Quest for style

I've tried to give some thought as to what kind of miniature player I am. Am I a defensive player? Or do I prefer to have all offense? Do I like to mess with my opponents? Every time that I ask myself this question, I always answer with "I don't know."

Here is my attempt at answering this question. I'm going to record my armie's performance using the FIDE ELO ranking system. I'll assume a ranking of 1500 as a baseline and the see what has the better performance. I'll see where I stand after 30 games under my belt.

• WM Khador: 1485 / 1
• H Circle of Orboros: 1515 / 1
• WM Cygnar 1515 / 1
• WM Protectorate of Menoth 1485 / 1
• 40k Dark Eldar 1515 / 1
• WHFB Vampire Counts 1500 / 0
• WHFB High Elves 1500 / 0

Wargaming terrain generation

Too many times has terrain generation been a necessary evil in my group. Either there's too much of one terrain type and we run out of ways to model it, or random generation required terrain that we don't have.

I recently found this universal card-based terrain generator inspired by Fantasy Battleground's Kingdoms expansion. I recommend using it as limits the number of terrain pieces that you would require while still keeping with adequate randomness to keep things interesting.

Dark Eldar strike into Virtual Realspace

It's been *forever* since I played 40k. So I decided to take out my beloved Dark Eldar out for a virtual spin. (Yay Vassal!) You see, it's been so long that I haven't actually used the new DE codex yet (it's only been a year!) 

This is the endgame of an Anhihilation Dawn Assault mission vs Tau. DE win of course (6 vs 9KP). The game hasn't really changed for the DE at all: Speed is life. All but one of those craters were DE vehicles, while 90% of the red smudges are what is left of the Tau infantry after the DE were done with them.

I lucked out on the Combat Drugs so all my combat monsters were so hopped up on drugs that they Felt No Pain, which mitigated much of the Tau shooting. I really like how the game moved from one end of the table to the other (Bottom right to top left). Power from Pain took care of the rest (represented by skulls in the image).


The Dark Eldar of the new codex are just as entertaining as the previous one, with some added durability thrown in so that the late game is still to be contested. I am absolutely statisfied with it.

Quick WHFB Vampire Counts army list

This is what I do while the baby is taking her nap, I organize undead minions to take over the world. :)

• Vampire Lord [1] w/ Mage Level, Forbidden Lore, Master of the Black Arts, Helm of Commandment, Armor of Destiny, Enchanted Shield
• Wight King [2] BSB w/ Barded Skeletal Steed, Black Axe of Krell
• 10x Ghouls [1] w/ Ghast
• 21x Ghouls w/ Ghast
• 27x Skeletons w/ Full Command
• 20x Grave Guard w/ Full Command, Banner of the Barrows
• 5x Black Knights [2] w/ Full Command, Royal Standard of Strigos
• Black Coach
• Varghulf

Total: 1990 pts

The rationale behind this army is to keep the lord in his bunker and out of harm's way. The main battle line will consist of the Ghoul, Skeleton and Grave guard units. The black coach, Varghulf and Black Knights will cover the flanks, or launch to harass the opposing flank units.

A drop-in replacement for the Wight King could be a Vampire BSB w/ Waking Death and Dread Knight. Depends on my mood.

New VC book rumored for January 2012

More info can be obtained here:

http://www.vampirecounts.net/Thread-Official-Rumour-Thread-New-Vampire-Counts-Book

8th ed BRB Bang for buck quick review

I finished reading the rules for WHFB 8th edition, all 150 pages of 'em. I have no inclination to wade through what amounts to 3 white dwarf issues tacked on to the rules to make a 500+ page book. The white-dwarf-ish later half of the book should have been cut, and kept in the astronomically priced special edition ($150 for that thing), leaving the rules and background info in a much more affordable core book (I'd be ready to shell out $50 for that no problem).

I come back to my price/value comparison with WARMACHINE mkII. Would I buy the WM mkII Prime book for CAN$35? In a heartbeat! (And will before the month is out) Would I buy the 8th ed BRB at CAN$90? Never in a million years. I'll wait for the mini book to appear on ebay, thanks. The close to 3 to 1 fluff to rules ratio doesn't justify the price for me.

