Guild Ball: Post Match Analysis

I've had a couple of days now to let Saturday's game of Guild Ball sink in and reflect on how things went for my Butchers Team.

Well first of all we won, which is the point of Guild Ball. We also racked up all our points on take-outs alone, which is the point of Butchers. So, on paper the game was a big success, but let's take a closer look at how the team really played.

The Captain: Ox
I made a single big mistake with the captain and that was sending him off after the ball once it spilled back towards the Masons goal line. This took him away from the rest of the team and meant that nobody was benefitting from the +1 DMG that his aura provides. It also meant that everyone was out of range for any of his character plays. He was supported to an extent by Boiler early on, but it was very poor use of the main man.

He did take down Harmony, contributing 2 points, but was unable to stop Honour stealing the ball from him which ultimately led to the Masons goal.

The Young 'un: Boiler
I sent Boiler shooting off after the ball when Flint skewed his kick-off. I was pretty confident he would be safe enough and if he could hold onto the ball or pass it back to Ox then all the better. He hung around that side of the field for a large portion of the game, taking out Harmony and Honour and contributing 4 points to the final score.

His ability to dish out the Bleed condition supplied a steady loss of wounds to the Masons and this aided the taking out of Tower and forced Bull to use up Momentum to heal several other team members.

Again, not great use of character plays, though he did bestow a couple during the course of the game.

The Striker: Brisket
Oh my word. She was Goaded by the Mason's monkey early on and couldn't inflict enough damage to kill it over several turns, even supported and buffed by our own mascot, Princess. Being tied down to that extend, with all the ball-related action happening on the other side of the field was a waste.

She did turn things round a little after the Mason's goal, with the ball landing at her feet. Despite Flint tackling her, she managed to finish off the monkey and bestow the final nail in Flint's coffin, ultimately ending the game. A 4 point contribution but it's not what she's meant to do – she didn't get into the opponent's half of the pitch.

The Beast: Boar
First time using the big man, and I was very conscious of his poor movement stat and lack of INF. He got stuck in the middle of the field fighting Mallet and Tower. He came close to dying on a couple of occasions but managed to heal completely due to his regenerate ability and a bucketload of Momentum points.

All things considered he didn't inflict that much damage but became something of a tank, taking all the hits from the Mason's two big hitters.

What I should have been doing is charging him all game. He charges for free and if he inflicts damage gets to attack again – that's two free attacks! He then gets to use his one INF to hit again, gaining another free attack if damage is caused. I was getting half that at best and Boar never moved after turn 1.

The Ninja: Shank
I seemed to think that this guy was a killing machine – distracted by the lovely model with whirling chains I guess. He should actually be used as a defender to take advantage of his trait when charging damaged opponents. He should be constantly on the move – it's in his playbook – and looking to pick up the ball where he can. As a consequence of my misunderstanding he got stuck in combat in the middle of the park inflicting a few wounds here and there and taking a few in return.

He did finally take out Tower – 2 points – and stole the ball from Flint late on, poised to shoot at goal when the game ended.

The Mascot: Princess
The Butchers Dog had one main goal in this game – to buff Brisket and support her in combat when needed. This was done ably but because I felt that INF points were better used elsewhere Princess wasn't able to attack the monkey for several turns. Whilst it was mission accomplished here, I just feel the mascot could have contributed more if used better.


Conclusions
So, all was not as rosy as the scoreline might have suggested. I think from a team perspective I had a poor game and my players all performed as individuals for the most part, rather than as a team. They missed out on a lot of buffs and as such it felt like a slog getting to the 6-kill target.

Yet I shouldn't be too hard on myself. It was the first time that I had had to juggle 6 player and the first time that I had used Boar, Shank and Princess. I also came into the game without any prep so defaulted to what I knew from our earlier intro games. Positioning is everything and I think I could have afforded to give the Masons possession of the ball for a while instead of chasing it down like a rabid dog and losing position as a consequence. Like any footy coach will tell you, play to your strengths, maintain the team structure and don't go running all over the pitch chasing the ball like school boys!

