Just got into Netrunner

Netrunner is on!

Yup, nothing more than what needs to be said.  Right now, I'm enjoying Corp a lot more because I like the feeling of building up defenses and resources.  Running is OK, but I think I like the fantasy of playing big conspiracy-level bad guys a lot better.  I'm currently piloting Near-Earth Hub, Blue Sun, Replicating Perfection, and Engineering the Future.  I would say out of those, Near-Earth Hub (butchershop variant) and Blue Sun (another butchershop) is my most favorite, although Engineering the Future is starting to grow on me.  Replicating Perfection I feel, is too dicey at times due to the weaker ICE and rolling dice.  As for runners, I'm leaning towards Leela, Hayley and Noise.

Do any of you guys play?  We should find a time to play on OCTGN.  I only started playing 3 days ago but that's been taking up the majority of my gaming time.

Designing a ruleset for Age of Sigmar

Random DE poster from way back when.

OK here we go:

I noticed there are 4 distinct categories for units in the game. Since there are no points in the game, I still think it COULD be possible to lightly balance the game with some very minor work. Instead of re-writing point values for every unit, we might be able to pull something off by limiting certain models based on numbers.

Just so you guys can follow me, here are 4 categories that I've noticed for units:

• 1w models - Most infantry, or rather, Core (or rather, what was core before) in the game 
• 2-4w models - Some Cavalry in the game, most Ogres or Monstrous Infantry
• 5+w models - Most Heroes in the game, or beefy elite units that we would consider "Special/Rare" before
• 10w+ models - Most Monsters in the game, some other weird stuff like the Bell and what not

So instead of writing points up for these guys, I've chose to do this. For now, I'm just going to call it Core, Special, Rare and Elite for sanity sakes.

The categories here are: Hero, Core, Special, Rare, Elite. This is defined as:

• Hero - Max of 1 model
• Core - Max of 20 models if small base (unless warscroll says you can take bigger), max of 10 anything bigger
• Special - Max of 10 if small base, max of 5 anything larger
• Rare - Max of 5 if small base, max of 3 anything larger
• Elite - Max of 1 model

When applied to High Elves, it looks something like..
Tyrion - Hero
Teclis - Hero
Eltharion on stormwing - Hero, Elite
Prince Imrik, Dragonlord - Hero, Elite
Prince Althran - Hero
High Elf Prince - Hero
High Elf Prince on Griffon - Hero, Elite
High Elf Prince on Dragon - Hero, Elite
High Elf Archmage on Dragon - Hero, Elite
High Elf Mage - Hero
Dragon Mage - Hero, Elite
High Elf Spearmen - Core
High Elf Archers - Core
Silver Helms - Core
Ellyrian Reavers - Core
Dragon Princes of Caledor - Special
Tiranoc Chariots - Special
High Elf RBT - Special
Great Eagles - Rare
Alith Anar, the Shadow King - Hero
Shadow Warriors - Special
Alarielle the Radiant - Hero
Handmaiden of the Everqueen - Hero
Sisters of Avelorn - Special
Caradryan - Hero
Anointed of Asuryan - Hero
Phoenix Guard - Special
Flamespyre Phoenix - Elite
Frostheart Phoenix - Elite
Loremaster of Hoeth - Hero
High Elf Swordmasters - Special
Korhil - Hero
White Lions of Chrace - Special
White Lion Chariots - Special
Lothern Sea Helm - Hero
Lothern Sea Helm on Skycutter - Hero, Special
Lothern Sea Guard - Core
Lothern Skycutters - Special

So using the above classification, if we're going to play a test game, it will look something like this:
1-2 Heroes
1-3 Core
0-2 Specials
0-1 Rare
0-1 Elite

Sample list:
Heroes: Archmage on Foot, Prince on Dragon
Core: 20 Archers, 20 Spearmen, 10 Silver Helms
Special: 5 Dragon Princes, 10 Phoenix Guard
Rare: 3 Eagles
Elite: (the Prince on Dragon counts as Elite, see above)

The original framework was done using categories to separate the unit by wounds. However, the problem with that is that you run into situations where a unit might have 5 wounds, which would technically classify them as Rare, but they're not good enough to be limited to 0-1 in most cases (e.g. Tiranoc Chariot). Then you have situations where you have Chaos Warriors, which were core in the last edition of Warhammer and what people are used to now, but are actually the elite of Chaos. That's why I don't see a super huge deal if Special is appropriate for them (max of 10 models, takes a Special slot), but like you said, putting them in Core as well is also appropriate. The same applies for Ogres. These are the times where exceptions have to be made, and the only way these exceptions make sense is if they are applied army by army, unit by unit. Otherwise, there's just no way to balance wounds without point costs.

This might not be perfect, but its a clear way to lightly balance the game around some generic modifications to army restrictions proportional to army size, without actually putting point costs in it.  You're essentially limiting the powerful stuff that you can take, reducing the amount of ridiculous presence on the field, while still being able to freestyle for the majority of the lists.

