Harlequins are here!

Looks pretty sexy!

Check it out guys.  What do you think?  Worth picking for an Dark Eldar army?

Fancy!  You can find more here.

Skaven: Different list variations

Killing everybody.. yes, yes..

Having played a ton of games with my Skaven on UB so far, I've decided to try a few more list variations.  There's three of them..

Real quick, let's talk about list design in general.  Keep in mind that all of my lists have been designed with ETC Draft 2 in mind.  That's the new hotness where I play and the majority of players on UB are rocking that.  You can find a link to the ETC restrictions in some of my previous posts, and I really suggest you guys give this new version a go.  I was really hating on ETC a couple of years ago because the comp was much harder than I like, but now ETC is considered by most to be light comp with a few tweaks.  This is really good for players like me who likes minimal change to the game while preventing the most heinous power builds from occurring.  The 5 dice cap and LoS on killer death spells is also a blessing.

If you guys are reading this on the East Coast, get ready because ETC will be the main ruleset for majors over there.  Now, let's go over the lists that I've been tinkering with, check it out.

The Two Towers
2399 ETC
11 deploys

LORDS:
Grey Seer = 265
Lore of Ruin
Earthing Rod
+Screaming Bell = 200

HEROES:
Chieftain BSB = 82
Halberd, CShield, Ironcurse

Lv.1 Plague Priest = 129
Flail, Scroll
+Plague Furnace = 150

Warlock Engineer = 45
Doomrocket

CORE:
45x Stormvermin, FC, Storm Banner = 390
50x Skaven Slaves, FC = 106
49x Skaven Slaves, FC = 104
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23

SPECIAL:
32x Plague Monks, FC, Plague Banner = 279

RARE:
1x Hell Pit Abomination, Spikes = 250
1x Warp Lightning Cannon = 90
1x Warp Lightning Cannon = 90
1x Doomwheel = 150

A few points tweaks here and there, but you'll see mostly good stuff on the lords/heroes selection.  The BSB is a little fragile in there for someone who's going to be on the front lines, but since the entire unit is Unbreakable I'm not all that concerned.  Yes, swinging at the Grey Seer is troublesome and yes, having two giant blocks of infantry will limit my deployment options, but so far I've been very successful vs. the Dwarfs, WoC, Empire and HE lists I've played against.  I don't think most of my opponents faced something like this in a long time and I'm happy to show them that old lists can still work.  The Plague Monks are especially effective against anything Elves once they hit combat, and they absolutely tear up things like BotWD blocks, Halberdiers, and even armor if I force enough wounds.  Even if you stay in there with heavy armor and S3 bounces off you, I don't care either because I'm Unbreakable and my Furnace will be denying combat res and dropping smack in your face every turn while forcing Toughness tests all day.

Rat Storm
2400 ETC
12 deploys

LORDS:
Grey Seer, Ruin = 275
Power Scroll
+Screaming Bell = 200

HEROES:
Chieftain BSB = 122
Halberd, 4+ Ward, Charmed Shield

Lv.1 Plague Priest = 129
Flail, Scroll

Warlock Engineer = 45
Doomrocket

CORE:
45x Stormvermin, FC, Storm Banner = 390
50x Skaven Slaves, FC = 106
50x Skaven Slaves, FC = 106
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23

SPECIAL:
29x Plague Monks, FC, Plague Banner = 258
5x Gutter Runners, Slings, Poison = 90
5x Gutter Runners, Slings, Poison = 90

RARE:
4x Storm Fiends, Rattling Guns = 340
1x Warp Lightning Cannon = 90
1x Warp Lightning Cannon = 90

You can either set these Storm Fiends up in 2x2 or 4x1, it doesn't really matter.  You just walk these guys forward and let loose with 12D6 worth of S5 AP magical shots that ignores everything but cover.  Against some lists, they can be utterly fucking ridiculous since it outright murders knight-heavy Empire lists, most VC lists, and mostly any lists that doesn't shoot back or have weaker shooting elements.  They suffer against heavy-shooting armies from Elves and light councils in general, but otherwise they're horrible to deal with if your opponent knows what he's doing.  I'm missing out on the Abomination and Doomwheel in this list, but that's fine as long as I can pour enough hot lead into my opponents to make their points back.  If you think about it, if I eliminate all their shooting options and chaff, the Storm Fiends will walk around, utterly unopposed and kill everything on the board with their shooting.