The other thing to consider is whether to swap out some personnel. I have Tenderiser, my goalkeeper, waiting in the wings. I then have the option of the (recently ordered–oops) missing Butcher, Meathook. Eventually we will get our new captain… Fillet. Decisions, decisions.

Looking forward to the next full game and seeing what myself and Bull have learned about our respective teams (and our opponents).

Pre-fight Update

It's less than 48 hours until I will be journeying across town to Bullcher Towers for this month's game day. The plan is for Bull and I to have a game of Guild Ball followed by a game of Frostgrave – however, things don't often go to plan.

My preparations have been non-existent as life has barged it's way in. Job searching and poorly family members have derailed my pre-game plans for this week, so it will be a bare bones affair from me alas. I don't even have a D20 dice to use!

I have managed to get some black undercoat on my three remaining Guild Ball players. I'm really looking forward to playing this again. The extra players on each side will ramp up the options and things will no doubt play out very differently from last time.

As for Frostgrave, I chose my warband quite quickly – even printed out lots of reference sheets and spell cards. The intention was to put together some models and give them a quickie base colour in time for Saturday. When that wasn't going to happen I looked for stand-ins amongst my model collection but I'm still a couple short. My warband may look a bit eclectic at the weekend!

Still I have one full evening remaining so anything could happen!

Size Isn't Everything…

Just before Christmas I was contemplating the options for building a Frostgrave warband. Scale can be a bit of a minefield so I thought it was time to do a bit of a lineup to see how my various options fared against each other. The photomontage above (they wouldn't fit nicely in a single shot) is the result – the image is pretty big so give it a click for a closer view.

From left to right:

• Dark Emissary – (Warhammer) Games Workshop (OOP)
• Sin Assyris – (Confrontation) Rackham (OOP)
• Ranger – (Lord of the Rings) Games Workshop
• Mendevian Crusader – (Pathfinder) Reaper Miniatures
• Lenore – Hasslefree Miniatures
• Norman Crossbowman – Wargames Foundry
• Clovis – (Zombicide: Black Plague), Cool Mini Or Not
• Cultist Barbarian – (Frostgrave), North Star

You may have noticed an official Frostgrave model in there, so I'm comparing everything to the guy on the far right.

As you can see, the majority of the models would happily sit together on the tabletop from a scale perspective, but would I be happy with them?

The Dark Emissary is distinctly bigger in scale than the majority of models around him. This could come as a bit of a blow as I was intending to use him as my wizard. However, given his hunched posture we could actually get away with it. I think this could be a winner.

Sin Assyris is very tall, even taking into account the slightly taller base. Proportion-wise the model looks ok – hands, head, etc seem on par with some of the others. Maybe it's just this model in particular, so I may have to try a different Rackham miniature to be sure.

The LoTR Ranger looks ok, if a little on the small side. He would easily pass as a youthful addition to a warband and is a pretty suitable model all round.

The Crusader is awesome and a perfect fit for a role in Frostgrave.

Lenore was my Maid Marian stand-in and is a great model. Whilst being very slight compared to the Frostgrave Barbarian she would fit into a warband nicely without looking out of place.

Similar to the Ranger, the Foundry Crossbowman is a little on the small side, but there's not much in it. I think he would be a great addition and I have so many poses to choose from.

The Black Plague Clovis model is lovely, as are all the new Zombicide:BP miniatures. Alas he's just a bit too big. If I had a single model from this range included I could get away with them being a giant of sorts. Unless I was going to have an entire band made up of these models I think I'm going to have to pass – real shame.

This has been a very worthwhile exercise indeed. However, I was very lucky this Christmas and received not only a fistful of metal Frostgrave models but also a box of the plastic Frostgrave Soldiers. Now I'm really spoilt for choice!

Guild Ball: Team Reinforcements

With Guild Ball taking the pole position in the hobby this new year I've spent some time putting together the rest of my Butchers team.

