Up this week on PP's website were a couple of Insiders.
First one was from David Carl on the Heap demos at Gencon.
http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-29-2012
Second one was from Meg Maples on painting the Con Exclusives Druid Gone Wilder and Bombardier Bombshell.
http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-27-2012
This weekend PP will be at PAX Prime with limited copies of the IKRPG along with the Con Exclusive models.
http://privateerpress.com/iron-kingdoms-rpg-making-its-way-to-pax-prime
~ ~ ~
MAILBOX
Please send your messages, questions, etc *here*
Make sure to include 'Mailbox' in the subject line.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Mis-Adevntures In The Iron Kingdoms Extra 29/8/2012
Was expecting to have a battle report up today, however I wasn't bale to get a game in last night as I had hoped to do.
So instead I'm posting extra IKRPG stuff, namely a bit on character creation as I attempt to stat up Lady Ellsworth who is the main NPC in my current campaign. I'll try to do this step-by-step as was presented in the Character Creation Preview that PP posted up on their website.
1. Choose your character's race
Nice and simple, Lady Ellsworth is Human and gives us these starting values.
PHY 5
SPD 6
STR 4
AGL 3 (+1)
PRW 4
POI 4
INT 3
ARC *
PER 3
The Primary stats are Bolded and you may have noticed that Arcane (ARC) doesn't have a value, this is because its a stat only normally used by spellcasters and so is left blank unless you take the Archetype Gifted. Now being Human we can increase teh starting value of one of our Primary stats by +1, we'll do this for AGL to start off with a better DEF (the +1 is included above in brackets).
2. Choose Archetype
Already decided that one of Lady Ellsworth's careers will be a magic one, so we need to take Gifted in order to do so and this will give us a Arcane starting value of 3 since the character will be a Will Weaver (its 2 for a Focuser which is normally a Warcaster). With each Archetype we can pick a benefit at character creation, though we can gain more later on. We'll go with Combat Caster, this will allow us to roll an additional die on magic attack rolls and then discard the lowest result.
3. Pick Careers
To begin with we pick two careers, but later on we'll be able to take other careers if we so wished. Since Lady Ellsworth is a noblewoman and a spellcaster we'll go with Aristocrat and Sorcerer, the details of which are below;
Aristocrat- (Human only)
Abilities: Good Breeding, Language (any), and Privilege
Connections: Connections (nobility)
Military Skills: Hand Weapon 1 and the choice of one other: Archery 1, Pistol 1, or Rifle 1
Occupational Skills: Command 1 and Etiquette 1
Special: A character who chooses Aristocrat as one of his two starting careers gains 50gc each month from his family holdings.
Starting Assets: 200 gc
Sorcerer-
Special: Choose the element the Sorcerer can manipulate: Fire, Ice, Stone, or Storm. Once chosen, the element does not change. Abilities are determined by element. Spells are determined by element.
Now I've created my own Element that I've dubbed Shadow, this is meant specifically for Lady Ellsworth and thus my own purposes. I'm happy for other people to use long as they bear in mind that it is still Work in Progress and still incomplete, though I'd be grateful for feedback to be posted in this thread; http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?120054-Homebrew-Sorcerer-Element-Shadow
Shadow
Spells: Influence, Piercing Shadows and Telgesh Mark
Special: Feat: Strength of Will - After failing a fatigue roll, spend a feat point and automatically pass. (This is a benefit normally granted under Gifted, though other careers include Archetype benefits as career abilities)
(all elements are the same for the following)
Military Skills: Choose 1: Archery 1, Crossbow 1, or Hand Weapon 1
Occupational Skills: Detection 1 and Survival 1
4. Increase character's stats
At character creation you get 3 ability points to increase stats and customize your characters with, though each race has a 'Level Limit' on how high these stats can go. Levels in the IKRPG are actually more like tiers in the form of Hero, Veteran and Epic and the level limits are included in each race's stat profile. The ability points can be spent to increase a stat on a 1:1 ratio, basically one point increases a stat by one.
We'll increase our Arcane stat to 4 and our primary stats AGL and INT by one as well, the primary stats determine how much health you have on your character's Life Spiral. So now we're looking at something along the lines of this;
PHY 5
SPD 6
STR 4
AGL 5
PRW 4
POI 4
INT 4
ARC 4
PER 3
5. Finishing touches
Now you sort out your gear, money, background, etc.
And thats it, a relatively simple system of character creation compared to say D&D that should take long to create a character with.
So instead I'm posting extra IKRPG stuff, namely a bit on character creation as I attempt to stat up Lady Ellsworth who is the main NPC in my current campaign. I'll try to do this step-by-step as was presented in the Character Creation Preview that PP posted up on their website.
1. Choose your character's race
Nice and simple, Lady Ellsworth is Human and gives us these starting values.
PHY 5
SPD 6
STR 4
AGL 3 (+1)
PRW 4
POI 4
INT 3
ARC *
PER 3
The Primary stats are Bolded and you may have noticed that Arcane (ARC) doesn't have a value, this is because its a stat only normally used by spellcasters and so is left blank unless you take the Archetype Gifted. Now being Human we can increase teh starting value of one of our Primary stats by +1, we'll do this for AGL to start off with a better DEF (the +1 is included above in brackets).
2. Choose Archetype
Already decided that one of Lady Ellsworth's careers will be a magic one, so we need to take Gifted in order to do so and this will give us a Arcane starting value of 3 since the character will be a Will Weaver (its 2 for a Focuser which is normally a Warcaster). With each Archetype we can pick a benefit at character creation, though we can gain more later on. We'll go with Combat Caster, this will allow us to roll an additional die on magic attack rolls and then discard the lowest result.
3. Pick Careers
To begin with we pick two careers, but later on we'll be able to take other careers if we so wished. Since Lady Ellsworth is a noblewoman and a spellcaster we'll go with Aristocrat and Sorcerer, the details of which are below;
Aristocrat- (Human only)
Abilities: Good Breeding, Language (any), and Privilege
Connections: Connections (nobility)
Military Skills: Hand Weapon 1 and the choice of one other: Archery 1, Pistol 1, or Rifle 1
Occupational Skills: Command 1 and Etiquette 1
Special: A character who chooses Aristocrat as one of his two starting careers gains 50gc each month from his family holdings.
Starting Assets: 200 gc
Sorcerer-
Special: Choose the element the Sorcerer can manipulate: Fire, Ice, Stone, or Storm. Once chosen, the element does not change. Abilities are determined by element. Spells are determined by element.
Now I've created my own Element that I've dubbed Shadow, this is meant specifically for Lady Ellsworth and thus my own purposes. I'm happy for other people to use long as they bear in mind that it is still Work in Progress and still incomplete, though I'd be grateful for feedback to be posted in this thread; http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?120054-Homebrew-Sorcerer-Element-Shadow
Shadow
Spells: Influence, Piercing Shadows and Telgesh Mark
Special: Feat: Strength of Will - After failing a fatigue roll, spend a feat point and automatically pass. (This is a benefit normally granted under Gifted, though other careers include Archetype benefits as career abilities)
(all elements are the same for the following)
Military Skills: Choose 1: Archery 1, Crossbow 1, or Hand Weapon 1
Occupational Skills: Detection 1 and Survival 1
4. Increase character's stats
At character creation you get 3 ability points to increase stats and customize your characters with, though each race has a 'Level Limit' on how high these stats can go. Levels in the IKRPG are actually more like tiers in the form of Hero, Veteran and Epic and the level limits are included in each race's stat profile. The ability points can be spent to increase a stat on a 1:1 ratio, basically one point increases a stat by one.
We'll increase our Arcane stat to 4 and our primary stats AGL and INT by one as well, the primary stats determine how much health you have on your character's Life Spiral. So now we're looking at something along the lines of this;
PHY 5
SPD 6
STR 4
AGL 5
PRW 4
POI 4
INT 4
ARC 4
PER 3
5. Finishing touches
Now you sort out your gear, money, background, etc.
And thats it, a relatively simple system of character creation compared to say D&D that should take long to create a character with.
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 28/8/2012
It seems initially there'll be a limited selection of monsters to fight in the new IKRPG, though it was been said that more will be released through the magazine No Quarter and in future books.
However there are no stats at present for the Rusalka and so I've taken it upon myself to create some.
~
Rusalka
SPD 7 - STR 5 - MAT 5 - RAT 4 - DEF 15 - ARM 12
Willpower 9 - Initiative 15 - Detect 6 - Sneak 7
Rusalka Blade - POW 3, P+S 8
- Magical Weapon
- Poison (Extra die on damage rolls vs living models)
Abilities
Amphibious - This character treats water as open terrain and gains concealment while within water.
Camouflage - This character gains an additional +2 DEF when benefiting from concealment or cover.
