MTG: ‘Core Set 19’ Planeswalker Decks Part 2

The other day my son and I were able to pick up the remaining 3 Planeswalker Decks for ‘Core Set 19’ that we did not have.  With my son working at a game store, it was nice to get a little discount.  The last 3 decks that we needed were, ‘Tezzeret’, ‘Ajani’, and ‘Liliana’.  It will be nice now to grab any color deck and throw down for a fun game.

Also after opening the booster box that we had purchased, I managed to then purchase the remaining singles I needed to complete the set, and I am happy to say all my singles arrived and my ‘Core Set 19’ is all completed and placed in an album.

Weekly Chronicle 2018 #30

I am now one month away till I leave for the NOVA Open and I am getting a little bit excited.  I have heard good things about the NOVA Open before, but never have attended.  I am curious how it stakes up to AdeptiCon and Las Vegas Open.  I am little disappointed that I drop out of Guild Ball for the Friday event, but I did that since I really did not play much this year and it will now leave me an open day to enjoy the vendor hall and the rest of the Con.  When I attended these conventions, I try and give myself a little downtime to enjoy the scenario and not event after event and get burned out.

I am just about ‘set’ on the lists I will be taking with me, and all my models are fully painted at this point.  I did not get to finish 2 models yet that I was thinking about for 1 of my lists.  I still may get to those models in August (I hope I do), but I doubt they will be in my lists since I would not have had any play time with them.  I am still finalizing my list for the 15 Point “Speedmachine” and I have it down between 2 Warcasters.  I plan on testing one tonight or tomorrow night and then I should have my decision.  I also changed my decision on the Warcaster I am going to use in the 50 Point “Breakfastmachin”, I decided I am going to go with “Harkevich”.  I have played him before, but I am still planning on getting at least one or two more games in this month with him.  I am going to NOVA Open to have fun, so that is what I plan on doing and will then play 3 different Warcasters in my three events.

So for this past week...once again nothing was completed model wise, and I did manage to get in a 50 Point game of Warmachine/Hordes in yesterday with my first time trying ‘Karchev’ (he is the Warcaster I want to try in my 15 Point list before I make my final decision).

Models Completed: 0

Games Played: 1

Guild Ball: Cooks Guild Revealed

This past weekend was the British National Championships and at the keynote event, Steamforged Games showed off the upcoming Minor Guild for the Butcher’s....The Cook’s Guild.

I am actually looking forward to picking up this Guild (as the Butcher’s are my favorite Guild), with the release of the Falconer’s coming in August, and the Navigator’s in September, my guess is that the Cook’s will be released in October, probably right around the time of SteamCon US and Season 4.

Here are some of the images that were released this past weekend.

Guild Ball: Season 4 Sneak Peak Part 2

Steamforged Games today released some more information on the upcoming Season 4 of Guild Ball.  Here is a brief outline on the chages released today.

Influence: Influence will have a maximum allotment per player.  There will be no more instances where a player can over their maximum amount allowed.  The stats on the cards have been updated to reflect these changes.

Obstructions:  No more can player stop on an Obstruction.  They can still Jog or Dodge over them, but you cannot end a move with any part of its base overlapping an Obstruction.

Character Plays:  There will not be any Character Plays with a cost of 0 and have made adjustments to every player that had one.  They now have a minimum cost of 1, and the Influence stat has been increased to reflect these changes.

Roster size:  The roster size for a team has been increased from 10 to 12 players.

To read the full article on Steamforged Games, please click HERE.

Weekly Chronicle 2018 #29

I am still slacking on getting models completed and the motivation is not there yet, my recent interest in Magic The Gathering has kept my mind on that game this past week.  I still have 2 Khador ‘Forge Seers’ sitting on my painting table with two coats completed.  Maybe next Saturday or Sunday morning I’ll get a few more colors on them.  I have enough models completed for the NOVA Open, so I am not worried for that, I just wanted a few more done to give me some more options.

I also did not play any WM/H this week, but my son and I did manage to get in 3 matches (9) games of MTG in this week, and I spent all day Saturday sorting through our ‘Core Set 19’ so I can put a full set together.

I am sure after next week when the countdown to NOVA Open is less than 30 days, the excitement will come back to me and we’ll get in some more practice games.

Models Completed: 0

Games Played: 9 (MTG)

MTG: ‘Core Set 19’ Booster Box

Last night my son and I opened our Magic The Gathering Core Set 19 booster box, I had my son purchase it Saturday night from his work, but we waited till last night to crack open a few packs.

