Countdown to Cyriss - Week 12

You thought I forgot about our regular Wednesday appointment, didn't you? I sort of did, but I finally made it! This week DC wrote sort of a capstone to his own Cyriss series, skipping the reveals and instead discussing three "pillars" of the Convergence of Cyriss army design.

I take this to mean that our Countdown to Cyriss is coming to a close. I don't know if they'll be releasing any more weekly content for it, but this may close a series I've honestly had a lot of fun with. As we look forward to Cyriss's release, I'd like to talk about all the things that have me excited about the army, and I hope you guys will chime in with some of your own!

• Unique focus management. While many are waiting for PP's eventual release of a new resource, Cyriss's ability to cycle a single focus between all of its jacks adds more depth to focus allocation and goes beyond what we're used to.
• True battlegroup support. Generally speaking, supporting the warjacks is left up to the Warcaster. While that's usually fine since there's not much to support, the fact that Cyriss is so friendly to its jacks is encouraging. Every release we've seen so typically fell in to 3 categories:
  
  1. Warcasters/warjacks
  2. Tools to boost the battlegroup or shore up its weaknesses
  3. Cannon fodder to deliver the warjacks.
  
  Yes, there were things like the Clockwork Angels that were more specialized, but overall the entire army is built around taking big tough things and making them tougher.
• An army of robots.  Many of us got in to Warmachine in the hopes of controlling a bunch of those big metal dudes we saw in all the artwork. While I wouldn't say that the game has failed to deliver a fun experience, I did feel a tinge of disappointment when I realized that I couldn't run a field of Juggernauts backed by Mechaniks. Cyriss has all the tools in place to truly support a sea of large bases, and it's going to be a whole new way to play from both sides of the table.
• Easy to paint. I'll be honest, my backlog of personal painting projects is overwhelming. I have a selection of Khador left, my Cygnar that I'll likely never get to, Skorne, and Circle. While I have my airbrush to do the grunt work, there's still a lot of brush work to be done, and that's the real time drain. With Cyriss, much of the army will be handled with the airbrush. Whatever's left will be small details or different colors of metal which are considerably easier to paint and highlight.
• Limited releases. What?! This is coming from the guy who nearly bailed on the army because of this? Let me just say that this crow is delicious. But seriously, having this be a small army means that it will be easy to finish and build lists for. I often find that there are fun pieces I'd like in an army, but there's so many other models that are functionally better that they have to wait. With Cyriss, there's not a bloat of models that you may or may not want. You have a limited selection of tools for your army, and you have to make do. Not that the army seems remotely limited, but there's no need for PP to release "fluffy" models that are neat but hard to make room for. We get jacks, units, solos, warcasters, and two huge bases from the get go, and we'll likely get light releases as time goes on.
• Worthwhile big purchases. This remains to be seen, but the battle engine and colossal seem really good. PP seems to have learned from their successes and failures regarding big bases, and these big bases seem to be PP's commitment to making a giant model that looks great and plays well.
• Servitors. Yes this is battelgroup support, but I really do love these things. Single point models that simply have a job on the battlefield is awesome. There's no way to misuse them because they can't really do anything else. Whether their job is to walk forward and explode, make a target easier to hit or damage, or just chump block a charge lane, they are very simple and you'll have a lot of them on the table.
• Warcasters with stated goals. While the army itself is incredibly complex to operate, you'll know going in whether you're playing a melee, ranged, or magic game. Their stats and granted abilities affect their entire battlegroup, and the warjacks needs to be used optimally according to what the warcaster is doing for them. It could potentially get monotonous, but each warcaster is unique enough that simply switching that single model will completely change how a list is played.
• Oooh, shiny. It's the new hotness, and that's always exciting.

That's not all there is to Cyriss, but that's the stuff that really has me pumped to throw money at Privateer Press. The army may not win tournaments in the long run, but they seem very rewarding to play in local games. Look forward to more Convergence of Cyriss content in the future, whether it's discussing more news from Privateer Press, painting tutorials, or just battle reports.

See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook. I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways! And now is the perfect time to enter and win a piece of terrain!

Countdown to Cyriss - Week 11

It's the moment we've all been waiting for... Cyriss's colossal, aka the Prime Axiom! For as much as colossals are capable of, DC didn't spoil too much this week. However, he made up for it with a terrific sketch!