Feat Points - This character starts each encounter with 1 feat point. It is allocated 1 feat point at the start of each of its turns. It can only have up to 1 feat point at a time.
Prowl - This character is virtually invisible while in the shadows or in terrain that grants a degree of concealment. He gains Stealth while within terrain that provides concealment, the AOE of a spell that provides concealment, or the AOE of a cloud effect.
Unearthly Laughter - This character can spend 1 feat point during his turn to use this ability. When this ability is used all enemy models within 5" of this character must pass a Willpower check or be made Stationary for one round.
Arcane 3
Will Weaver
Base Size -Small
Encounter Points - 5
Spells
Fog of War
Inhospitable Ground
Mirage
Life Spiral
Physique - 5
Agility - 4
Intellect - 4
This looks about right to me, basically a sneaky 'lil blighter with a few tricks up its sleeve. More of a trickster than a combat monster but can be quite lethal if she manages to sneak into the party's campsite at night or lures away a PC by themselves. Slippery bugger to land a hit on but is fairly fragile, though she can use Unearthly Laughter and/or Mirage to try and escape if cornered.
Though feel free to use and playtest.
~
Similarly I'm having to create some career options for the campaign I'm running, this included another magic path for the Sorcerer that is still very much work in progress and can be found here;
http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?120054-Homebrew-Sorcerer-Element-Shadow
However there are no stats at present for the Rusalka and so I've taken it upon myself to create some.
~
Rusalka
SPD 7 - STR 5 - MAT 5 - RAT 4 - DEF 15 - ARM 12
Willpower 9 - Initiative 15 - Detect 6 - Sneak 7
Rusalka Blade - POW 3, P+S 8
- Magical Weapon
- Poison (Extra die on damage rolls vs living models)
Abilities
Amphibious - This character treats water as open terrain and gains concealment while within water.
Camouflage - This character gains an additional +2 DEF when benefiting from concealment or cover.
Feat Points - This character starts each encounter with 1 feat point. It is allocated 1 feat point at the start of each of its turns. It can only have up to 1 feat point at a time.
Prowl - This character is virtually invisible while in the shadows or in terrain that grants a degree of concealment. He gains Stealth while within terrain that provides concealment, the AOE of a spell that provides concealment, or the AOE of a cloud effect.
Unearthly Laughter - This character can spend 1 feat point during his turn to use this ability. When this ability is used all enemy models within 5" of this character must pass a Willpower check or be made Stationary for one round.
Arcane 3
Will Weaver
Base Size -Small
Encounter Points - 5
Spells
Fog of War
Inhospitable Ground
Mirage
Life Spiral
Physique - 5
Agility - 4
Intellect - 4
This looks about right to me, basically a sneaky 'lil blighter with a few tricks up its sleeve. More of a trickster than a combat monster but can be quite lethal if she manages to sneak into the party's campsite at night or lures away a PC by themselves. Slippery bugger to land a hit on but is fairly fragile, though she can use Unearthly Laughter and/or Mirage to try and escape if cornered.
Though feel free to use and playtest.
~
Similarly I'm having to create some career options for the campaign I'm running, this included another magic path for the Sorcerer that is still very much work in progress and can be found here;
http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?120054-Homebrew-Sorcerer-Element-Shadow
Monday, 27 August 2012
Workbench 27/8/2012
Well I've I've some progress on the modelling front.
Picked up Croe's Cutthroats, though their metal models and so I'll be taking my time putting them together. Though I did have a conversion idea of maybe trying to do an all-female Croe's Cutthroats using the Khadoran Kayazy Eliminators.
~ ~ ~
Slight change in the schedule this week due to the Bank Holiday, Mis-Adventures in the IK will be tomorrow and Newes from the Front will be on Wednesday.
Still accepting emails for the Mailbox, so please send them to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Picked up Croe's Cutthroats, though their metal models and so I'll be taking my time putting them together. Though I did have a conversion idea of maybe trying to do an all-female Croe's Cutthroats using the Khadoran Kayazy Eliminators.
Thoughts?
Also on the workbench has been the old Iron Kingdoms RPG model of Alexia Conner, basically a repair and convert job. The sword had snapped off a while back and I finally gotten back round to gluing it back on, though decided that I could use the model for an NPC in my current IK game and trimmed down the sword. It actually works quite well and most suitable for use as Lady Ellsworth.
Slight change in the schedule this week due to the Bank Holiday, Mis-Adventures in the IK will be tomorrow and Newes from the Front will be on Wednesday.
Still accepting emails for the Mailbox, so please send them to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Friday, 24 August 2012
Immeron Newes 24/8/2012
Only one Privateer Insider this week, this time round from the Seacat.
He talks about some of the work that went into the new Iron Kingdoms RPG, chiefly the fluff and the setting's background. Of note was a PDF preview from the new RPG book covering the icons of the various Ascendants of Morrow.
Link; http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-23-2012
~ ~ ~
MAILBOX
Again, feel free to email in questions, thoughts, suggestions to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
He talks about some of the work that went into the new Iron Kingdoms RPG, chiefly the fluff and the setting's background. Of note was a PDF preview from the new RPG book covering the icons of the various Ascendants of Morrow.
Link; http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-23-2012
~ ~ ~
MAILBOX
Again, feel free to email in questions, thoughts, suggestions to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Armchair Briefing 23/8/2013
Up this week is the Mangler heavy warjack.
Backstory
Another one of the warjacks designed and built by Asbeth Magnus, the Mangler quickly became a favoured heavy warjack chassis amongst various mercenary companies. It was built from a collection of stolen labourjacks and outdated warjacks, its massive spiked ball it attached to a chain often nabbed from ship anchors or drawbridges.
Abilities
See weapons.
Weapons
*Punching Spike; Melee with a respectful P+S of 15, plus Open Fist to allow one-handed throws.
*Wrecker; Reach, ignores Shields and a special attack that allows a single attack against every single enemy model in LOS and melee range makes for a weapon thats a world of hurt for infantry.
Tactics
Typically I use the Mangler to clear out pesky infantry units, though I make it a habit to put Temper Metal on this 'jack to boost its ARM up to 21 so that it can survive hits against it with very single damage. Its a melee 'jack so get it stuck into combat soon as possible and try to position to hit one or two infantry units at the same time, Reach helps alot here, and then use Tresher on the chain ball. Alternative might be to put Iron Aggression on him instead to allow him to boost attack rolls for free and to give that extra chance to hit models with above average DEF.
Backstory
Another one of the warjacks designed and built by Asbeth Magnus, the Mangler quickly became a favoured heavy warjack chassis amongst various mercenary companies. It was built from a collection of stolen labourjacks and outdated warjacks, its massive spiked ball it attached to a chain often nabbed from ship anchors or drawbridges.
Abilities
See weapons.
Weapons
*Punching Spike; Melee with a respectful P+S of 15, plus Open Fist to allow one-handed throws.
*Wrecker; Reach, ignores Shields and a special attack that allows a single attack against every single enemy model in LOS and melee range makes for a weapon thats a world of hurt for infantry.
Tactics
Typically I use the Mangler to clear out pesky infantry units, though I make it a habit to put Temper Metal on this 'jack to boost its ARM up to 21 so that it can survive hits against it with very single damage. Its a melee 'jack so get it stuck into combat soon as possible and try to position to hit one or two infantry units at the same time, Reach helps alot here, and then use Tresher on the chain ball. Alternative might be to put Iron Aggression on him instead to allow him to boost attack rolls for free and to give that extra chance to hit models with above average DEF.
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 21/8/2012
Well finally had the group together for the first time in about a month.
It proved to be a Role Play heavy night, some shenanigans between a couple of the characters and some investigation.
Having previously found some Thamarite literature back in the library of Lady Ellsworth's townhouse in Caspia the party decided to check out the library of her estate in Corvis. This library proved to be more used and kept in a cleaner state, but searching the bookcases didn't turn up anything suspicious. Further searching revealed a trapdoor that led down to a small camber and a short passageway leading off it, the passageway in turn ended at a T-junction with doors on either side. The door on the left had one set of footprints going in and out of it whilst the room itself was a wizard's workshop/study, an old journal revealed it was used by Lady Ellsworth's father and that he hid spellcasters accused as 'witches' from Vinter's Inquisition and smuggled them to safety using his shipping company. There was a copy of the Morrowan bible that also contained Thamar's writing, of note was that somebody had read the sections on the Twins' ascendant. Checking the door on the right revealed little more than old barracks style room used to hide the aforementioned spellcasters but now used for storage by the servants.
