe it is up to the independent retailers to make the jump and allow alternate models in 40k tournaments.
Obviously, this would need to be carefully regulated. For example, base sizes must be strictly adhered to. This helps prevents abuse of modeling for a gaming reason. Maybe "counts-as" models must be pre-approved, and detailed in the army list that you hand each opponent in the battle. Regardless of the particulars, I believe that it is our prerogative to "Make the game our own" by using non-GW products.
In the spirit of that school of thought, I am showcasing several models I commonly use in my local scene to play 40k. Above is a picture of a Cyberdemon from Fantasy Flight Game's OOP boardgame based on the ID computer game: Doom. Having re-based him on a properly-sized base, and giving him weapons modifications to match WYSIWYG, I now present him as a Daemon Prince in my CSM army. (Not many people do daemons as good as Doom!)
Next up are some zombie figures I use from the Wargames Factory. They sell several multi-part plastic models for gaming at affordable prices. I use the zombies pictured above for lesser daemons in my current CSM army. I believe it adds flavor to a Nurgle list!
Lastly, I offer another Wargames Factory plastic model, coupled with the excellent head pieces produced by Pig Iron Productions. These have replaced my IG, as they are nearly half the cost (18 troopers in a box for 15-20 dollars).
In the current economy, it pays to remember that GW is a publicly-owned company, and not really in it for the long haul outside of providing long-term profit opportunities to its investors. That is why you see things like staff-cutbacks, price raises every year, and so on. If the company is not turning a profit in the here-and-now, then the investors are not happy, which is bad news for the company as a whole.
What I'm getting at is: while the prices of models keep going up, I don't see my paycheck getting any bigger. In fact, with fuel prices being what they are, I'm seeing half my income going into the gas tank. That means I have less and less to spend on models these days as it is, and then some due to the price hikes. Therefore, if I don't buy it used, I'll be looking for alternative models. I suggest we all do the same, until GW makes some major changes to its business model.
Please feel free to discuss this via the comments box!
--FP135
It is a post by a fellow blogger posing the question: What is keeping you from using alternate models for 40k? Pretty much there is only one reason: tournaments (ok, maybe personal taste as well). However, since GW no longer puts on nearly as many events as independent retailers, I believe it is up to the independent retailers to make the jump and allow alternate models in 40k tournaments.
Obviously, this would need to be carefully regulated. For example, base sizes must be strictly adhered to. This helps prevents abuse of modeling for a gaming reason. Maybe "counts-as" models must be pre-approved, and detailed in the army list that you hand each opponent in the battle. Regardless of the particulars, I believe that it is our prerogative to "Make the game our own" by using non-GW products.
In the spirit of that school of thought, I am showcasing several models I commonly use in my local scene to play 40k. Above is a picture of a Cyberdemon from Fantasy Flight Game's OOP boardgame based on the ID computer game: Doom. Having re-based him on a properly-sized base, and giving him weapons modifications to match WYSIWYG, I now present him as a Daemon Prince in my CSM army. (Not many people do daemons as good as Doom!)
Next up are some zombie figures I use from the Wargames Factory. They sell several multi-part plastic models for gaming at affordable prices. I use the zombies pictured above for lesser daemons in my current CSM army. I believe it adds flavor to a Nurgle list!
Lastly, I offer another Wargames Factory plastic model, coupled with the excellent head pieces produced by Pig Iron Productions. These have replaced my IG, as they are nearly half the cost (18 troopers in a box for 15-20 dollars).
In the current economy, it pays to remember that GW is a publicly-owned company, and not really in it for the long haul outside of providing long-term profit opportunities to its investors. That is why you see things like staff-cutbacks, price raises every year, and so on. If the company is not turning a profit in the here-and-now, then the investors are not happy, which is bad news for the company as a whole.
What I'm getting at is: while the prices of models keep going up, I don't see my paycheck getting any bigger. In fact, with fuel prices being what they are, I'm seeing half my income going into the gas tank. That means I have less and less to spend on models these days as it is, and then some due to the price hikes. Therefore, if I don't buy it used, I'll be looking for alternative models. I suggest we all do the same, until GW makes some major changes to its business model.
Please feel free to discuss this via the comments box!
--FP135
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Discussion: Nurgle CSM Pt. 2
Continuing the discussion began in Part 1.
To continue my justification of my units, we move on to the Troops section.
Plague Marines-
Plague marines have been hailed as the single most worthy Troops choice in the CSM codex, and I am inclined to agree. Though I think they are a bit overcosted currently, Plague Marines have a few notable benefits over their standard CSM brethren:
A) They have increased toughness, as well as Feel No Pain. This makes them tanks to small arms fire.
B) They have access to 2 special weapons per squad, which allows small fire-teams to pack a vicious wallop.
C) They are troop choices, and thus are a scoring unit.
D) They have blight grenades, which allow them to take some of the punch out of units assaulting them.
However, for all these benefits, there are several notable drawbacks to Plague Marines:
A) Feel no Pain is negated by anything AP 1 or 2, or that would cause Instant-death (I.e. force weapons, weapons with double the strength of the model's toughness, etc), and power weapons. With no invulnerable save, this means that Plague Marines are especially vulnerable to high-strength or low AP weapons like Demolisher cannons, Lascannons, and Plasma. Since they cost a lot of points, a few heavy weapons can ruin a squad of Plague Marines. Close combat can also ruin them if they are up against Power Weapon wielders of any type.
B) Without some form of transportation, they are quite slow (as foot-troops are oft to be). With the amount of mechanization in 5th, they really need a transport to get them across the field faster.
