Friday 25 July 2014

WWX: The Jesse James Tales... Wild West Exodus Battle Report (part one)

Jesse James has paid for his place on the National Stage by placing his flesh, blood, dreams and perhaps even his soul upon the altar of his ambition.

Finally played my 1st game of WWX!!! And quite frankly it was a very different Beast (game) then I  thought...don't get me wrong, my enthusiasm for the game is still there! 
As a matter of fact it is probably STRONGER...but like many games, it plays different then the impressions you 1st get when you read the rules...

1st I encourage you to go back and read my other post about the game (unboxing) it'll help get you in this Western feel/mood (or it will at least help you understand my feelings for the game before playin')

Synopsis:

Gamers' Valley...in a small town called Sandborntown(changed since 1st published)...a small Posse of fifteen men, led by non-other than the famous Jesse James, are finished loading precious cargo onto a few trucks and an Iron Horse. This cargo is not only comprised of the regular items (food, money, weapons and jewellery)...more and more Jesse is going after major caches of RJ-1027, the prolific chemical compound formulated by Doc Carpathian for use as a powerful energy source.


The town was deserted...Jesse is so recognizable (his robotic arms do stick-out in a crowd) and his reputation widely known, it only took a few townsfolk to recognize him and the streets were empty...

To a distinct few, Sandborntown is also know as 'the Vault' or 'Vault Town'...for the very numerous Security Vaults in it's underground tunnels. The town attracted a lot of attention when the Earps announced it would be under their protection and that they would be neutral to the many groups that have influenced these tragic times...only the Law will prevail in this town!
Sandbornvtown is a transitory town between many of major towns in the area, these Vaults serve as a perfect supply depot (for a major fee of course!) to many of the different colliding identities of the West. The vast number of Vaults and the confusing underground maze, make it the most secure storage facility in the West...and let's not forget the Earps' priceless protection!!

But none of that is beyond Jesse James and his group of Bandits. The web of contacts at Jesse's disposal and the reach of his influence goes way beyond what most folks like to believe.

''Jesse! We have company!'' yelled Sam. Sam was a sniper under the tutelage of Jesse's brother Frank. He was very good as a Lookout and Jesse didn't hesitate in giving him this role for this operation, dispite the fact Sam was still drunk from last night's binge at the Ol' Boot Saloon.
 ''Injuns, Jesse we got some Injuns comin' right at us from the otherside of town! And they are led by a weird Wolflike man!!!''


Jesse signaled the 2 drivers of the now fully loaded trucks to leave. He turned and looked at the female pilot of the heavily loaded Iron Horse. ''Seems we have some Injuns to kill Sweetheart, ride to the Hidden Camp...we'll be right behind you...'' As the hovering vehicle left, Jesse turned to face the remaining eleven men ''Boys you all know your jobs, we were expecting the Earps...but stick to the plan and don't do these Injuns any favors!!!''


The Lists:

My buddy Mooseman only has the Warrior Nation Starter box:

Sitting Bull (Boss) - $200
Walks Looking (Sidekick) - $95
Braves (5 Close Combat) - 5X $25
Braves (5 Ranged Combat) - 5X $25
Brave with Gatling Gun (Light Support) - $50
Total Posse : $595

My list:

Jesse James (Boss) - $200
Frank James (Underboss) - $135
Bandit (5 Long Range) - 5X $25
Bandit (4 CC) - 4X $25
Bandit with Sniper (Light Support) - $45
Total Posse : $605

(Picture taken with my phone before bringing them for the game! Sorry for the quality)

Deployment:

I had fewer models than my opponent, which gave me the initiative for the 1st turn, so Warrior Nation deployed 1st, I then deployed 2nd and activated 1st. We both had a 10 inch deployment zone.

(Warrior Nations Carefully deployed behind the cover of buildings)
(Knowing that the Outlaws, with 2 Snipers had the Ranged Combat Advantage)

                    (Outlaw's Gunline, my sniper began 'On the Lookout', unfortunately I didn't have enough distance to deploy him behind the cover of the Saloon Sign)

(Frank James chose to cover the center of the board, thus helping to protect Jesse who is hiding behind the Crystals)

1st Turn:

1st Turn was mostly uneventful as both Posses advanced their Warriors...However both Snipers (Frank James & Light Support) got to use 'On the Lookout' at the end of Turn 1.

