Oblivion Campaign: Round 1a

Welcome back. Short reintroduction, but I’m on Cygnar now.

Anyway, so my mates and I jumped into Oblivion as soon as we could. We are playing it with 4 people, so we chose to play our “teammates” during the prologue, before teaming up for the rest of the campaign. We did change one thing with these early scenario rules though. Instead of 12″ vision we made it D6+6″… rolled by the opponent at the start of your turn. This led to oodles of ‘fun’, but everyone had a good laugh so it was a great change. I’ve got the lists at the top, then a short story describing what happened from somebody’s point of view. I’m not a great writer, but it seemed more fun than a regular battle report given the nature of the games being played. Anyway, here you go 🙂

Khador; Widowmakers (Sergeant Sokolov), min riflemen (Korporal Popov), manhunter (Egor )

Cygnar; Precursors min (Battle-Chaplain Mueller), precursors min (Battle-Chaplain Schmidt), Harlan Versh (Heinrich Weber)

The darkness falling off him like a cloak as he stood, Korporal Vasili Popov blew out a breath that he didn’t realise he had been holding. One week! One damn week and he would have been heading home to his farm on leave. But instead, he wasn’t sure if he’d be going home as expected… or ever. Noises of metal on metal filtered through the trees. The manhunter that had been attached to them as a guide, Egor, had disappeared into the trees a few minutes ago with a short grunt of “Enemy”, which was more than he had said for the rest of the trip.

The Illustrious Brown Crown

There’s been a bit of a delay with my recent posts, holidays and sleep have taken over my life. Anyway, now we’re back…

A couple of years ago, a few mates and I get together to play The Brown Crown. For this tournament, we got the worst lists possible with minimal synergy and play timed turns (which we never normally play). Last time we played it was with a bastardised mk2/3 hybrid, using those leaked cards from the big pre-mk3 leak, a smattering of the rumours that were coming out about premeasuring and all. It was a mess and it was glorious fun. I had Kossite woodsmen with Strakhov, other guys had a horrid Mohsar list with minion units or something, it was just the best.

Champions Tournament Round 3: Wurmwood1 (Devourer’s Host) vs Iona1 (Devourer’s Host)

Fair warning: this game was a mess. I think between us we had played about 5 games of dev host (including today), so we had a lot of mulligans for things like the pot, threat ranges, all sorts. Ended up being a fun game where we learned a lot. Because of this I’m not going to detail our mess ups in the batrep, just assume they were constant and I’ll tell it as if it had been played right. If you’re curious about what they were feel free to ask though. I got a few less photos as well sadly. Sort of start, middle and end rather than turn by turn.

Lists
Circle Orboros		Circle Orboros
Devourer’s Host	Secret Masters	Devourer’s Host	Secret Masters
Wurmwood -Cassius -Ghetorix -Pureblood Lord of the Feast Wolf Rider Champion Shifting Stones Shifting Stones Death Wolves Tharn Ravagers -Chieftain Boil Master and Spirit Cauldron Bloodtrackers -Nuala Brighid & Caul	Krueger2   All the pokemon (lesser) more or less. I didn’t really see the list and by this point I was a bit tired and so forgot when it came to writing. Woops….	Iona1 -Ghetorix -Feral Warpwolf Lord of the Feast Tharn Ravager Whitemane Feralgeist Tharn Ravagers -Chieftain Tharn Ravagers -Chieftain Boil Master and Spirit Cauldron Bloodtrackers -Nuala Brighid & Caul	Krug2 -Woldwarden -Storm Raptor -Feral Warpwolf Gatorman Husk 2 Gallows Groves Blackclad Wayfarer Bone Grinders Farrow Valkyries Druids of Orboros -Overseer

My lists: As per last game, I dropped Iona because I needed practice with her and Krueger was a mess of a list.

List choices: Wurmwood v Iona    Scenario: The Pit II   Priority roll: He did and chose first

Champions Tournament Round 2: Hexeris1 (The Exalted) vs Iona1 (Devourer’s Host)

Lists
Skorne		Circle Orboros
Imperial Warhost	The Exalted	Devourer’s Host	Secret Masters
Makeda3 -Aptimus Marketh -Agonizer -Krea -Basilisk Drake -Archidon -Archidon -Cyclops Brute -Cyclops Brute -Rhinodon Siege Animantarax Siege Animantarax Min Paingiver Beast Handlers Min Paingiver Beast Handlers	Hexeris1 -Aptimus Marketh -Mammoth -Archidon -Agonizer -Gladiator Extoller Soulward Ancestral Guardian Feralgeist Max Immortals -Command Attachment Min Paingiver Beast Handlers Min Paingiver Beast Handlers	Iona1 -Ghetorix -Feral Warpwolf Lord of the Feast Tharn Ravager Whitemane Feralgeist Tharn Ravagers -Chieftain Tharn Ravagers -Chieftain Boil Master and Spirit Cauldron Bloodtrackers -Nuala Brighid & Caul	Krug2 -Woldwarden -Storm Raptor -Feral Warpwolf Gatorman Husk 2 Gallows Groves Blackclad Wayfarer Bone Grinders Farrow Valkyries Druids of Orboros -Overseer

My lists: See last batrep. I know I’m taking Iona because I need more practice and Krug2 is a nothing list.

