Friday, September 28, 2012

Impossible Dream II

Fact: I am kind of eccentric. I do weird things. I have dumb ideas, and I often jump into them without fully realizing the consequences.


It is in this spirit that I am going to tackle the Impossible Dream. For those of you unfamiliar, it is a personal challenge where you lay out 50 points worth of Warmahordes models and promise to paint them in 30 days. Madness? Perhaps. But the way I see it, even if I fail I probably got motivated to paint where I wouldn't have before. The last time I tried this madness I got 40-something points of trolls painted, which fell short of my goal but I can't exactly complain about. I tried it once before. I didn't quite make it, but the motivation to paint from the Impossible Dream was spectacular. So here I go again!

Do you have unpainted minis? I know that it's a small percentage of our group that meets that criteria, but to you few I will ask: would you like motivation to paint? Would you like other people to measure yourself against for no prize other than the satisfaction of fully painted armies on the table? Well, I will come up with 50 points I will be painting from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, and if you want to set yourself a goal (15, 25, 35, 50, whatever) to try and be as much of a weirdo as me, feel free to post your goals here. Set your sights high! Try to achieve something you don't think you can! It wouldn't be Impossible otherwise! I will be trying to host painting days at my apartment and I encourage other people to follow suit. I will be painting models from several factions, I probably won't even finish, but if you want to declare models you want to paint by the end of October then I CHALLENGE YOU TO THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM.

Doug's Insanity:
The Kraken: 19 points (needs to be modded AND painted)
Revenant Canon: 3 points
Rev Crew Riflemen (3): 3 points
Trollkin Fennblades with UA: 10 points
Croe's Cutthroats: 10 points
Durgen Madhammer: +6 points
Alexia + like 30 risen and 3 thrall warriors: 5 points
Wroughthammer Rockram: 8 points
TOTAL: 52 points (factoring in Durgen's jack points!)

This is probably completely unreasonable. That won't stop me from going for it! DARE YOU ACCEPT MY CHALLENGE?

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Salvador Duranti Character Background

So this will be my character in the IKRPG (if I don't end up running it). He's a Steelhead Rifleman Soldier/Warcaster. I statted him out tonight, and hopefully he works out well.

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Ord is a land known for its long and storied mercenary tradition. Its people have repelled attacks from the disciplined Khadorans to the north and the pirate reavers of Cryx off their coast for hundreds of years, and the hiring of mercenaries and privateers has frequently been a key part of these successes. It is perhaps somewhat surprising, then, that the career of Salvador Dumanti began as inauspiciously as it did.

Salvador Dumanti - “Sal” to those close to him – was born the fourth son of struggling peat farmers in central Ord. His family had no military tradition, but the one thing it did not lack for was children. With no chance of inheritance and a lifetime of carving peat ahead of him, Salvador decided to take his future into his own hands and leave his family at the age of 16. He spent several years working odd jobs at roadhouses, docks, and anywhere else that would take him in and give him a few coppers to assist them, but his big break came when he was working in the kitchen of an alehouse in Berck. The coastal town was always bustling and Salvador had picked up a number of valuable skills, including a passable skill with knife and gun. He rarely needed them, being wise enough to keep a low profile, but when a recruiter for the Steelhead Mercenary Company came into his tavern looking for recruits, he saw a chance to really make a name for himself. At the tender age of 20, head full of dreams of glorious battles with comrades in arms, Salvador Dumanti signed his mark on a piece of paper and enlisted with the Company.

His training went quickly, as his natural aptitude for marksmanship got him assigned to a rifle corp in short order. He learned to take orders and concentrate his fire on command with his fellows, then was assigned to a squad and quickly got hired for patrol duty along the northern border with a chartered company called Barrik's Raiders, led by An Ordic mercenary warcaster on permanent retainer with the Ordic crown named Barrik Pharsalos. Any illusions he had about glorious battles were quickly dispatched within the first days of this tour. The rainy season had just started, and his unit was hired to patrol north of the fortresses, keeping an eye out for Khadoran patrols venturing too close to Ordic lands. This went on for months. They would spot a lightly armed patrol of Winterguard and exchange frivolous volleys before both sides would retreat to their respective borders. Nights were spent in hastily erected camps on hills just high enough to not be flooded in leaky tents, or sometimes in muddy trenches making sure no enemy passed their position. The misery was constant, the glory never so much as glimpsed, and the two-year contract Salvador signed with the Company was looking to be a very long term indeed.