(Frank James interrupted Sitting Bull's movement with a 'On the Lookout' Shoot action)
(The Underboss' good position and Superior Range is already paying off as every little damage on a Boss may prove to be important later in the game!)
This was the end of turn 1, all my models had activated and Mooseman had Sitting Bull who was in the middle of an activation and a Brave or two left...my Influence Pool was still full at 5,  I figured this would be an important roll, so I put 2 Influence on it. Sitting Bull was not in cover, however there was Intervening Terrain (+1) and the shot was Long Range (+1 for being more than half the range of the weapon)...so a difficulty of +2 added to Franks Marksmanship of 4+ means I needed a 6+ for the shot.

(Needing a 6+ on this roll, I rolled a 4 at first, then a 10)
Being extremely happy with the roll, I obviously kept the 10 and wasted the 2nd Influence Token. A natural roll of a 10 in WWX is considered a Lethal Hit, which means you subtract 2 from the Armor Value of the target...Sitting Bull has an Armor Value of 1, which becomes 0 and Frank's rifle has a Power of 10...this could mean a good amount of damage!

Mooseman went for an uninfluenced die roll...maybe he didn't fully think this through, because this way he couldn't change the result...

(The Great Spirit helped Sitting Bull as he rolled a natural 10 for his armor roll)
If the result of the Armor Roll is a natural 10, the model performs a 'Life Saving Dodge' and ignores all damage caused by that hit, regardless of the weapon's Power.

So far, so good for the Native wolflike Boss! After having triggered 1 of my 2 'On The Lookout' Snipers, Mooseman carfully approached Sitting Bull to my Cowboys in a manner that my Sniper could not see him...

During the activation of his last Brave, I decided to use my Sniper's 'On The Lookout' action and try to shoot him down before the Start of the next turn. I interrupted his movement at a point where he was not behind cover.

(My Sniper could easily see the Brave moving onto the Bridge)

(This Brave is Great Target Practice for My Sniper!!)
Again, since this is the end of Turn 1, I wasn't afraid to add some influence tokens to the roll. My Sniper's Marksmanship is 5+ and this was Long Range (+1) and there was Intervening Terrain (+1), so I needed 7+.

(Luckily I rolled exactly what I needed on my 3rd roll for the Shot)

I can't recall how much influence was used on this Armor Roll by my opponent, whether it was 1, 2 or 3...but all that matters was he kept/rolled an 8 on his Armor Roll. The Sniper Rifle's Power is 11, so his Brave survived the shot with 4 Lifeblood left ( Power 11 - 8 Armor Roll = 3 Damage).

This is how Turn 1 ended...although I couldn't rejoice in having 1st kill, I did get 1st blood. And with this small victory I was now ready to confront my opponent on Turn 2 and beyond! Still feeling good about my positioning...

I will end the 1st part of this Battle Report here as it is already a long one...don't worry the action-packed conclusion of our 4-turn battle will be posted shortly!!!

Till then,

Turtle Power!

DanSolo

Thursday 24 July 2014

DUST: Captured 1.5 ton Cargo Trucks

--Asocom Report on Axis Captured Trucks and their Use by SIK--
-For your eyes only-



When the Axis did their 1947 assaults on the Eastern Front, the intensity and strength of the Wehrmacht caught off guard many SSU divisions who, sometimes, were forced to retreat before they could even try to apply a scorched earth tactic.

This allowed some Axis units to acquire 1.5 ton Cargo Trucks and while most of these were used to haul equipment and crates behind the lines

Wednesday 23 July 2014

WWX: Standoff!...my impressions of the 2-Player Starter for Wild West Exodus

Blood drenches the sands of the Wild West as the promise of a new age dies screaming its last breath into an uncaring night. An ancient evil has arisen in the western territories, calling countless men and women with a siren song of technology and promises of power and glory the likes of which the world has never known. Forces move into the deserts, some answering the call, others desperate to destroy the evil before it can end all life on Earth.

And so begins our journey into Wild West Exodus...


After my last article I got a sudden craving for some good old Westerns! Although I have a big collection of movies at my disposal, I quickly realized I've never been much of a Cowboy movie fan...however the ones I have are classics for anybody who grew-up in the 80s and went to high school in the 90s.

(I highly recommend watching these if you've never seen them, or re-watching them if you have!! It'll put you in the perfect ambiance for some WWX!)

So let's get back to the subject...



Opening a box from a new miniatures game makes me feel like I am 12 again...it's Christmas and I'm opening my gifts in my PJs. Only this time I paid for my gift...so I know I'm gonna love what I get!!!

This box comes with 28 miniatures (14 Outlaws, 14 Lawmen), 2 of which are bikes (Iron Horses) and 2 are Alternate sculpts of the Bosses of each Posse (Wyatt Earp & Jesse James). 

