An interesting topic of discussion on a forum....

VS

On a forum at a local gaming store (LGS) a hot topic came up among the Warhammer Fantasy players to start using “Lowhammer” rules, these are just guidelines and rules used most often agreed upon by two players in friendly games or official at an event to ensure there is some balance to all the armies.

The concept comes from the school of thought that not all army books are balanced. So, by limiting what more powerful armies may take or general magic spells/items that just tend to unbalance the game in a single roll of the dice making a gaming experience less enjoyable.  Often to the point that either people don’t want to play at official events or against certain people because frankly they are not playing a game, they are playing a list.

Most often, these people have various labels including competitive gamer, asshole and power gamer among others. They will build an army list to bring to events to be “Ard” if you will, to think they are the best, but instead it is the list winning for them as well as dice ruling the games. Not the simple and most basic concept of a strategy wargame that is being a good general and having good tactics.

 I have seen lists out there in both Fantasy and 40k that you can give to a total newbie, give them 3 practice games and they will do just about as well the top players you may see at some events. Mind you, not all top players at events are like this, but if you watch you will find a pattern out there. Think I am crazy? Ask for copies of their lists, look in the internet to see other winning lists and the use of specific things like “Death Star” units (units that are expensive, powerful, often large and designed to be impossible to destroy as well as strike with such force it cannot be stopped), MIN/MAX units, multiples of the same unit, Hordes, common spell groups (in Fantasy)….you will even see a pattern of armies that tend to go to the top of the list quickly.

Elements you won’t see in these lists are those that follow fluff, variety, the use of units that may be considered “inferior” with the current rules or theme. The concept of a tournament is to bring a good general list and challenge other players in games at how good of a general you are against their skills. Not how well you can build a list and how lucky you are at throwing dice. Lists are a crutch to many players out there. Many know this as a fact; others don’t even realize they are doing this.

This is generally a bad thing for a gaming community, why you may ask? Simple, if you bring a list and roll over someone and they play another list just like it….because it works and wins. So, the player is no longer winning, the list is! When you see these lists over and over, players get sick of them. They don’t want to play against them or rather the player unless they have to in say a tournament setting. I can say that I have walked away from games against players with these lists with a bad taste in my mouth, not because I lost (sometimes I win against these super lists with luck and skill) but rather it is the same flipping list over and over you see on the internet. Usually this army is played by someone that thinks they are “all that” as well and that attitude bleeds over into the game as they think they are God’s gift to gaming. Sadly, they are not. People don’t want to play against these lists or these players. People will avoid going to a tournament or showing up on a specific gaming night to avoid playing when certain people are not around.

Someone called it “Pussyhammer” on the forum, but really they are playing “Powerhammer”, so take your choice of label. Personally, I like pussy so you know where my opinion is on this topic. I like balance and fun over a one sided game that was won with a specific list or a one trick pony that wins at the flick of a dice.

Many other games use various rules at events to balance a game:

·        Flames of War: Uses Early/Mid/Late Era to define what units you can bring to an event.

·        Warmachine/Hordes: Limit lists to what you could include, or ask to bring multiple lists to an event. So you never know what you’re playing.

·        Magic the Gathering: this game posts up banned cards, limits to types of cards you can included among other things. They are designed to create some balance.

Simply put other games have put rules and limits out for their events to keep the peace among the players to prevent abuse of the rules to win at games. Just because something is there does not mean you have to include it into your list. It is about attitude and balance, not what you “can” take and what is “the best” and what is not.

I may offend some people with this post, but perhaps I am hitting the nail on the head to the matter. All I can say if you feel that you were offended and this applies to you then you have something to think about when it comes to your lists and how people look at you. Don’t cry when one day you show up at an event and nobody is hardly there to play or you’re playing the same people over and over, perhaps with very similar lists. If you drive off the new players with crazy ass lists and power gaming you will. Kill the community or grow the community that choice is up to you.

Merry Christmas! One and All!

I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or whatever holiday you celebrate that it is a great one! Take a moment to be thankful for everything we have and enjoy the time with friends and family.

May the Emperor light a candle and let there be peace on Earth! At least for one day! Then it's back to painting and throwing dice in the name of war and fun!

Blood Bowl Game vs Ogres and Season Review for the 4th Round

Well, we are moving into the 4^th round of our league season leaving just 3 games left to decide who moves on to the finals. Everyone just has one single match in the 5^th round with the final 4 teams will play to determine who enters into the Squigball finals to determine the league winner.

At this point my stats look something like this:

5 Wins, 1 Draw and 1 Loss.

Two out of three Lineorcs has leveled up. One with +1 STR and another with Block.

My Thrower just earned his first XP this past game when he caused a casualty from a last minute block

The Blitzers have really beefed up with two with two increases and the other two have at least one. One has Dauntless and Mighty Blow, another with Strip Ball, another with Dodge and Tackle and the last with Guard. At first I thought it would be a mistake to not take the same skills but I have found that the variety of skills has allowed me to adjust my play style in some games to the best benefit.

None of my four Black Orcs have had a chance to roll for an increase but short of a MVP or a casualty they won’t get much opportunity to earn points otherwise.

 At this point I have managed to purchase two more reolls for a total of 5 along with my Apothecary to help protect my team from the dice gods.

My general stats right now:

Total Winnings: 410k

Season Record: 5-1-1

Points For: 12

Points Against: 4

Casualties For: 11

Casualties Against: 6

My last three games are up against Ogres, Lizadmen and Slann for the last round. At this point it appears that the Undead, Rotters, Ogres and my team are in the running for the playoff games. The Slann could pull up a few wins (or draws) and if someone takes enough losses over the next few games there could be a shift as to the final teams playing. In any case I am going to be playing some class A tough teams here.

