Terraclips Have Arrived

Today, my sets of Terraclips arrived. Terraclips are a new 3D card terrain made in conjunction with Wyrd for Malifaux and other miniatures games. I picked up the Streets of Malifaux and Buildings of Malifaux sets along with 2 boxes of clips (which are sold separately). After unpacking and punching out all of my pieces, I was unsure where to start!

Then I pieced together the frames of my first buildings, and it started to get easier.

After the buildings were complete(ish) I started to try and get an overall layout setup.

After I had a blueprint of my city setup, I started clipping them together, and added a few more elevated features.

I didn't think I wanted to work on second story buildings at first, but once I started I couldn't stop.

The only thing that stopped me was running out of clips! 

My initial thoughts are to rate Terraclips 8/10, they are a VERY nice product that I look forward to playing Malifaux on. Be sure to order extra clips. Lots of people online are thinking they will need fewer... but my setup was pretty simple and skipped a lot of possible connections and I still ran out early. I need another box! I would almost recommend 3 boxes of clips to anyone looking to build streets and buildings. If I had two sets of streets (or sewers) and only tried making elevations and not complex buildings, I may not need a third set.

The only real negatives are that some of the ladders are pretty flimsy, and I don't see holding out for the long haul. Also, I need to figure out a way to best transport this. Any ideas?

Gen Con Malifaux releases

It's my birthday today, and to celebrate I am spending 4.5 hours pulling my hair out trying to buy all of the Gen Con exclusive and pre-order minis on Wyrd's terrible online store. I finally finished my first order of the new Malifaux expansion and Avatar miniatures, and I am placing a second order of Terraclips Streets and Terraclips Buildings terrain. The reason for 2 orders is a special edition Female Convict Gunslinger model included with every order over $100. Lets just say I could have placed 4 orders, but I would have gone crazy trying to. Here is all of the stuff!

New Twisting Fates book!

Alternate Sculpt Seamus and Avatar Seamus

Alternate Sculpt Lady Justice 

Avatar Lady Justice

Alternate Sculpt Sonnia

Avatar Sonnia

Alternate Sculpt Perdita

 Alternate Sculpt Rasputina

Female Convict Gunslinger limited model

Nightmare Edition Teddy - Gen Con Exclusive

It's tournament list writing day!

I have heard the criticism of blogs... "all they do is post lists and call it writing"! It's funny, because that is exactly what I am doing today. In preparation for Core Comp, I have been writing army lists and deciding what direction my dirty, dirty Skaven will be going in for the 2-day 5-game GT. There are no restrictions and special characters ARE allowed, and Composition scoring is a minimal 5 points (1 for each game, yes or no). SO to put it mildly, I am not worried about bringing a soft list. Also, I should expect to face Teclis, maybe Kairos, Skulltaker, Masque, Grimgore, or other nasty special characters. Almost a 2400 point Ard Boyz with painting and Sportsmanship scoring. My kind of event!

Now, to get things started, I have written 4 Skaven lists I think would compete in that environment. I wanted to post them up and see what others thought or even just to start a platform of discussion for Core Comp. The first list is a solid "balanced" list, the second is double Grey Seer, the third has a Bell, and the fourth is double Hell Pit. Have a look:

Grey Seer (G), lvl 4 Plague and Ruin, earthing rod, talisman of preservation
Plague Priest, plague furnace, lvl 2 Plague, dispel scroll, ironcurse icon
Warlock-Engineer, lvl 1 Ruin, doomrocket, warp energy condenser
Chieftain, BSB, shield, storm banner
30 Storm Vermin, full command, banner of eternal flame
30 Clan Rats, full command, shields
30 Clan Rats, full command, shields
39 Skavenslaves, musician
39 Skavenslaves, musician
35 Plague Monks, full command, plague banner
6 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
Hell Pit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon

2400 - 216 models

Grey Seer (G), lvl 4 Plague and Ruin, earthing rod, talisman of preservation
Grey Seer, lvl 4 Plague and Ruin, warp energy condenser, dragonbane gem
Plague Priest, lvl 1 Plague, plague furnace, dispel scroll
Chieftain, BSB, storm banner
Warlock Engineer, doomrocket
30 Storm Vermin, full command, banner of eternal flame
40 Clan Rats, full command, shields
39 Skavenslaves, musician
39 Skavenslaves, musician
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
35 Plague Monks, full command, plague banner
6 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
Hell Pit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon

2399 - 208 models

Grey Seer (G), lvl 4 Plague and Ruin, screaming bell, earthing rod
Plague Priest, lvl 1 Plague, plague furnace, dispel scroll, ironcurse icon
Chieftain, BSB, storm banner
Warlock Engineer, doomrocket
50 Clan Rats, full command, shields
30 Storm Vermin, full command, banner of eternal flame
39 Skavenslaves, musician
39 Skavenslaves, musician
40 Plague Monks, full command, plague banner
5 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
Hell Pit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon
Warp Lightning Cannon

2400 - 210 models

Grey Seer (G), lvl 4 Plague and Ruin, earthing rod, talisman of preservation
Plague Priest, lvl 1 Plague, plague furnace, dispel scroll, ironcurse icon
Chieftain, BSB, storm banner
Warlock Engineer, doomrocket
30 Storm Vermin, full command, banner of eternal flame
30 Clan Rats, full command, shields
30 Clan Rats, full command, shields
39 Skavenslaves, musician
39 Skavenslaves, musician
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
5 Giant Rats, 1 packmaster
35 Plague Monks, full command, plague banner
5 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
Hell Pit Abomination
Hell Pit Abomination

2399 - 232 models

1500 point tournament report

I made a trip down to the Toledo Game Room this past Sunday to play in a 1500 point Warhammer Fantasy tournament. The only restrictions were no Lords and no Special Characters. I had planned on bringing Tomb Kings to this event, but since I no longer have Tomb Kings (but have a lot more Malifaux!) I brought the tried and true Skaven for a tournament romp. This list I brought was very solid, as you will see...

Plague Priest, General, lvl 1 plague lore, plague furnace, dragonbane gem
Chieftain, BSB
Warlock Engineer, doomrocket

30 Stormvermin, standard, musician
30 Clanrats, standard, musician
30 Skavenslaves, musician
30 Skavenslaves, musician

30 Plague Monks, standard, musician
5 Gutter Runners, slings

Hell Pit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon

The list was built around having the two heavy hitters, lots of possible Steadfast troops, and support from the 3 ranged threats.

Game 1 vs Warriors of Chaos. The Warriors brought 2 blocks of Tzeenth Warriors, a Warshrine, and 2 Heroes including a BSB. Unfortunately for Robert I was easily able to use my vastly higher numbers to overcome his small list. Early on the HPA rolled triple 6's to move at an angle but still towards the WoC, opening him up for a charge. He stayed Stubborn, only to again get charged by the Warshrine. Again he stayed Stubborn, with 1 wound left, in time for the Plague Furnace horde to charge in and break through. The Warrior block with characters and the Warshrine were eventually both run down.

win 18-8

Game 2 vs Orcs and Goblins. Game 2 was vs a full Goblin list that had a lvl 2 Night Goblin, lvl 1 Goblin, and 3 Goblin Heroes (inc BSB). There were 2 50 night goblin blocks, 2 20 night goblin archers, 8 total fanatics, 2 bolt throwers, a rock lobba, and an Arachnarok. I had the lick of rolling Plague for my Priest this game, and it would greatly effect the outcome. First turn my Gutter Runners were able to kill the Lobba with 10 non-poisoned shots, which was lucky. The Cannon put 3 wounds on the Arachnarok... but my opponent held back as I advanced. Turn 2 I got off Plague and killed about 70 Night Goblins across both units. Lots of failed panic tests later (the scenario rules also gave both armies -1 LD this turn so I knew to press the action) I was soundly in control, and by the third turn my opponent conceded. I was able to avoid the majority of the fanatics and take apart the rest.

win 20-5

Game 3 vs Orcs and Goblins. A more varied list, this game had both Orcs and Goblins. Orc Heroes, inc BSB, 30 Orc Horde, 40-50 Goblins with fanatics, 3 Trolls, 6 Trolls, Single Orc Chariot x3, Rock Lobba, 2 Doom Divers, 2 Mangler Squigs. I thought it was a solid list, and I knew I wanted to get my Plague Monk horde in against the Orc horde. Their lack of serious army meant I knew i could perform well against them. The scenario rules were to pick up tokens, and not about any victory points, though, so I focused on the objective first. I set up on the line in Meeting Engagement deployment and started gathering tokens. Early on I charged my HPA into the trolls, and lost the HPA quickly. After that I was able to survive artillery bombardments, panic off the trolls with cannon fire, and run down the orc horde with the furnace after lowering it's numbers through shooting. I kept my units alive and used low O&G leadership to my advantage again for the win, and the Overall 1st place in the tournament.