Now that you guys see the lists, here's some brain cake to think about.  Skaven, being one of the older books, still sports some of the nastiest stuff out there  The biggest boon that Skaven has is their don't care attitude toward elite, heavy armor style armies.  If you're running a knight bus, you might as well pull it from the table when fighting most Skaven lists.  I know for a fact my current VC list will most likely auto-lose to my Skaven because I just have no way of dealing with their damage output from range.  Storm Banner is a luxury and it will seriously hamper armies that rely on ranged shooting, and if I don't need it, I don't need to use it.  In my Two Towers list, a Storm Banner is a huge boon since it can keep my hammer units alive until I reach combat.  In my Rattling Fiend list however, they are less useful because it also impacts my shooting.

Another really ridiculous thing about the new Storm Fiends is that they add another dimension of power and confusion for your opponents.  During list construction, do they build to fight something like the Abom, Wheel and 2x WLC configuration or do they anticipate facing the 4x Rattling Fiends?  What about 2x units of Rattling Fiends or a unit with Grinder Fist?  Do they anticipate the Gutter Runners which is generally weaker vs. heavy armor lists with minimal shooting, but can they risk drawing a Skaven running max shooting?  How will armies that rely on breaking enemies and minimal attrition handle 2 huge Unbreakable blocks that can potentially ignore armor saves?  What if I have that Assassin with Weeping Blade and Potion of Strength?  The only thing that's really apparent to me now since the release of the Storm Fiends is how much they're going to change how people view Skaven.  If they were Special like some people suggest, they would be utterly broken.

I suspect that we might see a +1 restriction for Storm Fiends and maybe even more if I take the Grinder Fist on one of them.  Having them come up on the backfield of my opponents and blast away his stuff after charging a WM is kinda ridiculous.  Regardless, if ETC comps them, I can just swap out the Storm Banner with Razor Standard and call it a day.

WHFB: It's official, I'm restarting Skaven

The feeling when WLC scores a direct hit..

I owned the army a few years back and I've had a lot of fun with it.  As times changed and I wanted to play something else, I eventually sold off the army and forgot about it.  Thankfully, a couple of weeks ago, I was digging through the garage and found a bunch of stuff left.  Lo and behold, The End Times are upon us now and I'm getting the urge to play the army again.  I seeked out some of my contacts and immediately re-purchased the elements I need, so if anyone has some leftover IoB rats that they're not assembling, let me know!

Here is what my current army looks like under the 2400 ETC format:

2399 ETC
11 deploys

LORDS:
Grey Seer = 265
Lore of Ruin
Dispel Scroll
+Screaming Bell = 200

HEROES:
Chieftain BSB = 74
Shield, Halberd

Lv.1 Plague Priest = 116
Plague Censer
+Plague Furnace = 150

Warlock Engineer = 45
Doomrocket

CORE:
45x Stormvermin, FC, Storm Banner = 390
50x Skaven Slaves, FC = 106
49x Skaven Slaves, FC = 104
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23
1x Giant Rat Pack = 23

SPECIAL:
35x Plague Monks, FC, Plague Banner = 300

RARE:
1x Hell Pit Abomination, Spikes = 250
1x Warp Lightning Cannon = 90
1x Warp Lightning Cannon = 90
1x Doomwheel = 150

If some of you remember, this is my Two Towers list and is a pretty old school army.  I maximize on what I view to be the best units in the book while keeping everything under restrictions.  No Gutter Runners are in this list so it's susceptible to enemy WM shooting, but the combat blocks are rock solid and the rare choices are maxed for dealing death.

At 2500 points and in unrestricted WHFB, that's when I add a few more nasty toys like Brass Orb and Death Globe, but for now, this is looking pretty good.  I've had a few games with this list on UB and I've been doing quite well with it.

WHFB: ETC vs. Swedish Comp?

I'm thinking about restarting Skaven.. someone stop me!