Thursday I went up against Tim and his Ogres. While they have not have had a great season they have not had a bad one either. Most of his record is draws with a 2-4-1 records (looks like he played one game early). This team is a returning team from last year and the extra game has seasoned his team further with more experience. The team has 5 Ogres and 6 Snotlings (3 journeyman status). Two ogres are pumped up with 42 and 51 experience points and the others range from 22, 8 and 6. Two Snotlings have some major XP built up at 10 and 15 making one a good fouler with Sneaky Git and the other with Catch. One of the Ogres got two AG increases and Strong Arm making for one hell of a thrower! One of his newer Ogres has Guard and the other is ST 6! The other is a beast with Break Tackle and Dodge.

This was a great game despite some setbacks on both sides and some amazing highlights. Taking the game 2-0 was a surprise after my disaster in the first quarter when I ran one of my Blitzer’s to the corner end zone afraid to make a “go for it” to score as I had used my reroll already. Only to have Tim bash me with 3 Gnobblar bastards knocking me into the fans and getting taken out of the game! ARG! What is it they say? If it can go wrong, it will in Blood Bowl!

This quote lived up to the name again with his AG4 Ogre chunks a pass downfield for a long pass only to be caught on a 6 by a Lineorc that intercepts the ball and runs it to the Thrower that runs it downfield. He just about was caught by an Ogre that fell on his go for it rolls and the other orks managed to chase away the Gnoblar annoyances to allow him to score. I wanted to run the clock but I knew if I didn’t play ball Tim would punish me in other ways.

The kick off again landed close to the main line and the Orcs piled into the Ogres again. Early on the first half we managed to put one ogre out of the game a few Gnoblars so the second half saw only 9 for Tim and 10 for me as I was short a Lineman that will miss next game due to a gouged eye.

Luck happened again as my Dauntless Blitzer with Mighty Blow took down another Ogre to the bench before I scored the first time and Tim again failed to bring either ogre out of their KO status. With only 3 Ogres (sadly one his high AG and the other the STR 6 brute) and 5 Gnoblars I had to work quickly to even the score. I managed to pull a good defense on the second kickoff and managed to turn over the ball and snatch the ball up to score again during the last part of the second half. At this point it was game called and time to roll our results.

My team gained another point of fame, earned 50k in cash rolling a 4 for earnings. My Lineorc (with STR boost) gained an Interception, two Blitzer’s was able to cause a Casualty, my Thrower making not one but two touchdowns and my MVP going to my Lineman that had 2 XP prior due to a lucky casualty last game. I managed to get two skill increases (For my Thrower and Lineman) and quickly took Block for both.

Tim only had one casualty against me (the other was the crowd push by the Gnoblar) and the MVP went to one of his Ogres.

This game had me worried for a moment when the first half went to the crapper and I was afraid Tim was going to pull out the magic and crush me utterly in the end. I always enjoyed playing Tim and his models are A+ painted!

Here are some pics to enjoy from the game!

First little guy downed (he was just removed on the right side there)

The Fight for the ball!

Pile in!

The Dugout after the first TD.

The end is near! Grab that ball and RUN!

Team Tournament in December at Darkside Comics.

Chris and I loaded up for our only tournament for December at Darkside Comics. We went with a good pairing of Space Wolves and Imperial Guard. Alas, I forgot my chip to the camera and at the start of round 1 I was annoyed I forgot to check the camera! ARG!

Space Wolves:

2 Rune Priests, 1 with a Chooser of the Slain, both with living lighting and Jaws of the Wolf and Murderous Hurricane.

3 Troop choices of Grey Hunters with a power weapon and melta gun with a rhino. Two was 8 strong and 1 was 9 strong.

4 Wolf Guard with comi-melta and power fists, they join the Scouts and the three Grey Hunters.

Long Fangs x6 with 5 missile launchers, razorback with heavy bolters.

Large scout squad with melta gun and power fist.

Imperial Guard:

Command Squad with 4 melta guns, Chimera and Astropath

Vet Squad with Harker, 3 melta guns and Chimera

Storm Trooper Squad with melta and plasma with Chimera

1 Platoon Command with 4 flamers.

3 Troop squads in Chimeras with melta guns.

Leman Russ with Lascannon.

Vendetta

Game 1 vs Necrons and Orks

I am bad with names and forgot the Necron player’s name, but Zack was playing orks. Both of these guys are regulars at the store and great guys. Never played against the Necron player before but we have had several great conversations in the past about the Necrons among other armies discussed... Zack and I have often been paired off in many tournaments.

Their list from memory….

Necrons:

Doom Ark (the cannon that is STR 9)

Several Cypteks with lances with the STR 8, AP 1 shots.

Large unit of Immortals

2 Units of Warriors with Ghost Arks

Praetorians with shields and swords with a standard Necron Lord.

Orks:

Mad Doc

2 Large Ork blocks with cybork, big shootas and a Nob with a Klaw.

2 Units of Kommandos with one with a Klaw and the other with Snikrot.

Dreadnought

We played the first Scenario from Adepticon 2011, with the command token that allows you to issue one USR to one unit. The primary was to hold the center of the table with the most units with the highest VPs and the Secondary was to Capture and Control (two objectives, one in each deployment zone).

They won the dice off and deployed first. Their objective was off to the side with the gun and troop ark holding the objective. The Immortals to the middle, off to the other side where our objective was the two ork blocks and the Dreadnought. The last transport was near the middle to swoop down the middle.

