Orcs v. Lizards and Fancy New Bits!

 Today we have the 3" x 4" Ultra pro deck sleeves making their debut. As many have remarked, the problem with the perfect fit sleeves is that often, especially with the newer cards, they fit too much. They are hard to sleeve and they can bow and/or bend the cards. Marcus Giegerich came up with the great idea to cut those sleeves in half lengthwise. This solved many problems, but I found that the upper part flapped and so, even though it was the best option with the materials at hand, it was still was less than ideal. Back at the drawing board I came up with the solution you see here. I cut about a 3/4" strip off the bottom and trimmed it to <3.5" and affixed it with a piece of double sided tape. The sleeve covers the damage track and orders circle, which is the area which gets used most. If you still want to sleeve your cards in the conventional way they will still easily fit in the modified sleeve. The board that you see here is 1/8" hard board cut to four 15x18 inch sections duct taped along the 18" side and the felt is held in place by 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. This is the best product I have found to date.

 The battle itself was a 1500 point total warfare gig with no terrain. I was testing a couple new rules and was trying to "control" as many exogent factors as I could. The setup was double-blind, which is one of the cool things you can do if you have a Traumatic Brain Injury. :-) The Goblin Bomb Chucker is the only card which does not fit easily on to the new style bases, but you can make do. The Orc army was composed of 2xSwordorcs, 2xSpearorcs, a Goblin Bomb-chucker, and a unit of Wolfriders.

 The Lizardmen have Trog Warrior, Trog Warrior, Ancients, Trikes, Trog Warrior, with a swarmling bowmen behind.

                             This Battle was fought on our Baby Grand laundry folding table. :-)

 Here is a foto after the first turn. The Lizards moved second so they actually got to move. The orcs are playing S&S and are all on hold. I was playing my own house rule for the GBC which allows them to roll 3d6, but taking a wound if any doubles are rolled. The first turn they rolled doubles so took a wound, which you can see marked off.

 This is the fifth orc turn and you can see that the GBC has taken two wounds and finally fired successfully causing a total of 8 wounds in three turns, the Lizard commander regenerates a wound. The orc commander sent the spearmen into the trogs at the bottom of the pic by changing their SO to Close and did the same thing to the Spearorcs on the other end of the line.

 On the Lizzie turn the lines crashed full on. The Lizzie commander can be seen here refusing the left flank While the Trikes and Ancients pinch the Swordorcs in the center. The GBC keeps the pressure up on the Ancients and the card play is as heavy as can be expected in a 1500 point game.

 And the pinch by the Trikes and the Ancients is having a telling effect, though a profundity of Blue cards kept them from being one shotted.

 Having done enough damage to the ancients the GBC turns its loving ministrations to the trikes be fore they duck out of range and put them in the yellow, they fail the Courage check, but the green card allows a reroll which keeps them in the game (or at least allows them to avoid Disruption, which at this critical point in the game saves them a couple CAs). The Trogs at the top of the screen have finally been eliminated and the wolf riders can be seen closing in on the swarmling bows.

 Bad turn for missile troops. The swarmlings went poof after doing only one damage all game. At least they did as well as my elementalists at tournament, except this time Kevin's money wasn't on the line, and I didn't pay over 300 points for them! The Trikes did what they were expected to do and the GBC went poof.

Double pinch by the wolfriders and the other Spearorc that had been lashed from the far flank. This turn I drew two ferocity cards and played one on each pincher. The Wolfriders did an amazing 6 points of damage and that was that. I shook hands with myself and said "Good Game!"
The bomb chucker log looked like this:
Turn Dice rolls  (X means Doubles!)    Dice/Hits     Wounds
    1     1, 2, 2                 X
    2     3, 4, 4                 X
    3     4, 5, 6                                          15/14        4
    4     2, 3, 4                                            8/6          1
    5     1, 5, 6                                          12/8          3
    6     6, 4, 2                                          12/10        4
    7     3, 4, 6                                          13/11        6 (11 dice needing 1s and 2s!!!)
All my shots were against toughness four creatures, so I always needed ones and twos. This time I would say the GBC was definitely worth it, although by the end of turn two I wouldn't have said so. All shots were against large targets with 1/4 profiles, so the number of hits is dramaticaly higher and the resulting wounds are lower. It will definitely get more use this way, but it isn't a certainty, and I would never use it when Kevin's money is on the line as it is just too swingy. Swingy does mean high drama and lots of fun, however!