So recently, I've been doing some heavy research into comps for my local meta to play. While 2500 regular WHFB is on the table, we're looking for something else to introduce so we can have more balanced games of Warhammer.

I'm just trying to see what you fellas think is the better comp for balanced Warhammer here. I'm personally enjoying 2400 ETC Draft 2 myself, but a lot of the events on the West Coast is using Swedish and some people swear by it.

My biggest problem with Swedish I think is that a lot of the time, it feels like it comps "netlists" or popular lists really hard, not necessarily looking at power level. This, IMO, keeps it away from being balanced warhammer and rather, a popularity contest. An example that I can give is that one of my VC lists hovers at 6.4 while what I think is a weaker HE list, without BotWD comes in at 2.0. I don't even know what to make of this, considering that a tooled up Lv.4 Vampire Lord with LoV cost less than a Lv.4 Shadow Mage with Book. It just doesn't make sense to me sometimes.

For funsies, I plugged in my DE list, my DoC and my Skaven list into the system too. My Skaven is a -3.3 (ROFL), DE is a flat 0, and my DoC is a whopping 13.9 because its mono Slaanesh.  In terms of power level, based on what I have faced thus far (and I've played many games with these armies), I would say that my Skaven > DoC = VC > HE > DE in terms of power level, but the Swedish comp is DoC (13.9) > VC (6.4) > HE (2.0) > DE (0) > Skaven (-3.3).  This means that my second strongest army here, would be playing a relatively soft army by Swedish standards.

Can anyone with experience in these systems explain this phenomenon that I'm seeing?

The 3 big things that WHFB 9th Ed. needs

Random Skaven Warlord here we go!

Honestly, I think 8th Ed. is a pretty good edition with all things considered.  The End Times stuff is just as good because of the 50% lords/heroes and the bigger models will let people better eat their points.  While these are good things for the game, they're not necessary for the next edition of Warhammer to be good.

Here is what I think 9th Ed. needs to be the most successful edition of Warhammer yet. Keep in mind I'm also doing this with the business in mind and the direction of the company from what I've seen so far.

1. Simplified ruleset, mainly in the movement phase of the game e.g. Kings of War.
2. Reduce barrier of entry for the game to be played e.g. scenarios designed for smaller games, horde units being less effective.
3. Reduction in power for magic spells e.g. Purple Sun, Mindrazor, Dwellers Below.

When you think about it, there's not too much to improve. Stuff like laser cannons and the such while good, is not needed for the game to be successful. Reducing the barrier of entry, having a simpler ruleset (while still maintaining tactical gameplay), and generally making the game more fun, is what is needed.

The latest rumors on 9th suggests that a skirmish version of WHFB is coming, so maybe like Mordheim again, but WHFB will not be reduced to a skirmish game.  Phew.

Total War: Warhammer is real

It is real.

We knew that it was coming, but accidentally leaked on a few websites today is official news that TW: Warhammer is coming in the near future.  I've shared quite a few articles on this subject already so I'll make this one brief.

In my opinion, the design philosophy behind the Total War games work perfectly with Warhammer.  In WHFB, you have combat resolution which is played out perfectly in Total War because of how the morale system works.  Unfortunately, I don't believe the current software engine that's present in Rome2 will work if they want to add flying units, dragons and other monsters.  They really need a engine that can handle those kind of units to make the visuals convincing.  Otherwise, it's going to look like any other mod.

Aside from the engine, a few other things will need extreme thought in order for the title to be successful.  The biggest one is probably the SP campaign, the setting in relation to the current End Times scenarios.  How many factions will have in the game?  Will it be before or after the End Times?  Personally, I think it should sync up with 9th Ed.'s ideas of the future of Warhammer.

My other concerns lie around the design mechanics more than other aspects.  How will CA handle lords and heroes?  How will they make them stand out on the battlefield in such a way that's far more than your generic general's unit in most Total Wars?  How about challenges?  What about magic items?  Speaking of magic, how will they handle it to play fluidly in an RTS?  I have my own ideas of course, but I'm really waiting for CA to shed some light on how these complicated mechanics are going to work.