List choices: Hexeris v Iona          Scenario: Mirage              Priority roll: He won the roll off after 3 re-rolls (we matched 2s, then 1s, then 2s, then he finally won)

Champions Tournament Round 1: Iona1 (Devourer’s Host) v Sloan1 (Heavy Metal)

Champions Tournament Round 1: Iona1 (Devourer’s Host) v Sloan1 (Heavy Metal)

This is my opponent from the team tournament, that round 1 game where he murdered two birds, a battle engine and my caster in one turn. Everything that I said last game still applies. Great guy and it’s always a bucket of fun. The only downside is that Legion didn’t have Lylyth3 on their masters pairing, because he had a wonderful idea for 5 huge bases which would have been brilliant fun to play into.

Lists
Cygnar		Circle Orboros
Heavy Metal	Gravediggers	Devourer’s Host	Secret Masters
Captain Kara Sloan -Squire -5 Fireflies -5 Hunters Lieutenant Allister Caine -Ace Captain Arlan Strangeways Minimum Battle Mechanics	Siege2 -some extra stuff. He had told me before the tourney he was just 1 listing sloan so I didn’t pay much attention to this list honestly	Iona -Ghetorix -Feral Warpwolf Tharn Whitemane Feralgheist Lord of the Feast Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron 2x Tharn Ravagers -2x CA Bloodtrackers -Nuala Brighid and Caul	Krug2 -Storm Raptor -Feral Warpwolf -Woldwarden Gatorman Husk Blackclad Wayfarer 2x Gallows Grove Bone Grinders Valkyries Druids of Orboros -CA

List Choices: He took Sloan, I took Iona. I had a Krueger list as well but, yeah, never my intent to drop it.

Scenario: Invasion

Priority: I won the roll and chose to go first, he chose the side to stop me getting into a trench.

Team Tournament Game 3: Mohsar (Secret Masters) vs Lylyth1 (Out of theme)

Final round and I get paired up with a local character. This guy is a champion, last year he completed a “world tour” where he bought/borrowed every army that PP had released up to that point and played a tournament with them. This year he’s back to his home of Legion, and he always has a fun pair with some weird lists. Unfortunately, as it was getting late in the day I got sloppy with photos. But I still got some 🙂

Lists
Circle		Legion
Secret Masters	The Wild Hunt	None	Ravens of War
Mohsar1 -Storm Raptor -Storm Raptor   Blackclad Stoneshaper Blackclad Wayfarer Swamp Gobber Chef   Shifting Stones   Celestial Fulcrum	Grayle1 -Gnarlhorn Saytr -Feral Warpwolf   Gremlin Swam War Wolf Wolf Lord Morraig   Death Wolves Max Warpborn Skinwalkers -UA Max Wolves of Orboros -UA Max Wolves of Orboros -UA Max Wolves of Orboros -UA	Lylyth1 -Succubus -Naga Nightlurker -Nephilim Bolt Thrower -Nephilim Bolt Thrower   Annyssa Ryvaal Shepherd Shepherd Craelix Deathstalker Deathstalker Swamp Gobber Chef   Max Raptors Max Raptors Scather Crew Scather Crew	Rhyas1 -Seraph -Angelius   Grotesque Assassin Grotesque Assassin Spell Martyr Deathstalker Deathstalker Forsaken Swamp Gobber Chef   Min Raptors Max Grotesque Raiders Max Grotesque Raiders Blightblades Blightblades Scouts

My lists: I didn’t think the round I’d find the hardest to pick would be into an opponent who also brought two random lists haha. But here we are. I felt that the Grayle list relied too much on having access to their outflanking unit, although looking back I think they could have taken Lyl1 maybe… but not Rhyas. So I dunno. Not really sure where I should have gone but that’s alright, both casters are fun and this way the birds saw the table again!

List choices: Mohsar1 v Lylyth1               Scenario: Standoff          Priority roll: I won the roll and picked the side

Theory week: Tharn Wolf Riders

Having done two theory weeks on whole lists, I felt like changing it up. So I thought, what is a unit that I find interesting? I figured that these ladies would be a good choice. I’ll be looking at them only in the context of Devourer’s Host. So here we go, what’s good about them? Who do they like? What do they fear? To answer these questions, we have to see what they are to start. Gogogadget Privateer Press card database!

