Games Played

I've added a new feature to the sidebar. It shows my most recently played boardgames and has a link to www.boardgamegeek.com. I've been spending way more time playing board games than either video games or miniatures games, so I thought it was time I added something to do with them. I was going to just add a link, but the guys at BGG have created some handy little pieces of code to display games from their database, so I decided to use one of those instead.

Warmachine Project

I've had the Khador starter box for literally years now. I assembled the miniatures a few months after getting it. About a year later I got around to priming the miniatures, and it was then over a year before I got around to painting them. Basically, I didn't know what I wanted to paint them. The basic scheme of red is attractive, but red is a pain in the butt to paint. Finally I had an inspiration in the form of my Soviet army for Flames of War. Khador is obviously influenced by Russian themes, so it was a bit of a natural leap to simply take the WWII color scheme for the Soviet army and apply it to my Khador forces.

I started with Sorscha using basic Russian infantry colors:
uniform: Model Color 880 Khaki Grey
cloak: Model Color 874 USA Tan-Earth
armor: Model Color 894 Russian Green
holster: Model Color 821 Germ. Cam. Beige WWII
insignia: Model Color 947 Red over a Model Color 951 White base
skin: Game Color 3 Pale Flesh
exposed metal: Game Color 54 Gunmetal Metal
hat and fur trim: Game Color 43 Beasty Brown
pistol butt: Model Color 875 Beige Brown (this appears identical to the above color)
hair and boots: black (left primer showing)

The Warjacks were even easier:
painted metal: Model Color 894 Russian Green
exposed metal: Game Color 54 Gunmetal Metal
insignia and eyes: Model Color 947 Red over a Model Color 951 White base
metal details: Model Color 801 Brass

That was it for the starter box, which is what is shown above. Since then I've started work on the rest of my 500 point force that includes the above miniatures, plus a Greylord Ternion unit, a unit of Doom Reavers, and a unit of Widowmakers (which replaced Alexia that I used in my first battle described in a prior post). The first two are done except for basing and clearcoating. The Widowmakers are only primed, but I should be able to get to them soon.

For the Greylord Ternion I used the above colors, plus the following:
axe handle: Model Color 875 Beige Brown
leather parts: Model Color 984 Flat Brown

The Doom Reavers use a similar scheme plus the following:
hair: Game Color 39 Plague Brown & Game Color 45 Charred Brown

I expect that the Widowmakers will use the same color schemes, but will update this later if they end up needing some other colors.

I'll also do a post with pictures of these units once they are finished, as well as an article on how I plan to expand them to a 750 point force.

Movie Review: Flyboys

Flyboys is based loosely on the experiences of the Lafayette Escadrille in WWI. This French aviation squadron was made up of American volunteers prior to the entry of the US into the war.

The movie is an entertaining showcase of computer generated aerobatics, but it's a bit too long and a bit too cliched to be a truely good film. If it was just one or the other it would be more forgivable, but the two combined tend to drag the film down. When the characters aren't in the cockpit the film drags, particularly during the romantic subplot. You can't blame this on the acting, which is good, there just isn't a lot for the actors to work with. Their characters are a checklist representing different war film archetypes. You will probably be able to tell who will live and who will die as soon as they appear on screen.

A couple of the characters are supposedly based on real-life people, while the rest are supposedly amalgamations of different real-life flyers. Even so, the characters come off cliched.

Still, the action scenes almost make up for it. Seeing some of these classic planes recreated in full color was a treat. If it wasn't for the amount of downtime between each dogfight, this would have been a more entertaining film.

Also, the film does a pretty good job showing just how dangerous life was for a WWI fighter pilot. The escadrille always comes back from a mission short some pilots. I have to give it credit for that and for showing period costume and uniforms in full color. This is always nice for an era usually only portrayed in black and white.

The film earns its PG-13 rating for violence. It's a war film. There's death, there's blood, and there's maiming. Not as graphic as many other war films, but it's all there. Other than a couple of brief scenes inside a brothel, there's no sex in the film, not even partial nudity. The romantic subplot gets no further than a kiss.

For the reasons I've mentioned, I can't give this film a full recommendation. I'd say wait for it to come out on DVD, but the action scenes are worth seeing on the big screen. I just wish they made up a larger percentage of the film, or else that the rest of the film had more to offer.