Win 20-7



I thought the event was a lot of fun, and an interesting change of pace. It makes you focus on different tools when you can't take a Lord for high magic support. While I did have 2 giant threats, I still outnumbered every army at the event except the Goblin list I fought in the second game. It was a good break from cutthroat 2400 point tournaments to play in a fun, smaller scale event.

Coming up, I have a 2000 point tournament on September 3rd I am running at Pandemonium Games in Garden City, MI. After that, Core Comp in Chicago on September 24/25th!

My new D&D character.

It has been a little quiet on the blog front, but I have been doing some gaming, if you follow my Twitter feed. A short break from some Warhammer playing comes to an end this weekend when I travel to Toledo, Ohio for a 1500 point tournament at the Toledo Game Room. The rules are simple, no Lords and no Special Characters. I am taking what I think to be a strong Skaven list at that point level, though it is hard to build what I think is a strong Skaven list at sub-2000 points with no Lords.

In my absence from blogging I have been putting time in with my new game, Malifaux. My wife and I started new crews and are waiting for our bases to arrive from Dragonforge. Her Rasputina crew are to be based on ice bases, and my Seamus crew on cobblestone bases. I have also been working on my new character for my upcoming D&D campaign, a Dwarf 'Slayer' (actually the Ranger class) with dual battle axes. I love the character, and he will of course be played like I envision any good Slayer to be, as Gotrek from Gotrek and Felix. Here are some shots of the model.

Malifaux Tournament

Saturday I played in my first ever Malifaux event, a 35ss Scrap with shared strategies. It was meant to be the League season end event, though out of the 16 or so players that participated in the League in some form, only 2 showed up. In the end we had 9 players in the tournament for a disappointing turnout, but a good time regardless. I brought my Perdita crew even though I had only ever finished 2 complete games of Malifaux. I went 0-2 in two games that were both close to going wither way, against 2 crews I hadn't played before. I didn't get to play a third opponent because of a third round bye.

I did win best painted though. There were 3 fully painted armies done at about equal levels. I was the only one with a display board and fully painted / flocked bases. The details gave me the edge in the end, I believe.

My Perdita crew, ready for the tournament.

Amazing display tables provided by twilightemporium.net

Amazing display tables provided by twilightemporium.net

Amazing display tables provided by twilightemporium.net

My first game on the Bayou.

My first opponent. Against me he played The Dreamer.

The other painted army at the tournament.

After the tournament I won a Dead Rider, and started a Seamus crew as my next crew.

Blood in the Sun Tournament report

I am back with Blood in the Sun with tales of triumph and pictures of the carnage that was my first 2 day GT. Over 50 players were at the event and when the dust settled I scored 3rd place on Battle points and 7th place in the Overall Standings. Lets take a look at how things went down.

Starting off Friday night, I decided to play a practice game with Jake Murphy who I met at Adepticon and frequently hit up on Twitter. Jake was playing his Brettonians and we decided to have a tune-up game and a few beers.

This was a great game for me in the grand scheme of things, because I tried a few risks and tactics that almost led to utter catastrophe. My 2 Grey Seers and BSB had both moved into a Slave unit late in the game to avoid a Knight unit, then were caught with an 11" needed roll charge and popped... destroying all 3 characters. The Skaven squeeked by in the end because of the amount of damage my magic had done throughout the game but I definitely would say my success on the weekend was helped by the little scare I had Friday night.

To start off the Tournament itself, I was told by Grant (the organizer) I had drawn his pick to win the entire tournament! As it turns out he could have been right. Alex Nikitenko was a great opponent. He was on table 1 during round 4 of the Adepticon Championships and lost to the Daemon player who won overall. In our game he was playing Orcs and Goblins.

The first scenario was a straight pitched battle. The game was hard fought and the shooting advantage was going his way early. A failed charge by my Abom on my second turn let him get flanked and killed when he was run down, and things were looking grim for the rats. The Foot of Gork had also stomped me into the dust 3 times on the first turn.

Poor maneuvering led my Plague Furnace through the woods after that, reducing it to only 1 wound... but the Orc war machines could never finish it off. Then, a well targeted 13th spell finished off the Savage Orcs holding his army general to put me well ahead. Late in the game another savage beating by the Foot of Gork killed off another unit as well as my second Grey Seer, and I limped to a 11-9 victory.

