Starting the Frost Grave Folio, The hunt for the golem

              There are some games that pull you in like a good B movie.  You know they aren’t polished gold but you just can’t help coming back for more.  That’s frost grave—reasonably well written—simple enough to play quickly—and a resource management mechanic which gets me every time.  A couple days ago WMTG and I kicked off our inaugural 2019 gaming season with a fresh new campaign working through the 15 adventures in the frost grave folio.

              Building starting warbands is its own minigame.  I agonize over how to spend my cash, what spells to pick, whether I want to focus on meta mechanics, and how to put my own spin on things.  I feel a compulsion to try something new with every warband just so I can feel like each iteration is unique unto itself.  This time I went for a less physically aggressive witch build focusing on board control.  My starting lineup was an apprentice and wizard with staves and the following spell list:

              POISON DART, FOG, ANIMAL COMPANION, TELEKINESIS, LEAP, BONE DART, BEAUTY, and HEAL

This gave me a variety of ways to control the board, mess with movement, block line of sight, and get out of sticky situations.  I learned last campaign that wizards always want a cheap magical ranged attack to pick off opposing warband members hence bone dart.  I’ve learned to pick spells with reasonable casting requirements (preferably 10 or less) because the higher the target number the more health you are going to spend to bring the noise on average.  I wanted to keep my spell casters out of combat so I focused my resources on boosting my warband.  My starting roster was 2 thugs, 2 thieves, 2 war dogs, a marksman, and an apothecary.  Apothecaries are essentially a free healing potion every game which means they pay for themselves in 2 deployments.  I like having that potion around in case I have to empower a spell early on.  I love marksmen.  Pop them up on a building or covering key territory and they don’t have to move.  They have an outstanding ranged presence on a body with excellent defensive stats.  This means they are pretty hard to kill while projecting threat.  The dogs are just place holders till I get my animal companion spells off.  The thugs are warm bodies for combat and blocking.  The thieves are for grabbing treasure.

Game 1 of the hunt for the golem—the attack sight:

              The board was pretty standard with a huge central tower and random ruins evenly covering the rest of the table.  WMTG did 3d printing magic to create a wonderful selection of home-grown terrain which always makes me feel smug even though I didn’t do anything to put it there.  We placed 5 tokens each which when revealed could become up to 6 treasure, 1 survivor, 1 golem notes, and 2 zombies (randomly rolled upon an attempt to pick them up.)

              This game when very quickly.  I got off one of my animal companion spells netting me a bear replacing one of the war dogs.  WMTG got an initial hot run grabbing 3 treasure and the golem notes.  However, I was able to bully the board with my larger warband and managed to take out 2 soldiers while resuscitating the survivor and grabbing the three remaining treasures.  One of WMTG’s infantrymen killed a thug which was totally acceptable all things considered.  I ended up with the golem notes and command of the board for a total of 280exp and 3 treasure.  That netted me 250gp and grimoires of time walk, planes walk, and undead control (none of which I particularly wanted.)  I took an inn as my base and spent my 2 level upgrades on fight and HP.  I spent all my gold on 3 treasure hunters and a discounted thug for 10gp due to rescuing the survivor.  That left me with a warband built from 1 bear, 3 treasure hunters, a marksman, an apothecary, 2 thugs, and a war dog.

Game 2 of the hunt for the golem—Field Research:

              WMTG picked up absorb knowledge and a laboratory base which left me a little concerned.  That plus reveal secrets was a strong economic engine.  The opposing ground game featured shield to armor casters and a couple 2-handed weapon users.  Teleport gave good reach.  It’s easy to look at my warband and my offensive capacity and think I had the upper hand but I think WMTG was well-placed to outpace my wizard if I wasn’t careful—especially since many of those spells were designed to take out my models for a turn or 2 like petrify.  We both glommed on to the value of +2 damage weapons which means the game is a lot more lethal than it has been previously.  That means I have to think about which models I want to throw out as blockers because one infantryman assisted strike can put my troops down.  It means I’m having to team up more often which leaves me covering less ground than I’d like.

              This board featured a central square with a “Golem” represented by Lego Thanos for the fucking win.  The terrain did not offer many chances for elevation or heavy line of sight blocks.  In addition to the normal treasure, we had goals to hit the golem with a non-damaging spell, get our wizard close, engage it in combat, and get one of our soldiers close to it—all without killing the golem.  If the golem died, we got no experience and the mini adventure ended.

              I started off by successfully bringing in my apprentice’s animal companion (another bear.)  This game went off the rails right from the beginning.  By turn 2 my marksman managed to 1-shot WMTG’s apprentice because crossbow.  We were throwing random models all over the board in an attempt to draw the golem’s attention to less valuable (i.e. easily replaced) models while key pieces grabbed treasure and got the extra mission experience.  Thanos got pushed toward me while I blocked line of sight using fog.  I managed to hit Thanos with poison dart seriously limiting his output.

              The game ended with WMTG leaving the field after getting half the treasure and both of us earning all the bonuses.  I ended up with 250 experience which gave me 3 more levels.  The treasure rolls netted me 260gp, grimoires of invisibility and crumble, and a bow of +2 damage.  I spent 5gp to upgrade my base with carrier pigeons so that all my future soldiers cost 1gp less.  I spent 99gp on a second marksman and another 99gp on a ranger so I could do something with the magic bow—leaving me with 57unspent gold.  I upgraded fight and health again and spent my final upgrade to reduce bone dart’s casting cost to 9.  This left me with 9 soldiers comprising 2 marksmen, 1 ranger, 1 apothecary, 3 treasure hunters, and 2 animal companions.