First Warmachine Battle

Well, I didn't take any pics, but then only a couple of my models were painted and none of my opponent's were even primed. Heck, his Behemoth model consisted of the base and one leg!

My usual beginner's luck held up and I won, barely. It was internecine warfare as my 500 point Khador force led by Sorscha faced his force led by a pretender Sorscha. My force consisted of the starter set for Khador, plus a unit of Doomreavers, a Greylord Ternion, and Alexia Ciannor. His force was Sorscha, a Destroyer, a Spriggan, and the Behemoth.

This was the first game for both of us (well, my opponent had played a demo game before, but this was his first full 500 point game). I totally did not know the rules. I had asked to just watch a match first, but the host of the game day at the FLGS insisted that the newbies start. So, I quickly went over my stat cards and began play. Fortunately the host and his friend were both pretty good about answering questions as we played.

The game board was open terrain with a couple of hills. LOS was not an issue. I got the first turn and advanced all my units, but that was it. I should have tried to bombard with my Destroyer, or cast Fog of War, but I didn't even think about either. I may not have been in range for bombarding though.

He did bombard with his Behemoth on his turn, taking out a Thrall that Alexia had created as well as a couple of Risen. The Destroyer then took out one of my Doomreavers.

The second turn I still didn't bombard, just moving my units closer, except for Alexia and her remaining Riven who retreated. I did cast Fog of War this turn, which would make it harder for my opponent to hit any of my units except for Alexia and her Risen which were out of range. My Greylords also managed to get a couple attacks off on the Destroyer and his Sorscha with Frost Bite, but didn't do a lot of damage. Meanwhile he moved his entire force towards Alexia, with the Spriggan charging the nearby Doomreavers. Fortunately, he was only able to get one of them.

The next turn I charged his Sorscha and her accompaning Destroyer and Behemoth with my remaining Doomreavers. They managed to take off a few more hits on his Sorscha, but she still had at least a half dozen or so hits left. Then on his turn he managed to knock down my Juggernaut and Sorscha with Tempest. He followed this up by attacking with his Spriggan, using grenades against Sorscha follwed by bombarding Sorscha with his Behemoth. The end result left my Sorscha with a single hit left!

Obviously enraged by this, my Sorscha stood up, used her feat, and cast two Razor Wind spells at his Sorscha, finishing her off and winning the match!

It was a very close game, with all the decisive moves (my opponent's Spriggan attack and reminding me to use my feat) being suggested by the host of the session. I learned a lot about how Warmachine plays, and am pleased with what I learned.

I'm also inspired to continue painting the rest of my force (so far just the starter box and a single Doomreaver are painted). I've also looked at what I might get to expand my force to 1000 points.

Alexia was a complete non-factor in this game, except for drawing fire that should have gone to other units. She led the largest unit on my side, and I think that distracted my opponent. Once he realizes just how weak Risen are he won't let them distract him like that. He almost focused all his efforts on Alexia, until the host pointed out that she wasn't my warcaster.

I can see where she will be usefull when the other side takes troops, but against an all warjack force, she has limited utility.

My other units all proved their worth though. The Doomreavers, Greylords, and Sorscha all contributed directly to his Sorscha's defeat, while my Juggernaut and Destroyer both provided useful assists.

I'm now looking forward to building my force and playing future matches. I'm also inspired to continue my painting after getting some positive comments on the units I've managed to do so far.

The only downside is that out of six players there, five of them have Khador forces, and three of those only have Khador forces. There's going to be a lot of internecine warfare going on.

Warhammer 7th Edition Changes

I was going to wait to post this, but it looks like like GW is already releasing information on the changes in the 7th edition, and I never agreed to any confidentiality clause, so I figure it's ok to go ahead and post it. If they contact me about it I'll probably pull it back down later (if they ask nicely).

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be that many changes between the latest edition of WHFB and the previous one, but when you start to look more closely you find that there are quite a few. Most of them seem to have been made with the goal of eliminating some of the trickier bits in the rules.

Here's a list of the actual changes I've found so far. I probaby missed a few (in fact I'm sure I did after reading some of the stuff already up on the GW site that mentions changes that I missed), and I may have included one or two "changes" that were actually around in the last edition, and I just missed them. I aplogize for any of those that slipped through.


