All New War - Khador Thoughts

With all of the talk of the new edition announcement and what some of the major changes may mean out of the way, I can finally get to the most important topic: how does all of this relate to meeeeeeeeee?

Seriously though, as much as I'd like to go through each faction and hit the highs, lows, and what might/should change, that would take more time than I may have ever had (and is certainly well above what I could pull off now). So I'm just going to focus on the one faction that is weighing heaviest on my mind: those chilly, nationalistic Khards that everyone loves to explode by the dozen.

What follows will be my thoughts and hopes for how the faction will improve in the next edition of Warmachine. I'll refrain from any armchair design as best I can, but I might go nuts and do an entry-by-entry quick review. We'll see how it goes!

New Warmachine/Hordes Edition - General Rule Spoiler Thoughts

Heads are still spinning from Privateer Press' announcement of a rules revision for Warmachine and Hordes, mine included. After having some time to digest the deluge of information we've received so far (most of it from Primecast #30), I wanted to collect my thoughts about some of the bigger changes and what they may mean for WM/H.

Thoughts after the break.

All New War - A New Edition for Warmachine and Hordes

After months of relatively little news and almost no new product announcements, Privateer Press finally dropped the bomb that people have been speculating about for awhile: Warmachine and Hordes will be getting a new edition this year (announcement site).

Full day one info dump after the break (and damn is it a lot more information than I thought we'd have!)

Plastic Berserker/Mad Dog/Rager Kit Teaser

From of Bell of Lost Souls:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2016/03/exclusive-privateer-mystery-warmachine-miniature.html

With the added quote of "They say trouble comes in threes..."


It looks like I get to immediately eat my words about waiting until 2017 for the Rager. It might make it out in 2016 after all!

Grolar Unboxing

After almost two years of waiting for it (first announced in Warmachine: Vengeance, released on March 19, 2014) the Grolar is finally out and available for purchase. It has been so long that I have forgotten about this model multiple times, only to be reminded by some random post/comment/army list.

I won't quite say it is worth the wait - 23 months is a ridiculous amount of time to wait for any single model to come out, let alone a non-character heavy warjack - but it is very nice to finally have the Grolar in hand. It has great rules and a fantastic model to go along with it.

Anyone with any interest in the model has no doubt bought one (or two, or three out of disbelief and a fear that they will poof out of existence) for themselves, so if you're a Khador player, you know what's in the box.

That said, I do think it is worth checking out the Grolar's box set to highlight some of the things that probably held up its release for so damn long, the things that make it a particularly remarkable kit for Privateer Press to have produced, and finally to pay tribute to a once great and now largely overshadowed warjack: the noble Kodiak (who shares the box with the Grolar and is very tellingly not featured on the cover despite being the originator of this chassis type).

Breakdown starts after the link.

Weekend Gaming - Irusk2 *hearts* Flag

Every once in awhile my one group of friends manages to secure a weekend to get everyone together to play a couple of games of WM/H (or whatever everyone is in the mood for). Its gotten harder as everyone settles further into grown-up responsibilities (mainly marriage and kids) but sometimes we get lucky and a weekend lines up for enough of us.

This past weekend was one of those weekends and WM/H was the game of choice. I'm still hanging out on the edge of WM/H after burning out hard on it near the end of last year so I don't have many lists that I've wanted to play. Butcher3 and Sorscha2 will always be good, but I want to play something different.

I've been playing Vlad3 here and there and enjoying it, but I have a hard time finding a list with him I really like. Most of the lists I make with Vlad3 at the helm seem like they'd be better under Vlad3, unless I go theme (which is fun but one sided) or more cav focused to get something out of his feat (which leads to pretty much the same problem).

In the week leading up to the gaming day I started to go back over 'casters I liked playing but didn't put a lot of time into and one name floated to the top: Irusk2. I had some lists I liked with him, he's pretty great in general, and there has been some discussion about him recently that motivated me to get him back on the table.

I used Irusk2 for all the games I played on Saturday and really liked using him. I'm not going to do batreps (not quite up for that yet) but I do have some thoughts from those games that I wanted to share. Lists and thoughts after the break.

SmogCon Q&A Tidbits and Rumors

At some point, probably a year or two ago, the Warmachine and Hordes community really embraced social media. Lots of prominent players took to Twitter and Facebook as ways of directly communicating with each other and the rest of the player base.

While that is good-to-great for building a sense of community, it had an effect I never would have foreseen: almost all spoiler talk happens first on Twitter/Facebook, and then we're lucky to catch it on a forum somewhere (usually it's just something like "spoilers on Trevor from Chain Attack's Twitter?") As a social media Luddite, it makes me nostalgic for the good 'ol days of vague forum posts and blog info dumps.

In that spirit, I wanted to collect the set of spoiler-y tidbits and rumors that came out of SmogCon this past weekend, which you can find after the break. If you want to preserve the original means of delivery, only read it 140 characters at a time.

Thoughts on PP's Mini-2016 Keynote

Privateer Press's Primecast podcast was kind enough to offer up a bevvy of spoilers recently, courtesy of Matt Wilson and Jason Soles talking about the next round of 'casters and 'locks, as well some random tidbits for later in the year. 

I put together a quick and dirty synopsis of what was discussed during the podcast here. Now that I've had some time to digest what they talked about, lets kick around some thoughts about what all that info might mean.

Musings start after the break.

PP Mini-Keynote (via Primecast) - New Warcaster and Warlock Teasers

The latest Primecast managed to dump a bunch of spoiler info in the form of a mini-keynote of what we can expect from PP in the coming year. Several teasers about the upcoming crop of 'casters and 'locks, along with what seems to be confirmation that we're getting two new sets of 'casters and 'locks this year.

