Gatorman Bokor & Bog Trog Shamblers

Here's another great reason to play Gators - your releases are 15 months apart. So. Freaking. Awesome. Anyway, I've had this written up for a while so figured I should post it after I finally got my hands on this mini-swarm and painted them up. I'll update later if needed.

The Shamblers are the latest (and fourth) unit available to the Blindwater Pact. It consists of a Gatorman Bokor wielding some sweet voodoo magics, and (beginning with) 10 really crappy zombie Trogs under his command. This unit would probably be 3pt in Cryx, it is twice that much for us Gatormans. Minion tax and all that.

Damage

The Shamblers themselves are MAT 5, P+S 8 - not that impressive. They do have CMA however if you buff them up with Fury then they can get a nice damage output, effectively hitting at MAT 7, P+S 13.... the same as a Gatorman.... without reach or rerolls.

The Bokor with his Death Magic rule is the star here however. Death Magic allows the Bokor to RFP a Shambler in his CMD range to boost an attack roll, boost a damage roll or buy an extra attack. Therefore if you somehow get 20 Shamblers on the board, this guy can get 7 fully boosted POW 12s by just walking into combat with the target. If the target is a warcaster with average ARM, that target is dead. If the target is a light warjack or warbeast, that target is dead. If the target is a warlock, that target is most likely dead. Basically, necromantic sacrifice magic means big damage output potential - but it is situational and largely nonthreatening to ARM 19+ models in true Gatorman fashion (excluding Fury, of course).

Survivability

On the surface, this unit looks as squishy as Bile Thralls - 10/13 dies to almost anything. The Bokor has a standard Posse defensive statline so is a little tougher.

However, the key to this unit's survivability, and its ability to tarpit, is the Bokor's Raise Dead and Death Magic rules. The former grants the Bokor a corpse token for each living model that dies within 8", and each corpse token becomes a fresh (or not so fresh, as the case may be) Shambler during your next control phase. The latter rule allows the Bokor to shunt off damage he suffers to Shamblers in his CMD range, at the rate of 1 damage point per Shambler.

What is really stupid about this rule, is that if you make the unit tough, it essentially gives you a tough save against every damage point the Bokor suffers, since the damage shunted occurs before the disabled -> boxed -> destroyed step. Bring those Witch Doctors along - even if the unit gets nothing from Undead, it gets a LOT from Tough (as I have always said, making 10-man units tough is stupid).

In summary, the Bokor is respectably hard to get rid off, whereas the Shamblers themselves die in droves. It's good you can make more to replace them though, which allows them to tarpit well against lists that lack ranged removal (ie. Cryx, Gators, most Skorne)

Utility

Besides their ability to recycle dead enemy and friendly models (primarily friendly - I have learned that there is quite a practical difference between the Bokor's CMD 8 and Alexia's CMD 9) and act as a tarpit somewhat comparable to Gatorman Posse against the right target (ie. small-based weapon masters), the Gatorman Bokor also has Hand of Glory, a RNG 3 stationary-causing magic attack. Given that Death Magic also allows the Bokor to boost attack rolls, this can be a pretty sweet ability. However, one must keep in mind that it is still a magic attack and it can be shut down by anti-spell mechanics like Banishing Ward or Bestial. Furthermore, it suffers the penalty for spellslinging into melee and walls and all that jazz if you don't get in combat with your target (which if you do, you may also want to consider just killing it by Death Magicking all your Shamblers). Basically, the ability is sweet but much less sweet than it initially appears.
But it can be a nice boost for warbeasts to not have to roll to hit other DEF 12+ warbeasts or warjacks. It is also pretty sweet if you make a warjack stationary and beat up on it a bit, then follow up with a Thrullg disruption so it cannot shake.

Tactica

First of all, make no mistake - this is a straight up worse, non-character version of Alexia and the Risen for 1 more point. Now that we've cleared that up.....

EDIT 2015: If I were to summarize primary Shambler strategy in one line, it would be: Gatorman Bokor and Bog Trog Shamblers.
The Bokor is basically a super solo that can boost a lot thanks to his disposable Shamblers. You keep him back for late game, gathering corpses as you go and occassionally throwing out a few Shamblers. When you have a nice glut of corpses and some savoury charge targets, you charge in with the unit, make all the Shambler attacks and then sacrifice the majority of the Trogs killing a fresh heavy or something. Shamblers as a frontline unit is probably only worth it against a wave of fast weapon-master infantry that can alpha your Gators, or to jam up things on a flank somewhere. Otherwise they'll just get in the way.