Post session thoughts:

1.       It took a bit of work to get back into the swing of things.  WMTG had to gently prompt me a couple times because I’ve played so many miniature wargames at this point that turn order and certain rules get crossed in my head.  That being said, it amazes me how clean this rule set is and how most often a misunderstanding is due to my own error and nothing on the designer’s part.  The strategic and tactical elements combine in subtle ways to make the game self-balancing in interesting ways.

2.       This session proved to me that where possible I’m going to use the google assistant to roll my dice.  At first, I felt bad because I wasn’t using my braille dice but more and more, I like the energy surrounding a role that both of us learn about at the same time in the same way.  It feels honest and freeing in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time what with having other people read my dice for years.  Also, Google’s luck is way better than mine and it makes the die rolling noise.

3.       I find it interesting that both of our first moves were to pimp our warbands to the highest level.  When I started my first campaign my driving instinct was to pump up my wizard with magic gear.  Now I’d rather just have competent help that lets me address problems in different ways.  I’m only on game 2 and I’ve already maxed out all my warband slots with top-flight minions.  I feel like I powered up because buying crap for squishy characters doesn’t actually help sometimes because you’re just making them a bigger target.

4.       I enjoy the way scenario requirements make competition challenging and different every time.  Wizards who focus too much on a single mechanic or spell will find themselves in trouble sooner rather than later.  I feel like this game lets WMTG and I put our decades of gaming experience to use solving complex strategic problems as our initiative ebbs and flows separate from our board control.  It gives the experience a spice that is lacking in some legacy games like blood bowl—especially as the season gets on towards the end.

5.       There is a pacing to scenario play that I have only recently come to appreciate.  The game ends when someone doesn’t have any more models on the board or all the treasure has been moved off a board edge.  This means that while I have a better ranged game, WMTG actually controls my window of opportunity.  Since 2 of my soldiers can’t carry treasure, I have to mix it up quickly if I want to keep even.  Although we didn’t do it this time, I am going to suggest we try the random monster rules after the third and final mission of this pack.  I want to see if it changes how we approach our deployment and strategy.

6.       I need to read the rules—again—paying attention this time.  The excellent rum is no excuse.

7.       I really really love being able to use random miniatures.  This time I went with a plastic bag full of pre-painted minis from magic the gathering the board game and its expansion.  It is so nice not to have to glue my guys back together again or worry if one falls off a building.  My wizard and apprentice even have little spells coming off their hands.

The next game is slotted for early on March 16^th.  My dream is to finish the last game of this pack and finish the next pack for 4 games total but road to hell and all that…Frost grave scratches lots of itches—the need for a stimulating competitive game—my love of resource management—my love of story gaming—but best of all it’s a judgement-free place to talk, drink, and renew a friendship I wish I had more time to enjoy.  At 42, I know my time miniature gaming won’t last for ever but while it lasts, I’m loving having the disposable income, friends, and opportunity to make the most of this excellent product.

Taking the field or desert as it were

              Over the last month I’ve been fortunate to play 3 games of FOW with my loyal opponent!  I thoroughly enjoyed the games, the company, and the chance to share an adult beverage with friends.  This has been part of our commitment to playing more regularly and dedicating ourselves to a single game system for a season or two.

              I find myself looking back at the last year with some new insights.  WMTG’s 3d printing addiction has let us try terrain, models, and scenarios that would otherwise have been foregone due to cost, convenience, and availability.  We’ve played more often with a larger variety of components than in the past which has let us move beyond the stage of “how does that work again?”  WMTG has also kindly typed out a summary of the 3^rd edition FOW rules in google docs which means we now have an accessible organized rules document.  This has made learning and playing the game far more rewarding than previous go-rounds.  I have lots of thoughts but first, let’s look at the games.

Game I (1250 mechanized Germans against British infantry.)

              This game featured a desperate defense by an outnumbered force waiting for reinforcements against a numerically superior attacker.  As WMTG had a mechanized company and I had my 4^th Indian infantry, I was the defender.  I had 4 full infantry platoons backed up by antiaircraft guns, antitank trucks, a light machinegun platoon, and light aircraft interception.  WMTG had 2 full infantry platoons carried by 8 lightly armored transports each of which carried 2 machineguns.  He also had a platoon of P3s and some serious air assets—a significant problem considering my lack of durable antiarmor.

              This game played out on a 4x4 table.  The board consisted of a beautiful village in the lower left quadrant facing a diagonal line of area terrain running from the upper left to the lower right quarter.  I placed my objective as deeply into the village as I could manage.  WMTG put his right in the middle of nowhere.  If he started any of his turns within 4 inches of either objective without any of my contesting models nearby, he won.  I had to last long enough for my reinforcements to come in and bolster my lines.

              I had to put at least half my army in reserve so I kept an infantry platoon, my machine gunners, and my AA guns on the board—hoping I could stand off his army with my volume of fire.  The MGs took their places in the village where they would be nearly impossible to dig out.  The AA went in front of the village where they could cover the most probable approaches.  The infantry mobbed up around the exposed objective.  I started in prepared positions so life seemed pretty good.