Check after the break for a quick transcript of what Matt Wilson and Jason Soles revealed.

Harkevich vs. Grim2 - ConVic Test Run

As I slowly continue to get the chance to test out various lists using models from Warmachine: Reckoning, I keep coming back to the idea of Harkevich with two colossals. I've taken Harkevich for a spin with two Victors in the past, and liked it quite a bit.

However, that list has one big problem: it would require buying a second Victor that I would almost certainly never use outside of that list. That is a fairly steep price to pay to drag Harkevich out from the bottom of the barrel (and I'm still not sure how far up the ladder it gets him, but it is a dramatic improvement).

Ever since that game I have been kicking around the idea of trying out Conquest and Victor, instead of two Victors. I already have a Conquest, so if this idea pans out it saves me a lot in both painting time and money. Join me after the break to see how it works out.

Zerkova2 vs. Grim2 - Tough It Out

Thanks to a random bonus gaming session, I recently had the chance to put Zerkova2 on the table. Join me after the break for the battle report and thoughts about Khador's newest warcaster.

Mini-Batrep: Vlad3 vs. Gunnbjorn (Now With 100% More Assault!)

One of the things I've taken for granted about playing Warmachine regularly is the habits I developed in documenting games for possible battle reports. It doesn't do you much good, for instance, to realize at the end of the game that you haven't been doing turn-by-turn shots (which makes typing everything up significantly easier).

All that is a lead in to what will be a sort-of mini-battle report for a recent game I played with Vlad3. This one is going to be lighter in regards to the blow-by-blow recount, but it still affords a good opportunity to think about Vlad3, his list theory, and what to do with all that.

Breakdown after the break.

Down...there.

Ahem.

August 2015 Warmachine and Hordes Errata Thoughts

All of the Warmachine/Hordes (WM/H) world is abuzz with discussion about the most recent errata. And with good reason: this is easily the biggest set of actual rule changes Privateer Press (PP) has made in all of Mk. 2, and it touches some prominent models in significant ways.

If you haven't read the latest errata, the document (with latest version changes highlighted in red) can be found here: WM MKII Rules Errata August 2015.pdf

And if you're interested in the cliff's notes version, check out DarkLegacy's excellent summation post here: August 2015 Errata and You

Join me after the break for thoughts about the changes, how they may affect the game as a whole, and how they affect Khador specifically.

Thunderhorse - Vlad3 Thoughts and Theory

There is an affliction I have with Khador. Every three to six months, regardless of what I'm working on or playing, Vlad creeps onto the edges of my thoughts and will not leave.

The best way to exorcise this malady is to get into the dojo and come up with a list or two, then slap it down on the table.  The downside to this is that it throws off anything else I'm working with or on. The upside, however, is that I get to dojo and play Vlad which is always fun.

Vlad3 is the specific incarnation that has been bouncing around my head this time, so join me after the break for thoughts and theory about Khador's resident Horselord.

Painting Log - Obavnik Kommander Zerkova and Reaver Guard

The nicest part about having a small number of new releases in a cycle is that it is often very easy to stay caught up with everything. I recently finished Ruin <link>, and thanks to a friend picking me up Zerkova2 at Lock & Load, I've also managed to get her painted up (before her release date even). So now I'm caught up on Khador releases though...at least October, it looks like.

Join me after the break for pictures of how the models turned out, my thoughts on this wicked trio of models, and what's next for me on the painting table.

Syntherion - Notes from the Workbench

It struck me kind of funny, but the main faction I've been playing since the release of Warmachine: Reckoning has actually been the faction with zero releases from the book: Convergence of Cyriss. That is due more to timing than anything else; I've been playing a lot of Khador leading up to this point, and I was about due for a break. Plus it has been a very convenient way to get the two new Khador releases I have onto the painting table without disrupting the lists I want to play.

I've messed around with Convergence a little bit in the past, but it was a very clumsy foray into the faction. This time around I was coming into the games with a slightly better understanding of how the army was going to play, and with a (marginally) better sense of how to use the various models.

Join me after the break for a collection of my thoughts and experiences after another run of games with everyone's favorite baroque robots.

Painting Log: Ruin

After many months of painting models for someone else, I finally got a chance to sit down and paint something of my own. My time as a mercenary painter served as a fantastic time killer for the next for Khador releases to come out - Ruin and Zerkova2 as a pre-release.

Ruin came out first, so it was the first thing in my queue once I finished up the Pan-O models (not that Ruin wouldn't have been the first model I wanted to paint regardless).

Join me after the break for the finished model, model thoughts, and what's next in the queue.

Warmachine: Reckoning - Final Thoughts

Now that we've gone over all the different factions release for Warmachine: Reckoning, lets take a look at the total picture of what the book means for different facets of Warmachine, and the game as a whole.

Join me after the break for the rundown and thoughts.

Warmachine: Reckoning Review - Mercenaries

Having gone over all of the other factions - Cygnar, Protectorate, Khador, Cryx, and Retribution, we arrive at the final faction in Warmachine: Reckoning. Going by Privateer Press order we have last, but (hopefully) not least: Mercenaries.

Review starts after the break!

Warmachine: Reckoning Review - Retribution of Scyrah

We're coming up on the finish line for Warmachine: Reckoning releases. With Cygnar, Protectorate, Khador, and Cryx covered, we next turn our attention to Ios, and the nifty new entries for the Retribution.

Review starts after the break!