I had thought about joining a MTG League out in Kalamazoo on Monday nights (started last night), but Monday nights are very tough for me to get away with all the chores that need to get accomplished (garbage night).  So I decided we’ll just play the league style at home after dinner.  The League consists of starting with 3 packs and build a 30 card deck (we elected to start with 4 packs), then each week you can purchase a new pack tocustomize your 30 card deck.  The one change we may do is instead of waiting a full week, I think each night we play, we will probably open up a new pack.  Once we get quite a few packs opened up, we then will increase the deck size to 40 and then finally to 60.  More than likely our decks at 60 cards will not be powerful, but it should still be a fun time.  By playing it this way, it gives us the joy of opening new packs, and limiting our cards to just 1 booster box.

I think in the future if I decided to get serious with Friday Night Magic, I will probably just buy a custom deck online rather than buying packs of cards, but the collector in me likes the booster boxes as it is a good start to completing a full set.  Once we open all the packs and check off all the cards we received, I’ll have to then add up and see how much it would cost to complete the set.

Once we got our 30 card deck built, we played a match.  I put together a Black/Red deck together and I ended up losing 1-2.  The game I did win, my deck played exactly as how I intended it to do so, but the 2 I lost I think I was hurting on some red lands.

We’ll see what happens next time....really enjoying this so far.

Guild Ball: Season 4 Sneak Peak Part 1

Awhile back Steamforged Games announced that Season 4 for Guild Ball will be released in October during SteamCon US.  Unfortunately due to vacation plans already with my wife the weekend before, my son and I will not be attending this years SteamCon US.  In all honestly, even though I really wanted to, I just not have played that many games of Guild Ball this year.  I think once I knew I could not attend SteamCon and that Season 4 will also be released at that point, I went into a “let’s wait for Season 4” mode.  So that is where I am at today, I have not painted anything recently for Guild Ball, but I have been picking up the Minor Guilds as they are being released, and probably will continue to do so through out the year.

Back to Season 4, today Steamforged Games announced some of the changes for the upcoming Season 4.  Personally, I like the changes that were released today.  For a full read on their blog, click HERE, otherwise here is a brief rundown.

1.  They cleaned up some of the wording on the cards so that it is easier to understand, here is an example using Close Control

Season 3 wording

Season 4 wording

2. Measuring used to be done from the center of the ball or to the center of an AOE.  Now measuring will be “within”.  By changing the wording, they also reduced the range of almost all the AOE plays and traits by 2”.

Season 3 measuring AOE

Season 4 measuring AOE

3. Passing the ball will now also be a little bit easier.  In season 3 they made a rule called “Tap in”, that would reduce the TN of your shot on goal from 4+ to 3+ if you were within 4” to score a goal.  They now changed it that any kicking (shots or passes) if you are within half range of the kicking model it will reduce the TN by 1.  I really like this change and it makes it very consistent through out the game.

4. Earning Momentum on Turn 1 has also changed.  The kicking team now will start the game with 1 Momentum.  The idea behind this one is to make both sides play a bit more aggressive during Turn 1 instead of standoff-ish.

That is all they released for today...as of now, I am liking the above changes.

MTG: ‘Core Set 19’ Planeswalker Decks

It seems like every three years my son and I get back into playing Magic The Gathering, not competitively, but more for fun (at least for now).  The issue I always have (and have wrote about it three years ago) is what to do with all the extra cards you get from the booster packs, most of them will just be sitting in a white card board box on the shelf.  This past April, Wizards did actually release some competitive pre-made decks to be played on Friday Night Magic, but come October, most of those cards will be obsolete due to their rotation cycle (I am hoping they will do something similar after the rotation again).

‘Core Set 19’ was just released this past weekend (and the pre-release events were the weekend before), my son since moving here to Michigan has started working in a game store again down in South Bend and Magic The Gathering is heavily played there, so it would be a good idea to refresh his memory on the game is played again.  The easiest thing for us to purchase to just jump right in is with the new ‘Core Set 19’ Planeswalker Decks.  A pre-made 60 card deck is released for each of the land colors.  I decided to get the Mountain deck called ‘Sarkhan’ and my son went the Forest deck called ‘Vivien’.

It actually has been pretty fun so far, we have been able to get in 8 games so far (I do really like that most of the games can be played pretty quickly).  More than likely we will be purchasing a ‘Core Set 19’ Booster Box for the excitement of opening packs, along with doing our own in house League over the next few weeks.

