I think Gary has it in for us...

Weird title, but it'll make sense in due time.

So, I've had this new idea for an RPG - yes, another. Don't worry, no new setting this time, cos I can just say 'Innistrad/Ravenloft/Bloodborne' and most of you will have figured it out. For those who don't care about any of those; pretty gothic horror setting. Small towns with high walls huddled amidst a dark and terrifying forest wherein creatures both malevolent and far more powerful than a mere mortal prowl, the canopy broken by jagged mountains and treacherous cliffs overlooking stormy waters.

You know what I mean. Like Van Helsing without guns.Well, I suppose I probably should've mentioned the lack of guns prior... never mind, I'm getting off topic.

So, into this pretty basic setting - lets call it Unterwall, because shut up that's an awesome name - we insert the party. They're the archetypical witch-hunters, or whatever we call them; men and women in long coats with big hats that walk beyond the safety of their walls - armed only with sword, crossbow and faith - to confront that which would drive any normal human to flee with but a glance. They're all well trained, equipped with the best weapons and armour their order can provide, and hardened by the knowledge that their success or failure could seal the fate of a hundreds.

So, I know what you're gonna say - "Yes, this exists; it's called Ravenloft. Can we move on?" Well, yes and no. Yes, the base idea is quite similar - broad strokes and all - but the minutiae differs. But, here's the big differences.

First; mechanics. I'd like to base it more on WoD than D&D, and yes I know that Hunters: the Vigil exists. Partially because I prefer it as a system, but also because it is far more appropriate to the low-powered PCs than a D&D module.
Second, a 'Miracles' mechanic. Put simply, a man with a crossbow has a no chance against a devil, never mind a werewolf, vampire or spirit. So, how does a party of less than a dozen take on the horrors of Unterwall? The power of faith. Whether their god is real or not is irrelevant; their faith makes them strong, allows them to push aside fear, fatigue and insanity, and more importantly, enough faith can warp reality to the whims of the believer. Of course, power without control leads to all sorts of trouble, so only those who have trained long and hard may even attempt such an act. Mechanically, how it'd work is that a) the PC's - and other hunters - are slightly better than regular humans in most regards - and b) players can attempt to change reality when it is absolutely necessary. This would manifest in a variety of ways; a burst of blinding light, a moment of super-human strength, the ability to heal a fatal with a touch... really, it's up to the players to figure out what happens. They hand a note to the GM, roll their die, and see what happens.
... Oh, did I say 'hand a note'? Well, yes, that brings me to the third difference; one of them is that which they hunt.
Y'see, in the first fight, one of them (chosen randomly) will become infected by the evil they hunt. They won't know it, but when they rise after a night's rest they are changed; determined to bring an end to all that is good, and allow the darkness to sweep away the light. They players will all know going into it that this will happen, but won't know who will be so affected.

Basically, the goal of the Hunted is to ensure that, little-by-little, his team falls apart. Killed in battle, turned to the darkness, abandoning their posts in disgrace; anything to deprive the light of it's champions. Of course, the more directly they work, the less time they'll last, so subtlety is key. Hence why the Miracles are performed secretly; so that the traitor in their midst is capable of casting their hexes without everyone instantly knowing their identity. It'd add just a nice element of paranoia to the game, wherein each player is never quite sure which smiling face is planning their downfall...

... So, I've done a bit of thinking, yeah. I've still not plotted everything out, obviously, but as a concept... it's certainly intriguing. I'll have to give it a try sometime when I'm not struggling to make this blog more frequent than fortnightly...

At least I'm on time this week, eh? In any case... cheers for coming by, and hope you've enjoyed reading.

Volodanti out.

Farewell Mk II

Alright, first thing's first - yes, I missed last week. No, I don't have an excuse - I realised Thursday night that I'd forgot to post, and I didn't get a chance to update on Saturday, so... yeah. Sorry, it was just a slip in concentration.

... Which is annoying, cos I'm about to talk about something I did last Saturday in preparation for the missed post.

Y'see, that week we realised two things; a) that my Warmahordes group was all off on the 11th, and b) that Mk III was going to be released on the 12th. Which, lets be honest, seemed like Menoth was throwing out some heavy hints, and so we all decided to make an afternoon of it, and play a mini-tournament to decide which of us was the Mk II champion!

Which hit a snag straight away, when one of us dropped out, and then a further on in the late staged when we only managed to fit two games in each... but, never mind.