In terms of support spells, Iron Flesh or Death Pact will not do a lot for the unit since their stats are terrible and they are already undead. Save those for nearly any other model in your list. Fury however, is pretty baller since CMAs now become MAT 7 POW 13s (just like Posse!!!) and the Bokor becomes P+S 15, which means he can really blow shit up with his boosts and additional attacks.

For warcasters, these do pretty well with Rask (who doesn't) as they provide him with an excellent and cost efficient ablative shield of Call of Sacrifice targets, who despite not hitting as hard as Ambushers late game, can still do some respectable work. They benefit from Fury well.

Barnabas can protect them with Swamp Pits, or else they will get shot by any guns. Those weeny POW 10 shots that your Posse mostly laugh off will completely shred these guys. They also provide a cheap tarpit to help you on scenario, and some reasonable damage output from the Bokor in case you really need it.

Likewise, giving them Stealth (with Calaban) will allow them to run across the field to jam and do their part.Whether you give stealth to these guys or you other models depends on the strength of shooting/spells on the other side of the field - if it's all POW 10s, stealth the Shamblers since they get shredded by POW 10s and the rest of your force doesn't care. If it's mostly higher POW, boostable guns, stealth your beasts, Calaban or Posse and let the Shambler eat the shots (or just play Rask and deliver it all intact).

Maelok can buff them a little with his feat but otherwise would probably rather just have more Posse, beasts or solos than these dudes. The few times I've played them with Maelok I haven't really gotten much out of them, and they tend to just trip over themselves. This of course could just be down to my inexperience with small-based infantry. Furthermore, Maelok usually likes having his Posse Undead for a really strong feat turn so you're unlikely to be getting corpse tokens from them.

Having said that, the Shamblers have good synergy with the Witch Doctor. Sure, granting them Undead is almost entirely redundant (afters one model - they are a living and undead unit!), but making 10+man units tough can really be quite ballbusting. Additionally, their ARM is respectable enough to be used as Sacrificial Strike fodder since, unlike Gatormans, their unlives are almost entirely worthless.

Summary

On the whole, I believe Shamblers are a nice unit to have but don't provide enough different playstyle options to justify taking them over more Gatorman Posse or warbeasts most of the time. I believe they will prove to be more worthwhile in Skorne where they can get the +2 STR/No KD tough all the time in combination with a lot of sweet Skorne buffs like Last Stand or Fury. They could probably also do some cool stuff in Trolls, playing as the second wave behind a wall of living Trolls and keeping the Bokur hidden behind a wall of rocks, or in Circle for the 'Morvahna Regrows Bloodtrackers -> Bloodtracker dies -> Bokur gets a corpse token -> Bloodtracker comes back next turn -> repeat -> trololol' trick.

Also if, like me, one of the main reasons you play Gatormans is because you dislike 10man small-based infantry units, this unit is like an uppercut to the nuts.

Battlecry 2014 - 35 pts + Moar Cryx hate

aka. How to Write Stupid Lists at 35pts

Step 1 - Choose casters

I went with Rask and Maelok. Calaban can only "really" be played with his tier (note that unlike Runes of War, this does not make him really baller, just makes him less bad) and the tier is not great at 35pts. He himself is not really that sweet at 35pts, or ever.

Rask is good because he does Rask things. Combine this with 35pt foolishness and you have a pretty strong skew. I usually play Barnabas as my second list and wanted a change, therefore going for Maelok (the only other alternative).

Step 2 - Choose to skew or not skew.

I decided to skew one, and then skew both:

Rask
Snapper
Snapper
3x Gatorman Posse
Min Troggs

Feralgeist
Croak

This list is pretty stupid. I called it "GOING FULL RETARD", which it was. 3 Posse at 35pts is the kind of skew that makes games uninteresting, but hey, why not do it if they're not going to fix it. 
If you ask me, I think we should move to 60 or 65 pts as the new tournament standard as it'd make factions like Cryx, Circle and Legion a little weaker, Trolls a little stronger, and everyone else more or less the same. And include 15 pt Specialists on top of that. Boom.

The Maelok list was the same as the Rask one, except switching Feralgeist and Trogs for 2 Witch Doctors, and the Croak for Pendrake. Pendrake did nothing good in any game - he is the king of the sideboard.

 

Behold, this zoological majesty!

