Monday 28 November 2011

The Axe Speaks, Just Once

I attended Alan Kennedy's Bitter Conflict tournament on Saturday, which was a nice change for me as I was there as a player, not a Press Ganger.  The tournament used a Divide & Conquer format (multiple lists each list must be used at least once) - in this case, two lists, each had to be used twice.  Seeing as I'm missing all the lovely Steelheads I'd need for Damiano, I opted to bring my Trollbloods instead.  Unfortunately I can't bring along a War Wagon (booooo!) but I fell back on my old favorite in both his forms anyway: Doomshaper.

Fairly recently I came to the conclusion that infantry is a waste of time, unless you're playing against other infantry.  All that happens is the infantry dies.  So I ditched all my infantry that wasn't the Krielstone Bearer & Friends and brought along extra warbeasts.  I'm not sure how I'm managed to muddle through for so long without using two Axers in all my lists.  In every game I've run dual Axers (and not been killed instantly) they've been rockstars, without exception.

My games in the tournament were pretty easy for the most part - I made a very risky gamble against Jim in game two in an attempt to kill his Stalker, but I failed miserably and Doomshaper was dead in about 10 minutes of game play.  Not exactly my finest moment.  Oh well.  I noticed a heavy proclivity towards clumping up infantry in the Livingston players, which did them no favors when my Axers or Bomber appeared.  I really must reiterate my warning about Shield Wall - don't use it.  Or maybe I'd change it to "why are you bringing infantry?"

Oh yes, I came second.  Go me.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Rawhide

The War Wagon.  It is awesome.

That is all.

Actually that would have been better off as a comment rather than a post of its own, I shall have to remedy this.

I got to test it out against Martin tonight and although it died horribly early on in the game due to Martin's insane dice, it still got to knockdown an obscene amount of stuff and generally reveal what it might possibly do if left to its own devices.  Finally I have a replacement for those bloody Nyss Hunters!  I suspect I'll still have problems against Satyxis Raiders but I'm going to have to figure out a way around them in some other fashion (hello Borka).  My pDoomshaper list is now complete.

Having had such a long hiatus from the game it was really fun to put pDoomshaper back on the table and have a list that rocked face.  Unfortunately Martin was very reluctant to shoot Mulg, which made Mulg sad.  Mulg comforted himself by smashing a Phoenix to bits and getting a critical smite on the last hit to slam it over Vyros for 12 damage.  I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.  It made up for my Mauler getting killed instantly by two Mage Hunter Assassins (max damage on both of them, wtf?) early in the game.

I have also concluded that my battlegroup with a Bouncer is MUCH better than my other battlegroup.  How did I live without the Bump animus?  It's just so incredibly useful, especially on something like the War Wagon. Trollbloods... we're back in business.

Monday 14 November 2011

Lackadaisically Speaking

Lackadaisically.  I like that word.  Almost as much as I like 'flabbergasted'.  Unfortunately there is not often the opportunity to use both words in the same sentence.  Though I'm sure my grammatical nonsense is intriguing, it is not what this blog is here for.  I apologize to my (18) regular readers for my chronic lack of updates - this was unfortunately due to my utter disinterest in Warmachines and Hordes.  Luckily for this blog, I have regained my interest enough to put fingers to keyboard and craft another incredulously amazing blog post.

Domination.  I have perused the various spoilers being bandied about the internet, having not had time to purchase a copy of the book yet.  I'm still mystified as to why people want their new bathrooms in this very specific time period before Christmas, but who can argue with increased work?  Being a Trollblood player I of course blatantly ignored all other spoilers as clearly inferior to any information concerning my faction.

War Wagon.  I am most pleased with this model and its rules.  I would have liked an additional spray, but having played against the Khador Gun Carriage a few times now, I can see the potential for Great Things from the War Wagon.  I'm planning to proxy it tomorrow (a CD with a cart and 2 long rider models Blu-Tac'd to it) to see how it performs in place of my Nyss Hunters in my pDoomshaper list.

Other Stuff.  Honestly, I'm not fussed about anything else.  I am quite content with my War Wagon - as long as it does fairly well tomorrow.  I've come to the conclusion that most of my infantry choices are a waste of time.  Winterguard and boosted sprays are of no concern when my entire army is ARM 20 and has 22 damage boxes.  Unless the infantry serves a very specific function, I have replaced it with a warbeast of the appropriate point cost.  I can hear cries of despair already, shouts promoting the use of Dygmies and boosting them to broken levels.  Well, they suck.  I'll take the Axer please.

Borka's new themed force has some VERY intriguing possibilities, and I don't mean 3 units of champions.  I speak of Boomhowler & Co.  As faction models.  A unit with Iron Flesh, ARM 18, 4+ Tough, and Feign Death.  Now that's a unit that demands respect, I sense a truly rage inducing unit.  Putting that unit and all the support Trollbloods bring to the table should come with a health warning for your opponent.  Do not use against opponents with high blood pressure.

After my dismal showing at the UK Masters last year, my faction choice this coming year purely revolves around how fantastical I find the War Wagon.  If it's awesomesauce on toast, then I'll bring my Trollbloods, otherwise it's time to improve my street cred (commonly referred to (once upon a time) as 'kudos') by taking Mercenaries.