Weekly Chronicle 2018 #28 (45 Days Till The NOVA Open)

Time is really flying by, especially when it seems like you are not getting that many models completed.  Last week was actually probably a pretty decent week for me, not in terms of getting models completed, but as a whole.  I was able to get in two 50 point games of Warmachine/Hordes in (practice for “Breakfastmachine”) and I did complete a new Warcaster for my Khador army with ‘Karchev The Terrible’.

Not too much was done painting wise this past weekend, I do have two ‘Greylord Forge Seers’ on the table, but on Saturday I decided to start building some of the models for my Khador Man-O-War list.  I want to make sure those models are ready to go for when I get back from the NOVA Open and concentrate on finishing those models after the event.

Speaking of the NOVA Open, there is only 45 days left till the event, and I really looking forward to it.  I have never been to an East Coast event, and I have heard good things about this one.  My son and I withdrew from the Guild Ball event that is happening on Friday to open some free time, but we still have a pretty packed schedule of events.  As of now, the plan is for the following events:

Thursday: Warmachine/Hordes “3 Man Team Tournament”.

Friday: Open day, probably get in some games of WM/H in the Iron Arena and late at night we will sit in and listen to the future of “Middle-earth SBG” (formerly Lord of the Rings SBG).

Saturday: early in the morning we have Warmachine/Hordes “Breakfastmachine” and then some open play in the afternoon.

Sunday: in the morning we have Warmachine/Hordes “Speedmachine” and then the drive back home.

Once we get back from the NOVA Open, then it will be time to concentrate on Warmachine Weekend in early November.

Games Played: 2

Models Completed: 1

Khador: Karchev The Terrible

Battle Report: WM/H 7/11/2018 Khador vs Trollbloods (50 Points)

I was supposed to have a game lined up for tonight versus my Trollbloods friend out in Kalamazoo, but yesterday afternoon he asked if we can play last night instead.  So my son and I packed our bags and drove out East.

We setup the table once again for the Mirage scenario (I actually really like this scenario and it is very lively) and I elected to play my same ‘Vlad 1’ Khador list that I had played on Monday night against my son.  My friend TJ played a ‘Doomshaper 3’ Trollblood list with a ‘Mountain King’ and ‘Mulg’.  I wont go into too many details, but forgetting my Feat that would have been a perfect situation to take out the ‘Mountain King’ really hurt me in this game.  I ended up losing 9-4 on the top of Turn 4 and lost all 5 of my Warjacks.  I think all I had left was ‘Vlad 2’ and 1 ‘Kayazy Eliminator’ where as the Trollbloods still had quite a few models left.  When TJ popped ‘Doomshaper’s 3’ Feat, it was like I was giving free health back to his Warbeasts.  I got to think about the mistakes I made after the game (while my son was getting in a game against TJ, which ‘Stryker 2’ Assassinated ‘Doomshaper 3’) and I can see where I should have done things differently.  I spent time shooting the Objective and I should have gotten the ‘Widowmaker Scouts’ in a better position and taken out the one Unit that he had.

I do not care if I win or lose (really), I just need the more playing time and learning my models better, and over the last few weeks that has helped a lot.  I am spending less time reading the cards/app (but I still do when need to) and that is helping me with the deathclock.  Soon I’ll be ready to give my 75 point lists a try.

WM: Khador Karchev the Terrible (Warcaster)

I love Warcasters that can really do a beat down on the offensive instead of just sitting back and playing defensive, hence the reason I always seem to fall back and play with ‘Butcher 1’.  Well I finally got another beat down Warcaster for my Khador army in ‘Karchev the Terrible’

MAN IN THE MACHINE “Karchev is a living model but is neither warjack nor a warrior model.  He has a damage frid and suffers damage like a warjack.......”

With 34 boxes of damage, he has the most boxes of all my Warcasters, and hopefully can last longer on the battlefield, he can also be REPAIRABLE from my ‘Battle Mechaniks’ or if I decide to run my ‘Gobber Tinker’ also.

He has a DEF 12, ARM 19 so he can easily be hit in melee, but his his ARM (+2 in melee) should help keep him alive.  For his damage output, he has a SP10 gun POW 12 and an Open Fist P+S 15 and his Sunder P+S 19 with a RNG of 2.  Very similar to a ‘Juggernaut’ in regards to damage output, but he can also cast spells.  He has two very useful spells, BATTLE-CHARGED granting his battlegroup Countercharge, and JUMPSTART that allows his battlegroup to stand up and are no longer stationary.

