Troll Brains

I managed to escape the house on this holiday weekend for an afternoon of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar for a rematch between my greenskins and a local Skaven army at Hobbytown USA.  Having been totally unprepared for the thumping I took last week, this time around we worked out a comp system using some simple math so our forces would be more evenly matched.  I opted to drop my mob of savage orcs after their dismal performance last week, and instead brought along my savage orc boar boyz and a giant (represented by the Warhammer Forge giant troll hag).

The Skaven changed up their army comp as well, but overall looked much smaller than my force.  In part this was because they keep tunneling up behind my army or sneaking around my flanks, but the numbers just didn't seem right.  In any case, the Skaven general received +1 Wounds for his victory last week, and we pressed on with a straight up battle down the length of the table. 

The multi-colored horde of greenskins and monstrous creatures skitters, hoofs, and lumbers toward the Skaven lines, while the rock lobber and doom diver whittle down the ratmen's numers.

 The battle was fairly straight forward, with my artillery whittling down the big units of Stormvermin and my other units mopping up the leftovers.  The goblins managed to get slaughtered by Stormvermin in short order, but otherwise the battle was a one-sided affair.  The Skaven made the best of a bad situation and strove to assassinate what little they could, but once the trolls got into the mix it was lights out.

The lone Skaven survivors stare down an impenetrable wall of regenerating flesh.  Mama troll and her boys took no prisoners.

 

 

Afterward my triumph soon turned to agony as I realized I had done the math wrong on several of my units, thereby giving me a huge advantage over the Skaven.  No wonder it seemed like such a cake-walk!  Not only did I bring more trolls to this fight, but I had a severe case of "troll brains" when I made my list.  My opponent was a great sport about it, and since the AoS games play so quickly, we had enough time to adjust our lists and play another round.

So, in Game 2 (sorry no pics) I dropped all my savage orcs and the Skaven added a plague catapult.  This time we played for objectives, with the goal being to protect the objective in your deployment zone while trying to capture your opponent's objective in his deployment zone.  This was a very bloody affair, with gutter runners and plague monks infiltrating behind my lines in a brave attempt to snatch the quick win, while my giant and trolls ran as fast as they could to the other side of the table to capture the Skaven objective.  Ultimately, the forest goblins were able to hold onto my objective (just barely) and my trolls and giants were punished with artillery fire and magic until they were crushed into little pieces by the Screaming Bell.  By Turn 5 neither army had any forces left to try to capture an objective, and we had to call it a draw.  A bloody, bloody, draw! 

The only other point of interest (for me at least) was my gobbo shaman who climbed atop the Magewrath Throne and, after failing to cast ANYTHING for 4 turns, managed in the 5th to use the throne's power to kill off the gutter runners in my backfield and use an arcane bolt to kill the Skaven warlord.  I guess he just needed some time to warm up!

Bottom line: AoS plays so fast I can use almost all my models from an old 2,500 8th Ed WFB game and still finish a game in half the time.  If my troll brain math is correct, that means I can play twice as much Warhammer as before for the same amount of time!

Vermintide

  Played another great game of Age of Sigmar today, only this time around my boyz got proper smashed by a horde of Skaven.  We didn't use a comp system or plan ahead on force size, we just opted to bring roughly equivalent sized armies and go for it.  I left my boar boyz behind and the armies seemed about right, though I think I should have a few more heroes with my boyz (I only brought 1 savage orc shaman and 1 goblin boss on a gigantic spider).  We also agreed to a few simple house rules beforehand too - units could not shoot a unit they were not engaged in combat with, and shooting against warmachines would scatter between the machine and the crew. 

  All told, we got to grips very quickly, but things went downhill soon thereafter.  On my right flank, the gobbos and savage orcs were steamrolled by the plague furnace and plague monks (supported by storm vermin), and on the left my spider riders and gobbo boss were quickly surrounded by rat ogres who tunneled from below and night runners who slipped in from the rear.  The arachnarok and river trolls, my 2 best units, slammed into the center but too late - with both flanks gone they were quickly surrounded and dealt with.  After 3 turns, my gobbo big boss took the remainder of the spider riders and the war machines and fled back into the forest to fight another day.

