Focus whore Decimator!!!!

I simply LOVE the way this model looks.  His giant OTT revolver and chainsaw is simply jaw-sum.  Pics are shiney and all.  I'll take better ones and use actual sunlight versus the impromtu defused lighting that i tried for this series.  Feel free to comment and etc.

15pt BatRep: Burns and Beat Downs.

Played an action packed 15pt Slow Play League game the other week against a long time friend and adversary; known around these parts as “McMillenthrope” for his strong resemblance to a Tyranid Zoenthrope. 

He used the following:

eKreoss

Crusader

Repenter (Hate this damn ‘jack!)

Revenger

Choir of Menoth

Paladin of the Wall

Vassal Mechanik

I had:

eButcher

Wardog

Decimator

Kovnik

Manhunter

3 Demo Korp

The mission was “Break the Line”.  Not a great mission for my army as I have very little in the way of range or SPD.  Plus, I’m outnumbered by 2 models.  May not seem like much.  But in our games it usually comes down to that last nail biting minute of heroism where the lowly scrub saves the day while the heavy hitters are all krump’d and bleeding.

Deployment

Roll off and Deployment

He won the roll for first turn and deployed first within 8” of his back board edge while I was able to use 10”; simply following Steamroller rules.  Deployment for both of us was pretty simple.  He put his faster light ‘jacks on his left and the rest castled right.  I placed the Manhunter far to my left, then the 3 Demo Korp, eBucther, Wardog and Decimator in the middle with the kovnik on the right flank.  I was feeling pretty damn confident and was planning on rushing most of my force straight up the middle and take the battle right to the heart of the enemy.  I badly wanted eKreoss eviscerated by Lola!

Turn 1

McMillenthrope’s Turn #1

eKreoss orders a general advance, the Choir sings “Passage” on the heavy warjack and ekreoss simply camps on 4 focus.

Pretty Lou’s Turn #1

I pretty much do the same.  My ‘jack rushes a bit farther thanks to “Boundless Charge”.  The Manhunter circles a bit farther left and the Kovnik does the same on the right flank.  And eButcher and his faithful mutt simply advance versus running hog wild.

Turn 2

McMillenthrope’s Turn #2

Now is when things start to heat up…sorta.  The Revenger runs full steam ahead into the ruins; I guess he’s trying to keep the flanking Kovnik honest?  His Repenter advances, ignites the flame thrower and takes aim at the Decimator.  All it manages to do is heat the air up and bring unneeded attention to it!  But just when I thought my ‘jack was safe, eKreoss uses the Repenter’s Arc Node ability and channels “Cleansing Fire” but the POW 14 spell does zilch!  So, McMillenthrope, the bastard that he is, does the spell again.  This time he was able to inflict some damage.  Not much, but enough to annoy me. 

Pretty Lou’s Turn #2

I roll for eButcher’s focus amount and was very pleased to be able to roll a 5.  This means I can spend 6 focus this turn.  With that amount, I’m feeling confident as the meat and potatoes of McMillenthrope’s army looks to be ripe for a charge and some heavy shooting!  So I move the Kovnik in for a shot at the Revenger and…he wiffs?    Not good.  This means that the Revenger is undamaged and the Kovnik is in its charge range!  Oh noes!  The Manhunter activates next and continues to creep around the left flank stalking some juicy prey.  eButcher comes to life, casts “Boundless Charge” onto the warjack giving it Pathfinder and an extra 2” of movement.  He then shoots the Repenter and does a measly 2 damage; and that was boosted!  The Decimator is activated, advances 6” and targets the Revenger.  Why you ask?  Well, that Kovnik needs to live as if he dies McMillen may be able to sweep a warjack into that area and possibly take the game! Thanks to the high strength of the Decimator’s gun, the Revenger takes a total of 11 damage and loses his Halberd; along with reach and powerful charge.  I breathe a slight sigh of relief as that may have just saved the Kovnik’s life.  So all I have left are my 3 Demo Korp and Wardog.  I’m thinking that his Crusader is easy pickings since my Demo Korp have Reach, P&S 14 and Backswing.  So I charge!  Guess what?  I’m a half an inch shy, giggety, of some serious krumping!  I mean, really?  All I needed was for the lead Demo Korp to make it into combat.  P&S 14 with three dice followed by P&S 14 and two dice would have, potentially, crippled that Menoth heavy warjack.  So, over-all, this turn was kinda meh for me.  Let’s hope McMillenthrope has worse luck.