Not finding much else the party went in search of a drunkard who claimed to have found the wreck of the River Mistress (a riverboat that had disappeared on route to Caspia carrying one of the Black Pearls) and discovered that the wreck was inland after the creek it had floated down filled in and that it was haunted. A quick visit to the Strangelight Workshop and the party gained ownership of a couple of special goggles that allowed them to see spirits. After hiring a boat they set off deep into the swamp south of Corvis, coming across a skeleton of a man who'd been shot and died after crawling away from the wreck they sought. Quick glance through the goggles showed that his spirit was a pulsating dark blue colour streaked with black, basically Chaotic Evil and marked by Infernals. Approaching the wreck they found more skeletons and other spirits that had also been marked by Infernals, plus signs that the crew had turned on the passengers and then each other.
The Black Pearl they sought they quickly found along with some dead crewmen who'd pried open a crate of gold bullion before they were killed. Checking the captain's cabin they found an old journal that a man had been pulled from the river floating on a wooden crate. There was unrest amongst the crew and rumours of gold soon after, expecting a mutiny the captain kept weapons on him at all times and planned to hand the crate over to the authorities at Fort Falk. His last entry detailed that a mutiny had took place, but it appeared he was killed shortly after writing the last entry. The party took some of the gold which turned out to be fake; the man pulled from the river had been an Infernalist who'd marked everyone onboard the boat and got shot as he was making good his escape.
Thus thats where the game ended.
It proved to be a Role Play heavy night, some shenanigans between a couple of the characters and some investigation.
Having previously found some Thamarite literature back in the library of Lady Ellsworth's townhouse in Caspia the party decided to check out the library of her estate in Corvis. This library proved to be more used and kept in a cleaner state, but searching the bookcases didn't turn up anything suspicious. Further searching revealed a trapdoor that led down to a small camber and a short passageway leading off it, the passageway in turn ended at a T-junction with doors on either side. The door on the left had one set of footprints going in and out of it whilst the room itself was a wizard's workshop/study, an old journal revealed it was used by Lady Ellsworth's father and that he hid spellcasters accused as 'witches' from Vinter's Inquisition and smuggled them to safety using his shipping company. There was a copy of the Morrowan bible that also contained Thamar's writing, of note was that somebody had read the sections on the Twins' ascendant. Checking the door on the right revealed little more than old barracks style room used to hide the aforementioned spellcasters but now used for storage by the servants.
Not finding much else the party went in search of a drunkard who claimed to have found the wreck of the River Mistress (a riverboat that had disappeared on route to Caspia carrying one of the Black Pearls) and discovered that the wreck was inland after the creek it had floated down filled in and that it was haunted. A quick visit to the Strangelight Workshop and the party gained ownership of a couple of special goggles that allowed them to see spirits. After hiring a boat they set off deep into the swamp south of Corvis, coming across a skeleton of a man who'd been shot and died after crawling away from the wreck they sought. Quick glance through the goggles showed that his spirit was a pulsating dark blue colour streaked with black, basically Chaotic Evil and marked by Infernals. Approaching the wreck they found more skeletons and other spirits that had also been marked by Infernals, plus signs that the crew had turned on the passengers and then each other.
The Black Pearl they sought they quickly found along with some dead crewmen who'd pried open a crate of gold bullion before they were killed. Checking the captain's cabin they found an old journal that a man had been pulled from the river floating on a wooden crate. There was unrest amongst the crew and rumours of gold soon after, expecting a mutiny the captain kept weapons on him at all times and planned to hand the crate over to the authorities at Fort Falk. His last entry detailed that a mutiny had took place, but it appeared he was killed shortly after writing the last entry. The party took some of the gold which turned out to be fake; the man pulled from the river had been an Infernalist who'd marked everyone onboard the boat and got shot as he was making good his escape.
Thus thats where the game ended.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Newes From The Front 20/8/2012
Got a game in Monday night against a Khador player who ran a Butcher Tier list.
pButcher
-Juggernaunt
-Kodiak
-Maruader
-Wardog
Man-O-War Demo Corps x3
Man-O-War Demo Corps x3
Manhunter x2
Widowmaker Kaptain
I'd used my Magnus Tier list with the Mule instead of the Mangler so I had the ranged advantage and we rolled up a scenario; Throw Down
Nice and simple, take and keep control of two 10" diameter circles along the centerline of the board.
During the early turns my advantage paid off and I managed to inflict a few casualties amongst theSoviet Red Army...Khadorans including one of the Man-O-War units to allow me to at least contest one of the control points with the Halberdiers and the Wardog. The Riflemen didn't do as well as their melee counterparts and only claimed a single Man-O-War from the second unit, though they only lost a couple themselves and managed to pull back to reform as a gunline. Saxon was felled with a single bullet from the Widowmaker, though didn't inflict only damage himself and only helped out the Halberdiers by giving them Pathfinder for a couple of turns.
In the center the Mule fired off a few potshots at the Butcher and took him down to about half health, but the combined actions of the Kodiak and the Angriest Man On Caen eventually turned the Mule into a smoking wreck. The Nomad proceed to smash ten bells out of the Maruader, lost its sword arm in return and was eventually finished off my a Manhunter. Renegade No.1 was also lost to a Manhunter but took one of them with it, its twin tangoed with the Maruader to keep it occupied until I withdrew it when Magnus' feat was popped.
Last turn of the game I still had Magnus on full health, one of the Renegades and the surviving Riflemen forming into a protective block. The surviving Halberdiers still stubbornly hung on and contested one of the control points....well at least until the Butcher introduced Lola to them.
Thus Khador won on scenario.
Thoughts
In retrospect I'm thinking maybe I should've focused my entire force on taking control of one of the control points and using my ranged units to whittle down the Khadorans, probably focusing on one target at a time and using Arcantik Bolt. Had I used the Mangler instead of the Mule I suspect I would have been in for a tougher fight, the Mule's AOE was certainly useful throughout the game until the 'jack got destroyed. I also should have boosted blast damage rather than the initial hit on certain targets, least I would've taken out certain models that proved to be a bane for me later on.
All-in-all, an enjoyable game.
pButcher
-Juggernaunt
-Kodiak
-Maruader
-Wardog
Man-O-War Demo Corps x3
Man-O-War Demo Corps x3
Manhunter x2
Widowmaker Kaptain
I'd used my Magnus Tier list with the Mule instead of the Mangler so I had the ranged advantage and we rolled up a scenario; Throw Down
Nice and simple, take and keep control of two 10" diameter circles along the centerline of the board.
During the early turns my advantage paid off and I managed to inflict a few casualties amongst the
In the center the Mule fired off a few potshots at the Butcher and took him down to about half health, but the combined actions of the Kodiak and the Angriest Man On Caen eventually turned the Mule into a smoking wreck. The Nomad proceed to smash ten bells out of the Maruader, lost its sword arm in return and was eventually finished off my a Manhunter. Renegade No.1 was also lost to a Manhunter but took one of them with it, its twin tangoed with the Maruader to keep it occupied until I withdrew it when Magnus' feat was popped.
Last turn of the game I still had Magnus on full health, one of the Renegades and the surviving Riflemen forming into a protective block. The surviving Halberdiers still stubbornly hung on and contested one of the control points....well at least until the Butcher introduced Lola to them.
Thus Khador won on scenario.
Thoughts
In retrospect I'm thinking maybe I should've focused my entire force on taking control of one of the control points and using my ranged units to whittle down the Khadorans, probably focusing on one target at a time and using Arcantik Bolt. Had I used the Mangler instead of the Mule I suspect I would have been in for a tougher fight, the Mule's AOE was certainly useful throughout the game until the 'jack got destroyed. I also should have boosted blast damage rather than the initial hit on certain targets, least I would've taken out certain models that proved to be a bane for me later on.
All-in-all, an enjoyable game.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Workbench & IK Newes 20/8/2012
Workbench
Sadly this past week I hadn't had much of a chance to do some work on my miniatures, though I'm aiming to get them undercoated at least this week. Bonus if I can get some decent pics of my current collection.
IKRPG Now Due 19th September!
Big news from PP over the weekend was the announcement the the new IKRPG would be out a month earlier than originally planned, so mark your calenders for 19th September and get the pre-orders in.
Sadly this past week I hadn't had much of a chance to do some work on my miniatures, though I'm aiming to get them undercoated at least this week. Bonus if I can get some decent pics of my current collection.
IKRPG Now Due 19th September!
Big news from PP over the weekend was the announcement the the new IKRPG would be out a month earlier than originally planned, so mark your calenders for 19th September and get the pre-orders in.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Town Crier - August
This is little bit of a Public Service Announcement that I plan on doing once a month (probably on the first Saturday of each month) where I'll post news about the blog and where people can post feedback.
I'll kick off this first one with a couple of things I have planned for the blog;
*Add extra pages to compile links for a collection of certain articles together like the Workbench or RPG stuff for easier browsing. Think something like a quick links section.
*Continue with the Mailbox segment, perhaps adding an email form for people to post me questions.
*Review having ads on the blog, my original intention was to use the revenue from them to help fund a custom domain. If people want 'em or not then vote yay or nay in the comments, I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the matter.