              In the first 2 turns WMTG rammed his tanks down my left flank, straight at my infantry platoon.  I held off his air support while 8 heavily loaded transports rushed my lines partially protected by area terrain.  I quickly found that by hunkering my MGs down in the village I had rendered them unable to draw line of sight to the approaching swarm.  I lost some of my AA guns but managed to knock half of the troops out of their transports.

              Turn three, was…bad.  The tanks hit my infantry and drove them off the objective.  My AA guns were completely eliminated.  I failed my motivation test to rally and move back to contest—leaving WMTG in control of one scoring zone and no way to move they’re without abandoning my village defense.

              The game ended on the top of turn four with none of my reserves having arrived, most of my forces dead or combat ineffective, and the Germans largely untouched save one transport.

Games II and III (1750 Fortified Italians against British infantry.)

              Game two was identical to game one except the direction that reserves entered the table and my approach toward the far short board edge.  I had three full infantry platoons, a platoon of nine carriers thanks to the wonders of 3d printing, a platoon of antitank trucks, one platoon of three Valentine tanks, my usual antiaircraft guns, and 3 dice of anemic AA interception.  WMTG had 2 fully fortified infantry platoons with mine fields and barbed wire plus the usual gun pits, two AA trucks, two platoons of tanks, two artillery platoons, and his usual Falco aircraft.

              Games II and III were played on a 6x4 table to accommodate the larger points spread.  While building the board, WMTG’s son, Pidge, asked me what I was doing.  I told him I was setting up a balanced board.  He asked what that meant.  I said making a board that neither of us would enjoy—it’s possible my 40k tournament experience influences my opinion of what a “good” board should be.  The major elements of this setup were the same village as before but placed in the middle of the far-short board edge.  The middle section was broken up by several ruff terrain segments and oasis.  The far-left corner featured a rocky outcrop.

              WMTG dropped his objective as far back on my right as he could manage.  I placed mine as far forward and left as I could manage—hoping to use a central oasis to partially shield me on the approach.  I only had to worry about the left most platoon and fortifications as there was no point pushing for the farther objective.  This let me deploy in a left running refuse flank maneuver.  My AA guns, darned immobility, were effectively out of the game but considering how the scenario played I don’t have room to complain.

              This game played very quickly.  As Brits, I exercised my option for night fight which screwed the Italian aircraft and artillery.  I lost most of my carriers and infantry on the approach but rammed my tanks into WMTG’s fortifications.  I lost 2 Valentines piece meal to the mines but my remaining Valentine broke the Italian defense winning me the game at the top of turn three.  Infantry hitching a ride on tanks are particularly easy to kill since they go from a 3-up save to a 5-up save but I still like the universal carriers as transports.

Game II, Free for All!

              This was the most instructive and least interactive game we’ve played in some time.  WMTG deployed his defensive down the far long board edge.  I put my 2 objectives in the far-right trench blocking out as much of the fortification as I could.  WMTG put an objective on either side of my deployment forcing me to split my defenses.  I chose to bulrush his objectives while leaving a token force to defend my far-left zone.  WMTG’s artillery bracketed the far-right quarter with his tanks dead center—waiting to react to wherever I chose to push.

              Much like game II, I rushed my tanks at the right-most artillery battery and fortified platoon.  The carriers, thanks to a reconnaissance move, were in the Italians’ face turn one hosing the artillery down with MG fire.  By the end of turn two I had taken out half of his artillery and driven the infantry out of the trench with my
valentines.  My carriers died in glory while my infantry covered the back-board edge double contesting each objective.  We called the game when it was clear that my tanks were going to run the table before he could score on my backfield.

              This game was the first I can remember where we really “played” the game.  Even at deployment we were trying to bate each other into prematurely committing to a flank or leaving an objective open.  While the outcome was the same as the two previous games (tank takes objective in three) it was nice having to strategize in the moment rather than just throwing dice at my opponent.

              Considering these games, the easy call is to say that tanks are broken—especially my tanks—and we should try and play around armor for a while.  However, WMTG pointed out something incisive on the way home that night.  This is the first set of games where we’ve really tested the limits of our armies and force selection.  He claims he employed his forces badly seeking binary solutions to complex problems.  Infantry die to tanks on their own but infantry paired with armor pose a significant challenge to enemy tanks.  Both of us could have as easily used tanks as defensive assets which would have drastically changed the game tempo.  In our first game, I should have ambushed my AA guns.  I should have payed for sticky bombs for my HQ and troops.  Once all those infantry were out of their transports, my MG teams would have been invaluable. 

              I’ve done a lot of thinking about how FOW plays V.S. other wargames and I think WMTG is correct in that we need to think more big-picture about army construction and strategy.  For one thing, 1250 points doesn’t leave us many platoons or utility to answer strategic questions.  FOW, unlike GW and PP doesn’t have units that outright remove opposing resources.  Direct fire artillery and some anti-aircraft guns are probably the closest shooting analogs while tanks assaulting infantry are the closest CQB comparison.  Even then, it’s difficult for all but the most expensive units to bring the pain in such a way to render a single unit irrelevant.  While it does mean longer play times, 1500-2500point games will give us more ways to respond to varied missions and deployment.

              Another issue unique to FOW is how shooting interacts with given models.  My to-hit role is determined by the enemy skill not my own ability.  This makes my trained French more vulnerable to Veteran Germans and less effective in return.  That’s also why WMTG holds my horde of armored cars in such high regard while I remember how easily they died.  FOW is designed to mimic actual historic forces not to create a balanced engagement per say.  There are steps I could have taken to maximize my chances in game I but realistically I should have lost that game given our capabilities and correlation of forces.

