WarmaHordes: Lost Crusade 350

Lost Crusade 350, by Chris

Ah, I love the smell of Menoth’s Fury in the morning.

The Challenge is a wonderful opportunity for me to build and paint up a playable force, to focus my painting efforts and to take a bite out of the pile of unpainted figures I have in my storage box. Being that the bulk of said pile is Protectorate figures, it was awfully convenient for me to play a Menite force for the challenge.

To my mind, the forces of the Protectorate of Menoth can be divided into three categories: Exemplars, Flameguard, and the non-elite. This last category, I generally refer to as the Faithful – those that are willing to fight for what they believe in (or what they’re told they believe in by those charismatic Scrutators), despite lacking the kind of training possessed by the Exemplars and Flameguard.

I love an army that fits together thematically… but I’m not 100% sure which direction the army will go in the 500pt stage. Since the part of me that simply loves certain sculpts is currently in a fist-fight with the part of me that is more concerned about taking models that actually work well together, it may well just end up with an odd melange. For my starting 350, I decided to build a more generic core of ‘essentials’ to help me out whichever direction I went in the end.

WarmaHordes: Jungle Drums 350

Jungle Drums 350, by Derrick

So I picked Legion for my challenge. I am not a fan of the flying circus. It seems that Legion breaks enough rules that other factions can’t without simply flying to some poor caster and squishing him up real good.

As such I decided to avoid the use of the Seraph and Angelius. I have taken Thaggie and I am not sure that I will not need the Seraph’s animus for his maneuverability at later point levels, but until then I will rely on Mutagenisis.

I am fielding a Harrier, though, as I just can’t take away two great animi from Thaggie. I figured this is the lesser (hehe) of the flying evils as it can’t squish a ‘caster/’lock in one turn, so temptation will not be too hard to avoid.

VS is dead… Long live VS!

Well, UDE has officially pulled the plug on VS. There will be no more sets for the forseeable future. No more prize support, no more officially organised events.

Considering that VS has been the cornerstone of the Lost Hemisphere for the last twelve months, I’m sure you can understand that this is a bit of a blow… but then, we’ve kinda been expecting it for several months.

The lack of communication from UDE since, well, MUN, other than the MEV previews, had many of us expecting the worst, and now it’s come to pass.

Thing is… this isn’t the end.

When UDE stopped organised play, the community pulled out their collective thumbs and started organising our own events, the most successful to date being the sheerly awesome Battle of the Border in New Hampshire.

These events are continuing, with stuff happening at UDE Day in Anaheim Feb 7th, and Battle of the Border: Texas in March as well as the events listed here, including the freakin UK Nationals.

If ANYONE knows how to party without official support by now, it’s the bloody poms. Goodonyer, mates!

And of course, there’s the CCG Day happening at the Hobby Kingdom in February, that I’m allegedly helping organise. For the record, the format for the main event is Golden BYOTT. More details coming in the next couple of days.

On top of all these fan events, I’ll point a hairy finger at this thread at VSRealms, where community visionaries are planning out the ongoing future of our beloved VS, as coordinated by folks with the will and drive to keep the dream alive.

UDE may have pulled the plug… but VS isn’t going anywhere until we say so.

Shh… it’s a secret

The biggest problem with writing about what’s going on with VS locally is… well, I’m a mediocre player, and an average dekbuilder. The Hobby Kingdom’s gearing up for their CCG day in a few weeks, and if everyone who’s said they wanna come is gonna come, we should be looking at a decent horde of souls, many of whom outclass me as a builder and player…

… thus, while I need all the help I can get in building a deck, I also need whatever advantage I can garner if I’m to stand a chance against the oncoming cadre of VS elite, even if the only advantage available to me is the element of surprise!

I’m going to be struggling to go against type here – away with the Crime Lords, away with Fantastic Four – too predictable, and my foes will see it coming, and thwart me accordingly. I cannot have this!

What’s that, little voice in my head? Squadron/Defenders? Why, you’re right! They’ll never see that coming, it HAS to work!

May The (very tiny) Force Be With You

What I am about to tell you will make me quite unpopular in some online circles:

I still really like Star Wars.

There, it’s out in the open. No matter how many times George Lucas tries to pervert his accidental masterpiece, I still find myself enthralled by the universe and its characters. Now, my appreciation is not without limits – Episode 1 really is that bad – but by and large I enjoy Star Wars. George Lucas may have cobbled the films together out of elements from other works, but it seems he’s ripped off the right combination of stuff to engage my interest.

But we’re not here to talk about all that. Not yet. No, today we’re here to talk about what is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the Star Wars oeuvre, Wizards of the Coast’s Star Wars Miniatures. It’s flavorful, it’s fast-paced and easy to learn, and it’s fun.

LH’s WarmaHordes Challenge!!!