A very short summary of my games

1- Luke H w/ eDoomshaper, Mountain King, Earthborn, Krielstone and Scouts. 
Incursion.

His second list was eGrim with 2 shooty heavies and the Krielstones UA. Despite this (the Incorporeal destroying Stone UA), I had a nagging feeling I should have picked Maelok, but I pushed this out of my head and picked Rask. This was a bad choice as eDoomshaper's feat is "+3 SPD, full stop, bitches!", not "+3 SPD if charging or slamming" as I had first thought, meaning his entire pathfinder list responds to my feat by jamming me with tramples and killing my stuff.
As expected, Luke's response to me popping Rask's feat was jamming me with everything in his list, including the Scouts to block charges to the MK. I wasn't able to get enough damage on the King because of some fortunate tough rolls on his part (ie. 4 in a row on the same damn Scout), so he healed to full and kept swinging.
Luckily Rask is basically immune to assassination with Trogs around, so I ran him over to the right flag over 2 turns, where the Croak Hunter had been parked since turn 2 and won on 5 CPs. A stolen game I should have lost on account of getting outplayed and outlisted, but managed to take advantage of his skew list's small footprint.


2. -  Paul H w/ Hexeris2, Bronzeback, Gladiator, Krea, Nihilators, Incindiarii, Nihilators, Paingivers. Process of Elimination

I was forced to pop my feat turn 1 as I had ambushed my Bog Trogs and only had Rask on 2 transfers - had I not used it, Hexeris would likely have spelled me to death using his feat. This was a planning mistake on my part as it otherwise only blocked 2-3 Nihilator charges from happening (which likely would have been stopped by Inhospitable Ground alone). So, I more or less played without a feat.
Otherwise it was mostly a matter of charging Furied Gatormen into things and trying to keep Rask alive with Admonition and transfers alone, which worked pretty well. I ended up assassinating Hexeris in the end after he decided to YOLO charge some Gators, then got hit by 2 Furied Gators (from different units), a charging Croak and died to a Bog Trog hook in the back.

Rask is pretty good against Skorne.

3. - Dave S w/Skarre1, 30 McThralls (that's 15 pts, btw), 10 Bloodwitches with UA, 2 Necrosurgeons, 2 Helldivers, Min Blackbanes. Destruction.

Dave said he took this list just to play against me. Thanks Dave. You are too kind. His list writing took my 35pt motto "GOING FULL RETARD" to heart, and managed to out-retard my list - proving that only Cryx is capable of giving 110% retardation by simply Cryxing harder.

Basically the game was a huge grind where I popped my feat on my second turn and killed like 22 guys but none of the Necrosurgeons, then he popped his feat and got boosted-to-hit POW 20s everything (cause Cryx). In the end I mistakenly assumed Skarre was SPD 6, when she is in fact SPD 7, so she just walked over to Maelok and easily killed him with her 11 focus (all in the name of balance). Thus began my downfall.

I think overall we both played quite well with some minor mistakes here and there to even things out. The only huge mistake in the game by far, on both our parts, was when I cast a boosted Venom at a Necrosurgeon hiding behind a wall, and Dave called Sac Pawn to a Stitch Thrall. We got into a short debate regarding Sac Pawning sprays and agreed that you could, when in fact we should have been focusing on the fact that Venom is a spell, not a ranged attack! If that Necrosurgeon had died (very good chance - need 7s on 3 dice + Corrosion), the game would have played out very differently I think, with that flank collapsing much faster and Maelok being entirely unthreatened and able to pull back and stay much safer while simultaneously pushing me forward in attrition. Basically a massive boost for me. Alas, you live, you learn, you continue to hate Cryx.

--------------------------------

MINI RANT OF THE WEEK:
Skarre1 and McThralls are straight up OP, and where probably designed in the midst of a really dark LSD trip, overflowing with hatred of the world. Here is how you fix them:
Skarre - Remove Ritual Sacrifice entirely. Dark Guidance is not a choice when you have 10+ focus at next to zero cost (like losing one of your 45 small-based models matters), and non-choices are the antithesis of games design and competitive play. And who the hell thought it was a good idea to make it a d6 roll? Going from 1 more focus to 100% more focus seems legit, right?
I'd say make her focus 7 to compensate but her feat is also simply stupid (it is literally pStryker's feat + a 100% denial of eStryker's feat - all for 5 life points) so I wouldn't want more stuff affected by it, but it's probably the simplest way to do it. That or +1 ARM.
McThralls - MAT 4 -or- no combo strike. You shouldn't be able to hit an average heavy on expected dice if you cost 0.5 points and hit at P+S 15 completely independent of buffs/debuffs (of which there are PLENTY in Cryx). HALF. A. POINT.