              That dynamic is what makes historical gaming interesting.  The Germans, especially at the beginning of WWII, were fighting the next war.  The French were fighting the last war.  My Brits are better off than my French specifically because their forces were better positioned to fight Germany’s mechanized tactics.  The problem with this dynamic is that it is sometimes difficult to remember that FOW is only an approximation of historical conflict.  Sure, artillery is decent against tanks but Valentines armor is 1 less than the Italian general artillery which makes them functionally immune to direct fire save highly improbable dice luck.  Machine guns should mowed down infantry but the mechanics of bullet proof cover mean I through 36 shots at WMTG’s artillery in one round and didn’t remove a single model.  I think our expectation for some units is often incorrectly colored by how we think the unit should perform based on our understanding of history rather than a straight mechanical analysis.  That has driven me to some unfortunate strategic blunders—something I hope to remedy as we play more games with the same rule set.

              Finally, I’m beginning to dislike the way in which FOW balances quality and quantity of fire.  Tanks, mobile units, can’t fire their main guns more than once on the move.  Many of my primary guns don’t even have H.E. meaning I can’t easily pass my firepower check to bypass bulletproof cover.  Machineguns have the rate of fire required to do damage but again lack the FP to deliver on that promise.  This isn’t a condemnation of the system—just a general frustration that we’ve been playing such small games for so long that I’ve failed to notice how smaller games push the scenario in favor of heavy armor.  It creates a dynamic where the defender ends up killing off a ton of ancillary elements but still looses the game due to one unit that they couldn’t really deal with in the first place.  That is a somewhat overbroad generalization—I mean that it is less fun to spend a game watching most of your army die, only to have the invincible juggernaut win you the contest because your opponent couldn’t affect your key component.  It feels “bad” to groan as you loose model after model only to punk your opponent who never really had a chance to begin with.

It’s fun to roll dice and play with toy soldiers.  It’s equally fun to spend time with good friends over a shared experience.  I think knowing the rules more, putting the time in to better learn the game, and getting the reps in will make FOW even more fun in future.

Unto the fields of WWII

Saturday, I return to the fields of WWII with my 4^th Indians.  WMTG and I are going to slug it out before gaming.  I’ll have read the rules at least once since WMTG kindly transcribed the details to google for universal access.

 

My list:

 

HQ:

25-points

Two Rifle teams

 

Combat Platoons:

·       Four Rifle Platoons

HQ plus three squads for 175-points=700-points

HQ consists of a command rifle/MG team, a light mortar team and an AT rifle team

Each squad consists of two rifle/MG teams

 

Brigade Support Platoons:

·       One MG Platoon

HQ plus two MG sections for 145-points

HQ consists of one Rifle team

Each section consists of two heavy MG teams

 

Divisional Support Platoons:

·       One platoon of Royal Artillery antitank portee

HQ plus four 2 pounder portees for 180 points

HQ consists of a rifle team and a truck

These guys are 8^th Army, and are Confident Veteran.

·       One platoon of anti-aircraft artillery

HQ section and four Bofors AA guns for 175 points

HQ section is a rifle team.

These guys are 8^th Army, and are Confident Veteran.

 

Infantry and Gun Team Stats:

Rifle Team:

Range 16”, ROF 1, AT 2, FP 6

Rifle/MG Team:

Range 16”, ROF 2, AT 2, FP 6

Light Mortar Team:

Range 16”, ROF 1, AT 1, FP 4+, Can fire over friendly teams, can fire smoke

AT Rifle Team:

Range 16”, ROF 1, AT 4, FP 5+, Tank Assault 3

Heavy MG Team:

Range 24”, ROF 6, AT 2, FP 6, ROF 2 when pinned

Range 40” Bombardment, no AT or FP value.  Cannot do much against hard targets, but can tear up and pin down soft targets.

Bofors AA Gun:

Immobile, Range 24”, ROF 4, AT 6, FP 4+, Anti-aircraft, Turntable

 

Vehicle Stats:

 

Trucks and tractors:

Wheeled, no armour

Bofors Portee:

Wheeled, no armor, AA machine gun, Tip and Run

Bofors gun – Range 24”, ROF 3, AT 6, FP 4+, No HE, Portee

2 pounder Portee:

Wheeled, no armor, AA machine gun, Tip and Run

2 pounder – Range 24”, ROF 3, AT 7, FP 4+, No HE, Portee

 

This gives me a nice versatile force at 1250 points that can take and hold objectives while not throwing too many points into artillery.  Now…on to homework—I mean reading the rules—again😉

A letter to DGI re-Crippled System

Dear discount games Inc.,

I’m not sure if I am addressing this to the correct organization so I apologize in advance if you aren’t the people I am looking for.

I have been a loyal listener and customer of DGI and the muse on minis podcast network for the last year.  The numerous podcasts are one of the shining points of my day—especially on my 2-hour daily commute.  Even though I barely ever get to play war machine, it has been a pleasure to live vicariously through battle driven, dark guidance, and many other fan-produced shows.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to delete the network from my feed going forward.

This morning I popped on my headset for one of the few quality quiet moments my schedule affords.  I started with an episode of crippled system—usually an entertaining ramble through food, movies, and pop culture with a sprinkling of gaming.  One of the hosts, Nathan, went off on a rant about Wisconsin’s Governor’s attack adds stating that to say he is like a sack of shit is not a simile because the governor is scientifically provably exactly that.  He then said, I can only assume while turning to face the live stream, “to all our Republican listeners, Fuck you.”