Before we move on, do so you see that rock? I hope that's included so that I don't have to pin his spider legs to the base. That being said, let's take a look at what we learned today:

• Not something new, but I had forgotten that this is considered a warjack and is therefore affected by battlegroup spells!
• It has drag, allowing it to grab a model from range and pull it in B2B contact. And as you can see from the sketch, it gets to do this twice. Like the Galleon, Axiom gets a free drill vice attack (likely its generic melee attack) on targets it Drags, followed by the ability to purchase more melee attacks. Nothing super special here, but it does let you keep Axiom back, rather than forcing you to charge closer to your opponent's models.
• In addition to drill vice, it has an attack called "accelespiker." Cheesiness aside, we get no word on what this actually is, nor can I really tell where the attack might come from. It has a circle of spikes on its forehead, so that's the best guess unless his drill hands are multi-functional like other Cyriss weapons. I want to hazard a guess that these will be armor piercing, but that might be overkill.
• For stats we have DEF 7 ARM 20. It's one of the better ARM stats for these big fellas, and it's not like anyone really cares about a colossal's DEF anyway. With the sheer amount of support you can pack in a 50 point list, this thing is going to take an opponent's full army to take it down, or it will need to have a bunch of units fed to it to keep tied up and away from the action. It's just too bad about that tow cable!
• Now let's get to the juicy bits... Launch Servitor. If you have been around long enough, you'll remember that in Week 4 I covered a number of servitors. You can guess where this is going... Prime Axiom can place any servitor model within 2" of its base. Once per turn you get to whip out your Swiss Army Knife and respond to any situation your opponent throws at you. You can repair, handle high DEF, high ARM, swarms of models... basically, your opponent will never truly be safe when near your model.
  
  The best part? The servitor activates that turn! That means that you can blow a hole in your opponent's infantry, finish off a Dragged target, or just move forward 6" and block a charge lane. While servitors aren't overly powerful for their 1 point price tag, it does give you greater flexibility in the middle of a game, and also frees up several points for other models. Even if this is Axiom's only ability, it's darn good and will make this model a terror on the table.

So that's it. Nothing too groundbreaking, but the artwork and Launch Servitor are all I needed. It's going to be hard to spend so many points on a single warjack when Cyriss has so much support for the others, but I think this thing will carry its weight with the proper support.

It's hard to believe that we are 11 weeks in and still have much more to see. This is certainly not the shallow release I anticipated, and I think Privateer Press is making a very solid, one shot army. I certainly can't wait to get mine!

See you tomorrow!


Remember to follow me on Facebook. I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways!

Countdown to Cyriss - Week 9

Today DC gave us a look at an absolutely ridiculous warcaster from Convergence of Cyriss - Iron Mother Directrix. Listing each spoiler and discussing it worked well enough last time, so let's see if we can recreate success.

• Focus 8. Wow, a 16" control area is huge by any standards, but this will really let her spread out the warjacks. Not only that, but being FOC 8 plays perfectly well with her feat...
• Mathematical Perfection. This feat makes her Mat/Rat equal to her FOC for one turn. And remember that Cyriss warjacks share her Mat/Rat... so you're working with a field full of 8/8 warjacks spread across 16", creating a huge range of threats that, quite simply, won't be missing their attacks. This has the potential to be one of the most brutal feats I've ever seen. Yes it requires a bit of luck on several dice rolls, but with all the synergy, support models, and 8 FOC spread across all your jacks (plus the one they can all share), you are going to rip apart anything you want.
• She's a Warcaster unit, starting the game with 2 Exponent Servitors and popping one out each turn she has less than 2. These things have a 10" beam that gives you +2 damage to all damage rolls made against the target. Creating one every turn means you can leave one out in front to block charge lanes.
• She's a construct, which means she can be repaired. They hint that she has "quite a few damage boxes," so chewing through her health is going to take some work from your opponent.
• Field Marshal [Arc Node] gives all her warjacks the Arc Node advantage, meaning she can threaten any scenario area, or just harass your opponent with some of her amazing spells.
• Backlash is a debuff upkeep spell that targets warjacks. When that warjack suffers damage, its controller takes 1 damage point. Stick this on a colossal and get to work!
• Domination takes control of a non-character warjack with a functioning cortex. Use this to create an opening to your opponent's warcaster.
• She also has some adequate infantry-clearing attacks. Her melee is a POW 11 with reach and thresher, and her ranged attack shoots 11" and hits with a POW 15 AOE 4 attack. 