The new Fury rules did feel right, they didn't get used much this game because of the paucity of Lizard Rd cards that showed up and the tons of Orcish blue cards that were used specifically because of the Fury threat. I used it three times.

The most amazing fight had to be the last one with the ferocity pumped wolfriders rolled nine dice doing 8 hits and rolled 6 damage needing 1's and 2's! That eliminated the trikes but on their return strike they eliminated the wolf riders...Songs will be written!

Lizzy heroes had to be the trikes, everyone else died in a grindfest.

Orcy heroes were the swordorcs that got pinched by Trogs and Ancients and won! They can be seen in the last foto with two red boxes intact. I would say every blue card I drew went on them.

A new variant - Affinity

Some scenarios are just more favorable for a certain faction or troop type. Ravenwood in their home forest, Orcs and Dwarves underground, Lizardmen in a swamp. Then there are certain situations like the troops are in a particularly do or die situation - backs against the wall and what not. Sometimes when designing a scenario you just want to show that a certain troop type happens to have the upper hand, like the superior air maneuverability of the Dark Elf Drakeriders vs. the Ancient Red Dragon.

To adress this variant need I offer the "Affinity." An Affinity is defined by scenario only and should not be construed as a permanent change, as such an ability would require a different point cost for the unit. This variant is for flavor purposes only and is not intended to address fairness or balance.

Courage checks Caused by a unit with an active Affinity are at -1 Courage.
Courage checks Taken by a unit with an active Affinity are at +1 Courage.
If opposing units are both under the effects of an active Affinity then the only modifier that is applied is the +1 for Courage checks taken.
Units with an active Affinity ignore Fearsome and Terror abilities.

If it is a terrain based affinity it is active if at least half of the unit is in the terrain, the opposing unit's terrain is not considered unless the enemy unit occupies a terrain or map area for which a unit or faction has designated as Sacred Affinity.

A Conditional Affinity is active if the condition is met. Airborn Combat Affinity is an example of a Conditional Affinity

A Battle Affinity is always active. Underground Affinity  is an example of a Battle Affinity if the scenario takes place underground. Mutual Animosity Affinity is an example of a Battle Affinity that is possessed by both combatants. Two factions that possess a Mutual Animosity Affinity is a battle that is going to be very sanguinious. Two opposing units can also have a Mutual Animosity Affinity which means that if they end up engaged their affinity will be active, but it has no other effect, i.e. they won't necessarily seek each other out, but if they do end up in combat with each other, then the affinity will be active.

I am posting this hoping that others will try it and share their experiences with me on the BG forums where this will be posted http://yourmovegames.com/forum/index.php/topic,4706.new.html#new

Orc commanded DE vs. Hawkskold

Here the battle opened. Map was 5B? Hill with woods on top. Scenario was Total Annihilation with the special condition of fresh troops which means every unit was at +1MC until wounded. The Hawks had spearmen/great swordsmen/heavy infantry/Heavy Infantry/militia/Spearmen in the front row and heavy infantry/knights in the back row. DE had Dusk Lancers on the far left flank, and a row of four low bloods in the front line with halfbloods edged out slightly behind and a coven and Lords of Dusk behind the Lowbloods.

After setup the Dusk Lances can be scene moving out to the right to swing around the hill and take the hawks from the rear using that fresh troops speed.

As the lines converge the Orc commander of the Dark Elves realizes that he has made two errors besides the whole damn setup. The first is that Dusk Lances are not Wolf Riders and have nowhaere near the speed neccessary to pull off the maneuver required in timely fashion and the second is that the lowbloods will not last long enough even if they did get there sooner. James, with the Hawks on the other hand, plays a solid line which can now move 3.5 thanks to the special conditions and caps the militia at 3.5.

