Article: Do or Die Scenarios are Bad

Here's a teaser of an article I wrote recently for Bell of Lost Souls:

Warmachine is a game where if you play carelessly with your warcaster, you can lose the game immediately.  When I read battle reports from other players, I shake my head every time I read the dreaded "do or die" scenario.  What does this scenario mean?  It means that if you don't do something big this turn, you will lose the game.  It's literally do or die.  This is exactly the type of scenario that you should avoid.

Recently, I read a battle report where someone got himself in close proximity to pButcher.  He was trying to pull off a kill on pButcher but when all things failed, he figured his warcaster should go try!  Now I don't know about you guys, but I can't fathom why you would ever get anywhere near a MAT9 Reach POW16 Weapon Master.  To make matters worse, you're not running eEiryss and the Butcher is camping focus with Iron Flesh on himself.  For those of you that are not familiar with Warmachine, pButcher is a slaughterhouse on two legs.  He's the size of most armies' light 'jacks and his melee swings as strong as most heavies.  Under no circumstance you should ever be near him unless you're prepared.  If you're running a melee beast warcaster yourself, you still might want to invest in another strategy since going up against Butcher with camped focus and buffs is going to be tough.  If you're ranged or a spellcaster and you're going for it, you're doing it wrong.

You can find the rest here.

League of Legends

You guys are probably wondering what the hell have I been doing lately.  Well, I'm playing League of Legends and trying not to suck at it.  I mean, I don't really suck at it.. I'm just trying to get wtf gosu pro.  It's a little different than DotA for those who's played it, and the RPG elements of it makes it something really unique.  The biggest thing for me is that it's a new game with a lot of new things for me to learn, and I dig that kind of stuff.

I'm currently experimenting with ranged carries since that's what I enjoyed playing back in DotA.  My favorites right now is Miss Fortune, Ashe and Annie.  I haven't really gotten a foothold on Annie yet.. and I'm going to try playing with Ryze today.  For those who are unfamiliar with the game, my characters can be broken up into 3 categories.  Miss Fortune, is a character who is ranged, does physical damage and is considered a carry.  A carry is basically any character who can make a lot of money (therefore getting uber items) and have deal enough damage to rape the other team.  Annie, for example, is a ranged, spellcaster carry.

I play carries because I like blowing things up for big damage and dominating people.  Tanks, healers and support classes need not apply.

PS - This game is free to play.

My Tier2 Rahn list

Cygnar is a great faction and I love playing with them, but sometimes you just need something different!  That's why I chose Retribution as my second army.  Nobody around here really plays them, no one understands them and the rarity of the faction is what really appealed to me.  Just because no one really plays them (there's like 5 Cygnar players here) doesn't mean they're bad.  In fact, I find Retribution to be one of the trickiest factions to play against.  They have strong shooting in the form of Invictors and MHSF, powerful melee thanks to Sentinels and Halberdiers, and ridiculous manipulation in the form of Battle Mages (mittens).

BR: 35pt Siege vs. eGaspy

The battle begins with a map with a fair share of terrain.  This battle highlights the importance of utilizing knockdown and positioning so Breach turn can inflict the most damage.  By destroying and severely crippling my opponent's warjacks, I can stay ahead in the attrition game and deliver game-winning results.  The guy with the last warjack is always ahead.

My list looks like this:

Points: 35

Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane (*5pts)

* Defender (9pts)

* Defender (9pts)

* Ol' Rowdy (9pts)

* Squire (2pts)

Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)

Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)

Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)

Stormsmith Stormcaller (1pts)

BR: 35pt eHaley vs. pGoreshade

The battle begins with a map with a fair share of terrain.  This battle highlights the importance of Haley's spells in combination with her Feat.  When used correctly, her feat can utterly cripple the opposing army and essentially give Haley's army another turn.  Her two win conditions in this list is the Defender and the Stormclad so both must be protected to make the win happen.

My list looks like this:

Points: 35
Major Victoria Haley (*5pts)
* Thorn (8pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)

BR: 35pt eCaine vs. eVlad

The battle begins with a map with a fair share of terrain.  This battle highlights the importance of target priority over the ambition of caster kill.  Sometimes the quickest way to victory is not the shortest path.  By killing key targets and destroying your opponent's ability to maximize his turns, the game can be yours without the need of assassination!

My list looks like this:

Points: 35
Captain Allister Caine  (*5pts)
* Ol' Rowdy  (9pts)
* Squire  (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)  (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer  (2pts)
* * Hunter  (6pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team  (4pts)
Rangers  (5pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes  (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution  (3pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator  (1pts)

Tried some hardcore

Well, not really too hardcore.  We played 35pts eCaine vs. Kaelyssa with 5 minute turns for a standard caster kill game.  Since we played on our lunch break and this is our first time trying out the stress of "hardcore", we wanted to see what it was like.

Man.. it really IS hardcore.  On my first turn, this is what I did:

1. Squire gives Caine a focus.
2. Reinholdt reloaded Caine.
3. Rangers ran to give Caine the +2 bonus on Eiryss and a Sniper.
4. I casted Trueshot on Caine, killed both with normal shots and then magic bullet the MHSF guy next to Eiryss.  Caine GCs back to safety.
5. Time - My turn ends.

WHAT?!  I was so shocked that that happened.  Maybe I'm getting old or something, but I barely did anything before turn was up.  I literally still had an entire army to move around and position myself.  In short, I wasn't able to shoot with my Hunter, run with Ol'Rowdy or move my ATGM into a more favorable location.

You know that saying "time flies when you're having fun?"  At the end of the game (Ol'Rowdy smashed Kaelyssa's face in), we decided that playing 5 minute turns was a bit too much.  Since we only have an hour lunch, we decided on 7 minute turns next game!  By my 2nd turn, I got used to how fast the turns ran but it still didn't help us in the most important aspect of all:  tactics.  A lot of mistakes were made and once Kaelyssa was exposed in range of Ol'Rowdy because of the mental pressure, I knew the game was over.

I am now officially impressed by the skill and precision it takes to play "hardcore", but I think I'll play something a little more casual.  Like they say.. "I'm getting too old for this shit."