Ride the Lightning!

                                         

So Its 2015 and we have a whole new Masters packet. I for one and excited for this new format. I spent the last week or so looking through the packet and comparing casters with scenarios. I also took a look at the new "Active Duty Roster". I must say I liked the casters there where listed there. But then again I am known for favoring unpopular casters. I guess its my abstract thought process. 

Anyway I figured what better way to get into this new year than to dust of a faction that I have owned models for, for years and never actually got around to playing. 

So with a couple of recent purchases and dipping into my merc bag of goodies, I decided that my first 'caster of the year  is going to be Prime Nemo. Now many don't consider him a very competitive caster for a long time. With the advent of his new character 'Jack Dynamo he is getting a bit more love. 

pNemo offers a variety of options with his spell list that can make Cygnar infantry have some longevity as well as give them some necessary boosts, as well as he is able to support a large battlegroup to me he is a nice well rounded caster that can get the job done. 

So here is the list...

Commander Adept Nemo - WJ: +6

- Squire
- Centurion - PC: 9
- Dynamo - PC: 10
- Thunderhead - PC: 12

Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 2
Gun Mage Captain Adept - PC: 2

Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4
Stormblade Infantry - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
- Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard - Officer & Standard Bearer 3
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4

Now as we look at my list, I'm sure you are thinking...WTF?! Well I am known for SUSS lists but when it comes to competitive play I very much think from left field. So here is the break down...

In Nemo's Battle group we have a Squire(for that nice focus bank) Dynamo, Centurion, and Thunderhead. 

When you look at just the battlegroup that is an awefully tall order to fill. However think on this, with Nemo's innate abilities he can get up to 9-10 focus a turn. That is more than enough to not only fuel himself but this hefty battlegroup.  

So lets take a look at each jack and what they can do for Nemo. 

-The Centurion is basically your objective grabber. You can run him up and throw up his shield and he can sit on an onjective or contest a zone with little worry about him getting too messed up. If there is a worry tag Strange ways with him to keep him having focus and repaired. 

-Dynamo, I'll refrain from any and all running man references here, Dynamo has alot of really amazing bonuses just on his own and having him with Nemo is even better. This jack has Multi-Fire with an added bonus of Chain Reaction which yes effects his ranged attacks as well! So you are taking a base POW 12 gun and by the fourth shot doing a POW17 that is boostable. That's enough to make anyone unhapppy who is on the receiving end. Plus he has decent stats that will also be boosted by Nemo.

-The Thunderhead, now this guy has kind of fallen out of favor with alot of people in favor of the Stormwall. I however have had far more luck clearing infantry with Thunderhead than I have with Stormwall as his pulse does not require and actual target. But this may just be my flavor vs. someone else.

On to our lovely Infantry.

Now when I chose infantry I needed them to be able to handle multiple roles. I needed them to be reasonably fast, high like a freight train and have a range threat that people have to think about. So Naturally Stormblades  fit the bill. With throwing in their Captain Solo in the mix givent them relentless charge I see a solid brick that will take some effort to displace. 

I also included Lady A and Holt to contest zones if needed as well as Lady A's Kiss help improve the Stormblades hitting power. She is often and auto include in many of my lists because she may not come into play all the time but when you need her you need her. Holt bringing his two guns to the fight isn't bad either.

The TAC is there to simply ensure Nemo gets his extra focus for a friendly model casting a spell in his control area. Yes if you didn't know their little smoke rings they throw out are a magical ability as they are listed under their Magic Abilities.  So they feed Nemo that one necessary focus each turn and great a nice smoke screen to help keep Nemo alive.

Throwing in the Storm Callers was a no brainer anyone that can so a simple skill check and do a Pow 10 damage role is great for taking out enemy solos and UAs. While these guys aren't known for living very long on the battlefield they often live just long enough to annoy the crap out of your opponent.

Lastly I added the Gun Mage Captain. He can ignore stealth and has brutal damage. This was more of a point filler with the "in case I need it" options. 

So there you have it. This is how I am starting off 2015. I have already started painting this list and I will write another article on the project itself.  Stay tuned folks They say lightning doesn't strike the same place twice..well lets see if we can prove that wrong!

Back Again....

So after a very long hiatus and getting things in order I am back to my blog. For those of you still following thanks for putting up with the wait. However I am back and here to stay. I am hoping to do a bi weekly (sometimes more often) article spread on what I am doing Warmahordes related as well as updates on projects. The Jack Factory is once again open for business!

BCS Gaming Group Steam Roller

So while I completely forgot my camera yesterday, I went down to a Steam Roller in Bryan/College Station Tx. I had heard from my good friend Steve that there was a group of new Warmahordes players emerging. I thought to myself that I needed to check these guys out. So me and one of the players from my local meta Jeff Second, took the 2 hour drive down to play and see what these guys where all about.