First we brought you March Madness, and we followed it up with the Summer of Love. Well, it’s time once again for Lost Hemisphere to take you on a little sojourn through our realm, as we embrace a bold and exciting future and take a look at the joys of miniature gaming.

Now, you’ve seen me prattle on about Warmachine and Hordes in the past, so I won’ t bore you with the details, but I’ll give you the specifics of the challenge.

Some months back, No Quarter (the official Warmachine/Hordes magazine produced by Privateer Press) hosted a Studio Challenge. Four members of their studio each started armies, growing from the beginning level 350 pts lists all the way to larger scale 1000 pts. The catch? EVERYTHING has to be fully painted.

Thus all the participants will end up with a complete 1000 pt army in the end, fully painted and shiny and nifty.

What can you expect?

At each stage – 350, 500, 750, 1000 - we’ll present for you the armies as they stand, along with lots of pretty pics and commentary from the players.

We’ll also provide battle reports so you can get an idea of how everyone’s faring, as they play it out and try to win the trophy. Yup, I’m doing a trophy. I’m geeky like that.

What factions are being played?

Protectorate of Menoth and Cryx are representing Warmachine. From Hordes we have Circle Orboros, Trollbloods, and two separate Legion of Everblight armies. For your convenience, each of the players has written up a quick blurb on their chosen faction and why they’re playing it below.

Impending Events

Time for a little PSA.

The Battle In The Apple is happening in New York, Feb 7th. You can find it at VSRealms here. Playmats, boxes of MEV, and a Nintendo Wii for the taking.

Templecon is happening in Rhode Island, Feb 8th. Oh how I wish I was attending… There’ll be Warmachine/Hordes AND Vs! I’d be spoilt for choice! There’s a thread at VSRealms here.

The Hobby Kingdom’s CCG day is planned for Feb 21st. The Lost Hemisphere crew are helping set up VS for the day, and we’re hoping to show those MtG and Pokemon players what-for by filling the store with VS players. You can show your interest at VSRealms here. Clearly, I have a vested interest in this one – I’d love to see a horde of VS-loving maniacs, but I need to know numbers so the store can determine prize support. We’re looking at at least one sealed event and one constructed event.

Mega Weekend Michigan is in Livonia, Feb 27th -Mar 01st. Sunday sees a PS3 to the winner. You can find it on VSRealms here.  Cash prizes and niftiness abounds.

The Unofficial UK Nationals 2009 in Loughborough are planned for May 16th. Those you you hip enough to be on Facebook can find the group here. You can find the event on VSRealms here. Potential attendees go and sign up and help them determine approximate numbers and such.

Anyone who says there’s no tournament scene out there for VS right now can kiss my hairy … um… scalp. If I missed anyone’s major event, lemme know and I’ll add it to the post.

The most fun in town

I freely admit our Hobby Leagues have become a little stale. As a general rule, it’s Pablo, Spud and myself. We play three player, and our tendencies show through – Spud build control decks, Pablo builds combo decks, and I build beats decks.

Tonight, Spud pulled out a blast from our past and the three of us have been in hysterics for the last three hours.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I refer you to Mutator VS, introduced on this very blog almost 12 months ago.

For those too lazy to click the link, the game is modified by a Mutator Deck. Every turn, before draw, a Mutator card is drawn, and its effect is immediately applied.

These effects can range from the simple (“Players cannot play plot twists this turn“) to the sublime (“Starting with the player with the initiative, players tell the others how their day went“) to the downright ridonculous (“Each player at the current table moves one seat to the left. This affects all games currently in progress at the current table“) – and yes, with that last one you assume control of the deck and board you’re now sitting at, along with its Endurance total, and new opponent.

Update on the boy’s future…

So, after the chicken incident, I’ve been bugging Gdayboy about his future. His initial answer as to what he wants to be when he grows up is alwasy “A big boy!”, but no longer to we have fowl references.

The last two actually betray the potential for supervillainy…  at first, he wanted to be Spider-Man.

Then, apparently, a Robot.

Clearly, I need to be on guard against any future acquaintances of a Sinister nature, especially if they have a Syndicate.

Why, I dread for the future of our world should my son grow up to be a Spider-Man Robot.

Mind you, he could be awfully handy at family gatherings – instal a karaoke system, a carving knif to help with the turkey, and I imagine he’d be able to trim a Christmas tree in a matter of minutes…

JAN 19 EDIT: We may be safe…. this morning, apparently he wants to grow up to be Mickey Mouse.

Star Wars: A New Perspective

In an effort to help spread cultural awareness, Lost Hemisphere proudly presents Star Wars… as retold by someone who’s never seen the films.

Major love to Jim Harnock for sharing it with me in the first place, and to www.fishrockit.com, who apparently are responsible.