*Expand the viewer count, working towards this already.
*See which articles prove popular and which don't, maybe do extra articles (open for suggestion here).
Thats all folks.
I'll kick off this first one with a couple of things I have planned for the blog;
*Add extra pages to compile links for a collection of certain articles together like the Workbench or RPG stuff for easier browsing. Think something like a quick links section.
*Continue with the Mailbox segment, perhaps adding an email form for people to post me questions.
*Review having ads on the blog, my original intention was to use the revenue from them to help fund a custom domain. If people want 'em or not then vote yay or nay in the comments, I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the matter.
*Expand the viewer count, working towards this already.
*See which articles prove popular and which don't, maybe do extra articles (open for suggestion here).
Thats all folks.
Friday, 17 August 2012
Immeron Newes 17/8/2012
Well the big news this week from PP is that they are of course at Gencon Indy this weekend.
This year they're in attendance with the pre-releases of the new IKRPG and a few con exclusive models including the Ashlynn resculpt, Druid Gone Wilder and Bombardier Bombshell of which the latter two are currently available through PP's webstore. I'm actually half-tempted to grab the Druid myself despite not being a Hordes player, its a pretty decent models and fairly inexpensive as models go. Though I'll most certainly be picking up the Ashlynn resculpt when it goes on sale through the webstore after Gencon.
Word on the boards concerning the IKRPG is that it sold out pretty quickly, many people have said it was gone within the first hour or so of Gencon opening. I had hazard a guess that it would be insanely popular in the run-up to Gencon but I didn't think it would be THAT popular.
This week's Insider was a short bit on LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] and the tools the team developed to allow people to play characters based upon themselves.
MAILBOX
Please send questions, etc to stormwell55-at-hotmail-com
~ ~ ~
Thats almost all for this week folks, check back tomorrow for an extra post.
This year they're in attendance with the pre-releases of the new IKRPG and a few con exclusive models including the Ashlynn resculpt, Druid Gone Wilder and Bombardier Bombshell of which the latter two are currently available through PP's webstore. I'm actually half-tempted to grab the Druid myself despite not being a Hordes player, its a pretty decent models and fairly inexpensive as models go. Though I'll most certainly be picking up the Ashlynn resculpt when it goes on sale through the webstore after Gencon.
Word on the boards concerning the IKRPG is that it sold out pretty quickly, many people have said it was gone within the first hour or so of Gencon opening. I had hazard a guess that it would be insanely popular in the run-up to Gencon but I didn't think it would be THAT popular.
This week's Insider was a short bit on LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] and the tools the team developed to allow people to play characters based upon themselves.
MAILBOX
Please send questions, etc to stormwell55-at-hotmail-com
~ ~ ~
Thats almost all for this week folks, check back tomorrow for an extra post.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Armchair Briefing 16/8/2012
This week we're covering Magnus' signature warjack the Renegade.
Backstory
The Renegade is the result of Magnus' Meckanikal skills, being designed and assembled whilst the warcaster was on the run during the first few years of his exile. The main body is based on decommissioned Cygnaran 'jacks whilst various parts were salvaged from junkyards across Western Immeron. After seizing an estate in Ternon Crag Magnus gained access to a workshop and was enable to make improvements upon the basic design, presently his Renegades all utilize parts claimed from wrecks abandoned after the countless battles from which he emerged the victor.
Abilities
*Arc Node; Only Merc 'jack that has access to one.
*Custom Warjack [Magnus]; Only Magnus (in either form) is allowed to use this 'jack.
Weapons
*Obliterator; One-shot weapon with Arcing Fire and Knockdown makes this 'jack good in the indirect fire support role until it fires this weapon.
*Shredder; Critical Shred is nice for the extra damage but getting a double 6 is rare, Sustained Attack is extremely nice long as you loaded up the 'jack with Focus and hit first time.
Tactics
The Renegade is one of the 'jacks that tries to do everything but masters nothing, its most powerful weapon the Obliterator can only be used once per game and more often than not (in my experience) needs boosting on the attack roll to even remotely hit a target. The Arc Node is of use most games and I have found myself using it a few times to hit targets just outside of Magnus' normal spell range, but it is a bit slow for a light 'jack. I've only really used the Shredder on rare occasions, you really need to dump all the focus you can onto this little bugger to get the most out of it.
Common census says you typically run a single Renegade with Magnus, though his Tier list requires two (but makes them cheaper) and so thats what I've usually put on the board. Taking a couple certainly gives you a bit more flexibility and some more options, not to mention being able to use the Obliterator twice and a couple of Arc Nodes.
All in all a solid light 'jack that provides Magnus with a range of tools to help get the job done.
Backstory
The Renegade is the result of Magnus' Meckanikal skills, being designed and assembled whilst the warcaster was on the run during the first few years of his exile. The main body is based on decommissioned Cygnaran 'jacks whilst various parts were salvaged from junkyards across Western Immeron. After seizing an estate in Ternon Crag Magnus gained access to a workshop and was enable to make improvements upon the basic design, presently his Renegades all utilize parts claimed from wrecks abandoned after the countless battles from which he emerged the victor.
Abilities
*Arc Node; Only Merc 'jack that has access to one.
*Custom Warjack [Magnus]; Only Magnus (in either form) is allowed to use this 'jack.
Weapons
*Obliterator; One-shot weapon with Arcing Fire and Knockdown makes this 'jack good in the indirect fire support role until it fires this weapon.
*Shredder; Critical Shred is nice for the extra damage but getting a double 6 is rare, Sustained Attack is extremely nice long as you loaded up the 'jack with Focus and hit first time.
Tactics
The Renegade is one of the 'jacks that tries to do everything but masters nothing, its most powerful weapon the Obliterator can only be used once per game and more often than not (in my experience) needs boosting on the attack roll to even remotely hit a target. The Arc Node is of use most games and I have found myself using it a few times to hit targets just outside of Magnus' normal spell range, but it is a bit slow for a light 'jack. I've only really used the Shredder on rare occasions, you really need to dump all the focus you can onto this little bugger to get the most out of it.
Common census says you typically run a single Renegade with Magnus, though his Tier list requires two (but makes them cheaper) and so thats what I've usually put on the board. Taking a couple certainly gives you a bit more flexibility and some more options, not to mention being able to use the Obliterator twice and a couple of Arc Nodes.
All in all a solid light 'jack that provides Magnus with a range of tools to help get the job done.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 15/8/2012
Well I promised last week that I'd post up my plans for my current IK campaign and details on the characters, I plan to deliver on that promise but the characters will be posted up later today. So now its just the campaign that I'll be focusing on in this entry.
Campaign As It Stands
At present there are two plot lines that are taking place;
*The Black Pearls which the party are sort of tracking down for the Circle Orboros, though the party hasn't really delved too much into the history of the Pearls.
*Lady Ellsworth, the party's patron, isn't quite who she claims to be. The use of 'black magic' and ownership of Thamarite books certainly raised some questions, it is believed that she may even be aiming for godhood. As a sideplot to this there is a missing brother who was last spotted in Llael at the time of the Khadoran invasion.
So, Where To From Here?
Its sunk into the players that the Black Pearls are very bad news and must be dealt with, though thankfully there are only two such Pearls left to find. The first is located in a riverboat boat that has been missing for a number of years, though the wreck is located in the swamps near Corvis but the party have to contend with Gatormen tribes and the restless spirits of the doomed boat's passengers and crew. Course to find the damn boat they first have to track down the drunkard swampie that 'claimed' to have found the wreck, something that won't be an easy task. As for the boat itself and what happened to it I'm thinking of 'borrowing' (read: steal) the plot from the film Ghost Ship and have it that an Infernalist managed to get everyone on board to kill each other over some fake gold whilst the boat ended up drifting down a creek.
The second Pearl is a tad easier, it was brought by a Llaelese nobleman and so they have to track him down and discover his fate. Thinking of making the nobleman one of Archduke Glabryn's cronies, perhaps even the new Llaelese Minister of Internal Security so at the party could gain the help of the Llaelese Resistance. Course whilst in Llael the party could also try and track down Lady Ellsworth's missing brother if they wished to do so, but the Llaelese trip will largely be dictated by the party's own actions and decisions.....though I'll have Winterguard stated up just in case.
Now regarding Lady Ellsworth I had planned from the very start that she isn't quite who she claims to be, though the thing is she IS Lady Ellsworth though technically only in body. Confused? Good. I deliberately put in false clues and red herrings to throw off the party, which thus far have worked quite well. At present the party is under the impression that somebody killed the 'real' Lady Ellsworth and replaced her, theres a few little clues that support this theory but nothing really solid. What is really up with Lady Ellsworth is probably closer to a procession, basically a character of mine from a previous D&D game ended up on Caen and in the body of the then younger Lady Ellsworth. Over time the....entity (we'll go with that for now) gradually became powerful enough to fully take control and has been working on ways to free themselves, hence the books on Thamar's ascension.