Game 2 I moved up to table 10 to face Michael Groth's Beastmen. He had a very foot troop heavy list that relied on boosting his hordes and winning through attrition. Our second scenario was more or less a pitched battle as well.

I moved forward and was aggressive with magic early, using Plague and Scorch to hurt his units and panic the ones on the outside edge. The Plague furnace smashed into his 40 man Gor herd and eventually destroyed though unit though I lost almost all of my Monks. It was worth it in the end and as I finished off all of his characters, I kept mine away from trouble to take the big 19-1 win.

IRL Beastman!

Game 3 I played Jeff Heck and Beastmen again, but a much different list. The Gor horde was there, but also included instead of Bestigor were a large Minotaur unit led by a Doombull and Mino BSB, as well as a nice Ghorgon represented by the huge model from Banebeasts.

The scenario was Blood and Glory, and the Beastmen went first, RUSHING across the board. This was definitely a great strategy because I could barely hold him off. He also used a magic item that forced me to roll a 4+ to shoot my cannon, saving his minotaurs. Even when I got my furnace horde into his Gor horde, his Great Shaman irresistably cast Transformation of Khadon and turned into a Great Fire Dragon, eating a good majority of Plague Monks, also rolling double 6 for his breath attack.

I did my best to hold up units and use magic on others, but in the end I kept it close enough that on his 5th turn the game turned for me. The Great Shaman, another Shaman, and a Hero were all that were left of the horde vs a few plague monks and my furnace. Attempting Transformation again, Jeff rolled irresistably and Dimensional Cascaded his Great Shaman and the resulting explosion killed the Shaman and Hero as well, scoring me about 600 points and the victory in my final game of day 1 with 11-9 points.

That night was a blast as I relaxed and did some recording with the Garagehammer crew. I assume it will be on their next episode along with their BitS coverage. The Pointhammered guys were there as well and did some "Cross-Podcast" banter for the show.

Day 2 came after a night of much drinking and Warhammer debauchery. I found out the night before that I would be facing a mostly mono-Khorne Daemon player named Dan Ruud on table 4 again. He also had a Loremaster Tzeentch caster with Haevens magic.

With the scenario being a Meeting Engagement type deployment, I knew I would have 2 hordes of Bloodletters, a Bloodthirster, and a big unit of Flesh Hounds in my face EARLY. LUCKILY I got the first turn. Because he was so eager and deployed on the front line, my opponent left his rear completely open and his lone heavens loremaster hiding behind a building. My Gutter Runners took advantage of this and Scouted behind him and killed him with poison slings on the first turn.

I attacked the right flank hard with my magic, Abomination, and Plague Monks. The Plague Banner is an amazing item and, while they do serious damage back, kills a lot of Bloodletters. A failed 7 inch charge on 3d6 left my HPA to be flanked by the Flesh Hounds, but it smashed them over the course of the game. Early on I sniped the Bloodthirster with my WLC, but my opponent used his BitS re-roll token to pass his ward save and save his life. He was mostly hiding him from then on, but he killed a lone Grey Seer at the end. I was able to pull out a solid victory after killing averything on the table other than his Bloodthister and Bloodcrusher unit. 16-4.

The final game of the tournament I was yet again on table 4 vs Kevin Bruins' High Elves.

Kevin made a fatal error in deployment by leaving his level 4 General and Shadow mage outside of any units, hoping to use 4+ 'Look Out Sir' rolls on them and keep them mobile. I moved forward immediatly with the first turn and vaporized him with the Dreaded 13th spell and left a single Clan Rat in his midst. From there on I moved the furnace forward and controlled the board. He came on late to earn a few points back and held me off from finishing a couple large point units in the end earning me a 15-5 victory and an undefeated record at Blood in the Sun.

It was a great experience but in reflection I think I could have played much better. I didn't pay enough attention to objective points and it cost me dearly. I scored third place on battle points, and if I had payed more attention and scored 5 more objectives throughout the other 4 games of the tournament, I would have won Best General! I did finish 7th overall with poor composition scores, but very good sportsmanship scores. My painting scores were good but nowhere near the top scores. There were some amazing armies.


Final tournament results were Brettonians as Overall Champions, and Beastmen as Best General.

I had a blast and I am looking forward to my next GT: Core Comp in September!