Prepping for the Tournament

Sorry, pressganger duties have kept me out from participating in most events. However, back in November, I and Gunslinger Games welcomed Jared as our second pressganger. And boy was it badly needed.

When I became a PG back in January 2011, Gunslinger Games was home to about 5 to 8 gamers. I knew I could attract another three or four, for a solid community. However, starting in May 2011 the situation sort of spiraled out of my control. My average demo per month before then was two. May, I did ten demos, in June I started doing two to three demos a week (a week!) and this continued up into August. When I ran the two leagues in early October, I had a combined 30 player presence (max).

Now, that ebs and flows weekly. I can see anywhere from 8 to 20 people a week, so the spread is wide. However, the constant need to demo games, run events, and a work life that is increasing the amount of travel that is expected of me, leaves me with very little time for the home life and my wife. Jared was the saving grace and was able to take some of the load off my shoulders. 2012 is looking to be amazing!



So enough with that update and a more future thinking at work here. This month there are a couple of new exciting toys for my Mercenaries, I'm still painting my Legion, making Cassius work without the Gallows Grove (to win a bet), and plotting my next moves in Skorne, Khador, and Cygnar. Methinks I have too many factions, but I doubt that's ever a problem.

Anyway, with Templecon just around the corner, I'm looking at three or four tournaments with Mercs. Given travel from Dallas to Providence is not going to be easy, I decided to forgo my Skorne collection. It is too fragile with spears, flags, and pointy bits. Given that I'll have several new Merc toys, namely the Rover and Rocinante, I have figured out a compact way to move about and enjoy four warcasters with some overlapping model usage.

First and foremost, I'm breaking out Fiona. It has been years since I last played her and she is someone that sees very rare table time down here in the DFW area. James has Shae and two or three people field Gorten, Ashlynn, and Damiano. I have been focusing on a re-tooled Ashlynn list, MacBaine, Damiano, and of course, eMagnus. So Fiona is a very nice change up from prior warcasters and gives me that Cryxian spellslinger dimension.

The list?
35 pts Fiona the Black
Fiona
-Rocinante
-Sylys Wyshnalyrr
Boomhowler & Co (Max)
Long Gunners (Max)
First Mate Hawk
Eiryss
Rhupert Carvolo
Ogrun Bokur
Reinholdt

So, what gives? Rocinante is an all-around jack-of-all-trades. Decent range, decent RAT (at least higher than the Mariner), and a good melee stick. Since I'm not pairing this list with Damiano, the character restriction is not something I need to worry about. Sure, I lose Lash. I will have to playtest and see how bad of a loss that is, but right now I'm not concerned.

I think the units are pretty much staples here. Boomhowler for Roth's Mercy and Long Gunner's for Nonokrion Brand. First Mate Hawk is my target for Telgesh Mark. She can hide amongst Boomhowler's unit, using Sucker to advance up the field and then bolt out.

The rest of the solos are utility. Sylys would be my preferred choice with her, giving her a free upkeep and Signs & Portents for magic attack rolls. Reinholdt is again for another attack the same reason. Eiryss is enemy upkeep removal and just general harassment. I've found that having random Shield Guard models, like the Bokur, can easily change how the game flows.

If I had to play around with the points and change things, I'm definitely not sold on the Piper. He gives my Boomhowlers +1 Def and Terror while they receive the 4+ Tough or Pathfinder. But he's not a necessity. Neither are the Bokur, Eiryss, or Reinholdt. As I play around with the list more, I'll probably find a combination of solos that I would like.