Now I just need to get in a few test games with him and see how he actually does on the tabletop.  My plan is to run him with a couple of ‘Greylord Forge Seers’ to help with the Focus on the Warjacks, so I have those models next on the painting table.

Karchev the Terrible

Karchev the Terrible

Karchev the Terrible

Painting Points: 5

Battle Report: WM/H 7/9/2018 Khador vs Cygnar (50 Points)

After having spent some time the last few games practicing for 15 Points “Speedmachine”, it was time to get in some practice of “Breakfastmachine”.  “Breakfastmachine” is an event at this years NOVA Open played with 50 Points, and while playing your game, you are served breakfast items to eat, I could not pass on an event like this.

I am still testing out different lists for this event, but for last night I went with ‘Vlad 1’ and my “Jaws of Wolf” theme, my son was playing his Cygnar army led by ‘Stryker 1’.

This was our first time playing the new scenario “Mirage” and from the looks of it I could tell it would be a good game to score some Control Points.  Also since I am playing a Warjack heavy “Jaws of Wolf” theme, I wanted to see how my list would do without any Rectangle Zones.

My Khador went first I basically ran all my Warjacks up the table, playing with 2 ‘Kodiaks’ it was nice to have them gain an extra 2”.  I had a ‘Widowmaker Marksman’ and ‘Widowmaker Scouts’ that were on my right flank, with Advance Deployment they walked up to my nearest Flag and sat there, from that position my ‘Marksman’ and 3 of my ‘Scouts’ were able to get some shots off on the enemies Objective and doing 6 points of damage.  These guys basically say there most of the game and destroyed the Objective for 1 CP.  They were useful for that and if needed to could have entered int the farthest Circle Zone.  ‘Vlad 1’ was in my Circle Zone casting “Signs & Portents” most of the game.  I had ‘Kayazy Eliminators’ and a ‘Berserker’ on my left flank along with ‘Yuri’. ‘Yuri’ did not do too much in this game and I should have played him towards the center of the table going for the Flag in  the forests.

After Turn 2 the score was tied 2-2, Turn 3, I was able to kill the Objective and then also contest his Circle Zone and Flag so I was up 5-2 after the top of Turn 3.  Bottom of Turn 3 Cygnar had to try and kill 2 Warjacks that were contesting his Circle Zone, a ‘Juggernaut’ and a ‘Kodiak.  With some help from ‘Stryker 1’ he was able to kill the ‘Juggernaut’.  There was not much else he could do and at the bottom of Turn 3, Khador won 7-2.

I played out the top of Turn 4 just to see what I could do next.  I set up my 2 ‘Kodiaks’ with the most Focus to prepare one of them to Charge ‘Stryker 1’.  My ‘Widowmaker Scouts’ actually cleared up most of a Unit and it actually gave room for both of my ‘Kodiaks’ to Charge ‘Stryker 1’ if need be....I only needed the 1 ‘Kodiak’ to finish off ‘Stryker 1’ (with the help of my “Signs & Portents”.

I have another 50 Point game lined up against my Trollbloods friend this Thursday night, more than likely I will play the same list, but I may try a Warcaster change.

Weekly Chronicle 2018 #27

I cannot believe it is another week in 2018, this past week went by really really fast, it may have had to do also with a Holiday in the middle of the week.  Because of the Holiday, my plan was to actually get in quite a few games of Warmachine/Hordes in, but I disappointed myself in that department.  My wife and I started to binge watch “The Crown” on Netflix and that seemed to have taken up all my free time, at least now both seasons are done and hopefully I can get in a few more games.

In the department of painting, I am thrilled that I was able to get my 2nd ‘Kodiak’ completed along with my Unit of ‘Battle Mechaniks’, at least some progress was made in that area.  I have also started to prep some models for my painting table and we shall see how much gets down this week/weekend.  I have a cycling event coming up on Saturday and that will take away from my hobby time, so I am not sure how much will get done.

For my gaming plans this week, the plan is to get a practice game of “Breakfastmachine” (50 points) in tonight, and another game Thursday night against my friend in Kalamazoo.  My son and I did manage to get in 3 games in yesterday morning, but that was for Magic: The Gathering (see future post about this) but it still counts as games played.

Models Completed: 7

Khador: Kodiak 2

Khador: Battle Mechaniks

Games Played: 3