Easy. Too bad it's not going to happen since PP are scared shitless of balancing anything post-release :) 

--------------------------------

4. - Nikola w/Vayl1, Typhon, Seraph, Scythean, Raek, Shredder, Shepard, 2 Deathstalkers. Some scenario (Incoming?)

Nikola played actually really well and I played really bad. Like, really really bad. I think Rask was a way better matchup here, but I dropped Maelok again for practice since I realized that the prize pool didn't include mugs, and mugs are the only thing I care about in NZ tournaments (I have 4).
Basically I ran stuff up way too far, Typhon and Scythean one-shot like 9 Gators under Incite, then I tried to assassinate Vayl with feat + Revive BS, got cock-blocked by Dark Sentinel and forgot to move my unit leader so the Revived guys couldn't even make attacks. What a muppet. Got steamrolled and outplayed and basically put up the worst match one can imagine. Much like the last time we played. I am guessing his total nice guy approach disarms my asshole WAAC ethos, making me play like a complete ballsack.

Usually I consider myself 50/50 against Legion and it is one of my fairer matchups, but this time I really wasn't in the right mindset. I need to practice more with Maelok, as I play him far too aggressively, which gets him killed. He's tough but he's not Barnabas sitting in Swamp Pit with transfers and Spiny Growth tough.

---------------------

Dave came 1st, Paul placed 2nd and Nikola placed 3rd, giving me officially the most ball-busting schedule in the tournament.  I'm guessing I placed something like 8th or 9th out of 17. Overall nice tournament, thanks to Darryl Painter for organizing and running it!

Some thoughts

• I don't like 35pts much as I dislike skews and list-design having that much impact on the outcome of the game, but I really like one-day events so that worked out alright in the end. Came home to a nice dinner of salad + fish. Good stuff. Cryx is OP.
• I should probably practice with Maelok more, but our local Ret player is about to get his new caster Tinkerbell in the mail, and I think she will totally steamroll Maelok. He will probably still refuse to play Rask :(
  I don't think Maelok is as good as Circle/Legion matchup as Barnabas, but he's the better Cryx matchup. It's the eternal question in a 2-list format.
• I think my all-star picks in the Rask games was the Croak Hunter. Despite their mediocrity, as I have gotten better as using them they seem like a worthwhile addition to most lists given then ability to clear jams and charge lanes, or countercharge like mad, or just go for scenario points. He pretty much single-handedly won me my first game by just being a solo with Stealth, and did a crapton of damage on Hexeris in the second game.
• Yeah, I am totally mad about Cryx. Deal with it, because I can't (at least until my Battle Engine loaded with anti-incorporeal, anti-tough and anti-undead tech is released).

Choptober 2013 - The Lists

As mentioned in my previous post, the next tournament I will be attending is a one-day event held on the first Saturday of October named 'Choptober'. The name really makes no sense, and should instead have been called something cool like 'Alpha Strike' or 'BattleLust X'. But alas. If you want to hear about it from the viewpoint of a man struggling to contain his excitement, see here.

Basically it is a 1-day, 50pt, 2 list, 4-round Steamroller event that has been split into two completely unrelated pools - the upper pool (where I have been placed) and the loser pool (where Ian Hart, arguably the best WM/H player in NZ, has been placed). The placings were determined by the NZ Rankings HQ, which are more a measure of tournament attendance than they are actual game aptitude, but it is the best data available (I think I am 30th or something, good enough for the winner's bracket).

The lists:

Having recently acquired Pendrake and a third Posse, I wanted to try these out. I also wanted to try using Croak Hunters for once, because it's not really fair to hate on them as much as I do without giving them a fair shot. So I don't feel either list is really optimal but it's a nice opportunity to try them out.

Bloody Barnabas (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Blackhide Wrastler (9pts)
* Ironback Spitter (8pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Croak Hunter (2pts)
Croak Hunter (2pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Totem Hunter (3pts)

The standard Barnabas 35pt list with an extra Posse, Pendrake and two Croaks. This is almost a legit pop 'n' drop assassination against living enemy warcasters! Almost. I also think if I am matched up against Circle 3 times in a row by scheming TOs, this list will have some game against anything but eBaldur stone-spam.