PRINCESS

The Butchers loveable mascot is a three piece model. Alas two of the pieces are tiny legs, which proved a bit of a challenge to not stick to my fingers. I'm hoping this will be a quick win on the painting side as Princess should be a straightforward colour scheme and there's not a lot to her.

On field she should boost Boiler and Brisket as well as add a bit more bite to the team. I'm not sure what to make of mascots yet, they seems almost comedic. We will see!

SHANK

I love the overall pose of this model, if not the character himself. Another three piece model – the body and two hands holding weapons. I just needed a little reference to get the right hands in the right places but a very easy model to build. I did pin both hands to make sure nothing got lost. I have no idea how I'm going to transport this model without bending the chains and subsequently damaging the paint job.

This guy is all about dodging and damage, with an extended melee range. Other players have mentioned his scoring ability too, but regardless, he seems a solid all rounder.

BOAR

The big man, huge model. This is the one that everybody wants to see (or not if he's charging straight at you). A four piece model – body, two forearms/hands and his belt. That belt is quite fragile at the blade ends and it's not a terribly good fit at the body end. However, there is plenty of glue securing it in place so it should stay safe – worried about those blades bending though.

This guy will be a monster on the pitch no doubt, though his maximum allowance of 1 influence will please Bull. I'm going to have to be clever in how I use him if I'm to get the most of out him.

TENDERISER

I have raved about this Season 2 model for a while – love it – but building it has been a challenge. It's a two pice model (plus some accessories) and therein lies the problem. The hammer and both arms come as a single piece and will not fit into the sockets on the body. I tried for hours, tried brute force, tried pliers… no joy. I've no doubt the resin version could be bent into place but the metal was having none of it.

I have ended up (as you can see above) resorting to hacking off one arm with a hacksaw at the wrist, pinning the first arm in place, with the plan of pinning the second at a later date. It will need some greenstuff repairing but should look the business when done. Note to Steamforged Games: make this a three piece model in future please!

As my goalkeeper, Tenderiser will no doubt hang further back to ensure no opposition players can score. He gets lots of bonuses in this regard and a wicked hammer blow pulse that knocks everyone down. I will have to drop someone else from the team if I include him so difficult choices to be made.

Guild Ball: Post Match Review

We've had a bit of time to think about our intro games of Guild Ball last Thursday. Despite the Butchers running out 6-0 winners on all three occasions, there's still a lot to consider and analyse. I always found in 40k that you learned more from your losses than your victories and that will mean that Bull will come back very strong next time, so I need to take in as much as I can about my own team.

OX
The Captain performed as I expected him to. He was brutal on the attack and had enough hit points to make it very difficult for the Masons to take him out without committing everyone on their team to the task.

The extra damage that team mates gain from his 4" aura was very telling when the action was concentrated to one part of the pitch. In game 3 when the team was spread out more and I was unable to use the aura, I really felt the difference in damage output. His Legendary play needs to be used wisely and early on in a turn. The one time I did use it I didn't really get full benefit, but it would seem to be quite devastating if used correctly.

I'll be honest, I didn't use his plays much as I didn't feel the need. I think these will become more important as we move up to bigger teams. He also scored a goal which showed he is quite versatile when required, although his playbook only has pushes not dodges so he is relatively slow.

BOILER
This guy was something of a surprise package on the day. I had expected him to be quite fragile, but when he got into melee he was devastating. His -1 ARM and Bleed additions to any damage caused had quite an impact, and a couple of the Masons were taken out thanks to bleed damage. His TAC 5 is decent and his 4+ DEF proved to be quite good too.

I didn't use his playbook much – too interested in hitting things – but again, this could prove more useful when there are more players on the pitch. He did miss out a little not having the mascot, Princess, on the table, but still proved to be a rather important member of the team.

