The Metallic Menace

So, really, Wednesday would be a better day for this. Which is a weird way to start a post, but let me explain why:

Tomorrow, we're playing Bug Hunt.

Well, sorta. You may all remember that we made rules for DeathHulk a while ago. Well, that kinda died, but we kept the basic idea of it - a couple Deathwatch fighting their way through a series of corridors, fighting xenos. However, we didn't want to just be fighting 'nids, or perhaps Orks (since we have a goodly few of them), so we started debating various things to fight.

And then, at some point, someone had an idea - what about it we made our own minor race of xenos?

It took a significant amount of debating, throwing around ideas, and mostly arguing, but in the end we came up with an idea that we all liked. They're called the Rusties. Well, technically, they don't have a name, just an Imperial Designation, but they're nicknamed Rusties. 

Basically, they're a sentient lump of rust. Yeah, I get that that sounds pretty flipping stupid, but go along with me here. They're an microscopic, barely-sentient organisms that survive by consuming metals. Individually, they're perhaps the size of a mite, and would take months to devour a nail. However, they live as colonies. At their most basic level, this means several hundred, but can extend into the billions if left unchecked. And, most disconcertingly, they possess something akin to a localised hive-mind. So, if you find a patch the size of a plate it will only know to eat, or find something to eat. Once they reach the size of a cat, they possess the fight or flight reaction. The largest are as smart as some dogs, capable of limited reasoning and problem solving. 

Oh, incidentally, you may have noticed that I refer to a colony as 'it' rather than 'they'. That's because they group together to form a single body, similar to a Portuguese Man-'o-War, but lacking the uniformity. The weakest of them appear as little more than an uneven patch of rust on a wall. The next stage, 'Swarms' is a slug the size of a glasses case. Then there are the 'Cats', an asymmetrical mass that stand to waist height, 'Stalkers' that are crabs the size of men, and even larger beasts that are referred to as 'brutes'.

Rules wise, they're all tough, but with a strength of 1. They also reduce the armour save of any models in base contact with them, but typically move very slowly and lack any ranged weapons. It's an interesting trade off, and actually they're incredibly difficult to fight. Well, at least for a small kill team. I reckon they'd be very poor in a proper game.

As I said, we're playing with them tomorrow, and it'll be our first real game with them. We've had a quick match versus them to play test the rules, but tomorrow is time for a mini campaign. 

... Which will probably be the topic of next time. Unless I get something else done. Well, either way, we'll see what happens, I guess.

Wow, that was a terrible, awful sentence. I'm leaving that in so you can experience the disappointment I deserve. Really Can't come back from that, so I'm not even gonna try.

Volodanti out.

Mid-May Round-up

Right, so, the usual apology and excuses come first. I was on holiday last week, and completely lost track of time. Incidentally, Bolton Castle > Skipton Castle... I got to fire a bow. Twas a good day.

Now, moving on, what have I been up to recently?

Well, first off, Let's Tea is progressing relatively well. We're on episode 13 or so, with more ready to upload... When they decide not to fail.

Next up, I'm working on a retinue for a game of Inquisitor. I'll go into more details soon, since I've finally got all the parts, but I'm really excited for it. It's pretty low key we've decided - no power weapons, one chainsword per team. The guy who's playing Tau has limited himself to three men, rather than the usual five, to keep everything fair. Well, 'fair' is a strong word, but you know what I mean.

And, moving on, I'm actually making a new D&D setting. Yes, another one, I know, but I have a reason. Some old friends of mine decided that they wanted to do an occasional session over skype, and I've ended up as the GM for some reason. Once again, I'll go into more details later, but for the moment, I'll let you know that it's basically a poor man's Kamigawa.

... and, last off, I am keeping up to date on the 8th Edition rumours. And getting very excited. I went from Cautious to Cautiously Optimistic to just plain Optimistic. I'm still not entirely sure on everything, but I'm happy to give it a try.

Anyway, this is just a little post to keep you up to date with what's going on in my life as a nerd. Not a great deal of anything practical, but sometimes it's just nice to throw a bunch of words at you and hope something sticks.

And with that, I'll bid you fairwell. Sorry again that it's late, but I'll try and get something a bit more chunky up sooner rather than later.

Volodanti out.

Amonkhet to the Point

I am so sorry. I couldn't help myself.