The forest goblins and savage orcs brace for impact from the plague furnace.

The river trolls smash their way through the center, while the arachnarok loks to climb up the dreadstone blight (just because he can!).

The forest goblins take down a few plague monks before being turned into minced meat, and the savage orcs fail miserably in their attempts to take down the plague furnace (which withstood an enormous amount of fire power and melee to end the game with 1 wound left, hahaha)

Lessons learned:

• Chaff units are still important.  My river trolls couldn't get to grips with a worthy foe until they cleared some weapons teams out of the way, so it would have been nice to have smaller units to take out the enemy's smaller units.  Also, it would have been nice to have a chaff unit bear the brunt of the runaway furnace!
• I really need to get some bullies to whip my artillery into shape!
• Unit formations are still important.  My savage orcs were spread out too far wide, so when they got charged I couldn't pile in far enough to maximize my attacks.  It also made them vulnerable to being charged by more than 1 unit.  Next time I'll deploy deeper formations.
• My plan fell apart when I found myself surrounded.  I ran units in all directions and soon found my general was out of range to use his command abilities to boost my units.  I should keep my units closer to each other (especially the heroes) so they can support each other better.  

All in all it was a great game and congrats to the chittering hordes of rat men.  Next time we'll build bigger webs to catch them all!

Of Puke and Poison

Tried a pick-up game of AoS today and ended up facing off against a fellow devildog and Iraq vet.  I brought my motley crew of savage orcs, forest gobbos, and river trolls vs. a the finest of Bretonnia - knights, peasants, and trebuchets.

Since we didn't know each other we played using the "small battle" guidelines from the Azyr Comp system so we could both show up to the store (Critical Hit Games) with relatively equal forces, and I think it worked out.  We played a normal battleline game, nothing fancy, so we could focus on the rules and armies. 

Quick battle highlights:

• The peasant archers are wicked!  They can fire a salvo of arrows that blacks out the sky, which in turn allowed my entire mob of savage orcs (except the lucky musician) to die in the shade in 1 turn of shooting.  My opponent and I agreed it was terrifying, but would have best been used against the trolls.
• Identifying and "breaking" special rules for units seems to be the best use of early shooting and magic.  By this I mean taking a unit from 20 to 19 or from 10 to 9 can seem pointless, but in reality it can drastically reduce a unit's effectiveness by denying special rules like re-rolls.
• Poison on the spiders is tremendous.  It's like poison and killing blow combined from the old WFB - I was shocked at how quickly a mob of spider riders dispatched a lance of Grail Knights with just their poison attacks.
• River Trolls are still the toughest things I've got.  Boost them with a mystic shield and inspiring presence and watch them pound away!

The pride of Bretonnia charges into the fray...the trolls slimed them shortly thereafter.

Age of Sigmar - The Big Rule Book

After a week of feverish reading I completed the new Age of Sigmar big rule book, and here are my initial impressions:

The Good -

• Great artwork.  Some really mind-blowing depictions of the new realms with battle scenes that remind me of the cover art from Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader and the cover of the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle Magic boxed set.  I have mixed feelings about the lack of John Blanche artwork....which was never beautiful but always evoked a unique sense of fantasy weirdness. 
• Interesting mix of game rules, realm rules, wars scrolls, and scenarios gives you everything you need for basic play and advanced scenario gaming.
• Classic over-the-top Warhammer writing style that is consistent with decades of GW's style.