Eventually the party will find out the truth about Lady Ellsworth and must decide whether to help the entity with its plans or not, though the Pearls will come into play again since they are powerful artefacts that the entity can make use of.
If It All Goes Pear Shaped?
It probably will.
Llael is where I see the party royally screwing things up, given the party itself I'd be surprised if nothing goes wrong. When the time comes and things do go badly wrong a roll of the dice will decide whether they end up in a Khadoran prison or get whisked to safety by the Llaelese Resistance, but really we'll have to see what happens.
~ ~ ~
Later today I should have details of the party itself up.
Oh and send questions, etc in for Friday's Mailbox to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Campaign As It Stands
At present there are two plot lines that are taking place;
*The Black Pearls which the party are sort of tracking down for the Circle Orboros, though the party hasn't really delved too much into the history of the Pearls.
*Lady Ellsworth, the party's patron, isn't quite who she claims to be. The use of 'black magic' and ownership of Thamarite books certainly raised some questions, it is believed that she may even be aiming for godhood. As a sideplot to this there is a missing brother who was last spotted in Llael at the time of the Khadoran invasion.
So, Where To From Here?
Its sunk into the players that the Black Pearls are very bad news and must be dealt with, though thankfully there are only two such Pearls left to find. The first is located in a riverboat boat that has been missing for a number of years, though the wreck is located in the swamps near Corvis but the party have to contend with Gatormen tribes and the restless spirits of the doomed boat's passengers and crew. Course to find the damn boat they first have to track down the drunkard swampie that 'claimed' to have found the wreck, something that won't be an easy task. As for the boat itself and what happened to it I'm thinking of 'borrowing' (read: steal) the plot from the film Ghost Ship and have it that an Infernalist managed to get everyone on board to kill each other over some fake gold whilst the boat ended up drifting down a creek.
The second Pearl is a tad easier, it was brought by a Llaelese nobleman and so they have to track him down and discover his fate. Thinking of making the nobleman one of Archduke Glabryn's cronies, perhaps even the new Llaelese Minister of Internal Security so at the party could gain the help of the Llaelese Resistance. Course whilst in Llael the party could also try and track down Lady Ellsworth's missing brother if they wished to do so, but the Llaelese trip will largely be dictated by the party's own actions and decisions.....though I'll have Winterguard stated up just in case.
Now regarding Lady Ellsworth I had planned from the very start that she isn't quite who she claims to be, though the thing is she IS Lady Ellsworth though technically only in body. Confused? Good. I deliberately put in false clues and red herrings to throw off the party, which thus far have worked quite well. At present the party is under the impression that somebody killed the 'real' Lady Ellsworth and replaced her, theres a few little clues that support this theory but nothing really solid. What is really up with Lady Ellsworth is probably closer to a procession, basically a character of mine from a previous D&D game ended up on Caen and in the body of the then younger Lady Ellsworth. Over time the....entity (we'll go with that for now) gradually became powerful enough to fully take control and has been working on ways to free themselves, hence the books on Thamar's ascension.
Eventually the party will find out the truth about Lady Ellsworth and must decide whether to help the entity with its plans or not, though the Pearls will come into play again since they are powerful artefacts that the entity can make use of.
If It All Goes Pear Shaped?
It probably will.
Llael is where I see the party royally screwing things up, given the party itself I'd be surprised if nothing goes wrong. When the time comes and things do go badly wrong a roll of the dice will decide whether they end up in a Khadoran prison or get whisked to safety by the Llaelese Resistance, but really we'll have to see what happens.
~ ~ ~
Later today I should have details of the party itself up.
Oh and send questions, etc in for Friday's Mailbox to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Newes Fromt The Front 14/8/2012
Well haven't been able to get any games in this past week and so no battle report to post.
Instead the focus this time is on lists I wish to play, ultimately moving up my current list to 50 points from the 35 points it currently sits at.
pMagnus
- Mangler/Mule
- Nomad
- Renegade
- Renegade
Steelhead Halberdiers x10
Steelhead Riflemen x10
Croe’s Cutthroats
Stannis Brocker
Saxon Orrik
Orin Midwinter
Kell Bailoch
As with my current list the Mule is optional depending on what armies I'm facing, though the big fella will most likely be in when I'm facing melee heavy armies. The Mangler will be in when I'm facing Cygnar, effectively using Magnus' Hit and Run feat to get 20 inches across the board though some careful use of timing will be needed.
Kell Bailoch will probably be paired off with the Riflemen to lend them a hand, whilst the Halberdiers will get the support of Saxon Orrik and Stannis Brocker. Midwinter I've never used but common wisdom suggests he's best sticking close to Magnus.
The Cutthroats will be flank runners, probably operating opposite the Riflemen and helping to clear out infantry thanks to the overkill of Poison they have on every damn weapon!
It'll be a few months before I get the models together for this list but it looks to be a fun one to play.
Instead the focus this time is on lists I wish to play, ultimately moving up my current list to 50 points from the 35 points it currently sits at.
pMagnus
- Mangler/Mule
- Nomad
- Renegade
- Renegade
Steelhead Halberdiers x10
Steelhead Riflemen x10
Croe’s Cutthroats
Stannis Brocker
Saxon Orrik
Orin Midwinter
Kell Bailoch
As with my current list the Mule is optional depending on what armies I'm facing, though the big fella will most likely be in when I'm facing melee heavy armies. The Mangler will be in when I'm facing Cygnar, effectively using Magnus' Hit and Run feat to get 20 inches across the board though some careful use of timing will be needed.
Kell Bailoch will probably be paired off with the Riflemen to lend them a hand, whilst the Halberdiers will get the support of Saxon Orrik and Stannis Brocker. Midwinter I've never used but common wisdom suggests he's best sticking close to Magnus.
The Cutthroats will be flank runners, probably operating opposite the Riflemen and helping to clear out infantry thanks to the overkill of Poison they have on every damn weapon!
It'll be a few months before I get the models together for this list but it looks to be a fun one to play.
Monday, 13 August 2012
Workbench 13/8/2012
Just a quick one this time round.
*Finally finished putting together the Steelhead units (Halberdiers and Riflemen) and so now have a fully assembled 35 points army.
*Next I'll be breaking out the paintbrush to undercoat the entire army in Chaos Black.
*Croe's Cutthroats are on order so I can start making the jump to 50 points.
*Finally finished putting together the Steelhead units (Halberdiers and Riflemen) and so now have a fully assembled 35 points army.
*Next I'll be breaking out the paintbrush to undercoat the entire army in Chaos Black.
*Croe's Cutthroats are on order so I can start making the jump to 50 points.
Friday, 10 August 2012
Immeron Newes 10/8/2012
The big news this past week from PP has been the release of War Room.
This app for smart phones and the iPad, from what I've noticed, has suffered a few problems ranging from a delayed launch and bugs post-release. That said I understand that the bugs are being sorted out, however I'm sure alot of people are annoyed that these problems weren't sorted out sooner given the delay of its release.
I don't own a smart phone or iPad so its unlikely that I'll be getting War Room any time soon, so I can't really give a review of it. Course there are plenty of threads on the PP forums on War Room.
Mailbox
Well didn't have any questions sent in, but I'll keeping doing this for the next few weeks.
I'm after questions regarding Warmachine/Hordes/Iron Kingdoms, mainly general questions on stuff like the setting or certain units.
If you think of anything then please email me at; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
This app for smart phones and the iPad, from what I've noticed, has suffered a few problems ranging from a delayed launch and bugs post-release. That said I understand that the bugs are being sorted out, however I'm sure alot of people are annoyed that these problems weren't sorted out sooner given the delay of its release.
I don't own a smart phone or iPad so its unlikely that I'll be getting War Room any time soon, so I can't really give a review of it. Course there are plenty of threads on the PP forums on War Room.
Mailbox
Well didn't have any questions sent in, but I'll keeping doing this for the next few weeks.
I'm after questions regarding Warmachine/Hordes/Iron Kingdoms, mainly general questions on stuff like the setting or certain units.
If you think of anything then please email me at; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Armchair Briefing 9/8/2012
Welcome to Thursday's little segment; Armchair Briefing.
This is where I'll be discussing tactics, different units and a bit of Theorymachine as I attempt to cover each unit in the game. Alot of this will be based upon personal experience and/or guesswork, so if there is stuff you disagree with or think I've missed then feel free to post in the comments.
First up; Magnus the Traitor
Backstory
Magnus was once a warcaster and commander in the Cygnaran Army serving King Vinter Raelthorne IV, he was known to have a knack for mechanika and for his ferocity in battle.Though the lives of his troops meant little to him, happily sacrificing them to achieve victory at any cost. He naturally found favour with King Vinter, a man that he would remain resolute in his loyalty to.
