Exhibition, Week Two

I didn’t have time to write about this yesterday, so I thought I’d take care of it today. Wednesday night saw the Philadelfia Eagles (did you see what I did there?) in their second exhibition match against the Karak Eight Peaks Piercers, which is a goblin team coached by my buddy J. The game went, well, just about the way you would expect a game to go when goblins are on the field. In other words, there was a lot of silliness and a lot of injured goblins. See, while most teams have a clear, effective strategy in mind, goblins don’t. Dwarfs are tough and resilient, and thus great at grinding their opponent down. Elves are agile and quick, and excel at outmaneuvering their opponent. Orcs just beat everything in the face as hard as they can. Goblins are focused around being ridiculous.

For starters, they’re weaker than almost everything else on the pitch, with low armor and a skill that makes them more likely to get injured. They do have two skills that help them dodge around the field, but when you consider the fact that they have only average Agility and take a penalty to throw the ball, this doesn’t help so much. What do they have, you ask? Craziness. For starters, a goblin team can take two trolls. They’re big. They’re scary. They’re stupid. They’re perfect for Blood Bowl. On top of this, goblins can also take a number of illegal secret weapons. There’s a goblin that throws bombs, another that uses a pogo stick. There’s a goblin fanatic with incredible strength. And then there’s my favorite – a goblin with a chainsaw.

The most common goblin strategy is to have your trolls throw the goblins. Yes, they are allowed to do this. You can pick up the goblin holding the ball and hurl him downfield, in hopes that he lands on his feet and can scramble into the endzone for a touchdown. Or you can chuck a goblin into a tightly-packed group of your opponents and hope to take a few out. This strategy tends to work very well. . .at least, if you don’t roll like J. Another thing I should explain is that J is a good player. He’s been playing for years and has sound strategies. But, for whatever reason, when he’s across the table from me, his dice hate him. It doesn’t matter which game we’re playing, he will make bad rolls that would cause a mathematician’s head to explode with the improbability of it. This happened during our game.

To begin, he had a Hell of a time just trying to pick up the ball. On top of this, he was having players get knocked out left and right, but couldn’t seem to find enough umph to take out any of my own players. His chainsaw-wielding crazy manage to knock one of my elves down, but couldn’t injure him, and was himself taken out only moments after taking the pitch. One goblin was even killed by one of my blocks. On top of it all, two goblins were eaten by his trolls! Thankfully, it was just a practice game. In all, J had six goblins injured by the end of the game, three of them dead, and several had been knocked out, returned to the pitch, and then been knocked out again. I had lost not a single player, and, in fact, only had three or four knocked out during the course of the game. Final result? Philadelfia Eagles (did you see what I did there?) 5, Karak Eight Peak Piercers 1.

Also, I found this (misspelled) demotivational poster that expresses my sentiments for Blood Bowl:

Are You Ready for Some Blood Bowl?

As is well-established, I run a nerd club in my area.  Said club, I'm stoked to say, has just started running a Blood Bowl League.  No, not the video game.  Blood Bowl was (and is) originally a board game.

The statement on this image expresses my sentiments exactly.  Anyhoo, Blood Bowl is an amazing game.  It's kind of like Mutant League Football (though it came out before it) but better and on a tabletop with some dice and models you paint yourself.  In fact, I have a group of these guys to paint:

Unfortunately, I haven't had a dry day to prime this week, so here's hoping this afternoon is clear enough.  Though the "official" name is the Galadrieth Gladiators, I'm fielding them as the PhiladELFia Eagles (did you see what I did there?), complete with green and silver paint scheme.  Oh, and they're all going to be named after Lord of the Rings elves. . .because LotR was the only source of fantasy where elves aren't haughty pansies.  Anyone who disagrees, just consider the fact that a LotR elf killed a balrog.  A balrog.  By himself.  Think a WHFB High Elf could do that?

Anyway, for those of you who have never had the pleasure of playing Blood Bowl, the video game is a very close second.

There's actually a game mode that plays exactly like the board game.  Well, there is one major difference.  The computer will totally SCREW you if your team gets too good, with things like Triple Skulls.  And then again with a re-roll.  For those of you who don't know the game, this is like rolling three ones on 3D6, and then re-rolling them and getting the same exact result.  I'm not a mathematician, but the probability of that is about the same as finding a troll that doesn't think goblins are delicious.

More on this as the league (and painting my team) progresses!

Offense vs. Defense

It's the age-old question: which is better, offense or defense?

Obviously, I'm applying this concept to tabletop gaming, not football.  More specifically, I'm applying it to unit upgrade choices, speaking to the debate between increased Strength and Attacks or a better Armor Save.  In the not-so-glorious days of 7th edition, the answer to this question was simple -- both!  The one good thing I will say about 7th ed. is the fact that you could take a great weapon and a shield, and then choose which one to use at the onset of each combat, based off of what you were facing.  Since that's gone now, choosing between the crunching power of a great weapon or halberd and the protection of a shield is a serious consideration.  Even though the +1 Armor Save modifier of hand weapon and shield are gone, using a shield in close combat does still improve your save by one, so my Dwarf Warriors would go from a 5+ save to a 4+.  The Parry Save is very "meh" in my opinion, as you'll only save one model for every six saves you take, but that does come in handy when facing units whose Strength will negate your armor save completely.