Not everything was terrible, though. Barrik Pharsalos and Salvador ended up getting along rather well. Barrik had spent his initial time as a Steelhead rifleman as well, and the fact that his skills as a warcaster allowed him to command a very respectable price for his services was certainly inspiring to Sal. Barrik would often sneak Sal extra rations from his food, or an extra few rounds of ammunition – the kid had promise, he would say when questioned about it, and keeping that rifle of his pointed at the enemy at firing for long enough might turn him into something great. The middle-aged warcaster only could afford a refurbished Nomad warjack, but the great machine was more than enough to keep any opposing armor well away from the rest of the troops.

The rainy season was nearing an end when the fateful orders came in. A sizable Khadoran force was assembling with the intention of attacking an outer watchtower key to the advance knowledge of Khadoran movements in the region. Barrik's Raiders were sent to stop this from happening. The rain was drizzling and visibility was rather poor, which allowed their force to sneak up on the Khadoran camp relatively unobserved. They attacked in force, halberdiers charging in with riflemen supporting them with concentrated volleys and their small cavalry contingent moving in from a flank. The Khadorans reacted much better than anticipated, though, and instead of disorganized fighting they quickly met their attackers and began to turn the battle. Among the couple dozen Winterguard were a venerable Juggernaut and a fresh-looking Destroyer, both of which were proving to be formidable obstacles, and both being led by a large Man-O-War with an axe canon. Between a cavalry charge and a follow-up from the Nomad the Juggernaut was reduced to scrap quickly, and rifleman fire and halberdier charges decimated the ranks of the Winterguard. Before Barrik could capitalize on this event, however, the Khadorans made a strong push back. Destroyer shells landed in among the Steelhead troops, tearing them apart while a veritable hurricane of Winterguard rifle bullets, blunderbuss slugs, and grape-shot sprays tore through much of the rest of the Raiders. The final turning point was when Sal saw Barrik's power field flicker from concentrated rifle fire, then die just in time for a blunderbuss shell to impact his chest.

The battle quickly fell apart from there. Barrik's death caused a feedback in the Nomad's cortex that shut it down, while the remaining troops panicked at the loss of their leader and the casualties they had sustained, and began a full rout. The Winterguard pursued them and the battle quickly became a fight for their lives. Sal lost track of time as he went from frantically reloading his rifle to firing it to pulling out his sword to hack at a Winterguard, only to realize it was already a dead man, then to turn back to fire with his rifle. The moment of clarity hit when he ducked into cover and realized that he was behind the Nomad time stood still as in his panic he pleaded with the venerable warjack to save him, and he saw its heartfire surge back into its eyes. It stood and brandished its mighty battleblade, cleaving through a nearby Winterguard while swatting another with its shield away like a fly.

Sal stood behind the machine, his mind shared between them both and the world lost in a haze of reloading and firing his rifle, and swinging his great battle blade in sweeping arcs to clear away Winterguard. He was able to rally a handful of other fleeing Steelheads and fight to the high ground. They had scarcely over a dozen men, armed with halberds and rifles, no officers, and one battered Nomad. They were able to find cover behind rocks and logs, the halberdiers set their pikes in the ground, and the Winterguard looked to break their morale with a charge. After a volley from the defending riflemen and the efforts of the halberdiers and Nomad the charge was diverted, and as the Winterguard fell back Sal ordered a countercharge of his own. The riflemen reloaded and fired into the retreating red uniforms before the halberds charged. Sal, ammunition running low, pulled out his sword, little as it was, and charged down the hill along side the Nomad, until the remaining Khadorans broke and routed in turn.

As the company that had once been Barrik's raiders made their way back to the safety of the Ordic fortresses, they took what they could from the battlefield. The spoils of war were generous to them, and aside from an ample supply of ammunition, firearms, and some important military documents recovered from the body of the Man-O-War Kovnik, Sal was able to salvage most of Barrik's warcaster armor, though the older man's mechanikal spear seemed to have been damaged beyond repair. There was a part of Sal that felt remorse for looting the body of a recently fallen friend, but mercenary life was tough work, and he felt justified that Barrik would rather Sal have taken the armor than it being left to rust in the field.