Her fear turn is going to decimate the unprepared opponent. If you can sweep your opponent's armor cracking off the board, your warjacks are free to control the board unmolested. You can also clear out a scenario zone, soften up several heavies, or clear a bunch of infantry with any jack that has an AOE. Directrix takes Cyriss's synergy, turns it up 10 notches and then rips the knob off. Assuming her Mat/Rat aren't pitiful outside her feat turn, I think a smart player will be able to create a situation that the opponent just can't come back from.

And that's saying nothing about the amazing concept art. I mean where else can you see a sword cloak?

I'm so excited about this army's release. I don't know that they'll become a main army for me unless they get clockwork Shifting Stones, but I'm planning to sell my budding Cygnar army to fund the initial Cyriss releases. They're just too fun not to try!

See you tomorrow!

IKRPG GM Toolkit Review

Today I finally got my hands on the GM screen for IKRPG and wanted to share my initial thoughts.

First of all, it has Privateer Press's usual quality. The panels are durable, the artwork is gorgeous, and the inside stat panels are glued evenly and securely (a factor that I find important). PP put a lot of care in to making this and it really shows.



The screen itself is a great height. Older GM screens were more like 3-paneled folders, making it nearly impossible to see your players. Instead the panels are slightly larger than 4 pieces of printer paper set end to end, allowing you to see your players without them getting a peak at all your secrets. The 4 panels can be a bit cumbersome, but allows more flexible positioning depending on what you have behind the screen.

The kit also comes with some handy paper supplies. In addition to a stack of character sheets and a health tracker for players and warjacks, it comes with two nifty tools for GMs - encounter sheets and initiative trackers.



The initiative tracker will suit some GMs perfectly, while other can re-purpose it or ignore it altogether. Although it's a glorified index card, I plan on writing down the stats of several models I find myself using often (humans, thralls, etc) that don't use life spirals. This way I can have their stats in front of me at all times, and I can write any special rules on the blank backside.

The encounter sheet is something I'm sure I won't make full use of, but I can see it being a life saver for some GMs. I do, however, plan on putting 1 in a plastic sleeve so I can easily track several models that use life spirals. After using a model with a spiral for the first time, I can't wait to see how much this will smooth out damage tracking!

Finally, the most important part of a GM screen - the charts and stats inside. In the past, I've always used charts + paperclipped notes to quickly reference important things. It's not the fault of the screens - there's limited real estate for so many complex rules, so the makers have to decide what they think will be most useful and the GMs have to come up with the rest.

There are a few items in here that I don't find all too useful. One panel has a deviation graphic - something that really isn't helpful except as a guideline if you don't have a template. Then there is a rule for Fear which seems rather random compared to any other rules they could have put in. Fortunately that only takes up about 1/4 of a single panel. The rest of the stuff is solid gold.

There's a quick breakdown of Injuries (minus the table, thankfully) and temporary effects like stealth or crippled aspects. The rest of the panels are crammed with charts for combat, skills, and player actions. The best thing about this is that almost every rule has a page number beside it, allowing you to reference something if you need more specific wording. I love these charts because it answers every basic question that can come up during a game. It can't (and shouldn't) answer everything, but it will shave off a lot of wasted time spent digging through the dense rulebook.

Now then, it wouldn't be a review without some negatives. My biggest complaint, which seems to be shared by many, is that the screen's price is increased because of the mandatory additions. While they can be useful, it's really just a prettier version of anything that could have been pulled from PP's download section or created by hand. While $28 MSRP is great for what you get, if you're only using the screen then you're probably wasting $8-10. D&D had similar products and sold them separately - naturally the paper products weren't terribly popular, so this may be PP's way of making the products available without having a bunch of character sheets gathering dust in warehouses and shore shelves. However, I really wish there was an option to buy them separately, even if it only saved me a few bucks. Fortunately I shop at Miniature Market and DiscountGamesInc, so the cost of wasted paper was offset by the 25% discount.

Secondly, they didn't include anything about encounter creation. This is more of a personal gripe than anything because I never know how many players I'll have until I come to the game, or I'll want to increase an encounter's difficulty on the fly without going too extreme. But really, even a chart for encounter points and player leveling would have been great. However, I see their reasoning for not since everything on the screen is for what's happening during the game, not before and after.

I'm sure as time goes I'll find some things I'll have to write notes for. Overall, they used their given space very efficiently and included almost anything you would need to reference during a skill or combat encounter. The game is still a bit bare-bones when it comes to general NPC interactions, but I almost prefer that because it allows the player's creativity to dictate a conversation, not a set of rolls.

So if you're GMing a game of IKRPG, I highly recommend this. If you play once a week or once a month, it will make your games smooth and enjoyable, practically eliminating all the time wasted digging through rulebooks to figure out climbing or attack modifiers.