I'm clearly not the target market since I want most of the pagecount of the game books that I buy to be useful in the actual games that I play. To each his own, but sticker shock on the BRB is a "remains in play effect" until GW decides to bring down the price.

Oh and here is a pic illustrating very well the padding contained in the BRB. It's a size comparison between the standalone book and the rules-only book in the starter boxed set.

Two great tastes that taste great together

This is just a quick note while reading the VBRB (very-big-red-book). Measuring rules are great, especially coupled with the failed/successful charge rules. I *really* like the fact that you check to see if your charge is in range (from closest base to base) *before* you move models.

We never used to do that, trying to angle a charge/wheel for best impact. Now it is: is it in range? yes? great! it's successful. Move your models to get the most models into base contact with a wheel. No more futzing with the charge, taking it back, futzing some more. It fails if it do this, but it doesn't if I do that... all gone!

Things are looking up :)

Borrowed the 8th ed doorstopper

Hello, in advance of the reasonably sized book in the boxed set, I have borrowed a friend's massive 8th ed book. I *just* started reading it, so the only thing I can comment on right now is that its pretty. and pretty hefty. Is the worth the sticker price? Well to me, when compared to the WARMACHINE Mk II book, feels padded to justify it's astronomical price tag. So no, I mean *hundreds* of pages of miniature showcase? really?

Radio silence until I evaluate more. Speak to you later, boils and ghouls!

Mantic needed someone to write their ruleset...

This is one way to get him. :)



Love these guys :)

The calm before the storm

My VCs have entered a state of torpor until the appearance of 8th edition and the changes that it will bring. We shall see you there.

Comp scoring, or looking out for the lactose intolerant

A friend of mine has recently sent me a copy of the WPS composition scoring system that was used most recently at AdeptiCon 2010. And I must say that I love this document so much that I want to bear its children.

I have been trying to limit the cheese in my army lists, which is a tall order considering the state of the Vampire Counts army list. IoN spamming, Crown of commandment combos, or the million cairn wraith army are but a few of the army list abuses that the VC are known for.

Now I have tried the Jean-Style army list, or consciously avoiding the "power" units like the Varghulf, Lord with Red Fury with the Dreadlance on a Zombie Dragon, or Drakenhof Banner-in-the-Grave-Guard death star unit. None have been quite satisfactory and have left my use of the army wanting for enjoyment. So much so that I have many times stated that I may sell the army.

The WPS system liberates me to use anything that I want, as long as I "pay" for the cheese by using non-cheese units as well. This way I can feel good about unleashing the cheddar since I know that it isn't over-the-top when you consider the army as a whole.

The benchmark for a "balanced" army is 3000 comp points. Rating the army list that I used in the recent campaign , I was presented with a score of 993. Which would confirm my urge to take a shower after the game to wash the stink of fromage off. I *really* don't like WAAC armies. (For the record, I did not win that game either, for my opponent scored a low 1000s in composition as well)

I have since re-tooled the my army to a more friendly 3013 points, so we'll see how that goes. I can already tell that it will be much more fun to play just because I will have to deal with the so-so VC units.

The WPS composition scoring system can be used for any WHFB army out there and I highly recommend it.

Defeat, but there was nothing I could do about it

The VCs have lost the campaign! But considering what has transpired, I don't think I could have done anything to prevent defeat.

Basic strategies:

• Vampire Counts: With the lack of a lord level character, I was expecting a lot of comets to be thrown my way. My main focus was on spamming Invocations of Nehek to deal with the many Lizardmen area of effect spells.
• Lizardmen: The whole army was geared for assassination. Everything that could be thrown onto the VC General and his unit, would be. And he had a Slaan to help.
  

So here is the tempest of spells that I had to weather:

• 5x Comets of Casandora (1 was dispelled, 2 of them were 12"+ radius)
• 3x Steal Soul attempts on my General. (All ward saved)
  
• 3x Burning Alignments of at least 7" radius. (one of which was during a charge)
  
• at least 100 shots from assorted skinks, razordons, falling rocks, etc
  

Surprisingly, the whole army was still relatively intact until turn 6, at which point the invocations just couldn't keep up. Truth be told, I don't see what I could have done to better my situation aside from sacrificing more chickens to the dice gods.

The Lizardmen have won this campaign. Time to reap the fields of battle and embark on another campaign in the jungles of Lustria.