I understand that in today’s deeply polarized political climate that a certain amount of political acrimony is unavoidable.  I have no issue with a gaming podcast dipping into ruff language and political commentary—especially if it’s limited to the hosts’ personal beliefs.  As a conservative leaning independent though, I do take issue with the host telling 40%-50% of the voting population to fuck themselves.  I would have the same reaction if he had told his Democrat listeners to fuck off too.  I listen to gaming podcasts to get away from the real world.  Gaming is my hobby and escape.  Especially since the other 3 hosts seemed fine with Nathan’s outburst, I have to assume that this sort of thing is acceptable to them.

I wanted you to know why I won’t be listening to the network any more in case this is an issue you wish to address.  I’m going to continue following chain attack, battle driven, and buying my gaming products from DGI but I will not be listening to the MOM network any more.  I have no interest in even passively supporting intolerance.

Thank you for your continued support of various gaming communities.  I realize that crippled system doesn’t represent DGI’s views on any given subject.  I do not hold you responsible for my frustration.

Please have a great holiday weekend.

 

Setting down the game.

I recently set out to play more war machine, build up to a tournament footing, and attend a couple local events.  I listened to podcasts, read a ton of material, and played a couple starter games to get my toes wet.  My goals were modest and, I thought, obtainable.  Sadly, I’ve concluded that war machine in its current form just isn’t for me.  That is hard to admit—I’ve been playing in one form or another for 15 years now—but I think I’m done.

There are a lot of reasons for this decision.

1.       Let’s start with me.  In the halcyon days of MKI, the game wasn’t exactly blind friendly but it was workable.  Games were small enough and casual enough that my friends could mark my cards—even my tournament opponents were happy to assist.  MKIII is a bigger more technical game than the version I cut my teeth on.  The app is not accessible to those who depend on text to speech.  You can’t buy cards any more—you can print them out yourself but it’s not ideal.  I have to touch models—mine and my opponent’s—to understand the board-state.  With the current focus on precise placement it is borderline cheating if I bump a model—especially if it’s one of my opponent’s.  The game has become so technical that I have to get handy to understand the board state.  That necessity means I am constantly nudging models, terrain, zones, and objectives.  For someone who wants to play in local steamroller events that’s not good.

2.       I’m not happy with my faction.  Khador is in a great place.  I think it is genuinely competitive and has plenty of unexplored depth.  It also doesn’t play like I want it to.  Part of this is the fact that many of the things that used to be uniquely Khador’s have been appropriated by other factions—medium based infantry, the cold North, crazy berserkers…etc.  This isn’t specific to big red but given how much of the faction’s design is based on the things it cannot have, it is frustrating to see other factions doing the things that used to be uniquely part of my shtick—often better than I can.  I freely admit to a bad case of faction envy.  I want the faction to be in a different place especially with the lack of spell channeling and slow low defense jacks.  Someone said recently that the MOW CID was what every CID should be—a measured balanced exploration of the theme.  I agree.  The problem being that some factions get a reasonable approach and some get entirely new toolboxes and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which is which.  I wanted something out of left field.  Something to take the faction in a hither-to unexplored direction…that…didn’t happen.  It just feels like PP has a different vision of Khador’s faction identity, design space, and viability than I do.  There are a lot of issues from my lowly perspective but the biggest is the fact that Khador’s raw stats (in particular boxes and armor) seem to rank higher in PP’s estimation than in my experience—especially when my jacks’ run range is less than the length of a zone and the base charging threat of other factions’ heavies. 

3.       Themes.  I hate themes.  People say you don’t have to play themes if you don’t want.  In reality steamroller is the only format being played.  The current SR packet requires solos, units, and jacks/beasts to score scenario elements.  In most cases you’re going to have to sacrifice models to contest.  You know what makes that easier? Free units!  Free solos!  The points really aren’t important.  The extra scoring and contesting models are huge though—especially in a faction that values quality over quantity.  Themes force me into an arbitrary game of rock paper scissors.  If I don’t buy in, I’m giving up free scoring elements.  If I do buy in, I’m seriously limiting myself as to model selection—often to minimal benefit just so I can keep scoring parity.

4.       Competitive play.  This is ironic since one of my goals was/is to play competitively.  The more I’ve read, played, and tried to prep for local steamrollers though the more dissatisfied I’ve become.  It started with a podcast discussing a certain elite tournament in which a player made a mistake, a judge was called, and both players got a warning—one for making the mistake and the other for not catching it when it happened.  We’ve become a community so obsessed with perfect play that it is driving the game to absurdly frustrating extremes.  I’ve spent the following months watching technical tournament play dominate the hobby and drive public play in uncomfortable directions.  This covers a gambit of problems but some of the big items are the move to 2D terrain which makes me feel like I’m playing a board game, the decline in the hobby side (painting, conversions…etc.), the focus on the game as less narrative and more about flags and zones, and a rise in an unhealthy MTG-like focus on “getting good.” 

5.       CID.  I love the idea of CID.  I hate the reality.  I love the fact that defined faction elements get a universal overhaul.  I hate the down time between cycles—something on the order of 14 months or more if they keep adding mini factions.  I hate the way the cycle tunes one theme up to 11 while leaving others to suffer in obscurity.  There are just too many parts of too many factions that need fixing—and waiting 14 months or more to have only one of several pain points addressed grinds my gears.  There are single units like assault commandos and sword knights that deserve their own themes.  We’ve waited years already and we’ll be waiting more years at this rate.  Commandos don’t even count for points in their current theme even if they were playable.  It’s…maddening.

