Friday 28 September 2012

Immeron Newes 28/9/2012

Apologies for the lack of a post yesterday, I simply didn't the chance to write anything.

There has been a couple of Insiders this week;

*Ron Kruzie posted a painting guide on how he paints black and gold Skorne.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-24-2012

*Meanwhile Tony Konichek posted about video tutorials for Level 7 [ESCAPE] and Heap!

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-26-2012

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 26/9/2012

Had to cancel this week's game because half the group weren't able to make it, so hopefully the next one will be in two weeks time.

In the mean time I've volunteered to run an IK game for the local university's games society during their 'Newbies Week'. Already have an adventure in mind; An artefact gets stolen and ends up in the Corvis Undercity, being a no-go area for the City Watch the party are hired to go and retrieve it instead.

This will probably just be a one-off, though if theres interest from the players then I may make a full campaign out of it. Though it'll be limited to 6 players and I may restrict a few of the classes like Iron Fang Pikemen, etc.

I'll post up a report of how the game went, but it isn't going to be until Friday next week when I run the game.

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Newes From The Front 25/9/2012

Haven't gotten any gaming in this past week but I have been looking at trying out a different warcaster, namely MacBain.

Heres what I'm looking at;

MacBain
-Talon
-Talon
-Mangler
-Nomad
Steelhead Halberdiers x10
Steelhead Riflemen x10
Saxon Orric
Kell Bailoch

If anyone has any experience with MacBain then I'm all ears.

Monday 24 September 2012

Workbench 24/9/2012

Haven't made much progress with miniatures due to everything being up in the air last week.

Instead I've started another little project, basically make some terrain that I can use for both Warmachine and the IKRPG. Found that the boxes that units and warjacks typically come in from PP are roughly a story in height when on the table top and compared next to a mini, so two of them with a cardboard roof should make a nice little house once finished.

Since I have a few of these boxes I should be able to quickly build up a collection of buildings, though until my computer is fixed I'm unable to post WIP pictures I'm afraid.

Friday 21 September 2012

Immeron Newes 21/9/2012

Big news this, especially for the Role Players with the release of the long awaited Iron Kingdoms RPG.

The Insiders this week have been focused on the RPG.

*William French talked about this IK group playing a band of Menites and how he created his character.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-17-2012

*Simon Berman talked a little about the release of the RPG.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-19-2012

*Simon Berman also discussed creating the Gencon demo adventure which is now up ready to be downloaded.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-21-2012

Thursday 20 September 2012

IKRPG: First Impressions Of The Book 20/9/2012

Well I managed to pick up a copy of the new IKRPG today, but I wanted to have a flip through and posts my thoughts on it hence the lateness of this blog post.

Quality of the book is quite fine, hardback with glossy paper which should ensure a longer life of the book. Plenty of new artwork along with updated and coloured versions of old artwork from the previous version, always good but I wished that they had done more of the Human ones.

Theres a 100 odd pages of fluff that form the first part of the book, nothing really indepth but enough to give you a feel for the setting and its history. The shortened timeline was a bit disappointing, though I hazard they only decided to list key events and that we'll see the timeline fleshed out more in future books when they cover the nations in more depth. What was nice was the bit on the Ascendants of Morrow and the Sicons of Thamar, chiefly listing each one with their symbols and patronage. It was interesting to see that one Sicon protected Morrowan communities against Menite purges and another's research led to the cortexes used by warjacks and is the patron of arcanists, artificers and teachers. Also Thamar is portrayed as being more more of a grey area when it came to good and evil, she's really more towards the 'one over the many' whilst her brother Morrow is the 'many over the one'.

Races and Careers don't need much explaining, I'm a bit disappointed that there is only one entry for Humans rather than the different stats for each ethic group that existed in the old version. I can understand that they could only fit so much in, but it would've been something nice to add a bit of flavour to the setting. A good selection of careers, though I'd like to have seen more variety but that is something that'll be fixed in future books and issues of No Quarter.

The game mechanics also don't need much coverage, its mostly the Warmachine rules and work pretty well. Combat is nice and fast paced whilst fairly lethal at the same time, really prefer it over D20.

Equipment for most part is fine, but I'd like to see more gun ammo types and a few more iconic IK weapons but I guess this may also be addressed later on.

Reuse of artwork and a few typos have bit of a negative impact on the book, but it isn't really that much of a big issue in my personal opinion. A bit more in the way of original artwork would've been nice but isn't really that important and typos are something that plague dozens of books no matter the company, tis something that happens. Overall I really like the book and the system, certainly going to sit down and read it cover-to-cover when I get the chance to do so.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 19/9/2012

Viva La Llaelese Resistance!

The chapter in the campaign will see the group head off to Occupied Llael for a stint with the Resistance in order to gain the last Black Pearl that is in the procession of the Llaekese Minister of Internal Security.