When King Leto came to power Magnus was offered a pardon and military commission. Viewing this mercy as a sign of weakness Magnus led remnants of troops still loyal to Vinter in a bloody guerilla war. Since going rogue he has worked tirelessly to see his former master King Vinter restored to the rightful ruler of Cygnar and will stop at nothing until that goal is achieved.
Abilities
A brief overview of Magnus' abilities;
*Backstab; Extra damage die on attacks against a model's back arc, though of limited use. Best way to get the most it is either clearly position an Arc Node to gain Backstab on a spell or charge a model in its back arc to get a 5d6 damage, but this is tricky to pull off.
*Feign Death; Immune to ranged and magic attacks whilst knocked down, whilst useful it's let down by the rarity that Magnus will be knocked down.
*Resourceful; Hands down this is Magnus' best ability, basically upkeep spells for free which makes Magnus super focus efficient.
Feat
Hit and Run is one of those feats that require careful thinking and timing for when you use it, it can be used offensively early on during the first turn to get your battlegroup across the board or later on defensively to pull your 'jacks back without suffering free strikes. Common rule of thumb is the latter option, though I suspect if used first turn you could possibly throw off an unwary opponent.
Weapons
Magnus has three weapons of note;
*Scattergun; Shotgun, plain and simple. POW 12 weapon with a spray template.
*Foecleaver; Magical Weapon and Powerful Attack that allows both attack and damage rolls to be boosted with just one focus point. Just gravy.
*Mechanikal Arm; Smack somebody in the face and knock them down, 'nuff said.
Spells
Like most warcasters Magnus has access to six spells, a mixture of utilities and offensive ones.
*Arcantrik Bolt; Bit of damage and causes a warjack to be stationary for one round, I've hardly ever used it and feel it isn't all that effective since Stationary can easily be removed. Its low focus cost is probably the only redeeming feature.
*Blur; Boost to DEF against ranged/magic attacks, combined with it being an upkeep and its low focus cost its a very useful spell that I always make a note of using.
*Iron Aggression; Very, VERY useful spell. I tend to get it up soon as I can since its another upkeep and makes a warjack focus efficient. Only draw back is that it costs 3 focus to cast, unless you've got focus to spare I recommend keeping it on a single warjack rather than cycle it.
*Obliteration; Straight up AOE spell with POW 15, nothing at all subtle about this spell and this is reflect in its focus cost.
*Temper Metal; Boost to ARM, on the right 'jack it can make it more tougher than a Khadoran heavy.
*Snipe; The only Merc 'caster to get this spell and makes running ranged units with Magnus that much nicer.
Tactics
Typically Magnus is ideal with his Tier List, all four Tiers can be done in a 25 point army and allows his upkeeps to be in play on his 'jacks from the get go. Iron Aggression is a good one to put on a heavy, perhaps Temper Metal on a second heavy if you're running two. Blur I'll put on an infantry unit to ensure that it can get across the board, or perhaps even on Magnus himself if you're playing him aggressively. Snipe should be cycling between your ranged units as and when needed, given how efficient Magnus is with his focus it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Magnus is the only warcaster with access to the Renegade light warjack, most people only run one but his Tier list requires two and so that is generally what I take. Taking two means you can have an arc node on either flank along with a one-shot AOE, this helps you stay flexible but I find that the AOE usually needs to be boosted on its attack roll to actually hit anything. But I'll be covering this 'jack in more detail later on.
With Magnus I've often found that you need to be keep him shielded at all times or otherwise it could cost you the game. When putting him into melee make sure to load him up with focus, use the Mechanikal Army to knock down a target first and then hack away with the sword. He can make short work of an enemy 'caster when in melee if the dice gods are with you.
Generally Magnus is a pretty good 'jack 'caster, though he still needs some good support options. Make sure to take some ranged units and have ways of boosting them.
~ ~ ~
Another reminder, Mailbox is tomorrow and I'm still accepting questions.
Send them in to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
This is where I'll be discussing tactics, different units and a bit of Theorymachine as I attempt to cover each unit in the game. Alot of this will be based upon personal experience and/or guesswork, so if there is stuff you disagree with or think I've missed then feel free to post in the comments.
First up; Magnus the Traitor
Backstory
Magnus was once a warcaster and commander in the Cygnaran Army serving King Vinter Raelthorne IV, he was known to have a knack for mechanika and for his ferocity in battle.Though the lives of his troops meant little to him, happily sacrificing them to achieve victory at any cost. He naturally found favour with King Vinter, a man that he would remain resolute in his loyalty to.
When King Leto came to power Magnus was offered a pardon and military commission. Viewing this mercy as a sign of weakness Magnus led remnants of troops still loyal to Vinter in a bloody guerilla war. Since going rogue he has worked tirelessly to see his former master King Vinter restored to the rightful ruler of Cygnar and will stop at nothing until that goal is achieved.
Abilities
A brief overview of Magnus' abilities;
*Backstab; Extra damage die on attacks against a model's back arc, though of limited use. Best way to get the most it is either clearly position an Arc Node to gain Backstab on a spell or charge a model in its back arc to get a 5d6 damage, but this is tricky to pull off.
*Feign Death; Immune to ranged and magic attacks whilst knocked down, whilst useful it's let down by the rarity that Magnus will be knocked down.
*Resourceful; Hands down this is Magnus' best ability, basically upkeep spells for free which makes Magnus super focus efficient.
Feat
Hit and Run is one of those feats that require careful thinking and timing for when you use it, it can be used offensively early on during the first turn to get your battlegroup across the board or later on defensively to pull your 'jacks back without suffering free strikes. Common rule of thumb is the latter option, though I suspect if used first turn you could possibly throw off an unwary opponent.
Weapons
Magnus has three weapons of note;
*Scattergun; Shotgun, plain and simple. POW 12 weapon with a spray template.
*Foecleaver; Magical Weapon and Powerful Attack that allows both attack and damage rolls to be boosted with just one focus point. Just gravy.
*Mechanikal Arm; Smack somebody in the face and knock them down, 'nuff said.
Spells
Like most warcasters Magnus has access to six spells, a mixture of utilities and offensive ones.
*Arcantrik Bolt; Bit of damage and causes a warjack to be stationary for one round, I've hardly ever used it and feel it isn't all that effective since Stationary can easily be removed. Its low focus cost is probably the only redeeming feature.
*Blur; Boost to DEF against ranged/magic attacks, combined with it being an upkeep and its low focus cost its a very useful spell that I always make a note of using.
*Iron Aggression; Very, VERY useful spell. I tend to get it up soon as I can since its another upkeep and makes a warjack focus efficient. Only draw back is that it costs 3 focus to cast, unless you've got focus to spare I recommend keeping it on a single warjack rather than cycle it.
*Obliteration; Straight up AOE spell with POW 15, nothing at all subtle about this spell and this is reflect in its focus cost.
*Temper Metal; Boost to ARM, on the right 'jack it can make it more tougher than a Khadoran heavy.
*Snipe; The only Merc 'caster to get this spell and makes running ranged units with Magnus that much nicer.
Tactics
Typically Magnus is ideal with his Tier List, all four Tiers can be done in a 25 point army and allows his upkeeps to be in play on his 'jacks from the get go. Iron Aggression is a good one to put on a heavy, perhaps Temper Metal on a second heavy if you're running two. Blur I'll put on an infantry unit to ensure that it can get across the board, or perhaps even on Magnus himself if you're playing him aggressively. Snipe should be cycling between your ranged units as and when needed, given how efficient Magnus is with his focus it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Magnus is the only warcaster with access to the Renegade light warjack, most people only run one but his Tier list requires two and so that is generally what I take. Taking two means you can have an arc node on either flank along with a one-shot AOE, this helps you stay flexible but I find that the AOE usually needs to be boosted on its attack roll to actually hit anything. But I'll be covering this 'jack in more detail later on.
With Magnus I've often found that you need to be keep him shielded at all times or otherwise it could cost you the game. When putting him into melee make sure to load him up with focus, use the Mechanikal Army to knock down a target first and then hack away with the sword. He can make short work of an enemy 'caster when in melee if the dice gods are with you.
Generally Magnus is a pretty good 'jack 'caster, though he still needs some good support options. Make sure to take some ranged units and have ways of boosting them.
~ ~ ~
Another reminder, Mailbox is tomorrow and I'm still accepting questions.
Send them in to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 8/8/2012
Well this is looking like the spot where my RP group's rampage through the Iron Kingdoms will probably get reported each week along with my plans as GM for the campaign and whether or not those plans failed miserably (damn meddling kids!).
With the group on a short break for the next couple of weeks I'll be posting up a two-parter; a recap of the campaign thus far and my plans for the campaign next week. If anything it'll show how the campaign has evolved and the number of times I've had to revise my plans.
