Finally painted my 'Caster.
Hey, check this place out! They sell 25mm and 54mm “toy soldiers” — their selection of 25mm ancients alone is amazing and cheap, and what’s more they’re having a sale! I’m-a grab up some of these and use 'em as cheap minis in my still-gestating tabletop game.
Okay. My family is not blessed with great artistic ability. But after playing Heroscape a few times and having to repaint a damaged figure, my daughter has expressed some interest in exploring other miniatures games and painting our own.
Given that we are not likely to become good artists and that we have next to no experience with tabletop gaming, I ask:
[ul][li]Is this a good idea?[]What game system/starter set would be a good place to start?[]Am I crazy to be looking at the Bones kickstarter which ends in 4 hours?
[/li]http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-an-evolution-of-gaming-min
(specifically looking at the $100 Vampire level which appears to give an absurd nunber of figures)
[/ul]
You are crazy. I am also crazy. I haven’t kickstartered it yet but it is really tempting.
But, I think you would be better served getting a game with minis and just painting those. Something like Descent 2.0 or Super Dungeon Explore would see more use unless you’re playing D&D with the Reaper minis.
Ya, I think I’m way out of my depth here. I’m googling for beginner stuff, and I still have no idea what I’m reading about.
I may need to go into a shop and have them sell me on a system. Trouble is, there is a Games Workshop near here, and that’s about it, and I’ve read some really mixed opinions on GW and their system.
Any opinion on Pathfinder? Is fun and does it work well for young beginners? Or does not technically count as tabletop gaming?
I may have to turn in my nerd card here.
It’s a crapload of stuff but… not really into vampire/undead miniature stuff. I wish they did one for Cav, I’d be all over that.
— Alan
There’s a pretty fun set of fantasy rules in pdf called Song of Blades and Heroes. The upsides are that you don’t need a ton of minis to play, and that you can use the points system to spec out any figure you happen to have. The downside is that means there isn’t much of a setting to work with, and without that flavor you’re just kind of trying to game the unit abilities.
Pathfinder is badically D&D. It’s fun, but it’s not really a tabletop minis game. The only Tabletop I play us Warmachine, but I would recommend it to anyone. Great game and can be played well at low points so the cost can be mitagated. The two player battlebox comes with enough stuff for a great 2player experience and is a good foundation for both Menoth and Khador. There is also a Hordes 2 player battlebox coming soon. Both those also come with a complete rulebook.
I love Warmachine and Hordes. The miniatures are great and the rules are fantastic. And they have an RPG version coming out in September if you’re interested in something more free form.
Merry, are you going to CarnageCon in November? I’ll bring my Cygnar if you’re interested in pitting your bloodthirsty psychos of Menoth against me.
Yeah Rob, I plan to head to Carnage since I live about an hour away. Definitely up for some Warmachining with you.
I can’t seem to find where to register and buy passes for the event though. Do you just pay at the door or something? Do you know what the prices are?
They haven’t quite finalized the event book yet, but passes will go on sale once the book comes out (you sign up for events at the same time that you register for the con).
Merry- I don’t think that we’ve met in person before, but Rob and I game here in Boston and I’d also love to get in some Warmachine up at Carnage! I’ll have to make sure that they have some tables set up for us.
I also have to make a plug for TempleCon, which hosts the biggest Warmachine/Hordes events on the East Coast: http://www.templecon.org/13
It’s a very good con overall, but it’s reached capacity with its location and the rooms will sell out early this year. Just a heads up in case you’re looking to try the bigger WM/H scene!
Thanks for the info. I’d love a chance to game with some fellow QT3rs, be it Board or Mini. :)
I’m not big on the whole tournament thing though (racing a clock kills the laughs for me), are there a decent number of tables for just casual/pick up gaming. I will likely just toss a bunch of boardgames in the trunk and hit the road if that’s the case.
Yeah, one of the best aspects of TempleCon is the Iron Arena. You can sit down at any of the open tables (some of which have cool scenarios or objectives associated with them…like storming a beach, or holding a mountain pass) and get to count the game towards prizes. It’s a nice way to get in casual games with a bunch of different people and still get some neat things out of it (just like the tournament folks).
