MK III Story Time

So, hey y'all. How's it going? Good? Great.

Right, with the formalities over - lets get to it.

So, One of the big things they've said about MK 3 is that there's a two year gap between the most recent events, and the first page of the new rulebook. Which, lets be honest, is time for a lot-a-lot to happen, especially considering how little time MK 2 took up chronologically; a couple months, half a year maybe? I don't have a timeline to hand unfortunately...

... but the other thing we know is thus; my beloved Cygnar has a new king. And, really there are only two options. So lets have a looksie at how each may have affected Western Immoren...

First off: Vinter is King. It's the most likely option. Laddermore's plot has come to fruition, and Leto has been deposed in a long-awaited counter-coup, leaving Raelthorne the elder on the throne.
In this continuity, I think, agents of the Archduke have managed to capture or kill Leto and, with
Feora's help, place Vinter back on the throne. The Royal Assembly has repealed their earlier declaration that Vinter's reign was unlawful, and are now running around making things less friendly and more efficient. Leto and Runewood woul have been executed as traitors; Vinter not really the sort to allow dissenters free reign... but I don't think Nemo or Stryker are gone. Nemo has probably been shoved into a workshop somewhere, and told not to come out until he's invented the personal computer. Stryker, most likely, received a demotion and has been shipped back to the front lines, where he'll remain for as long as he's useful.

... so how has this affected their relations with the other nations?

Well, after coming to power, chances are, Vinter sent a letter north to Severius, thanking him for his aid and saying that, as per his arrangement with FEORA, henceforth Cygnar was a Menite nation, with all that entailed. Which which the Protectorate has achieved it's goals, and is now superfluous. So, Severius must disband the Protectorate's military and return to Caspia to serve as the personal priest to the throne.
... Which, obviously will not happen. But, the Protectorate appears to be in the wrong, meaning a) they'll struggle to find alliances in future, and b) any actions Cygnar takes will now appear justified. Chances are, Severius will be most unhappy with Feora for this, and a power struggle will have broken out, likely ending with her death, and the new Cleanser-Caster taking over control of the Flameguard.

I'll get to Khador later, since it doesn't really change overmuch regardless of who wears the crown... well, a little, but I'll explain soon.

So, the alternative is King Julius Raelthorne, the bastard son of Vinter, and Magnus' hope for making a better Cygnar.
In this continuity, Magnus sends an open letter from his base in Fellig announcing that he has the true heir to Cygnar's crown with him, and that Julius demands this pretender steps down. Which, knowing Leto, he would. Partially because it's the kinda man he is, but also because it makes the most sense politically; a lot of those who are unhappy with his reign would be mollified by seeing his son on the throne... it won't do much to persuade Laddermore and his ilk, but the ones who are only involved because they think Leto is too weak would probably be happy to abandon their plotting.
So, what's different in this Cygnar? Well, Leto has probably 'retired' to Raelthorne Island after his time as Steward (yeah, the Assembly would probably ret-con his reign to stewardship...) and the Midlunds are once again a single arch-duchy. Caine and Scout-General Rebald have been executed for trying to assassinate Julius, and Magnus is the Lord General of the Cygnaran Armies. Otherwise, it's probably basically the same - Magnus too much of a pragmatist to alter things more than needs be. Perhaps recruitment for the armed forces is higher, and likely they are more aggressive in the ongoing wars, but mostly it'll be the same as ever...
This, I think is probably more likely given the promotional images of Magnus and Stryker standing back-to-back, surrounded by Cygnaran troops and 'jacks.

Over in the Protectorate, things are... complicated. Severius is probably aware that Vinter is a 'guest' in Imer, but whether he knows that 'guest' isn't a polite euphemism is less concrete. In this, it's more likely that Kreoss is dead than Feora, the latter having arranged his death to clear her path to Hierarchy... as in, to be Heirarch. Either way, Feora is sat listening to Vinter moan about how his bastard is on the throne and he's not even allowed a glass of wine.

... So, Khador?