See you tomorrow! And if you're new around here, be sure to like my page on Facebook where I post daily blog content and monthly giveaways.

Countdown to Cyriss - Week 8

Welcome back to another installment of Countdown to Cyriss where I try to breakdown Privateer Press's Wednesday spoilers and give my evolving thoughts on the army. We got a shorter spoiler this week, but wow is it a good one!

Cyriss is all about clockwork and math, so it should be no surprise that positioning is key when it comes to the Transfinite Emergence Projector (TEP), Cyriss's battle engine that is guaranteed to bring the hurt! At first glance it seems painfully lackluster - two 10" POW 10 sprays is nothing to make you throw up your hands in jubilation. But then Dave "DC" Carl, who is taking over the Cyriss blog, gave us the TEP's special rule Firing Formulae:

When this model makes a ranged attack with this weapon during its activation, determine the position of the Permutation Servitors this model put into play. For each completely within its left firing arc, this model gains an additional die on its attack rolls. For each completely within its right firing arc, this model gains an additional die on its damage rolls. For each completely within its back arc, this model makes an additional Auto Fire attack.

A few things immediately stand out to me here.

• It creates Permutation Servitors, it doesn't just come with them. That means that it isn't like the Witch Coven where you are at max power until people shoot your resources.
• It gains "an additional die" on attack or damage rolls. That means boosting is still a thing!
• It can make an additional Auto Fire Attack that doesn't require you to buy it (Auto Fire ignore ROF)
• It gets these bonuses for each model in a particular arc. That means 3 servitors (which I assume is its max number) on its left gives it 5d6+RAT. Take THAT Winter Guard Death Star!
• Being a spray means that these bonuses apply to all attacks. If this thing gets within 10" of an opponent's warcaster the only thing they can hide behind is a large piece of blocking terrain. 
• Finally, multiple servitors allows you to mix and match what you need for a particular situation. If you have a lot of DEF 14 infantry to take care of, 1 or 2 servitors on the left will boost the attack well enough, allowing you to put the rest in the back arc to grant additional attacks. 

And while TEP (likely) won't receive the battlegroup bonuses, the rest of the army still has plenty of utility to get even more out of this thing. I don't think we saw all that TEP has to offer, but even if this is as good as it gets... it's really really good. I can see this being a must-have in any 50 point list, even if it means leaving a warjack in your bag. Cyriss reveals have been lacking ways to handle infantry, instead showing how well they can focus-fire a target to shreds. TEP looks to serve as the perfect way to balance any part of SAID the rest of a list can't answer.

So... there's a moderate-to-high chance I'm back to my "I must have this!" stance. I'm finally getting over the fact that PP won't be supporting this army - looking at my loaded painting tray that may even be a blessing. What I'm looking at is "could I have fun making this my main, secondary, or tertiary army? I have most of what I want for Khador, I'm quite satisfied with my Circle collection... why not have an army I can easily complete, paint, and be done with?

See you tomorrow for the giveaway results!

Justifying Expensive Models

In a pseudo follow-up of my post talking about Quality vs. Quantity, I find myself in a bit of a mind regarding the purchase of a single expensive model. With the release of Colossals and Gargantuans, the game of Warmachine has finally started moving towards "big things smashing other big things" that everyone wants it to be. But with that comes a cost, and it can be a hefty one.

Take the colossal for Khador, for example. At 19 points, it costs as much as two average warjacks. It comes with a huge damage grid, ranged and melee threats, and a big fat base to put it all on. The thing is also intimidating to look at, and from the work I've seen people do it seems like a blast to paint. I really want a great big robot, but acquiring it will hit me for about $135 MSRP. As a comparison, for a few bucks more I could get a Battle Foam bag to carry my entire army in.



But it's not just the price that is off-putting, it's the use I'd get out of each dollar spent. If I spent $135 on models I could get a mixture of units, solos, warcasters and warjacks. While I'd still be growing my army, I'd be breaking that money up in to 3-5 choices (or more!), with at least 1 purchase easily sliding in to any future list. The Conquest, while a decent warjack, is a full-blown 19 points in a game where the highest level I'll play at is 50 points.

Investing nearly 40% of my points in a single model means my other choices are limited, and he becomes virtually unplayable at 25 or 35 point games. And with the exception of a few armies, many huge-base models have a lot of competition from lower-cost models. What's worse, an army's best heavy jack/beast can mostly accomplish what the more expensive model does for 6-8 points cheaper! And let's not forget I can buy a Convergence of Cyriss starting army for the same price.

