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HALT THE PRESS! The one (sometimes I wonder...) and only Messanger of Death dropped me a line to shoot the bull about Davy Taylor's Steel Legion competition! He's entering, I'm entering, the King is entering... why aren't you entering? *key peer pressure* Give it a try! Dave Taylor is a one-of-a-kind hobby icon, so any prize he gives the winner will inevitably be worth it!
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It's been ages since I've liked a game so much right out of the gate, and games they have come and gone in the local scene...
Confrontation, AT-43, Infinity, Malifaux - anything I'm missing? No doubt. There's a few I can picture the guys playing but can't for the life of me think of the names. It doesn't matter: I generally play a 'wait and see' strategy, and that's saved me cash on games that died before they properly got started.
Confrontation was huge in our area. Rackham killed it by moving to their line of prepainted plastics and that was that. I've still got stupid money invested in piles of unopened blisters... Let's pause a moment so I can scream in outrage.
Infinity hooked me momentarily. It might have had legs if the scenery requirements hadn't been so onerous. I bought and painted one squad, so that wasn't a terrible investment. Never played the game though.
Those others? I think they have more to do with the Master Manipulator (every store needs one) and Evil Homer's burnout with GW games than anything else.
So all that said, Warmachine Mark II has captured my imagination in a big way - the models are okay, the fluff is meh, but the rules are top-freakin'-notch! It's fast, furious, and tactical; the games are nailbiters and the enemy Warcaster is always dangerous.
I played and managed to beat Little Barrera's Trollbloods today... but literally the game hinged on one dice! I made an assassination run on his Warlock, hitting him hard with Feora, deliberately losing Vilmon, setting everything in sight on fire, then finally charging in with a Crusader! Had the Warlock rolled a 5 or 6 on a d6 for his Toughness test, my Warcaster would have fallen in his phase...
...that was fun!
It saddens me that Warmachine background is considered 'meh' these days, considering that the game was based on a rather well designed RPG world (albeit one with a few phoned-in choices involving dwarfs and elves). I agree with you, sadly, but I'd be interested in comparing reasons why we feel that way.
ReplyDeleteI actually find the fluff much less...oppressive...than the 40k fluff. I like me some 40k fluff but I like the IK stuff just as much for different reasons.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I like most about the IK fluff is that it actually advances vs. the 40k which is stagnant. The 40k side of things has gotten better in recent years as GW has allowed authors to explore ancient 40k history but still no advancing of the timeline.
Early on the fluff was a real turn off for me and was one of the reasons I initially decided not to invest in MkI. The buildup for MkII got me interested again in the game and I started looking back at the older books. This time around I really enjoyed the Iron Kingdoms fluff and now a year later its one of my favorite aspects of the game.
ReplyDeleteOops, I forgot to say that these Trollbloods as well as the Menoth models you're now working on look great. Glad to hear the you guys are having fun.
ReplyDeleteI actually really like the fluff of WM. I like that the story evolves, that each faction really has its own parts, and in general I think the fluff stories are well written. It's also nice that they do have a RPG world so if I'm curious about a certain aspect I can go look it up.
ReplyDeleteMalifaux is still going in my neck of the woods, but it's certainly not as strong as Warmachine or 40K. Some of their models are pretty awesome though.
You're entering? Hrmm... *Ups his game a notch*
ReplyDeleteGreat read Brent. My interest in WM/H has begun to grow lately as well. The guys on CNC have been writing about WM/H a lot and have convinced me to come back and play again. I haven't played WM/H since the middle or Mk I and I hated it. Mk II is looking better and I have a Khador Army practically fully painted so...
ReplyDeleteTrollbloods are interesting. I don't see them played that often but I am interested in seeing what gaming against them would be like.
Heh, I've been getting back into it as well lately. Cryx is a fun army, though it's way different from playing Circle (at least, the dynamic of Focus/Fury is difficult to get used to).
ReplyDeleteIt's not as awesomesauce as 40k to me, but certainly a fun diversion when I've played too much 40k and need a break.
I find it interesting that you don't like the story behind IK. If anything, I find it slightly more interesting as the characters can have flawed personalities without the OMGCHAOS! that is so prevalent in 40k.
ReplyDeleteSadly, they do fall behind in realizing the full strength of their characters due to Matt and Jason having such an obsession with character archetypes never evolving. With that said, they still do a better job than GW oes in terms of character evolution although I have seen some interesting changes in characterization such as Lemartes' evolution and the Tau Empire, but I feel that the latter at least was just due to poor reception rather than honest intent.