Custom Table

We're still working on the table. It will likely not be ready for the NOVA open (maybe next year?) BUT at the end of the day (or whenever we finish it) we'll have a badass table to use.

Workbench: cutting planks for the ship and molding tiles for the table.



Table Construction

Stairs

Part of the board has a retraining wall that will have a road and stairs leading up to it. I made a foam base for the stairs.


Then added tiles.


Foam core and tiles comparrison.


Tiles completed. A decorative railing will be added later.


Retaining wall

Tim had a brilliant idea to break the retaining wall up using grates. I'm going to add some paperclip bars for the grate and then maybe hollow the board in a little to make it look like there is a passage into the back.

The wires will connect to the lanterns (also Tim's idea). There is a small pvc pipe under the tiles that houses the wires.

Scale: Satyxis Raider fits nicely into the alcove.



Ship building

Blue insulation foam measured thrice. Given my lack of any sort of woodshop skills I was nervous about cutting this: especially using the wire cutting tool by hand. I made a 90 degree edge using the corner of a 'For Sale' sign and then I took the metal edge off the measuring tape so I could lay it flat on the board. Something tells me I should get actual appropriate tools in the future.


Cut 1: removing the body from the foam. I used the wire rod (not the cheese slicer looking one).


Many cuts later: the two small holes will be masts. The large square cut towards the bow (front) will have a metal mesh that will function like an open hold. The two side squares carved out will have cannons. The aft (rear) will house the engine and steering. Deathjack and Satyxis Raider for comparrison.


That's all for now. I'll add better pictures of the planks I put on the ship as well as my progress on my Cryx army (need to finish that and start painting!).

Battlereport: Warmachine

"A new world record" -Penny Arcade.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen... Brian and Garrett. This is a report of my first ever Warmachine battle! Neither of you play this game but it is fantastic and awesome (and cheaper).

Game: learning phase. Set-up and fight. I represent the forces of Cryx, lead by the Warwitch Deneghra. My opponent played the kingdom of Cygnar lead by the Commander Stryker. Players roll and highest picks to go first or second. First turn also deploys first.

As you can see here we have a large factory on the right, a couple of silos on the left, a lone leafless tree in the middle. Forces deploy up to 10" away from their edge and 20" away from each other. The board is usually 4x4'.

In Warmachine one of the ways to win (if the mission has other ways) is to kill off the opposing warcaster (general). This is not as easy as it sounds! Each warcaster has the warjacks assigned to them. These steampunk engines of war have a magic-mechanical brain that responds to warcasters commands. Without the warcaster they become inert. Troop units can operate independently but can be aided by the warcaster via buffs or allocation of the game's central mechanic: focus.

Think of focus like mana. A warcaster can channel it into their own spells or directly into their warjacks or troops to make them more effective. Part of the game becomes a balancing act of using focus for spells, helping crucial units perform actions and getting your warjacks to wreak havoc on the battlefield.

While a warcaster is strong, they aren't the unit killing monsters like 40K characters. They aren't completely fragile but you have to calculate the risks you take with them.

I rolled higher so I deployed first to go first.

Turn 1 Cryx:

My units are directly from the Cryx battlebox. A cheap box that gives you the basic components to play the game: warcaster, units, unit stats, and basic game rules! You don't need the main rulebook to start playing! The starter rules are abridged to make it easier. Cards come with the units so you can mark damage on them (as applicable).

Cryx warjacks are light bonejacks (defiler is a shooter and deathrippers are close combat) which are fast and agile vs. the heavy helljacks (slayer is slightly slower but tougher and packs a wallop). Deneghra is a lithe, fast, debuffing witch very capable of dishing out damage but not as good at taking it.

Turn one had me running everything up and since nothing was in range (defiler has short range) I couldn't do anything.