As the armies close I reflect that, as the Russians have general winter to forgive them their mistakes, I have Aliatrix to rescue me from my craven misdeeds through white hot dice as the Lowbloods inflict four wounds on the spearmen!

Aleatrix then follows with a four wound melee result for the Lords of Dusk who are beaten within three red boxes of their life by the knights, so Aleatrix punishes James by having them fail a 15 courage check by rolling a sixteen. In the ensuing free hacks the knights are forced to take another courage test and they fail that and so they poof in a fine pink mist!

The game that was quickly degenerating into a wholesale slaughter of Dark Elves is reborn for a few turns as the DE regroup and the Hawks reel from unbelievable dice.

Then the spearmen charge off the hill to engage the Dusk Lances on the flank and throw a shadow of dismay over the DE hopes which are slightly recharged when the spearmen, with circled courage, again fail a morale check and run from the lowbloods.

The Dusk Lances finally wipe out the spearmen and attempt to join the fray as the two lowbloods and the Lords of Dusk attempt to finish off the rest of the Hawks by themselves.

Man those damn spearmen just can't cut a break! On the following two turns the DE, who are all in the red, are eliminated and the Hawks with 700+ points are declared the victors with a marginal victory.

Mapboard for Major games!

Here is a regulation 30X36 inch map board

Here I have added two 10X30 inch add-ons by making a standard 20X30 inch mapboard and cutting it in half. 

The completed project at full size able to assimilate as much as 6000points per side!

For completeness, here is the mapboard all folded up and ready for travel as can by seen by it's hat.

Of course, this is a case of being all dressed up and having no place to go, as I can rarely get enough folks together to play a 2000 point game (i.e. me and James). However, I was making this mapboard with the Jersey boys in mind, so if any of them are daring enough to e-mail me their mailing address I'll ship it to them.

Dragon's Run Teaser

Welcome to Dragon's Run, the Battleground campaign system where players compete to find and bring home the latest eruption of Manna Crystals. Manna Crystals are the key to feeding the magic forge located within each Life Node. Each Life Node supports one realm in an otherwise inhospitable world. Each life Node contains a gate to a vale deep in a mountain range. The Vale is called Dragon's Run because of the Dragons which inhabit the mountains and covet the Manna Crystals themselves.

From time to time the Gate in each Life Node will glow brilliantly and signal the occurrence of a manna eruption and the denizens of the Life Node spring into action and ready an army to go and try to recover the Manna Crystals. The gates each create a portal near the site of a Manna Eruption and the various factions fight vigorous and no holds barred battle for the Manna Crystals, for they need them to maintain the Life Nodes or they will surely perish as the Nodes wink out of existence and they are left to the hardscrabble life in the wastes of Tanngrath.

There is only so much time before the dragons find out about the Manna Eruption and then they descend in a debacle called a storm-of-dragons. Never get caught in a SoD!

The gate is lit, the bells ring, you assemble your army, hie now to Dragon's Run!

Dragon's Run is under development and will be finished later this year.

Monsters and Mercenaries Subfaction: Summoner Army Redux

I have playtested the Summoner faction a bit, and here is the latest and better organized, version.

Monsters and Mercenaries Subfaction: Summoner Army

Faction Ability - Demonic Embrace
Spend a Command Action and mark a spoils box to give a unit the Fearsome keyword. Spend another Command action and mark the second box to give the unit the Terror keyword. Erase one box to give unit (+1)-/- this combat. This replaces the M&M spoils ability.

New Unit that replaces Healer Mages: Demonic Summoner - Elite - 350 points
Summoner has same stats but no healing ability
Spell: The Enemy Within - Range 14" LOS Target must be unengaged
Target unit must take a courage test: Failure results in unit making a basic melee attack against itself.
Demonic Summoner has Summoning keyword.