 Needs Work-

• I like the expansiveness of the new realms, as it gives players plenty of room to create their own scenarios...but perhaps it's too much right now.  Maybe I'm just an old man, but I'm having trouble making the mental leap from "the world that was" on a decades-old map of a familiar looking world, to the new boundless sandbox of the Mortal Realms.  A few maps in the BRB help depict 4 of the realms, but only tiny portions of each realm.  And what about the other 4 realms?
• Unless you've been a Warhammer fan for years, the book gives little or no explanation or backgorund to 90% of the races in the Age of Sigmar.  As a guy who plays VC, Orcs and Ogres, I was left wondering where these guys are and why there was little or no mention of Death or Beasts.  Nagash is back....but which Mortarchs came back?  Is Manfred seriously still alive?  What about Krell?  A new player will have no idea what these guys are until more books come out. 
• Too many repetitive pics of the AoS boxed set forces....that space could have been optimized to showcase other races or more maps/details of the other realms.  
• Lacks the quirky sense of humor I love from previous Warhammer books, which is usually tied to the superior races like Orruks, Grots and Oggors (and others like Skaven and Nurgle).  The AoS book takes itself a little too seriously in the setting of super-good guys vs super-bad guys, and I didn't laugh once when I read this book (well, maybe a chuckle when Gorkamorka started bashing things).
• Where are all the toothless peasant of old, whose only functions is too farm dirt and get ravaged by the myriad of bad guys?  The new realms seem so desolate, with no real buildings or civilization to speak of, which makes me wonder who Sigmar is even bothering to save.  We need peasants to protect or plunder!  Is there even a house standing in any of the 7 non-Celestial Realms, or just ruins?

 Bottom line:  good first effort, I give it a C+.  It's enough to get you started, but unless you're a big fan of the Eternals or Khorne, you'll be left a little uninspired and wondering what's going on in the other 50% of the Mortal Realms.  I suppose more details will come out in the accompanying Black Library book, but not more info on the remaining realms.  I won't be satisfied until we get some Death and Beasts in the mix!

The Realm of Aqshy

  This past weekend the crew got together for a 3-way Age of Sigmar battle on the ashen wastes of the Brimstone Peninsula in the Realm of Aqshy.  We built our forces using the "Azyr Comp" system which enabled us to put together small armies of roughly equal value.  In the mix were Oggors, Orruks, and Aelfs with Sylvaneth allies.

 I used my old "Zuzzy" mat to reflect the scorched earth of the battlefield, along with some craters (one filled with bubbling blood), a Dreadstone Blight, and unique crater from 40K Planetfall which has magma coming up through a trench in the ground. 

  We used the basic rules from Triumph and Treachery to get our multi-player game going.  The system worked well, and with a little refinement will be perfect for future Age of Sigmar multi-player battles.

  The battle itself saw a stand-off between the Treelord and the Ironblaster, while on my corner my Savage Orcs were ripped to pieces by the Ogres and my warmachines were slaughtered by a Gorger (those poor little grots never had a chance!).  The River Trolls continue to be the mainstay of my army and bowled over the Ironguts in melee...which was no easy feat.  All told, I love having a greenskin army that isn't constantly hamstrung by animosity and stupidity!!

  Overall, the game was fun and will continue to challenge our generalship for months to come.  We have a limited grasp of the new core rules, but it takes alot of practice to appreciate the new war scrolls.  Units that used to be powerful in WFB (mainly because of an added hero or magic item) now must hold their own, ranges are different (the poor aelfs were out of range much of the game), and our expectations of a charge can be wildly different from the actual outcome.  Only once we've mastered our own armies will be able to start toying with new tactics for the game that become part of our group "meta."

  Next up we'll begin playing the scenarios from the big book, and likely try out a different comp system that allows greater flexibility of army building but also greater precision in points values.

Age of Sigmar - Gates of Azyr

While awaiting the first big campaign book for Age of Sigmar (hurry up FedEx!) I decided to read up on the new setting by purchasing The Gates of Azyr eBook ($8 download from The Black Library).  It was a quick read and did a great job developing the background of all the models in the Age of Sigmar boxed set while laying the foundation for the future of Age of Sigmar.

I won't bother with a full book summary, but I will say that The Gates of Azyr definitely gives off a vibe that is a clear departure from Warhammer Fantasy Old World and the writing of the End Times.  The End Times series slowly crushed the reader with the oppressive onslaught of Archaon and his horde, giving brief glimmers of hope for the forces of Order before seeing them snuffed out into oblivion.  The Old World was slowly torn apart as cities were razed, nations sunk, and millions consumed by bloodshed. 

However, in The Gates of Azyr, the apocalypse is already a distant memory, and the story focuses on the Realm of Ashqy (Fire), already controlled by Chaos.  "Normal" humans are few and far between, hunted like animals by the cannibalistic bloodreavers.  This wasteland setting seemed like a fantasy version of Mad Max / The Walking Dead / Planet of the Apes - and it really made me think of what life would be like on a world ruled by Chaos (not good!).  Further, the book added layers of personality to all miniatures in the box, my favorite being the Bloodreavers, who turned out far more interesting than the marauders of the Old World. 