When comparing the cost of a colossal vs. Battlefoam, it's important to point out that I would be buying the colossal for $95 from DiscountGamesInc. So $95 for one model vs. $155 (+ shipping) for a foam bag is a bit less painful. But if I were to buy from KR Multicase again (an upcoming review will explain why I may not), I can carry the same amount of troops as the Battlefoam bag for about $130 with free shipping.

Maybe it's because I've only been gaming for over a year, but it's so hard to look at the more efficient ways to spend my hobby money and then put it in to a single warjack+. But when I look at the Conquest... I really want one. It's not something I need, but I am often tempted to forego foam and other units and just buy a big hunk of metal and plastic. This has been my conundrum since their release - can I justify spending so much money on a single, amazing model?

So how do you guys justify spending so much money on a single model? Have you regretted it? Or if you haven't yet, what keeps you from buying one?

See you tomorrow, which is the very last day to enter my Warmachine/Hordes faction dice giveaway! Tell your friends!

Quality vs Quantity

When it comes to gaming, I have always had the tongue-in-cheek version of A.D. D. When I was younger I was more focused in my gaming and would take 1 aspect of a game and run it in to the ground. In middle school I was really in to wrestling video games, and I would pick one character and play him nonstop. The same was true of Mortal Kombat, Pokemon TCG, YuGiOh... if something gave me numerous options, I would pick my favorite and stick to it no matter what.

I'm not sure when I got tired of that, but as time wore on I found myself wanting to experience everything in a game. When I quit Warcraft I had five characters at max level and only one was remotely capable of raiding. When I quit Magic I had at least 10 different decks built, and none were very good. In the Elder Scrolls series I would beat the game once, and rather than go through and finish up quests I'd start the game with a completely different character. Even in Call of Duty I never stuck to one weapon, even if it meant I died a lot more using a different weapon.

And now that I play Warmachine, my restlessness has started setting in again. I started with Khador and bought a good chunk of the army over the last year. But after playing them for months on end, I got so bored with the big red machine. As I looked at other models I could buy to spice things up, my mind starter drifting to other factions. After all, for the price of buying a new Conquest I could buy a small starter army off Bartertown.

And so as I started selling off some of my older stuff, boxes started hitting my doorstep. The first one contained a large Circle Orboros army, which I've been really enjoying lately. But I found a few more deals at over 50% off, so I slowly started acquiring Cygnar and Skorne as well. And now with 4 armies to play, my painted Khador army has received no love other than a friend borrowing them one night and using them to teach Warmachine to a friend. I'm not even sure the last time I played them in a true game.

The question I often receive is "Why not just sell your Khador?" Because then I wouldn't have the option to play them! How broken is that? I can't stand playing the army, but reducing my number of potential options isn't acceptable.

And so I now have one large Khador force, one medium Circle force, and two small Cygnar and Skorne forces. And with my new resolution to only play painted models (which I may have to suspend in order to try out Infinity next week), I have a ton of models I don't have time to paint that may sit in their box for months before I can play them. And then I'm talking about buying in to Convergence of Cyriss...

My problem is that I want to know everything about a game. Sure I could become unstoppable with Khador, but I wonder what it's like to field Menoth and set your opponent's army on fire. Or ignore the majority of the battlefield using Legion. Or win with an underdog army like Minions or Retribution of Scyrah. Or spell assassinate with Cryx...

That's the eternal cycle of options that runs through my head about any game. It's also why I've found a great appreciation for games with limited options. Games like Tomb Raider or Assassin's Creed let me enjoy a game without wondering how different the game would be if I played it again using an entirely different approach. Yes, almost all games have some semblance of an ability tree, but those are more about adding flavor than dramatically changing how you experience the game. Specializing in shotguns over handguns isn't quite the same as playing as a spell-slinging wizard instead of a tough, vicious warrior.

I really wish I could value the quality of one option over the quantity of others. Maybe it's because I've always been a jack-of-all-trades sort, but I can't stand the idea of spending so much time focusing on one thing and making minimal gains at the expense of never experiencing what else a game has to offer.  I will probably never be a master, but I also never have to fear stagnation.

So which is the better way to be? Is it better to excel at one thing, or experience many things and be good at those? To be honest, I wish I had the personality that let me get good at one part of a game. However, I play games to relax and take a break from real life.

