Well it's been months, so....

Due to personal life issues, including but not limited to, being married, moving half way across the United States, and several business trips & other guests coming to visit my wife and I, I have been mostly out of the loop. I was able to attend Gencon for a day (which I will never do again) and I was able to find several stores to play at with a thriving community. Perhaps the saddest scenario was when one of the stores, with a budding new Warmahordes community, closed down abruptly. There was also a tinge of burnout.

However, I now find myself suddenly traveling from Texas to RI for Templecon. This late in the game, most of the events are full so we will play by ear. However, most of the events do not interest me so I challenged myself to compete in the EXTREME HARDCORE. Which means I need to get off my ass and paint.

Having gravitated away from Cryx over the last year, I find myself with Mercenaries or Skorne. I'm sticking with Skorne and I'm looking to run this:
Xerxis T4
-Gladiator
-Sentry
-Cannoneer
-Bronzeback
Min Paingivers
Max Cetrati
Min Arcuarii
Tyrant Commander
Max Reivers + UA
Catapult
2x Flayer Cannon

I have a few points left over and I can toy around with adding a second unit of min Arcuarii & fill out the Paingivers or fill out the Arcuarii to max and take either a 2nd Tyrant or 2nd Catapult. I suspect that I'm not going to win many games, especially those with high attrition. I did have trouble with Shae, although the Venators helped tremendously (and thus the Flayer). Incorporeal models are going to be a pain and Circle might be a hassle without Vorkesh (yes I am looking forward to the Cetrartii UA).

Therefore, while my goal is always to win, realistically its how many models I can bring down and how fast I can get the kill. The AD weapon crew and the reform & extended range of the venators I think is going to help this one out (especially with a Tyrant's +2" to move). A well placed slam or throw from the Bronzeback or Gladiator will go a long way too. Drag is going to be especially important, to draw LOS. Because of these different factors, I am leaning towards either the 2nd unit of Arcuarii or 2nd Catapult.

Of course, if I find people to donate models, I might do Zaal's Tier list of Immortal/AG of doom.

Well look at that...

Alright, so I've decided to finish the Water-theme first before I start on an entirely new project. And in the backdrop of it all is also painting Cryx...

More to come. Hopefully I'll be fully done for TempleCon

Well, Ain't That a...

For some time now I've been struggling to finish the Magnus army and get rolling on highlighting all the issues with water scarcity and water quality. Problem is it gets into the political zone when one cause of water scarcity is attributed to global warming and in trying to keep this blog above politics, I've tried to avoid news articles related to global warming. But it is there and it is attributed to why India and China might be facing a crisis in the next decade.

With that out the way, that's not the real struggle. Part of it is my interest in winning tournaments from time to time, which the lists did not bring for me, simply because I am no expert at playing them and my comfort zone is reduced. Part of it is with the release of MkII, I'm now re-learning how to play my main faction (Cryx). Part of it is life - I'm busy planning a wedding and it looks now as if we'll be moving in the near future.

But the real reason? I'm not committed at this time to raising awareness to water quality/scarcity. I don't mean to mislead either - it is a great cause and arguably a human right to access clean, safe water. It is the breathe of life.

But at this time something else has hit home. I'm sharing some personal information here so I do not mean to get sappy. My family medical history has battled cancer numerous times, almost always fatally. Stomach cancer appears to be the re-occurring theme, the kind that doctors suspect it's genetic, but there's never enough evidence. It's a bit of history that since there is no proof of actual genetic susceptibility, we just blow it off. I could make the case that I'm a higher risk class for cancer, but somehow I continue to smoke the occasional (and I do mean probably once-month) cigar.

For the last three years however I have a cousin who has been battling Stage 3 Stomach and Stage 4 lung. She's been on and off of chemotherapy. And while chemo has helped the stomach cancer into dormancy, the lung cancer has remained active. The doctors have been unable to remove the stomach cancer due to this.

She's under 40 (I don't go asking older women their ages, but I believe she's 37). Her husband and her were to be married last year in 2007, but fast tracked it June 2006 right when they discovered that she had cancer. They were supposed to move to Australia and he was supposed to receive a corporate position for moving there. Instead he left it all behind for her, which is larger

We thought she was getting better. She was switched to a less destructive form of chemo to maintain dormancy. Instead the stomach cancer is active again and came back with a vengeance - it's spread to her intestines, liver, and pancreas. We simply don't know how much longer she has left. About a month ago, my aunt was hoping at least to the new year.

I'm afraid this post is turning rather morbid, but the point is, water quality and scarcity just isn't my banner. This has turned personal. It's my crusade.

