Seasonal Changes

Anyone who's followed this blog for awhile has probably noticed the drop off in Warmachine/Hordes content over the past two weeks. This happens to me around the same time every year, though for different reasons. Sometimes I straight up burn out on the game, and other times I just need a bit of a break (which is more what's happening this year.)

During those periods I'll still play WM/H, but I usually seek out other games as a way to recharge my batteries. Nothing makes me appreciate what PP has been able to pull off - and maintain - with WM/H quite like stepping away and then coming back to it, so it's a cycle I embrace.

I've been working on Malifaux stuff recently (mostly painting) in preparation for the resurgence of Wave 3 of the M2E beta. Previously scheduled for...right around now, the final beta wave of M2E has been delayed until the start of next year in order to try and fine tune the Avatar rules as much as possible before the players get their hands on them again. As the Avatars were one of the more divisive topics of all the beta waves, this will likely be a big help in focusing on getting them to "final" state (instead of just "refined.") I'm very excited to play Malifaux again, so I'm looking forward to ramping that up as we move closer to next year.

My gaming group has also decided to take a break from playing our usual stable of miniatures games to play the Second Edition of Descent: Journeys Into the Dark. We had spent some time playing the previous edition, but it didn't really resonate with us. The Second Edition changed the game in some dramatic ways, and we're having a very fun time playing through a campaign. I'm hoping to share more thoughts about it in the future, though I want us to make it a little further along before I do so.

And then there are all the other games we have sitting around. I still have Relic Knights on deck for more games (having only played the one "real" game of it so far.) In a fit of sanity I sold off three of the factions I bought through the Kickstarter in order to fund a new video game console, but I still have one faction left - the Noh Empire, my favorite looking ones - and I'm still very much interested in playing more games with that system.

Our group also has some interest in Infinity, though it's maybe a third or so of the group. Still, the Third Edition of that game is sounding very interesting, and I mostly played it via 40K proxies (thanks to a friend who has a ton of semi-appropriate models) so it won't cost me anything to at least try it out. Bonus points if the new edition improves the game - Infinity wasn't a game I particularly disliked, but it definitely had/has some rough edges to iron out - and I'll be happy to play it a few times if the guys who are more into it want to throw it down on the table.

And of course there's the deluge of end of the year videogames that I'm more than happy to sit down and spend some time with. For as lean a year as 2013 was for exciting end-of-year content, 2014 looks to make that up with gusto. I've already got a decent pile of "must play" games going, and another three or four are coming out before years end.

Except for Destiny. Screw that game.

So if you're a regular reader, don't worry; more content is in the queue. It'll probably be a different flavor than usual for a little while, but it'll inevitably lap back around to WM/H in the near future (and things like battle reports will probably be sprinkled in here and there.) I have some thoughts to share about the Hordes: Exigence releases, which will hopefully go up soon.

I'm also sure we'll start to see stuff for Warmachine: Reckoning in the relatively near future - the first release from that cycle, the Cygnar Character Warjack, Dynamo, comes out in December - which will probably get my WM/H hype cycle started again.

Until then, I'm going to enjoy this brief break. I'm sure whatever PP comes up with will throw me into another dojo-frenzy, and you'll all get to see the mad outpouring that accompanies it.