1. Eric is running a tournament - http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=165042 he's running the more restrictive higlander, unlike my superior highlander tournament (so much drama). It's for beginner players so even though we've been playing for 7ish years now I'm counting the Wollongong crew in that (love you guys). I haven't talked to Eric yet (should see him tonight) but my plan is to turn up with a stupid list (probs Nemo1, cloud dwarves, Thunderhead, Thorn and Sylys) and play if needed to avoid a bye. Otherwise just be a pain, loan out some models if anyone needs anything.
2. Tinkerhouse games relisted their old failed kickstarter and got funded (though only just) in November last year. According to their pledge people should have received their game by now though the lack of updates on their website does not bode well for this. I've been pretty vocal in my dislike for this company in the past but this last release of war-room really does seem decent and has addressed most of the things I disliked about it (we'll see if it crashes when I attempt to use the fight function as much as it used to, for reference I use an android tablet, I know that apple devices tended not to crash). Anyway I think I now class myself as a well wisher in that I don't wish them any specific harm though I will still be keeping an eye on this game, not to buy but to see how much they have cleaned up their act.
OK Vengeance
Spoilers are out and I am going to give some thoughts:
Cygnar:
Ironically the thing that made Cygnar most happy in this book isn't listed in the Cygnar section. Tactical Arcanist Corps have really opened up opportunities for the squishier casters in the game and Cygnar have a few of those.
Allison Jakes and the Tempest Blazers are the next most interesting things in the book. Blazers are amazing and add a lot of extra movement to the faction and Jakes adds a lot of interesting build options for certain casters. Next is the stormblade captain. He's decent for two points, he would be amazing if he fueled the stormclad. Still solos are useful in steamroller and here we have one who takes advantage of faction only buffs and feats. Stryker3 I am going to hold off on making a final determination for a bit. He's distinctly meh. I think much like Nemo3 he is going to get people who love the slightly different playstyle he can bring to a list but mostly is going to be overshadowed by Cygnar's awesome power casters. What I want is an interesting list with him that does something different and isn't just strictly better with a Haley at the helm. If anyone can find that list I'll be happy with him. The Jack has some distinct weaknesses, no reach and POW 17 in melee and POW 13 at range are not exciting. Nor is the drop in ARM from the Stormclad in a faction that buffs ARM better than any other. However it's 8 points. An 8 point jack with decent melee and a gun is not to be sneered at. He will see play but will not revolutionise any lists.
Khador:
Now we get to a faction that does have a lot of exciting things going on. Butcher3 is a boss, outriders are great, the iron fang kovnik breathed new life into Irusk2 and Malakov might be the best of the novice warcasters. However I think all these things have had enough discussion, lets talk about Grolar. He has RAM. On a POW 18. The big problem with the marauder is that it's POW 16 on its melee weapons so it needs significant buffs to do anything whereas you apply those buffs to say a Juggernaut or more realistically Beast 09 or Behemoth and those guys are completely insane (or can do the work regardless allowing you to spread those buffs to other models or do work outside of the feat). The extra 2 pow make a big difference, then you add in the open fist (safe to assume POW 15) and the gun and it can do a lot of damage. Virtuoso brings options as well, you can charge a model, ram it so that it is knocked down, advance another inch through ram and then fire your gun at anything because you are no longer engaged and can add another 2" to that with it's fleet rule (and it has pathfinder). RAT 4 POW 12 is not great but sometimes it is what you need. It's also just another initial to add a bit of damage and the knockdown on the main weapon (not crit knockdown either) is a massive damage multiplier. This guy is great, he is a piece to consider with Malakov and with... Zerkova. As well as with all the standard SPD buffs Khador gives to its jacks. He's not busted but he's a khador jack which will actually see regular play and that is something. Butcher's theme force is cute. I like the idea of a bajillion dogs but you do need to take a warjack for each of them and you lose all the precision strike to combine with silience of death.
Cryx:
Aiokos is fantastic for the faction, a really exciting release that brings interesting options and ideas but he's already seen a lot of discussion so back to less exciting releases. Goreshade is OK, the jack looks interesting, at least it's a decent shield guard. Explain why is is P+S 16, I don't even play Cryx and that annoyed me. It's weapon hits almost as hard as a bane thrall that didn't charge. That's why people don't take cryx jacks because they need the debuffs and focus to run, the infantry often require neither. I don't see him seeing regular play. The other problem is that the things that require shield guards and Colossals with ARM buffs (and that is not something you see often in Cryx) and camping casters (Terminus has Sac pawn and Venethrax is very rarely played and even more rare in a warmachine match up). I'm sure someone will find a good use for him but he's not going to be one you will see often, at least he is cheap. Bane Riders are decent in some lists, they have their niche (more so than the jack I think). The Skarlock commander is also OK, he's worth his point if you have one spare.
Menoth:
OK now I'm putting myseld to sleep. Reznik2 is decent. His feat is good against Morvahna2, don't play him against Asphyxious2. He has a little bit of jack support and makes his infantry more accurate. Take a standard menoth list (one that has temple flameguard rather than errants) and put him in charge and he's competitive. I do like the idea I saw of running him with all the Steelheads because at least it is different. I'm not sure how good it is but it is different. The jack is SPD 4 no reach, no gun, take a reckoner/vanquisher/templar. The shitty version of Wailing it has is vaguely interesting but not generalist enough to make up for the shortcomings of the jack. The daughter cav are pretty good with Kreoss1 and in other specific niches, I'm happy with them. They are an option in specific lists and that's all I really want in a unit. I own two Bastion Seneschals which I pre-ordered and have played more than my errants (though I'm weird and play a lot of high reclaimer). More focus for jacks in a faction that runs jacks as magnificently as menoth is fantastic. Durant is going to see play.
Retribution:
Time to wake up because the good things are back. Their new caster is spectacular, their character jack is not only really good but opens up play opportunities for Vyros1 who is one of their lesser seen casters so that makes me doubly happy. Eiryss3 is amazing and interesting and different. Infiltrators are a really good unit with a great UA option that the can play quite well without. Lastly Elara, I think it was Nigel off focus and fury who said she's exactly what Ret needs because she doesn't have any good combat rules to trick them into player her forwards. She just wants to stay back and feed focus to a jack. Ret have some really good ones she can feed as well now. Lastly the houseguard thane gave that faction even more interesting options.
Thoughts on the Whole:
The main thing that has been holding Ret back hasn't been power level it's been a lack of options and all the new stuff that has come put in this book has been both competitive and different. Ret can now play a really fast melee game with quickened halberdies with the thane, they can shoot stealth models with Issyria and riflemen, they have a fast stealth AD melee unit they can jam with, Eiryss3 gives them really interesting options against Hordes whereas before a lot of their stuff was geared towards warmachine. Khador too have been a one jack faction stuck on high DEF for a while now. Both those factions have been shaken up by the new releases and are playing different lists and switching up casters and I expect to see this continue as the last releases come out. It's a very interesting time for those two factions.
As for the rest, they got good solid new options that improved the factions but all the good stuff is stuff we have known about for a while or has been released for a while. No new stuff to get me particularly excited. Mercs at least have Cephalyx on the horizon. Now I'm not going to lie here, the first day I was at my local game store (Hall of Heroes at Campbelltown, spectacular store) I bought all the cephalyx in stock so I'm pretty excited. I do have a while to wait until I can throw down my army of evil overlords and their mind controlled slaves but just looking at them they are different to everything else in Mercs and the game as a whole so it's something all merc players should be excited about.
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