In the real world I like doing things perfectly, but it's also incredibly stressful. After you leap those big hurdles and see yourself making huge strides, all you're left with is to get better at smaller things, spending a lot of time to see a little progress. In life that's just fine, because the stress usually pays off. But if I'm trying to relax and take a break from reality, I don't want to waste that time trying to get slightly better at something, especially if it turns out I've basically hit the ceiling on how well I can do with the limited time I have.

From what I've seen, I think I'm in the minority here. And that's probably a good thing, because this personality quirk makes it hard for me to fully appreciate something until I feel satisfied that I've experienced every aspect of a game that might interest me. It's why I loved Tomb Raider so much, but it's also why I still feel like Dark Souls is incomplete despite beating it several times with several different characters.

So what about you? Can you focus on one thing for a long time, or do you need to experience most (or all) that a game has to offer?

See you tomorrow! Remember, just 5 more days until my Warmachine/Hordes faction dice giveaway!

Painting Adjectives

You'll have to indulge the English geek in me today.


I was painting a Cryx commission today and thought to myself "Man I'm having fun painting these guys." That's not a new thought for me, but today I must've had Socrates on the brain because I immediately countered with the thought "Why?" And as I paused and looked at what I was doing, I realized that it was because I was painting adjectives.

A few years ago I tutored various levels of writing. When it came to creative writing, by far the most common thing I'd do on a paper would be to circle a section and write "more..." My students knew what that meant - they'd said something that could be interesting or important, but completely lacked any detail. As a result, their story would suffer because everything was very bland and monotone.

Painting is the same way. When I first started painting, I blocked off areas with a solid basecoat and called it a day. I was happy with it because I was just starting, but it certainly wasn't interesting to look at. As I became more passionate about painting, I sought tutorials that would help me learn to do more than just a bland basecoat.

My first painting victim.

Finally I learned the importance of detail. Every bit of paint tells something about the model, much like every word contributes to a story. You can have something basic and it will still be better than nothing, but it's when you add those bits of detail that things really start coming to life. While shading and highlighting are key to making a model feel alive, I find that it's painting the tiny details sculpted in to a model that's the most rewarding. They are the adjectives that aren't necessary, but including them put the model on an entirely different level.

The models that inspired this idea are Stitch Thralls. Like the Brute Thralls I talked about previously, I basecoated them with Thrall Flesh, then washed their skin with purple and green to make the skin look more realistic. As a tabletop standard, that probably looked good enough. But when I'm looking at it up close, I see all the little details the sculptor added and those are what I love to paint. Like adjectives in a story, you don't realize how much a model is missing until you see the model with these tiny additions.



The details are pretty simple, but I think they add a lot to the model even though you may not realize you're paying attention to them. All I did was paint their seams red to emphasize where their body parts where stitched together, and then blackened the stitching to make them pop against the black skin. There are also some very small sores that I don't think the camera picked up. Like I said, it's a small thing but it gives a much stronger visual impression and makes the model look so much better without much extra work.

I think this is also why I love painting Privateer Press models more than anything else. I've always described their models as "characterful," and it's because almost every model has some kind of minor, almost inconsequential detail that can take a model from neat to amazing. I always appreciate when a model has that kind of detail built in to it because it lets me do much more with the model without having to do much more than highlighting and shading.

So when you hear me say a model is fun to paint, you can almost guarantee there's some cool details in it that were just waiting to be discovered and painted.

See you tomorrow! And if you're new around here, check out my Warmachine/Hordes faction dice giveaway coming up in less than a week! Be warned that you cannot enter from the Facebook mobile app.

Countdown to Cyriss - Week 7

This week... heavy infantry!


Will Shick gave us a wonderful look at Cyriss's infantry, which is something I said needs to be good enough to support the army. And in a continuing show of Swiss Army-style mechanics, we get some weapons and abilities that will serve as wonderful filler for gaps left from a list's battlegroup. I suggest opening the link in a new tab if only to look at their concept art.

First are the Reciprocators. If you've played against a unit of Man O War Shocktroopers from Khador, you know what to expect. ARM 16 with shieldwall, making them an effective ARM 20 at all time unless something goes awry. While their medium bases won't screen the heavy jacks, they do look like they'll serve as an adequate unit for catching the alpha strike or plugging up an area. The fact that an opponent will have to dedicate 2 or 3 models to take one down means that the opponent will need to sacrifice a unit's activation trying to get rid of them, or trying to ignore them entirely. If only it were that simple!