We hid one Rhino behind a building and a Leman Russ behind a large terrain feature to avoid being shot at by the big cannon of doom the Long Fangs deployed in cover to take the big guns opening shot. The opening was as we expected, they advanced up and we lost a rhino on turn 1 to shooting. Turn 1 for us was quick moving into a building and the Long Fangs shot down the Doom Ark in a blazing doom.

Turn 2 nothing much happened, some shooting but no major losses and several orks moving towards us. We rolled reserves, Chris got one unit of Grey Hunters and nothing else. I got everything but one troop choice. I flanked the Vendetta near the objective with the command squad in it. Harker and the Vets appear behind the Necron lord to threaten the back side. The Stormtroopers pile in behind the Orks ready to burn them.

The rest of the game saw the Wolf Scouts assaulting the Immortals, my vendetta flanking near their objective. I sacrificed Harker and his crew to draw the Necron Lord and his unit. The next turn the Wolf Scouts finished the Immortals as the rest of the army was slowly chewed down to nothing. We managed to repel both Kommando units after taking the loss of a Leman Russ and a Chimera and the large squad of Orks was reduced to ash leaving Mad Doc’s large unit to deal with. Sadly, as there were  closer units he ran back towards Harker and lost ground moving to the center. We wiped out the Necrons in the center and piled as many units as we could into the middle for the win taking a full 28 points for the win.

Game 2 vs. Space Wolves and Grey Knights

Our next game was against Steve and Matt with Grey Knights and Space Wolves.

Their lists:

Space Wolves:

Wolf Lord with runic armor, talisman, mounted on a wolf with saga of the bear and had a frost weapon or claw with a storm shield.

Wolf Guard Battle Leader, same with the Hunter Saga (which was illegal, infantry only, GREAT JOB ARMY BUILDER). Matt said he saw someone using it at another event but here is what you get when something isn’t proofed.

1 Unit of Grey Hunters with a Rhino, think they had a power fist or power weapon with plasma or melta.

1 Unit of Long Fangs with mix of missiles and lascannons.

Large unit of Thunderpups with storm shields, power fist…the usual unit mix.  Not sure if the whole unit had storm shields or just part.

Wolf Scouts with power weapons and melta guns.

Grey Knights

Drago

Complex unit of Paladins with Apoth, mix of weapons, etc…for wound allocation shenanigans.

1 unit of Grey Knights with psycannons.

2 Riflemen Dreads with psyammo

What you have here is a clear min/max list that is designed to be low kill points, loaded with a few death star units to handle all issues.

We won the dice off and let them pick the table side.

As it was Dawn of War they deployed their very little the Paladins I recall was sitting near both objectives in the center. Ours was off to the side opposite. We setup nothing holding much to move in first turn and flanking with Harker, Scouts and Stormtroopers.

A dread and Long Fangs took up one building on the far right (of them); center was a Rhino with the Grey Hunters and his Paladins with Drago in a building for cover. One unit of Grey Knights to reserve, the Thunderwolves setup to charge down the middle to our objective and the scouts went into flanking reserve. They elected their Thunderwolves and one Dread to be a Troop choice at the start of the game.

There isn’t much too really say about this game except our dice was just bad, real bad. That along with their rolls was on fire, Matt was not failing a single shield save except two the whole game I think when we shot at the Thunderwolves. It wasn’t till the end when he separated the Battle Leader was he taken down.

By the end of the game was able to contest only one objective. Sadly if the dice was in our favor we could have contested two more objectives. This would have left them with a lower score of 5 points instead of 15 for their win along with other bonus points and the secondary objective against our zero for the game.  I forgot special orders for “run run” with two units that could have helped on two of those and that was my fault. Orders has always been a weak point for me with IG due to the nature of how I mech up.

If I had the Manticore or the Executioner with plasma cannons I feel the game could have played out differently. That and some better dice rolls.

Game 3 vs. Necrons and Grey Knights

The last game was a great match against Grant and George that helped take the sour edge of the final game.

Their lists:

Grey Knights:

Librarian: Hammerhand, Might of Titan, Quicksilver, Sanctuary, The Shrouding, Warp Rift.

Grey Knight Terminator squad with halberds and a demon hammer with a psycannon.

Dreadnought with Psybolt Ammo with an Assault cannon

Stormraven Gunship with twin linked plasma and multi meltas.

Grey Knights Strike Squad in a Razorback with force swords. Razorback had a heavy bolter with psybolt ammo.

Vindicare Assassin

Another Terminator Squad similar to the first.

Necrons

Overlord with Res Orb, Tachyon Arrow

Royal Court with 2 Harbringers of Destruction with  Lances and one of Transmogrification that had the Tremor Stave and Harp of Dissonance.

5 Immortals with Telsa Carbines

10 Warriors in Ghost Ark

10 Warriors in Ghost Ark

7 Scarab Swarms

Monolith

Deathmarks

The game:  Declare one list that counts for kill points. At this point my IG was picked and we choose the Necrons. The other objective was two objectives on each side of the table.

Deployment: Table Quarters (objectives was placed in the opposite quarters in the center). They won the dice and deployed first.

The game:

Overall this was a good game, we had a few rules bumps but each time we was able to resolve them and keep the tempo of the game going at  a great pace. I held most of my stuff in reserve to ensure they could not shoot it and have less turns to score kill points.

Here are some of the highlights I recall from the game:

Vindicare getting splattered by a missile early in the game after a failed cover save.

Early on we wiped the scars from the table quickly and moved to disable the transports with the Necron Warriors inside. I was able to flank the Stormtroopers and Chris got his scouts to appear near them and we was able to attack from a weak angle that helped us change the tide of the game. On that corner of the table, only towards the end did the Grey Knights leave the Razorback to engage us and by then the game was pretty much over. The Deathmarks landed and was shot off the board the turn they landed with ruthless firepower. Our goal was to keep the pressure on for kill points.