(On a side note; did you know the Lawmen did not make the kickstarter, as they were a stretch goal that was never reached...I guess 'Outlaw Miniatures' really wanted/needed them for their story/world! I sure am happy they are there...)


Also included are the cards for each miniature (used in a similar fashion to Warmachine) a multi-use template/burst, 2 Halo Templates (used to measure Halo = Melee range), tokens and four 10-sided dice.



Oh and a mini-rulebook (it's Blk&Wht but has all the rules).

(The rulebook is on the left...I just couldn't stop myself when I passed by 'Chapters' and picked up one of the three books...I haven't really started it yet but can't wait to immerse myself in the world/story/fluff.)


The Hired Hands miniatures (grunts) come on a sprue (they are GW Style plastic) and boy there's lots of parts. However 'Outlaw Miniatures' also give you detailed assembly instructions and the parts are well identified on the sprue. These make for dynamic models in cool poses, as a matter of fact each of the 10 Hired Hands has a unique pose/sculpt.

On this subject I know not everybody will be pleased. A guy like me who likes cool models, with minimum work LOVES these!!! They may take time to assemble, but they look very cool with not too much effort.
Where as somebody who is good with green stuff or who likes the GW style of creating your own poses may be a little disappointed or have to spend more time assembling/changing his models.

 Let's look at the models...I find they have character, even the standard grunts. I can only imagine once painted...
(Here are three Hired Hands I have assembled so far for my Outlaws, 1 Close Combat (Yes he can fire his pistol in CC) and 2 Ranged. The two Ranged Hired Hands in this pic are the only two that have sculpts that are soooo similar...I think I'll call them the twins!)

In the complaints department, someone has told me he thought the grunt models weren't very cool/inspiring. I don't know if he looked at every faction, or where he looked at images of sculpts...but to me these are gorgeous! And my camera/lighting probably doesn't do them justice!

I guess opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one! And not every game can please every gamer...

(Here is a picture of my Underboss, Frank James (with his sniper rifle) and another Close Combat Hired Hand...I just love these Steampunk Cowboys!)

As for the rules and the gameplay, well I haven't had a chance to try the game out yet! I was supposed to play last Thursday but life got in the way...the game was re-scheduled to this Thursday (July 24th 2014). I can't wait, it'll be a great test as my Outlaws face-off against Mooseman's Warrior Nation!!!  
(Why start with the Outlaws? Because they are cool and they were the easiest to bring my Posse down to the same point level as my opponent. He only has a Faction Starter so far...)

Getting back to the rules, having played many games (wargames & others) in my life, I can grasp the general idea of a game system without having played the game. To me the rules seem decent, not too complicated but still complete. I do see a few abilities that can be very powerful and some not so much.
I am happy that 'Outlaw Miniatures' already has a FAQ out for certain rules and miniatures.

http://www.outlawminiatures.com/WWXFAQErrataV1Feb2014.pdf

The Influence mechanic is one that I really like the concept...but am afraid of how it can be used. I will need a few games before I can give my opinion on it...

Influence Pool

The Dark Council secretly manipulates events from the shadows, while the Great Spirit protects its Native American children and guides their hands. To represent the influences these powers have over events, each faction has a pool of Influence Tokens based on the models they choose to field in battle.

A model's Influence statistic indicates how many Tokens it contributes to the player's Influence Pool.
Before making any die roll, a player may commit any amount of available Influence Tokens from his pool to that roll. The player then makes the roll, if he does not like the result, he can spend one of the Tokens he had committed to the roll and re-roll the die, using the result of the re-roll instead.
If he committed more than one Influence Token to the roll, he may continue this until he decides to keep the result and/or up to a number of times equal to the number of Influence Tokens he committed. All Tokens are 'used up', even if they are not actually used. At the start of each Activation Phase, Influence Tokens are generated by models left on the field.

Well, that's it for now...at least until I play my 1st game! I will leave you with a few pics of the Outlaw Boss (Jesse James) who I can easily predict, will be MVP of the game!
 

Turtle Power!!!
DanSolo


Thursday 10 July 2014

A Summer Fling Thing


Howdy folks, this is my Blog baptism, so hopefully I can gather my thoughts in a manner that is enjoyable for all...


Many of you know me through Warmachine…I do play other games (Star Trek Attack Wing, X-Wing, probably getting back to Dust, etc.) but for about 2 ½ to 3 years it’s been Warmachine! Something about the characters, the Jacks & Beats, the Sci-Fi & Steampunk ambiance, let’s not forget the general balance & gameplay. So ever since 'Wizards of the Coast' dropped Star Wars (I have something like 2,000 Star Wars minis) it’s been Warmachine…

Summer!