Finally, The Gates of Azyr put Sigmar's warriors on the attack, and for the first time in an eternity I found myself rooting for "the good guys" after the past year of merciless beatings humanity took at the hands of Chaos. 

Overall, if you were on the fence about purchasing the Age of Sigmar boxed set, or just curious about what this new world is about, I think this simple $8 download is a great place to start.  Once you read the book you'll view the miniatures in the boxed set in a whole new light!

Bloodsecration of the Gaming Table

Spent the weekend testing out Age of Sigmar with the gaming crew.  None of us knew the rules, which made the 4 page rules set that much more appealing.  After all, I'd rather be painting or playing than studying rules (and drinking Jack and Coke like a wounded hero downing healing potions).  All 4 players slapped together some medium-sized forces from our collections, each with a different style.  The Wood Elf player and I both picked a smattering of models of all types so we could test out all the different kinds of units in the game.  I was able to add some gobbo woflboyz and a dark elf Kharibdyss to my ogres, which is something I always wanted to do but was "forbidden" by the old WFB game.  The Brettonians came with an old style of force of a couple massive units of peasants, a giant block of regular knights, and a handful of heroes.  The other ogre player brought the best of the best ogre units, with a few additions like a gorger that was rarely seen in WFB because, like a number of other "outflanking" forces, they rarely showed up to the battle on time (or ever). 

We split the battlefield in half, ogres vs wood elves in the background, ogres vs Brets in the foreground.

I put a little too much terrain out there, thinking it would be easier to move around with AoS rules.  With 2 games going on though, the table got cramped pretty fast.  

A brawl broke out in the center, with Ironguts and Knights of the Realm mashing each other, and wolfboyz vainly trying to assassinate the Brettonian BSB as the peasants rained arrowstorms down upon the ogres.  

In game 2 we switched opponents, and the Kharibyss made its debut, eventually rampaging among Wild Riders and Wardancers and eating their bones (and sustaining 11 wounds!)

  Overall I had a great time, and didn't keep track of turns.  Didn't even finish either of my games since I didn't really care about the results.  Gamewise, all I really remember was the Bretonnian general skewering my giant in a matter of seconds, the wood elf lord shooting my tyrant before the battle began (how rude!), and in all 4 games the Ironguts dealt some serious damage with their damage 3 weapons.

I think there can be some modifications to the AoS rules to clear up some confusion and make a little more sense of things.  Shooting into combat (including one you're in), the old "look out sir" for heroes so they aren't sniped off now that they can't hide in units, and perhaps a challenge system for hero duels.  We'll either make our own tweaks or borrow some from other gaming clubs.  Seeing the studio play some games should also clear up some confusion so we can better understand the intent behind some of the rules.

For casual play, a loose force org/comp guideline is good to keep players in the same ballpark for forces, though it seems that the "loser" in every game can still blame their failures on unbalanced forces rather than just enjoy the game itself.  I think scenario and objective play will clear up some of this problem, because the "pitched battle" type of game can seem pointless if the only objective is to table your opponent.  If the true objective is to have fun, then killing every single one of your opponent's models with a heavily favored force seems to detract from that objective.  However, with scenarios and objectives each player can claim moral victories and occupy their time with objectives other than killing every model. A game is better when both players come away having fun, not just the "winner."

Win, lose or draw, I'll still claim my own twisted victory ("yeah you killed my whole army, but I burned your sorceress alive like the witch she is!!") and have fun.  I do that in 40K already....I don't care if I get tabled so long as at least once per game I can go "pew pew pew" and blow up a tank.

The hardest part about AoS now is waiting for the new releases to come out so we can help the old WFB players make that mental leap into the Age of Sigmar, and stop living in the Age of Myth.  I'll keep playing my old stuff for now, but only until an AoS faction comes out that I really want to collect (Khorne and Eternals look awesome, but aren't my cup of tea).   
 
So, the battles are done, the dust has settled, and I'm still a Warhammer fan.  All is well. 