The commanders in the Ordic military and their liasons with the Steelhead Company were ecstatic when the survivors returned. The pay earmarked to pay Barrik's Raiders was paid to the remainder of the company, as per the contract, making the survivors wealthy men indeed. The intelligence gathered from the Khadoran papers ended up being little of note, but it did state that without the force that the Raiders had routed the attack on the watchtower would not be able to commence. Sal was promoted to a Sergeant for his role in turning the battle around, and since the Nomad and armor were the personal property of Barrik Pharsalos neither the military nor the Steelheads had any claim on them. Sal's fledgling talent as a warcaster was noted by the Steelhead Company, and with a fair portion of his earnings he was able to re-negotiate his contract. He sold the badly battered Nomad to an Arcane Mechanik who was able to fix up the armor for him and make it ready for use, and his new contract allowed him a looser relationship with the Steelhead Company to “hone his talents”. He would henceforth work as a free Steelhead Agent.

A young man with a pocket bursting with crowns and a new lease on life is not the most responsible individual. True, Sal sought out arcanists to learn from and honed his arcane talent, which proved to be formidable for one his age. He also purchased upgraded equipment for his military rifle, equipping it with a scope and bipod that would allow it to serve as a stable, long-range firing platform. He practiced in his warcaster armor, learning to harness its power field and draw on its power in the field. And he got drunk. A lot. He visited brothels and inns, traveling from town to roadhouse to city burning through the sizable earnings he had made in a couple years.

Sal is now 22. He has exactly two gold crowns to rub against each other, a suit of expensive warcaster armor, his standard issue Steelhead military rifle and sword, and a handful of other odds and ends. He is realizing that he needs to get serious about putting his skills to the test on the field of battle, to earn some money so that he can buy ammunition, better weaponry, and re-establish his career as a Steelhead. With a suite of skills, a pocketful of gold, and eventually his own stable of warjacks, Sal intends to create his own mercenary company and lead them into battle for whoever will pay their price. For now though...a hot meal and stein of ale sound like a pretty good place to start.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Scaverous vs. Bloodsong 50pt BatRep

Got a chance to play a game with James again last weekend, and am just now getting the BatRep done. I'm a terrible friend. Oh, well.

I don't recall exactly what our lists were, but it was something to the effect of:
James:
Jarl Skuld
Mulg
Earthborn
War Wagon
10 Fennblades + UA
10 Kriels + UA + 3 cabers
Janissa Stonetide

Me:
Scaverous (proxied by Venethrax)
Erebus (proxied by a slayer)
2 Nightwretches
Kraken
20 Mechanithralls
6 bile thralls
Skarlock
Necrotech + scrap thrall

Below is our set up. From here on out I'll be telling the story in narrative form. Keen eyes may notice the Super Dungeon Explore kobold that is secretly watching the battle unfold from on top of that building.


Jarl Skuld could feel the air give off an unnatural chill as he led his warband through the southern Thornwood Forest. He had heard that some of the few remaining kin in this area had been driven from their homes by strange abominations that howled in the night and devoured the dead. He could think of a number of things that fit that description, but he decided that he would rather think about how to help the kriels who had still managed to hold on here, so far away from Madrak's army. He had managed to convince the ancient dire troll Mulg to part from Hoarluk Doomshaper for the time being, since the elder warlock was investigating some deep mystery and Mulg's appetite was somewhat less patient. He had brought an Earthborn dire troll he had found deep in the Thornwood as well, and the two dire trolls seemed to be getting along much better than he had expected. He had also managed to "acquire" a War Wagon during his brief time with the United Kriels, as well as recruit a sizable host of Fennblades and traditional Kriel Warriors. They made a formidable group, but they were hardly as stealthy as he might have wanted. Between Mulg's roars and attempts to eat any wildlife they came across and the War Wagon's great rumbling he was surprised they didn't call down the wrath of the entire Khadoran military - to say nothing of the prey they were supposedly hunting.


As they approached a series of ancient ruins, relics from some ancient kingdom or empire (History had never been one of Jarl's strong suits), they could see an oily black smoke up ahead rising through the trees. Jarl barked out orders and his host formed up into ranks as best they could, Mulg at the front and eager to devour what was up ahead. As they were doing so, a second large plume of oily black smoke appeared, accompanied by a screeching sound that proved they had found their target. A huge metal monstrosity surged forward into view, firing a deadly green projectile that fell well short of his position, but churned up the ground around it. He could see now a huge horde of thralls surging forward, mechanithralls with their steam fists and the more terrifying bile thralls, waddling forward and gurgling. Among them charged black iron helljacks and bonejacks, arcane power dancing along their arc nodes and the runes inlaid in their hulls.


