Teh Warm-machine Uptick...

...or "All standing in line for 45 minutes gets you is sore feet."

Sooooo, Gen Con 2K9. I went. I made sure I was there for the 'big announcement." Everyone knew it was going to be something about the video game. What else could it have been? Mark 2 is in final revision, the Retribution source book was released at the Con, No Quarter isn't due until next month....

I do appreciate the meeting to lay the rumors to rest and to let the populace that the game is definitely going forward. Aside from that, a little more content would have been nice. A huffing Juggernaut while awesome, seemed a little underwhelming for the wait. Maybe Juggy should have taken a punch at something, or Sorcha swung her maul...

Gratuitous Gloating: All the samples were Khador! Yeah! In yo' face other factions! Ironclad? Nope. Bonejacks? Nope. Menothy-thing? Nope. The Motherland was representing!

(ahem) Yes, the graphics were cool. Yes the textures were cool. Yes, the idea is cool. Will I buy it? If I don't have to switch computer systems to do it, yes I will. Will I play it? Oooh...see, there's the real question.

I'm sure the manufacturer doesn't care. I don't play a lot of games right now, aside from free stuff on Face Book, and a few notable sims. FPS doesn't interest me in PC format, and I don't own any of the newest game consoles to consider it. If the newest titles of my favorite franchise, Metal Gear havent' prompted me to pick up a PS3, I don't think this will either.

I guess if it doesn't require costly and time consuming upgrades to my machine, and isn't a real budget-buster, I will probably pick it up, if for no other reason than to support the line.

Of course I am saying the same thing about Mark 2, but for different reasons.

Ye new banner

So, I get bored easily and want to spice things up. Sue me...in fact, let me refund the money you paid to get in....

I chose the German Konigstiger for a reason. In many ways it say a lot about Khador. Heavy armor, impressive weaponry, generally a bigger and badder version of the last armored nightmare you faced.

The New Khardic Empire also echoes the aggressive expansion of the German Reich. The enormous cost and production problems of the Tiger 2 can also be seen in the lack of 'innovation' if you will, in the Kadoran war jack arsenal, a "too little, too late" scenario.

Plus it makes a dang spiffy banner!

Liberation League Week 4: Win by grievous injuries

I wonder if it is a theorem that "to win by scenario, it to lose if the scenario were removed?" This league season, it sure has happened that way to be. Also, the converse has been true. The scario games I have lost, my army has been mostly undamaged and could have cleaned up in a few rounds.

Red and I played the "On the Move scenario," and I won, but only by sacrificing all but 2 of a unit of 10 Winter Guard, and most of a unit of Iron Fang Pikemen. Most of my war jacks, (I had 3) were ineffective, as they were continually thrown about by Thunderbolt rounds, and the only thing that kept my poor Kodiak together was the Global effect that let him ignore systems being knocked out.

I have some fluff planned for later.

Liberation League Week 3: Defeated by Game System

OK, I hated this game. I think I hated my own attitude most, exacerbated by the weather and several other external factors. My dice didn't help. But most of all, I got trashed by a broken game system.

Hordes is the antithesis of Warmachine. The more I play it, the more I realize the two were never really designed to intermingle. Red has spoken in the past about his problems with Skorne, and I seem to keep getting my posterior handed to my by Circle O.

Now, since I have climbed back to the basement of doom and licked my wounds, I realize I was all of the above; bad mood, bad manners, I owe my opponent a big apology, etc. No doubt he carefully culled his army from the misbegotten dregs of the Hordes books to find all the combos. I rolled my eyes so much I think I sprained them. The Megalith got five attacks. FIVE! No way a non-bonded Warjack could do that. Balder kept popping forests, every Woldwarden (both of them) has both a two-fisted attack, and a ranged spell attack, plus can have spells channeled through them like arc nodes. All of the heavy constructs I faced has a P+S within 2 points of my armor, before any boosting.

Yes, Hulk smash! That's my army under his fists! Around turn 2, I was wondering why I came. By turn 3, it was obvious there was no way I was ever going to win, or even put up a good showing. My dice didn't help at this point, but it really didn't matter.

After another round of death and dismemberment, I just conceded. The victory was caster kill, and I could have drawn it out, but I was down to Vlad, a Kovnik with 2 points, an undamaged Ternion, half of a warjack out of the 3 I started with, less than half of the Iron Fangs, with the Greatbears dead. Oh, and none of the enemy dead, did I mention?

My opponent had played a lot longer than I have. I will admit, I am not good at this game, as is obvious. Nor it seems, am I a good sport. But I will say this, Hordes can dismantle WM in a way MW can not return in kind. I've never seen that statement proven wrong.

So what? Am I ashamed? Yep! Will I quit or refuse to play? No. What happens when you face a Hordes player again? Count on these things: a) I've already lost, b) then lose, c) wonder why I still play WM when I could be playing Hordes and winning.

League Week 2 - Game 2 Loss to Circle

Much the same in the 'Hellhole' scenario; blah blah blah faction warbeast/warjack blah blah blah across a line blah blah blah opponent doesn't blah blah blah Khador loses.

The sinkhole in the table center grew ginormous too quickly, and I had units out of place to deny my opponent the victory. Never mind my opponent was playing a Hordes army. Oooh, so bitter!

League Week 2 - Game 1 Win over Cygnar

Let me be the first admit, it's hard to keep track of both the enemy and the scenario. Most of the the league losses were to me not following the scenario rules or stipulations closely enough.

This being said, and the scenario being so closely worded, I just walked up and took it. I didn't like it one bit. Then again, I went second in the round, and if I got it at the end of my turn, that was also the end of the round. Red just didn't have enough units to stop me stepping over the line and snatching the victory from the jaws of victory.

Further comments on the league scenarios usually involve some Faction Warbeast/Warjack (not Khador or Trollbloods usually) racing to be the first to get to this spot or be across that line on the board. Khador just can't. We aren't a racing type army, not in our warjacks anyway. It just so happened the Demolition Corps were able to smash a big enough hole in the Trenchers to run some units through.

Liberation League Week 2: A Whiff of Gouda

As an overview, I think once again, the scenarios are rigged against Khador. Odd, since it the League Season is the Liberation of Umbrey; Umbrey being a Khadoran province, and home of Vlad. I didn't know where the occupation borders lay until the league started. So, my forces are overwhelmingly Great Prince Vlad trying to crush the rebellious elements in the Umbrean territories.

That being said, there are a lot of "whoever gets a unit to x,y, or z first wins" scenarios. (a subtle grinding of teeth) THAT being said, I am going to lose a lot in this enviroment. Khador stands for endurance, not speed. That was always so. You can only Boundless Charge so often, until you are stranded beyond your own support structure and cut off, then cut up. In several cases, winning by the scenario involved doing things no sane army commander would do. Charge a unit way out in front by itself? Umm, no. So, lots of times, I am not keeping my eye on the schenario, but potentially winning the battle.

• Unless it's against Hordes, but that's another story.

So, Red and I were bashing it out, and I saw a cheap way to lose the battle, but win the scenario, and I took it. Not really proud. Don't like it when the opponent doesn't get a chance to react, but that was the way it was worded. The points salved my soul a little, and so did a league victory, but it still feels cheesy.

Maybe I expect too much.