BRISKET
As my striker there was a bit of pressure on Brisket. Alas she was the one model I didn't get painted properly, sporting a basic coat only colour scheme on the day. Maybe it affected the way I looked at the model but she was the weak link (if there was one). She seems a little at odds with the Butcher remit of getting Momentum via damage. She is only 4 TAC and can't inflict much damage, the idea being that she makes use of the dodges instead. This would have improved if Princess had been around, so she missed out a little there. The lack of punch didn't really match what the rest of the team was doing though.

She proved her ability with a goal in Game 1 and was handy with a pass or two. Brisket also made extensive use of Unpredictable Movement, which frustrated Bull on several occasions. Facing a Masons team with only one guy in it I didn't get to use Charmed as much as I would have liked, but she did become the one to face Mallet as he struggled to do much damage against her. She managed to support the other two bruisers in the team in melee and as such took on more of a supporting role.

Her main contribution however was the dishing out of Dirty Knives. This proved quite devastating on a number of occasions for Honour, who was losing wounds in most Maintenance Phases. Poison really is a nasty condition and the -1 DEF aids the rest of the team with the damage dealing.

TEAM PERFORMANCE
I understand now why the Butchers are considered one of the starter teams. There was no real learning curve – you just charge in and wail on the opponent. I had Momentum Points coming out of my ears, and even forgot to award myself some at times such was the volume of damage being done and frequency.

Whilst not as effective working as individuals, it was very forgiving and I rarely felt truly threatened in any of the three games. This team is brutal and the opposition needs to stay out of melee as much as they can. I did manage to play some ball-related tactics but that's not what the Butchers are about. I can see this becoming a little one-dimensional in the future, whereas Bull will no doubt evolve his tactics as time goes on.

I'm looking forward to seeing the other members of the Butchers team in action and seeing how the players interact and cope with more opposition players. I expect Bull to have much more success with bigger games as he will have more options to move the ball about and tie up key members of my team.

Bring it on!!

Too Good To Be True

There's a saying that goes something along the lines of "if something looks to good to be true it probably is".

You may recall my blog post last week about Rackham miniatures and having discovered a potential source for them. I was informed by my visitors that the site in question – cadwallon.com – was in fact a company selling re-casts and that the only licensed source for Rackham models was now at Cool Mini Or Not.

I had placed an order to see if this treasure trove of Rackham goodness was too good to be true and today a parcel arrived. I thought I'd take a look at what I got and compare it to the closest genuine Rackham model I have.

Upon opening the box I was greeted by a bubblewrap-filled vision that I would normally associate with second-hand Ebay purchases. The model itself came in a small zip lock bag – main body, separate arms and a random square base. There was no Rackham base or cards to go with this model.

The first and obvious thing I noticed was the flash. Rackham models (as I recall) had no flash and the mould lines were very subtle. Not so here. Large bit of flash on Misericorde's leg and bits on the arms.

Upon closer inspection there were things not quite right. The cast isn't sharp – at least not Rackham sharp and there are irregularities in the sword blade – it's not a consistent depth across the length of the blade.

I dug out one of the models from the Hybrid Nemesis box set to compare. You may not be able to see from these photos but the quality of the two hardly compare at all.

So there you have it. I finally got my hands on a Misericorde model, but was it worth it?

The Force Awakens Alright!

Last night I went to see the latest Star Wars film, with a friend of mine as the wife won't watch sci-fi. I'll admit to being cautiously optimistic going in. After the huge (overall) disappointment with the prequels you have to brace yourself just in case, but I liked what JJ Abrams did with the Star Trek movies so there was always the thought that maybe, just maybe he would be able to deliver on the monumental task of pleasing veteran Star Wars fans like me.

I'll do my best not to spoil anything about the plot for those who haven't seen it.

On the plus side, it's Star Wars so seeing something new is (almost) always a good thing. I liked the new characters Finn and Rey – they felt like heroes in the making, but not there yet – the BB8 droid was endearing and not annoying. Kylo Ren was great as the Sith apprentice, intimidating yet flawed, prone to immature tantrums with a lightsabre when things don't go his way. I loved his pseudo sibling rivalry with General Hux and their childlike moaning about each other to Supreme Leader Snoke. The humour this time round actually brings a smile to your face rather than the childish slapstick from the prequels. The aerial battle scenes were superb and made great use of the 3d, took your breath away at times. Oscar Isaac was very cool as Poe and came across as a real heroic type for the new kids to look up to. Great stuff.