As Jarl's forces moved to meet this threat, he began to see what was happening. The ruins his Fennblades were charging past had once been an ancient mausoleum, and the granite sarcophagus in the center had been cracked open like an egg, and recently too - the ground was still freshly churned. Ahead he could see an alien mechanikal apparatus digging into the ground, something he understood the Cryxians would do to gain power from places of death. He knew he had to stop them - the only part he didn't know was how exactly to do that.



As Jarl's kriel warriors charged forward, they were met head on by a towering helljack inlaid with intricate glowing runes. He slammed into the front warriors, his claws raking across them to leave them dying screaming on the ground, their souls visibly being torn from them to flow back behind the lines. Following the helljack, a cluster of mechanithralls suddenly became as insubstantial as ghosts and charged through the solid stone walls between them to impact the rest of the warriors' line. Jarl grimaced as he saw fists fly and kin fall, then turned to see another group of the thralls closing on his Fennblades. The death toll was light, but then the immense helljack crashed through the trees to grab the kin with huge tentacles and stuff them into vents on its sides, their screams melding with the sound of steam venting from its back. Suddenly, Jarl saw a looming, dark form move into the shadow of the ruins and summon horrific green runes that shot from his hand to wrap around another kriel warrior. The warrior fell screaming, his flesh sloughing from his bones, then flying through the air surrounded by the runes to reconstitute itself as a new, horrific bile thrall. This thrall advanced and exploded over other kriel warriors, taking them to an acidic death.


His numbers depleting, Jarl decided it was time to move quickly. His Earthborn charged the rune-inlaid helljack and ripped one of its arms fully off, roaring in satisfaction. Echoing that roar, his remaining kriel warriors charged the thralls and helljack, killing many of the former. One of the mighty caber throwers accompanying his warriors smashed the great stone pillar into the helljack and sent it to the ground. Jarl could see the light fading from its eyes and new that flank was almost secure. He ducked back into a nearby copse of trees to guard him and fired his pistols into several thralls. The war wagon crashed forward and into the bile thralls, but a wheel got stuck in a green muck on the ground and it was brought up unexpectedly short. (Side note here: James charged the War Wagon at the back bile thrall. His impact attacks would hit 2 of the biles, then his charge would hit the target in the back. After that his guns could fire and kill the remaining biles, as well as do some other major damage in the back field. He needed 4 to hit on his impact attacks. He rolled a 3. It wasn't until afterwards that I remembered that the War Wagon gets 3 dice to hit on impact attacks. James, remember that. It's really important!) His Fennblades charged furiously in return, wiping out most of the thralls, but having no real recourse against the huge helljacks towering over them. They sliced at it with their greatswords, but the great machine was simply too large for them to damage it in any meaningful way. Mulg let out a roar and charged after them, though, and with his club he was able to carve great dents into the armor of the thing.


As Jarl was beginning to feel that he would be able to push these Cryxians out of the Thornwood for sure, he saw a chilling sight. The dark figure that had hidden in the shadowed recesses of ruins turned insubstantial and walked through solid stone to stand before Jarl. Runes swirled around him and Jarl could feel the air crackling with dark power. His own sorcery felt distant and difficult to harness, but this same power seemed to only strengthen the iron creature. It pointed an iron claw at him and a gout of green arcane power shot at him, hitting him unerringly even in the forest. Mulg turned and tried to make it to the creature, but a swipe from the huge helljack he had been fighting dealt him a crippling blow. He staggered forward, but his club was not quite in range yet. Another gout of green fire missed Jarl by mere inches, but the third slammed directly into his chest, throwing him backwards on the ground, his head swimming.


The next few minutes were a haze. Jarl vaguely heard Mulg and the Earthborn howling in pain and fury and running away, his remaining troops breaking and falling back, and several of his kriel warriors collecting him and dragging him out of the forest. By the time he came around and could ask what happened, he realized that they had suffered a bad loss. His stupor had driven the dire trolls mad, and they had fled. Without their support his warriors routed, and the War Wagon had no choice but to follow. They were able to regroup, but for now they would have to avoid the Cryxians in that part of the forest.

