Sgt. Rock

Hey Weav, just realized this is the same day that we do Infinity at WOW. I'll be forced to split my attention, which pretty much means I'll be playing Infinity. We usually only take up one or two rooms, though, so there should be space for both. Have you talked to @Raindog about it?

Resculpts. Lots of them. Irmandinhos, Vet Kazak HMG, Kazak Doktor, ORC troops, Lizard Squadron, the list goes on... But most importantly, friggin' update FRRM. Pleeeeeze.

Accident. :P I started playing Ariadna because I'm not a big fan of anime and they're the least anime-ish faction in the game. Then I kind of accidentally fell into playing CHA. My girlfriend, at first, wanted to play PanO, but she changed her mind after we had the Icestorm set and the old SAA starter, so I just expanded on them (with great help from a big Labor Day sale at a game store up north.) I wound up playing NCA because of all those goodies from the sale... got the NCA starter and the Fusiliers box, among other things. My friend George from the Pride of Rodina blog scored the Nomads on a crazy deal on auction, and he managed to bait me into buying them for stupidly cheap. So yeah. Accident.

If you need reference photos, I can send you pictures of my baby bearded dragon. :P

Aww, thanks. Not sure how I keep you humble, but I'll take it. :P

Is it anything like how I tripped into some Nomads?

If I weren't going to be in Seattle that day...

THEN DO THREE MORE! AGAIN! *Whipcrack* AGAIN! AGAIN!

The Grey is amazing, for me. I'm not happy about them modelling the Morlocks to look like the Suicide Squad - terrible comic, terrible movie, they just want Harley Quinn because she's a sexy character. The Charontid is fine, the Thorakitai are cool, the Warcor... she just looks awkward. Nobody runs with their arms matching the movement of their legs like that. It's awkward and off balance, and looks funky. Not a fan.

Way too many sniper rifles. You need to cover all range bands, you need high burst weapons like HMGs and Spitfires, and more specialists. For a 10 order list, you should be looking at at least 3 specialists. Sniper rifles aren't as amazing in this game as they are in other games; they're useful, sure, but I seldom take more than one. Low burst means it's way too easy to lose a firefight, and the ARO mechanic in this game makes it all too easy to do that. You may have me out ranged, but if I'm in cover, with some sort of camo, or in suppressive fire, I can stack modifiers to the point where you're not likely to hit. Make sure you fully understand the mechanics of face to face rolls and AROs; it makes a big difference in what you're going to be fielding. Learning the game with the models you have is good, but remember also that most people (including any of us) are perfectly fine with you proxying something to test it out, as long as you're clear and consistent as to what it is. In order to learn the game, it's highly recommended - and for good reason - that you start at 150 with a balanced force, mostly rifles and an HMG or sniper rifle, maybe a shotgun, and learn your way around that. Then slowly increase the point levels as you become more proficient and better able to wrap your head around the game. Ask @Raindog for a demo or three, he's an excellent teacher.

Also, something to keep in mind about those Akalis, their orders aren't available at the beginning. When you bring them on, you have to use their order to get them onto the board, so they don't actually contribute their order to the pool until the turn after they come on board. Having one or even two airborne troops can be great, but loading up on them is a bad idea, as it cripples your order pool for the first turn or two.

You can mix and match models from sectorials within greater factions, like Military Orders and Shock Army of Aconticemento. As a general rule, you can't mix major factions, like Nomads and PanO. There are exceptions, of course. That said, 5 order lists won't get you very far at 150, and for the 300 point list, you're violating the AVA of all three units for vanilla PanO; Nisses are AVA 2, Akalis are AVA 3, and Hospitallers are AVA 1. Not sure why it'd be giving you the go ahead on that; did you make a list with all ten units in there?

Also, holy crap, ABHs are regular! I may have to forgive their war crimes anyway...

I gotta say, I always have misgivings about "mercenary" armies, but I like the way CB has done this. It has a sensible, unified feel - someone contracted the Druze, who use mostly their own troops with the occasional independent contractor for specialized needs. Not like WarmaHordes, where the Merc armies, with the exception of the dwarves and pirates, were basically just there so you could throw together whatever mercs you want higgledy-piggledy with no unified theme. If they come out with a KTS army, I might jump on the bandwagon (I'm a little too loyal to Caledonia to let the Druze into my life just yet. :P )

Yay! Presents!

Gonna try to make it, see if I can get these Norse assembled and painted by then. Holidays take their toll on hobby time, as we all know...

Can anyone open a panoply, or just specialists?

Wish I could be there. Got a show at work I need to cover, sadly.

Also, I do like the idea of only getting points for food or drinks. As it is, we end up with people bringing lots of drinks (which is fine, they can populate the fridge for future game nights) and way, way, way too much food.

Swords are cool, and tradition! Never go away from the swords. Tokens are neat, and useful for new players, but for the old salts in the room, they kind of just take up space. They are, however, cheap and easy. That said, maybe adding something like Ordo pins for everyone would be neat, or patches, or some kind of swag like that. I like giving the Wooden Spoon a growler of beer (or something equally cool or cooler!) I feel like it should be recognized, like the festival they hold in Florida for the last guy taken in the NFL draft. I liked it last year when it was limited insertion, actually. That was fun, and at 200 points, keeps things like HI links from dominating the board. I have to say, having no retreat was nice, especially for the purposes of the checklist... if you end up in retreat in turn one or two, you suddenly have no real way to get any achievements for that game, which really limits your chances of success at the overall tournament.

Is it wrong that I want to do another Rampage this weekend?

I had a blast, HUGE thanks to Raindog for putting this on, and I hope that shelter gets good use out of all our donations. Yay Rampage, yay Ordo, yay gamers!

My massive order from Cool Mini or Not just arrived... now I can't decide what to play. :(

Just looked out my front door for the first time today, and lo and behold, boxes were there. Contents, all for the princely sum of $115.82. Not a bad haul.

I wonder if they're just going to stop carrying Infinity or something?