Anyway, Prerelease was last weekend, so you know what that means! The regular round-up of my attempts to not come last. In a startling change of pace, I once again placed in the middle third. Though, technically speaking, this was my worst Prerelease so far...

... So, how do I usually start these? Right, decklist. Sweet, so:

Anointed Procession, Fan Bearer, Binding Mummy,Vizier of Deferment, Winged Shepherd, Trueheart Duelist, Unwavering Initiate,Tah-Crop Elite, Rhet-Crop Spearmaster, Start // Finish, Never // Return, Baleful Ammit, Soulstinger, Cursed Minotaur, Doomed Dissenter, Wasteland Scorpion, Liliana; Death's Majesty, Angler Drake, Aven Initiate, Glyph Keeper, Oketra's Monument, Bontu's Monument, Painted Bluffs, and a host of basic Plains, Islands and Swamps - including a surprising number of full-arts.

So, I continued the surprising trend of both pulling a Planeswalker at the Prerelease, and it being on-colour. Though, for a change, it was mono-coloured, which kinda helped. To be honest though, my pool wasn't amazing. Technically speaking, it was fully functional, but with the exception of Liliana and the Glyph Keeper, there weren't really any standout cards. I actually fluctuated between Esper, Mardu and Jeskai about five times before finally settling on my deck. And it was... well, fine. Nothing amazing - as you'll see - but it worked.

Anyway, round one. As it later turned out, my opponent won the event, so you can probably guess how it went... 0-2, for those of you keeping score at home. It was here that I discovered that the Khenra Charioteers can go home and die. Seriously, it is ridiculously good, and I don't think that I ever won a game when it resolved.
To be honest, I have rather mixed feelings about this round. My opponent was very competitive, and after we finished the matches he told me that he'd noticed a couple occasions that I'd forgotten about Bontu's Monument triggering... Which left me in an awkward position. On the one hand, that's my job to keep track of, and I can't expect him to remind me every time. But on the other hand, it was a casual rules environment, and it's expected that you'll make the occasional mistake and everyone will help out. And on the other-other hand, he finished game two one 3 life, so that bastard stole my prizes.
... but, then again, he helped me retool my deck (as is tradition), so my future successes are at least partially owed to him. Well, probably more so, cos he made me play Fan Bearer and that card was worth it's weight in copper. Copper being quite expensive presently.

So, on to round two. My opponent, it transpires, is playing Azorius, and it was pretty damn close to a mirror-match. Which is a surprise, given that I didn't use a lot of blue... but he had a lot of white, so shush. Also, a ridiculous number of counters. Seriously, I didn't manage to resolve a creature until turn five. That was my first draw at any Prerelease - I lost the first round, and just won the second before time was called. As it turns out, Amonkhet limited can be a very slow format when it wants to be. Luckily, the solution to that is, apparently, Liliana. She was very helpful in this, even though I only ever +1'd her.

Round three was actually against someone I recognised - specifically, the person who helped me fix my deck in the Kaladesh Prerelease. What was more surprising is that he actually recognised me. What's the most surprising though is that I won. 2-0 over a Gruul deck, even inspite of those flipping Charioteers. I was just lucky to be holding removal when they resolved (early).
It was during this game that I came to a depressing realisation; Winged Shepherd is not a good card. It's has flying, vigilance, and cycling, but it's just too much. I was disappointed whenever Ihad to cast it, because I always felt like pitching it to draw was a much better use of resources that a 6 mana 3/3... though, in retrospect, a 6 mana 3/3 was never gonna be worth it...

... Anyway, round 4. This time, I played against someone who finished in the top 5, and yet another Charioteer. Seriously, I hate that card with every fibre of my being.
First game went... well, it could've been better. He built up a small army while I floundered to find a plains. Then, game two, our roles were reversed; he was mana-screwed, and I quickly rolled over him.
So, finally game. The game that decides whether I finish in the top 10 or the- I already told you how this ends. Yeah, I went 1-2, and came 17th out of 27. Which is fine - almost in the top half, and going 1-1-2 isn't the end of the world. I won two packs, and enjoyed myself.

So, what knowledge have I come away with? Well, a couple things. First off, figure out early on whether your opponent is here to enjoy themselves, or to win. Second, Glyph Keeper is a very powerful card, but suffers greatly against aggressive decks - the mini-Hexproof effect is great when your opponent carries removal, not so much when they just punch you in the face. And, most importantly, that Khenra Charioteers can get f-

Volodanti out.