In either even, I imagine that Khador will have taken these events as an excuse to restart hostilities, since technically speaking the truce was with Leto's Cygnar. But, they'll probably be struggling more than they had before, since both Vinter and Julius would be more than willing to institute conscription if it meant winning this war.
... Speaking of which; when we last left her, the Empress was looking for a consort, since she had no hair - legitimate or otherwise - and did not trust anyone really to take over without ballsing it up royally... well, uncle Simon, but he couldn't claim the throne, let alone retain it. So, the Empress needs a husband.
One idea put forwards is Vlad. He's probably going to die (his story-arc is complete), but he needs a male heir, as has every Tzepesci since time immemorial. It allows Empress Ayn to further integrate Umbrey into the Empire, and more importantly gets her a wee tyke to groom into the perfect Emperor.
... less likely - basically impossible actually, but a pet idea of mine - is the Queen's Consort... Vinter. When he hears that she is seeking suitors, he presents himself at Korsk. Northern Dukes are already calling for Vinter to return after all... and, realistically, Khadoran politics are a lot closer to his ideal than Cygnaran.
What does the Empress get out of this though? A powerful ally, sure - many Cygnaran lords still owe him fealty, and he did literally create and conquer a Skorne Empire... twice. But, more importantly, it gives her justification for invading Cygnar - she's not a warmonger! Her husband is the rightful ruler, and some coward sits in his throne. And, even if they claim Vinter does not deserve the throne, surely then it should go to his lawful heir, their child, rather than some base-born bastard or his younger brother?
... I don't reckon it'll happen. But it'd be neat.

I do reckon that's it for this week though. I don't really know enough about what is happening in Hordes to comment upon that (I know there was a big fight and the Wurm decided to say hello, but otherwise...) so I'll not get into that.

Either way - thanks for reading everyone. Hope you've enjoyed my musings on what much better story-writers will have done, and why I'm clearly smarter.

Volodanti out.

Mark Three Cometh

Really, you all should've known this was coming - given the announcement last week, and my love of the game, is anyone here really surprised that I'm discussing Warmahordes Mk 3?

Well, The Unjust, probably, but that's his own fault...

Anyways - Mk 3. So much to talk about - fluff, and rules, and rumours, oh my!

... sorry, I'll stop that...

Anyway, since everything is so up in arms, I'll just talk about the cold, hard facts:

Points cost are getting a dramatic re-haul. Warjacks will be worth a little shy of twice the points they are now, and it stands to reason that the Units, Solos and Battle Engines will be going up to. There's some speculation that 35 points will replace 15 as 'a quick skirmish', and 50 will be about standard.

... Which has basically no effect on the game per-se; if everything is worth double points, nothing will change right? Well, yes and no.
See, the big weakness of the low-points, as I've seen it, is that there's a lot less wiggle-room. See, if 4 points is a cheap light 'jack, and 6 is an expensive one, then a lot of stuff will end up as 5. And in that case; a) you'll have to pick a cost first and make a lot of effort to conform to the established power-level, and b) having one be even slightly above curve is gonna seriously unbalance the game, whereas if a cheap 'jack is 7 points, and an expensive one is 12, you have a lot of room to make a 'roughly average light'. It's one of the few things I always felt 40k categorically did better...
... what I'm saying, basically, is that a greater nuance is better. And sorry if that sounded really condescending - I got so caught up in my waxing I kinda got lost.

Now, second off; Warjack/beast points are getting a boost. Not just to keep 'em in line with the higher overall points, but even above that. If any of you have seen the new Battle Boxes, you'll know that they are roughly the same as the old ones; the Cygnar one traded their Charger for a Firefly, the Cryx swapped a pair of Bonejacks for another Helljack. Y'know, roughly tit-for-tat.
... But, and this is important, all Battle Boxes are now worth exactly 0 points. That's right; a Warnoun now has enough points to field a pair of Heavies before you even get to spend your hard-earned pennies... and by pennies I mean points...
... sure.
Anyway, I reckon this is an attempt to counter the problem with small games being, essentially, a battlegroup and a solo. Which, while not technically a problem, did tend to make most games a bit samey before you hit 25 points.
... Which wasn't a problem, but it's nice to have more variation. Basically all Cygnaran lists, for example, were a Battle box and the Black 13th.
... Mine included...
Now though, you have Battlebox games, and then one step up will be a battlebox and at least two full units. Possibly more, if you're taking cannon-fodder. Which, and I love this, is a brilliant way to a) help newbies understand that this is an infantry-centric game, and you can't just field big smoky robots, and b) is an amazingly clever way to imply the ramping up of warfare; whereas once a small skirmish force was a Warcaster/lock and some attendants, now it's several units.
... I mean, it's almost certainly to boost sales too, but complaining about a business trying to make more profit is essentially pointless when they aren't being deliberately antagonistic.