Turn 3

McMillenthrope’s Turn #3

Mac takes forever assigning his focus.  I’m worried as this means he’s thinking, LOL!  So, I pour another Murphy’s in my Ironman pint glass with the hopes of Mac making a mistake.  Think about it, who can concentrate when you see a nice dark stout with a creamy head sitting just three feet away?  Mac can that’s who!  But what do you expect from a guy who drinks daiquiris?  Anyways, he hides eKreoss behind some serious cover and pops his feat.  eKreoss than channels “Cleansing Fire” through the arc node at my lonely Kovnik, boosts the damage roll and  inflicts 5 damage;  this leaves him with 3 health boxes left!  He advances the Revenger hoping to bash the Kovnik’s skull in.  Thanks to eKreoss’s feat, friendly models in his control area auto-hit and gain a free attack.  But the Revenger WIFFS!!!  I’m washed with excitement as this means my Kovnik may live!  He attacks again!  I hold my breath as he rolls for damage and I swear, for the briefest moment, the world slowed down.  I could actually see the dice rolling in midair; they hit the table top, bouncing and spinning.  Felt like forever before they stopped!  Thankfully, it looks like my bad luck from turn two rubbed off on to Mac as the Revenger’s shield fails to do any bashing of head.  Mac then activates the rest of his force and wipes away all three Demo Korp.  No biggie.  I still have a very healthy Warjack, Wardog, Manhunter and the man himself, eButcher!  But just as I think McMillenthrope is done, the Repenter activates.  I almost forgot about that 'jack…  It flames into combat and burns a focus to off-set the DEF advantage my Kovnik gains for being in combat.  After hitting, Mac announces that he will burn his last focus assigned to the Repenter in order to boost the damage roll.  Sound tactic as he needs to roll a total of 9 in order to kill off the Kovnik.  But with the way he’s been rolling this turn, I didn’t think three dice would be enough.  But every once in a while even the sun shines on a dogs ass and the sun shined on his today as he rolled that freaking 9. Triple 3's no less.  Win goes to Mac.

And the kill shot!

Good game.  McMillen played well that last turn and did exactly what he needed to do.  If he would have rolled anything less, the game would have been very different as my force was poised to capitalize on his counter advancement and I would have dealt some serious blows; most likely winning on my turn 3.  Oh well, can't win them all.  I had a blast and it was a great way to start my afternoon.

                                                                        

Axe to MOUTH!

Here's a group shot of the 15pt force.  The pic is pretty crappy as the lighting was poor but I just wanted to post something.

Since this pic was taken, I've blingblinged the Demo Korp a bit more.  I'll add an updated photo when the force hits 25pts.

Batting .500

Okay guys, for the last few weeks I’ve been heavily engaged, along with my gaming group “The Basement ‘jacks”, in a Slow Play or Journeyman League ran by a good friend of mine and Press Ganger named Chris.  He’s been working very hard to develop the WarmaHordes scene in his area and in mine.  The rules are pretty easy to follow and the low point games have proven both exciting and fast paced.  Despite the low initial starting points level, the amount of needed strategy hasn’t really diminished.  This just proves that WarmaHordes can both scale down and up without the gamer feeling “dumbed down”.

Here’s a quick copy and paste of Chris’s Slow Play League rules:

Slow Play League Rules
-You must choose a faction that you don’t currently own, or a faction that you own that is not painted. Begin the buildup to 15 points.
-After you choose your first fifteen points, you must continue to keep these units/castor in your list as you develop into larger point values. It is a true escalation system. If you desire to change units or castors, you can, but you must subtract 5 points per unit or castor that you place in your list at the end of the league. This will be deducted from your final point total.
-we will be progressing in increments of point totals to reach 25, 35, and 50pts. There will be one tournament on the third weekend of each month. The locations will alternate between the two locations. 15 for the first, 25 for the second, 35 for the third, and 50 for the final event.
-models must be fully painted to participate in each tournament. This means flocked and based as well. You don’t have to have them painted for weekly league play.
-During each week, players may participate in point totals equal to the upcoming tournament for weekly league play. You may play up to five games per week which you can earn up to a point a game. If you are a player from one store, you may play your league games in a different store hosting this league and earn an additional point for the week. Maplewood Hobby and the Game Room at Woodbridge Mall are the hosts of this league. This optional point may be granted to players from TOGIT, Showcase Comics, or the Game Room at Brick, which choose to participate in this league. This means that if a player from TOGIT goes to the game room to play in the league and plays 5 games, he will earn six total points for that week. No more than 5 games per week may be used to calculate points; however we encourage you to play as many games as you want, have fun!
-if you finish painting you faction at the allocated point total a week before the tournament, you may earn an additional point. You can show each of the hosts or the press ganger your faction to be granted these points.
-point totals will be calculated by the hosts, and will be verified to ensure that players are actually playing, and who they are playing. The press ganger at each location will come in weekly to calculate points, or can receive them by email from the hosts. Playing the press ganger will still count for the non-press ganger for league points.
-Players earn a point for participating in each tournament. They also earn points for placing 1-3, best painted 1-3, best painted mini 1-3. 1st place 4 points, 2nd place is 3 points, and 3rd place is 2 points (placement). 1st place 3 points, 2nd place 2 points, 3rd place 1 points (best painted army). Each best painted mini winner will receive an additional point.
-Standard entry fee into the tournaments in $10.00. each event will start rolling dice that Saturday at 10:30-11:00am. SR Kits with coins will be provided at each event, as well as prize support from entry fees.
-after the last event, the points totals will be added, and the top three point earners will receive a bonus prize, each will pick 1 box of a privateer press product from the store inventory of their choice.
-the first 2 events at 15 and 25 points will not have timed turns as players are getting used to new factions, and we like to encourage a friendly easy going gaming environment to experienced players as well as new ones introduced by this league. However, each game will have an hour time limit with dice down called at the end of each game. After the second event, we will be using Death clock at 35 points to the final one at 50pts.
-the first tournament will be held at Maplewood hobby at 15pts, on the 3rd Saturday of September. The next tournament will be at the game room at 25pts, the third tournament will be at Maplewood at 35pts. The final event will be held at the game room at 50pts. Remember each tournament will be held on the third Saturday of every month unless changed. I will notify you of these changes so you can adjust your schedules as soon as possible.

At first, I waffled between pMagnus led Mercs and Iron Wolf led Khador.  I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to Privateer Press and most of my experience was with an eButcher led Khador Faction.  I prefer my armies to be small, elite and hard hitting.  After a few test games, a bunch of close loses and a quick inventory of my PP figs, I decided on eButcher and a supporting cast of heavy hitters.

Here’s the 15pt list:

eButcher +6 Warjack Points

Wardog 1 Point

Decimator 9 Points

Kovnik 3 Points

x3 Demo Korps 6 Points

Manhunter 2 Points

So far, I’m batting roughly .500.  I often struggle to satisfy any objective based scenario with control points as I have a low model count.  But, I’ve learned a few solid tactics along the way as well.  My Demo Korp hit HARD!  But, their ARM 16 makes them easy prey at this level to any high P&S attack.  So they need to strike quickly.  Both the Manhunter and Wardog are worth their weight in gold.  It’s their special abilities, high SPD and destructive potential that make them almost an auto-include for any Khador Force.  The Wardog hangs by the Butcher’s side for the counter-charge potential while the Manhunter often loops around a flank with the hopes of picking off juicy solos.  I’m still a bit torn about the Kovnik as he has yet to meet his meta-potential.  I’m also a bit torn when it comes to the Decimator.  His model is simply awesome!  He has some high P&S attacks and comes stacked with the traditional Khador Warjack stat line.  But he’s a focus hungry Warjack and eButcher can furnish anywhere from 2 Focus to 7; making it hard to plan ahead.

For the next installment and jump to 25pts, I’m thinking of adding in a second Manhunter and The Kodiak.  I’ll speak more about this level as I get my games in.

First at bat!

This is the inaugural post for Venting Steam.  And since it’s the inaugural post it should set the tempo for the blog.  Shit, there’s not too much for me to speak about right now so I guess I’ll start by setting a goal.  And I might as well set a lofty goal, right?  I will (hopefully) fill the pages with mind blowing hobby content of steam punk amazement and excitement!   But lemme warn you first, I’m not the most prolific or imaginative writer but I am honest.  So, sit back, relax and watch the steam vent!