C) They lack access to heavy weapons, instead having to rely on shorter-ranged special weapons such as the meltagun and plasmagun. This isn't a severe drawback, but without transports, armies like Tau and IG can outrange them and destroy them before they can close the distance.
Summoned Lesser Daemons-
My list, with the models on hand, was severely lacking in the troops department. I needed something to capture and hold the objectives, so I turned to Summoned Lesser Daemons to fill the gap. They aren't too bad, surprisingly, and can even turn the tide for some objective-based battles! They have a few things going for them:
A) They have a +5 invul save. This means that they can sometimes withstand attacks that would have wiped out whole squads of Plague Marines, such as Demolisher cannons and the like.
B) They are fairly inexpensive compared to other choices in the codex.
C) With personal icons, they can bail out some of your other units with a precision deep-strike. They can also Assault the same turn they arrive, a huge bonus.
The downside to them is that they HAVE to be held in reserve. You don't get a choice. This means that you cannot use them for screening your other units at the start of the game or similar uses. The other downside is that they lack offensive punch, having only regular CCWs and 2 attacks at strength 4, so they are no better in assaults than regular CSMs but they have no shooting attacks either.
Summoned Greater Daemon-
To help fill the heavy anti-tank gap, I put in a Summoned Greater Daemon. This is a hit-or-miss strategy for me. On the plus side, if I successfully summon a Daemon by sacrificing a champion from elsewhere in the list, I get another Monstrous Creature that can chew through tank armor in assaults. Not so great is that I have to sacrifice a perfectly good model on the table to get him, and there is no guarantee of when the Daemon will arrive. Still, an extra MC in this list helps give the opponent another target to split his fire on, helping take some of the heat off the Daemon Princes. During my last game, a Summoned Greater Daemon pinned a squad inside their Chimera by standing at the rear of the vehicle and wrecking it. Only the sergeant had enough room to deploy, and he was quickly killed by lesser daemons backing up the larger Greater Daemon. Use his base size to your advantage.
I will go on to Army tactics and tips in part 3.
Discussion: Nurgle CSM
Followers of Papa Nurgle have been around for a while, but how are we faring against the ever-rising trend of Mechanization in 5th?
To be clear: I am new to CSM, especially Nurgle. However, I have trouble finding any relevant tactics on the Internet outside of Kirby's blog: "3++ is the New Black", and I don't know when that was written or how relevant it is to the times. On the other hand, I have played a few games with them recently, so I would like to discuss some of my recent observations on CSM and Nurgle-followers in particular.
Here is a list of what I currently run (until I can get more models anyway):
1 Daemon Prince with Lash
1 Sorceror with wings, plasma pistol, Mark of Nurgle, personal icon and Warptime
3 Chaos Terminators plus 1 Champion, Icon of Nurgle, 3 powerfists, 1 Reaper Autocannon
3 Chaos Terminators, Icon of Nurgle, 3 powerfists, 1 Reaper Autocannon
4 Plague Marines plus one Champion, 2 Meltaguns, powerfist, plasma pistol, personal icon
4 Plague Marines plus one Champion, 2 Meltaguns, powerfist, plasma pistol, personal icon
10 Summoned Lesser Daemons
10 Summoned Lesser Daemons
1 Summoned Greater Daemon
Now, I didnt intend this post to be about my list. I am well aware that it is a sub-optimal list, and I'm ok with that. I would, however, like to discuss some of the benefits and uses to some of the units in my list.
Daemon Princes-
I have found that the Lash Prince has long been lauded as the best HQ choice in the CSM codex. I have seen the benefit of Lash of Submission, though now I find it's use limited in the current trend of mechanized forces. Though limited more so now than in the early days of 5th, that does not mean useless! There are common situations that Lash comes in handy for still; such as IG bubblewrap situations. Being able to pull a squad away to leave a Leman Russ vulnerable can be a great use of Lash. Really though, I think the best use for Princes is to use them as vehicle killers and general bullet soaks. Lash really is the best choice if you decide to mark a DP, as the cost is quite low and it gives you some versatility.
Sorcerers-
Sorcerers are a matter of taste. Most people prefer to go the route of Daemon Princes as their HQs to reap the benefits of a Monstrous Creature at an affordable cost. I chose to put a Sorcerer in for a couple reasons: A) I had Built a model for it from bits already B) Mobility is something Nurgle CSM struggle with without rhinos C) I needed a redundant personal Icon to summon daemons with, in case my Plague Marines died. With his wings, I could fly further up the table and drop a squad of lesser daemons into an assault. I gave mine a mark of Nurgle for the added toughness, and a plasma pistol for some light anti-vehicular punch. Warptime can help against squads in close combat, scoring more wounds in the hopes of inflicting a failed morale check. Again, this is not for everyone. In our current meta-trend of more and more vehicles, you are well advised to stick with the Daemon Prince as your 2nd HQ option.
Chaos Terminators-
These elite choice troops are likely to be one of the most valuable transport-popping squads in the codex. Though they cannot go toe-to-toe with imperial Terminators in assault, chaos have cheap and easy access to the reliable Reaver autocannon. The Heavy 2, twin-linked strength 7 shots can reach vehicles up to 36" away, which is pretty darn good for popping light transports. Add a mark of Nurgle to the unit, and these beasts become much more resistant to small arms. Here's a tip: do not deep strike these types of units unless you have a really good reason to. You want these guys at medium range, picking apart transports, MCs, and other targets of opportunity. Outfitting them for CC is costly, and should be avoided if you have better options.
I will continue my dissemination in part 2.
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