Summoning: Once per turn, if a unit is on Hold, it may mark the requisite number of damage boxes and summon one unit, this does not cause a rout check. Checking last box eliminates summoning unit. Any type of unit that may be summoned may not be pruchased normally when building an army. When they enter play they must be placed within 2.5" of the summoning unit. The summoned unit may only be given the Close standing order, they may not be direct controlled, or have cards played on them unless the summoning unit is in good order (not routing and not engaged) but may have cards played on it as per normal. If it is engaged with a unit it is eliminated if the unit is eliminated.

If the required amount of damage boxes on the summoner are marked off the following demons may be summoned:

2: Half-Orc Spearmen
3: Earth Elemental (Sta-Puft marshmallow man)
6: Red Dragon
7: Ancient Red Dragon

Monsters and Mercenaries Subfaction: Demonic Summoners

Here is a Demons Subfaction that I came up with while kicking around some ideas about making an actual Demons Faction. It is basically a way to test the Summoning rules I came up with. Summoning units, while really cool sounding, has some inherent difficulties considering how to balance an army when units can just appear. I will not go so far as to say I've solved the problem, but I will say that I've come up with a possible solution and a way to playtest it by using the subfaction template. Obviously, were this to get the full go ahead and be given its own artwork and unique units it would be way cool, but before I suggest taking that step, I thought I'd come up with a viable proxy deck.

Start with the Monsters and Mercenaries deck. This subfaction uses all the factions specific cards.

The Faction Ability is called: Demonic Embrace - Spend a command action to mark one Demonic Embrace (Spoils) box to give the unit the Fearsome keyword. Spend a second Command Action to give the unit the Terror keyword. Erase one or two boxes to give the unit (+1)-/- per box. Only units that have Demonic Embrace boxes may recieve this ability.

To create a summoner card we will use the Healer Mage, and Healer Mages no longer exist for this faction, but a summoner costs 300 points and you may have a maximum of three. The stats remain the same, but we discard the healing ability and replace it with Summoner powers (explained below). The Demonic Summoner has one attack spell in addition to its summoning abilities.
The Enemy Within: Range 14" Indirect Fire
Target enemy unit makes a courage test, if it fails it immediately makes a full melee attack on itself. No cards may be played on this attack. This attack may not cause a courage check.

How to summon a Demon:
During the M&C phase a Summoner unit with the Hold Standing Order may mark off one of its green boxes and summon a lesser demon which appears adjacent to the summoner. Two Summoners that are adjacent to each other may each mark off a green box to summon a Greater Demon that appears adjacent to one of them. Three Summoners that are adjacent to each other may each mark off a green box to summon a Major Demon that appears adjacent to one of them.

Summoned Demons must be given the Close Standing Order and Command Actions may not be spent on them for any reason, nor may cards be played on them. The Demons will then move each turn as one of the summoner's units. It will FR any unit including units belonging to the Summoners faction! When a unit is destroyed the demon is removed from the board.

Any unit up to 150 points in value may be summoned as a lesser demon.
Any unit up to 350 points may be summoned as a Greater Demon.
Any unit up to 550 points may be summoned as a Major Demon.

When you summon a demon write SD on the card to note that it is a Summoned Demon.

You may summon as many Lesser and Greater Demons as you have available in your deck. The top limit is how many green boxes you have. Only one Major Demon may be summoned per game.
Units destroyed by demons count for victory purposes, as do demons the opponent destroys (but not those that destroy a unit and are eliminated).

When placing a demon make sure not to place it so that it FR's the summoners!

Demons retain none of their faction abilities, but retain all other abilities and keywords.

If you own other decks you may use any of those units as demons (Death Knights make really nasty Major Demons).

Yes, you may make elementalists Demons.

Note that the Ancient Red Dragon may not be a demon because it costs over 550 points...Come on, what'd you expect?

Havoc points may not be spent on Demons.

The Hill Giant always has range 21" as if two command actions had been spent.

Flying units will Fly to achieve their objectives, obviously landing to Final Rush.