On the downside well, I love a great baddie but I thought Captain Phasma was a waste of space. He/she/it sounded just like Gwendoline Christie (funny that!) and therefore Brienne of Tarth, coming across as rather feminine which undermined any Boba Fett-style smouldering intimidation that may have been generated up to the point words were spoken. I thought this character was going to be an ace in the hole for the First Order and a real nasty git, with a James Earl Jones type voiceover, but no. The oldies were back and I'm not sure it brought a lot to the party except nostalgia. Harrison Ford did a good turn as Han Solo, but looked very old and a bit past it. Leia didn't seem to contribute much except as an emotional foil to Solo. Luke Skywalker was absent for the bulk of the film, since he was the treasure everyone was trying to find, though his appearance when it came was high impact and very jedi cool – he didn't need to say a word. He will no doubt play a bigger part in the later film(s). Chewbacca probably came out the best of the old crew, the sarcastic looks and 'comments' often the centre of the comedy.

The only other thing that niggled a little was that at times it really felt like a Star Wars reboot. There were a lot of things that gave me a feeling of deja vu and were very much a nod to the first three films. We had our heroes running around a pseudo Death Star trying to disable the shields and escape. We had trench runs in X-Wings. We had a desert planet, a forest planet and a snow planet all in one film. The only thing missing were Ewoks, Hutts and Wompas.

I had picked up on one spoiler, very early on whilst they were still filming, and unfortunately it turned out to be true – though you could see it coming a mile away regardless, the plot was very predictable.

All that being said it was a worthwhile visit to the cinema. It won't win any best picture oscars but it was a non-stop emotional ride with plenty to appreciate if you're a Star Wars fan and a lot of fun even if you're not. The characters, both good and bad, developed nicely over the course of the film and set things up nicely for Episode VIII. Definitely worth a watch and a hell of a lot better than the prequels. None of the characters annoyed me, which I wasn't expecting – C3-PO came close but luckily didn't have too much screen time. It felt like Star Wars but with a twist and I came away feeling rather upbeat yet contemplative. It wasn't as epic as I was hoping for, but I think that will come in later films. As a starting episode this did a good job and I look forward to seeing it a second time to take more of it in.

From Beyond The Grave

With all this recent chat about favourite models, my thoughts inevitably found their way to Rackham – creators of Confrontation and purveyors of some of the finest models ever seen.

They punched above their weight due to employing incredibly talented individuals and kept an excellent attention to detail throughout the miniature-making process (I can't comment on the game itself as I never played it). They were ahead of their time. When the company was resigned to history back in 2008, it signalled a great loss to the gaming community and proved that nobody was safe from the recession. As a fan of their work I was simply devastated.

I have spent time since then trying to collect the odd model here and there off Ebay, but prices are creeping up to the point where it's not really a viable option. I still have a lot of their models but I had come to terms with the fact that there were some models on my wish list I just wasn't going to get my hands on.

A chance internet search the other day led me to a website called Cadwallon.com which blew my mind (Cadwallon was Rackham's RPG and is now a board game by FFG). It appeared to sell a large proportion of models from Rackham's back catalogue. Not only that, but there were links to a Confrontation community that is alive and kicking and ready to release the next version of the rules (the website's in Italian so you'll have to translate). The community website has access to lots of Confrontation and Hybrid stat cards and copies of Cry Havoc (Rackham's quarterly magazine). Wow.

Well, I couldn't let this one go without testing it out, so I ordered the miniature I've been after for years… Misericord. I placed my order and an hour later got a Paypal invoice. Once I'd paid and received confirmation I waited patiently to see if it was all a scam. Yesterday I got confirmation that a package was on its way from Ukraine, so I'm starting to get a little excited.