One of the most comical moments was trying to blow up the Monolith. We either could not hit it, fail to pen it or we would roll poorly on the glance/pen chart getting nothing but Stun and Shaken results! Finally we took off the big gun towards the end! What a steak of bad luck again!

Sadly, I forgot to roll for Harker after the first reserves and Chris even reminded me later (and I thought everything was on)! Would have it made a difference? Maybe but not by much, they would have either help wipe out the Necron HQ or perhaps would have been able to roll on and grab the other objective for a few more bonus points.

We held one objective and had more kill points than they did to score up a decent tally. Depending on how things went with the rules error (see below) or Harker showing up this could have shifted our game by a few points putting us back into the rankings as we was just four points shy of third place.

I did discover one rule error after the game that nobody caught when the Raven went flat out and was shot down. Instead of the passengers disembarking they should have been dead per the FAQ. This would have been a huge game changer for us as we would not have wasted time trying to kill the Dreadnought, Librarian and his Terminator Squad but instead moving towards objectives, removing the other Grey Knight Squad and blowing up the Monolith earlier instead of allowing it to linger on the field.

Lesson learned is what I say, I should rebuild my FAQ binder I used to haul around with me but I got sick of dragging that extra material so I gave up the ghost a few months back. Now it comes back to bite me! Hah!

Co-creator of Captain America Dies.

Saw this on Yahoo....

Joe Simon, who along with Jack Kirby co-created Captain America and was one of the comic book industry's most revered writers, artists and editors, has died. He was 98.

RIP Joe, thank you for the one of the great comic legends of all time to entertain us and grace our literary world!

Sherlock Holmes

Chris and I had the pleasure to watch an early screening of Sherlock Holmes 2 on Monday the 12th at the Veteran's 24 in Tampa. It was luck that I won tickets to perhaps one of the movies we really wanted to see this year and for free. Alas, we pulled a Francis Drake and much like he, drove past the exit as the ramp I was looking for was only in the northbound lane and not the southbound expressway lane! So, we went round and round until we finally found the round. Irony had it that at least once if we turned right instead of left we would have found the theatre faster. Being that it was 6:30 and the show started at 7:30 we had to eat at the theatre instead of doubling back to a decent place to eat to avoid not getting a seat. Often they give away more tickets than there is actual seats.

We was stuck on one of the closer rows to the front but it worked out ok, some of the fight scenes hurt my eyes due to being so close but again the movie was worth it. The plot continued from the last movie, it carried on Watson's wedding as a great secondary plot and held the right mix of action, comedy and intrigue to make this entertaining from start to finish. RD Jr did an excellent job and is a superb actor that carried the move along with his co-star in such a way that I never felt at a loss for time while watching.

I don't care to spoil the movie by saying much more but I can recommend that on Christmas Day or after, go see this movie! What more do you want in life? A great movie and to get away from your family for a few hours? YEA! Serious, go see it you won't hate it.

Blood Bowl: Orks Win 2-1 against the Dark Elves

Had a great game last night against IMO one of the best players in the league when it comes to sportsmanship and just general great attitude about the game. Had a close game until the end when I was able to knock down enough models to score a second time. It was a strange game with only one casualty that I inflicted and one  knocked out that I did. Everything else was stuns and knock downs! Also, not much armor breaking either. Neither of us didn't want to risk fouls either and take the loss of a player from the field. Of course I forgot the camera to take some pictures AGAIN!

I opted to buy Legends of the High Seas rules instead of going to a local tournament this weekend. Sold my soul to the devil, actually my lovely wife and I can spend time with her instead and Xmas shop. It was bothering me that we had alot going on this month and not much time around one another and I was looking forward to spending time with her during the Xmas break we will be taking.

After talking to some of the guys at the shop, there seems to be some interest not only for the Legends of the Old West but also for the Gladiator and Legends of the High Seas miniature game also. This is very cool and I am getting really pumped to plunder some money together to go buy some minis! I am already talking about the next Cabanahammer being a Warhammer Historical (perhaps pirates) and looking at Adepticon now to making a trip to play a few tourneys. The Blood Bowl 2 day event looks to be insane, they also host a Legends of the High Seas event and a Necromunda tournament. Wow! All my stuff could fit into a duffle bag with some clothing for a gaming weekend! Whoo!

Blood Bowl League: Just 4 games left until the playoffs!

Tomorrow I should be finishing my second game of the 3^rd block of the league. This just leaves 2 more blocks with 3 games between them (2 for the 4^th and 1 for the 5^th and the playoffs against the top two).

My list of opponents is like this:

Tomorrow: Dark Elves

4^th Round: Ogres and Lizardmen

5^th Round: Slann

My last 4 games are against league regulars from the past two seasons. Some of them have had some bad luck or trying new teams that they have yet to perfect yet. I could stand to win a few games and ensure I make the playoff game this season if I play my next few games smart and if Nuffel along with Mork is with me!

The Dark Elves are going to get a huge boost of 220k in incentives which will make the game a bit tougher for me. Alliso will use this wisely I am sure and I am up against speed and decent armor with agility on his side. My goal early on is to punish his team quickly and reduce the #s against me on the field. Then score away a few times. Sounds simple eh? We shall see.

Tim’s Ogres are a nasty lot, veterans from last season he has been getting more draws than anything and has one of the most expensive teams (the only team ahead of me). Tim makes use of a weak roster filling it with journeymen as he tries to save up cash for Ogres and rerolls among other things. Not sure how kosher that is with the rules but everyone seems fine with how this is being done. The annoying part is taking on a bunch of snotlings that don’t mean crap as they will be recycled for next game. Tim is a good player and perhaps one of the top ones in the league and will be a tough game either way. I expect a draw or a very minor win for me if I am lucky.

