Happy New Year everyone!

Yup, pretty accurate.

Well, there was no apoc and we're all still here.
Awesome.

Looking back at 2012, I wanted to ask you guys what more do you want from this blog?  Yes, I know I know, activity would be great, but I can only write based on the events that unfold around me.  There's work, the family, the house, all that great adult stuff that keeps you away from your hobbies.  And then of course, there's motivation.

I can't really force myself to play games, it must happen naturally.  Lately with holidays and seeing family, there's hardly any room to break out the minis and get games going.  However, I've been doing some research into The Hobbit SBG and that might be something I get into.  I don't know, only time will tell.

What would you guys like to see in 2013?  More WHFB?  40K?  The billion other games I play?
How about another writer to help keep the site active?

Feel free to let me know.
Happy New Year everyone!

The Hobbit - LotR minis game?

LotR, anyone a fan?

Alright guys, now that most of you have seen The Hobbit, I think it's time to talk about the Strategy Battle Game.  It's been a long time since I did anything with LotR (last game I worked on was Battle for Middle-Earth II).

I haven't bought the rulebook yet, but I'm thinking about picking it up and checking out the rules.  I'm fairly convinced I'm going to play either the Galadhrim and Rivendell Elves.  Maybe even some units of the High Elves, I'm not really sure.  Whatever the case is, I'm looking at Elves although Gondor and Dwarves look pretty nice as well.

Does anyone own the rulebook and/or play LotR the Strategy Battle Game?  If so, can you tell me some stuff about the game?

I don't think I'm going to get into War of the Ring because my big fantasy game is reserved for WHFB.  However, a small skirmish-style GW game with my favorite LotR stuff sounds pretty kick ass.

Game Design Series - High Elves and ASF

There's no way my HE looks like this.

Hey guys, it's been a long time.

I've been pretty busy over the last couple of weeks and it hasn't been minis related.  First it was work, then it was thanksgiving.. I've been traveling a lot and I just came back from a friend's wedding over the weekend.  I'll also be AWOL in the next couple of weeks due to Christmas break.

This is going to be the first article in a new series of articles I plan on writing.  It might not be the first of its kind, or similar to some of the other ones you've seen around the web, but it will be something special.  I'm calling this particular series, the Game Design Series.  It's basically a series that'll touch upon the finer points of gaming; breaking down the facets of why certain things are the way they are, who thought of them, or why did it originate in the first place.  I'm a huge fan of game design, most notably in the field of balance design, and I make a big deal when something just doesn't work.  I love the idea of originality and creativity, but not at the expense of game imbalance.  However, there are times where something works so wonderfully that I have to talk about it.  This is one of those times.

We'll kick this series off with why I think ASF - Always Strike First, is the best thing to happen to High Elves faction design, ever.

Playing some MTG

RTR is amazing!

If you guys were wondering where I've been.. I've been playing quite a bit of competitive Magic.  There's a lot of players at work and although I try my best to stay out of FNM, I might go next week with my UW Control deck.

So right now, I have 2 decks in the works.  There's my GW Aggro deck and UW Control.  Personally, I've always felt home with blue due to my permission-based playstyle, so I tend to play that deck a lot more.  Here's what my decks currently look like:

UW Control
GW Aggro

I can't wait for next set to release the rest of the guilds; Dimir being my favorite from the set and Boros in close second.  RTR is by far the most fun I've had with Magic in years.

6th Ed. CSM book review

Ready for Eternal War!

Originally posted by me on BoLS.

I'm just going to go out and say it, I love Phil Kelly.  This man has brought us many great works and the new Chaos Space Marine codex is no different.

He leaves his trademark design elements in the codex because he allows you, the player, the ability to customize your army as you see fit.  The best thing about all of his books is that he gives you options.  Options that can be kept cheap, so you can field of what you love, and options that can gear your army out to the teeth but at a competitive price.  This is why I believe Phil Kelly is the best GW designer.

+++Disclaimer+++
This is long!
Be prepared to read :)

This review is not going to be a direct compare and contrast of the old CSM book.  I will still compare a little bit here and there, but the reason I'd like to avoid this is because this is the first codex to be written in 6th Ed.  If we think back to what GW designers did with 8th Ed. Fantasy, we might assume that this codex is what's going to determine the scale of power and direction that future 40K books will be written.  Whether or not this is true is unknown until the next couple of books come out.

Let us explore some of the options in the new CSM book shall we?

Ready for Eternal War

Rot, Glorious Rot!

Yup, I said it.
Here's what I'm currently building to:

1996

HQ:
Typhus = 230

TROOP:
35x Plague Zombies = 150
7x Plague Marines (Rhino, PF, 2x Plasma Gun) = 258
7x Plague Marines (Rhino, PF, 2x Plasma Gun) = 258
7x Plague Marines (Rhino, PF, 2x Plasma Gun) = 258

ELITE:
6x Terminators (MoN, 1x CF, 6x CbM) = 266

HEAVY:
7x Havocs (MoN, 4x Autocannon) = 162
7x Havocs (MoN, 4x Autocannon) = 162
2x Obliterators (MoN) = 152
ADL w/ Quad-Gun = 100

I already have the Plague Marines, but I need my god damn shipment of Terminators to come so I can start converting them into Death Guard.  Anyone got any ideas on what to do with the Autocannons?  I need to make 8 of them for my Havocs and I'm not sure how.

The idea here is simple:  7s everywhere, Havocs behind the ADL with Quad-Gun joined by the Oblits.  The huge unit of 35x Plague Zombies will go somewhere to claim, contest or hold down and objective, and the Plague Marines will just roll up and be badasses.  No Epidemis and Plaguebearers, sorry.  I'll try to stay away from the cheese until DoC get released in the near future.  Who knows what will change?

Now here's a funny question... Typhus' Zombies rule makes it so Cultists can't take any options.. does that mean I can't increase the squad size either.

If I drop the Plague Zombies, I might just take an extra Oblit and add more Terminators!

Mortarion and Fulgrim Primarch stats

Fulgrim
Primarch of the Emperor's Children

Fulgrim the Illuminator - 380 points
WS 8
BS 6
S 6
T 6
W 6
I 8
A 5
Ld 10
Sv 2+

Unit Type: Infantry (Character)
Unit Character: 1 (Unique)
Wargear:
The Gilded Panoply
2+ Armour, 5+ Invun (this increases to 3+ in combat)
Should Fulgrim pass an Armour or Invun save on a 6, the unit that inflicted the wound must pass an initiative test or be Blinded

The Blade of the Laer
Str - As User
AP 2
Type
Melee, Rending, Specialist Weapon, Two Handed

Fire Brand
Master Crafted Volkite Charger which also has Shred

Krak and Plasma Grenades

Special Rules:
Primarch

Sire of the Emperor's Children
Fulgrim has Crusader, and must always issue and accept challenges if there is someone in combat with WS 5 or higher
Whilst Fulgrim is on the board, all units with Legiones Astartes (Emperor's Children) gain +2 to combat res, and reserve rolls may be re-rolled

Sublime Swordsman
His invun is increased to 3+
He gains more attacks equal to how much his Initiative is better than his opponents

Strategic Planning
A single Warlord Trait from any table may be CHOSEN for Fulgrim