Ferban

February 22, 2023

5 hours ago, Marcvs said:

As for the boardgamegeek ranking, I don't find it particularly conclusive that the users of a website aimed at board gaming ranks first a GW game which closely resembles a... board game.

Not responding to you in particular, just using this as a jumping off point re BGG.

BGG has lots of titles beyond strict board games. But it is primarily a board game site. It caters to boardgamers and reflects their opinions. And not just boardgamers in general, but the kind of gamer that also spends time on BGG. I've been on BGG since ... 2006ish? It's a great site and offers a lot of utility. But there are already big divides within the community itself.

As an easy example, you can look at the BGG top 100. Euro-style games with low conflict and low RNG are quite overrepresented. That doesn't mean those games are "better" necessarily. Just that the kind of person who likes and uses BGG tends to prefer that kind of game. It's not surprising, then, that the further you go from that genre, the lower the ranking is going to be. And, in my experience, there does tend to be a small (though vocal) group of individuals who really dislike GW as a company and downrate many of their games.

Two other minor points. First, there is no enforced criteria in BGG rankings. It's not uncommon for a game to have several high (or low) ratings before it even comes out. And many users rank games without a single play. Hopefully, that all comes out in the wash as statistical noise, but it shows the problematic nature of using the aggregated scoring for any definitive purpose. Second, when a game is first created in the database, BGG "weights" it by giving it something like 500 dummy votes at 5.5. Or maybe its more votes (1000?), I can't recall. But the purpose is to prevent a game with one or two ratings from shooting to the top of the BGG list. You need enough plays to overcome those dummy scores and see the game move. Since my guess is that relatively few BGG players are highly involved in miniature wargaming, it would also be unsurprising to see those games with lower scores due to the initial weighting.

Which is a long way of saying that I think the BGG ranking is a fuzzy tool at best, and probably not worth much at all when looking at miniature wargaming.

February 3, 2023

12 minutes ago, Ogregut said:

Why a misstep or enough to keep people on the fence?

I'll be all over that boxset, less so if they include chameleon skinks as I already have those.

Speaking only for myself (and I am a very casual player), having only three units in the box isn't super enticing. Especially since I'm not sold on the Raptordons and won't be until I know their rules. But if there is a wider variety in the box, well that starts to get more tempting. If Raptordons are sort of the "extra" or "bonus" models in an otherwise good box, then I'm much more likely to pick it up. But if I feel like I'm paying a lot for models I may never use? Then I'm more likely to wait and pick up individual units later.

January 25, 2023

1 hour ago, pnkdth said:

A part of me want the bombastic upset of the meta but another part of me is coming around to the updated tomes. At least for now.

I think the tome updates should, more or less, be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It should update the rules to comport better with 3.0. It could add in some heroic actions or monstrous rampages when warranted. And it should align with the new philosophy that choosing a sub faction no longer locks you into an artefact or command trait.

I think the meta shakeup is mostly seen with the GHBs. And I'm OK with that. If you want a highly evolving game where good units become bad and bad units become good, I think the GHB battlepacks seem to do much of that. But if you are just playing with your mates and having a good time with your army, you probably want some level of consistency.

Seeing the squig movement change is a great quality of life improvement. That's the kind of thing I want from new tomes. That, and making the army feel like the lore. Not every 3.0 battletome has been a banger, but the majority have been improvements in those terms (even if they aren't giving significant power improvements).

January 20, 2023

4 hours ago, Ogregut said:

I make it at least 9 slots for AoS -

2 battletomes

2 heroes

1 wolf kit

2 Vanguard boxes

2 sets of dice.

It's still very possible they mzybd announced Sunday, I think it will February however.

Don't forget warscroll cards!

January 18, 2023

1 hour ago, Gothmaug said:

I'm still amazed the old world is coming back at all. I can't imagine them supporting yet another tabletop fantasy wargame when they already have AoS out there. Why split your audience?

Well if they think they can support 30k and 40k without too much cannibalization of their own audience, they probably see AoS and ToW the same way. Plus, I think if ToW stays as a rank&flank game, and AoS stays on it's circle bases, the gameplay itself is likely to be different enough to avoid too much overlap in audience.

January 11, 2023

1 hour ago, Ganigumo said:

Gitz was pretty much bad as soon as it came out. The grot build was decent when you could spam out as many endless spells as you wanted to block off the board.