Anyway, how did the games go? Well, not bad. We had a slight problem at the start when we all brought a timer, and our armies... only to realise we couldn't access both at the same time. So we had to improvise a little, but it mostly worked out.

For those who are interested, my army was pStryker with an Ironclad, Hammersmith and Squire, with a full unit of Stormguard, the Black 13th, Gun Mage Captain, and a Journeyman with a Hunter.

Game one, I fought against Cassius, and, well... lost. He popped his feat and moved into position to charge next turn. In response, I popped my feat and pulled back a little to counter charge, which essentially just wasted a turn each. After I, foolishly, forgot two facts; firstly that Constructs can't frenzy (and so combo ridiculously well with the Gorax, and secondly that Cassius can make my models incorporeal... so when I moved Stryker forward to finish off a unit... yeah... smack, bang, game two.

Game two then, was against my fellow Cygnarans - a Sturgis list, with an over-abundance of Journeymen to be precise. This one was... longer. As anyone who has fought Sturgis will testify.
So, to start off, we both moved in; my Hunter targeting Rocinante whilst his fired on my Hammersmith. Eventually we met in the middle, and after a rather impressive amount of smacking, shooting, and cursing, I stood with a crippled hunter, most of an Ironclad, and Stryker, to take on... Sturgis. Ah, crap.
So, I spent about ten minutes chasing him around the board, my opponent hoping to time me out, until a bit of unfortunate placement left his back open to Stryker, who more than capitalised on the opportunity, knocking him flying with an Arcane bolt.
... By Morrow, that was a long game...

So, how'd I do? Well... not bad. In the final rankings, for Team Wansbeck, I placed third, meaning I get to take home the coveted Bronze Wrack.

Oh, yeah - I made trophies. Cos I am that friggin sad.

Volodanti out.

1st - Circle Orboros, led by Cassius and Wurmwood.
2nd - Skorne Empire, led by Tyrant Xerxes.
3rd - Cygnar, led by Commander Stryker.
4th - Cygnar, led by Commander Sturgis.
5th - Retribution of Scyrah, led by Thyron, Sword of Truth.
6th - Khador of Everblight, led by Kommander Vayl (disqualified for slow-play)

This War is Total

Hammer. The Hammer's War is Total. The totality of this Hammer means War...

... I'll stop now.

We all knew it was coming. Eventually. It didn't take a genius to call it after all; of course I'd be doing a review of Total War - it's one of my favourite game series, and one of my favourite wargames. Why wouldn't I?

... laziness, and inability to stop playing? Yeah, kinda.

So, look, before we go any further, elephant in the room; yes, this is late. I'm sorry. But, after promising it, and getting really excited, I came to the conclusion that, well... it's just a Total War game.

Which sounds like an insult, but it really isn't. I love Total War games - the original Rome is one of my favourites, and I own every game in the series since then... except Attila, but that's a whole other thing. No, the fact that it is a Total War game is, if anything, one of the main selling points.

... The problem is that, that's kinda it. It's not a let down, it's just... what it says on the tin. Total War: Warhammer. It's the tabletop game, as played via the Total War engine. Which is kinda appropriate - Warhammer Fantasy Battles was essentially a tabletop version of the Total War games (or the reverse, rather, since Warhammer is much older), but that's kinda it.

Alright, look - if you want my opinion on whether it's a good game, and if I suddenly got it refunded, would I buy it again, the answer is 'Yes'. To both. But it's not gonna get Warhammer fans into Total War (since they can already play Warhammer on the tabletop), and it can't get Total War fans into Warhammer because Warhammer doesn't exist!

And I suppose that's my problem. Why does this game exist? I mean, It's cross-brand recognition, sure, but the fanbase has gotta be pretty specialised - I can't imagine the Venn Diagram would appeal to many investors...

Now, I could go on about the story (or lack thereof - it's more "let's put a bunch of unrelated characters on a map, and let them swan about), or the fact that it's kinda simplified (both in battle, and for the campaign map). But at the end of the day... I like it. It's fun. It's not my favourite Total War - that's the original Rome, and always will be - but it's still good. And, realistically... that's enough, isn't it?

Look, I'm sorry this took so long to write, but... I just kept playing on it, and hoping that it'd impress me more - that something would happen, and I'd sit up and rush to this page to write about it.

... But I didn't. And I think that's why I feel so cold; cos it's just a Total War game. Not the worst, but far from the best.

Volodanti out.