6.       The loss of heart.  In the dark days of MKI, PP had a certain style.  It wasn’t just page 5, though that was a part.  They built their legend on all-metal—all-the time.  It was literally full-metal-fantasy.  When hordes was previewed, Matt Wilson got down in the weeds and did the online release in the forums himself.  The early books were magnificent combinations of fiction, art, and marketing.  I still love some of those old stories to this day.  The RPG, the miniatures, the fiction, all melded as a unified artistic gaming endeavor.  Each book was an exploration into a new aspect of a fascinating universe.  Most of that magic is gone for me.  There are no more books really.  Models are produced with no eye to a bigger story.  It isn’t all-metal any more and page 5 is gone.  I don’t feel like the game is tied to a unified story being told at many levels…it’s just a company running a tournament miniatures game—one I enjoy but lacking the magic of old.

7.       Production quality.  I used to cut PP as a young miniatures company, some slack.  I cannot do it anymore.  I’ve had to send in for recast parts or mispacked components in a third of my recent purchases.  I’m talking stuff like 2 left halves of a horse or a gun arm that is a plastic blob at one end.  I’ve been doing mini crate and they sent me 2 of the promotional models for signing up for 6 months and completely forgot the actual monthly model.  Sure, they will fix these issues at no cost to me without complaint.  It just feels like they don’t care anymore.  Mini gaming is a labor of money and time.  I feel like they’ve lost focus on the simplest part of being a miniatures company—to produce useable miniatures.

I’m going to sell off my Khador in the next month or 2.  I’ll keep my pigs for the novelty and since I have almost all of the faction.  Who knows, maybe I’ll want to give it another try in a couple years but for now, I’m just done.

Thoughts on Khador and MK III 2 years in

              We’re passing 2 years into Warmachine MKIII—well past the honeymoon period with several CID cycles in the rearview mirror.  So it’s time for my hot takes on the game state, community, faction, and hobby.  Obligatory disclosure, I’m a casual player with less than 50 games under my belt this edition.  Please do not take my opinions too seriously.

 

The game:

              I got into warmahordes back in the early days of MKI—back when there were only 4 casters per faction and the model range was in its infancy.  This edition is functionally an entirely new product.  MKIII is a better rule set in every particular.  Privateer press has obviously put a lot of thought into making jacks and beasts integral list elements again.  While I do not appreciate all their design choices, they have done a ton of work to insure a clean flavorful experience at the model VS. Model level.

              After that point, the experience degrades for me.  PP’s continued insistence on basing its game on a straight 75-point SR tournament pack—it’s the only model discussed or tested these days—restricts the scope of play.  Company of iron and colossal wrestling do not represent serious alternatives in my experience.  Company of iron may come into its own—it is a very new product and will benefit from more publicity and manufacturer support—but for most of us steamroller is the game entire.  If you are a serious player desiring meaningful competitive play that’s fine.  If however, you’re like me, it’s difficult to choke down the steamroller experience even after a couple journeyman cycles.  SR is a huge animal with 2 static formats, an ever-changing model set, and a high skill requirement.  As a result, Warmachine has become more about objectives, flags, and zones and less about the narrative three dimensional skirmish interactions that drew me to the property.

              To be fair to Privateer Press, I want a game that has a low bar to entry that is played at many point-totals.  I like the way PP unapologetically sets the bar; I just wish there was more diversity in accepted points levels and formats.  Themes fall into the same hell mouth—they are the way PP wants the game played—not the agent I want driving my list construction.  We just have different visions for the desired end state.

 

The community:

              I have this temptation to think of the community as a monolith heralded by the vocal contributors on lormahordes, chain attack, fully boosted, battle driven, combo smite, dark guidance, dominate for two, and all the other random places I go for my PP fix.  In practice, I suspect they represent a small percentage of players worldwide.  So, when I say “community” I’m talking about all the casual people catching a game here and there not just the globetrotting tournament goers.  I have not seen a demo day, tournament, or PP open gaming event since March 2017—and I live near 3 game stores that used to have regular MKII events.  The edition swap was always going to drive some attrition.  Stores come and go.  People move on—these things happen.  Even so, I hear a lot of people suffering from the same malady.

I used to blame the end of the official PP forums and the press ganger program for this “decline.”  Upon reflection, I was wrong.  Those programs did not drive the hobby—they just provided a convenient forum for hobby development and community interaction.  I used to be the guy running demo games as people walked into the LGS.  I used to be the guy helping run small events—I just don’t have the time or resources to do that anymore.  MKIII’s launch killed warmachine in my area but the local community’s inability to reconstitute around a flagship store, organizer, or forum is what has kept it in the ground.  I feel honestly bad about that.  I want to help—I just do not have that much hobby time.  Organizing events and running demos is work—rewarding work—but still work.  I’m talking to a local game store about doing a twice monthly warmachine day.  There have to be other players like me out there.  Maybe an open game day will be enough to start the ball rolling again.  It makes me worry about the game’s future.  Where is PP’s outreach?  What about all the people not in a thriving meta?  These things trouble me.