The con is also great for board games, so I can certainly recommend it on that front as well.
Hey Merry, just a heads up that Orsson and I will be participating in the Warmachine tourney at Carnage on Sunday. I think it is a pretty laid back tournament based on an after action report I read from last year, although it will have timed turns (7 minutes, yikes!). It will be my first tournament and I am pretty jazzed for it. Perhaps we can get a casual game in on Saturday, or after I am quickly eliminated on Sunday.
Hope to see you there!
Nice. It doesn’t look like I am going to make it on Sunday, but right now my plan is to be there on Sat. We should definitely try to get a game in!
Merry- sorry that we missed you! As usual, the rollercoaster nature of the con made it hard to break away. Next time we will have to meet up. If you’re planning to come down to Boston, just let us know.
Rob and I did participate in the Sunday tournament (with some folks from your local crew, I think). We’ll have more thoughts to share on it later, but it was good fun overall.
Sadly I didn’t make it down. :( I ended up working Saturday and just didn’t feel like coming down Sunday. Glad to hear you had a good time though!
I’d be up for getting together for some Boston Gaming sometime though. We should try to plan something.
I compiled a summary of my matches from this past Sunday’s Warmachine/Hordes tournament. It’s long, but hopefully of interest! I get a bit jargony in the descriptions, so I apologize if it’s hard for non/newer players to follow. It can be helpful to reference Battle College if I mention a model you don’t know well: http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/
The tournament used the Steamroller format and consisted of four rounds, Divide and Conquer (bring two lists and play them equally), character restricted 35pt lists (characters may only show up once in each list), with seven minute turns. There were thirteen participants.
Here are my lists:
The Butcher of Khardov (*6pts)
- Berserker (6pts)
- Kodiak (8pts)
- War dog (1pts)
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts) - Greylord Escort (2pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Vladimir, The Dark Prince (*5pts)
- Black Ivan (10pts)
- War dog (1pts)
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts) - Greylord Escort (2pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Gun Carriage (9pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Reinforcements: Drakhun + dismount (5pts) and Manhunter (2pts)
Thanks to the help of Rob O’Boston and Waltzer, I’d had a chance to practice with elements of each list and actually had an opportunity to play with the Butcher list very recently.
As you can see, each list relied on a core of Doom Reavers + UA and a Greylord Ternion. The Reavers were meant to speed up to the board to tie up the enemy and the Greylords used Blizzard (for concealment) early on, then sprayed anything that got too close.
Match #1
My first match was against a Terminus list filled with Banes and Biles. He had Erebus, a character jack, and a Skarlock too. The merc Corbeau was there to help Terminus fly over to eat the opposing caster. I kept that in mind as we started (scenario: Outflank, Outfight, Outlast). I was playing the Vlad list and was able to feint to my left with the Doom Reavers towards Terminus while also rolling the Carriage in that direction and focusing on that side of the board with AOEs. He consolidated most of his force around Terminus, and tried to get a grip on the left zone, but I blocked him up with surviving Reavers (contesting the zone) and eventually charged a Boundless Charge’d Gun Carriage right at Terminus. I didn’t do any damage, but I knocked him down and got LOS to Corbeau, who ate a Signs and Portents’d Carriage blast to the face. The Carriage quickly died, but the Greylords and Ivan mopped up anything that got too close to Vlad or the right side of the board. Speaking of which, he tried to bring Erebus and the Skarlock around to take the right point and flank Vlad, but underestimated what a Drakhun and Manhunter can do tag-team. His models were wiped off the right side and I sat on that point for 3 CPs, winning on scenario.