The Lizardmen have had a rough start to the season also. 4 Sarus, 1 Kroxigor and several skinks is nothing to laugh at. He has a fast team, as strong as mine and a mix of light and heavy armor. This is going to be another game of bashing and trying to make an opening to score. Plus they are going to benefit from incentives due to points.

Pat’s Slann are going to wrap up the league in a weird game IMO, here is why. As this is our last game he has had all season to build up his team, so I will be up against skilled players on his team just like mine. High speed, agility, a mix of light and heavy  armor and leaping is going to be a pain in the arse to take on. I won the preseason game against him when we was having pizza and playing for fun.  Like all my games, I have to inflict pain to the team quickly hope for some KO’s and casualties early on to keep my opponents pinned down and against the wall. Again, my enemy here is incentives as Pat will have me on the ropes again in this area.

I also have to gauge each game as I go. Bad or really good luck could happen to any of my opponents that could shift the tide on how a future game could go down. The Undead team so far has a solid 4 wins and 2 draws to my 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss leaving me in the #2 spot with the Ogres and Rotters trailing behind us. Part of me is considering banking most of my cash until near the last game. If it looks like I will be going to the finals I will hold it until then. I figure at that point I could boost my team with coaches, cheerleaders, star players and other goodies to help me out.

At this point I am going to play each game looking to add a few SPP and try to get a few boosts on all my players (or at least a majority). I have already picked out a few that with a few points from a touchdown or casualty could build up another skill for a player. With at least 4 more MVP points that could be won by anyone at random we will have to see how things go.

Here is the SEASON RECORDS

TEAM STATS

Best Offense (Total TD's)
Body Snatchers - 10
Morks Manglerz - 7
Great Maw Murderfaces - 5


Best Offense (Average TD's per game)
Body Snatchers - 2.5
Morks Manglerz - 1.75
Great Maw Murderfaces/Its a Glandular Problem! -1.25


Best Defense (Total TD's scored against)
Morks Manglerz/Body Snatchers - 2
Its a Glandular Problem! - 3


Best Defense (Average TD's against per game)
Morks Manglerz/Body Snatchers - 0.5
Its a Glandular Problem! - 0.75


Best Touchdown Difference
Body Snatchers - +8
Morks Manglerz - +5
Its a Glandular Problem! - +2


Roughest Team (Total Casualties Caused)
Great Maw Murderfaces - 12
Body Snatchers - 11
Its a Glandular Problem! - 9


Roughest Team (Average Casualties Caused per game)
Great Maw Murderfaces - 3
Body Snatchers - 2.75
Its a Glandular Problem! - 2.25


Toughest Team (Total Casualties Suffered)
Tenacious Turtles/Morks Manglerz - 3
Tuatara - 4


Toughest Team (Average Casualties Suffered per game)
Tenacious Turtles/Morks Manglerz - 0.75
Tuatara - 1


Best Casualty Differential
Body Snatchers - +7
Tenacious Turtles/Morks Manglerz/Glandular - +4


Most Expensive Team
Great Maw Murderfaces - 1,430,000
Morks Manglers - 1,370,000
Body Snatchers - 1,290,000



Most Popular Team (Total Fan Factor)
Body Snatchers - 7
Morks Manglers/It's a Glandular Problem!/Great Maw Murderfaces - 4


The Gate Magnets (Average Fan Attendance)
Great Maw Murderfaces - 10,500
Body Snatchers - 9,000
Mossylog Pollywogs - 8,500

Largest Crowds
Great Maw Murderfaces -vs- Mossylog Pollywogs - 23,000
Mossylog Pollywogs -vs- Body Snatchers - 22,000
It's a Glandular Problem! -vs- Morks Manglerz


PLAYER STATS

Best Players (by SPP's)
Baby Huey - Ogre - Great Maw Murderfaces - 23
Ivory - Wight - Body Snatchers - 21
Eggshell - Wight - Body Snatchers - 19


Best Scorers (Total TD's)
Ivory - Wight - Body Snatchers - 4
Snaggletooth - Blitzer - Morks Manglerz/Spika - Blitzer - Morks Manglerz - 3


Best Passers (Total Completions)
I don't have a name yet- Catcher- Mossylog Pollywogs - 4
Zlern - Gutter Runner - Squeek! Look it's a ball.. - 4
Jack - Thrower - Squeek! Look it's a ball.. - 4


Best Interceptions (Total interceptions)
Nobody!


Most Vicious Players (Total Casualties)
Baby Huey - Da Great Maw Murderfaces - 6
Tut - Mummy - Body Snatchers/Doza - Blitzer - Morks Mangerlz - 4


Most MVP Awards
Whole bunch of players - 2

Book Review: Outcast Dead



Today, I just finished Outcast Dead by Graham McNeill polishing off the latest of the Horus Heresy series.

First I have to say Graham is an outstanding writer before I go into my review of this book. Overall it was an excellent read, but it was very hard to get past the “dry” reading of the first half of the book to get to the mid part to the rewarding part of the novel. I can say this as a fact as I usually finish any typical Black Library novel in a few days up to a week. This book took me a bit longer not only due to the holidays, but due to the pacing I had to do to keep at the book for the payoff.

The first half was written with the intent to setup the storyline and establish the characters to give you perspective in the second half on how things resolve at the end of the novel. Aside from Rogal Dorn, nobody in the book has been established in anything written by anyone in the Black Library or by GW fluff writers for the gaming books. To me, there could have been a few edits to shorten the first half to give more space for the second half of the novel to resolve a few things, but I am getting ahead of myself for the next section.