Unit strengths: warmachines now have a strength equal to their remaining crew rather than just a fixed strength of three.

Characters:
Line of Sight: single characters on foot no longer get a 360 degree arc of sight, but only the 90 degree arc of most units. This may not have been intentional, but is the literal interpretation of the rules as written.
Proximity to Friendly Troops: this rule is gone now, you can always shoot at an independent character that has not joined a unit, but the shot is at -1 if he's human-sized and on foot.
Challenges: some clarifications to the rules and a change with Chariots. Creatures pulling a chariot now fight in a challenge, but other riders still do not.
Look Out Sir: does not apply to characters of unit strength 5+
Characters and Psychology: there are a lot of clarifications as to how characters and units with different psychology rules interact when a character joins a unit.

Terrain:
Edge of the Table: it's now considered impassable unless you are fleeing or pursuing.
Hills: in addition to the second rank of a unit on a hill getting to shoot, anyone shooting at a unit on a hill can fire with all ranks since all ranks can see over each other to the elevated target.

Formations:
Rear Ranks: several clarifications on what happens to uneven rear ranks in different situations.
Change Formation: instead of adding or subtracting ranks, you get to move up to 5 or 10 models (depending on how much movement you give up) to or from the front rank, adjusting the remaining ranks accordingly.
Extra Ranks Bonus: you must now have at least 5 models per rank to get the bonus instead of 4, also the note about not applying when attacked in the side is gone. I'm unsure if the effect of it is still implied by other rules.

Close Combat:
Redirecting a Charge: This is now gone and replaced with the Enemy in the Way rule. It basically works the same, but only if the new target is directly in your path. No maneuvering is allowed (except the usual wheel to bring the most units into base contact in a charge).
Cover: this is now defined as applying if half or more of the unit is in cover.
Defended Obstacle: you no longer need 6's to hit units defending an obstacle, instead the attacker loses all charge bonuses, instead fighting as if it was the second round of combat (hence, obstacles provide no bonus after the charge).
Break Test: new rule called Insane Courage now makes double 1's an automatic success in a break test.
Fleeing: units now always flee in a direct line away from their attacker. They do not move around anything. If they hit impassable terrain or an enemy unit of strength 5+ they are destroyed. If they stop on a friendly unit or enemy of strength less than 5 then they are moved beyond that unit and stop there instead. The same rule applies during subsequent turns with the fleeing unit now moving straight towards the nearest table edge.
Pursuit into Fresh Enemy: the target can now choose to flee if it wishes to.
Lapping Around & Expanded Frontage: these are gone now. Instead the winner of a fight may now perform a Change Formation or a Turn maneuver.

Psychology: this section has, interestingly enough, moved from the basic to the advanced section of the rules.
Panic from Fleeing units: units no longer panic due to nearby fleeing units, instead they take a panic test when a friendly unit flees through them.
Panic from destroyed units: this is now caused if the unit is destroyed by any means within 6". There's no longer a difference if the unit was destroyed by shooting instead of close combat, or if the unit destroyed was fleeing. Also, the destroyed unit must be strength 5+ to trigger this test (this appears to be the case for all unit triggered panic tests, including fleeing or breaking units).
Panic from 25% casualties: this is clarified to apply to any damage caused outside of the close combat phase (including such things as goblin fanatics)
Defeated by a Fear Causing Enemy: same as before, but the new Insane Courage rule applies which allows a unit to not break if it rolls double 1's, even if it would otherwise automatically break.
Stupidity: Stupidity now ends whenever a stupid creature enters Close Combat. It's unclear if Stupid creatures are now meant to be subject to all psychology once in Close Combat, but the way it is written they are.
Immune to Psychology & Unbreakable: These two classifications have been added to the Psychology section.

Weapons:
Pistol (hand-to-hand): no longer gets bonus on first turn of Close Combat, simply counts as a hand weapon.
Pistol (shooting): added stats for a brace of pistols (2x multiple shots)

Monsters: a lot of rewriting here, but mostly for clarity. The biggest change is in the Monster Reaction Table for when a rider is slain and the monster fails its Leadership check. Monsters no longer have a chance of fleeing. They always stay and fight, but under three different conditions. The first is that they fight as normal but subject to Stupidity. The second is that they fight as normal but can't move except to turn to face the enemy and become Unbreakable. The third is that they fight as normal but become subject to Frenzy and Hatred for the rest of the game. There's also a rule added for what happens if a rider has his mount killed as the result of a Stand and Shoot reaction to a charge.