The game was really fun. It ended with the skarlock thrall casting ghost walk on Scaverous to walk through the obstruction he was behind to get in range of Jarl without his arc nodes (they were all engaged). With a soul from Erebus the previous round and popping his feat he could cast Excarnate up to 4 times, boosted to hit each time. Needing 10s to hit Jarl, it was a done deal. Mulg taking a free strike from the Kraken that disabled his body meant that he wouldn't even be able to kill me with Protective Fit attacks. Looking at the pictures I see that Janissa was in the list too, but I think she just hung out and threw up a few rock walls or something.

Again, really fun game. There was a lot of back and forth, thralls charging trolls and trolls counter charging thralls, warbeasts and warjacks murderizing every dang thing. I look forward to the next one!

Monday, September 17, 2012

FTL: Faster Than Light Review

All right, so I'm pretty excited here. When I saw the Kickstarter pitch for FTL: Faster Than Light I immediately knew that it was going to be a game I liked. I impulsively backed it for $10 and sat back and watched as it got funded. It was also one of the first kicks I've started, and now that it has officially been released I think it's also the first for me to see the fruits of my investment. And what glorious fruits they are.

I downloaded my DRM-free copy of game (in the background while playing Minecraft - sometimes I absolutely love technology) I got as a Kickstarter backer and fired it up to try it out. The tutorial was easy to learn and informative, and I was able to jump right into the game after a very short time. The game starts with a single ship design (more are unlocked the more you play - something about being tied to achievements and the areas you explore) and three crew members, each of which was named. If I recall correctly I had Williams, Lunnig, and Merkel. I immediately sent them to engineering, weapons, and the helm respectively, and eventually they leveled up to be a superior engineer, weapons officer, and pilot - but for now they were just names at stations. I started my first FTL jump, not really knowing what I was doing or the best way to do it, and just figured I'd see how far I could get.

The game is fast-paced and fun. I would jump to a system under attack by pirates, where I could choose to fight the pirates or ignore them (I was generally always spoiling for a fight - not the best idea all the time, but such is the nature of experience), then to an abandoned colony where I salvaged some scrap, then to a planet with a lone survivor I added to my crew (named Charlie - he eventually became my Shield technician and main repairman), then to a merchant where I could trade goods...and as I looked at the sector map, an ominous red line was approaching me. This (I later learned) was the rebel fleet, searching for me and the vital data I was carrying vital to the preservation of the Federation. Staying one step ahead of the fleet would be vital.

And I was generally able to do that. I made it through 3 big sectors (there is an end point in each sector that allows you to jump to the next sector - but exploring the sector first is important, as it will yield parts crucial to your survival in the future sector, which increase notably in difficulty) and I upgraded my ship quite a bit. I picked up another crewman (also named Charlie, who I started specializing as my repairman, to let Charlie 1 stay at his shield console more regularly), I upgraded my shields, I bought a teleporter pad (so my crew could board enemy ships), and a story began to emerge. Perhaps the best part of the game was right near the end (of this session), where the rebel fleet was closing in and I made a long-range gambit to avoid them, trying to cut through a system with a red giant star. There was an enemy ship there firing on me, my ship was already damaged, and the sun was slowly heating up my ship. I needed to hold off until my FTL drive could spin up and I could jump away. The fight went badly, the enemy ship knocked out my Oxygen supply and started fires throughout much of my ship, most of my crew was damaged, and my hull was getting very damaged. Once my drive spun up I went to make the jump - only to realize that the system I was in was too far away from the exit system. I would have to backtrack several systems to be able to get there. Which would put me directly in contact with the forward scouts of the rebel fleet. Well, no other option right now...I jumped back to a previously explored (and currently safe) system. The fires were raging, having spread to much of the rear and port sides of the ship now, but I had gotten my crew out of there and into the med bay (where they were healing their injuries). I sealed all the doors on the ship, opened all the doors in the rooms full of fire, and then opened the rear and port airlocks, dramatically aware of the fact that without my Oxygen system up and running I was blowing most of my remaining air into space. The gambit put out the fires, I sealed all the airlocks and then opened all the interior doors to let what air was left fill the back of the ship, then sent every available (and freshly healed) crewman to the back to start fixing the Oxygen, engines, and the gaping hull breach in the engine room that was venting even more air. The crew fixed the Oxygen, sealed the breach, got the ship repaired, and it was time to go. The hull was badly damaged, I wouldn't be able to last long in a fight, and there would be 2-3 systems I would have ahead of me that would be swarming with rebels.