For example, let's just call the above a small game.  For a medium-sized game, you add +1 Hero, Core, Special, Rare, but keep the Elite at 0-1.  For a larger game, you do 1-4 Heroes, 1-4 Core, 0-4 Special, 0-3 Rare, 0-2 Elite.

While we're doing that, let's add some other generic rules for quality of life reasons:

• LoS works the same as 7th Ed. 40K (including characters joining units, large models cannot)
• Infantry-sized heroes can get LoS on 2+
• Cavalry or MI heroes can get LoS on 4+
• Soft cover is -1, Hard cover is -2 to shooting
• Shooting units cannot shoot if they're in melee
• All melee is base to base
• All stupid ass rules that make you cluck or do something else equally retarded resolve as if you preformed the required action

What do you think?  I'm looking for feedback first and foremost, and I need expert opinions on people with army specific knowledge.  I am pretty fluid in everything except for Brets, Beastsman, Warriors, Lizards, Orcs, and Tomb Kings.  If you can make a list of units from the Age of Sigmar books following my restrictions, please post them in the comments so we can discuss.

Just bought into Warhammer 40K: Conquest

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!

I made the leap yesterday and placed an order for 3x core sets and all of the existing warpacks (6 of them).  This should mean that I'll have at least 3x of every card and 6x of every core set card.  I've done a lot of research into the game lately and it looks like serious fun to play.  My plan is to get my local gaming group into the game and start up something that can add to the local meta.  I believe there's already a playgroup that goes to the local tournaments around here, so I'll hopefully add onto that with a few players.

The biggest drawback right now is I only have 2 playsets (6x cards total, 3x is the playset) of some really popular cards.  I'm talking about Rogue Trader, Void Pirate and Promotion.  While some decks don't have those because they have their own ridiculously good cards, a lot of other decks do because they lack those options.  I mean, that's OK for now since I can just move those cards around from the decks I plan to build, but once more players think about playing seriously, they'll have to buy their own 2x starer sets and whatever else.

Right now, I plan on building the following decks:
Eldorath/DE
Baharroth/Tau
Kith/Eldar
Zarathur/Ork
Cato/Tau
Ragnar/AM
Aunshi/Eldar

One of the best things about this game has to be the fact that I can swap some cards around and all of a sudden, I have a new deck.  Throw a few things around from Eldorath and replace some warlord specific cards here and there and I have a Baharroth deck.  Do the same with Cato and you have a Ragnar deck.  All of these guys play radically different and that's what I love about the game system thus far.  Sure, I don't like seeing Rogue Traders and Void Pirates everywhere, but that's only because the game is still relatively new and there's no faction specific cards out for them yet.  Hopefully with the upcoming deluxe expansion we'll see some replacements.

Have any of you guys gotten into this game?  It looks incredible.  Some of the new art too, absolutely incredible.  For 150 bucks, I have every army in the game, all of which are competitive because the rules are well-written and there's direct tournament support.  Wow.

Thanks for the good times WHFB

With each new beginning, there is an end.

Probably one of the saddest days for me in the hobby so far.

I'm not interested in the direction that Age of Sigmar is taking the hobby and I've decided to liquidate everything that I have.  For those of you that might be interested, please check the Bartertown link here.  Thanks for all the good years and support, know that these funds will be poured directly into 40K, which in its current form, still has what I look for in the hobby.

For those of you that might think this is me overreacting and jumping shark, it's really not.  I'm simply not interested in what Age of Sigmar has to offer.  I already have enough skirmish-level games that I can play such as X-Wing and Warmahordes, and both game systems still have what I enjoy the most about the gaming aspect of playing table-top.  These three things are: army design, army customization, and doing so within a points limit.  On top of that, FFG and PP also cares deeply about the community, customer retention, tournaments, and competitive game balance.  I mean, have you seen some of these Warscrolls?  What the fuck man.

I am a gamer first and foremost, more than anything else.  When I'm not gaming, I'm building models so I can get them on the table to play.  This is why ever since I sold off all my painted miniatures, I never bothered to paint them again.  I'm that much of a gamer that I look back at all the time I've spent painting and I want them back so I can play more.  Playing games gives me fun and fulfillment.  It also inspires me to write on this blog so I can share my ideas, strategies and battle reports with you guys so you can continue to enjoy the game along side me.  I don't see Age of Sigmar doing that for me, so I don't want to pollute this blog with any more god damn negativity.  You gotta cut the negative stuff out of your life you know?

Regardless, this is going to be my last Warhammer Fantasy post.  It has been 14 years since I started WHFB and today, that all comes to an end.  I'm not interested in fan-supported 8th Edition, or ETC or anything else less than official because for me, I've been down that road with BFG and Epic and I'm not willing to do that again.  If Age of Sigmar ever decides to bring back the things I enjoy the most about the hobby, I'll think about joining in again.  For now though, it's goodbye.