Chariots:
High Strength Hits on Chariots: chariots now get to check their armour save, if any, before being destoyed by a Strength 7 or greater hit.
Impact Hits: these are now distributed in the same way as shooting hits.
Fleeing Chariots: chariots do impact hits against any unit they flee through, friend or foe. If they are forced to flee through an enemy unit of Strength 5+ they still do impact hits before being removed.

Skirmishers:
Double Pace: Skirmishers no longer have this rule. They are now under the same March restrictions as everyone else in regards to proximity to the enemy.

Battle Standard:
Combat Bonus: battle standards now add with unit standards if both are in the same unit.
Capturing: capturing a Battle Standard is clarified.

War Machines:
Movement: war machines and their crew now move as skirmishers (they more or less did before by default, but this is now clearly stated). The movement rate of a war machine is reduced if crew members are killed by the percentage of crew killed.
Characters: a character that joins a war machine can still shoot independently with his own weapons.
Loss of Crew: this is now a standard rule for all war machines, rather than defined for each one separately. Any machine with a crew of 3+ to start with fires normally until down to 1 crewmember, at which point it can only fire every other turn. A machine that only has 2 crew to begin with continues to fire normally if a crew member is lost.
Fleeing: an attacker no longer has the option to bypass a war machine to pursue the fleeing crew, the attacker must stop at the war machine.
Fleeing Crew: crew are treated as a skirmishing unit until they recrew a weapon. Crews no longer automatically flee if charged when not crewing a machine, and can fight in close combat normally as a skirmishing unit.
Close Combat: the rules allow for machines to be attacked in close combat. If it happens they are hit automatically. If there is no crew left they are automatically destroyed. An attacking unit is now allowed to pursue broken crew or overrun after destroying a war machine. A victorious war machine crew does not need to make a test if they choose not to pursue a broken unit.
Cannon:
Which models are hit: there are several clarifications made.
Grapshot: now uses the flame template and causes hits with a strength equal to the roll of an artillery die with a -1 armor save modifier.

Special Rules: several special rules that appear in multiple army lists are now listed in the main rule book as well.

Buildings: it appears that this is one section that has been completely redone. I'm not going to list all the changes here.

Special Features: a new section covering special terrain features, the control of which gives you bonus VP or special abilities in the game.

Victory Points:
Enemy Units at Half Strength: the VP are gained when a unit falls to half strength rather than below half strength as before.
Victory Chart: this has been redone to make for more breakdowns at the small end and fewer at the large end. The result appears to be the same for games of 1000-1499 and 2000-4999 points. Games of 1500 to 1999 will end up with a draw being more likely and games of 999 or less and 5000 or more will end up with a draw being less likely.

Magic:
Power Dice: extra dice from a Wizard's level are no longer put into the Power Pool, instead they can only be used by the Wizard that generates them. Any other dice from items or other sources, including the 2 basic dice, are put in the pool as before.
Miscast Table: this has been completely rewritten. In most cases the results are more damaging for the caster.
Remains In Play: There are clarifications on how this works with characters joining and leaving units when one or the other are under the effects of a spell.
Selecting Spells: the new example seems to indicate that you can choose to substitute the first spell on the list for any other spell a wizard rolls after the wizard rolls for all of them. This may have been the intention all along, but it wasn't clear from the old example.
Spell lists: lots of tweaks to casting costs, and a few real changes. Bane of Forged Steel, Storm of Cronos, Blinding Light, Father of the Thorn, and Death Dealer are all replaced by new spells. Portent of Far replaces Second Sign of Amul as the default spell in the Heavens list, and Burning Gaze replaces Pha's Illumination as the default spell in the Light list. Overall, Heavens has been nerfed while the weaker lists appear to have been buffed or at least given "fluffier" spells (for example the new Life spell is a healing spell).

Magic Items:
Fleeing: magic items that require "activation" can't be used by fleeing units (this is defined in the rules).
Dispel Scrolls: using one no longer cancels a Remains In Play spell cast by the user. It's now clarified that it must be used at the time the spell to be dispelled is cast and not later.