...
If the mechanic was random, but the buffs were incredibly impactful offering things like reroll hits & wounds and extra attacks it would balance out a bit and might've been an interesting mechanic. Instead you got things like reroll 1's to hit, run and charge, mortals on 5s (which you took a banner for anyways), and slightly better but still often disappointing regeneration.

Totally agree. I have high hopes for the new Gitz book, though. My preference would be to see (nearly) all gitz warscrolls as kinda bad. But under the light of the bad moon, they get really good. Similar to how Nighthaunt are pretty bad in a vacuum, but the allegiance abilities really make up for it.

Maybe under the light of the Bad Moon, they don't take battleshock (cuz they're all hopped up on moon fanaticism). Or they get bonuses to hit and wound. Or they suddenly do impact hits on the charge. Or even extra rend. Or some combination of all of the above.

And make the moon semi controllable. So that it isn't just there and gone. Give the player some method of controlling it. Maybe you still roll, but the player can add or subtract one from the die roll for every five enemy models killed that round. The Bad Moon will continue to orbit a battlefield where the grots are celebrating it. Or maybe it circles the board, but never gets removed entirely. Or maybe even a heroic action that can be used once per battle to re-set the moon to a location of your choice. There are a lot of options here.

January 9, 2023

1 hour ago, Jetlife said:

I'm curious to where people stand on this.

I'm quite a casual player, so factor that in on my perspective. But I'm very, very glad they didn't separate it out like the space marines. I like that it's all one book, gives the standard 4-6 subfactions, and then I can go to town. From a casual outsider (I don't play 40k), having a codex and then codex supplements seems like a headache.

Also, if I want a thematic one chamber list, I can totally build it. So it's not like I have fewer options.

December 6, 2022

34 minutes ago, CDM said:

I feel it's coming. I've not yet got the copy of Cursed City Nemesis and not sure how the story will end but if you need a destroyed medieval looking town with warbands roaming and hunting for a precious resource then look no further than Ulfenkarn! With the Nadir ripping the city apart I could see a mordheim style game coming out of it.

So I came to AoS during COVID and have loved it (AoS, not COVID). My son and I also got into Warcry which I really enjoy as a light game we can play on a school night rather than AoS which (while awesome) takes several hours. I hear a lot about Mordheim but don't know much about it. What about it would be superior to Warcry?

October 19, 2022

It was mentioned above, but the Gloomspite novel does a great job of representing the horror of gitz. It's something that I hope the new BT will show better on the table. I think rather than spitting out a few, unrelated buffs, the Bad Moon should take what would otherwise be pretty bad units and buff them into something remarkable. Sort of like the approach with Nighthaunt. Nearly all NH units are pretty bad by themselves. But they get really strong with all of the NH battle traits (Ethereal, Frightful Touch, debuffs on the charge, etc).

And the Bad Moon should either just exist for the battle or at least be semi-controllable by the player. Right now, it's a pretty big bummer to lose all of your battle traits to bad die rolls.

October 17, 2022

I've been wanting to go back and look at some of the unsolved rumor engines. Is there a particular place I can go to to see them all? Google gives me some very dated results.

September 16, 2022

So it isn't explicitly said in the article, but it sure seems to imply that Dawnbringers are going to be part of Cities of Sigmar (maybe a replacement faction like SBG for LoN?). If it is going to be a larger narrative event, maybe it just starts there and goes outward. But the implication seems to be that it will be part of Cities (maybe a sub faction or portion like Ironjawz and Kruleboyz in one tome?).

September 9, 2022

1 hour ago, Overread said:

I've never really understood why GW broke armies into only 4 parts

Leaders - pretty simple and good

Troops - just feels bloated and almost useless as a term considering how much is in there

Artillery - almost useless because so few forces right now have any

Monsters - makes good sense.

I think "troops" is just a catch-all. If you aren't one of the special categories, then you're "troops."

But I also wonder why they have the Artillery designation. There are few artilleries in the game and even the ones we have are mostly (with a few exceptions) indistinguishable from regular shooters. I really wish they'd make more artillery and have it have more specialized roles. The beastkilla kill bow is a great example of something that definitely has a use, but outside of that use is fairly lackluster.

August 26, 2022

I really like Warcry and, so far, I've enjoyed 2.0. Not every game is for every player, so if it's not for you, that's totally cool.