 

The Faction:

              Khador is in a weird place.  There was a time when a Khador list was Sorscha and some destroyers killing your caster by turn 2.  Then it was butcher 1 with 2 MOW kovniks and 3 devastators.  Khador’s shtick has always been quality of stats be it armor, boxes, or elite infantry.  If you listen to people discussing armored korps, you’d think Khador was back in its hay day—unbreakable elite models requiring an unusual effort to repel.  The days of berserker spam and defense 19 assassins must have scarred the community.  The thing is, Khador is not that faction any more.  Gone are the days of armor 25 devastators.  Heck, those dirty Swans have a reach jack with armor 21 that can’t be charged most of the time and SPD 5.  I think people remember all the good parts of big red and forget how much less unique we are now and how much we’ve lost in translation.

It feels like people focus on the armor 20 34 box aspect and completely ignore the defense 10, SPD 4, RAT 4, no light, no arcnode part.  No other faction is defined as much by the game elements it lacks than Khador.  Every other faction breaks the rules in some meaningful way—whether through theme, model design, or caster impact.  Khador just tries to out-fundamental its opponents.  In a world where Other factions have access to themes providing mass carapace, RFP, and free battlegroup models I feel just a little homely in comparison.

              On the other side of the coin, I have never had this much jank to build lists with before.  My demolition korps are fixed and the rest of my MOW are playable again.  Old Witch II (if I ever find someone to build and paint her) is mind blowingly amazing.  Victor is everything I wanted him to be at a price I can afford.  Khador is…in a weird place.

 

The Hobby:

              Warmachine is a top-tier wargame with a constantly changing meta and a responsive community.  It used to be a small skirmish game with a low entry threshold.  Now, the larger relative points values and the massively evolved product line make it a more daunting challenge.  I feel as the game has improved—and it has whatever my reservations—it has also become a little more insular—a little more elite—a little harder to start.  The fluffy narrative books of my youth are gone in favor of a more competitively focused experience—one where the glorious art and writing of old has given way to a clunky app and articles in NQ Prime.  The game is different now and I don’t know what to think of that.

Safe Spaces

              I used to be an optimist; then I found out how the world actually works.  I still have faith in my fellow Americans—generally—but recent events have called into question the practicality of that view.

 

              A couple years ago I was presenting to a group in a state facility.  Half way through my spiel, the building went into an active shooter drill.  We squished into a closet, closed the door, and waited for the all-clear.  Based on the jokes made at the time, I think I was the only person upset with our defenseless tactics.  The door was not locked.  We were just hoping that the dice didn’t come up snake eyes.  I found out later that the only person in the building with a gun was the head of security and he was required to keep it locked in his office.

              Later that year I was called into jury duty.  I got there already having stripped my pockets of pepper spray, pocket knife, bottle opener, and anything I thought could be even mildly objectionable.  I passed through the metal detector and earned a wand check because I always forget my cane is a no-no.  The lone security guard checked me in and whisked me off for processing for my civic duty.  There was nothing stopping someone from walking in—no security barrier—just a single rent-a-cop.

              A couple years later I had to request a replacement social security card.  I entered the Federal building and found my way to the appropriate floor.  Upon entering the waiting area, I was greeted by a Federal police officer.  She was kind enough to walk me to registration.  In doing so she made me walk on her left side (not my normal practice) so her gun hand was free.  I could feel the contours of the body armor vest under the shoulder she graciously offered as we walked to my seat.  I remember thinking that here at least was someone taking security seriously.  Of course, I had to strip down all my normal less lethal gear before that trip and the guard was in the office not at the building entrance.

              A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of touring my employer’s Federal counterpart in DC.  By this time, I was used to the normal restrictions—so I divested myself of my usual panoply the previous evening.  As I went through the metal detector, the guard made me go through my pockets again.  They saw my key-bar which looks like a pocket knife.  After I explained that I was carrying an innovative keyring and not a potentially deadly universal multitool, I was cleared, badged, identified, and eventually given the run of the building.  Especially given the recent shootings, I was not encouraged.  What happened if someone chose not to go through the metal detector and went on a rampage?  That was exactly what happened in the DC Navy Yard shooting—and the poor security greeter was the first targeted.

              I am committed to the right to keep and bare arms as well as the essential right to self-defense.  Nobody should be forced to take up the tools of protection if they do not wish but I feel strongly that those who do not wish to do so should not render the rest of us defenseless either.  Consider that National police and emergency response times vary from ten minutes to an hour or more depending on region and volume.  For example, yesterday my county ran out of ambulances due to the number of snow-related accidents.  Consider also that most of the recent active shooter events have played out in less than the amount of time it takes police to respond in the first place.  In the case of the Florida school shooting there was an armed school resource officer on premises as well as several nearby sheriff’s deputies.  They stood back and waited while the shooter went about is grizzly business.  In the pulse nightclub shooting, the police waited hours to confront the shooter while many victims died from their wounds.  Yesterday a Maryland student took a gun to school and shot two classmates before being shot by a proactive school resource officer.  Sometimes emergency response is a hard counter to those up to no-good and sometimes not.

              In wrestling with this issue, I am reminded of Tommy by Rudyard Kipling:

 

“I went into a public-‘ouse to get a pint o’beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
…
O makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken sodgers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.”

 

Kipling’s rhyme is pertinent despite its age.  Soldiers returning from Vietnam, Korea, and world war II felt the lash of public opinion despite standing in harm’s way at their country’s behest.  I do not pretend to such exalted company.  I do feel society would rather denigrate me for my unwillingness to become a victim than celebrate me for my clean record and moderate track record though.  “He’s one of those gun people—you know, one of those.”