Summer is a special season for Wargamers; so many other activities take the place of Wargaming… let’s not forget summer vacation. Stores and clubs have to keep generating events & leagues but attendance is way down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m probably the worst at this when summer comes around…
Not being in school, ‘Summer Break’ has a whole different meaning for me…it’s the perfect time to take a break from my regular Wargaming interests…and to start new/old projects that I have been meaning to invest some time in.

Dice Masters:



This summer, my girlfriend and I have been enjoying Wizkidz ‘Dice Masters’, which is a fun collectable card/dice game built around the Quarriors mechanic. I have never played Quarriors so I can’t compare the two games but this game is a lot of fun. It’s basically a resource management game, perfect to take out and play with any ‘non-gamer’ or family & kids.
The rules are simple and Boosters (2 cards & 2 dice) sell for $1-1.50. It is a collectable game but don’t let that stop you, if not played competitively lots of fun can be had with a partial collection. Wizkidz has put out some rules/print-outs to help people get into the game (using regular 6-sided dice) as retailers are completely out of Starters. (Funny how you can find booster boxes everywhere)

They made a great tutorial with 'Watch it Played':


Star Wars LCG:





This summer also marked my return into the LCG world and if you hadn't noticed just by my Blogger name, I am a Star Wars Fan! 
I am not however a card game player, I enjoy them for a time and then they collect dust on a shelf in my basement. I have played Magic, Decipher’s Star Wars Card Game in the late 90s, started Netrunner and played the Star Wars LCG prior to Edge of Darkness (which made all 6 factions playable). 
What I do love about Magic is the different ways to play Multi-player games (2-Headed Dragon, Emperor, Archenemy & Plain Chase). So when I realized the Multi-Player Challenge decks were available for the Star Wars LCG (Balance of the Force Expansion) I ran home and forced my girlfriend to grab our old decks and start playin’again. The game has evolved since the last time we played and as we add new expansions to our collection we keep realizing how much of the fun we missed. Sadly, I have been doing a lot of introduction demos to friends but haven't had the chance to play the Multi-player decks!(which is why I got back to the game!!!lol)

Star Wars LCG info including a tutorial (that I wished my friends would watch before playing!):




But even after all this fun, a card game is a card game…and for me it’ll return to its dusty shelf once I’m done with it. 




Out with the Old, in with the New...



Summer also brings me an excuse to try out new miniatures games. I will be saying good bye to games I haven’t really played (Dystopian Legions, DZC) and all of my GW models (with the exception of my Dwarves, I have plans for them...).


Here is my new ‘Coup de Coeur’ which will feature in my next few articles on WNT following my experience with this game.





Wild West Exodus was a Kickstarter by Outlaw Miniatures last year. I am not one who jumps in Kickstarters, but I have been following for some time the games evolution…mostly through 'Beasts of War' http://www.beastsofwar.com/, but still... 
This week I was killing time at my favorite Gaming Store when I came across the 2-player Starter for the game. Having already done my research on the Core mechanics and the Fluff of the game it was a no brainer...that box was sold!!! On top of it, the two factions featured in the starter are the two factions I was hesitating between.

So what is Wild West Exodus (WWX)?!!

WWX is a 35mm miniatures game in a dark Wild West setting. Strange technologies rule the old west and death lurks at every corner.
Steampunk Cowboys & Indians...add to that Zombie-like Automations created by the World's Brightest Scientists & Abe Lincoln Leading the Union with his Axe-Gun after having crushed the Confederate States of America!

Why re-write everything when you can just add links to an article that people can click on if they are inetrested:




When trying a new Wargame you have two options:

a) Buy the 2-player Starter so you have a faction/army to lend/play against when somebody wants a demo/game.

b) Find a friend interested in the game who will purchase his own faction/army so you actually have an opponent to play against.


The great thing about my situation is I now have both…having bought the 2-player Starter the first option was easy to achieve…but my good buddy Mooseman has just purchased the Warrior Nation Starter Box. 
We are planning on getting our 1st game in at GamersVault on miniatures night Thursday (July 17th 2014). So drop in and have a chat with us and hopefully this game will give me an experience to share on the WNT Blog!

 Hopefully my super-long 1st Blog wasn't too painful of a read...


 


 
Till then, keep on Gaming!  


 Turtle Power!

DanSolo