I made the jump, found a rebel patrol ship waiting, and began the process of fending them off until the FTL spun up. It went badly, and by the time I was able to jump again I was one hit away from destruction. The next jump wasn't just a forward scout - it was the vanguard of the rebel fleet. Their fighters began harrying me and I hoped to spin up the FTL before the cruisers could open fire - but a lucky missile shot from a fighter ended that hope and my game.

For 1.5-2 hours of gameplay, I had a ton of fun. I got oddly attached to the named sprites that had become valuable crew members. I always made sure to have them at their respective stations - with the pilot and engineer working together my Dodge chance went up considerably, my tactical officer notably reduced the cooldown of my weapon systems, and my shield tech kept those shields fully charged and able to weather considerable firepower. There was an emergent story that was the result of a string of random encounters, yet it was compelling and thrilling to the end. I unlocked another ship design, I learned a lot about the game and what good choices to make, and I learned that when they recommend to start on "easy" mode if you're not familiar with the game to listen to them. The game gets plenty hard, trust me. Easy will help you actually see the end of the game (hopefully) and unlock more items to start you off better in the future.

I strongly advise anyone who's interested in this game to get it. It's not to justify a $10 purchase for something that can give so many hours of replayable content.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Skarre1 vs. Grissel1 BatRep

Played a rather exciting game last night! I was trying out the Skarre tier lists"Ships in the Night" from No Quarter, and James was playing a list with "As Many Troll Infantry As He Could Field", I think. Anyway, the italic parts will be the fluff surrounding the actual BatRep facts. You know, for flavor.

The lists:
Doug: The Cryxian Heavy Coastal Artillery
Pirate Queen Skarre
Kraken
Skarlock
Revenant crew of the Atrementous (10)
Revenant canon
Warwitch siren x2
Iron lich overseer
Mariner x2 (marshalled)

James
Grissel Bloodsong, Fell Caller
Mug
Mauler
Kriel warriors (10)
- UA
- 3 cabers
Fennblades (10)
- UA
Burrowers (6)
War wagon

The board looked really cool, and I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures. From the perspective of my side of the board there was the GF9 Khador Canon terrain piece to the left, to the right were 2 forests, and the center of the board was littered with barrels, hay bales, and other cover. the board itself was one of my Zuzzy mats which I'm painting to look like a field covered in ice and snow.



One of these canons.

Deployment went simply. My Kraken pre-deployed dead center to take advantage of the scenario (the one where there are two zones in the center of the board, and you need to control the one on your opponent's side - Onslaught, I think?), while the War Wagon deployed by the Khador Canon to run a hard flank with fire support for all that infantry. I put my revenant canon on the right flank to hide behind a forest (to better keep him protected while benefitting from the Ghost Shot ability), the Iron Lich Overseer (hereafter ILO) left of him with his 2 Mariners B2B, the war witches behind them, the skarlock overe there too, then Skarre just left of the kraken, with rev crew next to her. James basically centered the rest of his army in waves, with Burrowers out front (with AD), kriel warriors behind them, Fennblades behind them, and the warbeasts and Grissel in the back. There was a lot of Troll staring me down, but I had a lot of guns, and my hope was that by going first I could deal with them. Finally I used my tier bonus to Advance Move my Rev Crew and canon forward.

A small boat sailed almost soundlessly toward the frozen shore near the Scarsfell Forest in Khador. The air was crisp with the coming winter, and a few flurries of snows wafted through the air. As the boat approached the shoreline, the water began to froth around them and a huge Kraken surfaced, advancing ahead of the boat and taking its position on land. Moments later two Mariner warjacks also breached the surface, followed by a small horde of ragtag revenants, several of which were hauling one of the cursed canons from the Atrementous. As the boat reached the shore the horned Pirate Queen stepped off, sword and dagger in hand, flanked by a pair of warwitches, a hulking Iron Lich Overseer, and her personal skarlock. Without a word the force began to advance inland, knowing their target was not far away.

Grissel Bloodsong's kin had not fared well these last few days. Several hard-fought battles against Khadorans encroaching on Trollblood lands in the Scarsfell had depleted their numbers, but perhaps even worse their supply of hardy trollkin beer was exhausted. With winter coming on and her people needing her warriors to stay stout of heart, Grissel knew that they would have to move out and acquire more supplies. She had heard about an excellent opportunity - a Khadoran supply depot on the outskirts of the forest, brimming with kegs of beer and food. As an added bonus, this depot was home to a massive Avalanche Canon, in position to shell either the coast or the forest from miles away. Capturing the canon would be a huge asset for her people.