Cygnar turn 1:
Stryker and his jacks run up. The Defender is a heavy with a gun and hammer. The Sentinel is a light with a gun and shield. The stormblades are troops wearing armor and wielding these sword pikes that shoot lightning. They start to go to town on my deathripper. The other two jacks aren't as effective at shooting me.

Turn 2: Cryx
Fun times here: on the left Deneghra casts a damage spell called Scourge: it hits a target then a 3" AoE knocks everything around it (friend of foe) down. Being knocked down in this game is bad. Close combat hits automatically, on your turn to get up you have to sacrifice your movement or your action, etc.

You'll notice the spell arrow goes through the deathripper. Many bonejacks have an arc node which allows casters to channel spells through the 'jack. This keeps the caster out of harms way while spells rip open the enemy and your deathripper runs in and kills everyone! Almost.

My slayer rushes the defender and slams it causing it to fly back into Stryker causing some damage to both and knocking them down.

Cygnar:
Here the stormblades get back up and countercharge using some of Stryker's focus. Stryker and the Defender reposition themselves and the Sentinel shoots at my slayer, damaging it some more.

Turn 3: Cryx
My deathripper on the left kills some more stormblades. My slayer charges the defender and my deathripper on the right charges the sentinel. Deneghra lowers the defender's armor so the slayer can smack it around with greater ease.

Cygnar:

Stryker charges the Slayer with the Defender and wreak it. The stormblades take out my deathripper and the sentinel tries ineffectually to beat up my defiler.

Turn 4: Cryx
The defiler rushes the sentinel, knocking it out the way. Deneghra casts a knockdown spell on Stryker then rushes in with the remaining Deathripper and finish him off!

With Stryker dead all the remaining warjacks go inert and the remaining stormblades probably start to make a run for it. Victory for the Cryx, now let's go make a puppet show with their corpses! YAY!

What the Cryx?

I might have done something bad. I'm not entirely sure yet. What I do know is this:

Deathripper Bonejack
Defiler Bonejack with sign pointing to the Caspia (the Cygnarian Capital)

Warwitch Deneghra

Slayer Helljack

Cobblestone base

I know what you're thinking: "What have you done, you fool?!"


At first I would have agreed with you. Initially buying the Cryx Starter Box was on a whim. I've always eyed the Warmachine game by Privateer Press. People have always been talking about it and then a friend mentioned he had Cygnar models and then suddenly I was at the War Store ordering the Starter Box, Rulebook, and the Cryx rulebook.


Maybe I got a little carried away. Once everything came in the mail I sort of sat there wondering what I had done. Then, swallowing hard, I opened the box and looked at the models. 'Where's the spru?' I thought to myself. Each model was individually wrapped and ready to assemble with a minimum of flock to clean up. A large color fold-out page with the basic rules and the stats for all the other faction starters was included. Everything I needed to play the game was in the box. All I needed was an opponent.


The bases are unique, the inner circle is slightly lower than the edge so you have a natural barrier to tell where the edge of the base is and a spot to make a neat base without disrupting the base itself. Naturally I took the massive collection of Games Workshop spru and made cobblestone then added sand in between the blocks. For Deneghra I added a couple of straws for pipes and a rickety little causeway. Turned out pretty well but the pictures above are crap.


The models themselves are smaller than I originally thought they would be. Deneghra is the only 'human' sized thing and she is roughly the height of a Games Workshop figure but her pose is pretty dynamic. The bonejacks (the little ones) are merely heads, torsos, and legs so there isn't much in the way of assembly. The Slayer had shoulders and forearms to make more interesting poses. They are big but not big like GW models are big. However these 'jacks are weird fusions of magic and technology [read: thermapunk aka steampunk].


The game itself is a strange because it really breaks away from the way GW works. Primarily because your turn involves using one unit at a time rather than a movement, magic, shooting, close combat phase on each turn. I suppose I could go in-depth with the differences but I haven't even played a game yet.


Either way I love the models and I enjoyed spending today putting them together and their bases (which took the majority of the time). It was a breath of fresh air doing something different.