In my games of 8th, I've been highly favoring "The Best Defense is a Strong Offense" mentality, equipping my Longbeards and Warriors with Great Weapons as opposed to increasing their melee survivability with a shield.  Dwarfs are already very hard to kill, with all-around high Weapon Skill and Toughness, not to mention that all of my melee infantry comes standard with Heavy Armor.  Improving their save by one may seem pretty great, and is, but considering how many high Toughness or heavily-armored threats there are out there (nearly all of the new books have some great monster or another, and there're always those pesky Chaos Warriors running around), packing a Strengh 5 or 6 punch and kill your opponent far outweighs the ability to slightly increase your chances of just bogging the enemy down.

Another aspect to this choice in 8th edition, although I don't face it myself, is whether it's worth it to increase your unit's number of attacks.  While my army of choice does not have this option, most combat-oriented armies do.  Chaos Warriors, Marauders, Ogre Bulls, etc., all have the opportunity to increase their number of attacks by one with an extra hand weapon (or, in the case of Chaos Warriors, two with the Mark of Khorne).  These were somewhat frequent in 7th edition, with Ironfists being a very popular choice for Bulls.  Not many in my area play these armies, so I can't speak to a change having been made for 8th edition, but I can imagine they would be just as popular.  If you were willing to pay the points in 7th edition, when only the front rank could attack and had a chance of not attacking at all, I would think in 8th, where front rankers will always get to strike and with bonus attacks from rear ranks, this would be an even better choice.

I'd love to hear more on this last issue.  For those of you who play armies with such a choice, are more attacks the more attractive option to increased save?  Or do you prefer halberds, great weapons and flails to additional attacks at lower Strength?

Eighth Edition is Amazing

So this may be a little late, as 8th edition came out almost three months ago, but it's a fact of life;  Warhammer Eighth Edition is amazing.  I mean, just look at the book.

Sure, you may not like the cover art, but the message is clear.  If you say you don't like Warhammer 8th Edition, your rulebook is going to turn into a rocket launcher that will shoot a GIANT FLAMING HAMMER at you!  Or, maybe it's supposed to be the Ghal Maraz with the twin-tailed comet of Sigmar behind it.  I'm going to go with the rocket launcher.

Giant flaming hammers aside, 8th ed is still pretty great.  Its arrival may not have changed my overall tactics and strategy, but it has certainly altered my list building.  Before, I would rarely field a unit of more than twenty dwarfs, because there wasn't much sense in more than that.  Now, I field a block of forty to fifty Longbeards and a unit of thirty Ironbreakers in almost every game.  I used to take bolt throwers in preference to cannons, but that's changed, too.  With a cannon's ability to hit both monstrous mount and rider, and the fact that it inflicts D6 wounds instead of D3, a dwarf cannon can put out a lot of hurt.  Oh, and my stone throwers became downright destructive against light infantry.  Battles have become even bloodier, with units getting butchered in two rounds of close combat, and I'm not talking about breaking and getting run down.  Magic went from a nuisance unless your opponent filled their list with wizards to ZOMG danger! with a single level two.

I've managed to fit in several dozen games of fantasy in the last three months, as well as participating in the first and (finally) the second round of the 'Ard Boyz tournament, so I've seen a good deal of eighth, from friendly games to 3,000 point slugfests, and I'm enamoured.  Here are my favorite changes to eighth edition.

1) Close Combat
Close combat has become insane.  With two or three times the number of attacks, units die horrible deaths so much faster than they used to.  In my personal experience, I've watched my units of Longbeards and Warriors go from a threat on the charge to slow-moving killing machines that can annihilate most enemy infantry in moments.  With three ranks of WS5 S6 attacks, a horde unit of 'Beards can beat up on heavy infantry and are downright murderers against light infantry.  It's not just the number of attacks that have drawn people to taking massive blocks of infantry, either.  The Steadfast rule is, perhaps, the greatest improvement to the game in the entire book.  It was so irritating in 7th edition to have a unit of twenty get charged by a unit of five cavalry, lose more models, and then break and get run down.  It simply didn't make sense for five models (or even one, in the case of powerful monsters) to be able to kill a fraction of a unit, and for that unit to freak out and run away.  Steadfast and Supporting Attacks combined have completely changed the game.  Gone or less-effective are the expensive units that had few numbers and relied on their killing power to win the day.  Chaos Knights and Blood Knights can no longer be expected to charge in, kill all models capable of fighting back, and break the enemy.  Can they still butcher the enemy?  Absolutely.  But they're likely to get bogged down and suffer some wounds themselves in the exchange.