So I've been thinking of NPCs that the party will encounter, ones that'll be genned up once I get hold of the new IKRPG book (payday is the day AFTER it releases). I have a few in mind that'll probably aid the party.

Kogul Ironhead

An Ogrun mercenary working for the Resistance, haven't decided upon careers yet but he'll be carrying around a Slug Gun as a personal weapon.

Gret

Gobber Commando, most likely be Thief and Ranger or Spy. But certainly tooled up.

Decklan Ellsworth

Lady Ellsworth's missing brother,though have yet to decide upon careers.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Newes From The Front 18/9/2012

Finally got a game in last night, this game against a Mage Hunter heavy Retribrution force.

Since the Elves ignored cover it menat staying at range and shooting them wasn't such a good idea, so I used the normal list for this one. Surprised my opponent a bit by running my warjacks and then popping Magnus' feat Hit and Run to move a total of 20 inches across the board on turn one, it meant I got into melee much quicker and limited the amount of shots against my army.

Then I discovered another sneaky Elven trick, 4 inch melee attacks!

Oh and other stuff like ignoring magic buffs, Free Strikes and even Focus stealing. It quickly became one of those games that was going to end on turn two no matter what happened, ultimately I ended up losing thanks to my opponent doing well on damage rolls. My tactic was proven to be valid since we rolled to see what happened if I survived a little bit longer, average rolls with the One-Shot Wonders on the Renegades would've killed his warcaster...if only I'd gone first.

Still, we both had fun and my opponent said it was the msot enjoyable game he's had in a while.

~ ~ ~

As a side note, home computer went kaput last night so posts will be irregular this week.

Monday 17 September 2012

Workbench 17/9/2012

Due to a bout of illness and other things I haven't made any progress on the workbench front this past week.

That said I did sort out a decent pic of the Rusalka mini.


Sunday 16 September 2012

Immeron Newes 16/9/2012

A rather belated entry for Immeron Newes this week mainly due to illness.

First insider is from Aeryn Rudel, No Quarter Editor, on the new issue of No Quarter thats due out next week. He mentions new Theme Forces, an adventure for the new Iron Kingdoms RPG and a Gargantuan battle report for Hordes.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-10-2012

Will Hungerford posted on the fourth and final season of the War-Torn Alliances league, namely Dark Secrets. He discusses a bit on the map and developing the rules for it.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-12-2012

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms: First IKRPG Game 12/9/2012

Finally got round to trying out the new IKRPG, all in all there was a positive response from the group.

Did a small skirmish to ease them in, it took no more than 10-15 minutes to do whilst a similar one in D&D probably would've taken up to an hour to do. The Life Spiral certainly proved how much more lethal the system was and how more dynamic the health system is, something that went down well. It was quickly learnt that in this system even a single hit can end up hurt quite a bit as opposed to hacking away at 100+ health in like D&D.

The group was more than happy to use miniatures and play it bit like a wargame, it certainly helped combat flow that much more quicker. They're able to do so much more in combat and they've only really just scrapped the surface, once they've seen how much they can do in combat I think they'll really playing this system. Least I'll have the book in a week's time so I can get the players up a level closer to their D&D characters and explain various stuff before the next session.

Plot wise we've advanced things a bit, the party has made contact with agents of the Highborn Covenant based in Corvis. Next game they head into Occupied Llael and join up with the Resistance to launch a raid on the estate of a certain di Viadro, Minister of Internal Security.

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 11/9/2012

Well finally gotten to the point where I'll be running a game of the new IKRPG, things are looking promising and I have sorted out reference sheets for the group.

Hopefully they'll find combat more enjoyable and dynamic than they did in D&D, certainly a bit more lethal. Magic is also lot more straight forward and so our resident spellcaster should be able to react bit more quicker rather than the group having to wait 10 minutes for him to look up spells in the book.

Figured I'd eased them into the new system with an ambush...

Monday 10 September 2012

Workbench 10/9/2012

Not much to report, the Deathwalker/Ruslka model is fully painted and varnished.

Croe's band of brigands are mocking me in order for them to be glued together.

Friday 7 September 2012

Immeron Newes 7/9/2012

Couple of Insiders this week.

*Ben Misenar talks about the re-sculpt of the Cygnaran Centurion heavy warjack as a plastic kit.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-5-2012

*Laine Garrett talks about using Photoshop to help decide on colour schemes for models.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-7-2012

MAILBOX

As usual, feel free to email in thoughts and questions *here*, please include 'Mailbox' in the subject title.

~ ~ ~

EXTRA

Following a topic on the PP boards about it, I may adapt Pathfinder's Kingmaker Adventure Path to run as an Iron Kingdoms campaign and sequel to my current campaign.