Turn 1 for me was mainly just running up into position. The Kraken went as far forward as he could, the Rev canon entrenched itself out of sight behind the forests where I felt sure that he would get at least a few shots off, the Rev Crew ran up and took position in some barrels for cover. The ILO ran into cover and had the mariners also run up into B2B with him, the warwitches following up behind them. Skarre camped her focus and ran up behind a barrel, the skarlock sacked a rec canon crew member, netting Skarre 4 more focus the following turn. All in all, not too bad. James blitzed everything forward, putting Hoof It on the kriel warriors and running them as far as he could, then running the Fennblades up behind them and following up with his beasts in the back. Burrowers burrowed (like they do) and waited. I've been on the other side of this before, but now I've seen a horde of Trolls with Touch, no KD, and a dangerous level of threat output fly 17" across the board toward me, getting right up in front of my lines. It's terrifying. Finally, the War Wagon lobbed a shot that got a perfect deviation and took out 2 rev crew and the QM (who apparently didn't calculate blast damage into his survival odds when taking cover).

As Grissel's trollkin approached the canon, she could see a grisly sight - Khadoran bodies stewn about and smoke rising from signs of battle. Across the field was a huge mechanikal monstrosity, as well as a collection of other Cryxian tools of war. Forming up quickly, they prepared to charge as the Cryxians whirled about and came for them. Running forward to meet them, Grissel only hoped that the strength of troll flesh would prevail against the fell power of the Cryxians.

Round 2 is where the fun happened. With kriel warriors up in my grill and already down 3 rev crew, it was time to bring the pain. Skarre had 10 focus, gave 3 to the kraken, and kept the rest. The rev canon blasted 2 kriel warriors (who both failed their tough rolls) and regained its lost crew member. Skarre stayed in her cover and put up Dark Guidance, giving all her Cryxians an extra die to hit in melee, the skarlock sacked the new rev canon guy for the promise of 5 focus next turn for skarre, and then the real guns opened up. One warwitch put a focus on a mariner, the ILO killed a warrior with Dark Fire, netting him a soul, then the mariners fired, forfeiting movement for Rat 7. The tightly clumped kriel warriors took a number of explosions, and with the warwitch focus, the jack marshal boosts, and the ILO's soul, about 5 or so kriel warriors went to meet Dhunia. The Rev Crew accosted themselves stunningly well, with Dark Guidance and Gang allowing them to tear through most of the rest of the unit. They did a little too well, in fact - I had to not take a few attacks, because I wanted there to be kriel warriors for the Kraken to eat! It did that as well, killing the two kriel warriors in range and firing off a relatively ineffectual shot into the troll back lines, but not being far enough forward that Mulg would be able to reach him. All in all I'd killed 13 out of 15 kriel warriors, including all their cabers, and I wasn't in a particularly bad spot.

The Troll retaliation was not too bad. The Burrowers popeed up in front of the Kraken, forfeited their movement, and shot him with slug guns for 9 points of damage. The Fennblades used No Quarter and charged, killing most of the Rev Crew (but not the Quartermaster!) and a warwitch siren, and generally all kinds of up in the way. The last kriel warrior took his swing at the Quartermaster and missed, and the War Wagon had no better luck. Grissel and her beasts advanced up behind the front lines again.

As the Trolls charged forward at the Cryxians, to their horror they saw canons flash and explosion ripple across their lines. Many hardy trollkin were torn apart, somescreaming in agony as their very souls were ripped from them, and some falling victim to the huge Kraken, which stuffed them into the vents on its sides. The undead pirates dispatched many with their pistols and swords, and it wasn't long before Bloodsong's kin began to lose hope. Their countercharge failed to inflict serious damage on the Cryxians, even with their burrowers ambushing the Kraken and firing their slug guns into it. Things looked grim.