I used to take a full unit of Trog Ambushers (8pts) with Barnabas, until it dawned on me that for 1 more point, I could have another unit of Gators. This is the mind of the Gator player - take all the Gators.
I think 3 Posse is the best way to run Barnabas and Maelok since they suck at cracking ARM anyway so you might as well just max out your Posse advantage. Following on that train of though, I feel I'd be better off with a Swamp Horror instead of a Spitter (so many reach initials) and a Witch Doctor + Feralgeist instead of the Croaks to give me a fighting chance against (Cryx) infantry swarm.

Maelok was a close contender for this second list, but ultimately I have given up on winning the Cryx matchup in a two-list format and feel Barnabas is a better rounded option to deal with Mercs/Legion/Circle and the like.

Rask (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Blackhide Wrastler (9pts)
* Swamp Horror (8pts)
Bog Trog Ambushers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (3pts)

This is basically my standard Rask list except with an extra Posse replacing WE + Snapjaw. I think it is probably worse in the matchups it is intended since you lose hitting power and a really long-range POW 20 Snapjaw missile, along with some utility from Wrong Eye's spells (esp against Skorne and Trolls). We will see how it goes.
I've considered not taking Bog Trogs with Rask to free up points for another heavy but for 5 pts they basically take assassination off the table (great support) and have done really good work for me late game with fury (MAT 8 POW 14s + reach + CMA = business).


You can find out how badly I do next week! This is probably the most exciting thing to happen to Gators since January 2013, the date of Rask's release. Yep, it's been that long, and still no Shamblers (not that I would really play them any way other than a Rask meatshield).

Until then, here is a video of Croatia's greatest contemporary punk rock band doing their thing:

Shamblers update #2

Another quick post before my next big Gator theorymachine rage/rant/inane collection of thoughts. Part 1 of my observations here.

I've been thinking about Shamblers a bit more, and managed to get in a game in with them yesterday playing Maelok tier vs Lich3. I wanted to see how an all-undead list fared vs a Cryx horde, but Lich3 likes to take a few jacks so that kinda sucked.

The turning point of the game was failing to kill a Necrosurgeon with a charging incorporeal Gatorman (not being able to reroll sucks, as does lack of guns), which resulted in enough P+S 17 McThralls to come back and destroy my ARM 20/22 Gatormans and that flank collapsing on itself.
I made two sizable mistakes - one was loading up Snapjaw unnecessarily so Wrong Eye had no transfers and got 2-shot by non-charging Bane Knights (rookie mistake one makes after not playing WE for a month), and forgetting to Revive a Gator before activating its unit, which would have put a bit more pressure on Lich3 and maybe bought me some time.. Otherwise it was just a matter of bad dice and a tough matchup (undead + armor + Banes).

Anyway, about the Shamblers - I don't feel that they are great in Blindwater. Most of my experience playing them is that they die easily to stuff that usually doesn't even touch Gators (blast damage, POW 10 guns, evil stares), and then jam up charge lanes (usually your own). Their stats are understandably atrocious (and far worse than McThralls - lol Cryx), although with CMA they can do some light-lifting.

In this game I think I killed as many Shamblers as he did, and then my Gators were Zombified most turns so there were almost no living models on the table to generate more - I think I got 3 tokens before the Bokor died.

Basically the only new things they bring to the Gators is:

1.  a body recycling mechanic, and 
2.  a RNG-3 boostable stationary magic attack. 

#1 is not that great in Blindwater due to low model count in lists that aren't Rask tier (even then you're probably not getting many bodies since everything ambushes). #2 is cute and useful to have around but not that reliable as a strategy.

They don't really bring anything to the Maelok tier - it would be a different story if the whole unit got AD. Then with tough + making new guys they could be a serious jammer unit. Alas they don't, so it's the same Posse story.

My initial impressions remain the same: Shamblers are not terrible, but not really good either. Probably better in Circle, Skorne and perhaps Legion.

• Barnabas - would rather have more Posse.
• Maelok - would rather have more Posse. Feat + Death Pact + tough would make them mildly annoying at ARM 17, but not worth the opportunity cost.
• Rask - Call to Sacrifice on more/cheaper bodies that can potentially recycle seems good.... but better than MAT 8 CMA Furied Ambushers? Remains to be seen.
• Calaban - would rather be Rask.
• Non-Gators - wooooooooooo!