 

Painting update: Some progress on Tharn models

So, with my desire to play Iona as soon as she drops I felt I needed to paint up some troops, and quick! Since I already had one Ravager started I felt they could be one mob to get done, and the other could be the most fantastic looking unit of the lot, the Wolf Riders! For me this has been a really productive month, so I’m very happy with my effort, even though the results aren’t anything like what has been posted recently on the Circle page from some other painters (like a Brisbane local. Can’t recommend his work enough, and it is even better in person! Here is just one example; http://www.facebook.com/groups/1469296339950179/permalink/2183051051908034)

Team Tournament Game 2: Grayle1 (The Wild Hunt) vs Helynna1 (Legions of Dawn)

So after the drubbing in round 1, we moved onto a new team. They had Cryx, Cygnar and Ret in their team. Our Menoth player who was quite new wanted to play into Cygnar to see if the game was different to his Round 1 match (he had gone up against a local store owner/WTC player running a fantastic Haley3 list). That left my and our Cryx player into their Cryx and Ret player. With just a bit of peer pressure, we ended up with a Cryx mirror (thank god) and I got to play their Ret bloke. I had actually got to play this guy at the last tourney I had made it to months ago, so I was looking forwards to a rematch (he had beaten me last time).

Lists
Circle		Retribution of Scyrah
Secret Masters	The Wild Hunt	Legions of Dawn	Shadows of the Retribution
Mohsar1 -Storm Raptor -Storm Raptor   Blackclad Stoneshaper Blackclad Wayfarer Swamp Gobber Chef   Shifting Stones   Celestial Fulcrum	Grayle1 -Gnarlhorn Saytr -Feral Warpwolf   Gremlin Swam War Wolf Wolf Lord Morraig   Death Wolves Max Warpborn Skinwalkers -UA Max Wolves of Orboros -UA Max Wolves of Orboros -UA Max Wolves of Orboros -UA	Helynna1 -Sylys Wyshnalyrr -Manticore -Manticore -Manticore   Arcanist Mechanik Arcanist Mechanik Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir   Dawnguard Invictors Dawnguard Sentinels -UA -Soulless Escort Dawnguard Sentinels -UA -Soulless Escort	Issyria1 -Hyperion -Phoenix   Arcanist Mechanik Arcanist Mechanik Eiryss1 Mage Hunter Assassin Mage Hunter Assassin Narn Nayl   Max Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters -Soulless Escort Max Mage Hunter Strike Force -MHSF Commander

My lists: As I had played Mohsar R1, I wanted to play Grayle this round. Not very tactical probably but I just wanted to be able to say I had played Grayle in a tournament to a mate of mine, and if I put it off any longer I might forget!

List choices: List 2 v List 1            Scenario: Spread the Net             Priority roll: He won the roll and chose to go first

Bringing a new game to a (small) local meta

Hi guys, welcome to the first “other” week. Where I talk about something, could be modelling, gaming, sport or something else entirely. This week, I want to think about introducing a new game to a small meta, I’m talking 3-4 people, that really only have one game that they play.

I’ve tried a few times, and I think there are 4 important steps to doing this right. 1) being able to provide lists, models and terrain that have variety for people to learn and play with, 2) a firm grasp of the rules, 3) a passion for the game, and 4) a receptive audience. I have made mistakes with this before. I didn’t have a large collection of Infinity or terrain for it when I tried to introduce that. I didn’t have a firm enough grasp of the rules in Malifaux, and I have misjudged my passion or my mates’ interest in games before. However it has been a while since I tried to introduce a new game, and so now I’m going to be try and introduce Dystopian Wars to this group, in light of its new edition coming out soon. Not as a main game, just a palette cleanser. Push some ships around, blow some stuff up.

1) Provide lists

I picked up several fleets, the Covenant of Antarctica, Federated States of America and the Republique of France. I ensured that I got some of the “landmark” kind of ships for each, to provide a visual hook, and I made sure they all had a solid make-up. Carriers, battleships, cruisers, a real spread of options. I already owned Australians. I am aware that they don’t have rules really yet in the current ed, but they can proxy in for other fleets that people want to have a go with, or just adapt their old rules. I also have enough terrain to run a game, so the same problem from Infinity won’t crop up. This time around I believe I have this one covered.

2) Firm grasp of rules

This is the one I think I will struggle with the most. However, I played several games with the 2^nd ed, and have gameplay videos as well as a rulebook I can research for the group, it should work out. Additionally, a good pair of cheat sheets for rules, turns and the like will really help the intro games clip along.

3) Passion for the game

This is the easiest of the lot, because all it takes is for me to really want to play this game. Which has been a somewhat constant state since I was playing in 2^nd ed and the store’s meta died.

4) Receptive audience

This one is also tricky. My group has 3 main members. Two of them will try every game under the sun once, one wouldn’t try a new game with his feet held to a fire, even if it was free. So with introducing this game I have to make sure I’m pitching it to the people who are likely to play a few games in between tournament prep and the like of WMH.

So, fingers crossed it works well, and I can enjoy playing a game I really used to have fun with back in the day. Not sure if I like this format of a post, so I’m also going to post up a batrep today!