In a nut shell these guys where an AMAZING group of guys to play with. This group was still a relatively new group they had all really just gotten into the game this year shortly after WarGamesCon. This Steam Roller that they were running was their second event ever. The TO was Kevin Rougas who as two points in the day wanted to pull his hair out, but still did an admirable job none the less.  What was amazing to me was how well these players really new their factions and lists after just such a short time playing. When I asked Kevin about it he has told me that all the local players had just finished a slow-grow journeyman's league. He also informed me that all the lists being played where what they had used during that league. I told him that I thought it was great that so much of his meta had done the smart thing about playing Warmahordes. The started off small and worked their way up. I mean these guys KNEW how to work their armies and even for not having played that long most of the players got me sweating a little bit and I have been playing for about a decade now.

All in all it was great fun, it was an awesome event, with really great people. I would recommend to anyone if you are willing to make the drive down the Brian/College Station for one of their events you will not be disappointed.  I personally look forward to hitting up a few more of their events in the future and I look forward to seeing that group of guys grow and becoming one of the major contenders for the future Texas Cup events.

Great Event Guys!

Event Coverage: Alamo GT

So this past weekend there was an event down in San Antonio which went from being a large open Tournament for 3 days to an Epic 3 Day grudge match! This year was the first year for the Alamo GT to add the Warmachine / Hordes event. For this being the first year of it we had a really good turn out. The event had everything from Iron Arena, to Steam Rollers, Team matches and even a Master's Event. 
There was great fun had by all and some of the games where purely epic.
When it was all said and done there were two teams that were holding down the Master's Event. Will Pagani's Texas Renegades out of Asgard Games in Houston showed up, despite Will himself not be able to attend, Who squared off against the Central Texas team FA:U. A lot of bragging rights, and "scores" were settled. I can foresee this event growing and becoming the annual grudge match between the teams. Hopefully next year we can get a few more of the Texas teams to come down as well, I am talking to you guys up in Waco and Dallas!
Great fun was had by all I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I would like, but here are a few shots from the Master's Event and the Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw event.

TEAM FA:U

Event Coverage: Summer Rampage

So I got to run my first event by myself at my great FLGS, Battle Field Games. I ran the Summer Rampage which was all around some of the funnest games I have ever seen. There were many memorable moments during these games, namely Jeff's Stormwall not hitting a damn thing, and seeing how much pSorcha does not stand up to the Mountain King's big meaty fist.
















Fun was had by all, there was some very beautifully painted models and a lot of jokes and "oh my god!" going on. We only had one guy who was able to pull off all the Rampages and that was none other than Steve Garcia with his Retribution. Our Dominator was David with his Skorne.  There was  many other prizes that where handed out to include our Better luck Next time award which went to Jim Lytle who had no wins and no Rampages. Better luck next year man. Here are a few pics of the event

 We had 16 people show up to play with 4 people just to observe and learn more about the game. Can we see a Journey Man league in the Future? I think so!!

I hope to see more of you at our Events here at Battle Field Games!!!

Colossals

So today I got to "proxy" my New Colossal for Menoth. It was a lot of fun to say the least. I was hesitant to do the whole "proxy" thing, but with a few nudges in the right direction from my buddy Steve, I went ahead and did it. I found out two very interesting things, one Colossals ROCK! They seriously bring a new and interesting dynamic to the game which I think is seriously going to advance the game in the right direction. The second thing is that you can literally hide your entire army behind one of those things!

It was interesting to see how the Colossal changes the battle field and how it doesn't at the same time. I was originally under the impression that by having a Colossal on the table it would drastically change the way I play the game. What actually happened was that there was two games happening at the same time. The normal infantry and the Warjacks were beating on each other, and then the two towering Colossals fighting each other. Now I understand that isn't always how things will pan out. I only played two games today using the Colossals, but in each game that's more or less how it ended up happening.

I think that the Colossal will work in the 50pts games and that it can make lists at that level competitive and still fun to play, but I also feel that at the 50pts level or even the 35 pts level your army is simply going to be tailored to support only that one model which will end up being a hindrance than a blessing. I still think that as more and more of the Colossals are released that they are going to find a place in the 50pts Steam Rollers, but I think that it will seriously limit your choices as a player. I could be wrong on this as well, but as powerful at the Colossals are I am not 100% convinced they will be able to handle the infantry spam, or eHaley with a 3 or 4 Hunters in her battlegroup. Armor Percing is a serious pain in the ass.

I am greatly looking forward to getting my hands on my own Colossal when it is released, and I look forward to putting it on the field as much as I can, but I am wondering the value of them in the competitive scene.

Perhaps more play testing will change my point of view, and I might jump on the band wagon of having a Colossal as an Auto include. But as of yet I am not convinced of that, regardless I will be getting my hands on the Judicator.

As always play till you hear, Dice Down!

Battlegroup in an afternoon.

So today I set out with one small task. I wanted to see how quickly I could get a battlegroup painted and table worthy. Well I have a lot of minis setting on the shelf, but I picked out my pMagnus Battlegroup. So I started off with an assembled and primed group. After 5 hours, 2 Monster energy drinks, and a smoke break I was able to produce this.




















Here is a close up of Magnus. I tried to give him that AUTHENTIC BATTLE DAMAGE!!!(poor jack black voice impression there).

Here are a few Pics of the 'Jacks, The Mangler, The Talon, and lastly the Renegade.

That's how it stands. I think I did pretty well given it was done in 5 hours, but as always I welcome advice and critiques. Up next on the Factory Floor will be pKreoss battlegroup.