So, the last rule... or, pair of rules rather: Power-up, and Spirit-Bond.
Basically a way to counter - or at least limit - the Assassinate-Attrition dynamic of games involving Hordes and Warmachine.
As I've read it, basically an issue with games between the two systems is that Hordes are very good in the early game - due to their incredibly powerful beasts that can be run en-masse, if you don't mind some mid-game shenanigans - but suffers late game, once you've lost a couple beasts, and your generally squishy Warlock has to start self-harming to cast spells... doubly so, since surviving often means killing your own beasts.
Warmachine, meanwhile, struggles early on, since Warcasters have a lot more trouble controlling large numbers of Warjacks, but doesn't really suffer when it loses them; sure, it means one less weapon at your disposal, but you aren't reliant on it for spells or survival. I've even fielding the occasional army running just one light, and done really well in spite of it, because it means a lot more men on the ground, and really limits the effects of an Alpha-strike force.
... And all of this, essentially, meant that after turn 3/4, it was basically obvious who would win.

So, what are the rules themselves? Well, Power-up is just a free focus for each 'jack in your caster's Control Range (yeah, it's range now... no idea why). This means that you don't have to choose between a spell, or getting your jacks into position, and makes Caine a hell of a lot more terrifying now he can field a trio of Hunters without worrying about it limiting his ability to get shit done.
And, on the flipside, Spirit-Bond grants one Fury (or, as I've taken to calling it, 'one sadness') to a Walock for each of their Light-, Heavy- or Gargantuan Warbeasts that have died. This is going to be such a boon for them, meaning that even if they end up in an empty Battlegroup, they'll still have a couple options available to them before they have to start bloodletting...
All in all, they seem like a good addition to the game - means that Warmachine won't be fighting such an uphill struggle when the game starts, and Hordes won't be desperately scrabbling for their lives when it ends. I am honestly kinda amazed by just how well this works.

... Seriously, I am super excited for this. It seems just great, even so early in. And I reckon the next two to three weeks will be basically devoted to discussing the rumours that come out... So, sorry if you're not all that into them, but I sure as Urcaen am.

Volodanti out.

Bad Doggie!

Hey there guys, how's it going? Good? Good. Lets roll.

So, something that occurred to me at the Prerelease - and admittedly, I only have the experience of one sealed event to go off, but - I just don't get the Werewolf deck.

So, werewolves are mediocre cards that become above curve if someone doesn't cast a spell, and turn back if you cast a lot. Now, that's a nice mechanic, and I do like it - little confusing from a flavour perspective, but a good way to represent the change.

My problem though, is this; Werewolves come in two colours - Red, and Green. And they want to play out their creatures as fast as is physically possible, and then throw down combat tricks until you run out of land, mana, or creatures. Which is fine - hell, I enjoy aggressive decks, and Red is my jam. So, why don't I like Werewolves?

Well, I just explained it... sorta. Look, the idea is you play out as many creatures as you can each turn, then once your opponent runs outta gas, you have a ton of good creatures and slow down your ramp... but that's just counter-productive to me. First off, the only plays you can control are your own - most of the time anyway - so you can't ever rely on your opponent having nothing to play. I get that it's a risk and you're betting on them stalling, but... in every deck, you're relying on chance to get you the cards you need. But there are ways to manage that - Loot, Scry, Rummage and more let you filter your deck so you get what you need, when you need it. There are very few ways to filter your opponent's spells- in Gruul colours at least. And having to rely on good draws for me and poor draws for my opponent seems a poor strategy to me.

And then there's just the mindscrew that is playing conservatively  with a Gruul deck. No - if I'm playing Gruul, I'm going Ham. It's what you're meant to do. 

Maybe I just need to play it more? Or, perhaps I'm just doing it wrong - hell, I'm almost assuredly doing it wrong. It's kinda my thing...

I dunno. I just can't help but compare it to the other tribes in SoI, and think... it's just worse. 

But then again, perhaps I'm just butt-hurt cos my pool didn't support vampires. I'll have to give it some more thought - and, more importantly, more games.

I'll get back to you with my results.

Volodanti out.

Shadows over Prerelease

And it's that time again - prerelease happened, and of course I went. Why wouldn't I?

Because all my friends bailed one by one, and I am filled with a near-endless reserve of disappointment that I fear will one day overflow? I mean, that's a good reason, but still.

So, yes - I attended the prerelease, and rather enjoyed it. I did the same as last time; I went 2-and-2, and my losses were close, so... not too many complaints. Well, one, but still.

What did I use? Well, I did what any sensible player would do - Jund 'em.

So, in WUBRG/alphabetical order, here's what I had:

Elusive Tormenter,Kindly Stranger, Sanitarium Skeleton, Twins of the Maurer Estate, Ember Wolf, Fiery Temper, Gatstaf Arsonists, Geier Reach Bandit, Insolent Neonate, Lightning Axe, Rush of Adrenaline, Pyre Hound, Uncaged Fury, Village Messenger, Aim High, Hinterland Logger, Lambholt Pacifist, Moonlight Hunt, Obsessive Skinner, Pack Guardian, 2 Quilled Wolf, Silverfur Partisan, 6 Forest, 6 Mountain, 4 Swamp and Warped Landscape.