As I mentioned in a previous article, PP is designing many of Cyriss's weapons to have 2 abilities. In the case of the Reciprocators, they can get Set Defense and get 14 DEF against a charge (meaning several alpha-strike attacks will miss), or Empowered Attack to get +2 on damage, making them P+S 14 and nearly impossible to safely ignore. This lets the Reciprocators do something that many units cannot - serve a role in both early and late game. A unit may be able to catch the alpha strike, but once they're engaged there's a good chance they'll pillow-fist their way through the opponent for a few turns. Otherwise a unit is good at hitting hard, but they don't like being hit back. Being a utility unit able to operate at ARM 20, DEF 14 vs charges, P+S 14 is ridiculous.

Next he discussed the Eradicators. I would be excited for these if only because they represent the first Cyriss name that doesn't make my math-hating brain angry. But that's not all! When moving up the field you can make them ARM 17 - respectable, but you'll need to choose your targets carefully. Once you close the distance, you'll be swinging with a MAT 9, which is enough to easily rip apart all but the highest DEF targets out there. While they don't say how many attacks these guys have, the fact that their dual-bucklers turn in to blades and the ability Side Step leads me to believe they have at least 2. So say hello to your infantry sweepers!

Finally are the Perforators, which are apparently one of Cyriss's few ranged units (a sad thought for me and my love affair with Widowmakers). Shick doesn't give any hard-and-fast numbers, but it looks like these guys are RAT 5, POW 6, RNG 6, SPD 5 with Assault and Armor Piercing. They have the ability to use Snipe to boost their RNG by 4", or Empowered Attack for +2 POW. Out of the box these guys already make effective "armor crackers," charging Khador jacks with 2d6-2, not to mention whatever their melee attack is after the Assault. Shick then pointed out that with Cyriss's plentiful support options, these guys could threaten up to 20" and hit at 7 RAT, making them a serious threat to an exposed warcaster. In what world does heavy infantry become an assassination threat? The world of the Clockwork Goddess, that's where!

I've said it before, but I love the idea of this army. Everything has a trick, and your opponent has a lot of variables to consider with every move. In a game that's already thick with strategy, Cyriss is bringing it to a new level. I love that their infantry is good from beginning to end, and I think they serve as perfect complements to the battlegroup. I once saw that the key to building an effective list is bringing an answer to 4 questions:
Can you handle...

• Stealth
• Armor
• Infantry swarm
• Defense

"Your list needs to be prepared for anything" "That's what she SAID!" That's how I remember it and now it's ingrained in your brain forever. You're welcome.

With everything we've seen of Cyriss so far, it doesn't seem hard to answer or ignore those 4 questions in a standard list. Depending on how Flare behaves, stealth may be the only mild frustration this melee army will face, but no one can be perfect. I'd like to see this army have a bit more in the DEF department, especially since everyone in the competitive scene will already be packing armor cracking to deal with colossals and gargantuans. But even if the army only released with what we've seen so far, I think it has enough going for it to make it competitive.

So where are you guys at in terms of "must buy"? I'm pretty sure this army is a must buy for me, but I don't think I will be dropping money on it this summer. I really want to paint some of these models, but my painting tray is truly overflowing with my own stuff while I try getting caught up with commissions. Still... this army is going to be amazing, regardless of the skeletal releases they may get in the future.

See you tomorrow! There's about 1 week until my Warmachine/Hordes faction dice giveaway, so make sure you enter!

Painting Tip - Washing Flesh

First, let me welcome all the new guys from the Wargamers Consortium group. If you are curious why I am posting every day, here's my first post of the year.

I love washes, but lately I've found that my painting abilities have matured passed the need to use them for their more basic effects. However, Privateer Press recently introduced me to a more advanced and effective way of using them.

When I was doing a recent Cygnar commission, I decided to see if/how they recommended doing flesh. As I read through their steps, my eyebrows rose in doubt. They suggested basecoating with the flesh, then doing a wash of flesh mixed with red, followed by a flesh mixed with green. My knowledge in color theory is rudimentary, but I couldn't fathom how that could end up not looking like vomit.

I bow to the knowledge of greater painters, because the resulting shading was fantastic. For cloth and armor that's not as big of a deal, but something translucent like skin needs more than just a darkening of the same color. The red and green aren't immediately apparent, but the mixing of the transparent colors on top of the skin tone is very convincing.

Today I started painting some Cryx Thralls using the Cryx faction book and decided to show you what I mean. I started off by airbrushing everyone with Thrall Flesh.