The second half brings the action to the fore and starts to tie in the characters in what picks up the book tempo into what finishes the book off with some epic moments. I felt that the last chapter was a bit “forced” for Graham’s style of writing. By this, he loves to leave some strings unresolved for future books and to make you think at the end of his works, yet there were still some spots that should have had more attention to the detail that he is known for.

I can only give this book 3 out of 5 Imperial Eagles with a good conscience. This may be one of Graham McNeill’s less than polished books and by far the least enjoyable I have read. Still, I didn’t feel it was a waste of my time but the content was lacking in some spots.

As always, I can’t really go into details (good or bad) about a book as I feel it “spoils” the read and often a review gives away a bit too much to the reader. I hate going to a movie to find out the best parts I had already seen in the previews. This is my philosophy about a book review.

To a die hard reader of the Horus Heresy stuff, go on and read it. You won’t regret it and there are some rewarding parts of the book you will love. The casual reader of the Horus Heresy series could skip this book and not miss much to the “overall body” of the legends of the Imperium’s fall.



My apologies for the lack of updates the past week as the holiday weekend has hit me like a hurricane along the coast of Florida. It was great to make the trek to see my parents in Alabama and my sister’s family in Georgia it was also a very tough adventure both mentally and physically in many ways.

Physically the travel and sleeping in a double bed compared to our own king bed was draining over the past few days and 16+ hours of road travel can also be tough on you. Combine that with allergies namely my mother still smoking adds to that and amazes me that I survived being around my folks during my earlier years with their heavy smoking. Word to the wise, don’t smoke and if you do smoke, give it up. Save money and the health of yourself and your loved ones.

Mentally it was rough to see my folks still fighting as they are around their 70’s like a cat and dog always going at one another. It drains you to see people always scrap and fuss at one another that managed to raise three good kids and had a career, now they piss away their retirement in hate and spite. It was also tough to watch my sister’s family struggle on 1/3 of their old income. She lost her job several years ago due to a business she had been with for around 20 years closed and her husband is already on disability. Now her own health has factored in and she is fighting for disability now in this half assed economy. I wish I had the money to help them out but my wife and I make enough to get by as it is.

Where is this rant going? I am being thankful now as this has given me cause to think of everything in the grand scale. I have a great and loving wife, three great pets (despite their flaws) and a home. While we would love for it to be bigger or at least several home improvements it is our spot in the world. We pay our bills, we eat well and at this time we still have jobs in the craptastic economy. We have our health and my wife and I have most of our family in our lives despite all the troubles and woes that go on.

I have also been blessed with many long years of gaming since the early age of 13. With everything from board games, to RPG, CCGs and miniature games this has always been my grounding stone in my life with a wealth of friends and new faces always in my life to help understand that one can only enjoy what you have now and that gaming offers you a relaxing escape for a few moments of the stressful things in life. For that outlet, I am thankful and I am looking forward to the holidays and where I can take my passion for my hobby to.

During these holidays be thankful for everything in your life, both the good and the bad in everything. Take time to do good things if you can and support charities that are important to you.

For me this year, I helped at work with the FSECC fundraising drive with the State of Florida that helps support over a hundred charities that solicit the state for donations to support their cause. I also helped my local gaming store start up the Toys for Tots box to help children out this year have a few smiles on Christmas day. Last, my wife and I bought some toys for a foster child that does not have a family of her own to get gifts from this year and I think this little girl will enjoy what we got for her.

Stay tuned as we return to our regular scheduled gaming blog!

Blood Bowl League Update

The second game in the second segment of the season was completed along with my first game of this new 3^rd segment. Overall, I feel that the games went ok as both  players was long time Blood Bowl players and was a tough opponents to play against. My apologies on no pictures, I forgot to bring my camera on both nights!

My last game of the second segment was against Chris and his Nurgle Rotters. This game was pretty much a back and forth game of bad luck and good luck. The last round on the last turn of the game was the make or break of the game between a draw and a loss. Chris managed to slip down the field and I was  pressed to “go for it” to get one  blitzer next to his Beastman and then make a daring dodge to blitz in an attempt to stop him from scoring. Alas, I rolled a 1 on the “go for it rolls” and with no rerolls fell flat on my ass and lost the game.

Chris earned that game with puss and guts from his Rotters. It was a very enjoyable match and my first loss of the season.

My third segment game 1 was against Mike, a long time player of Blood Bowl but new to our League. He had been involved in an Orlando League and his Undead Team was 4 and 0 when we faced off against my 3 Wins and 1 Loss. At this point, we are some of the top runners for the league for the finals.

His Undead team had a mix of bad luck and good luck throughout the game. Mike felt he had more bad luck in the first half and was just about to concede the game during the second half until I talked to him and kept him playing. I hate to see people quit and not have fun. Perhaps even to the point of not winning if need be which the case was. I eased up some and well, things blew up in my face a few times while I played the game for fun more than a win. Mike was able to pull a draw out of the game despite some setbacks. More than likely if I played more hard core I would have stomped the undead 2-0 if I had wanted it.

While he was a great player it was disappointing we lost some time trying to resolve his negative feelings of the game and his bad luck. It’s a game really and we are playing to have fun in the end. That is why we play games pure and simple.

I did find it interesting that on the last round I moved to foul his Mummy (and failed) and he seemed to get rather upset about this saying there was no reason for doing that but just pure malice. If you think about it, it could be seen as that but you have to consider a few other facts. First, I am Orks; they would step over in a heartbeat and kick the crap out of a downed opponent if they think they can get away with it pure and simple. Second, sure it was the end of the match but by causing a possible causality that could injure the mummy and possibly kill him only benefits my team or any other team playing against him in the finals. So, was my last act of the game kosher or not? Feel free to discuss. I think it was fair play, it was legal by the rules and this is a competitive league.