Round 3 is where I messed up. I got excited by all the killing happening and forgot one very important thing: if I was going to kill Mulg, I needed to load up the Kraken all the way. I forgot this, and didn't do it. I gave him 1 focus, and apparently just didn't think about it. The rest of the turn went well - the rev canon blew up a few pygs and fennblades, got a crewman back, the skarlock sac'd him to promise Skarre 6 focus next turn, The Mariners blew holes in the Fennblades, all with the intent of clearing a path for the kraken to get to Mulg. They did pretty well, but unlike their Kriel warrior bretheren, the Fennblades were familiar with the "Tough" mechanic, and how to actually make it work. One key fennblade in the way toughed like 3 times in a row. The Rev Crew brought 5 models back to life, all of whom were put into position to inflict serious damage on the Fenns. Skarre moved up to kill a Burrower in the way - in retrospect, not a wise move. Combined with not loading up the kraken, this proved to be my downfall. she popped her feat, used her ample extra focus (still grumbling...) to heal back to full, and had 1 to camp. The Rev Crew, between feat and Dark Guidance, tore through most of the remaining Fenns nearby and were able to put a few pistol shots into knocked down models still blocking the Kraken. In the end, the Kraken was clear to attack Mulg, at ARM 24, and at P+S 25 with his 2 corpses. A second derp on my part meant that I forgot to turn him to face Mulg with BOTH arms...so with only 1 focus and 1 initial on him I didn't seal the deal. 2 attacks at dice+6 (!!!) dealt 12 and 13 damage, respectively, but left him standing well within charge range (or walk range, now that I'd damaged him) of Skarre.

Mulg's response to the Kraken.

James did his part perfectly. Grissel moved up and popped her feat and was able to get Calamity off on Skarre, as well as heal Mulg back to fighting status. The Mauler charged the front of the Kraken to get nice and close to Mulg, then cast his animus on the big guy and tried wrestling the Kraken (at ARM 24 he mostly looked a little silly - the best part being the chain attack, where he opted for an impotent head butt). Then Mulg walked up, needing 7s to hit Skarre and doing dice+3 on each hit. He hit the first one, dealt 14 damage (great time to crank a roll on 2 dice, right?), tried eating a Rev Crew with his free hand, found that the undead are really unappetizing, got extra angry and swung at Skarre again with his free feat attack and missed. One buy later and Skarre was a tree-ka-bob. The Mauler roared triumphantly as the Kraken went down - we figured that the timing had him convinced he wrestled the machine to the ground.

Another wave of explosions rippled through the troll lines, and where before a wall of troll flesh had protected Grissel and her beasts, now only the bodies of the dead and the moans of the dying remained. The horned warcaster summoned powerful fell magics to empower her forces, and the slaughtered Grissel's kin with gleeful abandon, the towering Kraken striding forward to inflict horrible lashes into Mulg's hide. Grissel saw her chance, though, even wounded as Mulg was. She charged forward and let out a mighty fell chorus that strengthened her kin and weakened their enemies. She invoked magic of her own to weaken the horned warcaster, and with mighty roars her beasts charged. Her mauler swung at the great colossal with all his might, eventually grabbing onto its legs and smashing his head against it in an attempt to bring it down. Mulg could see more clearly, though. Through the haze of pain he ignored the huge Kraken and advanced to the Satyxis, bringing his club down to shatter her power field, then with a mighty swing smashing her straight backwards into a copse of trees, losing sight of her. The Kraken immediately faltered and slumped, the Mauler doing its best to wrestle the great thing to the ground and roaring in triumph. The remaining Cryxian forces quickly began retreating, a few parting shots to discourage pursuit. Grissel surveyed the battlefield. Many of her warriors were dead or dying, though some would recover with food and drink. The depot was packed with supplies, and she knew that if they moved quickly many of her kin would live to fight another day.

This game was really fun. Even though I lost the idea of having a Cryx gunline was silly and fun. I need more practice with my Kraken (this makes exactly the second game I've used him), but I think with better application this list has serious tournament potential. It has a very long reach with its guns, it hits like a monster in melee, and it can deal with a lot of issues on the other side of the table. Even with no corpses the Kraken hits at P+S 23 on feat turn, and with 3 focus and Dark Guidance that is enough to put some serious hurt out. A few corpses will have him hitting much harder, and the Rev crew with P+S 16 swords in melee with gang are good backup, to say nothing of the potential to charge the Mariners in. The ILO ended up being very good, and I was able to use him and the Mariners as powerful and accurate backfield artillery pieces. The Revenant canon likewise did very well, killing several models and proving to be an excellent choice for Skarre's sacrifical strike. I'll test this list some more, but if nothing else the "fun" factor was incredibly high.