If this turns out to be a sure fire way of getting old Rackham models then I am going to be over the moon. This could become my favourite website ever.

Stay tuned.

What's Your Favourite Model?… Part 2

Reading people's feedback on their favourite models had me going back through my collection. There are a couple of the old Rackham models that I really love. The first is the Hybrid (above) from the boxed game with the same name. Beautiful model and full of menace.

The other is Ysis, the Viper. This model is so delicate, yet looks so deadly. I really do miss Rackham and their amazing models. Such a shame.

Anyway, here's some of the models that other people admire…

More soon…

What's Your Favourite Model?… Part 1

So it's a straightforward question, with I suspect a rather difficult answer, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Is there a model out there, in your collection or on a wish list, that just ticks all the boxes - gives you a warm tingly feeling in your stomach (or other places) every time you see it?

I have lots of favourite models – the Tenderiser is the latest addition to the list – and all for different reasons. However, there are a couple that are particular favourites that I love to bits. But the question talks about a single favourite, so I'm forced to make a decision.

My overall favourite has to be Epic Lylyth from Hordes. It's an odd choice in one sense as I don't find the Privateer Press models that appealing as a collection, compared to some other manufacturers, but now and again they do deliver a corker.

I love the pose of the model and the movement. The Lylyth character herself has a great balance of sexy and deadly, but this incarnation takes things to a new level. The fact that she is blind (in the fluff, if I remember correctly) and has her eyes covered by a visor adds a extra bit of mystery to her character (and means I don't have to paint eye…yay!). Her pose also hints at a story unfolding – she's shooting at something behind her, seemingly on the defensive. From a gaming perspective her additional height makes it easier to draw line of sight to her, but there has to be a trade-off with the dynamic pose.

I do have this model in my collection but am embarrassed to say it's not painted!
The model itself, for such a large bit of metal, is balanced on a plastic base and aside from a pin in her bow arm (no brainer given its exposed and vulnerable nature) the model went together easily. I love the detail on her armour and the shape of her cloak. Cracking model all round and one that gives me a warm tingle of admiration (and guilt at not painting mine) every time I see it.

So what's your favourite miniature?

Let me know in the comments below and I'll post a few of them in a follow up. I'm interested to see how people's opinions differ and am intrigued if it's down to the the type of wargames you play, whether you simply paint, or some other factor that may contribute to which miniatures people admire most.

Strike A Pose!… Part 2

Waaaaay back in February 2010 I did a ranting post about the static nature of a lot of Games Workshop's space marine models. With the arrival of the rather dramatic Tenderiser model, I thought it was about time to have another look at the poses on offer with the miniatures we buy.

Obviously we're almost 6 years down the line since that post first appeared and whilst GW have made some minor improvements (I don't really pay much attention to them so can't honestly comment), there is plenty of drama creeping in elsewhere.

When Wyrd released the Ten Thunders faction (above), what seems an age ago, we got a glimpse of what might be achievable – and in plastic for a bonus.

Image from BoardGameGeek

With the release of Malifaux 2E, and their re-designing of all the Malifaux models in plastic, Wyrd have definitely thrown the shackles off and are going all out dynamic (Death Marshals above).

The other manufacturer on my radar when it comes to dynamic poses has to be Raging Heroes. Their Toughest Girls range (in all its incarnations) are so dramatic and simply stunning models.

When the Steamforged Games crew were designing the models for Guild Ball, they seem to be going out of their way to offer some stunningly posed models. This can be witnessed first hand in the videos I talked about earlier this month.

The hobby is littered with very static looking models. Sometimes (when ranked together) this is a must as more flamboyant poses would be a hinderance (something that used to be a problem with Warhammer Fantasy models at times). However, when playing wargames with small model counts there is nothing better than fielding a collection of eye-catching, dramatically posed models. This is one of the things that has drawn me to Guild Ball and makes buying every model in a team a must.

I'm happy to say that you don't have to look very far to find some beautifully dramatic models. Things are definitely moving on!