Lessons from the Iron Kingdoms : Fools Rush In

This past week I finally got to the store early enough to get a game of Warmachine in. I haven’t had one since my all in one box had arrived because of various commitments I have had, mostly work though. It was great to be out and chat with people.

I played a 25 point game against Skorne. Here is my list:

Commander Adept Nemo

-Lancer

-Centurion

-Squire

Journeymen Warcaster

-Defender

Arlan Strangeways

This was my opponents list:

Tyrant Xerxis

-Bronzeback Titan

-Titan Gladiator

-Cyclops Shaman

Paingiver Beast handlers

Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Lots of stuff to pummel my face in, which in the end they did. It wasn’t the greatest match for me to use Nemo, but I like Nemo so I wanted to use him anyway. This was one of my first games beyond battlebox games and my opponent was a veteran. I made a bunch of mistakes and I wanted to share them here.

My biggest mistake, which cost me the game, happened as one of my opening moves. I had allocated my Centurion 1 focus to run, and that proved to be a fatal mistake against this list. I wasn’t thinking 100% straight and doing what I was doing in my battlebox lists: running up to engage. Turns out, Bronzebacks can hit pretty darn hard =P My jack was one rounded. The lesson I learned here was that running isn’t always the best. I should have walked him up, locomotioned him three inches, and then used his special ability so he couldn’t be charged. My opponent’s list didn’t have shooting so I didn’t have much to worry about in that department, just the changes.

Lesson learned.

In the post-mortem we discussed what I could have done differently. Two smaller things came up. First was to prevent my Lander from being engaged so it could have arc’d that important Chain Lightning into his group of guys. Had I gotten a lucky roll(and not had a miss with my first two rolls…) I could have knocked out his Beast Handlers early in the game. Instead the Lancer ran up and ended up getting engaged with his Gladiator, which meant bye bye Lancer.

The other small lesson I learned is think about where my Jacks are assigned. Against this list I should have left the Defender with Nemo, instead of assigning him to the Journeymen. It wasn’t really necessary for this game and would have allowed me a bit more flexibility. Heck, it may have made the difference in this game since I could have fully loaded him up and sent him into the Bronzeback.

In the end I made a desperate assassination attempt to no avail. Xerxis walked up and beat Nemo into a fine pulp without breaking a sweat. I learned some things and will be a bit better prepared next time. Nemo is fun to play so I’m going to keep at it with him. I’m also going to try to get some games in with Stryker1 as I like him as a caster as well. Though I think I need some other models before I break him out again(such as Jakes).

Two real games beyond battlebox and both against Skorne. This one I learned a bunch, and in the other I learned target prioritization. The Agonizer really brought my game to a halt in that one…

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I didn’t break out my phone so I didn’t get to snap any.

Hopefully soon I will have my army painted. I have the supplied and intended to start over the weekend. For whatever reason I can’t get the paint to mix and get the color I want. I tried a bunch and just gave up because I didn’t want to waste the paint. Someone suggested a wet pallet so I might give that a try.

Until next time!

A Cubicle Gamer’s Impressions : Gloom

At my job we were given every Friday off in July for the completion of our project. I’m pretty excited because I have always thought 3 day weekends were the best! What better way to spend the first day off than gaming at your friendly local game store? I met up with 4 friends and we played for a few hours. Our list was :

-3 games of Sushi Go!

– Gloom

–Age of War

Everyone had fun, but today is about Gloom.

I have been wanting to try out Gloom for a while now. It looked and sounded like a fun game with something a bit different to offer. I was very surprised, and pleased, with what I played. One of the unique things about this game is it’s played entirely with transparent cards. It’s one of the few games I know which is played with them and it works really well.

Gloom is a pretty simple and straightforward game. Players have a “family” of 5 cards in front of them and then a hand dealt from a deck. Cards in the deck are Self-Worth modifier cards, Untimely Death cards, and Event cards. The end goal of the game is to have a family with the lowest self-worth on all of your family cards. This is a game about making terrible things happen to your family and good things happen to your opponent’s family. It’s fantastic!

Family member and some modifier cards

Self-Worth Modifier cards will adjust a family member’s self worth up or down. You’ll want to play cards which lower self worth on your own family and cards which cheer up family members on your opponents family. Part of Gloom is that it’s a storytelling game, so all the Modifier cards are very thematic. For example some of the bad ones are: Was mauled by a manatee, was terrified by topiary, and stole from a stiff. Some of the good things that can happen: had a picnic in the park, was wondrously well wed, and was delighted by ducklings. There are a ton more, with many more options in the expansions, and all are very fun and thematic! Some of them have effects, such as increasing the hand limit.

This is where the transparent cards come in. The modifier cards are laid on top of the family cards so the cards below can show through. Only the parts of the card which show through are in effect. So don’t get too attached to that nice hand modifier because if someone else plays a modifier card on top of it the effect is no longer in effect!

Modifier card being player on a family member

Event cards are one time play cards which have some sort of effect. They can range from moving modifier cards from one character to another or bringing a character back to life. For example: imaginary friend, the root of all evil, and a second change.

Untimely Death cards end a characters life. They can be played on any character on the table which is still alive. Dead characters can’t be modified. The game ends when one player’s characters are all dead. Again, these are very thematic and fun. For example: was baked into a pie, was devoured by weasels, and was burnt by a mob.

I won’t go through all the rules as they are available on the Atlas Games website: Gloom rules.

Gloom was pretty strategic and you had to pay attention to everything going on. One player could play something on your cards that would mess up your best laid plans. Since cards could be played anywhere you could prematurely end the game if it’s to your advantage by killing off a player’s characters(doesn’t have to be yours!).

That’s exactly how I won =) One player had one character left, but was winning. the player before me modified one of his characters and brought his score way down. This opened the opportunity for me to kill off his remaining character and come out on top. If I hadn’t been paying attention I would most likely not have come out on top.

Overall I had a lot of fun with this game! I enjoy storytelling so I was putting a bit into that while we played. It’s not the center of the game, but it’s a fun addition if your group gets into it. We were all laughing and having fun. At the end of the day, isn’t that what a game is all about? It took up probably 45 minutes to play the four player game, which included reading through the rules and fumbling with them a bit.

If you’re looking for a fun card game that’s a bit different, give Gloom a look.

Taking it up a notch!

I saved up some money over the last few months and was able to purchase this:

It’s the Cygnar All-In-One Army Box! I’m excited to get it together and to start playing higher point games. I already have the Squire and Journeymen put together ready to be added to bases. I’m also going to do the Gunmage UA at the same time. I have all the cork cut out and ready for basing.

I think I’m most excited about putting together the heavy kit with Centurion/Avenger/Hammersmith. I opened the box with the parts and went through it to make sure the pieces were all there. It looked like the kit was really well done and smartly implemented. It helps that I REALLY like the Centurion’s look!

Unfortunately I can’t take full advantage of my box just yet. The box is missing a few Gun Mage parts. Mainly a whole mage, all their arms, and most of the bases. I already submitted my parts replacement so hopefully those come through soon.

All in all I’m very excited to have my box in hand! I should be able to get a game or two in on Tuesday.