Music and Mayhem

I have a musical jam tomorrow with a bassman friend of mine. This friend is also the Lizardmen player I am in a WHFB campaign with. So after the jam, the last match of the current campaign will take place. I'm going to have to play an A+ game just for a campaign victory point tie. Maybe if I hit the drums real hard, it will dazzle his brain to nothingness (fat chance of that, but worth a try)

Of course, I'll have one hand tied behind my back as I do not have access to a Lord level character (key for VC victories). He, on the other hand, will have access to his Lord,which will undoubtedly be his beloved Slaan. The frog will either be riding a stegadon or lost in a temple guard unit. I have a feeling that I'll be dodging many a comet falling upon my head.

Final campaign standings will be posted as soon as I know them. Hopefully there will be much rejoicing.

Finished the Varghulf and a Vampire

The Varghulf is finally painted and I must say, that unlike the dire wolves, even a proper paint job cannot save this model. I don't think that I will ever like this model. Luckily, I paid US dollars for it instead of the bloated Canadian price.

Monique deNoir is next. This model is from Reaper's Dark Heavens line, and I really like the way that this model turned out. She looks like she knows how to wear that platemail and can kick your ass while looking good doing it. She will probably become a regular fixture of my army lists.

Kicked off a campaign today

Today marked the first playtest campaign session for a WHFB conversion of the Battlegrounds: Fantasy Warfare Kingdoms campaign system.

Two 1000 point games were played with army lists created *after* the scenario was determined. This resulted in new, more task-oriented army lists on both sides.

I'm happy to report that in both sessions, my Vampire counts were up to snuff and were able to draw both games. (Instead of the standard Massacre! against.)

Current campaign standings are 7VPs for the Lizardmen, and 5 VPs for Vampire Counts with 3 more campaigns games to go.

What I like the best about this campaign system (aside from the various new scenarios offered) is the fact that campaign performance doesn't affect your army composition. This completely sidesteps the runaway leader effect that kills most campaigns a few sessions in.

A few tweaks will be applied to the conversion rules before they are made public, but I don't plan on keeping the campaign document secret for too long. :)

Are VCs really broken?

I was reading a bit on Warseer.com and I came across a post from someone in the middle of a "The top 3 armies are broken"

"I wish my vampire counts army performed as well as it does on the Internet."

That is my feeling as well. Apparently I am running a broken army because I am a bad person and the army needs to be nerfed. Well If you consider my track record, I disagree. There are at least 2 ways that I can think of that will defeat a Vampire Counts army every time.

1. Shut down the VC magic phase. The base VC core troops are expensive and useless in combat. The only reason that enemy units get overcome by a Skeleton unit (for example) is that the vampires can raise them back up through magic. Shut them down, make them work for each Invocation that goes off and the match is 90% yours.
2. VC armies are *very* character dependant. Kill the characters and then point 1 above becomes a non-issue. Vampires are much easier to kill than before, and that goes for the Vampire Lord as well.

I play against Lizardmen quite a bit, and let me tell you, I struggle just to tie against them. There *are* ways to defeat the VCs, but the are so different than most armies that you have to shift your gameplan to do so.

Smashed to Bits. Bones everywhere

Last weekend was played a contest at the 1000 points level. My illustrious opponent decided to field his gluttonous Ogre Kingdoms army. I, of course, fielded my underperforming Vampire Counts.

My Army:

• Casty vampire LotD L2 Wiz, Helm, Black Periapt
• Mounted Wight King BSB w/ Sword of Kings, Gem of Blood
  
• 10x Skeleton bunker for the Vamp
• 15x Ghouls w/ Ghast
• 18x Grave guard w/ HW and Shields
• 5x Fell Bats
  

His Army:

• Butcher
• Fighty Ogre Hero
  
• 2x 4-man Bull Ogres units
• 2x 2-man Cannon guys
• Gorger
  

The race was on to 600 victory points.

Turns one and two were maneuvering turns, where the Undead were attempting to bait the Ogres into charge range while staying out the massive 12" Ogre charges.