            The end result of all this security theatre is that I have to stand outside my employer’s building in the middle of Baltimore, where there was a shooting a couple months ago, stepping over homeless, across from some abandoned buildings used for drug peddling, with nothing more than a container of pepper spray, strong language, and the hope that the rent-a-cop shows up soon to let me in.  I routinely have to divest myself of basic tools like pen-knives because it makes someone somewhere “feel” better.  I have been followed many times by unstable people from the midsummer mitten wearing profit who followed my wife and me onto a cross-town bus to the guy who tried to lead me by my cane while claiming he could punch me in the face.  My very obvious disability seems to draw crazy people like a moth—and this is run of the mill every-day crazy.  I do not have the luxury of door-to-door personal car service.  I spend more time in the company of strangers—in the wild—than any of my friends.  So, I have the double whammy of being a self-defense minded person and a PWD who society views as incapable of self-advocacy much less self-protection.

            I’m not going to argue for guns in schools or constitutional carry.  I’m not going to claim to have all the answers or even the best answers.  I have said and will continue to say disarming law abiding freedom loving people like me helps nobody.  I am rendered even more of a victim than the general public.  If we are really and truly going to discuss how to make our schools, our places of business, and the halls of government safer, we need to start by saying that good gun owners and self-defense advocates are not the problem.  Guns protect people every day, from the students who were not shot yesterday because an armed resource officer stepped in, to the thousands of crimes that are prevented each year by responsible armed citizens.  The state will not protect me while I wait outside its building.  It will fire me if I fight back against an active shooter though—I was told so during our employee orientation.  This is the standard our society is setting; that it is better to die an unarmed sheep with no blood on my hands than be given the minimal tools to defend myself.

            Our buildings, our airports, and our most vulnerable are defenseless despite useless inconvenience like the TSA’s repeatedly verified inability to stop real threats.  People who have done nothing can’t even carry a pen knife into a federal building but people like me are the problem—or so I have been told lately—often—forcefully.

            I mention this because readit, YouTube, and Facebook are in process of culling legal firearm related material.  These are private companies who have every right to sensor their content as they see fit.  These private companies are also where a lot of “free speech” takes place.  If we want an honest discussion of gun ownership, where is it supposed to take place if not on YouTube, reedit, or Facebook?  How can I make people aware of my particular concerns without those platforms?  YouTube is banning videos containing even images of legal magazines capable of holding more than 30 rounds or legally owned accessories like suppressors and bump-fire stocks.  What happens next?  Do we ban images of political views we do not agree with—oh wait, that’s already happening.  An honest discussion takes place when there is a forum for those with whom we most disagree.  Moderate candidates succeed when all views can be heard—not when uncomfortable discussion is prohibited.  I am safer when society has to consider the full implication of its decisions.  Please consider writing to your social media vendor of choice and politely request a more open policy—for my sake—and for the sake of honest conversations everywhere.  Today it is guns.  Tomorrow the “publican” may decide not to serve “your” kind.

Into The Dojo

Now that I have 1 teeny tiny game under my belt, it’s time to jump back into the dojo.  I have a couple choices to make.

 

              Based on last week’s partial game, I’m going to mostly follow the internet’s advice and switch up my perspective 75-point list:

 

Armored Korps or steam cold killers:

·        Sorscha (S1 +29)

·       Marauder (-11)

·       Beast-09 (-18)

·       Man-o-War Bombardiers (Full -16)

·       Bombardier officer (Free)

·       Man-o-War Demolition Corps (Full -14)

·       Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich (-6)

·       Koldun Kapitan Valachev (-4)

·       Lady Aiyana and Master Holt (-8)

·       Greylord Forge Seer (-4)

·       Grolar (-18)

·       Man-o-War Kovnik (Free)

·       Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (-4) or

·       Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (-5) or

·       Saxon Orrik (-4)

 

This is a balanced force with some interesting threat vectors and buff targets.  I do not know which of the 3 mercenary solos works best.  Gorman (I own the recent mini crate edition) can shut down a battle engine with blind, rust a construct, and hold flags tolerably well.  Orin covers antimagic and blows through units using chain lightning (particularly good on feat turn.)  Saxon gives pathfinder, an ok gun, and contests well with tough and stealth.  Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

As to a pairing, I’ve been wandering around with a variety of options.  I’ve mostly settled on Old Witch II in jaws of the wolf.  I looked at butcher 1 with a jack gunline but it lacks defenses and would probably get shot off the board.  Here is my tentative dojo list:

 

Jaws of the wolf or no shoot for you:

·       Old Witch II (+27)

·       Decimator (-15)

·       Decimator (-15)

·       Juggernaut (-13)

·       Victor (-34)

·       Kayazy Eliminators (-5)

·       Kayazy Eliminators (-5)

·       Widowmaker Scouts (-8)

·       Manhunter (Free)

·       Widowmaker Marksman (Free)

·       Yuri the axe (Free)

·       Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire (-7)

 

Decimators can push heavies out of zones and get surprisingly mobile by following up on beat back.  Alexia’s ability to deliver RFP and create solos in some matches can win games, assuming OW can protect her.  On feat turn OW turns the decimators up to 9 or 10 with rerolls on all those shots.  I am fond of the fact that if OW is standing in front of victor she gets to pick deviation direction for his shots—which can be a huge problem for some bricks.  Regardless, I have a lot of collecting to do before any of this hits the table.