1st Playtest of AoS

Broke out the rules and some dice this weekend for a playtest of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.  Only attempted 10 Chaos Warriors against 2 units of 3 River Trolls (they were models nearby the table).  Some initial thoughts:

*  Being able to shoot and charge can be very powerful.  Check out these trolls vomiting at max range before charging in:

                                                                          HURL!!

*Also, combat is fast and furious, but I can see it turning into massive brawls that tarpit entire armies.

                     Each side is bloodied, but the trolls ultimately pulverize the warriors.

Finally, although the trolls were outnumbered, they completely overmatched the Warriors.  I'm not sure how best to balance forces, even when playing myself! 

Tabula Rasa

  Like an expectant mother awaiting the birth of a child, I've spent the weekend "nesting" in preparation for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.  Old armies are stowed away, with only the most beloved of my WFB 8th Edition heroes earning a place on the display cases....a veritable Valhalla of my favorite generals over the decades.

  Terrain has been boxed up or stashed below the surface, as I wonder what role each piece may play in future battlefields of the fantasy universe.  Will there be deserts?  Ye Olde Villages?  Or will it all be a version of the Old Warhammer World, corrupted and perverted by the Realms of Chaos?

  Last but not least, I'm cleaning off the painting table.  I had a couple VC heroes in progress that deserve to be finished before AoS drops and they return to their crypts.  With any luck, Nagash will find a way to resurrect Vlad and Isabella (again) so I can make use of these awesome models.  If not....they'll join the display case too.

The Age of Sigmar Begins....

https://clankhorvaak.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/rumorspreview-age-of-sigmar-model-leaks/

With the new pics of Age of Sigmar, many rumors of the past year have been confirmed and many more dispelled.  The forces of Chaos look very much like the aesthetic we've come to expect from Khorne, with some interesting new monsters and amazing character models.  Mix in the new End Times figures for Khorne and you can see that Archaon's elite are off to a great start in the new Age of Sigmar.

The real buzz has been about the forces of Sigmar, with massive figures in armor, fliers, and an enormous hero on a new monstrous mount.  They have the look and feel of Balthasar Gelt ond the Lore of Metal, with iconography of the Lore Heavens in the form of lightning bolts on their armor.  Though humanoid, they seem much larger and powerful than the basic peasant from Altdorf that comprised the state troops of the old Empire.    Who and what are these new warriors that ride into battle on bolts of lightning?  Sigmar must have realized that if millions of old Empire peasants couldn't stop Chaos, he'd need to find some better troops!

The terrain, thought you can only catch glimpses of it in the background, looks to be amazing as well.  It's hard to tell what realm or dimension the battles are set in, but I'm hoping we continue to lean toward the insanity in the Realm of Chaos....where you can design the weirdest things imaginable for your battlefield and really pull yourself out of reality for a few hours.  

The long anticipated (or feared?) shift to round bases also brings new questions about game play.  The size of the forces involved reminds me of my first 1st Edition WFB army, where regiments (my old Ruglud's Armored Orcs and Harboth's Orc Arrer Boyz) were never more than a dozen troops, and monsters, heroes, and chariots ruled the field.  While I'll miss the look and feel of pushing giant units around as we did in 8th Edition, frankly I'm tired of painting rank upon rank of "back rankers" who die unceremoniously without seeing combat.  We've also reached a point, at least locally, where units are filled with diorama pieces (aka unit fillers) in an effort to bulk tiny units into massive hordes. As my time becomes more precious and a scarcer commodity, I'm happy to jump on board a version of Warhammer where each model at least has the potential to get into combat.  After all, #orclivesmatter.

 So, out with the old and in with the new.  I may preserve the bulk of my remaining old armies (DoW, O&G, OK, WoC, VC) for "old school WFB nights" and begin collecting all new forces for the new Age of Sigmar.  I've gotten plenty of playtime and enjoyment out of all my old armies, more than enough to compensate the money and effort I've put into them.

One more week until pre-order.....and as Harry would say...."BRING IT ON!!"

Age of Sigmar arrives July 11th!

This page will be Tampa's home to all things "Age of Sigmar".  Only a few more weeks to wait!