But I think about it as its own thing. I don't look for models that fit my other armies. I appreciate it as a skirmish game that: (1) I can easily play on a weeknight when I wouldn't have time for a full AoS game, and (2) is relatively simple to get a few warbands in order to have everything needed to play when a friend comes over. I have friends that will never play AoS and don't want the expense, but who don't mind sitting down to a game of Warcry using my models.

If I looked at Warcry through the prism of how it benefits my AoS play, the value for sure isn't there. But when I look at it as it's own game and the additional gaming opportunities it presents, I'm a big fan.

August 25, 2022

Prediction time:

I think we get to know the identities of the two Destro battletomes AND I think they will give us a new "roadmap" of additional tomes. Between Kill Team and Warcry, they've been really into "roadmaps" lately, so I think that's likley.

That might be it. But if I take some hopium, I could see them showing off the new leader from each destro tome or maaaybe confirm a battle box for the two factions.

August 24, 2022

In the reveal when they were first announced (Warhammer Fest?) I thought they said explicitly that it would be human-centric. I don't think that means human exclusive, but my guess is that the new sculpts will be all or nearly all human models. Maybe you'll still be able to bring in dispossessed and aelfs.

If it's more pan-Order, that would be cool, too.

August 21, 2022

I'm almost positive that I read somewhere that the units within a Skyvessel do not count toward the number of models on an objective. But I've looked through the FAQs and can't find that info now. Did I make this up or can I just not find that rule?

Thanks!

August 17, 2022

For the starter box of Warcry, we got two new warbands in the box, but then another sold separately (Legionnaires) and the monster guy. I'd love to see each new quarterly box also have a companion warband sold separately. It would be a great opportunity to flesh out more warbands.

August 16, 2022

14 minutes ago, EntMan said:

Not actually a rumour, but did any of you fine folk get the miniature of the month this month? And was there any different requirement from normal to get it?

I, um, heard a rumour that you had to build and paint it in store.

I grabbed it when I bought some paints and picked up the new Warcry. They tossed it in the bag. No in-store building or painting required.

August 3, 2022

Total casual player, here. So I'm not sure if they are good or bad for the tournament scene.

But for me, I really like battle tactics. It gives you something to do other than stand on an objective or kill the opponent. Adding in those layers is fun. And it also gets you thinking about future turns. What battle tactic can I do now? What will set me up for my next turn? I like that.

I'm less enthusiastic about grand strategies. They are fine and all, but I feel like they too firmly lock me into a particular play style or objective before I've even seen my opponent. I'd rather respond to the situation on the table (which is why I like tactics). But Grand Strategies aren't terrible. We still use them. Maybe I'd like them better if you got to pick them after seeing your opponent's list?

As for improving their implementation, I would strongly limit the amount of battletome specific battle tactics you could use in each game. Maybe one per game? I like that the battle tactics in the new GHB are a little more difficult to achieve. And some battletomes (DoK, I'm looking at you) have several that are basically completed during list building and are not responsive to the battlefield. I think that's not as fun as those that require you to assess the current state of the battlefield and make a choice from there.

July 19, 2022

44 minutes ago, Lord Veshnakar said:

As an alternative, what if this is a banner pole, and the mace end is actually the end of the banner cross section and this is someone's arm chained up with perhaps their back flayed and presented like below. So maybe Kruleboyz or Slaves to Darkness? Its just such an awkward pose for that to be a weapon being wielded IMHO.

My knowledge of rumor engine history is weak. Do they often take the picture at odd angles?

July 12, 2022

The August White Dwarf doesn't have a Tome Celestial. Since Ogors and Gitz are the only ones without one (other than LRL and Tzeentch) and there are two destruction tomes coming, I'm hoping that's evidence that Ogors and Gitz are the new books.

I love you, Sons players, but I think Gitz and Ogors need it more.

June 29, 2022

It looks available on GW's site. Search for "Malign Sorcery". Most of the generic endless spells come in that box.

June 4, 2022

I came to the Mortal Realms in 2020 (COVID hobby) near the end of 2.0. So that may color my perception of things. I didn't play in the world-that-was and so have no memory or nostalgia for it.