I'll have to figure out what how this translates into gaming for a cause. I had an idea when I first started water quality, but I need to see if it translates well enough. Right now I'm a depressed enough from writing this post that I'm in a near non-functional state for the rest of the day. Not good when I have a business trip to go on.

Revised MkII Lists

A quick analysis of the new Mk II Magnus, without Tiers:

pMagnus is a beast and I feel that I have to take him. But he's better at smaller games. Why? His ability for speed is key. Iron Aggression is pop and forget. Bounce Snipe around each turn to other mobile units. Feat is powerful enough. Finally, Arcantrik Bolt slows down enemy warmachine factions.

To go with the feel of the "Hit & Run" tactic:
Croe's for Bushwack. 14" range with Snipe? Plus they fill out the role against Hordes nicely.
Renegade. Obvious choice for Snipe, but think about Temper Metal to get the Renegade up there.
Mangler benefits largely from Iron Aggression. Boosted melee attacks for Thresher?
Idrians + UA. Snipe + Assault & Battery (Shoot then run. Away.) is pretty cool. How about that everyturn? On the plus side, with Prey, I gain +2" movement to actually run away.

Solos? Kell and Gorman. Gorman provides limit screening and debuffing (which Magnus lacks) and Kell is a solid choice for 2 pts.

35pt List
Magnus the Traitor(+6)
-Renegade
-Mangler
10x Idrians + UA
10x Croe's Cutthroats
Kell
Gorman


As we expand into 50 points, there's better reason to take eMagnus, for Control. Steelhead blocks are better at this game, creating a swathe of territory that's deadly for the enemy (Cavalry + flank). Boomhowler makes a great tarpit now and is definitely viable. Trenchers can deny sight issues as well, thanks to cloud effects (sure they're in it...). Magnus' spell choices change too. Mobility helps the entire battlegroup, which makes it better to run Nomads at this level than the focus inefficient Mangler (Thresher needs the boost I feel to work correctly). Calamity can help solve the Mangler issue, but in limited form. Calamity in fact helps Croe's more now. Bullet Dodger makes Kell a lot of fun and can make Magnus a nightmare. Obliteration is powerful and Convection has a one off use. However, given his spell choices, he does need the two arc nodes. Since I'm going minimalistic and using the same models for most of my army...

I see myself taking the following list right now for 50 points:
Magnus the Warlord (+6)
-Renegade
-Renegade
-Nomad
10x Idrians + UA
10x Croe's Cutthroats
6x Trenchers
Kell
Gorman
Orin

I have 2 points left over and can upgrade to a Mangler if I wanted to. I may in fact do it, but will have to see the performance of the two jacks.

That's it for now. Right now I need to prep for Mangled Metal (500 pts). I'm thinking Talon + Mangler + 2x Renegades.

A lackluster of updates lately

Well, I've been trying to get things off the ground and running. We'll have to see how things perform, but all in all, I'm facing burnout from the game if I keep the tempo up. I am gunning to get everything painted by the end of the year, so I can roll into Mk II fresh. The main issue though is looking at the Tier game play for the Merc Contracts. The smoke-nerf to Trenchers reduces their role somewhat, but I think I can make a case to use them still. Just like the Idrians.

Anyway, I have to review my list choices for Mk II and come out with a solid list. I'll have two lists - 35 & 50 points built up. eMagnus only though.

In retrospect, it may have been a bad idea to build a list then move it over to MkII due to several rule changes in the way models work. Everyone experienced it, but it's harder for me to push models that were viable vs models that are no longer viable. I may have to just suck it up and sink this one in as a loss and move on to the next option (maybe a pMagnus, but I think I'm done with a Magnus Agenda for now). It also hurts that I'm exploring my parent faction (Cryx) some more and jumping around with other faction ideas.

But instead of being a downer as I just mentioned, I'm going to hold my head up high and carry through. I want to be done so I can help host a tournament during Water Awareness Week (3rd week in March usually).

As for the future, I can't say I can continue right away. I have an idea for an army that I'd like to run and an issue to go with it. But I'm getting married mid next year and possibly moving to an entirely different state to boot. So I may not announce anything for a rather long time unfortunately.

In other news, while I wasn't able to make it to our local Breast Cancer Brawl, I was fortunate enough to manage to drop by and donate. Man, talk about bad timing. I push for our LGS to hold the tournament and then the PG's schedule it the day I'm traveling down to Dallas.

Finally, some little news:
Chocolate that comfort food? Maybe not.
Water & Population. Expanding Supply vs Reducing Per-Capita-Expenditure
El Nino effects on S. America

I haven't been able to read any further articles right now due to scheduling (I've been traveling all over the place).