Darkside Tournament, Nov 12th

Went to Darkside games to play in the monthly 40k event they host at their store. My friend Chris and I ate at Yoders (Amish food) and headed over to the store. The turnout was a bit lower this time with only 8 players in total. Another guy showed up late and didn’t want to have an odd man out as we didn’t have a ringer army to fill in the gaps. He did manage to play in the last round to keep the numbers even after one player left.

I brought the usual Ork Horde list:

Warboss with Klaw, Bosspole, Cybork, Extra Armor and Twin Linked Shoota

Big Mek with KFF, Klaw and Cybork

Snikrot and 14 Kommandos with 2 burnas

15 Lootas

3 mobs of 30 boyz with 3 rocket launchers with a Nob with Klaw and Bosspole

1 Mob of Gretchin with Slaver

1 Kannon with extra crew and ammo runt with slaver

Zagstruk with 19 Stormboyz

Game 1 vs. Space Marines (Salamanders)

This was my first game ever against George and overall we had a great game and his list was solid. We did have a few rules discussions but nothing we could not look up or have a judge give thumbs  up or down on. He took great advantage for the most part of Vulcan’s special ability and it hurt me a few times in the game in casualties.

He had:

Vulcan He’stan

Assault Terminators (2 lighting claws and 3 Thunder Hammers/Shields)

Land Raider Redeemer with storm bolter and multi melta

Dreadnought in Drop Pod, Ironclad with melta and heavy flamer.

Full squad of Marines in Drop pod, flamer and sgt with combi-flamer/power fist.

Two other squads with Razorbacks with twin linked plasma and lascannon

Two squads (razorbacks above) with multi melta/plasma and mutli-melta/melta gun, each sgt had a power weapon and combi-melta.

3 Bikes with multi-meltas

The mission was pitched battle with three objectives.

1)     Kill Points

2)     Score more than 250 VPs

3)     Eliminate all Troop Choices

We had a desert table that had a fair amount of scenery. I deployed everything except the Stormboyz, Kommandos with the Warboss and Gretchin after winning the toss. The Lootas went to my right, Kannon to the left. The Boyz spread around with the KFF to cover most of them.

His deployment split his combat squads, two hid in Razorbacks, the heavy weapon squads deployed into cover. The Redeemer deployed to one side facing my Lootas. The Bikes was spread out. One to my left that could threaten the Kannon and the other two near the Redeemer.

He managed to seize and the game started on a bad foot for me. The Ironclad came down and landed dead on in front of my Lootas, they was on the short list to die. He rolled the Land Raider up full speed and shot the assault cannon, multi meltas, melta guns and a heavy flamer. I passed a majority of the cover saves and lost a few Lootas.

My turn wasn’t that great, I managed to take all three bikes out quickly. His Drop Pod was solid and the doors didn’t open which creates some pains for LOS as he said it blocks LOS, but once a pod lands the doors open. It would give cover and could still cause problems for LOS but it was a moot point as I used the Lootas to target the last bike. The rockets were all duds except for the one on a bike. I threw one mob of boyz into the Ironclad in hopes of taking him down with a klaw. I missed with all 4 attacks! Ugh!

His turn two was a fairly quick one. His second pod failed to arrive from reserves. He shot the lascannons again killing a boy or so, just like before the KFF and general cover was keeping them alive.  His Redeemer moves up after the Terminators deploy out. He kills a few boyz from another unit as they move close to support the other Mob squad in combat. He assaults with the Terminators and slaughters tons of orks, they barely hold and I end up taking losses down to the Nob. Again the klaw whiffs and I think I killed a terminator. The Nob was on the far side of the dread so the Terminators ended up out of combat as they could not consolidate and the Nob was already locked in base to base on the far side.

My turn sees none of my reserves! The Boyz shoot and kill a few terminators and charge in. The Mek left the squad and ran to hide behind a rock to join the other boyz mob. He’s a Mek not a fighter after all! I lost a few more Lootas to the Redeemer but the boyz hold strong and helped in killing a few terminators as well. After the assaults the boyz was torn apart and it looked bad for turn 3. They may be able to hold for another turn at best.

The last two turns saw the Stormboyz arrive on turn 3, they assaulted and wiped out one squad, then blew up a Razorback forcing one unit to do an emergency disembark. His last two turns chewed up the remaining boyz and they killed all but two of the one Loota that held his nerve and didn’t run! My last mob of boyz rolled over his drop pod with the Mek cracking it open with a nice explosion and the marines killed to a few men. They broke on the last round we played and was falling back with the orks on their heels.

The final results were a win for me on kill points with 7 for me and him with 5. I only lost the two boyz squads and my two units that were still in reserves! I had some seriously bad reserve rolls. If I had rolled better the loss would not have been bad and could have been worse for him.

VPs totaled within 250 so nobody got that award. It was a nickel and dime game between us. Both of us had troops on the board.  I scored a 29 in the end with two bonus points as he had no heavy choices (Redeemer was dedicated) and I took out his fast attack choices.

Meet George, Master of the Salamanders

My Deployment and Reserves on the cart.

Turn 1, Salamanders Advance, Orks react.

Later on, the first suad of boyz wiped  to the Nob.

Zagstruk attacks the marines in the ruins of an crash aquila.

The Lootas look for their next target....hrm, Terminators!

Stormboyz corral the Razorbacks.

Game 2 vs. Grey Knights (Inquisition)

I usually end up playing Zach about every other tournament and he brings a variety of armies. This time he was playing the Henchmen/Raven army led by Cotaez loaded with every dirty trick that the Grey Knights book has.