Backstory
I had originally intended to adapt the D&D 3.5 Savage Tide campaign (printed in the now defunct Dungeon magazine) to the Iron Kingdoms, the first half - perhaps two-thirds - of the campaign would've been simple enough to do simply by changing the monsters to something more suitable for the IK where needed. The final chapter or so would've been more difficult to do and I was planning on having the party go to Cryx and fight an Iron Lich as suppose to going to the Abyssal Plane in the Savage Tide campaign.
As the campaign progressed it deviated from the Savage Tide one that I had originally decided to use;
*Lady Ellsworth became the name of the party's patron, the heiress of a shipping company after her parents were executed by King Vinter's agents during the Skorne occupation of Corvis during the events of the Witchfire Trilogy. She had a brother (who has only recently come to light) who was last seen in Llael round the time of the Khadoran Invasion and is missing presumed dead. The other big difference is that she only has a single NPC merc bodyguard on the payrole as suppose to a fully fledged group of NPCs in Savage Tide, this NPC has since been taken over by a player.
*The Black Pearls became Isoan artefacts which the Circle Orboros has been trying to track down and seemingly destroy (well thats what the Circle itself has said). The party has already encountered the effects of a single Pearl in a pirate lair and are now trying to track down the last two missing Pearls, namely one on a missing steamboat and the other somewhere in Llael.
*The Crimson Fleet just became some random group of pirates with a much lesser role in the campaign mainly limited to three encounters; an attack on the Ellsworth estate in Corvis, the pirate lair post-Pearl and another attack against a distant colony originally founded by Lady Ellsworth's late father. They had also been mentioned harassing vessels of the Ellsworth Shipping Co. but at present they've effectively bowed out of the campaign.
*Isle of Dread I intended to do as printed in the Savage Tide campaign but with some minor changes, something that I did do with the voyage down. However the party found a way to effectively bypass the island and forced me to revise my plans completely, a single battle against the pirates took place (using adapted Warmachine rules) along with a trip to a ruined Menite temple and a meeting with a Circle Wayfarer. It was also here thanks to the Wayfarer that they found out about what the Black Pearls actually were.
*A Rusalka ended up becoming a recurring villain who ended up plaguing the group, managed to get the group to work for her and then the group got even by finding a relic that controlled the Grymkin. She also had a bit of backstory developed for her where she was originally the lover of a Menite priest/warrior when she was still Human. After she changed the disgruntled Menite create the relic that controls her. Thus far she managed to survive the party's wrath by letting slip some juicy gossip about Lady Ellsworth, though the party forgot to order her to be truthful....
*And to come full circle Lady Ellsworth I had planned from the get-go to be an imposter, originally intended simply to be somebody posing as an estranged daughter who claimed the Ellsworth family fortune post-Witchfire. This ended up getting changed a bit to the real Lady Ellsworth being replaced whilst she was in Caspia as a student. Her use of 'black magic' (actually Shadow Magic from the D&D book Tome of Magic) was meant to raise questions, though the source of her magic has since been changed to her being a Malefactor of Thamar and reinforced by Tharmarite books being in her collection. But this forms a second plotline where the party find out who she really is, what her goals are, where her magic comes from and why the group's Paladin cannot sense any evil.
~ ~ ~
Next Week: My goals for the campaign and an overview of characters past and present.
N.B. I'm still excepting questions for a Mailbox segment this Friday.
With the group on a short break for the next couple of weeks I'll be posting up a two-parter; a recap of the campaign thus far and my plans for the campaign next week. If anything it'll show how the campaign has evolved and the number of times I've had to revise my plans.
Backstory
I had originally intended to adapt the D&D 3.5 Savage Tide campaign (printed in the now defunct Dungeon magazine) to the Iron Kingdoms, the first half - perhaps two-thirds - of the campaign would've been simple enough to do simply by changing the monsters to something more suitable for the IK where needed. The final chapter or so would've been more difficult to do and I was planning on having the party go to Cryx and fight an Iron Lich as suppose to going to the Abyssal Plane in the Savage Tide campaign.
As the campaign progressed it deviated from the Savage Tide one that I had originally decided to use;
*Lady Ellsworth became the name of the party's patron, the heiress of a shipping company after her parents were executed by King Vinter's agents during the Skorne occupation of Corvis during the events of the Witchfire Trilogy. She had a brother (who has only recently come to light) who was last seen in Llael round the time of the Khadoran Invasion and is missing presumed dead. The other big difference is that she only has a single NPC merc bodyguard on the payrole as suppose to a fully fledged group of NPCs in Savage Tide, this NPC has since been taken over by a player.
*The Black Pearls became Isoan artefacts which the Circle Orboros has been trying to track down and seemingly destroy (well thats what the Circle itself has said). The party has already encountered the effects of a single Pearl in a pirate lair and are now trying to track down the last two missing Pearls, namely one on a missing steamboat and the other somewhere in Llael.
*The Crimson Fleet just became some random group of pirates with a much lesser role in the campaign mainly limited to three encounters; an attack on the Ellsworth estate in Corvis, the pirate lair post-Pearl and another attack against a distant colony originally founded by Lady Ellsworth's late father. They had also been mentioned harassing vessels of the Ellsworth Shipping Co. but at present they've effectively bowed out of the campaign.
*Isle of Dread I intended to do as printed in the Savage Tide campaign but with some minor changes, something that I did do with the voyage down. However the party found a way to effectively bypass the island and forced me to revise my plans completely, a single battle against the pirates took place (using adapted Warmachine rules) along with a trip to a ruined Menite temple and a meeting with a Circle Wayfarer. It was also here thanks to the Wayfarer that they found out about what the Black Pearls actually were.
*A Rusalka ended up becoming a recurring villain who ended up plaguing the group, managed to get the group to work for her and then the group got even by finding a relic that controlled the Grymkin. She also had a bit of backstory developed for her where she was originally the lover of a Menite priest/warrior when she was still Human. After she changed the disgruntled Menite create the relic that controls her. Thus far she managed to survive the party's wrath by letting slip some juicy gossip about Lady Ellsworth, though the party forgot to order her to be truthful....
*And to come full circle Lady Ellsworth I had planned from the get-go to be an imposter, originally intended simply to be somebody posing as an estranged daughter who claimed the Ellsworth family fortune post-Witchfire. This ended up getting changed a bit to the real Lady Ellsworth being replaced whilst she was in Caspia as a student. Her use of 'black magic' (actually Shadow Magic from the D&D book Tome of Magic) was meant to raise questions, though the source of her magic has since been changed to her being a Malefactor of Thamar and reinforced by Tharmarite books being in her collection. But this forms a second plotline where the party find out who she really is, what her goals are, where her magic comes from and why the group's Paladin cannot sense any evil.
~ ~ ~
Next Week: My goals for the campaign and an overview of characters past and present.
N.B. I'm still excepting questions for a Mailbox segment this Friday.
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Newes From The Front 7/8/2012
Got to take the Mule for a spin down at the club last night with a slightly modified version of the 35pts pMagnus list I normally run.
Magnus The Traitor
-Mule
-Nomad
-Renegade
-Renegade
Steelhead Halbardiers x10
Steelhead Riflemen x10
Saxon Orrick
I knew my opponent would be playing Trolls and was half-expecting him to play a Grim Angus list, though I turned out to be surprised.
Epic Doomshaper
-Axer
-Earthborn
-Mauler
-Mulg
Runebearer
Believing that I understood how the Fury mechanic in Hordes worked my whole plan resolved around taking out my opponents warbeasts as quickly as possible. The Mule combined with the Riflemen, the two Renegades and Magnus' Obliteration spell were to give me some nice ranged combat options as the Trolls closed the distance. Saxon was to team up with the Halbardiers and use his anti-beast abilities to charge and take out targets in melee, but as it turned out he died embarrassingly early.
I hadn't counted on Doomie having a few tricks up his sleeve and the Trolls' Regeneration ability, something that ended up costing me the game as I struggled to kill his army. The Mauler got taken out eventually, but I lost just over half my army. The Riflemen spent most of the game sat useless on a flank, but thats due to my own indecision. I could've made more use of them, perhaps supporting the Halbardiers with a Combined Range Attack. Alas, theres probably a ton of stuff I could've done differently and after all each game is a learning experience as you find out what works and what doesn't against different units.
Despite my defeat it was still a fun game, just need to figure out an effective way of dealing with Trolls...
~ ~ ~
As a reminder I'm still accepting questions for a Mailbox segment on Friday.
Magnus The Traitor
-Mule
-Nomad
-Renegade
-Renegade
Steelhead Halbardiers x10
Steelhead Riflemen x10
Saxon Orrick
I knew my opponent would be playing Trolls and was half-expecting him to play a Grim Angus list, though I turned out to be surprised.
