(Yes, I'm the sort of weirdo who paints up a bunch of miniatures before playing a game and seeing if I like it; I had faith in this system, and besides, if I didn't like it I'd have a bunch of painted minis to sell and use that money towards projects I knew I'd actually be into. But it all worked out in the end.)
Although I had faith in the game itself, I wasn't sure going in if I'd made the right choice with my faction or my caster, so I'm somewhat elated today, looking back on last night's game, to realize that I made the perfect choice in both regards. Rasheth is essentially a Titan rancher, and I love me some Titans. In particular, this is because I'm finding (or rather remembering) that I really enjoy running factions that glory in close-up, bloody carnage. Even if I lose, it's still a lot of fun to watch. My Space Orks for Epic 40K, my Outcast crew for Malifaux, and now my Skorne - they're all focused around, to quote Royal Tenenbaum, "Scrapping and yelling and mixing it up." I'm also a big fan of stuff that denies or nullifies the other guy (back in my M:tG days I used to run Blue and White decks and piss off all my friends), and Skorne definitely has that in spades as well.
I lost, of course, but I gave my opponent a good run for his money, taking out his heavy Warjack and doing serious damage to another 'Jack, even with my multitude of tactical and systemic mistakes. I also learned a lot about the subtleties of the game and where I want to put my focus going forward. So I'm going to be tweaking my lists a bit, picking up some new figures (but not too many - I'm mostly where I want to be), and, mostly, looking forward to our next game.
Here are some quick snapshots from the course of the evening's action:
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I think for future camera shots we should keep as much of the focus on your crews and leave mine in the blurry background. It makes for more dynamic photos and lessens my...lack of precision painting skills.
ReplyDeletePfft. I'll not hear it. It was a pleasure to face off against your boys in blue. :)
DeleteOh, and for any readers familiar with Dave's dice rolling luck, you'll be happy to know it held firm last night. Man, some of those misses were painful to witness...
As you probably noticed, Gators are excellent in the close-combat game. Played as a faction, they have access to some great buffs to get them -to- combat; something that I wish I had in 40k or Fantasy. Congrats on your first game! I look forward to many more reports to come.
ReplyDeleteOh man, the Gators. The Gators. Love them so hard. Great models in and of themselves, and yes, great in practice too. (They've got some great synergies with the Paingiver Taskmaster, in particular.) Plus, they're extra useful for a Rasheth force, as he can "arc" his spells through flunkies in exchange for D3 wounds, so multi-wound minions such as they are particularly useful.
DeleteThere's also the Totem Hunter, for when you want a Predator stabbing things then backflipping out of front arcs and charge range.
DeleteGators are great, and they're so lacking in distinguishing detail--though the plastics are lovely sculpts--they just BEG for conversions. I have heard they work great with Skorne, though I wanted enough from the faction to just run pure Blindwater and get deep in my voodoo. One of the primary advantages to that is the broad amphibious on gator models, and the ease with which you can create impeding water effects with them. S'one of those things that hurts you more with a mixed army--unless you run spear-heavy cyclopes and such.
Also, another interesting rule for Hordes that once again enforces my standard 'attrition' tactics:
ReplyDeleteDamage Transference - Since extra fury on a warlock adds no direct bonus and gets in the way of leaching/reaving, it's a good idea to discard any excess fury each turn, right? Wrong. Although the warlock receives no stat bonus for latent fury, he or she is capable of transferring damage to a warbeast in his or her battlegroup within his or her Control Area, greatly increasing the survivability of front-line warlocks. Basically, the warlock spends 1 fury point and one of their warbeasts in their battlegroup takes the damage instead. The damage is not modified by ARM -- if your low-ARM warlock transfers to a high-ARM 'beastie, the 'beastie still takes the damage as though it hit the warlock's ARM. Be wary of transferring to heavily injured warbeasts, excess damage from warbeasts that are destroyed via transferring is still assigned to the warlock and cannot be transferred further. You cannot transfer to a warbeast that is maxed out on fury. When a warlock transfers, both the warlock and the 'beastie are considered to have taken damage for the purpose of any relevant effects.
Yeah, we didn't really get a chance to take that rule for a spin since all my beasties were dead before you really started laying into old Rasheth. But between this rule, his blubbery armor, and that sweet little spell of his, it's going to take a lot to take him out, I think.
DeleteThat's a rule that gets even more brutal in factions like the Circle, where regeneration is rampant on the models; you can offload the damage, then watch the damage bubble away. Skorne can take advantage of their high armor to ensure they take minimal overall hits, though.
DeleteIt's been too long since our last match.
ReplyDeleteChallenge!