It's convincing for undead flesh, but two layers of washes will work miracles. The first wash was a drop of Beaten Purple and a drop of Matte Medium. I thinned this heavily with water; I lost count on the exact numbers, but it was around 15-20 by the time I was finally happy with it. I then put a light layer on everything, allowing the purple to just tint the skin and pushing any pigment buildups in to the deeper areas.

Finally, I made a 1:1:10 wash of Battledress Green: Matte Medium: Water and did the same thing on top of the purple. The end result made the flesh return to a more natural looking color (for as natural as undead flesh gets), removing the solid color from step 1 and replacing it with some color variations you barely notice, but do a lot to improve the overall color. In addition, the more obvious purple in the shadows provide a more convincing feeling of "yuck" than if I had just used a darkened Thrall Flesh.

I still have a long way to go before I understand why seemingly unrelated colors work so well together, but in the mean time I'll be content to love the results. So if you've been stuck in a rut regarding washes, try this out on flesh. Just make sure you get them very well thinned, otherwise you risk dyeing the model and removing the primary flesh color.

See you tomorrow! And if you haven't yet, make sure you click here to enter my giveaway for a set of Warmachine/Hordes faction dice!

Countdown to Cyriss - Week 6

Today we get to look at Cyriss's other living warcaster, Aurora. Alongside her Clockwork Angels, I think this is one of the reasons people will want to play Cyriss.

Shick gave us a lot of stats, so I'll break them down:

• Spd 7
• Flight
• Transference lets warrior models use her focus to boost attack and damage rolls. Assuming she's a FOC 7 caster, that's going to be awesome. 
• True Path grants warrior models/units +2" movement and Pathfinder, making Angels charge 12" and (fingers crossed) attack with a Reach weapon. Even if they don't have a reach weapon, they can out-threaten your average gunline. And with their +2 DEF against ranged attacks, these things can cause chaos on the opponent's flank and back line. 
• Elite Cadre [Clockwork Angels] gives them CMA. With only 3 of them, and the ability to use Transference, it's a negligible benefit. But it does guarantee that any solo is going to die.
• Flank [Clockwork Angels] means she wants to be with her unit and ripping things apart.
• Flashing Blade (spell) is a Thresher-like ability. Combined with Flank, this will make her a terror against high DEF infantry. 
• Eleventh Hour (feat) grants friendly faction models Refuge, letting them make a full advance (ignoring free strikes) if they hit an enemy this turn. With this feat, I picture the scene from Batman Begins where Ra's al Ghul attacks Bruce, then disappears in to a cloud of shifting ninjas.

Overall, Aurora seems like a fun caster. She lets her warjacks handle the big boys while she and her unit of Clockwork Angels flit around the battlefield destroying all the squishy targets. I like her, and if I get Cyriss this will definitely be a caster I put on the field. She has the shenanigans of Circle, but her jacks still possess the hitting power needed to address high ARM targets. And since her MAT has to be at least 7, warjacks are going to be hitting rather well.

So now that we've had two warcasters spoiled, I must say that Cyriss continues to make it difficult to say no. We've had a caster who wants to play like Khador, and one who wants to be Circle. There's little question that they're versatile, if only Privateer Press would give us more concrete details on how often we can expect new toys for these guys!

I think I need a spoiler of something completely new, but just as versatile as what we've seen, before I will return to my "definitely probably" purchase decision. What about you guys? Is there anything you're waiting on before you'll consider buying in? Has the recent confirmation that Cyriss will be a one-time release affected your interest in the army? Let me know, because I'm curious to see where everyone else is on this decision.

See you tomorrow!

Woohoo! Skull Island Expeditions!

Today's post will be a quicky but a goody.
For those who didn't see the announcement, Privateer Press finally launched their digital library Skull Island Expeditions! I've been looking for some fiction worth putting on my iPad, and I think I've found exactly that.

I'm really excited with the direction they're taking. They have a few continuing stories for Mercenaries (which seems to be the safest compromise for their first releases), as well as a series of novellas that will focus on individual warlocks and warcasters. There are also actual novels releasing in the future, but I like the idea of novellas to satisfy my appetite. For those who will read the book fluff, this is a dream come true!

I know I wanted novels when first starting the game, and PP fleshing out their universe seems to be a another big step in establishing themselves as legitimate competition for gamers' attention. I'm not saying it's been an underdog all these years, but having fiction outside of rulebooks and expansions opens up the door for new gamers to find the hobby, as well as let those who enjoy the universe to become even more invested in the stories.

Well done PP, I'm excited to give you my money for this one!

See you tomorrow (and only 1 day left until the giveaway!)