Turn three sees my Ghouls charging his cannon ogres, who flee and thus pull my Ghouls into position to be charged by a Bull Ogre unit. He maneuvers his other Bull unit into charge range of my Grave Guard. His Gorger appears directly behind my General's skeleton bunker. A tarpit of Zombies is raised to delay the Gorger, and does so for two turn. Thinking that my Vampire is safe for a turn, I spend it replacing casualties in the Grave guard block as well as adding another rank of skeletons to the bunker. I position my Fell bats to cut off the fleeing Cannon Ogres.

Turn four sees both frontline undead units charged by a Bull ogre unit. They plow through the Ghoul unit and overrun into the General's Bunker. The Grave guard unit holds surprisingly well as the Wight King carves some fat off the Butcher in a challenge. His fleeting cannon Ogres fail their leadership test and are overwhelmed by the pack of Fell Bats descending upon them.

Turn five: The vampire general is killed by the impact hits from the charging bull ogre unit. By this point, the Undead have given up close to 600 victory points to the Ogres so we call it a night.

Thoughts on the battle:

• I am happy that the Grave Guard were holding as well as they were. I usually equip them with Great Weapons, but I had a feeling that it was making the unit as a whole too brittle. This battle with HW + Shields seems to confirm this.
• Killing blow vs Ogres is ineffective. The Wight King should have been equipped with the Black Axe for more punch per round.
• Ghouls are great on the offense, but cannot take a hit. They should not be a frontline unit against high strength opposition.
• I had forgotten about the bonus from the Battle Standard. That could have saved at least half a dozen losses from Crumbling.
• At 1000 points, the Vampire Counts shouldn't make a hybrid list. It should be either all Casty, or all Fighty. Replenishing losses was a struggle for a single L2 vampire wizard.
• The MVP for this battle was without a doubt the Wight King. He is my battle tank, and seems to mess with my opponent's mind as well. No other unit that I have fielded in this or other battles inspires fear like he does.
  

There you have it. I hope you have enjoyed reading this battle report. Please don't hesitate to comment. and have a Happy Halloween!

New Bones

Ever since GW announced that they were going to raise the price on (err... reculpt) the core VC skeletons, I've been apprehensive of the new models. Considering that the older skeleton models painted up quickly and easily, I looked upon the new skeleton bits and pieces in dismay. Would they take as long as the new Grave Guard to paint up? Would they look horrible compared to the 20 strong skeleton box?

I'm happy to say that the skeletons did *not* take forever to paint (this unit of 10 took just under 4h45) and look much less chunky than the older models. The only downside was that the new box does *not* contain headstones and other scenic bits, which is a shame as I'm always looking to grow my army's cemetery.



All in all a worthy addition to the Count's army.

Not all spirit hosts are made the same.

Today I received a shipment containing the last models that I will need to field my vampire counts army. In this shipment were the MIA Grave Guard (no thanks to GC Minis), 3x Spirit Hosts and 10 paint pots (including close-to-running-out-of black).

Concerning the Spirit Hosts. It's no secret that I I will refuse to field models that I think are sub-par sculpts and the spirit hosts are no exception. I've been mulling over some Empire infantry conversions but I still wasn't satisfied with the end result I thought I could achieve with them.

Enter "Ghostly Summons" from Reaper. This model from Julie Guthrie is exactly what I was looking for. And it even contains the correct number of figures for the base.

So instead of fielding something that looks like this:



I'm modeling something that looks like this instead:


Ahhh, muuuuch better.

Recently Finished Ghouls

For my B-day, I received an EBay gift certificate, which was promptly spent on Ghouls. Why did I wait so long? Because the pics I had seen of 'eavy Metal painted ghouls were... erm.. to put it bluntly, fugly. But taking my courage (and free money) in hand, I ordered them anyway based on the results from my last fugly model experiment which were Dire Hamsters.. err *Wolves*. Those turned out well thus the Ghouls went under the paintbrush.

I'm actually pretty pleased with the result considering the limits that I had imposed upon myself. These are Core units, thus do not deserve too much attention. I limited myself to a maximum of one highlight, one shade, and 3 colors. I didn't want to spend too much time on them either so I gave myself a time budget of max 1 hour per model.

3:40 hours of work later (forgot to count assembly time), this is the result:



Not counting the time spent on the Corpse Cart, I'm quite satisfied with the 10 Ghouls since I spent only 22 minutes on each.