It was an alright deck - realistically, I probably should've gone Abzan since I drew Always Watching,  and the rest of my whites were pretty decent but... I dunno, I just wanted to play more aggressively. Which was kinda a mistake - first thing I can tell you is that the format is pretty slow. I think there were two games that didn't descend to massive board stalls, and those were cos my opponents struggled with mana...

So, I might as well get into it then - how did the games go?

Round 1
My opponent was playing an Abzan deck which was mostly White, with a lot of clues... too many, some might argue.
First game was over super quick. My opponent mulligan'd to five, and ended up with two lands in the wrong colour... and it kinda ended pretty quickly.
Second game, took a lot longer, and since he had a decent amount of evasion, he managed to whittle me down over several turns. I really need to include more removal in my decks... The Sanitarium Skeleton was needlessly good in this game by the way - a cheap, reusable blocker is just plain amazing. Less helpful when your opponent has premium removal like Sorin though...
Third game looked like it was over almost before it began - by turn five I had him on 4 life, and then... well, I got mana-screwed. See, he'd played Rancid Rats, and since I didn't wanna attack into it, I used a Lightning Axe... yeah, I sacrificed premium removal on a 1/1. Which would've been fine, but I sacked a Swamp for it, and after that only drew high CMC cards and Elusive Tormentor, and... well, I got greedy.

Round 2
Gruul versus Jund, in a race to get out big beasties.
First game was over in four turns. I let an attack hit that I shouldn't have, and ended up taking 14 to the dome. And my response was... well, not enough.
Round two was... well, the biggest board stall of the night. I eventually managed a win when I got Elusive Tormentor out, since he didn't really have a way to respond.
And the third game... we rushed it since we were low on time. It was essentially just a game of "Who can turn more creatures sideways?" As it turns out, Jund cannot out-aggro Gruul. Who would've thought?

Round 3
Back up against an Abzan deck, and this time it was personal. In that we were both 2-and-0, and didn't wanna lose every game.
As I found out in game one, it was more of Abzan/Control than Mid-range. A bunch of evasive spirits, a couple tappers and one or two cards to destroy attackers. All told - it was a near perfect match-up for both of us.
... Here's where my memory fails me. I remember that I won this round 2-1, and that he - uniquely - side-boarded in a couple cards... but I cannot for the life of me remember specifics. I believe one game was a board stall that I eventually lost on. I remember Uncaged Fury and Rush of Adrenaline being instrumental to my eventual victory... and that's about it. It might've gone into sudden death, and I rushed a win, but... I also believe I considered just stalling for two turns to eke out a draw, but... otherwise I can't remember a thing. Shame...

Round 4.
Quickest, and probably most enjoyable round. My opponent was in Selesnya, and luck was not on his side.
Game one was a blowout - he conceded five turns cos he had ten cards between his hand and his board, and they were all lands...There is, I'd argue, no loss so upsetting as being mana-saturated.
So, game two lasted a bit longer - he built up a bit of a wall whilst I got as many attackers down and sideways as I could. He kept gaining life while I tried to Jundemout, but... in the end, a couple good combat tricks won me the game. Incidentally, Aim High is ridiculously good for setting yourself up for an unexpected block. Swing with your board, watch as he retaliates and suddenly - BAM - your 6/5 is a 8/6 with reach and ready to respond.

So, yeah - it went... okay. When I wasn't being an idiot, I actually did quite well, but perhaps you want some actual advice? Here are the three things I can say for definite.

1. Green is where it's at. I didn't fight a single deck that wasn't at least splashing green. White seemed powerful too, but Green is, it seems, the colour you need in your deck. It just has so much to offer.
2. Blue is present. I didn't see a single person playing blue the entire time I was there. That's not to say there are no good blue cards... just that there's less blue staples. The creatures are - as you'd expect - pretty mediocre, and the other spells are... alright? Great for setting up Delirium and Madness, but that's not really something you can do with sealed. Draft, sure, but sealed is a lot more about making do with what you have, and improvising, rather than forward planning or making good assumptions.
3. As I said - this is a slow format. Creatures with Evasion are fundamental to any shot at winning. Rush of Adrenaline is much more important than Grotesque Mutation, since a couple extra life won't help overmuch, whilst getting in damage with a heavy hitter - of which there are a lot - could win you the game.

... And I think I'll have to end it here. I'll talk more once I've had more of a chance to get to know the set, but... til then, I don't wanna lie to you any more.

Cheers again for coming to visit.

Volodanti out.