Warhammer is a world where epic heroes fight among thousands of troops, escorted by terrible monsters, with magic and sorcery flying all over the place.  While I believe CA will be able to do the title justice, I'm just hoping that their vision of the game lines up with.. well, mine.

Only time will tell.  I'll share some of my ideas in the future.

Warhammer: The beginning of the end?

I'm worried for GW, not gonna lie.

There has been a lot of doom and gloom lately with 9th Ed. WHFB seemingly around the corner.  You can catch most of the rumors from other sites like BoLS and Faeit, but a lot of popular rumormongers have been talking about round bases, eradicating existing armies, reducing units, reducing scale, and rebooting the setting directly.

I don't know how many of these are true, or how many of these are actually going to happen, but one thing is for damn sure:  This will be the truest test of GW for me personally.  If 9th Ed. WHFB is a giant flop, there's a huge chance that I will sell all my armies (both 40K and Fantasy) and abandon GW entirely.

It's been a rough couple of years for me for GW games specifically.  In the realm of design, I've seen some really nice pieces of work and some really shitty ones.  I've seen armies that I thought was going to see buffs and improvement receive utter crap and nonsense.  In terms of fluff, I'm re-reading some of the older books for material because the newer books are hollowed out skeletons of what army books used to be.  Last, but certainty not least, is the complete and utter idiocy of their business motto and execution strategies.

To sum GW up for me in the last couple of years:

• Prices have gone up again.
• Design has been really questionable to downright shitty.
• Complete watered down army books in terms of material for the same prices.
• The business decisions GW makes are utter nonsense with their limited releases and availability.  Not to mention the idea that they think their shit are considered collectibles.

I'm serious when I say that GW has been pissing everyone off lately.  It will be the final nail in the coffin if they go about destroying people's hobbies by eradicating armies, and reducing other people's collections to meaningless shit.  I'm really hoping that 9th Ed. will be good.  Not good in the sense that GW will have suddenly better rules and army design, but good in terms of making business decisions with the game in mind, and not some ludicrous idea that GW miniatures are limited edition collectibles.

For 9th Ed. to be good, they need to..

Change the business motto completely:

The whole idea that their shit should be limited release with limited availability is the dumbest thing I have ever fucking seen in the business world.  Your job is to literally provide product for your customers.  That literally is your only job and you have failed at it.  Not once, but multiple times now for every End Times release.  How this is even possible is beyond the scope of my imagination.  No joke GW, you had one job.

As a models company who writes rules for the models, you are now a game company.  If not, don't write fucking rules for your models.  Understand this for one fucking second and maybe your company won't be viewed as dogshit for the vast majority of the table-top playing community.  The second you attach rules to your models and design a rules platform for it, you owe it to your customer base to provide a quality product.

For God sakes, align your business strategies with your design team.  I'm seriously cautious on how 9th Ed. will play out because of this one thing.  WHFB doesn't need to be 2500 points to play, in fact, I would say this is the biggest reason why it's failing as a product.  The buy-in price is huge and no one wants to get started.  Good, so you have made lords and heroes 50% of your army, but is that really enough to get more players playing?  Maybe consolidating the armies to 6?  No and no.  What you need is a simplified ruleset, better points scaling and scenarios that promote smaller games.  If you can accomplish these three things, you will be able to achieve more players in your game.

Reduce the total army count to something more manageable without eradicating player options, units or armies.  This is important for their existing customer base and this will give them greater design space in the future.

Whatever, it doesn't matter, it's only a matter of time. GW has been taking in water for quite some time. It's bleeding cash with a lot of internal strife, poor direction and subpar leadership. You can tell by looking at the company from a consumer standpoint and you can clearly see that the departments are not running in sync. Both business strategy, marketing and general leadership are archaic, outdated and over-reliant on all or nothings.

The only reason why GW has the best "fluff" is because they've been established for 25+ years. I sure the fuck hope they've got themselves some good fluff if they were the first into the fray. Imagine for a second what GW could be if they have a modern perspective in what makes good business truly good business. If they didn't shun their consumers but embraced them, and provided a winning strategy for both hobbyist and gamer. GW would be invincible in the minis market, utterly unchallenged instead of constantly being questioned and doubted.