Thursday 6 September 2012

Armchair Briefing 6/9/2012

The Nomad is this week's 'jack under review.






Backstory

The Nomad is an old Cygnaran warjack designed with one purpose in mind; cutting open heavy armour like a tin can. Its massive battle blade brought a world of hurt to anything unlucky enough to get in its way, serving Cygnar in this role for over a century.








It was one of the first few designs that was produced in bulk, something that allowed the liberal allocation of this 'jack widely throughout the Cygnaran Army. But with the coming of more mechanikally advanced designs the Nomad was decommissioned from Cygnaran service in 563 AR and found its way quickly onto the mercenary market. Though its design now predates anyone living today, the Nomad has become a mainstray for many sell-swords for its reliability and ease of maintenance.

Abilities

See weapons.

Weapons

*Open Fist; Nothing special, an open fist that allows one-handed throws and a buckler that adds +1 to the ARM value.

*Battle Blade; Big Bloody Sword with Reach, it'll hurt whatever it manages to hit.






Tactics

The Nomad is the Merc's generic 'jack and a fairly cheap one at only 6 pts, its main job is to charge big targets and whack 'em for six. Load up with 3 Focus, charge and let loose. Most 'jacks will take a battering from its sword.

I usually upkeep Magnus' Iron Aggression spell on this 'jack, being able to charge and boost attack rolls for free that Focus you put on its can be used to buy extra attacks and boost damage.

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 5/9/2012

Due to circumstances and a couple of players not being able to make it, last night's game unfortunately had to be cancelled.

On the flip side this gave me extra time to finish sorting out everyone's character sheets for the new IKRPG, chiefly weapons and armour. Getting the hang of how things work and starting characters seem to be roughly on par with infantry units in Warmachine/Hordes in terms of stats and things like DEF/ARM. The weapons stats are pretty same the same as in the wargame, though some have attack modifiers so I'll have to see when the book finally comes out in a couple of weeks.

With the next game scheduled for next week I hope to ease the party into the new system with an ambush given that they're in the perfect place for one... 

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Workbench: Rusalka

So I happened to find my old digital camera, though surprised that I managed to get the damn thing to work!

Its 10 years old and should've given up the ghost a long time ago, in fact it did at one point...

Nevertheless I am able to present to you the Queen of the Bog herself.


IK Homebrew 4/9/2012

Fortunately haven't been able to get a game of Warmachine in, so instead I've decided to focus on some homebrew material for the IKRPG.

The Rusalka I've posted previously, so now is the Shadow Element for the Sorcerer career I've mentioned.

Starting Abilities, Connections, Spells, and Skills:
Shadow: Occultation, Ghost Walk, Venom
Shadow sorcerers begin with +1 AGL and +1 to their racial maximum AGL at each level.

Cost 1 - Influence, Protection from Corrosion, Jump Start
Cost 2 - Ghost Walk, Occultation, Marked for Death, Venom, Malediction, Mirage
Cost 3 - ***Hellfire, Curse of Shadows, Hex Blast, Gallows, Shadowmancer
Cost 4 - Scourge, Hellmouth, Dark Guidance

*change all references to "models in battlegroup" to "steamjacks this character controls"
**change all references to "model" or "unit" to "character"
***change the effect of Hellmouth to "The spellcaster immediately makes a contested Willpower roll with the target. If the spellcaster beats the enemy's Willpower roll, the the target suffers Anxiety".


Alot of thanks to relasine on the PP forums for pretty much taking my notes and making something that fitted the theme I was aiming for, hopefully I'll get to playtest it soon.


I plan to do Tharn Bloodtrackers next to round out the Tharn stats we already have.

Monday 3 September 2012

Workbench 3/9/2012

Bit of a productive weekend, managed to get a bit of painting done.

The model that I had converted is now undercoated, though I have yet to settle upon a paint scheme for it and so still kicking about ideas.

Did manage to get a second model effectively fully painted and based, will probably apply some varnish to it to protect the paint. Its the Cryx Deathwalker model, I'm planning on using it as the Rusalka in my Iron Kingdoms campaign. Though lacking access to a decent camera at present, though I will try and get a picture up later this week. Quite proud of how its turned out, especially since my first attempt as a proper base turned out pretty well.

Found an easy and quick way to do swamp bases.

*Used blue-tac to fill in gaps in the slot and to break up the base's surface a bit.

*Mixed up some green paint, a dark manky colour, and slapped that on.

*Poured superglue on to give a water effect, works best with the non-GW style bases with the indent like the ones Warmachine use.

*Tore of a tiny amount of the green scourer pad from a kitchen sponge and stuck that on in clumps as the superglue dried.

*Painted the clumps with different shades of green.

*Finally used a watered-down brown ink wash on the base once the superglue had dried.

The result is like the green muck of a swamp, which came out fairly well.