TL;DR - play better stuff, better.

Min/Maxing Game Investment

aka. strategies for not getting hooked on pewter/plasticrack

I regularly see posts about faction hopping, pewtercrack addiction, people complaining about how they can't stick one faction long enough, the game is too complicated, they have to eat ramen noodles every day, got kicked out of their house for not paying their rent, have loansharks hounding them for missed payments and so on. Well, maybe not that regularly, but I have seen some.

I think faction whorism is all a matter of perspective and asking yourself what you really want out of this game: do you want a sense of completion from collecting everything? Do you want to spent time painting and modelling lots of small projects? Do you want to play one of the best and tightest strategic miniature games on the market? Do you want to have an opportunity to drink and whine about how broken Molik Karn is? Do you want to throw money away somewhere to take your mind off the fact that the housing market and costs of living in your city are massively over-inflated and you cannot afford anything anyway? These are all important questions if you want to enjoy pewtercrack while still maintaining a healthy financial status.

My faction history in this game 

I started playing about halfway between the release of Superiority and Mk1 Remix. My first faction was Cygnar - I chose them because they seemed to have the most versatility and I liked the look of their Prime heavies the most out of the Big Four.

After playing a bit of Stryker, Caine and Darius, I became romantically attached to Kreoss2's art in Apotheosis. I sold all my Cygnar and bought a crapload of Menoth. I decided to play Kreoss2 with heaps of weaponmasters, and HR/Testament with soul abuse mechanics. But I still really sucked at the game since I liked taking warjacks, which were downright bad in Mk1. I then bought into Skorne, which I loved because they took ridiculous amounts of time to paint (I quite like painting - it's a relaxing way to spend time), had big elephants with cannons, and Death March was an insane spell.

Then Mk 2 Field Test came out. I didn't get to participate much in the Field Test as I was busy moving continents, but the period between the release of the FT and the release of the final WM document was easily the most fun I have had playing the game, even though Kreoss2 became even more boring to play (dunno how that could be done, but they did it).
Then the Hordes Playtest came out. Unlike the WM FT, this was an actual playtest, and it was clear that not all that much work had gone into updating the models and they were looking for design advice more than they were looking for feedback. This period was the least fun I had playing Warmahordes. I got burned out on my factions and sold my Protectorate and Skorne to pay for various life expenses, and bought some used Khador based around a heavily-playtested 35pt eButcher list I had been toying around with for months, and played for almost a year:

The Most Interesting Warcaster in Immoren

  eButcher
  Juggernaut
  Spriggan
  Doom Reavers
  Min Demo Corps
  Fenris
  Koldun Lord
  Manhunter
  Yuri the Axe 



This list was incredibly fun and flexible to play at 35pts, but didn't scale very well when brought up to 50pts. I found that  didn't really enjoy the 'competitive Khador' playstyle of the time, namely using faceroll high-def infantry to jam. So I stopped playing for a few months. I sold my Khador at a good price, and did other things. I kept in touch with people I played the game with, and the desire to hang out and play games once or twice a week brought me back into it. But this time around I consciously made decisions that would restrict my time, mental and financial investment in the game.

The point I am making is that I have spent what I would consider to be a good chunk of my disposable income and time on this game over the last 6 years, and I have learned a few lessons along the way. I've never really been willing to spend enough money to be really competitive, and I tend to choke at tournaments anyway which would make such an investment unwise. Despite this, I have been back in the game for nearly a year, and sticking solely with the one crappiest, most incomplete faction in the game, and doing alright.

Strategies

1 - Calculate $ per game

This is bound to shock and/or depress a lot of people - total up all $ spent on the game including models, paint tools, modelling tools, cases, card sleeves, etc. and divide that number by total games played. Scary stuff. Almost enough to make one consider cheaper alternatives, like Class A drugs.

An example in my case:
Minion models      =  $400 (Minion models only)
Case + foam          = $15 (plastic toolbox + foam from a mattress factory)
Paint + modelling  = $100 (accumulated over decades of wargaming, but as an approximation)
Gaming tools         = $50 (card sleeves, measuring tape, templates, tokens, etc.)
                               = $550

Games per month          = 9 (average 2 games a week + tournaments)
Months of Minionhood = 10
                                       = 90 games

550 / 90 = $6.1 per game.

Now imagine if I hadn't been playing almost the exact same list for almost a year. I would suspect the number would be closer to $35-40 per game for the average Warmachine player. I know that would be my number in Mk1.