He had:

Cotaez

Grey Knight Librarian with shrouding (cover bonus), the rift and some other power.

Techmarine with grenades loaded out

Three units of henchmen with crusaders and assassins in mix.

3 Storm Ravens with a Variety of weapon loads.

We had Dawn of War for a Deployment Zone with these objectives:

1) Unplanned Assault (random roll on turn 4) either table quarters/capture terrain or more scoring in the center of the board.

2) VP, more than 500

3) Eliminate all HQs

I got the choice to deploy and go first. I took the side with the best cover. As we had Dawn of War and he was fast, I held everything for fist turn except the Kommandos with the boss and Stormboyz.

My first turn was quick, move on, run, take cover. His was turbo boost on 36” for the cover saves.

The next turn was me shooting at his flyers clustered to one side. The Gretchin arrived on turn 2 and hid on the other side of the table. He throws out the shroud power and they all pull off every 3+ cover save required. Ugh, what frustration….

He dumps a dread out and he waddles towards the Lootas. They end up locked all the way until the end of the game where they broke finally after keeping the Dread tied up for several turns.

The last few turns up until 5 from 3 on were the usual. The Ravens shot, he avoided sending his squads out unless the Raven was destroyed or he was in a good spot to get into a fight he could win.

In the end my Kommandos showed up the last round and the Stormboyz arrived on turn 3 causing some damage before they was wiped out to Zag that held a dread up for another turn before he was plastered. We had rolled on turn 4 to hold scenery as objectives. At the end I had more than Zach he did manage to deprive me of many of them including assaulting with the dread to pull some men away. I was able to still keep some on objectives as my orks was spread out in that unit to grab some objectives to ensure the win. I think the difference was 1 after contesting and his last henchman group grabbing one terrain bit.

I took a solid 29 points again. A win for the primary, the secondary was a draw and his Librarian was still alive. Two of those was bonus points from my most expensive HQ was alive and I had more scoring units left.

A few people including Chris had pulled out wins with higher scores so it would come down to how the last round fell for placement at the tournament. It was a tough and solid game, the Grey Knights are a major pain with all those powers and I feel is the reason why I never pushed to play them as they are just over powered draining some of the fun from the game and you’re limited to specific builds to win.

Zack, Ordos Commander (Grey Knights)

My deployment.

The boys line up to take on trouble.

Stormraven closes in and the boyz charge!

The brave Lootas holding off the dreadnought.

I can only hear them saying, "DAT MUH GUNA"

Last round was a laugh as I was matched up against Chris. We had the desert table and I had the opposite side to deploy on as he won the roll. We placed objectives 2 each on the table as the primary.

This game was again spearhead deployment with the following objectives:

1) 4 objectives, each worth 5 points.

2) VPs, must score more than 750

3) Table quarters, must have one unit in each quarter. Does not have to be a scoring unit.

I setup my army after the Wolves spread out on his quarter. The game went as I predicted. 3 objectives were closer to me and 1 in his quarter. I was too slow and there was too much firepower to take that one so I was content to stay near the other three and take them if possible.

Snikrot and the Warboss did a great job causing havoc in the back field towards the end of the game and the Stormboyz had a bad scatter that Chris got to place. He put them where he could hope to shoot them apart and he did for the most part. They was shot up to half and managed to plow into the Grey Hunters on the last round holding his objective.

Another objective in the lower center in a building was contested by the Orks and Grey Hunters fight it out. The Gretchin grabbed the food bag objective and the other orks held the last one for 10 out of 20 points. I took a draw on VPs again and with one bonus point  for a total of 18. The bonus points were due to the Space Wolves not controlling any objectives at the end. Both that he could capture was contested.

Chris, Space Wolf Commander (no he isn't asleep, he is deploying)

Ork Deployment

Lootas duke it out against Scouts.

Warboss with Snikrot wreck havok with the Kommandos.

I didn’t place high enough to win in battle points, painting and sportsman was very high and I had three great games in any event. Chris was knocked from first to third with some cool prizes to boot.

Unit Breakdown:

Warboss: Other than the fact he didn’t die in the first two games due to being stuck in reserves longer than he should and the last game he managed to claim a nice amount of heads before taking a massive loss in combat and running away only to be caught by the marines in his attempt to flee the battle.

Big Mek: Game 1 he blew up a Drop Pod, Games 2 and 3 he was just around to provide a KFF shield.

Kommandos with Snikrot: Had a disappointing turnout this event. Two games they either showed up late or never (in the first) and the last round they took out a Rhino and Long Fangs before they was beaten soundly.

Lootas: They drew more attention than they did anything of notable damage. First game they were the prize for the Redeemer and Dreadnought with a single guy living to tell the tale. The second game they tied up a Dreadnought most of the game after he assaulted. The last game the Space Wolf Scouts diced them apart after a rough fight.

Boyz: They lived, they died and krumped a few heads. They did their job well.

Gretchin: Never showed in game 1. Game 2 they hid and took a terrain objective. The only one of two that I could claim. Game 3 they grabbed an objective and hid on the last turn. Overall they did their job, a cheap objective grabber.

Kannon: Here is another unit that didn’t do much but drew much attention in every game. Game 1 they shot a few times but didn’t do much damage to any unit, Game 2 they took some losses but the slaver hung around, Game 3  Chris blew them up after one turn of shooting with Frag and a lucky 6 took out the gun and some gretchin. They hung around another turn before they were pasted again and the Slaver ran like hell.

Stormboyz: First two games were dead on drops and they did their damage before they died. During the second game the struggled to earn their points back but did a great job of drawing attention. Game 3 with the mishap they were able to take action to get back into the game for a winning move to contest an objective.