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.

HUGE Age of Sigmar rules leaks and pics

Here it is, get 'em while they're hot.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada gameplay analysis

Super excited to play this game!

Check this out guys, here's the latest gameplay on Battlefleet Gothic: Armada.  I must have watched the video a hundred times, but I only did it because I'm really interested in seeing how this company is going to translate this vaulted table-top into a computer game.  Oh, one more minor video here, but you have to squint really hard to see anything.  Just listen in for the most part.

Here's a brief analysis from what I can see from a gameplay perspective:

• It looks like some special orders translates seemingly into RTS.  For example, it looks like All Ahead Full! is just a boost to speed at the expense of firing weapons maybe.  Or maybe it's just a minor decrease to weapons such as +25% speed for -25% rate of fire.  Likewise, Brace for Impact! might be a +25% damage reduction for -25% damage.
• The stats of the ship look pretty straight forward when translated onto an RTS platform.  Shields just look like a raw value that acts like an overheal, so its essentially extra health until shields go down.  Once shields go down, the damage is then applied to the ship's hull, which acts as health points.  When this value reaches 0, the ship explodes.  We're unsure if there's going to be different factors in play here when the ship explodes.  Does it have a chance to Warp Drive Implosion when the ship goes down?   We don't know.
• To expand on this a little further, it looks like there is going to be battle damage when damage is being applied to the ship.  The designers themselves said that there are going to be ways to damage weapon components and that immediately reminds me of Homeworld.  If players are able to disable a ship's engines to make them slower or completely crippled, then that can add huge dimensions to gameplay because of all the things you can do to an enemy ship.  You can clearly see chunks of the ship flying off as it takes heavy damage, but I'm unsure if these pieces continue to do damage to other ships that bump into them.
• Speaking of bumping into stuff, I don't think I see any Blast marker mechanics from the gameplay videoes so far.  Blast might have a side-effect to show that a ship is taking damage in general and that it moves slower once in combat, but that's all just guess work right now.
• From what I've seen from the combat system, it seems like most of the attacks are hitting the enemy ship when they're being fired with the exception of a few things like Torpedoes.  I think this means that they're making the torps fire like skillshots from a MOBA, and having them go on cooldown after being fired, which makes a fair amount of sense.  The big thing here to note is that if most of the attacks are hitting, but not all of them, then that means there's a hit modifier right?  If that's the case, then that makes Eldar Holo-fields really easy to do.  Attacks will simply miss more against ships utilizing Holo-fields, which is both consistent with the fluff and translates easily into the engine.  Whether or not this is actually good for gameplay is another issue.  If something like hit chance is in the game, what about criticals?  What if the RNG gods are cruel and you lose a Void Stalker based on bad RNG?  Surely that's bound to happen to everyone once in a while, but as long as its done tastefully and not consistently frustrating then it's OK.
• Right now, we are unsure how the damage formula for the ships are.  I'm assuming that ship weapons systems are doing set damage values every X amount of seconds (multiplied by hit chance) vs. Y amount of health using Z% of damage reduction due to armor.  This means that the damage system is a very easy to understand DPS vs. damage reduction formula being used with Torpedoes every 60 seconds or until the Reload Order is being used or something.
• Speaking of Orders, I'm not sure if there's going to be all the Orders in BFG, but there will be some well-known ones.  I think I saw All Ahead Full and Brace for Impact, but I don't know if any others exist.  From what I can see from the UI, it looks like every ship, or at least the important capital ships will have special abilities that maybe the captain will do.  For example, you might be able to select certain abilties on your captain as he levels up, and he will be able to apply that to any ship that he rides in.
• Going off of that, it seems that you will be able to upgrade various parts of the ship as you progress in the game.  The designers specifically mentioned that you will be able upgrade nearly everything, from the weapons to the officers, to the engines, you know it.  I'm curious to see if this is only going to be a single-player mechanic, or is it going to be in multiplayer as well where you can purchase more worthwhile upgrades, but it will add a cost to your ship.
• Before we go any further on this, I just wanted to say that no information has been released about how fighters/bombers are going to work.  Right now, we can only assume that there will be turret/defense interactions and fighters/bombers will be treated as mini units that can be launched from their carriers from a special action.  Once they unload, or fight, or what have you, they might need to reload back at their carriers before a Reload action is called so they can be sent out again.  This is all guesswork, but that's what I would do in an RTS game so why not?
• This leads me to my last part of this brief analysis, and that's the cost association with the ships.  Since I only really care about multiplayer, it looks like you'll be able to set a game up with a certain amount of points kind of like Total War, and then buy ships as long as you have enough points.  After that, you start the game, deploy in a line, setup whatever formation you want and go to town.  Makes sense, and looks really straight forward.

Needless to say, I'm really excited about the game.  Just by looking at this brief gameplay video, it looks like the developers over there know what they're doing.  I feel a little better now.

Finally, an update

I'm Samurai all the way.

Sorry for the lack of posts guys, a lot has been going on in my life.  WHFB has fell a little silent in my area, I just got rid of my huge Tyranids army, played a single game of 40K last week, but before then, I haven't been gaming much at all.  I got a new job and things have been pretty busy for me between work and a lot of traveling.

My new big obsession won't come out for another couple of months.  If you guys missed the preview of "For Honor" at E3, I highly suggest you guys check it out.  It's basically a pumped up, smoother version of Chivalry, but with much better graphics and 3 factions to play with:  Knights, Vikings and Samurai.  You can catch the gameplay video here, and the trailer for the game here.  Once that game comes out, you won't be seeing me for a very long time.

What have you guys been up to?  What games have you been playing?  I'm thinking about playing some X-Wing this Tuesday at the minis club, or maybe even some Warmachine.