How hobbies often appear in restrospect

I find that this thought exercise implores me to focus on why I play this game, which is that it is tactically interesting challenge and I get to hang out with friends and have fun while swearing and raging about broken things. And I can do all those things while playing almost the same list with different casters for months on end.

2 - Only buy new models once all your other models are painted and based

Painting, basing and modelling take up a lot of time. For me, the amount of time I invest in preparing and painting models is almost as important as the time I spend playing the game in terms of my investment. I find it's a good creative way relax in the evenings while watching TV, listening to music or podcasts.

Because it takes up so much time to do a good job with painting, use that as a way to slow down your pewtercrack addiction.

3 - Playtest stuff 3+ times before buying

A lot of times you end up buying models that suck balls and either sit on the shelf looking shiny or frustrate you whenever you do put them on the table. An easy way to avoid this is to proxy or borrow some models to playtest potential additions to your army - sometimes things that look really sweet on paper should stay on paper (I'm looking at you, Assault Kommandos!). Sometimes you just won't like playing a certain style that a unit or warcaster entails.

SUCH AWESOME ART! MUST BUY QUICK!

Therefore - proxy, and save the heartache.

4 - Plan ahead - and set (reasonable) limits as to what you want to actually play

When I started playing Khador, I was all about eButcher. I wasn't really interested in playing anything else. Then I started to up my game a bit, expanding slowly into other casters (Vlads, Butcher1, Irusks..) and buying new models to fit with those casters. Then I came to realize that Khador has pretty huge gaps that need to be filled with mercs (Eyriss, Midwinter, Bokur...) and mercs that are too good to not play (Gorman, Alexia, Nyss...), then this caster fills in that caster's gaps, etc... And the slippery slope doesn't end until you've got almost every merc and Khador model in your arsenal.

One of the reasons I picked Minions for my faction was that it was the smallest and most limited "faction" available at the time*. It is so limited that you can in fact only really play half of it at any given time, and I think it is a safe bet to say most people who play Minions play Pigs or Gators but not both. The downside is you have very few new releases (Shamblers - coming at you in Oct/Nov/Dec 2013!), but the upside is you don't have to buy too much to be the best you can be within those limits. Unless you decide you want to play Skorne a.k.a. 'Minions 2.0' of course.

You don't have to pick only one faction and stick with that - maybe your boundaries are to put together two complete compete 50pt Circle Orboros lists, each with a 15pt specialists sideboard, play that for a year, then move on to another two 50pts lists + sideboard in Mercs next year. Then another faction the year after. One year is a long time - about the release schedule from one WM expansion to the next.

5 - Study your enemies

New stuff comes out all the time. Instead of thinking 'wow, it'd be awesome to play that!' think 'wow, it'd be awesome to kill that!'. This game has so much design and tactical depth which results in an almost infinite number of possible tabletop interactions and tactics - even when you're basically playing the same list every week. Get the books, read them, write lists to figure out how things work and so on. But keep it platonic.

6 - Budget!

This ties in well with the previous points - if you put aside a small amount of money each month (say enough to buy a solo or two + a full unit), then you can slow grow your army while playing and painting it up and really learning how things work. A lot of new players want to rush in and jump to 50pt games straight away, which I think is a mistake. You really need to take your time if you want to get the best results. The initial investment to 25 will probably take up a couple of months out of your budget, but is necessary and gives you time to really learn the basics before delving deeper into the muck.

7 - Focus on other things - take breaks, other hobbies, save up for a holiday or a guitar.

Hell, you can even play DotA 8 hours a day if you want to! If you can compare your time and money investment in Warmachine with other stuff you could be doing and buying, it gives you a good perspective of opportunity cost, and hopefully makes your decisions in the greater Warmahordes hobby appear more valuable.

8 - WWJVMD

Probably the #1 Warmahordes player in the US has been playing only one faction for years. It is probably the best faction in the game without eLich, but it has its own weaknesses and matchup problems.
WWJVMD? Play a single faction and learn it back to front, then crush his enemies, see them driven before him, and blight all their women to use as warlocks.

Good luck!

 * This was pre-CoC, and Retribution was not an option because elves are the scum of the universe and their jacks are total ass to paint.

Shambling Shamblers

I took the opportunity of my weekly game evening to proxy some Shamblers and see what they provide to your old Blindwater Posse spam.