Epic Doomshaper
-Axer
-Earthborn
-Mauler
-Mulg
Runebearer
Believing that I understood how the Fury mechanic in Hordes worked my whole plan resolved around taking out my opponents warbeasts as quickly as possible. The Mule combined with the Riflemen, the two Renegades and Magnus' Obliteration spell were to give me some nice ranged combat options as the Trolls closed the distance. Saxon was to team up with the Halbardiers and use his anti-beast abilities to charge and take out targets in melee, but as it turned out he died embarrassingly early.
I hadn't counted on Doomie having a few tricks up his sleeve and the Trolls' Regeneration ability, something that ended up costing me the game as I struggled to kill his army. The Mauler got taken out eventually, but I lost just over half my army. The Riflemen spent most of the game sat useless on a flank, but thats due to my own indecision. I could've made more use of them, perhaps supporting the Halbardiers with a Combined Range Attack. Alas, theres probably a ton of stuff I could've done differently and after all each game is a learning experience as you find out what works and what doesn't against different units.
Despite my defeat it was still a fun game, just need to figure out an effective way of dealing with Trolls...
~ ~ ~
As a reminder I'm still accepting questions for a Mailbox segment on Friday.
Monday, 6 August 2012
IKRPG MK.2
As promised previously a summary of my thoughts on the new Iron Kingdoms RPG from what we've seen from the previews both on PP's website and in No Quarter.
System
It was probably a given that PP would use the 2d6 dice mechanic from Warmachine/Hordes, it would certainly allow a fair few of the players that have picked up the wargame(s) in recent years to pick up the new RPG. The simple 'roll dice add skill and compared against target' should make it a fairly easily game for people to play, though the jury's out on the decision to use tap measures for measuring distances, etc and I'll have to see how it goes during playtests with my RP group.
As a side note, Dungeons and Dragons originally started out using tape measures having adapted the rules from a wargame called Chainmail.
The new Mechanika creation system looks a hell of alot easier to use than in the D20 version and they've used the magic system from the wargames, again this should make it simpler to run than the previous edition.
Feat points sound a little like action points from other games, least it seems like it'll make combat more interesting than the typical 'hack-n-slash' of D&D.
Characters
The lack of levels instantly scored points with me, I've never really been a fan of them preferring a more sandbox approach to character development. Careers that are similar in some respects to the Warhammer Fantasy Role Play is a nice touch to retain classes in a way but helps with the immersion into the setting. Though I was a bit disappointed with the lack of clear counterparts to classes from the D20 Iron Kingdoms such as the Bodger and the Malefactor of Thamar, plus the lack of a 'cultist' career. There'll be other books with additional careers in them so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Archetypes are certainly interesting, helping to create more diverse characters. However a sticking point is the requirement to take Gifted in order to play a spellcaster, whilst it does seem like a logical choice it may end up restricting certain characters. Again we'll have to see how it pans out during actual play.
Having only seen Humans and Trollkin race wise I don't have much to say here, the Trollkin does seem to fit in with their fluff and characteristics back in the D20 version. I do have to nitpick the Human one though, compared to the previous version they seem more generic and bland. I had hoped they kept the different Human sub-types that made them more interesting, or at least had something to make a Khard standout from a Morridane. But its entirely possible that they might still have that given there is still quite a bit we haven't seen yet.
Conclusions
I like most of what we've seen thus far even if theres a couple of things that nag me, that said there is still alot of things we haven't seen yet like skills, etc. Having done a big battle using a mockup of the new rules I can say combat will be hell of alot more fun, especially since I'm pretty much burnt out on D20 at present.
But throwing caution to the wind ultimately we'll find out how good the new IKRPG is when we finally sit down to play it.
~ ~ ~
Planning on having a 'mailbox' segment on Fridays where I'll answer Warmachine/IK related questions. Feel free to message me here, on the PP boards or email; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
System
It was probably a given that PP would use the 2d6 dice mechanic from Warmachine/Hordes, it would certainly allow a fair few of the players that have picked up the wargame(s) in recent years to pick up the new RPG. The simple 'roll dice add skill and compared against target' should make it a fairly easily game for people to play, though the jury's out on the decision to use tap measures for measuring distances, etc and I'll have to see how it goes during playtests with my RP group.
As a side note, Dungeons and Dragons originally started out using tape measures having adapted the rules from a wargame called Chainmail.
The new Mechanika creation system looks a hell of alot easier to use than in the D20 version and they've used the magic system from the wargames, again this should make it simpler to run than the previous edition.
Feat points sound a little like action points from other games, least it seems like it'll make combat more interesting than the typical 'hack-n-slash' of D&D.
Characters
The lack of levels instantly scored points with me, I've never really been a fan of them preferring a more sandbox approach to character development. Careers that are similar in some respects to the Warhammer Fantasy Role Play is a nice touch to retain classes in a way but helps with the immersion into the setting. Though I was a bit disappointed with the lack of clear counterparts to classes from the D20 Iron Kingdoms such as the Bodger and the Malefactor of Thamar, plus the lack of a 'cultist' career. There'll be other books with additional careers in them so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Archetypes are certainly interesting, helping to create more diverse characters. However a sticking point is the requirement to take Gifted in order to play a spellcaster, whilst it does seem like a logical choice it may end up restricting certain characters. Again we'll have to see how it pans out during actual play.
Having only seen Humans and Trollkin race wise I don't have much to say here, the Trollkin does seem to fit in with their fluff and characteristics back in the D20 version. I do have to nitpick the Human one though, compared to the previous version they seem more generic and bland. I had hoped they kept the different Human sub-types that made them more interesting, or at least had something to make a Khard standout from a Morridane. But its entirely possible that they might still have that given there is still quite a bit we haven't seen yet.
Conclusions
I like most of what we've seen thus far even if theres a couple of things that nag me, that said there is still alot of things we haven't seen yet like skills, etc. Having done a big battle using a mockup of the new rules I can say combat will be hell of alot more fun, especially since I'm pretty much burnt out on D20 at present.
But throwing caution to the wind ultimately we'll find out how good the new IKRPG is when we finally sit down to play it.
~ ~ ~
Planning on having a 'mailbox' segment on Fridays where I'll answer Warmachine/IK related questions. Feel free to message me here, on the PP boards or email; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
Saturday, 4 August 2012
Workbench: Mule Heavy Warjack
Been playing a Magnus the Traitor Tier list and I've repeatedly found my biggest weakness to be the lack of ranged options. Aside from a squad of Steelhead Riflemen and a couple of Arc Nodes I find myself lacking in options to engage at range.
To that end I brought myself a Mule Heavy Warjack.
Being the same points as Mangler it was a straight forward swap, no changes were needed to the list I'm currently running. The plan with this fella is to put Snipe on him and take out units that aren't immune to blast damage, hopefully it'll negate the biggest weakness that my army has.
Picked up the plastic kit, though I preferred getting the old metal version simply because I feel it looks better. It was the first PP plastic model I've put together and overall I'm quite impressed by it. Found it much easier to glue together than a metal model, it required on average the same amount of clean up of flash as the metal models and the only real negative (if I can call it that) comments I can level at it is that it lacks weight and it's smaller than the metal Nomad.
Heres hoping the Steelhead Halbardiers get redone in plastic soon!
To that end I brought myself a Mule Heavy Warjack.
Being the same points as Mangler it was a straight forward swap, no changes were needed to the list I'm currently running. The plan with this fella is to put Snipe on him and take out units that aren't immune to blast damage, hopefully it'll negate the biggest weakness that my army has.
Picked up the plastic kit, though I preferred getting the old metal version simply because I feel it looks better. It was the first PP plastic model I've put together and overall I'm quite impressed by it. Found it much easier to glue together than a metal model, it required on average the same amount of clean up of flash as the metal models and the only real negative (if I can call it that) comments I can level at it is that it lacks weight and it's smaller than the metal Nomad.
Heres hoping the Steelhead Halbardiers get redone in plastic soon!
The Mule; Assembled and waiting for a paintjob.
Friday, 3 August 2012
A New Venture
Greetings.
You'r reading the first post on a blog that'll focus on tabletop gaming with a noticeable slant towards the miniatures game Warmachine and its sister RPG, Iron Kingdoms.
It is my goal to have a new post up every weekday, I plan to possible have a schedule for different content on each day ranging from updates on my ongoing gaming projects through to thoughts on tactics and reviews on different games that I get the chance to play or at least look at.
Check back on Monday for thoughts on whats been previewed for the new IKRPG.
You'r reading the first post on a blog that'll focus on tabletop gaming with a noticeable slant towards the miniatures game Warmachine and its sister RPG, Iron Kingdoms.
It is my goal to have a new post up every weekday, I plan to possible have a schedule for different content on each day ranging from updates on my ongoing gaming projects through to thoughts on tactics and reviews on different games that I get the chance to play or at least look at.
Check back on Monday for thoughts on whats been previewed for the new IKRPG.
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