2) Movement
Quite possibly the biggest simplification that was also desperately needed.  Sure, you still have to deal with wheeling and whatnot, but now terrain doesn't slow you down (unless it prevents you from Marching), and you cannot combine forward, backward and/or sideways movement.  Charging has become infinitely easier, although there is one thing I disagree with.  In the rulebook, it states that you should roll your charge distance and then measure to see if you're in range.  I find it much simpler to measure range, agree on distance with your opponent and then roll.  I've found this settles arguments before they happen.  When you measure ahead of time, you and your opponent are more reasonable, as there is less at stake.  Sure, you may end up needing to roll one higher, or your opponent may end up needing to roll one lower, but that makes little difference in the long run.  Once you've rolled the distance and it's set, and the end of your tape measure is hovering so close to the enemy unit's base that it's tough to call, then whether is 10" or 9 15/16" means everything.  Other than that, though, movement is so much easier.

3) Magic
As stated above, magic has become destructive now.  But you can no longer spam magic as you once could.  Before, taking one or two casters, with notable exceptions, was an excuse to have several Dispel Scrolls.  They really wouldn't have much hitting power with a paltry six or so power dice.  However, now you can take a single caster and have up to 12.  Spells have become much more dangerous, but casting costs have also been increased and with the new limits on power dice, the number of spells cast per phase has dropped significantly.  All of the problems with the magic phase from 7th edition (armies that can just spam spells, mostly) were done away with in a single stroke.  At the same time, your ability to dispel has increased.  An army without a single wizard can still reap a large number of dispel dice, and on an average roll have a good chance at dispelling one or two spells.

All things considered, the changes made with eighth edition are simply amazing.  I'm sure that, as time goes on, people will find loopholes in the rules to give themselves an edge, but overall the game is neater, simpler and much more fun!

A New Morning Tradition

My darling wife recently visited some friends in NYC. As she has made clear to me over the last few years, when you go on vacation without those close to you, you are required to return with some manner of souvenir. She has a knack for finding good ones, but has definitely raised the bar this time around:


If you don't recognize those guys, they're from the NBC show, "Community", which airs on Thursday nights at 8:00 EST. I highly recommend watching it, and keep an eye out for those two -- they are, in my opinion, the most entertaining characters on the show.

I usually skip breakfast, but with their smiling faces on my new mug, I just might have to make the effort and get up a little earlier.
So this doesn't have too much to do with nerdiness, but it was on my mind. I'm trying to collect my thoughts on Warhammer 8th Edition, so rest assured that nerdery will ensue!

Trying This Again. . .

Wow. . .has it been three months already? Apparently, I'm not so great at this blogging thing, but I'm going to give it another go. Needless to say, this past summer was completely unproductive as far as building and painting is concerned. And there was so much to discuss! Warhammer Eighth Edition dropped, and rocked the tabletop gaming world. I participated in the first and (finally!) the second round of 'Ard Boyz. And did I mention Warhammer 8th came out?

Anyway, this is (another) big apology to any of you that may follow this thing. This summer was spent sleeping, working and reading, with hardly a thought to my miniatures, or, at least, hardly a thought to them as soon as I closed the case after a game. I've pared down my armies, selling and trading off my Menoth and Vampire Counts to focus on Dwarfs and Blood Angels. There's a Fantasy tournament coming up in November, and with the new rules my army list has changed, so hopefully I'll get some painting done with them and get that posted up. In the meantime, I'll focus on other things -- Warhammer and Blood Bowl, to be more precise.

Back in the saddle again. . .

Well, after an overly long month of inactivity, I managed to hammer out a few minis at the end of June. Though I ended up nine models short of my goal, here it is, my first cluster of painted Bangels. . .

Meet Combat Squad Lucius. I've decided to name every squad (and combat squad) after it's commander. So Combat Squad Lucius, led by Brother-Corporal Lucius, is part of Squad Titus, led by Brother-Sergeant Titus (not in photograph). The exact members of the combat squad may change (in fact, it'll often consist of two marines with Meltas, so the powerfist sarge can have the combat-heavy part of the squad), but hey. . .they're painted! I actually managed to try out a few slightly different techniques and settled on one I like. As an added bonus, I lucked out, because the entire combat squad looks extremely similar. Here're a few closeups of the leader, Corporal Lucius.

I've decided that all of the gems on armor and whatnot will be green. I had thought of doing red, as no doubt most Bangels players would do, but I thought that having green wax on the purity seals and green gems would make them pop.

I still have a few minor touchups to do, such as gloss varnishing the gems and touching up the black around the base edges, but other than that, I have a finished part of a unit! Woo!

In other news, I also played my second game of Warhammer 8th Edition, and it was awesome! This time around, I threw down with 2,400 points, Dwarves versus Dark Elves. It was a great time. Mike T., my opponent, is a great guy anyway, and although we got slowed down by checking rules, the game itself was intense. We laughed, we cried, I rolled dice off of the table. We actually had an audience, besides. I managed to win because of the mission, but it was a brutal slaughter on both sides. I lost almost an entire 28-strong unit of Hammerers before they even got into combat. That's how nasty magic can be, and he only had two level two casters! I'm even more stoked for 8th edition now!