The Lists:

Tier: 3
Maelok, the Dreadbound (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Blackhide Wrastler (9pts)
Gatorman Bokor and Bog Trog Shamblers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Feralgeist (1pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (2pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (2pts)

After acquiring a second Witch Doctor a few weeks backs, I find it difficult to play Maelok outside of tier. You basically sacrifice the Totem Hunter (a character) for 2pt Witch Doctors, Incorporeal first turn and advance move on Maelok and a Feralgeist (or a Boneswarm if you have one). Seems like a pretty good deal.

I'd probably never go Tier 4 because three Boneswarms is the biggest trap of all time, but the first 3 tiers are very easy to achieve.

Rask (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Swamp Horror (8pts)
Gatorman Bokor and Bog Trog Shamblers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (3pts)
Totem Hunter (3pts)

Nothing spectacular there. I put a Witch Doctor in because I wanted to try tough spamming with single-wound infantry, which by all accounts is a high-skill, high-risk strategy employed only at the highest levels of play.

As tends to be the usual these days, I played against Retribution, a faction against which you should always use either Barnabas or Rask - unkillable warlock + shooting immunity gives Ret fits.

The Games

First game was Maelok playing Outflank, a legitimate scenario. The list was Rahn with a Phoenix, some Halberdiers, Mittens, MHSF, Stormfall and annoying as hell solos (including Skyreth - Mk1 Vilmon on a horse).

This was a really good game I feel. Maelok is probably the only Gator caster you can play against Ret to have a really good game, as long as its not Ossyan (where you will get your entire army shot off the table turn two). I deployed with the Shamblers in the middle, flanked by Posse and Maelok heading for the left zone. I put Death Pact on the Wrastler, which combined with Spiny Growth is really pretty amazing (ARM 23). The Shamblers mostly got shot off the table early and did nothing.
I ended up with the upper hand on attrition and lost on scenario 4pts to 5pts. I had thrown everything I had into the right zone except Maelok and a single Gatorman, and he simply managed to toe a solo into the left zone and TK the Gatorman out to win. Tricky Rahn.

Second game was Rask playing Into the Breach, a mostly non-scenario. This time he chose to play Ravyn with ful MHSF and Mage Hunter Infiltrators, a Banshee, and other stuff I kill easily. 

As you may have gathered from my earlier posts, Mage Hunters are really really crap against Gators. I had a feeling he had a secret plan and this would be the day that he finally beats Rask, but instead I feated turn 2 and then killed almost everything (yay Fury cycling). Ravyn then proceeded to go all ninja and do some crap I didn't understand that resulted in 4 dead Posse and her halfway across the table. So I shot her with a Paralysis bolt, missed, charged in with a Swamp Horror and rolled fire for the tentacle damage, followed by Fury-ed Posse. The Shamblers did nothing all game but draw fire and make tough rolls.

The Observations 

Tough one-wound infantry indeed has the high skill-cap I foresaw. It has a lot of potential. 2pt Witch Doctors in Maelok's tier are really good... strange that they would be cheaper in the one place where they are most effective. Minion tax? Yep.

Shamblers die to nothing without good ranged protection. In both the games, they got sniped out pretty easy by MHSF, a unit which is usually terrible against Blindwater and for which I have little to no respect. With Stealth or Swamp Pits to get them up (or Rask's feat if you go second), they could reasonably be used as a front line jam unit with tough, and you can potentially keep the Bokur alive quite easily with Spiny Growth, terrain and said anti-range tech. 

With Rask, they add a little bit of a grind potential, but I am not sure they are strictly better than a min unit of Ambushers as Sacrifice fodder. Ambushers usually stay alive most of the game due to the Camouflage + Gobber cloud, and in the last game make pretty awesome Fury targets since they charge at MAT 8 and can CMA.  More playtesting to be had.

The main issue I was having, partially due to the match-up and partially due to my inexperience, was generating more Shamblers. I think over both games, I generated a total of 5 extra Shamblers. Maybe I just have to play more agressively with the Bokur, but from those two games it appears that the 8" CMD makes a huge difference relative to Alexia's CMD9. With CMD9 I would have easily picked up double the number of corpse tokens.

The Future  

 More games with Shamblers! They are by all accounts just a straight-up worse version of Alexia and the Risen for more points, but they seem to have potential. I feel that they will probably end up being more useful for other Hordes factions than they will for Blindwater, and I'd rather we had gotten a unit of trogs with blowguns or some ranged options, but I'll take it.