Match #2
The next match was against an eKreoss list packed with Errants and Knights. There was a Sunburst, Redeemer, two Crusaders, two Errant senschals, Choir, Vassal, and Mechanic. He also had some Wracks in there. Scenario was Demolition. Knowing how tough the Menites are (thanks Waltzer), I selected the Butcher list. The Widowmakers and Errants/Seneschals traded shots on the left side of the board for most of the game. Though the Widowmakers eventually succumbed, they held back the Errants (and the Knights behind them) for a few critical turns while I moved up the board. They also took out a healthy number of the models. The Reavers flanked up the right side of the board on either side of a large house obstruction. The Shocktroopers marched up the board protecting the Butcher with the jacks all close at hand. I teased the Redeemer and Crusaders out of the pack with some Reaver targets. The Redeemer got bogged down in Reavers and a Crusader got thrown back on top of Kreoss by the Kodiak. The Reavers sunk deeper into the backfield and tore up all of the support models in one turn. The Kodiak moved up to Kreoss and, with Fury and the Butcher’s feat, ended it with a caster kill.
Match #3
Next up was one that I feared: facing off against the 2-0 Conquest list. It was lead by Harkevich and had Yuri, a Manhunter, Black Ivan, and some mechaniks. You don’t get a lot in the list with that big fat model there. It was intimidating, however, because the models were very well painted, the guy was wearing a Khador t-shirt, and he also seemed to be deadly serious about winning. I needed hard-hitting, beefy models on the table, so the Butcher came right back out. Incursion was the scenario and I was lucky to have the middle flag disappear. The Widowmakers went right with the Kodiak, the Reavers and Berserker went left. Everything else went up the middle to support. I tempted the Conquest to go left and he did. By spacing out my models, though, he couldn’t kill enough of them to control the point. The Widowmakers dealt with the Manhunter and the Kodiak took the point. He sent Black Ivan over to tussle with the Kodiak, but Ivan ended up being thrown to the middle of the board for my Shocktroopers to disassemble him. He didn’t have any other choice than to send in Harkevich to try and contest the right flag. It was a valiant effort, but he couldn’t roll a crit (they don’t come when you want them) and the Kodak killed another warcaster.
Match #4
The final match was against pSkarre and I was locked into using Vlad. As punishment for a long day, we had A Flag Too Far as the scenario (it’s overly complex and really not that good). Skarre had a Reaper and a whole mess of Satyxis…a full unit, UA, and Solo. Bane Thralls + UA, Scrap Thralls (for Skarre to sacrifice), and a full unit of Blackbanes rounded it out. Lots of blast-immune, Incorporeal models…not ideal! He was able to swarm across the middle of the table while I struggled to find a way to slow or damage him. I did get some shots in on Skarre, but not enough. Eventually the Gun Carriage went down (I didn’t have the experience to use it properly here) and Blackbanes were wedged in my deployment zone. The Greylords and Reavers had taken out many, but they regenerate their ranks and could stay Incorporeal if they wanted. Eventually I knew that I had to go for Vlad’s super solo moment and raged up the field under Blood of Kings. When I was halfway up the Reaper was able to disentangle from Ivan (crit knockdown from the couple of surviving Satyxis) and put some hurt on Vlad. He rolled the last attack just as time was called, so he finished the damage roll and did just enough damage to win the tournament in epic fashion. I was proud to have put up such a strong fight in a rough matchup like that.
The Butcher list made me very happy and I have some thoughts on how to improve the Vlad list. I went 3-1 for the day and, due to a tiebreaker based on CPs, took 3rd overall.
Rob O’Boston also participated in the tournament (his first!). He did an awesome job against some really killer opponents. His win in the first round was expertly played, his Troll and Legion opponents in two other rounds had very specific min-max gimmicks that caught him off guard, and he lost (the same as I did) to the eventual 1st place champion. Overall a good day for Team Boston!
The best review of A Flag Too Far I heard was “Yep, the flag is too far. Ignore it all.”
Nice post, though. Sounds like you had a blast. And yeah, the Drakhun is a goddamn missile :)
The tournament organizers in Boston generally don’t use the radial deployment scenarios, so it wasn’t something that I expected to see.
After that final match, I definitely found myself thinking that there was absolutely no reason for me to even budge an inch after deployment. Short of caster kill, my opponent is unlikely to ever control the primary point…which means that the battle won’t be won on CPs.
Thankfully it looks as if the radial scenarios will be going away in SR2013.