That said, I think the lore has (mostly) successfully walked a tight line between having concrete events with "canon" events and leaving the world open enough for players to tell their own stories. The lore feels an awful lot like RPG supplements that throw out a lot of settings and hooks but ultimately leave it to the players to decide where they will interact and what stories they will tell.

I thought Enoby's rundown on the first page was great. I wasn't reading those stormcast stories, but I agree if they consistently just showed up and punched people in the face, that would be pretty underwhelming. Many of the stories I've read of them (including in Thunderstrike and other stories) generally has them barely saving the day and generally at great sacrifice. So I've enjoyed the stories I've read. (The Dominion novel is somewhat of an exception).

I tend to think of the huge setting as a net benefit. I can set my warriors up in any ol' place in the Realm of Fire (doesn't even have to be in the Parch) and I'm good to go. And everything in the Realm is infused with fire, I have to think that there are parts of the land that are arable. Maybe you can't grow rice (which takes a lot of water), but plenty of crops might grow and there are sure to be plants native to Aqshy that are edible.

The large realms are great for the Path to Glory narratives and for anyone who wants to build significant head canon. I toyed with the idea of getting into 30k because that starter box has a lot of models. But there is so much "canon" about how guys have to be painted and what iconography they wear, etc. It felt like I'd have to do a whole research project just to get my guys painted "right." I definitely don't have that issue with the AoS.

As for the story moving forward, by necessity it has to move forward in such a way that it doesn't invalidate people's armies or eliminate units. If it did, there would be wailing and gnashing of teeth (or teef). So with that restriction in mind, I think BR was overall positive. Anvilguard becomes Har Kuron and the Stormcast and DoK have a strained relationship. Rather than being allies, they now merely have a common enemy in Chaos. This is a great hook that could be explored in novels and maybe might lead to DoK aligning with Malerian's dark elves (when they arrive) against Sigmar. So it could be the seed to a greater conflict later.

Belakor breaking the skies was cool, and that resulted in Grugni coming out to forge better armor for the Stormcasts. So, while it has little impact on gameplay, it does show that Chaos and Order are escalating the war.

The only negative for me was Kragnos and Excelsis. Excelsis was nearly decimated, but ultimately it seems mostly fine? And Kragnos wanted to destroy Excelsis because it was civilization built near his homeland. But he gets teleported away and he's ... just fine with it, I guess? Maybe that gets more explanation in the Kragnos book, which I have yet to read. If Anvilguard was going away, it seems to me that Excelsis probably should have as well. You could have had the "survivor of excelsis" if you wanted to have your CoS army from there so that you could keep the rules. But it would be a great change and open up narrative opportunities if the Spear of Mallus was destroyed or maybe broken and carted off to various Orruk/Ogor/Behemat/Gitz camps.

But with that gripe aside, I think the lore is moving forward at an appropriate pace and I'm looking forward to the next big shakeup. Probably right around the time 4.0 launches.

May 5, 2022

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was a little disappointed with today's reveals.

Don't get me wrong. I thought what we saw today was cool. The new skaven model looked neat, I really liked the Sylvaneth units and the Ogroids are cool. The tease of the new GHB and Cities/Dawnbringers are fine, but didn't really have enough to get excited about. And I like the SBG and KO models well enough, I suppose.

Maybe it's because I don't play StD, Sylvaneth, or Skaven. So there just wasn't a lot for me personally to get excited about. But even when that happens, usually the reveals give us some new direction about where the story is headed or the direction of the mortal realms. And that advancing of the story or additional grist for PtG is always exciting to me. But there was very little of that, outside some vague descriptions of the GHB.

Oh well. They can't all be bangers. I am happy for the people who are excited by the new models, though.

The big question is, will Warcry just get two new specific warbands, or will it be a Red Harvest style release, or will there by a 2nd edition? Tomorrow's reveal will be interesting.

April 30, 2022

So let's say I cast fleshy abundance or the Glottkin spell to raise the wounds characteristic of a unit. Then a model is taken down to one wound. When the spell ends, it would die. But, if the spell lasts until my next hero phase and, at the start of the phase, I can heal with disgusting resilience, does it still die? In other words, could they heal before the spell ended and thereby stay alive with one wound?

My thought is no, they would still die. The spell lasts "until the next hero phase" and the healing doesn't happen until the "start of the hero phase." So, it would seem the spell ended (and the model died) right before they could have been healed by disgustingly resilient. Do I have that right?

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